Some aspects of fabric drape

Drape is one of the important factors influencing the aesthetics and functionality of fabrics. Therefore, investigation into drape parameters is important for analysing its behaviour. Drape parameters were investigated from different aspects using the Cusick Drape meter and Image Analyser. Firstly, the influence of time on the drape coefficient and number of folds was studied over 24 hours. Usually, drape is considered as a static, time-independent problem. However, this investigation shows that the drape coefficient of a fabric changes si-gnificantly over a longer time period. Furthermore, the comparison of drape parameters is shown using samples with two different diameters. The larger samples have smaller drape coefficient than those with smaller diameters, and their drape is less changeable over time. Basically, the three-dimensional fabric drape is not an independent fabric property, there-fore, the connection between bending rigidity and drapecoefficient was studied. The last aspect of this investigation was the repeatability of drape measurements, and the establish-ment of the required number of measurements for drape coefficient and fold numbers

A male-produced aggregation-sex pheromone of the beetle Arhopalus rusticus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae, Spondylinae) may be useful in managing this invasive species.

The longhorned beetle Arhopalus rusticus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae, Spondylinae) is a common species in conifer forests of the Northern Hemisphere, but with global trade, it has invaded and become established in New Zealand, Australia, and South America. Arhopalus rusticus is a suspected vector of the phytopathogenic nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the causative agent of pine wilt disease, which is a major threat to pine forests worldwide. Here, we report the identification of a volatile, male-produced aggregation-sex pheromone for this species. Headspace odours from males contained a major male-specific compound, identified as (2 S, 5E)-6,10-dimethyl-5,9-undecadien-2-ol (common name (S)-fuscumol), and a minor component (E)-6,10-dimethyl-5,9-undecadien-2-one (geranylacetone). Both compounds are known pheromone components for species in the same subfamily. In field trials in its native range in Slovenia, (S)-fuscumol was significantly more attractive to beetles of both sexes, than racemic fuscumol and a blend of host plant volatiles commonly used as an attractant for this species. Fuscumol-baited traps also caught significant numbers of another spondylidine species, Spondylis buprestoides (L.), and a rare click beetle, Stenagostus rufus (De Geer). The pheromone can be exploited as a cost-effective and environmentally safe tool for detection and monitoring of this invasive species at ports of entry, and for monitoring the beetle's distribution and population trends in both endemic and invasive populations

Vpliv obsevanja z dozo 5 Gy na plodnost in paritveno vedenje pri vrsti Nezara viridula (Heteroptera, Pentatomidae)

Background. The polyphagous and cosmopolitan species Nezara viridula is one ofthe most important insect pests. The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a pest control strategy that involves sterilising males by exposing them to ionising radiation. Sterile males, released into wild population, mate with females, but eggs are not fertilised and the population gradually declines. Exposing insects to radiation during their growth stage might require lower sterilising dose. The aim of our study was to test whether 5-Gy irradiation of5th instar nymphs significantly affects: (1) moulting and further development of the irradiated nymphs, (2) the male\u27s and female\u27s reproduetivesystem and (3) the mating competitiveness of treated males, with special focus on vibrational communication. Methods: The 5th instar nymphs were irradiated with 5 Gy using X ray generator and monitored daily. Results: The observed effects of irradiation were: prolonged moulting increased mortality during development and during the first day of adult life, decreasedmales to females ratio, decreased fecundity, egg production, proportion of fertile eggs and progeny survival. The reaction of a male to stimulation with the model female calling song was tested. The irradiated and non-irradiated males responded to stimulation with emission of the eourtship song (MCrS). Temporal parameters of MCrS emitted by non-irradiated males differed when compared with those of irradiated ones. Conclusions: The 5-Gy irradiation of 5th instar nymphs did not affect mating behaviour. However since the irradiation during growth stage decreased the fertility and fecundity of emerged adults, this technique, in combination with certain othersuppression teehniques, could be a successful control strategy for management of Nezara viridula. On the other hand observed effects on moulting and further development of the irradiated nymphs could decrease the efficiencyand application of this strategy.Uvod. Žuželka Nezara viridula je zaradi polifagne narave prehranjevanja pomemben škodljivec po vsem svetu. Tehnika uporabe sterilnih žuželk (SIT) je metoda nadziranja velikosti populacije, ki vključuje sterilizacijo z obsevanjem. Sterilni samci se v naravni populaciji parijo s samicami, le-te paodložijo neoplojena jajčeca. To ima za posledico postopen upad velikosti populacije. Testirali smo hipotezo, da bi bile doze potrebne za sterilizacijo nižje, če bi sevanju izpostavili ličinke namesto odraslih živali. Namen naše raziskave je bil ugotoviti ali obsevanje ličink v 5. stadiju z dozo 5 Gy značilno vpliva na: (1) levitev in razvoj obsevanih ličink, (2) reprodukcijskisistem razvitih samcev in samic, (3) kompetativnost samcev in vibracijsko komunikacijo. Metode. Ličinke 5. stadija smo z uporabo rentgenskega aparata obsevali z dozo 5 Gy in vsakodnevno spremljali njihov razvoj. Rezultati. Sevanje je podaljšalo obdobje levitve, povečala se je smrtnost nimf med levitvijo in odraslih prvi dan po preobrazbi, število razvitih samcev je bilo manjše. Po obsevanju je rodnost upadla, produkcija in delež oplojenih jajčec sta se zmanjšala, povečala se je smrtnost potomcev. Preverili smo tudi odziv samcev na umetni napev samice (dražljaj). Tako obsevani kot neobsevani samci so se na dražljaj odzvali z emisijo napeva dvorjenja (MCrS). Casovni parametri MCrS so se pomembno razlikovali tako med neobsevanimi kot tudi med neobsevanimi in obsevanimi samci. Zaključki. Obsevanje z dozo 5 Gy ni vplivalo na paritveno vedenje je pa zmanjšalo plodnost in rodnost razvitih odraslih, zato bi bila ta tehnika v kombinaciji zdrugimi tehnikami zatiranja, lahko uspešna pri nadzoru velikosti populacije vrste Nezara viridula. Vpliv sevanja na levitev in razvoj ličink pa bi lahko zmanjšal učinkovitost in uporabo te tehnike

Novel, male-produced aggregation pheromone of the cerambycid beetle Rosalia alpina, a priority species of European conservation concern.

Several recent studies have demonstrated the great potential for exploiting semiochemicals in ecology and conservation studies. The cerambycid beetle Rosalia alpina represents one of the flagship species of saproxylic insect biodiversity in Europe. In recent years its populations appear to have declined substantially, and its range has shrunk considerably as a result of forest management and urbanization. Here, we collected volatile chemicals released by males and females of R. alpina. Analyses of the resulting extracts revealed the presence of a single male-specific compound, identified as a novel alkylated pyrone structure. In field bioassays in Slovenia, traps baited with the synthesized pyrone captured both sexes of R. alpina, indicating that the pyrone functions as an aggregation pheromone. Our results represent the first example of a new structural class of pheromones within the Cerambycidae, and demonstrate that pheromone-baited traps can provide a useful tool for sampling R. alpina. This tool could be particularly useful in the ongoing development of conservation strategies for the iconic but endangered Alpine longicorn

ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL PROTECTION EXPENDITURE IN SLOVENIA AND COMPARISON WITH SWEDEN

V diplomskem delu je predstavljen evropski socialni model in njegovi štirje podmodeli, ki so prisotni v državah članicah, poudarek pa je na socialni zaščiti, njenem razvoju, namenu ter področjih socialne izključenosti v Sloveniji in na Švedskem. Evropski socialni model in njegovi podmodeli določajo vrednote, ki temeljijo na ohranjanju miru, socialni pravičnosti, enakosti in solidarnosti, spodbujanju svobode in demokracije ter na spoštovanju človekovih pravic. S temi vrednotami si države prizadevajo doseči boljšo socialno ureditev in družbeno blaginjo prebivalstva. Slednjo nam omogočajo skozi socialno zaščito, ki obsega sisteme socialne varnosti, zavarovanj ter pomoči in zagotavlja javne in zasebne transferje revnim, ranljivim in zanemarjenim skupinam ljudi z enkratnimi ali obročnimi nadomestili. Kljub temu, da je pravica do socialne zaščite temeljna človekova pravica, je le-ta neizpolnjena za veliko večino svetovnega prebivalstva. V pomoč ni bil niti pojav gospodarske, finančne in socialne krize konec prejšnjega desetletja, ki je imel za posledico upad delovnih mest, znižanje življenjskega standarda ter povečanje stopnje brezposelnosti. S pomočjo reform Evropskega socialnega modela se sistemi počasi regenerirajo. Analiza izdatkov za socialno zaščito, na podlagi že obstoječih podatkov v obeh državah, je razkrila, katero področje socialne izključenosti je najbolj pokrito in katera država namenja več prihodka za izključitev revščine ter zmanjšanje števila socialno ogroženega prebivalstva. Izkazalo se je, da je socialna politika in posledično socialna zaščita na Švedskem bolj naklonjena upravičencem kot v Sloveniji. Ugotovitev je bila, bolj kot ne, tudi pričakovana.This thesis presents the European social model and its four sub-models, which are present in the Member States of European Union. The emphasis is on social security, its development, purpose and areas of social exclusion in Slovenia and Sweden. The European social model and its sub-models determine the values, which are based on the preservation of peace, social justice, equality and solidarity, the promotion of freedom and democracy and respect for human rights. With these values, countries are striving to achieve better social regulation and social welfare of the population. Social welfare allow us, through social protection, which comprises social security, insurance and assistance and provides public and private transfers to the poor, vulnerable and neglected groups of people with, single or installment refund. Despite the fact that the right to social protection is a fundamental human right, is that right unfulfilled for the most majority of the world\u27s population. The help was neither the phenomenon of economic, financial and social crisis in the end of the last decade, which has resulted in a decline in jobs, lowering the standard of living and an increase in the unemployment rate. With the reforms of the European social model systems slowly regenerate. Analysis of social protection expenditure, on the basis of data that already exist in both countries, revealed wich specific area of social exclusion is most covered and which country pays more income exclusion for poverty reduction and lowering the number of socially vulnerable populations. It turns out that the Swedish social policy and consequent social protection is, in the final respect, more favorable to beneficiaries than in Slovenia. The conclusion was, more than not, as expected

Stink Bug Communication with Multimodal Signals Transmitted through Air and Substrate

This review represents complex mechanisms and processes of multimodal communication in stink bugs. During reproductive behavior the airborne and substrate-borne signals enable mate recognition, mediate directionality of movement, eliminate rivals and motivate partners for copulation. Species specific characteristics prevent hybridization at various levels of mating behavior. Male sex and/or aggregation pheromones as uni- or multicomponent signals attract mates to land on the same plant and there, trigger females to call males by vibratory signals, transmitted through the plant. Communication during courtship runs at short distance with visual, airborne, substrate-borne and contact chemical and mechanical signals. Abdomen vibrations produce the main repertoire of female and male calling, courtship and rival vibratory signals. To increase their informational value, stink bugs tune signal frequency, amplitude and temporal characteristics with mechanical properties of plants. The airborne component of species non-specific and high amplitude signals, produced by body tremulation and wing buzzing enables communication contact between mates standing on mechanically isolated plants. Female vibratory signals increase the amount of male emitted pheromone and the latter keeps female calling. Interaction, synergy and characteristics of visual, contact chemical and vibratory signals, exchanged during courtship remain under-investigated. Female and male competition for access to copulation in imbalanced sex conditions is characterized by duetting with rival song vibratory signals. Different receptors in and on different parts of the body are able to detect with high sensitivity multimodal airborne and substrate-borne communication signals. The relevance of the multimodal communication for the reproductive success of stink bugs is discussed

THE STATUTORY TAX GARANTEE IN THE LIGHT OF GENERAL TAX ACT AMMENDMENTS’ 2012.: PIERCING THE CORPORATE VEIL FOR TAX PURPOSES

Autori su se u ovom radu odlučili na istraživanje jednog instituta hrvatskog općeg poreznog prava, zakonskog poreznog jamstva, s posebnim naglaskom na njegove izmjene, kako materijalnopravne tako i postupovnopravne, po stupanju na snagu prve novele OPZ-a iz 2012. godine. Novelom se širi krug zakonskih jamaca za porezne obveze trgovačkih društava, i to na članove društva, članove uprave i izvršne direktore društva te s njima povezanih osoba, ukoliko se u posebnom dijelu poreznog postupka utvrdi da su zloporabom svojih prava ili ovlasti uzrokovali nemogućnost naplate poreznog duga od društva kao glavnog poreznog dužnika. Prikazuju se i kritički preispituju novelirane odredbe kojima se uvodi tzv. „proboj pravne osobnosti“ u OPZ, s posebnim osvrtom na postupovna pitanja koja bi mogla izazvati probleme u njihovoj primjeni. Prikaz zakonskih odredbi koje uređuju postupak dokazivanja zloporabe prava u porezno-dužničkom odnosu bio je i povod preispitivanju alternativnog pristupa problemu zloporabe prava te mogućnosti uvođenja općeg pravila o zabrani zloporabe u hrvatsko porezno pravo.The authors of this paper examine the issue of statutory tax guarantee, as an institute of the Croatian general tax law. Particular attention is given to substantive and procedural changes following the first Amendments to the General Tax Act of 2012. The Amendments introduced new categories of statutory guarantors for tax liabilities of companies. This refers to company members, board members and executive directors and associated parties, whose abuse of rights and powers has resulted in the company’s inability to pay the tax debt. The liability of the above mentioned persons must be determined in a special form of tax procedure exhaustively regulated as part of the tax procedure. Likewise, the provisions of the General Tax Act that introduce the piercing of the corporate veil are reviewed, while taking into consideration procedural issues which may cause problems in their application. This gives cause for exploring an alternative approach to the tax abuse issues, namely the possibility of introducing general anti-abuse rule (GAAR) in Croatian tax law

A novel SIMPLE-based pressure-enthalpy coupling scheme for engine flow problems

A novel method in CFD derived from the SIMPLE algorithm is presented. Instead of solving the linear equations for each variable and the pressurecorrection equation separately in a so-called segregated manner, it relies on the solution of a linear system that comprises the discretisation of enthalpy and pressurecorrection equation which are linked through physical coupling terms. These coupling terms reflect a more accurate approximation of the density update with respect to thermodynamics (compared to standard SIMPLE method). We show that the novel method is a reasonable extension of existing CFD techniques for variable density flows based on SIMPLE. The novel method leads to a reduction of the number of iterations of SIMPLE which translates in many – but not in all – cases to a reduction in computing time. We will therefore demonstrate practical advantages and restrictions in terms of computational efficiency for industrial CFD applications in the field of piston engine simulations

Hydrothermally processed 1D hydroxyapatite: Mechanism of formation and biocompatibility studies

Recent developments in bone tissue engineering have led to an increased interest in one-dimensional (1D) hydroxyapatite (HA) nano- and micro-structures such as wires, ribbons and tubes. They have been proposed for use as cell substrates, reinforcing phases in composites and carriers for biologically active substances. Here we demonstrate the synthesis of 1D HA structures using an optimized, urea-assisted, high-yield hydrothermal batch process. The one-pot process, yielding HA structures composed of bundles of ribbons and wires, was typified by the simultaneous occurrence of a multitude of intermediate reactions, failing to meet the uniformity criteria over particle morphology and size. To overcome these issues, the preparation procedure was divided to two stages: dicalcium phosphate platelets synthesized in the first step were used as a precursor for the synthesis of 1D HA in the second stage. Despite the elongated particle morphologies, both the precursor and the final product exhibited excellent biocompatibility and caused no reduction of viability when tested against osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells in 2D culture up to the concentration of 2.6 mg/cm2. X-ray powder diffraction combined with a range of electron microscopies and laser diffraction analyses was used to elucidate the formation mechanism and the microstructure of the final particles. The two-step synthesis involved a more direct transformation of DCP to 1D HA with the average diameter of 37 nm and the aspect ratio exceeding 100:1. The comparison of crystalline domain sizes along different crystallographic directions showed no signs of significant anisotropy, while indicating that individual nanowires are ordered in bundles in the b crystallographic direction of the P63/m space group of HA. Intermediate processes, e.g., dehydration of dicalcium phosphate, are critical for the formation of 1D HA alongside other key aspects of this phase transformation, it must be investigated in more detail in the continuous design of smart HA micro- and nano-structures with advanced therapeutic potentials.This is the peer-reviewed version of the articleStojanović, Z.S., Ignjatović, N., Wu, V., Žunič, V., Veselinović, L., Škapin, S., Miljković, M., Uskoković, V., Uskoković, D., 2016. Hydrothermally processed 1D hydroxyapatite: Mechanism of formation and biocompatibility studies. Materials Science and Engineering: C 68, 746–757. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2016.06.047

Hydrothermally processed 1D hydroxyapatite: Mechanism of formation and biocompatibility studies

Recent developments in bone tissue engineering have led to an increased interest in one-dimensional (1D) hydroxyapatite (HA) nano- and micro-structures such as wires, ribbons and tubes. They have been proposed for use as cell substrates, reinforcing phases in composites and carriers for biologically active substances. Here we demonstrate the synthesis of 1D HA structures using an optimized, urea-assisted, high-yield hydrothermal batch process. The one-pot process, yielding HA structures composed of bundles of ribbons and wires, was typified by the simultaneous occurrence of a multitude of intermediate reactions, failing to meet the uniformity criteria over particle morphology and size. To overcome these issues, the preparation procedure was divided to two stages: dicalcium phosphate platelets synthesized in the first step were used as a precursor for the synthesis of 1D HA in the second stage. Despite the elongated particle morphologies, both the precursor and the final product exhibited excellent biocompatibility and caused no reduction of viability when tested against osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells in 2D culture up to the concentration of 2.6 mg/cm2. X-ray powder diffraction combined with a range of electron microscopies and laser diffraction analyses was used to elucidate the formation mechanism and the microstructure of the final particles. The two-step synthesis involved a more direct transformation of DCP to 1D HA with the average diameter of 37 nm and the aspect ratio exceeding 100:1. The comparison of crystalline domain sizes along different crystallographic directions showed no signs of significant anisotropy, while indicating that individual nanowires are ordered in bundles in the b crystallographic direction of the P63/m space group of HA. Intermediate processes, e.g., dehydration of dicalcium phosphate, are critical for the formation of 1D HA alongside other key aspects of this phase transformation, it must be investigated in more detail in the continuous design of smart HA micro- and nano-structures with advanced therapeutic potentials.This is the peer-reviewed version of the articleStojanović, Z.S., Ignjatović, N., Wu, V., Žunič, V., Veselinović, L., Škapin, S., Miljković, M., Uskoković, V., Uskoković, D., 2016. Hydrothermally processed 1D hydroxyapatite: Mechanism of formation and biocompatibility studies. Materials Science and Engineering: C 68, 746–757. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2016.06.047]Published version: [https://vinar.vin.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/7576