Internationalization in Higher Education: an Analysis of Croatian Universities

Around the globe, non-anglophone universities and higher education institutions (HEIs) are trying to internationalize providing students with opportunities to take non-language courses in a foreign language. The usual medium of instruction is English (EMI), which has become a global phenomenon. This paper aims to examine a macro-level university and HEIs’ policy on implementing non-language courses in four largest and oldest Croatian universities and their constituent units. Examining public records of the universities and HEIs, this study will research types and levels of study programs, operationalization of language medium instruction, policy implementation and curriculum evaluation. Since English/Language for Specific Purposes (ESP/LSP) courses can be perceived as preparatory courses for EMI/LMI, types, (non)obligatory nature and workload of ESP/LSP courses taught at the examined HEIs will be studied. The research showed that ESP courses are mostly taught as obligatory courses at the undergraduate level and occasionally as optional courses at the graduate study level. The highest workload of LSP courses is recorded at the HEIs from the Social Sciences fields and the lowest from the Natural Sciences fields, which consequently results in those HEIs (not) offering study programs in a foreign language

Exploring The Motives Of Religious Travel By Applying The Ahp Method – The Case Study Of Monastery Vujan (Serbia)

Religious tourism is considered as the oldest form of people’s travel. Thousands of years ago people travelled miles led by religious motives. Even though pilgrimage is older than most of the other tourism forms, research on the major motives for religious travel still occupies scientific attention. Vujan Monastery represents one of the main riddles among religious tourism researchers in Serbia. After the mysterious healing of Serbian Patriarch Pavle in 1946 who suffered from tuberculosis, this monastery became one of the most famous sacred places for orthodox Christians. The principle aim of this paper is to propose a new way for exploring and ranking the religious motivation using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach. In addition, the study proposes a set of motives – both religious and secular, which can be applied for exploring the motivations for visiting any sacred site. The method was applied to discover the main motives which drive people to visit Vujan Monastery, get their rankings, as well as their preferences between different types of secular and religious motives. The results indicated a strong preference for religious motives compared to secular motives of visit of this sacred site. On balance, the research provides us with a complete ranking structure, encompassing all analyzed motives of visit which show us a clear picture of the main motivation for visits to Vujan monastery

Transmission properties in waveguides: An optical streamline analysis

A novel approach to study transmission through waveguides in terms of optical streamlines is presented. This theoretical framework combines the computational performance of beam propagation methods with the possibility to monitor the passage of light through the guiding medium by means of these sampler paths. In this way, not only the optical flow along the waveguide can be followed in detail, but also a fair estimate of the transmitted light (intensity) can be accounted for by counting streamline arrivals with starting points statistically distributed according to the input pulse. Furthermore, this approach allows to elucidate the mechanism leading to energy losses, namely a vortical dynamics, which can be advantageously exploited in optimal waveguide design.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Strength and thermal stability of Cu-Al2O3 composite obtained by internal oxidation

The objective of the work is to study the effects of the high-energy milling on strengthening, thermal stability and electrical conductivity of Cu-Al2O3 composite. The prealloyed copper powders, atomized in inert gas and containing 3 wt. % Al, were milled up to 20 h in the planetary ball mill to oxidize in situ aluminium with oxygen from the air. Composite compacts were obtained by hot-pressing in an argon atmosphere at 800 degrees C for 3 h under the pressure of 35 MPa. The microstructural characterization was performed by the optical microscope, scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). The microhardness, electrical conductivity and density measurements were also carried out. The effect of internal oxidation and high-energy milling on strengthening of Cu-Al2O3 composite was significant, The increase of the microhardness of composite compacts (292 HV) is almost threefold comparing to compacts processed from the as-received Cu-3 wt. % Al powder (102 HV). The grain size of Cu-Al2O3 compacts processed from 5 and 20 h-milled powders was 75 and 45 nm, respectively. The small increase in the grain size and the small microhardness drop indicate the high thermal stability of Cu-Al2O3 composite during high-temperature exposure at 800 degrees C

Biocatalytic electrode improvement strategies in microbial fuel cell systems

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) produce electricity as a result of the microbial metabolism of organic substrates, hence they represent a sustainable approach for energy production and waste treatment. If the technology is to be implemented in industry, low cost and sustainable bioelectrodes must be developed to increase power output, increase waste treatment capacity, and improve service intervals. Although the current application of abiotic electrode catalysts, such as platinum and electrode binders such as Nafion leads to greater MFC performance, their use cost prohibitive. Novel bioelectrodes which use cost effective and sustainable materials are being developed. These electrodes are developed with the intention to reduce start‐up time, reduce costs, extend life‐span and improve core MFC performance metrics (ie. power density, current density, chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction and Coulombic efficiency (CE)). Comparison of different MFC systems is not an easy task. This is due to variations in MFC design, construction, operation, and different inocula (in the case of mixed‐culture MFCs). This high intra system variability should be considered when assessing MFC data, operation and performance. In this review article, we examine the major issues surrounding bioanode and biocathode improvement in different MFC systems, with the ultimate goal of streamlining and standardising improvement processes

Analysis of frictional moment measurement in a radial hydrodynamic journal bearing on a dedicated test rig

V zaključni nalogi smo se ukvarjali z merjenjem trenja v hidrodinamičnih drsnih ležajih. Izvedli smo teoretični preračun, ki smo ga potem primerjali z eksperimentalnimi rezultati dobljenimi preko meritev na obstoječem laboratorijskem preizkuševališču. Prve meritve so pokazale signifikantno odstopanje analitičnih in eksperimentalnih rezultatov, zaradi cesar je bila opravljena poglobljena analiza merjenja koeficienta trenja na preizkuševališču. Zaradi načina merjenja, izmerjene vrednosti niso bile natančne in je bilo preizkuševališče potrebno obsežneje predelali, kar je opisano v tem zaključnem delu. Hkrati so v delu opisane tudi nekatere bistvene težave, s katerimi smo se soočali tekom dodelave. Izvedli smo tudi primerjave med starimi in novimi eksperimentalnimi meritvami. Glede na rezultate lahko rečemo, da je novi način merjenja koeficienta trenja bistveno bolj ustrezen, saj zagotavlja veliko ponovljivost meritev, vrednosti pa se v področju hidrodinamičnega mazanja zelo dobro ujemajo z analitično določenimi. Točka prehoda iz hidrodinamičnega (tekočinskega) v mešano trenje je s pomočjo novih meritev lahko določljiva, kar je bil naš osrednji cilj.In the final assignment, we focused on measuring friction in hydrodynamic journal bearings. We performed a theoretical calculation, which was then compared to experimental results obtained through measurements on an existing laboratory test rig. The initial measurements showed a significant deviation between the analytical and experimental results, leading to an in-depth analysis of the friction coefficient measurement on the test rig. Due to the measurement method, the recorded values were not precise, and extensive modifications were necessary on the test rig, as described in this final work. Additionally, the paper also describes some essential challenges we encountered during the modifications. We also conducted comparisons between the old and new experimental measurements. Based on the results, it can be stated that the new method of measuring the friction coefficient is significantly more suitable as it ensures high repeatability of measurements, and the values align well with the analytically determined ones in the realm of hydrodynamic lubrication. The transition point from hydrodynamic to mixed friction can be determined with the help of new measurements, which was our main goal