Modification of the horizon of reception : do children understand contemporary poetry?

The goal of this research is to examine how elementary school students (aged nine years) perceive contemporary poetry. The research is based on the reception theory (Jauss, Ingarden, Iser) and aspires to define factors and transformations that enable the reception of poetry at a specific age. The qualitative aspects of reception are studied using the poetry that is not written for children, but adults. After the respondents had read three texts of a Serbian avant-garde poet (Vasko Popa) and the semi-structured interview had been conducted with 17 of them, the qualitative analysis was carried out: reception of the stylistic, conceptual, and syntactic-lexical features of the texts. The appropriate elements of the process and quality of reception will stand out based on the dominant factors in the text. Findings of the analysis show that: 1) the students understand poetry to a higher degree than expected, 2) when a student reads a less comprehensible text, he/she also relies on the emotional experience, 3) the conceptual layer is more accessible if the degree of abstraction is reduced, 4) the students are capable of implicit interpretation of stylistic figures, 5) the students’ understandings of poetic images are based on personification, analogy, epithets, and sound. Possible distractors that affect reception quality are: 1) impressions of concrete meanings, 2) selective and separate reception on the conceptual and thematic level – poetic images are not connected coherently within the poem, 3) inertness of imagination contrary to the suggestiveness of poetic images, 4) limitations of the possibility to verbalize his/her thoughts. The criteria relevant for the methods of interpretation of poetry and its selection stem from the results of the study.peer-reviewe

ANN Model for Prediction of Rockfill Dam Slope Stability

Dam safety and potential failure is one of the issues with the highest risk in water resources management. The dam slope stability is adversely influenced by the natural seepage process in the dam. Thus, monitoring of the pore and total pressures in the dam core is essential in the seepage process analysis. It is possible during the dam operation period to have one or more cells malfunctioning, after years of operation. Sometimes it is technically not possible to replace the cell or the costs of the replacement are too high and not economically justified. At the Pridvorica Dam, several instruments - cells for pore and total pressure monitoring malfunctioned. The objective of this study is to develop a neural network model for the prediction of the pore and total pressure on the malfunctioning cells and to demonstrate its quick and effective practical application for identifying complex non-linear relationship between the input and output variables. The proposed approach can be a very helpful tool for modeling of the stochastic behavior of the dam in order to give adequate warning of soil pressures to prevent failures

High incidence of multiresistant bacterial isolates from bloodstream infections in trauma emergency department and intensive care unit in Serbia

We investigated the incidence of bloodstream infections (BSIs) in trauma emergency department (ED) and intensive care unit (ICU), to assess ED- and ICU-related predictors of BSI and to describe the most common bacteria causing BSI and their antimicrobial resistance markers. A prospective study was conducted in two trauma ICUs of the ED of Clinical Center of Serbia. Overall, 62 BSIs were diagnosed in 406 patients, of which 13 were catheter-related BSI (3.0/1,000 CVC-days) and 30 BSIs of unknown origin, while 15% were attributed to ED CVC exposure. Lactate ≥2 mmol/L and SOFA score were independent ED-related predictors of BSI, while CVC in place for >7 days and mechanical ventilation >7 days were significant ICU-related predictors. The most common bacteria recovered were Acinetobacter spp., Klebsiella spp., and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. All Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci isolates were methicillin-resistant, whereas 66% of Enterococcus spp. were vancomycin-resistant. All isolates of Enterobacteriaceae were resistant to third-generation cephalosporins, whereas 87.5% of P. aeruginosa and 95.8% of Acinetobacter spp. isolates were resistant to carbapenems. ED BSI contributes substantially to overall ICU incidence of BSI. Lactate level and SOFA score can help to identify patients with higher risk of developing BSI. Better overall and CVC-specific control measures in patients with trauma are needed

Oral Health in 12- and 15-Year-Old Children in Serbia: A National Pathfinder Study.

The aim of the paper is to present the oral health profile of 12- and 15-year-old schoolchildren in Serbia. Basic Methods for Oral Health Surveys of the WHO were implemented to record: Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth/Surfaces Index (DMFT/DMFS), gingival bleeding, enamel fluorosis and other structural anomalies, dental erosion, dental trauma, and oral mucosal lesions. In addition, Silness and Löe plaque index and orthodontic status were assessed. A total of 36% of 12-year-olds and 22% of 15-year-olds in Serbia were caries-free. The mean DMFT was 2.32 ± 2.69 for 12-year-olds and 4.09 ± 3.81 for 15-year-olds. DMFT was made up largely by the decayed component. Gingival bleeding was present in 26% of examined 12-year-old and 18% of 15-year-old children. Dental plaque was observed in 63% of both 12- and 15-year-olds. Fluorosis, structural anomalies, dental erosion, dental trauma, and oral mucosal lesion were rarely detected. Low prevalence of malocclusions was found. Oral disease is still a common public health problem among schoolchildren in Serbia. A significant increase in the prevalence of caries disease between 12- and 15-year-old groups implies that preventive care for adolescents requires special attention. Corrective actions and reforms to the current school-based oral health prevention program are needed to further improve oral health in Serbian children

Assesment of radiotherapy effects on the blood flow in gingiva and dental pulp : a laser Doppler flowmetry study

Objective: This study aims to determine and compare the dental pulp and gingival blood flow in patients referred for oropharyngeal radiotherapy (RT) at three different time points: before the start, immediately after, and six months following the completion of RT. The aim is also to evaluate the dependence of the pulp and gingival blood flow on the radiation dose. Methodology: A prospective study included 10 patients referred for intensity-modulated RT (IMRT) in the oropharyngeal region, with at least one intact tooth surrounded by a healthy gingiva. The dose received by each selected tooth and adjacent gingiva was determined according to the map of treatment planning and computer systems. The blood flow measurements were performed using the laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) method. Results: Comparing vascular flows at three different time points, the median blood flow in the dental pulp showed no statistically significant difference (p=0.325), contrary to gingiva (p=0.011). Immediately after RT completion, the gingival flow significantly increased compared to its starting point (p=0.012). The pulp flow correlated negatively with the radiation dose, whereas a strong correlation was noted 6 months following the RT completion. Conclusions: RT caused a significant acute gingival blood flow increase, followed by a long-term (over six months) tendency to return to the starting levels. The dental pulp blood flow is differently affected by higher radiation doses (over 50Gy) in comparison to lower doses (below 50Gy). During RT planning, considering the possibility of protecting the teeth localized near the Gross Tumor Volume as a sensitive organ is recommended

Time-resolved optical spectrometer based on a monolithic array of high-precision TDCs and SPADs

We present a compact time-resolved spectrometer suitable for optical spectroscopy from 400 nm to 1 μm wavelengths. The detector consists of a monolithic array of 16 high-precision Time-to-Digital Converters (TDC) and Single-Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPAD). The instrument has 10 ps resolution and reaches 70 ps (FWHM) timing precision over a 160 ns full-scale range with a Differential Non-Linearity (DNL) better than 1.5 % LSB. The core of the spectrometer is the application-specific integrated chip composed of 16 pixels with 250 μm pitch, containing a 20 μm diameter SPAD and an independent TDC each, fabricated in a 0.35 μm CMOS technology. In front of this array a monochromator is used to focus different wavelengths into different pixels. The spectrometer has been used for fluorescence lifetime spectroscopy: 5 nm spectral resolution over an 80 nm bandwidth is achieved. Lifetime spectroscopy of Nile blue is demonstrated

Laser surface structuring with 100W of average power and sub-ps pulses

High throughput still represents a key factor for industrial use of ultrashort pulses in the field of surface structuring. Reliable systems with average powers up to 100W are today available. It has already been proved that metals, especially steel having a low threshold fluence, can be machined with excellent surface quality at average powers of more than 40W and a spot radius of about 25lm, if a polygon line scanner, offering fast scanning speeds, is used. A further scale-up into the 100W regime should be possible for metals showing a threshold fluence of about 0.2 J/cm2 or higher. But, it will lead to problems with heat accumulation in the case of steel and a straight forward scale-up is not possible. In order to keep a good surface quality, the machining strategy has to be adapted. A maximum flexibility can be obtained with an “interlaced” mode by using very high marking speeds of several 100m/s and repetition rates of several tenths of MHz. As this is at the edge of today available technologies, alternative strategies are additionally investigated. Enlarging the spot size represents the most simple approach to reduce the heat accumulation in the case of steel but also multispots represent an attractive alternative

Use of mineral trioxide aggregate in the treatement of traumatized teeth in children - Two case reports

Introduction. Dental injuries in immature permanent teeth often result in endodontic complications. Apexification technique using calcium hydroxide is associated with certain flaws, such as long treatment time, the possibility of tooth fracture and incomplete calcification. The use of an apical plug employing mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) is an alternative treatment option. Case report. We reported the successful treatment of 4 maxillary incisors (in a 7-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl) with open apices and periapical lesions. Apical portions of the canals were filled with MTA plugs in both cases. Coronal parts of the root canals were filled with gutta-percha and sealer. Clinical findings were clear 6 months after the definite obturation with no pathological changes on the radiographs in both cases. Conclusion. The use of MTA for apical plugging appears to be a valid treatment option in traumatized immature teeth with endodontic complications

The efficacy of hydrothermally obtained carbonated hydroxyapatite in healing alveolar bone defects in rats with or without corticosteroid treatment

Background/Aim. Autogenous bone grafting has been the gold standard in clinical cases when bone grafts are required for bone defects in dentistry. The study was undertaken to evaluate multilevel designed carbonated hydroxyapatite (CHA) obtained by hydrothermal method, as a bone substitute in healing bone defects with or without corticosteroid treatment in rats as assessed by histopathologic methods. Methods. Bone defects were created in the alveolar bone by teeth extraction in 12 rats. The animals were initially divided into two groups. The experimental group was pretreated with corticosteroids: methylprednisolone and dexamethasone, intramuscularly, while the control group was without therapy. Posterior teeth extraction had been performed after the corticosteroid therapy. The extraction defects were fulfilled with hydroxyapatite with bimodal particle sizes in the range of 50-250 mu m and the sample from postextocactional defect of the alveolar bone was analyzed pathohystologically. Results. The histopatological investigations confirmed the biologic properties of the applied material. The evident growth of new bone in the alveolar ridge was clearly noticed in both groups of rats. Carbonated HA obtained by hydrothermal method promoted bone formation in the preformed defects, confirming its efficacy for usage in bone defects. Complete resorption of the materials particles took place after 25 weeks. Conclusion. Hydroxyapatite completely meets the clinical requirements for a bone substitute material. Due to its microstructure, complete resorption took place during the observation period of the study. Corticosteroid treatment did not significantly affect new bone formation in the region of postextractional defects