Transition of collective land in modernistic residential settings in New Belgrade, Serbia

Turbulent periods of transition from socialism to neoliberal capitalism, which have a ected the relationships between holders of power and governing structures in Serbia, have left a lasting impact on the urban spaces of Belgrade’s cityscape. The typical assumption is that the transformation of the urban form in the post-socialist transition is induced by planning interventions which serve to legitimize these neoliberal aspirations. The methodological approach of this paper is broadly structured as a chronological case analysis at three levels: the identification of three basic periods of institutional change, historical analysis of the urban policies that permitted transformation of the subject area, and morphogenesis of the selected site alongside the Sava River in New Belgrade. Neoliberal aspirations are traced through the moments of destruction and moments of creation as locally specific manifestations of neoliberal mechanisms observable through the urban form. Comparison of all three levels of the study traces how planning and political decisions have a ected strategic directions of development and, consequently, the dynamics and spatial logic of how new structures have invaded the street frontage. The paper demonstrates that planning interventions in the post-socialist transition period, guided by the neoliberal mechanisms, has had a profound impact on the super-block morphology

NEEDS AND SPECIFICS OF ENSURING EFFECTIVE INTERNAL AUDIT

In modern business conditions, internal audit has significant potential for creating added value for the company and improving its operations. The extent to which internal audit will realise its objectives is primarily determined by the level of its effectiveness. In this regard, the authors of the paper, in addition to highlighting the importance of internal audit for achieving the strategic goals of the company, deal with the specifics of ensuring its effectiveness. These specifics are related to the issue of measuring the effectiveness of internal audit, as well as to identification and analysis of the factors that largely determine the achieved level of effectiveness of internal audit

CONTRIBUTION OF INTERNAL AUDIT IN THE FIGHT AGAINST FRAUD

Abstract: The constant increase in the volume of fraud, that leave devastating effects on business performance, causes a significant preoccupation of enterprises with this problem. Being aware of the fact that the establishment of an adequate fraud risk management process is necessity, enterprises are increasingly basing the effectiveness of the mentioned process on the potentials of internal audit. Bearing in mind that internal audit does not have the primary responsibility to prevent and detect fraud, its integration in fraud risk management process represents a new challenge for this function. In the paper, authors initially point out the factors that determine the ability of the internal audit to fight against fraud, then the contribution that this function can provide in their prevention, detection and investigation

Outage Probability Analysis of Mixed RF-FSO System Influenced by Fisher-Snedecor Fading and Gamma-Gamma Atmospheric Turbulence

In this paper, we investigate a dual-hop relaying system, composed of radio frequency (RF) and free-space optical (FSO) link. Decode-and-forward (DF) relay is employed to integrate the first RF link and the second line-of-sight FSO links. The RF channel is assumed to be subject to recently proposed Fisher-Snedecor fading model, which was shown to be convenient for modeling in realistic wireless communication scenarios. The FSO channel is affected by Gamma-Gamma distributed atmospheric turbulence. Expression for the outage probability is derived and utilized to present numerical results. Based on presented results, the effects of various RF and FSO channels parameters on the overall system performance are examined and discussed.Comment: Presented at 2018 26th Telecommunications Forum (TELFOR

Effect of chemical composition on the microstructure, hardness and electrical conductivity profiles of the Bi-Ge-In alloys

In this study, the microstructure, hardness, and electrical properties of selected ternary Bi-Ge-In alloys were investigated. Isothermal sections of the Bi-Ge-In system at 25, 200, and 300 ° C were extrapolated using optimized thermodynamic parameters from the literature. The used experimental techniques include optical microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersion spectrometry (EDS), Brinell hardness, and electrical conductivity measurements. The results of EDS phase composition analysis were compared with the calculated isothermal sections and a good overall agreement was reached. The results of the XRD were also in line with the predicted phase balance. By using ANOVA analysis and experimental results of Brinell hardness and electrical conductivity, a mathematical model was suggested for the calculation of these properties along with all composition ranges. The appropriated mathematical model was subsequently used for the prediction of hardness and electrical conductivity throughout the whole composition range

Carbon footprint of miscanthus biomass

Abstract: In this paper an overview of CO2emissions from the useof biomass of fast-growing plant miscanthus are given. The aim was to analyze and calculate a carbon footprint of all operations in the life cycle of miscathus like: preparation for rhizomes planting (application ofherbicides, plowing and harrowing on unused agricultural land), planting, fertilization of young plants, irrigation, mowing of plants, baling, transport to the nearest briquetting machine where briquettes are produced or to the nearest pyrolytic plant where pyrolytic diesel is produced. Emissions of CO2are taken from previously performed analysis and re-calculated for 1t of miscanthus biomass. The results showed the dominant impact of the briquetting operation due to high electricity consumption (70 kWh) which is in Serbia produced mostly from non-renewable energy sources (about 72%, from coal and natural gas). In accordance with the complete abandonment of coal for energy production which became one of the main goals in the fight against climate change, a future scenario has been created. This scenario involved the production of electricity using only renewable energy sources (hydropower plants with the share of 22%, wind turbines with the share of 28%, solar panels with the share of 25% and heat pumps with the share of 25%). The results show drastic reductions of CO2 emissions, up to4,000 times in a case when renewable energy sources are used for electricity production compared to the current electricity mix used in Serbia. Nevertheless, despite high emissions of CO2from using electricity fromnon-renewable sources, it is concluded that miscantus is a more environmentally friendly solution for energy production than lignite briquettes and firewood that are normally used for the heating of households and that all measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gases emissions should be implemented to avoid catastrophic consequences on the climate and human health in Serbia. Apstrakt: U ovom radu dat je pregled emisija CO2 usled korišćenja biomase brzorastuće biljke miskantus. Prikazana je analiza ugljeničnog otiska svih operacija u životnom ciklusu miskantusa kao što su: pripreme za sadnju rizoma (primena herbicida, zaoravanje i tanjiranje zaparloženog zemljišta), sadnja rizoma, đubrenje mladih jedinki, navodnjavanje, košenje, baliranje, transport do najbliže briketirke gde se vrši briketiranje ili postrojenja za pirolizu gde se vrši proizvodnja pirolitičkog dizela. Za emisije CO2prilikom ovih operacija korišćeni su podaci iz prethodnih istraživanja. Emisije CO2su izračunate u odnosu na 1 t proizvedene biomase miskantusa. Rezultati su pokazali dominantan uticaj operacije briketiranje usled velike potrošnje električne energije (70 kWh) koja se u Srbiji proizvodi najvećim delom iz neobnovljivih izvora energije (oko 72%, ugalj i prirodni gas). U skladu sa potpunim izbacivanjem uglja kao energenta za proizvodnju električne energije koje predstavlja jedan od glavnih ciljeva u borbi protiv klimatskih promena kreiran je budući scenario koji podrazumeva proizvodnju električne energije korišćenjem isključivo obnovljivih izvora energije (hidroelektrane 22%, vetroturbine 28%, solarni paneli 25% i oplotne pumpe 25%). Pokazano je da su uštede u emisijama CO2 nastale ovakvom zamenom energenata i do 4000 puta veće nego u slučaju korišćenja električne energije proizvedene klasičnim putem. I pored ovih visokih emisija CO2 usled dobijanja struje iz neobnovljivih izvora energije,miskantus je dokazano ekološki manje štetno gorivo u odnosu na brikete lignita i ogrevno drvo koji se inače koriste za grejanje domaćinstava i zaključuje se da svakako treba primeniti sve mere koje imaju cilj smanjenje gasova sa efektom staklene bašte kako bi se izbegle katastrofalne posledice po klimu i zdravlje ljudi u Srbiji

Mechanical and electrical properties of the Bi-Ge-Sn alloys

Mechanical and electrical properties of the ternary Bi-Ge-Sn alloys were investigated in this study. Calculation of isothermal section at 200, 300, and 25 ºC was carried out by using optimized thermodynamic parameters for the constitutive binary systems. Microstructures of alloys were observed by using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Phases in microstructures have been detected by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and compositions of the phase by energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). EDS results were compared with the predicted isothermal section at 200 and 300 ºC, and good agreement has been reached between them. The Brinell hardness and electrical conductivity of selected alloys were measured.  Through ANOVA analysis and application of the obtained results, an appropriate mathematical model is proposed for every composition of alloys. By using the appropriated mathematical model for Brinell hardness and electrical conductivity, isolines for those properties were presented

Error rate and ergodic capacity of RF-FSO system with partial relay selection in the presence of pointing errors

This paper presents an analysis of a multiple dual-hop relaying system, which is composed of km-class radio frequency (RF)-free-space optical (FSO) links. Partial relay selection based on outdated channel state information (CSI) is employed in order to select active relay for further transmission. Amplify-and-forward relaying protocol is utilized. The RF links are assumed to be subject to Rayleigh fading, and the FSO links are influenced by both Gamma–Gamma atmospheric turbulence and pointing errors. On the basis of our previously derived expression for cumulative distribution function of the equivalent signal-to-noise ratio of the whole system, we derive novel analytical expressions for the average bit-error rate (BER) and ergodic capacity that are presented in terms of the Meijer’s G-function and extended generalized bivariate Meijer’s G-function, respectively. The numerical results are confirmed by Monte Carlo simulations. Considering the effect of time-correlation between outdated CSI and actual CSI related to the RF channel at the time of transmission, the average BER and the ergodic capacity dependence on various system and channel parameters are observed and discussed. The results illustrate that the temporal correlation between outdated and actual CSI has strong effect on system performance, particularly on BER values, when FSO hop is influenced by favorable conditions

SYNERGISTIC EFFECTS OF INTERNAL AUDIT AND LEAN-SIX SIGMA CONCEPT ON BUSINESS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

Abstract: Faced with a series of challenges within the environment in which they operate, companies are more than ever aware of the fact that efforts aimed at improving business processes are some of the basic conditions, not only of growth and development, but also of the survival of the company. Only in this way can the opportunities for achieving different dimensions of competitiveness be created (in terms of costs, quality, delivery reliability, speed of monitoring the changes in demand, introduction of new products, etc.). Business process improvement can be implemented with the support of a number of concepts, among them being lean-six sigma. However, the great potential in this regard also lies in internal audit. In this regard, this paper will first discuss the essence and assumptions underlying the internal audit and lean-six sigma concept, and then review the possibilities of their integration in order to achieve better results

Effect of aspartame on biochemical and oxidative stress parameters in rat blood

Aspartame (ASP) is one of the most widely used nonnutritive sweeteners. This study investigates the chronic effects of ASP on hematological and biochemical parameters, and its effects on the oxidative/antioxidative status in the red blood cells of Wistar albino rats. Rats were provided with ASP (40 mg/kg/daily for six weeks) in drinking water. Increased food and fluid intake was observed in the ASP-treated rats. Total body mass was significantly decreased in the ASP-treated rats. Treatment with ASP caused an increase in the concentrations of glucose, cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and in the activities of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), as well as a decrease in the levels of HDL-cholesterol in the serum. A significant decline in the number of white blood cells (WBC) was observed after ASP uptake. Based on the results we conclude that ASP induces oxidative stress, observed as an alteration of the glutathione redox status, which leads to increased concentrations of nitric oxide (NO) and lipid peroxides (LPO) in the red blood cells. Changes in biochemical parameters, lipid metabolism, as well as changes in the levels of oxidative stress markers and the appearance of signs of liver damage indicate that chronic use of ASP can lead to the development of hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia and associated diseases