Resources of Sustainable Economic Growth and Development: The Case of the Republic of Serbia

The Sustainable Development Strategy implies a targeted long-term process that affects economic, social, environmental and institutional aspects of life. The goal is to meet the social and economic interests of citizens, reduce poverty, reduce unemployment and gender inequalities and reduce negative impacts on natural resources and the environment, resulting in long-term economic growth with economic efficiency, technology and innovation. Accordingly, in 2015, the United Nations adopted Resolution A/RES/70/1 - Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, based on three dimensions of sustainable development: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection. At the end of the 20th century, parallel with the theory of development, which turned into the concept of sustainable development, there was globalization that integrated the entire world regions in order to gain as strong economic and financial positions as possible on the world stage. Today, Serbia is not in a position to choose whether to engage in modern globalization processes, but it must continue the initiated transitional reforms and accession to the European Union, regardless of the economic, political or environmental consequences. By implementing national policies, Serbia should aim at national and economic sovereignty, which will further influence sustainable development. Only by changing the current economic policy, by creating a national strategy based on the exploitation of domestic economic and industrial potentials, by reducing unemployment, social responsibility and individual freedom, economic growth and sustainable development can be achieved. This work, besides the introduction, consists of materials based on the presentation of the sustainable development strategy of the Republic of Serbia, and also presents the results and discussion that draft the current situation with possible solutions to achieve sustainable development in the future. Finally, final ratifications are provided

AN ENHANCED FIREFLY ALGORITHM FOR MIXED VARIABLE STRUCTURAL OPTIMIZATION PROBLEMS

The recently developed firefly algorithm has become one of the prominent population-based metaheuristics due to its efficiency in solving a wide range of diverse real-world problems. In this paper an enhanced firefly algorithm to solve mixed variable structural optimization problems is presented. Two modifications related with the constraint handling method based on Deb's rules and the geometric progression reduction scheme mechanism are introduced in order to improve its performance in the constrained search space. The proposed algorithm is tested on four classical structural optimization problems taken from literature. The obtained results show that the proposed approach was very competitive in the considered problems, mostly outperforming the original firefly algorithm

Attitudes of students from the high medical college of professional studies and nurses towards people suffering from dementia

Dementia is characterized by a progressive decrease in cognitive functions, and the term includes different etiologies. Cognitive decline includes loss of memory and deterioration in executive functions, such as planning and organizing skills, sufficient to influence social activities. The aim of this study was to examine and compare the attitudes (knowledge, emotions and behaviour) of students at the High Medical College of Professional Studies and nurses towards people suffering from dementia. The study was de-signed as a qualitative study with the use of a questionnaire. The Dementia Attitudes Scale (DAS) was used in our study. A total of 283 respondents answered the survey: 56.25% were students, and 43.75% were nurses. The internal consistency of the DAS was found to be good with a Cronbach's α of 0.792. In the overall score for attitudes, a significant difference was found between students (100.47±10.91) and nurses (95.51±16.10). The students had a better score regarding questions describing their behaviour towards these individuals (p<0.001) and emotions for these patients (p<0.001). For knowledge, there was no difference between the two groups of subjects (p=0.901). Regarding the overall score, attitudes of students and nurses towards people with dementia were positive. This research suggested that the training of senior team members who then had dementia expertise was a key component in developing attitudes and improving care practices and outcomes for these patients. Continuous education of all medical staff who have contact with people who suffer from dementia is important

The subchronic effects of 3,4-methylendioxymethamphetamine on oxidative stress in rat brain

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the subchronic effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine on several oxidative stress markers: index of lipid peroxidation (ILP), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, superoxide radical (O2.-) levels, and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels in the frontal cortex, striatum and hippocampus of the rat. The study included 64 male Wistar rats (200-250 g). The animals were treated per os with of 5, 10, or 20 mg/kg of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) every day for 15 days. The subchronic administration of MDMA resulted in an increase in ILP, SOD and O2.-, and a decrease in GSH, from which we conclude that oxidative stress was induced in rat brain

THE CHALLENGES OF CAREGIVERS OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS COMORBIDITY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN SERBIA

Background: Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) experience significantly higher prevalence of other mental disorders, which amplifies their need for overall support. The outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) resulted in restrictions and limited access to different services with great challenge for families and children with ASD. Subjects and methods: We used an electronic SurveyMonkey questionnaire to examine the experiences of 114 caregivers of children with ASD. We compared: (a) level of support by the child’s school, changes in child behavior, and priority needs for families of ASD and ASD with comorbidities (ASD+) children, during pandemic, and (b) developmental history and diagnosis for ASD and ASD+ children before the pandemic. Results: Our research shows significant behavioral difficulties in the population with ASD and ASD+ that arose in the field of altered living conditions and overall functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Statistically significant results comparing ASD to ASD+ children we found in area of getting additional help and support before the outbreak of the pandemic (47.1% vs 16.0%, p=0.002), as well as in worsening of sleep problems, statistically significant more common in children with ASD+ (ASD+ 47.7% vs. ASD 25.7%, p=0.046). Conclusions: Our findings can contribute to the faster development and implementation of protocols for dealing with situations such as pandemics, related to the vulnerable population of children with ASD and their caregivers

Open House Thessaloniki - Exhibition

HERSUS Project Open House in Thessaloniki took place from the 8th till the 16th of June 2023 with an exhibition open to the public at the Centre for Architecture of the Municipality of Thessaloniki. The exhibition presented the activities and results of HERSUS Project, including six Intelectual Outputs, three International Student Workshops, awarded projects with Prize on Modern Built Heritage, as well as HERSUS international presence and media projection. The HERSUS project proposes enhancing and testing of innovative teaching practices in the field of sustainability of the built heritage and strives to enhance the competence and motivation of educators and researchers to include curricula elements that will have tangible results, preparing students and educators to become real actors of the environmental change.HERSUS Consortium Vladan Djokić, Ana Radivojević, Ana Nikezić, Jelena Živković, Nataša Ćuković Ignjatović, Milica Milojević, Jelena Ristić Trajković, Aleksandra Milovanović, Aleksandra Djordjević, Mladen Pešić, Ana Zorić, Bojana Zeković, Tamara Popović, Nevena Lukić, Emanuela Sorbo, Enrico Anguillari, Sofia Tonello, Irene Sgarro,Maria Philokyprou, Aimilios Michael, Andreas Savvides, Panayiota Pyla, Odysseas Kontovourkis, Stavroula Thravalou, Maria Nodaraki, Theodora Hadjipetrou, Konstantinos Sakantamis, Alkmini Paka, Kleoniki Axarli, Maria Doussi, Angeliki Chatzidimitriou, Sofoklis Kotsopoulos, Mar Loren-Méndez, José Peral López, Enrique Larive, Julia Rey, Marta García de Casasola Gómez, María Carrascal, Daniel Pinzón-Ayala, María Álvarez de los Corrales, Roberto Alonso-Jiménez. Учесници: Архитектонски факултет, Универзитет у Београду (Србија), IUAV University of Venice (Италија), University of Cyprus (Кипар), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Грчка), и University of Seville – UNESCO Chair on Built Urban Heritage CREhAR in the digital era (Шпанија)

HERSUS [Commendation at 44th Salon of Architecture]

HERSUS (Enhancing of Heritage Awareness and Sustainability of Built Environment in Architectural and Urban Design Higher Education) is Erasmus + Strategic Partnerships for higher education which brings together five Universities from Serbia, Italy, Cyprus, Greece, and Spain working together on the design and development of the courses while disseminating knowledge through international training courses, workshops, and a jointly built Sharing Platform