Strategije destigmatizacije u spoljnoj politici država: studija slučaja spoljne politike Republike Srbije od 2001. do 2018. godine

Stigmatization of states is one of the most powerful and permanent forms of stratification in the international society. Aware that stigma disables them to enjoy equal position and treatment in the international relations as other states, stigmatized states tend to do away with this burden as quickly as possible. An important stage for destigmatization is the foreign policy towards former enemies. The main research question of this dissertation is why the states in parallel apply different and even contradictory strategies of destigmatization in their relations with former enemies. The dissertation claims that the state applies different destigmatization strategies in parallel in case it finds itself in a situation of “destigmatization dilemma”. Destigmatization dilemma is the situation in which the state fears that compromising strategies leading towards fast destigmatization at the same time reduce its security in relations with former enemies. It stems from the parallel pursuit of the fastest possible destigmatization – directing the state to use compromising strategies, and the pursuit of preserving security – directing the state to use negation strategies. The theoretical model offered in the dissertation presents a pioneer explanation of the choice of destigmatization strategies in foreign policy. Empirical verification of the model is conducted through a case study of the foreign policy of the Republic of Serbia in the period 2001 – 2018. Serbia is one of the paradigmatic cases of a state which strives towards destigmatization, applying in parallel even contradictory strategies in its relations with former enemies. The dissertation applies an interpretivist process tracing of Serbia’s foreign policy towards former enemies in the given period, with the use of discourse analysis. The empirical contribution of the dissertation is reflected in the original classification and thorough description of the foreign policy of Serbia in the 21st century.Stigmatizacija država je jedan od najmoćnijih i najtrajnijih oblika stratifikacije u međunarodnom društvu. Svesne da ih stigma onemogućava da u međunarodnim odnosima uživaju jednak položaj i tretman kao ostale države, stigmatizovane države nastoje da se tog tereta što brže oslobode. Važna pozornica za destigmatizaciju jeste spoljna politika prema nekadašnjim neprijateljima. Glavno istraživačko pitanje ove disertacije je zašto države paralelno primenjuju različite, čak i kontradiktorne strategije destigmatizacije u odnosima prema bivšim neprijateljima. U radu se tvrdi da država primenjuje paralelno različite strategije destigmatizacije ukoliko se nađe u situaciji „destigmatizacijske dileme“. Destigmatizacijska dilema je situacija u kojoj država oseća bojazan da kompromisne strategije koje vode bržoj destigmatizaciji ujedno umanjuju njenu bezbednost u odnosima sa bivšim neprijateljima. Ona proističe iz paralelnosti težnje ka što bržoj destigmatizaciji, koja državu usmerava ka upotrebi kompromisnih strategija, i težnje ka očuvanju bezbednosti, koja državu usmerava ka upotrebi negacijskih strategija. Teorijski model ponuđen u disertaciji predstavlja pionirsko objašnjenje odabira strategija destigmatizacije u spoljnoj politici. Empirijska provera modela vrši se kroz studiju slučaja spoljne politike Republike Srbije od 2001. do 2018. godine. Srbija je jedan od paradigmatskih primera države koja teži destigmatizaciji, a koja u odnosu prema bivšim neprijateljima primenjuje paraleleno različite, pa i kontraditkorne strategije. U radu se vrši interepretativističko praćenje procesa spoljnopolitičkog delovanja Srbije prema bivšim neprijateljima u ovom periodu, uz upotrebu analize diskursa. Empirijski doprinos disertacije se ogleda u originalnoj klasifikaciji i temeljnoj deskripciji spoljne politike Srbije u 21. veku

Temperature and Al3+ influence on electrophoretic mobility of porcine pepsin

The influence of temperature and different concentrations of Al3+ on pepsin electrophoretic mobility was investigated. The increase of Al3+ concentrations causes the decrease the electrophoretic mobility of enzyme. Also the increase of temperature induced the same effect. The influence of both temperature and Al3+ ion concentrations is additive.Physical chemistry 2006 : 8th international conference on fundamental and applied aspects of physical chemistry; Belgrade (Serbia); 26-29 September 200

Non-essential activation of pepsin by Al3+ “in vitro”

The in vitro effect of Al3+ ions on pepsin activity at pH 2, via kinetic parameters was evaluated. Kinetic study showed that Al3+ ions increase the maximal velocity (Vmax) rather than apparent affinity for substrate (KS) implying the non-competitive nature of activation which indicated that aluminium was a non-essential activator of partial non-competitive type.Physical chemistry 2008 : 9th international conference on fundamental and applied aspects of physical chemistry; Belgrade (Serbia); 24-28 September 200

Colloid electrohydrodynamics

This brief extracted review presents the recent development in basic and applied science and engineering of finely dispersed particles and related systems in general, but more profound and in-depth treatise are related to the liquid-liquid finely dispersed systems, i.e. emulsions and double emulsions. Twenty-five years ago, the idea, at first very fogy, came out from the pilot plant experiments related to the extraction Of uranium from wet phosphoric acid. In particular the solution of the entrainment problems, breaking of emulsions/double emulsions, as the succession of the extraction and stripping operations/processes, was performed In this pilot plant, secondary liquid-liquid phase separation loop was designed and carried out. The loop consisted of a lamellar coalescer and four flotation cells in series. Central equipment in the loop, relevant to this investigation, was the lamellar coalescer. The phase separation in this equipment is based on the action of external forces of mechanical and/or electrical origin, while adhesive processes at the inclined filling plates occur. Since many of related processes, e.g. adhesive processes, rupture processes and coalescence, were not very well understood, deeper research of these events and phenomena was a real scientific challenge

Anxiety in the Time of Elections: Electoral Behavior Of Voters in the Context of the Russian-Ukrainian War

Predizborna kampanja uoči izbora 3. aprila 2022. godine odvijala se u specifičnim uslovima. Svega devet dana nakon što je 15. februara 2022. godine predsednik Republike Srbije, Aleksandar Vučić, raspisao prevremene parlamentarne izbore, Ruska federacija izvršila je invaziju na Ukrajinu. Rat koji je trajao je tokom čitave predizborne kampanje, kreirao je specifičan komunikacioni izazov za političke stranke. Osim toga, rat je uticao i na glasače, pobuđujući anksioznost usled eventualnog prelivanja negativnih posledica rata (bezbednosnih, ekonomskih, političkih, emotivnih) na Srbiju. U ovom radu upravo analiziramo uticaj ratom indukovane anksioznosti na izborno ponašanje glasača. Kvantitativni istraživački dizajn podrazumevao je analizu istraživanja javnog mnjenja sprovedenog neposredno nakon održanih izbora. Upitnik postizborne sondaže bio je fokusiran na proveru dve hipoteze o uticaj anksioznosti na izborno ponašanje: (1) preusmeravanje pažnje glasača sa unutarpolitičkih na spoljnopolitičke teme; (2) promenu preferencija glasača kada je u pitanju donošenje odluke za koga će glasati na izborima.The campaign for the 2022 elections in Serbia took place under specific circumstances. Just nine days after the President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić announced parliamentary elections on February 15, 2022, the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine. The war created a specific communication challenge for political parties. In addition, the war also affected the voters, causing anxiety due to the possibility of a spillover of negative consequences of the war (security, economic, political, and emotional) to Serbia. In this paper, we analyze the impact of war-induced anxiety on the electoral behavior of voters. The quantitative research design involved the analysis of a public opinion survey conducted immediately after the elections. The post-election survey questionnaire was focused on testing two hypotheses about the impact of anxiety on voting behavior: (1) redirecting voters’ attention from domestic to foreign political topics; (2) a change in voter preferences when it comes to deciding who to vote for in elections. The theoretical foundation of this paper is a cognitive approach to emotions. The descriptive and inferential findings of our study indicate that anxiety related to the Russian-Ukrainian war was a significant factor in voting behavior in the 2022 parliamentary elections in Serbia. Regardless of party affiliation, it was empirically confirmed for the first time in the Serbian local context that anxiety induced by crisis situations increases voters’ interest in relevant political information, increases the probability of changing voting preferences, and promotes involvement in the electoral process (turnout), as well as gathering around political options that guarantee stability or offer protective security policies (parties that were in power until the election and right-wing parties). However, these effects were not left to the spontaneity of political-psychological processes but were also successfully instrumentalized by the Serbian Progressive Party. Simultaneously increasing the anxiety of the voters and offering messages of reassurance, this party managed to divert the attention of the voters from other relevant issues and to keep its former voters together. The findings of this analysis contribute to the open debates in the field of Elections and Voting Behavior, as well as in the field of Foreign Policy Analysis

Concentrations of manganese and iron in some woody and herbs plants

Heavy metals are the substances that indicate environmental pollution. The plants polluted with heavy metals may endanger natural environment and cause health problems in humans. In our multidisciplinary research of the concentrations of pollutants in forest ecosystems and natural environment in Belgrade, we examined the contents of heavy metals essential for plants but harmful in greater concentrations on a long-term basis. The fact that heavy metals manganese and iron are accumulated in plants to the greatest extent focused our work on determination of the level of concentrations of Mn and Fe in the vegetative parts of 8 plant types on three locations on the Avala Mountain and one location in the centre of the city of Belgrade. The analyses of heavy metals contents in plants were performed by the method of flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The examination of the existence of important differences between the average values was performed by implementation of Duncan’s test for the level of significance of 95%. The current contents of heavy metals in plants in the area of the protected natural resource Avala do not represent danger that would presently cause notable damage to forests but show the tendency of the increase of concentrations. Therefore, this issue should be constantly monitored

Pepeo pšenične slame kao katalizator u proizvodnji biodizela

Wheat straw ash (WSA) was investigated as a new catalyst in biodiesel production from sunflower oil. The catalyst was characterized by temperature-programmed decomposition, X-ray powder diffraction, Hg porosimetry, N2 physisorption, and scanning electron microscopy - energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy methods. The methanolysis reaction was tested in the temperature range of 55–65 oC, the catalyst loading range 10–20 % of the oil weight, and the methanol-to-oil molar ratio range 18 : 1–24 : 1. The reaction conditions of the sunflower oil methanolysis over WSA were optimized by using the response surface methodology in combination with the historical experimental design. The optimum process conditions ensuring the highest fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) content of 98.6 % were the reaction temperature of 60.3 oC, the catalyst loading of 11.6 % (based on the oil weight), the methanol-to-oil molar ratio of 18.3 :1, and the reaction time of 124 min. The values of the statistical criteria, such as coefficients of determination (R2 = 0.811, R2pred = 0.789, R2adj = 0.761) and the mean relative percent deviation (MRPD) value of 10.6 % (66 data) implied the acceptability and precision of the developed model. The FAME content after 4 h of reaction under the optimal conditions decreased to 37, 12, and 3 %, after the first, second, and third reuse, respectively.Pepeo pšenične slame (PPS) je korišćen kao katalizator u proizvodnji biodizela iz sunco-kretovog ulja. Karakterizacija katalizatora je izvršena primenom metoda tempera-turski programiranom razgradnjom (temperature-programmed decomposition, TPDe), rentgenskom difrakcijom (X-ray diffraction, XRD), Hg porozimetrijom, N2 fizi-sorpcijom i skenirajućom elektronskom mikrosopijom sa energo-disperzivnom spek-trometrijom (scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, SEM-EDS). Reakcija metanolize istraživana je pri sledećim reakcionim uslovima: tem-peraturni opseg 55-65 °C; količina katalizatora 10-20 % (računato na masu ulja) i opseg molskog odnosa methanol : ulje 18 : 1 – 24 : 1. Optimizacija reakcionih uslova izvršena je metodologijom površine odziva u kombinaciji sa istorijskim eksperimentalnim planom. Maksimalni prinos metil estara masnih kiselina (MEMK) od 98,6 % postignut je pri sledećim optimalnim reakcionim uslovima: temperatura 60,3 oC, količina katalizatora 11,6 % (računato na masu ulja), molski odnos methanol : ulje 18,3 : 1 i vreme trajanja reakcije 124 min. Vrednosti koeficijenata determinacije (R2 = 0,811, R2pred = 0,789, R2adj = 0,761) i srednjeg relativnog odstupanja (10,6 %, 66 podataka) ukazali su na prihvatljivost i pouzdanost razvijenog modela. Sadržaj MEMK nakon 4 h reakcije pri optimalnim uslovima smanjen je na 37, 12 i 3 % nakon prve, druge i treće upotrebe katalizatora, redom

Preparation of Active Carbon Material By Activation With Various Hydroxide And Characterization Of Their Properties

The aim of this research is to obtain active carbon material from the plane tree fruit. The precursor was first treated with hydrothermal synthesis and then mechanochemically activated with various hydroxides and finally carbonization was done to promote activation.It can be concluded that by acting of different hydroxides (NaOH, BaOH, LiOH, KOH) in the same mass ratio and using the same precursor and the same process, totally different materials with different structure and morphology are obtained.The initial composition of the precursor as well as the final product (active carbon materials) were analyzed using a proximative and ultimate method. The active area surface, volume and pore size was determined using the BET method. Verification of surface-active reaction groups in the identified structures was carried out through Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Morphology of resulting activated carbon materials has been investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The application of the obtained materials is reflected in the fact that we removed the waste, we prevented the pollution of nature, and on the other hand we have obtained material that can be used for various purposes, for example, air and water filters, heating briquettes, fertilizer for plants, superconductors, etc.IX Serbian Ceramic Society Conference - Advanced Ceramics and Application : new frontiers in multifunctional material science and processing : program and the book of abstracts; September 20-21, 2021; Belgrad

Hydrothermal Synthesized and Alkaline Activated Carbons Prepared from Glucose and Fructose—Detailed Characterization and Testing in Heavy Metals and Methylene Blue Removal

In the presented paper, activated carbons were prepared from fructose and glucose, and activating agents (KOH, NaOH, LiOH) by hydrothermal treatment (HTC) treatment. After preparation, samples were characterized in details. Different techniques were used: x-ray powder diffraction analysis, Raman spectral analysis, elemental analysis, and determination of textural and morphological properties. Obtained results showed dependence of investigated properties and the nature of precursors (glucose or fructose) as well as the type of hydroxides used as activating agents. After characterization, samples were tested as materials for heavy metals (Pb2+, Cd2+and Zn2+) and methylene blue removal. Also, adsorption experiments were performed on wastewaters taken from tailings of the lead and zinc mine and kinetic of the methylene blue removal was studied. The factors which distinguished the KOH activated samples were high yield (~14%), content of organic carbon (63–74%), porosity and specific surface area (SBET~700–1360 m2/g), a low degree of the crystal phase, indications that potassium ions may be included in heavy metals removal, good removal of the heavy metal ions (~47–59 mg/g for Pb2+, ~21–27 mg/g for Cd2+and ~6–10 mg/g for Zn2+) and fast (~10–30 min) and good methylene blue (~60–200 mg/g) removal