Farmaceutski preparati i opojne droge kao kontaminirajuće supstance površinskih i otpadnih voda

The presence of pharmaceuticals and narcotic drugs in waste, surface and groundwater presents a serious problem for human health. The reason for this is the fact that these compounds possess biological activity, they have easy mobility, some of them have the ability to bioaccumulation and many are heavily biodegradable. So far, researches have shown that the main source for pharmaceutical preparations in water are municipal waste water with origin from households, hospitals and industry. The main drugs which appear in waters are: analgesics and anti-inflammatory compounds, antibiotics, β-blockers, hormones, lipid regulators, cytostatics, contrast remedy, drugs and disinfection remedies. The composition of products for personal hygiene and cosmetics includes compounds that possess the ability of bioaccumulation, where many of them show estrogen and endocrine effects. Examination of waste waters in Western Balkan cities indicate that drugs are mostly consumed in Zagreb, Belgrade and Novi Sad (cocaine, amphetamine and MDMA). A trend of increasing drug usage on weekends was observed on average of 10-20%. Main processes that determine future usage of drugs in water environments are biotransformation, sorption, chemical transformation, phototransformation and evaporation.Prisustvo farmaceutskih preparata i opojnih droga u otpadnim, površinskim i podzemnim vodama predstavlja ozbiljan problem po zdravlje ljudi. Razlog za to je činjenica da ova jedinjenja poseduju biološku aktivnost, lako su mobilna, neka od njih imaju sposobnost bioakumulacije, a mnoga su i teško biorazgradiva. Dosadašnja istraživanja ukazuju da su glavni izvor farmaceutskih preparata u vodi, komunalne otpadne vode poreklom iz domaćinstava, bolnica i industrije. Farmaceutski preparati koji se javljaju u vodama su: analgetici i antiinflamantorna jedinjenja, antibiotici, β blokatori, hormoni, regulatori lipida, citostatici, kontrastna sredstva, opojne droge, denzifekciona sredstva. U sastav proizvoda za ličnu higijenu i kozmetiku ulaze jedinjenja koja poseduju sposobnost bioakumulacije, a mnoga pokazuju estrogene i endokrine efekte. Ispitivanja otpadnih voda u gradovima Zapadnog Balkana ukazuju da se opojne droge najviše konzumiraju u Zagrebu, Beogradu i Novom Sadu (kokain, amfetamin i MDMA). Zapažen je trend pojačanog korišćenja opojnih droga vikendom u proseku 10-20%. Glavni procesi koji određuju njihovu sudbinu u vodenim sredinama su biotransformacija, sorpcija, hemijska transformacija, fototransformacija i isparavanje

Strategies Credit Policies of Commercial Banks in Serbia

Contemporary business conditions involve the active participation of banks in the financial market. This involvement is primarily related to the approval of different types of bank credits to economy and citizens for their productive functioning, as well as to successful and organized implementation of credit policy by each bank. Today we can note different types of banking markets, which entail the differences between their participants. As credits represent the largest item in the banks’ assets of balance and the largest source of interest income, it is necessary to establish the strategy of credit policy to contribute to the maximization of bank’s earnings, all within the boundaries of acceptable risk level. It is essential to build a distinct credit policy, which includes clarity of regulations and conditions under which the bank is willing to approve credit to its clients. The banks’ policy of credit placements should be noticeable, transparent and continuous, so as to be projected both in short and long term respectively, where we should take into account that long-term projections should be more flexible, so that the bank can adapt at any time to new regulations and opportunities offered by the credit market. This paper addresses the types of credits approved by banks, as well as the market coverage of credit placements towards economy and population, current credits and the instruments for achieving them

Internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises

Globalization, competition, development of the Internet, strengthening of the role of consumers in the global market, technology development and consumer homogenization contributed to a situation in which national markets have become tight. This is why many companies expand their business activities by finding new markets, which are becoming an important factor in their future growth and development. The rapid globalization processes, economic and political integration, the development of modern technologies and new ways of communication have opened the possibility of the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which constitute an integral sector of all economies and present a major contribution to economic development, in terms of both flexible entrepreneurial ideas and employment. Small and medium-sized enterprises promote private ownership and entrepreneurial skills, and in developed countries they represent the 'engine of economic development', whereas their propelling impact in countries in transition is still insufficient. The comparative advantage of these companies is that they can relatively quickly adapt to changes and meet the requirements of the market. This paper emphasizes the fact that the experiences of developed as well as developing countries indicate that proportional development of companies of all sizes and their integration into the main stream of international economy through the process of internationalization, should all lead to a stable and steady development of economy as the ultimate goal

Impact of attributes in spa tourism on the competitiveness, example of Vrnjačka Banja

Spa tourism in Serbia has a considerable tourist potential. Today there is a strong competition on the tourist market, particularly among destinations in spa tourism. Competitiveness of any tourist destination, in particular a spa tourism desti¬nation, greatly depends on key attributes of tourism supply. This paper includes the result of a study which was carried out in order to improve tourists' perception of the importance of the attributes of tourism supply in Vrnjacka Banja. By reviewing the literature, attributes were extracted and grouped into factors in order to decide which groups had the greatest importance in the minds of spa tourists. There were six factors in total. After that and based on t-test, a statistically significant difference between the tourists who plan to visit Vrnjacka Banja again and to recommend this tourist destina¬tion and those who do not was determined according to their attitudes towards these factors. Finally, using ANOVA test, the study proves a statistically significant differ¬ence related to the attributes depending on how long the tourists stayed in Vrnjacka Banja. By recognizing the key attributes of a spa tourist destination in the spa tourists' perception, organizations and individuals who are responsible for the development of tourism will be able to form a supply which suits tourists' needs best, while achieving a high-level competitiveness on the tourist market at the same time

Education as a factor of work and development of agriculture

Education is an important part of development, and the educational level of population is an inevitable indicator of the accomplished level of socio-economic development in each social community. This paper integrates numerous studies about the influence of education on agricultural development, in two aspects: 1) Social knowledge with a goal to develop and encourage new thoughts on the scientific importance for the development of agriculture and their contribution to the development, whereby education enlarges social involvement and influences the decrease of regional disproportion; 2) The influence of the educated level of farmers on their productivity (productivity of agricultural development. The major challenge of the future is to accomplish the structural changes of agricultural development through a creative and synergic use of resources, primarily of all competitive knowledge

Functional magnetic resonance imaging of cortical changes in a low-grade glioma patient

Introduction. New methods for studying brain functions have provided the new insights into human brain. It is really possible to study a cortical adaptation in adults who have sustained injury. We reported cortical changes in a left frontal low-grade glioma patient during disease progression and after reoperation by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Case report. The use of fMRI exams for localisation of eloquent motor and language areas were performed three times in a period of 15 months: seven years after initial tumor resection, eleven months later and three months after the reoperation. The first fMRI demonstrated cortical activation for motor tasks in the expected location of primary motor area while later examinations showed activations of both primary motor areas for right hand movement. The first exam language evaluation showed the left hemisphere dominance for both language tasks, while the second fMRI demonstrated the right hemisphere dominance for complex word generation task, but the left hemisphere remained dominant in simple language task. After the reoperation, language mapping revealed the left hemisphere dominance for both language tasks. Conclusion. fMRI evaluation of cortical changes in low-grade glioma patients may additionally optimize and individualize neurosurgical treatment

Stent graft infixation after venous dislodgement in a patient with femoral posttraumatic arteriovenous fistula

Introduction. An arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is an abnormal connection between an artery and a vein which may result from traumatic injury or may occur as congenital abnormality. Stent graft repair through arteriovenous fistula could lead to complications. Case report. Endovascular stent graft repair in a 23-year-old patient with posttraumatic superficial femoral arteriovenous fistula was performed to cover a fistula. During the procedure the device migrated through the fistula into the femoral vein. Due to eventual risk of migration to the heart, a prompt decision was made to fix the stent graft with three puncture needles in the common femoral vein region under fluoroscopy guidance. The vascular surgeon was called to perform open surgery. Conclusions. The presented way of treating this rare complication in an extreme and uncommon situation is very efficient, safe and inexpensive

Color doppler ultrasonography and multislice computer tomography angiography in carotid plaque detection and characterization

Beckground/Aim. Cerebrovascular diseases are the third leading cause of mortality in the world, following malignant and cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, their timely and precise diagnostics is of great importance. The aim of this study was to compare duplex scan Color Doppler ultrasonography (CDU) with multislice computed tomography angiography (MSCTA) in detection of morphological and functional disorders at extracranial level of carotid arteries. Methods. The study included 75 patients with 150 carotid arteries examined in the period from January 2008 to April 2009. The patients were firstly examined by CDU, then MSCTA, followed by the surgery of extracranial segment of carotid arteries. In 10 patients, the obtained material was referred for histopathological (HP) examination. We used both CDU and MSCT in the analysis of: plaque surface, plaque structure, degree of stenosis, and the presence of intraplaque hemorrhage. Results. The results obtained by CDU and MSCTA were first compared between themselves, and then to intraoperative findings. Retrospective analysis showed that MSCTA is more sensitive than CDU in assessment of plaque surface (for smooth plaques CDU 89% : MSCTA 97%; for plaques with irregular surface CDU 75% : MSCTA 87%; for ulcerations CDU 54% : MSCTA 87%). Regarding determination of plaque structure (mixed plaque CDU 66% : MSCTA 70%; correlation with HP findings CDU 94% : MSCTA 96%) and localization (CDU 63% : MSCTA 65%), and in terms of sensitivity and specificity, both methods showed almost the same results. Also, there is no statistical difference between these two methods for the degree of stenosis (CDU 96% : MSCTA 98%). Conclusion. Atherosclerotic disease of extracranial part of carotid arteries primarily affects population of middle-aged and elderly, showing more associated risk factors. Sensitivity and specificity of CDU and MSCTA regarding plaque composition, the degree of stenosis and plaque localization are almost the same. These results and the fact that there are no adverse effects (high radiation dose) compared to MSCTA indicate that CDU should be the initial method in diagnostic algorythm for carotid arteries