Are Patients Ready for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Family Physicians - A Croatian Study

Discrimination and harassment of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) physicians from their colleagues and superiors are known. However there is little knowledge about the patients’ attitudes and discrimination toward physicians. A cross sectional Internet survey was conducted in urban Croatian regions. The participants were asked to answer questions regarding their socio-demographic status, the Attitudes Towards Lesbians and Gay Men Scale (ATLG), and whether they would refuse to see a LGB physician and, if so, why. Of the 1004 participants, 8.8% said they would refuse a male GB physician while 7.9% would refuse a female LB physician, and 7.3% would refuse both. The two most common reasons for discriminating were: “disaccord with political or religious beliefs” and “fear of being sexually harassed”. A logistical regression model showed that male sex, higher ATLG score and higher age were associated with more refusals of male GB physicians. Also higher age, higher ATLG score were associated with more refusals of female LB physicians, while personal contact with LGB people was associated with less refusals of both groups. The observed prevalence of discrimination is significant. The results suggest that discrimination is based on emotional reasons and stereotypical beliefs. Educational efforts should be directed towards changing misconceptions about LGB people

Estimating residual value of heavy construction equipment using ensemble learning

Knowing the right moment for the sale of used heavy construction equipment is important information for every construction company. The proposed methodology uses ensemble machine learning techniques to estimate the price (residual value) of used heavy equipment in both the present and the near future. Each machine in the model is represented with four groups of attributes: age and mechanical (describing the machine) and geographical and economic (describing the target market). The research suggests that the ensemble model based on random forest, light gradient boosting, and neural network members, as well as support vector regression as a decision unit, gives better estimates than the traditional regression or individual machine learning models. The model is built and verified on a large data set of 500,000 machines advertised in 50 US states from 1989 to 2012

Novel procedure to determine actual stress-strain curves

This paper presents a novel procedure for determining the actual stress- strain curves for undermatching rectangular welded joints made of martensitic armoured steel Armox 500T. The method is based on an analytical expression for true stress; digital image correlation (DIC) with two cameras, i.e. recording 3D deformations of samples; and finite element method (FEM) for stress state analysis of samples. Stresses obtained by dividing the force by the current cross-sectional area of the sample do not represent the actual stress occurring in the sample, because they do not take into account the stress concentration. In this paper we have analysed the stress concentration obtained numerically using Abaqus software in which the model's entered strain values are measured by DIC method

Novel procedure to determine actual stress-strain curves

This paper presents a novel procedure for determining the actual stress- strain curves for undermatching rectangular welded joints made of martensitic armoured steel Armox 500T. The method is based on an analytical expression for true stress; digital image correlation (DIC) with two cameras, i.e. recording 3D deformations of samples; and finite element method (FEM) for stress state analysis of samples. Stresses obtained by dividing the force by the current cross-sectional area of the sample do not represent the actual stress occurring in the sample, because they do not take into account the stress concentration. In this paper we have analysed the stress concentration obtained numerically using Abaqus software in which the model's entered strain values are measured by DIC method

Attitudes towards and knowledge about homosexuality among medical students in Zagreb [Stavovi i znanja o homoseksualnosti u studenata Medicinskog fakulteta u Zagrebu]

The aim of the study was to investigate whether students in their fifth and sixth years of medical school in Zagreb have homophobic attitudes and assess their knowledge about homosexuality. A survey was conducted among fifth and sixth year medical students during the 2009/2010 academic year. The survey consisted of general demographic data, two validated questionnaires--"Knowledge about Homosexuality Questionnaire" and "Heterosexual Attitudes towards Homosexuality Scale"--and questions about personal experiences created for this study. The mean knowledge scores were X = 14.8 out of 20. Furthermore, gender differences in attitudes were observed, indicating less negative attitudes among the female participants. The regression model was significant (ANOVA: Sum of Squares = 38.065; df = 17, Mean Square= 2239, F = 10.6; p < 0.001) with 38% of explained variance. The significant predictor variables that indicate lower attitudes about homosexuality score were female gender (beta= -0.14, p = 0.015), sixth year of study (beta = -0.16, p = 0.009) and more knowledge about homosexuality (beta = -0.48, p < 0.001). Negative attitudes are present among the students; therefore, educational efforts should be included in the curricula of medical schools to diminish the negative perceptions of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community

The Role of MR Imaging and MR Angiography in the Evaluation of Patients with Headache

BACKGROUND: Headache is one of the most common complaint in medical practice and the most often neurological symptom. AIM: The aim of our study was to estimate the frequency of abnormal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) findings in patients with non-acute headache without focal neurological abnormalities. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The results of the MRI and MRA were retrospectively analyzed. As major abnormalities, we took into account tumor, stroke, extraaxial collection, Chiari malformations, and vascular pathology (aneurysm and arterial-venous malformation). RESULTS: Two hundred twenty-five patients fulfilled the criteria. Out of 225 patients with median age of 37 (18–85) years, 78% of the patients were female and 22% were male. In total, we found 8.4% of major abnormalities. On MRI head scan without MRA analysis, we found 50.7% of normal finding, 47.1% of minor abnormalities and 2.2% of major abnormalities. On MRA scan, we found we found 52.9% of normal finding, 40.9% of minor abnormalities, and 6.2% of major abnormalities. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates a low but important diagnostic yield of MRI and MRA examination for patients with non-acute headache without focal neurological abnormalities

Interpolation and Extrapolation of Precipitation Quantities in Serbia

The aim of this paper is to indicate the problems with filling the missing data in precipitation database using interpolation and extrapolation methods. Investigated periods were from 1981 to 2010 for Northern (Autonomous Province of Vojvodina) and Proper Serbia and from 1971 to 2000 for Southern Serbia (Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohia). Database included time series from 78 meteorological stations that had less than 20% of missing data. Interpolation was performed if station had missing data for five consecutive months or less. If station had missing data for six consecutive months or more, extrapolation was performed. For every station with mising data correlation with at least three surrounding stations was performed. The lowest acceptable value of correlation coefficient for precipitation was set at 0,30

Researching consumer habits regarding food label reading

The research on the knowing of the significance and contents of the food product label as well as understanding the data on the label is presented in this paper. The research used the Pearson's chi-square test of homogeneity and Pearson's chi-square test of independence. The research was conducted on a representative sample of 598 respondents from 10 cities in the Republic of Serbia. Research results show that more than half of the respondents always or often read the label, then, that men and women have a similar relation to the frequency of reading the label and its contents. Respondents with special dietary regime frequently read the data on the label than with conventional regimens. Consumers that are more educated are more likely to read the label and know more about its contents. Respondents who know what the label should contain pay more attention to it

Are patients ready for lesbian, gay and bisexual family physicians - a Croatian study [Jesu li pacijenti spremni prihvatiti LGB obiteljske liječnike?]

Discrimination and harassment of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) physicians from their colleagues and superiors are known. However there is little knowledge about the patients’ attitudes and discrimination toward physicians. A cross sectional Internet survey was conducted in urban Croatian regions. The participants were asked to answer questions regarding their socio-demographic status, the Attitudes Towards Lesbians and Gay Men Scale (ATLG), and whether they would refuse to see a LGB physician and, if so, why. Of the 1004 participants, 8.8% said they would refuse a male GB physician while 7.9% would refuse a female LB physician, and 7.3% would refuse both. The two most common reasons for discriminating were: “disaccord with political or religious beliefs” and “fear of being sexually harassed”. A logistical regression model showed that male sex, higher ATLG score and higher age were associated with more refusals of male GB physicians. Also higher age, higher ATLG score were associated with more refusals of female LB physicians, while personal contact with LGB people was associated with less refusals of both groups. The observed prevalence of discrimination is significant. The results suggest that discrimination is based on emotional reasons and stereotypical beliefs. Educational efforts should be directed towards changing misconceptions about LGB people

Analiza i rangiranje kvaliteta izvora tehnoloških informacija u građevinarstvu

Za kvalitetno planiranje i upravljanje građevinskim projektima неопходно је обезбедити relevantne i kvalitetne izvore tehnoloških informacija. U radu je prikazan jedan od mogućih pristupa analizi postojećih izvora tehnoloških informacija u cilju prepoznavanja njihovih karakteristika i utvrđivanja odlika "optimalnog izvora" informacija. Da bi se preciznije definisala priroda "optimalnog izvora" tehnoloških информација, izvršena је anketa među ekspertima građevinske struke kojom su istraživani njihova iskustva u traženju tehnoloških informacija, izvori koje koriste, problemi sa kojima se susreću i navike koje imaju u svakodnevnom radu