Detection of climatic fluctuations by Hilbert-Huang method in the data of Zagreb-Grič centennial observatory, Croatia

Advanced statistical methods are applied on long-term data sets from Zagreb-Grič centennial observatory in Croatia to address recent climate change and variabilities; annual averages are used. Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT), consisting of empirical mode decomposi- tion (EMD) and Hilbert spectral analysis (HSA), is an empirically based data-analysis method for extracting periodic components embedded within generally nonlinear and non-stationary data. The EMD splits the original series into a so-called intrinsic mode functions (IMFs). First, using the EMD algorithm, intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) are obtained. The analysis of low frequency IMFs indicates significant influence of the North-Atlantic Oscillation on the air temperature, cloudiness and precipitation series in the part of northern Croatia. For the con- sidered climatic elements, the analysis revealed mild deviations in natural fluctuations of the analyzed signal for the last 30 to 40 years, which are most likely caused by anthropogenic activi- ties. Next, HSA is applied to each IMF obtained for the series of annual averages of sea level air pressure. In order to validate this approach and the results, an associated Hilbert spectrum (HS) is compared with the continuous wavelet analysis, i.e., this is another corresponding checkup. The comparison shows significantly improved time and frequency resolution in favor of HS. Moreover, HS provides a unique capability of displaying intra-wave frequency modula- tion, i.e., changes in frequency that occur within one cycle of oscillation

Body Projects and the Regulation of a Normative Body: The Role of Physical Culture in Yugoslavia

U ovom radu bavim se konceptom fizičke kulture kao projektom koji je bio korišćen u procesu formiranja jugoslovenskog identiteta i stvaranja novog jugoslovenskog tela. Nadovezujući se na sociologiju tela i sociologiju sporta, razmatram načine na koje je telo konstruisano putem različitih diskursa i praksi. Analiziram aktivnosti sportskih saveza i posebno rada Saveza za fizičku kulturu Jugoslavije. Pokazujem kako se jugoslovensko telo izgrađivalo postupno, regulacijom konkretnih normi i propisa kojima su se određivale telesne prakse u jugoslovenskom društvu i koji su nadalje predstavljali pokušaj upisa ideologije u svakodnevni život ljudi. Ono što je diskurzivno bilo definisano, uistinu je imalo posledica na realne prakse svakodnevnog života u jugoslovenskom društvu, a simbolički je stvaralo izvesnu zajednicu jedinstvenih tela i prepoznatljivih telesnih praksi. Imajući u vidu da je Josip Broz Tito proglasio svoj rođendan “danom naše mladosti, sporta, mladih ljudi i njihovog daljeg fizičkog i duhovnog razvoja” (1956), ukazujem i na to kako je uloga fizičke kulture bila u tome da organizuje jugoslovensko društvo fizički i estetski i da inkorporira pokrete iz gimnastike u šire reprezentacije ujedinjene jugoslovenske omladine predstavljene na javnim proslavama, od kojih je tipična za taj period bila Štafeta mladosti.This paper deals with the concept of physical culture as a project used for the formation of the Yugoslav identity and the creation of a new ‘Yugoslav’ body. I draw on the developments in the sociology of the body and the sociology of sport, discussing the ways in which the body is constructed by diverse discourses and practices. I analyze the activities of sports’ associations and especially the work of The Yugoslav Association for Physical Training (Savez za fizičku kulturu Jugoslavije). The Yugoslav body was formed gradually, by regulating concrete norms and rules that defined body practices in the Yugoslav society and that represented an attempt to incorporate the socialist ideology into everyday lives. What was firstly defined discursively in fact had an impact on the real practices of everyday lives in the Yugoslav society, and symbolically formed a community of unified bodies and recognisable body practices. Having in mind Josip Broz Tito’s proclamation that his birthday should be “the day of our youth, sport, young people and their continuing physical and spiritual progress” (1956), I point to the ways in which physical culture organized the Yugoslav society physically and aesthetically and incorporated movements from gymnastics into a broader concepts of united Yugoslav youth presented in public celebrations, the most typical being The Relay of Youth (Štafeta mladosti)

Detection of Climatic Fluctuations by Hilbert - Huang Method in the Data of Zagreb - Grič Observatory

Hilbert-Huangova transformacija empirijska je metoda za analizu periodičkih komponenti nelinearnih i nestacionarnih podataka. Sastoji se od dva dijela: metode empirijskog rastavljanja (eng. Empirical Mode Decomposition, EMD) i Hilbertove spektralne analize (HSA). EMD, metoda koja rastavlja originalne nizove na tzv. prirodne sastavne funkcije, (eng. Intrinsic Mode Functions, IMF) primjenjena je na godišnje i sezonske srednjake temperature, naoblake i tlaka, te na godišnje i sezonske sume oborine i globalnog zračenja opservatorija Zagreb-Grič, za razdoblje 1862.2015. Analizom dugoperiodičkih prirodnih sastavnih funkcija pokazan je značajan utjecaj koji Sjeverno-atlantska oscilacija (eng. North Atlantic Oscillation, NAO) ima na godišnje i sezonske nizove temperature, naoblake i oborine. Za ove iste elemente analiza otkriva blago odstupanje signala od prirodne varijabilnosti u posljednjih 30-ak godina, za što je najvjerojatnije odgovoran ljudski faktor. Zatim je Hilbertova transformacija primjenjena na sve IMF dobivene iz niza godišnjih srednjaka tlaka, a dobiven Hilbertov spektar uspoređen je s valićnim. Pokazano je da HHT ima značajno poboljšanu frekvencijsku i vremensku razlučivost. Uz to, ta metoda ima jedinstvenu mogućnost prikaza frekventne modulacije unutar jednog perioda (eng. Intrawave Frequency Modulation, IFM)

From a Yugoslav to a Balkan Star and Back

In this article, I deal with the public figure of the singer Lepa Brena in the context of the cultural and music politics in socialist Yugoslavia and in the war and post-war times, by focusing on her transition from a “genuine” Yugoslav star, through the period in which the Yugoslav label was not desirable, to the singer’s recent transformations in which she has been involved in the process of commodifying Yugonostalgia for repositioning her public figure in a new context

“Rock and Roll Will Keep us Together”: Music and the representations of Yugoslav collectivity in the Day of Youth

In this article I will point out to the role of music in the Day of Youth, the most important state holiday in the socialist Yugoslavia. I will show that in the afterwar period, the music for the jamboree was selected in order to highlight certain important events from the People’s Liberation Struggle, so that it consisted in the combination of traditional, partisan and folk songs, and it was regularly related to Tito himself. After Tito’s death in 1980, the Day of Youth was in crisis, together with the country, but despite that, the celebrations were organized almost until the very end of Yugoslavia. The celebrations after Tito were marked by a tendency to overcome the crisis of the ideology of “brotherhood and unity,” so that it was concluded that the Day of Youth should be modernized. I argue that the music played a crucial role in the process, leading to the promulgation of rock and roll as “our future,” i.e. the future of the young. The collectivities that were represented in the jamboree also changed in accordance with the music, so that those in the 1980s included casual rock and roll dancing instead of traditional round dances

Elements of evolutionism in Max Weber's socio-musical theory of rationalization

Maks Veber je smatrao da je zapadno društvo karakteristično po tendenciji ka ekstremnoj racionalizaciji. Definisana kao proces progresivne intelektualizacije, racionalizacija je smatrana očiglednom u svim aspektima društvenog života. Međutim, Veber je tvrdio da je ovaj proces najočigledniji u muzici, te je „tezu o racionalizaciji” primenio na sve aspekte muzike – melodiju, harmoniju, polifoniju, sisteme štimovanja i lestvica, kao i instrumentalnu tehnologiju. Iako su fragmenti Veberove studije o muzici (započete u periodu između 1910. i 1913. godine) objavljeni 1921. godine, studiju retko razmatraju i muzikolozi i sociolozi. U ovoj studiji, Veber je ukazao na postojanje procesa racionalizacije u sposobnosti kompozitora da upotrebljavaju sve kompleksnija muzička sredstva, što je vodilo unapređenju ljudskog uma i sve većem bogaćenju muzičkog jezika. Nadalje, on je objasnio proces racionalizacije kao sredstvo u borbi protiv izvesnih iracionalnih „pretnji” koje bi mogle da zaustave razvoj muzike. U ovoj disertaciji analiziram Veberovu „tezu o racionalizaciji” kao amalgam socioloških i muzikoloških uticaja, te posebno izdvajam elemente koji ukazuju na prisustvo i načine inkorporiranja evolucionističke paradigme (karakteristične za muzikološki diskurs 19. veka) u autorovu sociološkomuzičku teoriju. Najpre ukazujem na važna pitanja koja se tiču same paradigme evolucionizma, kako u diskursima prirodnih nauka, tako i u diskursima o muzici. Potom se fokusiram na formiranje evolucionističkog modela u Veberovoj sociologiji muzike tako što predstavljam model kao posledicu kombinacije evolucionističkog i istoricističkog uticaja. Premda se o Veberu redovno diskutuje kao o protivniku evolucionističkih tendencija u sociologiji, ja ovde pokazujem da se paradigma evolucionizma pokazuje kao jedna od značajnijih teorijskih platformi kada je reč o Veberovoj studiji o muzici. Konačno, rad završavam izvesnim razmatranjima mogućih implikacija Veberove analize.Max Weber argued that Western society is characterized by a tendency towards extreme rationalization. Having been defined as a process of progressive intellectualization, rationalization was supposed to be evident in all aspects of social life. However, Weber advocated that this process was nowhere more conspicuous than in music, and he applied the “rationalization thesis” on the analysis of all music aspects – melody, harmony, polyphony, tuning and scale systems, instrument technology. Even thought the fragmentary drafts of Weber’s study on music (which originated in the 1910 to 1913 period) were published in 1921, the study has been scarcely discussed by both musicologists and sociologists. In this study, Weber pointed to the process of rationalization as being obvious in composers’ ability to use progressively complex musical agents, which led to the enhancing of human reason and to the increasing abundance of musical language. Furthermore, he explicated the rationalization process as a means in the fight against certain irrational “threats” that could stop music development. In this dissertation I survey Weber’s “rationalization thesis” as an amalgam of the influences of both sociology and musicology, and I focus on the elements that indicate the presence of the evolutionist paradigm (which was characteristic for the 19thcentury musicology) and the ways of its incorporation in author’s socio-musical theory. Firstly, I point to the pertinent questions considering the very paradigm of evolutionism in the natural science discourses, as well as in the discourses on music. Then, I analyze the formation of the evolutionistic model in Weber’s sociology of music by presenting the model as a consequence of both evolutionistic and historical influences. Although Weber is regularly discussed as an opponent of the evolutionistic tendencies in sociology, I show how the evolutionistic paradigm seems to be one of the relevant theoretical backgrounds when the analysis of Weber’s study on music is discussed. Finally, I conclude the paper with some observations on possible implications of Weber’s analysis

Quality of Life after Colorectal Cancer Surgery in Patients from University Clinical Hospital Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Quality of life (QoL) has become an important outcome measure for patients with cancer, but results from population-based studies are infrequently published. The objective of this study was to asses QoL in patients who underwent the colorectal cancer (CRC) surgery and to compare it to the QoL of general population. The patients who were admitted from January 2004 until May 2006 at the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery at the Clinical Hospital Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina were divided in three groups: group of CRC patients who had received surgery and as a result of surgical treatment have colostomy, group of CRC patients who had received surgery in the same period and don’t have colostomy and the third group that consisted of controls. QLQ-C30 and QLQ-CR38 questionnaires by the European Organization for Cancer Research and Treatment (EORTC) were used. A total of 67 patients were included in this study, supplemented by the thirty healthy examinees. Healthy group had significantly better results in physical functioning compared with colorectal cancer patients and better results in cognitive and social functioning. Also, they reported symptoms of diarrhea and constipation less frequently than the group with colostomy and. The group with colostomy had poorer results in emotional functioning than the group without colostomy, and also reported significantly poorer results for domain »body image«. Healthy group showed better results in sexual enjoinment than the patient with colorectal cancer. Patients without colostomy reported more micturition and defecation problems and female sexual problems compared to the healthy group. Generally we found that healthy population had better results than the CRC patients, while the patients with stoma had worse results than the nonstoma patients. The results presented here suggest that psychological treatment should be an integral part of the CRC treatment plan

Selective non-catalytic denitrification of biomass combustion flue gases (synthetic mixture)

Despite many benefits of agricultural biomass utilization as an energy source, there are certain disadvantages such as the possible high emission of NOx. The NOx emission represents one of the key challenges for agricultural biomass use as a fuel. The experimental denitrification chamber was used to evaluate the impact of initial NO content, NH3:NO molar ratio, flue gas temperature, and the temperature difference between two denitrification chamber sections on NOx reduction using ammonia aqueous solution. The optimization of experimental conditions was done in the NO concentration range from 200-800 ppm, NH3:NO molar ratios from 0.31-3 and second chamber section temperature range from 770-67°C. The denitrification process under controlled conditions is the starting point for the optimization of the secondary denitrification technique of selective non-catalytic reduction SNCR process on real-scale plants combusting biomass or any other fuels with increased NOx emission

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons emission from cigar burner combustion system and comparison of their content in fly ashes

Agricultural biomass is considered a preferred RES in Serbia because of its availability and suitability to limit the use of fossil fuel resources and reduce GHG emissions. Therefore, constant work has been done to develop technologies that enable its utilization for energy purposes. As an example of these efforts, in the Agricultural Corporation PKB, the soybean straw cigarette-type combustion system has been applied for greenhouse heating for over a decade. However, many volatile and semivolatile organic compounds are emitted directly into the atmosphere or concentrated in ash particles during agricultural biomass combustion. Since some of the emitted compounds, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are toxic, monitoring their concentrations in fly ash is recommended. Literature data regarding PAHs content in agricultural biomass ashes are insubstantial, especially in Serbia. For that purpose, PAHs contents in the cyclone and stack fly ashes of soybean straw were investigated and compared. In addition, the emission factors, toxicity, carcinogenicity and benzo[a]pyrene equivalence concentrations were determined and used to estimate the potential environmental impact of these ashes. As a result, stack ash has been shown to have a higher potential environmental risk than cyclone ash. Hence, an assessment of using soybean straw as a feed fuel in a real cigarette-type combustion plant regarding PAHs emission is given. These results provide important information for optimizing combustion conditions and assisting the local entities in managing air pollution and control policies in Serbia

Optical observations of NGC 1156 galaxy in narrowband [SII] and Hα filters

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