The role and importance of international organizations in maintaining ecological and human security

This paper presents key reflections on compromised ecological and human security. Man's growing insecurity has been affected by global ecological issues in two ways, directly and indirectly. The former involves health implications of exposure to ultraviolet radiation, while the latter is linked to potential climate changes and malnutrition. Not all ecological hazards are global, but it is clear that they exacerbate local pollution-related concerns and that individual countries are not capable of addressing them on their own. How the perspective of human security can be incorporated into the analysis of environmental challenges and how the ecological dimension can be bolstered in the analysis of human security are some of the other issues examined in this paper. The paper aims to recognize the role and importance of international organizations based on conceptual, analytical and operational considerations of ecological and human security issues. Namely, through mutual cooperation and joint activities these organizations are making great efforts to produce results by analyzing the interaction between factors of global change and degradation of the environment and factors affecting human security. Among the more important organizations mentioned are the UN and several of its agencies and suborganizations that are part of the 'UN family' (UNDP, UNESCO, UNU, UNU-EHS, UNEP, FAO) as well as a number of regional organizations such as OSCE and EU

An overstoichiometric Nd–Fe–B hard magnetic material

A commercial Nd-rich Nd–Fe–B-based hard magnetic material was studied. The obtained results were compared before and after recording of the thermomagnetic curve up to 800 °C. The curve itself showed clearly besides Curie points of the Nd2Fe14B phase and α-Fe also another critical temperature. Mössbauer spectroscopic (MS) phase analysis and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) showed in addition to the commonly known phases Nd2Fe14B and NdFe4B4 also some paramagnetic and ferromagnetic iron atoms (MS) and Fe17Nd2 intermetallics (XRD). During the exerted thermal treatment, the content of the Nd2Fe14B and NdFe4B4 phases remained almost unchanged, while iron atoms from remnant minor phases built a separate α-Fe phase. The XRD pattern also showed the presence of some minor Nd phase. The results of Squid magnetic measurements suggest a nanocrystalline decoupled structure of the Nd-rich alloy in the optimized magnetic state. Measurement of the magnetization loop showed, in spite of small changes in the phase composition, that magnetic properties of the quality material deteriorated during the thermal treatment

Promene u fizičko-hemijskim karakteristikama junećeg mesa tokom 14 dana hlađenja

The objective of the work was to evaluate the effect of conditioning time (during 14 days of ageing at +4°C) on physicochemical properties of two cattle skeletal muscles. Investigations were conducted on the m. longissimus dorsi (n=9) and m. gluteus medius (n=9) of Domestic Spotted breed. Muscle analyses were carried out 1st, 7th and 14th day post mortem, during storage at +4°C. Colour (CIE L*a*b*values, Hue and Chroma), cooking loss, shear force, water-holding capacity (WHC), pH value and sensory characteristics were determined in all meat samples. M. longissimus dorsi samples aged for 14 days were characterized by higher degree of lightness (L*) and chroma (C*) values, more of red colour (higher a*) and of yellow (higher b*), while m. gluteus medius colour changes during storage was not found to be significant. Over the 14 day conditioning period, tenderness (expressed as shear force) of the evaluated muscles improved significantly (p (lt) 0.05), it ranged from 11.50 kg/cm2 (1st day) to 5.00 kg/cm2 (14th day) for m. longissimus dorsi and from 9.81 kg/cm2 (1st day) to 5.10 kg/cm2 (14th day) for m. gluteus medius muscle. Cooking loss and WHC increased significantly over storage time (p (lt) 0.05) in both meat samples, while changes in pH values were insignificant. Sensory analyses revealed deterioration in flavour (smell and taste) and improvement in tenderness of roasted meat samples during storage.Cilj ovog istraživanja je bio da se ispita efekat vremena kondicioniranja (tokom 14 dana zrenja na +4°C) na fizičko-hemijske karakteristike dva mišića junadi. Ispitivanja su obavljena na m.longissimus dorsi (n=9) i m. gluteus medius (n=9) junadi domaće šarene rase. Analize mišića su rađene prvog, sedmog i četrnaestog dana od dana klanja, tokom skladištenja na +4°C. U svim uzorcima mišića je utvrđena boja (CIE L*a*b*, Ho i C*vrednosti), kalo kuvanja, sila sečenja, sposobnost vezivanja vode, pH vrednost i senzorna analiza. Nakon skladištenja od 14 dana uzorci m. longissimus dorsi su imali viši stepen svetloće (L*) i hroma vrednosti (C*), veći udeo crvene (više a*) i žute boje (više b*), dok u uzorcima m. gluteus medius nije utvrđena statistički značajna promena u parametrima boje. Tokom 14 dana skladištenja, mekoća mesa (izražena kao sila sečenja) se značajno poboljšala (p (lt) 0.05), od 11.50 kg/cm2 (prvog dana) do 5.00 kg/cm2 (četrnaestog dana) za m. longissimus dorsi i od 9.81 kg/cm2 (prvog dana) do 5.10 kg/cm2 (četrnaestog dana) za m. gluteus medius. Kalo kuvanja i sposobnost vezivanja vode su se značajno povećali (p (lt) 0.05) kod oba mišića, dok se pH vrednost nije značajno menjala tokom skladištenja. Tokom senzorne analize pečenog mesa utvrđeno je pogoršanje arome (ukusa i mirisa) i poboljšanje mekoće sa vremenom skladištenja

Properties of some Late Season Plum Hybrids from Fruit Research Institute Čačak

Since 1979 to 2012 fifteen plum cultivars were named and released in Fruit Research Institute, Čačak. Some of these cultivars, such as Čačanska Lepotica, Čačanska Rodna and Čačanska Najbolja are grown in most important plum growing countries in Europe. Also, these cultivars are used as parent cultivars in many plum breeding programs. In addition to the cultivars, large number of promising hybrids are created in Fruit Research Institute, Čačak and some of them, in this moment, are candidates for new cultivars. Therefore, in 2014 and 2015, we investigated the most important properties of four promising late season hybrids and standard cultivar ‘Stanley’. All four hybrids were harvested since beginning of September (34/41/87) until the beginning of the third decade of September (10/23/87). The earliest flowering time was recorded in hybrid 34/41/87 and the latest in standard cultivar ‘Stanley’. Hybrids 10/23/87 and 26/54/87 generally had the highest fruit weight and all three fruit dimensions. Also these hybrids had the highest content of total sugars and sucrose and highest pH value, but poorest total acids content. The highest content of invert sugars and total acids was recorded in hybrid 22/17/87. This hybrid also, had the highest yield per tree and per hectare while the hybrid 34/41/87 had the lowest these values. Standard cultivar ‘Stanley’ had the largest stone weight and the highest amount of soluble solids

Treatment of Waste Copper Electrolytes Using Insoluble and Soluble Anodes

The use of copper anodes with non standard content of impurities for the treatment of waste, sulphur acid solutions that came as a result of the industrial process of electrolytic copper refining was investigated. Those solutions contain the high content of copper, nickel and arsine, and because of that, the copper anodes with high content of Ni, Pb, Sn and Sb were prepared. Examination the effect of high impurities content as well as the influence of the solution temperature on the anodes behaviour during the electrolytic process under the conditions that are the same as the industrial was the aim of this work. Obtained results clearly indicate that tested anodes could be used for the refined during the electrorefining process. Dissolution of copper anodes was not stoppage after the first appearance of the passivation region for A1 and A2 anodes while appearance of passivation for A3 anode, for test duration of 72 h, was not registered. The start time of the first passivation appearance is shorter in the case of the anode with high content of all impurities, anode A1. The first passivation occurrence was detected on higher temperature after about 29 h from the test starts. The change of chemical composition of electrolyte was monitored during electrolysis. Concentration of nickel in the working electrolyte at the end of process is increased and it corresponds to the Ni content in anodes. The copper and arsenic concentrations are decreased during the process. Arsenic passes into the anode slime, while the copper is deposited on the cathode and also passed in the slime. After the process is finished, obtained solution could be used for the nickel recover using the electrochemically or chemically methods

Changes in chemical and physicochemical characteristics during the production of traditional Sremska sausage

The aim of this trial was to investigate changes in chemical and physic-chemical parameters during the production of traditional Sremska sausage (dry fermented sausage) from pork of three pig breeds: Mangalitsa (MA), Moravka (MO) and Swedish Landrace (SL). Analyses of all variants of sausages were carried out after stuffing (day 0) and on production days 3, 7, 14 and 21. The reduction in moisture during production caused the increase in protein, fat and ash contents (p<0.001) in all three variants of sausages, were found to be within the range for this type of sausages. Higher fat content in MA and MO sausages compared to SL variant was most likely a result of the different chemical composition of the meat from pigs of autochthonous breeds. All three sausage variants had a similar final pH value, but the mildest drop of pH was determined in MA sausages. Pig breed significantly affected (p<0.05) all three indicators of oxidative changes (thiobarbituric acid value, peroxide value and free fatty acid content). It was found that they were higher in SL compared with MA and MO sausages and to significantly increase during the production process

Hamiltonian walks on Sierpinski and n-simplex fractals

We study Hamiltonian walks (HWs) on Sierpinski and $n$--simplex fractals. Via numerical analysis of exact recursion relations for the number of HWs we calculate the connectivity constant $\omega$ and find the asymptotic behaviour of the number of HWs. Depending on whether or not the polymer collapse transition is possible on a studied lattice, different scaling relations for the number of HWs are obtained. These relations are in general different from the well-known form characteristic of homogeneous lattices which has thus far been assumed to hold for fractal lattices too.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures; final versio

High annual radon concentration in dwellings and natural radioactivity content in nearby soil in some rural areas of Kosovo and Metohija

Some previous studies on radon concentration in dwellings of some areas of Kosovo and Metohija have revealed a high average radon concentration, even though the detectors were exposed for three months only. In order to better design a larger study in this region, the annual measurements in 25 houses were carried out as a pilot study. For each house, CR-39-based passive devices were exposed in two rooms for the two consecutive six-month periods to account for seasonal variations of radon concentration. Furthermore, in order to correlate the indoor radon with radium in nearby soil and to improve the knowledge of the natural radioactivity in the region, soil samples near each house were collected and 226Ra, 232Th, 40K activity concentration were measured. The indoor radon concentration resulted quite high from the average (163 Bq/m3) and generally it did not differ considerably between the two rooms and the two six-month periods. The natural radionuclides in soil resulted to be distributed quite uniformly. Moreover, the correlation between the226Ra content in soil and radon concentration in dwellings resulted to be low (R2=0.26). The annual effective dose from radon and its short-lived progeny (5.5 mSv, in average) was calculated by using the last ICRP dose conversion factors. In comparison, the contribution to the annual effective dose of outdoor gamma exposure from natural radionuclides in soil is nearly negligible (66 mSv). In conclusion, the observed high radon levels are only partially correlated with radium in soil; moreover, a good estimate of the annual average of radon concentration can be obtained from a six-month measurement with a proper choice of exposure period, which could be useful when designing large surveys

Polymer-Bonded Magnetic Materials with Various Nd-Fe-B Filler Content

One of the more important developments in magnetic materials, polymer bonded magnets, have opened a new world of application opportunities. The Nd-Fe-B/polymer composite materials offer an excellent combination of strong magnetic and dynamical-mechanical properties. However, the transition temperatures of filler and matrix should be selected carefully considering the future application. Uniform particle distribution and good adhesion between Nd-Fe-B powder particles and polymer are essential for the quality of the composite, while stiffness of polymer matrix is one of the influencing factors as well. The damping properties of Nd-Fe-B/polymer composites with 15 wt.%, 50 wt.% and 75 wt.% of Nd-Fe-B powder were studied by dynamic mechanical analysis and compared with a pure polymer sample. Thermal stability was analyzed using a simultaneous differential scanning calorimetric and thermogravimetric analysis technique.11th Annual Conference of the Materials-Research-Society-of-Serbia (YUCOMAT 2009), Aug 31-Sep 04, 2009, Herceg Novi, Montenegr

Techno-Functional Properties of Burgers Fortified by Wild Garlic Extract: A Reconsideration

The aim of this research was to examine the chemical properties of freshly squeezed wild garlic extract (FSWGE) and its use as an additive in burgers (BU). Technological and sensory properties of such fortified burgers (BU) were determined. LC-MS/MS analyses identified thirty-eight volatile BAC. Allicin prevalence (11.375 mg/mL) is the key parameter determining the amount of FSWGE added in raw BU (PS-I 1.32 mL/kg, PS-II 4.40 mL/kg, and PS-III 8.79 mL/kg). Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values of the FSWGE and evaporated FSWGE (EWGE) were determined against the six microorganisms using a microdilution method. The data indicated that using FSWGE can result in a reduced risk of Serratia marcescens (MIC = 50 mg/mL; MBC = 60 mg/mL), Listeria monocytogenes (MIC = MBC = 90 mg/mL), Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus (MIC = 90 mg/mL; MBC ≥ 100 mg/mL), and Salmonella enteritidis and Enterococcus faecium (MIC = 100 mg/mL; MBC > 100 mg/mL) in BU. Changes in antioxidant (AOX) capacity were followed during cold storage (up to 10 days) and freezing (90 days). It was shown that PS-III had the highest level of AOX capacity during the entire period of cold storage, revealing 8.79 mL FSWGE/kg BU as the most suitable effective concentration. Adding FSWGE did not negatively affect the technological and physico-chemical properties during both cold and freeze storage. Regarding sensory evaluation, modified BU received mostly higher scores compared to control. The results of this study have demonstrated the great potential of wild garlic extract usage in the creation of safe products with prolonged shelf life. © 2023 by the authors