Effects of Transcranial Electrical Stimulation on Gambling and Gaming: A Systematic Review of Studies on Healthy Controls, Participants with Gambling/Gaming Disorder, and Substance Use Disorder

Gambling disorder (GD) and internet gaming disorder (IGD) are formally recognized behavioral addictions with a rapidly growing prevalence and limited treatment options. Recently, transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) techniques have emerged as potentially promising interventions for improving treatment outcomes by ameliorating cognitive functions implicated in addictive behaviors. To systematize the current state of evidence and better understand whether and how tES can influence gambling and gaming-related cognitive processes, we conducted a PRISMA-guided systematic review of the literature, focusing on tES effects on gaming and gambling in a diverse range of population samples, including healthy participants, participants with GD and IGD, as well as participants with substance abuse addictions. Following the literature search in three bibliographic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus), 40 publications were included in this review, with 26 conducted on healthy participants, 6 focusing on GD and IGD patients, and 8 including participants with other addictions. Most of the studies targeted the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and assessed the effects on cognition, using gaming and gambling computerized cognitive tasks measuring risk taking and decision making, e.g., balloon analogue risk task, Iowa gambling task, Cambridge gambling task, etc. The results indicated that tES could change gambling and gaming task performances and positively influence GD and IGD symptoms, with 70% of studies showing neuromodulatory effects. However, the results varied considerably depending on the stimulation parameters, sample characteristics, as well as outcome measures used. We discuss the sources of this variability and provide further directions for the use of tES in the context of GD and IGD treatment

Ekološki značaj primene elektro-inovativnog uređaja u procesu suzbijanja Ambrosia artemisiifolia L

Large amounts of aerosols that linger in the atmosphere are becoming carriers of pollen. Ambrosia artemisiifolia L has the ability to produce large amounts of pollen. Given the high adaptability of Ambrosia artemisiifolia L for the dissemination of the big problem is its suppression. In practice, the most common method of combating Ambrosia is the use of different groups of herbicides which adversely affects the environment. Therefore, the aim of the paper is set to investigate the efficacy of the treatment plant Ambrosia artemisiifolia L supply via innovative devices in the stage of development of vegetative growth of the plants after harvest of wheat. The first results were visible after only 20 minutes, and the total number of plants in the treatment was destroyed after 5 days.Velike količine aerosola koje se zadržavaju u atmosferi postaju nosači polena. Ambrosia artemisiifolia L ima sposobnost produkcije velike količine polena. S obzirom na veliku adaptibilnost Ambrosia artemisiifolia L pri širenju veliki problem je njeno suzbijanje. U praksi najčešća metoda suzbijanja ambrozije je korišćenje različitih grupa herbicida čime se negativno utiče na životnu sredinu. Zato je za cilj rada postavljeno da se istraži efikasnost tretmana biljaka Ambrosia artemisiifolia L naponom preko inovativnog uređaja u fenofazi vegetativnog porasta biljaka posle žetve pšenice. Prvi rezultati su bili vidljivi posle samo 20 minuta, a ukupan broj biljaka u tretmanu bio je uništen posle 5 dana

Mechanochemical synthesis of ZnO nanostructured powder using different organic surfactants and their influence on the particles size and morfology

Poster presented at the 11th Conference of the Materials Research Society of Serbia - YUCOMAT 2009, Herceg Novi, Montenegro, August 31 – September 4, 200

Višekriterijska evaluacija pametnih performansi europskih gradova: gospodarski, socijalni i okolišni aspekti

The purpose of the paper is to provide the ranking of Central and Eastern European cities, based on various elements of cities’ smart performance. Our analysis enables the evaluation of social, economic and environmental aspects of urban life that represent the determinants of cities’ competitive profiles and consequently, the positions on the ranking lists. The research is based on the data on perceptions of citizens on different aspects of urban quality, provided by the Eurostat’s Urban Audit Perception Survey. For the assessment of various hierarchically structured indicators of cities’ smart performance, a multi-criteria analysis model is developed, combining the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) for determining the relative importance of criteria and TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) method of ranking. The main finding of the paper implies that direct perceptions of citizens on the overall life satisfaction in the analyzed European cities are not influenced by their smart performance. The comparison of ranks obtained by the constructed multi-criteria model and perceived satisfaction of life indicates a rather weak relation.Svrha rada je rangirati gradove srednje i istočne Europe na temelju različitih elemenata pametnih performansi gradova. Ova analiza omogućuje procjenu društvenih, ekonomskih i ekoloških aspekata urbanog života, koji predstavljaju odrednice konkurentnosti gradova, a time i pozicije na rang listi. Istraživanje se temelji na podacima o percepciji građana o različitim aspektima urbane kvalitete, koje pruža Eurostatova baza Urban Audit Perception Survey. Za procjenu raznih hijerarhijski strukturiranih pokazatelja pametnih performansi gradova, razvijen je višekriterijski model analize koji kombinira metodu Analitički hijerarhijski proces (Analytic Hierarchy Process – AHP) za određivanje relativne važnosti kriterija i TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) metodu rangiranja. Glavni nalaz rada sugerira da izravna percepcija građana o cjelokupnom životnom zadovoljstvu u analiziranim europskim gradovima nije uvjetovana “pametnim” performansama gradova. Usporedba poretka dobivenih konstruiranim višekriterijskim modelom i percipiranog zadovoljstva života ukazuje na njihov prilično slab odno

Urbano zapošljavanje u post-tranzicijskim gospodarstvima: neusklađenost vještina na lokalnom tržištu rada

The paper explores the mismatch between the skills and qualifications required by the labour market and those acquired through education and on-the-job learning. The skill mismatch in transition economies tends to be even more pronounced as the labour markets in these countries are characterized by structural unemployment, affecting both older workers with obsolete skills and the young ones. Employers face poor incentives for investing in workforce skill development, due to the inadequate investment climate and volatile business environment. Transition countries face increasing outward mobility of an educated workforce, loss of human capital, and shortage of workforce in the fields such as ICT, medicine, science and research. The research is based on empirical data generated in a survey on ICT and manufacturing enterprises in the City of Niš, Serbia. The research methodology combines workers\u27 self-assessment method for the skill gap measurement and the competence approach combined with the statistical methods. The findings indicate the presence of a qualification mismatch, in the form of the over-qualification as a dominant irregularity in the analysed labour market. The results of the study are expected to contribute to creating a network of policy instrumentaria that tend to be effective on a sub-national level in addressing the mismatch.Ovaj rad istražuje neusklađenost između vještina i kvalifikacija koje zahtijeva tržište rada i onih koje se stječu obrazovanjem i učenjem na radnom mjestu. Neusklađenost vještina u tranzicijskim gospodarstvima ima tendenciju da bude još izraženija budući da tržišta rada u tim zemljama karakterizira strukturna nezaposlenost, koja istovremeno pogađa i starije radnike sa zastarjelim vještinama i mlade. Poslodavci se suočavaju s lošim poticajima za ulaganje u razvoj vještina radne snage zbog neodgovarajuće investicijske klime i nestabilnog poslovnog okruženja. Zemlje u tranziciji suočavaju se sa sve većom vanjskom mobilnošću obrazovane radne snage, gubitkom ljudskog kapitala i nedostatkom radne snage u područjima kao što su ICT, medicina, znanost i istraživanje. Istraživanje se temelji na empirijskim podacima prikupljenim u anketi o ICT-u i proizvodnim poduzećima u gradu Nišu u Srbiji. Metodologija istraživanja kombinira metodu samoprocjene radnika za mjerenje jaza u vještinama i pristup temeljen na kompetencijama u kombinaciji sa statističkim metodama. Nalazi ukazuju na prisutnost kvalifikacijske neusklađenosti, u vidu prekvalificiranosti za posao kao dominantne nepravilnosti na analiziranom tržištu rada. Očekuje se da će rezultati studije doprinijeti stvaranju mreže političkih instrumenata koji imaju tendenciju da budu učinkoviti na podnacionalnoj razini u rješavanju neusklađenosti

Blinding in tDCS Studies: Correct End-of-Study Guess Does Not Moderate the Effects on Associative and Working Memory

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has become a valuable tool in cognitive neuroscience research as it enables causal inferences about neural underpinnings of cognition. However, studies using tDCS to modulate cognitive functions often yield inconsistent findings. Hence, there is an increasing interest in factors that may moderate the effects, one of which is the participants’ beliefs of the tDCS condition (i.e., real or sham) they received. Namely, whether participants’ correct guessing of sham condition may lead to false-positive tDCS effects. In this study, we aimed to explore if participants’ beliefs about received stimulation type (i.e., the success of blinding) impacted their task performance in tDCS experiments on associative (AM) and working memory (WM). We analyzed data from four within-subject, sham-controlled tDCS memory experiments (N = 83) to check if the correct end-of-study guess of sham condition moderated tDCS effects. We found no evidence that sham guessing moderated post-tDCS memory performance in experiments in which tDCS effects were observed as well as in experiments that showed null effects of tDCS. The results suggest that the correct sham guessing (i.e., placebo-like effect) is unlikely to influence the results in tDCS memory experiments. We discuss the results in light of the growing debate about the relevance and effectiveness of blinding in brain stimulation research

The impact of diabetes mellitus on long-term mortality in patients with STEMI after primary PCI

Introduction: Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) is a gold standard in treating patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI). Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of diabetic status three year survival in patients with STEMI treated with PPCI on admission. Material and methods: We analyzed 499 STEMI patients treated with primary PCI, from a prospective, electronic database of the Clinical Center of Serbia Catheterization Laboratory -that contains patient records from 2009 to 2016. Patients were divided into 2 groups: patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and those without DM. Results: Our results showed that 416 (83,4%) patients did not have DM and 83 (16,6%) had DM. There was a statistically significant difference in mortality rate among two groups after 30 days and 3 years after intervention (DM 13,3% vs without DM 4,1%, p=0,003 after 30 days; DM 21,7% vs without DM 10,6%, p=0,010 after 3 years). However, when adjusted for other baseline risk factors, DM was not an independent predictor of 3-year mortality (HR=1,275, 95% CI 0,652-2,494, p=0,478). Conclusion: Patients with DM had higher mortality rates in both short-term and long-term follow-ups after PPCI

CRIMINAL OFFENSE OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION IN THE CRIMINAL LEGISLATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA AND THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

Undoubtedly, one of the leading movements at the global level in the past few decades was the movement for the global and intensive protection of the human environment, that is, the affirmation of the right of man to a healthy environment, as a distinct right. Bearing in mind the importance of a healthy environment and the importance of its protection, which has grown from a social need into a legal imperative, it is certainly justified to establish the environment as an independent and primary collective object of protection within the domestic criminal legislation. Taking into account the tendencies on the international and comparative level regarding the regulation of the criminal law protection of the environment, the domestic legislator dedicates an entire chapter of the Criminal Code precisely to incriminations that have the environment as an object of protection, in various forms. As the first offense provided for in Chapter 24 i.e., Criminal offenses against the environment, the legislator defines the general and most significant criminal offense from the group of criminal offenses against the environment, namely, Environmental pollution. This paper is dedicated to the analysis of this criminal offense in domestic criminal legislation, with reference to individual solutions contained in the legislation of the Republic of Croatia and pointing out their differences

Comparison of predictive value of five risk scores in patients with myocardial infarction treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention

Introduction: Mortality of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) treated by primary PCI (pPCI) is relatively high when short and long term-outcomes are concerned, despite the progress of standard of care. The stratification of patients according to risk of death is of great diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic significance. Several risk scores have been developed, however only a few studies so far investigated the efficacy of these scores in predicting long-term mortality. Aim: The aim of study was to compare the predictive value of five risk scores, regarding long-term mortality among patients with AMI treated with pPCI in the Clinical Center of Serbia. Materials and methods: We performed a retrospective study that included 497 consecutive patients with a diagnosis of AMI treated with pPCI in 2012. For every patient, the value of CADILLAC, ZWOLLE, ACEF, TIMI and PAMI scores was calculated. Prognostic ability of risk scores was compared by area under (AUC) the ROC (receiver-operating characteristics) curve. Results: Population consisted of 497 patients with AMI treated with pPCI, average age 61.07 ± 11.55 out of which 67.4 % were male. Cumulative mortality rate at 30 days, 1, 2 and 3 years of clinical follow-up amounted to 1.5 %, 5.2 %, 9.5 % and 10.5 %, respectively. CADILLAC score performed very well predicting one-year (AUC 0.822), two-years (0.819) and three-year mortality (0.815). The good predictive value, although significantly less accurate compared to the CADILLAC score, was shown for ZWOLLE and ACEF score in predicting one-year (0.742; 0.742), two-years (0.728; 0.741) as well as the three-year mortality (0.721; 0.743) respectively, while the PAMI and TIMI scores obtained the lowest predictive values for one-year (0.680; 0.605), two-years (0.706; 0.599), and for the three-year mortality (0.700; 0.590), respectively. Conclusion: CADILLAC risk score showed the best predictive ability regarding mortality up to three years in a population of AMI patients treated with pPCI