Transport and storage of heavy metals in the Sava river basin in Serbia

Selected heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd) in Sava River water and sediment in Serbia were investigated on three locations in the vicinity of industrial and urban settlements (Šabac, Obrenovac, Beograd) during the period spring 2007-autumn 2011. The fluxes of heavy metals from river water to sediment due to sedimentation and heavy metal re-suspension fluxes due to sediment re-suspension at a high flow were determined, by applying the model for assessment of the transport the pollutants through rivers. Those fluxes were attributed mainly to natural processes. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 43009

Voting after war: Legacy of conflict and the economy as determinants of electoral support in Croatia

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2016.02.012In spite of a rapidly expanding literature on democratization, elections, and conflict, we lack systematic understanding of what determines electoral results in post-conflict societies. This article offers a novel initiative in revealing electoral patterns in states recuperating from painful experiences of war by analyzing data from more than 500 Croatian municipalities during five post-war electoral cycles. While the findings suggest voters do respond to parties' economic policies, the underlying pattern of electoral support demonstrates that competition is heavily constrained by the legacy of conflict, with the communities more exposed to the violence being more likely to vote for the principal party of the center-right which led the country into independence and throughout the war. This tendency exhibits a remarkable level of stability over time, which suggests conflict dynamics can become firmly embedded in post-conflict democratic electoral competition – even in societies that are not ethnically diverse.The authors express their gratitude to Irena Kravos of the Croatian Electoral Commission, Ivanka Purić of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, Mirna Valinger of the Croatian Tax Administration, and in particular to Maruška Vizek of the Institute of Economics, Zagreb for invaluable help with data collection. The article has also benefited from comments and suggestions by Marin Božić, Monika Maminskaite, Kathleen Montgomery, Petra Posedel, Branko Salaj, Pieter van Houten, Maruška Vizek, as well as participants of the Research Colloquium at the Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge. Damir Galić provided useful research assistance, and Tomislav Kaniški of The Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography created the maps. Josip Glaurdić is also grateful to the Leverhulme Trust and the Isaac Newton Trust (ECF-2012-399∖7) which supported his work on this study

Oblique surface waves at an interface of metal-dielectric superlattice and isotropic dielectric

We investigate the existence and the dispersion characteristics of surface waves that propagate at an interface between metal-dielectric superlattice and isotropic dielectric. Within the long wavelength limit, when the effective-medium approximation is valid, the superlattice behaves like a uniaxial plasmonic crystal with the main optical axes perpendicular to the metal-dielectric interfaces. We demonstrate that if such a semi-infinite plasmonic crystal is cut normally to the layer interfaces and brought into the contact with semi-infinite dielectric, a new type of surface modes can appear. The propagation of such modes obliquely to the optical axes occurs under favorable conditions that regard thicknesses of the layers, as well as the proper choice of dielectric permittivity of the constituent materials. We show that losses within the metallic layers can be substantially reduced by making the layers sufficiently thin. At the same time, a dramatic enlargement of the range of angles for oblique propagation of the new surface modes is observed. This can lead, however, to the field non-locality and consequently to the failure of the effective-medium approximation.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Review of Technologies for the Recovery of Phosphorus from Waste Streams

Phosphorus is essential to the growth of living organisms, and, therefore, its presence is considered vital for all forms of life. Research shows that phosphate rock reserves are reducing. Phosphate rock is used as raw material for the production of phosphate-based fertilizers, and its lack of supply could have adverse effects on the global food supply. New resources that can be a potential replacement for phosphate rock in the production of fertilizers and other phosphorus-containing substances are investigated. This paper provides an overview of technology implementations, methods, and processes, as well as the latest achievements in the field of phosphorus recovery from waste streams. Different methods of phosphorus regeneration from sewage sludge and solid waste, and forms of phosphate regeneration are described. In addition, an overview of the following methods is given: nanonucleation, adsorption and ion exchange, solar evaporation, biological assimilation of P, and membrane technologies

Family Relationships in Prediction of Ageing

This paper presents a study of the predictive value of family relationships from genealogies, and its impact on the delayed ageing. The study comprised adult population over 18 years of age of two urban family practices (N = 1700). The study sample included all patients (total = 581; 57.3% female, 42.7% male) having sought medical assistance of any kind in the period of three consecutive months. The study was performed in two stages. The selection of patients according to the results of the 25th and 75th percentiles of the memory component analysis was done in stage I. The comparison of life history and events across a genealogy in the groups of the 25th and 75th percentile memory deficit was done in stage II. The method used in stage I was a psychological test – Pictures of Object Test (POT) to test the memory deficit. In stage II, personal life histories and description of the genealogies were obtained by individuals’ associations expressed in the form of a free text which was then analyzed statistically (SPAD-T), and the results were correlated to data read on the developed genogram. The statistical text analysis of life-events recall and the correlation across a genealogy showed a difference in the patterns of family relationships across a genealogy in the two study groups, and their predictive value for prevention in family practice

Family Relationships in Prediction of Ageing

This paper presents a study of the predictive value of family relationships from genealogies, and its impact on the delayed ageing. The study comprised adult population over 18 years of age of two urban family practices (N = 1700). The study sample included all patients (total = 581; 57.3% female, 42.7% male) having sought medical assistance of any kind in the period of three consecutive months. The study was performed in two stages. The selection of patients according to the results of the 25th and 75th percentiles of the memory component analysis was done in stage I. The comparison of life history and events across a genealogy in the groups of the 25th and 75th percentile memory deficit was done in stage II. The method used in stage I was a psychological test – Pictures of Object Test (POT) to test the memory deficit. In stage II, personal life histories and description of the genealogies were obtained by individuals’ associations expressed in the form of a free text which was then analyzed statistically (SPAD-T), and the results were correlated to data read on the developed genogram. The statistical text analysis of life-events recall and the correlation across a genealogy showed a difference in the patterns of family relationships across a genealogy in the two study groups, and their predictive value for prevention in family practice

Organic geochemistry of crude oils from the turija oil field (SE Pannonian Basin, Serbia)

The Turija oil field, being an important oil field in Serbia, is located in the Banat Depression of the southeastern part of the Pannonian Basin. Oil samples from the Turija oil field were investigated in order to estimate origin, depositional environment, thermal maturity and age of the corresponding source rocks. For that purpose, a comprehensive analysis of biomarkers and aromatic compounds was performed. n-Alkanes are predominant compounds in the total ion chromatograms of saturated fractions of all samples, showing that Turija oils are not biodegraded. The distributions of n-alkanes, which are characterised by equivalent abundances of long- and short-chain homologues and maximums at C17, C21 and C27, suggest a mixed aquatic-terrestrial origin. The uniform distributions of regular C27-C29 5α(H)14α(H)17α(H) 20(R) steranes support the previous assumption. The presence of oleanane in all samples is indicative for a contribution of angiosperm plants to the precursor organic matter (OM). Furthermore, the presence of this biomarker implies the Upper Cretaceous or younger age of the corresponding source rocks. Isoreniratane and its derivatives have been identified in all samples. Although isorenieratane can originate from β-carotene, which is widespread in algae, bacteria and terrestrial plants, the presence of other catagenetic products of isorenieratene (mass fragmentogram m/z 133 of the aromatic fraction) unambiguously confirms a contribution of green sulphur bacteria Chlorobiaceae to the precursor organic material [1]. The pristane to phytane (Pr/Ph) ratio ranges from 0.64 to 1.17, indicating reducing to dysoxic conditions during the deposition of precursor OM. The presence of the above mentioned isorenieratane derivatives implies the photic zone of anoxia. The stratification of water column is also supported by the presence of gammacerane and values of gammacerane index, GI = gammacerane x 10/(gammacerane + C30 17α(H)21β(H)-hopane) > 1 in almost all the samples. Alkylated 2-methyl-2- (4,8,12-trimethyltridecyl) chromans (MTTCs) were detected in all studied oils. A predominance of 5,7,8-trimethyl-MTTC over 5,8-dimethyl-MTTC, 7,8-dimethyl-MTTC and 8-methyl-MTTC, associated with the values of MTTC ratio (MTTC = 5,7,8-trimethyl-MTTC/ΣMTTCs) in 0.44 to 0.65 range, indicates deposition of OM in a brackish environment [2]. The maturity of Turija oils was determined using typical sterane and hopane isomerisation maturity parameters and methyldibenzothiophene ratio, MDBTR = 4-MDBT/1-MDBT [3]. The obtained results indicate that Turija oils were generated in an early stage of oil window

Dyakonov Surface Waves: Anisotropy-Enabling Confinement on the Edge

The title “Dyakonov surface waves: anisotropy enabling confinement on the edge” plainly sets the scope for this chapter. The focus here is on the formation of bounded waves at the interface of two distinct media, at least one of them exhibiting optical anisotropy, which are coined as Dyakonov surface waves (DSWs) in recognition to the physicist who reported their existence for the first time. First, the general aspects of the topic are discussed. It also treats the characterization of bounded waves in isotropic-uniaxial multilayered structures, allowing not only the derivation of the dispersion equation of DSWs but also that of surface plasmons polaritons (SPPs), for instance. Furthermore, the interaction of such surfaces waves, with the possibility of including guided waves in a given planar layer and external sources mimicking experimental setups, can be accounted for by using the transfer matrix formalism introduced here. Finally, special attention is devoted to hyperbolic media with indefinite anisotropy-enabling hybridized scenarios integrating the prototypical DSWs and SPPs