The influence of the production method, i.e. casting technology on the cleanliness and thus the quality of carbon steels is best determined through the presence and type of non-metallic inclusions. A large number of inclusions, especially oxide and complex ones, can significantly affect the mechanical properties of carbon steels and limit their application for the production of finished products. This paper presents the influence of the presence, type and amount of non - metallic inclusions in B500B carbon steel according to ASTM / AISI produced by continuous casting technology without and with the application of stream protection.

The current study examined anxiety, neuroticism and extraversion amongst Bosnian high school and university students who were studying English as a foreign language (EFL). By employing the Public Speaking Class Anxiety Scale and the Big Five Inventory (BFI) test, the authors showed that this group of students was characterised by a relatively high level of extraversion and a medium level of neuroticism and anxiety about public speaking in class. The study further investigated the variation in both personality traits and anxiety based on gender, the level of education and out-of-school exposure to English as the target language. The first two factors had an insignificant effect on personality traits and anxiety, whereas out-of-school exposure to English proved to be significant in all contexts. Finally, the multiple regression analysis suggested that anxiety, extraversion and neuroticism were not significant predictors of students’ average EFL grades, while extraversion was a significantly positive predictor and anxiety was a significantly negative predictor of the students’ self-reported EFL knowledge. The study contributes to the further individualisation of formal language teaching and learning, as well as to the promotion of the development of independent life-long learners.

In today's globalized, fast-changeable, and digitalized market, companies strongly need and seek talents, who, besides basic skills, possess higher levels, as well as the optimal mix of different competencies and qualifications. Attracting the best employees, developing and retaining them represents a crucial success factor for any firm and requires well-organized talent management. The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of talent management, viewed through attracting, developing, and retaining talents, on organizational performance improvement in companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Data collection is based on a questionnaire, related to core elements of talent management and organizational performance (profitability and sales growth), with respondents from the population of talented managers, who work in companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The findings indicate that talent management has a positive statistically significant influence on observed organizational performance in companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since talented managers are a key strategic resource, who lead organizations to accomplish excellent organizational performance, companies in developing countries need to tailor effective and customized talent management strategies, to achieve continuous improvement of organizational outcomes.

This paper presents the overview and preliminary results of the HEKTOR - Heterogeneous Autonomous Robotic System in Viticulture and Mariculture project. HEKTOR is divided into two main parts, each dealing with specific scenarios in viticulture and mariculture. The robots used in the project and each specific scenario considered are presented. In viticulture, this includes vineyard surveillance, spraying and bud rubbing using an all-terrain mobile manipulator and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). In mariculture, scenarios include coordinated monitoring of fish net cages from below the surface and from the air, using the UAV, an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) and a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV).

Debljina kore i njen udio u obujmu oblog drva predstavljaju bitne značajke u tehnološkom procesu pridobivanja drva, posebno u fazi preuzimanja drva. S obzirom da je itekako važno raspolagati s relativno točnim podacima ovih značajki kore za pojedine vrste drveća, osnovni cilj ovoga rada je istražiti navedene značajke kore bukve. Istraživanje je provedeno na području Kantona 10, a obuhvatilo je 678 stabla bukve od 10 do 85 cm promjera na prsnoj visini i od 5 do 40 m visine. Mjerenje srednjeg promjera i debljine kore obavljeno je metodom sekcioniranja, a ukupno je izmjereno 6.403 promjera i debljina kore ili 9,4 mjerenja po jednom stablu u prosjeku. Rezultati su pokazali sljedeće: a) povećanjem srednjeg promjera oblog drva dvostruka debljina kore povećava se od 6,05 mm (debljinski razred 12,5 cm) do 20,69 mm (debljinski razred 82,5 cm); b) povećanjem srednjeg promjera oblog drva udio se kore u obujmu eksponencijalno smanjuje od 9,44% (debljinski razred 12,5 cm) do 4,95% (debljinski razred 82,5 cm). ­Utvrđene razlike u komparaciji s drugim autorima koji su istraživali ove značajke kore bukve, ukazuju na važnost nastavka istraživanja i na drugim područjima u BiH. Na taj način bi se dobili pouzdaniji rezultati koji bi bili primjenjivi za cijelu državu ili parcijalno za pojedine njene dijelove, ako se razlika između područja pokaže statistički ­značajnom. Dobiveni rezultati predstavljaju nezaobilaznu polaznu osnovu za izradu tablica kore bukve i novog ­pravilnika o načinu izmjere oblog drva i utvrđivanja količina.

The relationship between education and labor market is significant and complex. Education increases employment opportunities and reduces the chance of occurrence and duration of unemployment. Earnings, among other things, represent private returns on investment in education and are in the center of the analysis of this article. The main aim of this article is to estimate private and social returns on investment in primary, secondary and tertiary education in selected old and new member states of the European Union (EU) by using two methods (Earnings function and Short-cut method) based on the Mincer equation. Results have shown that there is no statistically significant difference between the estimated private and social returns on investment in primary, secondary and tertiary education in groups of old and new EU members. New members converge towards the old members, at least when it comes to returns on investment in these three education levels. The results also indicate the existence of low and negative returns on investment in education in both old and new EU members. Thus, this article with its new findings contributes significantly to the literature that studies the universality of conclusions on returns on investment in education and the methodology that is used.

Abstract C18H12Br2CuN4O2, monoclinic, P21/c (no. 14), a = 11.5165(11) Å, b = 5.4369(5) Å, c = 14.4872(14) Å, V = 873.52(14) Å3, Z = 2, R gt (F) = 0.0232, wR ref (F2) = 0.0559, T = 200 K.

Heavy metals, due to their inability to degrade, pose a serious environmental and nutritional problem. The accumulation of essential and non-essential heavy metals in living organisms reduces normal growth and development, resulting in acute poisoning, disease and even death of organisms. Melatonin is a very important multifunctional molecule in protecting plants from oxidative stress due to its ability to directly neutralize reactive oxygen species (ROS). Also, melatonin has a chelating property, which may contribute in reducing metal-induced toxicity. In this paper, the protective role of melatonin in counteracting metal-induced free radical generation was highlighted. Using the HPLC-FLD technique melatonin was identified and quantified in the roots and leaves of lemon balm ( Melissa officinalis L.), grown under photoperiod conditions. Furthermore, the response of plants pre-treated with exogenous 0.1 mM melatonin to the increased zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd) concentrations was observed, with changes in mineral (Ca, Mg), physiological and antioxidant status of the plant during heavy metals stress. The obtained melatonin concentrations were the highest published for dry plants so far. Elevated Cd and Zn levels in soil caused alternation in biochemical and physiological parameters of lemon balm leaves and roots. However, melatonin pre-treatment increased plant tolerance to heavy metals stress. Increased Cd and Zn uptake and their translocation into the leaves were also improved, indicating the possible use of melatonin in phytoremediation.

The aim of this study was to determine the antioxidant capacity of some phytochemicals by using an H2O2 scavenging assay. Betaine, Allantoin and Nicotinamide were put to the test.  Even though hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is not intrinsically reactive, it can be transformed into the extremely reactive and harmful hydroxyl radical (HO), which is then able to interact with nucleotides in deoxyribose nucleic acid and in that way trigger breakage of the strand resulting in carcinogenesis, mutagenesis, etc. Antioxidants aid in the protection of cells from the harmful effects of reactive oxygen species that are known to induce oxidative stress. Excessive production of these reactive oxygen species in the human body is associated with many chronic degenerative diseases such as diabetes, neurodegenerative disease, cancer, etc. The effective way to minimize levels of oxidative stress is the ability to scavenge these reactive oxygen species (ROS). Also, phytochemicals are able to act as antioxidants, and in that way play a vital role in the prevention of disease caused by oxidative stress. The ability of a compound to scavenge H2O2 is a good predictor of its potential antioxidant function. The hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) scavenging assay was determined using the Ruch et al., 1989 method, and a UV-VIS spectrophotometer. In conclusion, our samples had marvellous H2O2 scavenging activity and possessed good antioxidant capability, and were compared with the ascorbic acid (vitamin c) as standard natural antioxidant/ as reference antioxidant. The samples were also able to scavenge H2O2 in a concentration-dependent way, according to our results

DNA molecule is found in every cell in a living organism and function as an instruction manual for growth, development, as well as any other processes that happen. As the cell divide, it needs to copy its DNA. During the copying, an error can occur, which can lead to a disease. However, there are different error repair mechanisms that are searching for an error, and repairing it. This study focused on 2 proteins involved in DNA repair mechanism, RPA32B and RPA2 from Arabidopsis thaliana. Throughout multiple in silico approached,  multiple sequence alignment, phylogenetic tree construction, 3D visualisation, combination and interaction, we confirmed that the  RPA2 and RPA 32b are involved in DNA replication, meiotic recombination and DNA repair mechanism.

An influential explanation for the persistent political underrepresentation of minorities in elected office is that minority candidates are discriminated against by voters of the dominant ethnic group. We argue, however, for the need to distinguish between two forms of discrimination: ingroup favoritism and outgroup hostility. We measure the impact of each by using an extensive data set drawn from Swiss elections, where voters can cast both positive and negative preference votes for candidates. Our results show that immigrant-origin candidates with non-Swiss names incur an electoral disadvantage because they receive more negative preference votes than candidates with typically Swiss names. But we also find that minority candidates face a second disadvantage: voters discriminate in favor of majority candidates by allocating them more positive preference votes. These two forms of electoral discrimination are critically related to a candidate’s party, whereas the impact of the specific outgroup to which a minority candidate belongs is less pronounced than expected.