Purpose: Research has suggested that in female athletes from aesthetic sports the prevalence of disordered eating attitudes is higher than in female athletes from other sports, mainly due to sport related factors like extreme training and practicing sports associated with high pressure and the idea that “being thin leads to success”. The study was conducted to examine the prevalence of disturbed eating attitudes and their relationship with body image concerns in aesthetic and non-aesthetic female athletes. Methods: 54 female athletes from aesthetic sports (synchronized swimming, artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, and dance), as well as 66 female athletes from non-aesthetic sports (volleyball, track and field, and soccer), completed the Eating Attitudes Test, the Body Shape Questionnaire, and the Figure Rating Scale (a visual scale used to assess body image dissatisfaction and body image dissatisfaction in relation to sport). Results: The results indicated that aesthetic athletes scored significantly higher than those involved in non-aesthetic sports in Dieting, and in Body Image Dissatisfaction. Moreover, aesthetic athletes demonstrated significantly lower BMI mean scores. Significant correlations were found between Body Mass Index and Oral Control, Body Image Dissatisfaction and Body Image Dissatisfaction in relation to Sport, and between Eating Attitudes Test and the Body Shape Questionnaire results in aesthetic athletes. Furthermore, significant associations were found between Body Mass Index and Body Shape Questionnaire, Body Image Dissatisfaction and Body Image Dissatisfaction in relation to Sport, and Eating Attitudes Test and Body Shape Questionnaire in non-aesthetic athletes. Conclusion: The study confirmed the relationship between body image concerns and pathological eating attitudes among female aesthetic sport athletes.

The physical and mechanical properties of a polycrystalline material depend on its microstructure characteristics such as the size and morphology of grains. In practice, different imaging methods are used to visualize the grain structure of such materials. To analyze microstructural changes in case of applied stress and to predict its performance in a given application, the quantitative information about the grain structure must be taken into account. In this work, an effcient and reproducible algorithm, which automatically detects grains in different types of microstructure images, is proposed. Due to the diversity between the analyzed images and a limited number of labeled data, a clustering patch-based approach is followed. The algorithm aims to distinguish between patches in homogeneous grain areas and those lying on grain boundaries through Gaussian Mixture Modeling. The identified groups of grain patches are used to create the seed image for a Seeded Region Growing algorithm, enabling nally a pixelwise image segmentation.

ABSTRACT The Online Biomass Potential Atlas is a tool primarily intended for geo-visualisation of biomass data from the Biomass Potential Monitoring System in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, its role does not have to end here. By developing a functional extension, it can offer an environment for the location analysis of potential biomass users and sources of unused biomass potential. This paper describes an approach for developing tool with such functionality, based on spatial interaction modelling. Determining the optimal location for biogas plants in the region covered by the administrative units of two cantons in Bosnia and Herzegovina is considered as a case study. Based on the analysis conducted in the case study, the feasibility of applying this tool has been demonstrated.

Flexible behaviour requires cognitive-control mechanisms to efficiently resolve conflict between competing information and alternative actions. Whether a global neural resource mediates all forms of conflict or this is achieved within domainspecific systems remains debated. We use a novel fMRI paradigm to orthogonally manipulate rule, response and stimulus-based conflict within a full-factorial design. Whole-brain voxelwise analyses show that activation patterns associated with these conflict types are distinct but partially overlapping within Multiple Demand Cortex (MDC), the brain regions that are most commonly active during cognitive tasks. Region of interest analysis shows that most MDC sub-regions are activated for all conflict types, but to significantly varying levels. We propose that conflict resolution is an emergent property of distributed brain networks, the functional-anatomical components of which place on a continuous, not categorical, scale from domain-specialised to domain general. MDC brain regions place towards one end of that scale but display considerable functional heterogeneity.

Value iteration (VI) is a ubiquitous algorithm for optimal control, planning, and reinforcement learning schemes. Under the right assumptions, VI is a vital tool to generate inputs with desirable properties for the controlled system, like optimality and Lyapunov stability. As VI usually requires an infinite number of iterations to solve general nonlinear optimal control problems, a key question is when to terminate the algorithm to produce a "good" solution, with a measurable impact on optimality and stability guarantees. By carefully analysing VI under general stabilizability and detectability properties, we provide explicit and novel relationships of the stopping criterion's impact on near-optimality, stability and performance, thus allowing to tune these desirable properties against the induced computational cost. The considered class of stopping criteria encompasses those encountered in the control, dynamic programming and reinforcement learning literature and it allows considering new ones, which may be useful to further reduce the computational cost while endowing and satisfying stability and near-optimality properties. We therefore lay a foundation to endow machine learning schemes based on VI with stability and performance guarantees, while reducing computational complexity.

Introduction The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of burnout syndrome among nursery teachers in Belgrade's preschool institutions, and to assess the role of personality traits in its development. Materials and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in all Belgrade’s preschool institutions. A stratified cluster sampling method was used to obtain a representative sample. Burnout was measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory- General Survey (MBI-GS). The MBI-GS adaptation was based on an internationally accepted methodology for translation and cultural adaptation. Psychometric properties of the Serbian version of the MBI-GS were analyzed through the examination of factorial structure and internal consistency. A shortened version of Big Five Plus Two questionnaire was used to measure Personality traits. Results Three hundred two health care professionals were enrolled. The mean age was 38±9.2 years and all were female. Confirmatory factor analysis validated the three-factor structure of the questionnaire (exhaustion, cynicism and professional efficacy). Overall, 251 (83.1%) respondents were found to have moderate burnout. In multiple regression analysis, positive valence and conscientiousness were significantly associated with professional efficacy. Aggressiveness, neuroticism, openness, and age, were significantly associated with exhaustion. Aggressiveness, neuroticism and additional jobs showed association with cynicism. Conclusion Present study provided the evidence for the appropriate metric properties of the Serbian version of MBI-GS. Most nurses demonstrated moderate burnout level. Personality traits are characteristics that affect presence of burnout syndrome in healthcare professionals working in preschool institutions.

Background: The Worlds Athletics Championships, along with the Olympic Games, represent the largest review of athletes in which they record top results, often projecting new world records. Any research that analyzes top athletes contributes to shedding light on a number of issues. It is especially interesting to analyze and compare the results of athletes from one time distance. The main goal of the research was to determine the result differences in sprint, jumping and throwing disciplines, between men's and women's finalists participating in the World Athletics Championships in Edmonton, 2001 and Doha in 2019. Methods: the current study included a total of 493 finalists (247 men's and 246 women's) of the World Championships in Edmonton, 2001 and Doha, 2019. The results in sprint, jumping and throwing disciplines were analyzed in order to determine the result differences in the championship finals. To obtain the necessary information, a t-test for independent samples was applied and the relevant statistical parameters were calculated. Results: the results were confirmed between the final evident differences in all disciplines. Men in Edmonton were successful in 41% of the discipline (400m, pole vault, discus throw, hammer throw, javelin throw), and in Doha 59% of the discipline (100m, 200m, 110H, high jump, long jump, triple jump), while in the category of women's finalists, participants in Edmonton were successful in 17% of disciplines (long jump, throwing the ball), while female athletes were successful in 83% of disciplines (100m, 200m, 400m, 110H, triple jump, high jump, high jump with a pole, Throwing a spear, throwing a discus, throwing a hammer). Statistically significant differences between male finalists were recorded only in the disciplines: 200m (t=2.318; p, throwing the ball (t= -2.939; p and hammer throw (t= -2.802; p, and in female finalists in the 200m disciplines (t=2.402; p, pole vault (t=-5.552; p and hammer throw (t= -6.410; p Conclusion: the consequences of this distribution of differences finalist can be found in various morphological, motor and biomechanical parameters, technical experience, neuromuscular movements, level of motivation and preparedness at the time of onset and other endogenous-exogenous factors.

We present a modified microfluidic open interface (MOI) for the direct coupling of Bio-SPME to a liquid electron ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LEI-MS/MS) system as a sensitive technique that can directly analyze biological samples without the need for sample cleanup or chromatographic separations as well as without measurable matrix effects (ME). We selected fentanyl as test compound. The method uses a C18 Bio-SPME fiber by direct immersion (DI) in urine and plasma and the subsequent quick desorption (1 min) in a flow-isolated volume (2.5 μL) filled with an internal standard–acetonitrile solution. The sample is then transferred to an EI source of a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer via a LEI interface at a nanoscale flow rate. The desorption and analysis procedure requires less than 10 min. Up to 150 samples can be analyzed without observing a performance decline, with fentanyl quantitation at microgram-per-liter levels. The method workflow is extremely dependable, relatively fast, sustainable, and leads to reproducible results that enable the high-throughput screening of various biological samples.

Background: A few studies described surgical personality, inquiring all its dimensions, as well as surgeons’ psychomotor abilities and propensity for teamwork. Even fewer papers examined their spirituality and its impact on the effectiveness of daily surgical labor. The aim of this paper is to evaluate personality traits, psychomotor abilities and spirituality in surgeons and surgical residents, as well as propensity for teamwork in relation to their work experience.Methods: The study involved 15 male surgeons aged 40-49 and 15 male surgical residents aged 30-39, who were divided into the case and control group according to their age. The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, visual stimulus response rate, oculomotor, and manual ability assessments, movement stability testing, intrinsic/extrinsic religious orientation, and teamwork efficiency questionnaires were used. Results: No statistically significant differences in personality traits, psychomotor abilities, religious orientation, and propensity for teamwork were recorded between surgeons and residents. These may support the specialty choice, and selection of surgical teams helping them to make important professional decisions, which well-affect the patients’ outcome.

The aim of the study was to investigate the genetic differentiation of the Black Slavonian pig population. Two parallel analyses were performed using genealogical records and molecular data. Pedigree information of 6,099 pigs of the Black Slavonian breed was used to evaluate genetic variability and population structure. Additionally, 70 pigs were genotyped using 23 microsatellite markers. Genealogical data showed shrinkage in genetic diversity parameters with effective population size of 23.58 and inbreeding of 3.26%. Expected and observed heterozygosity were 0.685 and 0.625, respectively, and the average number of alleles per locus was 7.826. Bayesian clustering algorithm method and obtained dendrograms based on pedigree information and molecular data revealed the existence of four genetic clusters within the Black Slavonian pig. Wright’s FIS, FST and FIT from pedigree records were 0.017, 0.006, and 0.024, respectively, and did not prove significant population differentiation based on the geographical location of herds, despite the natural mating system. Obtained results indicate that despite the increased number of animals in the population, genetic diversity of Black Slavonian pig is low and conservation programme should focus on strategies aimed at avoiding further loss of genetic variability. Simultaneous use of genealogical and molecular data can be useful in conservation management of Black Slavonian pig breed.