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This paper discusses three large, almost identical oval breverls from the eighteenth century burial contexts in present-day Republic of Croatia. Two of them were discovered during archaeological excavations in Žuberak and Prozorje, while the third one from Ližnjan had not been defined as breverl until now. Breverls are the rarest and most enigmatic devotional objects but the three analysed in this paper have a common link other than their appearance. They all contained religious medals from pilgrim sites and papers with the prayer against all evils and demonic attacks on one side and the blessings of saints, the prayer for the identification of those tortured by evil spirits, and the Prologue to John's Gospel on the other. This article compares the papers discovered in them, studies the motifs from the mentioned breverls and analyses other finds from them to provide answers to the questions of their place of production, the identity of the people who wore them and why. Tentative correlation of different bioarchaeological factors, such as age, sex, and health condition of the deceased can give us much information on who breverl bearers were. Apparently, they were the vulnerable members of society, such as pregnant women, people suffering from poor health, or, as prayers from the breverls suggest, individuals believed to be tortured by demons or evil spirits. Taking that into account, breverls were devotional objects believed to provide universal protection, a sort of medicine case for both physical and spiritual problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our image of the Roman landscape of Istria is characterised by large‐scale centuriation and architectural remains of Roman villae. Detection and mapping of other, less dramatic landscape features require systematic large‐scale prospection, but this faces significant difficulties in the Mediterranean environment. However, the developments in the field of airborne laser scanning offer the possibility to create archaeologically usable digital terrain models under water and under very dense and low maquis vegetation. This paper reports on the use of terrain models created using a green laser and a sophisticated archaeologically driven ground point filtering strategy. Combined with archaeological aerial photo interpretation, this provides the means for landscape mapping and interpretation that has revealed a wealth of archaeological structures hinting at Roman agricultural practices and landscape. Our case study is based on a laser scan of about 24 km2 of land and underwater terrain in Medulin Bay. Processed, visualised and interpreted for archaeological purposes, the data reveal not only features ranging from prehistoric hilltop settlements to modern military installations but also features a complex picture of the Roman land use. Of particular interest is the large number of planting pits, which extend over a total length of 4 km. They were laid on a regular grid of approximately 35 × 35 m, sometimes combined in contiguous parcels. They can be interpreted as remains of orchards or tree nurseries of Roman date, and the paper examines also the question of whether they can be linked to the associated Roman estates. The case study area presented here shows that the potential of remote sensing methods goes far beyond the mere finding of traditional sites but can open up new landscape‐scale perspectives on regions that have been archaeologically little explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the organization of students' internship in new circumstances caused by COVID-19 pandemic. The focus of the research is on the IT companies in eastern part of Croatia and their perspective on how they managed students' internship during and after the lockdown. Some of these IT companies successfully cooperate with the Department of Information Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Osijek. Since 2015 the Department enrolls students in graduate study of Information Technology track. From that time students used to do their internship and later find employment in IT companies in the region. The well based cooperation with local IT companies was interrupted in 2020 by the COVID-19 lockdown and semi-lockdown. In such a situation, teachers and IT companies' managers have been trying to find out the proper ways in which students could fulfill their tasks via online or hybrid mode. To learn more about the experience from the perspective of IT companies, we interviewed 18 of them. The paper points out the observed advantages and disadvantages as well as suggestions for setting a framework for future internship programs. Employers are thinking about continuing to perform online or hybrid internships, and it is clear to them that one of the answers is well defined and regulated model of internships in the online environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decade of research concentrating on the area of Eastern Slavonia revealed an abundance of large and complex Middle and Late Neolithic sites. It changed profoundly how we perceive Middle and Late Neolithic settlements, including space, size and organization. The vast majority of these sites were detected through aerial reconnaissance and satellite image analysis. The observation of the sites was followed by intensive field surveys, which confirmed their attribution to the Middle and Late Neolithic period by surface finds. On those confirmed sites in the vicinity of Đakovo, Croatia, a magnetic survey was conducted on five sites, and the results confirmed the presence of large-scale Middle and Late Neolithic settlements with complex spatial organization and enclosure(s). The most complex remains so far are the sites Gorjani, Kremenjača and Topole, which we present in this paper, where one or two settlements remain covering an area of 70 hectares which is currently in the process of formal protection as a cultural landscape by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia. The special focus of this paper is the application of remote sensing in the detection, archaeological confirmation and protection of the site of Gorjani Topole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, an important number of regional and global digital elevation models (DEMs) have been released publicly. As a consequence, researchers need to choose between several of these models to perform their studies and to use these DEMs as third-party data to compute derived products (e.g., for orthorectification). However, the comparison of DEMs is not trivial. For most quantitative comparisons, DEMs need to be expressed in the same coordinate reference system (CRS) and sampled over the same grid (i.e., be at the same ground sampling distance with the same pixel-is-area or pixel-is-point convention) with heights relative to the same vertical reference system (VRS). Thankfully, many open tools allow us to perform these transformations precisely and easily. Despite these rigorous transformations, local or global planimetric displacements may still be observed from one DEM to another. These displacements or disparities may lead to significant biases in comparisons of DEM elevations or derived products such as slope, aspect, or curvature. Therefore, before any comparison, the control of DEM planimetric accuracy is certainly a very important task to perform. This paper presents the disparity analysis method enhanced to achieve a sub-pixel accuracy by interpolating the linear regression coefficients computed within an exploration window. This new method is significantly faster than oversampling the input data because it uses the correlation coefficients that have already been computed in the disparity analysis. To demonstrate the robustness of this algorithm, artificial displacements have been introduced through bicubic interpolation in an 11 × 11 grid with a 0.1-pixel step in both directionsThis validation method has been applied in four approximately 10 km × 10 km DEMIX tiles showing different roughness (height distribution). Globally, this new sub-pixel accuracy method is robust. Artificial displacements have been retrieved with typical errors (eb) ranging from 12 to 20% of the pixel size (with the worst case in Croatia). These errors in displacement retrievals are not equally distributed in the 11 × 11 grid, and the overall error Eb depends on the roughness encountered in the different tiles. The second aim of this paper is to assess the impact of the bicubic parameter (slope of the weight function at a distance d = 1 of the interpolated point) on the accuracy of the displacement retrieval. By considering Eb as a quality indicator, tests have been performed in the four DEMIX tiles, making the bicubic parameter vary between −1.5 and 0.0 by a step of 0.1. For each DEMIX tile, the best bicubic (BBC) parameter b* is interpolated from the four Eb minimal values. This BBC parameter b* is low for flat areas (around −0.95) and higher in mountainous areas (around −0.75). The roughness indicator is the standard deviation of the slope norms computed from all the pixels of a tile. A logarithmic regression analysis performed between the roughness indicator and the BBC parameter b* computed in 67 DEMIX tiles shows a high correlation (r = 0.717). The logarithmic regression formula b ~ σ s l o p e estimating the BBC parameter from the roughness indicator is generic and may be applied to estimate the displacements between two different DEMs. This formula may also be used to set up a future Adaptative Best BiCubic (ABBC) that will estimate the local roughness in a sliding window to compute a local BBC b ~ . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes the financing of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Republic of Croatia. The fundamental goal of the paper is to determine the most common forms of funding sources used by entrepreneurs classified as SMEs, as well as the advantages and disadvantages that each financing model brings. The article pays special attention to financing methods that are less known to the average Croatian entrepreneur, such as peer-to-peer lending, initial coin offering, and security token offering. Unlike the banking system, which serves as an indirect financial system, modern forms of financing allow SMEs to raise funds directly from borrowers. To obtain the most relevant information from practice, the article presents the results of conducted research on financing models for SMEs in Croatia, with a particular focus on the awareness of entrepreneurs about new and contemporary forms of financing. Research was carried out in the form of a survey questionnaire created using Google Forms. The sample for the research consisted of 145 SMEs companies, selected to represent the population from various sectors of activity according to the national categorization of activities, from which 14.48% responded to the survey questionnaire. Research showed a higher rate of awerenes and the utilization of traditional forms of financing compared to modern ones. However, it also indicates a certain readiness to embrace the latter. Although the share of modern forms of financing remains small, research revealed that they constitute an appropriate alternative to traditional banking systems, both as a relatively solid investment channel and as a way to obtain loans with convenient terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important aspects of making the 1990 Croatian Constitutional Court was the 'establishment of an independent and potentially powerful' court. For the first time since 1963, the Court obtained full powers of judicial review. Yet, despite its newly gained powers, the Croatian Constitutional Court refrained from an activist approach adopted by other constitutional courts in the region and was not fond of annulling laws adopted by the legislator. One possible explanation of such a conformist approach was the ideological consonance between the centre-right legislative and the centre-right Court. Most of the constitutional judges were appointed by the centre-right party (HDZ), which held the majority in the Parliament during the first decade of the country's independence. However, recent years have witnessed an increase in the dissenting opinions, following the nomination of five judges from the centre-left opposition (SDP) to a predominantly centre-right Court. Based on the large-scale data collection efforts, this paper looks into the origin of these nominations, as well as their effect on the emergance of dissenting opinion and the growing ideological polarisation on the Court, which changed the relationship between judicial and legislative powers in Croatia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The detection of seismic activity precursors as part of an alarm system will provide opportunities for minimization of the social and economic impact caused by earthquakes. It has long been envisaged, and a growing body of empirical evidence suggests that the Earth's electromagnetic field could contain precursors to seismic events. The ability to capture and monitor electromagnetic field activity has increased in the past years as more sensors and methodologies emerge. Missions such as Swarm have enabled researchers to access near-continuous observations of electromagnetic activity at second intervals, allowing for more detailed studies on weather and earthquakes. In this paper, we present an approach designed to detect anomalies in electromagnetic field data from Swarm satellites. This works towards developing a continuous and effective monitoring system of seismic activities based on SWARM measurements. We develop an enhanced form of a probabilistic model based on the Martingale theories that allow for testing the null hypothesis to indicate abnormal changes in electromagnetic field activity. We evaluate this enhanced approach in two experiments. Firstly, we perform a quantitative comparison on well-understood and popular benchmark datasets alongside the conventional approach. We find that the enhanced version produces more accurate anomaly detection overall. Secondly, we use three case studies of seismic activity (namely, earthquakes in Mexico, Greece, and Croatia) to assess our approach and the results show that our method can detect anomalous phenomena in the electromagnetic data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine the language of diplomatic mediation from the perspective of speech acts and interaction, by studying an unofficial transcript of an emergency meeting in 1991 between representatives of the European Economic Community (EEC) and Slovenia and Croatia. We use a bottom-up methodology, bringing together ritual, speech acts and interaction, to capture recurrent conventions of diplomatic mediation in a strictly language-anchored fashion. The EEC representatives had a vested interest in swiftly resolving the conflict, and even before consulting with the Slovenian and Croatian representatives they already reached an initial agreement with the Yugoslav state representatives. Due to this fait accompli situation, we assume that they had to show particular awareness of the ritually 'neutral' tone of the mediator. Through our methodology we capture the replicable features of diplomatic mediation, and because of this our results are relevant for the study of the language of diplomacy. • Uses a bottom-up approach to analyse conventions of mediation in diplomatic language use in times of conflict • Brings together ritual, speech act and interaction in the study of diplomatic language use • Captures covert aggression in diplomatic interaction [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's children are growing up and spending most of their free time with media, especially social networks, on which various lifestyles are imposed every day, including ideals of beauty that are often based on physical appearance and far from authentic images of the observed object. In this paper, it is shown how the topic of beauty is presented throughout the history of art, with a special focus on the presentation of beauty in theology. Additionally, the paper investigates how much the topic of beauty is treated within the Croatian formal education system, with a particular emphasis on the representation of beauty and to what extent children are prepared to critically evaluate the representation of beauty in different types of media, but also to reflect on the potential impact of such content on themselves. Research has shown that most such content is present in the subjects of Visual Culture, Visual Arts, Croatian Language and Informatics. The paper also presents such contents in the Catholic religious education curricula. In addition to imposed media ideals of beauty affecting childrens' self-confidence, they are often the subject of peer violence, especially in the virtual world. Specifically, humiliation based on physical appearance is a common form of cyberbullying. To determine how physical appearance is used in such unacceptable behavior among children, all the posts that have arrived on UHO, the first online platform for the prevention of cyberbullying in Croatia, were analyzed. Research has shown that girls report such forms of abuse more often than boys, that cyberbullying based on appearance most often occurs inside closed groups or private messages rather than publicly on social networks, and that children rarely report to adults that they are the victims of such forms of violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open access (OA) publishing has become the dominant form of scientific communication. According to an earlier research, the share of OA in the total number of internationally visible papers by Croatian authors is 74 %. This study investigates the attitudes and publication practices of Croatian authors towards OA through a survey conducted among members of the znanstvenici.hr mailing list in early 2023. The survey aimed to determine their support for OA publishing, recognition of its positive and negative aspects, motives for choosing OA publishing, funding sources, and preferences for certain OA publishers. A total of 1,041 participants responded to the survey, with 763 fully completing the questionnaire. The majority of respondents (over 60 %) were active in the fields of sciences, social sciences, and engineering. Analysis of their publication output during the 2021-2022 period revealed that 43.6 % of respondents did not publish a single article in a Croatian journal, with the highest proportion (71 %) observed in the sciences. In contrast, 9.7 % did not publish in foreign journals, with 32 % of these respondents coming from the humanities. Among those who published in foreign journals, approximately 50 % published at least one paper in subscription journals, and the same proportion published in fully open access journals with article processing charge (APC) payments. One-fifth of the authors published their papers for free in fully open access journals, either through invitation or by utilizing coupons for free publication. Coupons were the most commonly used source for APC payments. The majority of respondents (75 %) expressed support for OA publishing and acknowledged its advantages in scientific research and the educational process. Over 80 % of respondents agreed that OA facilitates faster and more efficient dissemination of new knowledge, and increases readership, and enhances the visibility of research papers. However, when selecting a journal for publication, respondents were primarily motivated by the journal’s reputation and impact rather than its open access status. Nearly one-third of the surveyed authors believed that OA increases the commercialization of scientific publishing and that the rising number of publications diminishes the quality of peer review. Attitudes towards publishing in fully open access journals operating exclusively with the APC financing model varied among respondents. Those with a positive attitude were motivated by the speed of peer review and publication process, while those with a negative attitude believed that publishers of APC-charging OA journals prioritize profit over the quality of published articles. Additionally, some respondents mentioned that they could not afford to pay APC, or chose not to pay due to their opposition to any obstacles hindering the publication of scientific results. The survey results indicate that Croatian authors, even when lacking sufficient means, are more inclined to pay publication costs rather than ensuring open access through archiving their papers in public digital repositories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective -- Burn injuries (BI) are a great threat to children and are a significant therapeutic challenge. They demand prompt attention to avoid infection and scarring. The main goal of this paper is to analyse the demographic and clinical characteristics of BI in children treated in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), University Hospital of Split (UHS). Patients and Methods -- The data of patients with BI admitted to the PICU from 2010 through 2022 were collected retrospectively from medical documentation. The subjects were analysed and stratified into groups according to age, sex, cause of burn, percentage of affected total body surface area (TBSA) and length of stay (LOS) in the PICU. Results -- A total of 20 children were treated. Of these, 14 were boys and 6 were girls. The most common cause of burns in children was skin contact with hot liquids (60%). Burns affecting 10 to <20% of TBSA were found in 60% children. Children with TBSA <15% were significantly older than those with TBSA ≥15% (6.9±6.3 years vs. 1.9±1.9 years; P=0.022). The mean LOS in the PICU was 3.7 days. Most children had burns on their chest, legs and arms. Conclusion -- There were no deaths or serious associated injuries, but burns caused significant morbidity, and disrupted the children's physical and emotional stability. As BI are preventable, awareness should be raised and burn prevention programmes should be encouraged, especially those intended for toddlers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maritime pilgrimage of Our Lady of Tarac in the Kornati islands, Dalmatia, Croatia, is held on the first Sunday in July. The culture of these island communities is based on a patriarchal system that implies gender inequality. This cultural order has an impact on the construction of gender and religious identities in children and adults when they participate in pilgrimages. The basic methodological approach of the paper is autoethnography. The author concludes that the model of cryptomatriarchy along with the dominant patriarchy well explains well the role of women/mothers and grandmothers in the context of the pilgrimage. The pilgrimage also serves as a framework for transferring gender roles to children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper evaluates the usability of remote satellite-based and proximal ground-based agrometeorological data sources for precision agriculture and crop production in Croatia. The compared agrometeorological datasets stem from the open-access data sources Copernicus CDS and the Agri4Cast portal, and commercial in situ agrometeorological stations (PinovaMeteo) which monitor environmental parameters relevant to the physiological state of crops. The study compares relevant parameters for 10 different locations in Croatia for three consecutive years (2019, 2020, and 2021) to investigate whether model-based data from ERA5-Land and Agri4Cast are well-correlated with ground measurements from independent in situ stations (PinovaMeteo) for specific agrometeorological parameters (air and soil temperature, and precipitation). Our results indicate the following: both the ERA5-Land and Agri4Cast datasets show mostly strong positive correlations with ground observations for air temperature, modest correlations for soil temperature, but modest or even low correlations for precipitation. Analysis of the residuals indicates higher overall residual values, especially in areas with complex topography and near large bodies of water or the sea, and deviations of residuals that may limit the usability of satellite- and model-based data for decision-making in agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Grasshopper and cricket (Orthoptera) mass occurrences represent an unusually large increase in populations of certain species. Grasshopper species known as locusts are well known to cause severe damage to many crops. The severity of each outbreak depends on the species and on a wide range of ecological factors, including temperature and rainfall regime. In Croatia, a small country in SE Europe, there has never been systematic research on these Orthoptera species, and this phenomenon is regarded as a rare event despite several huge outbreaks being reported in the past. For the first time, all known mass occurrences of grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, bush-crickets, and mole crickets (of the order Orthoptera) from Croatia are summarized. The study represents a historical overview of all Orthoptera mass occurrences known based on the literature but also provides many new records. It seems that Orthoptera mass occurrences are not rare in the country at all, especially in the Mediterranean part. The present situation suggests that thorough research into locusts as agricultural pests in Croatia should be conducted to determine the potential threat to the local economy and with special emphasis on the Adriatic region. The trends of climate change in the Mediterranean imply a rise in locust destructiveness risk in the near future and invites further research. During the last century, well-known locust species, such as Calliptamus italicus and Dociostaurus maroccanus, have produced outbreaks of varying degrees in the Balkans. The literature data on outbreaks in the region are scarce, and Croatia is not an exception. This study summarized the data on 23 Orthoptera mass occurrences in Croatia from 1900 to 2023 from 28 localities, representing 12 species. This is a low level of outbreak activity compared with other locust and pest grasshopper species in other parts of the world. The species with the most reporting is C. italicus with altogether six mass occurrences, while second is Barbitistes ocskayi and Miramella irena with three records, and in the third, place D. maroccanus and Gryllotalpa sp., each with two mass occurrences having been reported. One of the most notable swarms is that of Anacridium aegyptium which occurred around Šibenik in 1998, and this paper provides the first account of it, 25 years after it took place. The most recent outbreaks took place in 2022, and the most notable one was that of D. maroccanus swarm in Štikovo. The 2022 and 2023 reports were brief and muted, despite the affected agriculturists claiming significant damages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Good and effective communication is in the common interest of the interlocutor, especially in a medical setting, which creates a specific relationship of trust, and directly influences the outcomes of a medical treatment. The aim of this research is to evaluate the role of information in creating communication feedback in the clinical practice of physiotherapists. To analyse the communication feedback of physiotherapists, a survey was conducted using a questionnaire on 471 physiotherapists employed in 74 healthcare institutions in Croatia. The research hypothesis in this paper assumes that there are no differences in the assessment of communication feedback among physiotherapists with regard to age and years of experience. However, the results show that there are significant differences in the assessment of communication feedback among physiotherapists. This is an important finding, which underlines that an issue that cannot be solved by medical knowledge alone can be resolved by effective communication when combined with a certain technique and way of communicating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of affiliation by developing a contextually sensitive mid-level theory comprising specific elements, layers, and factors of affiliation. Vulnerable groups are a locus of analysis because they are particularly sensitive to various forms of social exclusion or non-affiliation. A binary study of persons with physical disability and treated alcoholics in Croatia was conducted by focus group interviewing. Through thematic analysis, six different code patterns were detected—solidarity affiliation, identity affiliation, alcoholism affiliation, disability affiliation, disability exclusion, and alcoholism exclusion—that represent key respondents' narratives on belonging. Crucial findings stress how vulnerable groups ground affiliation mostly in elements of solidarity rather than in terms of identity, how layers of affiliation (social and associational affiliation) are not so clearly differentiated but still deepen insights on affiliation, and how important factors enhancing affiliation are personal virtues which are not so prominent in theory. Therefore, the role of political institutions supporting affiliation as a meta-capability should be primarily set on solidarity affiliation, should nourish various layers of affiliation, and should be supported by citizens who care about their fellow citizens, especially those from vulnerable groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercultural education and the pedagogy of recognition are among the fundamental dimensions of contemporary education in European schools. The recognition of the role that learning about religions and drawing lessons from them plays in creating a cohesive society is becoming more widespread. European educational policies suggest integrating intercultural competence into the professional identity of teachers in all subjects, including religious education teachers. Intercultural learning is a constitutive part of shaping the identity of all religious communities. The intercultural sensitivity of religious education teachers, along with attitudes and behaviours that reflect openness, adaptability, and communication with those of different cultural and religious backgrounds, influences the development of intercultural competence in students. This paper examines differences in the intercultural sensitivity of religious education teachers from various religious communities in Croatia in relation to their intercultural experiences, gender, and acquired theoretical knowledge. The research utilised a quantitative methodology, and the analysis of results incorporated descriptive and differential statistics (t-test). Although the teachers demonstrated a relatively high level of intercultural sensitivity, differences were still evident among the groups. Understanding the concept of the religious dimension of intercultural education emerged as a significant factor influencing the ethnorelative or ethnocentric attitudes and behaviours of religious education teachers. Differences observed in intercultural experiences and gender lead to the conclusion that there is a need to create equal opportunities in intercultural education for both men and women. Additionally, there is a need to increase opportunities for intercultural exchanges and encounters with members of other cultures and religions to enable teachers to develop a more open identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the first results of palynological research from the Spila nad Procjepom cave, situated in the Mljet National Park, Croatia. The palynological data obtained, enables a partial insight into the local vegetation cover, temporal changes in the vegetation during the accumulation of studied deposits (at ca. 3500 cal years BP), and post-depositional processes that influenced the palynomorph assemblage. Results of palynofacies analysis indicate changes from fluvial (channel deposits), through palustrine to terrestrial environments. Although the interpretation of changes in plant cover, due to the lack of statistical significance, should be taken with caution, preserved pollen types confirm the dominance of the Mediterranean evergreen forest vegetation on Mljet island. Moreover, a high proportion of non-arboreal pollen (NAP) indicates some level of forest degradation, ranging from Mediterranean open forest to degraded maquis. Abundant charcoal additionaly confirms that the cave was inhabited by humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we describe a numerical model for unsteady stratified flow without mixing at the interface (halocline), which was applied for the calculation of salinization in the Neretva River (Croatia) i.e. the first line of penetration. The mathematical model is based on the principles of conservation of mass and momentum. Since, the set of equations does not have analytical solution it is solved numerically, e.g. through finite element method (FEM). Computed variables are water discharges and elevations for each layer separately in each point of finite element mesh. Calibration of the model is based on in-situ measurements. The most important factor for salt water intrusion in an estuary is the fresh water discharge. In the Neretva estuary, salt water was found in Metkovic (22 km from the sea) for freshwater flows of less than 180 m3/s, while for flows greater than 500 m3/s salt water was completely extruded from the riverbed. The plan is to build a mobile barrier (gate) in the Neretva River to protect it against sea water penetration. Additionally, upstream of the barrier, fresh water would be provided in the riverbed that could be primarily used for irrigation. The same numerical model has been also successfully applied to the estuary of the Jadro River, a small river near Split. Since the model is general, it can be applied on any river mouth with stratified conditions. The projections of sea level changes in the Adriatic Sea shows increase of a few decimeters in 21st century. Generally, rising sea levels will increase salt water pressure on the coast, estuaries, water resources, aquifers and farmland. Therefore, the management of estuaries will require even greater engagement of experts from different areas to successfully deal with future difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses construction waste and its management in the territory of Croatia. In order to better understand the concept of waste, the first part of this paper discusses its origin, characteristics, and categorisation. In addition, it mentions special categories of waste defined within Croatian borders. All members of the European Union are encouraged to adopt a circular economy approach to manage these various types of waste. Furthermore, the article emphasises the necessity to construct legal landfills in addition to building management centres, recycling yards, and transfer stations, in order to reduce the formation of wild landfills, which result from irresponsible waste disposal. The second part of the article provides a detailed description of construction and demolition waste. In addition to the types of occurrences and the associated degree of hazard, a categorisation system is used. This system includes records and key numbers, and allows finding the appropriate species in the database with the corresponding key number. Modern technology has made it possible to recycle all types of waste, including construction waste, into secondary raw materials. Proper management is essential to achieve this goal. The first step involves prevention, diversion or conversion of waste into a resource. When these options are not possible, one of the recovery processes should be employed. Managing Construction Waste also provides a comprehensive explanation of recycling, which is given significant attention. The article concludes with an overview of the Republic of Croatia’s system for managing construction waste, which lags behind more developed countries, as well as offers examples of best practices and possible improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper was written as part of the research project "Research of public opinion on the state of safety, behaviour and habits of participants in road traffic in the Republic of Croatia". The goal of this research is to determine the frequency of violations of traffic regulations related to drivers, pedestrians and passengers in vehicles, and to determine whether there is a connection between the experience of suffering of the aforementioned road users and their punishable behaviour. For this purpose, a quantitative research was conducted in which a multi-method approach was used in field data collection, a combination of telephone research (CATI) - 60% of the sample and online research (CAWI) - 40% of the sample. Respondents from the entire territory of the Republic of Croatia (N=2072) over the age of 16 were included in the research. In general, it can be concluded that the violation of traffic regulations is very frequent and present among the majority of different road users, and that road users who have recently experienced a traffic accident in any capacity, very rarely violate traffic regulations, as car drivers. Conversely, involvement in traffic accidents has not been shown to deter pedestrians and vehicle occupants from repeating traffic violations. The obtained results have a practical value, especially in the context of planning preventive programs and strategies, while the limitations of the research are reflected in the fact that only one independent variable was included in the correlation with committing traffic violations, regardless of other known predictors of punishable behaviour in traffic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research aims to analyze the EU funding for agriculture as well as the administrative obstacles of the national public bodies in using these funds for Croatian family farms/entrepreneurship and the role of policymakers in increasing the efficiency of absorbing funds from this source. Administrative barriers that appear at the national level were analyzed, with an emphasis on those that arise in procedures when applying for EU fund competitions, the financial approval process, and the criteria and conditions of the competitions themselves. The data used in the empirical analysis included 284 respondents who were surveyed through a questionnaire. The respondents were private consultants working on the preparation and implementation of projects funded from EU funds and were surveyed based on their many years of experience. Consultants from all regions in Croatia were covered to ensure more reliable results. The results show that delays in the preparation of national strategic documents significantly affect the reduction of efficiency in the use of EU funds. The most significant impact on the reduction of efficiency in the absorption of funds from EU sources is due to unreliable publication plans, prolonged project application assessments, frequent changes to competition documentation, and competition misalignment with the possibilities and needs of potential applicants. In contrast, less influence comes from unclearly defined competition conditions and the way (model) competitions are announced. The research aims to assist national authorities and provide guidelines to reduce administrative barriers, making it easier to finance projects for companies, public institutions, and other potential applicants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advances knowledge of human behavioural and adaptational strategies in coastal areas related to acquiring, producing and distributing ornaments, specifically, the omnipresent marine gastropod Columbella rustica. By applying quantitative and qualitative approaches to the most extensive collection of Columbella rustica shells in the Eastern Adriatic region discovered in the Late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic levels of Vlakno cave in Croatia, we have determined the complete step-by-step life cycle of this bead type , in particular, where and how shells were collected, produced, used, distributed and discarded. By integrating different methodologies, our data revealed changes in the collection strategies, reduction of the shell size during the Mesolithic period, and standardisation and continuity in production techniques. Detailed analyses of broken shells in the archaeological assemblage identified the presence of technological traces resulting from processing mistakes, supporting our hypothesis of on-site production. A significant share of used and unused standardised beads points that bead production at this site was for personal use but also likely for the exchange and distribution systems. Standardised, systematic and long-lasting activity related to the ornaments places Vlakno cave as one of the leading centres for maintaining regional exchange and communication networks in the Eastern Adriatic region during significant climatic and environmental changes happening in this region in the Late Pleniglacial and the early Holocene. Detecting on-site activities related to the ornaments in Vlakno cave has extended our understanding of how symbolic motives influenced the settlement model of the Late Pleniglacial and Early Holocene hunter-gatherers in Eastern Adriatic region and overall contributed to fundamental questions about the complexity of ancient human societies' adaptation strategies. • Chaîne opératoire and in-situ production of C. rustica ornaments • Changes in collection strategies reflected in size reduction • Standardization of production techniques in Eastern Adriatic • Archaeological broken shells as processing mistakes [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fifth Croatia Stuttering Symposium in 2022 continued the Fourth Croatia Stuttering Symposium 2019 theme of the connection between research and clinical practice. At the 2022 Symposium, there were 145 delegates from 21 countries. This paper documents the contents of the first of three Symposium modules. The module topic was that three treatments for early childhood stuttering are supported by randomized controlled trial evidence. A clinical situation was considered where a parent of a 3-year-old child asked what results to expect of stuttering treatment. A distinguished scholar presented a 5-minute video interpretation of the research concerning the randomized controlled trial evidence for the three treatments. Three master clinicians then each presented a 2-minute video demonstration of how those research findings might be applied in a clinical situation. Following that, the convenors moderated a discussion between the distinguished scholar, master clinicians, and delegates regarding the research and how it applies to clinical practice. • We explored of the connection between research and clinical practice. • We considered what results to expect of stuttering treatment. • A distinguished scholar, master clinicians, and delegates discussed the matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]