Procjena seizmičke otpornosti konstrukcija visokogradnje prema EC8 može se provesti ocjenom indeksa oštećenja. Primjena postupka pokazana je kroz studiju slučaja armiranobetonske skeletne zgrade spratnosti jedanaest spratova, izgrađene 1968. godine. Zgrada je bila izložena požaru 2014. godine. Za određivanje dinamičkih parametara zgrade provedena je eksperimentalna i numerička analiza. Mjerenjem ambijentalnih vibracija i obradom u programu ARTEMIS definisane su realne vlastite vrijednosti analizirane konstrukcije. Numerička analiza je provedena na MKE modelu. U drugom koraku je provedena nelinearna dinamička analiza za 6 registrovanih akcelerograma potresa. Definisani su indeksi oštećenja i upoređivani za svaki registrovani potres. Prikazane su povezane vrijednosti indeksa oštećenja sa stepenima oštećenja definisanim prema EMS 98. Dati su određeni komentari i izvedeni zaključci.

Industrijalizacija, urbanizacija i porast stanovništva u svijetu uzrokuju velik pritisak na životnu sredinu i okoliš. Načešći zagađivači okoliša su policiklični aromatski ugljikovodici, pesticidi, herbicidi, teški metali i metaloidi, te mikro/nano plastika koja je rastući problem. Zagađenje zemljišta je poseban problem jer nastale hemijske, fizičke i biološke promjene u tlu nepovoljno utiču na ekosistem, a posredno i na ljudsko zdravlje. Također, zemljište je često krajnji „filter“ za mnoge zagađujuće materije, koje se putem tla akumuliraju i mogu dospjeti u podzemne vode i prehrambeni lanac. Djelovanje polutanata u tlu može dovesti do smanjenja biodiverziteta, degradacije tla i gubitka plodnosti, što su dugoročni ekološki i ekonomski izazovi. Konvencionalne metode dekontaminacije, koje se najčešće koriste za uklanjanje polutanata iz zemljišta zahtijevaju visok stepen tehnološke opremljenosti, veliku potrošnju energije ali i primjenu hemijskih tvari koje uvode nove varijable u kompleksnom ekosistemu tla. Kao djelotvornije, ekonomski i ekološki održivo rješenje ističe se bioremedijacija, biotehnološki pristup dekontaminaciji zemljišta primjenom organizama koji stabiliziraju, akumuliraju ili transformišu polutante u manje toksične spojeve. Na podlogama kontaminiranim antropogenim djelovanjem ili čak prirodno opterećenim polutantima, mogu se pronaći organizmi koji su djelovanjem prirodne selekcije oblikovani za razgradnju ili akumulaciju pojedinih spojeva. Ovakvi organizmi imaju najveći potencijal za primjenu u bioremedijaciji. Molekularnobiološka istraživanja omogućavaju dešifriranje genetičke osnove metaboličkih procesa relevantnih za bioremedijacionu funkciju. U narednom koraku je moguće primijeniti metode genetičkog inženjerstva kako bi se bioremedicioni potencijal unaprijedio ili usmjerio u pravcu ciljanog polutanta. Budući da uspješnost bioremedijacije ovisi o brojnim faktorima poput temperature, pH, strukture i hemijskog sastava zemljišta, međusobnog odnosa bioloških aktera, istraživanja genetičke, biohemijske i fiziološke osnove metabolizma polutanata, biti će od ključne važnosti za realizaciju potencijala bioremedijacije kao procesa. Metodama bioremedijacije nastoji se održati prirodna ravnoteža ekosistema uz minimalan negativan utjecaj na životu sredinu. Ipak, u nastojanju da se unaprijedi efikasnost, prije svega je nužno voditi računa o sigurnosti.

This paper examines country-level determinants of venture capital investment (VCI) across 22 European economies from 2013 to 2020. We combine Invest Europe VCI totals with 14 indicators from the Global Innovation Index (GII) and classify each indicator into quintile tiers. Using one-way ANOVA with Tukey HSD post-hoc tests, we assess whether VCI differs systematically across tiers for each determinant. VCI is highly concentrated: France and Germany form a persistent upper tail, followed by the Netherlands, while Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece sit at the lower end. Eleven of fourteen indicators display significant between-tier differences in VCI: business environment, government effectiveness, gross expenditure on R&D, human capital and research, ICT access, ICT use, knowledge & technology outputs, knowledge creation, patent applications, PCT applications, and university–industry collaboration. By contrast, creative goods & services, ICT services exports, and political/operational stability do not discriminate VCI within this European sample. Results are robust to alternative binning, log-VCI transformation, and exclusion of the largest ecosystems. We interpret the patterns as consistent with VCI concentrating where institutional quality is strong, innovation inputs are deep, digital readiness is advanced, and knowledge/IP outputs are abundant. The findings offer actionable priorities for policy aimed at strengthening SME finance ecosystems, while acknowledging the study’s associative design and the aggregation of VCI across stages and sectors.

This article examines the development of criminal procedure in the Roman Imperial period, with particular emphasis on the relationship and gradual transition between the accusatorial model (accusatio) and the extraordinary imperial procedure (cognitio extra ordinem). Starting from the institutional and procedural changes caused by the decline of republican judicial bodies and the strengthening of imperial authority, the paper analyses the transformation of judicial power holders, the initiation of criminal proceedings, the role of the judge, the shift from public to secret hearings, the law of evidence, and the emergence of legal remedies such as appeal (appellatio) and asylum (asylum). Special attention is devoted to the issue of proof and to a critical reassessment of the long-standing doctrinal misconception concerning the existence of a formal and binding system of evidentiary rules in Roman law. The conclusion highlights the importance of Roman imperial criminal procedure for the development of the continental legal tradition, emphasizing its ambivalent legacy between enhanced state repression and the early formation of procedural safeguards.

This paper examines the level of alignment between procedural safeguards for children in criminal proceedings in the Republic of Srpska and the standards established by Directive (EU) 2016/800 on procedural safeguards for children who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings. Recognising children as a particularly vulnerable category of participants in criminal proceedings, the paper analyses whether the domestic normative framework ensures effective and child-appropriate procedural protection, taking into account the child’s age, maturity and specific needs. The analysis is based on a normative-dogmatic approach and focuses on the Law on the Protection and Treatment of Children and Juveniles in Criminal Proceedings of the Republic of Srpska, with the subsidiary application of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Srpska. Directive (EU) 2016/800 is used as the primary reference standard, interpreted in the light of the European Convention on Human Rights and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. The findings indicate that the domestic legal framework is largely aligned with European standards, particularly regarding the right to legal counsel and the basic limitations on the deprivation of liberty of children. However, the analysis also reveals notable normative shortcomings, especially concerning the individual assessment of the child, the right to information in a child-appropriate manner, and the comprehensive protection of the child’s privacy and identity. The paper concludes that targeted legislative improvements are necessary in order to achieve full and consistent compliance with the standards set by Directive (EU) 2016/800.

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Since the radiation effect manifest itself in association with other macroscopic phenomena (temperature, voltage, noise), the central topic examined in this paper is the influence of the dose of gamma radiation on macroscopic characteristics, i. e. on the ideality factor. The physical phenomena under consideration are complex because, in addition to high-energy gamma radiation, there is also a 1/f noise of low-energy radiation. In addition, in the semiconductor detector of electromagnetic radiation, all the microscopic effects characteristic of the behavior of the diode structure in the synergy of high-energy and low-energy radiation field come to the fore. Since all the effects that occur are of a stochastic nature, their influence on the macroscopic properties of the detector is expressed by the ideality factor. In the paper, stochastic phenomena of microscop discharges in a semiconductor (p-n) detector are connected with macroscopic phenomena, as well as the possibility of their statistical correlation.

: The growing demand for mental health services has led to the rapid emergence of digital mental health applications. Simultaneously, recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have enabled the development of high-performance chatbots powered by large language models (LLMs). Our paper explored the potential of an LLM-based mental health counselling chatbot for university students. We developed the chatbot using the QLoRA fine-tuning approach of a lightweight open-source LLM on curated counselling transcript data. We evaluated the system in a user study, with 30 university students, and found that a single chatbot counselling session reduced negative emotions significantly. Overall, our results suggested that LLM-based counselling chatbots present promising opportunities for AI-driven mental health interventions.

<div> Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a source of clean energy with stable long-term supplies that was first </div> <div> introduced into Japan in 1969. Since that time, sixty-six in-ground tanks for the storage of LNG, with a total </div> <div> capacity of 5,540,000 kiloliters, have been constructed in the country. Rapid developments in the technology </div> <div> used to construct these in-ground tanks, including the introduction of the super-deep slurry wall method and </div> <div> large-scale vertical NATM, have led to ever-increasing storage capacity — rising from 10,000 kiloliters in </div> <div> the early days to 200,000 kiloliters today. Completely buried tanks with concrete dome roofs have been </div> <div> constructed, and today’s technology is such that tanks with rigid side wall to bottom connections are being </div> <div> constructed in large numbers for cost reduction while enhancing reliability and safety. This paper describes </div> <div> trends in LNG tank technology and the latest technological developments, as achieved by the author in his </div> <div> work at Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. </div> <div> <br> </div> <div> Keywords: LNG in-ground tank; slurry wall; reinforced concrete dome roof; prestressed concrete; </div> <div> non-linear analysis; self-compacting concrete; rigid connection between side wall and bottom slab </div> <div> <br> </div>

Corrosion typically happens when materials are exposed to an aggressive environment, which results in a degradation of material. Corrosion testing calculates the material's resistance to corrosion under certain environmental conditions, such as humidity and temperature. The process is measured and analysed to determine the likelihood of corrosion. We can test a variety of metal types, including duplex and austenitic stainless steels and wrought nickel-rich chromium-bearing alloys. Our Metallurgical Department offers several different corrosion testing methods, including Intergranular Corrosion Testing (IGC), Pitting Corrosion Testing, and Rate Corrosion Testing. We work to the following testing standards: Pitting and crevice corrosion testing to ASTM G48 (Method A) and ASTM A923 Method C* Intergranular corrosion tests (ICC) to ASTM A262 Practice A, C and E and BS EN ISO 3651-2 Method A and ASTM G28 (Method A).

Different decision-making models are used in various areas of human life, however no area relies as much on analytical data as professional sports. The perceived opportunities and problems are the key factors that heavily influence the decision-making process itself. This especially applies to sport coaches and their ability to make proper strategy-related decision ahead of the next match their teams will face. The development of the sports industry, its importance, both at the national and global level, requires these decisions be made analytically and rationally, that is, to avoid making intuitive decisions whenever possible. One of the ways to achieve this is to utilize the SWOT method. The present research was carried out in five stages, which were supposed to determine, by means of utilizing qualitative and quantitative methods, the radical and key goals of a handball team facing the next opponent. The sample of the study was a handball match between Denmark and Croatia played at the European Championship in Hungary in 2022. In the first stages of the research, the key strengths and weaknesses of both teams were determined using quantitative methods, followed by the qualitative Analytic Hierarchy Process method, which made the comparison between the teams possible viable. The obtained results were then assessed by means of the Denmark and Croatia National Team Factors Evaluation. The final results were then displayed using the Denmark-Croatia Matrix. The decision on the strategy for the upcoming match was made using the TOWS Matrix. We have come up with five identified goals, one of which, should it be fulfilled, would eventually lead the national team of Denmark to the victory. The final score, alongside with the entire analysis, have provided justification for the decision-making model used therein.