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This paper examines and analyzes the relationship between workplace robots, employee emotional exhaustion, and turnover intentions within the context of Industry 5.0. Empirical research was conducted from January to May 2024. During this period, a total of 582 respondents from four Southeastern European countries (Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina) participated in the research. The proposed relationships between variables were tested by using the partial least squares method for structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM, SmartPLS software). The research results confirmed that the emotional exhaustion of employees had a positive relationship with turnover intentions, while workplace robots’ effects were negatively related to employee emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions. Leaders, managers, and human resource professionals may benefit from the findings presented in this paper, especially during the decision-making process on how to reduce the emotional exhaustion of employees by using workplace robots, which, in the end, will result in employee retention.

Intellectual capital in the knowledge era is a strategic advantage of board structure, which leads to the improvement of a company’s work and the achievement of its goals. The aim of this study is to develop a structural model that connects the corporate governance, intellectual capital and financial performance of the banking sector. Corporate governance is conceptualised by the board of directors as the main internal mechanism of corporate governance, which is measured by the size of the board of directors, the number of independent board members and the female board members. Intellectual capital represents a mediator in this model and its efficiency is calculated through the Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) model, while the financial performance of banks is measured through return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE). The results of the study conducted in 22 Serbian banks between 2015 to 2019 show that the size of the board of directors and the number of independent board members have a statistically significant impact on intelectual capital (IC), but there is no impact on total assets (ROA). The number of women in the board of directors does not have a statistically significant effect on either ROA or ROE. The findings also indicate that intellectual capital (HCE, SCE, CEE) has a significant mediating role in the relationship between board structure and bank performance. The results of this study will provide a significant contribution to further investment in intellectual capital as the strongest link in achieving positive effects on bank performance.

From early April 2020, wildfires raged in the highly contaminated areas around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (CNPP), Ukraine. For about 4 weeks, the fires spread around and into the Chernobyl exclusion zone (CEZ) and came within a few kilometers of both the CNPP and radioactive waste storage facilities. Wildfires occurred on several occasions throughout the month of April. They were extinguished, but weather conditions and the spread of fires by airborne embers and smoldering fires led to new fires starting at different locations of the CEZ. The forest fires were only completely under control at the beginning of May, thanks to the tireless and incessant work of the firefighters and a period of sustained precipitation. In total, 0.7–1.2 TBq 137Cs were released into the atmosphere. Smoke plumes partly spread south and west and contributed to the detection of airborne 137Cs over the Ukrainian territory and as far away as Western Europe. The increase in airborne 137Cs ranged from several hundred μBq·m–3in northern Ukraine to trace levels of a few μBq·m–3or even within the usual background level in other European countries. Dispersion modeling determined the plume arrival time and was helpful in the assessment of the possible increase in airborne 137Cs concentrations in Europe. Detections of airborne 90Sr (emission estimate 345–612 GBq) and Pu (up to 75 GBq, mostly 241Pu) were reported from the CEZ. Americium-241 represented only 1.4% of the total source term corresponding to the studied anthropogenic radionuclides but would have contributed up to 80% of the inhalation dose.

The second most important source of indoor radon, after soil beneath dwelling, is building material. With the increase in environmental awareness and new energy-saving policies, residents tend to replace the existing windows with tighter windows, which leads to a decrease in air exchange rate and consequently an increase in indoor radon concentration. In case of low exchange rates, dose caused by inhalation of radon and its progeny can exceed external dose originating from the radium content in the surrounding building material. In this paper, surface exhalation rates of radon (222Rn) and thoron (220Rn) from typical building materials used for construction and interior decoration of houses in Serbia were investigated. Surface exhalation rate measurements were performed using the closed-chamber method, while concentrations of radon and thoron in the chamber were continuously measured using an active device, RTM1688-2, produced by SARAD® GmbH. Finally, the impact of the replacement of windows on the indoor radon concentration was estimated.

Laetiporus sulphureusis an edible mushroom with significant medicinal potential due to its rich polyphenol composition. Complete activity of polyphenols in the colon depends on the probiotic bacteria which already demonstrated proapoptotic effects on colon cancer cells. Our study uses a simple HoxBan co-culture system in order to approximate real in vivoconditions. Present study examined for the first time the cytotoxic effect of L. sulphureusethyl acetate extract (EALS) and Bifidobacterium animalissubsp. lactis(BAL) probiotic on colorectal (HCT-116) and healthy (MRC-5) cells. EALS, abundant in polyphenolics detected by HPLC, showed weak cytotoxic activity (MTT assay) on HCT-116 and MRC-5 cells. Strong cytotoxicity of BAL and BAL/EALS on HCT-116 cells (determined by trypan blue staining and flow cytometry) was due to induction of pro-apoptotic effects. External apoptotic pathway was activated viaintensified expression of Caspase 8and Caspase 3, detected by qPCR method. The results show that EALS strongly enhances the cytotoxic and pro-apoptotic effects of BAL on HCT-116 cells in the co-culture system. Directions for future research are suggested to ultimately provide the clarification whether the structural change of polyphenols caused by the activity of BAL, or the change in the metabolic activity of BAL by polyphenols, are responsible for exact mechanism of these treatments activity. Also, the consequences of direct contact of BAL and HCT-116 cells should be further examined in appropriate in vivosystems.

Respecting the importance of corporate governance (CG), particularly various corporate governance mechanisms for improving corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, the paper highlights relevant CG–CSR synergies from the perspective of systems thinking. The paper further aims to demonstrate the ways in which selected systems methodologies can support CG–CSR synergies. Accordingly, we selected appropriate systems methodologies, such as dialectical systems theory, soft systems methodology, and system dynamics. We defined the dialectical system, consisting of essential corporate governance mechanisms, which contribute to CSR; we also identified the key stakeholders and their perceptions of CG–CSR relations through CATWOE analysis; thus, the appropriate root definition and conceptual model, including the activities that are relevant for CG–CSR relations, were developed. Developed systemic framework provided a relevant methodological support to highlight the various issues of corporate governance, such as institutional framework, market for corporate control, ownership structure, board structure, and their contribution to CSR.

Environmental noise affects a large number of people. It is estimated that 20% of the EU population, or around 80 million people live in conditions of unacceptable noise. Three key possibilities for community noise management are control at the source of noise, control at the path from source to receiver and protection at the place of reception. In all three cases, noise should be reduced to the lowest level achievable in the particular situation. This study deals with the problem of protection against community noise at the receiving site. The paper considers the energy efficient façade construction and how they contribute to the protection of noise in urban areas.

Low Complex Forward Adaptive Loss Compression Algorithm and Its Application in Speech CodingThis paper proposes a low complex forward adaptive loss compression algorithm that works on the frame by frame basis. Particularly, the algorithm we propose performs frame by frame analysis of the input speech signal, estimates and quantizes the gain within the frames in order to enable the quantization by the forward adaptive piecewise linear optimal compandor. In comparison to the solution designed according to the G.711 standard, our algorithm provides not only higher level of the average signal to quantization noise ratio, but also performs a reduction of the PCM bit rate for about 1 bits/sample. Moreover, the algorithm we propose completely satisfies the G.712 standard, since it provides overreaching the curve defined by the G.712 standard in the whole of variance range. Accordingly, we can reasonably believe that our algorithm will find its practical implementation in the high quality coding of signals, represented with less than 8 bits/sample, which as well as speech signals follow Laplacian distribution and have the time varying variances.

Molecular modeling can be used as an excellent teaching method for providing better insight into the mechanism of free radical reactions. Due to its highly visual nature, it can affect and improve students’ perception and visualization of chemistry phenomena. The majority of chemistry students will know how to represent a reaction between two free radicals symbolically (either with electron pushing arrows or with the representation of the paired and unpaired electrons). However, the problem arises when they are asked to explain what happens between the radicals at the microscopic level. In some elementary chemical reactions the reactants and products differ in spin multiplicity. Thus, these reactions need to be described in terms of two-state reactivity. Such a reaction occurs on two spin surfaces and includes spin inversion along the reaction coordinate. In this work, we demonstrate a procedure that aims to explain the progression of a coupling reaction between two radicals yielding toluene. This example showcases how one singlet molecule can be obtained from two doublets. To verify the impact of molecular modeling on students’ knowledge about free radical reactions, we conducted a study that involved 44 chemistry students. The three questionnaires, two knowledge tests (pretest and post-test), and one survey were carried out to obtain the data. The obtained data imply that this practical approach has a significant impact on students’ knowledge and can help them to better understand the free radical reactions, particularly at the microscopic level.

One of the main problems in quantitative gamma-ray spectroscopy is the determination of detection efficiency, for different energies, source-detector geometries, and composition of samples or sources. There are, in principle, three approaches to this issue: experimental, numerical, and semiempirical. Semiempirical approach is based on the calculation of the efficiency for the measured sample on the basis of an experimental efficiency measured on the same detector, but with a calibration source that can be of different size, geometry, density, or composition—the so-called efficiency transfer. The aim of this paper is to analyze the semiempirical approach, using EFFTRAN and MEFFTRAN software as a typical example. These software were used in the Department of Radiation and Environmental Protection, Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, on three HPGe detectors. The results were compared to the experimentally obtained efficiency, and further validation is performed by measuring reference materials issued within the framework of several interlaboratory intercomparisons. The analysis of the results showed that the efficiency transfer produces good results with the discrepancies within the limits of the measurement uncertainty. Also, for intercomparison measurement, utest criterion for the trueness of the result was applied showing that the majority of the obtained results were acceptable. Some difficulties were identified, and the ways to overcome them were discussed.

The effect of ionizing radiation on the amount of dopamine in corpus striatum was investigated in rats exposed to 650 or 850 R of X-rays. The amount of dopamine in the corpus striatum was measured fluorimetrically in various periods of time after irradiation. It was found that, irrespective of the dose applied, the ionizing radiation caused a significant depletion of dopamine in the striatum.

The effect of a mixture of 1-DOPA and benserazide on the amount of dopamine in the corpus striatum of rats irradiated with 850 R of X-rays was investigated. The amount of dopamine in the corpus striatum was measured fluorimetrically at various times after irradiation. It was found that i.p. administration of 1-DOPA and benserazide 1,2 and 5 days after irradiation produces significant replenishment of dopamine in the striatum, thus indicating that precursor uptake and metabolism, and probably amine storage, remained unaltered after irradiation.