Search

The end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020 were marked by the appearance of the virus SARS-CoV-2, which led to a health crisis around the world. Health preventive behavior was highlighted as, at that time, the only form of prevention of the spread of the disease. Factors that will lead people to adhere to the recommended forms of behavior have become the subject of research in various scientific disciplines. The Model of Health Belief is one of the dominant frameworks for studying health behaviors, and thus behaviors related to COVID-19. Health anxiety and beliefs about illness and preventive behavior are the starting point for considering the level at which individuals adhere to the recommended measures. The main goal of this research was to examine a model in which health anxiety and health beliefs are predictors of preventive health behavior in relation to COVID-19. The sample consisted of 420 respondents, 66.3% of whom were women. They completed an online questionnaire comprising the following instruments: Short Health Anxiety Inventory, COVID-19 Health Belief Scale, and COVID-19 Health Behavior Scale with two subscales-Protection in Social Contacts and Hygiene. After controlling for effects of gender and presence of chronic disease, perceived benefit of preventive behavior and the observed barrier can predict protection in social contacts. Hygiene can be predicted by the perceived benefit of preventive behavior and the perceived barrier. Health anxiety has not been shown to be a significant predictor of health behavior. The paper discusses the theoretical and practical implications of the obtained results. The obtained results partially support the Model of Health Beliefs. In order to increase the degree to which individuals adhere to health behaviors, the benefits of preventive behaviors should be emphasized while the barriers should be reduced.

The main goal of this research was to construct a scale to assess health beliefs about COVID-19, in the light of the Health Beliefs Model (Rosenstock, 1966). The study included 420 subjects, mean age M = 31.65 years (SD = 12.72). Two-thirds (76%) of the respondents were female. The respondents filled in a set of questionnaires via the Internet. At the very beginning, the purpose and goal of the research were explained and the consent for participation in the research was obtained. The survey was anonymous, while the data were collected from April to September, 2020. The COVID-19 Health Belief Scale showed satisfactory psychometric characteristics. Factor analysis has shown that four main components can be distinguished, which correspond to the types of beliefs included in the Health Beliefs Model (Rosenstock, 1966). Thus, four subscales were obtained: Perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 (four items), Perceived severity of COVID-19 (four items), Perceived benefit of preventive behaviour (four items), and Observed barriers to preventive behaviour (three items). This scale structure corresponds to other similar scales (HBMS, Champion, 1984; AHBS, Zagumny & Brady, 1998), based on the Health Beliefs Model (Rosenstock, 1966). The obtained average values of scores on the observed susceptibility to COVID-19 show that our respondents do not consider themselves either extremely susceptible or protected from contracting this disease. On the other hand, it is obvious that our respondents do not consider COVID-19 to be a serious enough disease, despite daily warnings that the disease is unpredictable and its consequences are serious, long - term, and even more frequent than of other viral diseases. The observed barriers to preventive behaviour are relatively low, as are the scores on the subscale. The observed benefits of preventive behaviour range from the highest possible scores. When we summarize these results, we can conclude that our respondents apply preventive measures, because they are convinced that they are useful in preventing infection, and that obstacles to their implementation have not been observed to a significant extent. However, it remains unclear why this disease is not considered serious enough. One possibility is that the information placed in the media was initially ambiguous, ranging from describing COVID-19 as a common respiratory infection to a serious illness with severe consequences. We can look for another explanation within our sample. Namely, the age of our average respondent was 31, and as many as two thirds of the respondents were women. Initial information about COVID-19, placed through the media, was that this disease seriously affects older people and, for the most part, males. Women perceived significantly more benefits from preventive behaviour, and men significantly more barriers. Respondents' burden of a chronic disease proved to be significant for two subscales: Perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 and Observed barriers to the implementation of preventive behaviour. People suffering from a chronic disease believe that they are more susceptible to the COVID-19 infection, i.e. that they are more susceptible to this disease compared to those who do not have chronic diseases. However, people burdened with a chronic disease notice several obstacles to the implementation of preventive measures at the same time. When it comes to the higher observed susceptibility to COVID-19 in married people compared to those who are not, we can assume several factors that lead to this: reduced possibility of isolation, double possibility of infection, greater social interaction due to different needs, and the like. This research has its limitations. Most importantly, we could not thoroughly examine the validity of the instrument, due to the lack of similar scales. Another important limitation is that the sample was mostly made up of women. The third important limitation concerns the average age of the respondents; this study covered only a small number of the elderly, who are most at risk during this pandemic. Nevertheless, we believe that the timeliness and novelty of the constructed scale are sufficient to indicate the need to use it, at least as a first step in the development of some future scales with a similar purpose. Recommendations for future research are such that they should respond to the stated limitations of this research; to be directed towards a thorough validation, towards different types of samples, but also towards studying both the predictors of these health beliefs and the value of these beliefs for predicting some forms of health behaviour, quality of life, adherence to medical instructions, etc.

The essential issue this paper aspires to answer is whether technology will replace man in the process of work? Initially, the advent of the Industrial Revolution itself was interpreted as a negative impact of technology on unemployment, which deprived the workforce of employment, and now the advancement of electronics and robotics is perceived as an agent of similar technological change that will abolish the unskilled workforce, while increasing the need for skilled workers and expertise. Changes in industrial demand for these new, specific occupational profiles as well as technical innovations represent key factors of the job market in the future. It is in this emerging situation that formal and informal educational institutions have the opportunity to effectively and relevantly respond to a given challenge by creating the correspondingly adapted study programs as well as short-term certification and qualification programs, thus providing the necessary knowledge and skills to the workforce of the future.

This research explores two main objectives: 1st is to examine whether the Schwartz's value theory (Schwartz et al., 2012) can be applied to the Serbian sample, and 2nd is to examine the intensity and the direction of the relation of those values with cognitive and affective components of subjective well-being in the specific socio-political context, which Serbia as a country in transition represents. The sample includes 412 adults, with the average age of M = 34.42 (SD = 6.305). The following self-description measures are used: the Portraits Values Questionnaire (PVQ-RR, Schwartz et al., 2012), The Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985), and Serbian Inventory of Affect based on the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-X (SIAB-PANAS, Novović & Mihić, 2008). Gathered results demonstrate that the values established by the revised Schwartz's model are adequately organized in our sample. Obtained relations between those values and the subjective well-being components can be regarded as expected and in accordance with the healthy values perspective referring to the relation of values and SWB. Finally, the implications of the obtained results are discussed.

The correlation between substance use and depression has been emphasized in the literature. Substance use disorders can also adversely affect the caregivers of drug-addicted persons. A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Special Hospital for Addiction Diseases in Belgrade in 2015 to analyze the characteristics, consequences, and health-related quality of life of drug users and their caregivers. The sample comprised 136 users of various substances, and 136 caregivers. A questionnaire on socio-demographic characteristics, the Short Form Health Survey 36 (SF-36), and Beck Depression Inventory were administered to all participants. According to multivariate logistic regression analysis, compared with caregivers, substance users were significantly more frequently male (P .001), ≤ 39 years old (P .001), and more frequently reported the use of sedatives (P = .009) and smoking (P .001). Some level of depression was present in all participants, but severe forms were more frequent in substance users (P = .010). Among substance users, mean scores of SF-36 domains ranged from 56.62‒87.17, and among their caregivers, from 50.37‒75.07; however, the difference was significant only for the health change domain (P = .037), the score for which was lower in caregivers. Substance users suffered from more severe forms of depression compared to their caregivers, who had lower SF-36 scores in the domain of health change.

Asepsia. Etimológicamente la palabra asepsia está compuesta por el prefijo a que significa ausencia o falta; y sepsis que significa infección o contaminación. Por lo tanto definimos asepsia como el conjunto de maniobras y procedimientos destinados a eliminar gérmenes. Esterilización, antisepsia y desinfección. A fines didácticos dividiremos a la asepsia en tres procedimientos básicos: la esterilización (se realiza sobre el instrumental); la antisepsia (se realiza sobre los tejidos vivos) y la desinfección (se realiza sobre el quirófano y el mobiliario). Antisépticos y desinfectantes. Los antisépticos son sustancias que se aplican sobre la piel o las heridas para eliminar microorganismos. Los desinfectantes son sustancias que se utilizan para eliminar microorganismos sobre una superficie inanimada. Como se verá en esta guía, algunos antisépticos también se utilizan como desinfectantes. Los antisépticos y desinfectantes tienen distinto mecanismo de acción que depende del grupo al cual pertenecen: los fenoles como el cloroxilenol, el formol y el alcohol producen precipitación de las proteínas; los halógenos como el hipoclorito y los yodados actúan por formación de nuevos compuestos al combinarse con el protoplasma bacteriano; las biguaminas como la clorhexidina provocan precipitación de proteínas y ácidos nucleicos; y los jabones y los detergentes catiónicos como el amonio cuaternario alteran la permeabilidad de la membrana celular. Fil. Hrdalo, J. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Casilda; Santa Fe; Argentina. Fil. Fiorentin, J. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Casilda; Santa Fe; Argentina. Fil. Schiaffi, A. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Casilda; Santa Fe; Argentina. Fil.Portillo Olivera, B. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Casilda; Santa Fe; Argentina. Fil. Santos, C.. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Casilda; Santa Fe; Argentina. Fil.Serrano, M. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Casilda; Santa Fe; Argentina. Fil.Lardino, G.Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Casilda; Santa Fe; Argentina. Fil.Baracco, P..Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Casilda; Santa Fe; Argentina. Fil.Español, N. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Casilda; Santa Fe; Argentina. Fil. Oliva, M. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Casilda; Santa Fe; Argentina. Fil. Loza, E. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Casilda; Santa Fe; Argentina. Fil. Belá, X. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Casilda; Santa Fe; Argentina. Fil. Zamora, E. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Casilda; Santa Fe; Argentina.

The theoretical basis of this work is the assumption of partner attachment. In fact, this theory assumes that is possible to identify four types of attachment through the level of manifested anxiety and the level of manifested propensity of avoidance, which are: secure, avoidant, fearful, and preoccupied pattern of partnerships attachment. Since these models are different regarding the ways of functioning in partners' relationships, the main aim of this research is to examine if there is a possibility to predict attitude towards single parenthood (the necessity of father as a parental figure, single mother's position in society, and motherhood as a purpose (value)) based on the knowledge of the level of anxiety and avoidance level in the domain of partners attachment as well as some socio-demographic characteristics of women (age, whether or not women have children, whether or not are employed). Further, we were interested if there was such dominant form of partners attachment among sample and which was it. The research was conducted on a sample of 96 women, aged between 24 and 56. We used Close Relationship Questionnaire (Bartholomev & Shaver, 1998) as well as an attitude scale toward single parenthood that is constructed for the purposes of this research and which consists of three dimensions: the necessity of father as parental figure (α=0,75), single mother's position in society (α=0,56), and motherhood as a purpose (value) (α=0,67). Among the most tested women there are those who are characterized with avoidance pattern of partner attachment (35,4%), and the least those woman with a preoccupied pattern of partner attachment (16%). The results showed that we can predict the attitude towards the necessity of the father as a parental figure when we know some sociodemographic variables, we can explain 17.3% of this variance; significant single contributions have variable material status and age of respondents. Also, the predictive power of the model is enhanced by adding the degree of expressed anxiety and tendency to avoidance (R2 = 0.27). The results further shown that the prediction of attitude towards the perception of the social status of single mothers when we know some socio-demographic variables is possible with the subsequent inclusion of the degree of manifestation of anxiety and tendency to avoidance (R2 = 0.29); but also that there is no statistically justified possibility of prediction of the attitude towards motherhood as a goal based on some socio-demographic variables and the degree of expressed anxiety and tendency to avoidance. The results partly agree with previous studies. Maybe one of the reasons lies in the cultural context which pressures a woman to first be realized as a wife and mother, and then as an individual (which includes education, career, etc).

Ovo istraživanje je imalo dva osnovna cilja: (1) ispitati da li se Švarcov model vrednosti (Schwartz et al., 2012) replikuje i na srpskom uzorku, i (2) ispitati intenzitet i smer povezanosti tih vrednosti sa kognitivnom i afektivnom komponentom subjektivne dobrobiti u specifičnom socijalnopolitičkom kontekstu koji Srbija, kao zemlja u tranziciji, predstavlja. Uzorkom je obuhvaćeno 412 odraslih ispitanika, prosečnog uzrasta M = 34,42 (SD =6,305). Koristili smo sledeće samoopisne mere: PVQ-RR (Schwartz, et al. 2012), skalu zadovoljstva životom (Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985) i SIAB-PANAS (Novović, Mihić, 2008). Dobijeni rezultati pokazuju da se vrednosti postulirane revidiranim Švarcovim modelom adekvatno raspoređuju i na našem uzorku. Dobijene korelacije između tih vrednosti i komponenti subjektivne dobrobiti mogu se smatrati očekivanim i u skladu su sa perspektivom "zdravih vrednosti" o odnosu vrednosti i subjektivne dobrobiti. Na kraju, diskutovane su implikacije dobijenih rezultata. This research explores two main objectives: 1st is to examine whether the Schwartz's value theory (Schwartz et al., 2012) can be applied to the Serbian sample, and 2nd is to examine the intensity and the direction of the relation of those values with cognitive and affective components of subjective well-being in the specific socio-political context, which Serbia as a country in transition represents. The sample includes 412 adults, with the average age of M = 34.42 (SD = 6.305). The following self-description measures are used: the Portraits Values Questionnaire (PVQ-RR, Schwartz et al., 2012), The Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985), and Serbian Inventory of Affect based on the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-X (SIAB-PANAS, Novović & Mihić, 2008). Gathered results demonstrate that the values established by the revised Schwartz's model are adequately organized in our sample. Obtained relations between those values and the subjective well-being components can be regarded as expected and in accordance with the healthy values perspective referring to the relation of values and SWB. Finally, the implications of the obtained results are discussed.

Fluorescent nanoparticles have an important role in biological analyzes, and in the last ten years they are successfully applied in a visualization and characterization of biological processes at the cellular and molecular level, as well as, in the development of fluorescent lamps, displays, plasma screens and protective labels. The great interest is directed towards the development and implementation of the light up - converters containing rare earth ions which have the ability of a intense luminescence. In this paper we described the process of EDTA assisted hydrothermal synthesis of rare earth doped fluorides. Different structural forms of materials were obtained by changing the time of the hydrothermal reaction. Comparison of a structure, morphology and optical properties of NaYF4:Yb3+/Er3+ powders were done based on X-ray powder diffraction analysis (XRPD), scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) and through measuring of the luminescence in a visible part of spectrum. It was shown that the transformation from cubic to hexagonal phase is affected by the reaction time, while the up - conversion luminescence is dependent of the particles morphology and the crystal structure.

In classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma (cHL) the existing prognostic scoring systems do not include markers that adequately reflect the interaction of malignant Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells and tumor environment. The research objective is to determine the relationship between serum Galectin-1 (Gal-1) and soluble CD163 (sCD163) and the clinical status of patients with cHL, with special emphasis on the presence of relapse, progression, or resistance to the therapy applied. The research included 79 patients. Of this number, 63 were patients with cHL, and the control group consisted of 16 healthy volunteers. The study group of 63 patients with cHL included a subgroup of newly diagnosed patients without therapy, newly diagnosed patients with therapy, patients with relapse and progression of the disease, and primary refractory patients during 2014 and 2015. Analysis of the levels of sCD163 and sGal-1 within a group of patients suffering from cHL has shown that the values of both molecules were higher in relapsed patients and the subgroup with progressive disease comparing the subgroup of newly diagnosed patients without therapy or patients with therapy onset. Determination of Gal-1 and sCD163 levels is simple and reliable analysis that can contribute to the identification of high-risk patients with cHL, and deserves inclusion in current prognostic scoring systems.

There is a growing interest for development of a facile and reproducible approach for the synthesis of biocompatible lanthanide doped up-converting nanoparticles (UCNPs) for deep tissue imaging and targeted drug delivery. Synthesis of such particles is usually performed through the decomposition of organometallic compounds, followed either with a ligands exchange or with a biocompatible layer coating. In this work, biocompatible NaYF4:Yb,Er (17 mol% Yb; 3 mol% Er) nanoparticles were synthesized by one-pot hydrothermal processing with an assistance of chitosan (Ch) or polyacrylic acid (PAA). Obtained powders were analyzed by X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD, Bruker D8 Discovery), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM, Zeiss, DSM 960), transmission electron microscopy (TEM, JEOL JEM 2010), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR, Thermo Scientific Nicolet 6700) and photoluminescence (PL, Spex Fluorolog with C31034 cooled photomultiplier) spectroscopy. The results showed that although both powders crystallize in the same crystal arrangement (cubic, Fm-3m), particles size, shape and optical properties are dependent on the polymer used.