Agricultural Institute Osijek

HighlightsWhat are the main findings?Older adults in rural areas reported lower self-rated successful aging (SSAS) and personal wellbeing (PWI) than those in urban/suburban areas. PWI was the strongest positive predictor while rural residence and chronic illness were negative predictors.Active community involvement was positively associated with quality of life, whereas regret over missed opportunities or past actions had negative associations; no significant gender differences were observed in SSAS or PWI.What are the implications of the main findings?Promoting social engagement and psychosocial support could improve successful aging in rural areasConsidering wellbeing alongside health status and addressing rural disparities could improve aging programs.Background: Population aging has increased attention on the quality of life and successful aging of older adults. Objective: To examine urban–rural differences in subjective quality of life and self-rated successful aging, explore associations with psychosocial factors, and identify predictors of successful aging, including potential moderating effects of place of residence and chronic illness. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 403 adults aged ≥ 60 years in Eastern Croatia. Measures included a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Self-assessment of Successful Aging Scale (SSAS), and the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI). Data were analyzed using nonparametric tests (Mann–Whitney U, Spearman’s correlation), linear regression, and moderation analyses. Significance was set at p < 0.05. Ethical approval was obtained (Class: 602-01/24-12/02; IRB: 2158/97-97-10-24-36). Results: Rural participants reported lower PWI scores (p = 0.005) and self-rated successful aging (p < 0.001) than urban participants. Active community involvement was positively associated with quality of life (Rho = 0.46; p < 0.001), whereas regret about missed opportunities and past actions was negatively associated (Rho = −0.20; p < 0.01). Regression analyses explained 48.3% of the variance in SSAS, with higher PWI scores being strongly associated with higher SSAS scores, and rural residence and chronic illness being associated with lower SSAS scores. Moderation analyses indicated that the association between PWI and SSAS was consistent across different environmental contexts and in the presence of illness. Conclusions: Older adults living in rural areas reported lower quality of life and self-rated successful aging compared with those in urban and suburban areas, with subjective wellbeing emerging as a key predictor. Promoting social engagement and addressing psychosocial barriers may enhance successful aging, particularly in rural populations. Findings suggest that social engagement and psychosocial support are associated with higher level of perceived successful aging, indicating potential areas for future community-based or healthcare interventions.

Background/Objectives: There is an increasing need for methods that provide improved insight into the molecular basis of colorectal cancer (CRC) and thus a better understanding of its morphological heterogeneity. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the use of imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) to examine tumor margins and gain insight into the molecular heterogeneity of CRC. Methods: An observational study involving 10 cases was conducted. Native tissue samples were collected during the subject's surgery, and consecutively taken tissue sections were immediately prepared for light microscopic and IMS analysis. IMS was performed across the 200-1000 Da mass range, divided into four sub-ranges, using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF MS) in both negative and positive modes of ionization. For tumor margin and tissue heterogeneity assessment, image segmentation was used. Segmented MS images were analyzed against the respective light microscopy images of hematoxylin-eosin-stained tissue sections. Results: Quantitative analysis of the sample collection indicated that IMS enabled correct recognition of tumor margin in the 800-1000 Da range using binary segmentation. Denary image segmentation depicted tissue heterogeneity in greater detail. The strongest m/z signals specific to tumor, peritumor, and margins were identified and tentatively annotated: aside from dCTP, all other compounds were patient-specific, indicating interindividual variations in the molecular composition of CRC. Conclusions: IMS provides new insights into the morphological and biochemical properties of CRC: binary segmented MS images can clearly depict the tumor margin in the 800-1000 Da range, while denary segmented MS images depict intra- and inter-individual molecular heterogeneity of CRC.

The study investigates whether water extracts from industrial hemp inflorescences influence the germination and early growth of hull-less oilseed pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.), with the hypothesis that industrial hemp extracts may act as a biostimulant, enhancing growth, biomass, and bioactive compound accumulation in pumpkin seedlings. Fully developed and healthy inflorescences of industrial hemp were harvested, dried, ground into powder, filtered, and diluted to concentrations of control (water), 1.0%, 2.5%, and 5.0% for the seed germination bioassay. Morphological, growth parameters, and bioactive compounds of the hull-less oilseed pumpkin sprouts were determined. Total germination rate was not affected with industrial hemp inflorescent water extracts, while sprout vigor index and biomass increased at 2.5 and 5.0% of the extract applied. The average root length of hull-less oilseed pumpkin sprouts was 14.19 cm, the stem length was 5.45 cm, and the fresh mass of the sprouts was 14.10 g per plant. Water extracts of 2.5 and 5.0% significantly (p ≤ 0.001) increased stem length by more than double, and the sprouts’ fresh mass by about 35% compared to the control. The average Chl a (chlorophyll), Chl b, Chl a + b, and Car (carotenoids) content was on average 0.161, 0.115, 0.268, and 0.136 mg g−1 FW, respectively, and were significantly affected compared to the control. The highest total phenol (TPC) and flavonoid content (TFC) were determined for hull-less oilseed pumpkin sprouts at 1.0% of water extract (100.21 µg QC/1 g tissue and 0.02 µg GA/1 g tissue, respectively). Low absolute values are consistent with the early seedling stage, where secondary metabolism is underdeveloped. The antioxidant activity was determined with the FRAP (Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power) method and a significant influence (p ≤ 0.05) of industrial hemp inflorescence water extracts on antioxidant activity of pumpkin sprouts was observed, which significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased on all treatments compared to the control, by 36% on average, with no significant differences among different concentrations of water extracts. Overall, industrial hemp inflorescence water extracts have a positive influence on the observed parameters, supporting the potential use of industrial hemp inflorescence water extracts as a biostimulant for hull-less oilseed pumpkin.

With the rapid development and integration of the Internet of Things into every aspect of daily life, finding more intuitive and natural methods of human-computer interaction has become increasingly important. Hand gesture detection-based systems are garnering significant attention in this field, as they offer a natural and simpler way of communicating with various devices compared to traditional input methods like keyboards and mice. One approach to detecting user hand gestures involves generating a non-audible sound through speakers and analyzing the reflected signal using microphones. This paper proposes a solution for detecting 11 distinct hand gestures based on deep learning and the Doppler effect of sound waves. The system utilizes commercial speakers and microphones to generate a 20 kHz audio signal and analyze its reflection. The detection model is a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), trained on a dataset of 2100 samples and tested on an additional 550 samples. The model achieves 91.43% accuracy and demonstrates high performance when evaluated on previously established datasets.

The school is a place that enables the early recognition and prevention of numerous developmental risks of the child and the undertaking of early social interventions that can empower not only the child, but also parents and families at risk, leading to more successful coping with personal, family and social challenges. Social workers are trained to recognise social risks and work with children and families living in poverty and at risk of social exclusion, violence, abuse and neglect. School social work is a specialised field within the profession of social work that is aimed at improving the educational and psychosocial environment in schools, with an emphasis on strengthening relationships between teachers, students and their parents. The purpose of school social work is to provide professional support and help students from families burdened with various economic, social, health, educational and numerous other risks. The paper answers the questions of what challenges professional associates working in elementary schools in Osijek County face in their direct work with children and parents, and what interventions they think should be made by social workers. The goal of the research is to gain a deeper understanding of the problems that children face in their families, personally and/or in the school environment, which professional associates perceive as beyond their responsibility and social workers could address more adequately and provide the necessary support. The methodology used in this research is qualitative. The data are collected through semi-structured interviews and processed using a thematic analysis, which includes the interpretation of the data and their critical review.

Background/Objectives: A critical part of the maize life cycle takes place during the summer, and due to climate change, its growth and development are increasingly exposed to the irregular and unpredictable effects of drought stress. Developing and using new cultivars with increased drought tolerance for farmers is the easiest and cheapest solution. One of the concepts to screen for drought tolerance is to expose germplasm to various growth scenarios (environments), expecting that random drought will occur in some of them. Methods: In the present study, thirty-two maize hybrids belonging to four FAO maturity groups were tested for grain yield at six locations over two consecutive years. In parallel, data of the basic meteorological elements such as air temperature, relative humidity and precipitation were collected and used to compute two indices, scPDSI (Self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index) and VPD (Vapor Pressure Deficit), that were assessed as indicators of drought (water deficit) severity during the vegetation period. Practical implementation of these indices was carried out indirectly by first analyzing yield data using a factor analytic model to detect latent environmental variables affecting yield and then correlating those latent variables with drought indices. Results: The first latent variable, which explained 47.97% of the total variability, was correlated with VPD (r = -0.58); the second latent variable explained 9.57% of the total variability and was correlated with scPDSI (r = -0.74). Furthermore, latent regression coefficients (i.e., genotypic sensitivities to latent environmental variables) were correlated with genotypic drought tolerance. Conclusions: This could be considered an indication that there were two different acting mechanisms in which drought affected yield.

This paper presents findings from large-scale national research on self-generated explicit material and sextortion among high school students in Croatia and Serbia. The study, conducted as part of the deShame Croatia and deShame Serbia projects, involved randomly selected samples of 2,016 students in Croatia and 2,095 students in Serbia. Results indicate excessive daily internet use, with over 40% of students in both countries maintaining multiple active social media profiles, a potential indicator of risky online interactions. Alarmingly, a significant percentage of students reported sending self-generated sexual content under pressure or coercion, highlighting the prevalence of sextortion. These findings underscore the urgent need for evidence-based preventive programs and policy reforms to address online exploitation and protect children and young people.

Zadaci Nacionalnog programa za očuvanje i održivu uporabu biljnih genetskih izvora za hranu i poljoprivredu u Republici Hrvatskoj usvojenog od strane Vlade RH za razdoblje 2021. do 2027. godine obuhvaćaju područja sljedećih pet aktivnosti: in situ očuvanje divljih srodnika kultiviranog bilja (Crop Wild Relatives - CWR) i divljeg jestivog bilja (Wild Food Plants - WFP), on-farm očuvanje i upravljanje, ex situ očuvanje, promocija održive upotrebe i izgradnja kapaciteta i razmjena podataka. Učinkovita provedba Nacionalnog programa omogućuje da svi važni biljni genetski izvori u Republici Hrvatskoj budu identificirani, prikupljeni, opisani i očuvani u kolekcijama Nacionalne banke biljnih gena te dostupni za korištenje. Informacije o opisu i procjeni svojstava čuvanih biljnih genetskih izvora pohranjuju se u bazi podataka i javno su dostupne. U narednom razdoblju nastojati će se provesti očuvanje divljih srodnika kultiviranog bilja u in situ uvjetima, te korištenje biljnih genetskih izvora izravno, u on farm uvjetima, kao i neizravno, upotrebom u oplemenjivanju i istraživanju. Konkretne aktivnosti koje se poduzimaju u svrhu provedbe Nacionalnog programa među ostalim uključuju: inventarizaciju postojećih kolekcija biljnih genetskih izvora; ekozemljopisni pregled i prikupljanje biljnih genetskih izvora; očuvanje biljnih genetskih izvora in situ on farm i ex situ; održavanje i regeneraciju primki; opis i procjenu primki biljnih genetskih izvora na morfološkoj, biokemijskoj i molekularnoj razini; procjena utjecaja klimatskih promjena na očuvanje/opstanak biljnih genetskih izvora; procjena gospodarskih vrijednosti biljnih genetskih izvora u poljoprivredi prehrambenoj industriji, farmaciji i energetici; daljnji razvoj informacijsko dokumentacijskog sustava; uspostavu pravila za pristup biljnim genetskim izvorima i podjelu dobiti koja proizlazi iz njihovog korištenja; izgradnju i jačanje kapaciteta za čuvanje biljnih genetskih izvora; praćenje europskog i međunarodnog zakonodavnog okvira u području biljnih genetskih izvora; informiranje javnosti o važnosti očuvanja biljnih genetskih izvora; te uključivanje i poticanje nevladinih organizacija i organizacija obiteljskih poljoprivrednih gospodarstava na području očuvanja i održive uporabe biljnih genetskih izvora u suradnju s Nacionalnom bankom biljnih gena. U okviru Nacionalnog programa djeluju radne skupine prema grupama kultura: industrijsko bilje, krmno bilje, ljekovito i aromatično bilje, povrće, vinova loza, voće – s podskupinama kontinentalno voće i mediteransko voće, žitarice i kukuruz te dokumentacijsko-informacijski sustav.