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Research endeavors within the domain of intangible cultural heritage, conducted within the Gorani community, highlight, among various aspects, the involvement of women in creating and transmitting knowledge and skills, which are perceived by the Gorani populace as a particularly important component of the Gorani tradition. Women are ascribed a key role in preserving Gorani cultural heritage. This study examines the activities of women in the Gorani community within the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage framework. The research is focused on knowledge, skills, and practices carried out by women, which unfold continually within the Gorani community during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It primarily concerns the knowledge and skills of women manifested through the tradition of designing and wearing clothing items, especially those pieces that have become over time an indispensable part of women’s ceremonial attire. The empirical data also encourages an examination of the role of women in shaping identity paradigms and symbols in the Gorani community, as well as their expression, transmission, and the assurance of the continuity of these practices. The analysis of women’s contribution to safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage of the Gorani community indicates that the preservation and protection of Gorani tradition, as understood and recognized by the participants in accordance with the UNESCO Convention defining heritage, are conditioned by the social, economic, and political circumstances shaping daily activities and everyday lives of the people in Gora, both within and beyond their native local environment. It is also obvious that Gorani’s interest in their own intangible cultural heritage is unmistakable, as demonstrated by social and cultural practices that would be impracticable without the existence of this heritage. The Gorani people’s aspiration to safeguard their own cultural heritage is viewed in the context of its contribution to the preservation and continuity of the Gorani identity, namely the identity of the Gorani community, which holds minority status in the Republic of Serbia. Diskurs sa kojim se susrećemo u goranskoj zajednici predstavlja ženu kao ključnog aktera u očuvanju goranske tradicije. U radu se aktivnosti žena u goranskoj zajednici sagledavaju u kontekstu Uneskove Konvencije o očuvanju i zaštiti nematerijalnog kulturnog nasleđa. Istraživanje je bilo usmereno ka znanjima, veštinama i praksama čiji su nosioci žene i koje se izvode u goranskoj zajednici u kontinuitetu više decenija. Analiza aktivnosti žena u procesu očuvanja goranskog kulturnog nasleđa podstiče takođe na sagledavanje njihovog doprinosa kreiranju identitetskih obrazaca i simbola u goranskoj zajednici, kao i obezbeđivanju kontinuiteta njihovog trajanja. Period druge polovine dvadesetog i prve dve decenije dvadeset prvog veka predstavljaju hronološki okvir istraživanja. Područje Gore predstavlja prostorni okvir istraživanja. Gora je planinska kotlina koju čine varošica Dragaš i okolna naselja, koja se nalaze na obroncima Šarplanine i Koritnika. Prostor Gore u identitetskom pogledu ima značaj matične teritorije za Gorance. Istraživanje pokazuje da su migracije stanovništva Gore izvan matične teritorije, a pre svega muške populacije, kako u prošlosti tako i u sadašnjosti značajno uticale na to da se žena nađe u poziciji „čuvara goranske tradicije”, kao i aktivnog prenosioca znanja i praksi koje se percipiraju kao ključne za očuvanje identitetskih simbola goranske zajednice.

This paper will present the presence of Soviet music on the musical scene of the Kingdom of SCS/Yugoslavia. Analysis of newspaper articles and critiques, texts from music magazines, and other writings about Soviet music will demonstrate that it was present on concert stages, even though the Kingdom of Yugoslavia refrained from establishing relations with the Soviet Union until June 1940.

Abstract Purpose To anticipate the impact of illegal landfills, development of new models should become a part of environmental risk management strategies. One of such approaches includes applications of the artificial neural network (ANN). The main objective of this study was to elucidate the impact of illegal landfilling on the surrounding soil environment and human health, as well as to establish an artificial neural network (ANN) models for predicting the hazards of illegal landfilling as an effective tool in decision-making and environmental risk management. Methods The identification of heavy metals source in soil was performed by principal component analysis (PCA). To assess the sensitivity of the soil ecosystem to heavy metal concentrations, Soil Quality standards and quantitative indices were used. The possible health effects were valued using the average daily doses (ADDs), hazard quotient (HQ), hazard index (HI), and carcinogenic risk (CR). ANN modeling was used for the prediction of heavy metal concentrations in the soil based on landfill size, municipality size, the number of residents, plant species, soil, and landform types. Results The average values of the pollution indexes for Cd were in the moderately contaminated and very high contamination categories. The $$HQ$$ HQ values were lower than the safe level. Cr and Pb posed a significant $$CR$$ CR for adults and children, and Ni for children. The ANN models have exhibited good generalization power and accurately predicted the output parameters with a high value of the coefficient of determination. Conclusion Concerning heavy metal concentrations, illegal landfills near agricultural soil have a significant impact on the soil ecosystem and people’s health. The developed ANN models can be applied generally to anticipate the heavy metal concentrations in soil, according to the before mentioned input parameters, with high accuracy.

Regenerative medicine (RM) exploits the innate potential of the human body to effectively repair and regenerate damaged tissues and organs with the help of various biomaterials. Tissue engineering (TE) makes it possible to replace damaged tissues and organs with new ones. Research in the field of biomaterials has significantly improved the area of RM and TE. Biomaterials are used as orthopedic, dental, cardiovascular implants, medical devices, in the fields of reconstructive and regenerative medicine, among others. Important preconditions for the biomaterial to be used for implantation are its biocompatibility and biofunctionality. Biomaterials should enable adhesion, migration, proliferation and differentiation of cells. The biological properties of biomaterials are a reflection of their physicochemical properties, such as internal architecture, surface characteristics and charge. Biomaterials used in tissue regeneration should mimic the natural structure of the extracellular matrix and represent a physiological microenvironment for normal cellular functions. These biomaterials should also have adequate biodegradability properties to facilitate the formation and growth of new tissue. Biomaterials for use in RM can be of natural or synthetic origin, polymers by structural properties, ceramic and composite type, and based on bioreactivity they can be bioinert or bioactive. In RM and TE, polymers of different classes, natural and synthetic, are used, which can be made as intelligent materials. The structure of hydrogels in the form of a porous network represents a good matrix for cell activity. Ceramic biomaterials based on hydroxyapatite (HAp) are selected for use in RM and TE, especially solid tissues. Properties, such as composition, particle size, material shape, porosity, surface charge, topography, etc., are relevant for the proper use of HAp materials. The properties of HAp allow modification of its structure, surface, particle size design at the micro and nano level, hybridization with polymers, metals, etc. which is very important for its applications. Designed micro-nanohybrid HAp structure is most similar to the bone structure, making the cell environment closest to natural. Bone tissue engineering (BTE) is based on the combined use of cells, osteostimulating (osteoinductive) factors and biomaterials as a scaffolds and carriers for bone regeneration and defects repair. In BTE adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) are often used that are induced in vitro towards osteogenic cells or endothelial cells, and freshly isolated stromal vascular fraction can also be used. Blood components (PRP, blood plasma or blood clot) can be included in the composition of the BTE construct as a source of osteoinductive factors. In vitro models and methods were used to examine the biocompatibility, immunomodulatory and regenerative potential of biomaterials, as well as their influence on cellular functions. After in vitro methods, and before clinical studies, various in vivo animal models are used to examine the regenerative potential of biomaterials, such as subcutaneous implantations and bone defects in tibia, femur and calvaria in experimental animals (mouse, rat, rabbit).

Abstract The phenomenon of female cross-dressing and gaining the social role of a man has been witnessed in the tribal patriarchal society of the remotest parts of the Dinaric region since the nineteenth century. Once found within both Slavic and Albanian populations, today sworn virgins have been rapidly vanishing, and are rarely still found in northern Albania. The fact that occurrence was equally common among Orthodox, Catholic, and Muslim populations in the remotest mountain regions points to the phenomenon's ancientness. As women who aspired to the social status of men, sworn virgins did not cease to be women; only the “degree” of their womanhood or manhood varied. Examining this social phenomenon as a third gender, this article contextualizes it through Judith Butler's theory of performativity. It also focuses on the relatedness of the phenomenon to the ancient past, turning to existing theories, but also providing an original contribution to the third gender debate.

Gastronomy, as a part of cultural heritage, has exceptional potential in tourism, and its key representatives and conservationists/guardians are hospitality facilities that provide food services. Vojvodina (the Republic of Serbia) is a region inhabited by more than 30 ethnic minorities that have nurtured their cultural heritage and have been incorporating it into gastronomy for many years. The subject of this paper is the gastronomy of ethnic groups in Vojvodina and its significance for tourism development from the point of view of hospitality workers as important actors in the sustainability of heritage. One of the motives behind this study is the twelfth UN sustainable development goal (SDGs) defined in 2015, which refers to providing sustainable forms of consumption and production and which emphasizes the development and application of tools for monitoring the impact that sustainable development has on tourism that promotes local culture and products (12b). The aim of this study was to obtain data on the preservation of heritage, that is, on authenticity within the region/area and ethnic groups, and then to perform a valorization of dishes and define steps on how to make gastronomic heritage a more visible tourist attraction, from the perspective of sustainability. Our survey included a sample of 508 respondents, all employees in the hospitality industry. The obtained results were statistically processed. The research showed that the Južnabačka district has the greatest importance in tourism from the aspect of the implementation, preservation, and sustainability of gastronomic heritage in tourism. Among the ethnic groups, the Vojvodina Hungarians place the greatest importance on the preservation of gastronomy, which includes dishes such as goulash and uses ingredients such as river fish. The research led to the conclusion that those in the hospitality industry are of the opinion that gastronomic heritage should be promoted through activities such as tourist exposure, marketing activities, and promoting the diversity of authentic food offers in catering facilities.

Typical patterns of the Late Pleistocene loess–paleosol units are preserved in the Novo Orahovo brickyard, Northern Serbia. Presented preliminary luminescence chronology supports the chronostratigraphic interpretations of global isotopic marine climate reconstructions. Magnetic susceptibility and sedimentological evidence exhibit general similarities with the marine oxygen-isotope stratigraphy. These records provide new insights into the dust accumulation regimes over the eastern side of the Bačka loess plateau and offer new paleoenvironmental information for the region. They represent an important step forward towards the establishment of a catena from the thin loess-like sediments of the Banat foothills in the east towards the thicker and seemingly more complete loess sections of the southeastern and central Carpathian Basin. Grain-size data from the loess record of Nova Orahovo explain the regional differentiation in dust deposition.

This article examines diverse travel narratives about steamship voyages to Asia in the first two decades after the opening of the Suez Canal, with special focus on journeys through the Suez Canal, Red Sea, and Indian Ocean. Sources include Polish, Serbian and Russian authors: Julian Fałat, Vlado Ivelić, Lucjan Jurkiewicz, Milan Jovanović, Vsevolod Krestovskiy, Karol Lanckoroński, Bronisław Piłsudski, Paweł Sapieha, Henryk Sienkiewicz, Ivan Yuvachev, Hugo Zapałowicz, and Ivan Zarubin. Given this variety of sources, consisting of 12 accounts in 3 languages, written by different types of travellers with dissimilar social backgrounds, it is possible to demonstrate a variety of phenomena that may be associated with steamship voyages. The two main issues examined here are: 1) the coexistence of multiple mobilities in the era of steam power, 2) different experiences of time while voyaging.