Mladen Knežević

Social work students and work values

This article analyses the work values of a group of 169 freshman social work students. The values for self-actualization were ranked the highest, closely followed by socially-oriented values. The value of altruism was ranked differently by social work students and by other Zagreb University students. The results of the survey show that these young people have chosen their career out of commitment to the fundamental values they believe in.

Effects of liquid manure application on yield, quality and botanical composition of grassland

The aim was to evaluate the effects of cattle liquid manure (LM) in combination with mineral fertilizers on the yield, quality and botanical composition of mountain grassland in comparison with mineral fertilization. Addition of 5.0 litre/m2 LM to mineral fertilizers applied increased the fresh weight yield by 63% and dry matter yield by 55% compared to mineral fertilization, while there were no significant differences between fertilization treatments in the contribution of grasses, legumes and forbs to the total DM yield, nor to neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and crude protein (CP) contents. The first cut forage had higher NDF (566.7 g/kg) and ADF (328 g/kg) and lower CP (151.64 g/kg) compared to the 2nd cut (509.8 g/kg, 290.1 g/kg, 169.13 g/kg, respectively), which seemed highly related to the significantly lower in-sacco dry matter degradability (786.2 g/kg) of this cut compared to the 2nd cut (794.14 g/kg). Mineral fertilization treatment had a higher rumen undegraded protein content (26.39 g/kg) than the combination of LM and mineral fertilizers (23.47 g/kg).

Blood metabolites and haematological indices of beef cattle fed rumen-protected methionine

U ovom radu su prikazani rezultati ispitivanja uticaja, u buragu nerazgradljivog, zasticenog (by-pass) metionina na neke vrednosti hematoloskih i biohemijskih parametara u krvi tovne junadi, ukljucujuci ukupne proteine, albumine, triacilglicerole, ukupni holesterol, glukozu, ureu, kreatinin, aktivnost alanin-aminotransferaze (ALT), aktivnost aspartat-aminotransferaze (AST), aktivnost gamaglutamil- transferaze (GGT), broj eritrocita (RBC), srednji volumen eritrocita (MCV), srednju vrednost hemoglobina eritrocita (MCH), raspodelu eritrocita po volumenu (RDW), koncentraciju hemoglobina (Hb), hematokrit (Hct), broj leukocita (WBC) i diferencijalnu krvnu sliku. Istraživanje je trajalo 94 dana i izvrseno je na 26 životinja podeljenih u dve jednake grupe, kontrolnu (C) i oglednu (E). Junad je hranjena livadskim senom i kukuruznom silažom uz dnevni dodatak 500 g krmne smese (35% CP) po grlu. Životinje iz grupe E su dnevno, po grlu, dobijale i 10 g DL-metionina zasticenog od razgradnje u buragu. Uzorci krvi su uzimani 1., 34., 68. i 94. dana ogleda. Nivo glukoze i ukupnog holesterola u plazmi grupe E je pokazivao tendenciju rasta prema kraju ogleda (P=0,065 odnosno P=0,064), dok je nivo uree imao tendenciju pada (P=0,082). Aktivnost ALT, kod životinja grupe E, je pokazivala 68. i 94. dana tendenciju porasta (P=0,127 odnosno P=0,104). Razlike u koncentraciji ukupnih proteina, albumina, triacilglicerola, kreatinina i aktivnosti AST i GGT između grupa nisu bile signifikanatne. Ovi rezultati ukazuju da bi suvisak metionina mogao da izazove porast nivoa glukagona u krvnoj plazmi.

Work values of students in Mostar schools

Abstract Research on Work value differences in students of primary and secondary schools has been conducted in Mostar: a city that is deeply divided by the conflicts between the Croatian and the Bosniacs ethnic communities. Although, in several areas, statistically significant differences between students that belong to the two different ethnic communities were been found, it appears that these results are more different between the urban and the rural populations than those differences between Work values of the different ethnic communities.

Effects of inclusion of maize silage in a diet based on grass silage on the intake, apparent digestibility and nitrogen retention in wether sheep

The objective of this experiment was to study the effects of interactions between grass silage (GS) dominated by orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) and maize silage (MS) (Zea mays L.) on ad libitum intake, digestibility and nitrogen retention in wether sheep. The GS in this experiment reflected the quality of GS produced on family farms in Croatia, while the MS used is frequently produced in seasons unfavourable for high quality MS production. The study consisted of four feeding treatments involving GS and MS alone, and GS and MS mixtures in ratios of 67:33 or 33:67 (DM basis), fed twice daily. Mean DM contents of GS and MS were 396 and 264 g/kg fresh weight, respectively. MS was much lower (P < 0.001) in crude protein (CP) (62 g/kg DM) than the GS (120 g/kg DM). GS contained larger (P < 0.001) quantities of neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF) than MS. In contrast, MS contained more (P < 0.001) non-structural carbohydrate than GS, as starch, which comprised 211 g/kg DM. Inclusion of MS in the diet (33% v. 67%) had positive linear effects on fresh matter voluntary intake (P < 0.05), CP and starch digestibility (P < 0.05), and N balance (P < 0.05). A positive associative effect of GS and MS was observed for DM, organic matter intake (quadratic, P < 0.05), N intake and N balance (quadratic, P < 0.01), while it was negative for ADF digestibility (quadratic, P < 0.05). It was concluded that positive interactions of GS and MS were due to a better balance of available energy and protein when the two forages were fed together. No positive associative responses were recorded for digestibility, probably due to higher passage rates of digesta with MS supplementation i.e. lower MS quality in terms of maize plant maturity at harvest.

Public perceptions of social workers and social work in the Republic of Croatia

Throughout the war and the post-war period, the field of social work in Croatia has developed at an accelerated rate. The involvement and assistance from international agencies and individuals created numerous fora for exchange, collaboration and mutual learning among all the helping professions. The research process represented a collaborative effort of faculty, lecturers and students in the Study Center for Social Work in the University of Zagrebs Faculty of Law. The sample was convenient, composed mainly of the urban population of Croatia. The instrument consists of two main parts, one regarding the content of a social workers work, and the other regarding the attitudes toward that profession. We believe that the results of our study demonstrate that social work, as a profession, is relatively well known among the citizens of Croatia. Those markers pertaining to the attitude towards social work profession, which are negative in nature, are ranked by our participants as lowest in importance on the scale.

Book Review: Tali Gal, Child Victims and Restorative Justice. A Needs-Rights Model

LGBT clients. It includes: understanding the scenarios (or the practical problem), the identification of possible resources, the analysis of the available information, the application of relevant social work theories or methods, the identification of alternative courses of action and the presentation of the research findings. EBL is a solution-focused approach which is especially useful in this area of social work where almost no recent research has been done. This assumes that the US context, where the issue has been researched, is not applicable for Europe. In this book, Fish includes a glossary and also an appendix with key questions to defined topics and subsequent exercises, creating a practical ‘workbook’ for students. As expressed in the title, Fish wants to ‘make a difference’ and bring about change. Perhaps for the same sex couple who cannot have a shared room in a residential care home because others might feel uncomfortable or offended, or for the trans-woman in a psychiatric hospital who cannot shave her beard because no one recognizes how uncomfortable she feels about it, or for the asylum seeker who must openly admit to being gay (as the reason for his/her application thus) losing the right to privacy, and possibly losing any remnants of sympathy or understanding of the social worker in front of him or her. Throughout this work, Fish provides a compilation of theoretical building blocks intended to promote further reflection and enough curiosity hopefully to inspire social workers, other practitioners and students to acquire a more in-depth comprehension of theoretical work on the LGBT issue. 2012