The Local Self-Government Act has given explicit legal ground for the use of optional participatory budgeting (PB) on the municipal level in Slovenia since 2018. This means municipalities and their ...inhabitants have absolute discretion regarding the nature of proposed and later (if chosen) implemented projects in a certain municipality if the projects fall under municipal authority. The article presents research results that reveal that a legislative soft approach to PB, resulted in small municipal engagement in PB projects. They on average spent up to one percent of budgetary expenses for PB purposes, resulting mostly in inclusive, peoplecentered projects promoting facilities for socializing, and different kinds of public infrastructure capacities (sports infrastructure, etc.). The projects implemented in Slovenia so far are prevailingly "public infrastructure projects " in line with the municipal social sustainability agenda promoting equality and diversity, social cohesion, democracy and governance, and quality of life in a certain municipality.
This report assesses the Slovenian public sector salary system. In doing so, it examines the salary structure; the job classification framework; wage relativities - level of compensation and method ...for determining wage increases, and the wage negotiation framework; use of cash supplements; use of performance incentives; and the role of social dialogue in bargaining employment conditions.
Purpose
The dissertation focuses on time series analysis and is based on several research strategies
and methods.
The methodology used in the research process was published in four papers as part of
...international scientific journals indexed in the Web of Science database. Since tourism
is one of the most lagged industries in science there is need for new and innovative
approaches in key tourist sector determinants modelling and forecasting.
This doctoral thesis introduces an extension of time series methodology that focuses
on investigating and testing the normal distribution of residuals, as a key adequacy
prerequisite of econometric models. This issue has not systematically been considered in
quantitative approaches in tourism.
The motivation for research of the doctoral thesis are multidimensional: to filter previous
research on time series in tourism and to theoretically and empirically improve and
redesign time series methodology and methods for tourism. Both issues were successfully
presented in one of the published papers. Finally, tourism forecasts should be based on
reliable models as evident, from the most recent shocks, ex-ante tourism forecasting has
to be considered crucial in evaluating model efficiency.
The dissertation aimed to research and develop appropriate econometric models able to
capture the specifics of multiple interactions in the tourism market. The research seeks
to develop econometric models for the Republics of Slovenia and Croatia, two countries
whose economic development is predicated on tourism. Four goals and four specific objectives have been specified during the research process:
1) To introduce an improved time series approach in cointegrated panels. The first specific
objective (SO1) is to test at least ten econometric modelling structures that reduce cycle
breaks. 2) To examine previous theoretical thinking regarding the cointegration of
time series, cross-sectional data, and panels. The second specific objective (SO2) is to
outline at least 250 previous empirical studies for the tourism industry. 3) To examine
cointegration in tourism data for Slovenia and Croatia. The third objective (SO3) is
to model at least three econometric time series equations and mathematical theorems/
lemmas for the tourism industry. 4) To improve and better understand unit root tests in
tourism. The specific objective (SO4) is to approach the design of at least three stable
and innovative models.
The Balkans are still an imprecisely defined and relatively unknown area in southeastern Europe. They are a historical‐political term, often provoking negative associations that are synonymous with ...underdevelopment, backwardness, and primitiveness. This research is aimed primarily at exploring how the Balkans are perceived by students of geography in Zagreb and Maribor and what associations they provoke. It further seeks to investigate whether the Balkans are primarily a cognitive construct that is spatially determined on an individual level, based on an individual’s own insights, attitudes, values, and other determinants. Therefore, a questionnaire survey regarding perceptions of the Balkans was conducted. The results indicate that the Balkans can be seen as a sort of vernacular anti‐region: the kind from which states in or near its boundaries attempt to exclude themselves, while simultaneously trying to include their neighbors to the south and east.
Delayed sleep phase disorder and advanced sleep phase disorder cause disruption of the circadian clock and present with extreme morning/evening chronotype with unclear role of the genetic etiology, ...especially for delayed sleep phase disorder. To assess if genotyping can aid in clinical diagnosis, we examined the presence of genetic variants in circadian clock genes previously linked to both sleep disorders in Slovenian patient cohort. Based on Morning-evening questionnaire, we found 15 patients with extreme chronotypes, 13 evening and 2 morning, and 28 controls. Sanger sequencing was used to determine the presence of carefully selected candidate SNPs in regions of the
,
and
genes. In a patient with an extreme morning chronotype and a family history of circadian sleep disorder we identified two heterozygous missense variants in
gene, c.1243C>G (NM_001377275.1 (p.Pro415Ala)) and c.1250A>G (NM_001377275.1 (p.His417Arg)). The variants were significantly linked to Advanced sleep phase disorder and were also found in proband's father with extreme morningness. Additionally, a rare SNP was found in
gene in a patient with
Delayed sleep phase disorder. The novel variant in
(NM_022817.3):c.1901-218 G>T
. We identified a family with autosomal dominant inheritance of two
heterozygous variants that can be linked to Advanced sleep phase disorder. We revealed also a rare hereditary form of Delayed sleep phase disorder with a new
variant with autosomal dominant inheritance, shedding the light into the genetic causality.
This paper uses a rich data set of Slovenian manufacturing firms active in the period 1994–2002 that contains information on outward FDI and exports to different markets in order to test three ...empirical hypotheses that relate the decision for outward FDI to total factor productivity. First, the evidence supports the hypothesis proposed by Helpman, Melitz and Yeaple (2004) that more productive firms are more likely to invest in a foreign affiliate. Second, the hypothesis proposed by Head and Ries (2003) that less productive firms may be encouraged to invest in low‐income countries is rejected by the data. However, the main contribution of the paper is to confirm the third hypothesis that required firm's productivity increases with the number of markets that the firm serves, i.e. there is a positive relationship between the number of a firm's foreign affiliates and its total factor productivity.
In addition to COVID‐19 being a health threat, its longevity and restrictions act as significant stressors and risk for mental health. In the current study, we take a look at how psychological ...response, both its positive aspects, for example, mental well‐being and life satisfaction, and its negative aspects, for example, anxiety and COVID‐19 anxiety, have changed as the pandemic has continued (first three waves in Slovenia). Additionally, we are interested in whether the psychological response is associated with the perception of stress level in waves 2 and 3 as less, equally or more stressful when compared to the stress level in wave 1 and what shapes these perceptions. An online questionnaire battery (COVID‐19 stress level comparison, Warwick‐Edinburgh Mental Well‐being Scale; LAOM Anxiety Scale; Global Life Satisfaction scale; COVID‐19 anxiety), with ANOVA and qualitative analysis of the open‐ended question on reasons for perceiving wave 2 and wave 3 as more stressful when compared to wave 1, was used on a Slovene convenience adult sample (wave 1: N = 364, 83.5% female; wave 2: N = 987, 85.5% female; wave 3: N = 467, 78.5% female). The findings show (a) a significant increase in COVID‐19 anxiety from wave 1 to wave 3, with a peak in wave 2, and a significant decrease in mental well‐being from wave 1 to wave 3; (b) the level of anxiety, mental well‐being, and life satisfaction differs significantly between individuals who perceive wave 2 and 3 as more stressful compared to individuals who perceive wave 2 and wave 3 as equally or less stressful when compared to wave 1; (c) reasons for perceiving the succeeding waves of the pandemic as more stressful compared to wave 1 are diverse, with some being reported in both succeeding waves (e.g., negative emotional response to the pandemic, negative perceptions of measures). The findings highlight the important role of stress analysis in identifying the support mechanisms for dealing with the challenges of the COVID‐19 pandemic.
A mercury-resistant bacterial strain has been isolated from a rock of the Idrija mercury mine in Slovenia. The rock had 19 g carbon and 2952 mg mercury (Hg) per kg. Mass spectrometry and DNA ...sequencing showed that the bacterium belongs to the Pseudomonas genus. It is called Pseudomonas idrijaensis. This bacterial strain is sensitive to methylmercury (MeHg) like the reference P. aeruginosa strain PAO1, and is resistant to divalent mercury (Hg(II)) in contrast to PAO1. This difference could be attributed to the presence of the mer operon yet deprived of the merB gene encoding the organomercurial lyase, on the basis of whole genome sequencing. The P. idrijaensis mer operon displays the RTPCADE organization and is contained in the Tn5041 transposon. This transposon identified here occurs in other Gram-negative Hg-resistant strains isolated from mercury ores, aquatic systems and soils, including Pseudomonas strains from 15,000 to 40,000 years old Siberian permafrost. When P. idrijaensis was exposed to mercury chloride, two intracellular Hg species were identified by high energy-resolution XANES spectroscopy, a dithiolate Hg(SR)2 and a tetrathiolate Hg(SR)4 complex. P. idrijaensis had a much higher Hg(SR)2/Hg(SR)4 molar ratio than bacteria lacking the mer operon when exposed to 4 μg Hg2+/L - resulting in an intracellular accumulation of 4.3 μg Hg/g dw. A higher amount of the Hg(SR)2 complex provides a chemical signature for the expression of the dicysteinate Mer proteins in response to mercury toxicity.
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•Newly discovered bacterium Pseudomonas idrijaensis from a rock of the Idrija mine.•The rock sample was rich in quartz and mica and contained 2952 mg of mercury per kg.•Pseudomonas idrijaensis is resistant to 80 μM of mercury chloride (16 mg Hg/L).•P. idrijaensis is endowed with the mer operon, contained in the transposon Tn5041.•P. idrijaensis accumulates bis and tetrathiolate species: Hg(SR)2 and Hg(SR)4.
Vitamin D is involved in calcium and phosphorus metabolism, and is vital for numerous bodily functions. In the absence of sufficient UV-B light-induced skin biosynthesis, dietary intake becomes the ...most important source of vitamin D. In the absence of biosynthesis, the recommended dietary vitamin D intake is 10–20 µg/day. Major contributors to dietary vitamin D intake are the few foods naturally containing vitamin D (i.e., fish), enriched foods, and supplements. The present study aimed to estimate the vitamin D intake in Slovenia, to identify food groups that notably contribute to vitamin D intake, and to predict the effects of hypothetical mandatory milk fortification. This study was conducted using data collected by the national cross-sectional food consumption survey (SI.Menu) in adolescents (n = 468; 10–17 years), adults (n = 364; 18–64 years), and the elderly (n = 416; 65–74 years). Data collection was carried out between March 2017 and April 2018 using the EU Menu Methodology, which included two 24-h recalls, and a food propensity questionnaire. Very low vitamin D intakes were found; many did not even meet the threshold for very low vitamin D intake (2.5 µg/day). Mean daily vitamin D intake was 2.7, 2.9, and 2.5 µg in adolescents, adults, and the elderly, respectively. Daily energy intake was found to be a significant predictor of vitamin D intake in all population groups. In adolescents and adults, sex was also found to be a significant predictor, with higher vitamin D intake in males. The study results explained the previously reported high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in Slovenia. An efficient policy approach is required to address the risk of vitamin D deficiency, particularly in vulnerable populations.
This volume encompasses the proceedings of the First International Conference of the East and West in Korean Studies project Cultural Exchanges Between Korea and the West: Artifacts and Intangible ...Heritage, organized by Jong-Chol An and Ariane Perrin in the Department of Asian and North African Studies at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice in May 2021 with the support of the Academy of Korean Studies. Following an interdisciplinary approach from such fields as history, heritage studies, history of art and religious studies, nine essays were selected that best illustrate the main themes of the conference. This richly-illustrated publication presents little-known historical documents and various artifacts that had been lost to time within various institutions, private collections or museum collections, tracing back their history and significance.
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