FINANCIAL DETERMINANTS OF SMEs GROWTH IN THE TIME OF ECONOMIC

The importance of high-growth enterprises in national economies has been widely substantiated by economic research in recent years. There are a small number of papers that investigate determinants of growth in the time of economic downturn. This paper is focused on finding financial ratios that are determinants of growth in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which operate in downturn economies. The assumption of this study is that the time of economic downturn sets new challenges to SMEs and that fact should be reflected in their financial statements as well as in the growth prediction model. Our hypotheses have been tested on the sample of 1492 SMEs from Croatia over the period 2008-2013 in the time of economic downturn. Using logistic regression, a growth prediction model has been developed and tested. Results have shown that in the time of economic downturn, growth potential of SMEs increases with the increase of liquidity, turnover and profitability and with the decrease of leverage

Entrepreneurial intention modeling using hierarchical multiple regression

The goal of this study is to identify the contribution of effectuation dimensions to the predictive power of the entrepreneurial intention model over and above that which can be accounted for by other predictors selected and confirmed in previous studies. As is often the case in social and behavioral studies, some variables are likely to be highly correlated with each other. Therefore, the relative amount of variance in the criterion variable explained by each of the predictors depends on several factors such as the order of variable entry and sample specifics. The results show the modest predictive power of two dimensions of effectuation prior to the introduction of the theory of planned behavior elements. The article highlights the main advantages of applying hierarchical regression in social sciences as well as in the specific context of entrepreneurial intention formation, and addresses some of the potential pitfalls that this type of analysis entails

The Role of Thrombelastography in Multiple Trauma

Hemorrhage and traumatic coagulopathyis are major causes of early death in multiply injured patients. Thrombelastography (TEG) seems to be a fast and accurate coagulation test in trauma care. We suggest that multiply injured trauma patients would benefit the most from an early assessment of coagulation by TEG, mainly RapidTEG, to detect an acute traumatic coagulopathy and especially primary fibrinolysis, which is related with high mortality. This review gives an overview on TEG and its clinical applications

Pest categorisation of Arceuthobium spp. (non-EU)

Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Panel on Plant Health performed a pest categorisation of Arceuthobium spp. (non-EU), a well-defined and distinguishable group of parasitic plant species of the family Viscaceae, also known as dwarf mistletoes. These are flowering plants parasitising a wide range of conifers of the families Pinaceae and Cupressaceae. Arceuthobium species (non-EU) are regulated in Council Directive 2000/29/EC (Annex IAI) as harmful organisms whose introduction into the EU is banned. Many Arceuthobium species are recognised, with most dwarf mistletoes native in the New World, and north-western Mexico and the western USA as the centre of diversity for the genus. Only two Arceuthobium species are native (and reported to be present) in the EU (Arceuthobium azoricum and Arceuthobium oxycedrum), which are thus not part of this pest categorisation. Hosts of non-EU dwarf mistletoes include species of the genera Abies, Cupressus, Juniperus, Larix, Picea, Pinus, Pseudotsuga and Tsuga. Most Arceuthobium spp. can parasitise more than one species of conifer host. Dwarf mistletoes could enter the EU via host plants for planting and cut branches, but these pathways are closed. They could establish in the EU, as hosts are widespread and climatic conditions are favourable. They would be able to spread following establishment by human movement of host plants for planting and cut branches, as well as natural spread. Should non-EU dwarf mistletoes be introduced in the EU, impacts can be expected on coniferous woodlands, plantations, ornamental trees and nurseries. The main uncertainties concern (i) the precise distribution and host range of the individual Arceuthobium spp. and (ii) the level of susceptibility of conifers native to Europe. For Arceuthobium spp. (non-EU) as a group of organisms, the criteria assessed by the Panel for consideration as a potential quarantine pest are met, while, for regulated non-quarantine pests, the criterion on the pest presence in the EU is not met

Der Weg der Initiation zum Selbst in den Romanen von Gustav Meyrink

Die Arbeit versucht die Romane des österreichischen Autors Gustav Meyrink (1868-1932: Der Golem [1915], Das grüne Gesicht [1916], Walpurgisnacht [1917], Der weisse Dominikaner [1921]) anhand text- und erzählstruktureller Merkmale auf einer gemeinsamen Ebene zu lesen, die durch Elemente okkultistischer Natur geprägt ist und die Initiation des Romanhelden, d.h. seine geistige Selbstrealisierung als Überwindung einer grundlegenden Bewusstseinskrise, darstellt. Die textnah vorgehende Analyse ermittelt dabei für die vier untersuchten Romane ein gemeinsames narratives Muster, nach dem sich die Initiation des Helden in jeweils fünf vergleichbaren Phasen ereignet, die mit bestimmten Bewusstseinszuständen assoziiert sind. Zur unterstützenden Kontextualisierung des in den Romanen hervorgehobenen Musters werden zwei umfangreiche autobiographische Essays des Autors herangezogen (An der Grenze des Jenseits [1923], Verwandlung des Blutes [1928/29]), die sich mit konkreten Fragen zu Theorie und Praxis des Okkultismus beschäftigen und die anthropologischen und ideologischen Überzeugungen, wie sie Gustav Meyrink, ausgehend von jahrzehntelanger Beschäftigung mit dem Okkultismus, in durchaus eklektischer Weise vertrat, offenlegen

Adaptive morphing of wing and tail for stable, resilient, and energy-efficient flight of avian-informed drones

Avian-informed drones feature morphing wing and tail surfaces, enhancing agility and adaptability in flight. Despite their large potential, realising their full capabilities remains challenging due to the lack of generalized control strategies accommodating their large degrees of freedom and cross-coupling effects between their control surfaces. Here we propose a new body-rate controller for avian-informed drones that uses all available actuators to control the motion of the drone. The method exhibits robustness against physical perturbations, turbulent airflow, and even loss of certain actuators mid-flight. Furthermore, wing and tail morphing is leveraged to enhance energy efficiency at 8m/s, 10m/s and 12m/s using in-flight Bayesian optimization. The resulting morphing configurations yield significant gains across all three speeds of up to 11.5% compared to non-morphing configurations and display a strong resemblance to avian flight at different speeds. This research lays the groundwork for the development of autonomous avian-informed drones that operate under diverse wind conditions, emphasizing the role of morphing in improving energy efficiency.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figure