EFFECTS OF CORPORATE DIVERSIFICATION ON ITS PERFORMANCE: THE CASE OF CROATIAN NON-LIFE INSURANCE INDUSTRY

Although a number of authors have tried to investigate different aspects of insurance industry, there is still little research done and evidence on the performance effect of diversification in either life or non-life insurance industry. This is especially true for the Croatian insurance industry. Therefore, the authors of this article find it valuable to investigate the relationship between product diversification and performance. In testing this relationship we employ different methods of financial performance and diversification assessment

EFFECTS OF CORPORATE DIVERSIFICATION ON ITS PERFORMANCE: THE CASE OF CROATIAN NON-LIFE INSURANCE INDUSTRY

Although a number of authors have tried to investigate different aspects of insurance industry, there is still little research done and evidence on the performance effect of diversification in either life or non-life insurance industry. This is especially true for the Croatian insurance industry. Therefore, the authors of this article find it valuable to investigate the relationship between product diversification and performance. In testing this relationship we employ different methods of financial performance and diversification assessment

The antioxidative protecting role of the Mediterranean diet [Antioksidativno protektivno djelovanje mediteranske dijete]

Recent meta-analysis shows that adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MD) can significantly decrease the risk of overall mortality, mortality from cardiovascular diseases, as well as incidence of mortality from cancer, and incidence of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. All of these diseases could be linked to oxidative stress (OS) as antioxidative effect of MD is getting more attention nowadays. Although a lot of research has been done in this area and it suggests antioxidative protective role of MD, the presented evidence is still inconclusive. The aim of this paper is to review studies investigating the effect of MD on OS, as well as to identify the areas for further research

Association of infections and biological therapy in rheumatology

Unatoč napretku u dijagnozi i liječenju, infekcije su veliki uzrok morbiditeta i mortaliteta te glavni uzrok bolničkih komplikacija u bolesnika oboljelih od upalnih reumatskih bolesti liječenih biološkim lijekovima. Infekcije su relativno česta i moguća teška komplikacija koja se javlja u pacijenata liječenih biološkom terapijom. U ovom preglednom radu analizirala se dostupna recentna medicinska literatura u kojoj se analizira sklonost infekcijama u pacijenata oboljelih od sistemskih upalnih reumatskih bolesti, prije svega reumatoidnog artritisa, koji su liječeni biološkim lijekovima.Despite rapid advances in diagnosis and treatment, infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality and the leading cause of hospital complications in patients with inlammatory rheumatoid diseases treated with biologics. Infections are a relatively common and potentially severe complication that occur in patients who are treated with biologics. In this scientific review, recent and available medical literature, which describes the incidence of infections in patients treated with biological therapy who have been diagnosed with systemic inflammatory rheumatoid diseases, primarily rheumatoid arthritis, has beed analyzed

Gradual Loss of Partial Denture Retentive Forces

Djelomična proteza može se fiziološki ispravno prilagoditi fundamentu samo na osnovi poznavanja biostatike stomatognatoga sustava. Velik broj čimbenika utječe hoće li neka sila biti u funkciji fiziološke stimulacije ili će prouzročiti patološke promjene potpornoga tkiva. Ovim istraživanjem namjerava se utvrditi početna vrijednost retencijskih sila lijevanih kvačica, ankera i magneta, te njihov postupni gubitak sile nakon određenoga broja ciklusa vađenja i stavljanja retencijskih elemenata. Mjerenja su provedena u Zavodu za materijale Fakulteta za strojarstvo i brodogradnju Sveučilišta u Zagrebu. Ispitivani uzorci izrađeni su od materijala i gotovih elemenata prema podatcima proizvođača. Odgovaraju kriterijima koje zahtijeva DIN 13912 i DIN 13906-1 i ostalim internacionalnim standardima. Uređajem za mjerenje retencijske sile može se ciklički uključivati i isključivati retencijske elemente i kontinuirano prikupljati mjerne podatke. Ovim mjerenjima istraživao se postupni gubitak sila ispitivanih retncijskih elemenata. Dobivene vrijednosti kvalitativne raščlambe ispitivanih retencijskih elemenata prikazane su grafički i u tablicama. Tijekom ispitivanje došlo se do spoznaje da vrijednost retencijske sile kvačica i ankera postupno opada, a da se sila magnetskih slitina ne mijenja. Temeljni čimbenik koji bitno utječe na veličinu retencijske sile jest trošenje i zamor materijala. Spojnica uz nazočnost sline ima manju silu retencije, ali zbog smanjena trošenja nastat će i sporije smanjenje retencijske sile.A partial denture can be oppropriately accommodated physiologically on the denture base only with good understanding of the stomatognathic system biostatics. A force can either act as a physiological stimulus or can lead to pathological alterations in supporting tissue, wich depends on a great number of factors. The aim of the study was to determine the initial retentive force values of cast clasps, anchors and magnets as wel as their gradual loss of force after a certain number of retentive elements, extraction and insertion cycles. Measurement were carried out at the Materials Department, School Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb. The examined specimens were made of materials and ready-made elements in accordance with the manufacturer’s declaration. They satisfy the DIN 13912 and DIN 13906-1 criteria and comply with other international standards. The device for retentive force measurement can periodically both include and exclude retentive elements thus continually collecting measurement data. Gradual loss of the examined retentive element forces was analysed by these measurings. The obtained values of the examined retentive elements qualitative analysis are presented in graphs and tables. In the course of analysis it was dicovered that the retentive force value of both clasps and anchors gradually decreases whereas the magnetic force of the alloys remains unchanged. The key factors which have a great impact on the retnetive force value are wear and material fatigue. A clasp in a wet environment (saliva) has less retentive force, but due to decreased wear the retnetive force decrease will progress more slowly

Razvoj interaktivnih 2D kodova tiskanih termokromnim bojama

Pojavom sve većeg broja noviteta na području interaktivnih medija, dolazi do pojave tzv. dvodimenzionalnih simbologija. Potreba za pohranom većeg broja informacija na manjem prostoru, prolazi razvoj, standardizaciju i porast primjene 2D bar kodova. Kao glavna problematika ističe se kombinacija primjene dvaju interaktivnih medija, termokromnih boja i dvodimenzionalnih kodova sa zadovoljavajućom čitljivosti kodova nakon ireverzibilne termokromne promjene. Za potrebe istraživanja odabrane su QR i DataMatrix simbologije kao dvije najzastupljenije u kombinaciji sa ireverzibilnom termokromnom bojom na bazi leuco bojila, čiji je indikator promjene obojenja temperatura od 65°C. Moguća primjena kombinacije spomenutih medija vidljiva je prvenstveno u ambalažnoj industriji, kao dodatak koji ne narušavajući estetiku ambalaže omogućuje dodatne informacije o proizvodu, te omogućuje adekvatno čuvanje proizvoda na propisanoj temperaturi, gdje se prilikom ne pridržavanja spomenutih uvjeta pojavljuje odgovarajuća promjena obojenja koja korisniku daje uvid u neadekvatne načine rukovanja za spomenuti proizvod. Cilj je dokazati ili opovrgnuti tezu o mogućoj kombinaciji korištenja dvaju spomenutih medija

Inconsistency in Consumer Preferences: Some Interesting Insights

AbstractTraditional theory of preferences assumes that a consumer should be able to rank different alternatives according to the satisfaction or utility they provide. However, empirical findings originated by psychologists in 1970s and later revaluated by economists show some controversial results. A phenomenon that occurs when individual's choice (as a direct indicator of individual's preferences) between two alternatives is inconsistent with the way an individual ranks “selling” price of these alternatives (where price serves as an indirect indicator of his preferences) becomes known as a preference reversals. This research aims to shed a new light on the respective subject by revealing potential differences among individuals’ choice depending on their characteristics. In that manner the research provides an insight into individuals’ preferences depending on their gender and household income. Furthermore, in this experiment individuals were asked to express their attitude toward risk, hence it was considered interesting to confront the way the individuals perceive themselves with the way they actually act

A comparative analysis of the efficiency of life and non-life sectors in selected CEE countries

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to analyze overall technical efficiency (OTE), pure technical efficiency (PTE) and scale efficiency (SE) of both life and non-life insurance sectors in three Central and Eastern European countries (CEE), i.e. Croatia, Hungary and Poland, in 2018. Methodology: The efficiency of insurance sectors is estimated by applying data envelopment analysis (DEA), while a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) is performed to find out whether there exists any statistically significant difference between the estimated levels of the efficiency of non-life and life insurance sectors in the observed CEE countries. Results: Out of 34 non-life Polish insurers, only two (6%) were overall technically efficient, while the remaining 32 were inefficient. Croatia and Hungary achieved better results with three (20%) and seven (43.7%) efficient insurers, respectively. However, when observing the life insurance segment, half of the Croatian life insurers were efficient according to the CCR model, while six (23%) Polish and three (23%) Hungarian efficient insurers were recorded. Conclusion: Research reveals that the Hungarian non-life insurers are the most efficient ones in terms of OTE, PTE and SE. They are followed by the Croatian insurers, leaving the Polish insurers behind. Regarding the life insurance sector, the domination of the Croatian insurers is recorded, while the Hungarian ones were found to be the least efficient. Moreover, inefficiency in both life and non-life sectors (except for the Hungarian life sector) is more related to scale than to managerial inefficiency. Finally, ANOVAs and Tukey post hoc tests revealed a statistically significant difference among considered groups of insurers

Serials acquisition in the Newspaper and periodicals reading room of the Zagreb City Library – from 2020. to 2022.

Narodne knjižnice trebaju svojim korisnicima osigurati pristup različitim vrstama građe, pa tako i serijskoj građi. Izgradnja tog dijela fonda specifična je zbog čestih promjena koje prate serijsku građu, a iz istog se razloga nabavi pristupa drukčije nego što je to slučaj s drugim vrstama građe. U radu su prikazane specifičnosti izgradnje zbirke serijske građe u Čitaonici novina i časopisa Gradske knjižnice (Knjižnice grada Zagreba), uz poseban osvrt na proces nabave od početka 2020. do kraja 2022. godine. Knjižnice su se u tom razdoblju suočile s pandemijom i porastom cijena, što je nabavu učinilo još izazovnijim procesom

Determinants of Croatian Non-Life Insurance Companies’ Efficiency

Although a relatively large number of studies have been focused on evaluating the efficiency of insurance companies from different aspects, analysis of factors that determine the achieved level of insurers’ efficiency is still in their inception. While these studies primarily encompass insurance companies operating in developed insurance markets, such research based on the sample of Croatian non-life insurers does not exist. Therefore, this paper is focused on the efficiency drivers of the insurance companies that operate in the Croatian non-life insurance market. The research is based on data for 18 insurance companies in the period from 2009 to 2021. Applying Data envelopment analysis (DEA) and Truncated regression, the research results show that age and ownership influence the efficiency of non-life insurance companies in Croatia, while the companies’ size, leverage, and product diversification are not confirmed as significant determinants of the efficiency