An Application of Subgroup Discovery Algorithm on the Case of Decentralization and Quality of Governance in EU

This paper analyses a statistical relationship between the decentralization of the EU countries and the quality of their governance. The degree of decentralization is measured from a fiscal and political point of view, and the quality of governance by multiple indicators and citizen opinions. The paper presents a subgroup discovery algorithm which is capable of analysing two sets of several variables, and uses it for the analysis of EU countries. The paper is one of the first to use the data mining methods from the social sciences domain. The used algorithm has discovered some interesting patterns which show a desired relationship. We have discovered that the proportion of public sector employees is one of the most important indicators, which strongly correlates with the degree of trust in the European and national institutions, the government effectiveness and the perception of corruption

The role and significance of strategic and normative factors in public policy design and implementation in Slovenia: A Content Analysis

Policy processes are complex systems and require an in-depth and comprehensive analysis. Literature review reveals a lack of methodological approaches that in the broadest sense analyse and evaluate the successfulness of public policies. Especially, factors that affect policy design and policy implementation as two important phases of policy cycle have not been sufficiently explored. To address this gap, the application of several relevant public policy theories can help identify and investigate key factors relevant for analysing public policies. The principal objective of this paper is to define, analyse and study the relationship between two critical factors that influence the successful policy design and implementation of public policies in Slovenia, namely the strategic factors and normative factors. In order to study selected critical public policy factors twenty-two structured interviews and object-oriented discussions were conducted with the prominent public policy experts in Slovenia. The interviews were performed from February to September 2017, covering various relevant fields of public policies. Subsequently, the exploratory qualitative content analysis was applied in order to investigate the role and significance of the selected factors for successful design and implementation of public policies in Slovenia, and their interdependence and impact on the performance of public policies. The findings from this analysis reveal that although strategic factors are identified by the interviewees as the most important among all factors, the role of normative factors is also of utmost important and should not be underestimated. For various reasons, in practice, the normative factors often turn out to be crucial

Predicting Students\u27 Outcomes in Blended Learning: An Empirical Investigation in the Higher Education Context

The main goal of this research was to clarify which aspects of blended learning increase a student\u27s knowledge level measured by the course final grade. The questionnaire-based survey was used for gathering students\u27 attitudes towards some aspects of blended learning. A principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering of variables were applied to extract the components that describe dimensions of blended learning and represent the explanatory variables in a multiple regression model with student\u27s final grade as a dependent variable. Using a Two-Step cluster analysis to reveal natural groupings based on the answers in the questionnaire, two clusters were formed having a statistically significant difference between the means of final grades. The research revealed that the organization of a course and the study material supporting face-to-face teaching are essential features with an impact on student\u27s final success. The study also showed that the aspects of traditional face-to-face teaching are more strongly linked to higher grades than the aspects of e-courses

Prognostic factors of cataract surgery in patients with uveitis

Purpose: To evaluate the long-term visual outcomes of patients with uveitis undergoing cataract surgery and to identify possible factors influencing the visual prognosis and the development of postoperative complications. Methods: Retrospective study of all patients with uveitis who underwent cataract surgery between January 2015 and February 2020 in our tertiary referral center. Results: A total of 78 eyes from 78 patients were included in the study. The best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) improved in 86% of patients, and a BCVA of 0.5 or better was achieved in 57 (73%) patients. A significant correlation was shown between the preoperative and postoperative BCVA (Spearman r = 0.521, p &lt; 0.01). Final BCVA differed between diverse anatomical uveitis entities (p = 0.047), and anterior uveitis demonstrated the best outcomes. Chronic uveitis resulted in a worse final BCVA than acute recurrent uveitis (p = 0.001). The presence of CME any time before the surgery and intermediate uveitis were associated with worse visual prognosis, while systemic therapy for uveitis before surgery and iris manipulation during surgery were not related to visual outcomes. Postoperative development of cystoid macular edema (CME) was closely associated with preexisting CME (p &lt; 0.001) and intermediate uveitis (p = 0.01). Conclusions: Visual results of cataract surgery in patients with uveitis were beneficial, but limited visual outcomes were more frequently observed in patients with chronic uveitis and intermediate uveitis with a history of CME. In consequence, prevention, or adequate treatment of CME, especially in patients with intermediate uveitis, might result in better visual results of their cataract surgery.</p

Sudjelovanje očeva u skrbi za djecu i kućanskim poslovima

The paper presents the results of a study on fathers’ engagement in caregiving and household tasks and their perception of a father’s role in the household. The aim of the paper is to find out what fathers perceive as ˝being responsible˝ and how their perception is related to their engagement and role in the household. Therefore, we carried out research among employed or self-employed men, living with their female partners and children in the same household. The research was carried out in September 2019 in a Central European country (Slovenia). Results of our research support the stereotypic classification of household tasks in terms of gender. Fathers who consider participation in care and upbringing of children as a relevant aspect of a responsible father more frequently do housekeeping, washing the dishes (washing and stacking), garbage collection and hanging up and collecting laundry. Fathers who consider financial support as a relevant aspect of a responsible father more frequently pay the bills; they also agree that a mother is considered to be much more burdened with regard to unpaid work than a father.U radu se predstavljaju rezultati istraživanja o sudjelovanju očeva u skrbi za djecu i kućanskim poslovima te o njihovom shvaćanju uloge oca u obitelji. Cilj rada je istražiti što očevi smatraju “odgovornim ponašanjem” i kako je njihovo poimanje istog povezano s njihovim angažmanom i ulogom u kućanstvu. Stoga smo proveli istraživanje među zaposlenim i samozaposlenim muškarcima koji žive u istom kućanstvu sa svojim partnericama i djecom. Istraživanje je provedeno u rujnu 2019. godine u srednjoeuropskoj zemlji (Sloveniji). Rezultati istraživanja podupiru stereotipnu klasifikaciju kućanskih poslova s obzirom na spol. Očevi koji smatraju sudjelovanje u skrbi za djecu i odgoju djece važnim aspektom odgovornog očinstva češće održavaju dom, peru suđe (pranje i slaganje suđa), iznose smeće, vješaju i pospremaju opranu odjeću. Očevi koji smatraju financijsku potporu važnim aspektom odgovornog očinstva češće plaćaju račune; i oni se slažu da je majka opterećenija neplaćenim poslom nego što je to otac

Online Budget Transparency Index and its Determinants in Slovenian Municipalities

In this article, we evaluate the online local budget transparency (OLBT) for all Slovenian municipalities and analyse the impact of various factors on the measured transparency. Most of the municipalities comply with existing regulations. The comparison of the mean values of 91 different characteristics shows that municipalities which do not comply with regulation are smaller, with poorer education structure and social position of citizens. Several municipalities are providing budget transparency beyond the legal requirements. They are smaller and less wealthy than other municipalities complying with regulation. We explain both phenomena by agency and legitimacy theory

Online költségvetési átláthatósági mutató és annak meghatározó tényezői a szlovén önkormányzatoknál

A tanulmány az online helyi költségvetési átláthatóságot értékeli (OLBT) az összes szlovén önkormányzat esetében, illetve a különböző tényezők átláthatóságra gyakorolt hatását elemzi. Az önkormányzatok többsége megfelel az előírásoknak. 91 különböző jellemző átlagértékeinek összehasonlítása azt mutatja, hogy azok az önkormányzatok, amelyek nem felelnek meg a szabályozásnak, általában kisebbek, gyengébb az oktatási struktúrájuk, valamint az ott élők társadalmi helyzete alacsonyabb. Számos önkormányzat a jogszabályi követelményekben előírtakat meghaladó költségvetési átláthatóságot biztosít. Ezek kisebb méretűek és kevésbé vagyonosak, mint más, a szabályozásnak megfelelő önkormányzatok. Mindkét jelenséget az ügynök- és a legitimitáselmélet alapján magyarázzuk

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on online learning in higher education: a bibliometric analysis

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted higher education by forcing the transition to online learning, which became a mandatory teaching process during the lockdowns. Although the epidemiological situation has gradually improved since then, online learning is becoming ever more popular as it provides new learning opportunities. Therefore, the paper aims to present recent research trends concerning online learning in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic by using selected bibliometric approaches. The bibliometric analysis is based on 8,303 documents from the Scopus database published between January 2020 and March 2022, when repeated lockdowns meant most countries were experiencing constant disruptions to the educational process. The results show that the COVID-19 pandemic increased interest in online learning research, notably in English-speaking and Asian countries, with most research being published in open-access scientific journals. Moreover, the topics most frequently discussed in the online learning research during the COVID-19 pandemic were ICT and pedagogy, technology-enhanced education, mental health and well-being, student experience and curriculum and professional development. Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged explorations of emergency remote learning approaches like e-learning, distance learning and virtual learning, which are intended to limit physical contact between teachers and students, where the specific requirements of a given field of study often guide which online learning approach is the most suitable. The findings add to the existing body of scientific knowledge and support the evidence-based policymaking needed to ensure sustainable higher education in the future

Study of genetic and phenotypic relationships in a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain collection using computational approaches

Genome sequencing is essential to understand individual variation and to study the relationship between genotype and phenotype. Recently, large-scale sequencing projects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae revealed the existence of a few well defined lineages and some mosaics of that lineages, and suggested the occurrence of two domestication events during the history of association to human activities, one for sake strains and one for wine yeasts. Although the diversity of S. cerevisiae strains in winemaking environments is rather high, suggesting the occurrence of specific natural strains associated with particular terroirs, scarce information is available regarding phenotypic variability among strains used for different biotechnological applications. The objective of the present work was to undertake high-throughput approaches for a genetic evaluation of 172 S. cerevisiae strains from different geographical origins and technological uses (winemaking, brewing, bakery, distillery, laboratory, natural, etc.) and computationally relate the results with 30 phenotypic tests that were previously obtained. Genetic characterization was performed using eleven polymorphic S. cerevisiae specific microsatellite loci. More than 200 different alleles were obtained, being around 30 responsible for the highest strain variability. 8944 data points were generated and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed the microsatellites C4 and ScYOR267c, as well as the alleles AAT5-256 and AAT6-256 as the most contributing to intra-strain variability. Based on microsatellite allelic information, the software Orange [1] was used to find sub-groups of strains with similar values of phenotypic features and microsatellite allelic patterns. Globally, our study demonstrates that computational approaches can be successfully used to estimate a strain’s biotechnological potential from genotypic data, simplifying laborious strain selection programs by partially replacing phenotypic screens through a preliminary selection based on a strain’s microsatellite allelic combinations.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Dolgoročni potek in izid bolezni pri bolnikih z intermediarnim uveitisom s spremljanjem vsaj 20 let

Izhodišča: Intermediarni uveitis (IU) je kronična vnetna očesna bolezen z glavnino vnetja v steklovini. Gre za redko bolezen s kroničnim potekom, ki prizadene predvsem delovno aktivno populacijo in lahko povzroči začasno ali trajno izgubo vida. Namen naše študije je preučiti dolgoročni potek IU pri bolnikih z vsaj 20-letnim spremljanjem. Metode: Gre za retrospektivno presečno študijo dolgoročnega poteka IU pri bolnikih z vsaj 20-letnim spremljanjem. V študijo so bili vključeni vsi bolniki z IU z začetkom spremljanja v uveitični ambulanti Očesne klinike med letoma 1985 in 1995. Študija je zastavljena kot nadaljevanje že objavljene študije Vidovič Valentinčič in sodelavcev z 10-letnim spremljanjem iste kohorte bolnikov. Rezultati: Iz začetne kohorte 29 bolnikov z IU smo 20 bolnikov spremljali vsaj 20 let s povprečnim časom spremljanja 25,3 let (95% IZ 23,2–27,4). Po 20 ali več letih spremljanja je remisijo doseglo 17/20 bolnikov s povprečnim časom do remisije 11,14 let (95% IZ 7,94– 14,34). Do ponovnega zagona bolezni je po povprečno 8,2 letih (95% IZ 2,8–13,6) prišlo pri 6/17 bolnikov z remisijo. Odstotek slepih in slabovidnih oči je postopoma naraščal do 10 let, nato pa se je stabiliziral. Po 20 ali več letih je bilo slepih ali slabovidnih 28,2 % oči. Glavni vzrok za izgubo vida je bil cistoidni makularni edem (CME) z razvojem makularne atrofije. Zaključek: IU je kronična bolezen z dolgotrajnim potekom, pogostimi zapleti, ki lahko povzročijo trajno izgubo vida, in ponovnimi zagoni, zaradi česar je potrebno dolgoročno vodenje bolnikov z IU, zgodnje diagnosticiranje in intenzivno zdravljenje CME