Evropska digitalna trdnjava in veliki biometrični EU IT sistemi: Kriminologija meje, tehnologija in človekove pravice

Today, at a time when we are witnessing the “multiplication of borders”, borders are occupying new domains. The article focuses on the erection of digital borders by means of biometric technology, which is creating new knowledge through the compilation of large biometric databases in the EU. By “tattooing” borders onto immigrant bodies, disciplinary power is being superseded by the post-disciplinary power of “instant surveillance”. The article continues by analysing re-bordering practices by means of seemingly apolitical information technology, and concludes by delving into the new harms caused by re-bordering, including violations of human rights and the emergence of multi-layered criminal law.Danes, ko smo priča »multiplikaciji meja«, meje zasedajo nova področja. Članek seosredotoča na digitalne meje, ki v EU vznikajo z uporabo biometrične tehnologije, kar z oblikovanjem velikih biometričnih podatkovnih zbirk ustvarja novo vednost. Avtor v članku pokaže, kako s »tetoviranjem meja« na imigrantska telesa disciplinsko oblast nadomešča »hipna oblast«, nato pa odstre dileme, povezane s premikanjem meja, kar omogoča domnevno apolitična informacijska tehnologija. V zadnjem delu predstavi nove oblike škode, vključno s kršitvami človekovih pravic, in nastajajoče večplastno kazensko pravo, ukrojeno glede na »hierarhije državljanstva«

CAN MARKETING CAPABILITIES LEAD TO THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF THE FIRM?

The research has encompassed the analysis of sources of competitive advantage in the sample of Slovenian companies. The paper presents evidence that the development of higher levels of five vital marketing capabilities (in the areas of product differentiation, market research, new product development, generating new business ideas and firm\u27s ability to align the operations to rapid market changes) can lead to competitive advantage. Marketing capabilities like generating new business ideas and new product development can enhance the firm’s sustained competitive advantage and thus should also be confirmed in the paper. The paper closes with the implications of the findings and highlights promising future research avenues

MODEL OF MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS EFFECTIVENESS IN THE BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS MARKETS

Much of the research into marketing communications has focused on the consumer market with little regard to date for the business-to-business market. This paper focuses on a development and testing of a model of marketing communication effectiveness in the business-to-business market. Building on past research from the marketing communications and business-to-business marketing literature, the model (which incorporates facets of the marketing communication objectives, bidirectional communications, and communications channels) is tested to examine the impact of these antecedent variables on marketing communications effectiveness and organizational performance. The concept of marketing communication effectiveness assumes that there are variables that can have a positive influence on the effectiveness of marketing communications, and confirm the central concept of marketing communication effectiveness as having a positive impact on organizational performance. Managerial implications are discussed along with suggestions for further research

THE IMPORTANCE OF LOGISTICS SERVICE QUALITY IN A BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS MARKET

The conceptualization and assessment of service quality continues to play an important role in marketing. The main aim of this paper is to study the perceived quality of service offered in the particular case of a logistics service organisation. We attempted to identify the gaps in logistical service offered in the samples of Croatian, Slovenian, Bosnian and Serbian and Montenegro enterprises. A comparative analysis discovered the differences and particularities linked to the specific markets regarding the importance and perceived characteristics of logistical services. While search quality factors can be assessed even before purchase, experience quality can be assessed only after purchase. Results indicate that consumers have evaluated the logistical service of logistics provider Intereuropa Ltd. Co. in terms of three major dimensions: on-time delivery, speed of delivery and the reliability of logistical services offered. In this paper, we explored the gaps in the logistical service offered in the samples of Croatian, Slovenian, Bosnian and Serbian and Montenegro enterprises. The study’s findings suggest a framework to develop measures to empirically assess logistical service quality

The Absence of Body in Cyberspace - Criminal Justice Impact

The "computer ontology" has an impact on constructing the offenders’ andvictims’ identities and it also shapes the image of a judge. The present paper focuseson body as one of the central ideas in criminal law. In cyberspace, the body extendsoutward into data: digitized identity cards, sentencing information systems, riskassessment instruments, etc. Some authors talk about the disappearance of body-in-law (Redhead), others about the expansion of data/body (Brown). The impact of theso-called "computer ontology" can be observed in police investigation, prosecution,judging and sentencing. In criminal investigation, "evidence" is rendered into adata-human form. The nature of victimization, as seen from the victim’sperspective, is challenged: which type of victimization should be perceived as the"real" one? On the other hand, the notion of a criminal offender is conceivedthrough the optic of pre-defined "risk factors" and other pre-defined attributesrecognized by the criminal legal system. In systems with sentencing informationinstruments, a judge has to take into consideration only the factors that have beenpreviously anticipated, estimated as relevant and adequately pondered. Franko Aasbelieves that "a delinquent with a soul" has already ceased to exist and insteadsuggests denoting a subject as a "data-vidual". A subject – an offender is thus nolonger perceived as a contextualized multi-dimensional entity, but as a de-contextualized two-dimensional abstract object. From cybercrime perspective, thepaper tackles one of the central presumptions of criminal law and criminology, i.e.the presumption of a generic offender

Vrednotenje dobaviteljev logističnih storitev na slovenskem trgu

This paper focuses on logistics performance of companies in the Slovenian market. The research is analysing the point of view of managers in production, trade and services oriented companies about their logistics needs.Specifically, we examined their perception of different characteristics of a logistics provider and their evaluation in the process of outsourcing. There are few logistics functions that have been outsourced. This paper presents the outsourcing process with of outsourcing characteristics. The authors also identify elements of a successful outsourcing strategy, basing their conclusions on the research on the sample of 150 the biggest Slovenian companies. The authors will intend to answer the following question in the research: Which indicators do customers use to evaluate their suppliers? It would be expected that in purchase decision processes, customers give strong consideration to the resources and the competence of the supplier as criteria to provide higher quality and more reliable and efficient transportation of goods. One of the aims of research will be to measure the perception of respondents about the different characteristics of logistics provider. Within any organization, there will be differences of opinion about key buying factors, their importance, and how well the company performs on each factor.Prispevek se nanaša na logistične značilnosti organizacij na slovenskem trgu. Z raziskavo smo proučevali sedanja stališča managerjev v proizvodnih, trgovskih in storitvenih podjetjih organizacij glede potreb na področju logistike. Še posebej smo raziskovali zaznavanje različnih dejavnikov logistične oskrbe in njihovo vrednotenje v procesu outsourcinga.Obstaja nekaj logistič nih funkcij, ki jih lahko vključimo v outsourcing. V prispevku je predstavljen proces outsourcinga in njegove značilnosti. Na osnovi vzorca 150 največjih podjetij v Sloveniji so bili v raziskavi ugotovljeni elementi uspešne strategije outsourcinga. V raziskavi so avtorji hoteli odgovoriti na naslednja vprašanja. Katera merila kupci uporabljajo za ocenjevanje svojih dobaviteljev? Pričakovati je bilo, da bodo kupci v procesu nakupa dali večji poudarek virom in kompetencam dobavitelja pri doseganju visoke kakovosti, zanesljivosti in učinkovitemu transportu. Eden od ciljev raziskave je bil tudi merjenje zaznavanja anketirancev glede različnih karakteristik logistične oskrbe. Znotraj organizacij obstajajo različna mnenja glede ključnih dejavnikov nakupa, njihov pomen in kako dobro podjetje obvlada vsak dejavnik

Noninvasive methods for children\u27s cholesterol level determination

Today, there is a controversy about the role of cholesterol in infants and the measurement and management of blood cholesterol in children. Several scientific evidences are supporting relationship between elevated blood cholesterol in children and high cholesterol in adults and development of adult arteriosclerotic diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. Therefore controlling the level of blood cholesterol in children is very important for the health of the whole population. Non-invasive methods are much more convenient for the children because of their anxieties about blood examinations. In this paper we will present a new try to find non-invasive methods for determining the level of blood cholesterol in children with the use of intelligent system

Polymorphisms of inflammatory genes as potential predictors of diabetic nephropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes [Polimorfizam upalnih gena kao mogući predskazatelj diabetičke nefropatije u bolesnika sa šećernom bolesti tipa 2]

Objectives One of the more devastating chronic complications of diabetes mellitus (DM) is diabetic nephropathy (DN), with a chronic low-grade inflammation occurring in the background. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between chosen candidate genes with potential functional importance in inflammation and DN among Caucasians with type 2 (T2DM) as markers to identify patients who are more likely to develop DN. ----- Methods and patients Participants were divided into two groups: patients with DN (276 subjects) and without DN (375 subjects). SNP genotyping for 13 SNPs from four fields of inflammation were performed: Adhesion molecules: ICAM1 gene (rs5498, rs1799969), PECAM1 (rs668); Chemokines: CCL5 (rs2280788, rs2107538), CCR5 (rs1799987) and the CCR2 (rs1799864); Interleukins (ILs): rs3212227, rs187238, rs1800896, rs2243250 of IL12B, IL18, IL10 and IL4 genes, respectively; Nuclear receptors: PPARG (rs1801282) and PPARGC1A (rs8192678). ----- Results No associations were found between the SNPs of chosen adhesion molecules (rs5498, rs1799969, rs668) and chemokines (rs2280788, rs2107538, rs1799987, rs1799864) and DN in T2DM patients. Similarly, no associations were found for SNPs from interleukins (rs3212227, rs187238, rs1800896, and rs2243250) and nuclear receptors (rs1801282, rs8192678) even with DN. Serum levels of sICAM-1, sPECAM-1, IL-18 and IL-10 did not differ between different genotypes of corresponding selected polymorphisms. ----- Conclusions Genetic polymorphisms from our set of genes involved in the inflammatory response were not found to be associated with DN in Caucasians with T2DM and may not be considered as potential markers for DN in this population. Additionally, no differences were found in serum levels of sICAM-1, sPECAM-1, IL-18 and IL-10 according to different genotypes of corresponding genes