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In situ data are an essential need in the analyses of past and current climate change. All over the world, different data rescue activities try to extend existing time series and to retrieve data in spatial and temporal data sparse regions. Also in Europe, part of the historic data is still only available in paper archives, without any digital access to these sources. The EUMETNET Data Rescue activity was started in order to investigate the potential for additional long‐term stations, to monitor the progress of data rescue in European countries and to support participants with know‐how exchange and international connections to facilitate data exchange. The activity raised the awareness of the need for data rescue and ongoing activities. This paper will provide information on the data rescue activities of 4 EUMETNET countries focusing on different aspects and in different states of the data rescue process. While Austria, Croatia and Slovenia are connected by a partly common history which is also displayed in the history of their meteorological network, Catalonia has a different historical background. Nevertheless, the problems data rescue is confronted with are similar for all activities. Therefore, the selected countries will provide a good overview of the problems and solutions discussed during the EUMETNET meetings. This paper wants to offer insight into different strategies for data rescue as well as into ongoing activities. Moreover, the importance of cooperation in regard to data rescue is underlined and examples of possible partnerships are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an announcement by the "International Association for research in Income and Wealth" for the "Thirtieth General Conference," in Slovenia form August 24, 2008 to August 30, 2008. The article presents a call for papers to be discussed at the conventions and offers a list of topics and organizers being covered at the event to assist the authors with their writing. Topic include "Measuring and Monitoring Economic Well-Being in Times of Rapid Change," organized by Stephen P. Jenkins, "Pension Issues in Ageing Societies," organized by Asghar Zaidi and Marshall Reinsdorf, and "Economic Mobility and Vulnerability," organized by Timothy M. Smeeding and Stephan Klasen.

The political sphere is typically reserved for adults in contemporary nation‐states, leaving limited opportunities for children's participation in democratic processes. This holds even more true for unaccompanied asylum‐seeking children who are politically unrepresented and often find themselves in a precarious position due to their immigrant status. The article aims to overcome this gap by presenting their experiences of Slovenian reception and asylum procedures as a framework for child‐informed policy. The child‐centred approach as presented in this paper starts from the principles of children's rights, particularly from the right to express views (Article 12 of the CRC) and the use of children's viewpoints as a way of interpreting how reception and asylum procedures should be. In this way, the paper highlights key factors that affect unaccompanied asylum‐seeking children's well‐being and participation rights, including being able to stay with family and friends, having adequate material conditions, having good relationships with institutional staff, having access to information and legal advice, having trained interviewers, translators and decision‐makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various multivariate statistical techniques (MST) can provide valuable insights into water quality variability. Despite numerous studies in which these methods have been used, their potential has not been fully exploited. This paper presents an improved approach to better understand the hydrodynamics of karst systems. The integrated application of hierarchical cluster and principal component analysis in combination with factor analysis allowed the construction of an advanced multivariate chemograph. The analytical procedure was applied in a binary karst aquifer known for its complex hydrodynamics and mixing of water with similar hydrochemical composition. In addition, the study area provides access to an integral groundwater flow system (ponor‐cave‐spring) and offers extensive prior hydrogeological knowledge. The approach allowed reduction and discrimination of the main parameters affecting water quality characteristics. Their identification enabled recognition of three predominant recharge components: (a) stored water impact with Cl and electrical conductivity, (b) sinking stream impact with turbidity and bacteria composition and (c) karst aquifer impact with Ca/Mg ratio as principal parameters. The results supported innovative characterization of the dominant processes and isolation of temporal hydrodynamic phases of individual monitoring points within the aquifer system. On this basis, a spatio‐temporal conceptual model was developed and the hydrodynamic behavior of the main springs was revealed. The applied methodology demonstrated to be useful in ascertaining functioning of a complex karst system under flood event conditions. Plain Language Summary: Karst aquifer systems contain important water resources. The quality of karst springs can deteriorate significantly after rain events, but it is difficult to distinguish how water flows and mixes in the subsurface, especially in large and complex systems. Statistical methods are powerful tools for studying these issues, but most common approaches are inadequate in some cases to reveal the origin of the water and its fate. In this paper, we present an approach in which we combined different statistical methods to explain the dynamics of water flow based on the physicochemical and microbiological properties of water. The application of these methods led to the discrimination of parameters most useful for a reliable interpretation of statistical results, such as turbidity, bacteria, Cl, EC, and Ca/Mg, and to the construction of an advanced diagram that we called a multivariate chemograph. This diagram allowed us to see where the water was coming from at any given time to our monitoring points, which allowed us to construct a detailed explanation of water flow dynamics in space and time. Our contribution is important to better predict the fate of contaminants in karst underground and to develop an early warning system for better water supply management. Key Points: A new approach to study and explain hydrodynamics of karst aquifers was developedIt offers an innovative solution to distinguish influential monitoring parametersMultivariate chemographs allowed spatio‐temporal detection of recharge phases [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous research, although scarce, has indicated that the general public is still relatively unaware of developmental language disorder (DLD), one of the most common (neuro)developmental disorders. Raising awareness would increase timely involvement in intervention procedures. Aims: To examine public awareness of DLD in the neighbouring countries of Croatia, Italy and Slovenia, as well as to assess the influence of age, gender and education level on that awareness. Also, to investigate public knowledge about the professionals who recognize DLD and to compare the awareness of DLD with that of other (neuro)developmental disorders in childhood. Methods & Procedures: A convenience sample of adults living in the countries of the Adriatic region—Croatia (N = 92), Italy (N = 105) and Slovenia (N = 90)—were asked to fill out a paper‐and‐pencil questionnaire (public survey) developed within the Working Group 3 of the COST Action IS1406. Responses were analysed quantitatively as a function of age, gender, education level and country using the t‐test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Outcomes & Results: Public awareness of DLD is still unsatisfactory in all three countries. Around 70% of respondents reported having heard of DLD; however, only around 20% of Croatian, 40% of Italian and 5% of Slovenian respondents provided an adequate definition of DLD. Differences in research and clinical traditions may explain the observed variations amongst the three countries. Education level was the only variable that was significantly associated with an awareness of DLD in Croatia and Italy: there, more educated people showed a higher awareness and more correct knowledge, which was not found in the Slovenian sample. Respondents generally perceived speech and language pathologists (SLPs) as the professionals responsible for recognizing DLD. Finally, people possess the highest awareness of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), while the awareness of DLD and other (neuro)developmental disorders is equally low. Conclusions & Implications: Public awareness of DLD varies substantially among the three countries, but there is space for improvement in each of them. The findings of this study build on the existing data from the international group of collaborators, and argue for well‐planned, systematic awareness‐raising activities in the region. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on the subject: DLD is one of the most common (neuro)developmental disorders, yet it is not well known to the general public. This low awareness hinders timely recognition and adequate intervention, which can have negative psychosocial and emotional consequences for affected individuals. It is known that the awareness of any disorder can depend on one's demographic characteristics, but levels of awareness of DLD are still not examined in detail. What this study adds to existing knowledge: Public awareness of DLD is moderate in Croatia, Italy and Slovenia, but many individuals who report having heard of it appear to misunderstand what it actually is. Of various demographic factors tested, only education significantly influenced public awareness in Croatia and Italy, where more educated people possess greater knowledge. Moreover, respondents generally perceived SLPs as professionals responsible for recognizing DLD. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: Professionals and researchers should focus on raising DLD awareness in the general public of these three countries, and may need to target different demographic groups accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article lists a schedule of the themed sessions to be given at the International Association fro Research in Income and Wealth to be held in Slovenia on August 24-30, 2008.

This study presents a novel framework for investment prioritisation in a distribution network by performing a flexibility needs assessment with regards to power quality parameters. Power range and time instances of activation are identified with a view of maintaining normal operation. A step forward is made by incorporating the importance of the flexibility needs assessment in investment prioritisation as part of the network expansion planning. The proposed framework consists of three procedures: input data preparation, operational calculations and the post-processing of results, which are used to quantify the flexibility needs and propose an investment prioritisation list. A bus node, which forms a part of the existing distribution network in Slovenia, is used to demonstrate the general applicability of the framework. As a result, an investment prioritisation list was compiled by assessing the flexibility needs. The secure power supply buffer of the node is determined, while the quantification of the flexibility power range and time instances of activation are also provided in order to further mitigate network constraints. Apart from providing valuable information to network operators, the newly proposed framework lays the foundation for aggregators and market players to plan and self-balance their portfolio and position when providing flexibility market services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to estimate the asymmetry of exchange rate pass‐through into aggregate and disaggregate import prices and the composition of imports of Slovenia's manufacturing sectors. We used the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag model and the monthly data from 2007:M1 to 2017:M12. We found that, in the long run, there was an asymmetry in the complete pass‐through into aggregate import prices due to currency appreciation. Moreover, we found that for 6 out of 14 manufacturing sectors, there was a long‐run asymmetry complete and partial pass‐through due to the appreciation of the nominal effective exchange rate. Compared with depreciation, long‐run appreciation has a stronger impact on aggregate and disaggregate import prices of the manufacturing sectors. On the other hand, we found that there was a short‐run asymmetry due to depreciation in the complete and partial pass‐through for the majority of manufacturing sectors. Compared with appreciation, short‐run depreciation has a stronger impact on aggregate and disaggregate import prices of the manufacturing sectors. The degree of asymmetric pass‐through is higher for aggregate and disaggregate import prices of the manufacturing sectors compared to the degree of symmetric pass‐through. Finally, we confirmed that the degree of pass‐through is higher for homogenous products than for heterogeneous products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper starts by focusing on the problem of students' transition to working life in the domain of teacher education. Second, it problematises the teacher educator concept. Particular attention is paid to the question of which professionals regard themselves as teacher educators, and why. Third, it presents young teachers' acquisition of working experience and their transition from education to work in Slovenia as linked to three processes: practical and developmental work in schools during studies, traineeship period, and continuous professional learning. The general findings indicate that teacher education, training and professional development are all characterised by a sharp division between the role of academics (transmitters of theory), and senior teachers (facilitators of teachers' practical experiences). In our findings we demonstrate that young graduates lack a well-considered and integrated acquisition of practical experience as they move from education to the labour market. The paper is concluded with a call for better understanding the role of academics in preparing graduates for the world of work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of a firm's market‐specific ownership linkages and trade complementarities on different dimensions of its exporting longevity. Unlike previous studies that were mostly based on country‐product‐level data, this paper uses transaction‐level trade data on the population of firms in Slovenia in the 2002–11 period, matched with detailed origin/direction of inward/outward FDI information to determine a firm's integration in international production networks. Our results indicate that firm's bilateral inward and outward FDI flows with an export‐destination country have a strong positive effect on a firm's export survival in that market. Importance of market‐specific ownership linkages for export duration is exclusively driven by intermediate goods which suggests prolonged export duration through production network involvement. However, the perseverance effect of bilateral FDI ties on export spells has been weakened during the crisis period. We find pronounced market‐ and product‐related trade complementarities as either exporting or importing experience with the relevant market/product substantially improves the chances of a product–market export spell continuing. Finally, the risk of exports termination is lower for a firm's core export products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper increases understanding of the concept of smart factories system and its implementation in the automotive industry in terms of addressing necessary changes in human aspect of system, namely, employees' competencies, as well as to new job profiles. A qualitative research approach was used by utilizing a case study of the automotive industry in Slovenia. For the purpose of data collection, we used a semistructured interview on a sample of experts from governmental, educational, and private automotive sectors. In order to analyse gathered data, we used the method of content analysis. Research results indicate that significant changes are essential in the transformation from traditional to a smart factory system, especially regarding organizational mindset, the architecture of system and its processes, and the inclusion of Industry 4.0 technologies at all levels. Also, results indicate changes are essential regarding future job profiles and competencies. Although there are different perceptions about future jobs and competencies needed for Industry 4.0‐induced changes, depending on the sector in which the expert is employed, there is an overall agreement that job profiles related to programming, mechatronics, robotics, data analysis, Internet of Things, design, and maintenance of smart systems, process analysis, and bionics are the new job profiles needed in smart factory systems. In addition to the high emphasis on technical skill and knowledge, soft competencies are considered important, as well as competencies of continues learning, flexibility, creativity, problem solving, critical, and analytical thinking. Our findings possess important implications for conceptualizing job profiles and competencies in smart factories systems and practical implications for managers concerned with human resource management activities. We provide an outlook to the future job profiles that are underresearched, especially in the field of smart manufacturing. As well, our paper provides insight into the importance of different competencies recognized as crucial for complete functioning and optimal performance of smart factories system. This study provides a starting point for further research regarding human resource management issues in smart factories in the automotive sector, especially related to future job profiles and employee competencies, and their role in system performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior studies revealed that government is key factor influencing firms' decisions about the implementation of environmental innovations and pursuit of sustainable development as well as shaping their environmental orientation. However, the role of firms' R&D within these processes remains unclear. This paper explores the relationship between firms' environmental regulation, R&D, environmental orientation, and environmental outputs to better understand the relationships and dynamics among them. We used the World Bank Enterprise Survey 2019 data on 737 firms from the Czech Republic and Slovenia and employed structural equation modeling. The results indicate that environmental orientation positively influences R&D and environmental outputs. Moreover, environmental regulations spur firms' environmental orientation as well as environmental outputs. On the other hand, the findings reveal that R&D is neither a key factor nor plays a key role as a mediator of environmental regulations and environmental orientation affecting environmental outputs based on the sample of selected countries pertaining to Central and Eastern Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article cites key findings from various research papers presented during the international "Mechanisms of Exocytosis 2008" meeting at the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Ljubljana, Slovenia from May 22 to 25, 2008. It includes an in-depth analysis of various issues relevant to the physiological process of exocytosis that are discussed by the research papers including intracellular messengers and exocytosis, molecular mechanisms of exocytosis and vesicle dynamics and cell types. Also cited are various leading scientists in the field who presented their research studies during the event.

Projects Construction for the second tube of the Gotthard Road Tunnel officially starts / Offizieller Baustart der zweiten Röhre des Gotthard‐Straßentunnels Ligerz Tunnel gets underway / Start für den Ligerztunnel New Karawanks Tunnel reaches border with Slovenia / Neuer Karawankentunnel hat die Staatsgrenze zu Slowenien erreicht Construction of Limberg 3 pumped storage power station gets underway / Baustart für das Pumpspeicherkraftwerk Limberg 3 Wayss & Freytag Ingenieurbau and Züblin construct mine water drainage gallery in Ibbenbüren / Wayss & Freytag Ingenieurbau und Züblin bauen Grubenwasserkanals in Ibbenbüren ZaB – Zentrum am Berg official opens / Eröffnung des ZaB – Zentrum am Berg Strabag commissioned to manufacture concrete segments for HS2 Tunnel in London / Strabag mit Tübbingproduktion für HS2‐Tunnel in London beauftragt Call for papers – Themes for the next issues of Geomechanics and Tunnelling / Themen für die nächsten Ausgaben der „Geomechanics and Tunnelling" Conference Report 12th Austrian Tunnel Day – A change of generation / 12. Österreichischer Tunneltag – Generationenwechsel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the main results of the development project "Digitalization of monitoring the condition of bridge structures on highways and expressways in the Republic of Slovenia". Within the project, test cases of the digitalized inspection method were carried out on three different concrete bridges. To enable validation of digitalization, a traditional and digital inspections for all three bridges have been conducted, focusing on the three important types of reinforced concrete bridges damages: delamination, cracks and reinforcement corrosion. The comparison of the results has shown that digital inspection can already strongly support bridge inspections, especially during detailed inspections, as it can, to some extent, completely replace the time‐consuming damage mapping. In addition, the analyses show that, already today, digital inspection is often economically justifiable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the is presented in which the editor discuses the letter that comments on the paper published in the 02 issue and the controversial paper on the merits of transplants.

Abstract: This paper explores practical and ethical dilemmas for professionals when securing the protection of children in the complex non‐clinical setting of individual families. It is based on a cross‐country study on cultural encounters in interventions against child physical abuse and neglect in four countries (England/Wales, Germany, Portugal, and Slovenia). Drawing on national reports of legal‐organizational frameworks and socio‐cultural backgrounds of European child protection systems, it also presents the results of a series of focus groups with professionals. Data were analysed to identify implicit and explicit discursive constructions as well as normative representations and from this deriving the key ethical issues and dilemmas. Despite a shared normative framework across Europe, intervention cultures vary across the four countries and between the different stakeholder groups. Although each child protection system faced widespread mistrust, policy approaches differ, some relying on strong and detailed guidance whereas others stress professional skill and judgement. We conclude that despite a shared commitment to the protection of children, deliberations and perceived ethical dilemmas suggest interdependency between differences in system cultures and policy approaches that inform the character of professional interventions in the four countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This paper aims to report and discuss the organization and statistics of dental care during the COVID‐19 epidemics on the national level in Slovenia, providing helpful information to health policy planners worldwide. Material and methods: During an eight‐week lockdown, Emergency Dental Centers (EDCs) were established and coordinated on the national level to treat patients' urgent dental conditions. Telemedicine was used on the first level of triage to reduce contacts between healthcare workers and patients. Weekly coordination between EDCs was supported by real‐time data acquisition on the number of patient visits, prescribed medicine, the number and type of dental procedures, and the usage of personal protective equipment (PPE). Results: In EDCs, 27,468 patients were serviced, on average 235 patients per day/million people. The care was provided by 4798 man days of dental health care workers. Except for the first week, treatment and triage visits showed a slight increase. The number of incisions was nearly constant, while the number of extractions increased. A nearly threefold increase was found for emergency endodontic treatments (EET). The number of antibiotic prescriptions demonstrated an increasing trend. Analgesic prescriptions showed a decreasing trend from the beginning of lockdown. Conclusions: The reorganization and centralization of dental care proved to be an efficient model in Slovenia for the provision of urgent dental care, and the management of the healthcare workforce and PPE. Data from this study may provide helpful information for planning the needs and corresponding resources for the next waves of epidemics of COVID‐19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since their beginnings, bibliographic information systems have been displaying results in the form of long, textual lists. With the development of new data models and computer technologies, the need for new approaches to present and interact with bibliographic data has slowly been maturing. To investigate how this could be accomplished, a prototype system, FrbrVis1, was designed to present work families within a bibliographic information system using information visualization. This paper reports on two user studies, a controlled and an observational experiment, that have been carried out to assess the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR)-based against an existing system as well as to test four different hierarchical visual layouts. The results clearly show that FrbrVis offers better performance and user experience compared to the baseline system. The differences between the four hierarchical visualizations (Indented tree, Radial tree, Circlepack, and Sunburst) were, on the other hand, not as pronounced, but the Indented tree and Sunburst design proved to be the most successful, both in performance as well as user perception. The paper therefore not only evaluates the application of a visual presentation of bibliographic work families, but also provides valuable results regarding the performance and user acceptance of individual hierarchical visualization techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper documents the evolution of markups in a small open economy, Slovenia, using a comprehensive data set covering the full population of firms. It makes three novel contributions to the literature. First, in contrast to other work for Europe, we find that markups have increased from 1.05 to 1.19 between 1994 and 2015. Second, while other research so far found exporters typically to have higher markups, we find the opposite in Slovenia. Though the rise in markups occurs both with exporters and non‐exporters, there is a consistent diverging trend in markups in favour of non‐exporters since 1999. This can be attributed to increased competitive pressure faced by exporters following the comprehensive trade liberalisation after 1999 and their increased participation in global value chains. Third, we decompose aggregate markups and show that the increase in markups, for both exporters and non‐exporters, is mainly driven by the within component rather than the reallocation effect. This suggests that all firms were increasing their markups, rather than high‐markup firms increasing their market share over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview of the physical and chemical landscape changes that have occurred at four reference sites due to historical mining and smelting activities within Slovenia, and their comparison with similar sites around the World. Literature review has been made with the intention to identify major pollutant sources, its dispersion control factors, and effects. The four reference sites are Idrija, with more than 500‐year Hg mining and ore smelting history, the Meža Valley, also with a 500‐year PbZn mining and smelting history, the Celje area where Zn was smelted for 100 years and the Drava River alluvial plain, which is contaminated because of historical PbZn mining upstream. Based on the comparison between the four abovementioned reference sites and similar sites around the world that are situated in different landscapes and climates, we identified major sources of contamination, which are the erosion of mine and ore processing wastes, and atmospheric emissions of metal‐containing particles from smelters. In the first case, major control factors are rainfall pattern and river gradient, controlling erosion and sediment deposition patterns. In the second case, the prevailing control factors are topography and the dominant wind directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Strategic flexibility provides an approach for tourism destinations to respond more readily to turbulent environments. It is a management method that can assist tourism suppliers to meet the challenges of achieving competitive advantage. The paper also explores the importance that is accorded to the facilitators or drivers of strategic flexibility by Slovenian tourism industry stakeholders along with their performance in actioning these drivers. Importance performance analysis suggests the priority strategic actions to reduce the risk of strategic drift. The paper concludes with an assessment of the implications of these findings for emerging destinations generally. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the Slovene experience of privatisation, which is marked by two defects: privatisation failure and failure to privatise. Definitions of privatisation failure fall into four main categories: failure in outcomes, failure in method, failure in regulation, and failure in process. The paper suggests that privatisation failure and failure to privatise are interrelated and proposes a new metric for both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reflects on the papers that are published in this journal which are related to information systems (IS) research. It elaborates that a longitudinal study of the Slovenian company Sava suggests that information technology (IT)-supported organizational learning played a pivotal role in bringing about radical change and successful transition. It also argues that inadequate requirements elicitation is accepted as the key reason why IS development continues to fail on a frequent basis.

Scientists from smaller countries have problems gaining visibility for their research. Does open access publishing provide a solution? Slovenia is a small country with around 5000 medical doctors, 1300 dentists and 1000 pharmacists. A search of Slovenia's Bibliographic database was carried out to identity all biomedical journals and those which are open access. Slovenia has 18 medical open access journals, but none has an impact factor and only 10 are indexed by Slovenian and international bibliographic databases. The visibility and quality of medical papers is poor. The solution might be to reduce the number of journals and encourage Slovenian scientists to publish their best articles in them. JM [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observations were made on a small flock of 50 sheep of the native Slovenian Jezersko- Solcava breed by investigators with dental training. The aim was to determine the range of naturally occurring dental diseases, so postmortem examinations were performed on animals slaughtered for meat or culled due to disease. Additional data were obtained by examination of 25 specimens submitted for investigation of unexplained death at a pathology centre. Seventeen (34 per cent) of the flock had incisor disease but only five became clinically ill; all these five had advanced cheek tooth disease (gingival recession, periodontal pocketing, diastemata, missing teeth, occlusal wear abnormalities, food impaction, tooth mobility, tooth fracture, tooth loss and/or jaw abscessation). Advanced cheek tooth disease was found in 21 (84 per cent) of the sheep submitted to the pathology laboratory, while only seven (28 per cent) had advanced incisor disease. The results show that, as in other countries, dental disease is a serious problem for sheep in Slovenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we try to explain why the economic and political transition in Germany after World War II was successful, and why the transition in post-communist Slovenia was not. We analyse interactions between political markets and economies in both countries. The differences between the two transitions can be explained by different institutional transformations and different roles of interest groups. In Slovenia, the slow pace of political reform inhibited economic liberalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper explores how the grand strategies of a Slovenian firm, LEK, evolved during the period 1992-2002. Using a unique methodological framework, data was collected qualitatively from published sources in order to identify and explore the strategic actions that LEK realized. The findings showed that LEK realized organic growth and external finance-raising strategies together with a number of incremental strategic actions such as those relating to mergers and acquisitions and organic concentric diversification. • By focusing upon how the strategies and strategic actions realized by LEK evolved over an 11-year period, this paper has contributed to a gap in the existing literature about strategy development by pharmaceutical firms based in transitional economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings of a longitudinal study of the Slovenian company Sava during its 1995–2004 transition period when it adapted to and prospered in a free market economy. The company is particularly interesting because of its successful transition from a socialist company operating in a protected market to a privatized company operating in a capitalist global market, as well as the pivotal role of information technology (IT)-supported organizational learning that brought about radical change and successful transition. Our investigation of Sava’s experiences demonstrates how the company’s increasing attention to organizational learning, integration of working and learning, and its constant innovation of products and processes created new needs for IT support that motivated the adoption of new IT systems (such as Lotus Notes, document management systems, SAP), which in turn increased Sava’s capacity to learn. Furthermore, our study reveals how the role of IT systems in organizational learning depends on the nature of learning (single-loop, double-loop or triple-loop learning) and the organizational level at which learning takes place (individual, group/department or organization). By providing insight into the emergence of distinct types of IT-supported learning and their vital role in Sava’s successful transition, the paper contributes to a deeper understanding of the relationship between IT and organizational learning that is relevant and inspiring to other companies, especially those operating in transition economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern democracies, civil servants have outgrown their classic role as implementors of the orders given by politicians as their masters. They now play an increasingly important role in the exercising of authority – a role which depends to a great degree on politicians themselves. Based on classical politico-administrative divisions, the main hypothesis of this paper is to claim that, in the case of the post-communist country of Slovenia, politicians are in charge of policy-making and possess a dominant role over high-ranking civil servants, who are mere implementors of policy. To verify this hypothesis, we use several mutually complementary methods and techniques, among them detailed empirical research. We find that the relationship between members of Slovenia's administrative and political elite does show competitive traits, but the conflict between the two groups is not such that would lead to a win-lose situation. Both high-ranking civil servants and politicians do in fact have a role as important and irreplaceable actors in the policy-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses labour adjustment in and out of agriculture during transition to a market economy. A multinomial logit model is used to determine the factors that affect these processes. The results show that elderly, less educated and full-time employees on a farm are more likely to continue with farming. Inflow of labour into agriculture is largely associated with the unemployment and retirement of farm household members. Age, education and investment in human capital are the key factors that improve the quality, mobility and flexibility of labour, which is crucial for efficient labour adjustment at the micro-level and sec- tor level. Better-educated individuals are more likely to enter into employment in non-agricultural, particularly service, activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Painted beehive panels are representative examples of folk art specific and unique to Slovenia. Although without precedence in European ethnographic art, not much attention has been given in the past to the artists' materials involved in the creation of these paintings. This study, which included three different panels (dating from the beginning of the 19th to the second half of the 20th centuries), was focused on material characterization using Raman and Fourier‐transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) spectroscopy (non‐, minimally invasive and invasive). The analyses showed that many of the examined paint layers were composed of historically commonly available colouring agents, although less traditional ones were also detected on individual panels. Additionally, the research suggests that lipids are the main or even the sole component of the paints' binder. This evidence corresponds fairly well with written texts of the 20th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is a commentary to the first Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Slovenia and to shed more light on the background of the whole process of trade liberalisation and transition in Slovenia during the 1990s. The TPR praises Slovenia for its sound trade regime, which is in conformity to Slovenia's commitments to the multilateral trading system and detects only a few open issues. The paper puts these issues in a broader context of Slovenia's trade liberalisation after independence in 1991 and recent harmonisation with the EU in the pre-accession negotiation process. Although there is much scope for improvements in Slovenia's trade policies and practices, one should note that most of the open issues raised would disappear anyway upon Slovenia's accession to the EU by 1 May, 2004, and by subsequent adoption of the CET and full implementation of the acquis communautaire. Some of the problems, such as strong government support to agriculture implemented by Slovenia due to harmonisation with the EU's CAP should, however, be challenged at the broader multilateral level in the framework of the Doha Development Agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent work indicates that temporarily splitting larger populations into smaller groups can efficiently mitigate the spread of SARS‐CoV‐2 virus. The fact that, soon afterward, the two million people Slovenia was the first European country proclaiming the end of COVID‐19 epidemic within national borders may be relevant from this perspective. Motivated by this evolution, in this paper the time dynamics of coronavirus cases in Slovenia is investigated with emphasis on how efficient various containment measures act to diminish the number of COVID‐19 infections. Noteworthily, the present analysis does not rely on any speculative theoretical assumption; it is solely based on raw epidemiological data. Out of the results presented here, the most important one is perhaps the finding that, while imposing drastic curfews and travel restrictions reduce the infection rate κ by a factor of four with respect to the unrestricted state, they only improve the κ‐value by ≈15% as compared to the much bearable state of social and economic life wherein wearing face masks and social distancing rules are enforced/followed. Significantly for behavioral and social science, our analysis may reveal an interesting self‐protection instinct of the population, which became manifest even before the official lockdown enforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A modified nine-quadrant importance-performance analysis is employed to assess the importance which Slovenian and Serbian tourism industry stakeholders attach to 48 nominated strategic activities to promote business and destination competitiveness. An important finding is that respondents in each country allocated the bulk of activities to the 'keep up the good work' strategy. In both destinations, this strategy was dominated by activities related to product development and innovation. The paper concludes with a discussion of how the identified priority activities require close examination to determine their 'enabling conditions' and the implications of an action based on them. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In this paper we report on the results of five experiments documenting the existence of three distinct grammars of conjunct agreement in Slovenian, found both within and across individuals: agreement with the highest conjunct, agreement with the closest conjunct, or agreement with the Boolean Phrase itself. We show that this variation is constrained and that some of these mechanisms can be blocked and/or forced depending on the properties of the conjuncts. Finally, we offer the suggestion that the presence of intraindividual variation arises because of ambiguous properties of the primary linguistic data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whereas current policies on migration and integration are beginning to recognise family reunion as one of the most legitimate reasons for acceptance by a host society, they in most cases still do not account for the growing trend of feminisation of migration, and even rarely do they address specific migrants' needs. As currently constituted, the integration bills envision a one-way process that places migrants into a position where they cannot question, but only accept and fulfil the predetermined requirements of integration plans. But who are the women that migrate, what influence do their transnational experiences have on their families, and how do migration policies envision the reality of increasing transnationalism? This paper focuses on biographical interviews with migrant women in Slovenia as a valuable method to question current integration measurements, applied here to explore female migrants' experiences in transnational family life and social networks. A gender sensitive approach is applied that critically evaluates the specificities of family reunification policies, which define women migrants as dependent family members. We discuss life trajectories of women migrants, focusing the debate on their own experiences in and with family life. This new empirical material is used to theorise gaps in contemporary migration research. Women migrants' own reflections of transnational family ties show a great variety of experiences and their narratives are a unique window into motivational, political, as well as legal dimensions of migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the distributional welfare impact of trade liberalization reforms on heterogeneous households. We develop a static applied general equilibrium model, and using a Social Accounting Matrix and Household Expenditure Survey, we calibrate it to match Slovenian data. We simulate the case of Slovenia joining the EU and quantify its welfare impact on households that differ in terms of age, income, and education. Additionally, we compare this benchmark case with two alternative scenarios: (1) a free trade agreement between Slovenia and the EU and (2) a custom union arrangement where tariff revenues are rebated proportionally to the households. We find that while trade liberalization leads to falling consumer prices, increased production in the export sectors, and aggregate welfare gains, the differentiated welfare impacts across heterogeneous households vary in their degrees. ( JEL D58, F14, F15) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Psychology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents the results of the archaeometric study of 30 grinding tools found in the Karst plateau (an area that spreads from the northeastern border of Italy to Slovenia) and in the Istria peninsula (Croatia). The petrographic and geochemical characteristics of the artefacts indicate that most of them would be made of trachytic volcanites extracted from the Euganean Hills, near Padua (Veneto). It is known that trachytic rocks from this area had been widely exploited in northern Italy during protohistoric times, but these data considerably enlarge the area of diffusion of saddle-querns made of these rocks, extending it to Istria. Additionally, the likely provenance from Mount Etna of few other pieces of mugearites and hawaiites represents a new element, to be fully evaluated in the context of trans-Adriatic exchange/trade connections. Analytical data and possible archaeological inferences are presented in detail in the text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental considerations have been a part of the decision-making system in Slovenia for more than 30 years. Throughout this time, assessments of environmental aspects of plans and programmes have been produced in various forms. In the period of the ‘integrated approach’ (pre-1990), environmental protection was an equal part of the social planning system. In the transitional period (1990–1997), the manner and scope of including strategic environmental assessments were strongly marked by the Spatial Planning Act, the Environmental Protection Act and the National Programme for Motorway Construction. During the preparation period for EU membership, Slovenia undertook to transpose Directive 2001/42/EC into its legal system, by means of the new Environmental Protection Act and implementing regulations. The paper discusses past experiences with the different environmental assessment approaches and recent activities for the implementation of Directive 2001/42/EC in Slovenia. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of our paper is to discuss the influence of the different forms of the workers 'participation on the power of management and experts in carrying out the restructuring of the Slovenian firms. The firms with the strongest influence of the management and the experts resulted to be more successful in developing the strategic way of thinking, to have clearer and more defined strategies and goals and to adapt better to the international competition. Our empirical analysis further confirms the hypothesis that the management and experts have a stronger influence in the firms with higher internal ownership, younger management and in those that have successfully implemented the intra-firm bargaining. On the other hand, the management and experts 'power is negatively correlated with the percentage of the workers' representatives on the Supervisory Board. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

10th Mediterranean Ethnological Summer Symposium (MESS), Piran, 15-20 September 2003 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To describe healthcare professionals' experiences of adverse event reporting in relation to the fundamental tasks of managers. Design: Qualitative interview study. Method: Twenty‐four semi‐structured interviews including six managers, six medical doctors, six Registered Nurses and six Enrolled Nurses were carried out in Slovenia from January to May 2019. The data were analysed using a multi‐stage qualitative content analysis procedure. The COREQ checklist guided the reporting in this study. Results: The researchers found that all four fundamental tasks of managers, namely planning, organising, leading and controlling, influence the safety culture and thus adverse events reporting by employees. For each function, the researchers have identified the key factors that either promote or inhibit adverse events reporting in a healthcare institution. The results have implications for all those involved in adverse event reporting from the perspective of the fundamental tasks of managers and can contribute to the improvement of the reporting system and subsequently safer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the reform of vocational education and training (VET) system in Slovenia. Educational challenges in the process of transforming education and social systems; General objectives of the reform; Development of key qualifications as a basis for transforming VET; Description of the country's educational system.

A group of Euganean trachytic grinding stones from Slovenia and the available data about the same type of artefacts in the whole Caput Adriae are presented. The occurrence of Iron Age saddle querns in Karst and Istria is confirmed, but our study suggests a likely provenance from Mts Cero/Murale instead of Mts Altore/Rocca Pendice, as previously suggested. Este, an important Venetic centre, is just south of Mts Cero/Murale, suggesting its central role in the production and distribution of saddle querns. During the Roman period Euganean trachytes are still used for rotary millstones, but new quarries (Mt Rosso), relatively close to ancient Padua, are exploited. Such shift in the position of millstone quarries most probably reflects the changed geopolitical framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic caused much disruption in many global sectors, including education where schools were closed in most countries and children had to learn remotely from home. This was particularly challenging for children with special learning needs and disabilities, often already somewhat marginalized, as they were more likely to be left behind and less able to adapt easily to remote online learning. This study inquired into the experiences of 67 parents from Slovenia and 15 parents from Canada who helped their children with special learning needs or disabilities learn remotely. Parents in both countries identified several specific advantages and disadvantages to learning remotely from home. The Slovenian children spent more hours per day at their lessons and attended more lessons than the Canadian children. Both samples of parents received some support from their schools, although the Slovenia parents perceived these as more satisfactory. This study provides a unique opportunity to study the effects of remote learning during a prolonged crisis situation, and it provides valuable lessons for how both families and school personnel can work to improve the potential educational experiences of students who are required to learn remotely. A 12‐point framework for planning for future emergencies is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel phenotypes can come about through a variety of mechanisms including standing genetic variation from a founding population. Cave animals are an excellent system in which to study the evolution of novel phenotypes such as loss of pigmentation and eyes. Asellus aquaticus is a freshwater isopod crustacean found in Europe and has both a surface and a cave ecomorph which vary in multiple phenotypic traits. An orange eye phenotype was previously revealed by F2 crosses and backcrosses to the cave parent within two examined Slovenian cave populations. Complete loss of pigmentation, both in eye and body, is epistatic to the orange eye phenotype and therefore the orange eye phenotype is hidden within the cave populations. Our goal was to investigate the origin of the orange eye alleles within the Slovenian cave populations by examining A. aquaticus individuals from Slovenian and Romanian surface populations and Asellus aquaticus infernus individuals from a Romanian cave population. We found orange eye individuals present in lab raised surface populations of A. aquaticus from both Slovenia and Romania. Using a mapping approach with crosses between individuals of two surface populations, we found that the region known to be responsible for the orange eye phenotype within the two previously examined Slovenian cave populations was also responsible within both the Slovenian and the Romanian surface populations. Complementation crosses between orange eye Slovenian and orange eye Romanian surface individuals suggest that the same gene is responsible for the orange eye phenotype in both surface populations. Additionally, we observed a low frequency phenotype of eye loss in crosses generated between the two surface populations and also in the Romanian surface population. Finally, in a cave population from Romania, A. aquaticus infernus, we found that the same region is also responsible for the orange eye phenotype as the Slovenian cave populations and the Slovenian and Romanian surface populations. Therefore, we present evidence that variation present in the cave populations could originate from standing variation present in the surface populations and/or transgressive hybridization of different surface phylogenetic lineages rather than de novo mutations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sieve lobes typically appear in gravel‐rich and matrix‐poor alluvial fans. Despite being extensively studied, the sieve‐lobe facies has been defined largely based on qualitative field observations without quantitative sedimentological analyses. Additionally, depositional activity of sieve lobes has not been monitored over extended periods (monthly to annually) and not directly associated with specific precipitation triggers. Furthermore, the internal geometry of sieve‐lobe built alluvial fans has not yet been imaged by subsurface methods. We performed a multi‐method analysis of sieve lobes in the Julian Alps (NW Slovenia) on an alpine alluvial fan composed of carbonate gravels. We performed a detailed textural and structural sedimentological analysis of 11 recent sieve lobes differing in size and age. A three‐year aerial survey of the alluvial fan surface with a small unmanned aircraft and photogrammetric modelling was used to detect active sieve‐lobe evolution. Detected sieve‐lobe formation events and volumetric surface changes were paired with triggering precipitation events. Ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) profiling depicted the geometry of the sieve‐lobe built alluvial fan. The sieve‐lobe facies consists of over 80% poorly sorted, open‐framework gravels and less than 2% mud. Lobes exhibit downward coarsening and increase in clast mean size. These textural and structural characteristics are present in all sieve lobes regardless of their age and size. Sieve lobes form with a sub‐annual frequency, usually following 24 h rainfall events exceeding 50 mm. Over 1000 m3 of sediment was deposited during these events. The GPR profiles confirm that the studied alluvial fan is formed predominantly by stacked sieve lobes. Quantitative sedimentary analysis of sieve lobes, monitoring of their recent evolution, and depiction of their subsurface geometry—demonstrated in this study—reinforce the challenged concept that sieve lobes are one of the main building blocks of alluvial fans. This work also demonstrates that, under specific conditions, sieving may become the dominant alluvial fan‐forming process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]