Search

Scientific productivity makes for an important indicator to all scientific institutions and professionally recognized scientists. Scientific activity is of particular interest to Republic of Croatia, as it holds a special place in the international (and particularly European) scientific domain. Scientists are known for their reputation, i.e., their productivity is often recognized in magazines that publish their research papers. University North has recently established a special reward system for scientist, in order to ensure proper rewards for scientific accomplishments, i.e., for published research papers, citations of said papers, and an overall improved recognition of the institution that employs them. This system has certain rules and criteria for rewarding scientists. The rewards in and of themselves are contributing to popularization of science at the institution in question; furthermore, rewarding provides for a very good incentive for publishing many research papers with excellent indexing. Publishing research papers is also important to the institution the paper is referencing, as it adds to said institution’s visibility and recognition in the European and international domain of research and science.

The fact is that the energy of each tone of colors has emotional and psychological features, which is used as a tool in informal communication with the aim of long-term memory. Despite the importance of color experience in spaces, only a few studies were conducted on the topic. The aim of this paper was to explore the influence of color experience on the premises of the University North, University Center Varaždin. This paper explores and analyzes experience and satisfaction with warm and cold colors, measures the students’ degree of noticing certain colors in space, i.e. associating certain colors on the University’s ground floor or the first floor to a product or company. Furthermore, this paper examines the evironmental color impact of lecture halls that are painted white, blue, brown or a reddish color. In the design of the University North premises, the emphasis was put on the act of entering into main lecture halls, where wall colors had to match the colors of the University logo. Since the University logo has only two color tones; it is predominantly red, and therefore, when painting the entrance spaces, the emphasis was put on the color white, which, psychologically, makes a space seem bigger and brighter. The last question in the questionnaire was on the color that remained in the long-term memory, and the largest number of respondents opted for the color red. The survey was conducted on 315 students from the University North. Statistical data processing was performed using descriptive statistics. The study has proved that the red tone, although present in a small amount, confirms an affiliation to the University when it comes to informal communication.

In this paper we describe research in the ways in which consumers reach the information on television programme schedule and what motivates them to use the electronic programme guide service. The research was carried out using the Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology 2 (UTAUT2) model on a sample of N=234 respondents in the Republic of Croatia. The survey found that, when consumers want to get information about programme scheduling or event information, 55.5% of them first choose to use the electronic programme guide (EPG), and that the rest of them rather use teletext, Internet portals and smartphone applications or printed programme guides as a first choice. The research model based on UTAUT2 explained almost 90% of the variance in behavioural intention to use the electronic programme guide and 78% of the variance in use of the EPG. The intention to use the EPG is driven mainly by the user’s habit with more than 50% of influence on the behavioural intention, followed by the users’ perception that the EPG as a solution gives them high quality information which they can retrieve quickly, as well as ease of use of the EPG application and the fact that it is free to use. The actual use of the EPG is influenced by the facilitating conditions which include availability of an electronic programme guide on every television set or digital receiver and users’ perception that they know how to use the application, habit and intention to use. Indirectly, through the intention to use, the fact that the electronic programme guide is quick and reliable, easy to use and free also plays a major role in use behaviour.

In this article we define a new technology acceptance research model which considers the comparison of two technology solutions that an individual can use. The model estimates the usage of the observed solution based on the cost of switching from the reference solution (typically a standard or older solution) to the observed solution, considering the fact that the cost of switching is caused by a difference of facilitating conditions, habit and the intention to use between the reference and observed solutions. For evaluation purposes, we observed the costs of switching from teletext use to the use of the electronic programme guide (EPG on the subset of n = 82 respondents and interpreted 77.2% of the variance, which demonstrates the high quality of the model. Evaluation results indicate that the primary obstacle to switching from teletext to EPG usage arises from the individuals’ perception whether they have more or less of the necessary resources to use the EPG in comparison to the resources they have at their disposition in case of teletext use, and the second ranked switching cost is caused by a difference in habit.

The problem of road route evaluation in the process of planning and designing is reduced to making a decision regarding route selection which is preceded by a detailed analysis of each potential alternative assessed by experts. The aim of this paper is to show that conclusions regarding the evaluation and selection of the adequate road transport route can be obtained by the application of the multi-criteria analysis. In order to fulfill our research aim, a model which includes criteria and sub-criteria for road route selection is set. The defined model can be applied in the decision-making process related to the road route evaluation and selection. Its value lies in the elaborated methodology of the multi-criteria optimization applied in the transport planning and designing. The defined model was applied in the evaluation and selection of the Jelšane – Postojna highway route by using the PROMETHEE II method for the multi-criteria ranking of alternatives.

The issue of the optimal management of the traffic flow and the ensuring of an adequate number of parking spaces is present in the majority of highly developed urban areas of the European Union, including the Republic of Croatia. The formation of an adequate raster of the transport network, conditioned by the historical and existing buildings and areas is an extremely challenging task. Similarly, ensuring an adequate availability of free parking capacities in times of rush hours in the very centres of urban areas is also very demanding. However, what often occurs, even when adequate parking capacities are ensured, is a halt on the input and output terminals of parking lots and garage facilities that are derived by a disproportion of their capacities and traffic needs at a specific time. Precisely for that reason, this paper presents a potential model for determining of an optimal number of input service places (terminals) by using the queuing theory.

Various studies performed so far have not provided unique answers to the acoustic quality evaluation of the sound control rooms, as no influence of specific features of the respective sound control room have been taken into account. In a process described in this paper, all the specific features that these rooms have are taken into consideration and sound is evaluated by means of reproduction through high quality professional equipment. Also, a listening area is a small, exactly given place for optimal listening for sound control engineer.The optimal sound control room must provide a complete and clear perception of reproduced sound with all specific features, and the room's spatial characteristics may not influence nor change the characteristics of the reproduced sound. Conjoint Analisys method is used to obtain estimation of the impact of the room objective acoustic quality parameters on the subjective assessment of the professional sound control room. Thereby, the use of modern statistical method (Conjoint Analysis - CA) shows dependence of one subjective parameter on more than one objective parameter. This principle determines more accurately real-life conditions, where all ratings are subject to complex dependence on more objective parameters.

The problems of choosing an optimal solution for the position of the route of infrastructural facilities is present in most developed countries. The primary problem is the identification and objective consideration of all influencing factors. The aim of this paper is to show that with the application of multiple-criteria analysis, conclusions related to the evaluation and selection of the appropriate railroad route can be reached in the process of planning and design. This paper provides an overview of the possible consideration and evaluation of alternative railroad route solutions. To achieve the goal of research, a model of the selection of an optimal railroad route by using the multiple-criteria analysis has been set. The proposed theoretical model was applied for the selection of the railroad route that connects Rijeka, Koper, and Trieste.

The paper presents research degree students' knowledge about the Environmental Informatics. The research covered a sample of 31 students who anonymously responded to 10 survey questions about the environmental informatics. The survey results were statistically analysed to arrive at the conclusions about the students' knowledge in the technical field of Environmental Informatics. The results are not satisfying, so the survey was expanded by surveying their university teachers, to investigate the reason for the given results. Research shows the insufficient use of methods and algorithms for data management such as data structures, data mining and storage, and special statistical methods and algorithms for business rules modelling for the collection and manipulation of data. The role of big data in this area is important to manage a time series of data, and a comparative analysis of the observed systems post hoc analysis of data mining is not available, especially when it comes to recognising the behaviour of systems and their components.

Cement-lime (CL) mortar has a number of properties and most important property of this mortar type is dependent on the admixtures and aggregates. By varying the ratio of ingredients, the characteristics of CL mortar can be adapted to specific mortar applications. This paper discusses those mortar properties that EU standards and engineers consider important. For each of these properties, the influence of admixtures and aggregates in the mortar is explored. Properties detailed in the paper include bond strength, compressive strength and workability.