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Abstract As major terrestrial carbon sinks, forests play an important role in mitigating climate change. The relationship between the seasonal uptake of carbon and its allocation to woody biomass remains poorly understood, leaving a significant gap in our capacity to predict carbon sequestration by forests. Here, we compare the intra-annual dynamics of carbon fluxes and wood formation across the Northern hemisphere, from carbon assimilation and the formation of non-structural carbon compounds to their incorporation in woody tissues. We show temporally coupled seasonal peaks of carbon assimilation (GPP) and wood cell differentiation, while the two processes are substantially decoupled during off-peak periods. Peaks of cambial activity occur substantially earlier compared to GPP, suggesting the buffer role of non-structural carbohydrates between the processes of carbon assimilation and allocation to wood. Our findings suggest that high-resolution seasonal data of ecosystem carbon fluxes, wood formation and the associated physiological processes may reduce uncertainties in carbon source-sink relationships at different spatial scales, from stand to ecosystem levels.

Background In an effort to move to a sustainable society, new concepts and findings related to sustainable construction are being developed. With ambition to transfer newly developed knowledge to society, various communication paths are being used. In this study we investigated what kind of messages shared on institutional social media channels (Facebook, Twitter (now renamed to X), and LinkedIn) about sustainable construction create more audience engagement. Methods The study consisted of two phases of weekly social media posts. In each phase, 15 posts were published on the same day and time, while engagement was monitored. Three different types of posts were created, that were sequential cycling each week. Type 1 was written informative content related to research activities; type 2 was image content related to the research activities and equipment, with a short text caption of the image; and type 3 was image content with people – scientists working on research activities with a short text caption of the image. Results Poisson regression analysis revealed that type 3 posts result in the most audience engagement on LinkedIn, suggesting that using images of people in combination with short text captions is the most effective way to engage social media audiences. These findings can help organizations to use social media to promote sustainable construction and other sustainability-related research. The engagement was lower on Facebook and Twitter (X). Conclusions As the science is aiming to be closer to the society, these findings deliver an important insight of science communication through the social media. Although the study delivered several lessons learnt related to science communication through social media studies, it provides an important bases for further studies. Conclusions can support research organizations in improving their science communication.

Za doseganje cilja evropske energetsko-podnebne politike, da do leta 2050 dosežemo podnebno nevtralnost s prehodom na obnovljive vire energije, je potrebno aktivirati različne razpoložljive obnovljive vire, vključno z biološkimi ostanki oz. odpadki. Eden od takih bioloških odpadkov, ki nastaja v velikih količinah in se večinoma nepredelan odlaga v okolje, so ostanki mlete kave. Ker ostanke mlete kave sestavljajo celuloza, hemiceluloza, lignin in proteini, predstavljajo velik potencial tudi kot biogorivo, ki lahko delno nadomesti lesno biomaso pri proizvodnji peletov. V raziskavi smo v laboratorijskih pogojih izdelali pelete iz ostankov mlete kave, ki smo jim dodali različne deleže (0 %, 25 %, 50 %, 75 %) žagovine. Izdelanim peletom smo določili lastnosti in jih glede na izmerjene vrednosti razvrstili v kakovostne razrede po standardu SIST EN ISO 17225-6:2021. Ugotovili smo, da imajo peleti z večjim deležem ostankov mlete kave višjo kurilno vrednost, večjo vsebnost pepela ter nižjo mehansko obstojnost. Peleti, izdelani iz ostankov mlete kave in dodatkom žagovine (50 % ali več), izkazujejo obetavne lastnosti kot vhodna surovina za proizvodnjo peletov.

Several studies on the perception of impact sounds question the correlation of standardized approaches with perceived annoyance, while more recent studies have come to inconsistent conclusions. All these studies neglected the aspect of whole-body vibrations, which are known to be relevant for the perception of low-frequency sound and can be perceived especially in lightweight constructions. Basically, the contribution of vibrations to impact sound annoyance is still unknown and could be the reason for the contradictory results. To investigate this aspect, we measured vibrations on different types of floors under laboratory conditions and in situ. For this purpose, a vibration-sensing device was developed to record vibrations more cost-effectively and independently of commercial recording instruments. The vibrations of predefined impact sequences were recorded together with the sound field using a higher-order ambisonics microphone. In addition, a vibration exposure device was developed to expose the test objects to the exact vibrations that occur in the built environment. The vibration exposure device is integrated into the ambisonics reproduction system, which consists of a large number of loudspeakers in a spherical configuration. The article presents the development and performance achieved using the vibration-sensing unit and the vibration exposure device. The study is relevant for conducting future impact sound listening tests under laboratory conditions, which can be extended to include the reproduction of vibrations.

Food can change various physiological parameters along the gastrointestinal tract, potentially impacting postprandial drug absorption. It is thus important to consider different in vivo conditions during in vitro studies. Therefore, a novel dissolution medium simulating variable postprandial pH values and lipid concentrations was developed and used in this study. Additionally, by establishing and validating a suitable analytical method, the effects of these parameters on the dissolution of a model drug, cinnarizine, and on its distribution between the lipid and aqueous phases of the medium were studied. Both parameters, pH value and lipid concentration, were shown to influence cinnarizine behavior in the in vitro dissolution studies. The amount of dissolved drug decreased with increasing pH due to cinnarizine’s decreasing solubility. At pH values 5 and 7, the higher concentration of lipids in the medium increased drug dissolution, and most of the dissolved drug was distributed in the lipid phase. In all media with a lower pH of 3, dissolution was fast and complete, with a significant amount of drug distributed in the lipid phase. These results are in accordance with the in vivo observed positive food effect on cinnarizine bioavailability described in the literature. The developed medium, with its ability to easily adjust the pH level and lipid concentration, thus offers a promising tool for assessing the effect of co-ingested food on the dissolution kinetics of poorly soluble drugs.

Over the last years, we could observe increasing awareness of sustainability and climate change in society. Individual sustainable behavior emerges by various influencing factors, resulting in different degrees of sustainable behavior. An important factor is the intention behind pro-environmental behavior, which can be goal-directed, motivated by other goals, or habitual. At the same time, good intentions do not always translate into sustainable actions. To develop interventions that promote pro-environmental behavior, we need to shed light on cognitive mechanisms underneath sustainable thoughts and how they stimulate actions. We conducted ten semi-structured interviews with representative individuals asking about their intentions, influencing factors of sustainability and examples from everyday life. Based on their scope of reflection, knowledge, and predominant intention, we could identify five different sustainability personas: sustainability-oriented, open-minded, opportunistic, careless, and dismissive. We present characteristics of these personas, discuss the validation process, and investigate cognitive mechanisms of reflection in the context of sustainable behavior.

Maintaining order and safety in a prison environment heavily depends on prison officers, who daily interact with prisoners and are constantly dealing with dangerous situations. Their task performance is vital for the organizational performance and the fulfillment of the prisons’ mission. For managing prison officers’ job performance efficiently, it is important to understand the associated factors; however, job performance in a prison environment remains completely unexplored in Slovenia. This article presents a study conducted among Slovenian prison officers (n = 201), which examined their task performance, its association with job attitudes, and the role of organizational and work-related factors. The study results showed that the prison officers’ task performance is associated with their job satisfaction, but not with their job involvement. Moreover, their job satisfaction is associated with perceived organizational justice, job stress, and the dangerousness of the job. Based on these findings, we demonstrated that task performance depends on several direct and indirect factors that prison management should prioritize, the key ones being stress reduction, strengthening the feeling of organizational justice, and the ability to deal with the job-related dangers successfully. This article highlights organizational and work-related factors important for improving the prison officers’ well-being at work.

Police culture can result in several problems that can manifest themselves in various side effects, such as excessive use of force or domestic violence. Such occupational culture is formed due to the different circumstances police officers encounter in their work, e.g., constant exposure to danger, high authority, the possibility of using force, the right to autonomous decision-making, and working in a strictly hierarchical environment. As private security guards also operate in public areas and often in the public interest and have the option of enforcing measures that in some cases extend to the degree of police powers, previous research indicated that there is a possibility that a police-like occupational culture prevails among private security guards. The paper identifies the elements of police culture among private security guards through the narrative literature review. The literature search was performed according to a pre-defined strategy. We pre-determined the keywords, inclusion criteria, search methods, and bibliographic databases. The identified literature was analyzed with the descriptive and comparative methods. The results indicate that despite differences in the nature of their work, attitudes, and values between security guards and police officers, significantly more related circumstances and factors suggest similarities in occupational cultures.

Behavioral information security is concerned with explaining the role of users in the information security system, drawing on various psychological, organizational, and criminological theories to explain and predict user behavior. Despite numerous systematic literature reviews on the field of information security, there is no comprehensive systematic review of the theories used in behavioral information security research. The purpose of this paper is to investigate which theories are most widely used in research, in which subject areas they are most used, which factors are most frequently included in research according to each set of theories, and which are most frequently statistically significant. Accordingly, we made two studies involving a systematic review of the literature over the past ten years. The findings suggest that the most used theories include the protection motivation theory and the theory of planned behavior. In these two theories, self-efficacy and perceived usefulness of the technology are factors, which are most often statistically significant in predicting self-protective behavior.

V Sloveniji imamo z vidika izkoriščenosti potenciala dodane vrednosti sortimentov lesa listavcev izrazite rezerve. Slednje bi lahko izkoristili zlasti s povečanjem gospodarske rabe okroglega lesa znotraj Slovenije ter s krepitvijo tehnološko naprednejših načinov predelave okroglega lesa. Cilj te raziskave je z input-output modeliranjem oceniti neizkoriščene potenciale gozdno-lesne verige v Sloveniji, s poudarkom na rabi lesa listavcev. Za celotno gozdno-lesno verigo smo ovrednotili obstoječe stanje in predvideli pet scenarijev nadgradnje gozdno-lesne verige v slovenskem prostoru. Razvili smo nacionalni input-output model za ovrednotenje možnih scenarijev prihodnjega razvoja gozdno-lesnega biogospodarstva. Iz rezultatov scenarijske analize input-output modela je razvidno, da lahko slovensko gozdno-lesno biogospodarstvo preko prestrukturiranja gospodarskih aktivnosti v prihodnosti doseže do 20 % višjo vrednost proizvodnje sektorja, povečanje števila zaposlenih za 24 % ter povečanje dohodka gospodinjstev za 19 %. V prispevku razpravljamo, kako bi nadgradnjo gozdno-lesnega biogospodarstva (glede na opredeljene scenarije) lahko dosegli s povečanjem kapacitet predelave lesa listavcev in podajamo priporočila nosilcem odločanj.

Prispevek predstavlja rezultate analize kakovostne strukture okroglega lesa treh najpomembnejših drevesnih vrst listavcev v Sloveniji, navadne bukve (Fagus sylvatica L.), gorskega javorja (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) ter hrasta doba (Quercus robur L.). Na različnih sečiščih po Sloveniji smo drevesa izbrali in izmerili pred posekom, nato pa po poseku izmerili dimenzije posameznih izdelanih gozdno-lesnih sortimentov ter lokacijo in velikost morebitnih nepravilnosti na ravni posameznega sortimenta. Vsak sortiment je bil razvrščen v enega izmed kakovostnih razredov A, B, C, D (hlodovina) ali drugo oblovino (nehlodovina). Nato smo za vsako posamezno drevo izračunali delež posameznega kakovostnega razreda v prostornini celotnega drevesa. V povprečju lahko pri upoštevanju zahtev trenutno veljavnega Pravilnika pri sečnji listavcev s prsnim premerom nad 30 cm pričakujemo med 40–50 % hlodovine.

The level of consumer awareness and comprehension, during a period of abundant energy services, has a crucial role in their initial adoption and later engagement with the services. Digital energy platforms bring the ≫intangible electricity≪ closer to people’s daily lives and encourage new ways of thinking about and consuming energy. Energy feedback connects consumer’s consumption to their daily activities and provides insights. It enables them to learn about the consumption, learn how to reduce or optimise it and later, learn how to be flexible when needed. Besides investigating how familiar are the Slovenian households with their own consumption and energy related behaviour, the goal of this paper is also to investigate their preferences in visualizing their electricity consumption. The consumption estimation was validated on real case study using data from 642 Slovenian households. Results show that consumers that use electricity for space and water heating, underestimated their consumption up to 22.5%. A categorization of households based on their water and space heating systems is also presented.

Timbre – sound “colour” – is an abstract, delicate property of sound, especially in a high-value context such as musical instruments. It is a perceptual construct so intangible that it cannot be considered a quantity. Since sound nevertheless reaches our ears as a complete physical reality, we hypothesize that this inherent abstraction of its timbre is primarily due to the lack of a meaningful, musically relevant, and robust quantification that would do justice to the subtlety of human auditory perception. It is therefore not surprising that not a single aspect of timbre is to be found in the specifications of musical instruments. We introduce harmonic timbre coordinates, concrete and robust numbers that quantify a partial aspect of timbre of an instrument’s sound – its harmonic structure – with a precision that allows relevance in the musical context. These numbers could, for example, help a buyer find an instrument whose sound is closer to his or her preferences. Or they could enable precise tracking of harmonic changes in sound, and more.

Purpose: Outsourcing information security has proven to be an efficient solution for information security management; however, it may not be the most suitable approach for every organization. This research aimed to develop a multi-criteria decision-making model that would enable organizations to determine which approach to information security management (outsourcing or internal management) is more suitable for their needs and capabilities.

Here the authors show that extremes in the summer jet stream position over Europe create a beech forest productivity dipole between northwestern and southeastern Europe and can result in regional anomalies in forest carbon uptake and growth.

Tree ring data from a network of beech tree stands across Europe show evidence for a recent growth decline from 1986-2016 and project up to 50% growth reductions in some areas of Europe with future climate change.

Wood density is an important physical property that can be easily measured and is closely related to many other wood properties. Furthermore, wood density is a good indicator of the usability and applicability of wood in the wood processing, construction and energy industries. Because it is strongly dependent on moisture content and porosity, there are various definitions of wood density in the literature, among which the density measured on the basis of dry matter and volume is the most commonly used. The aim of this paper is to present different methods for wood density determination and the importance of collecting such data for the development of the forest-based bioeconomy. In practice, there are several direct and indirect methods of density measurement; in addition to the most basic volumetric approach, the density of wood can be measured by penetrometer, resistograph, high frequency densitometry, X-rays, near infrared spectroscopy and microwaves. Wood will continue to grow in importance, as it is one of the key raw materials for the transition to a sustainable bioeconomy. The accurate and timely determination of wood density allows for the appropriate distribution and direction of flows of this raw material between individual conventional and new sectors (areas of use) and thus its more efficient and sustainable use.

Environmental conditions affect tree-ring width (TRW), wood structure, and, consequently, wood density, which is one of the main wood quality indicators. Although studies on inter- and intra-annual variability in tree-ring features or density exist, studies demonstrating a clear link between wood structure on a cellular level and its effect on wood density on a macroscopic level are rare. Norway spruce with its simple coniferous structure and European beech, a diffuse-porous angiosperm species were selected to analyze these relationships. Increment cores were collected from both species at four sites in Slovenia. In total, 24 European beech and 17 Norway spruce trees were sampled. In addition, resistance drilling measurements were performed just a few centimeters above the increment core sampling. TRW and quantitative wood anatomy measurements were performed on the collected cores. Resistance drilling density values, tree-ring (TRW, earlywood width–EWW, transition-TWW, and latewood width–LWW) and wood-anatomical features (vessel/tracheid area and diameter, cell density, relative conductive area, and cell wall thickness) were then averaged for the first 7 cm of measurements. We observed significant relationships between tree-ring and wood-anatomical features in both spruce and beech. In spruce, the highest correlation values were found between TRW and LWW. In beech, the highest correlations were observed between TRW and cell density. There were no significant relationships between wood-anatomical features and resistance drilling density in beech. However, in spruce, a significant negative correlation was found between resistance drilling density and tangential tracheid diameter, and a positive correlation between resistance drilling density and both TWW + LWW and LWW. Our findings suggest that resistance drilling measurements can be used to evaluate differences in density within and between species, but they should be improved in resolution to be able to detect changes in wood anatomy.

Propolis is a resinous compound made by bees with well-known biological activity. However, comparisons between encapsulated and non-encapsulated propolis are lacking. Therefore, the antibacterial activity, effect on the phase transition of lipids, and inhibition of UV-induced lipid oxidation of the two forms of propolis were compared. The results showed that non-encapsulated propolis produces quicker effects, thus being better suited when more immediate effects are required (e.g., antibacterial activity). In order to gain an in-depth introspective on these effects, we further studied the synergistic effect of propolis compounds on the integrity of lipid membranes. The knowledge of component synergism is important for the understanding of effective propolis pathways and for the perspective of modes of action of synergism between different polyphenols in various extracts. Thus, five representative molecules, all previously isolated from propolis (chrysin, quercetin, trans-ferulic acid, caffeic acid, (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate) were mixed, and their synergistic effects on lipid bilayers were investigated, mainly using DSC. The results showed that some compounds (quercetin, chrysin) exhibit synergism, whereas others (caffeic acid, t-ferulic acid) do not show any such effects. The results also showed that the synergistic effects of mixtures composed from several different compounds are extremely complex to study, and that their prediction requires further modeling approaches.

Understanding tree growth and carbon sequestration are of crucial interest to forecast the feedback of forests to climate change. To have a global understanding of the wood formation, it is necessary to develop new methodologies for xylogenesis measurements, valid across diverse wood structures and applicable to both angiosperms and gymnosperms. In this study, the authors present a new workflow to study xylogenesis using high-resolution X-ray computed tomography (HRXCT), which is generic and offers high potential for automatization. The HXRCT-based approach was benchmarked with the current classical approach (microtomy) on three tree species with contrasted wood anatomy (Pinus nigra, Fagus sylvatica, and Quercus robur). HRXCT proved to estimate the relevant xylogenesis parameters (timing, duration, and growth rates) across species with high accuracy. HRXCT showed to be an efficient avenue to investigate tree xylogenesis for a wide range of wood anatomies, structures, and species. HRXCT also showed its potential to provide quantification of intra-annual dynamics of biomass production through high-resolution 3D mapping of wood biomass within the forming growth ring.

Obtaining good-quality gluten-free products represents a technological challenge; thus, it is important to understand how and why the addition of hydrocolloids influences the properties of starch-based products. To obtain insight into the physicochemical changes imparted by hydrocolloids on gluten-free dough, we prepared several suspensions with different corn starch/potato starch/hydroxpropyl methyl cellulose/xanthan gum/water ratios. Properties of the prepared samples were determined by differential scanning calorimetry and rheometry. Samples with different corn/potato starch ratios exhibited different thermal properties. Xanthan gum and HPMC (hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose) exhibited a strong influence on the rheological properties of the mixtures since they increased the viscosity and elasticity. HPMC and xanthan gum increased the temperature of starch gelatinization, as well as they increased the viscoelasticity of the starch model system. Although the two hydrocolloids affected the properties of starch mixtures in the same direction, the magnitude of their effects was different. Our results indicate that water availability, which plays a crucial role in the starch gelatinization process, could be modified by adding hydrocolloids such as, hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose and xanthan gum. By adding comparatively small amounts of the studied hydrocolloids to starch, one can achieve similar thermo-mechanical effects by the addition of gluten. Understanding these effects of hydrocolloids could contribute to the development of better quality gluten-free bread with optimized ingredient content.

European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) adapts to local growing conditions to enhance its performance. In response to variations in climatic conditions, beech trees adjust leaf phenology, cambial phenology, and wood formation patterns, which result in different tree-ring widths (TRWs) and wood anatomy. Chronologies of tree ring width and vessel features [i.e., mean vessel area (MVA), vessel density (VD), and relative conductive area (RCTA)] were produced for the 1960–2016 period for three sites that differ in climatic regimes and spring leaf phenology (two early- and one late-flushing populations). These data were used to investigate long-term relationships between climatic conditions and anatomical features of four quarters of tree-rings at annual and intra-annual scales. In addition, we investigated how TRW and vessel features adjust in response to extreme weather events (i.e., summer drought). We found significant differences in TRW, VD, and RCTA among the selected sites. Precipitation and maximum temperature before and during the growing season were the most important climatic factors affecting TRW and vessel characteristics. We confirmed differences in climate-growth relationships between the selected sites, late flushing beech population at Idrija showing the least pronounced response to climate. MVA was the only vessel trait that showed no relationship with TRW or other vessel features. The relationship between MVA and climatic factors evaluated at intra-annual scale indicated that vessel area in the first quarter of tree-ring were mainly influenced by climatic conditions in the previous growing season, while vessel area in the second to fourth quarters of tree ring width was mainly influenced by maximum temperature and precipitation in the current growing season. When comparing wet and dry years, beech from all sites showed a similar response, with reduced TRW and changes in intra-annual variation in vessel area. Our findings suggest that changes in temperature and precipitation regimes as predicted by most climate change scenarios will affect tree-ring increments and wood structure in beech, yet the response between sites or populations may differ.

Wood and phloem formation databases are important for understanding the effects of climate change and extreme weather events on species composition, tree vitality, wood production and wood quality in Slovenian forests. In this paper, we present the latest results on the radial growth of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) at two sites in Slovenia, Panška reka (PAN – 400 m a. s .l.) and Menina planina (MEN – 1200 m a. s .l.) in 2009–2011. The focus was on the seasonal dynamics of early and latewood, and early and late phloem formation. We found that site conditions greatly affected the seasonal dynamics of wood and phloem formation, which was reflected in the width and structure of annual increments. At the higher elevation MEN site, the growing season was about a month shorter (about 4 months long), which resulted in 39% and 15% narrower wood and phloem increments, respectively. At MEN, the transition from early to latewood was observed on average only a week later than at PAN, while the transition from early to late phloem occurred on average 20 days later at MEN than at PAN. Information on the impact of site conditions on radial growth of spruce and wood quality is important for all stakeholders in the forest-wood value chain, as it can help to take appropriate management measures of adaptation to changing conditions.

We produced pellets from five invasive non-native tree species growing in Slovenia on a laboratory pelleting device, namely: wild chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum), boxelder maple (Acer negundo), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), thorny locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) and tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), as well as mixtures of the raw material from the above non-native invasive species and spruce (Picea abies) in the ratios 70:30 and 50:50. Under the same production conditions, we produced a total of 15 different types of pellets. The most important physical and mechanical properties (water content, bulk density, mechanical stability and ash content) were determined for the pellets produced. The results were compared with the limits defined in the international standard SIST EN ISO 17225-2:2014. The water content and bulk density of all produced pellet types met the requirements of the standard for the highest quality class A1. The mechanical durability of the pellets produced did not meet the requirements of the standard and did not exceed 96.5% (which is the limit value for quality class B). The results suggest that black locust, thorny locust and tree of heaven have the highest potential for further optimization of the pelleting process.

DNA sequences that are rich in guanines and can form four-stranded structures are called G-quadruplexes. Due to the growing evidence that they may play an important role in several key biological processes, the G-quadruplexes have captured the interest of several researchers. G-quadruplexes may form in the presence of different metal cations as polymorphic structures formed in kinetically governed processes. Here we investigate a complex polymorphism of d(G4T4G3) quadruplexes at different K+ concentrations. We show that population size of different d(G4T4G3) quadruplex conformations can be manipulated by cooling rate and/or K+ concentration. We use a kinetic model to describe data obtained from DSC, CD and UV spectroscopy and PAGE experiments. Our model is able to describe the observed thermally induced conformational transitions of d(G4T4G3) quadruplexes at different K+ concentrations.

The emergence of a pandemic is usually accompanied by different measures–economic, social, preventive, and (self)protective. In the case of the COVID-19, several preventive measures were formally enforced by state authorities in the majority of countries worldwide. Thus, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the intertwining of formal and informal social control could be observed. Hence, in this study a cross-sectional design was chosen to explore the issue in Slovenia. To the best of our knowledge, this research is the first in the current literature to empirically test the general deterrence theory in pandemic circumstances (as external factors predicting individuals’ compliance with the COVID-19 preventive measures). The results suggest an important role of informal punishment, with perceived informal severity being the only statistically significant factor from the general deterrence theory. In contrast to external factors, internal factors play a significantly greater role in promoting people’s self-protective behavior in pandemic circumstances. During the unknown, the uncertain and delicate situations with which people have no previous experience, both personal beliefs about the effectiveness of measures and perceived self-efficacy are more important than fear of formal sanctions.

Measuring the performance of information security is an essential part of the information security management system within organisations. Studies in the past mainly focused on establishing qualitative measurement approaches. Since these can lead to ambiguous conclusions, quantitative metrics are being increasingly proposed as a useful alternative. Nevertheless, the literature on quantitative approaches remains scarce. Thus, studies on the evaluation of information security performance are challenging, especially since many approaches are not tested in organisational settings. The paper aims to validate the model used for evaluating the performance of information security management system through a multidimensional socio-technical approach, in a real-world settings among medium-sized enterprises in Slovenia. The results indicate that information security is strategically defined and compliant, however, measures are primarily implemented at technical and operational levels, while its strategic management remains underdeveloped. We found that the biggest issues are related to information resources and risk management, where information security measurement-related activities proved to be particularly problematic. Even though enterprises do possess certain information security capabilities and are aware of the importance of information security, their current practices make it difficult for them to keep up with the fast-paced technological and security trends.

Differential scanning calorimetry provides unique signatures of blood plasma samples. Plasma samples from diseased individuals yield specific thermograms, which differ from each other and from plasma samples of healthy individuals. Thermograms from individuals suffering from chronic lymphocytic leukemia, multiple myeloma and acute myeloid leukemia were measured with DSC. To obtain additional information about thermal behaviour of plasma proteins immunoaffinity chromatography was introduced. An immunoextraction of HSA using a chromatographic column with immobilized anti-HSA was carried out in order to enrich less abundant plasma proteins, which could provide a further insight into disease development. Efficiency of HSA depletion and protein composition of fractionated plasma was validated by SDS-PAGE.

Climate change will affect radial growth patterns of trees, which will result in different forest productivity, wood properties, and timber quality. While many studies have been published on xylem phenology and anatomy lately, little is known about the phenology of earlywood and latewood formation, also in relation to cambial phenology. Even less information is available for phloem. Here, we examined year-to-year variability of the transition dates from earlywood to latewood and from early phloem to late phloem in Norway spruce (Picea abies) from three temperate sites, two in Slovenia and one in the Czech Republic. Data on xylem and phloem formation were collected during 2009–2011. Sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the specific contribution of growth rate and duration on wood and phloem production, separately for early and late formed parts. We found significant differences in the transition date from earlywood to latewood between the selected sites, but not between growth seasons in trees from the same site. It occurred in the first week of July at PAN and MEN and more than two weeks later at RAJ. The duration of earlywood formation was longer than that of latewood formation; from 31.4 days at PAN to 61.3 days at RAJ. In phloem, we found differences in transition date from early phloem to late phloem also between the analysed growth seasons; from 2.5 weeks at PAN to 4 weeks at RAJ Compared to the transition from earlywood to latewood the transition from early phloem to late phloem occurred 25–64 days earlier. There was no significant relationship between the onset of cambial cell production and the transition dates. The findings are important to better understand the inter-annual variability of these phenological events in spruce from three contrasting temperate sites, and how it is reflected in xylem and phloem anatomy.

It is unclear how the anticipated climate change will affect the timing of phenology of different tree organs/tissues and thus the whole-tree functioning. We examined the timing of leaf phenology and secondary growth in three coexisting deciduous tree species (Quercus pubescens Willd., Fraxinus ornus L. and Ostrya carpinifolia Scop) from a sub-Mediterranean region in 2019. In addition, we investigated the relationship between leaf and cambial phenology and the onset of the potential functioning of initial conduits, as determined by the completed differentiation process (vessels) or final size (sieve tubes). For this purpose, leaf development was monitored and the microcores of cambium and the youngest phloem and xylem increments were repeatedly collected at 7–10-day intervals during the growing season. The results revealed differences in the timing of leaf development and seasonal radial growth patterns in spring among the studied tree species, depending on wood porosity. We found that cambial cell production started in all cases in the first half of March. However, in ring-porous Q. pubescens and F. ornus, radial growth in the stem occurred more than a month before buds were swollen, whereas in diffuse-porous O. carpinifolia, these two events were detected at almost the same time. The end of cambial cell production occurred earliest in F. ornus (mid-July) and two weeks later also in the other two species. The widest initial earlywood vessels and early phloem sieve tubes were found in Q. pubescens, the narrowest initial earlywood vessels in O. carpinifolia and the narrowest early phloem sieve tubes in F. ornus. This indicates differences in the efficiency of conducting systems among the studied species. This novel approach of studying phloem phenology and anatomy in relation to leaf and xylem development contributes to a better understanding of how different tree species adapt their structure of secondary vascular tissues in response to environmental change.

We present xylem formation in Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) in 2015 at Panška reka, near Ljubljana, Slovenia (ca. 46°00’N, 14°40’E, 400 m a.s.l.) with a temperate climate. The research was a part of a long-term project, which involves different sites and tree species. We measured the widths of cambium and the formation of xylem growth rings with differentiating cells in postcambial (PC) and secondary wall formation (SW) phases, and mature cells (MT). The results for 2015 were compared with those for previous years (2009–2011) in the same species and site, and with the published data from wood formation studies in conifers from all over Europe. The latter were used in two-factor regression models which confirmed the effects of latitude and altitude on the critical dates of onset, end, and duration of xylem production. The models thus helped us to predict/reconstruct phenology of wood formation in conifers in Europe.

Background and Purpose: With development of forest management technologies, the efficiency of wood production was significantly improved, and thus the impact on forests has changed as well. The article presents a practical decision-making tool for selection of most suitable harvesting system, considering given terrain as well as expected soil conditions on harvesting sites. The decision-making tool should support cost-efficient and environmentally friendly mobilisation of wood. Materials and Methods: The presented decision-making tool is based on ground bearing capacities (relevant environmental parameter) and nominal ground pressure (harvesting system characteristics). Soil and terrain (slope) characteristics were taken into account for selection of the most suitable harvesting system. Three-step methodological approach was suggested, where soil and terrain conditions were defined in first step, while harvesting system were described using wood process charts (“functiogramms”) in second step. In final step ecological and technological requirements were matched. Results: To exemplify the three-step methodology, a decision-making tool was prepared for the three selected harvesting systems. The proposed harvesting systems differ in technological, ecological and economic aspects, but each is limited by at least one of the aspect. Conclusions: The decision-making tool in combination with the presented wood process charts (“functiogramms”) can simplify and facilitate forest production planning, although it can also be used in case of unforeseen event e.g. changing of soil moisture, machinery failure and insufficient current capacities. Considering the envisaged quantities and types of forest wooden assortments, it is possible to use the decision-making tool for a basic selection of most appropriate harvesting systems. The main idea behind the suggested three step methodological approach is that forest workers can prepare individual decision-making matrix (based on ecological and technological parameters such as technical or economical limitations of harvesting machines).