Search

This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between depression and anxiety in parents with children diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders. The main purpose of this study is to measure the level of depression and anxiety in parents whose primary school children and preschool children have been diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders and to correlate these disorders with sociodemographic characteristics. In this study participated 300 parents whose children were diagnosed with neuro-developmental disorders. For the methodology of this study, the integration of quantitative and qualitative methods was used. In this study, two closed-type instruments were used, one instrument measures anxiety and the other depression in parents whose primary school children and preschool children have been diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders. The findings of this study have shown that depression has a high positive correlation with anxiety. As the level of depression in parents increases, so does the level of anxiety. Gender differences, statistically significant, between the level of depression of parents whose children have been diagnosed with neuro-developmental disorders, we see that mothers reach a higher average than fathers, also when it comes to anxiety, mothers reach a higher average than fathers.

Purpose: To enhance enterprise efficiency, this study examines the pivotal role of operations management in optimizing the use of materials, technology, equipment, and personnel, especially within the transformative framework of Industry 4.0. Design/methodology/approach: This article investigates operational preparation in the context of Industry 4.0. Through questionnaires and interviews with stakeholders, problems related to operational preparation were identified. To address these problems, a launching model was developed for production systems. The model considers several parameters important for the production process, including business goals, customer needs, and environmental conditions that impact enterprise performance and profit. Findings: The model determines the importance of jobs to be performed in a certain order to optimize production sequence. The proposed parameters are included in a mathematical-algorithmic launching model based on categorical levels related to the production process, such as profit, delivery times, processing times, total number of technological operations, product types, materials, required quality, product complexity, and resource use. The model was developed based on observations and investigations conducted in Kosovo's enterprises on operations research, and it has the potential to significantly improve production efficiency and profitability in the Industry 4.0 era. Practical implications: The findings of this study have practical implications for operations management within the Industry 4.0 framework, proposing a launching model designed to optimize production processes and enhance efficiency. Originality/value: The originality and value of this research lie in the development of a mathematical-algorithmic launching model that addresses operational preparation in the Industry 4.0 context, taking into account various crucial parameters.

Introduction: The surgical management of traumatic injury is an evolving and controversial topic. We present outcomes of laparotomy performed for blunt and penetrating trauma at a level I trauma center over a nearly 10-year period. Material and Methods: Retrospective single-center cohort study of patients who received either damage control laparotomy or definitive laparotomy with fascial closure at the time of index procedure. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes were length of stay, complications, intensive care requirements, and vasopressor use. Results: Out of 125 included patients, 69 received damage control laparotomy, and 56 received definitive laparotomy. Damage control laparotomy was associated with significantly higher mortality (20.9% vs 1.8%, p=.0015) and length of stay (16.1 vs. 9.3 days, p=.0005) than definitive laparotomy. Complications occurred significantly more frequently among damage control laparotomy patients (53.6% vs. 14.3%, p

Kosovo is distinguished by a particularly high degree of seismic activity as a result of its location in the alpine-Mediterranean seismic area. The thickness of the seismic zone in the Earth’s crust is a crucial element in seismotectonics, as it affects the design of fault systems, relative fault activity, earthquake size and distribution within a fault system, and the long-term accumulation of tectonic deformation. Kosovo’s large depressions and high relief make it challenging geomorphologically. The country of Kosovo is divided into numerous chunks along the fault lines because of the inclinations of these prevalent motions. Normal faults, along which differentiations on the order of 2000 m occurred during the neotectonics period, identify the contacts between these blocks. Understanding Kosovo’s seismotectonic characteristics requires an exact analysis of hypocenter parameters when historical earthquakes that have struck the country are reassessed for magnitude. This study deals with the seismicity and tectonics of the territorial space of the Republic of Kosovo.

Abstract Introduction Increasing evidence indicates the benefits of patient and public involvement (PPI) in medical research, and PPI is increasingly expected by funders and publishers. We conducted a mapping review of studies reporting examples of PPI implementation in HIV research, and developed an online evidence map to guide HIV researchers. Methods We systematically searched Medline and Embase up until 18 August 2024, including search terms with variations for PPI and HIV. We extracted information from identified studies in duplicate and analysed the data descriptively and qualitatively to describe types of PPI models and reported benefits, challenges, and mitigation strategies. This study was co‐initiated and co‐led by people living with HIV. Results We identified 17 studies reporting PPI in HIV research between 1992 and August 2024. Most PPI examples informed prospective clinical studies, but also qualitative research, questionnaire development, research priority setting and surveys. Ten studies described the number and characteristics of PPI members involved. We observed four PPI models, from a model that solely engaged PPI members for a specific task to a model whereby PPI representatives were integrated into the study team with decision‐making authority. Benefits reported included wider dissemination of research results, better understanding of research material and results, and higher levels of trust and learning between researcher and communities. The most commonly reported challenges were the lack of specific resources for PPI, differing levels of knowledge and expertise, concern about HIV status disclosure, and lack of diversity of the PPI team. Uneven power dynamics, tensions, and differing expectations between stake‐holder groups were also frequently noted. Conclusions This mapping review summarizes published examples of PPI in HIV research for various phases of research. There is a clear need to strengthen the reporting on PPI processes in HIV research, for example by following the Guidance for Reporting Involvement of Patients and the Public (GRIPP) 2 guidelines, and developing guidance on its hands‐on implementation. We embedded PPI from study inception onwards, which potentially pre‐empted some of the challenges reported in the reviewed examples. The resulting online evidence map is a starting point to guide researchers on integrating PPI into their own research.

Purpose – This study examines the impact of competition and concentration on bank income smoothing in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Design/methodology/approach – The two-step system GMM method was used to analyse the impact of competition and concentration on bank income smoothing in 17 CEEs from 2004 to 2015. Findings – Loan loss provisions (LLPs) are negatively related to bank competition and concentration. The authors find no evidence for income smoothing using LLPs in a high-competition or high-concentration environment. Research limitations/implications – A limitation of the study is that the analysis was restricted to commercial banks. The authors did not examine investment banks or microfinance banks in this study. Also, not having access to databases does not allow them to include recent years in the study. Practical implications – CEE commercial banks will likely keep fewer provisions or engage in under-provisioning when they face intense competition, and this can expose them to credit risk, which may threaten their stability. Originality/value – This study is the first to investigate the effect of concentration and competition on income smoothing among CEE banks.

Abstract Background For diagnostic research on appendicitis in registration data, insight is needed in the way GPs generate medical records. We aimed to reach a consensus on the features that GPs consider important in the consultation and medical records when evaluating a child with suspected appendicitis. Methods We performed a three-round Delphi study among Dutch GPs selected by purposive sampling. An initial feature list was created based on a literature search and features in the relevant Dutch guideline. Finally, using a vignette describing a child who needed later reassessment, we asked participants to complete an online questionnaire about which consultation features should be addressed and recorded. Results A literature review and Dutch guideline yielded 95 consultation features. All three rounds were completed by 22 GPs, with the final consensus list containing 26 symptoms, 29 physical assessments and signs, 2 additional tests, and 8 further actions (including safety-netting, i.e., informing the patient about when to contact the GP again). Of these, participants reached consensus that 37 should be actively addressed and that 20 need to be recorded if findings are negative. Conclusions GPs agreed that negative findings do not need to be recorded for most features and that records should include the prognostic and safety-netting advice given. The results have implications in three main domains: for research, that negative findings are likely to be missing; for medicolegal purposes, that documentation cannot be expected to be complete; and for clinical practice, that safety-netting advice should be given and documented.

The exercise of discretionary power by the administration when it performs regulatory or implementation tasks may be necessary, and sometimes politically expedient. It may, however, undermine business confidence and, more generally, citizens’ allegiance to the political system. It is not therefore surprising that many governments are implementing policies for reducing or eliminating administrative discretion3. Access to citizenship status is an important prerequisite for enjoying rights and privileges, such as migration and political rights, as well as for developing a sense of identity and belonging. Since the establishment of Union citizenship, all persons who are nationals or citizens of an EU Member State enjoy the status of EU citizenship, which confers on them a number of additional rights and privileges. However, Member States retain full control over who can be recognized as a citizen. In the last years is also a phenomenon in which member states have proposed more liberal policies related to European citizenship acquisition based on the need to revive their economies and finances or also in order to attract more working forces due to their population which is aging quite fast. The objective of this study is to analyze the discretionary power of the administrative institutions and internal policies of member states in according their citizenship in relation to their obligations toward European Union mainly after February 2022.

This study analyses financial education and its impact on the behavior of young people in Kosovo during their financial planning. It also provides a theoretical overview of financial education, financial planning, and financial experiences. The study was conducted using quantitative methods, with primary data collected through an online questionnaire. The statistical tests used are MANOVA, ANOVA, Paired T-Test, the Chi-square test for goodnessof-fit, and factorial and reliability analysis. We find that the level of education has a positive effect on money management and the creation of a personal financial plan; employment status and sources of income have an essential impact on controlling the financial situation; financial experience has a positive effect on making personal financial decisions. All empirical analyses are original and based on the authors’ calculations through econometric models and other research methods. We highlight the importance of financial education in schools.

Anemia affects humans throughout life, and is linked to higher morbidity and mortality. Unclear is whether hemoglobin values are equivalent between women and men. This study evaluates the association of preoperative hemoglobin levels with in-hospital mortality and estimates thresholds for survival equity between men and women. All adult patients undergoing surgery between 2010 and 2019 from 14 German hospitals were included in the study. Thresholds for survival equity were determined with generalized additive models. In total, 842,130 patients with a median in-hospital follow-up time of 7 days were analyzed. During follow-up 20,370 deaths occurred. Preoperative hemoglobin stratified in-hospital mortality (log-rank test p

This paper aims to analyze the legal nature of concessionaire and PPP contract in Albanian Legislation and through the perspective of European legislation analyzing mainly the Italian and French legislation and doctrine in this area. The main hypothesis that this paper aims to address is related to the fact, if it is enough to categorize these kinds of contracts with a hybrid status between public and private law, or the fact that so many countries appellate more and more to the concessionaire and PPP contracts is the momentum to create a separate law discipline as so many universities in France, USA, Japan do. Also, this paper aims to make a comparative study of Albanian legislation in the area of concessionaire and PPP contracts with the European legislation being the fact that for Albania this is a new area, and is a considerable lake of doctrine and legal studies that analyze the specifics and characteristics of such kind of contracts, putting at the last instance not only the Albanian contractual authorities but also the national courts in difficulties of implementation and interpretation.

The study attempts to show the impact of working capital management on the profitability of ninety-eight Kosovo-based SMEs, primarily in the manufacturing and construction sectors. The data were obtained from the financial statements of these companies for the years 2010 through 2020, and the assumptions were verified using the Ordinary least square (OLS) method. To express SMEs profitability, return on assets (ROA) is taken as a dependent variable, while to express working capital management, independent variables are taken: the inventory turnover period (INTP), receivables collection period (TRCP), trade payable period (TPP), and cash conversion cycle (CCC). In addition, are taken four control variables (size of companies, current ratio, sustainable growth, and leverage), which are not a variable of interest in the study but could influence the outcomes. The results reveal that SMEs increase profitability by decreasing the cash INTP and increasing TRCP, TPP, and CCC. By analyzing the effect of working capital management on profitability in the context of SMEs in Kosovo, this research contributes new knowledge to the existing literature.

Background. Studies, previously completed, announce that the handgrip strength as a measurement for assessing muscle fitness is associated with cardiovascular risk factors. Yet, the relation of handgrip strength to the blood pressure in children is inconsistent. Therefore, we conducted the present research aiming to establish the relation of the handgrip strength to the blood pressure in Macedonian children from the Skopje region. Materials and methods. The research was conducted on a sample of 1076 children (534 boys and 542 girls), whereby the following characteristics were measured: blood pressure, handgrip strength, weight, height, body fat percentage, waist circumference and the body mass index (BMI) was calculated. General linear models were used to examine the association between handgrip strength and the outcome variables. Results. After the adjustment of age, gender, BMI, body fat percentage and waist circumference, the handgrip strength was statistically significantly positively associated to both systolic (P

Butter samples produced from cream (C) or yoghurt (Y) were evaluated for fatty acid (FA) composition and pesticide residues. The results showed that yoghurt butter has a higher health-promoting index (HPI) compared to the cream butter and overall acceptability scores at the end of storage. The yoghurt butter contained 62.81 g 100 g-1 saturated, 3.50 g 100 g-1 monounsaturated, and 2.44 g 100 g-1 polyunsaturated fatty acids whereas the cream butter contained 69.99 g 100 g-1 saturated, 3.57 g 100 g-1 monounsaturated and 2.81 g 100 g-1 polyunsaturated fatty acids, respectively. The peroxides levels varied from 0.90 for the cream to 1.44 mEq O2 kg-1 for yoghurt butter samples. The moisture content varied from 16.21 to 13.19 and 13.83 to 13.57 g 100 g-1 and the total lipid content varied from 77.5 to 79.5 and 83.0 to 83.5 g 100 g-1 for cream and yoghurt butter samples, respectively. The 13 pesticide compounds in butter samples did not exceed the legal limits.

The study examines the capital structure of the Western Balkan banking industry across the period 2015 - 2020. Forty-seven of the total Western Balkan-based commercial banks were included in the study. By constructing a balanced panel, this study uses pooled ordinary least squares fixed and random effects regressions to examine the relationship between bank book leverage as the dependent variable and bank-specific explanatory variables that include profitability, leverage ratio, bank size, earnings volatility, collateral, growth opportunities, and liquidity. These reports are examined using linear regression analysis. The study shows a significant positive relationship between profitability and book leverage for the period studied. In contrast, leverage ratio, earnings volatility, collateral, growth, and liquidity significantly negatively impact the book leverage of Western Balkan banks. The findings have practical implications for bank executives. They will assist them in identifying the bank-specific factors that influence the capital structure and selecting values that promote optimal capital structure. The findings of this study can help regulators develop an effective prudential framework. This study opens up new avenues for further research in this area for academics, researchers, and analysts.

War memorialization initiatives recognize and preserve the occurrences of past suffering in societies emerging from violent conflict. Furthermore, an intrinsic association also exists between memorialization and the reconciliation. However, determining the contribution memorialization provides to the reconciliation process of the former parties in the conflict is debatable. This paper addresses memorialization initiatives as an important instrument for the reconciliation process. Specifically, it looks into the role of war memorialization in the town of Vukovar in Croatia with regard to the reconciliation process between Croats and Serbs there. Vukovar has a dense concentration of Croatian War of Independence (Homeland War) memorial centers and commemorative events. Vukovar’s war memorialization alternatives exclude the remembrance of ethnic-Serb victims*, thereby hampering the reconciliation of the former adversarial parties in the town. More efforts must be invested in to ensure the memorialization of what the Serbians suffered.

This paper investigates the readiness of customers to shift toward cashless payment by identifying the main factors that impact that shift. The sample consisted of randomly selected individuals identified as potential users of cashless payment and are considered more likely to continue using the new technology. Five hundred eighty-six questionaries were returned and considered complete for the research. The outcomes were assessed employing CFA for validity and determined using Cronbach’s alpha for the reliability of the research, which was stratified by seven regions throughout the country was applied, by covering all levels of the society. The findings show that the perceived risk is connected to the level of correct and believable information offered to customers. It has been confirmed that the respondents trust cashless payment technology, and at the same time, self-efficacy had a lower impact on usage continuance intention. Consequently, the growth of self-efficacy would strengthen the intention to use cashless technologies. Several segments in the financial market may benefit from the results and develop more appropriate and reliable systems and the proper approach toward customers with needed information and insurance related to the security and benefits they may have by adopting the cashless technology.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between working capital management and the sustainable growth rate, using profitability as a mediator. The research analyzes a dataset comprising 122 SMEs that operated within selected Western Balkan countries from 2013 to 2022. By employing ordinary least squares regression models, the study displays an indirect connection between working capital management and the sustainable growth rate, facilitated through the mediation of profitability. The outcomes of the mediation effect analysis classify "indirect-only mediators" as the net profit margin. The findings underscore SMEs' importance in tactically managing their working capital, particularly by shortening their inventory turnover and cash conversion periods. A more efficient inventory turnover period and cash conversion period can substantially increase the SMEs' capacity to generate profits, as it enables them to generate more internal funds. This internal financing is crucial for achieving a sustainable growth rate. Maintaining a sustainable growth rate is critical for SMEs to successfully manage, control, and strategize their financial operations and activities. A constant growth rate has the potential to boost profitability and provide significant information to management for prudent financial decision-making. The results of this study can be used in future research attempts to analyze many aspects of the sustainable growth rate. This goes beyond individual activities and embraces the entire industry, to understand how SMEs can improve the efficiency of their financial operations and strategic initiatives, thereby contributing to their overall success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Profitability expresses the ability to make a profit from all the business activities of the company. It shows how efficiently management generates profit by utilizing all available resources. This paper examined the effects of specific company factors, namely independent variables such as: liquidity, company size, company age, tangible asset, leverage, company capital and growth of com-pany, on profitability represented by return on assets (ROA) and net profit margin (NPM) as a dependent variable. The sample in this study includes eleven insurance companies for the period 2015 - 2020. The regression results indicate that size, leverage and age of company, have significant effects on the ROA. Meanwhile in NPM of insurance companies in Kosovo size of company and firm growth have significant effects.

It has been demonstrated that pre-hospital emergency care reduces in-hospital mortality in patients admitted with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between pre-hospital emergency care and in-hospital mortality in ACS patients treated at the University Clinical Centre of Kosovo Emergency Department (UCCK ED). This observational clinical study included 1498 ACS patients treated at UCCK ED and followed-up by phone call for one year after discharge from the hospital. According to multivariate Cox regression analysis, age (HR=2.37, 95% CI 1.67-3.52), pre-hospital emergency care (HR=3.92, 95% CI 2.35-6.54), STEMI (HR=6.17, 95% CI 3.22-15.31), diabetes mellitus (HR=3.01, 95% CI 1.98-3.78), left ventricular ejection fraction

The paper aims to identify the factors affecting the sustainable growth rate of companies over eleven years from 2011 to 2021. The research used panel regression analysis and examined a sample of 92 manufacturing companies operating in the market of Kosovo. This study used a pooled OLS regression model to investigate the variables affecting sustainable growth rate (SGR). According to the research, SGR has a negative significant impact on profitability (ROA), liquidity (LIQ), and equity ratio (TETA). However, there was a positively statistically significant relationship between SGR, asset efficiency (STA), capital structure (TDTE), and sales growth (SG). These findings provide insight into the important factors influencing the study environment's sustainable growth rate. The findings, according to the study, can be used by management to build and implement long-term growth strategies. Businesses can improve their operations, and align them with the objective of sustainable growth by considering the impact of the identified variables. It also provides for a more accurate evaluation of the company's financial success and long-term performance. The study's findings have practical implications for a wide range of stakeholders, including corporate executives, investors, financial institutions, and researchers. All of these groups can use the knowledge provided to make better decisions and support sustainable development rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]