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The aim of this paper was to analyze profitability determinants in the insurance sector of the Republic of Serbia. The study relies on empirical research that involves the evaluation of panel regression models including all insurance companies that operated in the Republic of Serbia in the period 2005-2021. The data are collected from the financial statements published by the National Bank of Serbia, covering unbalanced panel that includes a total number of 32 life insurance, non-life insurance and reinsurance companies. The results of the panel regression models indicate that insurance-specific variables have a significant and robust role in determining financial performance, whilst macroeconomic variables seem to affect profitability to a lesser extent. Besides insurance-specific variables, market concentration also appears as the significant determinant of insurance sector performance, being positively associated with profitability indicators.

Reactive dyes are the most popular dyes for dyeing cellulose fibers. The exhaustion method is the most common technical method of their application, when large amounts of neutral salts and alkali are added to the dyeing bath to fixing the dyes. Despite this, 10-40% of the dye is not fixed to the cotton and together with the salts, it represents a large environmental burden for watercourses. Recently, methods have been studied to increase the substantiality and reactivity of these dyes with the aim of promoting procedures that are more economical and environmentally safer. In this sense, cationic modification of cotton can be considered a promising procedure for increasing the utilization of reactive dyes from the technological solution. This review paper reports on the possibilities of applying different cationic agents for cotton processing and the effects of cationic modification on the ability to dye with reactive dyes.

Water is the source of life for all living beings, but also an irreplaceable input in agricultural production. According to the available water and land potentials in Serbia irrigation is used at generally negligible arable areas. Although it represents an agro-technical measure whose implementation usually causes significant investment costs for the farm, its application ensures high and stable yields of high quality crops' fruits, while indirectly it affects increase in incomes and continuity in farm sustainability. The main goal of the paper is presenting an assessment of the effects of investing in implementation of the irrigation system (type Tifon) on a small family farm primarily active in crop farming. Investment analysis was based on basic static and dynamic methods for assessing the effectiveness of investments. The assessment was focused to two modalities in crop production, i.e. implementation of irrigation in crop farming at 25 ha and 30 ha. In both observed modalities the investment was assessed as economically justified alternative for farm business improvement, while there are shown slightly better results with the rise of used agricultural surfaces.

The tendency of textile materials to crease is reduced by the finishing process when cross-linked compounds are incorporated in the amorphous phase, which improve the recovery of material after the elimination of the pressure load. Because of adverse effects on human health conventional formaldehyde-based processing compounds are increasingly substituted by new compounds and by use of biopolymers. In the paper, examined is the possibility of using the biopolymer chitosan in combination with reactive resin to improve the physical properties of fabrics made of blended cotton/PES. The use of chitosan in combination with commercial reactant improves the physical characteristics of fabrics, because increasing the concentrations of biopolymer progressively increases recovery angle (a0), quality number (K) and the bursting strength of the treated fabric.

Copolymeric hydrogels of poly(N-isopropylmethacrylamide-co-N-isopropylacrylamide), p(NIPMAM/NIPAM), are synthesized by radical polymerization of N-isopropylmethacryl-amide (NIPMAM) and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) monomers by using the cross-linker ethylen glycol dimethacrylate (EGDM). The synthesized copolymeric p(NIPMAM/NIPAM) hydrogels, starting monomers and the cross-linker were structurally characterized by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The amounts of residual reactants in the synthesized hydrogels were determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Swelling of p(NIPMAM/NIPAM) hydrogels was investigated in relation to the temperature and pH value of the solution. The obtained values of residual monomer quantities are within acceptable limits and in the range from 2.69 to 5.25 mg g-1 for NIPMAM and 14.55 to 30.80 mg g-1 for NIPAM. The synthesized p(NIPMAM/NIPAM) hydrogels are negatively thermosensitive. The most common mechanisms of transport of a swelling solution in p(NIPMAM/NIPAM) hydrogels are polymer chain relaxation, (Case III), and the anomalous type of diffusion (non-Fickian diffusion). The maximal equilibrium swelling degree of 51.19 was reached by the p(NIPMAM/NIPAM) hydrogel with 1.5 mol% of EGDM at the temperature of 25°C and pH 4, whereas the lowest one of 0.98 was exhibited by the hydrogel with 3 mol% of EGDM at the temperature of 80°C and pH 7. Due to their low content of residual reactants and a satisfactory degree of swelling at various pH values, synthesized p(NIPMAM/NIPAM) hydrogels can be applied as carriers for the controlled release of pharmaceutically active substances.

Water scarcity is a growing concern across the globe due to climate change and demands for increased economic development. This paper analyses the relationship between economic development and freshwater abstraction in order to investigate its European impact. The analysis focuses on a total of 19 European countries, including 18 EU member states and one candidate, from 2007 to 2018. Using a panel dataset, the impact of a diverse selection of indicators of economic development (per capita GDP, the Human Development Index - HDI, water productivity and volume of international trade) on freshwater abstraction, our analysis finds that all explanatory variables are significant for cross-country variations except for international trade. To maintain scope, the analysis is limited to economic-development indicators themselves, excluding the effects of climate change and the availability of water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Removal of hydrolysed reactive dye is an important stage in cotton dyeing as it affects the exploitation and hygienic properties of textile products. As a major consumer of water and chemicals, this work process is being studied from the point of view of saving natural resources and environmental protection. In this paper, studied was the effect of washing agents on the basis of surfactants with different ionogenicity as well as pure water on the removal of hydrolyzed reactive dyes having different functional groups. The obtained results suggest that clean water with a larger bath ratio (1:30) and a washing time of 30 min can be an effective remover for hydrolysed monoreactive dye. In the removal of the hydrolysed bifunctional dye, beside the bath ratio and washing times, the concentration of surfactants can also have a significant effect on the process efficiency.

Copyright of Knowledge: International Journal is the property of Institute for Knowledge Management 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 examines the relationship between FDI inflow per capita and unemployment rates in 17 transition countries over the period 2000-2014. It aims at testing the premise, usually suggested by policy makers, that higher attraction of FDI in transition countries results in inevitable unemployment reduction. The empirical analysis contributes to the existing literature applying panel cointegration approach in testing and assessing long-run impact of FDI on unemployment, as an alternative to typical panel analysis that examine contemporaneous relations. The evidence from seven performed panel cointegration tests provide the mixed results, while the Fully Modified and Dynamic OLS panel estimations indicate that FDI and unemployment are most likely not cointegrated. The inconclusiveness of the empirical evidences gives the argument in support of the general conclusion that long-run impact of FDI on unemployment in transition countries is either very loose or does not exist.

Hydrogels are synthesized by the method of radical polymerization of monomers: N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) and acrylic acid (AA). Characterization of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide- co-acrylic acid) hydrogels, p(NIPAM/AA), has been performed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and by determination of the swelling behaviour in aqueous solutions at different temperatures (25, 31 and 37°C) and pH values (2.2, 4.5, 6 and 6.8). After lyophilisation in the solution at pH 6 and temperature of 25°C, p(NIPAM/AA) hydrogels have rapidly reached equilibrium degree of swelling, αe, in comparison to non-lyophilized samples. The mechanism of solvent transport within matrix in lyophilized samples corresponds to less Fickian diffusion, whereas Super case II diffusion is characteristic for non-lyophilized samples. p(NIPAM/AA) hydrogel with 1.5 mol% of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDM) at the temperature of 25°C and pH 6.8, has reached the highest swelling equilibrium degree, αe = 259.8. The results of swelling studies have shown that p(NIPAM/AA) hydrogels can be classified as superabsorbent polymers (SAPs). For the evaluation of pH and temperature influences on synthesized hydrogels swelling, a full three-level experimental design has been used. Two-factor interaction model (2FI) is the most optimal model of a full three-level experimental design for representing the swelling equilibrium degree of p(NIPAM/AA) hydrogels as a function of investigated parameters, i.e., temperature and pH. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. TR-34012]

Objective of this paper is to empirically examine whether widespread unofficial dollarisation plays significant role in determination of exchange rate dynamic in Turkey and Serbia, as one big and one small of the EU candidate countries under managed floating currency regime and synthesize consequent policy recommendations. Our time-series approach utilised monthly data from 2006-2016 to research the aforementioned relationship. After resolving non-stationarity issues, we deployed GARCH analysis to pinpoint the sources of volatility. Our research shows that in Serbia dollarisation has significant and robustly positive influence on exchange rate levels, but not so in Turkey, whose national currency is pretty robust in levels yet its volatility is more sensitive than Serbian dinar to volatility of dollarisation. In addition, Serbian foreign exchange reserves share in the money supply positively influences dinar-euro nominal exchange rate volatility, while Turkish reserves' share in money supply has negative impact on exchange rate volatility. Even though uncovered interest parity doesn't hold in either of countries, Serbian dinar is somewhat susceptible to interest rate manipulation, unlike Turkish lira. In the end, one could conclude that flexible exchange rate has more sense and better results in Turkey than in Serbia, but rational choice between earlier-agreed upon or unilateral-official dollarisation on the one hand and continuing with managed (systematic) floating on the other in these two EU candidate countries, requires additional, more precise cost-benefit analysis, as formalised in the discussion and suggested for future research.

Youth on the labour market in developing countries such as Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina are facing numerous difficulties, with almost a half of their population aged between 15 -24 not working or working in informal sector. The reasons may be numerous. The financial crisis and the low economic development of the country have had negative impact on young generations and this resulted in lack of sufficient jobs vacancies. In addition, the reasons for their slow entry into the labour market could be the lack of experience, low education among young people etc. Although employers have certain expectations of young people, once they enter the labour market young people have certain values that are important for them when choosing a job. The paper presents the research on the expectations of young people entering labour market in the Republic of Serbia. According to survey results based on analyses of youth' expectations and preferences in Serbia regarding potential work conditions, authors have by the means of factor analysis identified which groups of factors are the most important for young people ages between 16 and 30 in job finding in Serbia. The results showed that there is a significance of three questions: 1. Job does not affect the private life; 2. Work resources are provided; 3. Work is safe. In conclusion, if a company ensures that these three issues are regulated, it will more likely employ young professionals.

The aim of this work was the preparation of the inclusion complex of naproxen with 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) in order to improve the physical and chemical properties of naproxen. The molecular inclusion complexes of naproxen with HP-β-CD were prepared by using the co-precipitation method in the solid state with the molar ratio of 1:1. The structure of the obtained complex was characterized by using FTIR, 1H NMR, UV-Vis and XRD methods. The testing of naproxen photostability by the UV-Vis method indicated the degradation to aromatic ketone, 2-acetyl-6-methoxynaphthalene. FTIR analysis showed that the degradation started 15 days after the exposure of naproxen to daylight while the inclusion complex of naproxen: 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin was photostable for a period of 30 days. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR 34012]

Economic trends in recent years have led to rising unemployment across Europe. This trend is particularly evident among youth. At the same time, the negative demographic trends in many countries show that the number of young people is decreasing. Problems among young people are the reflection of the future state of the nation. Therefore there is a need to analyse whether the government can reduce youth unemployment rate using available regulatory tools. In this paper, the authors have analysed the impact of three groups of factors on the youth unemployment rate by using multiple regression analysis and controlling the long-term determinants of unemployment. The results show that the level of unemployment is largely impacted by a tax rate on low wages, primarily in the mid-term. Factors related to the general rate of unemployment, as well as the other demographic factors have showed no statistically significant impact on mid-term and long-term youth unemployment rate.

The aim of this work is the protection of piroxicam from photodegradation by forming inclusion complex with 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin. Piroxicam:2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin molecular inclusion complex was prepared by coprecipitation method with molar ratio of 1:1. Structural characterization of the complex, the corresponding physical mixture and complexing agents of piroxicam and 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin was carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD), proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Photosensitivity to daylight for piroxicam and piroxicam:2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex was investigated by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The investigations show that higher photostability of piroxicam was achieved in complex than in non-complexed piroxicam.

Population ageing is a global phenomenon without precedent in the history of humanity having implications in all facets of life. From an economic point of view, population ageing is certainly one of the biggest challenges of modern time. A consequence of these global demographic tendencies reflected in growing number of pensioners which negatively affects sustainability of public pension systems financed by the principle of intergenerational solidarity (Pay-As-You-Go) - widely represented in public pension schemes of European countries. In this paper, impact of demographic ageing on pension systems is analyzed in the context of sustainability of public finance in Serbia in the period 2010-2050. Although the comparative analysis of the pension expenditure share in gross domestic product (GDP) does not point to significant differences between Serbia and the countries in the neighborhood and the European Union, the growth trend of subsidizing the Pension Fund from the government budget endangers medium-term sustainability of the public pension system in Serbia, bearing in mind that the implementation of measures proposed in pension reforms can be valorized only in the long run. The main objective of the analysis is projecting long-term pension expenditure as a share of GDP. The projections were formed indirectly by modeling the average pension expenditure, because this variable incorporates both growth in the total pension expenditure and growth in the number of pensioners as a result of demographic trends, and better reflects the actual growth of pension expenditure. For the purposes of the analysis, in addition to the projection of real GDP growth, size of the inactive population aged 65 and over, as the main contingent of the pension system users and the total number of pensioners, was projected by means of stochastic cohort component methodology. Based on these projections and assumptions about the growth rate of average pension expenditure (three scenarios), the projections of total pension expenditure (as a percentage of GDP) are produced for the period 2010-2050. The results indicate that the growth rate of pension expenditure over the past few years is unsustainable in the long run. However, there is fiscal space for continuous real growth of pensions that does not jeopardize the budget deficit on the medium term, and leads to long-term reduction of the share of pension expenditures in GDP. The proposed change would not affect sustainability of the pension system and consequently public finance in Serbia, even in completely certain circumstances of significant increase in the number of elderly and their pressure on the workforce. In this context, critical review of the current government approach to the pension growth dynamics was given from the perspective of medium-term sustainability of pension system, which resulted in appropriate recommendations. Generally, the intent of the Government of the Republic of Serbia on the indexation of pensions represent a good solution long term, but the premise of increasing pensions for a part of real GDP growth, if it is higher than 4%, is subject to criticism from the point of view of medium-term sustainability. The crisis cycle of the Serbian economy, similarly to that on a global level, has its maximum and minimum phase. After a maximum of the crisis is reached, there should be a few years of economic stagnation followed by gradual, and then by faster economic growth. Due to the projection of a relatively higher rate of economic growth and GDP in a future economic recovery, there is an increased risk that such a growth could be followed by sudden jumps in the growth of pensions, which could result in unsustainable funding of pension system. Therefore, the Government should impose some limitations in terms of the maximum increase in pension per annum in case of intensive and high economic growth.

Copyright of Knowledge: International Journal is the property of Institute for Knowledge Management 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.)

In this study, we examine whether the outbreak of pandemic has given incentive to smoking cessation and which factors are associated with such intentions, emphasizing change of economic conditions and smoking habits in the time of COVID-19. Data were collected through a telephone survey among a representative sample of the Serbian adult population aged less than 65 years (N=1,002) from 11 to 19 May 2020. The current smokers reported whether the COVID-19 pandemic had changed their tobacco products consumption, disposable income and intentions to cease smoking. Among the current smokers, 26.3% reported that the COVID-19 pandemic triggered intentions to cease smoking. On the other hand, 42.4% of smokers reported a decrease in income, while 22.7% of smokers reported increased smoking during the COVID-19 pandemic. Logistic regression reveals that occasional smokers are the most likely to stop smoking (OR 4.17; CI: 2.18 - 7.99), while the majority of other factors (socio-demographic, economic, smoking habits) do not influence the odds of smoking cessation. Lack of association between intentions to cease smoking and pandemic-related worsening of economic well-being might result from low cigarette prices in Serbia. Consequently, higher taxation of tobacco products is recommended to policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper's main objective is to assess the current level of eHealth skills of female entrepreneurs in Serbia and their respective associations with selected sociodemographic characteristics. To this end, we use a dataset from the 2018 survey on ICT usage in Serbia. In particular, the analysis covers three eHealth skills: seeking health-related information online, scheduling medical appointments online or via applications, and online purchase of pharmaceutical products. The analysis shows that female entrepreneurs in Serbia, on average utilized eHealth opportunities more frequently than other women or male entrepreneurs. Level of education and average monthly income appears as the socio-demographic characteristics associated with eHealth skills related to familiarity with online services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether a long-run relationship exists between CO2 emissions and selected variables: real gross domestic product per capita, inward stock of foreign direct investments, gross fixed capital formation, industry, value added and energy use per capita for Colombia, Indonesia, Viet Nam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa countries in the period of 1989–2016. We used panel unit root testing, followed by panel cointegration tests and panel causality. The results clearly prove the existence of a bidirectional long-run causal relationship between all the variables except between CO2 emissions and GDP and CO2 emissions and GFCF. Major finding of the short-run causality analysis is that CO2 emission in the short run does not result in changes of other variables. On the other hand, all variables except foreign direct investments (FDI) cause the changes in the CO2 emissions, and there is a positive bidirectional causal relationship between GDP and FDI, between GFCF and FDI, and between GFCF and IVA. Finally, positive unidirectional causal relationship also exists, running from GDP to IVA, GDP to ENUSE, IVA to FDI and ENUSE to FDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Chemical Industry / Hemijska Industrija is the property of Association of Chemical Engineers 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.)

The aim of this study was to determine adsorptive properties of acid-activated bentonite clay for the removal of Direct Red 173 (DR 173) and Reactive Red 22 (RR 22) dyes from aqueous solutions. Raw and modified clay were characterized by the following methods: Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The efficiency of activated clay adsorption was investigated depending on process parameters: the adsorbent dose, pH, temperature, initial dye concentration, and contact time. Experimental data were analyzed by Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherms as well as kinetic models of pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order and intra-particle diffusion. The process of dye adsorption was best described by Langmuir, Temkin, and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherms (R2 > 0.97). Pseudo-second order model (R2 > 0.99) had the highest correlation with the obtained kinetic results. The positive value of ΔH° indicated that adsorption of dyes by activated bentonite clay is an endothermic process. The activated bentonite exhibited good regenerative ability in the 0.1 M NaOH solution. Maximum adsorption capacities of acid-activated bentonite clay at 25 °C for DR 173 and RR 22 dyes were 356.65 and 109.58 μmol g-1, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the relationship between real GDP and CO2 emissions for 17 transitional economies based on a series of annual data from 1997 to 2014. The analysis was conducted using Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) (DOLS) and Fully Modified OLS (FMOLS) approaches. The results clearly suggest the existence of a statistically significant long-run cointegrating relationship between CO2 emissions and real GDP. A 1% change in GDP leads to around a 0.35% change of CO2 emission on average for the considered group of countries. Close values of long-run coefficients for all estimations confirm the robustness of the estimated results. The authors state that transitional economies need to follow global policy incentives, and try to implement new mechanisms and instruments for the purpose of reducing CO2 emissions, such as environmental taxes, emissions-trading schemes, and carbon capture and storage, if they want to achieve future CO2 emission reductions, while attaining economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings on existing potentials for the establishment of social sciences digital data archives in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia. Findings are based on a standardized survey that was conducted in all three countries on representative sample of social sciences researchers, with a 63% average rate of completed questionnaires. Results of the survey show that the potential for establishment of digital data archives in all considered countries are large, regarding the scope of data produced, as well as positive attitude of researchers toward data sharing and benefits of data archives. Also, results point to lack of knowledge in dealing with metadata as the main obstacle for data sharing, which further implies that existence of national data archives, with staff trained to underpin researchers' efforts in process of data documentation and preservation, should be very beneficial for the future development of social sciences in these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]