The results of orthodontic therapy largely depend, among other factors, on the preparation of the tooth enamel itself and the choice of material used to bond orthodontic brackets. The aim of this in vitro study was to determine the shear bond strength (SBS) and adhesive remnant index (ARI) score of thermo-cured glass–ionomers on different pretreated enamel, in comparison with the commonly used composite cement. Three commercially available nano-ionomer or highly viscous glass–ionomer cements (EQUIA Forte® Fil, EQUIA Fil, Ketac Universal) and two types of compo-sites (Heliosit Orthodontic, ConTec Go!) were investigated in this study. The research involved two hundred human premolars. The teeth were cleaned and polished, then randomly divided into five groups according to the enamel preparation method and the type of material. The enamel was treated in three different ways: polyacrylic acid, phosphoric acid, 5% NaOCl + etching with phosphoric acid, and a control group without treatment. Glass–ionomer cement was thermo-cured with heat from a polymerization unit during setting. Statistical analysis was performed using a Chi-square test and one-way ANOVA for independent samples. Spearman’s Rho correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship. Regardless of the material type, the results indicated that the weakest bond between the bracket and tooth enamel was found in samples without enamel pretreatment. The majority of the materials stayed on the brackets in samples without enamel preparation, according to ARI scores. The study’s findings demonstrated that the strength of the adhesion between the bracket and enamel is greatly influenced by enamel etching and glass–ionomer thermo-curing. Clinical investigations would be required to validate the outcomes.

This paper explores the contribution of custom-trained Large Language Models (LLMs) to developing Open Education Resources (OERs) in higher education. Our empirical analysis is based on the case of a custom LLM specialized for teaching business management in higher education. This custom LLM has been conceptualized as a virtual teaching companion, aimed to serve as an OER, and trained using the authors’ licensed educational materials. It has been designed without coding or specialized machine learning tools using the commercially available ChatGPT Plus tool and a third-party Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot delivery service. This new breed of AI tools has the potential for wide implementation, as they can be designed by faculty using only conventional LLM prompting techniques in plain English. This paper focuses on the opportunities for custom-trained LLMs to create Open Educational Resources (OERs) and democratize academic teaching and learning. Our approach to AI chatbot evaluation is based on a mixed-mode approach, combining a qualitative analysis of expert opinions with a subsequent (quantitative) student survey. We have collected and analyzed responses from four subject experts and 204 business students at the Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism Split (Croatia) and Faculty of Economics Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina). We used thematic analysis in the qualitative segment of our research. In the quantitative segment of empirical research, we used statistical methods and the SPSS 25 software package to analyze student responses to the modified BUS-15 questionnaire. Research results show that students positively evaluate the business management learning chatbot and consider it useful and responsive. However, interviewed experts raised concerns about the adequacy of chatbot answers to complex queries. They suggested that the custom-trained LLM lags behind the generic LLMs (such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and others). These findings suggest that custom LLMs might be useful tools for developing OERs in higher education. However, their training data, conversational capabilities, technical execution, and response speed must be monitored and improved. Since this research presents a novelty in the extant literature on AI in education, it requires further research on custom GPTs in education, including their use in multiple academic disciplines and contexts.

Digital technology has become inseparable from all core and supportive processes because of the intensive use of different digital tools. The paper aimed to determine teachers’ views on the impact of digital technology on business processes in higher education institutions - whether they recognize the impact and how they evaluate it. The survey was conducted among the teachers of the public University in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The results show that digital technology has a positive and mostly strong or medium impact on business processes in higher education institutions. The work on international research and educational projects and the teaching process are the most influenced by digital technology. It has a stronger impact on the core processes than on supportive activities. Teachers recognize the influence of digital transformation on all processes at universities, both core and supporting. The influence is stronger with core processes.

Education and employment stakeholders worldwide have increasingly acknowledged the need to teach students soft skills to improve their academic performance and long-term prospects. Soft skills are transferable across jobs and industries and related to personal and social competencies. Their development aims to empower and increase personal growth and learning participation and improve job opportunities. Given their central role in shaping students’ educational experiences, teachers must be well-versed in the value of cultivating soft skills and awareness of the necessity to incorporate their study into various curricular frameworks. As a result, this article investigates whether business schools adequately prepare their students for the soft skills demanded by today’s labor market. Business teachers in Bosnia and Herzegovina were the subjects of the survey. The findings indicate that teachers recognize the value of teaching students soft skills but that current curricula may be strengthened in this area.

There is a generally accepted opinion that young people, born in the era of intensive use of ICT and the Internet, are much better at handling new technologies and using Internet resources than older generations. In support of this claim, it is stated that different digital technologies and the Internet have been a natural environment for these generations since birth. This paper aims to check to what extent the above statements apply to University of Mostar (SUM) students. For this purpose, the authors researched SUM students to determine how they self-assess their knowledge and use of Internet resources. On the other hand, it was necessary to use Internet resources to pass exams in certain subjects. In this paper, the authors compared the results obtained by surveying students with actual exam results. The results of the research suggest that the students have relatively good knowledge and coping skills with the tasks they solve within the individual courses of their studies. However, Insufficient mastery of the Internet and its information is indicated by lower ratings of the ability to evaluate found materials and ratings of the ability to use the advanced functions of the Google search engine.

Introduction: The paper aims to research how the Covid-19 infection affects BPH patients, whether their PSA, prostate volume, residual urine, and quality of life have changed. Additionally, to examine whether any of these variables are a predictive factor for acute urinary retention (AUR). Methodology: The study comprised 80 patients with clinical manifestations of LUTS, an aggravation of previously diagnosed BPH, and who recovered from COVID-19. IPSS, QoL, PSA, prostate volume, and postmicturition residual urine were studied before and after COVID-19. Results: The IPSS score, PSA, prostate volume, and residual urine were signicantly higher after recovering from COVID-19. Additionally, greater IPSS-QoL scores were discovered. Nine patients (mostly older than 60) suffered acute retention during or after the COVID-19 infection. Residual urine was found to be a signicant predictor of AUR. Conclusion: COVID-19 infection is caused by aggravating LUTS symptoms associated with BPH. Consequently, the increase postmicturition residual urine can be considered a predictive factor for the occurrence of AUR

This aim of this study was to investigate surface gloss changes of different composite dental materials after chemical degradation or polishing. Five different composites were used (Evetric, GrandioSO, Admira Fusion, Filtek Z550, Dynamic Plus). The gloss of the tested material was measured with a glossmeter before and after chemical degradation in different acidic beverages. Statistical analysis was performed using a t-test for dependent samples, ANOVA, and a post hoc test. For comparison between groups, a level of significance was set at 0.05. Initial gloss values ranged from 51 to 93 at baseline to 32 to 81 after chemical degradation. The highest values were obtained for Dynamic Plus (93.5 GU) and GrandioSO (77.8 GU), followed by Admira Fusion (82 GU) and Filtek Z550 (70.5 GU). Evetric showed the lowest initial gloss values. After acidic exposures, the gloss measurements revealed different patterns of surface degradation. The results showed that the gloss of the samples decreased with time regardless of the treatment. The interaction between chemical-erosive beverages and the composite could lead to a decrease in the surface gloss of the composite restoration. The nanohybrid composite showed less gloss changes under acidic conditions, suggesting that it is more suitable for anterior restorations.

For successful leadership, skills such as management should be measured, in addition to high emotional skills, knowing how to apply leadership styles to each situation faced within the organization. Be influential and know how to involve the team to masterfully achieve the proposed objectives. The present investigation portrays the leadership styles present and applied by leaders of an IPSS's (Private Social Solidarity Institution). Topics such as motivation, satisfaction, approaches, and leadership concepts were proposed to be studied, using the literature review of other studies already carried out. The necessary information was obtained, using a questionnaire to a sample of the active population in Lisbon Municipality Area. The results obtained from the sample of 19 responses to the questionnaire was subject to statistical treatment, showed that an effective leader must not only reveal technical knowledge to transmit to the subordinates who perform tasks, but also the ability to deal with people, to communicate with employees to get job done. These same results demonstrated the transversal preference of leaders in IPSS's for the adoption of the democratic leadership style, regardless the situational variables that explain some conflict situations. In the opposite direction, autocratic leadership style is the least adopted by them.