Background: The endometrial microbiome, its composition, and the quantity of some bacteria could be predictors of successful implantation in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment. The presence of Lactobacillus, which negatively correlates with pathogenic bacteria, could be a contributing factor to endometrial ecosystem stability. The study aimed to determine whether the quantity of Lactobacillus spp and Gardnerella vaginalis in the endometrium depends on estrogen levels. A secondary aim was to determine whether the decreased number of Lactobacillus spp leads to increased pathogenic bacteria such as Gardnerella vaginalis in the endometrial cavity. Materials and Methods: This prospective study was conducted in a private IVF center in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Participants were recruited from February 2023 to December 2023. The tip of a double-lumen catheter was used to collect samples from the endometrium. QIAamp DNA Mini Kit was used for DNA isolation. A commercial real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) kit was used to detect Lactobacillus spp and Gardnerella vaginalis quantitatively. Results: In total, 92 participants were included in the study, 57 in the fresh cycle and 35 in the frozen cycle of IVF. The youngest participant was 18 years old, and the oldest was 45 years old. The mean age of participants was 34.3 years with a standard deviation of 5.7. After RT-PCR, 90 participants had positive tests on Lactobacillus spp, Gardnerella vaginalis was positive in 31 participants. Conclusion: Supraphysiological estrogen levels do not significantly change the quantity of Lactobacillus spp and Gardnerella vaginalis in the endometrial cavity. Decreasing the number of Lactobacillus spp increased the number of pathogenic bacteria Gardnerella vaginalis in the endometrial cavity.
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming higher education, continually oscillating between its innovative potential and concerns over academic integrity. While universities are expected to develop policies addressing ethical and pedagogical challenges, many institutions have yet to implement clear guidelines. To extract the dimensions of students’ perceptions of generative AI, the authors primarily used exploratory factor analysis. By using the exploratory factor analysis three key dimensions were revealed, i.e. 1) awareness and familiarity with AI tools, shaped both by personal exposure and institutional practices 2) institutional engagement and guidance, emphasizing the degree to which professors integrate AI in teaching and the demand for clearer instructions on its use and 3) concerns ranging from perceived risks of misuse and violations of academic integrity to recognition of AI’s educational value. These findings imply the urgent need for universities to establish transparent AI policies and provide guidance, ensuring that students can engage with AI tools ethically and effectively.
This paper aims to generalize linear models for the multiproduct break-even point. Taking into consideration identified research gaps, the paper focuses on deriving formulas for determining the multiproduct break-even point through determination models. Different assumptions regarding the constancy of individual product contribution structures to total physical production volume, total revenue, total variable costs, and total contribution margin are taken into account. Additionally, connections between the obtained solutions from different models and different assumptions regarding the constancy of individual product contributions are established. The verification of the optimality of solutions obtained through different determination models is conducted by comparing them with solutions derived from linear programming as a benchmark. The developed models are tested using a case study of a multiproduct company in the metal processing industry. Through comparative analysis, the hypotheses concerning obtaining an optimal solution and the identical nature of solutions derived from the determination model and linear programming are examined. This paper contributes to the understanding of the multiproduct break-even point, providing a theoretical and practical framework for evaluation and enabling the application of various determination models in the context of a multiproduct situation.
Forgone healthcare is a hot topic in the United States. One reason is that many Americans cannot afford healthcare or health insurance. This article examines whether there are statistically significant differences in cancer mortality between US states with low, medium, and high levels of forgone healthcare. The analysis revealed statistically significant differences in cancer mortality rates between US states. Evidence shows that the percentage of adults unable to access healthcare when needed due to cost, and the percentage of adults reporting fair or poor health, are associated with differences in cancer mortality rates. These findings have important policy implications, highlighting the need for state-specific measures to improve the health and wellbeing of the population.
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death, which emphasises the need for prevention, detection and treatment. This article aims to investigate whether there are statistically significant differences in gender-specific cancer incidence and mortality between countries with low, medium and high health expenditure (as a percentage of GDP). The results for the year 2022 indicate statistically significant differences in cancer incidence and mortality in men between countries with low and medium health expenditure and countries with low and high health expenditure; however, no such differences were found in women.
Safety and security became a crucial component of an integral tourist product. Ability to offer tourists a safe stay during their holiday contributes to the attractiveness of a destination and its tourist product. Safety and security represent a pre-condition and a motive which many tourists consider crucial when choosing their destination for a holiday. Due to this, tourist destinations need to focus on improving the level of safety and security which will contribute to the satisfaction of tourists, and they will be more interested in visiting and revisiting a destination. Aim of this paper is to determine whether tourists consider safety and riskiness, as well as destination image as relevant factors in their decision-making process when choosing Opatija Riviera for their holiday. An analysis of the relevant scientific literature, and empirical research were conducted to determine if how tourists perceive safety and riskiness as well as the destination image when choosing to visit Opatija Riviera for a holiday. Based on the findings a discussion was developed to provide future activities of safety and security improvement.
The purpose of this work is to show the development and evaluation of behavioural intentions of students by using mobile banking. The research goal is to explain determinants of students’ intentions towards the use of mobile banking. PLS SEM (partial least squares structural equation modeling) analysis was used for the model evaluation. The sample consists of 83 students from four higher education institutions operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). Research results confirmed that subjective norm and attitude are significant predictors of the user’s attitude towards mobile banking acceptance, while the influence of self-efficacy was not determined. Attitudes related to mobile banking acceptance are primarily determined by perception of usefulness and self-efficacy, and to a lower degree by perception of privacy and security risk. Perception of mobile banking usefulness appeared to be the most significant predictor of attitudes, while simultaneously it influenced positively on acceptance of behavioral intention, including intervening effect of attitude variable. Digital literacy was proved to be a significant predictor for self-efficacy. From the perspective of banks, it is very important to see how a generation that a high potential for the use of modern technologies has perceives mobile banking, and what affects it to accept mobile banking. The results of this research are useful for banks to attract new younger users of mobile banking and increase their own benefits.
Purpose – The pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus left a significant negative mark on the world economy, and tourism industry. It has also significantly affected the perception and behavior of tourists when it comes to the safety of a tourist destination. To continue to record a positive recovery trend, destinations must undertake scientific and professional research, and based on the results consider and develop new development strategies for the development of tourism in the post-pandemic period. The perception of risk in tourists is changing, which ultimately has an impact on their future behavior when choosing a holiday destination. Opatija Riviera is a destination with a rich and long tourist tradition, which until before the pandemic was perceived as safe, as evidenced by the continuous growth of tourist turnover. The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the importance of monitoring whether and to what extent tourists perceive Opatija Riviera as a safe tourist destination and based on the findings to offer developmental guidelines for the post-pandemic period. Methodology – Data collection was conducted during June and July 2022, using an online survey questionnaire. 152 respondents agreed to participate in research. The basic measurement instrument was based on the Tourists’ Perceived Safety at Destinations (TPSD) scale developed by Xie et al. (2020b), i.e. initial items (25) proposed by these authors. To extract the dimensions of perceived tourist safety, the authors primarily used exploratory factor analysis. Findings – by using the exploratory factor analysis the following factors were identified: perception of safety of human elements (PSH), safety of facilities and equipment (PSFE), safety of natural environments (PSNE), perceived safety of social environments (PSSE) and safety of management elements (PSM). The results for PSH, PSFE, PSNE and PSSE have proven to be satisfactory in terms of how tourists perceive them as safe and reliable, which is not the case with the PSM. The f indings for PSM indicate the need for additional investments aimed towards improvement of protection of tourist´s safety (safety of the construction, safety of information and visibility of warning sign about security in Opatija Riviera). Originality of the research – this research contributes to the theory by presenting relevant literature content in safety perception in tourism. The empirical contribution derives from the fact that no similar research was conducted on Opatija Riviera until now. Its findings set the basis for future empirical research that will be conducted in the post-COVID period in Opatija Riviera, based on which it will be possible to plan further developmental activities aimed towards improving tourist´s safety during their stay.
The current study investigates how attitudes towards digital transformation and personal innovativeness affect the acceptance of emergency remote learning in the COVID-19 pandemic environment. The pandemic has affected all aspects of societies across the globe, including higher education that was also a significant push-up factor for the digital transformation of higher education. Thus, the main aim of this paper is to investigate the factors affecting emergency remote learning acceptance among the higher education students in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The results presented in this paper gained from a study carried out among higher education students in BiH cover the period of April – July 2020 via the open-source platform. The study focused on the students’ attitude towards a digital transformation is a significant factor in accepting emergency remote learning. Also, the personal innovativeness score has proven to be a crucial factor for adopting this new learning setting, i.e., more innovative students have a greater emergency remote learning acceptance than students with a lower personal innovativeness score. Hence, this study pinpoints the necessity of changing the attitudes towards technology applications in education. It would increase the usage of remote learning services and provide students with knowledge and skills for the new labour market
The purpose of this research is to provide some insights into financial literacy among undergraduate students focusing primarily on the relationship between financial knowledge, financial attitudes and financial behavior and on possible gender and financial education gap in financial literacy. Using the purposive sampling technique, data collection was carried out from April to June 2020, yielding a sample of 1,046 valid responses. To gain a better understanding of the relationship between financial behaviour, financial attitudes and financial knowledge, we, primarily, use exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression model. The research findings have revealed several important issues. First, findings have suggested that financial knowledge, financial attitudes and gender may be considered as an antecedent of the financial behaviour of undergraduate students. Second, findings have also suggested a statistically - significant difference between the financial literacy of undergraduate students concerning their exposure to formal financial education.
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