Abstract Background: Due to strong empirical evidence from different markets, existence of value premium became a financial theory standpoint. Although previous studies found that value stocks beat growth stocks in bearish and bullish markets, during the GFC, value stocks underperformed growth stocks. Objectives: This paper aims to examine the performance of value and growth stock portfolios after the GFC. Subjects of our analysis are constituent companies of the DJIA index, out of which portfolios of large-cap value and growth stocks have been constructed and evaluated. Methods/Approach: We measure the performance of stock portfolios, which are created based on the naïve diversification rule and random weighting approach. Statistical testing includes Levene’s homogeneity test, the Mann-Whitney U test, T-test, and the One-Sample T-test. Results: Growth stock portfolios outperform value stock portfolios after the GFC. The dominance of growth stock portfolios compared to value stock portfolios is significant, and the value premium disappears. Conclusions: Financial theory and investment management implications show that growth stocks have overtaken the dominance over value stocks since 2009. Causes might be in (1) expansionary monetary policy characterized by very low long-term interest rates and (2) high performance of the tech industry to which most growth stocks belong.

Abstract The current extremely volatile business environment requires companies to manage a wide range of risks. Poor management of the company’s main risks can lead to significant value losses for key stakeholders. Companies strive to preserve and protect their value by developing risk management models based on organisational culture, processes and structure. The main objective of this paper is to assess the maturity of risk management, explore its determinants and examine its impact on firm value. In order to quantify the maturity of the risk management model, we have created an index based on 31 reference components whose weighting values have been determined by a group of experts using the Delphi technique. In addition, this paper aims to identify the determinants of the risk management model maturity in companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). Based on the estimated ordinary least squares (OLS) model, the results confirm that companies from the financial sector have more mature risk management models compared to the real sector. Moreover, the size of the firm and the type of auditor were identified as additional determinants of risk management maturity. The OLS model confirms the positive and statistically significant impact of risk management model maturity on Tobin’s Q value.

Background: Invasive ductal cancer (IDC) represents about 75% of all breast malignancies. There are many breast cancer prognostic factors, but the ones that have the most impact on the survival rates in advanced breast cancer are tumor size and regional lymph node involvement. Axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) has particularly important and undoubtful role in current surgical options for breast cancer treatment. With the introduction of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) for breast cancer patients it was possible to identify those to whom regional spread of the disease did not occur at the time of surgery, and thus spare them an unnecessary ALND procedure. Objective: To determine the rate of sentinel lymph node (SLN) detection using only methylene blue dye as a mapping agent, as well as to correlate the number of positive SLNs with the number of positive non-sentinel lymph nodes (non-SLNs). Methods: The study represents a prospective study that included 50 female patients with histologically confirmed invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) who underwent SLNB using only methylene blue dye as the mapping agent, while the detection and harvest of SNL was done by visual control only. All patients also underwent an obligatory complete ALND, which was as that time the institutional oncological protocol for surgical treatment of histologically confirmed IDC. The final data such as tumor size, SLN and non-SLN status were obtained by further analysis of pathohistological reports from tumor biopsy and other surgical specimens. Results: The accuracy rate of SLN detection was 98%. The number of detected SLN was in the range of 1 to 6, with an average of 2 for each patient. The number of positive SLN was in significant correlation with the number of tumor-affected non-SNL (p<0,001). Further analysis showed that for each increase in the number of positive SLN by 1, the risk of positive non-SLN increased 6-fold, OR=6,22 (p<0,001). Conclusion: Use of methylene blue dye as a sole mapping agent when performing SLNB in patients with IDC is a reliable and effective method that can be safely implemented in medical institutions that lack availability of nuclear medicine services or significant monetary funds.

Abstract Extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) hydrolyse extended-spectrum cephalosporins (ESC) and aztreonam. As ESBL-producing organisms have been identified in food producing animals, the aim of our study was to detect and analyse such Escherichia coli isolates from poultry. Antibiotic susceptibility of the isolates was determined with disk-diffusion and broth microdilution methods. ESBLs were detected with the double-disk synergy and inhibitor-based test with clavulanic acid. The transferability of cefotaxime resistance was determined with conjugation experiments, and genes encoding ESBLs, plasmid-mediated AmpC β-lactamases, and quinolone resistance determinants identified by polymerase chain reaction. The study included 108 faecal samples (cloacal swabs) from 25 different poultry farms in the Zenica-Doboj Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Of these, 75 (69.4 %) were positive for E. coli, of which 27 were resistant to cefotaxime, amoxicillin, cefazoline, and cefriaxone, and susceptible to imipenem, meropenem, ertapenem, and amikacin. All 27 cefotaxime-resistant isolates were positive in double-disk synergy and combined disk tests. Eighteen isolates transferred cefotaxime resistance to E. coli recipient. Twenty-one isolates were positive for the blaCTX-M-1 cluster genes and seven for blaCTX-M-15. Fourteen were positive for the blaTEM genes. The most frequent plasmid incompatibility group was IncFIB, whereas IncFIA and Inc HI1 were present in only a few isolates. Two different sequence types (STs) were identified: ST117 and ST155. The emergence of ESBL-producing E. coli in farm animals presents a public health threat, as they can colonise the intestine and cause infections in humans.

Abstract In the process of designing a system, it is necessary to identify potential threats to that system and to include appropriate countermeasures. The process that helps in finding problems in the initial phase of the system design is the threat modeling. Creating a threat model consists of several steps and there are many tools that can help in automating the procedure. This article deals with the threat analysis for an Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) system based on Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), whose main function is to provide information for carers in order to provide the best possible help to the elderly and disabled. We have identified and analysed 99 potential threats to the considered system, where Denial of Service (DoS) resulted in being the most represented class of threats. After conducting the threat assessment, the obtained results showed that the majority of threats are high-risk and justified the use of threat modeling in the design phase, since they can be utilized in further system development stages.

The increasing use of video streaming services that followed the Covid-19 pandemic has more than ever driven a rising interest among various stakeholders in service provisioning chain to understand factors influencing quality of experience (QoE). Many research activities have so far addressed different influence factors in order to understand and improve QoE when using video streaming service. However, we have recognized the requirement to address QoE as multidimensional concept, and show the relationship between QoE, perceptual dimensions, and influence factors. In this paper, we provide the multidimensional modelling and analysis of QoE for video streaming. Result analysis has shown that QoE for video streaming can be modelled by using perception of quality of video and perception of ease of use of application as predictors. The analysis of influence of individual system (i.e., resolution, coding tree unit (CTU), and constant rate factor (CRF)), context (i.e., location, lighting, and video type), and human (i.e., gender, education level, and prior experience) factors and their interactions on QoE perceptual dimensions (i.e., perception of quality and perception of ease of use) show statistically significant impacts, which means that alternations of these factors can enhance perceptual dimensions and consequently QoE for video streaming which is a final goal.

The efficient development and utilisation of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) for applications in enhanced biosensing relies on the use of magnetisation dynamics, which are primarily governed by the time-dependent motion of the magnetisation due to externally applied magnetic fields. An accurate description of the physics involved is complex and not yet fully understood, especially in the frequency range where Néel and Brownian relaxation processes compete. However, even though it is well known that non-zero, non-static local fields significantly influence these magnetisation dynamics, the modelling of magnetic dynamics for MNPs often uses zero-field dynamics or a static Langevin approach. In this paper, we developed an approximation to model and evaluate its performance for MNPs exposed to a magnetic field with varying amplitude and frequency. This model was initially developed to predict superparamagnetic nanoparticle behaviour in differential magnetometry applications but it can also be applied to similar techniques such as magnetic particle imaging and frequency mixing. Our model was based upon the Fokker–Planck equations for the two relaxation mechanisms. The equations were solved through numerical approximation and they were then combined, while taking into account the particle size distribution and the respective anisotropy distribution. Our model was evaluated for Synomag®-D70, Synomag®-D50 and SHP-15, which resulted in an overall good agreement between measurement and simulation.

Abstract The Balkan Peninsula and the Dinaric Mountains possess extraordinary biodiversity and support one of the largest and most diverse wolf (Canis lupus) populations in Europe. Results obtained with diverse genetic markers show west‐east substructure, also seen in various other species, despite the absence of obvious barriers to movement. However, the spatial extent of the genetic clusters remains unresolved, and our aim was to combine fine‐scale sampling with population and spatial genetic analyses to improve resolution of wolf genetic clusters. We analyzed 16 autosomal microsatellites from 255 wolves sampled in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH), and Serbia and documented three genetic clusters. These comprised (1) Slovenia and the regions of Gorski kotar and Lika in Croatia, (2) the region of Dalmatia in southern Croatia and BIH, and (3) Serbia. When we mapped the clusters geographically, we observed west‐east genetic structure across the study area, together with some specific structure in BIH–Dalmatia. We observed that cluster 1 had a smaller effective population size, consistent with earlier reports of population recovery since the 1980s. Our results provide foundation for future genomic studies that would further resolve the observed west‐east population structure and its evolutionary history in wolves and other taxa in the region and identify focal areas for habitat conservation. They also have immediate importance for conservation planning for the wolves in one of the most important parts of the species’ European range.

In the Roman legal tradition, but also in modern civil law systems, the term commorientes (lat. commorientes) refers to persons who died in the same accident or other danger, standing in a legal position relevant to inheritance law. In connection with the resolution of such situations in the theory of private law, various legal presumptions have been developed since the period of classical Roman law. All these presumptions can be systematized within two basic concepts - the first based on the presumption of survival of subjects and the second based on the presumption of the simultaneous death of subjects. Comparatively, in the development of European private law, there has been a reception of both concepts, with the proviso that over time the concept of simultaneity will almost completely suppress the concept of survival. The paper analyzes the reasons for this. In establishing a link between Roman roots and European private law, special attention is given to the possibility of applying presumptions in cases where there is a certain spatial or temporal distance between the deaths of persons or if a different cause has led to fatal consequences. Ultimately, the paper clearly points to the importance of Roman rules, which can sometimes be fundamental in understanding the institutes of contemporary private law.

Recent years have seen a surge in popularity of concession projects, particularly in certain sectors such as energy, mining, and geological explorations. These projects are not only significant and beneficial for the investors, but they are also boosting local economies. The very foundation of such projects is the concession contract (CC)—contract with both public and private law elements determining the relations between the state organ issuing the concession and the private entity. This paper will focus on the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) where CCs are often unbalanced and commonly unilaterally designed by the state party that dictates all of its provisions. Consequently, the private party is placed in a difficult, take-it-or-leave-it situation if it does not want to accept the CC as drafted by the state party. Potential steps toward the implementation of World Commerce & Contracting Principles (WCC Principles) in the CCs in B&H shall be presented, along with their predictable benefits and likely impact on the shortening and balancing the process of negotiating the CC in B&H.

Brain parenchyma infiltration with glioblastoma (GB) cannot be entirely visualized by conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The aim of this study was to investigate changes in the energy and membrane metabolism measured with phosphorous MR spectroscopy (31P-MRS) in the presumably “normal-appearing” brain following chemoradiation therapy (CRT) in GB patients in comparison to healthy controls. Twenty (seven female, thirteen male) GB patients underwent a 31P-MRS scan prior to surgery (baseline) and after three months of standard CRT (follow-up examination. The regions of interest “contrast-enhancing (CE) tumor” (if present), “adjacent to the (former) tumor”, “ipsilateral distant” hemisphere, and “contralateral” hemisphere were compared, differentiating between patients with stable (SD) and progressive disease (PD). Metabolite ratios PCr/ATP, Pi/ATP, PCr/Pi, PME/PDE, PME/PCr, and PDE/ATP were investigated. In PD, energy and membrane metabolism in CE tumor areas have a tendency to “normalize” under therapy. In different “normal-appearing” brain areas of GB patients, the energy and membrane metabolism either “normalized” or were “disturbed”, in comparison to baseline or controls. Differences were also detected between patients with SD and PD. 31P-MRS might contribute as an additional imaging biomarker for outcome measurement, which remains to be investigated in a larger cohort.

Columnar microstructures are critical for obtaining good resistance switching properties in SiO x resistive random access memory (ReRAM) devices. In this work, the formation and structure of columnar boundaries are studied in sputtered SiO x layers. Using TEM measurements, we analyze SiO x layers in Me–SiO x –Mo heterostructures, where Me = Ti or Au/Ti. We show that the SiO x layers are templated by the Mo surface roughness, leading to the formation of columnar boundaries protruding from troughs at the SiO x /Mo interface. Electron energy-loss spectroscopy measurements show that these boundaries are best characterized as voids, which in turn facilitate Ti, Mo, and Au incorporation from the electrodes into SiO x . Density functional theory calculations of a simple model of the SiO 2 grain boundary and column boundary show that O interstitials preferentially reside at the boundaries rather than in the SiO 2 bulk. The results elucidate the nature of the SiO x microstructure and the complex interactions between the metal electrodes and the switching oxide, each of which is critically important for further materials engineering and the optimization of ReRAM devices.