Suchergebnisse

Abstract
Aiming to analyze the efficiency of the public sector, this paper enriches the literature by providing insights of the healthcare system for an emergent country - Romania. The empirical findings reached by applying the input orientated-variable return to scale (VRS) model of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Tobit regression method are determined on two key levels of the study. The Data Envelopment Analysis technique quantifies the efficiency within 20 representative hospitals located in the four administrative macro-regions, highlighting the ways of increasing efficiency, while the Tobit regression identifies the factors that influence the efficiency level. The results of the investigation allow for comparisons with other emerging countries, as efficiency has become an increasingly significant factor for public sector evolution.

Feedstuffs grown in certain geographic areas may be marginal or deficient in specific elements. Thus, poultry diets usually require supplementation to ensure an adequate intake of trace minerals. The aim of this paper was the assessment of calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg) and sodium (Na) content in the mixed feeds from two different production systems (organic and conventional). Were analyzed ten samples of mixed feed used for the feeding laying hens from Brown hybrid at the age of 27 weeks in two units in Romania. Sampling and the preparation of samples were performed in compliance with the rules of the standards in force in Romania and harmonized with EU legislation (ISO 6869:2002); the method for the determination used was spectrophotocolorimetry method (UVmini 1240 SHIMADZU) for P, and for Ca, Mg and Na was was assessed by atomic absorption spectrometry method. Analysis of mixed feed samples revealed statistically significant differences (p≤0.05) between the two systems (organic vs. conventional) for the P content (0.25 vs. 0.26 %) and Mg content (0.26 vs. 0.28 %). Statistically insignificant differences (p≥0.05) between the two systems (organic vs. conventional) were found for the Ca content (2.93 vs. 2.97 %) and Na content (1.706 vs. 1.712 % ).

In the frame of the European Union project entitled EU-Families and Adolescents Quit Tobacco (www.eufaqt.eu) focus group analysis has been carried out in Hungary to acquire qualitative information on attitudes towards smoking in groups of adolescents, parents and educators, respectively. It rendered to identify methods for smoking prevention/ intervention with family approach. The results explored the role of the family in smoking behaviour. Teachers do not feel responsibility in prevention or cessation of smoking. Adolescents are not aware of the addictive effect of the cigarette. Water pipe is popular among adolescent, therefore spreading of more information needed on the harmful effects of water pipe. We outlined the requirement for professionals to provide interventions. Partnership of EU-FAQT project has worked out antismoking interventions for adolescents and their families conducted by psychologists to ensure skill development to prevent and quit tobacco.

Our study aims to facilitate a deeper understanding of the factors influencing performance reporting in the specific context of the hybrid higher education system in Romania, a former communist country in Eastern Europe with little experience in managing the notion of public sector performance. Performance reporting impacts higher education institutions' development. The study's approach offers opportunities to understand the main factors that influence and are influenced by mandatory elements stipulated in the specific norms in the public-university domain. Institutional and operant theories explain and sustain multilevel (institutional, organizational, and individual) performance-reporting analysis. In terms of research design, the theoretical exploration led us to formulate hypotheses while empirical data were collected from 23 Romanian public universities, ensuring the results' reliability. The results indicate that the performance-reporting concept and practical demand in public universities depend on both exogenous causes (isomorphic pressures) and endogenous factors (different behaviors of organizations and individual performers). The performance reporting of Romanian public higher education institutions enriches the scientific literature and the practical sphere by offering comprehension of a European country's evolution with roots in a communist system, having a lot of specific approaches, as a base for comparison with similar Eastern European entities or experienced countries.

"Unicorns have been described as mythological creatures that only the chosen ones could encounter. In the novels The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier and The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory, one such mythical beast evinces certain features that reflect on some of the characters in the novels. The paper discusses the image and symbolism of the mythological beast and analyses the depiction of the animal in the two novels written by the respective British authors. The stories told of the unicorn in the two books are to be compared and completed by texts from various other sources, in an attempt to get a fair picture of the way in which the two novels explore the legend of the respective magical creature, and transform it into feminist narratives. Keywords: unicorn, mythological animal, maid, lady, Chevalier, Gregory "

With half of the world already connected to the Internet, we are facing a growing amount of information available online, that is expected to increase exponentially in the following years. Educational environments are transitioning from closed structures to open, collaborative environments, using technology to build virtual classrooms. In this paper we present a customized crawler dedicated to alternative knowledge building environments used for potential community inquiry, that is unique in its power to combine data extraction and indexing capabilities that facilitate discourse-driven community network analysis integrated into the ReaderBench framework. ; This study is part of the RAGE project. The RAGE project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 644187. This publication reflects only the author's view. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

Nistor, N., Dascalu, M., Stavarache, L.L., Tarnai, C., & Trausan-Matu, S. (2015). Predicting Newcomer Integration in Online Knowledge Communities by Automated Dialog Analysis. In Y. Li, M. Chang, M. Kravcik, E. Popescu, R. Huang, Kinshuk & N.-S. Chen (Eds.), State-of-the-Art and Future Directions of Smart Learning (Vol. Lecture Notes in Educational Technology, pp. 13–17). Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag Singapur ; Using online knowledge communities (OKCs) from the Internet as informal learning environments poses the question how likely these communities will be to integrate learners as new members. Such prediction is the purpose of the current study. Based on the approaches of voices interanimation and polyphony, a natural language processing tool was employed for dialog analysis in integrative versus non-integrative blog-based OKCs. Four dialog dimensions were identified: participants' long-term persistence in the discourse, the community response to their participation, their communicative centrality, and their communicative peripherality. Hierarchical clusters built upon these dimensions reflect socio-cognitive structures including central, regular, and peripheral OKC members. While the socio-cognitive structures did not make a significant difference, integrative OKCs display significantly stronger peripherality, community response, and centrality as compared to non-integrative OKCs. ; This study is part of the RAGE project. The RAGE project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 644187. This publication reflects only the author's view. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.