University American College Skopje

A person’s sense of comfort while sitting depends on numerous physical and psychological parameters. This study investigated the impact of different office chair seat and back designs on the user’s ability to assess differences in thermal comfort during office work tasks. Eighty-two healthy subjects assessed their thermal sensation, moisture perception, and thermal comfort on six chair models using questionnaire. The chairs varied in backrest design (mesh vs. PUR foam) and seat materials. Assessments were conducted in air-conditioned workplaces over three weeks. The results showed an overall neutral thermal sensation (mean rating of 4.12 on a seven-point scale), with warmth being more pronounced in the buttocks and thighs than in the back, alongside variations observed in seven of the fifteen indicators. The comfort of both the backrest and seat was crucial for overall thermal comfort, as was the perception of humidity among different chair models. The relationships between thermal sensation, humidity, and comfort differed by chair’s design. This study confirms the complexity of thermal comfort in seat and backrest design, highlighting the importance of localized thermal sensations in chairs, while demonstrating that application of subjective ratings can demonstrate differences between chairs. Future research should address methodological limitations, incorporate objective measurements, and explore seasonal variations and adaptive thermal comfort.

Patient satisfaction is an important indicator for health care system and exploring its predictors provides important information for the healthcare system. Therefore, this study aims to identify the factors affecting healthcare perception by patients in North Macedonia and their relationship with patient satisfaction. It seeks to provide insights that could support strategic decision making and marketing in healthcare. Data collection involves survey completed by 435 participants. The results show that there is a significant relationship between overall satisfaction and age, revealing that satisfaction tends to increase with patient age. However, other demographic variables (income, education) show no significant association with satisfaction. These discoveries are intended to assist policymakers in shaping future healthcare policies and strategies. Drawing from these pertinent findings, the paper proposes recommendations for healthcare policy development, focusing on evaluating patients’ perceptions of satisfaction with healthcare services. Age as a predictor of patient satisfaction has significant practical implications for healthcare systems and policies reflected in customizing healthcare services, distributing resources effectively, providing trainings, shaping policies, enhancing quality, and ensuring long-term sustainability of the healthcare system. The results contribute to existing knowledge and are useful for domestic healthcare and marketing policy-makers.

p class="ICST-abstracttext"> INTRODUCTION: eHealth systems are raising both patient satisfaction and medical care. The proper workflow regulations and data exchange between primary and secondary healthcare are crucial. OBJECTIVES: Investigation of the major determinants influencing the physicians’ satisfaction while using an eHealth information system. METHODS: A survey of primary and secondary healthcare medical professionals was conducted in R.N. Macedonia. The categorical variables from the data analysis were presented and a logistic regression was carried out. RESULTS: The multiple logistic regression model was statistically significant for sufficient evidence to reject the null hypothesis in which the overall satisfaction rating of the eHealth system usage for managing patients and other healthcare services will not be affected by the other variables in favour of the alternative Ha. CONCLUSION: Various factors between primary and secondary healthcare professionals regarding system’s usage satisfaction are presented and studied. Various issues were revealed between both parties that should serve the policymakers and medical authorities for further improvements. </p

Background People with intellectual disability have higher rates of cancer mortality than the general population. Cancer prevention programmes and screenings are recommended in adults, including those with intellectual disability. The opinions of relevant parties are important to ensure that people with intellectual disability can achieve equity in cancer outcomes. The aim of this paper is to report the findings of two workshops held in Ireland and Türkiye in 2023, which identified key issues affecting prevention, diagnosis and management of cancer in people with intellectual disability. Methods Researchers, practitioners, policymakers and other stakeholders with a role in cancer prevention programmes or cancer care ( n = 44) participated in ‘World Café’ workshop meetings in Dublin and Ankara. The findings were synthesised under the Dahlgren and Whitehead (1991) Social Determinants of Health framework. Results Both workshops identified that people with intellectual disability face challenges including: limited available cancer data in this population, health issues overshadowing cancer diagnosis, and social barriers such as low health literacy. Involving families, professionals and promoting self‐advocacy, while tailoring health services with inclusive decision making were prominent themes in both workshops as solutions. Research and person‐centered healthcare were identified as critical for developing effective cancer prevention programmes. Conclusion For people with intellectual disability to benefit from effective cancer prevention programmes, reasonable adjustments must be made by policymakers, health institutions, primary healthcare professionals and non‐government organisations, and research evidence must underpin decisions.

This chapter looks at several larger protests between 2014 marked with the offspring of the student protests and the mobilisation against the so-called French Proposal in 2022, i.e. the country’s framework for starting negotiations with the European Union. Following a theoretical approach mostly based on Political Opportunity Structure (POS), this work looks into the complex relations between social movements, political parties and state institutions, and how social movement outcomes in Macedonia are largely dependent on this entangled relationship. Combining social movement literature (Bieber, 2018; della Porta & Diani in Social movements: An introduction. Wiley, 2020; Tilly and Tarrow in Contentious politics, 2015, etc.) with works on (de)democratisation (Huntington in Journal of Democracy 2:12, 1991; Levitsky and Way in Journal of Democracy 13:51–65, 2002; Zakaria in Foreign Affairs 76:22–43, 1997, etc.), this work analyses the oscillation of democratic processes and the plead for a better society for all. At the core of this analysis lay the interactions between contentious actors and their friends and foes. The central part of this work provides a holistic presentation of the key actors and events from several protest waves between 2014 and 2022, looking at critical junctures which triggered and/or shaped the outcomes of these mobilisations. All crucial actors, relationships, main grievances, developments and outcomes will be traced, analysed in detail and analytically explained. The common denominator of all analysed mobilisations is their anti-governmental character, amid their profound ideological differences.

The aim of this paper is to accentuate the importance of interdisciplinary higher education. Interdisciplinary higher education is integrative i.e., knowledge of different disciplines is contrasted and changed by integration which represents its defining characteristic. It develops boundary-crossing skills, an ability to change perspectives, to synthesize knowledge of different disciplines, to cope with complexity, to apply different methodologies in research, and to propose solutions to complex problems. Thus, the ability to integrate knowledge is considered as the most important learning outcome of interdisciplinary higher education called interdisciplinary understanding or interdisciplinary thinking (Spelt et al. 2009). The present paper describes and discusses a specific example of one interdisciplinary undergraduate study program in Business Communication and Translation in English offered at the University American College Skopje, as a case study. The results of the research suggest that although interdisciplinarity in higher education is a challenging task, it is of great importance to implement it properly in order to achieve its aims. Translation and business communication studies are interdisciplinary in their essence. That is why intentional and meaningful interdisciplinary provisions in the translation and business communication study programs are necessary to train skilled translators and business communication professionals. Despite the challenges, the research suggests ways how to put in practice interdisciplinary provisions in higher education.

The economy is significantly impacted by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks. The growth of the economy can be sped up by the effective management of ESG risks through sustainable business practices. To promote sustainable development and to secure the long-term welfare of employees, customers, and all other stakeholders in the economy, companies must adapt and reposition their business strategies and organizational cultures. The goal of this paper is to determine how a set of common ESG elements, chosen from the viewpoints of sustainability and well-being, influence economic growth in the Western Balkan countries. For each ESG component, we used different variables. The information pertains to the five Western Balkan countries of North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. Because of a lack of data, Kosovo is excluded from the study. Then, we compared results from the analysis of the Western Balkan countries with a set of countries in Southeast Europe, which are members of the European Union and essentially coincide with the Western Europe countries. We performed multiple regression analysis with applied fixed effects to the data model. According to the study’s findings, each of the independent variables had no significant impact on the GDP’s annual growth of the Western Balkan countries, but two of the variables, life expectancy at birth and labor force participation, have certain impact on the GDP growth of Southeast Europe countries, which are members of the European Union. The green transition has gained significant importance in the Western Balkan countries as a crucial pathway toward sustainable economic growth, though it introduces a range of new social and economic challenges. Economically, these nations are confronted with considerable funding requirements for development. To build sustainable societies, it would be beneficial for these countries to explore more creative financing strategies. It is advised to establish financing frameworks that not only increase the transparency in policymaking but also ensure greater accountability in their execution.

This study examines the relationships between societal cultures and preferred leadership behaviors across seven Slavic nations: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, North Macedonia, Poland, Russia (in two regions), and Serbia. The results depict variations in the associations between cultural dimensions and leadership behaviors within the Slavic context, revealing both consistent patterns and intriguing differences across countries, underscoring their cultural diversity. The obtained results contribute to the field of cross-cultural leadership and provide deeper insights into leadership dynamics within Central and Eastern European countries.

Culture and leadership display various patterns of interrelationship across countries and regions. However, research is sparse for Slavic countries and especially for small countries like the Republic of North Macedonia. Therefore, this paper tries to explore the linkages between culture dimensions and preferred leader behavior in the country focusing on differences between the capital city of Skopje and the rest of the country. The study utilizes Values Survey Module and Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire XII on a sample of 259 employees. The results show statistically significant differences for one cultural dimension and most of the preferred leader behavior dimensions. There is a complex matrix of positive and negative correlations between the culture dimensions and preferred leader behavior with regional variations in the correlation matrix. Having in mind the small and convenient sample, more studies are needed to further explore such linkages.

Proportions and canons of the human body have always been an area of research mainly through art, architecture, or construction, and today, they have a significant application in product design. Research confirms that body height in most cases corresponds to the canon (head–body ratio) of 7.5 to 8 head lengths. This paper investigates the ratio of the head length (HL) to the total body height (BH, stature) of kindergarten and school-aged children, aiming to define the children’s canon inspired by the idea of the harmonic circle theory and the biomechanical model. The data were collected from 1307 children (male 676, female 631) aged 2 to 16 years in the cities of Zagreb (Croatia), Sofia (Bulgaria), and Skopje (North Macedonia). A generalized ESD test (alpha-level 0.10) and Turkey’s 1977 test were used in order to detect outliers in distributions of heights and in the distribution of ratios. Statistical significance was set at 0.05, all p values were two-sided, and the MedCalc statistical tool (version 20.110) was used. The results confirm that canonical changes follow the historical research of artists throughout the centuries, but that they change according to contemporary secular trends in children’s growth and cover HL/BH canons from 5.59 and 5.72 (2-year-old girls and boys) to 7.50 and 7.60 (15-year-old boys and girls) depending on age and gender. HL/BH ratio was significantly higher among female examinees in all age groups where difference was significant (Student’s t test, p < 0.02). In conclusion, such a calculation based on the canon is important for interdisciplinary professions. Creating an anthropological–biomechanical model based on canons, instead of time-consuming measurement, could significantly simplify the long-term collection of anthropometric data used for designing children’s products. Future detailed research is proposed.

Businesses utilize budgets to prioritize and allocate limited resources effectively, ensuring the smooth operation of essential events and activities. Effective budget management is pivotal for successful resource allocation, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which often face challenges during their initial stages, with ineffective budgeting being a significant contributor to failure. Budgets serve as a reflection of a firm’s strategy. This study aims to evaluate the influence of the budgeting process on the financial performance of SMEs in North Macedonia, exploring both the merits and drawbacks of budgeting as a management tool. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to connect the conceptual frameworks of budget incremental theory, priority-based budgeting theory, and risk-based budgeting theory with empirical evidence and conclusions specific to North Macedonia. The study also delves into potential challenges SMEs encounter in budget planning and decision-making Drawing from primary data collected through a validated survey administered to 45 Macedonian SMEs, empirical findings highlight that budgeting practices account for approximately half of the variations in SME financial performance. This suggests that, alongside budget planning, management, coordination, communication, and review processes, there are other significant factors influencing SME financial performance. Further exploration is warranted to identify these factors and their impacts on firm performance.

This paper evaluates the impact of the Ukraine conflict-induced crisis on firms in North Macedonia using data from a survey conducted with 112 firms in April and May 2023. Through descriptive statistics and probit regression analysis, we find that small firms in low-wage sectors predominantly coped with the crisis by raising prices of final products and services, followed by cost-cutting measures. Larger firms tended to invest in self-electricity generation or energy-saving equipment. Our results show that firms with higher energy cost shares increased final prices more but experienced decreased competitiveness. Firms not addressing rising costs did not consistently pass these costs onto prices or maintain competitiveness, except for labor costs. Labor cost increases, such as from minimum wage hikes, may lead to cost-push inflation unless firms absorb these costs at the expense of profits.

The proper way in which limit-problems [Grenzprobleme]—birth, death, dreamless sleep, the “prior to birth” [das vor der Geburt], the “after death” [das nach dem Tod], etc.—can be accessed according to Husserl is by means of so-called “construction” [Konstruktion] or “reconstruction” [Rekonstruktion]. Contrary to what is usually claimed with respect to this method, and therefore the acts it is composed of, this paper will attempt to prove that they do not consist in non-intuitive acts, but rather in intuitive, but non-sensible acts. In other words, the aforementioned acts of construction consist in categorial acts. More specifically, they represent acts akin to the ones involved in the constitution of exact material essences of a qualitative (the “pure” red, the “pure” blue …) or of a geometrical kind (a triangle, a chiliagon …): both the acts involved in the constitution of elementary exact essences, or acts of idealization, and the acts involved in the constitution of derived exact essences, or acts of deriving. However, the acceptance of such acts of construction suggests a serious reconsideration of some of the basic tenets of Husserlian phenomenology. Indeed, it challenges the idea that phenomenology is an eidetic science of inexact—morphological, descriptive …—material essences, namely the essence of a subjective sphere (the essence of consciousness, the essence of ego …); in fact, it turns phenomenology, at least partially, into something Husserl explicitly repudiates on multiple occasions: a “geometry” of lived experience. It is thus important to determine whether these acts of construction should be integrated into Husserlian phenomenology, and, if yes, how they should be integrated into it. Providing an indication of this will be the ultimate goal of this paper.

The objective of the paper is to understand the role of workers’ bargaining for the labor share in transition economies. We rely on a share-capital schedule, whereby workers’ bargaining power is represented as a move off the schedule. Quantitative indicators of bargaining power are supplemented with self-constructed qualitative indices derived from textual information describing the legal environment enabling bargaining in each country. Due to multiple data constraints, we employ a cross-sectional empirical model estimated using instrumental variables (IV) methods, where former unionization rates and the time since the adoption of the ILO Collective Bargaining Convention serve as instruments. The sample comprises 23 industrial branches across 69 countries, including 28 transition economies. In general, we find the stronger bargaining power to influence higher labor share, when the former is measured either quantitatively or qualitatively. Conversely, higher bargaining power is associated with a lower labor share in transition economies. This is likely a matter of delayed response to wage pushes, a function of the structural transformation of transition economies, and reconciled with the increasing role of MNCs which did not confront the workers’ power rise per se, but introduced automation and changed market structure amid labor market flexibilization, which eventually deferred bargaining power’s positive effect on labor share.

This study investigates the initial incidental acquisition of two L2 morphosyntactic rules and their immediate usage in production. Using a miniature artificial language paradigm, multiple exposure sessions, realistic exposure, non-salient linguistic features, as well as multiple outcome measures, we demonstrate that adult learners can learn animacy with low levels of awareness, but not case. Forty adult native speakers of English participated in the experiment. Participants were exposed to audio sentences in the artificial language paired with pictures on the computer screen for three sessions. Knowledge of animacy and case was measured with production and grammaticality judgment tests. Results demonstrated that concrete, contiguous and easily trackable L2 properties that lend themselves to distributional learning, such as animacy marking, can benefit from incidental exposure. However, more abstract L2 properties, like the morphological paradigm of case, seem not to be learnable by incidental means, and opportunities for explicit learning must be provided.

The effects of political violence are felt across generations; for example, extent of parental competitive victimhood (feeling that one's ingroup was relatively more victimised during the conflict) predicts adolescent's intergroup discrimination. We extend that research to children, born a generation after the height of violence. Participants were 223 family dyads with children aged 7–11 (M = 9.05, SD = 1.30; 52.4% female): Croatia (n = 82) and Republic of North Macedonia (RNM: n = 141), equally split by group status (i.e., Croatia: Croats/Serbs; RNM: Macedonian/Albanian). Parents reported on competitive victimhood while children reported on intergroup contact intentions (e.g., shared education initiatives). Moderation analysis across sites found a significant status by competitive victimhood interaction; increased parental competitive victimhood was associated with decreased contact intentions among minority, but not majority, children. We review site‐specific findings in relation to their historical context, concluding with the implications for shared education, reconciliation and peacebuilding.

This article investigates the impact of investment in environmentally sustainable practices on employment and labor productivity growth in transition economies. It explores the influence of labor skill composition and geographical variations on sustainability dynamics. Utilizing data from the World Bank's Enterprise Survey 2019 across 24 transition economies, an environmental sustainability index is constructed using Principal Components Analysis. To address endogeneity concerns, a combination of fixed effects and instrumental variables is employed. The findings highlight the significance of environmental sustainability for both employment and labor productivity growth. However, the observed relationships diminish in significance when comprehensively addressing endogeneity, suggesting a more nuanced and time‐dependent connection between environmentally sustainable practices and job growth. Notably, high‐skill firms experience a deceleration in job creation following sustainability investments, while low‐skill firms benefit from improved labor productivity. Geographically, Central Europe exhibits more pronounced impacts on labor productivity, potentially attributed to higher levels of development and sustainability awareness compared to Southeast Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The fiscal space of the Western Balkan 6 (WB6) economies has been significantly tested by recent crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the Energy and Food Price Crisis. This paper investigates the role of pre-crisis fiscal space in shaping fiscal stimulus measures during crises, by endogenizing an expanded set of fiscal space measures. Results reveal that WB6 nations, possessing some fiscal space before previous crises, encountered limitations in formulating and implementing fiscal stimulus measures amid subsequent crises. With fiscal space largely utilized during and post-pandemic, the ability to implement fiscal stimulus during the recent Energy and Food Price Crisis has been considerably restricted. These findings underscore the importance of building fiscal buffers during non-crisis times to maintain resilience for unforeseen challenges. The paper highlights the need for forward-looking fiscal policies, emphasizing the potential adverse effects of overly generous fiscal packages on fiscal sustainability, which could hamper future crisis response capabilities.