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The performance of tax administrations (TAs) is usually described as their capacity to complete activities with the minimum of resources engaged. Accordingly, tax administration performance is a multifaceted phenomenon, and measuring and benchmarking its performance against other countries or regions remains a puzzle for researchers and practitioners. This paper introduces a new approach for measuring tax administration performance using the Composite I-Distance Indicator (CIDI) based on 11 individual performance measures from 35 European tax administrations over two consecutive years (2018–2019). For the given scores of tax administrations, we conducted a correlation analysis with (a) tax evasion loss and (b) the fiscal deficit of countries in which these tax administrations operate, aiming to assess the strength of the statistical relationship between these variables. The study highlights Denmark and the Netherlands as exemplary models for tax administration, with “Revenue Collection” being identified as a crucial driver of excellence and “Operational Performance” (such as “e-filing” and “on-time filing”) forming critical aspects of TA efficiency. Also, the study finds a negative correlation between tax avoidance and tax administration performance.

A novel condition named multisystem inflammatory syndrome has raised the alarm worldwide and is leading to severe illness and long-term effects in the post-COVID era. This condition includes infection with fever, abdominal symptoms, acute cardiac injury, and shock. It has similarities with severe forms of Kawasaki disease (KD). In this study, we present a case of a 20-year-old male patient with multisystem inflammatory syndrome associated with COVID-19 infection who was successfully treated with plasmapheresis, immunoglobulins, and steroids for 4 h/day without heparinization or ultrafiltration. Plasmapheresis represents a therapeutic option for KD in patients with all other therapeutic strategies that have failed. However, there is no evidence from controlled clinical trials confirming this option. In our case, plasmapheresis was beneficial in stabilizing and improving the patient's clinical condition. Given the pathophysiological and therapeutic similarities between KD and multisystem inflammatory syndrome, it could be considered a therapeutic option.

We conducted meta-analysis in order to determine if there are significant differences in left and right amygdala volume in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) compared to a control group. Twenty-three studies fulfilled inclusion criteria for our study. Right amygdala volume was significantly larger in ASD patients compared to controls (Hedges' g 0.44; 95% CI 0.04-0.83; Z = 2.26; p = 0.024), while there was no significant difference in left amygdala volume between ASD patients and controls (Hedges' g 0.44; 95% CI - 0.10-0.98; Z = 1.67; p = 0.095). However, between-study heterogeneity was significant so there is an unequivocal need for new uniform magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies to get a more precise answer to the question of whether there is a difference in amygdala volume between ASD patients and controls.

Cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CALD) is a severe, rare neurological disease with a progressive course and poor prognosis. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is still considered the standard of care for CALD. Elivaldogene autotemcel is a novel gene therapy for the treatment of childhood-onset CALD. Since many novel gene therapies are associated with high costs, our aim was to compare costs and effectiveness of elivaldogene autotemcel with the costs and effectiveness of allogeneic HSCT treatment of childhood-onset CALD. The analysis used an 80-year horizon and the perspective of the Serbian Republic Health Insurance Fund. Quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained with elivaldogene autotemcel and HSCT, as well as direct treatment costs, were our major outcomes. For the purposes of the economic analysis, we constructed and simulated a discrete-event simulation model to calculate the outcomes. We obtained the results of the model using a Monte Carlo simulation, which we conducted on 1000 virtual CALD patients. The analysis indicated that elivaldogene autotemcel was not cost-effective when compared to HSCT, and the net monetary benefit was negative. The base case incremental cost/effectiveness ratio was 259,848,512 RSD/QALY. Elivaldogene autotemcel is not more cost-effective than HSCT for the treatment of CALD from the perspective of the Serbian Republic Health Insurance Fund, according to classic pharmacoeconomic analysis and criteria. To ensure that the treatment is affordable for all patients for whom it is prescribed, a differentiated pricing strategy with lower drug prices in developing nations seems to be required.

The major driver of the costs of treating patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2) is its complications, which in developing countries are a consequence of poor glycemic control due to the low availability of novel, innovative antidiabetic drugs. We aimed to determine the ratio of direct medical costs arising from DM2 to the direct costs of its complications, as well as their main predictors. This was a retrospective cohort study of health care utilization and direct medical costs for adults with DM2, with (inpatients) or without (outpatients) complications. The utilization data were multiplied by the unit prices of drugs and services reimbursed by the Serbian Republic Health Insurance Fund to obtain direct costs. In total, 205 inpatients and 60 outpatients with DM2 participated in the study. Key drivers of the costs of treating diabetes complications in hospitals are consultations with specialist clinicians (B = 0.025 [0.003–0.047]), use of reserve antibiotics (B = 0.022 [0.007–0.036]), biochemical tests (B = 0.038 [0.022–0.055]) and length of stay in the hospital (B = 0.011 [0.009–0.013]). On the other hand, the number of encounters with general practitioners (B = 0.179 0.115–0.242) and the number of ultrasound examinations are strongly correlated with the total costs of treating outpatients with DM2 (B = 0.234 [0.054–0.414]). None of the outpatients included in the study were prescribed novel antidiabetic drugs. Overall, the costs of treating DM2 in Serbia are considerable and mainly driven by the 2–11-fold higher costs of complications vs. the costs of the disease itself.

Hitherto, green finance provides lower returns as compared to their “plain” counterparts, and as such, might be less attractive to financial markets. This study aims to analyse the impact of sociodemographic factors on green finance growth at the national level. We employ a panel-pooled mean group-autoregressive distributive lag (PMG-ARDL) model to assess the long-term influence of selected sociodemographic indicators on government budget allocations for R&D (GBARD) with environmental objectives as a proxy for green finance spanning 21 European countries from 2000 to 2021. Specifically, we investigate the impact of the unemployment rate, population density, gender ratio, ratio of education expenditure to GDP, proportion of the population aged 15-64, and the Gini coefficient on the GBARD with environmental objectives. The core results demonstrate that all the examined indicators exert a positive and statistically significant long-term impact on the allocation of government budgets for the GBARD with environmental objectives, highlighting the critical role of sociodemographic contexts in shaping environmental investment strategies.

Eminent societies of clinicians worldwide advise the implementation of therapeutic monitoring of meropenem. Our aim was to validate the new high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique for the measurement of meropenem in plasma that we developed. The validation of the method was performed in accordance with the official European Medicines Agency (EMA) guideline for bioanalytical method validation through the assessment of the following validation parameters: linearity and limit of detection/quantification, trueness and precision, recovery, selectivity, matrix-effect assessment, dilution integrity, carry-over assessment, and stability. Our calibration curve was found to be linear over the concentration ranges of 1.25–100 μg/mL, which covers the therapeutic range of meropenem in patients. From the calibration curve, the limits of detection and quantification were calculated to be 0.4 μg/mL and 1.2 μg/mL, respectively. Recovery ranged from 81.7 to 95.9 percent. Intra-day truennes ranged from −1.9 to 2.6% and inter-day trueness ranged from −4.7 to 3.8%. Intra-day precision was less than 4 percent, while inter-day precision was less than 7 percent. Meropenem remained stable in the patient plasma sample for one week at −20°C. Our HPLC technique can be applied in clinical practice for the therapeutic monitoring of meropenem in critically ill and other vulnerable patients since it is simple, rapid, and reliable.

Introduction and objectives: A broad body of knowledge is developing around the influence of market and entrepreneurial orientation on business performance. However, high-tech firms in the embryonic (R&D and start-up) phase of development have stayed off the research radars. Taking a resource-based view, this study examined the role of market and entrepreneurial orientation on the performance of new ventures within a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem of Serbia. Methods: The study is based on primary data gathered via a questionnaire and examined tech ventures founders from Serbia whose ventures are in either research and development or start-up phase. Results: The findings confirm that both market and entrepreneurial orientation play an immense role in the embryonic phase and throughout the process of launching a new tech firm. Conclusion: The study found that market orientation primarily influences problem discovery, value proposition and product designing, as well as team gathering. Entrepreneurial orientation more significantly affects performance in the context of MVP creation, first customer acquisition, initial revenue stream and investment for the next phase of tech venture development. Implications and research limitation: The study suggests that new ventures leaders have to develop both market and entrepreneurial competences. At the beginning, they should invest more into the activities related to market orientation, and during the further tech venture development, entrepreneurial orientation leads to finalization of a product/service development and its commercialization. Even though this study provides useful and valuable insights, it does not reflect all concepts of entrepreneurial success and a larger sample size from other geographical regions would be more suitable for the generalizability of study findings. Yet, the implications of the study are highly relevant for Serbian ecosystem as the business environment is not stimulating enough for growth and development of new ventures, and consequently founders have to rely on their own competencies and knowledge.

Online labour platforms (OLPs) are profit-oriented companies utilising technology to connect independent contractor workers with short-term service labour needs, offering a digital marketplace for posting tasks, receiving bids, and finalising agreements across various domains such as writing, design, programming, and digital marketing. This paper presents a bibliometric analysis of the concurrent body of knowledge on OLPs, explaining how the specificities of this emerging form of labour are researched from various academic standpoints. The study is based on a dataset of 358 papers on OLPs published from 2013 to August 2023. The main finding of the study is that scholarly interest in OLPs is steadily growing in the observed period. However, geographical dispersion of the scientific output is not in line with the actual level of utilisation of OLPs, and scholarly interest in OLPs spans across diverse disciplines, including industrial relations and labour, management, economics, sociology, law, and computer science. The results of this paper can help better understand the dynamics of scholarly publishing on OLPs and further leverage underexploited subtopics in this field.

Ransomware is a prime cybersecurity threat at the moment. In this paper we analyze financial implications of ransomware attacks, motivation of the ransomware victim to pay ransom, and legal, accounting and tax implications of such payment. The methodological approach used in the study is a combination of formal-dogmatic method and argumentative literature review. First, we provide an overview of all potential losses which could be incurred by the ransomware attack. Further, we analyze under which conditions is legal to pay any kind of ransom, including cyber ransom, as an organization as well as which other considerations victims should consider when deciding to pay ransom. In that respect we analyze accounting and tax implications of losses inflicted by the ransomware attack, putting special attention to the ransom payments.

Background: Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) is one of the most common health problems encountered in women of the perimenopausal age group. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of functional AUB in perimenopausal women, and to identify predictors of the occurrence of functional AUB in perimenopausal women. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that included 45 women with complaints of AUB admitted to the gynecology ward in the University Hospital in Foča, and 45 women without AUB who underwent a gynecological examination in the Primary Health Center in Foča, Bosnia and Herzegovina. We included women with AUB who had a normal ultrasound finding without obvious genital or cervical lesions, and who were not on hormonal therapy. The existence of AUB was determined on the basis of a clinical examination by a gynecologist and existing medical documentation. A logistic regression model was used to assess the possible relationship between the occurrence of the functional AUB and the risk factors for its occurrence. Results: The mean patient age was 48.38 ± 2.40 years. There was no significant difference in age, frequency of physical activity, or previous use of oral contraceptives between the two groups of patients divided by the presence of the functional AUB in perimenopause. The logistic regression model showed that age (p = 0.008), high values of body mass index (BMI) (p = 0.001), consumption of alcohol and cigarettes on a daily basis (p = 0.001), and hypertension (p = 0.046) represented significant risk factors associated with functional AUB in perimenopausal women. Conclusions: During routine exams of women approaching menopause, gynecologists should emphasize the harms of smoking and alcohol use, as well as the significance of non-pharmacological and pharmacological methods for the treatment of obesity and hypertension.

Participatory budgeting has been advocated as an advanced tool of civic participation and a travelling innovation for more than three decades. This paper provides a bibliometric review of the concurrent body of knowledge on participatory budgeting (PB), explaining how this democratic innovation ‘travelled’ through time and over different scientific fields. This study was based on a dataset of 396 papers on PB published from 1989 to January 2023. The study finds that research in PB has reached its peak of scholarly attention in pre-COVID-19 pandemic years. The study also finds that the research on PB has migrated from the field of political science to other fields, such as economics, management science, law, urban planning, environmental science, and technology.