1. Enzyme cascade to enzyme complex phase-transition-like transformation studied by the maximum entropy production principleAndrej Dobovišek, Tina Blaževič, Samo Kralj, Aleš Fajmut, 2025, original scientific article Abstract: In biological cells, soluble enzymes often spontaneously reorganize into higher-order complexes called metabolons, providing regulatory advantages over individual soluble enzymes under specific conditions. Despite their importance, the mechanisms underlying metabolon formation remain unclear. Here we report a theoretical model that elucidates the spontaneous transition between soluble enzyme cascades and complexes, driven by fluctuations in intermediate metabolite concentrations. The model integrates the maximum entropy production principle (MEPP) and the Shannon information entropy (MaxEnt), Landau phase-transition theory, kinetic modeling, stability analysis, and metabolic control analysis. Our results show that soluble enzymes and enzyme complexes represent two distinct catalytic states with unique kinetic and regulatory properties. The transition from an enzyme cascade to an enzyme complex displays features of a first-order phasetransition, highlighting the system's tendency to reorganize into its most thermodynamically favorable state, providing a potential pathway for metabolic regulation. Keywords: theoretical modeling, irreversible thermodynamics, maximum entropy production principle, Shannon information entropy, first-order phase transition, enzyme organization, enzyme cascade, enzyme complex Published in DKUM: 06.02.2025; Views: 0; Downloads: 0
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2. Correlation of trust and work engagement : a modern organizational approachAna Nešić, Slavica Mitrović Veljković, Maja Meško, Tine Bertoncel, 2020, original scientific article Abstract: In modern organizations, in which changes are happening faster and more unpredictably, employees are gaining a more complex role and increasing importance. New approaches to employee insight, based on the heavy work investment concept (HWI), bring together different theoretical and practical approaches that attempt to explain the causes and consequences of certain organizational behaviors. The fundamental issue is determining whether engagement and trust, remain two of the critical factors of an organizations success, or are their roles in effectively organized systems significantly changed or reduced. This research aims to establish a correlation between trust and work engagement in on 787 respondents from 16 organizations in Serbia. Trust in organizations is measured through the dimensions of benevolence, integrity, competence and predictability. Engagement of employees is measured through the dimensions of energy, dedication and absorption. The results showed a significant correlation between dimensions of trust: benevolence/integrity and competence, with all work engagement dimensions. The strongest correlation is established between the trust dimension of benevolence/integrity and the work engagement dimension - energy. The significance of the research is reflected in the elucidation of behavioral factors of employees in organizations burdened with transitional changes. Keywords: work engagement, trust, organization, HWI concept, employees, Serbia Published in DKUM: 30.01.2025; Views: 0; Downloads: 2
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4. Impact of work-family balance results on employee work engagement within the organization : the case of SloveniaJasmina Žnidaršič, Mojca Bernik, 2021, original scientific article Abstract: Background and purpose: Organizations strive to increase the work engagement of their employees, as engaged employees are more productive employees, but often neglect the significant effects of work-family balance on work engagement. Numerous studies confirm the importance of work-family balance and work engagement, but there is lack of research that explores the relationship between the concepts. Our research fills a research gap in investigating the impact of work-family balance on work engagement, both directly and through individual perceptions of organizational support for work-family balance. The main aim of our research is to empirically test the relationships between the policies and practices of organizations regarding work-family balance, work-life balance and work engagement.
Methods: Using validated questionnaires, we collected data on organizational support for work-family balance (family-friendly policies and practices, support by leader, support by co-workers, working hours and complexity of work), work-family balance and work engagement. The quantitative data for our analysis was collected through a survey of 343 online participants who were employees in various positions in companies in Slovenia.
The results: Our results show that the organization's work-family balance policies and practices, such as support by leader, co-workers, and family-friendly policies and practices, have a positive impact on the individual's work-family balance, that work-family balance leads to an increase in work engagement, and that the individual's perception of the organization's work-family balance support leads to an increase in work engagement.
Conclusion: Knowledge of important work-family balance implications with an understanding of organizational support for work-family balance and the relationships between the constructs of work-family balance and work engagement can be beneficial to business leaders. This understanding can help them to strengthen employee work engagement through family-friendly policies and practices, and thereby contributing to the area of employee behavior and improving employee productivity. Keywords: work-family balance, work engagement, organization management Published in DKUM: 14.11.2024; Views: 0; Downloads: 15
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5. Barriers to knowledge sharing in the field of information securityJustyna Żywiołek, Joanna Rosak-Szyrocka, Borut Jereb, 2021, original scientific article Abstract: Today, sharing knowledge requires taking into account many aspects. Variable environmental conditions, the people factor, and the security of resources are just a few that should be considered for a noticeable improvement in the functioning of the company. Supporting this course of action requires the identification of all barriers that may exist in the enterprise. Only the owner and senior management by establishing system and organizational changes can influence this element of the business. The aim of the article is to indicate the problems in this respect that block the proper functioning of the company in the field of information and knowledge exchange. The survey was conducted with the help of a questionnaire among 189 respondents. The industry has significantly decreased in the last few decades, currently there are 307 companies operating in Poland. Conclusions from the conducted research were collected on the basis of a questionnaire survey. The further stage of the research will be to compare the collected results with the results from Western European countries. Keywords: knowledge sharing, knowledge management, information security, knowledge exchange, business organization, Poland Published in DKUM: 22.10.2024; Views: 0; Downloads: 7
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6. Evolutionary games on multilayer networks : a colloquiumZhen Wang, Lin Wang, Attila Szolnoki, Matjaž Perc, 2015, review article Abstract: Networks form the backbone of many complex systems, ranging from the Internet to human societies. Accordingly, not only is the range of our interactions limited and thus best described and modeled by networks, it is also a fact that the networks that are an integral part of such models are often interdependent or even interconnected. Networks of networks or multilayer networks are therefore a more apt description of social systems. This colloquium is devoted to evolutionary games on multilayer networks, and in particular to the evolution of cooperation as one of the main pillars of modern human societies. We first give an overview of the most significant conceptual differences between single-layer and multilayer networks, and we provide basic definitions and a classification of the most commonly used terms. Subsequently, we review fascinating and counterintuitive evolutionary outcomes that emerge due to different types of interdependencies between otherwise independent populations. The focus is on coupling through the utilities of players, through the flow of information, as well as through the popularity of different strategies on different network layers. The colloquium highlights the importance of pattern formation and collective behavior for the promotion of cooperation under adverse conditions, as well as the synergies between network science and evolutionary game theory. Keywords: kooperacija, sociološke mreže, evolucijske igre, kolektivni pojav, samo-organizacija, fazni prehodi, recipročnost, fizika socioloških sistemov, cooperation, social networks, evolutionary games, collective phenomena, self-organization, phase transitions, reciprocity, physics of social systems Published in DKUM: 17.09.2024; Views: 0; Downloads: 1
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8. Self-organization in Slovenian public spendingJelena Joksimović, Matjaž Perc, Zoran Levnajić, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: Private businesses are often entrusted with public contracts, wherein public money is allocated to a private company. This process raises concerns about transparency, even in the most developed democracies. But are there any regularities guiding this process? Do all private companies benefit equally from the state budgets? Here, we tackle these questions focusing on the case of Slovenia, which keeps excellent records of this kind of public spending. We examine a dataset detailing every transfer of public money to the private sector from January 2003 to May 2020. During this time, Slovenia has conducted business with no less than 248 989 private companies. We find that the cumulative distribution of money received per company can be reasonably well explained by a power-law or lognormal fit. We also show evidence for the first-mover advantage, and determine that companies receive new funding in a way that is roughly linear over time. These results indicate that, despite all human factors involved, Slovenian public spending is at least to some extent regulated by emergent self-organizing principles. Keywords: complex system, self-organization, Slovenia, public funds Published in DKUM: 11.09.2024; Views: 30; Downloads: 8
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9. Evolution of organisational agility : a bibliometric studyVasja Roblek, Vlado Dimovski, Maja Meško, Judita Peterlin, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: Purpose: This study applies bibliometric analysis to explore the evolution of the research paradigm of agility related to management and organisations.
Design/methodology/approach: Authors prepared a quantitative study of the review of selected articles using co-citation analysis and bibliographic coupling. Based on the bibliometric analyses, the evolution of the agility field (past, present, and future of agility research) was prepared.
Findings: Emergent themes focus on the importance of agility in interpreting organisational responses in the context of issues as diverse as information systems and business intelligence systems, market orientation, strategic alignment and social computing. Future research needs to focus on digitisation in conjunction with informatisation, an important topic for creating a new organisational culture and knowledge management through increased collaboration between humans and machines.
Originality/value: As the authors are aware, this study is one of the first to choose to show the overall development and importance of agility through quantitative bibliometric methods used to assess the value and contribution of scientific productivity and its impact on development. Keywords: organization, management, information systems, supply chain management Published in DKUM: 03.07.2024; Views: 107; Downloads: 20
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10. Self-organization of enzyme-catalyzed reactions studied by the maximum entropy production principleAndrej Dobovišek, Marko Vitas, Tina Blaževič, Rene Markovič, Marko Marhl, Aleš Fajmut, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: The self-organization of open reaction systems is closely related to specific mechanisms that allow the export of internally generated entropy from systems to their environment. According to the second law of thermodynamics, systems with effective entropy export to the environment are better internally organized. Therefore, they are in thermodynamic states with low entropy. In this context, we study how self-organization in enzymatic reactions depends on their kinetic reaction mechanisms. Enzymatic reactions in an open system are considered to operate in a non-equilibrium steady state, which is achieved by satisfying the principle of maximum entropy production (MEPP). The latter is a general theoretical framework for our theoretical analysis. Detailed theoretical studies and comparisons of the linear irreversible kinetic schemes of an enzyme reaction in two and three states are performed. In both cases, in the optimal and statistically most probable thermodynamic steady state, a diffusion-limited flux is predicted by MEPP. Several thermodynamic quantities and enzymatic kinetic parameters, such as the entropy production rate, the Shannon information entropy, reaction stability, sensitivity, and specificity constants, are predicted. Our results show that the optimal enzyme performance may strongly depend on the number of reaction steps when linear reaction mechanisms are considered. Simple reaction mechanisms with a smaller number of intermediate reaction steps could be better organized internally and could allow fast and stable catalysis. These could be features of the evolutionary mechanisms of highly specialized enzymes. Keywords: enzymes, kinetic data analysis, steady state, self-organization, maximum entropy production Published in DKUM: 08.05.2024; Views: 234; Downloads: 9
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