Innovation performance and R&D expenditures in Western European regions: Divergence or convergence?

Although Western Europe is a global leader in innovation activities among the OECD countries, these activities are not distributed evenly across NUTS 2 regions. Thus, the analysis of convergence or divergence related to innovation performance and R&D expenditures among Western European NUTS 2 regions is posed as the aim of this paper. Applying differential local version of spatial autocorrelation (LISA), difference-in-difference estimation the paper reveals the local variation of convergence and divergence and general spatial regime divergence in innovation performance and R&D expenditures within Western European NUTS 2 regions. Moreover, spatial lag cross-sectional regression provides support to the consideration of R&D expenditures as determinant for innovation performance along with the continuing divergence between most of Western and Southern European NUTS 2 regions and the others. Thus, the results confirm the stability in innovation performance and R&D expenditures in Western European NUTS 2 regions which could be the source of lagging behind not only other OECD countries but BRICS countries as well. On the regional level several NUTS 2 regions demonstrated the convergence dynamics, however, the general spatial divergence regime should lead to more actions regarding R&D polices under the EU programming period of 2014-2020. © Foundation of International Studies, 2018 and CSR, 2018

Relationship of social protection expenditures and socio-economic indicators: A panel data analysis of the EU countries

Systems of social protection and approaches in tackling social risks differ by the degree of redistribution and by its generosity. The cur-rent issue in developed countries is finding the optimal relationship between economic and social policy. Therefore, the selected areas of social policy and economic development from a narrow perspective are subjected to the research investigation. To address the issue, the paper aims to analyse the association between social protection expenditures and the selected socio-economic indicators. In line with the aim, four hypotheses have been verified. H1: There is a positive relationship between social protection expenditures and indicators of socio-economic development. H2: There is a positive relationship between social protection expenditures and indicators of unemployment. H3: There is a negative relationship between social protection expenditures and indicators of income inequality. H4: There is a negative relationship between social protection expenditures and indicators of poverty. The panel data regression for the sample of the 27 EU countries in the period 2007-2015 was applied to test the hypotheses. The results of the final fixed effect model with robust coefficients revealed a positive relationship between Human development index and unemployment rate on the one side and social protection expenditures on the other. On the contrary, a negative relationship was identified between social protection expenditures on the one side and poverty rate for the elderly 65+ and income inequality (measured through Gini coefficient) on the other. These findings confirm the fact that the amount of social protection spending is reflected in the socio-economic development of the EU countries. © 2020, Economic Laboratory for Transition Research. All rights reserved.Internal Grant Agency of Tomas Bata University in Zlin [RO/2018/12]; Smart governance and application of 3E principles in public policies

Replacement of Operator Position on a Production Line, by Cooperation Robot

Bakalářská práce se zabývá návrhem konstrukčního řešení pro nahrazení operátorské pozice kooperativním robotem na stanici výrobní linky montáže brzdových třmenů firmy BREMBO Czech, s.r.o. V rámci řešení byl zvolen nejvhodnější robot a poté bylo navrženo jeho umístění na nosnou konstrukci do výrobní linky. Tato nosná konstrukce má pohyblivou část s robotem z důvodu zachování možnosti výkonu práce člověka na dané stanici výrobní linky. V práci je aplikována metodika konstrukčního procesu pro výběr nejvhodnějšího řešení a následně jsou na základě výběru řešení navrhovány jednotlivé uzly konstrukce.The bachelor thesis deals with the design of a construction solution for the replacement of the operator’s position by a cooperation robot at the station of the brake calipers assembly line of BREMBO Czech, ltd. Within the solution, the most suitable robot was chosen and then it was designed supporting structure in the production line for this robot. This supporting structure has a movable part with the robot in order to preserve the possibility of human power on the station. In the thesis, the metodology of the construction proces is applied for the selection of the most suitable solution and then the individual parts of the structure are designed.340 - Katedra výrobních strojů a konstruovánívýborn

Algorithmic Solution for Determining the Age of a Person Based on 2D Photography Using Artificial Intelligence

Automatizované určení věku člověka z fotky obličeje představuje jednu z výzev v oblasti umělé inteligence a strojového učení. Určit věk, je i pro člověka mnohdy netriviální záležitost, narozdíl od jiných biologických charakteristik, jako je určení pohlaví nebo rasové příslušnosti. Přitom informace o věku jedince je pro určité situace velmi podstatná. Například při spáchání nějakého přestupku či trestného činu o výši trestu spolurozhoduje právě věk. Dále tuto informaci lze využít při analýze zákazníků komerčního subjektu a následnému přizpůsobení nabídky. Cílem této práce je tedy umět z fotografie lidského obličeje extrahovat jeho věk. Algoritmus se skládá ze dvou modulů. Pokud první modul řekne, že je osoba mladší 14 let, půjde obrázek ještě do druhého modulu. Dále je představena ještě jedna verze algoritmu s přidaným modulem zaměřeným na vybrané obličejové rysy. Ve všech modulech se nad obrázkem provedou transformace, jejichž výsledky se zprůměrují. Na závěr je algoritmus vyhodnocen na standardních datasetech pro určení věku a porovnán s aktuálně používanými metodami v této oblasti.Automated person's age estimation from a facial image is one of the challenges in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Age estimation is often a non-trivial complexity for a person, unlike other biological characteristics such as determining gender or race. Information about an individual's age is very important for certain situations. For example, when committing an offense or crime, the amount of the sentence is co-determined by age. This information can also be used in the analysis of customers of a commercial entity and the subsequent adjustment of the offer. The aim of this work is to be able to extract his age from a photograph of a human face. The algorithm consists of two modules. If the first module says that the person is under 14 years old, the image will go to the second module. Furthermore, another version of the algorithm is proposed with an added module focused on selected facial features. In all modules transformations are performed on the image and their results are averaged. Finally, the algorithm is evaluated on standard datasets for age estimation and compared with state-of-the-art methods in this area.

Design of Automatic Station for the Seals Preparation

Diplomová práce se zabývá projekčním návrhem linky pro automatickou přípravu těsnění pístů brzdových třmenů ve společnosti BREMBO Czech, s.r.o. Navržená linka splňuje dva zásadní požadavky a to zastavěnou plochu a výrobní kapacitu. V rámci řešení je dále detailně zpracován návrh pohybového mechanismu namáčecích van a plnicí mechanismus těsnění spolu s otočným mechanismem stolu s trny. V práci je aplikována metodika konstrukčního procesu pro výběr nejvhodnějšího řešení a následně jsou na základě výběru řešení navrhovány jednotlivé uzly konstrukce.Master thesis deals with a projection design of the line for automation preparation of piston seals for braking calipers in BREMBO Czech, s.r.o. company. Designed line fulfil two important requirements, built-up area and production capacity. The solution contains a detailed design of the movement mechanism of bath tub and filling mechanism for the seals with rotation mechanism of table with seals magazine. The metodology of the construction proces is applied for the selection of the most suitable solution and then the individual parts of the structure are designed.340 - Katedra konstruovánívýborn

Dielectric Properties of Epoxy with Ground Mica

Práce pojednává o aplikaci metody dielektrické relaxační spektroskopie na vzorcích epoxidové licí hmoty plněných mletou slídou o zrnitosti 40 m. Zkoumány jsou změny dielektrických vlastností v závislosti na plnění mletou slídou, na teplotě a relativní vlhkosti vzduchu, v kmitočtovém rozsahu 100 Hz až 1 MHz.This thesis deals with the dielectric relaxation spectroscopy applied to samples of an epoxy slip filled by grounded mica with granularity of 40 m. The changes of dielectric properties were investigated depending on the fulfillment of grounded mica, temperature, the relative air humidity, and the frequency between 100 Hz and 1MHz.

Impact of cluster policies on structure and management of cluster organisations in Czechia and Slovakia

Evaluation of an impact of cluster policies on cluster organisation performance is a research challenge. The establishment and development of cluster organisations (hereafter "COs") are the result of many factors which work together over time. Second, some COs are results of national or regional government initiatives, while others emerge spontaneously without public support. This paper presents a development of cluster policies and current stage of COs in Czechia and in Slovakia in terms of different approaches to cluster policy. The lack of convincing arguments for positive impact of public support on COs development in previous research and published studies was a reason for selection of these countries as they shared the same history as former members of Czechoslovakia (dissolution in 1993) and a lot of political, socio-economic and cultural similarities. In spite of their common historical development, the distinct differences in the way of establishing and developing cluster concept can be identified. For the comparison of the current stage of COs in these two countries, the secondary data for analysis of cluster strategies, documents, programmes and implementing bodies of public support were analysed, and primary data obtained from managers of COs using structured interviews was gathered, analysed and compared. From December 2015 to August 2016 research in more than 130 COs was carried out and then evaluated. Research findings confirmed that cluster policies are implemented in both examined countries in a different way what is manifested in different results in a number of COs, their structural characteristics and management level. Example of Czechia with strong and long-term public support shows that implementation of cluster-based policy plays an important role in evolving the cluster concept in the country, while evidence from Slovakia with weak support for cluster initiatives and COs’ establishment and development confirms, that inadequate governance and financial framework for the COs-related support in Slovakia did not bring a comparable level of COs development measured by structural characteristics and management quality as is in Czechia. © 2017, Academy of Economic Studies from Bucharest. All rights reserved

Forms of Providing and Financing Long-Term Care in OECD Countries

Long-Term care is being prioritised due to population ageing, and hand in hand with the development of professional provision of long-Term care, public expendi-Tures will be increasing. Mainly countries with a sharp increase in the number of people aged 80+ will have to address the sustainability of long-Term care systems and the pro-curement of relevant services. This paper aims to evaluate the forms of provision and financing of long-Term care in selected OECD countries. Provision and funding of long-Term care in terms of a formal system are assessed based on selected criteria using analytical methods (principal component analysis and TwoStep cluster analysis). Results of the evaluation carried out in 2008 and 2013 by means of the selected indicators of long-Term care, using TwoStep cluster analysis, confirmed both similar as well as different approaches to the provision and financing of long-Term care in the analysed countries. The most marked differences in the provision of care based on indicators LTC recipients aged 65+ and LTC recipients in institutions as a percentage of total LTC recipients were found between the first cluster (Australia and Korea with the highest share of LTC recipients) and the second cluster (Czech Republic, Estonia, with the lowest share of LTC recipients). In financing of long-Term care (LTC expenditures on institutions as a percentage of total LTC expenditures), the most significant differences were observed between the first (Australia, Korea, with the largest share of LTC expenditures on institutions) and third cluster (mainly Nordic countries, with the lowest share of LTC expenditures on institutions of total LTC expenditures). © 2017 Renáta Halásková et al., published by De Gruyter Open 2017.Operational Programme Education for Competitiveness [CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0296]; Evaluation of Public Policy Objectives in the Context of Sustainable Development and Performance of Regions [RO/2016/08

Culture managers education: system dynamics model of the coworking design centre

Coworking Centre is a concept of joint use of space by individuals working in related spheres that seek their chance in the labour market as freelancers. The strategy for the development of creative region mentions coworking centres as one of its tools. This article aims to create a business model of the Coworking Design Centre. By simulating a coworking centre model we are increasing knowledge of the culture managers about this type of business. We have introduced teaching business using the system dynamics modelling for students of art disciplines in order to raise the level of economic education, awareness and success in business through the Coworking Design Centre. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd