Regional consequences of the economic and social transformation: Case study Slovakia

Regional situation in time of changes, just before the beginning of the transformation process: * regional monostructure and " district industrialisation", flagships and big enterprises, * full regional employment , but rather low competitiveness, * structural problems (the structure of sectors, low share of the service activities, huge concentration of arm industry in the selected regions etc.), * regional consequences of the eastern trade orientation. The process of global economic and regional transformation: * the radical economic reform, the regional differentiation process of the production's declining and unemployment, * the disintegration of large enterprises , a new western trade reorientation, * the investment's declining But in the same time the beginning of positive trends: the massive development of the private sector, explosion of SME * a steady growing share of service activities connected with foreign direct investments (banks, financial institutions, hotel chains, consulting, audit and marketing agencies etc. ) Generally: a very different reaction of the regions on this development and the adaptability on the transformation process. An active regional policy at the beginning: * the regional development programs * the new regional institutions * the governmental support for the depressed regions * EU support ( cross-border co-operation, the regional development agency and investment fund) The core region of the capital Bratislava and Slovak periphery. Challenges and risks of Bratislava-Vienna region. Spatial consequences on the location of economic activities.

Use of Marketing Instruments in Development of towns and regions: Case Study Slovakia

It is possible to apply the marketing conception also by managing and developing towns. Marketing as a scientific discipline has started to apply in specific conditions of managing of the public sector in 1980s. The interest in this discipline in the conditions of the Slovak Republic ? young and accession country which is being prepared for the entry to the European structures ? has been caused particularly by two facts: transformation of proprietary relations and democratization of control processes. In the first part of the papers the presentation concentrate on the theoretical approaches to the possibility of using the marketing instruments in conditions of the towns, causes of the origin of the marketing of towns, its specific items and barriers, opinion development on the marketing of towns and the process of marketing of towns itself with its significant phases: phase of analysis of the environment, marketing strategy creation, its implementation and control. We also stress the role of the specific instruments of marketing mix possibly used right in the sphere of marketing of towns ? people, physical evidence, processes and partnership which widen the traditional conception of the four elements of the marketing mix (4 P) ? product, price, place and promotion used by the town as a support of its offer. The marketing of towns uses practically the same instruments as for example the company marketing. Use of marketing conception in the conditions of towns can contribute to the better analysis of the needs of the inhabitants or the visitors of the towns to find the way of how to satisfy them better. It also helps to find ways how to locate some products of the town on the market and how to supply with them the certain groups. Very important in this case is the segmentation of the towns themselves as well as the customers (market). The segmentation of the town closely relates to the creation of the market positioning of the town. The positioning of the town means the place, which the certain town has been taken in imaginations of its customers in comparison with another competing towns. It reflects the image of the town, which is a part of unique and difference of the certain town and its offer. Among the marketing mix of the town the specific place belongs to the product, which is much more different and specific than the product in the classic conception. The important part of the marketing of the town is a marketing plan and a marketing strategy. The marketing plan should be connected to the spatial plan of the town ? it should contribute to it. The marketing strategy means to find the way of filling the aims stated in the plan. The specific item of the marketing strategy of the town is the numerous subjects, which are taken into account by formulating the strategy. In conditions of the Slovak municipality, application of marketing in comparison with the EU countries is insufficient. In the second part of the papers presentation present the topical state of applying marketing from the endogenous and exogenous points of view in 123 Slovak towns on the base of the results of their research, which will take part in February ? April 2003 within the form of the case study. They also define the most frequent barriers in applying the marketing instruments and the creation of the marketing strategy within the practice of the Slovak towns.

Regional restructuring in a transition economy: the process of tertiarization in Slovakia

Slovakia is influenced by the process, that is connected with global ones in economy. During the pre-transformation period, the socialist system did not develop the tertiary sphere. The transformation process brought after the year 1989 a remarkable change in economic structure. One of the crucial problems is high rate of unemployment namely in the regions that collapsed in many branches of production. Despite dynamic economic changes, the rate of unemployment did not raise so high, as the increasing development of tertiary sphere swallowed the striking flow of unemployment in the primary and secondary sectors. Looking at the needs and the trends of development of the tertiary sphere, we cannot forget its international dimension. The most remarkable internationalization will be seen in modern information activities, foreign trade, financial services, FDI etc. Analyses carried out, emphasizing the new type of reproduction process in the matter, have proved the fact, that the further development of the country should be more connected with our human investments. The concepts of "information age", "information society" and "knowledge based-economy" basically contain arguments to the effect that, in the advanced economies, knowledge and information are becoming the principal factors of production. There is a visible parallel with investments in education, development of science, etc. If we want to enforce a higher effectiveness of production, it is only possible through the development of a broad spectrum of tertiary activities. Our paper try to analyze this changes on the basis of available statistical data. Transition process is closely connected with restructuring process. From managing of this process depends if Slovakia will capture the global wave of changes from industrial to advanced services, but not only on country level but also in their regional dimension.

APLIKACE NANOTECHNOLOGIÍ V OBORU SPALOVACÍCH MOTORŮ

Cílem této bakalářské práce je analýza současného stavu mechanických ztrát v pístových spalovacích motorech a možná aplikace nanovrstev na jednotlivé komponenty. Úvodní část pojednává o mechanické účinnosti pohonných jednotek a mechanismech vzniku třecích ztrát. Další kapitoly popisují současná moderní řešení snižování mechanických ztrát obsahující technologie povlakování a konstrukční metody. V závěru práce jsou uvedeny používané metody k predikci těchto ztrát a navržené opatření pro jednoválcový motor o vysokém litrovém výkonu. Práce má za úkol seznámit čtenáře s problematikou mechanické účinnosti v oblasti spalovacích motorů.The aim of this bachelor thesis is to analyze the current state of mechanical losses in piston combustion engines and the possible application of nano-layers to individual components. The introductory section focus on mechanical efficiency of drive units and creation mechanisms of friction losses. The next chapters describe current modern solutions for reducing mechanical losses, including coating technologies and design methods. At the end of the thesis the methods, used to predict these losses and the proposed measures for the single cylinder high-liter engine are presented. The aim of the thesis is to familiarize the reader with the issues of mechanical efficiency in the field of internal combustion engines

The Problem of Silent Letters in English for Czech Native Speakers

Tato bakalářská práce se v teoretické části zabývá definicí němých písmen, vysvětlením důvodů jejich výskytu v Anglickém jazyce a také stručně nastiňuje jejich historický vývoj. V práci jsou dále představena jednotlivá němá písmena společně s pravidly a vzorci popisujícími jejich typický výskyt. Teoretická část také vysvětluje, proč by měla anglickým němým písmenům být v České republice věnována speciální pozornost.Praktická část je založena na lekci a sérii cvičení vytvořených s cílem prozkoumat a posléze rozšířit znalosti o němých písmenech u studentů. Cvičení byla vytvořena s ohledem na aktuálnost slov, která byla užita v příkladech. Jako rozhraní pro cvičení byl zvolen již zavedený univerzitní internetový kurz. Samotným cvičením předcházel diagnostický test, který zjišťoval úroveň znalostí studentů v oblasti němých písmen.In the theoretical part, the aim of the thesis is to define silent letters and explain the reasons for their appearance in the English language, as well as to briefly outline their historical development. Distinct silent letters are then introduced alongside with rules and patterns which describe their typical occurrence. The theoretical part also explains why there is a need for Czech learners of English to pay special attention to the problem of English silent letters. The practical part is based on an online lecture and series of exercises which I created with the aim of examining and subsequently helping students to improve their ' level of knowledge concerning silent letters. The exercises were created with regard to the currency of the words used as examples. For the examining and practising the interface of the university's already established e-learning course was chosen. The exercises were preceded by a diagnostic test, which was used to ascertain the students level of knowledge about silent letters

UMIĘŚNIENIE I OTŁUSZCZENIE LOSZEK MIESZAŃCÓW URODZONYCH I ODCHOWYWANYCH W POLSCE W BYDGOSKIM OKRĘGU HODOWLANYM W LATACH 1995-2004

The analysis covers findings of performance (tested in vivo) of fat and meat content of 45286 two-breeds crossbreds gilts tested in ten successive years (1995-2004) according to the same methodology observed in those years. Animals were produced in Poland in the area of Bydgoszcz Breeding District, covering Kujawy-Pomorze province. They came from two crossing variants of breeds Polish Large White (PLW) and Polish Landrace (PL): [PLW x PL] and [PL x PLW]; the sow’s breed is given in the first position. Two-factor ANOVA analysis of variance was employed in the research taking into consideration a crossing variant and ten years, i.e. 1995-2004 (referred to as groups 1-10, respectively) when animals’ performance was tested (in vivo). Computer program Statistica PL was used in calculations. Taking into consideration the total results from ten years (1995-2004) it should be noticed that crossbred gilts [PL x PLW] had significantly thinner backfat measured in P2 and P4 points, lower height of loin eye and higher carcass meat content (P≤0.01) compared with animals from [PLW x PL] crossing variant. The analysis of the results from year 1995 and year 2004 shows that in the case of crossbred gilts [PLW x PL] backfat thickness in P2 and P4 points decreased by 6.76 and 7.76 mm and meat content increased by 6.65%. Improvement in the mentioned traits occurred also in the case of gilts from the second tested crossing variant, i.e. [PL x PLW], because backfat thickness in P2 and P4 points decreased by 5.41 and 6.00 mm and carcass meat content increased by 4.80 %.Analizowano wyniki dotyczące otłuszczenia i umięśnienia 45286 loszek mieszańców dwurasowych ocenionych przyżyciowo w dziesięciu kolejnych latach (1995-2004) według tej samej obowiązującej w tych latach metodyki. Zwierzęta wyprodukowano w Polsce na terenie bydgoskiego okręgu hodowlanego, obejmującego województwo kujawsko-pomorskie. Pochodziły one z dwóch wariantów krzyżowania ras wielkiej białej polskiej (wbp) i polskiej białej zwisłouchej (pbz): [wbp x pbz] i [pbz x wbp], w których rasę lochy podano w pierwszej pozycji. W pracy zastosowano dwuczynnikową analizę wariancji ANOVA z uwzględnieniem wariantu krzyżowania oraz dziesięciu lat, tj. 1995-2004 (przyjętych odpowiednio jako grupy 1-10), w których zwierzęta zostały poddane ocenie przyżyciowej. Do obliczeń wykorzystano program komputerowy Statistica PL. Biorąc pod uwagę łączne zestawienie wyników z dziesięciu lat (1995-2004) należy zauważyć, że loszki mieszańce [pbz x wbp] charakteryzowały się istotnie cieńszą słoniną mierzoną w punktach P2 i P4, mniejszą wysokością oka polędwicy i większą mięsnością (P≤0,01) w porównaniu ze zwierzętami pochodzącymi z wariantu krzyżowania [wbp x pbz]. Analizując wyniki z 1995 i 2004 r. widać, że u loszek mieszańców [wbp x pbz] grubość słoniny w punktach P2 i P4 zmniejszyła się o 6,76 i 7,76 mm a mięsność zwiększyła się o 6,65%. Poprawa w zakresie wymienionych cech nastąpiła również w przypadku loszek pochodzących z drugiego badanego wariantu krzyżowania, tj. [pbz x wbp], bowiem grubość słoniny w punktach P2 i P4 zmniejszyła się o 5,41 i 6,00 mm a mięsność wzrosła o 4,80%

Older Stroke Survivors in Home Care: Factors Associated with the use of CCAC Rehabilitation Services

Purpose: Despite improvements in the prevention and management of stroke, it continues to have a significant impact on the Canadian population. For individuals who have suffered a stroke, rehabilitation is an important part of post stroke care that can maximize quality of life by reducing the impact of stroke-related impairments and disability. The purpose of this thesis was to describe the profile of older adults with stroke receiving home care services and to examine relationship between characteristics of these individuals and their use of home care rehabilitation services (PT and OT). Information from interRAI home care assessments (RAI-HC and interRAI CA) was used and the Andersen Newman Behavioural model was employed as a conceptual framework. Methods: Two retrospective cohort studies of older stroke survivors receiving services from the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Community Care Access Centre were conducted. Individuals with acute stroke were identified from hospital discharge records (Discharge Abstract Database) that were linked to interRAI assessments (RAI-HC N=1,181 and interRAI CA N=573), and CCAC service utilization data to identify the use of PT and OT services. Both samples were compared with a non-stroke population in order to describe the characteristics of those with stroke. Logistic regression was used to examine associations between independent variables and the use of services for PT and OT and ordinal logistic regression was used to assess relationships between characteristics and the number of PT/OT visits (0, 1-4, 5+) in both samples. Results: Comparison with the general older population revealed that older stroke survivors had greater difficulty with communication, swallowing, IADLs, ADLs, and a greater prevalence of cognitive impairment. Following RAI-HC assessment those with unsteady gait and difficulty with stairs were more likely to receive PT and OT services. Impairment in ADLs and triggering the Home Environment Optimization CAP were significantly associated with receiving OT. Being married and receiving a greater amount of informal care increased the odds of receiving PT services, while cognitive impairment and having Alzheimer’s disease or dementia decreased the odds of receiving PT. Significant variation by CCAC branch was also found. Male sex, language other than English, location of intake, cognitive decline, and unstable health were significantly associated with the use of OT services among those assessed with the interRAI CA. Referral for rehabilitation, cognitive decline, co-residing caregiver, and difficulty with locomotion were significantly associated with the use of PT services after assessment with the interRAI CA. Comparison of predisposing, enabling, and need factors revealed that need factors were the primary determinant of service use in this population, although enabling factors also played an important role. Conclusions: Older stroke survivors receiving home care services are a complex population with a high need for rehabilitation services. A better understanding of the characteristics of older stroke survivors and their use of home care services can help to inform the provision of services to this population to facilitate community reintegration and enhance quality of life