Geometric Algorithm for Received Signal Strength Based Mobile Positioning

Mobile positioning is one of the fastest growing areas for the development of new technologies, services and applications. This paper describes a simple and efficient geometric algorithm using received signal strength measurements extracted from at least three base stations. This method is compared with standard Least Squares method. The simulation results show, that geometric algorithm gives more accurately location estimation than LS algorithm in multipath propagation

Trade Credit and Bank Finance – Evidence from the Visegrad Group

This paper examines whether bank finance is a substitute or complementary to trade credit for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region of the Visegrad Group – the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and the Slovak Republic. This paper uses the data set provided by the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey that was conducted by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank during the period from 2012 to 2014. Using a sample of 1,140 firms, it was discovered that firms having an overdraft facility from banks use more trade credit, and this supports the complementary theory of bank credit and trade credit. Moreover, the results suggest that companies that are younger, innovative, risky, with a concentrated ownership structure and operated by an experienced manager use more trade credit to purchase their material inputs and services. However, the results also show that service-oriented firms use less trade credit than manufacturing firms.Internal Grant Agency of FaME TBU: Financial Constraints on Economic Activities [IGA/FaME/2017/010

Selected economic factors of the quality of business environment

The development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is at the center of interests of the relevant authorities in the European Union and national economies across Europe. The aim of this paper was to define and quantify important economic factors that shape the quality of business environment in the SME segment, and to compare their significance in Czech and the Slovak Republics. According to the defined aim a survey-based research was conducted with the enterprises of the SME segment. Responses from 312 enterprises in Czech Republic and 329 enterprises in Slovak Republic were obtained. The Z-score method was used to verify the scientific hypotheses. The research brought some interesting findings. Slovak entrepreneurs, despite slower growth of GDP and income in Slovakia, better rated the importance of the Central bank in creating a stable business environment as well as the role commercial banks play in financing business needs. The results of this research support the perception that the quality of business environment is a complex consisting of both economic and non-economic factors. It was discovered that the overall rating of the business environment quality is lower than the rating of partial economic factors influencing it. © Foundation of International Studies, 2019

Local currency as a mean of regional competitiveness development

This article aims to define and analyze important factors of the introduction of a local currency. The research was carried out in the Cieszyn Silesia region. A questionnaire was prepared and distributed among the employees of both public and private companies in the region and filled in by 422 respondents. Advanced data analysis methods were used to evaluate the questionnaire: contingency tables, absolute and relative species abundance, the Pearson's chi-squared test, along with a standard score (Z-score). Respondents' attitudes towards introducing the local currency led to some interesting results. Most respondents know the term "local currency," but only one third of them are able to interpret this term correctly. 65% of the respondents are familiar with the term "digital currency," but only 11% of them have trust in the concept. According to the received answers, the credibility of digital currency can be increased by it being ensured by trustworthy subjects. Three out of four respondents predict that the introduction of digital currency would significantly support regional producers and service providers. These results are used as the information base for assessments regarding the types of employee benefits on offer by major employers in the region along with cooperating institutions of the public non-profit sector, as well as for an academic discussion on the suitability of the local currency in the Czech Republic and its impact.TACR project [TL02000562

Determinants of loan maturity in small business lending

This paper investigates the determinants of loan maturity of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the context of Visegrad countries: Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland, and Hungary. The data of instead of for this paper was obtained from the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS), which is a joint project of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank. By using a binary logistic model, we have found that loan maturity is shorter for older and mature firms, firms owned by female and firms experiencing a shortage of liquidity. At the same time, we have also found that firms having concentrated ownership structure and more tangible assets can borrow for a longer period. In addition to that, we have found evidence that loan maturity is longer for the firms located closer to a bank branch. We also provide empirical support for the assumption that bank low competition is associated with longer maturity. From the obtained results, we may recommend SMEs to borrow from banks that are within their vicinity since this may increase the maturity of loans. Policy makers are recommended to implement policies so that to alleviate gender-related discrimination and take initiatives to moderate the level of competition at this market. © Foundation of International Studies and CSR, 2017

Quantum energy levels of hydrogen adsorbed on nanoporous carbons: an intrinsic probe for pore structure, and improving Monte Carlo simulations of adsorption [abstract]

Only abstract of poster available.Track IV: Materials for Energy ApplicationsHydrogen is the lightest molecule in nature, making both rotational and translational degrees of freedom eminently quantum mechanical (especially at low temperatures). For isolated molecules the first excited (degenerate) rotational states are at about 175 K above the (non-degenerate) ground state. When the hydrogen molecule is adsorbed, however, interaction with the substrate partially eliminates this degeneracy due to the different adsorption strengths of the different rotational states of the molecule. In this talk, we consider the adsorption of hydrogen in nanometer-size pores in carbon. We show that the rotation-vibration energy levels are strongly dependent on the pore structure (geometry and size). This dependence may be probed by inelastic neutron scattering as a local, non-destructive, probe intrinsic to the system, to characterize nanopores (in fact, using H2 as the probe makes sure that the pore structure probed is relevant for H2 adsorption). The rotation-vibration energy levels were also used as input for grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations of H2 adsorption, improving the accuracy of the simulations. This material is based on work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Award No. DE-FG02-07ER46411."This material is based on work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Award No. DE-FG02-07ER46411.

Structural and energetic factors in designing a perfect nano-porous sorbent for hydrogen storage [abstract]

Only abstract of poster available.Track IV: Materials for Energy ApplicationsCarbons are one of several promising groups of materials for hydrogen storage by adsorption. However, the heat of hydrogen physisorption in such materials is low, in the range of about 4-8 kJ/mol which limits the total amount of hydrogen adsorbed at P = 100 bar to ~2 wt% at room temperature and about ~10 wt% at 77 K. To get better storage capacity, the adsorbing surfaces must be modified, either by substitution of some atoms in the all-carbon skeleton by other elements, or by doping/intercalation with other species. Here we analyze the variation of interaction energy between a molecule of hydrogen and graphene-based sorbents prepared as hypothetical modifications of the graphene layer. In particular, we show that partial substitution of carbons (for example, by boron) modifies both the symmetry of the energy landscape and strength of hydrogen physisorption. The effect of substituent extends over several sites of graphene lattice making the surface more heterogeneous. This material is based on work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Award No. DE-FG02-07ER46411."This material is based on work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Award No. DE-FG02-07ER46411.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on selected areas of a management system in SMEs

The current pandemic, that has wider economic and social impacts, will put to the test all enterprises, which will be forced to search for new survival strategies and to create existential prognoses of business operations during great economic and social uncertainty and new crises whose impacts are hard to predict. This fact motivated the team of authors to realise the study that aims at researching and quantifying the impacts of the pandemic COVID-19 on selected areas of management in SMEs in the Czech Republic (CR) and the Slovak Republic (SR). The research sample consisted of 1502 SMEs, 822 SMEs before the pandemic, 680 SMEs during the pandemic, 814 from CR, and 688 from SR. Attitudes between SMEs according to nationality and period of research were verified with a chisquared test and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The results of both countries confirmed that the pandemic has a negative impact on the financial performance of SMEs. The government economic measures may help the enterprises to recover, said 40.0% of Czech entrepreneurs, but only 30% of Slovak entrepreneurs. However, the entrepreneurs in SMEs equally perceive other aspects of corporate governance and business risk management during the pandemic

The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the perception of business risk in the SME segment

The aim of the study is to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on entrepreneurs’ attitudes towards the selected business risks in the SME segment. 1502 SMEs took part in the research, while 822 of them provided their responses regarding business risks before the COVID-19 crisis and 680 during the COVID-19 crisis in Czech and Slovak business environment. Market, financial, and personnel risks were considered by Czech SMEs as the three most significant business risks, both before and after the COVID-19 crisis. The statistically confirmed differences in SMEs’ attitudes based on the time of providing responses are most apparent in the perception of financial and personnel risks. 35.7% SMEs in Czech Republic and 35.3% in Slovakia considered financial risk as one of the three most significant business risks before the COVID-19 crisis. During the crisis, it changed to 53.6% SMEs in Czech Republic and 59.7% in Slovakia. Before the crisis, up to 67.8% SMEs in Czech Republic and 62.8% in Slovakia considered personnel risk as one of the three most significant business risks. During the crisis, it was only 27.2% in Czech Republic and 29.4% in Slovakia. © 2020, Centre of Sociological Research. All rights reserved