Nutrigenomics analyze of expression of extracellular leptin receptor by the following essential oil monitoring at the avian models

Leptin gene was identified in 1994 by positional cloning. His mutation is considered extreme obesity surface phenotype and infertility in ob/ob mice. Most of the research, which followed the discovery of this hormone, focused on the role of leptin in regulating body weight,  in order to clarify the pathophysiology of obesity. Many research results show that leptin is not only important in regulating food intake and energy balance, but also performs functions such as metabolic and neuroendocrine hormone. Using herbs and essential oils depends on their antimicrobial activity. Most plants have favorable multifunctional properties, which are the specific content of bioactive components. Some authors characterize fytogénne substance such as natural substancese plant origin, which leave no residues in animal products and is not necessary to keep the trade period before slaughter animals. Analyses suggest that the structural function of the receptor exists as a dimer constructively in the plasma membrane. Each receptor dimer pair is reversibly bound to one molecule of leptin. When bound, signaling pathways are responsible for beginning the activation receptor associated Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) and tyrosine phosphorylation of two key residues in the intracellular part of receptor

IMPORTANCE AND BENEFITS OF PROJECT FINANCE AS A SPECIFIC INSTRUMENT OF LOAN FINANCING OF INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

Tento príspevok je venovaný problematike projektového financovania ako nástroja špecifického úverového financovania investične náročných infraštruktúrnych projektov. Popisuje projektové financovanie z pohľadu jeho kľúčových aspektov. V úvodnej časti definuje termín projektové financovanie, klasifikuje projektové financovanie z hľadiska možnosti regresu (postihu) zo strany veriteľa, identifikuje a charakterizuje skupiny subjektov podieľajúcich sa na projektovom financovaní. Ďalšia časť príspevku vymedzuje prípravnú, realizačnú a finálnu fázu procesu projektového financovania, rozoberá možné spôsoby ručenia úveru, identifikuje spoločné znaky štruktúr projektového financovania, ktoré môžeme považovať súčasne za jeho výhody. V závere príspevku sú stručne vymedzené kritéria projektu, ktoré determinujú jeho spôsobilosť pre uplatnenie tohto finančného nástroja.This article is dedicated to the issue of project finance as a tool for specific loan financing of capital intensive infrastructure projects. It describes the project finance in terms of its key aspects. Introduction contains a definition of project finance, project finance classification in terms of the possibility of recourse (sanction) by the creditor, identification and characteristic of groups of entities involved in project finance. The next section defines the preparatory phase, implementation phase and final phase of the project finance process. This section is dedicated to the definition of possible ways of loan guarantee and identification of common features of project finance structures, which can be considered simultaneously for the benefits. In conclusion are briefly defined the project criteria that determine his eligibility for the application of this financing instrument

Measuring the Effi ciency of Public Road Transport Companies in the Slovak Republic USING DEA and SFA

Th e paper measures and compares the effi ciency of companies providing public road transport in the SlovakRepublic. For this purpose two rather complementary methods, namely data envelopment analysis (DEA) andstochastic frontier analysis (SFA), are used. An input-oriented slack based model under variable returns toscale is applied as a DEA effi ciency measure. Th e validity of DEA results is confi rmed by the stability analysisconsisting of re-calculation of DEA under diff erent combinations of inputs and outputs. Identifi ed effi cientdecision making unites are ranked using super-effi ciency. A SFA model is based on the well-known Cobb-Douglas function type, assuming normally distributed errors and half-normally distributed ineffi ciencies. Inorder to overcome the multicolinearity problem principal component analysis is applied. Finally, we identifytransport companies effi cient with respect to both methods

On the cardinalities of interval-valued fuzzy sets

Wygralak has developed an axiomatic theory of scalar cardinalities of fuzzy sets with finite support which covers as particular cases all standard (historical) concepts of the scalar cardinality. In this paper we present a possible extension of this theory to interval-valued fuzzy set theory. We introduce the cardinality of interval-valued fuzzy sets as a mapping from the set of interval-valued fuzzy sets with finite support to the set of closed subintervals of [0, +∞[. We study some properties of these cardinalities using t-norms, t-conorms and negations on the lattice L^I (the underlying lattice of interval-valued fuzzy set theory). In particular, the valuation property, the subadditivity property, the complementarity rule and the cartesian product rule will be discussed

Inovacijski vodje, skromni inovatorji in neinovativna mala in srednje velika podjetja na Slovaškem

Background and Purpose: The field of innovation represents for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) a fundamental challenge. If the number of innovative SMEs is to rise, it is necessary to identify key factors determining their innovation activity and eliminate the innovation barriers. The main purpose of the paper is to present the results of primary research focused on identification (evaluation) of key factors and barriers determining innovation activities in Slovak SMEs. The division of SMEs into three groups of enterprises: innovation leaders, modest innovators and non-innovators enables to identify the differences in managers’ perception of the main factors and barriers determining innovation activities in various types of SMEs and to formulate policy implications for Slovak SMEs. Design/Methodology/Approach: Results of the empirical research were processed using MS Excel and the statistical analysis of the data in R3.2.4. statistical system was done. For statistical tests we assumed significance level (α = 0.1). Results: Evaluating the importance of the key factors a majority of enterprises (64.71%) indicated financial resources as the most important factor for the innovations. There is no statistically significant difference in individual (analysed) factors between innovation leaders, non-innovators and innovation followers (modest innovators). The results gained from Fisher exact test (p-value = 0.11) indicated a small difference in evaluating the significance of individual barriers between innovation leaders, non-innovators and modest innovators. Majority of enterprises also see as the main barriers to develop innovation activities bureaucracy and corruption and inappropriate state support of innovation activities. Conclusion: The main implications (conclusion) coming from the research are basic recommendations for state policy makers as well as SME’s managers to foster innovation activities in enterprises. They refer to the areas of financial resources, high-quality human resources, cooperation and participation of SMEs in different networks and clusters, systematic institutional support to SMEs, well-created vision and clearly formulated aims, and willingness of enterprises to innovate. Recommendations are summarised following the results of factor’s and barrier’s evaluation.Ozadje in namen: Področje inovacij predstavlja temeljni izziv za mala in srednje velika podjetja (MSP). Da bi lahko povečali število inovativnih MSP, moramo opredeliti ključne dejavnike, ki določajo njihovo inovacijsko dejavnost in odpravijo inovacijske ovire. Glavni namen prispevka je predstaviti rezultate raziskave, osredotočene na identifikacijo in oceno ključnih dejavnikov in ovir inovacijske dejavnosti v MSP. Ta podjetja smo klasificirali v tri skupine: inovacijski voditelji, skromni inovatorji in neinovatorji, kar omogoča prepoznati razlike v mnenjih menedžerjev o glavnih de­javnikih in ovirah, ki vplivajo na inovacijske dejavnosti v različnih vrstah malih in srednje velikih podjetij, in oblikovati smernice posledice za slovaška MSP. Zasnova / metodologija / pristop: Zbrane empirične podatke smo obdelali z MS Excel in s statističnim paketom R3.2.4. Pri statističnih testih smo privzeli raven pomembnost (α = 0,1). Rezultati: Večina podjetij (64,71%) je kot najpomembnejši dejavnik inovativnosti navedla finančna sredstva. Med (analiziranimi) posameznimi dejavniki med inovativnimi voditelji, skromnimi inovatorji in neinovatorji nismo ugotovili statistično značilnih razlik. Rezultati, pridobljeni s Fisherjevim testom (p-vrednost = 0.11), kažejo majhno razliko pri vrednotenju pomena posameznih ovir med vodilnimi inovatorji, neinovatorji in skromnimi inovatorji. Večina podjetij meni, da so nadaljnje glavne ovire pri birokracija in korupcija na področju inovacijskih dejavnosti ter neustrezna državna podpora inovacijskim dejavnostim. Zaključek: Iz raziskave izhajajo osnovna priporočila za snovalce državnih politik, pa tudi za mala in srednja pod­jetja, da spodbujajo inovacijske dejavnosti v podjetjih. Nanašajo se na področje finančnih virov, visokokakovostnih človeških virov, sodelovanje in udeležbo MSP v različnih omrežjih in grozdih, sistematično institucionalna podpora MSP, dobro oblikovano vizija in jasno oblikovane cilje in pripravljenost podjetij na inovacije

Assessment of National Program of Learning Regions in Slovakia – Design and Testing

In May 2007, the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic approved the National Program for Learning Regions. It states that the long-term strategic objective for the development of Slovak regions is the gradual reduction of disparities in living standards in regions and to improve regional economic performance. One of the tools for achieving this goal is considered the learning region concept. The main aim of this article is to streamline the presentation and monitoring of the partial progress made in achieving the objectives of the National Program for Learning Regions in the Slovak Republic to policy-makers and to make this relatively complex issue accessible to a wider audience through one aggregated index and two partial indices; the PCA method was used. The results showed relatively large differences between regions. The highest value of the aggregated LR index was reached by the Trnava region, followed by the Bratislava region; these two regions seems to be in accordance with reaching the objectives of the National Program for Learning Regions. The lowest values were found in the Banská Bystrica, Prešov and Košice regions. Moreover, we found a positive correlation between aggregated and economical-innovative indices with average GDP during the years 2008–2014 at the NUTS 3 level

Alternative measures of macroeconomic imbalances in the EU – design and verification

Years 2008 and 2009 were particularly affected by the outbreak of the global economic recession which in addition to economic instability was also affected by political instability. Economies of most countries in the world felt the impact of the financial crisis, not excluding the EU countries. Since the start of the crisis, there has been a substantial reduction in the EU’s growth potential. In the EU, this was reflected at the macro-level by 4.74% GDP reduction in 2009 (Campos-Soria, Inchausti-Sintes & Eugenio-Martin, 2014). The high levels of external liabilities and private and public debt in many countries in the EU still constitute substantial vulnerabilities for growth, jobs and financial stability. The development of various indicators at micro and macro levels in times of last crisis in various countries was investigated by several authors (Campos-Soria, Inchausti-Sintes, & Eugenio-Martin, 2015; Gugler, Weichselbaumer, & Zulehner, 2015; Zhao, Jiang, & Li, 2014; Tatulescu & Patruti, 2014; Mazurek & Mielcová, 2017; Klepáč & Hampel, 2018)

Innovation Leaders, Modest Innovators and Non-innovative SMEs in Slovakia: Key Factors and Barriers of Innovation Activity

Background and Purpose: The field of innovation represents for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) a fundamental challenge. If the number of innovative SMEs is to rise, it is necessary to identify key factors determining their innovation activity and eliminate the innovation barriers. The main purpose of the paper is to present the results of primary research focused on identification (evaluation) of key factors and barriers determining innovation activities in Slovak SMEs. The division of SMEs into three groups of enterprises: innovation leaders, modest innovators and non-innovators enables to identify the differences in managers’ perception of the main factors and barriers determining innovation activities in various types of SMEs and to formulate policy implications for Slovak SMEs