The Impact of COVID-19 on Sustainability and Changing Consumer Behavior in the Textile Industry. Is it Significant?

Understanding consumer behavior and clearly predicting its subsequent direction is a complex process. We can often see significant differences between how a consumer behaves in a given market and what his attitudes, needs, or expectations are. It is very important to place much more emphasis on the area of consumer behavior than on the individual, to meet his needs and wishes as much as possible. In the following article, we conducted a survey in the form of a questionnaire on an online platform with a sample of 500 respondents from the Slovak Republic. The foundation of our study was to examine whether the COVID-19 pandemic, which is still a topical issue and it is a significant impact on daily life, has changed the shopping behavior in the clothing industry with which they consciously purchase. We were also interested in the dependence between income and frequency of purchase. The methods used in the paper were based on a theoretical elaboration of the issue of consumer behavior and the clothing industry as the second-largest polluter of the environment after the oil industry, subsequent analysis and synthesis. Another statistical method that we used in the paper was the analysis of qualitative data from the questionnaire survey through the creation of contingency tables and determining the dependence, respectively, independence between individual variables. We consider this article to be a good basis for further research

Behavioral model of business change management in relation to building competitiveness in market economy conditions

In the current market environment, the actual dynamics of the application of internal corporate factors is differentiated. The company thus tries to influence customers’ shopping behavior as effectively as possible. Therefore, it is important for the company to be able to adapt to these changes as effectively as possible. The purpose of the article is to analyze the factors influencing consumer behavior in the market conditions of the Slovak Republic. We described the current situation by a survey, which we conducted in 2020–2021. Among the selected categorical variables, we verified the dependence in two hypotheses by the statistical method of Pearson’s Chi-Square test. Using the method, we pointed out the factors that influence consumer behavior and can be important for change management. We compared the results of the survey with the results of similar surveys conducted abroad. Accepting the results of the survey, we proposed a general model of change management in the discussion part of the article. The model is thus a practical implication for companies with a differentiated subject of business. It also takes into account the behavioral characteristics that the company should adapt to in the current situation in order to achieve its strategic goals

How Shopping was Transformed from Offline to Online Space - A Case Study within the Slovak Republic

The prognosis and determination of consumer behavior is not an easy process. As part of the development of consumer behavior as the last member of the B2C market in the distribution channel, one can observe the gradual decline of brick-and-mortar stores and the rise of online shopping for several decades, especially the enormous growth of online shopping over the last two years caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it should be noted that many retailers offer their products simultaneously in brick-and-mortar stores and also through the e-shop. The main purpose of the article is to determine the dependence of spent funds on the basis of individual criteria. The primary data were obtained by conducting a questionnaire survey, in which we determined the amount of spent funds for traditional and online retail shopping. Data were analyzed using the Shapiro-Wilk normality test, followed by an analysis of the dependencies of the variables using the Kruskal-Wallis’s test and one-way ANOVA. The results show that, apart from gender, the other factors examined do not affect the amount of spent money. Due to the absence of published academic literature and empirical findings concerning the behavior of retail trade format selection in the Slovak market, this study may serve as a starting point for future studies in this area of interest. The survey is also relevant for retailers in terms of format development and reorientation of marketing strategies

Calcium and ROS: A mutual interplay

AbstractCalcium is an important second messenger involved in intra- and extracellular signaling cascades and plays an essential role in cell life and death decisions. The Ca2+ signaling network works in many different ways to regulate cellular processes that function over a wide dynamic range due to the action of buffers, pumps and exchangers on the plasma membrane as well as in internal stores. Calcium signaling pathways interact with other cellular signaling systems such as reactive oxygen species (ROS). Although initially considered to be potentially detrimental byproducts of aerobic metabolism, it is now clear that ROS generated in sub-toxic levels by different intracellular systems act as signaling molecules involved in various cellular processes including growth and cell death. Increasing evidence suggests a mutual interplay between calcium and ROS signaling systems which seems to have important implications for fine tuning cellular signaling networks. However, dysfunction in either of the systems might affect the other system thus potentiating harmful effects which might contribute to the pathogenesis of various disorders

p-Dimethylaminobenzaldehyde-reactive substances in tail tendon collagen of streptozotocin-diabetic rats: temporal relation to biomechanical properties and advanced glycation endproduct (AGE)-related fluorescence

AbstractIn the present work, pepsin digests of tail tendons from streptozotocin-diabetic rats were found to contain material that reacted rapidly at room temperature with p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde (Ehrlich’s reagent) to give an adduct with an absorbance spectrum characteristic of the Ehrlich chromogen of pyrrolic nature determined in ageing collagens. A significant correlation of the Ehrlich adduct with tendon mechanical strength and collagen fluorescence characteristic of advanced glycation endproducts was observed. Collagen content of the Ehrlich-positive material was found to be significantly elevated in tendons of diabetic rats compared with age-matched healthy controls. The results indicate that the p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde-reactive pyrrole moieties may contribute to the increased cross-linking of diabetic matrix collagen. Profound inhibitory effect of aminoguanidine was observed, underlining the role of non-enzymatic mechanisms of advanced glycation in pyrrolisation and cross-linking of collagen exposed to hyperglycaemia. It is hypothesised that quantification of the p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde-reactive material in matrix collagen may provide a tissue measure of integrated hyperglycaemia over prolonged periods of time. Further research is to assess the significance of p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde-reactive substances in diabetic collagen tissues and to reveal their relationship to enzyme-mediated physiological pyrrolisation of ageing collagens

Optimization of Real Time Measured Data Transmission, Given the Amount of Data Transmitted

The operation of nuclear power plants involves continuous monitoring of the environment in their area. This monitoring is performed using a complex data acquisition system, which collects status information about the system itself and values of many important physical variables e.g. temperature, humidity, dose rate etc. This paper describes a proposal and optimization of communication that takes place in teledosimetric system between the central control server responsible for the data processing and storing and the decentralized measuring stations, which are measuring the physical variables. Analyzes of ongoing communication were performed and consequently the optimization of the system architecture and communication was done

Optimization of Real Time Measured Data Transmission, Given the Amount of Data Transmitted

The operation of nuclear power plants involves continuous monitoring of the environment in their area. This monitoring is performed using a complex data acquisition system, which collects status information about the system itself and values of many important physical variables e.g. temperature, humidity, dose rate etc. This paper describes a proposal and optimization of communication that takes place in teledosimetric system between the central control server responsible for the data processing and storing and the decentralized measuring stations, which are measuring the physical variables. Analyzes of ongoing communication were performed and consequently the optimization of the system architecture and communication was done

Is there an Impact of Company Size and Industry on Corporate Culture? An Empirical Study from the Slovak Republic

Nowadays, corporate culture has become a strategic priority for companies. It is an important part of companies, as it indicates the overall trend in the behaviour of employees' work relations and processes. At the same time, corporate culture helps employees understand the company, identify with the company's goals, and become part of the company. Some authors consider corporate culture to be the main characteristic that distinguishes successful companies. If a company exhibits a high level of culture, its organizational performance also increases. Therefore, we consider corporate culture to be an integral part of every company. Data for the research was obtained through an online questionnaire. Subsequently, we used the statistical program IBM SPSS 25. To determine the existence of a relationship between company size and corporate culture and between industry and corporate culture, we used Pearson's χ2 test for contingency tables, as the variables are qualitative. Subsequently, we evaluated the strength of the relationship based on Cramer's V. Subsequently, correspondence analysis was used to display the use of corporate culture for industries according to SK NACE and company size. Using Pearson's χ2 test, we found that there is a weak relationship between firm size and corporate culture, and a moderate relationship between industry and corporate culture. On the basis of correspondence analysis, we found, for example, that micro-enterprises use a culture of power, medium-sized enterprises use a culture of roles, and the electricity and gas supply industry uses a culture of performance. The added value of the article is the topicality of the research and the fact that the results relate to the Slovak Republic and can serve as a basis for further research. As a limitation of our research, we can consider that not all branches of the Slovak economy were represented according to SK NACE

How Shopping was Transformed from Offline to Online Space - A Case Study within the Slovak Republic

The prognosis and determination of consumer behavior is not an easy process. As part of the development of consumer behavior as the last member of the B2C market in the distribution channel, one can observe the gradual decline of brick-and-mortar stores and the rise of online shopping for several decades, especially the enormous growth of online shopping over the last two years caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it should be noted that many retailers offer their products simultaneously in brick-and-mortar stores and also through the e-shop. The main purpose of the article is to determine the dependence of spent funds on the basis of individual criteria. The primary data were obtained by conducting a questionnaire survey, in which we determined the amount of spent funds for traditional and online retail shopping. Data were analyzed using the Shapiro-Wilk normality test, followed by an analysis of the dependencies of the variables using the Kruskal-Wallis’s test and one-way ANOVA. The results show that, apart from gender, the other factors examined do not affect the amount of spent money. Due to the absence of published academic literature and empirical findings concerning the behavior of retail trade format selection in the Slovak market, this study may serve as a starting point for future studies in this area of interest. The survey is also relevant for retailers in terms of format development and reorientation of marketing strategies