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With the increase in the number of university students, the number of those who do not finish successfully the tertiary education is also increasing. The article uses a specific data source and analyses only a part of the group of unsuccessful students who re-enroll. This is a specific group of students - they did not finish the tertiary study in the past, but after some time they returned to education. The aim of the paper is to find significant factors that influence the decision whether the student changes the studied school or field of study. Factors will be searched using decision trees and binary logistic regression. Both methods were significant for gender and the fact that a student is studying his preferred university. Logistic regression adds to the student's health disadvantage. The data were obtained from the EUROSTUDENT survey, which was held in the Czech Republic in 2016 under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. The results can be used to identify a risky candidate or student at the beginning of tertiary education.

Introduction: The main goal of the work is to analyze how social workers identify their specific competencies regarding the general characteristics of the workplace and how they subjectively evaluate their abilities and capabilities to fulfill these competencies in the Ústecký region in Czechia. Methods: The data were obtained from a combined convenience online and paper-pencil survey. Respondents were employees of the 48 social services organizations in the Ústecký region: 101 females and six males. The one-factor analysis of variance comparing means and two non-parametric tests, the Friedman test and Kendall's W test, was employed, as well as Spearman's rank correlation coefficients for data analysis. Results: The most significant part of the working time of the respondents is devoted to the administration working with clients. Social workers primarily use communication skills and knowledge of social work methods. On the other hand, they use language skills and research methods sparingly. Respondents recognize the essential skills to solve crises, make quick decisions, and control their emotions. On the other hand, they consider writing project applications, raising money, managing people, and creativity the least necessary skills. The respondents find demanding administration the most difficult. On the other hand, they have the most minor problems with identifying clients' needs, determining the goals and methods to achieve them, and working with clients from different cultural backgrounds. The respondents mostly solve the dilemmas of the number of clients and time constraints of the social worker, as well as practical problemsolving and legislative constraints. Conclusion: The social workers' activities are divided into administrative and direct work with people. Communication skills and knowledge of social work methods are considered most important for fulfilling professional duties. The possibility of finding quick solutions in a crisis helps them to achieve these duties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union (EU) experienced its largest expansion in 2004, when ten countries from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) joined. This was followed by the accession of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007 and Croatia in 2013. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how these countries have been able to benefit from EU membership. The topic’s relevance is emerging because of discussions with candidate countries for EU membership. Before a new round of accessions, it is important to assess how previously admitted states have been able to benefit from their membership and what lessons can be learned from their cases. The paper covers the period between 2004 and 2021. The main questions concern the evolution of select CEE countries in recent years, the results that have already been achieved, and the weakest features of their integration. The paper suggests that although these countries have been able to benefit from membership, they still face significant challenges as members of the EU. To endorse this suggestion, the paper applies Tibor Palánkai’s integration maturity and profile theories. The research builds on two hypotheses: first, the CEE countries in the analysis could improve their integration profile if they developed deeper economic ties with other EU members; second, countries that are located closer to the core countries of the EU (such as Austria and Germany) could exploit most of the benefits as a result of higher foreign direct investment (FDI) attractiveness. The paper designs a new composite indicator to provide a comprehensive understanding of the costs and benefits of EU membership. The findings support the hypotheses: countries such as the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia, which have formed deeper economic (trade and investment) relations with the EU’s core countries, could significantly improve their composite indicator values. The results can contribute to integration theory and enlargement decisionmaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informed by existing gaps in the research of elder abuse and neglect (EAN) outcomes and very limited knowledge from Central-European cultural contexts, this paper analyzes the link between domestic-based EAN and three measures of well-being, namely subjective loneliness, sense of control over one's life, and a broader outlook on life. To do this, we used recently (2022) collected EAN survey fielded among home-dwelling residents of the Czech Republic aged 65 +. The results show that there is a clear relationship between EAN and these selected outcomes. Controlling for several sets of potential modifying or confounding factors further indicates that this relationship is substantial and direct, rather than weak and indirect. Among controls, only variables related to disadvantage (health, income, dependency, history of abuse) partly account for the link between EAN and its outcomes due to their relation to both heightened risk of EAN and lower well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, it is difficult to identify correct data on wood sources and their consumption in the Czech Republic. Official statistics of wood production are relatively limited to obtaining data that accurately captures the objective wood production, which would enable the observation of the direction or consumption of particular tree species or products. This uncertainty is then transferred to the wood flow for industrial and energy processing, and it is not possible to compose a detailed picture of how much wood and which sources enter into the wood processing and how large the total material flow is. The aim of this paper is to present an option for how to determine this lack of valid information that enables clear outcomes necessary for decision making by means of the recalculation of wood sources consumed in the Czech Republic, using the data of processing capacities and foreign trade. The reverse model better expressed a conversion value of roundwood into the products and allowed optimal approximation in the wood sources assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Metodos Cuantitativos para la Economia y la Empresa is the property of Universidad Pablo de Olavide and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper focuses on the Czech economic transition and aims to identify the determinants of unusually high and long-lasting public support for market reforms. The study is based on a unique combination of statistical analysis of survey data and oral history (interviews with reformers, managers etc.), which has enabled us to depict the views of the general public as well as of many people involved in decision-making processes on both macro and micro levels. These findings allow us to propose recommendations on how to gain and maintain public support for economic reforms. Above all, reformers must utilize the period of euphoria and communicate the individual steps of reform with the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Making strategic decisions in retailing is associated with analysing sales development, which can indicate the current trends in consumer demand. Determining retail sales indicators is a valuable step towards better prediction and helps to make strategic decisions more realistic. However, the question is to what extent the general assumption of profitability of using retail sales indicators can be applied in the case of a transformed economy. This paper aims to provide information on the possibility of using selected economic indicators to predict sales in the environment of a transformed economy. The paper analyses the joint time series development of retail sales in the Czech Republic. The Johansen cointegration test has been performed to determine whether retail sales show long-term cointegration with the set of selected indicators. The results establish GDP, total employment, gross wage, and consumer data as leading indicators of retail sales at different levels of delays. In contrast, in the case of online retail sales, no significant influence of the observed factors has been found. The findings suggest that if managers choose to plan their online retail processes based on retail sales estimates, they must respond to changes in these indicators much faster than managers in offline environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many authors all over the world attempt to perform time series analyses (at differing levels of expertise) in their published works. Knowledge of quantitative information is necessary for decision making in any domain. Therefore, it is more desirable to enter this field of problems and examine and develop everything that has been offered by these modern methodologies. In time series forecasting, the extrapolation methods are applied most frequently in practice. Currently, the combined models have been increasingly employed in experiments - these represent an aggregation of prognoses obtained from various separate models. The study presented is aimed at such new approaches, i.e. the construction of combined prediction models that are more realistic, more flexible and more concise in the time series modelling. This paper focuses on a subsequent assessment of combined prognoses constructed and a comparison of these with selected separate models having participated in the aggregate prognoses making. In order to obtain an efficient product, the Time Series Forecasting System (TSFS) component has been employed, being a component of the SAS programme system. For quality assessment of the models constructed, the assessment criteria selected in advance have been applied. The results of this empirical study have shown that in the domain of estimation of future foodstuffs consumption development, the techniques illustrated in this paper by examples of long-term time series from foodstuffs consumption area in the Czech Republic (CR), can be employed with success. This way represents a suitable supplement to complex econometric models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper defines the essence of financing models (financing patterns) from the viewpoint of different scientific approaches. Using the operational viewpoint it then analyses the use of different financing model by large and medium-sized agricultural enterprises of Ukraine and the Czech Republic. Based on this analysis, there are identified the basic financing models in Czech and Ukrainian agriculture. The changes that occurred in the role of the debt financing model for enterprises in the sector in both countries are determined. The role of debt financing model for agricultural enterprises in Ukraine, in contrast to the Czech Republic, significantly increased in recent years. The causes of this phenomenon are associated with the deterioration of the development of the financial system in the country, which also projects into worsening conditions for self-financing. It is the sign of a systemic crisis in agriculture. But in the Czech Republic the role of equity financing model of agricultural enterprises increased on the background of improving conditions for self-financing and, consequently, increasing their independence from creditors. The volume of liabilities is distributed between the agricultural enterprises very unevenly (especially in Ukraine), and it reflects not only the existing differentiation of size of these enterprises, but different access to external funds in general. The results of the paper deny the findings of some researchers that in countries with a less developed economy and financial system, the role of debt financing model is lower due to a lack access to the loans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Central European Public Administration Review is the property of University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Public Administration and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Little current studies of democratic innovations have considered whether there is any connection between the political characteristics of a municipality and the higher degree of use of participative and deliberative tools within their territory. This article aims at contributing to the discussion by testing selected political indicators in the municipalities in relation to the utilisation rate of innovative tools. By using the case study of local territory within the Czech Republic during the election period of 2014-2018, the article uses unique data from the municipalities with extended powers to track common features of participative municipalities, emunicipalities, and transparent municipalities, and reveals the substantial positive effects of intergenerational renewal in the representative bodies and strong financial capital. Paper contributes to the discourse on democratic innovations by focusing on unexplored area, thanks to which participative and deliberative tools could become a normal part of the decision-making process on a local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the cost efficiency of 81 general hospitals in the Czech Republic during 2006-2010. We employ the conditional order-m approach to assess how inpatient costs in a hospital translate to inpatient outputs considering its environmental characteristics. The outputs include quantitative indicators such as (i) acute patients adjusted for DRG case-mix index, (ii) nursing patients, and (iii) publications reflecting research activity of a hospital; but also a qualitative indicator (iv) nurses/bed ratio. Nonprofit hospitals, university hospitals, and hospitals with specialized centers are generally less efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The availability of public services has been perceived as one of the parameters for evaluating the quality of services and a basic component of the effectiveness of the system. Social services have been understood as public services in the countries of the European Union. The state has the primary responsibility for ensuring the availability of social services and should have established powers in the areas of planning, coordination and evaluation. The aim of this paper is to comprehensively evaluate the availability of homes for seniors aggregated into individual districts of the Czech Republic. The method of multi‐criteria decision‐making was chosen for the evaluation, specifically the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution in combination with the Coefficient of Variance method, as a method for the objective determination of the weights of input indicators. The evaluation in 2017 included 77 districts of the Czech Republic and 519 homes for seniors, which are registered providers of social services for persons who, due to age and reduced self‐sufficiency, cannot take care of themselves and are users of residential social services. Based on 14 defined indicators, the local accessibility within individual districts of the Czech Republic was evaluated, focusing on five research questions. The indicators were defined in such a way as to reflect the nature of the problems and to define the need for this service in the territory. Based on the results, a significant relationship was demonstrated between the amount of subsidy per bed, per month, granted to homes for seniors in individual districts of the Czech Republic and service availability, i.e. districts in which homes for seniors with higher subsidies per bed show better availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The internet has become a significant source of health-related information in the last ten years. Quality of health-related information is often diverse and uncertain and on the internet environment it should be evaluated by a specific method. This could be viewed as an important part of health literacy skills of the 21st century. For this purpose the indicators of medical information quality are defined based on the dimension of reliability of information quality. The dimensions are derived from three-dimensional scheme by Anton Vedder and it can be applicable in the Czech internet environment. The indicators are: origin, sponsorship, purpose and intent, currency and date, citation and links, accuracy and completeness, clarity and truthfulness. These indicators were selected from established tools for evaluation of medical information quality that are used abroad, like HONCode, MedlinePlus or DISCERN. The indicators are set into the draft of methodics with the instructions for the evaluation of medical information quality on Czech websites. The methodics could be applicable not only in the Czech Republic, but also in other countries, if a sociopolitical context is similar to Czech. The methodics is divided into two parts: one for non-expert sources in common online environment designed for laymen and one extended version designed for experts. The version designed for expert is a little bit modified and except these indicators also includes criteria for critical evaluation of research papers and reviews. These criteria relate to questions of correct interpretation and collection of information in summaries, and questions on researched subjects, observation and intervention (whether it was done correctly or not), results (e.g. statistical test, effect size) and data interpretation in experimental papers. Both methodics for laymen and experts improves critical thinking and supports better decision making in issues related to health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exact determination of the rotation period is still a current and important essential issue of forestry. It attracts the attention of forest economists, managers and owners worldwide, not only of forest economists but also of forest managers. The rotation period is defined by physical, technical or financial parameters of forest management. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish between the biological and the economic optimal rotation period. A fundamental challenge in forest management is the need for appropriate determination of the rotation period. The primary interest of our research was to compare the effective legislation for the determination of the rotation period in the Czech Republic and in the Slovak Republic. Scientific methods such as document analysis and questionnaire survey were applied. The results of the legislation analysis and other related documents were compared with the expert opinions of the relevant stakeholders. Those who affect the decision process related to the problem and those where are "affected" by the problem were involved in the study. Results show that respondents do not agree with the regulation of rotation period according to effective law. Moreover, they consider it as not usable as the conditions in forest ecosystems have changed recently, which is not considered in the legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research was conducted with the aim of analyzing the aspects that enter into the decision-making process of developers in the field of residential construction in the Czech Republic. To ensure the representativeness of a diverse range of companies active in the real estate market, a suitable group of respondents was carefully selected. The survey provided a sufficiently representative sample, based on which the key factors influencing the decision-making in the implementation of development projects were identified. The research found that developers primarily focus on seeking profitable opportunities, and their decision-making process is predominantly aimed at achieving financial gain. In this decision-making, they also consider other factors, such as mortgage interest rates, the quality of newly built homes with an emphasis on energy efficiency, and the use of modern technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of technical efficiency is an important tool in management of public libraries. We assess the efficiency of 4660 public municipal libraries in the Czech Republic in the year 2017. For this purpose, we utilize data envelopment analysis (DEA) based on the Chebyshev distance. We consider total expenditures, employees and book collection as inputs with registrations, book circulation, event attendance and collection additions as outputs. We pay special attention to the operating environment and find that the efficiency scores significantly depend on the population of the municipality and its distance to the municipality with extended powers. To remove the effect of the operating environment, we perform DEA separately for categories based on decision tree analysis as well as categories designed by an expert. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

External energy security has gained importance within the EU due to the current Russian-Ukrainian natural gas dispute, but also because of mid- and long-term issues connected to the availability of energy supply in Europe. The Energy Union proposal is supposed to increase the coherence of the EU in external energy, thus contributing to the energy security of the Community. However, various member states have already expressed different (not always positive) views, concerning this project. In order to shed light on the further development of the Energy Union, the present paper – based on 52 semi-structured interviews – examines members states' support for and opposition to the further deepening of integration in external energy security. By analysing Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, this paper argues that member states' preferences depend at least partly on the decision-makers' perceptions of their state's ability to cope with three energy security challenges (external, internal and business). States whose decision-makers believe that their countries are able to successfully cope with these challenges are more likely to oppose further integration in energy security area, while member states whose decision-makers view these tasks as challenging are more likely to support the transfer of competences to the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The post-industrial landscape (PIL) is a generally accepted phenomenon of the present world. Its features are fossil in comparison to those ones in operating industrial landscapes. The required knowledge about the position, size, shape and type of PIL will help decision makers plan PIL future. The paper deals with the selection of identification features of PILs. Applicable data must be related to four landscape structures: natural, economic (land use), social (human) and spiritual. Present Czech geodatabases contain sufficient quantity and quality of data they can be interpreted as source of PIL identification criteria. GIS technology was applied for such data collection, geometric and format pre-processing, thematic reclassification and final processing. Using selected identification and classification criteria, 105 PILs were identified on the Territory of Czech Republic and classified into individual types. A SWOT analysis of results was carried out to identify the reliability level of data and the data processing. The identified PILs represent the primary results generally obtained in the Czech Republic. GIS approach allows repeated procedures elsewhere in EU member states because of some similarity of available geodatabases. Of course, an improvement of classification procedure depends on the real situation in each country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When concluding a property insurance agreement, adjustment of the insured amount poses a certain risk. From the policyholder's point of view, the risk measure translates into the chosen target amount, which should correspond to the insurable value. The aim of the research is to determine a statistical model for prediction of the insurable value with using current models in the Czech Republic. The model for insurable value prediction proposed in this paper accepts the risk of decision making under uncertainty suitably. The model's foundation is a synthesis of four core models discussing the addressed issue. The methodology is based on a classification tree created by the CART method, and multivariate linear regression. After the classification tree is created, the input variables which contributed to the classification are used in the regression model. The database consists of 125 family houses which went through a detailed examination (they were documented, measured, and their technical state and legal status were determined), and described in experts' reports. The obtained results showed a high degree of statistical association of selected predictors with the estimated insurable value of property, as well as with the acceptable risk, and subsequently, a relatively low percentage of misclassified objects. The proposed multiple regression model proved to be statistically significant and can be used for objective estimations of insurable values free of insurance companies' strategy. The designed methodology may be applied in other areas as well, for example, in decision-making processes at the population level in crisis situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the upcoming years, the member countries of the European Union (EU) are expected to reach certain milestones with regards to different waste management policies: reducing the amount of generated waste, maximizing recycling and the energy usage of the appropriate waste types, phasing out landfilling, etc. With the increasing demands on these criteria comes also the need for the planning of the construction and modernization of the required waste processing infrastructure. This paper summarizes the current state of affairs for selected member countries of the EU and describes the possible technologies that are suitable for reaching the specific milestones. A multi-stage multi-period stochastic mixed-integer programming model is developed, with the goal to minimize the overall costs associated with reaching the milestones. This model describes well the sequential nature of the decision-making process. The present-day decisions must regard the possible effects of the decisions on the future. The planning considers the possible modernization of infrastructure which gradually increases the efficiency in order to hit the time-respective milestones. The model is presented on a case study which examines the situation in the Czech Republic divided into 13 regions, considering 27 scenarios for future development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, there is intense debate about what determines the difference between a policy failure and a policy success. In this article we assume that top-down policy design is a poor manner of decision-making and that without the involvement of employees (public professionals) who identify with new policies, policy failure is likely. Therefore, we concentrate our attention on public professionals (and their opinions, perceptions, and feelings) applying the concept of policy alienation developed by Lars Tummers. In particular, this paper deals with the consequences of reform in the labor offices of the Czech Republic for the employees of these institutions. This reform was a top-down policy designed without communication or discussion with stakeholders. The reform led to a number of problems, some of which originated in the policy-making process, and others of which arose in the implementation of the reforms. In this article, we explore the hypothesis that employees who were not consulted or involved in the design and implementation of the reforms suffered from feelings of policy alienation. Our research is based on quantitative methods and we apply a reliable, validated policy alienation scale created by Lars Tummers. We also assume that there is a relationship between policy alienation and job satisfaction, and between policy alienation and commitment to the aims of the organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Containerization and port regionalization strategies have impacted the level of port competition in contestable hinterlands. However, the nature of this competition usually involves a single maritime range and well-defined transport corridors. The European context has underlined a complex dual range competition dynamic particularly involving the Northern Range and the Mediterranean. How these dynamics pan out in Central and Eastern Europe has received much less attention but will impact the growth prospects of ports on both ranges. This research study evaluates the importance of port selection factors by freight forwarders in the landlocked Czech Republic. It is based on a survey of key actors, particularly how specific carriers and ports are selected and which transport chains are used. The importance and stability of the factors are analysed within the framework of four constraint layers - the location layer; the infrastructure layer; the transport layer and the logistics layer. The key factors supporting the dominance of the port of Hamburg with the Czech Republic are discussed in addition with the potential of the North Adriatic Port Range to service this contestable hinterland. Hamburg is characterized with lower inland haulage costs, total shipment costs and the highest inland rail frequency compared to competing ports such as Bremerhaven or Koper. These factors are perceived as the key determinants by freight forwarders. Therefore, evidence underlines that the share of Hamburg is likely to remain unchanged in coming years and that Northern Range ports are dominant to service most of the Central and Eastern European hinterland. The paper supplements the literature with the analysis of primary data from business practitioners regarding port selection strategies by international trade intermediaries and fills the research gap for the region of Central and Eastern Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of KONTAKT - Journal of Nursing & Social Sciences related to Health & Illness is the property of University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Faculty of Health & Social Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

When discussing their future energy mix, many countries are reconsidering the position of the nuclear energy. One of the main arguments against new nuclear plants is the extremely high investment cost. Nevertheless, some countries still perceive nuclear energy as a strategic sector and are willing to invest in it, using different financial strategies. The Czech Republic has initiated the decision‐making process for building and financing a new nuclear unit. This article introduces readers to the general issues of nuclear financing in a liberalised European market and, using multiple‐criteria decision analysis, identifies the most suitable model for financing the construction of the new unit in the Czech Republic. The three models under consideration are introduced using the examples of three European nuclear power plant projects: Hinkley Point C, Hanhikivi and Paks II. The article compares the three new nuclear power plant projects, each representing a various financial model, with the 2015 National Action Plan for the Development of the Nuclear Energy Sector in the Czech Republic and evaluates them to choose the best model for the new nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic. Thus, it provides a comprehensive overview of the link between theoretical models, their application, and the transferability of the models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local activities of electoral candidates represent one of the key factors influencing voting behaviour. Many studies have shown an elevated electoral support for candidates in the municipality of their residence and the surrounding region. By using the example of mayors who candidated in the 2017 Czech parliamentary elections, this article proves that this voting behaviour is manifested not only through the territorial concentration of preferential votes, but also through higher local electoral support of political parties represented by these candidates. This so-called friends and neighbours effect is stronger in smaller, less populous municipalities. Its spatial extent is not necessarily limited to the respective municipality, but if a well-known and popular mayor appears at the top of the regional candidate list, it can affect voters living many kilometers away, especially in non-metropolitan areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The social acceptance of new low carbon technology (nuclear fusion) is assessed. • Results useful for decision making towards carbon free circular economy. • The representative sample from the Czech Republic (N = 1026) was collected. • The ordinal multinomial regression with spline corrections of ordinal predictors was applied. • Recommendations how to frame the communication on nuclear fusion are provided. The social awareness and acceptance of new energy technologies are the key factors of their commercialization in Europe. The decision making in energy sector also requires integration of social preferences. In the context implementation of circular economy and moving towards carbon free economy target in 2050, all carbon free technologies require attention of decision makers including new nuclear technologies. The cutting-edge technologies, such as big data, have the potential to leverage the adoption of circular and carbon free economy concepts by the society. Therefore, the big data can play a major role in terms of acting as a facilitator for gaining the desired information for decision making in energy sector. In this paper, the big data was used for assessment of social acceptance of nuclear fusion. The diverse and representative sample from the Czech Republic (N = 1026, aged 15–95 years, 48.80% women, 18.50% with higher education) was employed to show the dynamics of the formation of public support in a country effectively unaware of the nuclear fusion (NF) (the total pre-survey awareness was 16.6%). The analysis of presentation on NF in Czech mass media concluded that similarly to other European Union countries, the presentation fragmented, insufficient, technical, aimed at people interested in technology with effectively no public discussion on the topic. When briefed with pros and cons of NF, three quarters of the respondents developed an idea on their support of NF in general and in Europe with the level of support reaching one third of the sample. We analyze the relation of NF support using a set of ordinal multinomial regression analyses with spline corrections of ordinal predictors to the four groups of factors: self-claimed awareness and knowledge of NF, sources of information including education, pros and cons of NF, and psychological and value aspects. We show that more information on NF positively influenced the support. Internet news were (negatively) and printed newspapers and magazines were (positively) related to support. The NF being and unlimited source of energy (positively) and using radioactive material and competing for renewables money (negatively) were related to support. Our findings have clear implications for public engagement and communication efforts on NF projects. We suggest that in order to change the level of acceptance for NF more communication and media presentation is needed. We present the ideas on how to frame the communication. Our results are in accord with similar studies from other European countries and therefore our outcomes might find practical applicability there. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to discuss regional impacts of high-speed railways on transportation accessibility. It investigates the potential changes in the transportation accessibility of Czech municipalities due to the planned construction of high-speed rail lines in Czechia. It considers two currently discussed variants of the high-speed rail line between Prague and Brno. We discuss the model of potential transportation accessibility and discuss its usability in the preparation and construction of high-speed rail line structures, and how it would affect the optimal route selection. We also present different methods of accessibility analyses in GIS applied to the case of Czechia and their presentation through map outputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Forestry Review is the property of Commonwealth Forestry Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Our study is the first that explicitly links rent deregulation and the choice between owning and renting (the tenure choice) using household decisions over a 1-year period. The rent deregulation process in the Czech Republic started in 2006, two years after joining the European Union. By design, the maximum regulated rent appreciation depended explicitly on real estate prices, which accelerated the pace of deregulation due to rapidly rising prices at the time. A unique dataset enables us to track the tenure choice of households from consumption surveys for subsequent years. The proportion of households that switched from renting to owning sharply increased among renters of regulated apartments. We show that this change was caused by the deregulation process. In contrast, rent deregulation makes owners and renters paying market rent less likely to change ownership status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our aim is to probe the applicability of multiple streams approach (MSA) on the case of the Czech Social Democratic Party modernization's project (2006-2008), as well as to extend it to settings beyond the government. This case offers not only a different domain to test MSA, but also a good case of problem solving under conditions of crisis. We argue that it is possible to apply MSA to political parties because they represent the same kind of organizations as governments, i.e., organized anarchies. Applying the MSA framework helps us understand the organizational transformation of the party. We identified favorable essential elements of three streams that were coupled in two opportunity windows by a skillful policy entrepreneur, the party chair Paroubek. His designation to the party leadership opened the window for successful adoption and realization of the narrow modernization project focusing on the introduction of political marketing and managerial methods. The defeat in the 2006 elections unlocked the window for adoption of the broad modernization project, but ambiguity of the issue hindered implementation leading to a loss of attention by party decision makers, the main entrepreneur and the dominant vote-seeking orientation of the party. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the investigation on the use of cane among blind and partially sighted people with late onset visual impairment considering their experiences and attitudes across countries. The semi-structured interview was carried out as part of the main method of gathering data. The several factors considered in data gathering which includes psychological and related barriers, safety, and adaption and acceptance of the cane use.