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Project management is in a state of upheaval, with entire workflows and processes having been digitalised or moved to virtual space in a very short space of time in recent years. Projects are now largely managed virtually and from the home office, which has massively increased the importance of (virtual) communication. Among other things, this has abruptly changed the demands on project managers, so that the current situation with all its changes goes far beyond the other "usual difficulties" in everyday project work. This study therefore focusses on the following areas: Structural anchoring of project management in companies, Procurement of personnel for project implementation and support, Requirements for future competencies of project managers, and Leadership and goal achievement. To this end, project managers were questioned in a semi-structured interview. By focussing on best practice, the trends for the future in project management are to be derived using the qualitative approach and the current state of the art is to be described. The Covid-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the world of work - and therefore also project management. Within a very short space of time, there has been a massive shift towards decentralised, virtual workplaces, which has undermined the unwritten law of physical presence on site. This inevitably changed the model of collaboration, which led to significant changes in operational, structural, organisational and personnel processes. These changes, the trends in the emerging orientation of project management and best practice points were the focus and were considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world of work is in a state of permanent change, which is currently taking place at great speed - not least due to the Corona pandemic. In addition, however, dynamics that existed even before the pandemic are having an impact on companies and are giving rise to a new understanding of work. The acute shortage of skilled workers and managers in many sectors means that many companies are unable to fill their vacancies with suitably qualified staff. In the competition for new staff, companies are increasingly confronted with Generation Z, whose expectations and wishes of a potential employer differ greatly from existing corporate cultures and values. In combination with other megatrends, such as connectivity (digitalisation), individualisation, and knowledge culture, the relevance of the future of work, i.e. the totality of modern and flexible forms of work and work organisation, is increasing massively. This study, therefore, addresses the following areas: Principle of the future of work, demands on leadership and organisational model, and group comparisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population health and food safety is one of the main priorities of the agro-industrial complex and the economic policies of governments. This is also reflected in the health safety of the meat in the event of infectious diseases. Food safety policy is linked to public spending by the state, which also takes responsibility for the health of the population. This paper deals with the analysis of the economic impacts of the Mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy - BSE) occurrence in Czech Republic, namely the financial compensations to the farmers whose herds had been affected and the costs of animal killing and carcass disposal in the rendering plant. The data were obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture of Czech Republic, the State Veterinary Administration and the Czech Statistical Office. Original scientific research reflects the period from the first occurrence of the disease to the end of 2019. Between February, 2001 and the end of 2019, a total of 1 977 881 cows were examined and 30 cases of the BSE were detected. Consequently, 4243 cows in cohorts were killed and their carcasses were safely disposed of. The total of the compensations in this period reached EUR 8 013 000. Of these, 80.6% (EUR 6 458 000) were compensations for the value of the killed animals, 12.7% (EUR 1 020 000) for the related costs, i.e., killing, safe disposal of carcasses and the examination for the BSE, and 6.7% (EUR 535 000) for the losses due to non-materialised production. The costs associated with the payment of compensations are therefore significantly lower than if the real effects of the disease on the health of the population were affected. The fact that in the last 10 years the disease has not occurred in the Czech Republic corresponds to the improving situation in EU countries, so the Czech Republic has been recognised as BSE negligible risk country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the association between employees' personality, organizational commitment, and perception of their leaders' behavior and communication quality. Following this leading research scope, a literature review is conducted, describing different models of organizational commitment and its multi-factorial structure. Leadership is discussed within the framework of transformational, transactional, and avoidant leadership. Leadership and personality variables alike are considered potential predictors of organizational commitment, as it is assessed within this study both from the perspective of emotional and behavioral aspects. The empirical research followed a quantitative, correlative approach, utilizing a sample of n = 300 German business professionals from various fields and applying measures of emotional and behavioral commitment, perceived leadership communication quality, perceived leadership style (transformational, transactional, or avoidant), and employee personality were administered using an online survey. The statistical analyses followed a correlational approach to explain the interplay between the aspects of leadership, personality, and organizational commitment. Using multiple stepwise regression analyses, the study was able to show how both emotional and behavioral commitment are predicted by employee personality (conscientiousness for both measures, neuroticism additionally for emotional commitment), by the perception of a transformational leadership style, and by perceived leadership communication quality. Using these variables, a total of around 30% of the overall variance in both measures of organizational commitment could be explained. Thus, the critical function of leadership and leadership communication in organizational commitment may be demonstrated in conjunction with the role of employee personality. Additionally, the measure of emotional and behavioral commitment's criterion validity may be validated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attracting and retaining talent is considered to be among the most crucial challenges for contemporary leadership. Building on this notion, the present paper aims to foster an understanding of the complex interplay between leadership practices and employee commitment. In these regards, the moderating role of personality variables and personal values is critically assessed. Building on a two-dimensional model of organizational commitment, the study proposes that leadership variables predict both emotional and behavioral commitment, with the relationship being moderated by personality variables as assessed throughout the Big Five framework and by personal values. To determine the validity of these hypotheses, an empirical, quantitative study was conducted following an observational design focusing on the employee perspective. Standardized questionnaires were utilized to assess the levels of commitment, the perceived leadership style of the participants' leaders, their personality and values. A total of n = 310 individuals were recruited for participation in the empirical study, conducted by using an online survey. The statistical analyses showed a stable, significant correlation between the perception of leadership style and both types of organizational commitment, with leadership communication taking on a noteworthy role. The relevance of personality variables and values also could be confirmed, with their predictive power being more substantial for behavioral commitment. This was established using multiple linear regression analyses that compared the predictive power of the individual predictors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the performance of commodity computers has improved drastically with the introduction of multicore processors and GPU computing, the standard R distribution is still based on single-threaded model of computation, using only a small fraction of the computational power available now for most desktops and laptops. Modern statistical software packages rely on high performance implementations of the linear algebra routines there are at the core of several important leading edge statistical methods. In this paper we present a GPU implementation of the GMRES iterative method for solving linear systems. We compare the performance of this implementation with a pure single threaded version of the CPU. We also investigate the performance of our implementation using different GPU packages available now for R such as gmatrix, gputools or gpuR which are based on CUDA or OpenCL frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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There is a great Muslim population in the world so there is also a significant demand for halal products. Therefore, halal certification is a current trend on the food market. The aim of this paper is to analyze the halal certification process with focus on administrative and audit processes related to the certification and the potential of Czech halal food producers to export to Muslim countries and to fulfil the Czech Republic export strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public economics examines the influence of the state on economic equality and efficiency, and on conduction of business entities in connection with the various tax systems and individual behavior in private consumption. To manage the public economy is thorough knowledge of the real decision-making and allocation mechanisms. From a budgetary perspective, the public economy in the Czech Republic is characterized mainly by the state budget, 6,249 municipal budgets and 14 budgets of local government units. These all units are together subject to annual statutory audit, which mainly represents the analysis of the system of the Audit informative and monitoring indicators (ASIMI). The paper analyzes the outcome of the audit with the use of absolute and relative indicators and suggests possible changes and consolidation of municipal and local government budgets in the Czech Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of price convergence is highly topical especially before entry of a member state of EU into the Eurozone. Price convergence, respectively price stability is one of the Maastricht convergence criteria, whose fulfillment is exposed to a number of factors and wide issues of fiscal and monetary character. Reporting of price convergence and price stability is influenced by the composition of the consumer basket and the level of consumption. Some of the commodities in the Czech Republic have a higher price level than in the EU and vice versa. The rate and pace of price convergence are then directly influenced by the pace of economic growth and development of the exchange rate of the national currency against the euro. This paper deals with the main aspects of price convergence in the Czech Republic and analyzes the major influences acting on it and its future development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For more than a decade, the amount of public debt is one of the biggest problem in advanced economies. Level of public debt is not only the very one indicator of the risk of national bankruptcy, even though it is the most important indicator. Solution of debt service in indebted economies basically consists of two possible options. The first option is the way of saving of all kinds of expenses, with the exception of investments, the other option is to support economic growth with a positive impact on the relative level of public debt. At the same time it shows that bankruptcies of national economies happen in clusters and linked adjacent to each other due to financial market integration. The aim of this article is to show possible ways of solution of consequences of financial crisis and he high debt levels of advanced economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economists and managers should be aware today of the fact that some concepts and economic mechanisms need to be reconsidered in the context of the new aspects of globalization. The appearance of new types of business and new trade patterns on the international stage has led to the restructure of worldwide competition. "Traditional" competition between companies is replaced, in the context of the "globally integrated businesses" and the new division of labour based on the "functional" specialization, by new types of competition. This has a few implications on business management and on foreign trade statistics and analysis as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B-cell activation factor belonging to the tumor necrosis factor family (BAFF) is a major contributor to survival of B lymphocytes during development and maturation. A relationship between circulating BAFF levels and disease activity has been reported in patients with the autoimmune disease Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Clinical trials targeting BAFF or its receptors are currently in progress. In order to further characterize a rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) model of SLE, we investigated the expression of BAFF and its receptors in non-inbred, pedigreed rabbits derived from breeding and selection based on autoantibody responses. We immunized rabbits related to previous groups that developed autoantibodies and inflammatory responses after immunizations with peptides synthesized on multiple antigen-branched polylysine backbones. Blood and sera collected before immunization and after boosts were used for health monitoring, analyses of serum autoantibody responses by ELISA and immunofluorescence. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were studied by flow cytometry and were the source of mRNA for quantitative PCR analyses. We hypothesized that BAFF mRNA expression and serum BAFF levels measured indirectly through BAFF receptor binding might increase in autoantibody-producing rabbits. Immunized rabbits developed elevated levels of leucocyte populations, anti-nuclear, anti-dsDNA and other autoantibodies. BR3 mRNA levels in total PBMC decreased and BAFF levels remained low and unchanged in most immunized rabbits. By flow cytometry, percentages of BAFF positive cells decreased. Percentages of transmembrane activator and CAML interactor (TACI) decreased in most rabbits from all the immunized groups. The rabbit is an important model for human autoimmune and infectious diseases, and a high quality draft rabbit genome assembly was recently completed. Human disease models developed in non-inbred pedigreed animals are better able to reflect the complexities of diseases such as SLE with familial patterns of inheritance. Although no consistent pattern of elevated expression of BAFF mRNA or protein was found in the rabbits studied, the data collected and reported here build upon previous data to refine understanding of a rabbit model of SLE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Although only a small proportion of mouse and human B cells are CD5+, most adult rabbit B cells express CD5. However, CD5 was not detectable on the majority of B cells in neonatal appendix 1 and 3days after birth. Cell trafficking studies demonstrated that CD5+ and CD5− CD62L+ B cells from bone marrow migrated into appendix. There, CD5+ B cells were preferentially expanded and predominated by ∼2weeks of age. In mutant ali/ali rabbits, VHa2+ B cells develop through gene conversion-like alteration of rearranged VH genes upstream of deleted VH1a2. Correlated appearance of individual CD5+ germinal centers and VHa2+ B-cells in mutant appendix suggests that CD5 binding positively selects cells with a2+ framework regions that bind CD5. Following negative and positive selection, cells with diversified rearranged heavy- and light-chain sequences exit appendix, migrate to peripheral tissues and constitute the preimmune repertoire of CD5+ B cells that encounter foreign antigens. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Studies CD5-immunoglobulin (Ig) interactions in B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and transformed B-cell lines from normal and B-CLL patients. Binding of human Ig to purified recombinant CD5; Inhibition of CD5 staining of CLL cells by human Ig of different V[sub H] families; Anti-CD5 staining of CLL cells and B-CLL cell lines.

B-cell activation factor belonging to the tumor necrosis factor family (BAFF) is a major contributor to survival of B lymphocytes during development and maturation. A relationship between circulating BAFF levels and disease activity has been reported in patients with the autoimmune disease Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Clinical trials targeting BAFF or its receptors are currently in progress. In order to further characterize a rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) model of SLE, we investigated the expression of BAFF and its receptors in non-inbred, pedigreed rabbits derived from breeding and selection based on autoantibody responses. We immunized rabbits related to previous groups that developed autoantibodies and inflammatory responses after immunizations with peptides synthesized on multiple antigen-branched polylysine backbones. Blood and sera collected before immunization and after boosts were used for health monitoring, analyses of serum autoantibody responses by ELISA and immunofluorescence. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were studied by flow cytometry and were the source of mRNA for quantitative PCR analyses. We hypothesized that BAFF mRNA expression and serum BAFF levels measured indirectly through BAFF receptor binding might increase in autoantibody-producing rabbits. Immunized rabbits developed elevated levels of leucocyte populations, anti-nuclear, anti-dsDNA and other autoantibodies. BR3 mRNA levels in total PBMC decreased and BAFF levels remained low and unchanged in most immunized rabbits. By flow cytometry, percentages of BAFF positive cells decreased. Percentages of transmembrane activator and CAML interactor (TACI) decreased in most rabbits from all the immunized groups. The rabbit is an important model for human autoimmune and infectious diseases, and a high quality draft rabbit genome assembly was recently completed. Human disease models developed in non-inbred pedigreed animals are better able to reflect the complexities of diseases such as SLE with familial patterns of inheritance. Although no consistent pattern of elevated expression of BAFF mRNA or protein was found in the rabbits studied, the data collected and reported here build upon previous data to refine understanding of a rabbit model of SLE.

Biochemical analysis of organisms to assess exposure to environmental contaminants is of great potential use. Biochemical markers, specifically liver enzymes of the first and the second phase of xenobiotic transformation - cytochrome P450 (CYP 450), ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and tripeptide reduced glutathione (GSH) - were used to assess contamination of the aquatic environment at 12 locations near the mouths of major rivers in the Czech Republic. These rivers were the Lužnice, Otava, Sázava, Berounka, Vltava, Labe, Ohře, Svratka, Dyje, Morava and Odra. The indicator species selected was the Chub (Leuciscus cephalus L.). The highest levels of CYP 450 and EROD catalytic activity were found in livers of fish from the Labe (Obříství) (0.32±0.10 nmol mg -1 protein and 1061.38±545.51 pmol min -1 mg -1 protein, respectively). The highest levels of GST catalytic activity and GSH content were found in fish from the Otava (35.39±13.35 nmol min -1 mg -1 protein and 4.29±2.10 nmol GSH mg -1 protein, respectively). They were compared with levels of specific inductors of these biochemical markers in muscle. The results confirmed contamination of some river locations (Labe Obříství, Svratka).