Search

Petra Maresova,1 Jan Hruška,1 Kristina Randlova,1,2 Lukas Rezny,1,3 María Teresa Carrillo-de-la-Peña,4 Kamil Kuca1,3 1Betthera S.r.o., Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic; 2Prague University of Economics and Business, Faculty of Management, Department of Management, Prague, Czech Republic; 3University of Hradec Kralove, Faculty of Informatics and Management, Department of Economics, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic; 4University of Santiago de Compostela, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, A Coruña, SpainCorrespondence: Kamil Kuca, Email kuca@betthera.comBackground: The increased prevalence of cancer and the negative impact of pain on the quality of life of patients underscore the need to implement efficient palliative care interventions and management of pain. The cost-effectiveness of palliative care interventions for cancer, mostly pharmacological and delivered through home-based palliative care services, is unclear. Most of the studies do not take into account indirect costs nor consider variations across different geographical regions.Objective: To describe existing and cutting-edge knowledge on cost-effectiveness or item costs related to palliative home-based care for patients with cancer. We evaluated various costs, including direct medical, non-medical, and indirect costs in different geographical regions and analysed how different options for care affect the patients’ quality of life and associated expenses.Methods: This Prospero-registered systematic review (CRD42023404217) adhered to the PRISMA criteria. Following a multistep selection process, we selected 22 articles published between 2013 and 2023 focused on quality of life outcomes and cost-effectiveness of home-based palliative care for cancer patients.Results: Home-based palliative care decreases the number of hospital visits, while its influence on patients quality of life is currently difficult to demonstrate across geographic regions based on available evidence. Overall, home care decreases the costs associated to the palliative care of patients with cancer. The cost structure analysis revealed that besides healthcare costs, informal care expenses and productivity losses represent a significant proportion of overall expenses). In Europe, the direct medical, non-medical, and indirect costs (in purchasing power parity) were on average $1,941, $842, and $1,241, per month per person, respectively. In the USA and Asia, direct medical and indirect costs are on average $1,095 (USA) vs $1,444 (Asia) and $2,192 (USA) vs $1,162 (Asia).Conclusion: In conclusion, the studies reviewed highlight significant cost variations and potential savings associated with palliative home-based care for cancer patients. Home-based palliative care, particularly involving medications, has shown favorable cost-effectiveness compared to hospital care. Specialized palliative home care, psychological interventions, and outpatient services further contribute to overall cost savings. However, the economic impact varies across different geographical contexts and cost categories, emphasizing the need for tailored approaches in palliative care planning and implementation.Keywords: cost-effectiveness, palliative care, treatment, interventions, review, pain management, cancer, quality of life

In global research, food hubs are evaluated as a suitable tool for the development of alternative food networks and the transformation of the agri-food system towards sustainability. However, in Europe, research conclusions in recent years point to a lack of knowledge about operating food hubs. Expanding information about how food hubs work is crucial for improving their operational effectiveness and establishing support from the public sector. Therefore, this exploratory research aims to discover examples of food hubs in Czechia where the term "food hub" is not used and no appropriate equivalent has been developed. This leads to the task of determining the criteria under which it is possible to define existing entities as food hubs. Using several examples supported by qualitative research, the article opens a discussion about the acceptability of the hybridization of alternative food networks. Our findings contribute to the debate about the potential of food hubs to develop local and regional food markets, especially in the context of post-socialist countries, where the conditions are different from the Western states.

Pharmaceutical containers for parenteral use, including vials, ampoules, prefilled syringes, and cartridges, are traditionally made of glass. However, the most commonly used type, borosilicate glass, is susceptible to issues such as breakage, corrosion, and delamination, which can jeopardize the safety and efficacy of the enclosed drugs. To address these concerns without compromising the visual or qualitative aspects of borosilicate medical glass vials, this study aimed at the enhancement of their mechanical, chemical, and corrosion resistance. A single ion exchange treatment (IET) in a salt bath of molten KNO3 at temperatures of 400, 450, and 500 °C for 2, 12, and 24 h was applied. The effects of the ion exchange process performed under different conditions were assessed by measuring Vickers hardness, crushing load, and chemical durability. The mechanical load required to crush full-body vials after the ion exchange process at 500 °C for 2, 12, and 24 h showed an increase in the applied force values (1650 ± 80, 2340 ± 80, and 2325 ± 40 N) compared to untreated vials (1157 ± 20 N).No radial cracks were observed on the surface of treated glass vials after indentation, indicating the presence of compressive stresses that prevented the initiation and propagation of cracks. The EDS analysis confirmed an increase in potassium concentration and a decrease in sodium content near the surface of samples modified by ion exchange treatment. The treated samples showed appropriate chemical stability in different acidic, basic, and neutral solutions. Conspicuous changes are noticed in the Raman spectra after IET, specifically in the Qn species region. The results indicate the potential of the ion exchange treatment in enhancing the properties of borosilicate glass vials by relatively simple and easily scalable techniques.

This study investigated the impact of La2Zr2O7 (LZ) and different types of glass on the performance of polymer-derived ceramic (PDC) coatings on AISI 441 stainless steel substrates. Four double-layer PDC-based glass-ceramic coatings containing LZ and different glass fillers were prepared by dip coating. The LZ powder was synthesised by solid-state reaction (SSR): powder morphology, crystal structure, and thermal stability were analysed. X-ray diffraction (XRD) detected a LZ pyrochlore phase after annealing at 1300 and 1400 °C with a trace of t-ZrO2. Four different glass compositions, namely BaO-Al2O3-SiO2 (BAS), BaO-Al2O3-La2O3-B2O3-SiO2 (BALBS), CaO-B2O3-SiO2 (CBS), and BaO-ZnO-MgO-B2O3-SiO2 (BZMBS), were also synthesised as fillers for PDC coatings. The glass transition and crystallisation temperatures of the glasses were determined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The coating systems, consisting of a Durazane 2250 bond coat and a top coat (Durazane 1800 + LZ filler + different glass sealants), were prepared. After pyrolysis of the coatings at 900 °C, some of the glasses partially crystallised. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the layers containing BAS, BALBS and CBS glass were dense, with good adhesion to the substrate, and with occasional presence of larger pores and cracks. Delamination of the upper layer was observed in the coating with the BZMBS glass filler.

Investments in research and development (R&D) and innovations are proven to be vital catalysts for the successful transition into knowledge-based economies. Despite the growing importance attached to innovations and R&D, they have yet to receive enough scholarly attention in developing countries. This research aims to examine whether intellectual protection and innovation collaborations influence R&D and technological innovations. The empirical results involving 549 firms revealed that trademarks positively and marginally influence technological innovations but not R&D. The findings also revealed that domestic and international innovation collaborations with other firms and universities have a positive marginal effect on both technological innovations and R&D. The results also show that firms’ internal funds significantly moderate the relationship between intellectual protection, technological innovations, and R&D. The main implication from our finding is that Ghanaian firms should consider investing in intellectual protection and forging collaborations with domestic and foreign firms and universities to increase their innovation performance and competitiveness.

The topic of this article is a comparison of the speed of accommodation and the reading accuracy of conventional and digital rear-view mirrors. The data for the research described in this article was obtained through laboratory measurements using precise measuring techniques on a medium-sized, relatively heterogeneous group of users, consisting mainly of university students and employees. In the experiment, all research participants performed a series of test tasks on two identical passenger vehicles, where one was equipped with conventional side mirrors, while the other had digital side mirrors installed. The main reason for carrying out this study is to try to imitate a common situation where the driver is forced to drive a car with these modern technologies in normal traffic and to understand the specific issues associated with the use of this technology. The speed of accommodation and reading accuracy is a very important parameter in this regard, which is also important for maximizing road traffic safety. The data obtained from this research was subsequently subjected to selected statistical analysis. Results confirmed statistically significant differences in the speed of accommodation when reading data from conventional and digital mirrors. It has been shown that the use of digital mirror technology can have a direct negative effect on road safety, especially in combination with other negative effects given by the technical nature of the technology under investigation, such as image latency in digital displays.

The solidification processes of two compositions, hypereutectic (21.0 mol% Y2O3–79.0 mol% Al2O3) and eutectic (18.5 mol% Y2O3–81.5 mol% Al2O3), were used via the horizontal directional solidification (HDS) method to produce two ingots with dimensions of 317 × 220 × 35 mm and 210 × 180 × 35 mm, respectively. The first ingot was heterogeneous and characterized by a two-layer structure with an expressed horizontal boundary, which is parallel to the solidification direction (an experimental fact observed for the first time), separating eutectic-type ceramics in the upper layer from the lower one containing the YAG dendrites. Considering the heat transfer feature characteristic of the HDS method and its action during the solidification of materials scattering thermal radiation, an explanation of the occurrence of such structure has been proposed. On this basis, the solidification parameters of the second ingot, providing its homogeneous structure, were selected. Characterization of the crystallographic texture and microstructure of both ingots revealed the advantage of the second solidification processing conditions.

The potential of the framework of precision agriculture points towards the emergence of site-specific weed control. In light of the phenomena, the search for a cost-effective approach can help the discipline to accelerate the practical implementation. The paper presents a near-infrared data-driven machine learning model for real-time weed detection in wide-row cultivated maize (Zea mays) fields. The basis of the model is a dataset of 5 120 objects including 18 species of weeds significant in the context of wide-row crop production in the Czech Republic. The custom model was subsequently compared with a state-of-the-art machine learning tool You only look once (version 3). The custom model achieved 94.5 % identification accuracy while highlighting the practical limitations of the dataset.

Five compositions in the system Al2O3–Y2O3 with high level of homogeneity were prepared in the form of glass microspheres by flame synthesis. The amorphous nature of prepared glasses with highly disordered structure was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. In the NMR spectra, typical signals with chemical shifts of 75, 42 and 12 ppm were observed, which were attributed to the presence of AlO4, AlO5 and AlO6 motifs in the glass structure. The ratio of individual motifs in glass samples did not change significantly with the composition. The crystallization of yttrium-aluminium garnet (YAG) phase was observed as a major process in the glasses thermally treated up to 1450 °C, with slow crystallization of θ- and α-Al2O3 phases detected in the temperature interval 980–1450 °C. IR and Raman spectra of the microspheres crystallized at 998, 1300 and 1500 °C for 4 h contained typical bands, that were assigned to the vibrations of AlO4 and AlO6 groups in YAG and Al2O3 structures. The comparison of 27Al and 89Y magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectra showed the presence of only YAG and α-Al2O3 phase in the samples crystallized at 1500 °C and the presence of a trace amount of θ-Al2O3 in the sample crystallized at 998 and 1300 °C. The yttrium aluminium perovskite (YAP) and yttrium aluminium monoclinic (YAM) phases, expected in this system, were no detected.

Over a period of 30 years (1993–2022), headwater catchments in the Slavkov Forest (Czech Republic) exhibited a robust increase in stream water DOC (dissolved organic carbon) concentrations following a significant reduction in acidic atmospheric deposition. Sulfur deposition decreased from 34 kg ha−1 yr−1 in 1993 to 2.6 kg ha−1 yr−1 in 2022. Three Norway-spruce-dominated research sites—Černý Potok (CEP), a 15.2 ha peatbog catchment, Lysina (LYS), a 27.3 ha granitic catchment, and Pluhův Bor (PLB), a 21.6 ha serpentinite catchment, were investigated. The three–year average DOC concentration increased from 48.2 mg L−1 (1993–1995) to 68.3 mg L−1 (2020–2022) at CEP (0.69 mg L−1 yr−1). LYS showed an increase from 16.9 mg L−1 to 25.4 mg L−1 (0.30 mg L−1 yr−1 annually). The largest increase was recorded at PLB, with an increase from 15.7 mg L−1 to 36.7 mg L−1 (0.89 mg L−1 yr−1). A decline in ionic strength was identified as the main driver of the DOC increase. The annual runoff declined significantly at CEP and LYS from 465 mm to 331 mm as a result of rising air temperatures and reduced precipitation between 2014 and 2022. PLB (average of 266 mm) did not show a statistically significant decline. Recently, PLB experienced significant deforestation that likely lowered transpiration and thus increased catchment runoff. As a result, DOC fluxes did not change significantly at CEP (average 210 kg ha−1 yr−1) and LYS (90 kg ha −1 yr−1). However, PLB’s DOC flux more than doubled, increasing from 44 to 106 kg ha−1 yr−1. Drivers connected with global change, such as increasing temperatures, or potential chemical drivers, such as reductions in Al concentrations and pH changes, were not able to explain the observed changes in DOC concentra tions and fluxes.

Abstract Background Pandemics as health and humanitarian crises have exerted traceable impacts on food security. Almost all past and current pandemics have created a food crisis that affects a share of the global population and threaten global food security. With the more frequent outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging diseases or pandemics, this paper looks at the various types of impacts from the current coronavirus crisis and past pandemics to identify their major impact on food security. Scope To this effect, key strategies that could be put in place to ensure the efficient resilience of food systems before, during, and after the pandemics to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemics on global food security are recommended. The most recent effects of the current coronavirus crisis have been disruptions in the flow of farm labourers and inefficient farm operations leading to postharvest food losses. Key findings and conclusions Modification of diets between social groups has also been observed. Future response orientations to prevent and mitigate the effects of pandemics on food security will consider pro-active and adapted policy, program, and institutional actions towards the systemic development of global food systems as an interconnected network.

Abstract Intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE) of trees is an important component of the Earth’s coupled carbon and water cycles. The causes and consequences of long-term changes in iWUE are, however, still poorly understood due to the complex interplay between biotic and abiotic factors. Inspired by the role calcium (Ca) plays in plant transpiration, we explore possible linkages between tree ring-derived iWUE and Ca availability in five central European forest sites that were affected by acidic air pollution. We show that increasing iWUE was directly modulated by acid air pollution in conjunction with soil Ca concentration. Responses of iWUE to rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations accelerated across sites where Ca availability decreased due to soil acidity constraints, regardless of nitrogen and phosphorus availability. The observed association between soil acidity, Ca uptake, and transpiration suggests that Ca biogeochemistry has important, yet unrecognized, implications for the plant physiological upregulation of carbon and water cycles.

Knowledge of the origin of magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) in soil solutions and catchment runoff helps to predict forest ecosystems’ vulnerability to deficiencies in essential nutrients in an era of climate change, environmental pollution and bark-beetle calamities. Here we discuss isotope aspects of Mg, Ca and strontium (Sr) cycling in a spruce-forested headwater catchment in a relatively unpolluted part of Central Europe. We investigated to what extent Mg and Ca isotope signatures of runoff reflect the isotope compositions of specific Mg- and Ca-rich minerals that easily dissolve during the weathering of paragneiss, and compared the isotope variability of Mg and Ca in fresh bedrock minerals, soils and other ecosystem reservoirs. We also compared conclusions from Mg and Ca isotope systematics with inferences from catchment input–output mass budgets. Long-term input–output monitoring in the studied catchment situated near the Czech–German border (Central Europe) revealed 3.5–7 times higher outputs of Mg, Ca, and Sr via surface runoff relative to their present-day atmospheric inputs. It follows that hydrological exports of recent atmospheric Mg, Ca and Sr are minor. Release of geogenic base cations into the runoff results from the interplay between mineral abundances, concentrations of the studied elements in the minerals, and their dissolution rates. Chemical depletion fractions for the studied elements from bedrock to the soil were 50–70 %, and the losses of dominant soluble minerals in the soil were 30–80 %. Exports of residual Mg, Ca and Sr following partial incorporation of these elements into secondary phyllosilicates are probably low because newly-formed clay minerals are not abundant in the soil. Residual Ca following preferential incorporation of isotopically light Ca into growing tree biomass may contribute to the isotopically heavy runoff Ca. Isotope ratios of base cations were obtained for six minerals (plagioclase, orthoclase, biotite, muscovite, apatite, and ilmenite). Mineral fractions differ greatly in δ26Mg and δ44Ca values and 87Sr/86Sr ratios. 80–97 % of each of the three studied base cations are present in the bedrock in a single relatively easily dissolvable mineral: Mg in biotite, and Ca and Sr in plagioclase. The isotope composition of Mg in biotite was similar to the isotope composition of Mg in runoff. The isotope compositions of Ca and Sr in plagioclase were also similar to Ca and Sr isotope compositions in runoff. Thus, the dominant geogenic source of each of the studied elements (Mg, Ca and Sr) in the investigated paragneiss catchment can be represented by one relatively soluble mineral.

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all domains of human life, including the economic and social fabric of societies. One of the central strategies for managing public health throughout the pandemic has been through persuasive messaging and collective behaviour change. To help scholars better understand the social and moral psychology behind public health behaviour, we present a dataset comprising of 51,404 individuals from 69 countries. This dataset was collected for the International Collaboration on Social & Moral Psychology of COVID-19 project (ICSMP COVID-19). This social science survey invited participants around the world to complete a series of moral and psychological measures and public health attitudes about COVID-19 during an early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (between April and June 2020). The survey included seven broad categories of questions: COVID-19 beliefs and compliance behaviours; identity and social attitudes; ideology; health and well-being; moral beliefs and motivation; personality traits; and demographic variables. We report both raw and cleaned data, along with all survey materials, data visualisations, and psychometric evaluations of key variables.

Lactoperoxidase (LP) is an important enzyme of the salivary and mammary glands. It has been proven to increase the shelf life of raw milk by inhibiting the growth of bacteria, especially Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas spp. The aim of this work was to verify the use of LP to extend the shelf life of meat products. In vitro experiments showed inhibitory effects on the selected bacteria (Listeria innocua (ATCC 33090), Staphylococcus saprophyticus (CP054440.1), and Pseudomonas fluorescens (ATCC 13525) due to a prolongation of the lag phase of growth curves. A lower increase in viable counts (p < 0.05) was also found by testing pork cubes’ surface treated with LP solution (5%) + L. innocua and stored for 7 days at 15 °C. LP has also been studied at concentrations of 0.25 and 0.50% in meat products (pork ham and pâté) during refrigerated storage (4 °C for 28 days). Lower viable counts were observed throughout the storage experiment, especially for 0.50% LP (p < 0.05). Meat products containing LP also showed lower levels of oxidation (MAD) (p < 0.05). According to these results, LP could extend the shelf life of a wider range of products.

Teaching of accounting is specific due to its frequently updated content, because Czech legal regulations significantly change annually, either because of the legislative or harmonization modifications, hence there is a need to constantly seek new ways to ensure a good quality of teaching in the efficient education process. The paper is based on the description of activities carried out within the innovation of accounting courses, it presents the results of the survey examining the views of graduates from the accounting courses on the quality of their teaching and evaluates the efficiency of teaching of accounting courses compared to the original solution. The analytical part of the paper confirms all three defined hypotheses: having implemented the innovation, the authors have found that students evaluated the teaching of accounting as the above-average one; a statistically significant correlation between the evaluation of teaching quality and the evaluation of e-learning materials has been proved, and the vast majority of benefits resulting from the implemented innovation led to an increase in efficiency, whether by saving on time, financial resources or by making the user environment more pleasant.

The paper presents a systematic quantitative and qualitative literature review and classification of the last decades resources for a comprehensive and coherent view of smart city and urban logistics research trends and challenges. The review fully respects a six-step systematic literature review guideline and covers ninety-nine peer-reviewed articles from Web of Science Core Collection database.