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Background: According to some studies, sentence comprehension is diminished in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, but they differ on what underlies the sentence comprehension impairment. Sentence comprehension in AD patients has been studied mainly in the English language. It is less clear how patients with AD speaking a morphologically rich language with grammatical morphemes indicating case and through it even thematic roles process reversible sentences. Aims: To compare the comprehension of various syntactic constructions in Slovak-speaking AD patients and cognitively intact elderly people. We were concerned with the influence of the following aspects on sentence comprehension: its length, the order of thematic roles and the presence of a morphological cue placed on the first noun (or at the beginning of a sentence). Methods & Procedures: We used our own Slovak test of sentence comprehension based on matching pictures to spoken sentences. These sentences contain transitive verbs and two nouns (person/animal), one functioning as a subject and the other as an object, which both can perform the action expressed by the verb. We assessed 62 healthy elderly people and two groups of AD patients. The first group consisted of 34 participants with a mild degree of AD and the other group of 43 participants with a moderate degree of AD. Outcome & Results: Statistical comparisons showed that the elderly controls were significantly better in the comprehension of simple active OVS (object-verb-subject word order) sentences and complex EO sentences (a centre-embedded relative clause with a relative pronoun substituting for an object) than patients with a mild degree of AD. In patients with a moderate degree of AD, comprehension of all tested sentence types was worse than in healthy elderly people. The results also indicated that even mild AD patients have more serious problems with processing sentences with non-canonical order of thematic roles regardless of a morphological cue at the beginning of a sentence. Conclusion & Implications: The results point to diminished sentence comprehension in patients with AD. In the group of mild AD patients, the order of thematic roles played a significant role in their sentence comprehension. Even though the grammatical morphemes clearly code the functions of words in the Slovak language, mild AD patients do not process them in sentences with a non-canonical order of thematic roles at the same level as the healthy controls. Patients with moderate AD have significant problems even with the comprehension of sentences with a canonical order of thematic roles. These difficulties seem to be a consequence of insufficient resources for language processing.

The paper is focused on the deterioration of industrial reinforced concrete chimneys caused by carbonation. It is considered that a chimney has to be repaired when more than 30% of its surface is affected by visible corrosion-induced cracks. An optimal maintenance strategy aims at the postponement of this state beyond the intended service life of the chimney with minimum maintenance costs.

Human resource management theory, commonly known as Human Resource Management (HRM), is currently looking for different concepts to find ways to stabilise employment relationships in the current "turbulent" economic environment, which is also marked by the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. One possible way at the corporate level is the importance of the human factor, i.e. in particular the qualification and flexibility of workers as an effective corporate response to crisis phenomena in the economy or society. This view of the important role of employees in the economic prosperity of the business is not, of course, current news. It can therefore be defined that the main factors of the economic prosperity of the company are not physical, i.e. invested natural resources and capital, but the human factor. Building on this premise, the area of human resources management can be derived from the practice of capital investment, which has always followed the future of the business and is based on the situation it was in and where it wanted to go. In a sense, part of running a business should be the process of partially relocating company funds to staff training and qualifications. The employee development and care factor are increasingly seen by economists as a tool for the company's profitability and growth. In the economic context, in international relations, the issue of education and development is addressed, among other things, in the framework of economic diplomacy. Economic diplomacy is, in the simplest definition, the economic dimension of foreign policy, when this foreign policy, as part of diplomacy, means many uses of economic relations not only for the development of companies. It can be defined as facilitating access to foreign markets for domestic firms, attracting foreign direct investment to the nation state, and influencing international rules serving the national interest, in a wide variety of ways, including education. In modern economic diplomacy, which is now quite broadly defined, the tools can be used in a wide variety of ways. The work of trade diplomats can then be better viewed in various processes, for example in advice, representation, but also in trade and investment promotion and foreign direct investment. Such economic diplomacy already has a managerial dimension and a trade diplomat can, with the right management, focus on promoting international trade. The economic diplomat is then not overwhelmed by technical fields, science, research, tourism and can easily increase the efficiency of his work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contribution is focused on quantifying model uncertainty of crack width estimates for reinforced concrete beams. Predictions obtained by the model provided by the fib Model Code 2010 are compared with results of tests of beams having different longitudinal and shear reinforcement ratios and concrete cover. Trends of model uncertainty with basic variables are investigated.

Presently the new generation of Eurocodes is under development. It is expected that the basis of structural design given in current EN 1990 will be considerably revised including the format for load combinations in the Ultimate Limit States and new categorisation of consequence classes for construction works. It is expected that the partial factors for self-weight of structural members could be reduced and factors for variable loads more differentiated. Calibration of partial factors should be performed for actions and materials including also structural glass and FRP polymers.

The contribution is focused on reliability of balcony girders of a Czech national heritage monument. As preliminary reliability assessment suggests insufficient resistance, a series of nondestructive tests supplemented by a single tensile test are performed and evaluated by the statistical methods. Values of material properties, recommended in standards for historic materials, seem to be overly conservative and it is advised to specify properties of historic metallic materials by tests.

The assessment of existing components of power producing facilities is based on probabilistic methods of the theory of reliability provided in Eurocodes and ISO standards. An example of quickclosing valves in a selected hydroelectric power plant indicates the assessment of reliability and the prediction of the remaining working life of a structural component for the considered model of corrosion.

The article deals with two wells in the country of Brno-district (Brčálka well and Well Olšová). The aim of work was monitoring of elementary parameters of water at regular monthly intervals to measure: water temperature, pH values, solubility oxygen and spring yield. According to the client's requirements (Lesy města Brno) laboratory analyzes of selected parameters were done twice a year and their results were compared with Ministry of Health Decree no. 252/2004 Coll.. These parameters: nitrate, chemical oxygen demand (COD), calcium and magnesium and its values are presented in graphs, for ammonium ions and nitrite in the table. Graphical interpretation of spring yields dependence on the monthly total rainfall and dependence of water temperature on ambient temperature was utilized. The most important features of wells include a water source, a landmark in the landscape, aesthetic element or resting and relaxing place. Maintaining wells is important in terms of future generations.

Ornamental aquaculture is known to be one of the main sources of non-native species and Indonesia has been identified as one of the leading suppliers of these organisms worldwide. Released or escaped ornamental aquatic animals can establish new populations and become invasive. On the other hand, some invasive species can be also endangered in their native range, which is called the “Biodiversity Conservation Paradox”. This is true for Arapaima gigas, one of the popular ornamental creatures and the largest bony fish of all, which is threatened in its native range in parts of Amazonia and which has been found to occur in various localities in Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. Based on climate matching we found the vast majority of Indonesian territory to be suitable for this species establishment. Keeping in mind the size and predatory behaviour of A. gigas, we discussed possible consequences of its spread and impacts on native biota in Indonesia.

The target reliability levels recommended in national and international documents vary within a broad range, while the reference to relevant costs and failure consequences is mentioned only very vaguely. In some documents the target reliability index is indicated for one or two reference periods (1 year, 50 years or life-time) without providing appropriate links to the design working life. This contribution attempts to clarify the relationship between the target reliability levels, costs of safety measures, failure consequences, reference periods and the design working life

Thin-web steel girders are attractive to be used because of their efficiency in bending. For such girders, the issue of ensuring local buckling becomes very relevant. Calculation formulas in most cases are complex and have a limited scope of application. The calculations based on numerical models make it possible to consider all the specifics of the designed element more universally. The article deals with the calculation of the buckling of the web girder under the combination of patch and shear loading by finite element modelling. Numerical models have been created, and a comparative analysis with experimental results has been carried out. The presented principles for constructing FE models (mesh size, material model, etc.) are recommended to follow when analysing the resistance and behaviour of beams with a thin web. Sensitivity analysis of the FE model with respect to the input parameters revealed the most important parameters (yield strength of steel, web thickness, geometry), the uncertainty of which needs to be taken into account when creating FE models. The convergence of the results supports the use of the finite element method in the design of steel beams for a qualitative and quantitative assessment of resistance. However, further development of unified principles for creating FE models and their verification on a larger amount of experimental data is required, as well as the determination of partial factors considering the variability and uncertainties in the obtained results and specified reliability level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]