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The research aims to improve structural methods of image classification based on a description as a set of keypoint descriptors. The focus is on implementing a classifier training using a committee of Kohonen networks separately for each description in an etalon database. The training result is a fixed set of data centroids, which ensures high classification speed. The improvement comprises implementing independent training for each etalon, which increases the accuracy of approximating descriptions with a set of centroids and, in general, guarantees that the classification efficiency remains at a decent level. Calculating the cluster centroids for each class prevents the influence of descriptors from other classes. In addition, independent training is effective in cases when the powers of etalon descriptions differ. The classification speed of the proposed method based on training a committee of Kohonen networks, compared to the traditional linear search method, increases proportionally to the ratio of the description power and the number of generated centroids. The presented results of experimental modeling of the proposed methods comprise a database of images of coins. The test sample is formed as a set of images from the etalon database by applying geometric transformations of shift, scale, and rotation. The testing stage has shown a high level of classification accuracy after a proposed training and revealed a practical opportunity to choose a network structure and parameters capable of providing the required level of accuracy and speed criteria for classification for an applied task.

This paper presents brief results of the analysis of educational potential dynamics and its relation with development of regional labour markets. The educational potential is described by the structure of the economically active population with different levels of education. The aim of the research was to study the impact of the educational potential of the economically active population on the development of regional markets in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Authors used for research the Eurostat data for the NUTS2 regions of the following CEE countries: Austria, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. Analysis of the distribution of educational potential of the economically active population of these CEE countries at the regional level was carried out using the methods of spatial econometrics and statistics. Research results demonstrated: insufficient response of local markets to changes in the structure of educational potential and the level of investment in fixed assets; strong state regulation of the unemployment rate in the former post-socialist countries (Czechia, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia); complex relationships between labour productivity growth rates, average wages, changes in educational potential and unemployment rates; significant influence of the surrounding regional environment on the socio-economic processes taking place in certain regions.

The business that is not focused solely on short-term profits and takes sustainability principles into account can be called a sustainable business. In contrast, the sustainable competitive advantage is the basis of business performance. This article discusses the benefits of selected strategic trends for sustainable competitiveness. The sustainability approach has rarely been considered in the competitiveness studies examined. An appropriate framework for its sustainable competitiveness requires taking into account the economic, socio-cultural, and environmental dimensions on the one hand and the consideration of all stakeholders on the other one. While global corporations have been integrating sustainable business into their strategies, this important step to make still awaits Czech organizations. The main goal of the study was to identify strategic trends implemented by the selected Czech organizations aiming at ensuring competitive advantage and evaluating the orientation of organizations depending on the selected variables. The factor analysis was used (principal component method, varimax method), and the dependencies of the organizations´ orientation and the identifying variables from the questionnaire survey (n1 = 183) and focus groups (n2 = 8) were tested. The results from the questionnaire survey and focus groups have revealed six factors, namely, the integrated management system, employee development, CSR reporting, the organizational structure for innovation development, succession planning, and knowledge continuity.

Oral glucose supply is important for neonatal calves to stabilize postnatal plasma glucose concentration. The objective of this study was to investigate ontogenic development of small intestinal growth, lactase activity, and glucose transporter in calves (n = 7 per group) that were born either preterm (PT; delivered by section 9 d before term) or at term (T; spontaneous vaginal delivery) or spontaneously born and fed colostrum for 4 days (TC). Tissue samples from duodenum and proximal, mid, and distal jejunum were taken to measure villus size and crypt depth, protein concentration of mucosa and brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV), total DNA and RNA concentration of mucosa, mRNA expression and activity of lactase, and mRNA expression of sodium-dependent glucose co-transporter-1 (SGLT1) and facilitative glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2) in mucosal tissue. Additionally, protein expression of SGLT1 in BBMV and GLUT2 in crude mucosal membranes and immunochemical localization of GLUT2 in the enterocytes were determined. Villus height in distal jejunum was lower in TC than in T. Crypt depth in all segments was largest and the villus height/crypt depth ratio in jejunum was smallest in TC calves. Concentration of RNA was highest in duodenal mucosa of TC calves, but neither lactase mRNA and activity nor SGLT1 and GLUT2 mRNA and protein expression differed among groups. Localization of GLUT2 in the apical membrane was greater, whereas in the basolateral membrane was lower in TC than in T and PT calves. Our study indicates maturation processes after birth for mucosal growth and trafficking of GLUT2 from the basolateral to the apical membrane. Minor differences of mucosal growth, lactase activity, and intestinal glucose transporters were seen between PT and T calves, pointing at the importance of postnatal maturation and feeding for mucosal growth and GLUT2 trafficking.

The effective operation of small, medium, and large enterprises is essential for society and the state budget. The efficiency of companies from an accounting and financial reporting perspective can be measured based on data presented in financial statements. The structure of financial statements is defined by the Decree of the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, and these statements also serve as a mandatory attachment to the corporate income tax return. According to the Accounting Act, legal entities' financial statements are published in the Register of Financial Statements, which is publicly accessible. The state aims to build a control system that ensures the monitoring of accounting and corporate income tax to secure the income side of the state budget. In the Slovak Republic, the control body for business entities is the Financial Administration of the Slovak Republic, including tax offices under its jurisdiction. This paper aims to highlight the correlation between achieved revenues, net profit, the EBITDA financial indicator, and corporate income tax with a focus on the results of the control activities of the Financial Administration of the Slovak Republic. The research involved 146,560 business companies, with the analyzed companies selected from the following sectors: retail, metalworking and metallurgy, construction, transport and logistics, vehicle sales and maintenance, electrical engineering, energy and mining, healthcare, and the automotive industry.

Small and medium-sized companies make up approximately 99.9 % of the total number of all companies in Slovakia. Developing these companies is an essential prerequisite for significant economic growth in our country. The paper's primary goal is to analyse the development of assets and capital of small and medium-sized companies in viticulture in Slovakia. The monitored period was 2013-2021, and the forecast of the indicator's development until 2024. Viticulture in Slovakia has a long-term tradition not only of growing vines but also of wine production. In the analysed wineries, the value of assets and their basic components (non-current assets, current assets, and accruals) grew. We noticed the same trend in the development of equity and liabilities and its items (equity, liabilities, and accruals). Wineries mainly used debt to finance their activities, which prevailed over equity.

A reliable report on the company's financial situation can be obtained by analyzing costs, revenues, profit margin and the development of net profit. To study this information, we use a range of indicators from the financial analysis environment. The financial analysis results are interpreted and put into business practice by the accounting units. The basic information sources used in financial analysis are the financial statements of business companies. The article aims to point out the development of revenues, the total net profit of grain growers in the time horizon 2014-2022, as well as the profit margin of the industry for the period 2014-2022. The subject of the analysis was agricultural enterprises, from which we selected one accounting unit that operates in the agriculture sector. Within the industry, they focused our attention on the segment of cereal growers in Slovakia in the time horizon 2014-2022; the mentioned period is interesting because the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine marked it. We presented the analysis results in the final part of the article.

In order to achieve the greatest possible equivalence between human resources in a company and desired organisational culture elements declared by a company, it is necessary to interconnect activities within individual functions of human resource management with desired values, attitudes and work behaviour. Such an interconnection is crucial for a positive response of employees to a suitable organisational culture, its embedding in their behaviour and subsequent sharing and spreading of organisational values. This paper will specifically define individual activities related to the adaptation of employees which need to be carried out in this regard. Based on a research conducted between 2011 and 2013, the paper will also define the present state and level of focus of organisations operating in Slovakia on both organisational culture as a whole and organisational culture in the context of employee adaptation.

Taxes are an integral part of human society, regardless of the economic, cultural and political disparities between the countries. Income taxes of legal entities represent significant part of the budget, what is the reason for their timeliness and public discussion. The aim of the paper is a classification of the EU countries into economic groups and an assessment of the grouping these EU member states based on common characteristics in the area of corporate income taxes. Common features are determined by the structure of selected macroeconomic indicators: public debt, government budget balance, the overall tax burden, economic performance, nominal and effective tax rate. The analysis compares a range of methodological approaches of hierarchical (Ward linkage and median linkage), and non‑hierarchical clustering (k-means clustering and fuzzy cluster analysis). The results of cluster analysis grouped the monitored countries into five clusters based on common characteristics as the corporate income tax rate, economics performance and the level of public debt. The result of the analysis shows that despite of ongoing there are still differences present, which are present in the ratios of countries’ development as well as in the economic policies of the particular countries.

Recognising that implementing an agricultural enterprise impacts the state of the environment, its ecological stability, and the self- regulatory capabilities of ecosystems, the aim of this paper is to acquaint the professional and lay public about the attitudes of Slovakian agricultural enterprises towards environmental protection and sustainable development. The paper draws attention to present methods, techniques, and tools that enterprise management are applying for the purpose of meeting and overcoming environmental challenges. The data for this research were obtained from controlled interviews and a questionnaire survey conducted across more than 90 agricultural enterprises. Based on the data outcomes, research premises and formulated research hypotheses put forward are verified by using Friedman, Wilcoxon, Kruskal–Wallis, and Pearson chi-square tests. Discussion of the findings points out that although Slovakia is not yet one of the most polluting countries, promoting the application of environmental protection approaches for sustainable development is of the essence. The most important agriculturally related step, mitigating environmental degradation, is to promote changes in the moral values of agricultural enterprises and the society through enhanced environmental awareness and application practices.

Trends in the job market taking worker knowledge, abilities and skills into account show that the demand for qualified, experienced workers has been rising and that the trend will continue into the future. Accordingly, companies must put a life-long learning and development strategy in place so that even older employees (55+), the proportion of whom has been rising in organizations and in the marketplace, may maintain their positions in the job market for as long as possible. This paper aims to assess how small and medium enterprises in the Czech Republic reflect current demographic developments in terms of age management support and employee development. The data was obtained from small and medium enterprises in the Czech Republic (n = 432). The results show that age management is not an official primary focus of small and medium enterprises; but they naturally act in line with age management practices nevertheless. Any efficient solution to demographic development in the enterprises studied here, however, must be based upon an overall change of attitude coming from both entrepreneurs and company leadership focusing on young employees, as well as older employees themselves, where their ability to pass on their experience to younger coworkers is stressed. To maintain economic prosperity, continuous development is important for both categories.