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This paper deals with the use of social networks in agricultural enterprises and focuses mainly on their role and share in increasing the competitiveness of agricultural enterprises in the market. Primary data were obtained from an extensive survey of the development of information and communication technologies in agricultural enterprises, which was conducted in the first quarter of 2021 throughout the Czech Republic (“Survey 2021”). The research was primarily focused on capturing current trends in the use of ICT with emphasis on selected key areas (broadband, social networks, communication tools, regional Internet portals, used hardware categories, used software, mobile communications, Internet of Things, data storage and security, social networks, etc.). This survey builds on previous extensive surveys conducted by the Department of Information Technologies, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, CULS in Prague in several phases since 1999, with the last stage being conducted in 2017. Some surveys were conducted in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture of Czech Republic.Compared to recent years, the survey includes new domains, such as the use of the Internet of Things in plant and animal production, data storage and security, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the company's core operations, etc. The survey was prepared, conducted and administered by the Department of Information Technology, Faculty of Economics and Management, University of Life Sciences Prague.

Rural areas in Europe are at risk due to depopulation, failing generation renewal, and a multitude of influences ranging from market-based, regulatory, to societal and climate changes. As a result, current rural policy is no longer keeping pace with these changes. We propose an advanced rural policy development framework in order to deliver more accurate foresight for rural regions, contributing to new and enhanced policy interventions. The proposed framework combines new quantitative and qualitative epistemological approaches, previously unused unstructured data with traditional research information, grassroot perspective with expert knowledge, current situation analysis with forward looking activities. We argue that by using the proposed methods, policy teams will be able to enhance the effectiveness of their policy making processes, while rural stakeholders will be given the opportunity to become valuable policy influencers and solution co-creators. The ability to quickly experiment and understand the impact of a variety of policy solutions will result in saved time and costs. The framework is part of an ongoing experimental verification and testing in twelve pilot regions across Europe and Israel.

The paper focuses on the analysis of the applicability of usability and UX methods in the development of applications intended for use in the agrarian sector. In addition to an overview of methods and approaches suitable for this purpose, the process of advanced adoption of the UX methods in the development of agrarian software products is also described. The article also discusses ways to enable partially automated, time-efficient, and cost-effective solutions for the creation of interfaces for agricultural applications. Possibilities of future development and technologies related to the usability of products in agriculture are also outlined. The article thus covers the concept for optimizing the development of agricultural products. The main contribution is the input analysis for the future development of the agrarian design system. From such a synthesized system design, it is then possible to create application interfaces that should have seamless usability and good UX.

For the pretreatment of wood, charcoal and collagen from bone micro samples using the Acid–Base–Acid (ABA) method, we have assembled an automated computer-controlled unit in our laboratory CRL. The sample is placed in a glass single-necked cuvette. The machine consists of prepared solutions which are guided through capillaries, switching valve and peristaltic pump into the cuvette with the sample according to the currently selected program. The automat can be used for the pretreatment of charcoal, wood and also collagen from bones.

Today, accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) technology enables us to carry out very precise measurements of radiocarbon (14C). Unfortunately, due to fluctuations in the 14C calibration curve, the resulting calibrated time intervals vary from decades up to centuries in calibrated age. Within a time scale of several decades, we can find several time intervals on the 14C calibration curve which correspond with periods of rapid increases in atmospheric 14CO2 activity. Some of these “high slope” parts of the calibration curve could be used for fine time resolution for radiocarbon dating of individual samples. Nevertheless, there are certain limitations owing to the properties of the samples measured. We have prepared a time-resolution curve for the 14C dating method, applying calibration curve IntCal13 and assuming an uncertainty of 14C analyses ±15 yr BP (for recent samples). Our curve of the time resolution covers the last 50 ka. We found several time intervals with time resolution below 50 yr BP for the last 3 ka. Several time intervals which can enable substantially better time resolution compared to neighboring parts of the calibration curve were also found for periods older than 3 ka.

With emerging usage of positioned devices such as drones, cell phones or IoT, the amount of data that can be collected expands drastically. At any given time, there is usually at least one nearby device that has positioning capabilities. Smart phones, smart TVs, personal computers, or even cars contain localization features. These vast amounts of data require a lot of effort in analysis and understanding in order to be properly utilized, which is especially true for the field of agriculture, where proper analysis can yield tremendous improvements in terms of production. Current computer technologies offer plenty options for such analysis. However, not every agricultural subject has access to a mainframe with performance in petaflops to perform complicated analyses of such big data in a timely manner. The defined design patterns for creation of data offers potential for speeding up the analysis of ADS on personal computers. This article describes known and used creational patterns and compares their benefits regarding ADS and offers possible usage and improvements.

The aim of this article is to propose a methodology for improving the sharing of data between applications that support scientific activity, which are focused on agriculture, aquaculture, rural development, etc. The presented methodological approach is referred to as Enriched Data Sharing Methodology (EDSM). The presented methodology is based on two analyzes. The analysis of the data formats used for the metadata description of digital objects and the description of their mutual relations. And analysis of dictionaries of controlled descriptors. The article presents part of the results of author ’s dissertation thesis.

The article deals with analysis of model data formats suitable for metadata description of digital objects (artifacts) occurring in scientific social network applications. The emphasis of analyzes is on the issue of a metadata description of artefact links to other artifacts and artifact links to individuals. The examined metadata formats include LOM (Learning Objects Metadata), MODS (Metadata Object Description Schema) and DC (Dublin Core). The article also deals with dictionaries of controlled descriptors used to refine and unify the metadata description for agricultural research.

The Roma represents a transnational ethnic group, with a current European population of 8-10 million. The evolutionary process that had the greatest impact on the gene pool of the Roma population is called the founder effect. Renal hypouricemia (RHUC) is a rare heterogenous inherited disorder characterized by impaired renal urate reabsorption. The affected individuals are predisposed to recurrent episodes of exercise-induced nonmyoglobinuric acute kidney injury and nephrolithiasis. To date, more than 150 patients with a loss-of-function mutation for the SLC22A12 (URAT1) gene have been found, most of whom are Asians. However, RHUC 1 patients have been described in a variety of ethnic groups (e.g., Arab Israelis, Iraqi Jews, Caucasians, and Roma) and in geographically noncontiguous countries. This study confirms our previous findings regarding the high frequency of SLC22A12 variants observed. Frequencies of the c.1245_1253del and c.1400CT variants were found to be 1.92% and 5.56%, respectively, in a subgroup of the Roma population from five regions in three countries: Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Spain. Our findings suggested that the common dysfunction allelic variants of URAT1 exist in the general Roma population and thus renal hypouricemia should be kept in differential diagnostic algorithm on Roma patients with defect in renal tubular urate transport. This leads to confirm that the genetic drift in the Roma have increased the prevalence of hereditary disorders caused by very rare variants in major population.

The evaluation of websites at the Department of Information Technologies has so far been largely focused on the websites of towns, municipalities, or regional Internet portals. In the submitted article, we focused on evaluation of food and farmers’ e-shops. As the new generation grows in the digital age and it is accustomed to search for and buy goods in this environment, we have decided to focus on this issue. To ensure that the user repeatedly returns, you need to recognize what services he requires. For the purposes of evaluation, we determined 25 parameters, in which 12 are new parameters focused on the service category and used them for evaluation of nine food and farmers’ e-shops: 5 Czech, 2 British, and 2 Greek. It turned out that comparing Czech and foreign e-shops with the same parameters is not entirely appropriate. Some parameters can only be applied in the Czech environment (like cash on delivery), which was not even offered in evaluated foreign e-shops. Similarly, the option for free pickup at the designated place was also not available. If we would evaluate Czech and foreign e-shops separately, kosik.cz would be the winner among Czech e-shops and yolenis.com among foreign e-shops.

User-Technological Index of Precision Agriculture (UTIPA) is a comprehensive system based on mutual sharing of opinions and experience within community of people related to precision agriculture – farmers, technology suppliers, and researchers. The main goal of UTIPA is to present the calculated index level for a particular technology (method) for precision agriculture and compare it to the indexes of other technologies. The index is based on evaluation of technological advancement and applicability for agricultural practice. The paper discusses methods for collecting data from questionnaires in general and elaborates on the technical solution developed specifically for data collection for UTIPA. The system also allows all participants who filled in the entry questionnaire to access the results. There are various visualizations and data views available.

Presented paper deals with analysis and identification of business informatics specifics in agricultural enterprises in the Czech Republic farming at land of size up to 500 hectares. The study is based on thorough review of literature about latest issues in agriculture business informatics. There is a follow up to certain results of previous research on business informatics in agriculture that was conducted by authors in 2013. The analysis has brought findings that business informatics has several peculiarities that must be regarded in informatics implementation and innovation. Those are common economic and organisational effects and further aspects typical for the agriculture such as climate, local conditions and seasonal nature of production.

A woody-biochar was added to waste biomass during a composting process. The resulting compost-char was amended to a metal contaminated soil and two plant species, L. perenne and E. sativa, were grown in a pot experiment to determine 1) plant survival and stress factors, 2) uptake of metals to plants and, 3) chemical characteristics of sampled soils and pore waters. Compost supplemented with biochar after the composting process were also tested, as well as a commercially available compost, for comparison. Co-composting with biochar hastened the composting process, resulting in a composite material of reduced odour, increased maturity, circum-neutral pH and increased moisture retention than compost (increase by 3% of easily removable water content). When amended to the soil, CaCl2 extractable and pore water metals s were reduced by all compost treatments with little influence of biochar addition at any tested dose. Plant growth success was promoted furthest by the addition of co-composted biochar to the test soil, especially in the case of E. sativa. For both tested plant species significant reductions in plant metal concentrations (e.g. 8-times for Zn) were achieved, against the control soil, by compost, regardless of biochar addition. The results of this study demonstrate that the addition of biochar into the composting process can hasten the stability of the resulting compost-char, with more favourable characteristics as a soil amendment/improver than compost alone. This appears achievable whilst also maintaining the provision of available nutrients to soils and the reduction of metal mobility, and improved conditions for plant establishment.

This study was focused on the 3H activity levels in the unique “tritium valley” around the Mohelno reservoir, which receives outlet cooling waters from the Dukovany nuclear power plant. Tritium activity levels above the background reference value were found in water from the reservoir and from the effluent part of the Jihlava water, in air moisture and in plant tissues tissue free water tritium (TFWT), and non-exchangeable organically bound tritium (NE-OBT). These zones were discernible that had noticeably different TFWT and NE-OBT values: (1) littoral zones, (2) slopes above the reservoir, (3) plateaus above the reservoir/river.

To determine the relationships between technological innovation, economic effectiveness and practical usability is one of the main goals of precision agriculture. There is real demand of farmers for technological development for their tools, but many technologically advanced methods have failed to reach their expectations in practice. The effectiveness and usefulness depends on local conditions, cultivated crops and varies in different countries. For the comparison between the methods of precision agriculture in terms of the relationship of technological advancement and application in practice was designed "user - technological index of precision agriculture" (UTIPA). UTIPA is based on the mutual sharing of ideas and experiences between industry-focused community of people related to precision agriculture - farmers, technology suppliers and researchers. It includes areas of crop production, livestock production and forestry. Evaluation of different methods is conducted from the perspective of technological sophistication and usability in practice. Obtained data is processed by various statistical methods including cluster analysis and then visualized and made available online for the whole community.

Objectives Common dysfunctional variants of ATP binding cassette subfamily G member 2 (Junior blood group) (ABCG2), a high-capacity urate transporter gene, that result in decreased urate excretion are major causes of hyperuricemia and gout. In the present study, our objective was to determine the frequency and effect on gout of common and rare non-synonymous and other functional allelic variants in the ABCG2 gene. Methods The main cohort recruited from the Czech Republic consisted of 145 gout patients; 115 normouricaemic controls were used for comparison. We amplified, directly sequenced and analysed 15 ABCG2 exons. The associations between genetic variants and clinical phenotype were analysed using the t-test, Fisher's exact test and a logistic and linear regression approach. Data from a New Zealand Polynesian sample set and the UK Biobank were included for the p.V12M analysis. Results In the ABCG2 gene, 18 intronic (one dysfunctional splicing) and 11 exonic variants were detected: 9 were non-synonymous (2 common, 7 rare including 1 novel), namely p.V12M, p.Q141K, p.R147W, p.T153M, p.F373C, p.T434M, p.S476P, p.D620N and p.K360del. The p.Q141K (rs2231142) variant had a significantly higher minor allele frequency (0.23) in the gout patients compared with the European-origin population (0.09) and was significantly more common among gout patients than among normouricaemic controls (odds ratio = 3.26, P < 0.0001). Patients with non-synonymous allelic variants had an earlier onset of gout (42 vs 48 years, P = 0.0143) and a greater likelihood of a familial history of gout (41% vs 27%, odds ratio = 1.96, P = 0.053). In a meta-analysis p.V12M exerted a protective effect from gout (P < 0.0001). Conclusion Genetic variants of ABCG2, common and rare, increased the risk of gout. Non-synonymous allelic variants of ABCG2 had a significant effect on earlier onset of gout and the presence of a familial gout history. ABCG2 should thus be considered a common and significant risk factor for gout.

The paper deals with a general solution of semantic description related to various electronic data formats in the domains of agriculture, aquaculture, forestry, food industry, environment, horticulture and rural areas. The solution presented was developed on the basis of metadata formats analysis and then complemented with its own software superstructure. It is based on the VOA3R metadata application profile (AP) that was developed within the framework of the Virtual Open Access Agriculture and Aquaculture Repository project for the sake of describing research papers and scientific publications. However, thanks to its complexity and comprehensiveness, it is also suitable for different kinds of data and while combining it with the AGROVOC thesaurus, which is elaborated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, it can become a robust and universal tool for data characteristics and semantic description. The potential of the proposed solution is illustrated by means of two examples. While the first example brings a metadata description of a photograph depicting anthocyanin pigmentation of barley straw caused by phosphorus deficiency, the second example is related to a research paper description. The developed system of metadata description is broadly applicable in agriculture such as in precision agriculture, in plant production or in ground cover monitoring and evaluation based on sensor or visual data.

The present paper is aimed at introducing a pilot study on the use of social networks in agricultural enterprises. It is focused in particular on using social media as a development tool with a view to increase the market competitiveness of agricultural enterprises. The primary data have been retrieved from a questionnaire survey of ICT use in agricultural enterprises of the Czech Republic (the so-called Exploration 2011). The questionnaire survey was targeted at agricultural enterprises farming at least the area of 100 hectares (a basic selection criterion of the complex survey). The survey dealt not only with monitoring social networks use in agricultural enterprises as such but as well with the promotional potential of social networks in agricultural enterprises with non-agricultural activities. The survey was focused on the Central Bohemian Region as it shows a high concentration of agricultural enterprises. The present view of social networks in agricultural enterprises within the framework of the above-mentioned complex survey has not been, as far as the authors are aware, neither researched nor published. The thematic focus of the paper follows recent development in this field and current world research trends. The data obtained in the survey were statistically processed and some of the interdependences were monitored.

Potential of woody species vegetation components is defined as the total ability of existing woody species vegetation components (hereinafter referred to as WSVC) of a particular object (or its parts) to ensure the composition stability. The main criteria for evaluation of this potential at all levels are: (a) current (relevant) characteristics of WSVC; (b) expected development of ability of WSVC to preserve, renew and develop its desirable characteristics; (c) expected length of biologically conditioned existence of WSVC (in an acceptable condition); and (d) expected length of desirable existence of WSVC.Evaluation is based on mutual confrontation and interpretation of especially these woody species characteristics: taxon, age or development stage and landscaping value. These characteristics are surveyed during the evaluation of woody species as standard in the Czech Republic, or at least at a fairly regular basis. It proceeds from the lowest level (individual) to the highest level (the whole object). Especially in case of larger objects and their parts is used as a basis the spatial distribution of the aforementioned characteristics in the evaluated unit (terrain layout) as well as statistical evaluation of these characteristics.The focuses of this paper are methodological issues of determining and expressing the potential of woody species components.

This report presents the possible uses of programming equipment for creating map resources – a map portal for the development of regions (Map Portal for Region Development – MPRD 1.0). This system offers an overall solution for the presentation of maps for basically any suitable data base. The operation of the system was tested on data resources from the field of ecological agriculture – a quite wide and detailed database of organic farms and a database of biogas stations in the Czech Republic, in both cases this was a pilot project for the South Bohemia Region. The created map resources (maps) were certified by the authorised institutions of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic.Besides supporting functions which are already considered standard today, in terms of quality the provided solution gives a new perspective on creating map resources and it includes a variety of original elements and functionalities. Equally, the data base for verification was generated and updated based on the detailed validation of the content and it aims to achieve a maximum amount of precision when locating objects on a map.

The majority of Internet users use the global network to search for different information using fulltext search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, or Seznam. The web presentation operators are trying, with the help of different optimization techniques, to get to the top places in the results of fulltext search engines. Right there is a great importance of Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing, because normal users usually try links only on the first few pages of the fulltext search engines results on certain keywords and in catalogs they use primarily hierarchically higher placed links in each category. Key to success is the application of optimization methods which deal with the issue of keywords, structure and quality of content, domain names, individual sites and quantity and reliability of backward links. The process is demanding, long-lasting and without a guaranteed outcome. A website operator without advanced analytical tools do not identify the contribution of individual documents from which the entire web site consists. If the web presentation operators want to have an overview of their documents and web site in global, it is appropriate to quantify these positions in a specific way, depending on specific key words. For this purpose serves the quantification of competitive value of documents, which consequently sets global competitive value of a web site. Quantification of competitive values is performed on a specific full-text search engine. For each full-text search engine can be and often are, different results. According to published reports of ClickZ agency or Market Share is according to the number of searches by English-speaking users most widely used Google search engine, which has a market share of more than 80%. The whole procedure of quantification of competitive values is common, however, the initial step which is the analysis of keywords depends on a choice of the fulltext search engine.

The Dukovany nuclear power plant (NPP Dukovany) releases liquid effluents, including HTO, to the Mohelno reservoir, located in a deep valley. Significantly enhanced tritium activities were observed in the form of non-exchangeable organically bound tritium in the surrounding biota which lacks direct contact with the water body. This indicates a tritium uptake by plants from air moisture and haze, which is, besides the uptake by roots from soil, one of the most important mechanisms of tritium transfer from environment to plants. Results of a pilot study based on four sampling campaigns in 2011–2015 are presented and discussed, with the aim to provide new information on tritium transport in the Mohelno reservoir - Jihlava River – plants ecosystems.

Background and objectives In the present study, we describe the identification and functional analysis of allelic variants in the ABCG2 gene, a physiologically important urate transporter whose dysfunction plays a major role in pathogenesis of gout, in a cohort with primary hyperuricemia and gout. Materials and methods The cohort consisted of 128 individuals: 29/99 primary hyperuricemics/gout. The definition of hyperuricemia was as follows: >420/360 µmol/l at two repeated measurements at intervals of at least 4 weeks in men/women. Gouty arthritis was diagnosed according to the 1977 preliminary criteria of the American College of Rheumatology for acute arthritis of gout. Patients suffering from secondary gout were excluded. We analysed 15 exons of ABCG2 by PCR amplification and sequenced directly. The functional analysis of identified allelic variants is in process ( Xenopus oocyte, HEK cells). Results In the ABCG2 gene, 16 intronic sequence variants and seven exon variants were detected. In the case of c.689+1G >A, related to an individual with severe gouty phenotype, two abnormal splicing variants were identified: a) r.[532_689del]; b) r.[532_689del], r.[944_949del]. Identified deletions lead to frameshift and premature stop codon introduction. From the 7 exon variants detected, there were five non-synonymous: p.V12M ( rs2231137 ), p.Q141K ( rs2231142 ), p.T153M ( rs753759474 ), p.F373C ( rs752626614 ) and p.D620N ( rs34783571 ). Heterozygous p.V12M variant was detected in seven individuals. Variant p.T153M, p.F373C and p.D620N was detected once in heterozygous state. Variants p.T153M and p.F373C were in silico predicted using Polyphen and Sift program as a probably damaging. The p.Q141K, previously functionally characterised allelic variant with an strong effect on uric acid secretion impairment, was in cohort of hyperuricemic/gout patients presented with higher frequency: 40 heterozygotes/5 homozygotes, allele frequency 0.195 than in population of European origin (MAF = 0.09) and world-wide population (MAF = 0.12). Conclusions Our results show that genetic factor ABCG2 should be considered to be one of the common risks for hyperuricemia/gout. In clinical practice, ABCG2 dysfunction can be estimated easily by genotyping and these findings will help to recognise a trait of hyperuricemia at a very early stage. This study was supported by the grants from the Czech Republic Ministry of Health AZV 15–26693A and the IMI-funded project BeTheCure 115142–2f.

The article deals with experimental verification of three distinct UX web application testing methods in areas of agriculture, food industry, forestry, water management and rural development. The verification was conducted using agrarian WWW portal AGRIS. The three analyzed methods were five-second test, thirty-second test and usability test with preset scenario. The usability test yielded best results. The results of thirty-second test were satisfactory while the five-second test proved to be unsuitable for the given area.