Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 2018 (vol. 66), issue 2
SEM Analysis and Degradation Behavior of Conventional and Bio-Based Plastics During Composting
Dana Adamcová, Maja Radziemska, Jan Zloch, Helena Dvořáčková, Jakub Elbl, Jindřich Kynický, Martin Brtnický, Magdalena Daria Vaverková
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 349-356 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020349 
Recently, various materials have begun to be marketed that claim to be biodegradable or compostable. Terms such as "degradable", "oxo-biodegradable", "biological", "compostable" and "green" are often used to describe and promote different plastics. Commercial bioplastics and a petrochemical plastic (claim to be degradable) were used for this study. The research was carried out in real conditions in the Central Composting Plant in Brno, Czech Republic. SEM analysis of the samples was done in order to analyze microstructure and morphology of specimens, validating dispersion results. It can be concluded that samples certified as compostable have degrade...
Effect of Zinc and Copper on Anaerobic Stabilization of Sewage Sludge
Tereza Dokulilová, Tomáš Koutný, Tomáš Vítěz
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 357-363 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020357
The most frequently found metals in municipal sewage sludge are copper and zinc. The aim of this study was to the evaluate effect of these metals on anaerobic microorganisms during sewage sludge stabilization. Anaerobic fermentation tests were carried out in 24 batch fermenters with hydraulic retention time 21 days at mesophilic temperature conditions 38 °C ± 0.2 °C. Five different concentrations of metal ionts (100-1000 mg∙l-1) were tested. Cumulative biogas and methane production were used as the comparative parameters of inhibition. Hypothesis, which predicted presence of inhibitory effect of zinc and copper on anaerobic...
Evaluation of Yoghurts with Thyme, Thyme Essential Oil and Salt
Viera Ducková, Miroslav Kročko, Vladimíra Kňazovická, Margita Čanigová
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 365-369 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020365
The aim of this work was production and evaluation of yoghurts with different addition of thyme (Thymus vulgaris), thyme essential oil (EO) and salt. It was produced: control yoghurt, yoghurt with 0.45 % of salt and 0.25 % of thyme, yoghurt with 0.90 % of salt and 0.50 % of thyme, yoghurt with 0.45 % of salt and 0.004 % of thyme EO, yoghurt with 0.90 % of salt and 0.008 % of thyme EO. The time of yoghurt fermentation was extended from the previous 3.5 hours (control sample) to 5 hours for samples with thyme or even up to 7 hours for samples with thyme EO. The fermentation time also depended on the concentration of the used substances. The average...
Quality and Yield of Triticum durum Under Temperate Continental Climate of the Czech Republic
Ivana Polišenská, Ondřej Jirsa, Tomáš Spitzer, Irena Sedláčková, Petr Míša
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 371-379 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020371
In Europe, durum wheat is traditionally grown primarily in the Mediterranean region. A question arises as to whether now, in a situation of global climate change, the conditions for durum wheat might be more favourable also in countries with temperate continental climate. Field trials at a location in the south-eastern part of the Czech Republic with a typical European continental climate were established in four harvest years (2011-2014). Yield, quality and deoxynivalenol content were evaluated and the impact of year and variety was studied. The best quality was achieved in 2013, when 4 of 5 varieties met all the quality requirements for durum wheat...
The Influence of Using the Traction Booster of the Semi-Mounted Plough on the Performance Parameters of the Ploughing Set
Lukáš Renčín, Adam Polcar, František Bauer
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 381-388 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020381
The objective of this article is to verify the influence of the use of the traction cylinder of the semi-mounted plough on the performance parameters of the ploughing set., Claas Axion 850 set, equipped with Hexashift mechanical stepped gearbox, fully geared under the load of Pöttinger semi-mounted plough was used for the purposes of the measurement. Assessed parameters included force in the upper rod, slip, effective performance of the set and fuel consumption. The results of the measurement clearly indicate the positive influence of the traction booster on the performance and energetic parameters of the ploughing set. By increasing the force in the...
Influences of Housing Systems and Slaughter Weight on the Market Realization of Slaughter Pigs by SEUROP Classification
Libor Sládek, Vladimír Mikule
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 389-397 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020389
The aim of the study was to evaluate an influence of housing technology and slaughter weight of slaughter pigs on realization with SEUROP system. Slaughter pigs of hybrid combination (Czech Large White × Czech Landrace) × Duroc were studied for reasons of an experiment. Analysed were 733 pigs. Slaughter pigs fattened on deep-bedded pens reached higher slaughter weight, higher back fat thickness, higher muscle deep, higher price per 1 kg of slaughter weight in comparison with pigs on slatted floor pens, but on the contrary they reached a lower portion of lean meat. These data were determined in pigs on deep-bedded pens: 117.58 kg slaughter weight, 16.78...
The Effect of Selenium Application on Plant Health Indicators of Garden Pea (Pisum sativum L.) Varieties
Marcela Žitná, Tünde Juríková, Alžbeta Hegedűsová, Marcel Golian, Jiří Mlček, Pavel Ryant
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 399-405 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020399
This study evaluates the effects of different selenium levels (VI) in the form of sodium selenate (25, 50, 150 and 300 mg.dm-3) on the selected parametres in seedlings of garden pea (Pisum sativum L.) varieties ('Flavora', 'Oskar', 'Exzellenz' and 'Jumbo') grown in Petri dishes. Tested indicators included seed germination, roots length, content of photosynthetic pigments - chlorophyll a and b, green biomass weight in early growth stages and acute toxicity expressed as IC50 value. The study has proved a significant positive effect of selenium. During the germination, selenium doses reached 25 mg.dm-3 in 'Exzellenz'...
The Use of the Altman Model in Evaluation of Economic Performance of a Corporation in the Crisis Period in the Building Sector in the Czech Republic
Marcela Basovníková, Miloš Konečný, Roman Dubový, Andrea Masařová
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 409-421 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020409
The article is focused on verification of the presumption of poor financial management in companies operating in the building sector. Many authors have written about a financial situation of enterprises in the building sector, especially after the economic crisis in the year 2008, when some of them claim and their results confirm that the main reason of bankruptcy of these companies was not the economic crisis but mainly poor financial management. Our results, which were obtained especially by the method of financial analysis and further by a mathematical and statistical method, support this statement. Within the mathematical and statistical methods,...
Comparison of the Impact of Econometric Models on Hedging Performance by Crude Oil and Natural Gas
Luděk Benada
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 423-429 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020423
The paper examines the performance of hedging spot prices in crude oil and natural gas. The subject of the research are spot prices of West Texas Intermediate and Henry Hub. The risk protection is provided by the application of futures contracts of underlying assets. In our analysis three econometric models (OLS, Copula, GARCH) and a naive portfolio are applied to obtain the optimal hedge ratio. Afterwards, the calculated weights for futures are verified for the ability to reduce the spot price risk over twelve months. The success of each model in risk reduction is measured over the test period by a conventional tool and across the models by proper...
Intangible Assets Reporting: the Case of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industry in the Czech Republic
Hana Bohušová, Patrik Svoboda
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 431-439 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020431
The cost structure of business entities has been changing in the span of time. Costs associated with intangible assets such as software, patents, licenses, copyrights and goodwill became an important item of costs in the recent days. The paper is focused on the evaluation of the share of intangible assets in total assets and the costs associated with intangible assets in business companies operating in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry in the Czech Republic. The analyzed sample of companies represents two groups of business entities: entities preparing financial statements in accordance with IFRS and the entities preparing financial statement...
Corporate Image of Banks from the Generation Y Perspective
Veronika Braciníková, Kateřina Matušínskáą
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 441-451 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020441
The paper deals with corporate image of banks perceived by Czech Millennials (generation Y) with emphasis on financial services area. First, paper presents the theoretical framework of corporate image and identity, subsequently strategies of positioning are described in the first chapter. The major part of paper is devoted to primary marketing research. For purpose of collecting data, the method of questioning was chosen. The questionnaire was given to 236 respondents living in the Czech Republic. Because the survey was focused on Millennials, respondents had to be 23-40 years old. The survey was distributed in the spring 2017. The primary research...
Comparison of Methods for Smoothing Environmental Data with an Application to Particulate Matter PM10
Martina Čampulová
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 453-463 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020453
Data smoothing is often required within the environmental data analysis. A number of methods and algorithms that can be applied for data smoothing have been proposed. This paper gives an overview and compares the performance of different smoothing procedures that estimate the trend in the data, based on the surrounding noisy observations that can be applied on environmental data.The considered methods include kernel regression with both global and local bandwidth, moving average, exponential smoothing, robust repeated median regression, trend filtering and approach based on discrete Fourier and discrete wavelet transform. The methods are applied...
Human Values as Determinants of Fairtrade Consumption in the Czech Republic
Ondřej Částek, Linda Plaváková
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 465-478 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020465
Ethical consumerism is a growing field. It attracts increasingly more attention not only from the supply and demand sides, but also from researchers. Numerous surveys are trying to describe consumers' behaviour; many studies are trying to identify and analyse what contributes to the higher ethical consumption. While this is also the case of the Czech Republic, empirical evidence focused on the effect of consumers' values on ethical consumerism in the Czech Republic is still missing. Therefore, our goal is to examine the effect of consumers' values on Fairtrade consumption in the Czech Republic. We measure the values through the Human Values Scale (developed...
Requirements of University Students of Agricultural Focus on Employee Benefits
Jiří Duda
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 479-486 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020479
The aim of the paper is to identify the employee benefits that university students of agricultural field of study prefer and expect in the future employer's offer. The goal is also to identify potential gender influences on the students' preferences of the employee benefits.The survey was conducted in the years 1998-2015, with a total participation of 1,633 students. Based on an offer of potential employee benefits and personal preferences, students have identified the benefits that employers should offer to their employees. The most frequently required benefits include: Meal tickets; on-site parking; additional salary (extra wage); use of company...
Formulation for Development Strategy of Gayo Coffee Agroindustry Institution Using Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM)
Rahmat Fadhil, M. Syamsul Maarif, Tajuddin Bantacut, Aji Hermawan
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 487-495 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020487
Institutional aspect is one of strategic aspect for an agroindustry development, including Gayo coffee agroindustry in Province of Aceh, Indonesia. Institution has important role as medium for innovation distribution, certification, and quality management of agroindustry, that the institution conduciveness is very much determining the development of the agroindustry itself. The purpose of the study was to formulate strategy of Gayo coffee agroindustry institution by using interpretive structural modeling (ISM). The study result showed that it was important to formulate strategy of each element in the development system of Gayo coffee agroindustry institution....
Agricultural Sector Performance Evaluation in Terms of Financial Indicators: A Comparison of Czech Republic, Slovakia and Western Balkan States
Jana Hornungová, František Milichovský
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 497-507 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020497
Agriculture and food industry have become part of strategic areas for each country and each region of Europe. Important condition on companies in group A (according NACE classification) is fulfilling requirements of management in performance of financial area. Traditional financial indicators (calculated from accounting data) are still used to evaluate performance level, what have been considered to be the most appropriate approach over a long period of time in spite of different accounting and financial indicators. The main objective is to find crucial factors in the field of financial performance for agriculture companies in chosen region. Data from...
Changes in the Czech Business Environment by the View of SME Managers
Helena Chládková
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 509-519 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020509
This article shows first of all opinions of SME managers on the changes in the quality of the Czech business environment. The article contains the views of managers identified in 2017 and 2015 and compares them with the detected results in 2010 and 2004. It is interesting that managers reported more opportunities than threats in all years. Because the most of respondents (SME managers) were active in a municipality of up to 2000 residents in villages in southern Moravia their views on the quality of the business environment can be used to assess the competitiveness of the region and to reflect on the relationship between small and medium-sized enterprises...
Adherence to Healthy Lifestyle Principles Among College Students: A Case Study
Pavla Kubová, Helena Smolová, Hana Urbancová
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 521-530 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020521
Dietary habits of every human impact her or his health. The society-wide situation with regard to the dietary habits is not positive according to the existent surveys, and the same applies to the college students. This paper goal is to identify the dietary habits frequented among the college students at a selected institution (a case study); evaluate the habits; and, propose actions for the institution under review, aimed to positively influence their students' dietary habits. The paper has been designed as a case study, while the data has been obtained from the evaluation of a quantitative survey (based on an executed questionnaire survey) including...
Construction Industry in the Czech Republic: the Level of Involvement in Corporate Social Responsibility
Renata Kučerová, Tomáš Dania, Renata Skýpalová, Veronika Blašková
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 531-541 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020531
This article introduces results of inquiry in corporate social responsibility conducted among construction companies in the Czech Republic in 2017. Its main themes include specifics of application of the CSR concept in the practice of the construction industry and effects of selected factors on the level of involvement of Czech construction companies in CSR activities. The results of the inquiry clearly indicate that despite the high level of knowledge of the CSR concept among the construction companies reaching 65 % the overall activities across the CSR pillars are scarce. The statistical test results show that large companies working with the concept...
Visitors' Motivation for Attending Traditional Cultural Events as the Basis for Market Segmentation: Evidence from Slovakia
Vanda Maráková, Jaroslav Ďaďo, Janka Táborecká-Petrovičová, Tamara Rajic
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 543-551 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020543
In an increasingly competitive festival market, identifying visitors' motivation has been recognized as a key prerequisite for satisfaction, which is expected to lead to positive referrals and future visitations of an event. The objective of this study is to identify the main factors which motivate visitors to attend traditional cultural events in Slovakia and to examine their viability as the basis for festival market segmentation. Building upon previous research on festival attendees' motivation, a set of potential drivers of visitors' behavior has been identified and by the application of exploratory factor analysis further refined into the following...
Tax Literacy
Michaela Moučková, Leoš Vítek
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 553-559 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020553
Presented paper focuses on measuring tax literacy among bachelor degree students at the University of Economics, Prague, along with analysis of the two factors that influence it. Based on the 150 collected questionnaires (63 % response rate), we measured tax literacy of students (personal income tax and VAT) and examined whether it depends on (i) previous passing of tax courses and (ii) previous practical experience with filing tax returns. More than half of the students were well to excellently-versed in tax matters, including those who have not completed any more advanced tax courses apart from the elementary tax course. For VAT, the results of statistical...
Customer Satisfaction Measurement - Clustering Approach
David Schüller, Jan Pekárek
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 561-569 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020561
The paper deals with the issue of customer satisfaction measurement. The aim of this study is to determine the importance of the individual factors and their impact on total customer satisfaction for multiple segments by using linear regression and hierarchical clustering. This study is focused on the market of café establishment. We applied hierarchical clustering with Ward's criterion to partition customers into segments and then we developed linear regression models for each segment. Linear models for partitioned data showed higher coefficient of determination than the model for the whole market. The results revealed that there are quite significant...
Economic Differences of Border Regions in the Czech Republic
Jitka Svobodová, Ludmila Dömeová, Andrea Jindrová
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 571-582 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020571
The article deals with the economically weak regions in the border areas of the Czech Republic (CR). The main goal is the selection and application of the most important variables, as the methodology of selection and evaluation of economically weak regions is not united. The following research question was formulated as whether the border regions are economically weaker when compared with the Czech Republic average of selected indicators. Two working hypotheses were set: whether the situation of the border regions is different from each other among the border regions and whether the economy of the neighbouring country impacts these disparities in border...
Firm's Finance and Influence of Global Financial Crisis in the Selected European Countries
Lucie Szczeponková
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 583-593 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020583
Small and medium enterprises (SME) are key in creation of new jobs and they significantly involved on GDP, innovations and economic growth. These firms very often rely on financial extraneous sources, but acces to these finance is significant business barrier. It means that SME face to financial constraint. This financial constraint is exacerbated by the financial crisis. The goal of this article is to clarify influence of the systemic banking crisis on use own and external sources of finance within small and medium enterprises in the selected european countries. The influence of global financial crisis on firm's finance in selected european countries...
Innovation and Lean Production
Drahoš Vaněček, Martin Pech, Michael Rost
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 595-603 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020595
Production has undergone historically through different changes, the essence of which is innovation. Innovations are either the introduction of new and more powerful machines and technologies, or just tiny, but everyday changes called Kaizen. The article focuses on the implementation of this second group of rationalization changes. 90 enterprises were surveyed and the results were evaluated mainly in terms of their size (small, medium, large), industry (engineering, electro-technical production, production of food, production of products for domestic use), and ownership of the company and by the importance in the supply chain.Regardless their size,...
Entry Into the Common Market of the European Union in Terms of Czech Republic's Foreign Trade with Dairy Products
Ivo Zdráhal, Věra Bečvářová
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 605-616 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020605
The aim of the paper is to evaluate the development of the Czech foreign trade in milk and milk products and specify the typical features and consequences within its territorial and commodity structure using a specific system of indicators intended to show a relevant image on the topic. The analysis covers the period between 1999 and 2015 and are interpreted in the context of changes of the business environment that have occurred in the last two decades, particularly in relation to the Czech Republic's entry into the European Union. Throughout the studied period, the Czech Republic revealed a positive balance of trade in milk and dairy products, as...
Several Methods of Estrus Detection in Cattle Dams: A Review
Mária Mičiaková, Peter Strapák, Iveta Szencziová, Eva Strapáková, Ondrej Hanušovský
Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(2), 619-625 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866020619
The oestrus is defined as a complex of physiological signs and changes of behavior occurring immediately before the ovulation. It is the period of sexual receptivity of the cow and this period characterized by, typical cow behaviour which is standing when mounted by a bull or companion cow. Cow indicates this willingness by a slight arching of the back and immobility when approached. The bovine estrus cycle averages 20 days in heifers and 21 days in cows, but the fluctuations in the cycle length is laying between 18 and 25 days. As a result of this progress often only 50 % of the estrus cycles are recognized, and it is extremely hard to find all cows...