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The paper is focused on the effect of biochar amendment on the soil water content. Biochar used for the field experiment was produced from paper fiber sludge and grain husks (1:1 w/w) by pyrolysis at 550°C for 30 minutes. The field study was conducted at the experimental site in Nitra region Slovakia (lat. 48°19´00´´, lon. 18°09´00´´). The biochar was incorporated into the soil (0-10 cm) in spring 2014. The plots (4m x 6m) were organized in randomized block design. The experiment consisted of 5 levels of biochar application 0, 10 and 20 t/ha (B0, B10, B20) and biochar with N-fertilizer 160 kg N ha-1 (B10+N, B20+N) with 3 replicates. The field had been cropped with corn (Zea mays L.) using conventional tillage. The soil moisture was determined from disturbed soil samples (depth 5-10 cm) by the gravimetric method every week during the growing season (March 2015 - October 2015). The available water storage in the top layer (0.1 m) of the soil profile was higher at all variants with applied biochar as compared to control, reaching the highest cumulative water storage at the higher dose of biochar (20 t ha-1). The total cumulative water storage ranged in the order: Control < B10 < B10+N < B20 < B20+N, resp. 504.4 < 703.5 < 735.0 < 744.2 < 747.4 mm. The difference in the cumulative water content during this specific period varied from +199 (B10) up to +243 mm (B20). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste treatment is considered one of the critical environmental issues. Waste should be understood not only as a source of pollution but as a raw material. Nevertheless, we need well-sorted waste for recovery. Separate collection of municipal waste is an activity in which components of municipal waste are separated. It is based on the conscious activity of citizens, who primarily sort the relevant raw materials. At present, the citizen is obliged to sort waste by law in Slovakia, and the municipality is obliged to create conditions for separation by a suitable system. By obtaining current data, it will be possible to anticipate the development of waste management and propose modifications so that as much waste as possible is separated. This paper is focused on the analysis of the development of selected types of municipal waste, for analysis was selected locality in Slovakia with different types of urbanization. Specifically, we will focus on plastics, paper, metals, and glass. By comparing the obtained data, we will determine the scheme of the probability of waste development for the following years. The obtained data will also serve to analyze further the waste management framework in Slovakia and the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of climate change is felt by people all over the world, but this change is more pronounced in Europe. In Slovakia, which is in Central Europe, we feel these changes in all areas of the economy, but most significantly in agriculture. We experience extremely high temperatures more and more often, and frequent periods of drought alternate with extreme intensity of precipitation. The aim of this paper is to compare these changes in temperature and precipitation with a reference period - the sixty-year climate normal (1961-2020). Based on data from 81 meteorological stations, maps of temperature and precipitation deviations from the climatic norm were created by interpolation for selected decades (1961-1970, 1991-2000 and 2011-2020) in the growing season (April - October). By overlaying the map outputs of temperature and precipitation, new attributes were created that comprehensively evaluate locations in Slovakia. The results show that in the 1960s the summer months were normal in terms of precipitation and subnormal in temperature, in the 1990s the areas were mostly normal in temperature and in April especially above normal in terms of precipitation. On the contrary, the last decade is characterized by above-normal temperatures throughout the entire period and belownormal precipitation at the beginning of the growing season and above-normal precipitation in the autumn months. With this contribution, we can help farmers visualize the development of temperatures and precipitation, and thus they will be able to better adapt to the development of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the historical development of individual regions in Slovakia, there are still areas without access to public water networks. The main reason is the challenging and uneconomical construction of public networks in scattered rural settlements. The small wastewater treatment plants have gained popularity in rural areas of the Slovak Republic. The increasing adoption of decentralized wastewater management is a result of the scattered layout of numerous rural settlements, presenting economic challenges, technical complexities, and inefficiencies in the implementation of a centralized wastewater disposal system. The objective of this paper is to establish a concise methodology for conducting a Benefit-Cost Analysis within the context of the Slovak Republic. This methodology will subsequently serve as an auxiliary decision-making tool when proposing wastewater disposal methods in rural settlements. This study will assess the potential wastewater disposal methods in the specific rural area, while clarifying the proper execution of the benefit-cost analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are two fields of state social policy linked in this paper - migration policy and policy of the social protection. This paper is relevant for the terminology of social sphere. For the state, which wants to implement integration policy towards migrants, it is necessary to examine the establishing of care for migrants in one subsystem of social protection - social insurance. The main objective of this paper is to examine measures (instrument) of social insurance and their application in the life of a migrant. Following tasks have been identified for the realization of our objective: to define key words, to analyze quantitative indicators of social insurance in the life of a migrant. Research methods used in the paper: theoretical general methods of scientific knowledge - induction, deduction, analysis, synthesis of available bibliographic references, discussion and scientific abstraction for generalization of the results. The data were obtained using statistical resources in the social policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Travel agencies and their activities have great potential for developing tourism in Slovakia. Their role is to offer, sell and organize individual tourism services. Travel agencies offer services that meet the needs of customers of all generations. Generation Y gradually gaining in importance in terms of the number of visitors who use the services in tourism. Instead of saving money or establishing family life, the generation Y prefers to travel to different destinations and explore the world. The aim of this paper is to examine the clients of travel agencies in terms of generations and see if the travel agencies in developing service offerings focused on customer included in generation Y. In order to fulfill the aim of the paper we have made survey in the months from January to May 2019 in 65 travel agencies in Slovakia. We used the questionnaire method to meet the aim. Up to 69.2% of travel agencies use social networks to offer their services to customers of generation Y. Up to 80% of surveyed travel agencies do not use mobile apps to sell products to customers. More than half of customers (60%) of travel agencies in Slovakia consists of generation X. The second largest group of customers is generation Y (20%). With the Spearman correlation coefficient, we found that the more travel agencies focus on generation Y, the greater the impact of generation Y on travel agency services. The negative finding was that almost half of the surveyed travel agencies do not offer specialized products for customers of generation Y. The results of the examination enable to take action in practice of travel agencies in order to increase the number of generation Y customers, extend the service offer for generation Y as well as improve the promotion of Slovakia as a target place for generation Y. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most pronounced observed climate change is the rising surface temperature of the Earth. In view of extreme weather events, existing risks and possible consequences, adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change has become a global challenge in recent decades. The interaction between climate change and its possible consequences is a complex and very dynamic system that needs a great deal of information to be properly managed. These facts were also reflected in the Council of the European Union, which approved that at least 20% of the Union's budget will be used for activities in this area in the 2014-2020 programming period. The topic of adaptation to climate change is extremely actual not only in the world, but also in Slovakia. It is in the interest of all of us to identify and implement and at least mitigate the economic and social consequences of climate change. Thanks to European powerful implementations, the Slovak Republic is also implementing numbers of adaptation measures and activities. They focus on early warning and better preparedness for the territory of emergencies, reduction of landslide risk, reinforcement of emergency management or technical and institutional support for rescue modules. The aim of this paper is to identify and explore the tools and measures that are being implemented in the Slovak Republic in the 2014-2020 programming period, particularly with a view to increasing the effectiveness of comprehensive emergency management affected by climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of mathematical modeling of runoff flow in sewer networks is to assess the hydraulic capacity and monitor their behavior in different conditions to predict the future state. Models of sewer networks are part of the design process. Their advantage is the possibility of simulating the future state of the network and the precipitation and runoff process in the context of climate change. With the help of simulations, it is possible to anticipate future conditions in the river basin and thus effectively design new networks. The presented paper focuses on using the MIKE URBAN model to assess of the sewer network of the city of Trnava, which lies in western Slovakia. The city's sewer network is obsolete and requires the reconstruction of certain sections. Problem sections of the network were identified using modeling. Reduced block rain with a return period of once in 2 years was used to simulate the storm event. The dry weather flow was simulated as a cyclic boundary condition corresponding to the water consumption unevenness curve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the examination of the relationship between firm size and firm growth for the companies in Slovakia during years 2009 - 2016. The aim of the article is to investigate the validity of Gibrat's law (Law of proportionate effect), so if the firm growth is a stochastic process resulting from a lot of unobserved random variables and firm growth is independent of the firm size. For measuring company size, it was used three number of employees. This firm size indicator is most often used in studies dealing with Law of proportionate effect. The data are taken from Amadeus database. We focused on the sample of profit industries - sectors A-N according to CZ-NACE classification. In individual years, the research sample includes 20% of all companies doing business in Slovakia. The validity of Gibrat's law was tested with the help of the linear regression model with the first-order autoregressive process. We found that firm growth is dependent on firm size, large companies grow more slowly than smaller ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marketing activities and their utilisation are inevitable part of almost all companies operating in current high competitive market. If the company wants to be successful and sell their goods and services, it needs to be visible for its potential customers. To support demand and product offer the implementation of tools of marketing and communication mix is important. Tourism sector is no exception. The main aim of the article was to focus and point out the marketing tools and activities that are used by tourist information centres even they are generally not private establishments, but the one from the public sphere. Even though their activities are more than important to increase the tourism movement and attract more and more visitors or tourists to see the potential of the town or of the region. Presented paper brings analysis results as well as overview of marketing activities at the example of tourism information centres or tourist information boards in chosen country. In this case it was Slovak republic. The research was carried out on the basis of a questionnaire as main tool. Through the mathematical and statistical methods the results of the survey were evaluated to reach the main aim of the paper. Conclusion brings the cognition that the tourist information centres are pushed to be active in case they want to support tourism development especially in smaller towns. Their portfolio of activities should be as wide as possible if they want to be successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In comparison with other economic sectors, the agriculture is known for its specific characteristics. First, the production processes in agriculture are supplemented by a factor of the impact of natural conditions, weather, the length of the production cycle and associated length of current assets turnover. Financing of agriculture is formed from public or private sources in the form of equity capital, loans or gifts to enhance the development of this sector. It includes not only government funds through various grant schemes aimed at supporting the local community, income equality as well as rural development. This paper analyzes the agricultural enterprises in Slovakia from the perspective of financial stability in order to evaluate the selected ratio indicators. Specifically, an equity ratio, as well as an interest coverage ratio, were calculated for a group of agricultural enterprises during the period 2005-2014. Using the statistical methods, this paper also compares the values of selected indicators among individual regions and the Slovak Republic total. Our analysis highlighted the fact, that the values of selected ratios of agricultural enterprises in the Slovak Republic are not statistically significantly different from the values of the individual regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of the construction of flood protection measure is to protect the urban area. Flood strategy should cover the entire river basin area and promote the coordinated development and management of actions regarding water, land and related resources. Structural measures (defence structures) will remain important elements and should primarily focus on the protection of human health and safety, and valuable goods and property. Intensive rainfall and spring's snow melting occurrence leads to floods almost every year of the Nameless stream in the village Zborov and the disrupting river banks of Rosucká voda and Rakovec in the same village. It is obvious that the adjacent land as well as buildings, and occasionally also the lives of local inhabitants are threatened by this situation. Based on current situation in the village the regulation of the streams within the boundaries of the municipality Zborov, in terms of flood protection is needed. River bed need to stabilized and fortified and adjusted for ensuring the discharge capacity. The proposed modification of the river bed ensures adequate flood protection of the municipality. The objective of the paper is to assess environmental impacts of activities in water management, exactly flood mitigation measures with goal to select the best option for the permission process. Environmental impact assessment of streams regulation in the village Zborov in eastern Slovakia is the core of the paper. In the paper is mentioned how the water structures with flood protection function affect the environment in negative as well as in positive way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human societies have had to face various forms of threat, since the onset of our predecessors. For societies to survive they must be capable adapting to the fluctuations of environment, reinventing established society models and leverage development of technologies. Aside from securing sustainable society, development and implementation of technologies for defense against war conflicts, various forms of armed violence, including terrorism, but also natural disasters, epidemics or pandemics is indispensable endeavor defining survival from another point of view. Along with the gradual development of human society via levering technology for society overall benefits such as medicine, agriculture and environment, there is a constant development of the armaments industry and new technologies potentially threatening security and stability, therefore it is necessary to constantly adapt individual defense systems to new real as well as potential threats. The principal body of preparations for these possible scenarios is the crisis management of public administration. Based on theoretical concepts of crisis management of public administration, an integrated rescue system has been created, as one of the key subsystems of crisis management ensuring coordinated action of its components in crisis situations where there is an immediate threat to life, health, property or the environment. As part of the process of adapting to new potential safety risks at regional level, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have considerable potential to increase the effectiveness of the integrated rescue system. At the same time, the practical implementation of unmanned aerial systems in the various components of the integrated rescue system necessarily requires adequate technical support for the UAS integration in the national airspace, transmission of collected data, trained personnel, technical compatibility of the gathered data with information systems used in the integrated rescue system and other special processes. This paper focuses on the current situation of UAS in the Slovak Republic from legislative perspective within the crisis management at the national level and regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the results of the pilot study that was used to test the design of the full-scale experiment. The following research is going to be focused on evaluation of school subject (Ethical Education) and its influence on pupils' prosocial behaviour. During preparation of our pilot study, we identified some issues. At first, there was no recent study in Slovakia that could prove effect of Ethical Education on pupil's prosocial behaviour. And second, our research was focused on pupils in age 11 - 12 years. The overview of researches discussing about prosocial behaviour and moral reasoning had shown that the most of researches are related to moral reasoning or relation of prosocial behaviour to some another aspects (empathy, cooperative behaviour, anxiety etc.). We tried to complete our research battery by using the questionnaires focused on personality of pupils. Those questionnaires were supplemented with analyse of pupils' prosocial reasoning. We have adjusted some questionnaires: 1. NOO-dynamics (Popielski, 1989). 2. Interpersonal Checklist (ICL, Leary, Suczek & LaForge, 1976). 3. Questionnaires used for evaluation and self-evaluation of prosocial behaviour in class (R. R. Olivar, 1996, 2004). 4. Prosocial Reasoning Objective Measure (PROM, Eisenberg & Carlo, 1992), 5. Test TIPI (Gosling, Rentfrow & Swann, 2003). The pilot study should prove the relevance of design of full-scale experiment and reliability and validity revised research instruments. It was designed to examine the structure and correlates of a measure of prosocial moral reasoning in a sample of 11 - 12-years-old pupils. The paper is focused on results of class prosocial behaviour research and its correlates to prosocial reasoning. Data confirmed that girls assessed themselves more prosocially than boys. The most significant difference was found in items - physical assistance, verbal help, verbal comfort, attentive listening and empathy. Boys assess themselves more prosocially comparing to the opinion of their schoolmates and teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the energy efficiency of the ventilation systems (ventilation units) in different design alternatives (with heat recovery, without recovery, effective fans, etc...). The alternatives of operation of the ventilation system at intervals during the day and throughout the year are also presented. The calculation of the airflow was executed in accordance with laws and standards valid in the EU and Slovakia (EN 15251, EN 13779, etc.). A large potential for energy savings in the Slovak building generally, due to the fact that majority of the buildings were constructed before 1989, before first important requirements for energy performance and savings of building. This paper is part 2 and it is continuation of paper with the same title „The Energy Performance Model Of Ventilation System - Part 1„ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, unemployment and its consequences may be deemed to be in focus of the government's social policy aimed at elimination of possible risks for both individuals and the society. This paper deals with an analysis of development of the unemployment rate and its selected characteristics in Slovakia during the years 2011 - 2015 while focusing on identification of relations between the education level and age of economically active population on one hand and the education level and age of the unemployed on the other hand. The aim of the paper is to analyze the most important changes as concerns the development of unemployment and numbers of the unemployed during the period concerned while factoring in the trend of changes in individual characteristics and examining mutual relations. The obtained results draw attention not only to the continuing trend of the unemployment rate reduction in Slovakia but also to the links among examined characteristics affecting the development of the unemployment rate as to its individual indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new millennium and the revolutionary medium of communication - the Internet brought a lot of change in all spheres of life to individuals and companies. In addition to many positive aspects and opportunities that the Internet provides (such as fast and instant communication, new forms of entertainment, education, an immediate source of information), it is important to recognize the presence of multiple risks linked to communication through new digital media and technologies. We consider that one of the most serious hazards is cyberbullying, the research of which was also a priority scientific interest of our paper. The paper deals with the issue of risks of electronic communication with a specific emphasis on cyberbullying issues and has the character of a theoretical study. The paper uses the hermeneutical method and reflects the basic theoretical bases and definitions of the presented problem and their comparison through various authors´ approaches and opinions. The authors put emphasis on the clarification of the individual forms of cyberbullying, its actors or the means through which it can be realized. The authors further conducted a meta-analysis of cyberbullying research in the Slovak Republic to find out the current state of this modern form of violence in order to point out the current situation as well as possible forms of cyberbullying prevention and to develop recommendations on how to eliminate cyberbullying and prevent it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with investigating thorough analysis that reveals the impact of digitalisation as the development of new communication platforms are changing consumer's purchasing behaviour in the online environment. The main aim of our research to identify the dynamics of consumer preferences in relation to the communication platforms of digital equipment for purchase in the online environment. To fulfil the aim of the research we are in the period 02.21.2016 - 03.06.2016 conducted a questionnaire survey located across the whole territory of Slovakia. The research sample consisted of 414 respondents. Due to the variety of questionnaires we used simultaneous parallel test and correlation analysis.The paper provides information about consumer preferences, the use of mobile technologies in the area of m-commerce. Depending on our findings it can be concluded that the QR codes consumers do not use too much, but the results of the analysis it is clear that the more prone to have the use of significantly more male than female. The paper includes practical implications particularly for business entities, because knowledge of the options that digital technology conceals leads to the right set of strategies and will follow the effective achievement of business aims. The paper gives attention to do the role brands and marketers, if he wants to succeed in today's extremely competitive battle for customers to identify deeply rooted motives as well as and preferences of consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the competitiveness of Slovak spa facilities and partly also with the competitiveness between Slovak and Hungarian spas. The main aim of the paper is to process and analyze the competitiveness in Slovak spa facilities through the use of all available information. The paper is divided into three parts. The first part summarizes the theoretical background of the examined issue; it's focused on theoretical knowledge about tourism, spa tourism and balneology. It also deals with the theoretical knowledge of competitiveness, the impact of globalization on competition, the financial crisis and its impact on competitiveness and, last but not least, on competitiveness as part of the development of tourism in the Slovak Republic. The second part is the analytical part, where the methodology and the aim of the paper are described. The analysis of the competitiveness of the Slovak and Hungarian spas follows. The third part includes information and analysis of selected spa facilities, such as the Slovak Healing Spa Turčianske Teplice, and the Slovak Healing Spa Rajecké Teplice. The last part of the thesis is the conclusion part, which offers us also suggestions and recommendations for increasing the competitiveness of the Slovak spa industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the article is to identify and characterize the level of business environment risk in the sector of small and medium-sized enterprises in Poland and Slovakia to prepare the recommendation for risk management improvements in the future. Article is based on own questionnaire research, conducted among total 273 SMEs from Poland and Slovakia in 2016. The descriptive statistics and Gamma correlation will be used in empirical data analysis to achieve the paper goal. Authors emphasized that risk management should be a key element in the strategic management of any organization, regardless of its size. It increases the likelihood of organization's success and achievement of its goals. Nowadays, business environment is increasingly complex and changeable. To maintain the competitive position, organizations should closely observe the economic environment to identify the areas of risk and possible advantages. The knowledge about level and character of enterprise risk, including business environment risk is a tool to proper risk management. Paper presents the differences both between countries of research and in enterprises of different size. The novelty of the paper is visible by exploring and compering the level of business environment risk in two populations of enterprises from different countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation policy is the interface between research and technological development policy and industrial policy and aims at creating a conducive framework for bringing ideas into market. Innovation is an important improvement and development element in all areas of economic and social life, business environment as well as regional processes. The correct risk approach helps eliminate the negative trends in activities carried out by innovation and because of that it may increase the interest of other stakeholders to take part in this form of activity. Paper deals with the risk management in a specific environment of Slovak and EU innovation policies. EU innovation policy appears to be one of the most important current programs and agenda at EU level which support innovation in emerging industries in EU. By means of analysis, comparative analysis methods followed by logical deduction the main goal of this paper is to figure out how and in what way the technology and innovation implementation processes in Slovak innovation policy can affect the sustainable economic growth in terms of the conditions of Slovak Republic. Slovak innovation policy is acting as a main synergic issue coming out of EU innovation policy and Strategy 2020 interaction. Their parallel collaboration and positive effects have significant fallouts on social and economic development within the Slovak competitiveness enhancement within the European and world economy environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tax fraud can be characterized as deliberate circumvention of rules to avoid paying taxes. Illegal avoidance of tax payments and their circumvention results in tax evasion. The main reason for the existence of tax evasion is the inconsistency between the state's interest (in maximizing the tax collection as much as possible) and the taxpayer's interest (in paying as low tax as possible). Tax frauds and their personal backgrounds, sophisticated forms, extensive structures and so on are always a step ahead of national efforts to detect and eliminate them. Even the most economically powerful countries in the world lack behind tax frauds and their ever-changing forms. Tax frauds and the fight against them is a real global challenge - not only for Slovakia and the EU (and its Member States) but also for the entire world. In Slovakia, tax frauds fall within the sphere of economic crimes, more precisely criminal tax offenses. The paper is focuses on the issue of tax crimes, which are also faced by Slovakia. In more detail, the paper examines and evaluates the development of tax frauds, focusing on its parts as broken down by the Criminal Code of the Slovak Republic, examines the history and number of detected criminal offenses and the solved crimes as well as the damage caused by these crimes. The paper focuses on the period of ten years (2007-2016). The quantitative research uses the officially available data of the Ministry of the Interior of the SR. The analysis of the secondary data was conducted using suitable mathematical and statistical methods. Based on the results of the research, the success rate of the implementation of the “Action Plan on Facing the Tax Fraud for the Years 2012 to 2016” (which was approved by the Government of the Slovak Republic in 2012 in order to support the fight against tax fraud) is being evaluated. Consequently, conclusions and recommendations are developed to address the issue of tax criminal offenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of the paper is to analyze and evaluate what are the manifestations and impacts of suburbanization in the hinterland of the city of Prešov. The first manifestations of suburbanization started in 1996 and continue even nowadays. This process brings several consequences, economic, social, demographic, environmental, etc. When looking at migration flows, Prešov has shown a long-term decline in population. The municipalities located in its hinterland show an increase in population. In this paper we will focus mainly on the impacts of suburbanization in the landscape - landscape fragmentation, arable land grabbing and leapfrog development. The emphasis of the paper is on the analysis of aerial and historical imagery and field research to provide mapping and photo-documentation of spatial aspects in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The DNA barcoding project provides a very quick and easy way to identify different types of organisms based on their DNA. The main objective of this study is to obtain the sequences of different species of fungi, plants and animals to map the biodiversity of Slovakia. This project also represents a new use for collections stored in natural history museums around the world. This paper shows in particular a laboratory view of the DNA barcoding project, such as the practical application of the methodology for different groups of organisms, the possibilities of using different genes and emphasizes the importance of professional taxonomists. In the museum, we deal with a wide range of samples and we encounter various difficulties. For example, some genera of fungi contain unreadable sections in the middle of the sequence, in insect groups it is a problem with samples killed with ethyl acetate or too old samples, where the DNA is mostly degraded. For the amplification of bird samples, we have found no consistent method for the whole group and we work with several different primer sets and conditions to be able to amplify most of the samples. The identification of various plant species according to their barcodes has also proven quite difficult, as plants are a very specific and fast-evolving group of organisms, and their distinction according to the short barcode regions is nearly impossible. Therefore, we would like to emphasize the necessity of cooperation with specialized taxonomists. Our data are continuously uploaded to the international BOLD database, where there are already more than 500 different species of a wide range of groups of fungi, plants and animals from Slovakia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Annually about 300 metric tonnes of gold are used in electronic devices in the world. After the end of use, they become e-waste and are recycled or put on the landfills. Recycling rate of e-waste in Slovakia was in 2017 according to Eurostat only 36.7 %. Recent studies show that yields from e-waste (mainly computers, mobile phones) are much higher than in metal ores and thus can be considered as valuable secondary sources of precious and base metals. In presented paper five different parts of computer e-waste were investigated for possible gold recovery, namely CPUs, CPU sockets, BGA chips, pins from motherboards and flexible wires from monitors. All parts were mechanically pre-treated with suitable techniques to maximize gold concentration in samples. For gold recovery two-step hydrometallurgy leaching process was applied. In first step base metals were dissolved (Cu, Ni, Zn, Sn and Pb) using either HCl + H2O2 mixture or HNO3. Second step consisted in applying Aqua Regia to dissolve gold. For precipitation of dissolved gold sodium metabisulfite was used. All gold obtained was weighted in dust form. Relative yields from all parts are as follow: flexible wires – 3.27 %, BGA chips – 0.93 %, CPUs – 0.20 %, MB pins – 0.06 %, CPU sockets 0.01 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface water pollution occurs due to urbanization of the environment and the growth of industries. Monitoring of the pollution´ sources, regular control as well as analyzing of surface water status in small streams is a basic prerequisite for good condition and water quality in the rivers into which they flow. The functioning of the water system includes processes that affect the surface water cycle itself, the reduction of selected characteristics, the removal of toxic substances, the protection of the ecosystem and the aquatic fauna. This paper aim is to monitor the surface running the stream Súčanka (Trenčín region, Slovakia) and its three tributaries the Krasín stream, the Černatina stream and the Poľníky stream. The paper summarizes the data quality of the running water surface based on selected physical-chemical and chemical characteristics. The values of the analyzed data are related to the pollution of the water stream and affect the purity of the surface water of the stream. These monitored characteristics were analysed in the samples of the surface running water, which has been removed from the twelve sampling places in 2015-2017. The following selected characteristics were analyzed: temperature, the reaction of water (pH), conductivity, fluoride, chloride, sulfate, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate nitrogen and heavy metals (arsenic, copper, nickel, and lead). From the analyses of selected characteristics the stream Súčanka and its tributaries streams implies the following: the values of the temperature of this watercourse, pH, the concentration of chlorides, sulfates, ammonia nitrogen, and heavy metal (As, Ni, Pb) are within the limit values of the current legislation and standards. Increased values of nitrate and nitrite nitrogen concentrations, which exceeded limit value were analyzed at two sampling places, in the mainstream Súčanka in the range of 7.95 mg.dm-3 even 11.60 mg.dm-3 and the stream Černatina, in the range of 30.50 mg.dm-3 even 32.10 mg.dm-3. From the results of analyses of heavy metal concentrations, the greatest variability was found in the value of Cu concentration at the beginning of the village Dolná Súča (39.30 μg.dm-3). Súčanka stream is not only an important regional hydric biocorridor but it is a trout fishing ground (district number 2- 2730-4-1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In my paper I present the aims, the methods and a part of the results of my survey evaluating the reading comprehension competencies of Hungarian secondary school students in Slovakia. The main purpose of the survey was to map the level of secondary school students' reading comprehension skills to be familiar with the domains which need further improvement in our school education. Participants of the survey were first-year students and final-year students studying in three different school types (secondary grammar school, secondary technical school, and vocational school). The students filled in a questionnaire and a reading comprehension test. The questionnaire involved questions to find out basic information about the learners: e.g. gender, place of residence and questions to reveal possible factors influencing the participants' reading comprehension competencies: e.g. the language usage at home, reading habits, etc. The test consisted of three texts with items and it was based on the tasks of PISA 2009. We chose the PISA-survey because we have information about the 15-years old students' reading comprehension skills from official PISA-reports in Slovakia. In this way we can compare if there is any difference in the level of reading comprehension skills of 15-years old learners and students of different types of secondary schools. In this paper I show a segment of the survey by presenting the results of 167 students from four secondary technical schools in connection to one of the test's non-continuous texts (a product information) and its four tasks. To answer correctly the four items students needed to use all three thinking aspects of reading comprehension: to access and retrieve, to integrate and interpret and to reflect and evaluate. The results showed us that to find explicit information from the text was easier for the students than to express their own opinion about the text. In the future we plan to use our results to develop students' reading comprehension competencies in school education [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate change and resources depletion are the main reasons why it is necessary to constantly seek innovative approaches to the green economy. The 21st century economy should be a "green" economy, represented by repeated and sustainable use of resources. At the same time, the impact of environmental problems has an increasing impact on the economy or health and the quality of life of the population. In Slovakia, one of the biggest environmental problems is mainly the issue of waste management. While the municipal waste recycling rate is one of the lowest in the European Union, land filling is still dominated as a form of waste management. That is why the new Environmental Policy Strategy until 2030, which represents Slovakia's strategic environmental policy for the next 10 years, has also been approved. It follows and supports the policy of the European Union, which declared war on the so-called disposable plastic. Among other things, it also focuses on waste management as one of the key environmental indicators. The aim of this paper is to analyse the state of waste management in the Slovak Republic at present with a focus on recycling and land filling, as well as to review and evaluate the new environmental strategy in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fundamental political right guaranteed by the Constitution of the Slovak Republic is the freedom of expression and the right to information, without this right the existence of a genuine democratic establishment is not possible. Democracy and its basic principles, expressed in the Constitution and in the laws of every democratic state, represent a legal institution in terms of the theory of law. As it follows from Article Number 26, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution of the Slovak Republic, freedom of expression and the right to information are guaranteed. In this paragraph, the Constitution generally guarantees freedom of expression and the right to information, while the remaining four Paragraphs and Article Number 34, Paragraph 1 to 3 and Article Number 51, Paragraph 2 provide for a more detailed explanation of the content of these terms and the definition of the basic limits of possible restrictions belongs to Article Number 45 of the Constitution of the Slovak Republic, whereby the Constitution guarantees to everyone to have the right to timely information on the environment and the causes and consequences of this condition. The implementing legislation of this article is the Implementation of Freedom of Information Act is the subject of this contribution. In our opinion, this is a specific topic that legal theorists are not interested in. Using scientific methods of research, as well as the study of scientific literature and Slovak and Czech case law, we analysed selected Provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. The result of the paper is a review of the Freedom of Information Act to realize the right to information on the state of the environment and to find an answer to the research question whether it is necessary to amend or supplement the Freedom of Information Act. The paper is focused on the area of administrative law, but it goes far beyond the constitutional law of the Slovak Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The right to a favorable environment advocates the theory of law in the third generation of human rights that emerged in the second half of the twentieth century. Its creation required the need to protect the population from the threats posed by the postmodern era and the post-industrial society. This category is a generation of collective rights based on people's solidarity and the pursuit of a favorable environment. In international discussions, third-generation rights are controversial and not widely recognized. In today's world, their enforcement is quite complex. Probably for this reason, the issue remains on the verge of legal theory. We strive to review it. We primarily focused on constitutional aspects of this right. Through scientific and doctrinal explanation, we examined selected articles of the Constitution of the Slovak Republic relating to the issue of the right to a favorable environment and the protection of cultural heritage. Through scientific literature and case law, we are looking for answers to some application problems from legal practice. Last but not least, we compare the Slovak constitution with the Czech one and point out the differences. The result of the paper is the review of constitutional aspects of environmental protection in the Slovak Republic and their comparison with the Czech legislation. The contribution focuses primarily on the area of constitutional law with significant overlaps into administrative and environmental law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to map distribution of selected invasive neophytes in the Protected landscape area Dunajské luhy (West Slovakia). The paper is focusing on some of the most damaging invasive plant species (two trees Ailanthus altissima and Negundo aceroides, one herb Fallopia japonica), ranked among the most disturbing species in Europe, as they penetrate into natural vegetation irreversibly changing its structure, in relation to the main driving factors of change. We mapped stands of selected invasive neophytes and measured selected population-biological characteristics of F. japonica (population density, high of plants). In 2015, invasive plant species colonized total area of 16,338 m² (146 populations) in the studied area of the floodplain forest in the Protected landscape area Dunajské luhy. In comparison with the observed taxa, species A. altissima formed bigger number of populations (122) and colonized bigger area (13, 803m² ). The distribution of the invasive plant species was observed on 84% of the studied sites. Other species found on the sites included F. japonica on an area of 2, 080m² (19 populations), N. aceroides on an area of 455 m² (5 populations). Polynomic trend was found between the size of the area and population density of F. japonica (r = 0.73). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is the possible impact of climate change on the components of water balance. Climate change has a non-negligible impact on the hydrological cycle and water resources. In this paper, simulated changes in the water balance in the selected river basins due to climate change were estimated using the WetSpa model. Distributed rainfall-runoff model simulations are often used to evaluate the impact of changes on the generation of runoff and water balance. The parameters of the model were estimated using climate data and three digital map layers: a land-use map, soil map and digital elevation model. In this research, the KNMI and MPI regional models with SRES A1B (moderate) emission scenario were used. Outputs from the KNMI and MPI climate scenarios (as input data) were used to estimated future behavior of characteristics of water balance as an actual evapotranspiration and soil moisture. The results showed a slight increase of actual evapotranspiration and decrease of soil moisture in future horizons in comparison with the reference period of 1981-2010. These changes are predominantly due to the increase of air temperature and decline in precipitation total. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents implementation and application of multi-criteria evaluation for determining the degradation intensity of ownership relations in the case study area. Ownership criteria have been determined for 74 cadastral areas of the Žitava river basin. Parameters that are the most representative for ownership fragmentation of the area (the number of ownership relations and the number of plots per hectare) have been evaluated. The basis for determining the parameters of the property are cadastre database of the Slovak Republic. Combination of the criteria by cluster analysis, each area was included in the clusters according to their similarity. 5 groups resulted at the same level of clustering, based on which it may be presumed by context of ownership geolocation in the model area. Combining of different criteria in five levels of intensity, detailed description of clusters from least to the most complicated ownership area was deducted. All cadastral areas in different clusters can be regarded as similar and thus, in general, we can say that similar decision-making processes can be applied. In this paper we present some practical usage of this evaluation, particularly in relation of land consolidation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years the focus of flood risk management in Slovakia was at the risk of fluvial flooding while groundwater flood risk mapping is experiencing its inception. Recently, in Europe there has been a recognition of this risk from the frequent occurrence of floods caused by the increasing groundwater level. The EU Floods Directive takes into consideration also the groundwater flooding and therefore it is necessary to assess this risk. The present paper deals with the identification of areas potentially at risk from increased levels of groundwater in Slovak Republic and is a part of a pilot project assessing the risk of groundwater flooding. The data used for mapping were the digital elevation model and the maximum measured levels of groundwater which occurred mainly in the years 1965, 1974, 1999 and 2010. After the construction of the map of areas potentially at risk from groundwater, areas with water above the ground surface and also those with groundwater at a depth less than 0.8 m below ground level (which is the average freeze depth in Slovakia so the depth in which foundations of all buildings without basements are) were identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper compares the views of the primary school teachers (primary and lower secondary school level) on the quality of the current decentralized curriculum with the quality of the previous centralized model of curriculum that was applied before 1989 (the end of the communist regime). After that year, methods and forms of school work changed in some way, but aims and content remained unchanged. The school reform came in 2008 with the legal obligation to create school curriculum. The paper presents several results of a questionnaire research about the perception of the old and the new model of curriculum. The research was performed on a sample of nearly one thousand primary school teachers in Slovakia. The paper presents an interesting statistical analysis and visualization showing a number of critical views about the nature and development of the school curriculum. These views are compared from the perspective of a number of teacher population characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2008 a curricular reform brought the model of dual-level curriculum to Slovak primary schools. The reform induced a situation in which primary schools had the mandatory objective to create their own school curriculum within several weeks. Teachers had to modify the composition of the teaching subjects to match specific features of the particular primary schools. This resulted into the research task: to describe how teachers see the need to create the school curriculum and to derive a model of an "ideal primary curriculum". The paper presents a description of findings acquired by qualitative semantic analysis of semi-structured interviews with primary school teachers. The semantic codes and categories were processed using software Atlas.ti. The paper describes teachers' notions on themselves in the role of the "change bearers". We identified three perceived levels - teacher as the creator of new relations, teacher as the advocate of new values, teacher as the innovator of the teaching process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of the presented paper is to research civil and political participation of migrants in the Slovak Republic in the location where they live. For the realization of this purpose, following tasks have been set: to define key concepts and basic legal standards regulating the investigated area, to analyze the statistical data on civil and political participation of migrants in the Slovak Republic through the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic. Another task that the author sets to reach the goal is to identify the most common problems related to civil and political participation of migrants in the Slovak Republic. Research methods used in the paper: theoretical general methods of scientific knowledge - analysis and synthesis of available bibliographic references, their comparison. The major finding of the presented paper is to recommend proposal of qualitative - quantitative indicators of civil and political integration of migrants into the conception of integration of migrants in the Slovak Republic. In addition to quantitative - quantitative indicators, the author examines subjects which should in the state social policy be responsible for managing the quality of life of migrants in the area of examined participation. For the State, which wants to implement the integration policies towards migrants successfully, it is essential to identify the indicators of civil integration and political integration of migrants. We are talking about the challenges that member countries of the European Union along with Slovak Republic are currently facing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The volume of migration flows of skilled labor force, especially from the 70s of the 20th century, is rapidly increasing. Effective management of the international movement of professionals has become a political priority in most countries. On The other hand, economic research does not pay sufficient attention to this phenomenon so far. There are a lot of opposite conclusions made on workings, especially those focused on empirical proceedings. The aim of this paper is to highlight the problem of the specialist's outflow from Slovakia to the "old" EU member states. The paper analyzes the causes of changes in the structure of migrants from the Slovak Republic during the late 90s. The special attention is dedicated to the position of Slovakia as the third largest exporter of their students within the OECD countries. The paper results in formulating several recommendations for the Government of the Slovak Republic, oriented to maintain the educated people in their own country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, companies are trying to implement and use support tools for decisionmaking. Common information systems are no longer sufficient for precise data analyzing and creating relevant documents for decision-making. The reason is the amount of information and therefore choosing the right information is the problem for many managers. Business Intelligence is a tool that can work effectively with information and can create reports and other documents that are helpful in the decision making process. Paper describes the main benefits of using this tool. Paper also discusses the issues of implementation and its barriers. The main objective of this paper is to highlight the benefits of the implementation of Business Intelligence and on the sample of Slovak companies to analyze its requirements and perception of Business Intelligence and its advantages. The study is based on our research and compares the results with existing studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discourse plays an important role in political systems, especially during the electoral period and electoral campaigns. National politicians often used a wide range of themes that are related to any level of the political system, just to be elected once again. In such a competitive world, discourses and buzzwords play an important role in framing behaviour and relations. The themes of regionalization, good governance, autonomy, decentralization and reforms are very popular words of politicians at national level when it comes to their re-election, or holding onto power. The paper will focus mainly on the communication of national politicians, how they use these local and regional themes, how they promote their views and how exactly reality looks according to their activities. The results should reflect not only the political discourse of national politics, but also the reality; these two different worlds are often struggling together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformation of the former barracks areas is a long-term topic not only in Slovakia but also abroad. Their role and value change over time in cities. The current cultural and historical values and the value of the potential development itself is a discussed topic. The paper aims to map and evaluate the transformation processes and urban structures of selected barracks in Slovakia. By these examples, we describe individual trends and methods of working with the public space and the buildings themselves. The individual stabilization, transformation and development processes differ not only from the functional usage of the proposed area, the number of demolished building, way of intensification, involvement in the city's organism, but also from the observed time period during the transformation. The research is focused on the analysis of urban formation and structure of these areas, quantitatively describes the change in the functional usage of the area and analyses the formation of the public space as a basic urban forming element. The research is further represented by the case study of Lučenec city. The possibility of further transformation of the area with focus on sustainable urban development and strengthening the urban stability of the area with the acceptance of the future development of the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper we focus on foreign literature for children and young adults in Slovak translations. The criterion for our choice was the presence of the character with disability. We deal with two books, which were published in Slovak translation in recent five years: A social novel Aristoteles a Dante spoznávajú svet a tajomstvá vesmíru (Benjamin Alire Sáenz: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, 2012; Slovak translation in 2016) and a novel with fairy-tale features Úžasná cesta Barnabyho Brocketa okolo sveta (John Boyne: The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket, 2012; Slovak translation in 2013). The paper has no aspiration to propose a detailed interpretation study. The literary work is interesting for us as the basis for the analysis of disability from the gender point of view and from the perspective of the category of queerness. We present thematization of the character with disability (or with certain degree of strangeness or peculiarity) as the respecting of the fictive world with different rules. We also claim that through the presence of the literary characters with disability (Aristotle Mendoza, Dante Quintana, Barnaby Brocket) both literary texts are opened to alternative receptive perspectives. In the conclusion we offer evaluative comments on artistic authenticity of disability portrayal in both selected books. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first half of the 20th century was in many aspects very complicated period. This paper reveals the reasons behind the existence of totalitarian and authoritarian regimes with focus on the fundamental rise of anti-Jewish moods in the Czech part of the Czechoslovak state occurred in the post-Munich period. The open anti-Jewish behavior of a part of the Czech political spectrum publicly or in print was not avoided, in addition, this trend was gradually showed also in some governmental parties. Therefore, it was not accidental that in the end of 1938, the government circles started to focus to solving of so called the Jewish question particularly in relation to settled Jewish refugees from Germany. This paper tries to show that the anti-Jewish moods were present in the Czechoslovak society before the rise of Nazi regime in Germany. We tries to formulate that even before the occupation of Czech part of Czechoslovakia and before creation of Slovak state just after the Munich agreement from 1938 they were crystallized in some legal acts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Civic education is characterized by the fact that it is a continuous component of education, both formal and non-formal learning, including education of adults. This area of education is an important part of education, which is characterized, in particular, by dynamism. Significance and positive impact of citizenship education on the formation of active citizens is widely declared through a wide range of international documents (European Union, UNESCO, UN etc.). The influence of the state in this type of education is an important part of maintaining the continuity of civic education. The paper deals with the role of the state in citizenship education in the system of Slovak formal and non-formal learning and education policy in Slovakia. The paper is based mainly on legislative and strategic documents devoted to the education of children, youth and adults. In conclusion, the present contribution focuses on the role of the state in adult citizenship education, its institutional ensuring, and activities that are implemented and state-supported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourist information centers play the role of an important subject in the development of tourism in the destination. They exist in all countries with developed tourism and therefore have their foundation in Slovakia as well. The aim of the paper is to explore and compare the environment, the offer of regional products and employees' access in tourist information centers in Western, Central and Eastern Slovakia. In order to fulfill the aim of the paper we have made in the months from January to April 2018 survey in 55 tourist information centers according to the AICES Association, which covers tourist information centers in Slovakia that meet the basic minimum standard of services. The used mystery shopping method verifies compliance with the internal procedures in communication of selling tourism products to customers and evaluates the behavior of employees of tourist information centers. The negative finding of the examination is the lack of regional food and drinks offered by tourist information centers, the lack of a label "free" of products and the lack of labeling of tourist information center employees with a nameplate, as well as a missing barrier-free access in about half of examined tourist information centers. At tourist information centers in Western Slovakia, waiting times for customer service were the shortest, and employee access to customers was the most acceptable. The results of the examination enable to take action in practice of tourist information centers in order to increase customer satisfaction, improve the promotion of regional tourism products as well as the overall image of tourist information centers in Slovakia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper offers an analysis of the influence of the population ageing on the social insurance company expenditures in the Slovak Republic Regions. The explored dimensions comprise old age economic dependency index and ageing index. The population ageing represents a major issue for the social insurance system in the future. The methodology employed for the carried out analysis is the analysis of sensitivity in a form of the regression analysis for the panel data. The territorial aspect of the regression model is represented by the self-governing regions. Also, a comparison of the estimated regression coefficients is performed in order to get a view of the fixed effects model and the random effects model. The analysis outcome reveals the fact that the social insurance company does not allocate the enough expenditures for the population of the low-income self-governing regions as it would be necessary. Instead of this, the expenditures are higher in the more developed westernmost regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important factor influencing the level of economic development of countries and regions is the transport infrastructure. The transport infrastructure in the Slovak Republic lags behind the needs. The motorway network as an important element in transport infrastructure is significantly undersized and unevenly distributed. The paper is focused on the tunnels, which are an important part of the mountainous country highways. Their construction is economically, technically challenging and time consuming and the aim of this paper is to highlight the economic aspects of the construction and operation of tunnels and possibilities of financing. Contribution is dealing with research of present possibilities of tunnels financing in conditions of Slovak republic with showing possible positive and negative elements of individual way of financing. Each method of financing of highways construction has its pros as well as the risks and there is necessary to decide sensibly, when to use which type of funding. Despite the costs of tunnels construction, it should be said that the comparison is often not justified. The volume of costs depends on a number of uncontrollable factors, such as geological conditions, geographical location, technical level of tunnel, technology of excavation, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of our paper is to analyze and make proposals on the effective management of individual items that have a significant impact on profit or loss and the possibility of elimination of production risks. Attention is paid to the issue of management of production risks in the manufacturing plant in Slovakia. To obtain the necessary data, we draw information from internal materials. For management, it is important to know what risks it could negatively affect them. Identification, quantification of impacts and subsequent proposals to reduce the steps of analysis to help enterprises to improve their status and to the implementation of important decisions. This paper focuses on the identification of risks, assess their severity, and determine their impact and subsequent establishment of corrective action to ensure the prevention of the impacts. For the actual analysis, we used the FMEA method, scoring method, perform Pareto analysis, Ishikawa diagram was created. The paper presents the results of the risk analysis carried out the manufacturing plant and factors (variables) that these risks are affected the most. They were subsequently developed proposals to reduce selected risks that were assessed with the highest risk. We evaluated risk factors, the probability and their significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indebtedness of local municipalities has become a key problem and main target of recent debates and discussions in Slovakia. Growing public debt negatively influences the economic development and causes serious troubles to every country and its inhabitants. In a paper we analyse and examine the influence of growing indebtedness on municipalities' decision to finance life environment protection. For our purpose, we chose eight municipalities representing the capital cities of the Slovak high territorial units. We analysed the development of indebtedness within period 2009-2012. From obtained data we examined how indebtedness influences the decision of selected municipalities to spend expenditures on life environment protection. Methodology and methods for data analysis are described in Chapter 2. We stated hypothesis that indebtedness in selected municipalities causes decreased financing of life environment. We found out that indebtedness development has direct connections and impacts on decision of municipality representatives. The general trend in analysed Slovak municipalities with few exemptions is that higher indebtedness level means lower finances directed towards life environment protection. Further conclusions and discussion are part of Chapter 4. Paper is elaborated within national scientific research project VEGA 1/1195/12 Strategic interactions of the Slovak local municipalities in determining the tax rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Poprad basin plays an important role in the Slovak Republic and it is one of the most densely populated basins in the Slovakia. For this particular aspect, a man greatly influenced the development of the landscape structure. In the examined period, the appearance of the basin as well as the proportion of individual elements was significantly changed. Chronologically, with regard to the relevant map bases, we observed the development of the landscape structure from 1785 to 2010. The aim of this paper is to analyze long-term changes in the structure of the individual patches on the basis of vector layers of the landscape structure. For the analysis, we used the Patch Analyst proprietary software that creates an extension of Arc GIS 10 software. Particularly from an environmental point of view, the knowledge of trends in the landscape structure as well as the specific characteristics of its various patches is important for the further development and direction of the examined area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]