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The objective of the paper was to assess the impact of the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation on real household income in the Czech Republic. The research methods used in the study include content analysis, seasonal modification of SARIMA, and discounting method, specifically NPV. Data were collected from publicly available sources of the Czech Statistical Office. Based on a content analysis of the macroeconomic indicators under study, inflation and gross monthly household income were selected to examine further development of real household income in the Czech Republic. Based on historical data, the SARIMA model made statistically relevant forecasts of the selected variables for the "pre-war" year 2022. Comparing real and forecast data, it was confirmed that the Russian invasion of Ukraine (from 24th February 2022 onwards) has shown how vulnerable the European financial system is to external shocks, which can be observed in significant inflationary changes. The ability of the SARIMA model to handle a larger range of data and accurately determined seasonality was demonstrated in forecasting the development of real household income. The identified economic consequences of deviations of the real and forecast figures in the "pre-war" period showed new realities in turbulent economic conditions. In order to further expand the research, combining the applied method with other analytical tools can be recommended. Moreover, it is advisable to include new relevant variables in the model. This would allow understanding better and forecasting the development of real household income in the context of current economic events.

Abstract Background Molecular aberrations occurring in primary ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) can be of diagnostic, predictive, and prognostic significance. However, a complex molecular study including genomic and transcriptomic analysis of large number of OCCC has been lacking. Methods 113 pathologically confirmed primary OCCCs were analyzed using capture DNA NGS (100 cases; 727 solid cancer related genes) and RNA-Seq (105 cases; 147 genes) in order to describe spectra and frequency of genomic and transcriptomic alterations, as well as their prognostic and predictive significance. Results The most frequent mutations were detected in genes ARID1A, PIK3CA, TERTp, KRAS, TP53, ATM, PPP2R1A, NF1, PTEN, and POLE (51,47,27,18,13,10,7,6,6, and 4%, respectively). TMB-High cases were detected in 9% of cases. Cases with POLE mut and/or MSI-High had better relapse-free survival. RNA-Seq revealed gene fusions in 14/105 (13%) cases, and heterogeneous expression pattern. The majority of gene fusions affected tyrosine kinase receptors (6/14; four of those were MET fusions) or DNA repair genes (2/14). Based on the mRNA expression pattern, a cluster of 12 OCCCs characterized by overexpression of tyrosine kinase receptors (TKRs) AKT3, CTNNB1, DDR2, JAK2, KIT, or PDGFRA (p

Abstract Background We examined a large cohort of serous tubo-ovarian tumors with 26 immunohistochemical markers, with the aim to assess their value for differential diagnosis and prognosis. Methods Immunohistochemical analyses with 26 immunomarkers were performed on 250 primary tubo-ovarian tumors including 114 high grade serous carcinomas (HGSC), 97 low grade serous carcinomas (LGSC), and 39 serous borderline tumors (micropapillary variant, mSBT). The associations of overall positivity with clinicopathological characteristics were evaluated using the chi-squared test or Fisher’s Exact test. Results We found significantly different expression of p53, p16, ER, PR, PTEN, PAX2, Mammaglobin, RB1, Cyclin E1, stathmin, LMP2, L1CAM, CD44, and Ki67 in HGSCs compared to LGSCs. No significant differences were found between LGSC and mSBT. None of the other included markers (PAX8, ARID1A, HNF1B, Napsin A, CDX2, SATB2, MUC4, BRG1, AMACR, TTF1, BCOR, NTRK) showed any differences between the investigated serous tumors. Regarding the prognosis, only PR and stathmin showed a statistically significant prognostic meaning in LGSCs, with better overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) in cases positive for PR, and worse outcome (RFS) for stathmin. None of the study markers showed prognostic significance in HGSCs. Conclusion We provided an extensive immunohistochemical analysis of serous ovarian/tubo-ovarian tumors. Although we found some differences in the expression of some markers in HGSCs compared to LGSCs, only p53, p16, and Ki67 seem to be useful in real diagnostic practice. We also suggested the best discriminative cut-off for Ki67 (10% of positive tumor cells) for distinguishing HGSC from LGSC. We found prognostic significance of PR and stathmin in LGSCs. Moreover, the high expression of stathmin could also be of predictive value in ovarian carcinomas as target-specific anti-stathmin effectors are potential therapeutic targets.

Abstract Background IMP2 and IMP3 are mRNA binding proteins involved in carcinogenesis. We examined a large cohort of ovarian tumors with the aim to assess the value of IMP2 and IMP3 for differential diagnosis, and to assess their prognostic significance. Methods Immunohistochemical analyses with antibodies against IMP2 and IMP3 were performed on 554 primary ovarian tumors including 114 high grade serous carcinomas, 100 low grade serous carcinomas, 124 clear cell carcinomas, 54 endometrioid carcinomas, 34 mucinous carcinomas, 75 mucinous borderline tumors, and 41 serous borderline tumors (micropapillary variant). The associations of overall positivity with clinicopathological characteristics were evaluated using the chi-squared test or Fisher’s Exact test. Results We found IMP2 expression (in more than 5% of tumor cells) in nearly all cases of all tumor types, so the prognostic meaning could not be analyzed. The positive IMP3 expression (in more than 5% of tumor cells) was most common in mucinous carcinomas (82%) and mucinous borderline tumors (81%), followed by high grade serous (67%) and clear cell carcinomas (67%). The expression was less frequent in endometrioid carcinomas (39%), low grade serous carcinomas (23%), and micropapillary variant of serous borderline tumors (20%). Prognostic significance of IMP3 could be evaluated only in low grade serous carcinomas in the case of relapse-free survival, where negative cases showed better RFS (p = 0.033). Conclusion Concerning differential diagnosis our results imply that despite the differences in expression in the different ovarian tumor types, the practical value for diagnostic purposes is limited. Contrary to other solid tumors, we did not find prognostic significance of IMP3 in ovarian cancer, with the exception of RFS in low grade serous carcinomas. However, the high expression of IMP2 and IMP3 could be of predictive value in ovarian carcinomas since IMP proteins are potential therapeutical targets.

A structural model for the verification of the causal relationship between sustainability and economic value added is presented in this paper. The study has shown that there is no definite and unique relationship between corporate sustainability and economic value. Based on the results of the structural modelling, sustainable value model ESGVA is methodologically improved. The model expresses all four dimensions of corporate sustainability: environmental, social, corporate governance and economic. The case study demonstrates how different the results are if a purely economic concept of company value is used compared to value that takes into account environmental, social and corporate governance factors. The model is applicable to comparative analysis of socially responsible investments. Sustainable value provides extra information on corporate performance and can be used for decision-making of individual investors. First published online 17 March 2022

The best-in-class companies are able to retrieve 64 per cent of the original value of reverse flows, whereas it is only 12.5 per cent in average companies. Thus, reverse logistics is a challenge that may bring additional benefits. The article analyzes the planning range of reverse logistics in the Czech service companies, and it further notes the relations between planning and other characteristics of a company. Our results indicate that the ability to recognize different connections of reverse flows in business (opportunities, threats as well as strengths and weaknesses) is one of the important factors that affect the advancement of reverse logistics in companies.

The objective of the paper is to critically evaluate and determine risk-return profile environmentally focused stock’s companies which are covered by STOXX Global ESG Environmental Leaders Index and whether this index should be taken in as an independent asset class of investments portfolio for its risk-return improvement. This paper gives an empirical view on the ex-post asset classes characteristics focused mainly on risk side of investment.

This paper explores the possibilities of investment by private investors in natural monopoly companies. The paper analyzes the broad issue of risk measurement with focus on downside risk measurement principle. The main scientific aim is to adopt a more sophisticated and theoretically advanced statistical technique and apply them to the findings. The preferred method used for the estimation of selected characteristics and ratios was the robust statistical methods and a bootstrap method.

Proper return policy provides an additional value for customers and therefore it can be a beneficial instrument in business strategy of a company. However, its efficiency is harmed due to the return fraud that increases the total cost for reprocessing of returned products. The article contributes to the discussion of factors that stimulate and discourage the return fraud in the retail by suggesting a model, which is proposed on the basis of the theory of planned behavior. Path analysis was conducted with the data of 207 respondents to test the validity of the model.

The article presents empirical survey results concerning two objectives. The first objective was to describe barriers of reverse logistics (RL) development in Czech companies. The other one was to research whether there are different views of these barriers between company experts and top managers. The analyses are based on data obtained through a questionnaire survey of 102 representatives of companies operating in the Czech Republic. The study applied basic statistical methods used in quantitative research.Based on answer frequencies of respondents, the main internal barrier of RL development is its little importance in comparison with other activities, followed by the lack of systematic management, and unskilled workforce. On the other hand, customers are regarded as the most significant external barrier due to their careless handling with products and packaging as well as their pressure on the sale price. The obtained data also speak volumes about the differences in the view of the RL importance (in the second part of the article). Employees whose work is directly connected with reverse flows report the insignificance of RL as a barrier less frequently than top managers, who quoted this opinion in 50% cases.

Classification of vulvar precancerous lesions is based on the concept of vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN). Two basic types of VIN are recognized histologically: VIN of the usual type (u-VIN) and VIN of the differentiated type (d-VIN). The three grade evaluation system is used to assess the intesity of dysplastic changes in u-VIN (u-VIN I, II and III). The precancerous potential of d-VIN corresponds to carcinoma in situ and therefore grading is not applied. u-VIN is etiologically linked to HPV infection, whereas d-VIN is HPV negative and emerges in the environment of chronic vulvar dermatoses (lichen sclerosus and lichen simplex chronicus). u-VIN has a tendency to multifocality and prolonged recurrent progression to the invasive squamous cell carcinoma. On the other hand, d-VIN represents rather a solitary lesion with a propensity to the rapid stromal invasion. u-VIN usually affects premenopausal women with a higher incidence of other precancerous lesions of the lower female genital tract including the perineum and anal area. Patients diagnosed with d-VIN are of postmenopausal age without any association with aforementioned dysplastic lesions of other anatomic locations. The low diagnostic reproducibility of the u-VIN I category, doubts about the precancerous potential of u-VIN I and the problematic distinction between u-VIN II and u-VIN III resulted in the modification of the current terminology. The grading of u-VIN was abandoned, u-VIN II and u-VIN III categories were merged and u-VIN I was removed from the classification scheme. The revised u-VIN category therefore represents high grade dysplastic lesions associated with HPV infection (former u-VIN II and u-VIN III categories) and the term d-VIN is still reserved for the HPV negative high grade vulvar precancerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]