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The paper is concerned with the relationship between military expenditure and unemployment. The purpose of the paper is to discover the relationship between military expenditure and the unemployment rate using NATO economies as examples and to analyse possible stabilizing effects of military expenditure by means of the ARDL model. The empirical results reveal a negative correlation between military expenditure and the unemployment rate indicating possible important influence of the armed forces as an employer on the labour market in Albania, Bulgaria, Poland and Romania. However, the model results do not confirm that military expenditure could have a stabilizing effect on the state economic policy across NATO member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the issue of motivation for military service in the Czech Armed Forces. It aims to map the Institutional-Occupational (I-O) motivations of the generation of Czech recruits currently starting their military career. The research sample consisted of 1557 recruits. Institutional preference was confirmed. The influence of gender, age, education, partner life and parenthood on these factors were also analyzed. From an institutional point of view, significant influence of age and education was found. From an occupational point of view, results showed, that again age, education and type of partnership cohabitation have a significant influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A good exercise does not necessarily make for a good measurement tool and using such a tool may lead to wrong conclusions if used for scientific measurement and personal evaluation, yet it happens when using pushup tests which are subjective and lack reliability. This study examined the reasons behind the questionable reliability of push-up testing. Material and Methods: Fifty videorecorded 30-second push-up test performances were evaluated by 10 highly experienced raters in two separate assessment trials. The assessment involved counting the number of acceptable repetitions and identifying any technical flaws in the execution of the exercise. The collected evaluations were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods. Results: Statistical analysis (p ≤ 0.05) revealed significant inter-rater differences in counting in both trials. Comparable counting was only found among raters who marked the same technique as "perfect" and overall concordance on perfect execution was 79.4%. Intra-rater counting reliability ranged from r = 0.57 to r = 0.92. Three main areas of technique deterioration were identified: incomplete arm extension (10.2% of denied repetitions), inadequate arm flexion (7%), and failure to keep the body straight and rigid (6.3%), which was also the most disputed between the raters. Additionally, male raters were more lenient towards the technique imperfections of female subjects. Many miscalculations were also detected, often correlated with perfect technique execution (88% of cases). The second most common cause of miscalculating was raters' willingness to count a repetition that was interrupted mid-execution due to time constraints. Conclusions: The study findings indicate that push-up assessment is highly subjective and should be avoided in scientific or personal evaluations that require a higher level of precision. The reliability of the assessment heavily depends on the individual administering the test, and the average evaluator demonstrates only moderate reliability. To mitigate gender-based bias, considering a female evaluator for female examinees is recommended. Therefore, caution is advised when relying on push-up tests when more reliable alternatives are available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This manuscript presents the results obtained in a study of the importance of a system based on live simulation resources in training Defence University students in combat drills. This training is essential for understanding how to conduct combat operations and how the commander should manage the activity. In confronting the considerable sums spent on the acquisition of modern simulation systems, a research question was formulated to ascertain the impact of these resources on the educational process. The results of the research will be used as an important argument for the level of application and possibly further acquisition of systems. A research sample of almost 200 students was used for the research. The results were statistically processed and conclusions were formulated and discussed. The main result of the article is the statistical difference found between the units using the means of live simulation and the lower results of the groups that did not have these means during training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of modern data mining techniques on large datasets has become a recent phenomenon across a broad range of applications. One of the most frequent tasks is to build statistical models using historical data and utilize them to predict new, so far unclassified, cases. This article examines the problem of predicting a military interstate dispute between two states (dyad) by employing selected data mining techniques. Suitable methods are identified and applied to the existing dataset of politically relevant dyads. The result is the building of statistical models for the classification of potential dyadic conflicts. The overall performance of these models is verified and cost analysis is done based on the different impacts of incorrect classification. The results are compared with those of other published research studies in the field of conflict prediction; the models created by data mining techniques significantly outperform all rival algorithms and approaches. Finally, the last part of the article presents the results of applying data mining techniques to association, i.e. to discovering relationships and dependencies in the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Push-up tests are frequently used to examine arm and upper body strength and endurance in both civilian and military sectors worldwide. The purpose of this study was to explore the objectivity of push-up performance assessments. Ten experienced raters individually assessed 50 videotaped push-up test performances using three different approaches. The three methods were 1) repetition counting with real-time view of videos, 2) repetition counting after in-depth analysis of each performance, and 3) marking performances that met the high-quality technique execution standard. Statistical analysis showed significant inter-rater differences in counting for both methods 1 and 2. The intra-rater comparison of methods 1 and 2 examined by the Wilcoxon pair test showed significant differences in the counting by 7 raters. The overall comparison of the methods showed significantly higher repetition counting for method 1. In the technique assessment part of the study, the overall agreement between raters was 77.7%. None of the performances received approval from all 10 raters, but 18 of the performances did not meet the requirements of any rater; thus, poor technique was more likely to be identified than high quality technique. When the technique assessment was taken into consideration, the raters who agreed on quality execution of the performances counted similarly using both methods 1 and 2, whereas without this agreement, the counting in both methods 1 and 2 was statistically different. The findings of this study suggest that push-up tests might be a reliable tool for physical examination only if the high-quality technique standard is met by the examinee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper sets out the results of an experiment carried out using the Virtual Battle Space 2 simulator to verify the applicability of an autonomous unmanned aerial system (UAS) reconnaissance model when moving oversized loads. The model is originally implemented within a decision-support system under military conditions. The aim of the experiment is to verify the possibilities of using the model for civilian needs. The basic output of the experiment presented in the paper is confirmation that the autonomous UAS reconnaissance model can be applied in the actual transportation of oversized loads: the experiment confirms the author's hypothesis. Based on the result of the experiment it is possible to state that a slightly modified UAS model can significantly influence the execution phase of the oversized load movement in a positive way. It shows that the use of the model reduces the time of the movement and avoids unexpected interferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with an empirical investigation of the determinants of military expenditures of selected NATO countries. Economic, security, and political determinants were analysed by means of panel models. In order to analyse the economic environment as a determinant of military expenditure, the following variables were applied: Risk of Budget Balance, Risk of Foreign Debt, Risk of Inflation, Risk of GDP per Capita, Risk of GDP Growth, and a control variable, Risk of Current Account as a percentage of GDP. The following variables were employed for the security risk analysis: Terrorism, Cross Border Conflict, Ethnic Tension, and Foreign Pressures. A variable evaluating the Democratic Accountability and a control variable Government Stability were selected to analyse political risks. The results show serious inconsistencies in factors affecting the military expenditures of traditional and new NATO member countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]