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This paper deals with the classic and contemporary sociological research of countryside in the Czech Republic, carried out with a monographic procedure. It mentions basic social factors and theoretical and methodological assumptions of the monographic study of the Czech and Moravian countryside until the 30's of the 20^th century. It briefly introduces one of the classical studies Dolní Roveň. Then comes a part that provides information on post-war monographic research. Last part of the paper aims at present sociological study of countryside using the monographic procedure. It characterizes its new approach, different from the classic studies due to accepting interpretativistic paradigm and regarding empirical methods. This last chapter is based on empirical experience of the author of this paper.

Retailers are the strong group both in South Bohemia and in Upper Austria. The development of this sphere is one of the development programmes priorities of both regions. South Bohemia and Upper Austria, especially Muhlviertel region, are areas with a similar economic structure, which is an excellent presupposition for mutual cooperation. An advantage will be the improvement of marketing activity and information transfer. A better technical equipment and its full exploitation will be possible. The problems, however, which could arise from cooperation with foreign partners, should not be underestimated. Not only the language barrier is concerned but also different techniques, methods and expectations that might be caused by different customs and interests of the partners. An important aid to the entrepreneurs, either concerning consultant service, establishing contacts or further education, are economic chambers and other institutions concerned with retail business development.

The presented theoretical reflection of the institutionalization of money shows that the given features of money are always linked to certain social conditions. Nowadays there are visible several attempts to establish local currencies, which would work as a complement of national currencies and which be able to fulfill other functions than the purely economic ones. The circulation of the "own" currency brings all kinds of benefits to community members. The goal of this work is to elucidate in empirical perspective mechanism of the local currency systems operating in the Czech Republic. Results of the research show a peculiar form of the LETS, which tend to divert from the rather formalized trading systems known in the Western Europe.

The contribution deals with the key issues of contemporary food economy development as a system and its economic implication in regard to changing position of agricultural enterprises. It explicates why globalisation and integration processes have changed the structure and the interrelationships along the food commodity chains and have created completely the new economic environment for production agriculture. Based upon the economic theory outcomes the essential topics related to the problems why agriculture is largely influenced by the final stages of agri-food commodity chains are explained there. The active response on the demand structural changes include is perceived as a needful precondition of competitiveness of agricultural enterprises for future in general.

This article deals with the most important part of business modelling, with business process modelling. The presented process models are achieved by using common and special UML diagrams. The business process is one of the four basic business concepts creating complex business architecture and it is dynamic, structured and complicated part of the business. In business process, there are stored significant rules and knowledge of the business. Those issues could be applicable to the knowledge formalization in the agricultural business

The ownership of land has always been the important precondition for lasting socio-economic situation and the development of the country. Despite that, there is a process of learning going on in practically all the new member countries, which are still learning that productive ability of the agriculture depends in a big degree on the stability of ownership of land and its tranquil farming. Despite many fundamental and substantial differences, we can say that hitherto development in land law was tremendous. But it also follows that significant social and economic divergences have not made full liberalisation of the land market possible without "yes, but".

This article deals with the possibilities of making usage of ICT (Information and communication technology) to support cooperation among teams. There are two main approaches: systems based on the www technologies (intranets), and specialised systems, which are dedicated to cooperation (these systems are designated as groupware). Web technologies are the main element of the Internet. They are becoming the most important technology in the presentation layer of current business information systems. The web environment penetrates into all currently used applications. Its integration with all existing systems makes the users locally independent and enables them to use a variety of hardware and software platforms, as well as the advantages of mobile communications. The results of the issues discussed in the article are outlined in specific examples.

Virtual portal (VIPO) is designed to provide users with a single-point access to information, and tools to support their decision-making. VIPO illustrates the best practice presented in terms of case studies coded along three dimensions: field, domain and objectives. The second major source of knowledge is based on software packages made available to users including tutor support. The third part of the portal provides useful links to the existing databases which have the potential to facilitate decision making in agribusiness. All three pillars of the VIPO are complemented by on-line consultancy services.

In the Czech Republic, the sector of viniculture tried to use the period before the entry into the European Union (1^stMay 2005) for the maximum development of resources needed for its both quantitative and qualitative advancement. The legislation concerning this sector was changed and harmonised with the legislation of the EU. The total acreage of vineyards was expanded and another 7 thousand hectares were planted. The size of business units changed as well. For the time being, the production potential of this industry is 19.3 thousand ha of vineyards, more than 18 thousand wine growers were registered and there are nearly 600 producers of wine. In this sector, there are approximately 20 thousand jobs and the consumption of wine is gradually increasing and equals 16.5 litres per capita per year. As far as the prices of grapes are concerned, it was found out that they were relatively stable in the period under study and that the price of blue varietals is higher than that of white ones. The Czech wine import is constantly higher than the export, both in volume and financial value.

The paper describes the importance of integrated purchasing for agrarian businesses and for retail chains, i.e. on two opposite sides of the different economic and negotiating power. It points out the trends of the modern purchasing, economic benefits of long-term business relations, and the importance of objectively settled terms of payment for the purchased products. The paper emphasizes the specifics of sales cooperatives of farmers as a modern element of sales and purchasing activities of the agricultural primary production.

Social-political transition in the former socialist countries led to a new understanding of borders and created the prerequisites for renaissance and significant activation of the cross-border co-operation. This way, Slovakia along with other countries joined the Euro-regional movement in Europe, which spread since the end of 60-ies through Western-European countries. Formation and institutionalisation of Euro-regional relations, links and co-operation was initially hindered by a whole range of obstacles, including the ones with political background. It was obvious mainly in Slovakia where it influenced the existence and potential establishment of new Euro-regional associations. Rebirth of the Euro-regional activities started after 1998. Currently, there are Euro-regions practically operating along the entire Slovak border with its neighbours. The extent and form of institutionalisation and professional staffing varies. Activities of Euro-regions are merely based on projects which bring funding. Projects are broadly oriented, while the prevailing focus is currently on the economic activation of Euro-regions. There is a lack of partner co-operation and co-ordination of activities between countries and their activities, including cross-border activities and activities of Euro-regions. Euro-regional activities play a significant role in activation of border areas in the country, while they have a complementary character for the regional state policy and regional policy of self-governed regions which is being formulated.

This paper has a theoretical and analytical character and it searches for the possibilities to activate the rural population by means of its social and territorial identifications. The objective of the paper is to point at some connections relating to social and territorial identity of the rural population, outlined by classic quantitative marks based upon the population up to 5 000. We base the above on the results of the representative sociological survey allowing us to analyze some of the selected problems of the social and territorial identity of the rural population, in particular its relation to residence, residential stability and autochthony, development prospects of residences, quality of social and civil relation in the rural area.

A total of 60 random samples of fresh chicken burger, fillet, and luncheon (20 of each) were collected from markets at Tanta city. The average total yeast counts (cfu/g) in burger, fillet, and luncheon samples were 2.7 × 10⁶ ± 1.1 × 10⁶, 2.1 × 10⁵ ± 0.9 × 10⁵, and 1.4 × 10⁷ ± 0.7 × 10⁷, respectively. A total of 158 yeast isolates of 23 species were isolated and identified. Candida, Cryptococcus, Debaromyces, Issatchenkia, Pichia, Rhodotorula, Saccharomyces, Trichosporon and Yarrowia species were recovered from the examined samples of fresh chicken meat products in varying percentages ranging from 5% to 50%. The tested plant extracts of cinnamon, clove and thyme revealed a potent anti-yeast activity against C. albicans, D. hansenii and S. cerevisiae at 20% concentration, and a moderate inhibitory activity against these yeast strains at 10% concentration, while garlic extract had a lesser inhibitory effect on the yeast strains tested at the same concentration. Moreover, thyme, cinnamon and clove extracts had a complete inhibitory effect on chicken fillet inoculated with Candida albicans when incubated at 5°C and 25°C.

Ochratoxin A is a very common mycotoxin which can be found rather often, predominantly in various cereal materials and in products from this type of plants. Our aim was to apply an analytical procedure with a suitable detection level of ochratoxin A for its estimation in beer. The detection level of the method suggested was close to 0.001 µg/kg. The analytical procedure is based on HPLC separation with fluorescence detection. The application of this method is demonstrated and analytical results obtained with beer of domestic provenience are reported.

The solutions of cellulolytic enzymes designated as standards for the cellulase activity assay were exposed in sealed glass ampoules (containing at least 100 Cx-units per ml in 30% w/w glycerol) to gamma radiation within the dose interval of 0-18 kGy. Glycerol was found to be the best enzyme stabiliser, however, the dose for the decontamination had to be increased in comparison with the original solution because glycerol protected also the contaminating microflora. The preparation after such treatment (30% of glycerol, dose 7 kGy) retained about 95% of the initial enzymatic activity without any decrease taking place in the following 6 months. The loss of the side activities did not exceed 10.5% and no bacterial contamination was detected either after 6 months of storage following the irradiation. No difference was found in the immunoreactivity of cellulases or in protein chromatografic (FPLC) pattern between the original and the irradiated enzyme preparations.

Campylobacter species, in particular C. jejuni and C. coli, cause infections which vary in symptoms, ranging from asymptomatic to severe chronic illness. The only ISO method for the detection of Campylobacter spp. until now has been the cultivation by selective enrichment and distinct conditions of growth taking several days to complete. We compared the Singlepath^® Campylobacter test which involved 24 h of enrichment in Bolton broth, with PCR-based identification. Chicken meat salad with mayonnaise was spiked with C. jejuni and C. coli and the detection limit was determined. PCR provided the same detection limit of 10² CFU/ml for both strains. The immunotest Singlepath^® was positive with C. jejuni only, the quantity of cells being 10³ CFU/ml. C. coli was undetectable by Singlepath^®, even the concentration of 10⁵ did not reveal a positive reaction.

A total of 36 samples of feed - 19 samples of hays and 17 samples of silages were used for estimation of in vivo and in vitro digestibility. The organic matter digestibility (OMD) was estimated by in vivo and two in vitro techniques (method of Tilley and Terry and two-stage pepsin-cellulase method (Pepcel)). The regression equations were calculated from the results obtained in the experiment. Tilley and Terry method provided consistent results of OMD estimation for both the groups of roughages: in vivo OMD = 14.7 + 0.782 × [Tilley and Terry] (n = 18; R² = 0.76); in vivo OMD = 36.3 + 0.513 × [Tilley and Terry] (n = 16; R² = 0.75) for hays and silages, respectively. Different accuracy was found out in Pepcel method: in vivo OMD = 37.0 + 0.478 × [Pepcel] (n = 19; R² = 0.49); in vivo OMD = 37.8 + 0.484 × [Pepcel] (n = 17; R² = 0.87) for hays and silages, respectively.

Two experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of the time of oviposition on egg quality characteristics in two different housing systems (cages vs. litter). ISA brown hens from 20 to 64 weeks of age were housed in battery cages (550 cm²/hen, 19 526 laying hens in the house) and on deep litter (7 hen/m², 4 652 laying hens in the house). In both houses, eggs were collected daily at three oviposition times 06:00, 10:00 and 14:00 h. Every four weeks, 90 eggs for each house (30 eggs for each oviposition time) were used for egg quality assessment. The results indicated that in cages the highest percentages (P ≤ 0.001) of normal (74.47%), non-standard (0.85%) and cracked (1.80%) eggs were laid in the early morning (06:00 h). On deep litter, however, the highest percentages (P ≤ 0.05) of normal sound eggs were produced at10:00 h (35.43%) and at14:00 h (33.03%). In the cage system, the heaviest eggs (63.01 g) were laid in the early morning (06:00 h) and the highest shell percentage (10.33%) was in eggs laid in the afternoon and also at 10:00 h (10.31%). On the other hand, in the litter housing system, the time of oviposition had no significant effect on egg weight and eggshell quality characteristics except for shell thickness. Morning eggs had greater shell thickness (0.398 mm) than afternoon eggs (0.390 mm). In cages and on litter, statistically significant differences in albumen height, albumen index and Haugh Units were observed between early morning eggs and afternoon eggs and data showed a pattern of relatively higher albumen quality for eggs collected in the afternoon in both systems.

Amino acid content before and after heat treatment was assessed in grain of six selected amaranth varieties and four species: Amaranthus cruentus, A. hypochondriacus, A. caudatus and A. hybridus, cultivated in the Czech Republic. High content of Lys and Arg was detected in both heat treated and untreated grains, as well as satisfactory content of Cys and lower levels of Met, Val, Ile and Leu. The latter three amino acids appear as limiting. Chemical scores of essential amino acids and essential amino acid index (EAAI) were determined. EAAI value of 90.4% shows the favourable nutritional quality of amaranth protein, which is almost comparable with egg protein. Heat treatment by popping at 170 to 190°C for 30 s resulted in decreased EAAI to 85.4%. Of the essential amino acids under study, Val and Leu contents decreased significantly (P < 0.05). The relatively high content of essential amino acids in amaranth grain predetermines its use as a substitution of meat-and-bone meals.

Two ruminally cannulated Jersey cows were used to determine in situ ruminal degradability and intestinal digestibility of raw (E0) soybeans and soybeans extruded at 145°C (E145), 155°C (E155) and 165°C (E165). The degradation of dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) was estimated using nylon bags suspended in rumen for 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24 and 48 h calculating the effective ruminal degradabilities (ERD) for an assumed outflow rate of 0.06/h. Four extra sample bags were incubated for 12 h to determine CP digestibility using the mobile nylon bag method. Cows were fed a ration of 30% concentrate and 70% meadow hay. Soybean extrusion at all temperatures decreased the effective protein degradability significantly (P < 0.05). Soybean processing at the highest heat input (E165) decreased ERD (44.0%) in the rumen significantly while the values for E145 and E155 were similar, 50.8 and 50.3% respectively. Soybean extrusion at all tested temperatures was followed by a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in the proportion of the rapidly degraded DM and CP fractions a, and both the increased proportions and reduced breakdown rate (c) of the fraction b. The intestinal protein digestibility values of the rumen-undegraded protein of extruded soybean were somewhat higher, however the observed differences between treatments were not significant (P < 0.05). Estimated intestinal digestibilities were 87.2, 89.7, 92.0 and 92.6% for E0, E145, E155 and E165, respectively.

There is a constant increase in demand for large numbers of high-quality oocytes of domestic mammals for various reproductive biotechnologies. Prolonged in vitro culture represents one of the many possible ways of meeting this demand. However, oocytes further cultured in vitro after reaching the stage of metaphase II undergo the complex process called "ageing", which decreases the quality of oocytes. The aim of the present study was to improve the culture conditions for in vitro matured porcine oocytes by supplement of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) or the insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in order to reduce the adverse effects of ageing. Supplement of either EGF or IGF-1 had no significant effect on the ageing of porcine oocytes. Significant effects were demonstrated when the oocytes were cultured with both EGF and IGF-1. A combination of 10 µg EGF/ml with 25 ng IGF-1/ml was the most effective. Oocytes aged under these conditions retained very good developmental competence. We observed development to the morula (21%) or blastocyst (25%) stage in oocytes aged for 1 day with EGF and IGF-1. Porcine oocytes matured in vitro are more resistant to the ageing when cultured in the presence of both EGF and IGF-1 and these conditions retain an elevated developmental competence for a certain time.

A study was conducted to determine the relationship between abdominal fat and the intake of methionine deficient diet in broilers. In this study, 66 male broilers at the age of 35 days were used. They were divided into two groups (control, n = 13, and methionine deficient group, n = 53) and all birds were housed in individual pens. During the experiment, normal and deficient diet contained 0.55% and 0.25% methionine, respectively. Control group was fed normal diet for 19 days. Treatment group received methionine deficient diet for 4 days and normal diet for 15 days. Body weight and feed intake were recorded daily. High (HG) and low (LG) groups were theoretically created according to the rates of decreases in individual feed intake. Percent decrease in feed intake of HG and LG groups was 29.4 ± 2.0 and -1.3 ± 1.7, respectively. Abdominal fat in HG and LG groups amounted to 1.62 ± 0.1 and 1.73 ± 0.2%, respectively. The feed conversion ratio of HG and LG groups was 3.1 ± 0.1 and 3.4 ± 0.2, respectively. There was a negative correlation (-0.45 in HG and -0.43 in LG) between the percent decrease in feed intake and abdominal fat.

Enterococci (58) from faeces of rabbits of various age (from 2 months to 3 years) and 5 different rabbit farms were isolated and tested for survival in the presence of oxgall, lactic acid production, urease activity, resistance to low pH as well as their binding ability was tested. Fifty percent of enterococcal isolates were identified as Enterococcus faecium, 19% as E. faecalis. All strains showed good survival in the presence of 5% oxgall. The urease activity of isolates was in the range from 0.013 to 17.13 nkat/ml, only E. faecalis EE229 strain did not produce any urease. The survival of strains was tested at pH 3.0 and the percentage of their survival ranged between 62.0% and 90.0%. E. faecium EF1819 strain was found to show the best survival ability at low pH. Particle agglutination assay values of selected enterococci expressed only negative (0) or weakly positive (1) binding of heparin, bovine fibrinogen, porcine fibronectin and lactoferrin. Based on the results, most of the selected enterococci could be promising probiotic feed additives.

This study deals with effects of pressing of ensiled sugar-beet pulp and of application of a chemical preservative on the quality of fermentation process. The experimental silages had a better sensory evaluation than the control ones. In silages treated chemically with a mixture of acids, statistically significantly (P < 0.01) higher dry matter content, lowest pH value, the value of lactic acid and the lowest content of all acids in dry matter were found after 180 days of storage from the beginning of the experiment. The statistically significantly (P < 0.01) highest lactic acid content (43.39 ± 1.25 g/kg DM) was determined in the control pressed silage. The highest LA/VFA ratio (1.40 ± 0.18) was calculated for non-pressed experimental silage (D - 3 l/t of KEM). As compared with untreated control the highest percentage (P < 0.01) of lactic acid and of all fermentation acids was found out in silage D treated with 3 l/t of KEM (58.18 ± 0.47 g/kg DM). Undesirable butyric and propionic acids were not found in chemically treated silage samples (C, D, E, F). However, the highest (P < 0.01) contents of butyric acid (26.37 ± 0.91 g/DM) and propionic acid (4.58 ± 0.78 g/DM) were measured in untreated non-pressed silage samples (B). The highest (P < 0.01) contents of acetic acid and ethanol were found in control silage samples. The quality of these silages was evaluated as very low.

The paper deals with the occurrence, development and natural enemies of the cecidogenous aphid Pemphigus gairi Stroyan (Pemphigidae). The aphid abundantly occurred on leaves of Populus nigra and P. nigra var. italica in Brno in 2003. It was described from England and no information on its occurrence is available in literature from continental Europe. It refers to a holocyclic and heteroecious species. In localities under study, larvae of fundatrices hatched mainly in the last decade of April. Through their sucking on the abaxial face of freshly unfolded leaves of poplars, species-unspecific lengthwise tile-like galls originate on the adaxial face of leaves (near the central leaf vein). During 12 to 14 days, fundatrices mature in galls of an average length and width 11.2 and 3.9 mm, respectively. Adults live about 1.5 months, namely max. until mid-July. They produce on average 75.6 fundatrigeniae which mature to winged migrantes alatae in the course of 16 days. In the period of hatching the first migrants (at the end of May), galls grow up to the final length of about 11.8 mm and width 4.7 mm. In primary slit-shaped caps on the abaxial face of leaves, migrants leave the galls through emergence holes. In a secondary host (Aethusa cynapium, Daucaceae), they produce on average about 17.5 larvae of exules. Owing to natural enemies (above all true bugs of the species Anthocoris minki), aphids die in 90% of galls.

By means of Sörensen's index and Renkonen's number, the differences in species composition and abundance of the ground beetles (Carabidae) were specified in 5 forest altitudinal zones (3^rd, 5^th-8^th) and also the faunal similarity in the linking-up forest altitudinal zones. The entry of some species (Carabus coriaceus, Carabus violaceus, Pterostichus niger and Pterostichus oblongopunctatus) into higher altitudes was much more marked than is mentioned in hitherto published information. The objective of the present study was to explore the potential use of the ground beetles as an ancillary component of the geobiocoenological typological system.

The greatest advance in ecosystem research was made in the last century. The development and acceptance of forest ecology by foresters occurred because it provided a means for recognizing, understanding, classifying and mapping the natural variation of forests. Forest ecology involved studies at the individual, population, community, and ecosystem levels but such studies always needed to involve the ecosystem concept. Today, the new concept of "ecosystem and landscape forestry" integrating ecological and socio-economic research has been developed on the basis of EU COST Action E-25 European Network for a Long-term Forest Ecosystem and Landscape Research Programme. An analysis has been carried out of the present situation in forest research in the Czech Republic. The need for forest ecosystem and landscape research is obvious.

The paper documents the effects of forest stands of different species composition on the humus form state and soil profile chemistry. It compares the situation in mixed broadleaved (ash, oak, hornbeam), basswood and spruce stands. Spruce demonstrates the site degradation effects: raw humus accumulation, soil acidification, negative effects on nutrient dynamics. Both broadleaved stands were similar as for site effects, lower litter accumulation, more rapid organic matter mineralization and more rapid nutrient cycling and intense uptake were documented in the basswood stand.

The paper evaluates the growth, structure, production, quality, leaf area index and dendrochronology of 100 years old Austrian pine (Pinus nigra ARNOLD) monoculture situated in the forest type group Fageto-Quercetum in the locality Horné Lefantovce (Nitrianska Streda Forest District, Topoľčianky Forest Enterprise). Codominant trees, trees with stem of high quality, with medium-sized crown, medium dense and straight crown are the most abundant in the stand. The tree number in the stand is 1,024 trees/ha, basal area 51.75 m2/ha, growing stock 571.56 m3/ha, aboveground biomass stock 348.76 t/ha and leaf area index 21.85 ha/ha. Dendrochronological analyses examined the response in individual sample trees and minimum annual ring width was found in 1920, 1922, 1925, 1929, 1933, 1938, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1954, 1963, 1968, 1976, 1982, 1990, 1993, 1998, 2001. Marked maximum values of annual ring width in the years 1919, 1923, 1926, 1930, 1936, 1937, 1941, 1948, 1951, 1955, 1959, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1997 were found as a positive productive feature. Beginning in the year 1993, dry Austrian pine trees occurred in the stand as a result of the fungal infection by Sphaeropsis sapinea (Fr.) Dyko et Sutton.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change accepted in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro provides principles and framework for cooperative international action on mitigating climate change. But it soon became clear that more radical targets were needed to encourage particular countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In response, countries that have ratified the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change accepted the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The rulebook for how the Kyoto Protocol will be implemented - the Marrakech Accord, was agreed in 2001. This paper describes political instruments and facilities of mitigating climate change by forestry proposed in those political documents.