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The effect of atmospheric water vapor (AV) on plants has mostly been neglected in climate impact studies. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of AV on photosynthesis (P_n), dry matter production (DM), transpiration (T_r), leaf conductance (g_l) and water use efficiency (WUE), in climate controlled chambers. The relative humidity (RH) was held near 30, 60, and 85%. DM and WUE increased with RH. δDM/δRH ~ 0.3 from 30% to 60% and ~2.2 from 60% to 85%, δWUE/δRH ~0.2 for all RH's. The improved WUE at a rate of 0.2 units for each percent of increased RH resulted from a synergy between larger g_l and lower T_r at high RH. This conclusions carries a bleak message to dry regions.

An eight-year-old gelding, Wielkopolski Horse was presented with a pink tumour, which filled the entire palpebral fissure of the left eye. Ultrasonography revealed it to be well-demarcated from the cornea mass, which covered its entire surface. Due to the extensive size of the lesion and the lack of owner's consent to post-operative treatment, it was decided to perform enucleation. A histopathological examination revealed corneal squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). The primary cause of the tumour has not been established. Immunohistochemistry was negative for p16 immunoreactivity which is typical for the E7 oncoprotein in PV infection, and is suspected of involvement in the aetiopathogenesis of ocular squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

Cattle slurry is frequently used fertilizer on grasslands, but little is known about its effect on plant species composition. The aim of this study was therefore to assess effect of different application rates of cattle slurry (S0 - 0, S1 - 60, S2 - 120, S3 - 180, S4 - 240 kg N/ha/year) on the plant species composition of three-cut grassland. The study was performed over 6 years on moderately moist upland Arrhenatherion grassland in the Czech Republic dominated by Alopecurus pratensis, Trisetum flavescens, and Poa spp. Species composition recorded in treatments with application of cattle slurry in rate up to 120 kg N/ha/year was similar to the unfertilized control. During first three years, species richness was similar in all treatments and then decreased the most in S4 followed by S3 treatment. Cover of short forbs increased in S0 and decreased with an increase in slurry application rate which supported tall grasses. Application of cattle slurry up to 120 kg N/ha/year can be considered as suitable compromise between maintenance of species rich grasslands and requirements of farmers for sufficient forage production.

The objective of this review is to integrate clinical findings and laboratory analyses in such a way to improve the welfare of newborn piglets and achieve better prognoses of neonatal viability. Deaths during the intrapartum period account for a significant proportion of pre-weaning mortality in farms worldwide. Piglets which die during parturition generally have normal size and typically lack gross lesions at post-mortem examination. However, circulatory abnormalities in the umbilical cord help in assessing piglet viability. Cord lesions can be classified as normal (adhered), oedematous, congested or haemorrhagic and should always be evaluated in perinatal deaths. The likelihood of neonatal survival decreases rapidly as the severity of umbilical cord lesions increase. The physiometabolic blood profile which includes acid-base balance, degree of dehydration, mineral balance, metabolic expenditure and gas exchange are also useful clinical elements for properly assessing neonatal viability. Neonatal survival is notably reduced when the blood pH falls below 7.0, lactate rises above 90 mg/dl, bicarbonate drops below 10 mmol/l, or the pCO₂ increases above 110 mm/Hg. Blood calcium is also an excellent indicator of neonatal stress when used in combination with the other parameters mentioned above. Trembling due to an imbalance in the movement of calcium in muscle is also a factor involved in neonatal mortality. Neurological function in the newborn piglet could also be evaluated by adapting the Apgar score widely used in human perinatology. Neonates with scores lower than 6 in a 10 point scale have generally lower survival rates. The two most important indicators for this vitality score are breathing latency and bradycardia. If the neonate has apnoea for more than 5 min and the cardiac frequency does not increase to more than 110 beats per minute the prognosis for survival is rather poor.

Determination of the actual power of tractor's engine in the operation can be done by calculation which requires the use of a range of parameters such as coefficient of rolling resistance, mechanical efficiency, the moments of inertia, etc. Their values are usually tabulated and therefore the engine power cannot be determine without simplifying. Another solution is to use the actual engine torque message from the CAN-Bus, which brings a specific value of the actual torque. The aim is to use the current torque to calculate the engine power in the deployment of tractor's set in transport operation. The results show that at a uniform movement of the flat section the engine power reached 73 kW. When driving uphill, the value of the actual power reached from 130 to 150 kW depending on the selected gear. Using the actual parameters of torque makes possible to identify the known full speed characteristics of the current engine without the need for assembly demanding measurement techniques.

This study investigated the relative impacts of various factors on acreage response of paddy by analyzing time series data of 1961-2007 via first difference logarithmic functional form of linear Nerlovian expectation model. It is apparent that future paddy price can be identical like previous year. Farmers, therefore, do not have additional incentives to adjust to desired paddy planted area. This scenario is further illustrated by farmers' inelastic response to government supports (incentives). Paddy planted area is not likely to be responsive to the incentives. Paddy price is found associated with higher production cost and may result in a shrink of paddy planted area in Malaysia. All the emerging findings from this study provide an important message for an imperative need to correct paddy related policies so as to reduce the distortions and increase economic efficiency.

This paper describes the partial results of an echocardiographic study in sixty outbreed Wistar rats. Animals of parity sex ratio were chosen for the experiment. The animals were grown up during the observation period (the minimum weight was 220 g; the maximum weight was 909 g) and were then sequentially anaesthetised (2-2.5% of isoflurane, 3 l/min O₂). The second, fourth and fifth examinations were performed under anaesthesia maintained by intramuscular injections with diazepam (2 mg/kg), xylazine (5 mg/kg) and ketamine (35 mg/kg). Transthoracal examination was done using the SonoSite Titan echo system (SonoSite Ltd.) with a microconvex transducer C11 (8-5 MHz). M-mode (according to the leading-edge method of American Society of Echocardiography) echocardiography data were acquired at the papillary muscle: systolic and diastolic interventricular septum (IVSs, d) and left vetricular posterior wall (LVPWs, d) thickness, systolic and diastolic left ventricular dimension (LVDs, d), aorta (Ao) and left atrium (LA) dimensions. According to standard formulas, the following parameters were obtained: ejection fraction (EF), cardiac output (CO), stroke volume (SV), left ventricle end systolic volume (LVESV), left ventricle end diastolic volume (LVEDV), interventricular septum fractional thickening (IVSFT), left ventricular dimension fraction shortening (LVDFS), and left ventricle posterior wall fraction thickening (LVPWFS). In our study we performed 300 examinations both in male and female Wistar rats of various body weights and calculated regression equations to predict expected normal echocardiographic parameters for rats with arbitrary weights. The rats were examined by an echo scan. The first and third examinations were performed during mono-anaesthesia induced by inhalation of isoflurane. Correlations, with one exception (LVDs), were very close, which means that the results of the calculations based on regression equations are very reliable.

The objective of this study was to compare the metabolic and electrolytic profile as well as the morphological appearance of the umbilical cord and newly born piglets' weight that failed the vitality test scale compared to those who passed. Newborn piglets were divided into three groups according to the vitality with a modified Apgar score at birth: Group 1, failing with a score < 5 (G₁: n = 218), Group 2 had a score of 6 to 7 (G₂: n = 439) and Group 3 had scores > 8 (G₃: n = 464). Results showed significant differences among groups (P < 0.05) in the physio-metabolic pH, PCO₂, PO₂, Na⁺, Ca²⁺, glucose, lactate and bicarbonate values. Regarding weight, temperature and latency to connect the maternal teat, there were also significant differences (P < 0.05) among groups; it took 23.38 min for G₃ while neonatal piglets from G₁ took 30 min longer (P < 0.05) to make the first teat contact. The neonates from the latter group had a higher percentage (75.68%) of broken umbilical cords, with higher birth weight (+200 g, P < 0.05), showed higher than normal blood glucose concentrations, and had lower body temperature at birth (-0.7°C, P < 0.05) and PO₂ in comparison with the other groups of neonates that passed the vitality score. A novel point of this study is the profile characterization of piglets that failed and passed the vitality score; we expect that the data provided may be applicable as reference values of metabolic and electrolyte blood profiles in newborn piglets according to their vitality. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that low vitality newborn piglets had clearly undergone through perinatal asphyxia. Potential indicators increasing this condition are: high birth weight, low body temperature, vitality score ≤ 5, and the presence of the broken umbilical cord at birth.

Rhinanthus minor (yellow-rattle) can be used for restoration of species-rich grasslands but is vulnerable to competitive exclusion from high total aboveground biomass production of vascular plants. We asked (1) whether there is a threshold limit for total annual aboveground biomass production of vascular plants above which R. minor cannot establish viable population in grasslands and (2) how is cover of R. minor in grassland related to standing biomass of bryophytes. Data were collected in the Rengen Grassland Experiment (RGE) established in Germany in 1941 with following fertilizer treatments: unfertilized control, application of Ca, CaN, CaNP, CaNPKCl and CaNPK₂SO₄. Cover of R. minor and total annual aboveground biomass production of vascular plants were determined from 2005 to 2009. Further relationship between standing biomass of bryophytes and cover of R. minor was analyzed in 2006. Mean cover of R. minor over five years ranged from 0.7% to 12.3% in CaNPK₂SO₄ and control treatments, respectively. Cover of R. minor was significantly negatively related to total annual aboveground biomass production of vascular plants and cover of R. minor was below 3% in all plots with total annual aboveground dry matter biomass production of vascular plants higher than 5 t/ha. Although cover of R. minor was markedly reduced in highly productive plots in the RGE, high standing biomass of bryophytes (1.8 t/ha) in low productive control was not an obstacle for establishment of its viable population. We concluded, that viable population of R. minor can be established in grasslands only if total annual aboveground dry matter biomass production of vascular plants is below 5 t/ha regardless on standing biomass of bryophytes.

The occurrence of Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus spp., Enterococcus spp., and Escherichia coli in raw food materials, food products, and on food contact surfaces after sanitation was investigated during the period of 2005-2006 in three dairy cattle farms (120 samples), one dairy (124 samples), and two meat processing plants (160 samples). A total of 1409 isolates were identified. The epidemiological characterisation and determination of the virulence factors and antimicrobial resistance were performed on selected isolates. The level of bacterial contamination generally decreased during the production process (the contamination of food products was lower than that of raw material). However, the contamination of food contact surfaces was relatively high even after sanitation. Moreover, specific microbiological profiles were found on the inside equipment surfaces in dairy facilities, where genetically closely related multi-resistant strains persisting in biofilm communities may occur as demonstrated for staphylococci. Although the occurrence of potentially significant pathogens was not high, the microorganisms such as L. monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., and shiga-toxin positive E. coli principally contaminated the meat processing plants. B. cereus isolates, among which 76% were positive for diarrhogenic enterotoxin, typically occurred on the inside equipment surfaces and in the heat-treated products.

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of endothelin-1(ET-1) on pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) and pulmonary hypertension syndrome (PHS, ascites) morbidity in broilers. Two hundred and seventy of one-day-old Arbor Acre commercial broiler chickens were randomly allocated into two experiments. In Experiment 1, 40 broilers (28 days of age) were intravenously with five different dose groups of ET-1, and the PAP was measured from time 0 to 30 min. The results indicated that the PAP increased from time 0.5 to 5 min after the broilers were injected with ET-1 at concentrations of 24 ng/kg (Group T1), 120 ng/kg (Group T2), and 240 ng/kg (Group T3). When the broilers were injected with ET-1 at a concentration of 360 ng/kg (Group T4), the PAP decreased immediately from time 0 to 0.5 min but increased from time 0.5 to 10 min. The change from baseline (at time 0, before the injection) of PAP values from the four treatment groups were statistically compared with that from the control group (Group C). The statistical analysis has demonstrated that there is no significant difference of the changes from the baseline between Group T1 or Group T2 and control group (Group C). However, there are significant differences in the changes between Group T3 or Group T4 and control group (Group C). In Experiment 2, 230 broilers were divided into four groups: a control group (Group C, n = 50) and three treatment groups (Groups A, B, and D). The chickens in the two treatment groups (Groups A and B, nn = 60 each) were intravenously injected with ET-1 at 240 ng/kg and 360 ng/kg, respectively. Those in Group D (n = 60) were exposed to cool temperatures (10°C to 14°C). The PHS morbidity, right/total ventricular weight (RV/TV) ratio, PCV, plasma nitric oxide (NO), and PAP were recorded and statistically compared. The results showed that PHS mortality did not occur in Group C, and trends toward increases in PHS mortality in Groups A, B and D were not significant. The RV/TV ratio and PAP were higher in groups A, B and D than in group C. The values for PCV and plasma nitric oxide (NO) followed the same tendencies as the RV/TV ratio. The results suggest that ET-1 at higher doses (240 ng/kg to 360 ng/kg) can initiate pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular hypertrophy, leading to PHS in broilers.

The differences between oak lepidopteran communities were studied in Slovakia in 1993 and 1994. Sampling was undertaken between April and October on 3 oak species (Quercus robur, Q. petraea, Q. rubra). Biological traits of larvae were examined in order to explain differences in seasonal guilds among oaks. Communities varied in structure and abundance. Species richness in four seasonal guilds (flush, late spring, summer and autumn feeders) had a similar pattern on each of the studied oak species. The guild of flush feeders had the richest species assemblage, followed by the late spring feeder guild and both guilds were significantly richer than the summer feeder guild and autumn feeder guild.

The article deals with communication between a user and an expert system, especially from the viewpoint of psychology aspects of the communication process. Psychological factor of the communication between the user and the expert system seems to be marginal, although it is a necessary part of a final methodology of the expert system development. Domain expert, knowledge engineer as well as IT expert, who takes part in the expert system creation, usually sets up a unified and static communication interface that is identical for all users. The communication process form highly influences user's satisfaction of working with the expert system and his willingness to reuse that system. User's satisfaction expressed by some metrics is one of the key indicators of both efficiency and effectiveness of the expert system. If the system is not used because of the user's discontent, the money spent for its creation cannot be understood as an investment (asset), but as an expense. In the article, there are classified the users from the point of view of their personality type and some recommendations for a communication project development in the frame of the methodology of the expert system creation are suggested.

Social and habitual changes of guests and a more difficult competitive situation are forcing the gastronomy industry to change. As one necessary reaction, restaurant operators need to apply a more specific and therefore a more effective communication policy. This research proves that there exist categories of guests, which react strongly positively to a certain mix of information content and information channel. Thus, communication policy is most effective, when such a communication mix is used. The explored factors are dimensions, not types; which means that each guest will show a different rate of interest in each of the defined dimension. The theory behind these dimensions is adopted from the applied personality theory, which has led to the development of the Big Five personality dimensions. The empirical analysis was exclusively conducted on the basis of the existing guests (189) of two pizzerias in Germany. The analysis mainly presents results for the relationship marketing, which focuses on the satisfaction of the already existing customers.

The paper is focused on study of information systems that can be applied in the process of marketing planning. General terms from information systems theory are examined from marketing perspective, particular examples of marketing activities support are identified on the basis of literature review and global structure of the Marketing Information System (MkIS) is proposed. The main subsystems of MkIS - internal reporting system, marketing intelligence system, marketing research system, and decision support system are discussed in higher level of detail. The main attention is paid not only to supported marketing processes but also to technologies that can be used in individual parts of MkIS. The result is the architecture that integrates isolated marketing applications into one comprehensible framework. This architecture also creates a framework for following research in the field of marketing activities support.

Portion of the electronically processed agendas and transactions of all kinds constantly increases and also the volume and importance of the processed agendas grows. Therefore, the need for supervision and inspection of these transactions is also increasing. One possibility is to accomplish control e.g. with the use of specialised mining instruments. The main disadvantage of this approach is the fact that the discovered suspicious transaction was completed long ago and it is impossible to change it. In such a case, we need to inspect and evaluate transactions in the real time still before their completion. But the complexity of real-time analysis of transaction rapidly grows with the increasing set of aspects of this assessment. This paper describes the conception, architecture and possibilities to utilize a system which contains mainly the on-line risk analysis and simultaneously it enables an automatic adaptation by the means of utilizing conclusions from a feedback analysis of mining instruments of the data warehouse. This system is suitable e.g. for the automatic on-line analysis of risks of credit card payments, authenticity of the submitted projects (at university), the submitted tax or customs declarations, etc. Without any detriment to generality, we shall use the last mentioned application domain for explaining the system properties.

In order to achieve success on the domestic and foreign markets, the producers and distributors should know the customers´ behavior and possibilities how to positively affect it for their advantage. The consumers carry out many shopping decisions every day. Most of the big sellers study these decisions in order to know what, where, when, how, how much or how many and why the customers buy. The marketers have to know how the consumers will react to different marketing programmes used by the company. The communication media such as information carriers are objective decision of the individual advertising sponsors. This paper shows the volume of financial means invested by the advertising sponsors, production groups as well as the analysis of the food advertising market and the following survey of the biggest food advertisers in the Slovak Republic.

This paper presents detailed data on the biomass and element pools of six sample trees in the catchments of Plešné andČertovoLakes. Diameters and heights of the sample trees ranged from 28.0 to 63.7 cm and from 14.1 to 38.7 m. The age of the sample trees ranged from 84 to 177 years. Total biomass of the sample trees was in the range of 239.4 kg to 2,932.3 kg. Variation of total biomass between the sample trees was a consequence of the tree biometric data (height and dbh) and age differences. The proportion of stem wood and bark ranged from 63.5 to 69.5%, and from 4.6 to 7.2%, respectively. The proportion of foliage and fine branches ranged from 4.3 to 8.4%, and from 0.7 to 1.9%, respectively. The proportion of branch wood and bark ranged from 2.2 to 6.5%, and from 0.8 to 2.2%, respectively. Mean concentrations of C in different tree components were quite similar. Except C and compared to the other elements, N had the highest mean concentrations in tree components in all cases. Concentrations of P, Ca, Mg, and K showed similar patterns. Generally the highest concentrations of these elements were found in foliage, fine branches, fine roots and bark of stem and branches. Fe, Na, Al and Mn showed the lowest mean concentrations in tree components for all the analyzed elements. The total element pools per tree were highly variable because of the differences in total biomass between the individual trees. Generally, stem wood and bark, foliage, and roots contained the highest proportion of the elements. But there were differences between individual elements. Concerning the important nutrients, while the highest proportion of Ca and Mg was contained in stem wood and bark, the highest proportion of P was contained in foliage. The foliage contained a relatively high proportion of P and K, but a relatively low proportion of Ca and Mg.

The development of business information systems has the communication gap that exists between business and software experts, because they live in their own well-defined and complex cultures. One place where this gap manifests itself is in the constant failure of software developers to fully capture the system requirements. Second example is the inability to exactly analyze and store business knowledge. In our experience, gathered during the last ten years, working on major software projects, not all system requirements are known at the start of the project and the customers expect that their discovery and refinement will form part of the project. Our solution of this dilemma is in the new methodology called BORM (Business and Object Relationship Modeling), which reuses the object-oriented approach known from the area of software engineering into the area of business process modeling. CraftCASE is the original Czech software tool supporting BORM. CraftCASE is developed to capture and analyze knowledge of process-based business systems. The integral part of the analysis using CraftCASE is object-oriented process diagram and process simulator.

How does an organization utilize knowledge for the reproduction of its culture in innovations, it was a key-point of the question for an approach based on the methodology of social process in the recent past. Then the formation of knowledge was considered a process of power politics with the consequences for knowledge management. In the framework of those projects, attempts were made in organizations to extract the knowledge from experts and specialized professionals that it might be codified and saved in extensive databases; only then the remainder of employees ought to have possibility to consult them and add the results of their own ideas to these databases. Poor success of such attempts only illustrates the methodological failure of utilizing information technologies for knowledge formation, its storage and transfer. Moreover, when a new fact was soon discovered even in the framework of the new approach, that there was an abyss-like difference between information (that information technologies operate with) and the knowledge, then the significance of personality increased again. The research that was done with the "champions of organizational learning" in the framework of knowledge management emphasized their import in catching the best experience, knowledge codification and its distribution in the organizations. Among other qualities, the knowledge is strongly personalized: it means it is connected with personal experience, attitudes, and evaluations. On the other hand, an advantage of new methodology was that the possible social actions, connected with the knowledge management, search for a strategy, and implementation were studied. These very changes in methodology have been a valuable contribution even for the research into the role of personality within this social process, however. They induce circumstances and means for studying the infrastructure of relationships that make possible the impact of individual authority in organization in general. In this paper, we also pay attention to this social process in teams as compared to collectives and how team-leaders emerge within them.

Efficient modeling of the artificial intelligence tools has become a necessity in order to cut down the development and maintenance cost associated with building application systems in the business, industrial and agriculture sectors that are frequently amendable to sudden unexpected environmental and economic conditions changes. This can be accomplished through developing an efficient modeling language which exploits the beneficial features of the emerging object-oriented technology. This research is aimed at reviewing the recent scientific aspects of the research concerning conceptual modeling of fuzzy knowledge-based system, which exhibits a large extent of applicability in last few decades due to its capability to deal with vagueness, uncertainty and subjectivity, those are inherent in real world problems. The most recent researches and applications of fuzzy expert system are surveyed. The existing knowledge modeling techniques are reviewed and the prominent ones are pinpointed. This paper is intended to identify the main and common bottlenecks of the existing knowledge modeling tools to overcome it in developing a reliable conceptual model of fuzzy expert system.

Study on the presence of the selected biologically active substances in nerve structures of the porcine pterygopalatine ganglion was performed with the use of immunofluorescence and RT-PCR. All neurons in the ganglion were ChAT-, VAChT-, NOS- and VIP- positive. However, some neurons displayed strong immunoreactivity, while in other neurons, immunoreactivity was moderate, or weak. Somatostatin (SOM) was present in approx. 11% of neurons. Tyrosine hydroxylase-positive (TH-positive) neurons were not detected, although in single nerve cell bodies, TH antibody revealed very weak staining which could be attributed to some residual TH immunoreactivity. Immunoreactivity to NPY was found in 25% of all neuronal perikarya while PACAP was present only in 2-3% of them. More numerous neurons (6%) contained immunoreactivity to GAL. No neurons stained for SP or CGRP. Numerous ChAT-, VAChT-, NOS-, VIP-, and PACAP-positive, scarce SP and CGRP-positive, single SOM-, NPY- and GAL-positive nerve fibers were observed throughout the ganglion. No TH immunoreactivity was found in the nerve fibres. RT-PCR detected strong signal of the transcripts of ChAT, SOM, NOS, VIP, NPY, PACAP, and GAL. Only very weak signal was observed in case of TH, SP and CGRP. No RT-PCR was performed for VAChT message.

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.

The article summarizes findings drawn form the research carried on within the European project "Best e-European Practices" with a focus on digital SMEs only. Case studies are used to describe good practices. Cases studies are coded structurally using a set of indicators for each success factor and thus provide for learning of the potential users. Synthesis and generalization has been done on factors explaining motivations for introducing e-practices, the results firms seek to achieve and the benefits from the adoption of digital technologies.

In relation to sustainable rural development, the paper starts with the question of its conditions. One of them is social acceptance of various projects or programmes. This issue is joined with the co-ordination of human activities. The mechanism facilitating the co-ordination in contemporary societies is related to social capital. Its concept is outlined through the references to the basic literature about the topic. Using content analysis, based on the quantification of the categories created through the analysis of the literature about the topic, the social capital in selected municipalities is investigated. The main aim of the paper, however, is to show the role of this method in social capital fast identification. Although the approach necessitates further elaboration, it can be considered as the first important step in the practice of development activities. The background of the paper reflects the challenges of the World Bank concerning the elaboration and development of the new methods of measuring social capital.

Currently, the world of business is more and more dominated by companies which possess and know how to exploit their intangible resources, in particular the potential of their employees, to achieve competitiveness. The importance of learning organisations, knowledge organisations and corporate culture has been constantly growing. The article presents the outcomes of a survey carried out with the aim of identifying attitudes of managers of agribusiness organisations to talented people and the role of these people in gaining a competitive advantage. The survey has found that Czech agricultural enterprises are somewhat special in this area and that the existing conditions affect managers' approaches and distinguish them from other large companies in other industries. It has also shown that agricultural companies do not have the same opportunities as large companies to select and develop talented individuals, and therefore these activities should be carried out, to a large extent, by universities.

Technological changes bring about economic growth. We are now at the beginning of the new phase of global economic development called new economy. The bearers of it are especially information technologies, biotechnology, material, energetic and cosmic technologies. There is reflected the influence of important integration factors as new technologies, high competitiveness (which becomes a necessity), new economic culture in the sphere of government, households and business.

The goal of the paper is to identify opportunities following from the use of theory of modern marketing in the business practice in terms to reach competitiveness in the global food market. The paper analyses in details the competitive advantages related to individual marketing tools as well as using some up-to-date marketing tactics with the goal to attract a customer. In addition to the most effective use of marketing tools, we define the role of marketing in the global market space and distinguish the local, regional and global extend of marketing activities.

In 1986, the UN ECE established the International Cooperative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (hereinafter ICP Forests) to respond on the growing concern about forest damage caused since the beginning of eighties by air pollution load. Pan-European grid of the (ICP Forests) monitoring plots represents one of the most important systems of forest ecosystems assessing and checking. The Czech Republic is unfortunately well known due to this problem and so the country joined ICP Forest Programme since the very beginning. The paper presents general information on Czech forest stand condition that gained through various methods in the past as well as in the frame of ICP Forests. The participation in the International Cooperative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP Forests) represents a contribution of the EU candidate country to the fulfillment of the Reg. (EEC) No. 3528/86. However it seems that effects and importance of air pollution are decreasing, a lot of new stress situations exists and there is a need for continuing the programme.