National Research Centers Research Articles

ИЗУЧЕНИЕ ЕВРОПЕЙСКОЙ ИНТЕГРАЦИИ В ИМЭМО РАН

The paper is devoted to the formation and development of the European integration studies at the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The chronological framework of the article covers the period from 1957 to 2019. Also in addition to IMEMO, the role of other national research centers in the study of integration processes is considered, and the contribution of the Soviet / Russian researchers is noted. The author uses the problem-chronological method and generational methods of research. The key markers that define generational differences are the focus, area and research paradigm. In total, the author identifies five generations of the European integration research at IMEMO. The first one, which dated from the late 1950s to the early 1960s, focused on the motives, causes, ways of integration, recognition of the objectivity of integration processes in Europe, the role of the Director of the Institute academician A.A. Arzumanyan and the outstanding scientist academician E.S. Varga in the “legitimation” of the study of European integration in Soviet science. The second one, dating from the 1960s to the first half of the 1980s, distinguished itself by the dominance of the economic component, the intensification of the study of political issues, the comparison of capitalist and socialist integration. Rejection of negative ideologized assessments of integration in Western Europe became one of the characteristics of the generation of 1985-1991s. Thanks to the fourth generation of the 1990s, progress was made in active introduction of Western theories and methods into Russian research, comparison of European integration and disintegration in the post-Soviet space and in the former Eastern bloc. From the 2000s the IMEMO researchers have concentrated on comparison of European and Eurasian integration projects, study of integration in the context of new political spaces as a factor in the formation of a new model and system of international interaction. At the same time, the identified generations do not fully replace each other but rather coexist on the basis of complementarity and interpenetration. The author comes to the conclusion that IMEMO has developed its own scientific approach to integration studies. Its main features are complex, systematic and balanced. The article contains two tables and an Appendix with a list of the most significant IMEMO works on European integration.

Development Status and Prospects of Digital Creative Technology in China

As one of the strategic emerging industries identified in the 13th Five-Year Plan of China, digital creative industry lives in the digital and networked era; it focuses on culture, content, and copyright, and drives the development of surrounding industries through integration and penetration. The key to developing the digital creative industry is digital creative technology and creative design, where, however, China has weaknesses and does not have a clear development path. In this paper, by analyzing industry data, we systematically describe the current development status of digital creative technology in China, including enabling technology, application technology, and end-user device technology, and summarize the problems and weaknesses of China in ultra-high definition (UHD) video, 3D audio, virtual/augmented reality, and software for digital content generation and creative design. Our investigation suggests that it will promote the development of China’s digital creative technology by: (1) establishing national science and technology key projects and national engineering research centers on digital creative technology, (2) improving the quality of talents on digital creative technology, and (3) actively participating international cooperation and increasing the influence of Chinese culture.

Airborne Laser Scanning in Poland - Between Science and Practice

Abstract The article is a retrospective analysis of the development of airborne laser scanning technology in the country in the past twenty years, i.e. from the beginnings of this technique use in Poland to the present day. The emphasis in the text is placed on development trends and scientific and application problems in the field of technology undertaken by national research centres. The review is based on numerous publications in this field, which have been released over two decades mainly in the “Archive of Photogrammetry, Cartography and Remote Sensing”. Therefore, the article is a presentation of the progress in the area of airborne laser scanning through an attempt to systematize and review national publications in this scope. It also presents the development of the national production potential and the level of the country’s coverage with data and products derived from airborne laser scanning.

Задачи и функции НМИЦ в реализации федерального проекта «Развитие сети национальных медицинских исследовательских центров и внедрение инновационных медицинских технологий»

The article presents information about the beginning of the realization of the federal project «Development of the network of the national medical research centers and the implementation of the innovative medical technologies» with the involvement of Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare. The article reveals main objectives and goals of the project, as well as the activities essential for their achievement.

Maternal ageing impairs mitochondrial DNA kinetics during early embryogenesis in mice.

Does ageing affect the kinetics of the mitochondrial pool during oogenesis and early embryogenesis? While we found no age-related change during oogenesis, the kinetics of mitochondrial DNA content and the expression of the factors involved in mitochondrial biogenesis appeared to be significantly altered during embryogenesis. Oocyte mitochondria are necessary for embryonic development. The morphological and functional alterations of mitochondria, as well as the qualitative and quantitative mtDNA anomalies, observed during ovarian ageing may be responsible for the alteration of oocyte competence and embryonic development. The study, conducted from November 2016 to November 2017, used 40 mice aged 5-8weeks and 45 mice aged 9-11months (C57Bl6/CBA F(1)). A total of 488 immature oocytes, with a diameter ranging from 20μm to more than 80μm, were collected from ovaries, and 1088 mature oocytes or embryos at different developmental stages (two PN, one-cell, i.e. syngamy, two-cell, four-cell, eight-cell, morula and blastocyst) were obtained after ovarian stimulation and, for embryos, mating. Mitochondrial DNA was quantified by quantitative PCR. We used quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) (microfluidic method) to study the relative expression of three genes involved in the key steps of embryogenesis, i.e. embryonic genome activation (HSPA1) and differentiation (CDX2 and NANOG), two mtDNA genes (CYB and ND2) and five genes essential for mitochondrial biogenesis (PPARGC1A, NRF1, POLG, TFAM and PRKAA). The statistical analysis was based on mixed linear regression models applying a logistic link function (STATA v13.1 software), with values of P< 0.05 being considered significant. During oogenesis, there was a significant increase in oocyte mtDNA content (P< 0.0001) without any difference between the two groups of mice (P= 0.73). During the first phase of embryogenesis, i.e. up to the two-cell stage, embryonic mtDNA decreased significantly in the aged mice (P< 0.0001), whereas it was stable for young mice (young/old difference P= 0.015). The second phase of embryogenesis, i.e. between the two-cell and eight-cell stages, was characterized by a decrease in embryonic mtDNA for young mice (P= 0.013) only (young/old difference P= 0.038). During the third phase, i.e. between the eight-cell and blastocyst stage, there was a significant increase in embryonic mtDNA content in young mice (P< 0.0001) but not found in aged mice (young/old difference P= 0.002). We also noted a faster expression of CDX2 and NANOG in the aged mice than in the young mice during the second (P= 0.007 and P= 0.02, respectively) and the third phase (P= 0.01 and P= 0.008, respectively) of embryogenesis. The expression of mitochondrial genes CYB and ND2 followed similar kinetics and was equivalent for both groups of mice, with a significant increase during the third phase (P< 0.01). Of the five genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis, i.e. PPARGC1A, NRF1, POLG, TFAM and PRKAA, the expression of three genes decreased significantly during the first phase only in young mice (NRF1, P= 0.018; POLGA, P= 0.002; PRKAA, P= 0.010), with no subsequent difference compared to old mice. In conclusion, during early embryogenesis in the old mice, we suspect that the lack of a replicatory burst before the two-cell stage, associated with the early arrival at the minimum threshold value of mtDNA, together with the absence of an increase of mtDNA during the last phase, might potentially deregulate the key stages of early embryogenesis. N/A. Because of the ethical impossibility of working on a human, this study was conducted only on a murine model. As superovulation was used, we cannot totally exclude that the differences observed were, at least partially, influenced by differences in ovarian response between young and old mice. Our findings suggest a pathophysiological explanation for the link observed between mitochondria and the deterioration of oocyte quality and early embryonic development with age. This work was supported by the University of Angers, France, by the French national research centres INSERM and the CNRS and, in part, by PHASE Division, INRA. There are no competing interests.

Research, Development and Demonstration of CCS Technology to Pave the Way for Full Scale CCS in Norway

The Norwegian CLIMIT programme for research, development and demonstration of carbon capture and storage technologies (CCS), has laid the technological foundation for building full-scale CCS projects in Norway. The CLIMIT programme has, together with national research centers and new R&D infrastructure, resulted in new and improved CCS technologies. More cost-effective capture technologies have been brought forward and increased confidence in CO2 transport and storage technologies has been achieved. The CLIMIT programme has been in operation since 2005 and has since then invested € 225 M in RD&D within CCS. The CLIMIT programme has also made significant contributions to CCS development outside Norway’s borders. The paper gives a broad overview of the CLIMIT portfolio within CO2 capture, transport and storage, and how it together with other governmental instruments, has laid the ground for future CCS deployment.

CIRA Preliminary Roadmap for the Development of Mars Research Project

Human and robotic exploration is foreseen to be one of the next steps in human space colonization, and it is growing the common vision that Moon, on the pathway to Mars, is the outpost to extend human presence in deep space. At the same time, technologies and knowledge derived from space exploration tests, key factors for a more affordable, easier and quicker access to Space, will expand our understanding of the Universe, and create economic opportunities. In this scenario, CIRA intends to support the national community, involved in space colonization projects, through the Mars research project. The project is conceived as a technology-driven effort aimed at maturing a number of technologies and engineering tools necessary to enable future space exploration and colonization missions. Indeed, the project goal is to develop experimental infrastructures and necessary competences for future human and robotic Martian, Lunar and cis-Lunar exploration and colonization missions, supporting industries, universities and national research centres, to meet the challenges of this extremely promising and competitive sector. The present paper gives an overview of CIRA development plan related to Moon and Mars exploration and colonization, focusing on the design and realization of test analogue facilities and the development of enabling technologies. In the definition of the roadmap, a particular emphasis will be given to the facilities concept proposed and constituted by the following research areas: Environmental facility, Robotic laboratory, Aeolic Tunnel and Life Support System area.

Is DNA fingerprinting the gold standard for estimation of adoption and impacts of improved lentil varieties?

In the early 1980s, disease susceptibility in short-season lentil landraces began to limit productivity in areas where relay cropping took place in Bangladesh. Since then, several improved high-yielding lentil varieties, which are resistant to rust and blight and suitable in the relay cropping system, have been released jointly by national and international research centers. This study used three methods, namely a panel of experts, a survey of 1000 households where the respondents named the variety they used, and DNA fingerprinting of seed samples collected from all lentil plots cultivated by survey households to estimate adoption. Double hurdle and instrumental variables regression methods were applied to the household survey and DNA fingerprinting data to identify determinants of adoption and measure their impacts. Of particular interest was whether estimates of adoption, determinants of adoption and impacts varied by method of variety identification. Results showed that the expert panel overestimated the adoption of more recent varieties while about 89% of the farmer-reported varieties were accurate, as verified by DNA fingerprinting. DNA fingerprinting appears to have little advantage for estimating the level of adoption in this case, where few varieties of lentils are found, local variety names do not exist, and most seed is obtained through a formal system. However, even under these conditions, determinants of adoption vary by identification method, and use of farmer-reported information on the variety can lead to erroneous conclusions about determinants of adoption. Because recent breeding efforts have focused on taste and cooking considerations, yield impacts were not significantly different from zero.

Pathogenic Variability of Wheat Stem Rust Pathogen (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici) in Hararghe Highlands, Ethiopia

Wheat is one of the important major crops of Hararghe Highlands. It is third in land coverage and total production after sorghum and maize. However, the wheat stem rust disease is threatening production of wheat in this region. So, this research was conducted with the following objective: to determine the population of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici in Hararghe Highlands. A total of 200 fields were surveyed and stem rust samples were collected and transported to Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center for race analysis. Inoculation of differentials carrying resistance genes Sr24 and Sr-Tmp indicated typical low infection types on all isolates. Isolates EH5, EH8, and EH3 from East Hararghe and WH2, WH1, and WH3 from West Hararghe showed high virulence of infection in all differential lines. Ten (10) races were identified by using Puccinia graminis tritici code system: TTGSK, PTJQK, TTSSK, TTKSK, TRSSK, and TTJQK from East Hararghe and TTTSK and TTSQK from West Hararghe zones. Race TTSSK was most frequent (25%) followed by TTKSK (25%) in East Hararghe. Race TTSSK showed 50% frequency of occurrence in West Hararghe zones. The low frequency of occurrences indicated high variability of the races in the survey areas. Therefore, monitoring of populations of pathogens is important for the national and regional research centers. Detection of pathogen virulence evolution and of currently effective resistance genes is necessary and must be applied within a system of resistance gene management.

XX Chilean Physics Symposium

XX Chilean Physics Symposium November 30th to December 2nd, 2016Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana, Santiago of Chile.Rafael Correa, Luis Huerta, Luis Roa and Leopoldo SotoEditorsPrefaceThe Chilean Physics Symposium is the main gathering of physics researchers in Chile, and its organization is one of the central activities of the Chilean Physical Society (Sociedad Chilena de Física, SOCHIFI). The Symposium assembles the largest number of Chilean and foreign physicists resident in the country. Recent advances in the various areas in Physics are presented, by researchers from universities and national research centres. At the same time this is an occasion for the participation of physics students from both the pre- and post-graduate programs.The Symposium has been organized continuously every two years, since 1978. The organization of the XX symposium was in charge of the Physics Department of the “Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana”, and it took place at the Central Campus, in the city of Santiago, Chile. During this symposium the relation of research in Physics with education and with the society in the country was also analyzed.List of Committees and Conference Photograph are available in this PDF.

Методы научного анализа коррупционных отношений

Monitoring of the level of corruption in Russia both by region and by levels of power, by specific government institutions and by certain spheres of social activity is one of the most important components of the Russian national anti-corruption policy, including its research component. In recent decades, there has been a significant increase in empirical studies of the phenomenon of corruption, which is largely due to the ever growing interest of domestic and foreign (national and international) research centers to conduct empirical studies of the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of corruption and to find more effective ways to counteract this phenomenon. Unlike other types of crimes, corruption is deeply latent in connection with what for a long time the only source of information about corruption was criminal statistics. However, comparative study of the phenomenon of corruption both in a single country and on a regional and, even more so, global scale, on the basis of official statistics is practically impossible, since the registration of cases of corruption in official statistics is incomplete, fragmentary. In addition, a large number of statistically recorded misconduct can not always be interpreted as an indicator of high corrupt society. The article analyzes the scientific methods of diagnosing corrupt relations in the modern society, their specificity, advantages and disadvantages in monitoring corruption are examined.

Változások 1990 és 2017 között a magyar biológiai antropológiában

The author introduces changes and novelties occurring between 1990 and 2017 in Hungarian university departments, academic research facilities and national human biology research centres. Biological anthropology research projects of non-anthropology research institutions are also mentioned from the period of concern. Scientific congresses and conferences are enumerated, and the current problems of Hungarian scientific journals are mentioned. All those professionals are shortly introduced along with the title of their theses who obtained their PhD or other academic degree within this timespan. All those members of the community of Hungarian anthropological research are also mentioned who were awarded with prizes, retired or deceased, and those who have been employed as researchers or professors of human biology in this time period.

Targeted metabolomics reveals reduced levels of polyunsaturated choline plasmalogens and a smaller dimethylarginine/arginine ratio in the follicular fluid of patients with a diminished ovarian reserve.

Does the metabolomic profile of the follicular fluid (FF) of patients with a diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) differ from that of patients with a normal ovarian reserve (NOR)? The metabolomic signature of the FF reveals a significant decrease in polyunsaturated choline plasmalogens and methyl arginine transferase activity in DOR patients compared to NOR patients. The composition of the FF reflects the exchanges between the oocyte and its microenvironment during its acquisition of gametic competence. Studies of the FF have allowed identification of biomarkers and metabolic pathways involved in various pathologies affecting oocyte quality, but no large metabolomic analysis in the context of ovarian ageing and DOR has been undertaken so far. This was an observational study of the FF retrieved from 57 women undergoing in vitro fertilization at the University Hospital of Angers, France, from November 2015 to September 2016. The women were classified in two groups: one including 28 DOR patients, and the other including 29 NOR patients, serving as controls. Patients were enrolled in the morning of oocyte retrieval after ovarian stimulation. Once the oocytes were isolated for fertilization and culture, the FF was pooled and centrifuged for analysis. A targeted quantitative metabolomic analysis was performed using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry, and the Biocrates Absolute IDQ p180 kit. The FF levels of 188 metabolites and several sums and ratios of metabolic significance were assessed by multivariate and univariate analyses. A total of 136 metabolites were accurately quantified and used for calculating 23 sums and ratios. Samples were randomly divided into training and validation sets. The training set, allowed the construction of multivariate statistical models with a projection-supervised method, i.e. orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), applied to the full set of metabolites, or the penalized least absolute shrinkage and selection operator with logistic regression (LASSO-LR), applied to the ratios and sums of the metabolites. Both multivariate models showed good predictive performances when applied to the validation set. The final penalized model retained the three most significant variables, i.e. the total dimethylarginine-to-arginine ratio (Total DMA/Arginine), the sum of the polyunsaturated choline plasmalogens (PUFA ae), and the patient's age. The negative coefficients of Total DMA/Arginine and PUFA ae indicated that these FF variables had lower values in DOR patients than in NOR patients. N/A. This study presents two limitations. First, with this targeted metabolomics analysis, we have explored only a limited portion of the FF metabolome. Second, although the signature found was highly significant, the mechanism underlying the dysfunction remains undetermined. The understanding of the mechanisms implied in ovarian ageing is essential for providing an adequate response to affected women desiring pregnancy. Our study proposes an incoming signature that may open new paths towards this goal. This study was supported by the University Hospital of Angers, the University of Angers, and the French national research centers, INSERM and the CNRS. There were no competing interests.

Deep sequencing shows that oocytes are not prone to accumulate mtDNA heteroplasmic mutations during ovarian ageing.

Does ovarian ageing increase the number of heteroplasmic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) point mutations in oocytes? Our results suggest that oocytes are not subject to the accumulation of mtDNA point mutations during ovarian ageing. Ageing is associated with the alteration of mtDNA integrity in various tissues. Primary oocytes, present in the ovary since embryonic life, may accumulate mtDNA mutations during the process of ovarian ageing. This was an observational study of 53 immature oocyte-cumulus complexes retrieved from 35 women undergoing IVF at the University Hospital of Angers, France, from March 2013 to March 2014. The women were classified in two groups, one including 19 women showing signs of ovarian ageing objectified by a diminished ovarian reserve (DOR), and the other, including 16 women with a normal ovarian reserve (NOR), which served as a control group. mtDNA was extracted from isolated oocytes, and from their corresponding cumulus cells (CCs) considered as a somatic cell compartment. The average mtDNA content of each sample was assessed by using a quantitative real-time PCR technique. Deep sequencing was performed using the Ion Torrent Proton for Next-Generation Sequencing. Signal processing and base calling were done by the embedded pre-processing pipeline and the variants were analyzed using an in-house workflow. The distribution of the different variants between DOR and NOR patients, on one hand, and oocyte and CCs, on the other, was analyzed with the generalized mixed linear model to take into account the cluster of cells belonging to a given mother. There were no significant differences between the numbers of mtDNA variants between the DOR and the NOR patients, either in the oocytes (P = 0.867) or in the surrounding CCs (P = 0.154). There were also no differences in terms of variants with potential functional consequences. De-novo mtDNA variants were found in 28% of the oocytes and in 66% of the CCs with the mean number of variants being significantly different (respectively 0.321, SD = 0.547 and 1.075, SD = 1.158) (P < 0.0001). Variants with a potential functional consequence were also overrepresented in CCs compared with oocytes (P = 0.0019). N/A. Limitations may be due to the use of immature oocytes discarded during the assisted reproductive technology procedure, the small size of the sample, and the high-throughput sequencing technology that might not have detected heteroplasmy levels lower than 2%. The alteration of mtDNA integrity in oocytes during ovarian ageing is a recurring question to which our pilot study suggests a reassuring answer. This work was supported by the University Hospital of Angers, the University of Angers, France, and the French national research centers, INSERM and the CNRS. There are nocompeting interests.

ULTRAFAST TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY

Ultrafast laser spectral and electron diffraction methods complement each other and open up new possibilities in chemistry and physics to light up atomic and molecular motions involved in the primary processes governing structural transitions. Since the 1980s, scientific laboratories in the world have begun to develop a new field of research aimed at this goal. “Atomic-molecular movies” will allow visualizing coherent dynamics of nuclei in molecules and fast processes in chemical reactions in real time. Modern femtosecond and picosecond laser sources have made it possible to significantly change the traditional approaches using continuous electron beams, to create ultrabright pulsed photoelectron sources, to catch ultrafast processes in the matter initiated by ultrashort laser pulses and to achieve high spatio-temporal resolution in research. There are several research laboratories all over the world experimenting or planning to experiment with ultrafast electron diffraction and possessing electron microscopes adapted to operate with ultrashort electron beams. It should be emphasized that creating a new-generation electron microscope is of crucial importance, because successful realization of this project demonstrates the potential of leading national research centers and their ability to work at the forefront of modern science.

The Role of Social Media in Corporate Reputation Management – The Results of the Polish Enterprises

AbstractThe exponential growth of the Internet and social media (SM) in the recent years has contributed to changing the communication environment in which stakeholders as their users may post and distribute their opinions about the company and its products. This generates a number of potential threats to the image and reputation of both people and organizations. Companies cannot ignore this fact and should use SM not only as an additional communication marketing channel but also in a broader context - as a tool to build and protect their reputation. This article aims to identify the extent and directions of the use of SM in the activities of companies operating on the Polish market in the area of reputation management. The results of research showed that Polish companies recognize the potential of SM and try to apply them in their marketing efforts. In the approach to the SM as a communication channel, the traditional way of thinking dominates, in which they are treated as just another promotional tool used by two departments: marketing and public relations (PR). This way of using SM is not integrated and does not allow effective building and protecting reputation in the Internet environment. To achieve this goal, the following research methods were used: critical analysis of literature and analysis of secondary sources in a form of report from the research conducted by various national and foreign research centers.

The mitochondrial DNA content of cumulus granulosa cells is linked to embryo quality.

Could the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content of cumulus granulosa cells (CGCs) be related to oocyte competence? The quality of embryos obtained during IVF procedures appears to be linked to mtDNA copy numbers in the CGCs. Oocyte quality is linked to oocyte mtDNA content in the human and other species, and the mtDNA copy number of the oocyte is related to that of the corresponding CGCs. Moreover, the quantification of CGC mtDNA has recently been proposed as a biomarker of embryo viability. An observational study was performed on 452 oocyte-cumulus complexes retrieved from 62 patients undergoing ICSI at the ART Center of the University Hospital of Angers, France, from January to May 2015. The average mtDNA content of CGCs was assessed by using a quantitative real-time PCR technique. The relationship between CGC mtDNA content and oocyte maturity and fertilizability, on one hand, and embryo quality, on the other, was investigated using univariate and multivariate generalized models with fixed and mixed effects. No relationship was found between CGC mtDNA content and oocyte maturity or fertilizability. In contrast, there was a significant link between the content of mtDNA in CGCs surrounding an oocyte and the embryo quality, with significantly higher mtDNA copy numbers being associated with good quality embryos compared with fair or poor quality embryos [interquartile range, respectively, 738 (250-1228) and 342 (159-818); P = 0.006]. However, the indication provided by the quantification of CGC mtDNA concerning the eventuality of good embryo quality was seriously subject to patient effect (AUC = 0.806, 95%CI = 0.719-0.869). The quantity of CGC mtDNA was influenced by BMI and smoking. N/A. The quantification of CGC mtDNA may indicate embryo quality. However, since it is affected by patient specificity, it should be used with caution. It remains to be seen whether this marker could directly predict the implantation capacity of the embryo, which is the main objective in IVF practice. Our study suggests that the quantification of CGC mtDNA may be a novel biomarker of embryo viability. However, patient specificity makes it impossible to establish a general threshold value, valid for all patients. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to determine whether the quantification of CGC mtDNA may, in combination with the morpho-kinetic method, offer an additional criterion for selecting the best embryo for transfer from a given cohort. This work was supported by the University Hospital of Angers, the University of Angers, France, and the French national research centres INSERM and the CNRS. There were no competing interests.

Technological Innovations as a Potential Vehicle for Supply Chain Integration on Basic Metal Industries

This study investigated the roles of technological innovation on basic metal industries and then developed technological innovation framework for enhancing sustainable supply chain integrations to basic metal industries. This sustainable supply chain integration assures mutual benefits and competitive advantage of manufacturing firms. Since the previous research work indicate that technological innovation have critical impact in promoting basic metal industries to improve their performance (in terms of productivity, information shearing, resource utilization, knowledge and technology transfer) and achieve sustainable competitive environments. The filed observation, questioner and expert interview result from basic metal industries indicates that the technological capability of local industries to invention, adoption, modification, improving and use a given innovative technology is very poor. As the result, this poor technological innovation were occurs due to improper innovation and technology transfer framework, noncollaborative operating environment between foreign and local industries, very weak national technology policies, problems research and innovation centers, the common miss points on basic metal industry innovation systems were investigated in this study. However the study indicates that to tackle such problems, adopting flexible innovative and sustainable technological innovation systems to manufacturing industries used as a vehicle for improving the performance and competitiveness of the firms. Also one of the conclusion of the article is that, through using the developed technological innovation framework in this study, basic metal industries improve sustainable supply chain integrations, improve innovation process and support an innovative culture for sector capabilities and achieve sustainable competitive advantage to basic metal industries.

Specifics of the Development of Family Businesses in the Czech Republic

In many developed countries, there has been a long tradition of family enterprises, and family enterprises have played a major role in national economies. A family enterprise can be regarded as the main pillar of economy, providing many job opportunities. In functioning market economies, family enterprises are associated both with small businesses but also large corporations, and present a major source of income for the state budget. The support of family enterprises is based on a sophisticated ecosystem of national institutions, associations, educational and research centres. In the Czech Republic, family businesses are mostly associated with small and medium-sized enterprises. These play a major role in the development of the endogenous potential of individual regions of the Czech Republic. Family enterprises are linked to a particular region, both commercially and socially, and form a regional business backbone and a basis for regional infrastructure. Their task also lies in the social area. The purpose of this article is to define a family business and to define the status of family businesses, in particular in the Czech Republic. The subject matter of the research is a family business as an economic feature. The scientific objective is to evaluate the current situation in the Czech Republic, and to propose functional ecosystem support of family enterprises, based on university educational programmes. The paper has been prepared on the basis of general theoretical scientific methods, in particular the method of comparison of secondary data in published publicly available researches, its analysis, synthesis, comparison, analogy, deduction and generalisation, and using a method of professional estimates. This study helped to establish that family businesses represent a true economic potential for the Czech Republic.

Innovative integrative tools and platforms. Key results of the PREPARE European Project

The European project PREPARE (Innovative integrated tools and platforms for radiological emergency preparedness and post-accident response in Europe) aims at closing gaps that have been identified in nuclear and radiological preparedness following the first evaluation of the Fukushima disaster. It started February 2013 and ended January 2016. Fourty-six partners from Europe and Japan, among them universities, national research centres, operational emergency management centres and non-governmental organisations, performed research to close gaps identified following the Fukushima disaster. Among others, the project addressed the review of existing operational procedures for dealing with long lasting releases, cross border problems in radiation monitoring and food safety and further development of missing functionalities in decision support systems ranging from improved source term estimation and dispersion modelling to the inclusion of hydrological pathways for European water bodies. In addition, a so called Analytical Platform was developed exploring the scientific and operational means to improve information collection, information exchange and the evaluation of such types of disasters. The tools developed within the project will be integrated into the two decision support systems ARGOS and RODOS.