Western Slovakia Research Articles

Green and Reverse Logistics in Conditions of Sustainable Development in Enterprises in Slovakia

The high quality of the environment, protection of natural resources, efficient use of natural resources, and elimination of environmental burdens are the main priorities of sustainable development. Therefore, enterprises around the world have to manage the environment wisely, while avoiding negative effects on it. The aim of the paper was to examine the use of green and reverse logistics in the conditions of sustainable development in enterprises in Slovakia. The intention of the paper was to provide a theoretical overview of green and reverse logistics at home and abroad on the basis of the elaboration of a scientific bibliographic-information apparatus. Subsequent practical implementation of the questionnaire research and statistical verification of research results provides a basis for practical recommendations and conclusions for enterprises operating in Slovakia. The research topic of the paper was green and reverse logistics in companies in Slovakia. The research problem was the implementation and use of modern logistics under the influence of the environment. Based on these facts, statistical hypotheses were determined and subsequently tested. Descriptive statistics and inference statistics were used to interpret the research results. Based on the research, we found that the dominant position in green and reverse logistics in Slovakia was achieved by large production enterprises from the automotive industry, which operate in western Slovakia. The analysed enterprises in Slovakia use voluntary tools of environmental policy and the most important environmental tool is corporate social responsibility. Elements of environmental policy are used primarily in the logistics process of warehousing and storage. The biggest barrier in the implementation of elements of environmental logistics analysed by enterprises is the lack of financial resources. The implementation of green logistics and reverse logistics enables the analysed enterprises in Slovakia to improve customer-supplier relations. We can say that despite the government’s efforts, measures to minimize the environmental impact and growing public awareness of environmental issues, environmental problems persist. Initiatives can be seen at the global and national levels of enterprises that make quick decisions and set up new processes in environmental management.

A Shooting Experiment with Reconstructed Scythian Arrows and Bows : New Data on the Iron Age Siege at Dédestapolcsány-Verebce-tető

The archaeological research of the last decades revealed that around the beginning of the Middle Iron Age, at the end of the 7th century BC, the territory of Northeast Hungary and Western Slovakia and the eastern part of today’s Czech Republic were hit by an extensive series of attacks. Approximately 20 fortified settlements are known today where bronze arrowheads, found along pristine hillfort walls, bear witness to devastating sieges that occurred almost simultaneously. The most spectacular evidence of the Early Iron Age attack series in the territory of Hungary is the fortified settlement at Dédestapolcsány–Verebce-tető, located at the fringes of the Bükk Mountains. Hundreds of early Scythian-type cast bronze arrowheads have been discovered there, scattered along the northern wall of the defensive earthworks surrounding the inhabitation zone. Recently, as part of a new research project, we have conducted a shooting experiment using reconstructed Scythian-type bows and arrows to obtain additional information about the efficiency of the bows and arrows used in the siege, as well as about the probable progress and details of the event.

Early Medieval hillforts and the possibilities of their investigation by geophysical methods

This contribution deals with research into early medieval hillforts by means of geophysical methods. Comparison of archaeological sources and results of geophysical measurements was used for the analysis of some previous and more recent results, while future possibilities of research are outlined as well. In geographical terms, the article focuses on the north regions of the Central Danubian Basin, particularly Moravia and western Slovakia. The research is aimed at integral sections of Great Moravia that was forming in this territory in the 9th century, whereas the majority of local hillforts are connected with its existence. Archaeology of the neighbouring regions in the period of the early Middle Ages is in many respects similar to that of the Central Danubian Basin, and the general outcomes can thus be extended to the whole of Central Europe.

High‐resolution mollusc record from the Mituchovci tufa (western Slovakia): a reference for the Holocene succession of Western Carpathian mid‐elevation forests

The Western Carpathian Mountains have been attracting palaeoecologists for a long time, recently mainly to seek direct evidence of northern cryptic refugia in this region. We investigated a rich Holocene mollusc record in the White Carpathian Mountains, capturing a gradual development of forest malacofaunas under stable environmental conditions. To obtain precise data about colonization and extinction events for particular species, we applied a high‐resolution depth‐age model. Early Holocene assemblages revealed both the presence of Early Holocene relics and an early appearance of closed‐canopy forest species that might indicate a cryptic glacial refugium nearby. Many forest species peaking at the Holocene forest optimum, including anthropophobic arboricole land snails (Bulgarica cana and Macrogastra borealis), were present since the Early Holocene as well. After 4000 cal. a BP, forest vegetation composition changed, and the environment became less suitable for woodland snails (i.e. calcium and moisture level decreased). This change was indicated by the disappearance of many sensitive forest species. Most of the exclusively forest species reappeared during the early Middle Ages because of dense beech forest development. However, in the late Middle Ages, the study site was deforested and became an open wetland. The existence of pollen, plant macro‐remains, and stable isotope data allowed us to compare the recorded mollusc succession to the signal derived from these proxies. Hence, we propose that the Mituchovci site should be considered a model for the Holocene development of mollusc woodland faunas in the (Outer) Western Carpathians and one of the main reference sites for central European mollusc succession.

Analysis of cognitive operation in understanding text of the fourth-grade pupils

Abstract This study aims to analyse the informative-type text, questions, and answers of the fourth-grade reading comprehension test according to cognitive processes. A total of 353 respondents participated in the survey. The examined target group was the fourth-grade pupils of Hungarian-language primary schools in bilingual regions in Eastern, Central, and Western Slovakia. The results obtained show that most of the pupils had sufficient background knowledge to interpret the short and simple text, and the new information was well integrated into their existing schema structure. In terms of processes of comprehension, most pupils had no problem with recognizing and retrieving explicitly stated information in the text, neither with making straightforward inferences. However, there were problems in interpreting and integrating information and summarizing them. The results show that half of the pupils had problems with multi-level interpretation of the information obtained and about one-fifth of the pupils gave incorrect answers even to the questions that required the use of the simplest cognitive processes.

The second record of Cryphaeus cornutus (Fischer de Waldheim, 1823) in Slovakia and its possible expansion in Central Europe (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae)

The first record of Cryphaeus cornutus (Fischer de Waldheim, 1823) in western Slovakia represents the second report from the country. The new locality is a on the northern edge of the distributional range of the species. The possible expansion of the species in Central Europe is discussed based on the recently published records.

Isolation and pathogenicity of Phytophthora species from sessile oak (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.) stands in Slovakia

AbstractDuring the monitoring of oak decline phenomenon in Slovakia, symptoms indicative of Phytophthora diseases were observed in sessile oak stands in western Slovakia. The study aimed to test the presence and diversity of Phytophthora species associated with declining oak stands. From rhizosphere soil samples, Phytophthora plurivora, P. quercina and Pythium intermedium were detected. Soil inoculation tests with P. plurivora and P. quercina on 1‐year‐old oak plants inflicted damage to the root system, and significant differences in measured root parameters between the inoculated and control treatments after 5 months. Although more wilting symptoms were observed in P. plurivora—infected seedlings (7 out of 12 inoculated seedlings), P. quercina caused the highest amount of damage to root systems, and for example, fine root length was 1.6 times shorter compared to the control. To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. plurivora and P. quercina in sessile oak stands in Slovakia.

The Upper and Final Gravettian in Western Slovakia and Moravia. Different approaches, new questions

This paper presents a discussion of Late and Final Gravettian assemblages from Western Slovakia and Moravia (25,500/24,000 – 22,000 uncal BP). Shouldered points and Kostienki knives have historically been widely used as fossiles directeurs for these assemblages and have been seen as the most reliable features for cultural attribution. Nevertheless, recent studies of lithics, osseous artifacts (from bone, antler and ivory) and subsistence strategies demonstrate significant variability. The main aim of this paper is to discuss the heterogeneity of the “post-Pavlovian” sites, based on studies of selected localities, namely Milovice I, Petřkovice I, Moravany-Lopata II, Moravany-Žakovská and Trenčianske Bohuslavice-Pod Tureckom. Additionally, we propose a description of artifacts which might become new lithic fossiles directeurs (Petřkovice bi-truncated elements). Finally, we discuss the effectiveness of traditional fossiles directeurs in the description of this period and in studying analogies with Eastern Europe

Evolution and assessment of urban heat island between the years 1998 and 2016: case study of the cities Bratislava and Trnava in western Slovakia

The paper concerns research on urban heat islands (UHIs) and presents case studies of two Slovak cities of different sizes: the capital, Bratislava, and the regional centre, Trnava. The model MUKLIMO_3 was applied to the UHI modelling and a heat wave that occurred between 15 and 23 August 2018 was chosen. Land cover/land use (LC/LU) classes based on the local climate zone (LCZ) concept were used as input for the modelling. The model was validated by data taken from five stations in Bratislava and two in Trnava, and a good rate of agreement between the modelled and measured data was statistically proven. Manifestations of UHI were studied during the whole of the mentioned period by summing the hours when threshold temperature values exceeded 25 and 30 °C. The results for Bratislava show greater variability related to the size of the city and terrain dissection compared with Trnava, which is smaller and situated in a flat terrain. A single representative day, that is, 20 August 2018, was chosen, for which UHI was modelled with three inputs of LC/LU classes: situation in 1998, 2007, and 2016 in order to assess the effect of change of LC/LU classes on the distribution of temperatures. Spatial manifestation of UHI was assessed in the frame of LC/LU classes for 2016 at 12:00, 18:00, and 24:00 in Central European Summer Time. The greatest heat load was modelled in densely built-up LC/LU classes, while forest areas were coolest. In Bratislava, due to a combination of a dissected terrain and UHI, great variability was modelled, with maximum temperature differences of up to 12 °C and, in the territory with homogeneous elevation, up to 6 °C. The UHI field in Trnava is less variable, with modelled temperature differences of up to 3 °C. A comparison of individual time horizons proved the effect of the urbanization process on the change of air temperature by several tenths of a degree Celsius on average.

An automated segmentation of NATURA 2000 habitats from Sentinel-2 optical data

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>In this paper, we present a mathematical model and numerical method designed for the segmentation of satellite images, namely to obtain in an automated way borders of Natura 2000 habitats from Sentinel-2 optical data. The segmentation model is based on the evolving closed plane curve approach in the Lagrangian formulation including the efficient treatment of topological changes. The model contains the term expanding the curve in its outer normal direction up to the region of habitat boundary edges, the term attracting the curve accurately to the edges and the smoothing term given by the influence of local curvature. For the numerical solution, we use the flowing finite volume method discretizing the arising advection-diffusion intrinsic partial differential equation including the asymptotically uniform tangential redistribution of curve grid points. We present segmentation results for satellite data from a selected area of Western Slovakia (Záhorie) where the so-called riparian forests represent the important European Natura 2000 habitat. The automatic segmentation results are compared with the semi-automatic segmentation performed by the botany expert and with the GPS tracks obtained in the field. The comparisons show the ability of our numerical model to segment the habitat areas with the accuracy comparable to the pixel resolution of the Sentinel-2 optical data.

Biogas Stations in Slovakia – Current State

The paper focuses on the use of biomass in the conditions of the Slovak Republic. The importance and position of biomass within renewable energy sources is highlighted in the introduction. Documents such as laws, studies, and strategies which have been developed with the aim to increase the share of renewable energy sources within the energy mix are listed here. The issue of biogas and its possible sources in the Slovak Republic was also solved. An important part of the paper is the presentation of the current statistical data concerning to the number of biogas stations and also information about the material used for gasification purposes in SR. A separate part of the contribution consists of the field research results focused on selected biogas stations in western Slovakia. We provide basic technical specifications, biomass suppliers and statistical data about heat and electricity production for each station. Selected stations were located in villages: Smolinské, Malý Cetín, Ružindol, Chynorany and Kolíňany.

Ocular Dirofilariasis after Clinically Manifested Subcutaneous Migration of the Parasite: A Case Report

Dirofilaria repens is the causative agent of human subcutaneous or, less often, ocular dirofilariasis. The work presents a rare case of ocular dirofilariasis manifested by previous subcutaneous migration accompanied by severe headache symptoms. In February 2017, a 58-yr-old man from Trnava region, western Slovakia, noticed red and itchy stripes on his left leg. Inflamed but painless stripes disappeared and showed up again every 5-7 days, migrating gradually towards the head. Approximately one month after the first skin's alterations, strong pain in the left temple, with the swelling of the left face and the enlargement of mandibular lymph nodes appeared. Several days later, the patient felt excruciating pain of the right eyeball accompanied by strong nausea and subsequent vomiting. Ocular examination revealed the presence of a live worm in the subconjunctival space and morphological and molecular analyses of extracted helminth confirmed D. repens as etiological agent of the infection. According to clinical manifestation of the infection, it could be supposed that ocular form of the disease was the result of the migration of a parasite through the subcutaneous tissues. Moreover, a rare phenomenon of lymphadenitis of underlying lymph nodes and the swelling of left face accompanied the migration.

The Dissemination of the Cult of Saint Vincent in Slovakia and Austria as a Result of 18th Century Migration of Alpine Woodcutters

Abstract Saint Vincent is one of the saints the worshipping of which occupies an important place both in the official church cult and in folk religiousness. He is currently regarded as the patron of wine growers, wine producers and woodcutters. Folk respect was particularly manifested in Saint Vincent’s native Spain and France, and this cult gradually expanded to Germany and Austria in the 14th century. Thanks to migration, it spread from these regions to southern Austria and Slovakia with relatively successful establishment. The study analyses the materials from different periods of the 19th and 20th centuries, obtained by field and archive research on the religiousness of Alpine woodcutters, as well as older historical materials and contemporary records of this cult. By means of a comparative analysis of the obtained data, the study attempts to explore the movements by which the cult of Saint Vincent could have spread to Lower Austria and Western Slovakia. It also points out the importance of interdisciplinary research in indicating the origin of Alpine woodcutters, designated by the exoethnonym Huncokars in Slovakia. The previous research and publications about this group were based on relatively poor and limited sources of information, many of which were not always correctly interpreted. The study has the ambition to add and correct the information on the origin of Alpine woodcutters in the light of the newest research and findings. The research of the cult of Saint Vincent is one of the paths that indicate the origin of the group as well as the possible ways of the dissemination of the cult thanks to the migration of its supporters. Through the example of this cult, we also aim to highlight cultural transfers as a result of ethnic movements in Central Europe.

&lt;span lang="EN-GB"&gt;New site of Cordulegaster heros Theischinger, 1979 in western Slovakia – the confirmation of its northern border of range of occurrence in Europe (Odonata: Cordulegastridae)&lt;/span&gt;

This paper is a short report based on material collected in the scope of hydrobiological research in Western Carpathians: Cordulegaster heros Theischinger, 1979 was recorded in west Slovakia, approximately 90 km E-NE of Bratislava, Slovakia.

Taraxacum sect. Erythrosperma in Slovakia. Part II. Notes on distribution and ecology of Taraxacum danubium

Taraxacum danubium is xerothermic species of Taraxacum sect. Erythrosperma occurring in Central Europe with the highest frequency in southeastern Czechia, northeastern Austria and southwestern Slovakia. Since its description in 1970 from Devínska Kobyla Hills in Slovakia the species was documented from numerous localities across the country, however overall study on the species distribution in Slovakia was still lacking. Thus in this paper, we present a detailed survey on its chorology in Slovakia based on our long-term field observation and data excerption from herbarium specimens with commentary on the distribution (over 60 localities in Slovakia) and biology of the species. Western Slovakia seems to be a centre of its distribution, while towards east the number of populations rapidly decreases. Karyology and ecology are discussed. The full list of locations and distribution map are presented.

Franz Beranek and his activities in Slovakia

This paper deals with the research of Prof Franz Josef Beranek focused on the so called “Habans”, a social religious group that settled in western Slovakia. This research is reconstructed according to the so called German Archive, which forms a part of the scientific collections of the Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. The first part is focused on the life of Franz Beranek and his research on the Haban community, including the history, the linguistic situation, and comparisons to other Anabaptist groups. The second part deals with the procedure of cataloguing the archive and its history, structure, and issues.

Ženské a detské hroby s honosným šperkom v dlhom 9. storočí v Čechách, na Morave a na Slovensku (komparácia, identifikácia elít a pokus o novú historickú interpretáciu formovania veľkomoravského Nitrianska)

The study primarily deals with the archeological findings of the women and children luxurious jewelry from the burial sites located at regions nort of the Danube of the so-called Great Moravia. The paper consists of two parts – surveys of archeological and textual evidence. The main goal is interdisciplinary evaluation and comparison of available and well–known sources which indicate a specific discrepancy in the general historiographic interpretation of the formation of the Great Moravian „state“. The discrepancy between archeological and historiographic interpretation is much more obvious in the case of the so-called Principality of Nitra and its assumed elite. The first part of the study contains a comparative analysis of the findings of luxurious jewelry from the regions of present-day Bohemia, Moravia and western Slovakia, where authors point out the qualitative and quantitative differences in the spatial distribution of these artifacts. In the second part, the authors propose the alternative explanatory model of the formation of the so-called core area of Great Moravia based on the different reading of some notorious textual evidence. In this section is critically examined a conventional and rather problematic historiographic explanation based on the notion of the unification of (old) Moravian principality and „Nitrava“ principality as a consequence of the expulsion of Priwina from Nitra by the Moravian dux Mojmír I around 833. Contrastingly, authors rather suggest the later incorporation of the Nitra region to the political unit ruled by the Moravian prince which may have happend as a result of Svätopluk expansion.

High-Throughput Sequencing Reveals Bell Pepper Endornavirus Infection in Pepper (Capsicum annum) in Slovakia and Enables Its Further Molecular Characterization

Ribosomal RNA-depleted total RNAs from a sweet pepper plant (Capsicum annuum, labelled as N65) grown in western Slovakia and showing severe virus-like symptoms (chlorosis, mottling and deformation of leaf lamina) were subjected to high-throughput sequencing (HTS) on an Illumina MiSeq platform. The de novo assembly of ca. 5.5 million reads, followed by mapping to the reference sequences, revealed the coinfection of pepper by several viruses; i.e., cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), watermelon mosaic virus (WMV), pepper cryptic virus 2 (PCV2) and bell pepper endornavirus (BPEV). A complete polyprotein-coding genomic sequence (14.6 kb) of BPEV isolate N65 was determined. A comparison of BPEV-N65 sequences with BPEV genomes available in GenBank showed 86.1% to 98.6% identity at the nucleotide level. The close phylogenetic relationship with isolates from India and China resulted in their distinct grouping compared to the other BPEV isolates. Further analysis has revealed the presence of BPEV in sweet or chili peppers obtained from various sources and locations in Slovakia (plants grown in gardens, greenhouse or retail shop). Additionally, the partial sequencing of two genomic portions from 15 BPEV isolates revealed that the Slovak isolates segregated into two molecular clusters, indicating a genetically distinct population (mean inter-group nucleotide divergence reaching 12.7% and 14.5%, respectively, based on the genomic region targeted). Due to the mix infections of BPEV-positive peppers by potato virus Y (PVY) and/or CMV, the potential role of individual viruses in the observed symptomatology could not be determined. This is the first evidence and characterization of BPEV from the central European region.

Changes in nesting habitat of the saker falcon (Falco cherrug) influenced its diet composition and potentially threatened its population in Slovakia in the years 1976–2016

Abstract In the period between the years 1976 to 2016 we monitored the nesting site distribution of two populations of saker falcon (Falco cherrug) concentrated in the highlands and adjacent lowlands of western and eastern Slovakia. In western Slovakia we recorded nesting by 56 pairs and 514 nestings, and in eastern Slovakia we observed nesting by 32 pairs and 245 nestings. There were similar nesting success rates in both regions, with pairs producing on average 3.2 young in every successful nest. During the monitored period as a whole a total of 1,788 young saker falcons were raised. At the same time all the pairs gradually resettled in the lowlands, and in the new environment the nesting success rate significantly improved (81.1% compared with 57.1 % in the highlands). This change of nesting biotopes was caused by the impacts of intensive exploitation and environmentally inappropriate forest management, with the accompanying excessive disturbance of nesting birds, but at the same time the disappearance of ground squirrel (Spermophilus citellus) colonies led to a change in the food spectrum for the observed saker falcon pairs. We evaluated the falcons’ feeding habits in western Slovakia between the years 1977 and 2016 (49 pairs; 1–17 pairs/year) and in eastern Slovakia between 2009 and 2016 (12 pairs; 1–3 pairs/year). Altogether 17,669 prey items were identified. From 1976 onwards mammals (Mammalia, 19.8%, 24 species) became gradually less represented as a component in the falcons’ diet compared with birds (Aves, 79.9%, 58 species). In areas of western Slovakia we found stable and predominant proportions of domestic pigeons (Columba livia f. domestica) ranging from 52% to 62%. The proportion of pigeons was distinctly lower in eastern Slovakia (31.5%), compensated for by larger shares of common vole (Microtus arvalis), common starling (Sturnus vulgaris), Eurasian magpie (Pica pica) and hooded crow (Corvus cornix). The common starling (9.5%) was a significant prey species in the lowlands of western and eastern Slovakia alike. Mammals were mostly represented by common voles (9.8%), European hamsters (Cricetus cricetus, 5.3%), ground squirrels (2.1%) and hares (Lepus europaeus, 1.6%). Changes over time in the composition of falcons’ prey were also evaluated over five periods in western Slovakia.

Application and Evaluation of Performance Quality of Hose-Reel Irrigation Machine

Abstract Considering the global tendency in water saving, this research is focused on practical measurements of even distribution of water. The performance quality is determined by values of coefficients of distribution uniformity and non-uniformity given in percentages. Objects of investigation were belt irrigators with varying input conditions (seven pieces). Testing of hose-reel irrigators took place in Southern and Western Slovakia. Tests were carried out during irrigation of selected agricultural crops (potatoes, vegetables); in these areas, rainwater vessels were distributed at a spacing of 1 or 2 m, perpendicular to the direction of movement of the bracket or tripod with a gun sprinkler. The input conditions, such as machine specifications and weather conditions, were monitored and evaluated for all variants. The data were also analysed along with the linear model through statistical analysis software – one-way analysis of variance ANOVA. Considering the results, it is possible to conclude that there were recorded statistically significant differences for uniformity coefficients, depending not only on the site but also on the specific evaluation methodology (P &gt; 0.05). If the input conditions (site, type of irrigator, sprinkler) were changed, the effect of dependence was demonstrated to a much greater extent (P &lt;0.05, F = 7.08&gt; Fcrit ). The results of the non-uniformity coefficients confirmed the statistically significant differences not only in the sample sets of coefficients but also in the selection sets of conditions.