FH&P RATING MODEL AND ITS APPLICATION WITHIN THE SLOVAK SPA ENTERPRISES

The aim of the paper is to propose a suitable structure of the newly designed Financial Health & Prediction (FH&P) rating model, and by putting it into practice in Slovak spa enterprises, to contribute to the development of financial management concepts for spa facilities operating in the field of tourism. The quantification of individual dimensions of the FH&P rating model was based on the calculation of selected ten key financial ratio indicators and prediction models. The values (in different units of measure) were converted to points using compiled transformation tables which formed the final score of the FH&P rating model and subsequently the proposed A-FX rating. Based on the results, Kúpele Bojnice, Inc. (SE03), Špecializovaný liečebný ústav Marína, s.e. (SE21) and Kúpele Nimnica, Inc. (SE07) received the best rating. This innovative model provides financial managers actual, simple and understandable overview of the financial health of a spa company and its future financial perspective. With a several adjustments, the FH&P rating model is easily applicable in any economic sector of Slovakia.

Dealing With Pluralism And Marginalisation Processes In Multi-Organisational Collaboration: Augmenting The Viable System Model With Team Syntegrity

<p><b>Collaborations are often required to address ‘wicked’ social, economic and environmental problems, but are commonly ineffective, due to complexity inherent in collaborations and the problems they aim to address.</b></p> <p>This study responds to calls from scholars for a systemic approach for understanding and managing collaborations. Here, the Viable System Model (VSM) is used to support collaborative partners of a multi-organisational collaboration to identify critical management functions and communication channels necessary for system effectiveness and viability. Despite its promise in supporting partners to identify and plan for improvements to collaborative working arrangements, the VSM provides little guidance on how to manage multiple perspectives or power imbalances amongst partners during such an intervention. Being able to do so is essential for joined-up thinking, learning, and collective action in multi-organisational settings. This study augments the VSM by embedding it within a Team Syntegrity (TS) process methodology to ensure meaningful engagement and ‘fair dialogue.’In trialling this combination, an action research, multi-methodology approach was followed to answer the question: to what extent can a TS augmented VSM intervention address multiple perspectives and marginalisation processes?</p> <p>The intervention's effectiveness was evaluated drawing on data collected from workshop surveys, interviews, and a document review.</p> <p>The TS augmented VSM intervention supported collaborative partners in this study to collectively understand the purpose of the collaboration and its activities, problem areas that needed to be addressed for the collaboration’s effectiveness and viability, and a suitable structure for the collaboration moving forward.</p> <p>The study is novel in terms of the multi-methodological approach adopted, particularly how the use of TS and VSM lead to mutual benefits. This study demonstrates how the use of one informs the use of the other, and how insights from one may lead to insights from the other. Furthermore, this study suggests an original use of the VSM as a tool to define the ‘system in focus’ and a series of avenues for marginalisation that need to be taken into account in the design of an intervention.</p> <p>The findings are useful for anyone wanting to use the VSM and/or TS to better understand and improve a collaboration’s effectiveness and viability.</p>

Dealing With Pluralism And Marginalisation Processes In Multi-Organisational Collaboration: Augmenting The Viable System Model With Team Syntegrity

<p><b>Collaborations are often required to address ‘wicked’ social, economic and environmental problems, but are commonly ineffective, due to complexity inherent in collaborations and the problems they aim to address.</b></p> <p>This study responds to calls from scholars for a systemic approach for understanding and managing collaborations. Here, the Viable System Model (VSM) is used to support collaborative partners of a multi-organisational collaboration to identify critical management functions and communication channels necessary for system effectiveness and viability. Despite its promise in supporting partners to identify and plan for improvements to collaborative working arrangements, the VSM provides little guidance on how to manage multiple perspectives or power imbalances amongst partners during such an intervention. Being able to do so is essential for joined-up thinking, learning, and collective action in multi-organisational settings. This study augments the VSM by embedding it within a Team Syntegrity (TS) process methodology to ensure meaningful engagement and ‘fair dialogue.’In trialling this combination, an action research, multi-methodology approach was followed to answer the question: to what extent can a TS augmented VSM intervention address multiple perspectives and marginalisation processes?</p> <p>The intervention's effectiveness was evaluated drawing on data collected from workshop surveys, interviews, and a document review.</p> <p>The TS augmented VSM intervention supported collaborative partners in this study to collectively understand the purpose of the collaboration and its activities, problem areas that needed to be addressed for the collaboration’s effectiveness and viability, and a suitable structure for the collaboration moving forward.</p> <p>The study is novel in terms of the multi-methodological approach adopted, particularly how the use of TS and VSM lead to mutual benefits. This study demonstrates how the use of one informs the use of the other, and how insights from one may lead to insights from the other. Furthermore, this study suggests an original use of the VSM as a tool to define the ‘system in focus’ and a series of avenues for marginalisation that need to be taken into account in the design of an intervention.</p> <p>The findings are useful for anyone wanting to use the VSM and/or TS to better understand and improve a collaboration’s effectiveness and viability.</p>

Comparison of angular-selective metasurfaces as tools for sub-THz single-frequency sensing

We demonstrate and numerically characterize a set of single-layer metasurfaces based on capacitively-coupled bent metal strips deposited on a thin polypropylene film operating as band-stop filters at 139.1 GHz. Due to a high inter-digital coupling capacitance between neighboring inclusions formed by the strips, the resonance of the metasurface becomes highly sensitive to the incidence angle of a plane wave. At the same time, a narrow-band resonance is achieved by reducing the conductor length along the vertical polarization direction of the incident wave. We propose to use both properties for designing a sensor, which analyses the thickness of a thin slab of a known substance deposited over the structure by tracking the angle at which the minimum of transmission can be measured at a single frequency. We compare three versions of the proposed geometry by numerical calculation of the transmission coefficient depending on both the incidence angle and analyte slab’s thickness. We select the most suitable structure for sensing.

Co-operative categorization in civil engineering

In the paper we indicate the way to allow the coexistence of multiple structures that are mutually supportive, but not mutually exclusive. It allows less organized users to classify entities according to their suitable structure, whilst leaving the possibility for specialised users to classify these entities into related field classification systems or domain ontologies, in mutually beneficial cooperation. Replacing the reductionist enumerative structure with multiplicative categorization should bring organizational and terminological flexibility that will allow future updates without disrupting the existing categorization. It allows one to use parallel hierarchical branches of categories according to aspects and classify the entity into several branches at the same time. It should allow users the freedom to create their own structures without disrupting the structures of other user groups. Such structures could coexist happily side by side. The aim is to indicate the model of an independent data organization system in building design in a multilingual environment, connected through diverse CAD, GIS, BIM, CAFM applications, ECM, CDE, emails, databases and file systems.

Visual Perception and Understanding of Variable Message Signs: The Influence of the Drivers’ Age and Message Layout

Variable message signs (VMS) are used to display messages providing up-to-date traffic-relevant information so that drivers can safely adapt their behavior in real time. The information reported in a VMS should be brief but comprehensive to minimize perception time. The latter can be influenced by the way the message is displayed. This study investigates how the different ways of displaying the same message can influence reading time and the information perception process at different driving speeds. Specifically, the following message characteristics are investigated: (i) use of uppercase and lowercase letters; (ii) use of familiar pictograms; and (iii) use of less familiar pictograms. Furthermore, as perception time typically changes with ageing, drivers belonging to three different age classes are tested. The experimentation was performed by simulating a vehicle passing along a straight road upon which a VMS displaying different messages was placed. Experimentation results are analyzed using the Kruskal–Wallis test, Friedman rank-sum test and Welch one-way ANOVA, showing that: (i) the use of uppercase or lowercase does not seem to significantly affect reading times; (ii) the use of pictograms that are not very familiar to habitual road-users can be counterproductive for the perception process; (iii) elderly drivers always have greater difficulty in perceiving the message than young or middle-aged drivers. The findings of this study can be of help for traffic authorities to design the most suitable structure for a VMS so that its information can be unequivocally and immediately conveyed to drivers.

Percepção dos treinadores do Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB) sobre o desenvolvimento dos atletas brasileiros (Perception of coaches of the Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB) about the development of Brazilian athletes) (Percepción de los entrenadores del Novo Basque

O objetivo do estudo foi analisar a percepção de treinadores profissionais de basquetebol sobre o processo de formação e desenvolvimento de atletas brasileiros. Participaram 9 treinadores de equipes que disputaram o NBB, nas temporadas 2018-2019. Utilizou-se um roteiro de entrevista semiestruturada. Após a transcrição literal das entrevistas, o conteúdo foi analisado a partir de miniunidades (MUs). Os treinadores ressaltaram a ineficiência das escolas em desenvolver a coordenação motora dos alunos, e a precariedade da estrutura física para prática do basquetebol. Os entrevistados salientaram que a falta de espaços públicos para prática do esporte e a ausência de um programa nacional que capilarize o esporte são problemas sérios que necessitam ser enfrentados. Eles comentaram que o basquetebol universitário não contribui efetivamente para o desenvolvimento dos atletas brasileiros rumo ao profissionalismo. Além disso, as instituições esportivas não apresentam uma estrutura adequada para desenvolver os atletas. Verifica-se na categoria de base a existência de poucas equipes federadas, e consequentemente um número pequeno de competições e de partidas oficias disputadas. Conclui-se, pela percepção dos treinadores, que no Brasil existe uma precariedade nas ações das instituições educacionais, governamentais e esportivas em desenvolver atletas de basquetebol masculino de categoria de base. Abstract. The aim of the study was to analyze the perception of professional basketball coaches about the process of training and development of Brazilian athletes. Nine coaches participated in the NBB, seasons 2018 and 2019. A semi-structured interview was used. After the literal transcription of interviews, the content was analyzed from meaning-units (MUs). The coaches highlighted the inefficiency of schools in developing the motor coordination of students, and the precarious physical structure for the practice of basketball. The interviewees noted that in the absence of public spaces for practicing sports and in the absence of a national program that democratize the sports is a serious problem that need to be faced. They comment that college basketball does not contribute effectively to the development of Brazilian athletes towards professionalism Furthermore, sports institutions do not present a suitable structure to develop athletes. In the youth category, there are few federated teams, and consequently a few competitions and official matches played. It is concluded, by the coaches’ perception, which in Brazil there is a precariousness in the actions of educational, governmental and sports institutions in developing male basketball players in the youth category. Resumen. El objetivo del estudio fue analizar la percepción de los entrenadores profesionales de baloncesto sobre el proceso de formación y desarrollo de los deportistas brasileños. Nueve entrenadores de equipos que compitieron en el NBB participaron en las temporadas 2018-2019. Se utilizó un guión de entrevista semiestructurado. Luego de la transcripción literal de las entrevistas, se analizó el contenido a partir de mini unidades. Los entrenadores destacaron la ineficiencia de las escuelas en el desarrollo de la coordinación motora de los estudiantes, y la precariedad de la estructura física para la práctica del baloncesto. Los encuestados destacaron que la falta de espacios públicos para la práctica de deportes y la ausencia de un programa nacional para democratizar el deporte son problemas graves que deben abordarse. Comentaron que el baloncesto universitario no contribuye de manera efectiva al desarrollo de los deportistas brasileños hacia el profesionalismo. Además, las instituciones deportivas no cuentan con una estructura adecuada para desarrollar a los deportistas. En la categoría base, hay pocos equipos federados y, en consecuencia, un pequeño número de competiciones y partidos oficiales disputados. Se concluye, según la percepción de los entrenadores, que en Brasil existe una precariedad en las acciones de las instituciones educativas, gubernamentales y deportivas en el desarrollo de atletas de baloncesto masculinos en la categoría base.

Research and Evaluation of the Influence of the Construction of the Gate and the Influence of the Piston Velocity on the Distribution of Gases into the Volume of the Casting

Distribution of gasses to the cast volume and volume of pores can be maintained within the acceptable limits by means of correct setting of technological parameters of casting and by selection of suitable structure and gating system arrangement. The main idea of this paper solves the issue of suitability of die casting adjustment—i.e., change of technological parameters or change of structural solution of the gating system—with regards to inner soundness of casts produced in die casting process. Parameters which were compared included height of a gate and velocity of a piston. The melt velocity in the gate was used as a correlating factor between the gate height and piston velocity. The evaluated parameter was gas entrapment in the cast at the end of the filling phase of die casting cycle and at the same time percentage of porosity in the samples taken from the main runner. On the basis of the performed experiments it was proved that the change of technological parameters, particularly of pressing velocity of the piston, directly influences distribution of gasses to the cast volume.

Structural Optimization Method of a FinRay Finger for the Best Wrapping of Object

Soft gripping, in which the gripper adapts to differently shaped objects, is in great demand for use in unknown or dynamically changing environments and is one of the main research subjects in soft robotics. Several systems have already been created, one of which is a passive shape-adaptable finger based on the FinRay effect. The geometric shape of this finger ensures that the finger wraps around the object it grips. FinRay fingers have been studied in several studies, which have changed the internal structure and examined how gripping force’s dependence on finger deformation changes. So far, however, no specific way has been determined to evaluate the proposed finger regarding its ability to wrap around the object. This work comes up with a new and simple method to evaluate the finger’s wrapping around the object mathematically. Based on this evaluation method, several different patterns of the internal structure of FinRay fingers were tested. The fingers were first tested in a simulation program, which simulated a steel roller indentation with a diameter of 20 mm in the middle of the finger’s contact surface. Based on the simulation results, selected types of structure were made by the Fused Filament Fabrication method from a flexible filament and tested on a real test rig to verify the results of the simulation and compare it with the real behaviour. According to the methodology used, the results show that the most suitable structure of the selected tested fingers from the point of view of wrapping the finger around the object is a structure without internal filling. Designers can simply use the new evaluation method to compare their designed finger variants and select the most suitable one according to the ability to wrap around the gripped object. They can also use graphs from this work’s results and determine the finger’s dimensions without internal filling according to the required forces and deflection.