Jaroslav Kacetl

Legislative and ethical aspects of introducing new technologies in medical care for senior citizens in developed countries

Introduction The majority of developed countries are currently experiencing demographic aging. The most frequently expressed concerns related to the changing age structure are the increased costs of social and medical care, a lack of labor force in the job market, and financial sustainability of the pension system. These concerns are often based on the pessimistic view of population aging. This view understands aging as a prolonged period of illness and suffering. On the other hand, optimists believe that a longer life span is a result of increased quality of life and better health care. The quality of life may be improved not only by medicaments, but also by rapidly developing area of medical devices, which allow better care for seniors in many areas. Aim This contribution aims to assess the legislative environment and ethical questions related to the use of medical devices, especially medical devices, in medical care for senior citizens. Methods The methods used in this study are literature reviews of legislative and ethical environment in the European Union (EU) and the US. Results Main findings of this study result from assessing the state of medical device regulations in Europe and the US. Namely, the US regulation seems to be better arranged, which is probably due to the fact that there is only one responsible body – the US Food and Drug Administration, which is responsible for all medical device regulations. On the other hand, in the EU, talks about new legislation are led by ministers from all the EU member states and it may take a long time before all the EU countries come to an agreement.

Visitor management in protected areas

Abstract Visitor management is often too narrowly connected with mass/individual tourism in protected areas. Generally, visitor management can be used in any destination for mass and individual tourism also in connection with optimization of visitor flows, visitor concentration, and optimization of visitor impacts in a very broad sense. This paper focuses on the introduction of the theoretical concept of visitor management; it discusses different visitor management approaches and their principles, compares these approaches, and shortly describes typical visitor management tools. The discussion focuses on the appropriate use of chosen selected tools, mainly carrying capacity approaches, zoning and optimization of tourism infrastructure and monitoring, including tourism sustainability indicators. The computer simulation and prediction of qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the phenomena in destination is also shortly described. The typical application of visitor management in protected areas is described as a case study and a set of recommendations for visitor management are declared.

English Vocabulary for Tourism – A Corpus-Based Approach

The aim of this article is to determine the most frequent and important English vocabulary used in the area of travel and tourism. This is done on the basis of an analysis of the compiled corpus consisting of the collected tokens from Deutsche Welle video clips by using the software programme called Sketch Engine. In addition, the authors of this article set several useful implications for the teaching of this specific vocabulary, particularly the head nouns.

Computer Game-Based Foreign Language Learning: Its Benefits and Limitations

The aim of this article is to discuss the effectiveness of computer games in foreign language learning and highlights its advantages and disadvantages. The authors searched for available studies on this topic in the world’s databases Web of Science, Scopus, and Science Direct in the period of 2010–2017. The findings indicate that computer game-based foreign language learning seems to be especially effective in the vocabulary acquisition. They obviously generate a lot of advantages, for example, contact with foreign language environment, higher motivation for foreign language learning, or increased engagement in foreign language communication. On the other hand, there are also disadvantages of using technological devices in students’ learning, for instance, a lack of students’ concentration on the vocabulary acquisition and learning, inappropriate choice of the games which are not relevant for foreign language learning, unfamiliarity of computer games among teachers, or their unwillingness and anxiety to use them. Thus, in order to prove the effectiveness of the exploitation of computer games in foreign language learning, more research studies with larger subject samples should be conducted in this area.

Advantages and Drawbacks of Social Network Sites Utilization in Travel and Tourism

The article explores how social network sites (SNSs) are used in travel and tourism. Another objective is to find out and summarize whether or not SNSs are beneficial for the travel and tourism industry. This study was based on literature review that was employed to determine the most popular SNSs in travel and tourism. Then, selected widely used SNSs were compared and evaluated. The advent of Web 2.0 brought about significant changes in tourism. There are currently a lot of platforms that can be utilized in travel and tourism for various purposes. Some of these platforms focus on providing solely travel related content. However, the most popular SNSs used in tourism are still Facebook and Twitter, which do not specialize in tourism. The findings suggest that the tourism related SNSs provide their users predominantly with travel information and/or facilitate contacts. Advantages include an easy access to various content twenty four hours seven days a week regardless the time zone. Among their drawbacks belong a lack of lower control over content and difficulties with sorting the valuable from the worthless among loads of various platforms and messages.

Senior Citizens’ Views of Using Medical Technologies – Case Study in Central Europe

The aim of this paper is to specify the seniors’ attitudes towards modern technology as a tool for improving the quality of life in case of chronic disorders. The research is conducted in the Czech Republic. This study employs the analysis of both primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected through a questionnaire survey among senior citizens living in the Czech Republic. 170 questionnaires were distributed, 112 of which were returned and processed. The source of secondary data was the Czech Statistical Office. The case study done in the Czech Republic showed that local patients’ attitude to modern technologies is rather positive. 86% of respondents use personal computers and 32% wield smart phones. Patients tend to be hesitant only concerning the utilization of smart household appliances, which would be welcome by 44% of the respondents and only 26% of them agreed strongly.

Corporate Social Responsibility Seen Through Codes of Conduct in Czech Companies

The paper discusses the relation between social welfare and business profit. Based on the review of relevant literature, it proceeds to a brief history of corporate social responsibility (CSR), which sees profit as one of several—i.e., not the only one—important business values, grouped under three P-terms, namely profit, people, and planet. Then, the paper questions whether the commitment to CSR is voluntary. The code of conduct can be an instrumental gauge of the company’s commitment. Especially, whether and how they have created, implemented, and enforced their codes of conduct. The paper includes different theoretical approaches to creating them. In a pilot study, authors carried out a text analysis of tens of different company codes of conduct in order to assess the position of CSR and business ethics in Czech companies. Although results did not correspond fully with the authors’ hypotheses, they helped them specify the direction of further research.

Economic and Social Implications of the Internet of Things in Europe in Relation to Business

The increasing availability of high-quality data collected and transmitted in real-time through cheap, ubiquitous hardware and connections will undoubtedly lead to scientific, technical, and commercial innovation. Opportunities for business are massive in terms of improvements in productivity, and control of supply chains and distributed real-time processing. The paper’s objective is to analyze chosen economic and social impacts of the Internet of Things (IoT) in relation to its business potential. The Internet of Things is a scenario in which objects, animals or people are provided with sensors and gain the ability to communicate. The resulting information networks are capable of creating new business models, improving business processes, and reducing costs and risks. Economic impacts treated in this paper include aspects like ICT sector’s expenditures, innovation, and investment in the EU, and trends and business potential of the IoT. Social impacts, which might be both positive and negative, will be discussed as well. Among the positive ones belong improved access to information and education, new tools and equipment. On the other hand, the IoT may cause job losses or reduced physical activity and personal interaction.

Online Video Clips in Foreign Language Teaching

Information and communication technologies are an inseparable part of any human activity, including university education. The authors will discuss ways of exploiting videos in foreign language classes. A number of experts have been looking into this problem and come up with various suggestions. This contribution discusses the development of video clip utilization in language classes for students of Management of Travel and Tourism at the Faculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic. The authors have been using videos for 4 years. All the time, they have been trying to further develop both materials and procedure employed in the classroom. A questionnaire survey and a literature review have been conducted in order to determine the best possible practice of video utilization. The outcomes are presented below.