Viliam Kováč

An Agent-Based Economy Model of Real-Time Secondary Market for the Cognitive Radio Networks

The evolution of the cognitive radio network theory often presents economics-based methods and free market principles in the administration of network functioning. We present here, an application of the agent-based model in the case of an economy consisting of five primary users and secondary users (SUs) uniformly distributed in the linear region. We show that the price-based demand evolution and price competition play a significant role only in an “economizable” network loading band, while in both the low-loading and the over-loading state, the market rules fail. On the contrary, in the economizable loading state, the price competition, demand sensitivity and specific SUs’ locations work well, underpinning the known economic rules.

Standardised mortality rate for cerebrovascular diseases in the Slovak Republic from 1996 to 2013 in the context of income inequalities and its international comparison

Non-communicable diseases represent one of the greatest challenges for health policymakers. The main objective of this study is to analyse the development of standardised mortality rates for cerebrovascular disease, which is one of the most common causes of deaths, in relation to income inequality in individual regions of the Slovak Republic. Direct standardisation was applied using data from the Slovak mortality database, covering the time period from 1996 to 2013. The standardised mortality rate declined by 4.23% in the Slovak Republic. However, since 1996, the rate has been higher by almost 33% in men than in women. Standardised mortality rates were lower in the northern part of the Slovak Republic than in the southern part. The regression models demonstrated an impact of the observed income-related dimensions on these rates. The income quintile ratio and Gini coefficient appeared to be the most influencing variables. The results of the analysis highlight valuable baseline information for creating new support programmes aimed at eliminating health inequalities in relation to health and social policy.

Special Economic Zone Constitution According to Cluster Analysis

Abstract Globalisation trend has been clearly rising in the last decades of the twentieth century. Besides this, the huge reforms occurred in the many economies all over the world. The special economic zone idea introduces a concept for new thinking about the economic policy. This phenomenon has caused a lot of debates not only among economists, because of its broad influence. This paper offers a legislative view on constitution process of creation a special economic zone within the areas of the European Union and the European Free Trade Association. The applied methodology consists of a cluster analysis with the inputs in the form of the macroeconomic indicators and its interpretation in the present situation. The results show the divisions of the observed countries. Finally, there are the suggestions related to the constitution of a special economic zone in the explored area.

Development of Regional Disparities in Alzheimer’s Disease Mortality in the Slovak Republic from 1996 to 2015

Alzheimers disease—subsequently as AD in the text—represents a chronic neurodegenerative disease discussed very often in the recent period. It involves the G30 diagnosis expressing exactly AD and also the F00 diagnosis epitomising dementia in AD. The Slovak Republic has a very various population in terms of the disparities of the population localisation. The analysis is executed on the basement of the standardised mortality rate. It is calculated for the individual districts of the Slovak Republic to get a detailed spatial view and for each year of the explored period from 1996 to 2015 to get a time development. It has a considerably rising tendency. Therefore, the regional disparities of the standardised mortality rate of AD are analysed from an angle of view of its similarity, by its measurement in a form of a Euclidean distance approach. The results of the analysis offer the heat maps as the distance matrices in a graphic form and the maps of the individual districts too. These outputs reveal a very heterogeneous structure of the standardised mortality rate. Another graphic outcome demonstrates a distribution of its values among the districts throughout the whole Slovak Republic for the whole observed period. The results offer a comparison among the districts of the Slovak Republic too. The highest values and also the lowest values are reached in the different districts for the both sexes. Even, one district reaches the opposite result for the individual sexes. The age structure of the deceased population on the G30 diagnosis is also executed and the extreme values from an angle of a view of the districts are picked up. There are evident high differentiations between the individual districts of the Slovak Republic. The conclusion section involves the several key points and the potential suggestions for further research.

Regional disparities in medical equipment distribution in the Slovak Republic – a platform for a health policy regulatory mechanism

BackgroundThis study aims to examine the localisation of selected parameters in the deployment and use of medical equipment in the Slovak Republic and to verify potential regional disparities. The study evaluates the benefits of an analytical platform for regulatory mechanisms in the healthcare system.MethodsThe correspondence analysis is applied to the entire data set containing information regarding medical equipment distribution and mortality.ResultsThe results highlight regional differences in the use of medical equipment throughout the analysed period from 2008 to 2014. The total amount of medical equipment increased slightly to 9192 devices during the time span. In 2014, there was a significant decrease of 16.44%. Disparities are found in the frequencies and structure of medical equipment. In some regions, medical equipment is not present or is present in low numbers.ConclusionsThe results regarding regional disparities demonstrate the regional development of the amount of medical equipment. The deployment of medical equipment is not proportional, and not all of the analysed devices are available in each region. The tests also indicate the appropriateness of the amount of medical equipment and create a platform for further investigation. The results of the analysis suggest the unsuitable distribution of medical equipment throughout the Slovak regions, where there are significant regional disparities. These findings can serve as a monitoring platform to evaluate the accessibility and efficiency of medical equipment usage.Trial registrationNo human participants were involved in the research.

Income inequality in non-communicable diseases mortality among the regions of the Slovak Republic

AIM A great amount of non-communicable disease deaths poses a threat for all people and therefore represents the challenge for health policy makers, health providers and other health or social policy actors. The aim of this study is to analyse regional differences in non-communicable disease mortality in the Slovak Republic, and to quantify the relationship between mortality and economic indicators of the Slovak regions. METHODS Standardised mortality rates adjusted for age, sex, region, and period were calculated applying direct standardisation methods with the European standard population covering the time span from 2005 to 2013. The impact of income indicators on standardised mortality rates was calculated using the panel regression models. RESULTS The Bratislava region reaches the lowest values of standardised mortality rate for non-communicable diseases for both sexes. On the other side, the Nitra region has the highest standardised mortality rate for non-communicable diseases. Income quintile ratio has the highest effect on mortality, however, the expected positive impact is not confirmed. Gini coefficient at the 0.001 significance level and social benefits at the 0.01 significance level look like the most influencing variables on the standardised mortality rate. By addition of one percentage point of Gini coefficient, mortality rate increases by 148.19 units. When a share of population receiving social benefits increases by one percentage point, the standardised mortality rate will increase by 22.36 units. CONCLUSIONS Non-communicable disease mortality together with income inequalities among the regions of the Slovak Republic highlight the importance of economic impact on population health.