Winter outdoor trekking: spiritual aspects of environmental education

This text deals with the potential spiritual aspects of being outdoors within the framework of non-formal and informal education. The course being examined was organized by the Vacation School of Lipnice – Outward Bound Czech Republic, and the participants in this course made up the research sample. While the research was not directly focused on the spiritual dimension of the human way of being, our analysis of the interviews (n = 12) and the results of the Prague Spirituality Questionnaire (n = 10) indicate a connection between the fortnight spent trekking through the winter landscape and spirituality in terms of the educational potential it has for personal development. The data obtained in the interviews may be structured into the following main semantic fields connected with nature: naturalness, the element of fire, senses, aesthetic perceptions, bad weather, and spiritual dimension. In the questionnaire respondents were inclined to include factors such as ethical enthusiasm, sense of belonging, and deep ecology. The results may be interpreted as suggesting that due to the immediacy of direct experience the two-week-long trekking journey in the winter landscape (snowshoeing and camping in tents) reinforces a dimension of environmental education that surpasses any rational verification and enters the spiritual realms.     

The use of ICT devices by older people with a special focus on their type and respondents’ age: A Czech case study

The recent demographic trends show a rapid increase of aging population, especially in developed countries. Therefore, there is an urgent need to look for the opportunities of maintaining the quality of life of this aging population. One of the solutions seems to be the use of information and communication technology (ICT) devices, which can promote autonomy of older people by facilitating the execution of many routine activities such as shopping or communication. The purpose of this study is to explore the use of ICT devices among older people in the Czech Republic with respect to their type and respondents’ age. The methods include a questionnaire survey, as well as statistical processing of data collection. The results indicate that present seniors are becoming more digitally literate, especially in the use of mobile phones. However, the use of the technological devices then dramatically drops at the age of 75 years. In addition, the results indicate that future research should focus on the use of mobile phones, respectively smartphones, and its effectiveness on the improvement of quality of life of older generation groups.     

Critical capabilities for effective management of complementarity between product and process innovation: Cases from the food and drink industry

The management of the complementarity between product and process innovation has been discussed for five decades. The most recent advancement in the conceptual development uncovered different extents of complementarities occurring between product and process innovation at the project level. Prior literature suggested that facilitating a better interplay between these two types of innovation holds the potential for the development of a long-lasting competitive advantage. Despite its theoretical and managerial importance, management of new product and process development (NPPD) projects with different extents of complementarity between product and process innovation remains poorly understood. To address this gap, we adopt perspectives from contingency theory and dynamic capabilities. Building upon Hullova, Trott and Simms’s (2016) classification of complementarities we investigate the management of different complementarity types in four NPPD projects in the UK food and drink industry. We introduce empirically derived framework for effective management of NPPD projects with different extents of complementarity between product and process innovation. The framework identifies three critical capabilities and associated activities; 1) identifying the complexity and novelty of the project and assessment of internal and external resources and knowledge stocks, 2) deploying the most suitable integration mechanism(s) for the identified complementarity type and 3) leveraging of the knowledge learned and experience acquired during the project. Jointly, these three intertwined capabilities act as a complementarity management tool for product and process development managers, enabling them to manage their NPPD projects portfolios more effectively.     

Post-collection acidification of spot urine sample is not needed before measurement of electrolytes

IntroductionKidney stone formers can have higher oxalate and phosphate salt amounts in their urine than healthy people and we hypothesized that its acidification may be useful. The study aims to compare results of urine concentrations of calcium, magnesium, and inorganic phosphorus in the midstream portion of first voided morning urine samples without (FMU) and with post-collection acidification (FMUa) in kidney stone patients.Materials and methodsThis is a prospective single center study. A total of 138 kidney stone patients with spot urine samples were included in the study. Urine concentrations of calcium, magnesium and inorganic phosphorus were measured with and without post-collection acidification. Acidification was performed by adding 5 µL of 6 mol/L HCl to 1 mL of urine.ResultsThe median age (range) of all participants was 56 (18-87) years. The median paired differences between FMU and FMUa concentrations of calcium, magnesium, and inorganic phosphorus were: - 0.040 mmol/L, 0.035 mmol/L, and 0.060 mmol/L, respectively. They were statistically different: P < 0.001, P < 0.001, P = 0.004, respectively. These differences are not clinically significant because biological variations of these markers are much higher.ConclusionsNo clinically significant differences in urinary calcium, magnesium, and inorganic phosphorus concentrations between FMU and FMUa in patients with kidney stones were found.     

Efficient capture of circulating tumor cells with a novel immunocytochemical microfluidic device

Ability to perform cytogenetic interrogations on circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from the blood of cancer patients is vital for progressing toward targeted, individualized treatments. CTCs are rare compared to normal (bystander) blood cells, found in ratios as low as 1:10⁹. The most successful isolation techniques have been immunocytochemical technologies that label CTCs for separation based on unique surface antigens that distinguish them from normal bystander cells. The method discussed here utilizes biotin-tagged antibodies that bind selectively to CTCs. The antibodies are introduced into a suspension of blood cells intending that only CTCs will display surface biotin molecules. Next, the cell suspension is passed through a microfluidic channel that contains about 9000 transverse, streptavidin coated posts. A CTC making contact with a post has the opportunity to engage in a biotin-streptavidin reaction that immobilizes the cell. Bystander blood cells remain in suspension and pass through the channel. The goal of the present study is to establish the technical performance of these channels as a function of antigen density and operating conditions, especially flow rate. At 18 μL/min, over 70% of cells are captured at antigen densities greater than 30 000 sites/cell while 50% of cells are captured at antigen densities greater than 10 000. It is found that lower flow rates lead to decreasing cell capture probabilities, indicating that some streamlines develop which are never close enough to a post to allow cell-post contact. Future modeling and streamline studies using computational fluid dynamics software could aid in optimization of channel performance for capture of rare cells.