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FRACTURE MECHANICS ASSESSMENT OF CRACKED WELDED POLYOLEFIN PIPES
Mikula, Jakub ; Ševčík, Martin ; Hutař, Pavel ; Náhlík, Luboš
The aim of this paper is to present methodology for estimation of fracture mechanics parameters in polyolefin pipes with an axially oriented crack using three dimensional numerical analyses. Linear elastic fracture mechanics is used for description of fracture behavior. In the paper, three different variants of pipe weld with an internal axial semi-elliptical crack are studied. Numerical models correspond to a cracked pipe containing material nonhomogeneity in the welding area caused by welding process. A critical locations of the crack initiated along the pipe wall is found and the stress intensity factor for such cracks with real crack shape are numerically estimated in these critical locations. The methodology presented here can be used for estimation of residual lifetime of welded polymer pipes containing crack.
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Feasibility Study of an Interactive Medical Diagnostic Wikipedia
Grim, Jiří
Considering different application possibilities of product distribution mixtures we have proposed three formal tools in the last years, which can be used to accumulate decision-making know-how from particular diagnostic cases. First, we have developed a structural mixture model to estimate multidimensional probability distributions from incomplete and possibly weighted data vectors. Second, we have shown that the estimated product mixture can be used as a knowledge base for the Probabilistic Expert System (PES) to infer conclusions from definite or even uncertain input information. Finally we have shown that, by using product mixtures, we can exactly optimize sequential decision-making by means of the Shannon formula of conditional informativity. We combine the above statistical tools in the framework of an interactive open-access medical diagnostic system with automatic accumulation of decision-making knowledge.
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Query-by-Example Spoken Term Detection
Fapšo, Michal ; Matoušek, Jindřich (referee) ; Metze, Florian (referee) ; Černocký, Jan (advisor)
Tato práce se zabývá vyhledáváním výrazů v řeči pomocí mluvených příkladů (QbE STD). Výrazy jsou zadávány v mluvené podobě a jsou vyhledány v množině řečových nahrávek, výstupem vyhledávání je seznam detekcí s jejich skóre a časováním. V práci popisujeme, analyzujeme a srovnáváme tři různé přístupy ke QbE STD v jazykově závislých a jazykově nezávislých podmínkách, s jedním a pěti příklady na dotaz. Pro naše experimenty jsme použili česká, maďarská, anglická a arabská (levantská) data, a pro každý z těchto jazyků jsme natrénovali 3-stavový fonémový rozpoznávač. To nám dalo 16 možných kombinací jazyka pro vyhodnocení a jazyka na kterém byl natrénovaný rozpoznávač. Čtyři kombinace byly tedy závislé na jazyce (language-dependent) a 12 bylo jazykově nezávislých (language-independent). Všechny QbE systémy byly vyhodnoceny na stejných datech a stejných fonémových posteriorních příznacích, pomocí metrik: nesdružené Figure-of-Merit (non pooled FOM) a námi navrhnuté nesdružené Figure-of-Merit se simulací normalizace přes promluvy (utterrance-normalized non-pooled Figure-of-Merit). Ty nám poskytly relevantní údaje pro porovnání těchto QbE přístupů a pro získání lepšího vhledu do jejich chování. QbE přístupy použité v této práci jsou: sekvenční statistické modelování (GMM/HMM), srovnávání vzorů v příznacích (DTW) a srovnávání grafů hypotéz (WFST). Abychom porovnali výsledky QbE přístupů s běžnými STD systémy vyhledávajícími textové výrazy, vyhodnotili jsme jazykově závislé konfigurace také s akustickým detektorem klíčových slov (AKWS) a systémem pro vyhledávání fonémových řetězců v grafech hypotéz (WFSTlat). Jádrem této práce je vývoj, analýza a zlepšení systému WFST QbE STD, který po zlepšení dosahuje podobných výsledků jako DTW systém v jazykově závislých podmínkách.
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Do Consumers Really Follow a Rule of Thumb? Three Thousand Estimates from 130 Studies Say “Probably Not”
Havránek, Tomáš ; Sokolova, Anna
We show that three factors combine to explain the mean excess sensitivity reported in studies estimating consumption Euler equations: the use of macro data, publication bias, and liquidity constraints. When micro data are used, publication bias is corrected for, and the households under examination do not face liquidity constraints, the literature implies no evidence for the excess sensitivity of consumption to income. Hence little remains for pure rule-of-thumb behavior. The results hold when we control for 45 additional variables reflecting the methods employed by researchers and use Bayesian model averaging to account for model uncertainty. The estimates of excess sensitivity are also systematically affected by the order of approximation of the Euler equation, the treatment of non-separability between consumption and leisure, and the choice of proxy for consumption.
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Measuring phonological awareness – blend phoneme test in the beginning of schooling: an comparison of classical test theory and item response theory
Gorčíková, M. ; Šafr, Jiří
The main purpose of this paper is to show dis/advantages of two approaches classical test theory (CTT) and item response theory (IRT) to assess the level of diagnostic tools for evaluating phonemic awareness among first-grade students using longitudinal survey of children during the first grade of primary school (25 schools in Prague and Central Bohemia, 439 pupils). Phonemic awareness (FA) was measured by the task blend phonemes into syllables and words. The advantage of IRT compared to CTT is primarily a concept of independence of the test items. The probability of a response is dependent on the level of latent ability and characteristics of items. So if we know the characteristic of items parameter (difficulty) it could be estimated from the pupil´s responses the level of language skill for diagnostics. The results showed the need for blend phoneme test modifications (in particular for the end of the first grade) so as to adequately measure the high growth of FA ability levels during the first grade.
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Nové postupy biomonitoringu cizorodých látek ve vodním prostředí
ČERVENÝ, Daniel
Within the presented work, several approaches of biomonitoring were studied. A well-established method for human health risk assessment was applied to evaluate the quality of fish from open waters in the Czech Republic. As this work is targeted on sport fishermen, who frequently consume their own catches, besides the publication in scientific journal, a brochure with results of this study was distributed via the Czech Fishing Union. Health risks for consumers related to the consumption of wild fish were found strongly species and locality dependent. As there is no risks related with the consumption of carp (Cyprinus carpio) at all investigated sites, frequent consumption of predatory fish should be avoided at some fishing grounds. The use of passive samplers has become more and more attractive in the last two decades. As these devices are able to mimic the biological uptake of chemicals, their potential for replacing fish as bioindicators in routine biomonitoring programmes is evident. In our study, the comparison between analysis of fish tissues and POCIS extracts from selected sampling sites confirms this idea about interchangeability of these indicators in the case of PFASs as target pollutants. Moreover, no metabolic transformation of contaminants present in water take place in passive samplers contrary to living organisms, thus these reflect the actual contamination at the locality more precisely. The use of passive samplers completely fulfils the internationally accepted principles of Replacement, Reduction, Refinement (the three R´s). Another promising approach using YOY fish as bioindicators was evaluated within the present study. Multispecies samples of YOY fish homogenate was found as a better indicator for wide range of pollutants than muscle tissue of adult fish within one species from the same locality. As all inner organs and tissues are presented in analysed samples, more target pollutants in higher concentrations are detected compared to the muscle of adults. Besides the higher sensitivity in pollutants detection and quantification, practical and economic benefits are of concern in the case of the YOY fish approach. The YOY fish approach also particularly fulfil the three R´s strategy, as sampling of this age group of fish has a smaller impact on the environment than the sampling of adults. In case of mercury, that was found as a limiting contaminant for the consumption of fish from open waters in the Czech Republic, a nonlethal method of finclips sampling can be used for the monitoring of this compound in aquatic environments. Besides the monitoring, our optimised method for the estimation of muscle tissue concentrations could be used for human health risk assessment as well. The difference between real muscle concentrations and concentrations estimated using our method differs less than 10% in most of the investigated localities. Benthic organisms are an important part of the food web in aquatic environments, but insufficient information about its contamination is available. In another study included in this thesis, first evidence about bioaccumulation of certain pharmaceuticals in benthic organisms was described. Although, pharmaceuticals are generally considered to be not accumulative in organisms, our study proved that certain pharmaceuticals have bioaccumulation potential. From this finding, it is evident that not only the concentrations of pharmaceutical dissolved in water but also the diet represents an important exposure pathway of contamination by these compounds for organisms (fish) inhabiting aquatic environments.
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The effect of pyrethroid based pesticides on fish
RICHTEROVÁ, Zuzana
Pyrethroids are ones of the most used pesticides worldwides. The widespread use and high stability of pyrethroids lead to the assumption of that their occurrence in the environment could be quite frequent. They can reach water ecosystem as pollutants. Residues of pyrethroids are not only detected in the water column, but also in sediments and in fish tissues. The first study was devoted to the product Nexide containing 60 g.l-1 of active substance gamma-cyhalothrin. Tested Nexide concentrations were 5, 25, 50, 100, and 250 µg.l-1. Early life stage test was used.Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) was tested. There were significant mortalities in all concentrations except the lowest concentration during the trial. The lowest concentration tested 5 µg.l-1 only caused a slightly increased mortality. This lowest concentration influenced the growth in length and weight negatively, decelerated ontogenetic development, and made the body surface of the individuals darker. Histopathology of individuals from this concentration revealed dystrophy in liver. Examination of kidney, intestine and gills did not show significant histopathological differences compared with control. The evaluation of selected parameters of oxidative stress demonstrated a significantly higher activity of detoxification enzyme glutathione-S.transferase (GST) and a significantly lower activity of defensive enzyme glutathione peroxidase (GPx) compared with the control group. The other examined parameters of oxidative stress such as catalase (CAT), glutation reductase (GR), and lipid peroxidation determined by using the thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARs) were comparable to the control group. Changes in oxidative stress parameters suggest that exposure of the organism to the product Nexide in the given concentration leads to dysbalance of defensive enzymes. The second study was devoted to the product Cyperkill 25 EC containing 250 g.l-1. Tested Cyperkill 25 EC concentrations were 7.2, 36, 72, 144, and 360 µg.l-1. The procedure of the trial was the same as the preceded one. There were 100% mortalities in all concentrations except the lowest concentration during the trial. The lowest tested concentration 7.2 µg.l-1 allowed 90% of individuals to stay alive till the end of experiment. The lowest concentration influenced the growth in length and weight negatively and decelerated ontogenetic development compared with the control. Any individual exposed to this concentration did not reach juvenile stage until the end of the trial. Dark pigmentation was visible in 68% of these exposed individuals on the last day. Similar darkening was visible in individuals from higher concentrations shortly before death too. Histological examination did not revealed significant changes in intestine, liver, kidney, and gills compared with the control group. Evaluation of selected parameters of oxidative stress demonstrated significantly lower activities of GST, GR, and GPx. Activities of CAT and TBARS were comparable with the control group. Changes in oxidative stress parameters suggest that exposure of the organism to the product Cyperkill 25 EC in the given concentration could induce oxidative stress and interfere with the activities of antioxidant enzymes. The presented thesis summarises actual data about pyrethroids and their influence on fish. The demonstrated effects confirm high susceptibility of early developmental stages of fish to tested pesticides. When interpreting the results, we have to take into account the fact that studies showed this risk even on single pyrethroid substances. But water organisms are exposed to many other more or less toxic products and substances in a real environment. These xenobiotics could react with each other and their mixture could even potentiate negative effects. The performed studies also clearly show the significant differences in the sensitivity of embryonic and embryolarval tests.
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The influence of time in feed enrichment with unsaturated fatty acids to selected parameters of pig carcass value with regard to the fatty acid composition of intramuscular fat
Pantoflíček, Jiří ; Čítek, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Miloslav, Miloslav (referee)
The thesis aims to evaluate the impact of aliment with higher contents of unsaturated fatty acids, consumed for a different period of time, to utilitarian attributes of pigs before a slaughter, with respect to the composition of fatty acids in the intramuscular fat of tested animals.
The factors that influence the quality of meat are interior, exterior and technological. Among the qualitative markers of quality of meat we rank the share of meat and fat, acidification rate, color, viscosity, contents of intramuscular fat (marbling), smell, taste, juiciness and delicacy. Together with hygienic and nutritive attributes, consumers and processors consider these technological and sensory aspects to be the most important.
The ultimate goal of this thesis is to compare the impact of different length of feeding soy oil on parameters of pork meat quality and growth.
However, the interference of growth attributes was inconclusive and the test result came similar in different groups of tested pigs.
What was influenced by adding the soy oil into the feed is the fatty acids profile. The contents of fatty acids remained unchanged in every test group. Over time the content of monounsaturated fatty acids decreased. The most significant change occurred in representation of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which increased in the test groups with longer period of feeding with enriched feed, mostly at the expense of monounsaturated fatty acids.
The differences between the test groups of pigs were statistically inconclusive; therefore the soy oil enrichment did not worsen the technological parameters of meat and fat quality.
The longer period of feeding the soy oil enriched feed led to significant increase in polyunsaturated fatty acids. According to the findings, adding the soy oil into the feed will have no effect at all if done short time before the slaughter.
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