| |
|
Modelling, parameter estimation, optimisation and control of transport and reaction processes in bioreactors.
ŠTUMBAUER, Václav
With the significant potential of microalgae as a major biofuel source of the future, a considerable scientific attention is attracted towards the field of biotechnology and bioprocess engineering. Nevertheless the current photobioreactor (PBR) design methods are still too empirical. With this work I would like to promote the idea of designing a production system, such as a PBR, completely \emph{in silico}, thus allowing for the in silico optimization and optimal control determination. The thesis deals with the PBR modeling and simulation. It addresses two crucial issues in the current state-of-the-art PBR modeling. The first issue relevant to the deficiency of the currently available models - the incorrect or insufficient treatment of either the transport process modeling, the reaction modeling or the coupling between these two models. A correct treatment of both the transport and the reaction phenomena is proposed in the thesis - in the form of a unified modeling framework consisting of three interconnected parts - (i) the state system, (ii) the fluid-dynamic model and (iii) optimal control determination. The proposed model structure allows prediction of the PBR performance with respect to the modelled PBR size, geometry, operating conditions or a particular microalgae strain. The proposed unified modeling approach is applied to the case of the Couette-Taylor photobioreactor (CTBR) where it is used for the optimal control solution. The PBR represents a complex multiscale problem and especially in the case of the production scale systems, the associated computational costs are paramount. This is the second crucial issue addressed in the thesis. With respect to the computational complexity, the fluid dynamics simulation is the most costly part of the PBR simulation. To model the fluid flow with the classical CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) methods inside a production scale PBR leads to an enormous grid size. This usually requires a parallel implementation of the solver but in the parallelization of the classical methods lies another relevant issue - that of the amount of data the individual nodes must interchange with each other. The thesis addresses the performance relevant issues by proposing and evaluation alternative approaches to the fluid flow simulation. These approaches are more suitable to the parallel implementation than the classical methods because of their rather local character in comparison to the classical methods - namely the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) for fluid flow, which is the primary focus of the thesis in this regard and alternatively also the discrete random walk based method (DRW). As the outcome of the thesis I have developed and validated a new Lagrangian general modeling approach to the transport and reaction processes in PBR - a framework based on the Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) and the model of the Photosynthetic Factory (PSF) that models correctly the transport and reaction processes and their coupling. Further I have implemented a software prototype based on the proposed modeling approach and validated this prototype on the case of the Coutte-Taylor PBR. I have also demonstrated that the modeling approach has a significant potential from the computational costs point of view by implementing and validating the software prototype on the parallel architecture of CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture). The current parallel implementation is approximately 20 times faster than the unparallized one and decreases thus significantly the iteration cycle of the PBR design process.
|
|
Individual human odor as a forensic trail in criminal proceeding made by contact or contactless transmission and its resistance to physical agents
Santariová, Milena ; Bartoš, Luděk (advisor) ; Chmelíková, Eva (referee)
The dissertation thesis consists of four papers that have been published in scientific journals.
Study n. 1
The need to recover evidence from water is quite common in criminal investigation. The article deals with the possibility to collect human scent from such objects and with the ability of specially trained dogs to match such scent samples with scent samples collected from detained suspects. During an experiment, designed as a blind one, it has been proved, that human scent can survive on submerged objects and can be later used for scent identification.
Study n. 2
To collect odors the Czech Republic Police use special fabric sorbents manufactured under the registered mark ARATEX. Before use the fabric sorbent is treated by water vapor sterilization. After the scent identification the sorbent is destroyed. The goal of the study was to verify if the vapor sterilization is effective enough to remove human scent that has already penetrated into the sorbent structure or in other words if the sorbent can be exposed to vapor sterilization and then used again. Specially trained dogs were used to match starting odors with target odors in the line-ups. The results showed that dogs are able to correctly match human odors even after they have being exposed to vapor sterilization.
Study n. 3
The purpose of the study was to determine the temperature at which the human scent is degraded so that a dog would not be able to identify it. In contrast to expectations, eight dogs used in the experiment almost flawlessly identified human scents from five scent donors exposed to temperatures of 100°C, 200°C, 300°C, 400°C, 500°C, 600°C, 700°C, and 800°C. Only two of the dogs were able to identify 5 of 15 scent samples exposed to 900°C. No dog identified a scent exposed to 1000°C. Our study verified heat survivability of human scent far beyond existing expectations.
Study n. 4
We tested the hypothesis that if odor fallout (the release of a human odor onto an untouched object) in human subjects exists, then holding a hand above an absorbent will produce a detectable scent which will be subsequently matched in a detection test by trained dogs. Scents were collected from seven males to sterile cotton absorbent squares. The left hand was used to get the control scent and the right hand served as the target scent. Each experimental subject was sitting and his left hand was laid down on a cotton square for 3 min. The right hand was held 5 cm above another cotton square for 3 min. The scent identification was done by two specially trained police German shepherds. Both dogs performed 14 line-ups and correctly matched the collected scents of all test subjects. The results suggest the existence of human odor fallout, whereby a human scent trace is left by humans even if they do not touch an object.
|
|
DCTOOL-A3
Bakule, Lubomír ; Papík, Martin ; Rehák, Branislav
DCTOOL-A3 is a documentation of Matlab routines developed for the design of decentralized control of large scale complex systems. The current beta version covers three areas as follows:\nReport 4.1 deals with the event-triggered control design for unstructured uncertain systems. Both non-quantized and quantized feedback is analyzed. The results are given in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Logarithmic quantizer is used. Numerical example illustrates the effectiveness of the presented results.\nReport 4.2 presents a new decentralized overlapping wireless control design with a switched communication protocol. The method is applied by simulations on the 20-story building structure including the test of robustness of the methods against sensor failures and network node dropouts of a digital network.\nReport 4.3 presents the construction of a new decentralized wireless controller and a set of heuristic algorithms for evaluation of packet dropouts, sensor faults and actuator faults. The digital network operates at the standard frequency used in well-known widely-used industrial protocols. The results are tested at the Benchmark model decomposed into two disjoint substructures. The results are published. Thus, the details are omitted here.
|
|
Swarm Intelligence
Winklerová, Zdenka ; Šaloun, Petr (referee) ; Škrinárová,, Jarmila (referee) ; Zbořil, František (advisor)
The intention of the dissertation is the applied research of the collective ( group ) ( swarm ) intelligence . To demonstrate the applicability of the collective intelligence, the Particle Swarm Optimization ( PSO ) algorithm has been studied in which the problem of the collective intelligence is transferred to mathematical optimization in which the particle swarm searches for a global optimum within the defined problem space, and the searching is controlled according to the pre-defined objective function which represents the solved problem. A new search strategy has been designed and experimentally tested in which the particles continuously adjust their behaviour according to the characteristics of the problem space, and it has been experimentally discovered how the impact of the objective function representing a solved problem manifests itself in the behaviour of the particles. The results of the experiments with the proposed search strategy have been compared to the results of the experiments with the reference version of the PSO algorithm. Experiments have shown that the classical reference solution, where the only condition is a stable trajectory along which the particle moves in the problem space, and where the influence of a control objective function is ultimately eliminated, may fail, and that the dynamic stability of the trajectory of the particle itself is not an indicator of the searching ability nor the convergence of the algorithm to the true global solution of the solved problem. A search strategy solution has been proposed in which the PSO algorithm regulates its stability by continuous adjustment of the particles behaviour to the characteristics of the problem space. The proposed algorithm influenced the evolution of the searching of the problem space, so that the probability of the successful problem solution increased.
|
|
Formal Systems Based on Automata and Grammars
Čermák, Martin ; Rybička, Jiří (referee) ; Šaloun, Petr (referee) ; Meduna, Alexandr (advisor)
Tyto teze navazují na studium gramatických a automatových systémů. Na začátku, práce pojednává o regulárně řízených CD gramatických systémech využívající frázově strukturované gramatiky jako komponenty. Do systémů jsou zavedena tři nová omezení na derivacích a je studován jejich vliv na vyjadřovací sílu těchto systémů. Poté, tato práce definuje dva automatové protějšky ke kanonickým multi-generatiním nonterminálem a pravi\-dlově synchronizovyným gramatickým systemům, generujících vektory řetězců, a ukazuje, že všechny tyto vyšetřované systemy si jsou vzájemně ekvivalentní. Dále táto práce tyto systémy zobecňuje a zakládá fundamentalní hierarchii n-jazyků (množin n-tic řetězců). V~souvislosti se zavedenými systémy tyto teze zavádí automatově-gramatický převodník založený na konečném automatu a bezkontextové gramatice. Tento převodník je pak studovaný a použitý jako nástroj přímého překladu. V~poslední části jsou v této práci zavedené automatové systémy jádrem pársovací metody založené na stromově řízených gramatikách s n omezenými cestami.
|
|
Surface modification of glass fibers for polymer composites
Knob, Antonín ; Marek,, Aleš (referee) ; Burša, Jiří (referee) ; Čech, Vladimír (advisor)
The doctoral thesis is aimed at preparation of glass fiber reinforced polymer composites with controlled interphase formed by plasma-polymerized tetravinylsilane and tetravinylsilane/oxygen thin films. The thin polymer films of specific physico-chemical properties and thickness were deposited to improve interfacial adhesion of glass fiber/polyester composites. The fiber surface modification was performed by using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition in low-temperature RF plasma operating in an various effective power range and different treatment time. Test results were examined in relation to the interlayer thickness and different treatment conditions. The prepared interlayers were analyzed to evaluate physico-chemical composition and properties (XPS, RBS, ERDA, FTIR and spectroscopic elipsometry). Selected mechanical properties were evaluated by AFM. Mechanical response of plasma interlayers was evaluated by short beam shear test and direct method of testing the interfacial shear strength using microindentation. The interphase shear failure was controlled by the shear strength at the interlayer/fiber interface as follows from experimental and model data.
|
|
Project management in selected company
POKORNÝ, Radek
This work deals with project management in chosen company. It has two parts. The first part is theoretical, which is focused to theoretical treatment of the subject. It explains what is the project, management of projects, organizations of projects, processes of project management, what is target of project, communication, control, changes and risks and more. In the practical part I focused to concrete company and project management and than I analyzed concrete project. Name of the mentioned company is OHL ŽS, a.s. It is company from Spain, which acts all over the world. In the Czech Republic has the base in Brno. This company has several divisions and every of them is focused to different professional architecture. I have chosen division of structural engineering. This division builds all kinds of buildings. It could be construction of new buildings or reconstruction. To analysis of chosen project I used various business documents, contracts with investor or suppliers, document which include billing, timetable. I especially used my experience with projects of this company, and I was part of this project. Name of this project is Reconstruction of cladding including replacement windows and insulation. During the analysis of project I found a couple major gaps. If we could avoid these gaps, we could increase profit. These graphs is especially in management. At the beginning there were appointed two temporary construction managers. They doesn't care about result project, because they knew that they will not be to the end of the project. These gaps are because there is missing motivation system. Project manager can´t affect results of employees. It doesn´t depend on performance of employees, they always has the same wages. For elimination of these gaps I proposed several suggestions for improvement. The first suggestion is modification and extension of motivation system. New motivation system include personal evaluation. This evaluation depends on performance of employee. The second part is bonus from over profit. The next suggestion is make a new working position. This position would take care about controlling and project documentation. During the building project, especially at the end is construction manager very busy. It depend of decision of construction 63 manager what kind of activity will have prefer. Project documentation and administration or controlling of building works. If they are doing everything correct and technology are respect. Suggested position would take care about invoices, real work, which is done, project documentation, controlling of budget. The third suggestion is purchase of small machinery such as chipping hammers and drills. At this time they rent all devices. Rent is higher than purchase price. The last suggestion is use credit to restoration of fleet. At this time they have obsolete fleet, because the bought all cars by cash. It is not conveniently.
|
|
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.
|
|
Relationship between the coat colour and melanoma occurrence in horses
Hovorková, Kristýna ; Hofmanová, Barbora (advisor) ; Majzlík, Ivan (referee)
The literary review is divided into two main parts, the first part is dealing with the coloring of horses and their genetic base and the second part is dealing with melanoma formations of horses and their division. In the chapter about several color types of horses there is a description of forming basic color types which is done by three locuses: COLOR, EXTENSION and AGOUTI. Locus COLOR (CREAM) controls whether or not to create pigment. EXTENSION locus controls about the type of pigment and AGOUTI locus controls the distribution of pigment.
The next subsection gives a breakdown of the white color in horses. Greying proces is related with locus GREY where there is a loss of pigment and the coat itself. This process and mutation is commonly connected with dermal melanoma. Non-pigmented spots called vtiligos are connected with the greying process, which is more intense with increasing age. Vtiligios are commonly found in grey horses, at the same locations as dermal melanoma. The places are perianal area under the tail, around the vulva, lips, eyes and around the penis.
Melanoma formations are divided according to whether they occur in Grey horses or other colored horses and whether they have a benign or malignant potential. A further breakdown of melanomas at grey horses is whether it is a separate, smaller segments or large, associated lesions, when this condition is called dermal melanomatosis.
At the end of the thesis there is a description of the treatment options for melanoma. The most effective appears to be a surgical removal of smaller formations. There were studies which have examined the anticancer action of the drug cimetidine but the results are not yet sufficiently conclusive. As preventing the occurrence of melanoma in grey horses it is appropriate to implement the necessary measures and individuals who are concerned should not be included in the next breeding.
|
guest ::
