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Arctic tundra dendrochronology
Lehejček, Jiří ; Svoboda, Miroslav (advisor) ; Monika, Monika (referee)
Historically unprecedented environmental change in the Arctic ecosystems is often given into the context of its past and possible future development. In the region where instrumental meteorological observations are scarce archives need to be investigated in order to address this issues. The comprehensive synthesis one of the archives: long-live circumpolar evergreen Juniperus communis L. shrub is presented here. 20 individuals from southwest Greenland were investigated at the cell anatomy level to understand the ecology of the species and unhide its potential for environmental and climate reconstructions. The findings are as follows:
i) Stop of exponential cross-sectional conduit-lumen widening with increasing age is in contrast with conduit-lumen nature of trees. This indicates that shrubs do not need to saturate their water and nutrient demands via traits of classical hydraulic conductivity law but rather developed different mechanisms. Extreme weather conditions result in prostrate growth form. However, different weather factors probably influence shrub growth differently: While snow and wind act mechanically (a), temperature influences the form of growth physiologically (b). a) So long as the young shrub stem has high resilience to bend back to an upright position after snow melt and so long as it can withstand the wind during the vegetation season it most likely grows upright and the conduit-lumens widen. b) Temperature, resp. freeze-thaw events are responsible for the shrubs preference of safety (finite size of conduit-lumens) over hydraulic efficiency, thus not allowing for more primary growth. All of these (and other) factors are apparently working together and the transition of vertical to more horizontal growth is gradual. As a consequence, the conduit-lumen sizes may not have to be further increased (due to ecophysiological restrictions possibly also must not) because water is no longer transported against gravity.
ii) Observed age/growth trend has to be taken into consideration for further employment of the wood anatomical parameter in paleoenvironmental studies. That is, shrub cell parameters can only be used for this purposes if correctly detrended. This allows for more accurate as well as longer reconstructions because youth trend was often neglected in reconstructions based on shrub annual-rings.
iii) The south-western Greenland Ice-Sheet (GrIS) melt rates reconstruction is presented for the whole 20th century. This part of GrIS is considered as the most active. According to the presented reconstruction current GrIS melt rates are not uncommon for the last century being comparable to first decades of 20th century. This finding is particularly important contribution to the debate on Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). Too high fresh water inputs into the Northern Atlantic from GrIS melting may slow down or even stop the AMOC which would result in more continental climate in Europe. Presented results indicate that this threshold lies higher than observed current melt rates of GrIS.
Fascinating Juniperus comunnis species has shown to be able to address many ecological as well as environmental open questions and due to its longevity and abundant distribution has a great potential to become an important player in the Arctic research.
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Noise, Transport and Structural Properties of High Energy Radiation Detectors Based on CdTe
Šik, Ondřej ; Lazar, Josef (referee) ; Navrátil, Vladislav (referee) ; Grmela, Lubomír (advisor)
Poptávka ze strany vesmírného výzkumu, zdravotnictví a bezpečnostního průmyslu způsobila v posledních letech zvýšený zájem o vývoj materiálů pro detekci a zobrazování vysokoenergetického záření. CdTe a jeho slitina CdZnTe. jsou polovodiče umožnují detekci záření o energiích v rozsahu 10 keV až 500 keV. Šířka zakázaného pásma u CdTe / CdZnTe je 1.46 -1.6 eV, což umožňuje produkci krystalů o vysoké rezistivitě (10^10-10^11 cm), která je dostačující pro použití CdTe / CdZnTe při pokojové teplotě. V mé práci byly zkoumány detektory CdTe/CdZnTe v různých stádiích jejich poruchovosti. Byly použity velmi kvalitní spektroskopické detektory, materiál s nižší rezistivitou a výraznou polarizací, detektory s asymetrií elektrických parametrů kontaktů a teplotně degenerované vzorky. Z výsledků analýzy nízkofrekvenčního šumu je patrný obecný závěr, že zvýšená koncentrace defektů způsobí změnu povahy původně monotónního spektra typu 1/f na spektrum s výrazným vlivem generačně-rekombinačních procesů. Další výrazná vlastnost degenerovaných detektorů a detektorů nižší kvality je nárůst spektrální hustoty šumu typu 1/f se vzrůstajícím napájecím napětí se směrnicí výrazně vyšší než 2. Strukturální a chemické analýzy poukázaly, že teplotní generace detektorů způsobuje difuzi kovu použitého při kontaktování a stopových prvků hlouběji do objemu krystalu. Část mé práce je věnována modifikaci povrchu svazkem argonových iontů a jejímu vlivu na chemické složení a morfologii povrchu.
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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.
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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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Iniciace pohybu byčíku, signalizace a regulace pohyblivosti spermií ryb: fyzikální a biochemické řízení
PROKOPCHUK, Galina
The current study attempted to shed light on the regulatory processes and response arrangements of fish spermatozoa during the course of maturation and motility initiation. The first intent of this study was to improve the understanding of the mechanism underlying the acquisition of potential for sperm motility in sturgeon. Up to present work, the physiological process underlying sperm maturation in this species has not been described at all. Our results showed that sperm maturation in sturgeon occurs outside the testes because of dilution of sperm by urine and involves the participation of high molecular weight substances as well as calcium ions present in seminal fluid and/or urine. The second aim of the present study was to investigate the coping mechanisms in fish spermatozoa with osmotic and ionic activating mode, as well as in spermatozoa of euryhaline fishes, to various environmental conditions. We showed that alteration of environmental osmolality might affect the fish sperm in different ways, depending on fish species and modes of spermatozoa motility activation either osmotic or ionic mode. In response to osmotic stress caused by hypotonicity, carp spermatozoa regulated the flow of water across their cell membrane and increased their cytoplasmic volume during their short motility period. In contrast, no indications of sperm volume changes were observed neither in sterlet nor in brook trout spermatozoa, both of which having an ionic mode of motility activation. We also examined the mechanism by which sperm motility triggering in euryhaline fishes can adapt to a broad range of environmental salinity. Our results demonstrated that spermatozoa of euryhaline tilapia, Sarotherodon melanotheron heudelotii, reared in fresh-, sea- or hypersaline water can be activated in hypotonic, isotonic or hypertonic conditions of swimming milieu, provided Ca2+ ions are present at various levels. It was established that the higher the fish rearing salinity or the more hypertonic ambient media at spermatozoa activation, the higher extracellular concentration of Ca2+ ions is required. The results obtained in the present study allow suggesting that osmolality is not the main factor inhibiting sperm motility inside the testis in the S. melanotheron heudelotii. A third aim of this study was investigation of the regulation of motility initiation process and description of flagellar beating initiation in chondrostean spermatozoa. We detected that K+ inhibition of sperm motility in sturgeon can be by-passed due to the pre-exposure of sperm cells to a high osmolality shock prior to its transfer to K+-rich swimming media. Thus, we hypothesized that sturgeon spermatozoa may be activated by use of an unexpected signaling pathway, independent from regular ionic stimulation. The successive activation steps in sturgeon spermatozoa were investigated by high-speed video microscopy, using specific experimental situation, where sperm motility initiation was delayed in time up to several seconds. At motility initiation, the first couple of bends formed at the basal region begins to propagate towards the flagellar tip, but gradually fades when reaching the mid-flagellum. This behavior repeats several times until a stage where the amplitudes of bends gradually reach similar value, what eventually leads to sperm progressive displacement. The total period needed for the flagellum to switch from immobility with rigid shape to full activity with regular propagating bends ranges from 0.4 to 1.2 seconds. In conclusion, the results of the current study bring valuable pieces of information into the general understanding of the processes of maturation of fish spermatozoa, their adaptability to different physical and biochemical circumstances, the extra- and intra-cellular signaling as well as the regulatory mechanisms of motility activation in fish spermatozoa.
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The role of volunteering in NGOs working in the social sector
Tlach, Vladimír ; Varvažovská, Pavla (advisor) ; Pavel, Pavel (referee)
The thesis is thematically focused on the area of volunteering as a modern phenomenon occurring not only in the Czech Republic but in the whole world. The thesis is divided into theoretical and practical part.
The first, theoretical part, explains the basic theoretical background of the non-governmental sector with an emphasis on volunteer activity in existing non-governmental organisations. The theoretical part also presents the results of the researches of foreign and domestic experts on volunteering on which the research part of the thesis is based.
In the practical part of the thesis are analyzed two non-profit organisations - the Charity Ostrava and Slezská diakonie, which provide social services in the Moravian -Silesian region, and the company Arcelor Mittal, which is actively involved in the field of corporate volunteering. In the research part there are presented outcomes of the field research, which took place in the aforementioned non-profit organisations and the company, but also among public, where it was investigated what people know about non-governmental organisations in their close area, their opinion on volunteering and how they perceive volunteers. The outcomes from a field survey are then compared with foreign and domestic surveys.
The aim of the thesis is to propose possible options for changes in working with volunteers in the non-governmental organisations based on the findings, which could lead to streamlining of their work, an increase of the prestige of the volunteer work and a number of volunteers working in the social sector. Based on the investigation it was found that volunteering is beneficial to everyone involved. It allows an individual to actively participate in society, help others and spend free time in a meaningful way. The obtained findings help to improve volunteer work, identify potential reserves in the individual´s work and prevent possible conflicts.
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Biotransfer of selected risk metals into plants and their accumulation and distribution in plant organs
Le Minh, Phuong ; Lachman, Jaromír (advisor)
Contamination of soils with heavy metals is one of the serious environmental problems threatening human being. Heavy metals are considered as the special hazard of soil pollutants because of the adverse effects on the plant growth, the amount, activity of useful microorganisms in soils and the quality of food. Regard to the persistent and toxicity, the heavy metals are toxic when we consider different kinds of pollutants in soils. In the soil, zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) toxicities frequently occur than the other metals because of their precipitation and sorption by the soil. It is a very dangerous situation because when these metals are taken up by plants, they can be transported to the food web and food chains.
In the present study, the accumulation of four heavy metals (mercury, zinc, lead and cadmium) in the whole grain of spring accessions of emmer, einkorn and common spring wheat cultivars and potato (Solanum tuberosum) is reported. Heavy and essential elements were monitored in potato cultivars in the exact field experiments and in hydroponically grown plants. The elements were determined by methods FAAS, ET AAS, and AMA (Advance Mercury Analysis). Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 9.0 with the Tukey HSD (Honestly Significant Difference) test (alpha equal to 0.05).
In our study, the concentration of heavy metals decreased in the order zinc (Zn) > lead (Pb) > cadmium (Cd) > mercury (Hg) in the wheat grain. The comparison between three varieties of investigated wheat revealed that the emmer wheat was rich in zinc content (62.12 mg kg-1 dry matter), while the spring wheat had the lowest average concentration of zinc in the grain (40.99 mg kg-1 dry matter). Generally, the values of lead concentration in grain wheat varieties were low (ranging from 0.1268 mg kg-1 dry matter to 0.2950 mg kg-1 dry matter).
The concentrations of mercury in four typical growth stages of wheat (boot stage 10, heading stage 10.2 1/4 of head emerged, leaf-stage 10.2 and stage ripening 11 according to Feekes) were also determined. It has been shown that the concentrations of mercury in different wheat varieties were absorbed differently at different growth stages of plant. Stage 10.2 and leaf stage 10.2 showed the high mercury content (0.0152 mg kg-1 dry matter and 0.0214 mg kg-1 dry matter, respectively). Among individual varieties significant differences were determined.
Amounts of toxic and potentially toxic elements detected in investigated potato tubers are characterized by a large variability within investigated groups. Performing statistical analysis (one way ANOVA) showed that there were no significant differences between two investigated groups of samples (samples from Uhříněves and Valečov in the year 2013 and 2014) considering either one of investigated metals. Measurable levels of mercury were found in smallest amounts in all investigated potato samples comparing to other metals (Cd, Pb).
Plant cells compared to animal cells are characterized by the formation of cell walls. Plasma membrane or cell membrane is a biological active membrane separating the interior of cell from the outside environment. An adjusted method for isolation of protoplasts was developed and adapted for isolation of protoplasts from plant material (potatoes). In our experiment, the plants were grown hydroponically in the Research Institute of Plant Crops Prague-Ruzyně. If we examine the plant membrane, one option is to remove the cell wall by means of special mixture enzymes. Protoplasts were released in the dark at 25 degrees of Celsius for 18 hours. The 70 and 90 microns sieve was used to filter and then centrifugation for 5 minutes at 100 x g. All the steps were carefully carried out to prevent the damage or breakage of protoplasts.
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Towards a better understanding of ungulate diets: a methodological approach
Holá, Michaela ; Červený, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Stádník, Luděk (referee)
Populations of European ungulates have grown substantially over recent decades, resulting in considerable environmental and socio-economic impacts. Availability and quality of natural and supplemental food sources are among the main factors driving their population dynamics. Detailed knowledge of feeding strategies of management-targeted species is therefore of primary importance for their successful management. Over time, methods to study the feeding strategies of animals have also evolved considerably but each has its advantages as well as limitations. This doctoral thesis uses a combination of traditional methods (i.e. stomach content analysis) and novel methods (i.e. stable isotope analysis, near infrared reflectance spectroscopy) to achieve a better understanding of feeding strategies of two important ungulate species (i.e. wild boar and red deer) in the Czech Republic, where their populations are on the rise and supplementary feeding is rampant. Next, this dissertation aims to introduce and to establish a basis for these novel methodological approaches for the study of free-ranging individuals. In this respect, it also addresses methodological issues related to their application in this field.
The diet composition of wild boar was investigated by examining stomach contents in order to identify their dependence on food resources of human origin (i.e. agricultural crops and supplemental foods). Foods of human origin were the dominant diet type and constituted the bulk of the diet of wild boar throughout the year. A necessary prerequisite for application of stable isotope analysis is the trophic discrimination factor (i.e. systematic difference between the isotopic composition of the consumer tissues and that of the diet), which was experimentally determined for stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes, the two most commonly used in ecology, in hair tissue of wild boar and red deer. Furthermore, possible sources of variation (such as sex, age, body weight, and lactation) on isotopic discrimination were investigated. The results of the experiments provide a starting point for the successful use of stable isotope analysis in field studies on wild boar and red deer. Finally, application of near infrared reflectance spectroscopy was proven to be useful in measuring faecal indices of food quality for red deer. The results of this thesis will contribute towards efficient management of wild boar and red deer in the Czech Republic.
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Assessment of Factors Influencing Wear Resistance of Metallic Materials
Cieslar, Jiří ; Brožek, Milan (advisor) ; Jan, Jan (referee)
This thesis investigates the suitable chemical composition of a iron alloy with improved wear resistance. A unique set of alloys with a specifically designated chemical composition was manufactured for experiments. Their properties in defined abrasive conditions was studied in laboratory conditions. Wear resistance was determined on an experimental bench with bound particles. Material properties description was always complemented with information gained during material metallographic structure investigations. All the results were compared with results achieved for commercially available weld deposition materials (specifically designated for abrasion conditions). These (weld deposition) materials were subjected to an identical set of laboratory experiments and additionally to a set of experiments under inservice conditions.
This thesis offers new knowledge about the relationship between material hardness, material structure and wear resistance. The outlined results also give evidence about the correlation between results gained under laboratory conditions and those gained under in-service conditions (in relation to material structure and hardness).
At the end of the thesis the knowledge gained from these experiments is applied to a specific application the service life extension of plough blade segments. On this basis a new material is designed which will extend service life without additional demands on the costs, and the approach to the renovation of worn plough blade segments is justified.
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