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Use of Interest Rate Models for Interest Rate Risk Management in the Czech Financial Market Environment
Cíchová Králová, Dana ; Arlt, Josef (advisor) ; Cipra, Tomáš (referee) ; Witzany, Jiří (referee)
The main goal of this thesis is to suggest an appropriate approach to interest rate risk modeling in the Czech financial market environment in various situations. Three distinct periods are analyzed. These periods, which are the period before the global financial crisis, period during the financial crisis and in the aftermath of the global financial crisis and calming subsequent debt crisis in the eurozone, are characterized by different evaluation of liquidity and credit risk, different relationship between financial variables and market participants and different degree of market regulations. Within this goal, an application of the BGM model in the Czech financial market environment is crucial. Use of the BGM model for the purpose of predicting a dynamics of a yield curve is not very common. This is firstly due to the fact that primary use of this model is a valuation of interest rate derivatives while ensuring the absence of arbitrage and secondly its application is relatively difficult. Nevertheless, I apply the BGM model to obtain predictions of the probability distributions of interest rates in the Czech and eurozone market environment, because its complexity, direct modeling of a yield curve based on market rates and especially a possibility of parameter estimation based on current swaptions volatilities quotations may lead to a significant improvement of predictions. This improvement was also confirmed in this thesis. Use of swaptions volatilities market quotations is especially useful in the period of unprecedented mone- tary easing and increased number of central banks and other regulators interventions into financial markets that occur after the financial crisis, because it reflects current market expectations which also include future interventions. As a consequence of underdevelopment of the Czech financial market there are no market quotations of Czech koruna denominated swaptions volatilities. I suggest their approximations based on quotations of euro denominated swaptions volatilities and also using volatilities of koruna and euro forward rates. Use of this approach ensures that predictions of the Czech yield curve dynamics contain current market expectations. To my knowledge, any other author has not presented similar application of the BGM model in the Czech financial market environment. In this thesis I further predict a Czech and Euro area money market yield curve dynamics using the CIR and the GP models as representatives of various types of interest rates models to compare these predictions with BGM predictions. I suggest a comprehensive system of three criteria, based on comparison of predicti- ons with reality, to describe a predictive power of selected models and an appropria- teness of their use in the Czech market environment during different situations in the market. This analysis shows that predictions of the Czech money market yield curve dynamics based on the BGM model demonstrate high predictive power and the best 8 quality in comparison with other models. GP model also produces relatively good qua- lity predictions. Conversely, predictions based on the CIR model as a representative of short rate model family completely failed when describing reality. In a situation when the economy allows negative rates and there is simultaneously a significant likelihood of their implementation, I recommend to obtain predictions of Czech money market yield curve dynamics using GP model which allows existence of negative interest rates. This analysis also contains a statistical test for validating the predictive power of each model and information on other tests. Berkowitz test rejects a hypothesis of accurate predictions for each model. However, this fact is common in real data testing even when using relatively good model. This fact is especially caused by difficult fulfilment of test conditions in real world. To my knowledge, such an analysis of the predictive power of selected interest rate models moreover in the Czech financial market environment has not been published yet. The last goal of this thesis is to suggest an appropriate approach to obtaining pre- dictions of Czech government bonds risk premium dynamics. I define this risk premium as a difference between government bond yields and fixed rate of CZK IRS with the same length. I apply the GP model to describe the dynamics of this indicator of the Czech Republic credit risk. In order to obtain a time series of the risk premium which are necessary for estimation of GP model parameters I firstly estimate yield curves of Czech government bonds using Svensson model for each trading day since 2005. Resulting si- mulations of risk premium show that the GP model predicts the real development of risk premiums of all maturities relatively well. Hence, the proposed approach is suitable for modeling of Czech Republic credit risk based on the use of information extracted from financial markets. I have not registered proposed approach to risk premium modeling moreover in the Czech financial market environment in other publications.
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Awareness of vegetarians about deficit of certain nutritions in vegetarian diet and about ways to compensate them
VORLÍČKOVÁ, Markéta
This thesis deals with vegetarians' awareness of the lack of specific nutritional substances in the vegetarian diet and their compensation. The aim is to explore whether vegetarians have sufficient information about the nutritional composition of their diet, whether they are interested in researching this information and whether the information is available and sufficient. I also looked at whether people with this eating preference are preventing potential nutritional deficits and subsequent health problems. There were designated the following three research questions: "How often and where do most vegetarians get information about a meatless diet?", "How can you achieve a full fledged vegetarian diet?" and "What is vegan awareness on the potential deficiencies in their diet, and how do they try avoid these?". In the theoretical part I deal with vegetarianism as a lifestyle, vegetarianism and its subgroups, the reasons for going to this way of life, the composition of a vegetarian diet with a focus on nutrients that may be deficient, vegetarianism and its impact on the body at different stages of development and ultimately the impact of a meatless diet on human health. The practical section is an elaborated form of qualitative research, specifically I chose semi-structured interviews. I collected the data from the interviews. The interview contained fourteen or fifteen questions, and women were also questioned about the pregnancy period. I asked questions regarding the issue of vegetarianism, veganism or raw foodism. I was interested in individual eating habits, nutrition knowledge and personal experience of the respondents. The data was collected between January 2014 and March 2014. The research group consisted of 6 respondents. The group was made up of women and men in the age range from 20 to 30 years. Among respondents there were vegetarians, vegans and raw foodists and the period of time in which they have been eating this way is different for every person. All respondents were familiar with the purpose of providing an interview and agreed to the publication. The interviews I conducted in person and were recorded on a dictaphone mobile phone. The results of my work show that most respondents do research about a meatless diet. They logically state that most intensive research took place while they were switching their eating habits, but now they still keep finding out new information. The most commonly used way was the Internet, specifically through websites such as www.soucitne.cz or www.vegan-fighter.com. Other sources used are books, articles, studies, and information received from friends or family members. The respondents argue that because the information was obtained this way, their diet is balanced. They are often trying to maintain diversity in their diet, for example, consume legumes and combine various foods such as legumes with cereals. Raw foodists state that they often consume sprouts, seeds, nuts, and of course a large amount of raw vegetables and fruits. All Vegans and Raw foodists know about the possible lack of vitamin B12, and some for this reason, use supplements. Also mentioned are supplements or protein complex supplements designed specifically for vegans.
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Antioxidant, anti-proliferative and immunomodulatory effect of fruits, vegetables and mushrooms in vitro
Doskočil, Ivo ; Havlík, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Orsák, Matyáš (referee)
Recently there has been an increasing interest in discovering of new species of plants and mushrooms which have antioxidant or anti proliferative activity. The interest is caused by the fact that these species have medicinal and food utilization. These properties of plants and mushrooms can be used when dealing with many diseases which may be connected with oxidative stress (inflammatory bowel disease, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and tumour disease, etc.).
The thesis propounds characteristics of in vitro antioxidant and anti proliferative activity of 19 types of juices and 28 methanol extracts of fruits and vegetables, which are common parts of a diet. In the thesis there are also characteristics of 13 ethanol extracts of edible mushrooms of the order of Polypore (Popyporales). Antioxidant activity was quantifie by 2, 2 diphenyl 1 picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), and inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production. Cytotoxicity was measured by MTT (3 (4,5 dimethylthiazol 2 yl) 2,5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide. Immunomodulatory activity was determined by an assay of phagocytic activity of human neutrophil granulocytes. Further a total phenolic content (TPC) and total beta glucan content were investigated; these are considered to be the potentially active constituents participating in mentioned activities.
From the obtained results it is evident that juices (TPC = 1603.2 mg GAE/L; ORAC = 438.5 umol TE/g)
and a bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) fruit extract (ORAC 836.6 umol TE/g; DPPH = 404.6 umol TE/g) showed
the highest antioxidant activity of all tested samples of fruits and vegetables. Capsicum (Capsicum L.)
juices (TPC = 642.1 mg GAE/L; ORAC = 127.9 umol TE/g) and a radish (Raphanus sativus L.) extract
(ORAC 724.5 umol TE/g; DPPH = 52.2 umol TE/g) also proved to have the high values of antioxidant activity. From the tested fruits and vegetables the following inhibited to produce a nitric oxide: onion (Allium cepa L) juices (lowered the NO production by 57%), tangerine juices (Citrus reticulata Blanco)(by 52%), broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis italic) extract (by 21%), and orange (Citrus sinensis Pers.) extract (by 10%). Concerning edible
mushrooms, Lentinus tigrinus (Bull.) Fr. (TPC = 216.2 umol GAE/g of extract), Ganoderma lucidum (Curtis) P. Kras (TPC = 257.9 umol GAE/g of extract), and Royoporus badius (Pers.) A.B. De (TPC = 257.8 umol GAE/g of extract) presented the highest phenolic content. Sparassis crispa (Wulfen) Fr. (117.4 mg/g of extract) had the highest content of beta glucan. Substantial effect on phagocytic activity of granulocytes was noticed in connection with Neolentinus lepideus (Fr.) Redhead & Ginns, Polyporus squamosus (Huds.) Fr., and S. crispa. In connection with the latter of mentioned mushrooms, a moderate inhibitory effect towards HT 29 human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line
(IC50 = 107 ug/ml of extract) was noticed.
The results indicate that the tested plants and mushrooms can be beneficial when reducing the negative effects of oxidative stress. The oxidative stress has been recognized as a contributing factor to a whole range of diseases and the reduction of the oxidative stress may lead to the decrease in the possibility of the diseases´ progression. The results show the possible favourable effects on the human health. When evaluating the results, the following fact should be taken into consideration; the in vitro tests and screenings are considered to be the first phase of systematic research of the effects and serve for the choice of respondents for further detailed studies.
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Design and implementation of e-learning in the area of interest
Marešová, Nikola ; Husa, Jiří (advisor) ; Marek, Marek (referee)
The bachelor's thesis entitled "Design and implementation of e-learning in the area of interest" deals with buying used cars. The essential part of this work is a creation of e-learning course for buyers and other people interested in this area which aims to improve their knowledge. The participants will get an overview of the most common situations and problems they can meet when buying a used car. The theoretical part presents an overview of the topics of the issue of purchase of used cars. It may serve as a theoretical guidance to the e-course, it brings its content. The topics are based on the analysis of information from printed and electronic sources, supplemented by experiences of the author and experts in the field. The practical part deals with the creation of an e-learning course. It contains an analysis of the needs of buyers, the reasons for the creation of the course and the requirements of it, its objectives, a description of the used authoring tool eXe and graphic creation process from the creation of the course after its publication in steps. All this is complemented by the feedback from six volunteers who have expressed an interest in testing the course and then doing a review. Before the creation of the course it was necessary to analyze the situation and find out why such a course is needed. The acquired knowledge was then processed in the course by the synthesis method. For the evaluation method it was used a short personal interview where the author examined satisfaction with the course, its possible shortcomings and suggestions for improvements or enhancements.
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Právní a zdravotně sociální aspekty činnosti OSPOD jako ustanovených opatrovníků v zámu nezletilých dětí
BORSKÁ, Jana
The Czech Republic as a signatory of the Convention on the Rights of the Child has vested the practice of state administration in the field of care for minor children to municipalities with extended powers, where the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of minor children is safeguarded by state authorities of social and legal protection of children (ASLPC hereinafter). These authorities are incorporated to the extent laid down by the Act on Social and Legal Protection of Children (Act No 359/1999 Coll., as amended). The position and roles of ASLPC and their competence and jurisdiction are also regulated by the same act. The position of workers of these authorities and its legal embodiment is equally important. Regarding professionality, there are high demands on these workers. In the Czech Republic, significant changes in legislature have been made over the past three years. These amendments have led to the strengthening of the rights of minor children and to the establishing of new tools for their protection. In connection with the adoption of new substantive regulation of family law, which is now exhaustively dealt with by the Act No 89/2012 Coll., the Civil Code, new procedural rules have been established regarding protection of rights of minor children. Such procedural legislation includes (apart from the long-existent Act No. 99/1963, the Code of Civil Procedure) the Act No 292/2013 Coll., on Special Civil Proceedings. The decision-making regarding minor children has been vested mainly by the state into the competence of courts. The courts appoint the locally relevant ASLPC as a guardian who then represents the interests of minor children. The purpose, interwoven with and derived from the first one, was to explore the opinions of selected social workers of ASLPC and of district court judges regarding the defined problems occurring during the work of ASLPCs and courts while protecting the interests of minor children. These particularly include: the use of the tool of precautionary measure; problems of different territorial jurisdiction of courts and ASLPCs; processing of complaints regarding bias in various phases of the proceedings; professional training of workers of ASLPC It is evident from the proposals of both judges and ASLPC workers that it is necessary to unify territorial jurisdiction. The courts are suggesting the priority criterion of the address where the child mainly resides. ASLPC workers suggest the official permanent residence as the prime criterion. Bias causes problems in all phases of proceedings. It is obvious that courts take differing approaches towards the solution of this problem (some courts solve the problem of bias complaints filed by the parties while other courts do not) and for ASLPC workers it is difficult to assess how to act when such complaint is raised against them. The training of ASLPC workers - workers are obliged to educate themselves and their employer is obliged to finance such training. Not all ASLPCs are able to provide training in the required extent - due to financial reasons (the average costs of education of one employee pose from 9,169 to 13,400 CZK annually and they cover approximately 6 days of training). The heavy work-load caused by insufficient numbers of ASLPC employees prevents them from completing such compulsory training. As part of the examination of the "participation of a collision guardian in court proceedings" it has been found out that irregular participation of the worker in the proceedings (absence from participation in appeals proceedings); incomplete reports (directed to courts) from surveys in families. Based on comprehensive examination of the problems of territorial jurisdiction, it was recommended that requests are independently recorded and financial compensation is provided for ASLPCs who are requested to represent minors in front of courts, to draft proposals for precautionary measures.
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Characteristics of the working behavior of Czechs and Ukrainians
BYKOVA, Sofia
The aim of this work is to create a transparent and comparable characteristics of the work behavior phenomenon within the cultures of those states - what is common and what is different between them, or maybe incompatible .It is supposed to have some analysis of possible conflicts and their connection with the mentality. The primary reason of this aim choosing is the specialty I study. My work contains information that could be interesting and useful not only for me and my future job, but also for managers and other employees. Overview of examined issues contains specific points, such as the fundamentals of economic psychology and behavioral economics (symbiosis of psychological and economic opinion on motivation and rationality of individuals), theories of motivation and reaction to different occurrence, characteristic of the term "mentality", general points about the human impact of the world economy. For realizing the goals of my work the following hypotheses have been proposed - Czech and Ukrainian mentality have significant differences, though these cultures are close. - Ukrainian and Czech employees are able to work effectively in a team and find a "common language" in the workplace. The difference in mentality does not obstruct on it. - Employers could be interested in the Ukrainian employees taking into account their high concernment and motivation. All three of the hypotheses were confirmed by observed data and comparison of mentality characteristics. Czechs are often tolerant to other cultures, moreover Ukrainian culture is not much different and does not create difficulties in the working relationship. Based on the fact that the chosen company has no conflicts associated with work behavior and differences in mentality, it's hard to define my contribution to this organization work.
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Electronic auction in healthcare
Vyoral, Marek ; Toth, Štefan (advisor) ; Jan, Jan (referee)
Working with the theoretical part focuses on the regulation of electronic auctions in terms of legislation both Czech and foreign, given that we are members of the European Union. Furthermore, the work explains the possible ways to use electronic auctions, which are mostly used in both the Czech Republic and abroad. At work I also am trying to shed light on the current use of auctions on the auction portal Aukro examples, which is widely used by people for personal use. Finally, the theoretical part I try to outline the future development of electronic auctions. The practical part is focused primarily on its activities in the hospital Pardubice Region, Inc. where I introduced the auction. In several examples, visible results, which not only brings centralization entire purchase, but also the use of electronic auctions as a tool for communication and bidding suppliers with the lowest purchase price for a group of hospitals. The work also draws from the Ministry for Regional Development, which is responsible for the preparation of the most important regulations for electronic auctions in healthcare, namely the Public Procurement Act. Electronic auctions are a tool very interesting, because it is the most transparent way of evaluating procurement by parameters rates. Whether if electronic auction in health care and efficient purchase option will be discussed in this work.
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Budget of the European Union in the field of justice and home affairs
Ticháček, Jan ; Hřebík, František (advisor) ; Markéta, Markéta (referee)
The Master Degree Thesis focuses on analysis of the EU budget. The main area of interest is justice and home affairs. Planning of the EU annual budget is preceded by creation of the Multiannual Financial Framework which is a planning tool and also a safeguard of predictability of the EU expenditures. Also EU priorities are mirrored there. Annual budget itself is divided into six headings. The thesis is dedicated mainly to the third area Security and Citizenship. Also an EU agency CEPOL (European Police College) is financed from this area. The second part of the thesis is dedicated to CEPOL. The EU agency CEPOL occupies important position in the field of education and training of senior police officers and also law enforcement officers. It provides educational and training activities which suppose to contribute to improving of EU Member States´ cooperation in fighting against the most serious forms of international crime. The flagship of CEPOL is European Police Exchange Programme. Thanks to the exchange programme, the participants gain experience based on their needs and preferences. CEPOL supports qualitative rather than quantitative education. The third part of the theses tries to find out whether the financial resources spend on the Exchange Programme are used effectively. This issue is examined by using a questionnaire and subsequently its evaluation.
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Purpose of the educational trail in a park in Ostrov, "Horažďovice": evaluation, proposals
Lávička, Miroslav ; Skalický, Milan (advisor) ; Jan, Jan (referee)
The thesis deals with educational trails (ET) of various thematic focuses, their purpose and ways of information presentation to visitors through various information panels.
The aim of the thesis was to document an area for a new educational trail in a park in Ostrov in the town Horažďovice. To achieve the goal a sociological research in the town public, employees of educational institutions and municipality was made. Making analyse and evaluation of the place for the educational trail, its madialisation and making an exemplary educational panel was very important.
The thesis suggests several hypothesis: whether town citizens visit educational trails, whether the trail needs an advertisement and if the increased interest has a negative influence in environment of the Ostrov park, whether people accept the educational trail in Ostrov park and if it is convenient for all population groups.
Through the questionaire it was found out that 71% of public visit the trails, 76% of teachers use it as a part of educational process. The public (69%) and the teachers (75%) agree with creating an educational trail in the Ostrov park. Only 11% of public and 19% of teachers know all the ET in the Horažďovice region. The public (78%) and the teachers (89) asked for more information and medialisation of ET. While making a new proposal of the trail and information panel the results of the survey were taken in the account.
Considering the regular upkeeping, facilities, and wheelchair roads, the park was found suitable for people of all ages (families with children, groups of teenagers, seniors, etc.) and disabled people.
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