The topic of my master's thesis is a study of the vegetation of areas near "Úštěk", which is locale in north of Bohemia. Specifically location: Stráň mezi Dolními Řepčicemi a Záhořany/Stráň u Velkého Újezdu, Stráně u Drahobuzi, Stráně u Svářenic/U Malešova, Stráň u Vědlic, les Na Černčí, Bílé stráně u Litoměřic and V kuksu. The main objective was compare to the locations where the species formerly occured to locations with simultaneous concurrent and classify current plant communities and prepare relevés. It was also investigated the dependence of occurrence of the species O. insectifera on the following factors: the type of habitat, elevation, slope and exposure. It demonstrated the positive correlation species on slope was proved. Most exemplar (in 2015) occurred on a location Stráň Svářenic/U Malešova ( 140) and at least in location of Kuks ( 11). The output are maps of locations localizations incidence of the species. The current resultrs were compared with the surveys from previous years.

Smart mobile devices are becoming increasingly essential daily companions. Applications (apps) are the interface through which the consumer can leverage unique capabilities of smart mobile devices to interact with people, other devices and firms via the supporting mobile ecosystem. Smart mobile devices and apps are influencing how competition is defined and changing how firms do business by improving internal processes and increasing flexibility and convenience for customers. Mobile apps and devices enable users to move from a portable and mobile communication and computing environment to that of a ubiquitous communication and computing environment [u-space]. Discussion in terms of ‘mobile marketing’ is therefore too limiting, our understanding should be ‘ubiquitous marketing’. Six papers explore ubiquitous marketing further. The retail sector provides a contextual setting for paper one and finds that mobile marketing increases value for retailers and consumers. Integration of all retailer / consumer interfaces with mobile marketing to maximise exposure and connectivity between both parties is recommended. Paper two investigates the sources for mobile app ideas in companies and finds that apps developed externally or within the firm with some outside help, were perceived to be more effective. Apps that leverage the mobile devices unique features is central to the methodology proposed for developing an app in paper three. The next three papers examine the impact that mobile apps and devices have on business activities and customer relationships. Paper four finds increased operational efficiency in a Dental  Practice, while paper five identified the opportunity for increased firm-customer interaction in a medical context. Paper six determines that rather than five dimensions of SERVQUAL, financial service quality of apps consists of three dimensions: Reliability, personal and visibles; and that service success can be derived from providing less service. This thesis contributes to a fuller understanding of U-commerce theory. It advances understanding in how apps are making significant changes in how information technology is managed and controlled from an organisational perspective, and how these technology advances can influence consumer interaction. / <p>QC 20160516</p>

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 25-28, 1993 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / The On-board Data Interface Module (ODIM) was developed specifically to provide real-time casualty assessment telemetry data for the training environment on the instrumented range system at the U. S. Army National Training Center (NTC) located at Ft. Irwin, California. Real-time data acquisition and telemetry systems, such as the ODIM, which enhance the feed back capabilities of fielded training systems are becoming increasingly important to the Department of Defense in these times of shrinking defense budgets and decreasing global stability. The ODIM is designed to combine, process and transmit data from the AH-64 (Apache) 1553 data bus, the Aircraft Survivability Equipment (ASE) threat warnings, the on-board training system laser belt, cockpit kill indicators, and status data. The ODIM also downlinks the stored data though the Micro-B transceiver on the AH-64A. For the application at the NTC, the ODIM looks for very specific data from the AH-64 and the MILES/AGES II system. However, the ODIM is programmable to collect any of the data available from these systems. The uplink/ downlink available through the Micro-B transceiver allows the user access to the ODIM's features even from a remote location.

Efforts are being made to achieve good working environmental standard on the construction sites. To ensure professional work and to achieve zero working related accidents it is crucial that people working on construction sites are well educated and competent for their work. As a result there are many companies specialized in educating in construction related work and the course certificates are usually plastic cards. Within the construction company Skanska there are ways to coordinate certificates of competence, but the general opinion is that the systems work poorly in the field. The results show that the administration of certificates often is time consuming, unwieldy and handled differently or not at all. The industry association Sveriges Byggindustrier is on their way to launch an industry-wide digital database enabling to coordinate certificates of competence. The database will simplify the process of controlling that workers on construction sites have the certificates required to perform work. The purpose of this thesis is to illustrate the current routines for administration of certificates, examine abilities and holdbacks for implementation of the database and finally contribute to a greater understanding of its abilities on short and long terms. It is vital that Skanska, with its high standards regarding working environment and safety, is one of the first actors to connect the ID06 competence database. Therefore, the authors’ recommendation to Skanska is to procure the service as son as possible after its launch and also actively work to invite others to the service. Recommendations for further developing the competence database and making it even more useful are presented at the end of the report. / Det råder stort fokus på arbetsmiljö i byggbranschen. För att säkerställa ett fackmannamässigt byggande och för att uppnå nollvision gällande arbetsplatsolyckor är det helt avgörande att personal som vistas på byggarbetsplatsen har rätt utbildning. Det finns till följd av detta många verksamma utbildningsföretag som idag erbjuder byggföretagen ett stort urval av kompetensutbildningar, vilka ofta vidimeras i form av fysiska plastkort. Trots goda försök att samordna kursbevis för yrkesarbetare och tjänstemän inom Skanska är den allmänna uppfattningen att systemet fungerar dåligt i produktionsskedet. Resultatet visar att administrationen ofta är tidkrävande, svårhanterlig och hanteras olika eller inte alls. Branschorganisationen Sveriges Byggindustrier lanserar våren 2016 en elektronisk databas för att underlätta samordningen av kompetensbevis. Med den nya databasen ska det bli enkelt att säkerställa att enbart personal med rätt kompetens och behörighet vistas i produktionen. Examensarbetet syftar till att belysa nuläget, undersöka möjligheter och hinder för ID06 kompetensdatabas att implementeras på bred front samt att bidra till en ökad förståelse för tjänstens möjligheter på kort och lång sikt. För ID06 KDB är det viktigt att Skanska, som har ett gott renommé i avseende på arbetsmiljö och säkerhet, är en av de aktörerna som tar första steget att ansluta sig till KDB:en. Författarnas rekommendation är därför att Skanska upphandlar tjänsten i tidigt skede och aktivt sätter press på övriga aktörer att också ansluta sig. Rekommendationer för vidareutveckling av kompetens-databasen presenteras i slutet av rapporten.

Chapter one adopts a systematic review methodology in order to identify relevant evidence concerning the clinical effectiveness of weight management programmes in the military. It explores the success of such programmes that adopt cognitive-behavioural components as part of their treatment approach as opposed to standard care offered by the military. The paper also offers areas for further research, particularly focused on the need for more longitudinal evidence of the success of these programmes and the longer term outcomes for an individual‟s career. Chapter two presents the empirical paper of the thesis. It describes a phenomenological qualitative study of UK army veterans‟ lived experiences of transition from military to civilian life. It explores how veterans have perceived the challenges of this transition and their experience of the support they have received from various services. Analysis revealed three major themes that captured the lived experiences of these veterans; centred on the consequences of leaving the army, surviving initial civilian life and reconstruction of an identity as a veteran. Chapter three presents a reflective paper that offers insights into the research journey of the main author and reflections of being on a clinical placement within a community mental health team for the Ministry of Defence. It was found that this was an asset in understanding the applicability of research findings to an everyday clinical setting. This paper also offers experiences and reflections of being a woman in a patriarchal multidisciplinary team; many of whom served in the British army themselves.

Non-compressible haemorrhage from within the torso and junctional regions constitutes the leading cause of potentially preventable death on the battlefield. It can be defined as haemorrhagic shock arising from injury to named torso vessels, pulmonary parenchyma, high grade solid organ injury and/or disruption of the bony pelvis. Data from the US Department of Defence Trauma Registry demonstrate a torso injury rate of 12.7% with 17.1% of casualties exhibiting torso injury and shock. The overall mortality is 18.7%, with major arterial injury and pulmonary injury identified as independent predictors of mortality on multivariate analysis. The UK Joint Theatre Trauma Registry reports similar findings with the greatest burden of mortality occurring prior to hospital admission (75.0%), a rate that has remained unchanged over a decade of war. Injury from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in particular are associated with non-compressible haemorrhage, frequently causing traumatic lower extremity amputation in combination with torso injury. Contemporary surgical strategy relates to early operative haemorrhage control in patients presenting with shock. In patients sustaining a circulatory arrest, resuscitative thoracotomy and aortic cross clamping can be used to control inflow and increase cardiac afterload. The UK experience over 5 years at Camp Bastion demonstrated a mortality of 78.5%, with greatest survival observed in patients with the shortest time to thoracotomy. In patients sustaining lower extremity amputation following IED injury, 1 in 5 require a laparotomy for proximal vascular control, with less than half requiring further intra-abdominal intervention. There is a pressing need for a haemorrhage control and resuscitation adjunct in non-compressible haemorrhage that can be deployed prior to or as an adjunct to operative haemorrhage control. Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) is a technique that can occlude the aorta without the need for an operating theatre. It is an experimental technique, so its effect on survival and physiology is unknown. In a porcine model of uncontrolled pelvic haemorrhage, infra-renal REBOA was shown to be as effective as chitosan gauze in the setting of normal coagulation. However, REBOA was associated with a significantly greater survival in a coagulopathic setting. Similar results were obtained when using a porcine model of abdominal haemorrhage in conjunction with thoracic REBOA. In both studies, balloon occlusion demonstrated a significant improvement in systolic blood pressure and other haemodynamic measures compared to the no-occlusion control groups. Having demonstrated a survival and haemodynamic benefit in uncontrolled haemorrhage models, the metabolic and inflammatory consequences of thoracic REBOA were characterised in further detail using a porcine model of controlled hypovolaemic shock. Occlusion for 30 and 90 minutes was associated with a significant lactate burden when compared to animals undergoing shock alone. However, following resuscitation with blood and intravenous fluid, normal physiology was restored within 6 hours. The inflammatory sequelae were studied following 30, 60 and 90 minutes of shock and occlusion. Increasing occlusion time resulted in an escalating release of interleukin-6 which manifest clinically as an increase in ARDS and need for vassopressor support. In order to develop a fluoroscopy free REBOA system, a series of human studies were undertaken to examine the relationship between an external measure of torso height and aortic length in order to guide insertion length. A retrospective examination of computed tomography in male trauma patients demonstrated a correlation between torso height and aortic length. This was confirmed by a prospective study which was also used linear regression to develop equations predictive of insertion length. Finally, the UK Joint Theatre Trauma Registry was used to determine the need for REBOA in a population of UK military personnel injured over 10 years of conflict. Of 1317 severely injured patients 70.2% had no indication, 11.2% had a contra-indication and 18.5% had an injury pattern indication for REBOA. Of those with an indication for REBOA, 66 (27.0%) patients died en-route to hospital and 29 (11.9%) died in-hospital. In conclusion, non-compressible haemorrhage constitutes a significant burden of potentially preventable battlefield mortality. REBOA is a technique that can be used in the thoracic or infra-renal aorta as a haemorrhage control and resuscitation adjunct, prior to operative haemorrhage control. While associated with a significant survival advantage in models of uncontrolled haemorrhage, it is associated with a significant metabolic penalty, although with resuscitation this can be ameliorated successfully.

Humanity is facing highly complex challenges at a global scale. A new sort of conscious sustainability changemakers is needed to face the sustainability challenge. However the mainstream entrepreneurship education tends to focus on business as usual skills, with a significant lack of comprehensive understanding of the whole system and the inner work needed to face the mental barriers to become sustainability changemakers. While the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development was used as a structured approach to the topic, the research design was based on a dynamic research interactive model. Theory U guided the data gathering process that included participatory observation, dialogues with the organizers and participants through the seven progressive schools in Europe. The research aims to identify the common assumptions that guide the design of leading edge learning programs for sustainability changemakers. Building on the findings, the authors present a prototype of a learning tool in a form of self-reflection card game with the intention of helping the next generation of changemakers in their learning journey towards sustainability. Conclusions detail specific guidelines to design a learning program of changemakers towards sustainability.

This paper investigates the market microstructure of the Taiwan Stock Exchange Capitalization weighted Stock Index (TX) futures contracts traded on the Taiwan Futures Exchange which quite recently switched from an electronic periodic call auction market to an electronic continuous auction market. No doubt it is a rare opportunity for us to deeply look into market quality under different trading mechanisms. Using time-stamped transaction data of trades and quotes covering the period from January 2001 to September 2002, overall behavior for all TX Futures contracts are explored first—including intraday and daily patterns in the bid-ask spreads, volume, trade size, volatility, liquidity ratio and other characteristics. Next, in order to observe whether long-term contracts and short-term contracts have different patterns, the sample is divided into two groups—quarterly expiration contract months (March, June, September, and December) and non-quarterly expiration contract months, and the intraday/daily patterns are displayed. Moreover, since TAIFEX transferred trading mechanism on July 29th 2002 from an electronic periodic call auction market to an electronic continuous auction market, intraday/daily patterns are separately illustrated and compared before and after July 29th 2002, and ANOVA F-Statistic and Kruskal-Wallis tests are also taken to provide more insights into time-varying behavior under two different kinds of market trading mechanisms. The empirical results indicate that the most active periods correspond to the TAIFEX’Ss opening five-minute interval (8:45-8:50), TSEC’Ss opening five-minute interval (9:00-9:05), and TAIFEX’S closing five-minute interval (13:40-13:45) with wide spreads and large trade sizes. In 54 five-minute intervals for the regular trading session of both TAIFEX and TSEC from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the behavior of spreads, volume and trade sizes mainly reveal U-shaped patterns. The average trading volume within each time interval plunges, except within the final 5 minutes closing procedure interval, after TAIFEX transferred trading mechanism from an electronic periodic call auction market to an electronic continuous auction market with wider spreads and narrower volatility, in general. Moreover, intraday patterns of the average volume under new microstructure exhibit a right angular U-shape while intraday patterns of volume under old microstructure reveal a smooth U-shape. The evidence suggests a conjecture that the transfer of market trading mechanism might result in informed traders’ altering their intraday behavior and might lessening their trading desire. Further evidence in confirmation of this statement is left to future work. / This paper investigates the market microstructure of the Taiwan Stock Exchange Capitalization weighted Stock Index (TX) futures contracts traded on the Taiwan Futures Exchange which quite recently switched from an electronic periodic call auction market to an electronic continuous auction market. No doubt it is a rare opportunity for us to deeply look into market quality under different trading mechanisms. Using time-stamped transaction data of trades and quotes covering the period from January 2001 to September 2002, overall behavior for all TX Futures contracts are explored first—including intraday and daily patterns in the bid-ask spreads, volume, trade size, volatility, liquidity ratio and other characteristics. Next, in order to observe whether long-term contracts and short-term contracts have different patterns, the sample is divided into two groups—quarterly expiration contract months (March, June, September, and December) and non-quarterly expiration contract months, and the intraday/daily patterns are displayed. Moreover, since TAIFEX transferred trading mechanism on July 29th 2002 from an electronic periodic call auction market to an electronic continuous auction market, intraday/daily patterns are separately illustrated and compared before and after July 29th 2002, and ANOVA F-Statistic and Kruskal-Wallis tests are also taken to provide more insights into time-varying behavior under two different kinds of market trading mechanisms. The empirical results indicate that the most active periods correspond to the TAIFEX’Ss opening five-minute interval (8:45-8:50), TSEC’Ss opening five-minute interval (9:00-9:05), and TAIFEX’S closing five-minute interval (13:40-13:45) with wide spreads and large trade sizes. In 54 five-minute intervals for the regular trading session of both TAIFEX and TSEC from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the behavior of spreads, volume and trade sizes mainly reveal U-shaped patterns. The average trading volume within each time interval plunges, except within the final 5 minutes closing procedure interval, after TAIFEX transferred trading mechanism from an electronic periodic call auction market to an electronic continuous auction market with wider spreads and narrower volatility, in general. Moreover, intraday patterns of the average volume under new microstructure exhibit a right angular U-shape while intraday patterns of volume under old microstructure reveal a smooth U-shape. The evidence suggests a conjecture that the transfer of market trading mechanism might result in informed traders’ altering their intraday behavior and might lessening their trading desire. Further evidence in confirmation of this statement is left to future work.

Le présent travail a pour but l'étude des formes lexicographiques des fonctions booléennes simples complètes ou incomplètes. Ces écritures ont pour application directe la synthèse arborescente des fonctions booléennes à l'aide de l'opérateur U.<br /><br />Nous présentons un algorithme de construction des telles formes que nous avons programmé ainsi qu'un certain nombre de propriétés s'y rapportant.

The topic of my thesis is “The campaigns of the Norman dukes of southern Italy to Byzantium, in the years between 1071 and 1108 A.D.” As the title suggests, I am examining all the main campaigns conducted by the Normans against Byzantine provinces, in the period from the fall of Bari, the Byzantine capital of Apulia and the seat of the Byzantine governor (catepano) of Italy in 1071, to the Treaty of Devol that marked the end of Bohemond of Taranto’s Illyrian campaign in 1108. My thesis, however, aims to focus specifically on the military aspects of these confrontations, an area which for this period has been surprisingly neglected in the existing secondary literature. My intention is to give answers to a series of questions, of which only some of them are presented here: what was the Norman method of raising their armies and what was the connection of this particular system to that in Normandy and France in the same period (similarities, differences, if any)? Have the Normans been willing to adapt to the Mediterranean reality of warfare, meaning the adaptation of siege engines and the creation of a transport and fighting fleet? What was the composition of their armies, not only in numbers but also in the analogy of cavalry, infantry and supplementary units? While in the field of battle, what were the fighting tactics used by the Normans against the Byzantines and were they superior to their eastern opponents? However, as my study is in essence comparative, I will further compare the Norman and Byzantine military institutions, analyse the clash of these two different military cultures and distinguish any signs of adaptations in their practice of warfare. Also, I will attempt to set this enquiry in the light of new approaches to medieval military history visible in recent historiography by asking if any side had been familiar to the ideas of Vegetian strategy, and if so, whether we characterise any of these strategies as Vegetian?