The Diploma thesis "Boutique Hotels Analysis" is focused on tourism and hotel industry in the Czech Republic. The theoretical part encompasses essential terms and pieces of knowledge in both sectors; the practical part is based on boutique hotel Buddha-Bar Hotel Prague. Provided services, position among competitive subjects in hotel industry market and satisfaction of staff are analyzed. Based on results, strategy for further development and suggestions for increasing competitiveness are recommended.

Eukaryotic cells are characterised by membranes with varied and dynamic compositions and shapes. Consequently, membrane-binding proteins are tuned to recognise and modify these membrane states to perform their functions. To study the curvature sensitivity of proteins, I have developed a single-particle assay using NanoSight technology that tracks the Brownian motion of particles to measure their size. I optimised this system to track fluorescently labelled lipid-binding domains bound to liposomes of different sizes moving freely in solution. The comparison of the size distribution of the total liposomes with the fluorescently labelled population allowed me to determine their curvature preferences. To validate the method I tested proteins from the Bin/Amphiphysin/Rvs (BAR) superfamily, which are inherently curved and have known curvature preferences. My method was capable of recapitulating the behaviour of BAR domains with different curvature preferences. I then expanded the range of targets and showed that this assay is also capable of detecting curvature preferences for a variety of other lipid-binding domain families. As such, I identified AKT PH domain as a new curvature-sensing domain. Finally, using the ENTH domain of Epsin1 that causes vesicle budding, I demonstrated that this method can also be used to study membrane remodelling. Trafficking involves generation and sensing of membrane curvature combined with recognition of specific cargo. Endophilin consists of a curvature-sensitive BAR domain followed by an SH3 (Src-homology 3) domain and has recently been identified in a clathrin-independent endocytosis pathway, FEME (fast endophilin-mediated endocytosis), involved in the uptake of cell surface receptors. Endophilin recognises ligands via its SH3 domain, binding G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) directly in their intracellular loop 3 and receptor tyrosine kinase (RTKs) via adaptor proteins. However, a specific recognition motif has not been identified yet. Here, using a combination of biophysical approaches and NMR spectroscopy, I characterised the Endophilin binding motif of ALIX (ALG-2-interacting protein X) adaptor protein and of the GPCR $\alpha$2A adrenergic receptor. Comparison of SH3-peptide models resulted in a putative Endophilin recognition site.

En el presente proyecto se vio la factibilidad de crear una empresa en el rubro de la cocina y bares. Se ha hecho un análisis histórico sobre los negocios similares en el distrito de Chiclayo, a partir de ello se usó un muestreo probabilístico para poder tener una idea fidedigna de las necesidades y deseos del público chiclayano. Después de tener como base estos resultados, se decidió aplicar cinco puntos a fin de corroborar si la idea de negocio es o no viable. Tales puntos son la viabilidad estratégica, la viabilidad de mercado, viabilidad organizacional y de personas, viabilidad técnica – operativa y viabilidad económica – financiera. El core bussines de la empresa se centra en brindar no solo un producto o servicio sino una experiencia que despierte sentimientos y aflore sus más bellos recuerdos con un café co-creado con el cliente y un clima laboral que haga sentir a nuestros trabajadores contentos y por ende a nuestros clientes de la misma manera. Se justifica la presente investigación por la innovación que hay en ella, aplicando técnicas novedosas para satisfacer las necesidades de nuestros clientes, aplicando estrategias actuales como la co-creación del producto, el uso de una App para la comodidad de nuestros clientes, entre otras cosas. Por ello se convertirá el coffee bar en su tercer hogar (primer lugar su casa y el segundo trabajo y/o universidad). Según los resultados del plan de negocio es factible que se brinde un servicio óptimo con un café peruano 100% especial, el envase será novedoso con un diseño ergodinamico y llamativo, el local contará con una infraestructura minimalista contemporánea e innovadora, diseños con tipografías de la época y nacionales. Se contará con una App del menú, para que el servicio sea veloz y haya una mayor rotación de mesas, delivery, tragos a base de café a partir de las 18:00. Según la encuesta que hemos hecho el 75% afirmaron que visitarían un coffee bar, lo que permite dar a conocer que tres de cada cuatro personas les gustaría un coffee bar en la ciudad de Chiclayo. / Tesis

Analysis of competetion

The Master's Thesis is dedicated to a topic of project management which is explored through the fashion brand Bazar Bar. The theoretical part is focused on definition necessary terms for the whole Thesis and it is occupied with connected fields of study: project management and brand marketing. In the practical part are the theoretical knowledge presented on the real brand called Bazar Bar. The Master's Thesis has set a target to analyse the real fashion brand operating on the Czech Market from two points of view: project management and brand marketing.

Cellular materials are often used as impact/blast attenuators due to their capacity to absorb kinetic energy when compressed to large strains. For such applications, three key material properties are the crushing stress, plateau stress and densification strain. The difficulties associated with obtaining these mechanical properties from dynamic/impact tests are outlined. The results of an experimental investigation of the quasi-static and dynamic mechanical properties of two types of cellular materials are reported.The dynamic tests were carried out using Hopkinson pressure bars. Experimentally determined propagation coefficients are employed to represent both dispersion and attenuation effects as stress waves travel along the bars. Propagation coefficients were determined for 20 mm and 40 mm diameter viscoelastic PMMA pressure bars and for elastic Magnesium pressure bars. The use of the elementary wave theory is shown to give satisfactory results for frequencies of up to approximately 15 kHz, 8 kHz and 30 kHz for the 20 mm and 40 mm diameter PMMA bars and the 23 mm diameter Magnesium bars respectively. The use of low impedance, viscoelastic pressure bars is shown to be preferable for testing low density, low strength materials.The quasi-static and dynamic compressive properties of balsa wood, Rohacell-51WF and Rohacell-110WF foams are investigated along all three principal directions. The dynamic properties were investigated by performing Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) and Direct Impact (DI) tests. In general, the crushing stress, the plateau stress and the densification strain remain constant with increasing strain rate of the SHPB tests. However, a dynamic enhancement of the crushing stress and plateau stress was revealed for balsa wood and Rohacell-51WF. In contrast, the plateau stresses of the Rohacell-110WF specimens are lower for SHPB than quasi-static tests. From the DI tests, it is shown that compaction waves have negligible effect on the stresses during dynamic compaction of along and across the grain balsa wood at impact speeds between approximately 20-100 m/s. Alternatively, the proximal end stresses of both Rohacell-51WF and 110WF foams increase with increasing impact velocity, following the quadratic trend predicted by 'shock theory'. This indicates that compaction waves are important for the case of Rohacell foam, even at low impact velocities.

This dissertation scrutinizes expressivist theories of first-person privilege with the aim of arriving at, first, a handful of suggestions about how a `best version' of expressivism about privilege will have to look, and second, a critical understanding of what such an approach's strengths and weaknesses will be. Roughly, expressivist approaches to the problem of privilege are characterized, first, by their emphasis on the likenesses between privileged mental state self-ascriptions and natural behavioral expressions of mentality, and second, by their insistence that an acknowledgment of these likenesses is required in order properly to understand the characteristically singular privilege with which one speaks of one's own mental states. The dissertation proceeds in five chapters whose individual tasks are as follows: The first chapter sets out the definition of the phenomena of "first-person privilege" in use throughout the dissertation and defends the claim that those phenomena are indeed real and so the philosophical problem of accounting for them is indeed serious. However, there is no presupposition made against the possibility of an expressivist account of the phenomena of first-person privilege. The second chapter sets out the basic motivations informing expressivist approaches to the problem of first-person privilege. Four immediate and significant questions for the expressivist approach are set out. The chapter also considers one `simple' way of responding to those questions and set outs the most pressing difficulties for a `simple expressivism'. The third chapter sets out my view of Wittgenstein as a methodically non-theorizing philosopher, criticizes rival views and, finally, sets out my view of the Wittgensteinian responses to the four questions set out in chapter two, given my view of him as a philosophical non-theorizer. Many of the later suggestions about a `best version' of expressivism draw directly on my best understanding of Wittgenstein's own approach to the problem of first-person privilege. The fourth chapter sets out David Finkelstein's, Peter Hacker's and Dorit Bar-On's responses to the quartet of questions for expressivists about first-person privilege, while flagging a number concerns for each author's approach. The final chapter condenses and reviews the concerns already raised for the expressivist approaches already canvassed and makes a number of suggestions about the most viable expressivist options for dealing with them. With that in place, the last chapter proceeds to comment on the overall plausibility of the sketch of a `best-version' of expressivism that emerges. Also, concerns to do with the relationship between expressivism about first-person privilege, epistemological foundationalism, content externalism and the mind-body problem are discussed.

This thesis investigates the use of an active anti-roll bar as a means of improving the handling of an off-road vehicle. The active anti-roll bar consists of a stiff anti-roll bar and a hydraulic actuator at the one end between the anti-roll bar and the rear axle of the vehicle. The system is designed so that the anti-roll bar can be preloaded in both directions by the actuator. The displacement of the hydraulic actuator is close loop controlled to be a function of the lateral acceleration of the vehicle, which is measured by an accelerometer. For this study, full vehicle simulations were done in ADAMS/View to predict the response of the proposed solutions. A Land Rover Defender 110 was used as the test vehicle to verify the results of the simulations. Constant radius tests and the severe double-lane-change manoeuvre, which are standard handling tests, were used to determine the vehicle’s handling performance. Handling performance was quantified by measuring the body roll angle during the manoeuvre and noting the maximum roll angle. The effect of the active anti-roll bar on ride comfort was measured by driving over Belgian paving at a constant speed. The results show that the proposed system reduces the body roll angle to zero up to a lateral acceleration of 0.4 g during steady state handling and provided a 74% improvement in maximum body roll angle during a double-lane-change-manoeuvre at 70 km/h. The system has no detrimental effect on the ride comfort of the vehicle. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / unrestricted

We consider the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equation on the (possibly) asymmetric torus, D_δ = [0,2𝜋δ] × [0,2𝜋], both with and without stochastic forcing. Absent external force, the vorticity is known to reach a rest state of zero. There exists at least three so called "quasi-stationary states" which attract nearby solutions at rates faster than the global decay rate. The system evolves toward one of these three qualitatively different transient states for long times while the system overall tends toward the final rest state. We develop a finite-dimensional model of the associated deterministic vorticity equation to show how the selection of the dominant quasi-stationary state depends on the aspect ratio of the domain, given by δ. This is followed by formal analysis of the problem as a perturbation from the symmetric domain. Once the selection mechanism for the deterministic model is characterized, stochastic forcing is added to the reduced system. Numerical analysis shows the dominant quasi-stationary state is consistent with what is seen in the deterministic setting. Finally through multiscale averaging methods, the leading order dynamics of the stochastically forced finite-dimensional model for δ close to one is studied. As a result we formally obtain leading order asymptotics of statistics of interest, including the selection mechanism.

Tabulated material properties are the starting block for the design of most structures. Mechanical structures undergo a wide range of loading conditions. Structures can be loaded statically or dynamically with a wide range of strain rates. With impact loading or high strain rates the relationships between stress and strain are not the same as in static loading. It has been observed that material properties are dependent upon the rate at which they are tested. Many investigators have studied the effect of high compressive strain rate loading conditions, in metals. The most common method for determining the dynamic response of materials is the Split Hopkinson bar. The main focus of this work was to design a Split Hopkinson Bar apparatus to determine the dynamic compressive behavior of fiber reinforced composite materials. Graphite epoxy laminated composites have compressive failure strengths of 100 MPa. Dynamic compressive testing shows that the failure stress has increased to 260 MPa, an increase of approximately 230%. This testing shows that material properties are a function of the rate at which they are loaded.