Incurring high economic cost due to medical imaging modalities, there is a need for a low-cost, on site, diagnostic screening tool for the early detection of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). We hypothesize that patients with TBI will exhibit temporal and spatial gradient dynamics in the thermal signature on the surface of the skin, and that these dynamics reflect the inflammatory process. Hence, we implemented far-infrared (FIR) thermography using a blunt TBI rat model to analyze changes in the external, surface temperature gradient as an indication of internal inflammation. Results show a consistent increase in average surface temperature after 0.5 days of recovery post-impact. The trend in average surface temperature decreases after 1 day of recovery with a continual decline observed after a 4-day recovery. After 7 days of recovery, the average surface temperature begins to increase with a substantial surge seen 14 days post-impact. The trend appears to correlate well with the inflammatory process.

The research study focuses on the development of new appropriate tools suitable for dyslexia assessment of primary school children (grades sixth to ninth), and a process of their pilot standardization. The inspiration was found in the existing tests for different age groups and methods used abroad. Four newly created tests were included into the test battery (test of visual perception, phonological manipulation, auditory segmentation and rapid automatized naming) as well as two already existing tests, which are a part of the validation study (test of auditory discrimination from Novak's Diagnosis of specific learning disabilities battery and Symbol search subtest from Wechsler intelligence scale for children). The research group consisted of 155 students of primary school (grades sixth to ninth), 61 dyslectics and 94 intact students. The results between the intact group and the dyslexic group differed significantly in all tests. The test of phonological manipulation showed the strongest differentiation. The study includes a correlation analysis between the tests and norms created for both groups. The presented predictive model was able to correctly identify 77.4 % of "cases" in relation to the criterion dyslexic - intact group.

The diagnosis of cancer today is obsolete, depending upon pattern recognition and non-quantifiable data. The time consuming diagnosis is often performed on biopsies, fixed using non standardised procedures, and leaves room for dubious results. The diagnosis is also invasive, exposing patients to risk of infections and discomfort due to the need of tissue samples. The knowledge about changes in protein expression levels related to cancer can instead be utilized to generate a new diagnostic tool. By adapting the in situ proximity ligation assay (in situ PLA) to cells in solution, it is possible to detect proteins, or protein interactions, within cells without the need for tissue samples. Since the method is both highly sensitive and specific, it delivers reliable results. In this report, the in situ PLA method for cells in solution is combined with flow cytometry readout. Hence, a new and less invasive diagnostic tool for cancer, delivering highly accurate high throughput single cell analysis, may be on the rise.

This thesis is focused on one of the diagnostic methods of fotovoltaic cells the LBIC (Light Beam Induced Current) method and the experimental measurement set-up for this method, which is operated by the Department of Electrical and Electronic Technology in Brno. The principle of photovoltaic cells function, the possibly used material and the problems usually encountred during production are described in this work,. There is also a review of methods that can be used to detect defects in photovoltaic cells. The main part is devoted to the proposal of a new experimental set-up for the measuring LBIC method and software development for this set-up. There is a proposal of a new method of measurement, which is also implemented using the development environment Borland C + +. Newly developed software for this method allows simpler operation and more efficient measurements.

The master thesis deals with connection of two important themes in a labour environment - leadership and health. The theoretical part is about defining the two concepts. In case of leadership, the main objective is to describe current roles, expected competencies of a leader and also a brief presentation of the main theoretical approaches to the leadership styles. Within health theme, working conditions usually mentioned in specialized literature as a risk to our health are described in detail. The outcome of these two chapters is to provide insight into the health-oriented leadership overlapping to describe abroad developed method Health-oriented leadership (HoL). Empirical part verifies basic psychometric data of the HoL method. The results of the research which was conducted on a sample of 76 followers and 17 leaders show that each version of the HoL method (StaffCare for leaders, StaffCare for followers, SelfCare) provides satisfactory item quality and sufficient reliability (Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.494 to 0.958). Goal of the validation research questions was to assess construct and criterion validity - the results are diverse and offers a number of correlations between versions of this method and different variables (e.g. a lifestyle, working conditions, health status, etc.). The...

Abstract The principal aim of a population-based cross-sectional survey was to generate information on the lifetime occurrence of prostatitis in Finnish men and their exposure to the disease, and also on the influence of prostatitis-related fears and disturbances on their sexual life. A second aim was to develop and clinically validate a new diagnostic tool for differential diagnosis between the forms of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS), especially between patients belonging to categories IIIA and IIIB in the new NIH (National Institutes of Health) clinical classification. Altogether 1832 men out of 2500 aged 20–59 years chosen randomly from the two most northerly provinces of Finland (Oulu and Lapland) participated in the epidemiological study, a response rate of 75%. The overall lifetime prevalence of prostatitis was 14.2%. The risk of having had the disease increased with age, being 1.7 times greater in the men aged 40–49 years than in those aged 20–39 years, and 3.1 times greater in those aged 50–59 years. More than a quarter of the 261 men who had or had had prostatitis symptoms (27%) suffered from them at least once a year, while 16% suffered from chronic prostatitis symptoms throughout the year. 63% of the men with prostatitis had their worst symptoms during the wintertime (November–march). 17% of the men with chronic prostatitis reported a constant fear of undetected prostate cancer. Erectile dysfunction was reported by 43% of the symptomatic men and decreased libido by 24%. Self-assessment of personality showed that the men with prostatitis were more often busy and nervous and had a meticulous attitude to life and problems than were the non-symptomatic men. 197 patients with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome participated in three clinical case-control studies during the years 1995–2000, at Oulu University Hospital, the District Hospital of Oulainen and Seinäjoki Central Hospital. The first prostatic tissue pressure measurement (PTPM) study included 34 patients and 9 controls. A novel method was developed to measure intraprostatic tissue pressure with a Stryker® intracompartmental pressure monitor. The PTPM showed a clear increase (p < 0.001) in the patients with symptoms of prostatitis and benign prostatic enlargement (BPE) relative to the controls and the patients with BPE but without pain symptoms. The second PTPM study included 42 patients with chronic prostatitis symptoms without significant BPE and 12 new controls. Significantly higher pressure readings (p < 0.001) were recorded at all three measurement points in the patients than in the controls. 48 new patients and 12 new controls were enrolled for the third PTPM study, the purpose of which was to confirm the results of the previous ones and to compare the prostatic tissue pressures of two clinical groups (IIIA and IIIB). The prostatic tissue pressure was again significantly higher in the patients with chronic prostatitis symptoms than in the controls (p < 0.001). An interesting finding was that prostatitis patients belonging to clinical category IIIA had significantly higher tissue pressures (p < 0.01) than those in category IIIB, probably reflecting more severe inflammation in the prostatic tissue. This new PTPM method provides a more precise and/or exact tool for differential diagnosis between the forms of pelvic pain and CP/CPPS.

This work deals with the modern diagnostic methods of defects detection of solar cells. Defects are detected by electroluminescence and photoluminescence methods. The main focus of this work is an innovation workplace for measuring solar cell defects at very low temperatures using photoluminescence. Liquid nitrogen is used to cooling solar cells. By using low temperatures can be detection methods to obtain more objektive results of diagnostic defects.

A identificação de observações influentes e/ou aberrantes de um conjunto de dados é conhecida como uma parte das análises de diagnóstico. Esta técnica de diagnóstico têm como uma das finalidades verificar a robustez de um modelo estatístico, pois a não identificação dos dados influentes pode afetar a análise ou obter resultados incorretos. As metodologias comumente utilizadas para o diagnóstico de observações influentes em modelos de regressão são métodos de influência global (Belsey et al., 1980). Cook (1986) introduziu um método geral para avaliar a influência local de pequenas perturbações no modelo estatístico ou nos dados, usando diferentes tipos de perturbações. Como complemento às técnicas de detecção de observações discrepantes, é proposto o método procura \\forward\", por Atkinson e Riani (2000), que é uma metodologia para detectar observações atípicas mascaradas. Neste trabalho, propomos o uso da influência local com procura \"forward\" na obtenção de observações mascaradas influentes considerando modelos de regressão linear. / The identification of influential and/or atypical observations in a data set is known as a part of the diagnostic analysis. One of the purposes of the diagnostic analysis is to verify the robustness of a statistical model, as the non-identification of influential observations can affect the analysis or may cause the obtainment of incorrect results. The most commonly used methodology for the diagnostic of influential observations in regression models are the global influence (Belsey et al., 1980). Cook (1986) introduced a general method to evaluate the local influence of small perturbations in the statistical model or in the data set using different perturbation schemes. As a complement to the techniques of detection atypical observations, it is proposed the forward search procedure by Atkinson e Riani (2000), which is a methodology to detect the masked atypical observations in a data set. In this work we propose the use of the local influence approach together with the forward search to obtain the masked influential observations in linear regression models.

A identificação de observações influentes e/ou aberrantes de um conjunto de dados é conhecida como uma parte das análises de diagnóstico. Esta técnica de diagnóstico têm como uma das finalidades verificar a robustez de um modelo estatístico, pois a não identificação dos dados influentes pode afetar a análise ou obter resultados incorretos. As metodologias comumente utilizadas para o diagnóstico de observações influentes em modelos de regressão são métodos de influência global (Belsey et al., 1980). Cook (1986) introduziu um método geral para avaliar a influência local de pequenas perturbações no modelo estatístico ou nos dados, usando diferentes tipos de perturbações. Como complemento às técnicas de detecção de observações discrepantes, é proposto o método procura \\forward\", por Atkinson e Riani (2000), que é uma metodologia para detectar observações atípicas mascaradas. Neste trabalho, propomos o uso da influência local com procura \"forward\" na obtenção de observações mascaradas influentes considerando modelos de regressão linear. / The identification of influential and/or atypical observations in a data set is known as a part of the diagnostic analysis. One of the purposes of the diagnostic analysis is to verify the robustness of a statistical model, as the non-identification of influential observations can affect the analysis or may cause the obtainment of incorrect results. The most commonly used methodology for the diagnostic of influential observations in regression models are the global influence (Belsey et al., 1980). Cook (1986) introduced a general method to evaluate the local influence of small perturbations in the statistical model or in the data set using different perturbation schemes. As a complement to the techniques of detection atypical observations, it is proposed the forward search procedure by Atkinson e Riani (2000), which is a methodology to detect the masked atypical observations in a data set. In this work we propose the use of the local influence approach together with the forward search to obtain the masked influential observations in linear regression models.

The problems of solar cells are described in general in theoretic part of the master’s thesis. In particular there is described structure of solar cells, procedure of production of solar cells, kinds of defects that can occur in solar cells and diagnostic methods of detection of this defects. The solar simulator, electroluminescence method, detection of defects during microplasma shining, LBIV and LBIC method belongs to category of diagnostic methods. The main focusing is on diagnostic method of LBIC (Light Beam Inducted Current). The workplace which exploits this method is used in laboratory in Department of Electrotechnology on University of Technology Brno. This method is very exact and it reveals most of defects in solar cell but the problem is the slow speed of testing. In practical part of the master’s thesis the main solved problem is the proposition and realization of modified workplace of LBIC that would work on more modern level, it means using performer PC for service program and Agilent 34410A the modern measuring device. The speed up of the testing time is the goal of modernization in existing accuracy of finding. The modify workplace is realized and compared with the existing workplace subsequently.