Sustainability and finance should go hand in hand. A financial system that supports sustainablegrowth is necessary for the transition to a carbon-free society. Environmental, Social andGovernance (ESG) is a sustainability performance measurement used worldwide. Previousresearch within the ESG area has mainly focused on ESG score and financial performance.Environmental performance gets more attention from investors, and the Nordic countries areall in the top five when it comes to sustainability ranking. This research examines the relationbetween sustainability ratings (E score and ESG score) in the Nordic countries as well as if therelation differs between different rating agencies. To study the relationships, a regressionanalysis was performed, and we could not draw any concrete conclusions whether low CO2emissions are associated with a higher E- or ESG score in the Nordic countries. The resultindicates that a high E- or ESG score does not seem to be associated with lower CO2 emissions.A significant result was found on the fact that the E- and ESG scores relation to CO2 aredifferent between rating agencies. However, full access to one of the rating agencies has notbeen granted, which entails some limitations and further research on the questions isrecommended.

The master’s thesis treat of design and appreciation load-bearing steel structure of Motor Show. The object is situated on the lokality Brno. Structure is composed of rolling sections and tubes. Overall height of the structure is 17,395 meters and overall lenght is 32,60 meters. Cross link iscomposed of arched girders panel that are supported on fixed pillars. Theoutside links are composed of panel columns. Load is composed of self weight, additonal imposed load, payload and climate load caused by wind and snow that is reached for given locality.Static rewiew comes out from previous load and it has been accomplished by Scia Engineer 2008 and hand computation.

This thesis aims to investigate the relationship between social sustainability and financial performance in Nordic large and mid-cap firms. Lately, there has been an increasing focus on ESG factors, however previous studies of the ESG factors’ relationship to financial performance have given mixed results. Moreover, in previous studies, the focus on social sustainability has fallen behind compared to the environmental and governance pillars. Therefore, the study analyses the relationship between the social pillar of ESG and financial performance, as well as the 4 social subcategories making up the social pillar. Thereby making the study a multi-ESG level study during the period 2018-2022. The study relies on a sample of 136 Nordic firms (123 for the ROE models) extracted from the LSEG database and tests the relationship between social sustainability and financial performance using nine panel regression models. Our findings are mixed, some showcasing negative, positive, and insignificant results. We find the social pillar of ESG to be a negative predictor of ROE, the social category of product responsibility was found to be a positive predictor of Tobin’s Q, and finally, the category of human rights was found to be a negative predictor of ROE. The other ESG variables were found to be insignificant as predictors of financial performance. The study thereby contributes to the research by investigating the under-researched pillar of sustainability, i.e. social sustainability, as well as shedding a light on the relationship in a Nordic context.

"Safety is a value, not just a Priority" Geomechanically stable underground excavations require continuous assessment of rock mass behavior for maximizing safety. Optimizing pillar design is essential for preventing hazardous incidents and improving production in room-and-pillar mines. Maintaining regional and global stability is complicated for underground carbonate or stone deposits, where extensive fracture networks and groundwater flow become leading factors for generating unsteady ground conditions including karsts. A sudden encounter with karst cavities during mine advance may lead to safety issues, including ground collapse and outflow of unconsolidated sediments and groundwater. The presence of these eroded zones in pillars may cause their failure and poses a risk to the lives of miners apart from disrupting the pre-planned mining operations. A pervasive presence of joints and fractures plays a primary role in promoting structurally controlled failures in stone mines, which accelerates upon interaction with the karst cavities. The prevalent empirical and analytical approaches for pillar design ignore the geotechnical complexities such as the spatial density of discontinuities, karst voids, and deviation from the design during short-range mine planning. With the increasing market demand for limestone products, mining organizations, as well as enforcement agencies, are investing in research for increasing the efficiency of extracting valuable resources. While economical productivity is essential, preventing risks and ensuring the safety of miners remains the cardinal objective of mining operations. According to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), since 2000, about 31% of occupational fatalities at all underground mines in the United States are caused due to ground collapse, which rises to 39% for underground stone mines. The objective of this study is to provide a reliable and methodological approach for pillar design in underground room-and-pillar hard rock mines for safe and efficient ore recovery. The numerical modeling techniques, implemented for a case study stone mine, could provide a pragmatic framework to assess the effect of karsts on rock mass behavior, and design future pillars detected with voids. The research uses data acquired from using remote sensing techniques, such as LiDAR and Ground-penetrating Radar surveys, to map the excavation characteristics. Discontinuum modeling was valuable for analyzing the pillar strength in the presence of discontinuities and cavities, as well as estimating a safe design standard. Discrete Fracture Networks, created using statistical information from discontinuity mapping, were employed to simulate the joints pervading the rock mass. This proposed research includes the calibration of rock mass properties to translate the effect of discontinuities to continuum models. Continuum modeling proved effective in analyzing regional stability along with characterizing the redistributed stress regime by imitating the excavation sequence. The results from pillar-scale and local-scale analyses are converged to optimize pillar design on a global scale and estimate the feasibility of secondary recovery in stone mines with a dominating discontinuity network and karst terrane. Stochastic analysis using finite volume modeling helped evaluate the performance of modified pillars to assist production while maintaining safety standards. The proposed research is valuable for improving future design parameters, excavation practices, and maintaining a balance between an approach towards increased safety while enhancing production. / Doctor of Philosophy / "The most valuable resource to come back out of a mine is a miner" – Anonymous. The United States accounted for 27% of the global limestone market share which was valued at US$58.5 billion in 2020 [148]. It is projected to reach a target of US$65.3 billion in 2027, growing even in midst of the COVID-19. As surface reserves deplete, much of the mineral demand gap is supplemented by mining underground deposits. Underground mines extract minerals from deep within the earth compared to surface mines. As a result, the miners experience a greater number of accidents in a constricted environment because of roof/tunnel collapse, fewer escape routes, ventilation, explosions, or inundation. According to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), about 15% of all underground mine injuries in the US were caused by rockfalls since 1983. The majority of underground stone deposits are mined using the room-and-pillar mining method, which resembles a chessboard design where the light squares are mined, and the dark squares are left as rock pillars to support the tunnels. Limestone, a carbonate rock, contains a lot of fractures and joints (discontinuities). Erosion of rocks due to continuous water flow through the fractures leads to the formation of cavities known as karsts. Interaction of karsts with the prevalent fracture network increases rockfall risk during mining. The collapse of voids along with an inrush of filled rock-clay-water sludge can harm miners' lives, damage machinery, and stop further operations. Literature is scarce on topics that quantify the risk and disruption posed by these cavities in underground mines. Most rock classification systems cannot classify their effect because of the unpredictability and extensive analysis required. The objective of this research is to provide a reliable and methodological approach for designing pillars in underground hard rock mines for ensuring a safe working environment and efficient mineral recovery. This research starts with analyzing the strength of pillars, in which karst cavities were discovered while mining. The safety concerns often lead the miners to not excavate around the cavities and leave valuable resources unmined. Data from ground-penetrating radar and laser scanning surveys were used to characterize the voids and map the discontinuities. Discrete-element numerical modeling was used to simulate the pillars as an assembly of blocks jointed by the discontinuities. The simulation results help us understand the instability issues in the karst-ridden pillars and ways to improve upon the existing design. The findings were used to modulate the parameters for regional-scale models using finite volume modeling for less computationally intensive analyses and simulating rock as a continuum. The continuum models were highly effective in analyzing the instability issues due to the prevalent karstic network. This helps understand any alternative scenario that could have been implemented to optimize ore recovery while preventing risks. The results from the single pillar and regional analyses are combined to optimize pillar design on a global mine scale. This dissertation focuses on improving hazard mitigation in mines with unpredicted anomalies like karsts. Although this research is based on a specific mine site, it empowers the operators to explore the presented techniques to increase safety in all underground mines. The suggested methodology will help devise better strategies for handling instability issues without jeopardizing the mine operations. The primary motivation is to keep the underground miners safe from hazardous situations while fulfilling the secondary objective of maximizing mineral production.

Creating the concept of buildings is the primary task of architects, designers in the field of architecture and engineering. Although the basic requirements remain the same across time , possibilities of their solution are constantly evolving and changing. In addition, with the increasing globalization, in context of the housing and the architecture is expected new requirements go beyond the horizons of the interests of bouth investor and designer. Global view of each project and the evaluation of its traces left in our environment and society, although is much discussed but rarely taken into account or even just considered. In this context, we are witnessing the development of new trends of the concepts of buildings, consisting in the use of natural materials, in reducing the environmental burden of a surroundings, in reducing energy demands, or even in an effort to achieve energy independence thus trends, whose common denominator is sustainable construction, hence sustainable development in general. Feasibility of the creation of the concept of energy self-sufficient building doesn´t consist only in the precise solution of the assigned task from the perspective of the designer or investor, but also in finding such a solution which, even with using new trends and principles, will not go against the initial idea itself. The present instrument processed and presented in this dissertation has the ambition to move global view of the project into the perspective of a particular individual design process and in small way contribute to the creation of better projects from the perspective of sustainable development The term of energy self-sufficient buildings are not clearly defined. To work with them it was necessary to determine their basic definition that describes their diverse conceptual variations and allows precisely define the solution area. To correctly select the optimal solution in terms of sustainable development is necessary the assessment and mutual comparison since the beginning. As a basic tool for this assessment was used and partially modified SBTool, which is built on three basic pillars of sustainable development - SOCIAL - ENVIRONMENTAL - ECONOMIC. SBTool tries to determine the degree of left traces of the approach from the perspectives of these three aspects and evaluate the effectiveness of the selected solution. This tool allow to compare the different concepts for the same project among themselves, their parts but also various projects among each other. All of course with regard to the development of various aspects in the time.

Cielom diplomovej prace je vytvorenie expertného systému založeného na modeloch fuzzy logiky v programoch Excel a MATLAB, pomocou ktorého je možné ohodnotiť rôzne dôchodkové fondy a ďalšie finančné produkty. Vzhľadom na prehlbujúcu sa demografickú krízu, práca ponúka návrhy optimálneho investičného mixu pre tri modelové situácie s cieľom dodatočného finančného zabezpečenia počas dôchodkového veku. Práca je spracovaná pre podmienky Slovenskej republiky, podľa súčasnej situácie a platnej legislatívy.

Owing to continuous miniaturization, many modern high-technology applications such as medical and optical devices, thermal barrier coatings, electronics, micro- and nano-electro mechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS), gems industry and semiconductors increasingly use components with sizes down to a few micrometers and even smaller. Understanding their deformation mechanisms and assessing their mechanical performance help to achieve new insights or design new material systems with superior properties through controlled microstructure at the appropriate scales. However, a fundamental understanding of mechanical response in surface-dominated structures, different than their bulk behaviours, is still elusive. In this thesis, the size effect in a single-crystal Ti alloy (Ti15V3Cr3Al3Sn) is investigated. To achieve this, nanoindentation and micropillar (with a square cross-section) compression tests were carried out in collaboration with Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA), Switzerland. Three-dimensional finite element models of compression and indentation with an implicit time-integration scheme incorporating a strain-gradient crystal-plasticity (SGCP) theory were developed to accurately represent deformation of the studied body-centered cubic metallic material. An appropriate hardening model was implemented to account for strain-hardening of the active slip systems, determined experimentally. The optimized set of parameters characterizing the deformation behaviour of Ti alloy was obtained based on a direct comparison of simulations and the experiments. An enhanced model based on the SGCP theory (EMSGCP), accounting for an initial microstructure of samples in terms of different types of dislocations (statistically stored and geometrically necessary dislocations), was suggested and used in the numerical analysis. This meso-scale continuum theory bridges the gap between the discrete-dislocation dynamics theory, where simulations are performed at strain rates several orders of magnitude higher than those in experiments, and the classical continuum-plasticity theory, which cannot explain the dependence of mechanical response on a specimen s size since there is no length scale in its constitutive description. A case study was performed using a cylindrical pillar to examine, on the one hand, accuracy of the proposed EMSGCP theory and, on the other hand, its universality for different pillar geometries. An extensive numerical study of the size effect in micron-size pillars was also implemented. On the other hand, an anisotropic character of surface topographies around indents along different crystallographic orientations of single crystals obtained in numerical simulations was compared to experimental findings. The size effect in nano-indentation was studied numerically. The differences in the observed hardness values for various indenter types were investigated using the developed EMSGCP theory.

This work deals with the iconographic programme of the Jesuits in the baroque sculptural decoration of Svatá Hora (Holy Mountain). The first chapter is devoted to the literature, which has been written about Svatá Hora (Holy Mountain) near Pribram. The next chapter talks of the history of the pilgrimage site before the Society of Jesus became active there, after its arrival in 1647 until its suppression in 1773. It was also opportune to deal with the history of Svatá Hora (Holy Mountain) during the period of the provosts in the years 1773 - 1861. I also dealt at least in outline form with the years 1871-1950, when the Redemptorists administered Svatá Hora (Holy Mountain) and made significant changes to the iconography of the compound. In the following chapter, I devoted myself to the building and artistic activities during the time of the priests of the Society of Jesus. A separate chapter is dedicated to the illustration and veneration of Our Lady of Svatá Hora (Holy Mountain). In another work, I focused primarily on the individual sculptural decorations of the pilgrimage site and its iconographic illustrations. Individual sub-chapters deal with the Marian Pillar, the Calvary statue, the Upper Terrace inside the ambit, the Prague and the Breznice Gates. In the last chapter, I dealt with the...

My thesis is concerned to old age pension scheme issue in the Czech republic conditions. There is an analyse of PAYG and funded system from individual point of view. The aim of this work is to construct a model which would be able to inform individuals about the effectiveness of each current pension pillar. Model of comparison defined pension age break-even point, which represent age when the total amount of contributions payd are equal to retired pay received. By using original model, it is possible to find minimum desired value of returns from private pension funds.

Aços inoxidáveis duplex (AID) são materiais amplamente utilizados para uma grande variedade de aplicações desde a indústria química, de alimentos, petroquímica, naval, farmacêutica, energia nuclear e em muitos outros campos devido à combinação de suas excelentes propriedades mecânicas e de resistência à corrosão. Particularmente na indústria petroquímica, os aços AID’s são muito utilizados como materiais estruturais para a construção de gasodutos que transportam altos volumes de CO2 e na confecção das camadas internas dos tubos flexíveis (oleodutos offshore), utilizadas na produção de óleo. A soldagem a arco dos AID’s pode acarretar, dependendo das taxas de resfriamento envolvidas, a formação de precipitados de segunda fase que degradam suas propriedades mecânicas. Um processo alternativo para evitar o problema de precipitação de fases indesejáveis é a utilização do processo de soldagem/reparo por fricção com pino consumível (SFPC). O objetivo do presente trabalho é a caracterização metalúrgica e mecânica de juntas de solda de aço inoxidável duplex UNS S31803 obtidas através dos processos SFPC e de soldagem de costura por fricção (SCF). Na soldagem SCF, o objetivo do estudo foi a verificação da influência do passo de soldagem na formação e alteração das estruturas e nas propriedades mecânicas. Os resultados dos ensaios foram comparados com as propriedades obtidas do material base (MB) “como recebido”. A partir das juntas soldadas obtidas por fricção, foram extraídos corpos de prova para ensaios de microtração e Charpy para avaliação da resistência mecânica e da resistência ao impacto. Análises da microestrutura em microscopia ótica (MO) e perfis de microdurezas ao longo da região de solda também foram realizadas. Verificou-se que os processos de soldagem SFPC e SCF provocam um intenso refinamento de grão na zona de mistura (região da interface entre material do pino e da base), modificando a estrutura lamelar de grãos alongados da matriz ferrítica/austenítica, ocasionado por uma ação conjunta de aquecimento e deformação plástica oriunda do processo de solda por fricção. Os resultados dos ensaios de microtração indicam que as juntas soldadas aumentaram sua resistência mecânica com relação ao material base, fato que se deve ao aumento da quantidade da ferrita na zona termomecanicamente afetada (ZTMA), à formação de nitretos de cromo no centro dos grãos ferríticos e ao refino de grão. O aumento da quantidade de ferrita na ZTMA ocorre devido às altas taxas de resfriamento envolvidas no processo de soldagem e verificados por análise térmica. As elevadas taxas de resfriamento dificultam a difusão do nitrogênio que tem um importante papel no equilíbrio de fases da estrutura duplex (ferrita-austenita), na soldagem. O nitrogênio aprisionado no interior do grão ferrítico produz nitretos de cromo deixando de agir como elemento gamagênico aumentando a quantidade da fase ferrita. As juntas soldadas verificadas apresentaram tenacidade aceitável de acordo com o exigido pela norma ASTM A923. / Duplex stainless steels (DSS) are materials widely used for a variety of applications from the chemical, food, petrochemical, marine, pharmaceutical, nuclear industry and other fields due to the combination of their excellent mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. Particularly in the petrochemical industry, the DSS’s steels are extensively used as structural materials for the construction of gas pipelines that carry high volumes of CO2 and making the inner layers of flexible pipes (pipelines offshore) used in offshore oil production. The arc welding of DSS's can lead, depending on cooling rates involved, the formation of second phase precipitates which degrade their mechanical properties. An alternative method to avoid the problem of precipitation of unwanted phase is to use the welding process Friction Hydro Pillar Processing (FHPP). The aim of this work is the metallurgical and mechanical characterization of joints welds of UNS S31803 duplex stainless steel obtained through FHPP processes and Friction Taper Stitch Welding (FTSW). In FTSW welding, the objective of the study was to verify the influence of the welding step on the formation and alteration of structures and mechanical properties. The test results were compared with the properties of the obtained base material "as received". From the welds joints obtained by friction welding, specimens for microtensile testing and charpy were extracted to evaluate the mechanical strength and toughness. Microstructural analysis in optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and microhardness profiles along the weld region were also performed. It was found that the welding process FHPP and FTSW causes an intense grain refinement in bonding zone, modifying the lamellar structure of elongate grains of matrix ferritic/austenitic, caused by action of heating and plastic deformation arising from the welding process by friction. The results of the microtensile tests indicate that the welded joints increased their mechanical resistance with respect to the base material, due to the increase in the amount of the ferrite in the thermomechanically affected zone (ZTMA), the formation of chromium nitrides in the center of ferritic grains and grain refining. The increase in the amount of ferrite in the ZTMA occurs due to the high cooling rates involved in the welding process and verified by thermal analysis. The high cooling rates difficult the nitrogen diffusion, which plays an important role in the phase equilibrium of the duplex structure (ferrite-austenite) in welding. The nitrogen trapped inside the ferritic grain produces chromium nitrides ceasing to act as gamogenic element by increasing the amount of the ferrite phase. The welds joints verified also had acceptable ductility and toughness according required by standard ASTM A923.