This main content of this thesis is focused on analyzing the fullfilment of the obligation to publish information by selected companies in the Czech Republic (specifically financial statements). The theoretical part describes the legislative framework and discusses the merits of statutory disclosure obligations. The practical part consists of two main parts: analysis of the source data obtained from public register and the evaluation of the questionnaire survey carried out on a representative sample of businesses of two groups; those who fullfil regular information duty and those who haven´t submited those documents to the Registry Court yet or didn´t submit them in the right time. The analyzed current situation, possible solutions and areas for improvement are described in conclusion.

Background: Following the MPharm degree, the pre-registration training year is a critical time where the values, attitudes and behaviours of qualified pharmacists are inculcated. Given the paucity of research, a programme of work was undertaken to explore the process of professional socialisation and development of professionalism in trainees during the pre-registration year. Method: The programme of work, the first of its kind in pharmacy, explored the process of professional socialisation and development of professionalism in trainees prospectively during the 2011/12 pre-registration year. A purposive sample of 20 pre-registration trainee-tutor pairs - 14 from community and 6 from hospital pharmacy – were recruited across North West England. Semi-structured interviews and behavioural professionalism questionnaires were used longitudinally in four rounds of data collection during the training year and with newly qualified pharmacists (NQPs; formerly trainees). A cross-sectional survey was administered to 1706 trainees towards the end of the training year to examine areas explored in the longitudinal study, including behavioural professionalism, supervision and ‘patient mattering’. Interviews were analysed thematically using template and framework analyses, and the critical incident technique. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive and multivariate analyses. Results: Findings demonstrated that many of trainees’ attitudes and values appeared to be fostered during their upbringing and were further shaped by the MPharm degree, laying out professional expectations for pharmacists. At the beginning of training, sector differences were apparent with more formalised inductions in place in hospital than community pharmacies, particularly independents. Previous pharmacy work experience, which all 20 trainees had undertaken during MPharm studies, facilitated the transition into training. Early on in the year, as trainees familiarised themselves with the organisation and working processes they were often supported by pharmacy technicians and other support staff and trainees worked effectively and in a professional manner with them throughout training. The application of clinical knowledge acquired from the MPharm degree was challenging, as recognised by trainees and tutors. With continued practice experience and increased responsibility and patient contact, abilities in applying clinical knowledge and communicating with patients improved, as did trainees’ confidence. Longitudinal ratings of behavioural professionalism increased significantly during training, as assessed by trainees and their tutors, and this was confirmed in the analysis of a representative sample of 347 trainees that were surveyed (response rate = 24.2%). Survey findings showed how elements of behavioural professionalism such as communication skills were more prone to development compared to, for example, appearance and interpersonal skills. Perceptions of supervision received during the training year were generally positive. The pre-registration tutor was a key source of support, as well as role model, throughout the year, particularly in community pharmacy. Hospital tutors had a more distant relationship with their trainees and relied on other pharmacists to supervise their trainees. Tutors were often considered to have the largest impact on the development of professionalism in trainees, particularly in community. When considering aspects of their supervision, hospital trainees rated their tutors significantly higher than those in community in ‘articulation’ and ‘exploration’, relating to asking trainees for rationale of actions and encouraging them to pursue learning goals, respectively. Differences between training sites, such as the pharmacy services being delivered and patient mix, were found as were trainees’ beliefs that they mattered to patients: community trainees believed they mattered more (e.g. were more helpful) to their patients than hospital trainees. Conclusions: The multiple methods employed in this programme of work revealed experiences trainees faced and contributing factors associated with their professional socialisation and development of professionalism. The findings led to recommendations for pharmacy education and training including: integrating university-based and work-based learning more closely, ensuring consistency in training experiences in different settings and sectors, improving training and support for staff involved in training and setting explicit standards relating to elements of professionalism. These are considered in the context of anticipated changes to the MPharm into a more integrated 5-year degree programme.

In 2007 the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) endorsed the use of simulation to replace up to three hundred hours of practice learning in the pre-registration nursing programme (NMC, 2007a). This decision was the impetus for this study as it raised questions regarding whether simulation could replace practice and whether simulated learning transferred to the practice setting. For the first time, the NMC proposal to replace practice hours with simulation has been critically analysed and the implications of this decision explored. A literature review demonstrated a lack of robust evidence to support the use of simulation in this way. This informed the development of this study’s research question and aims. A qualitative collective case study was chosen as the optimum research design to facilitate in-depth exploration of the use of simulation at a selected university in the North West of England. The in-depth qualitative case study incorporated multiple models of simulation, student cohorts, nurse educators and key informants which provided the most comprehensive analysis of viewpoints in any published research in the UK to date. Deeper understanding of the case arose from the use of multiple data collection methods: documentary analysis, participant observation and interviews which enabled findings to be triangulated and corroborated. Most importantly, because the simulation models used were comparable to those used by other education providers in the UK; there is a possibility of the transferability of findings which could be used to inform the development of simulation in the under-graduate nursing curriculum. This thesis develops an argument that there were three key assumptions made by the NMC when they endorsed the replacement of practice hours with simulation. The first is that there is a shared understanding in nursing regarding what simulation is. Secondly; that simulation is delivered in a ‘safe environment’ and finally that competence demonstrated in simulation transfers seamlessly to practice. This thesis has presented new knowledge and developed an argument for caution regarding the use of simulation in pre-registration nurse education. These findings challenge the assumptions made by the NMC and highlight issues for further consideration and exploration namely: the ambiguity regarding the concept of simulation, student safety during simulation, student perceptions of authenticity and finally the transfer of simulated learning to practice.

The Optical Imaging Laboratory has developed a hand-held optical imaging system that is capable of 3D tomographic imaging. However, the imaging system is limited by longer imaging times, and inaccuracy in the positional tracking of the hand-held probe. Hence, the objective is to improve the performance of the imaging system by improving imaging time and positional accuracy. This involves: (i) development of automated single Labview-based software towards near real-time imaging; and (ii) implementation of an alternative positional tracking device (optical) towards improved positional accuracy during imaging. Experimental studies were performed using cubical tissue phantoms (1% Liposyn solution) and 0.45-cc fluorescence target(s) placed under various conditions. The studies demonstrated a 90% reduction in the imaging time (now ~27 sec/image) and also an increase from 94% to 97% in the positional accuracy of the hand-held probe. Performance enhancements in the hand-held optical imaging system have improved its potential towards clinical breast imaging.

L’angioplastie coronarienne est une intervention guidée par rayons X et réalisée par voie endovasculaire qui restaure le diamètre des vaisseaux coronaires réduit par accumulation de corps gras au sein de leurs parois. Lors de cette procédure, un guide est introduit à partir d’une artère qui peut être située au poignet ou au niveau de l’aine. La technique consiste alors à amener dans le vaisseau pathologique un ballonnet gonflable dans la zone rétrécie, localisée grâce à l’injection préalable d’un produit de contraste. Le gonflement du ballonnet élargit l’artère et s’accompagne en général de la pose d’un stent, structure métallique capable de renforcer la paroi. Le geste clinique peut être facilité en intégrant aux images le détail de la nature de la paroi, information disponible avec un scanner 3D. Le but de cette thèse est de proposer une méthode de recalage déformable pour superposer cette information 3D à des images angiographiques 2D per-opératoire en déformant le modèle 3D afin qu’il suive la dynamique cardiaque capturée dans les images angiographiques. Nous introduisons un algorithme de segmentation capable de segmenter automatiquement les vaisseaux principaux dans ces images angiographiques. Ensuite, nous présentons une approche de suivi du vaisseau 3D pathologique dans une séquence 2D+t combinant appariements et déformation d’une courbe spline. Enfin, nous décrivons l’extension au suivi d'un arbre vasculaire 3D, représenté par un arbre dont les arcs sont des courbes splines, dans une séquence 2D+t. Nous avons privilégié les approches applicables avec une seule projection angiographique, bien adapté au déroulement usuel des procédures cliniques. La performance des algorithmes a fait l’objet d’évaluations quantitatives sur des données réelles incluant 30 images pour la segmentation et 23 séquences pour le recalage. / Coronary angioplasty is an X-ray guided intervention, which aims at recovering the diameter of coronary vessels when the accumulation of fat in the vessel wall reduced it. During this procedure, a guide-wire is inserted in the blood vessel located at the wrist or groin. This guide-wire brings into the pathologic vessel a balloon at the level of the fat accumulation, thanks to a previous contrast injection which highlights the lesion. The balloon is inflated and very frequently a thin mesh tube of metallic wires (stent), which is wrapped around the balloon, is then expanded during the balloon inflation. The procedure could benefit from additional information on the nature of the inner wall, available on 3D CT scan. The aim of the thesis is to propose a dynamic registration to superimpose this 3D information onto the intraoperative 2D angiographic sequence, by deforming the 3D model so that it can follow the cardiac motion captured thanks to the angiographic images. We introduce a segmentation algorithm able to automatically segment the main vessels of the angiographic images. Then, we present a tracking approach of the 3D pathologic vessel in a 2D+t sequence combining pairings and the deformation of a spline curve. Finally, we describe the extension to the 3D vascular tree tracking represented by a tree, whose edges are spline curves, in a 2D+t sequence. We favored approaches that are applicable to a single angiographic projection, which is well adapted to the usual process of clinical procedures. All the proposed methods have been tested on real data, consisting of 30 angiographic images for the segmentation algorithm and 23 angiographic sequences for the registration algorithms.

The thesis consists of two coherent projects. The first project presents the results of evaluating salinity tolerance in barley using growth curve analysis where different growth trajectories are observed within barley families. The study of salinity tolerance in plants is crucial to understanding plant growth and productivity. Because fully-automated smarthouses with conveyor systems allow non-destructive and high-throughput phenotyping of large number of plants, it is now possible to apply advanced statistical tools to analyze daily measurements and to study salinity tolerance. To compare different growth patterns of barley variates, we use functional data analysis techniques to analyze the daily projected shoot areas. In particular, we apply the curve registration method to align all the curves from the same barley family in order to summarize the family-wise features. We also illustrate how to use statistical modeling to account for spatial variation in microclimate in smarthouses and for temporal variation across runs, which is crucial for identifying traits of the barley variates. In our analysis, we show that the concentrations of sodium and potassium in leaves are negatively correlated, and their interactions are associated with the degree of salinity tolerance. The second project studies change-points detection methods in extremes when multiple time series data are available. Motived by the scientific question of whether the chances to experience extreme weather are different in different seasons of a year, we develop a change-points detection model to study changes in extremes or in the tail of a distribution. Most of existing models identify seasons from multiple yearly time series assuming a season or a change-point location remains exactly the same across years. In this work, we propose a random effect model that allows the change-point to vary from year to year, following a given distribution. Both parametric and nonparametric methods are developed for detecting single and multiple change-points, and their performance is compared by simulation studies. The proposed method is illustrated using sea surface temperature data and the tail distributions before and after the change-point from two models, with and without random effects are compared.

The aim of my thesis was research of the ophthalmology images processing. These methods contains image filtration, detection of important points in the image and registration. Image adjustment and the follow up registration is very important to find some deseases (e.g. glaucoma, where is a change of nervous threads going from retina ). For the image changes and registrations was made computer programme (Matlab, Graphical User Interface), where the user can try the different methods decribed in teoretical part of thesis.

Ce travail porte sur la modélisation de problèmes liés au recalage d'images. Le recalage consiste à trouver une déformation optimale de sorte qu'une image déformée s'aligne sur une image de référence. Il s'agit d'une technique que l'on rencontre dans de nombreux domaines, comme l'imagerie médicale, la comparaison de données ou le suivi de formes. Le premier chapitre se concentre sur le problème de préservation de la topologie. Cette condition de préservation de la topologie est importante lorsque la déformation recherchée traduit des propriétés physiques des objets soumis à la déformation. Les chapitres suivants proposent la construction de différentes méthodes de recalage d'images fondées sur la théorie de l'élasticité non linéaire. En effet, les objets à apparier sont supposés être des matériaux hyper-élastiques. Différents termes d'attaches aux données ont été explorés ainsi que deux modèles conjoints de segmentation et recalage. / This work focuses on the modelling of problems related to image registration. Image registration consists in finding an optimal deformation such that a deformed image is aligned with a reference image. It is an important task encountered in a large range of applications such as medical imaging, comparison of data or shape tracking. The first chapter concerns the problem of topology preservation. This condition of topology preservation is important when the sought deformation reflects physical properties of the objects to be distorted. The following chapters propose several methods of image registration based on the nonlinear elasticity theory. Indeed, the objects to be matched are modelled as hyperelastic materials. Different fidelity terms have been investigated as well as two joint segmentation/registration models.

In the application of stereotactic radiosurgery for treatment of brain tumors it is imperative that patients are positioned with sub-millimetre accuracy so as to not damage surrounding healthy tissue during treatment. We investigate how feasible the technique of digitally reconstructed radiographs is as a registration method for patient positioning in this type of high-accuracy application. In particular, since most registration methods based on said technique only rely on two simultaneous projection angles seldom reaching high enough accuracy, we consider any arbitrary amount and observe its effects on the registration accuracy. Three different approaches are considered for how multiple projections can be combined into one single metric. The results seem to indicate that although computed tomography yields accuracies well within the boundaries for stereotactic radiosurgery, cone beam computed tomography in its current state does not. Possible reasons explaining the difference include problems with reconstruction artifacts in the model and inadequate metrics. / Inom tillämpningen av stereotaktisk strålkirurgi för behandling av hjärntumörer är det absolut nödvändigt att patienter positioneras inom millimeternoggrannhet för att undvika skada hos närliggande vävnad vid behandling. Vi undersöker hur trolig tekniken om digitaliserade återskapande röntgenbilder är som en registreringsmetod för patientpositionering i den här typen av mycket noggranna applikationer. Framförallt betraktas godtyckligt många projektionsvinklar och observerar dess effekt på registreringsnoggrannheten, eftersom de flesta tidigare presenterade registreringsmetoderna endast är baserade på två projektionsvinklar och sällan uppfyller det krav som ställs på noggrannhet. Tre olika tillvägagångssätt betraktas för hur flertalet projektionsvinklar kan kombineras till ett enda avståndsmått. Resultaten verkar tyda på att datortomografi medför noggrannheter väl inom ramen för stereotaktisk strålkirurgi, medan konstråledatortomografi i sitt nuvarande tillstånd inte verkar göra detta. Anledningar till denna olikhet tros vara problem med rekonstruktionsartefakter i modellen och otillräckliga avståndsmått.

Over 30 000 liver, abdomen, and thigh slices have been acquired by computed tomography for the SCAPIS and IGT study. To utilise the full potential of the large cohort and enable statistical pixel-wise body composition analysis and visualisation of associations with other biomarkers, a point-to-point correspondence between the scans is needed. For this purpose, an inter-subject image registration pipeline that combines the low-level information from CT images with high-level information from segmentation masks have been developed. It uses tissue-specific regularisation and processes images efficiently. The pipeline was used to deform 4603 CT scans of each slice into a respective common reference space in less than 30 hours. All but the ribs in the liver slices and the intra abdominal region of the abdomen were generally registered correctly. Vector and intensity magnitude errors indicating inverse consistency were on average less than 2.5 mm and 40 Hounsfield units respectively. The method may serve as a starting point for statistical pixel-wise body composition analysis, its association with non-imaging data, as well as saliency mapping analysis of the three-slice CT scans from the large SCAPIS and IGT cohorts.