In this thesis there was preparation optimized for agarose-gelatin hydrogels with addition of various concentrations of low-molecular and high-molecular hyaluronan and than there were examined viscoelastic properties of them by rheological oscilation tests and high-resolution ultrasonic spektrometry. By rheology were measured values of elastic and viscous modulus for selected amplitude of strain, oscilation frequencies and temperatures. In the second method there were recorded values of ultrasonic velocities of samples at temperature scanning from 85 to 25 °C and from 25 to 85 °C in HR-US 102, which were compared with ultrasonic velocities measured at the temperature 27,0±0,5 °C by gel-modul HR-EX-SSC.

Dust-climate interaction over the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has long been studied, as it is the "dustiest" region on earth. However, the quantitative and qualitative understanding of the role of dust direct radiative effect on MENA climate is still rudimentary. The present dissertation investigates dust direct radiative effect on MENA climate during summer with a special emphasis on the sensitivity of climate response to dust shortwave absorption, which is one of the most uncertain components of dust direct radiative effect. Simulations are conducted with and without dust radiative effect, to differentiate the effect of dust on climate. To elucidate the sensitivity of climate response to dust shortwave absorption, simulations with dust assume three different cases of dust shortwave absorption, representing dust as a very efficient, standard and inefficient shortwave absorber. The non-uniformly distributed dust perturb circulations at various scales. Therefore, the present study takes advantage of the high spatial resolution capabilities of an Atmospheric General Circulation Model (AGCM), High Resolution Atmospheric Model (HiRAM), which incorporates global and regional circulations. AMIP-style global high-resolution simulations are conducted at a spatial resolution of 25 km. A significant response in the strength and position of the local Hadley circulation is predicted in response to meridionally asymmetric distribution of dust and the corresponding radiative effects. Significant responses are also found in regional circulation features such as African Easterly Jet and West African Monsoon circulation. Consistent with these dynamic responses at various scales, the tropical rainbelt across MENA strengthens and shifts northward. Similarly, the temperature under rainbelt cools and that over subtropical deserts warms. Inter-comparison of various dust shortwave absorption cases shows that the response of the MENA tropical rainbelt is extremely sensitive to the strength of shortwave absorption. Further analyses reveal that the sensitivity of the rainbelt stems from the sensitivity of the multi-scale circulations that define the rainbelt. Importantly, the summer precipitation over the semi-arid strip south of Sahara, including Sahel, increases in response to dust radiative effect. The maximum response and sensitivity are predicted over this region. The sensitivity of the responses over Sahel, especially that of precipitation, is comparable to the mean state. Locally, the precipitation increase reaches up to 50% of the mean, while dust is assumed to be a very efficient absorber. As the region is characterized by the "Sahel drought", the predicted precipitation sensitivity to the dust loading over this region has a wide-range of socioeconomic implications. The present study, therefore, suggests the importance of reducing uncertainty in dust shortwave absorption for a better simulation and interpretation of the MENA climate in general, and of Sahel in particular.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Combating antimicrobial resistant infections caused by nosocomial pathogens poses a major public health problem globally. The widespread use of broad-spectrum antibiotics for the treatment of wound infections has led to the appearance of multidrug-resistant (MDR) microbes which further exacerbates the growth of microbes amongst patients. It may result in prolonged debility of the patient and an increase in healthcare costs due to prolonged hospital stays and expensive treatment regimens to avoid patient-patient transmission. Therefore, it is imperative that alternative sources of treatment to antimicrobial use in wound infections needs to be developed in order to inhibit or kill resistant microbes and to provide point of care medical treatment to the less fortunate at an affordable cost. / 2021-08-30

Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis is one of the commonest cause of the nephrotic syndrome in adults patients. It is a damage of glomerulus characterized by leakage of proteins to urine and oedemas which usually develops into the end-stage renal disease within 10 years. Recently have been described familial forms of this disease which arise from injury to proteins making up filtration barrier of kidney. In 2005 non-selective ion channel TRPC6 was assigned among these proteins. In this thesis I focused on summarizing existing knowledge of the nephrotic syndrome, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and involvement of TRPC6 in their origin. Second part of this work is devoted to the screening analysis of TRPC6 gene to discover possible mutations and polymorfisms in 47 patients with histologically proven focal segmental glomerulosclerosis or minimal change disease. The used methods were high resolution melting and direct sequencing. In the group of patients was detected no pathogenic mutation, only 2 known polymorfisms P15S and A404V and few changes which do not result in alteration of amino acid. So it seems TRPC6 gene mutations are a rare cause of the focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in adult patients in the Czech Republic.

Title: Creation and characterization of cold molecules and molecular radicals in supersonic plasmatic nozzle Author: Milan Mašát Department: J. Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry of the ASCR, v. v. i. (32-UFCHAV) Supervisor: Mgr. Ondřej Votava, Ph. D., J. Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry of the ASCR, v. v. i. (32-UFCHAV) Abstract: The aim of this work is the development and characterization of experimental apparatus designed for study of expansion-cooled stable and unstable molecule species in near infrared region, as well as associated methodology. This device consists of discharge source of cold molecular radicals and a system for their spectroscopic analysis. The source and the spectroscopic part changes and upgrades are described in detail. Characterization of radical source and its methodology was done on the OH radical model. Changes in radical properties under different experimental conditions, such as stagnation pressure, used voltage and different geometries of both the nozzle and electrodes are measured. Methodology of spectroscopic analysis was carried out on methane molecule in unassigned part of spectra, so called icosad region. Keywords: supersonic expansion, molecular radical source, high resolution spectroscopy

This thesis presents the characterization process of an imaging device for a satellite. The camera system was built by the Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) and will be used in the Michelson Interferometer for Global High-resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI) instrument for National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Ionospheric Con- nection Explorer (ICON) satellite. This mission will further scientists' understanding of the connection between the Earth's weather and ionospheric conditions. The ionosphere, a part of the atmosphere, interferes with satellite communications, causing disturbances and disruptions. By learning more about the ionosphere through the data collected by this instrument, scientists will better understand its effects on our communications.

Final publication is available at http://www.nature.com/articles/srep12283 / 京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第19559号 / 医博第4066号 / 新制||医||1013(附属図書館) / 32595 / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 木村 剛, 教授 小池 薫, 教授 山下 潤 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

Different signal processing techniques for synthetic aperture acoustic (SAA) and highresolution voxel radar (HRVR) sensing modalities for side-attack explosive ballistic (SAEB) detection are proposed in this thesis. The sensing modalities were vehicle mounted and the data used was collected at an army test site. More specifically, the use of a frequency azimuthal (fraz) feature for SAA and the fusion of a matched filter (MF) and size contrast filter (SCF) for HRVR was explored. For SAA, the focus was to find a signature in the target’s response that would vary as the vehicle’s view on the target changed. For the HRVR, the focus was put on finding objects that were both anomalous (SCF) and target-like (MF). The results in both cases are obtained using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and both are very encouraging.

There are a great variety of environmentals contaminants, a lot of which are understudied asit is today. The aim of this study was to develop an in-house high-resolution spectral librarycontaining environmental contaminants, with focus on plastic additives. The spectral librarywould then be used to perform suspect screening on real sample extracts. A list of standardswas acquired, prepared and then analyzed with GC-EI-Orbitrap. The files from the analysiswere converted and then processed in a software called MS-DIAL. Once the analyte wasidentified, the data was exported to MS-FINDER. MS-FINDER performs fragmentannotation and generates in silico spectra, and the spectral data is then saved as an MSP file.An MSP file is a file based on text containing mass spectrometric data, and is the mostcommonly supported file for spectral libraries. The individual MSP files for the standards arethen collected into a common MSP file, which can be opened in MS-DIAL to performsuspect screening. The suspect screening in this study was performed as a retrospectiveanalysis of indoor dust samples from a study in 2021.From the beginning, 60 standards out of 80 available standards were included. The principalreason for a standard not being included was that the compound would most certainly notelute using GC with the set analytical parameters. Out of the 60 analyzed standards, 32compounds could be added to the spectral library. No distinct peak within thechromatographic run time was the main reason for not being able to add a standard. Despiteadding 32 different compounds into the spectral library, a total of 51 individual MSP-fileswere generated. Some of the technical mixtures generated a chromatogram with severaldifferent peaks, and MSP files were generated for each of the most prominent peaks. Thiswas done since it could still provide useful information in an identification process.The suspect screening in this study was performed as a retrospective analysis of indoor dustsamples from 2019. Into the spectral library, 32 different compounds were included, and 10of these were found in the different indoor dust samples when performing the suspectscreening.Building a spectral library in this way is a time consuming process with a lot of manual work,but spectral libraries are nonetheless necessary in the process of effectively monitoringenvironmental contaminants, to assist in risk assessment and decision making for regulatorson identified contaminants.

This thesis focuses on the characterization of rhythmic activity in the colon of healthy subjects and patients diagnosed with refractory constipation; this activity is mediated by pacemaker cells in the gastrointestinal system, the Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC). The myogenic activity described are the cyclic motor patterns (CMP) and haustral activity; characterization of these motor patterns in healthy subjects provided control values for the subsequent comparison in patients. Frequency analysis of CMP revealed a novel high-frequency activity (7-15cpm) unrelated to the breathing artefact. Three categories of cyclic motor patterns were observed: (1) CMP following mass peristaltic events (HAPW); (2) those that occur in isolation of other colonic motor patterns (HAPW) in the colon; and (3) low-frequency (2-6cpm), prominently retrograde rhythmic activity in the rectum. CMP were scarcely present in majority of the patients; however, elevated retrograde CMP in the distal colon and rectum in some patients plays a role in retarding flow of colonic content. A detailed characterization of haustral activity (comprised of 2 boundaries and the activity within a haustrum) is reported for the first time using high-resolution colonic manometry. Furthermore, we find that over expression of haustral boundary activity in patients serves as a disproportionate hindrance in colonic transit. An in-depth methodology is developed for the identification and subsequent analysis of haustral activity and CMP; this provides transparency in the data acquisition and analysis. Lastly, a sphincter at the rectosigmoid junction, sphincter of O’Beirne is presented in a patient case report. The persistent presence and paradoxical contractions of this sphincter served to impede flow colonic content, an important factor contributing to the pathophysiology of severe refractory constipation. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Colonic manometry tests and measures strength and coordination of colonic muscles contractions. This tool was used to understand the rhythmic colonic motor patterns and their contribution to motility in healthy subjects and patients with constipation. Rhythmic activity in the gut is mediated by pacemaker cells, Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC). We present a detailed characterization of ICC-mediated rhythmic activity that (1) occurs in the small pouches making up the colon (haustra) and (2) is greater than 5cm along the length of the colon (cyclic motor patterns-CMP).CMP possess high-frequency activity (7-15cpm), in addition to activity observed in the low-frequency range (2-6cpm). Activity in the haustra, or haustral activity, is comprised of 2 boundaries with activity within these bounds (intra-haustral activity); the overexpression in patients serves to retard flow of colonic content. Sphincter of O’Beirne is the last haustral boundary at the rectosigmoid junction; its persistent presence was characterized in a patient with refractory constipation.