Charles University in Prague Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové Department of Biochemical Sciences Candidate: Bc. Jana Stehnová Supervisor: Prof. MUDr. Jaroslav Dršata, CSc. Consultant: MUDr. Mgr. Sylvie Špitálníková, Ph.D. Title of diploma thesis: Laboratory investigation of thyreoidea in pregnancy Thyroid diseases are very common in the Czech Republic. It is reported that up to 46% of the population suffer with thyroid diseases. Women are afflicted with the desease 4 to 8 times more often than men, and particularly in pregnancy, hormones of the thyroid gland play an important role in developing, maintaining and progress of pregnancy. In this work, we focused on creating the reference intervals for TSH, fT4 and antiTPO in the first trimester of pregnancy, which are recommended as the main markers of thyroid assessment of thyroid function during pregnancy. Reference intervals created by us were compared with the recommended reference intervals of the supplied Roche diagnostics. Our reference file was compiled from a group of 81 pregnant women and divided into individual weeks of the first trimester (weeks 11, 12 and 13). Reference intervals were calculated according to the recommendation, such as 2.5th and 97.5th percentile of our reference group for each week and then the resulting average...

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Natural convection with high cooling effects is of increasing interest in cold region geotechnical engineering. To study natural air convection in a highly-permeable porous medium, convective and conductive heat transfer experiments were carried out using an insulated cylindrical tank filled with styrofoam chips. Convection and conduction were caused by controlling the temperatures at the top and bottom of the tank, and a series of cross-sectional conductive and convective isotherms were generated from collected temperature data. Additional convective patterns were obtained from tests by centrally localized heating below or cooling above. Flow velocities were measured at the center of the tank. Results showed that convective heat transfer rate was higher than thermal conduction. Convective isothermal patterns varied with various boundary conditions and could be influenced by small temperature perturbation. Given appropriate environmental conditions, efficient convective cooling effects can be used to enhance ground freezing or to protect permafrost from degradation. / Geotechnical Engineering

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Transport infrastructures such as roads are assets for the society as they not only ensure mobility but also strengthen society’s economy. Considerable amount of energy and materials, that include bitumen, aggregates and asphalt, are required to build and maintain roads. Improper utilization of energy and/or use of materials may lead to more waste and higher costs. The impact on the environment cannot be neglected either. Life cycle assessment (LCA) as a method can be used to assess the environmental impacts of a road system over its entire life time. Studying the life cycle perspective of roads can help us improve the technology in order to achieve a system that has a lower impact on the environment. There are number of LCA tools available. However, implementation of such tools is still unseen in real road projects. This clearly indicates that there are gaps which are needed to be filled in order to bring these tools into practice. An open road LCA framework was developed for the asphalt roads in order to help in decision support at the late project planning stage such as that related to the green procurement. The framework takes into account the construction, maintenance and end of life phases and focuses on energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Threshold values for the production of some additives were also determined to show how LCA tools can help material suppliers to improve the road materials production processes and the road authorities to set limits on the use of different materials based on the environmental criteria. Additive consideration and feedstock energy in road LCAs were also identified as gaps that were looked in detail. The attributes that are important to consider in an asphalt road LCA that seeks to serve as a decision support in a procurement situation are described. A brief literature review was carried out that focused on project LCAs, and specifically those considering pavements, as this level is assumed to be appropriate for questions relevant in a procurement situation. Following the different standards; road LCAs developed all over the world have generated a lot of knowledge and the studies have been different from each other such as in terms of goals and system boundaries. Hence, the patterns observed have been very different from study to study. It was also difficult to assess the decision support level for which the various LCA frameworks or tools were developed. It is important to define system boundaries based on where in the system the decision support is needed. For LCA to be useful for decision support in a procurement situation, it is important to have a clear understanding of the attributes that constitute the life cycle phases and how data of high quality for them are obtained. The level of consistency and transparency of road LCAs becomes increasingly important in pre-procurement and procurement situations. The key attributes used in a road LCA should mirror the material properties used in a pavement design and therefore be closely linked to the performance of the road in its life cycle. From the different case studies, it was found that asphalt production and transportation of materials are usually highest in the energy and GHG emissions chain. It is highly favorable to have the quarry site, the asphalt plant and the construction site not far from each other and to use the electricity that has been produced in an efficient way. Based on the laboratory test results, it is shown that the effects of chemical warm mix asphalt additives (WMAA)s must be evaluated on a case by case basis since WMAA interaction with the aggregate surface mineralogy appears to play a significant role and thus affects its long term structural behavior. Using the material properties obtained from the Superpave indirect tensile test (IDT) results, pavement thickness design was done in which Arlanda aggregate based asphalt mixtures resulted in thinner pavements as compared to Skärlunda aggregate based asphalt mixtures for the same design life period. Energy (feedstock and expended) saving and reduction in GHG emissions were also seen with addition of WMAA, for both aggregate type cases, based on the data used. Importantly, the results presented illustrate the importance of a systems based LCA approach for evaluating the sustainability for different design and construction options. In this context, having actual pavement material properties as the key attributes in the LCA enables a pavement focused assessment of environmental costs associated with different design options. / <p>QC 20141118</p>

Sedimentary rocks are characterized with very low permeability (in the order of 10-22 m2), low diffusivity, a possible self-healing of fractures, and a good capacity to retard radionuclide transport. In recent years, sedimentary rocks are investigated by many research groups for their suitability for the disposal of radioactive waste. Development of deep geologic repositories (DGRs) for the storage of radioactive waste within these formations causes progressive modification to the state of stress, to the groundwater regime, and to the chemistry of the rock mass. Thermal effects due to the ongoing nuclear activity can cause additional disturbances to the system. All these changes in the system are coupled and time-dependent processes. These coupled processes can result in the development of an excavation damaged zone (EDZ) around excavations. More permeable than the undisturbed rock, the EDZ is likely to be a preferential pathway for water and gas flow. Consequently, the EDZ could be a potential exit pathway for the radioactive waste to biosphere. An investigation of the Hydraulic-Mechanical (HM) and Thermal-Hydraulic-Mechanical-Chemical (THMC) behaviour of sedimentary rock formations is essential for the development of DGRs within such formations. This research work consists of (1) an experimental investigation of the mechanical behaviour of the anisotropic Tournemire argillite, (2) modeling of the mechanical behaviour of the Tournemire argillite, and (3) numerical simulations of the mechanical and hydromechanical behavior of two host sedimentary rocks, the Tournemire argillite and Cobourg limestone, for deep geological repository for nuclear wastes. The experimental program includes the measurements of the physical properties of the Tournemire argillite and its mechanical response to loading during uniaxial compression tests, triaxial compression tests with different confining pressures, unconfined and confined cyclic compression tests, Brazilian tests, and creep tests. Also, acoustic emission events are recorded to detect the initiation and propagation of microcracks within the rock during the uniaxial testing. The approach for modeling the mechanical behaviour of the Tournemire argillite consists of four components: elastic properties of the argillite, a damage model, the proposed concept of mobilized strength parameters, and the classical theory of elastoplasticity. The combination of the four components results in an elastoplastic-damage model for describing the mechanical behaviour of the Tournemire argillite. The capabilities of the model are evaluated by simulating laboratory experiments. Numerical simulations consist of: (1) a numerical simulation of a mine-by-test experiment at the Tournemire site (France), and (2) numerical simulations of the mechanical and hydromechanical behaviour of the Cobourg limestone within the EDZ (Canada). The parameters influencing the initiation and evolution of EDZ over time in sedimentary rocks are discussed.

Sedimentary rocks are characterized with very low permeability (in the order of 10-22 m2), low diffusivity, a possible self-healing of fractures, and a good capacity to retard radionuclide transport. In recent years, sedimentary rocks are investigated by many research groups for their suitability for the disposal of radioactive waste. Development of deep geologic repositories (DGRs) for the storage of radioactive waste within these formations causes progressive modification to the state of stress, to the groundwater regime, and to the chemistry of the rock mass. Thermal effects due to the ongoing nuclear activity can cause additional disturbances to the system. All these changes in the system are coupled and time-dependent processes. These coupled processes can result in the development of an excavation damaged zone (EDZ) around excavations. More permeable than the undisturbed rock, the EDZ is likely to be a preferential pathway for water and gas flow. Consequently, the EDZ could be a potential exit pathway for the radioactive waste to biosphere. An investigation of the Hydraulic-Mechanical (HM) and Thermal-Hydraulic-Mechanical-Chemical (THMC) behaviour of sedimentary rock formations is essential for the development of DGRs within such formations. This research work consists of (1) an experimental investigation of the mechanical behaviour of the anisotropic Tournemire argillite, (2) modeling of the mechanical behaviour of the Tournemire argillite, and (3) numerical simulations of the mechanical and hydromechanical behavior of two host sedimentary rocks, the Tournemire argillite and Cobourg limestone, for deep geological repository for nuclear wastes. The experimental program includes the measurements of the physical properties of the Tournemire argillite and its mechanical response to loading during uniaxial compression tests, triaxial compression tests with different confining pressures, unconfined and confined cyclic compression tests, Brazilian tests, and creep tests. Also, acoustic emission events are recorded to detect the initiation and propagation of microcracks within the rock during the uniaxial testing. The approach for modeling the mechanical behaviour of the Tournemire argillite consists of four components: elastic properties of the argillite, a damage model, the proposed concept of mobilized strength parameters, and the classical theory of elastoplasticity. The combination of the four components results in an elastoplastic-damage model for describing the mechanical behaviour of the Tournemire argillite. The capabilities of the model are evaluated by simulating laboratory experiments. Numerical simulations consist of: (1) a numerical simulation of a mine-by-test experiment at the Tournemire site (France), and (2) numerical simulations of the mechanical and hydromechanical behaviour of the Cobourg limestone within the EDZ (Canada). The parameters influencing the initiation and evolution of EDZ over time in sedimentary rocks are discussed.