Title: The proposal of the Geological Trails in the Area of the Rychleby Mts. Abstract: This thesis is devoted to draft for new nature trails in the area of the Rychleby Mts. with a specific focus on geology. The proposed trails are preceded by detailed characteristics of geomorphology, geology and stratigraphy of the studied area. The trails are located in two areas, i. e. the northern part of the Rychleby Mts. (Račí údolí - Zálesí - Javorník) and Žulová highlands (Around Žulová pluton). The first mentioned trail is designed in two levels of difficulty for elementary and secondary schools. The trail are supplemented by specific guidebooks, worksheets and the "Didactic recommendation for teachers", which included general didactic recommendations, next detailed information about the trails and suggestions for other additional activities. The trails had been verified in practice on students, amateurs and experts. Anthe effectiveness of the trails was evaluated through surveys with participants. It has been proved that the trails are suitable complement of education process mainly for natural science and the trails are also useful for non-educational leisure activities for visitors of these areas. Key words: nature trail, the Rychleby Mts., excursion, pedagogical uses

A long-term perspective of the recent climate change on the Tibetan Plateau is hampered by a lack of sufficiently long weather records. Here we describe a tree-ring based reconstruction of annual (prior July to current June) precipitation for the western Qilian Mts., northern Tibetan Plateau. This reconstruction accounts for 54.9% of the variance in instrumental precipitation data from 1935 to 2003. It shows distinct dry periods in 1782–1798, 1816–1837, 1869–1888 and 1920–1932, matching in general with local historical archives and other climatic proxy data on the northern Tibetan Plateau. Our research provides a background for evaluating hydroclimatic changes in the past two hundred years in a vulnerable arid region on the northern Tibetan Plateau.

Mobilní komunikace se stala nezbytnou součástí života a pro mnohé se stal mobilní telefon součástí životního stylu. Pro mobilní operátory je to zase velmi lukrativní obchod. Ruský trh je specifický nejen svojí obrovskou rozlohou, ale také možnostmi, které v případě úspěšně zvládnutého vstupu představuje. Trh s 142,8 mil. obyvatel je zároveň i pomyslnou vstupní bránou na trhy mobilních operátorů v celém SNS, a to je opravdu neodolatelná výzva. Chtějí-li případní zájemci z řad zahraničních společností, ale i ti, kteří jsou na ruském trhu již mnoho let, nabídnout správné služby, které zákazníci opravdu uvítají, musí je dobře znát. A aby své potenciální i stávající klienty mohli mobilní operátoři pochopit, musí vědět, co jejich klienti chtějí. Právě analýza těchto potřeb, zvyků, požadavků a očekávání klientů mobilních operátorů je cílem této diplomové práce.

Sammanfattning Syfte: Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka den upplevda effekten av upprepad behandling med kinesiotejp under 2 veckor, sett till smärta och besvär hos idrottare med medialt tibiasyndrom (MTS). Frågeställningarna som ställdes var: vilken effekt har behandling med kinesiotejp på smärta vid MTS samt vilken effekt har behandling med kinesiotejp på besvär och symtom vid medialt MTS? Metod: Femton personer med diagnosen MTS deltog i studien (10 kvinnor och 5 män). Samtliga deltagare var aktiva inom friidrott alternativt löpning. Deltagarna skattade sin smärta i båda benen, men endast ett ben tejpades. En lottning utfördes för att fastställa vilket ben som skulle behandlas med kinesiotejp. De med smärta i enbart ett ben tejpades på det benet som var symtomgivande. Deltagarna tejpades vid 2 tillfällen, de tejpades vid det första mötet och tejpen fick sedan sitta kvar i 6 dagar. Den sjätte dagen tog deltagarna själva bort tejpen och dagen efter utfördes samma tejpning igen. Sex dagar senare togs tejpen bort och efter 2 veckor utan tejp skickades en uppföljningsenkät ut. Deltagarna skattade upplevd smärta och besvär i båda benen på en visuell analog skala (VAS) vid första mötet och en uppföljning av smärta och besvär gjordes efter 1, 2 och 4 veckor. De fick också uppge upplevd symtomförändring efter 1, 2 och 4 veckor. Resultat: Upplevd smärta och besvär mätt på VAS-skalan visade ingen signifikant förändring över tid mellan det tejpade benet och det otejpade benet. Vid första uppföljning upplevde dock 12 av 15 (80 %) en symtomförbättring i sitt tejpade ben, medan 2 av 12 (16,7 %) upplevde en förbättring i sitt otejpade ben (p<0,05). En tendens till upplevd förbättring fanns vid uppföljning vid vecka 2: 9 av 15 (60 %) upplevde en förbättring på sitt tejpade ben medan 3 av 12 (25 %) upplevde en förbättring på sitt otejpade ben (p=0,57). Slutsats: Resultatet i denna studie visade att behandling med kinesiotejp kunde minska upplevda symtom hos idrottare med MTS den första veckan efter applicering. En tendens till minskning av upplevda symtom kunde även ses vid uppföljning efter 2 veckor med behandling av kinesiotejp. Ingen ytterligare effekt kunde ses efter borttagning av tejpen. Denna omedelbara effekt visar att kinesiotejp kan vara en möjlig behandlingsmetod för idrottare med MTS. Nyckelord: medialt tibiasyndrom, MTS, kinesiotejp, idrottare, överbelastningsskada / Abstract Aim: The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived effect of repeated treatment with kinesiotape during 2 weeks, in terms of pain and symptoms in athletes with medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS). The research questions were: what effect does treatment with kinesiotape has in pain of MTSS and what effect does treatment with kinesiotape has in pains and symptoms of MTSS? Method: Fifteen people diagnosed with MTSS participated in the study (10 women and 5 men). All participants were track- and-field athletes or runners. The participants estimated their pain in both legs, but only one leg was taped. A lottery was conducted to determine which leg was to be treated with kinesiotape. Those with pain in only one leg were taped to the leg that was symptomatic. Participants were taped on 2 occasions, they were taped in the first meeting and the tape was then left for 6 days. On the sixth day the participants took the tape off and the following day they were taped again. Six days later, the tape was removed and after 2 weeks without tape a follow-up survey was sent. Participants estimated perceived pain and symptoms in both legs on a visual analogue scale (VAS) at the first meeting and follow-ups of pain and symptoms were made after 1, 2 and 4 weeks. They also estimated perceived change in symptoms after 1, 2 and 4 weeks. Results: Perceived pain and symptoms as measured on VAS revealed no significant change over time between the taped leg and the non-taped leg. At the first follow-up however, 12 of 15 (80%) experienced an improvement in symptoms in the taped leg, while 2 of 12 (16.7%) experienced improvement in their non-taped legs (p<0.05). A tendency to perceived improvement was found at follow-up in week 2: 9 of 15 (60%) experienced an improvement in their taped legs while, 3 of 12 (25%) experienced an improvement in their non-taped leg (p=0.57). Conclusions: The result of this study showed that treatment with kinesiotape decreased perceived symptoms in athletes with MTSS in the first week after application. A trend for reduction of perceived symptoms could also be seen at follow-up after 2 weeks of treatment with kinesiotape. No further effect was seen after removal of the tape. This immediate effect showed that kinesiotape may be a possible treatment for athletes with MTSS. Key words: medial tibial syndrome, MTSS, athletes, overuse injury.

Hybrid Make-To-Stock (MTS)-Make-To-Order (MTO) manufacturing is a well known policy that captures the benefits of both MTS and MTO policies. This manufacturing policy is adopted by many manufacturing firms because it allows for production based on customer specifications while keeping short response times. We study a hybrid MTS-MTO manufacturing system which consists of two processing stages and an intermediate buffer between these two stages. We propose two separate scenarios for ordering and replenishment of components from the first stage which will give more realistic guidance for practitioners. The first scenario is batching customer orders before being released to the first stage. The second scenario is batch replenishment of common components from the first stage. Most existing MTS-MTO models focus on one-for-one ordering and replenishment strategies. We enhance these models by introducing a batch ordering policy to account for economies of scale in ordering when there is an ordering cost associated with each order placed for common components. We use queueing theory to model the system behavior and use the matrix-geometric method to evaluate system performance under the new ordering policy. Afterwards, we develop an optimization model with the objective to minimize the system overall costs. The purpose of our optimization model is to find the optimal intermediate buffer size and the optimal order quantity for the system. In the second scenario, we introduce the batch replenishment policy from stage 1. This policy is suitable when stage 1 and stage 2 are physically distant and there is a shipping cost incurred when components are transferred from stage 1 to stage 2. The decision variables in this model are the intermediate buffer size and the shipping quantity. We show that the base stock policy is sub-optimal when there is an ordering cost incurred for ordering components. The savings from adopting the batch ordering policy are high and the response time for most customer orders is not affected. When there are shipping costs and shipping time between the two stages, we show that the right selection of the system decision variables can have a large impact on the total cost incurred by the system.

Hybrid Make-To-Stock (MTS)-Make-To-Order (MTO) manufacturing is a well known policy that captures the benefits of both MTS and MTO policies. This manufacturing policy is adopted by many manufacturing firms because it allows for production based on customer specifications while keeping short response times. We study a hybrid MTS-MTO manufacturing system which consists of two processing stages and an intermediate buffer between these two stages. We propose two separate scenarios for ordering and replenishment of components from the first stage which will give more realistic guidance for practitioners. The first scenario is batching customer orders before being released to the first stage. The second scenario is batch replenishment of common components from the first stage. Most existing MTS-MTO models focus on one-for-one ordering and replenishment strategies. We enhance these models by introducing a batch ordering policy to account for economies of scale in ordering when there is an ordering cost associated with each order placed for common components. We use queueing theory to model the system behavior and use the matrix-geometric method to evaluate system performance under the new ordering policy. Afterwards, we develop an optimization model with the objective to minimize the system overall costs. The purpose of our optimization model is to find the optimal intermediate buffer size and the optimal order quantity for the system. In the second scenario, we introduce the batch replenishment policy from stage 1. This policy is suitable when stage 1 and stage 2 are physically distant and there is a shipping cost incurred when components are transferred from stage 1 to stage 2. The decision variables in this model are the intermediate buffer size and the shipping quantity. We show that the base stock policy is sub-optimal when there is an ordering cost incurred for ordering components. The savings from adopting the batch ordering policy are high and the response time for most customer orders is not affected. When there are shipping costs and shipping time between the two stages, we show that the right selection of the system decision variables can have a large impact on the total cost incurred by the system.

Die Festigkeits- und Zähigkeitseigenschaften von Stählen sind gefügeabhängige Größen. Die Einflüsse von Temperatur und Verformungsgeschwindigkeit auf die Werkstoffwiderstandsgrößen sind von grundlegender Bedeutung für das Verständnis und die Charakterisierung des Werkstoffverhaltens. Die Beschreibung des Werkstoffverhaltens durch geeignete konstitutive Modelle ist eine wesentliche Grundlage für die Simulation der in der Praxis auftretenden Verformungs- und Versagensvorgänge. Die Simulation hochgeschwindigkeits-belasteter Bauteile, wie sie in den ballistischen und Crash-Vorgängen sowie bei Hochgeschwindigkeitsumformprozessen erfolgt, erfordert die Kenntnis von dynamischen Werkstoffkennwerten sowie des Werkstoffverhaltens unter Berücksichtigung der Belastungsbedingungen. Die Ermittlung der relevanten Werkstoffeigenschaften für die niedrig legierten Stähle 28NiCrMoV10, 30CrMoV9, 30NiCrMo16-6 und 15NiCrMo10-6 steht im Vordergrund dieser Arbeit. Für die Ermittlung der Werkstoffkenndaten werden spezielle Prüfaufbauten sowie moderne, teilweise selbstentwickelte Messtechniken verwendet. Es ist gezeigt worden, dass die Anwendung des Konzeptes der thermischen Aktivierung durch das MTS-Modell auch bei hohen Verformungen und extremen Dehngeschwindigkeiten für die niedrig legierten Stähle zu sehr guten Ergebnissen führt. Bei niedrigen Geschwindigkeiten bzw. hohen Temperaturen kann durch Einfügen eines zusätzlichen Spannungsanteils der Effekt der dynamischen Reckalterung berücksichtigt und damit der Gültigkeitsbereich des MTS-Modells erweitert werden. Als dritte Neuheit wird eine Beziehung für die Abhängigkeit der thermisch aktivierten Spannung von der Menge der Legierungselemente erstellt. Mit FE-Rechnungen wurde der Grad der Spannungsmehrachsigkeit bei der Einschnürung und der Rissinitiierung bestimmt. Es wurde gezeigt, dass das Verfestigungsverhalten den Verlauf der Spannungsmehrachsigkeit stark beeinflusst. Zur Beschreibung der Versagensinitiierung wurden zwei Versagensmodelle herangezogen und ihre Parameter bestimmt. Die verschiedenen Einflüsse auf das Versagensverhalten werden eingehend diskutiert.

Increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been reported to be at the centre of various diseases. Although several reports have implicated elevated levels of ROS in the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus, the early detection of ROS is still not attainable. This limitation causes difficulty in the early diagnosis of ROS related disorders. The presence of high levels of ROS was reported to result in differential expression of antioxidant genes involved in protecting cells from their deleterious effects. Among the antioxidant genes that are expressed, it was postulated that expression of metallothioneins (MTs) are also induced. MTs are low molecular weight, cysteine-rich proteins involved in metal homeostasis and reported to harbour antioxidant function. The aim of this investigation was to explore MTs as biomarkers for elevated levels of ROS in whole blood of type 2 diabetic (T2D) individuals. The level of ROS in diabetic, non-diabetic as well as individuals at risk of developing T2D was determined via the use of biochemical assays. Real-Time PCR was utilised to analyse the expression of MTs and the presence of MT proteins was analysed via the ELISA. In this study it was observed that diabetic individuals had elevated levels of ROS. However, no significant difference in the expression of MTs and the presence of MT proteins between the diabetic and non-diabetic individuals was observed. In vitro experimental conditions indicated that MT expression is induced by elevated levels of ROS. In pathological conditions the ROS-dependent induction of MT expression needs to be elucidated further. It therefore can be suggested that MTs can not yet be utilised as biomarkers for the detection of elevated levels of ROS in pathological conditions with ROS aetiology. This investigation also highlights the fact that blood is not an optimal medium in which this objective can be attained. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Biochemistry))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been reported to be at the centre of various diseases. Although several reports have implicated elevated levels of ROS in the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus, the early detection of ROS is still not attainable. This limitation causes difficulty in the early diagnosis of ROS related disorders. The presence of high levels of ROS was reported to result in differential expression of antioxidant genes involved in protecting cells from their deleterious effects. Among the antioxidant genes that are expressed, it was postulated that expression of metallothioneins (MTs) are also induced. MTs are low molecular weight, cysteine-rich proteins involved in metal homeostasis and reported to harbour antioxidant function. The aim of this investigation was to explore MTs as biomarkers for elevated levels of ROS in whole blood of type 2 diabetic (T2D) individuals. The level of ROS in diabetic, non-diabetic as well as individuals at risk of developing T2D was determined via the use of biochemical assays. Real-Time PCR was utilised to analyse the expression of MTs and the presence of MT proteins was analysed via the ELISA. In this study it was observed that diabetic individuals had elevated levels of ROS. However, no significant difference in the expression of MTs and the presence of MT proteins between the diabetic and non-diabetic individuals was observed. In vitro experimental conditions indicated that MT expression is induced by elevated levels of ROS. In pathological conditions the ROS-dependent induction of MT expression needs to be elucidated further. It therefore can be suggested that MTs can not yet be utilised as biomarkers for the detection of elevated levels of ROS in pathological conditions with ROS aetiology. This investigation also highlights the fact that blood is not an optimal medium in which this objective can be attained. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Biochemistry))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

This thesis uses neutron and x-ray reflectivity to measure the interfacial structures of three molecular components associated with bacteria. Firstly, the way in which the membrane targeting sequence of a cell division protein interacts with monolayer models for the inner leaflet of the inner membrane of bacteria was measured at the air-water interface. Secondly, the influence of lipopolysaccharide on a monolayer model for the outer leaflet of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria was measured at the air-water interface, as well as how this lipopolysaccharide interacts with an antimicrobial peptide. Finally, the structure of a layer of protein found at the surface of a Gram-positive biofilm was measured at the air-water interface. Binding of the membrane targeting sequence of the MinD protein (MinD-mts) to the inner leaflet of the cytoplasmic membrane is thought to be key for bacterial cell division. Modelling this membrane as a monolayer at the air-water interface, it was found that the insertion of the MinD-mts increased with decreasing lateral pressure within the monolayer, as well as with increasing unsaturation of the lipid components, and the incorporation of cardiolipin into the monolayer. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is the major component of Gram-negative outer membranes, such as Escherichia coli, and can be considered as having three structural components: lipid A, a core oligosaccharide, and a variable polysaccharide chain. By incorporating LPS into a model membrane at the air-water interface, it was found that the polysaccharide chain undergoes conformational changes depending on the area per molecule. The effect of the antimicrobial peptide Pexiganan on the structure of this LPS layer was also determined, and was found to insert into the polysaccharide chain layer, but have no impact on the conformation of the chains. In nature, many bacteria live within a biofilm structure. A critical component of the Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis biofilm is a surface active amphipathic protein called BslA, which gives rise to the formation of the highly hydrophobic surface of the biofilm. The kinetics of this film formation, its thickness, and the lateral packing of the protein at the air-water interface, were measured using both neutron and x-ray reflectivity. It was found that a native BslA protein consistently formed the same structural film, whilst the structure of films formed by mutant proteins depended on the conditions under which the film was formed.