Microseismic monitoring is an integral part of scientific experiments or industrial operations associated with the hydraulic fracturing of bedrock, which is an effort to increase the permeability of rocks in the area and improve the exploitation, whether of heat, oil or natural gas. Monitoring of such newly formed or growing original fractures, usually followed by seismic events, is very important for observation and describing the hydraulic fracturing itself and its progress over time. Since the number of such events recorded is usually very high, classical methods of earthquake processing, where the arrival times of seismic waves are determined manually, seem to be very inappropriate. For this reason, automatic methods are used to process such datasets, which do not require manual determination of the arrival times of the seismic waves. In our case, the data were recorded by a dense network of surface receivers arranged in the shape of a ten-arm star. It was a total of more than nine hundred groups of vertical geophones, of which more than a quarter were also supplemented by a three-component seismic sensor. We then created an automatic procedure for the described network, the result of which is the determination of the location and the source mechanism for each seismic event. The recorded...

Despite their increasing usefulness in a wide variety of applications, organic electrochemical transistors still lack a comprehensive and unifying physical framework able to describe the current-voltage characteristics and the polymer/electrolyte interactions simultaneously. Building upon thermodynamic axioms, we present a quantitative analysis of the operation of organic electrochemical transistors. We reveal that the entropy of mixing is the main driving force behind the redox mechanism that rules the transfer properties of such devices in electrolytic environments. In the light of these findings, we show that traditional models used for organic electrochemical transistors, based on the theory of field-effect transistors, fall short as they treat the active material as a simple capacitor while ignoring the material properties and energetic interactions. Finally, by analyzing a large spectrum of solvents and device regimes, we quantify the entropic and enthalpic contributions and put forward an approach for targeted material design and device applications.

The food industry is one of the main drivers of climate change, with serious impacts on the living and working conditions in developing countries. Due to these sustainability issues, consumers, governments, and non-governmental organizations are pressuring food companies to rethink their current business concepts of food production. Food companies rely on supply chain governance and its mechanisms to implement sustainability standards across all tiers of their supply chains. This study examines the sustainability governance at all stages of a cocoa supply chain, from the raw material production to the retailer, by using a qualitative case study approach. The results show a differentiation of the sustainability governance according to the different supply chain stages. At the raw material production stage, sustainability is mainly improved using contracts, extensive and frequent knowledge sharing, and audits. After the raw material production stage, environmental and social sustainability is almost exclusively coordinated by certificates, while other governance mechanisms are used to foster long-term economic business relationships. This study gives detailed insights into the application intentions and the functioning of sustainability governance mechanisms and provides propositions on how to efficiently improve sustainability in food supply chains.

Hydrothermal synthesis of ZSM-5 is an often applied but incompletely understood procedure. In comparison to current research efforts that aim to produce complex micro-mesoporous catalysts for the conversion of biogenic and bulky hydrocarbons, this work focuses on the dependency between Si/Al ratio and zeolite morphology of microporous ZSM-5 to understand and to control the synthesis process. In two series of time dependent crystallization, kinetics were analyzed at Si/Al ratio 20 and 100 to optimize the crystallization time. Subsequently, zeolites with different Si/Al ratio were obtained and characterized. The results show a transition from a slow dissolutionrecrystallization process to a fast solid-state-transformation with increasing Si/Al ratio. This is followed by a switching morphology from clusters of small agglomerates to bigger spherical particles. Respective acid site density and zeolite morphology determine local residence time, hydride transfer behavior and finally selectivity towards aromatics and higher hydrocarbons during methanol conversion. This background should provide control of even more complex syntheses of porous catalysts.

Diese Dissertation besteht aus drei unabhängigen Kapiteln auf dem Gebiet der Mechanismus-Design-Theorie, mit einem besonderen Schwerpunkt auf ausschließbaren öffentlichen Gütern und dynamischem Mechanismus-Design. Die ersten beiden Kapitel befassen sich mit optimalen Preismechanismen für den Verkauf von ausschließbaren öffentlichen Gütern. Das erste Kapitel untersucht diese Thematik in einer sequenziellen Screening-Umgebung, während das zweite Kapitel den Einfluss von Netzwerk-Externalitäten auf optimale Preisfindungsstrategien für diese Güter analysiert. Das letzte Kapite untersucht die Auswirkungen von "Big Data" im dynamischen Mechanismusdesign und konzentriert sich dabei auf eine Ein-Käufer-Ein-Verkäufer Situation. Dieses Kapitel vergleicht die Auszahlungen der beteiligten Agenten in diesem Kontext und liefert Einblicke durch theoretische Analysen und die Nutzung von Simulationen. / This dissertation comprises three independent yet interconnected chapters in the field of mechanism design, with a specific focus on excludable public goods and dynamic mechanism design. The first two chapters study optimal pricing mechanisms for selling excludable public goods. Chapter 1 explores this issue in a sequential screening environment. Chapter 2 examines the impact of network effects on optimal pricing strategies for these goods. Chapter 3 studies the impact of "big data" in dynamic mechanism design, focusing on a one-buyer-one-seller setting. This chapter compares the payoffs of involved agents in this context, providing insights through theoretical analysis and the use of simulations.

Diese Arbeit enthält drei unabhängige Kapitel, jedes davon im Bereich der Dynamischen Vertragstheorie. Kapitel I zeigt, dass deterministische dynamische Prinzipal-Agenten-Verträge immer mindestens so ertragreich sind wie stochastische, falls die sogenannte Methode erster Ordnung des dynamischen Mechanismus-Designs erfüllt ist. Meine Ergebnisse legen dar, dass die in der Literatur übliche Einschränkung auf deterministische Verträge zulässig ist, so lange die Methode erster Ordnung gültig ist. Kapitel II basiert auf einer gemeinsamen Arbeit mit Ilia Krasikov und Rohit Lamba. Ein Großanbieter (Prinzipal) handelt mit einer kleinen Firma (Agent) einen wiederkehrenden Geschäftsvertrag aus, wobei sich der Agent als ungeduldiger erweist. Der optimale Vertrag wird durch zwei Schlüsseleigenschaften beschrieben: Neustart und Abbruch, die vielerlei Eigenschaften der angebotenen Verträge darlegen. Kapitel III basiert schließlich auf einer gemeinsamen Arbeit mit Rohit Lamba. Darin besitzt der Agent dynamische private Information, die einem Markovprozess folgt. Ein monopolistischer Prinzipal verkauft dem Agenten ein nicht-dauerhaftes Gut und er verpflichtet sich in jeder Periode an den ursprünglich ausgehandelten Vertrag. Die entstehenden Informationskosten verhindern erst-beste Verträge bei auftretender Persistenz im Typ des Agenten. Diese Arbeit stellt einen Weg bereit, wie man den optimalen deterministischen Vertrag in dynamischen Prinzipal-Agenten-Modellen erhält. Der gewöhnliche Weg mit lediglich lokal nach unten bindenden Anreizverträglichkeitsbedingungen misslingt bei hoher Persistenz der Typrealisierungen und bei stark differenzierender Diskontierung. Zudem zeigt die Arbeit wann mit Gewissheit stochastische Verträge ausgeschlossen werden können. / This dissertation consists of three independent chapters, each in the field of dynamic contracting. Chapter I shows that deterministic dynamic contracts between a principal and an agent are always at least as profitable to the principal as stochastic ones, if the so-called first-order approach in dynamic mechanism design is satisfied. My results demonstrate that the usual restriction in the literature to deterministic contracts is admissible, as long as the first-order approach is valid. Chapter II is based on joint work with Ilia Krasikov and Rohit Lamba. We consider a large supplier (principal) who contracts with a small firm (agent) to repeatedly provide working capital in return for payments. The agent is less patient than the principal. The optimal contract is characterized by two key properties: restart and shutdown, which capture various aspects of contracts offered in the marketplace. Finally, Chapter III is based on joint work with Rohit Lamba. We consider the problem of optimal contracting where the agent has dynamic private information, which follows a Markov process. In each period, a monopolistic principal sells a nondurable good to the agent and she commits to the contract she made in the initial period. The emerging information costs prevent first-best contracts whenever there is persistency in the agent’s type. This thesis provides a strategy on how to obtain the optimal deterministic contract in dynamic principal-agent models with Markovian type realizations. We see that the usual approach with only local downward binding incentive compatibility constraints does not work for highly persistent type realizations and for large differences in discounting. Furthermore, I show in which situations we with certainty can exclude stochastic contracts.

The aim of the thesis "Banking union" is to analyze and describe the concept of banking union, with respect to development and harmonization of rules before crisis. In addition to description of 4 pillars of Banking union the thesis tries to reveal the risks connected with rules harmonization and power centralization in hands of ECB. The obligatory membership is conditioned by common currency Euro, therefore there is an opportunity to analyze the potential benefits for states with own currency. This will be done in separate chapter 4th using Czech Republic as example. Thesis will be also enriched with opinion of politics and economist to which own authors comment will be added.

A membrane protein VanZTei which is encoded by the gene vanZ from the vanA glycopeptide resistance gene cluster is a part of the large family of VanZ proteins. VanZTei confers resistance to teicoplanin in Enterococcus faecalis without the presence of other proteins encoded by the cluster. The aim of my work was to compare the ability of two orthologous proteins VanZTei and VanZg (from the genome of Enterococcus faecium) to confer resistance to glycopeptides in Staphylococcus aureus RN4220 and Enterococcus faecium. We have shown that VanZg increases resistance to teicoplanin (Tei) 8 to 16 times the and also to dalbavancin (Dalb) 8 times. VanZTei also confers resistance to Tei and Dalb, but the increase is only twofold. Conversely VanZTei confers resistance to newly synthetized glycopeptides more effectively than VanZg (fourfold increase of resistance confered by VanZTei and two to fourfold increase of resistance confered by VanZg). It suggests that both proteins have different specificity to antibiotics. In despite the mutants of S. aureus RN4220 VanZTei pRMC2 with increased resistance to teicoplanin (MICTei> 8 µg/ml) in which the resistance is dependent on vanZTei expression were selected. These resistant mutants do not carry mutation in a gene vanZTei or in its ribosomal binding site. Neither of the...

The thesis "Monetary policy of ČNB and prospects of euro adoption" focuses on assessment of current monetary policy of the Czech National Bank its role in the process of preparation for the adoption of the single European currency and the Czech Republic's preparations for joining the European Monetary Union. The second part deals with the monetary policy of the Czech National Bank in connection with the entry into the European Monetary Union and its alignment with the monetary policy of the European Central Bank. The third section examines the impact of financial crisis on the monetary policy of the Czech National Bank, and development of economy of the Czech Republic in comparison with the European Monetary Union.

This thesis describes the lifelong work of significant Russian interpretation theorist, pedagogue and active conference interpreter Anatoly Fedorovich Shiryaev. The thesis is theoretical and is divided into three main sections. In the first section, the theoretical background that helps A. F. Shiryaev develop his Complex Model of Simultaneous Interpretation is described. It focuses on the unit of orientation, redundancy and speech compression in detail. This section explains why these are important in the simultaneous interpretation context and the role they have in its process. In the second section, A. F. Shiryaev's Complex Model of Simultaneous Interpretation is analysed in detail along with its specific features. Next, the model is compared with other selected simultaneous interpretation models which were being developed approximately at the same time. The third section describes A. F. Shiryaev's approach to simultaneous interpretation teaching. It deals with methodology and teaching didactics, and the objectives which are to be achieved during the simultaneous interpretation course, and describes the system of interpretation exercises. The thesis also includes a brief biography of A. F. Shiryaev which presents information about his professional life.