This work demonstrates how local, randomized tailoring of bond stiffness can affect the activation energy of diffusion in model alloys using density functional theory-based computations. This work is organized into two parts. The first part deals with the vacancy diffusion mechanism, and it compares the in–plane (IP) vs out-of-plane (OOP) diffusion paths in prototypical binary Mg-X (Ca, Y, and Gd) and ternary Mg-X (Ca, Y, and Gd)-Zn alloys. We examine how vacancy formation, migration, and solute vacancy binding energies in binary Mg-X alloys influence diffusion activation and correlated them with conventional diffusion model based solely on the solute sizes. Next, we explore how Zn addition to binary Mg-X (Ca, Y, and Gd) alloys influences the OOP activation energy barrier is discussed in terms of detailed energetic computations and bond characterization in the present work. Our results indicate that Zn addition further enhances the OOP activation energy barrier compared to corresponding activation energies in Mg binaries. This work concludes that engineering stiffer directional bonds via micro-alloying additions in Mg is a promising route to dramatically improve their high temperature creep response. The second part of my work investigates the effects of Si, P, and S solutes on H interstitial diffusion mechanism in Ni. It examines how H interacts with vacancy, impurity atom, and vacancy-impurity atom defect pair by performing binding energy calculations. Results indicate that vacancy-impurity atom defect pair strongly traps the H atom compared to isolated defects. Finally, the effect of impurities on activation energy barrier of H diffusing in Ni is discussed by correlating migration energetics with bonding characteristics by performing charge density and electron density calculations. Our study validates experimental hypothesis of Berkowitz and Kane which postulates that P enhances the H diffusion in Ni. The present work also shows that H diffusion speeds up in Ni in the presence of Si and S solutes. In conclusion, we show that micro-alloying additions induce local lattice level pockets with covalent character, which substantially enhances the local bond stiffness. This will increase activation energy for vacancy diffusion mechanism while it reduces activation energy for interstitial H diffusion.

This thesis describes the design of fish ladder on the river Mohelka near the village Chocnějovice. The first section describes the general characteristics of the river-basin and the selected section. It is written introduction to the design, construction and service of the fish ladder. For the task were developed two alternatives. These alternatives were described and compared each other. Included are the input and output data of the given structure modeling using HEC-RAS. The last part is then researched drawings to objects.

In Lake Vänern, Sweden, there is an endemic population of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) that lives its entire life in fresh water. The salmon is hindered from migrating to its natural spawning sites in the northern part of the River Klarälven by nine hydro-electric power plants. None of the hydro-electric power plants have fishways so that salmon migrating upstream or downstream may pass. In the current situation, the upward migrating salmon are caught in a fish trap at the most downstream located power plant in Forshaga. From there, the salmon are driven in a truck, past eight power plants and released a few kilometers upstream of the eighth power plant at Edsforsen. This study investigated the difference in the proportion of fallbacks between early (June-July) and late (August-September) migrating salmons in 2011-2013. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the proportion of fallbacks between the early and the late-migrating salmon. Fifty-one percent of the early salmon and 13% of the late salmon fell back during these 3 years. Further, there was no significant difference between males and females that became fallbacks. Nor was there any difference in the length of early and late-migrating salmon or fallbacks and non-fallbacks. / I sjön Vänern, Sverige, finns en endemisk population av Atlantlax (Salmo salar L.) som lever hela sitt liv i sötvatten. Laxen hindras från att migrera till sina naturliga lekplatser i norra delen av Klarälven av nio vattenkraftverk. Inget av vattenkraftverken har fiskvägar så att lax som migrerar uppströms eller nedströms kan passera. I dagsläget fångas lax som vandrar uppströms in i en fiskfälla vid det mest nedströms belägna kraftverket i Forshaga. Därifrån körs laxen i lastbil förbi åtta kraftverk och släpps ut några kilometer uppströms det åttonde kraftverket i Edsforsen. Den här studien undersökte skillnaden i andelen fallbacks mellan tidigt (juni-juli) och sent (augusti-september) migrerande laxar under åren 2011-2013. Resultaten visade att det fanns en signifikant skillnad i andelen fallbacks mellan den tidiga och den sent migrerande laxen. Femtioen procent av den tidiga laxen och 13% av den sena laxen föll tillbaka under dessa 3 år. Vidare fanns det ingen signifikant skillnad mellan hanar och honor som blev fallbacks. Det fanns inte heller någon skillnad i längden av tidigt och sent migrerande lax eller lax som föll tillbaka och lax som inte föll tillbaka.

Streams and rivers are examples of vital ecosystems that frequently undergo various environmental and anthropogenic stresses. A core question in population ecology is whether a given population will persist under changing ecological conditions. This thesis consists of three papers and is devoted to the mathematical analysis of responses of river-dwelling species to population persistence threats. The first paper presents a stochastic approach to the 'drift paradox' problem, where the classical reaction-advection-diffusion model is replaced by a birth-death-emigration process. We explore the effects of temporally varying flow on the persistence probability and highlight the importance of the benthic stage for the persistence of stream organisms. The second paper addresses the problem of river network fragmentation through disconnecting structures such as dams. We construct a population matrix model that incorporates the spatial structure of the studied river network and compare structural connectivity to an indicator of population persistence. The third paper adapts the same basic matrix model to examine fish response to disturbances travelling downstream from upstream sites. The study of these three aspects of persistence challenges for river populations contributes to the cumulative effects assessment on river networks.