The chivosazoles, isolated in 1994 from the myxobacterium Sorangium cellulosum by Höfle and co-workers, are a family of polyketides that exhibit a range of potent biological activity including antifungal and cytoxicity against human cancer cell lines. This thesis details studies towards the total synthesis of the chivosazoles. Chapter 1 discusses the isolation, characterisation and biological activity of these compounds, as well as the first total synthesis of chivosazole F (12) by the Kalesse group. Chapter 2 describes the development of a highly convergent approach to assemble the chivosazoles from three key fragments A (69), B (70) and C (71), of similar size and complexity. A flexible endgame coupling of these fragments is proposed via a Stille- Suzuki-macrolactonisation or Stille-esterification-Suzuki sequence. The first generation route to access fragment A is described, utilising Paterson 1,4-syn boron aldol methodology and an Evans-Tishchenko 1,3-anti reduction to define the stereochemistry. The relative configuration of this subunit, as proposed by Kalesse, was independently confirmed by synthesis of C28-C35 degradation fragment 21. The C19-C22 stereotriad featured in fragment B was installed, again, using a boron-mediated aldol reaction followed by an Evans-Tishchenko reduction. The required oxazole moiety was formed via a Williams-Wipf cyclisation procedure. Having prepared fragments A and B, coupling conditions were established to form the northern hemisphere subunit and the NMR data of this region correlated favourably with that of the natural product. Chapter 3 describes the second-generation route to fragment A (69), featuring fewer steps and improved scalability for preparation of multi-gram quantities of this material. Different strategies for modification of the functional group at C16 on the oxazole ring for planned coupling with fragment C (71) were explored. Unexpected difficulties with the installation of this coupling handle are outlined, as well as a modification to our oxazole-formation strategy to overcome these challenges. As an alternative to eventual esterification or macrolactonisation at C1, Still-Genarri and Ando olefinations were investigated on model systems for formation of the C2-C3 (Z)-olefin. Advanced C7-C35 fragments are constructed via subsequent Stille cross-couplings in preparation for formation of the macrolactone core of the chivosazoles. Chapter 4 outlines three potential highly-convergent endgame strategies for ongoing studies. The experimental procedures and spectroscopic characterisation of the compounds discussed are found in Chapter 5 and the Appendix.

This thesis addresses the problem of achieving better convergence between different phases (here design and manufacturing) of the product development cycle. The use of liaison has been proposed to better integrate the product and assembly process. Two facets of integration have been addressed in this thesis. One is concurrent evolution of the process model with the product model and the second is associativity between product model and process model. A liaison data structure has been proposed, which is set of geometric entities, associated with one or more assembly process that acts as an interface between the product model and process model. As the liaison data is not available explicitly in the product model, a set of algorithms have been developed and implemented to identify and extract the geometric entities defined in the liaison data structure from assembly model. The proposed algorithms can identify and extract liaisons for riveting, welding, bolt fastening, screw fastening, adhesive bonding (gluing) and blind fastening. The developed algorithms have been implemented and tested. The process model needs to evolve with the product model concurrently so that any mistakes or infeasibility in the process model can be flagged right away. The use of liaison enables the construction of process model as the product model is fleshed out. A framework based on liaison has been proposed and implemented to demonstrate the concurrent evolution of product and process model. Linking the changes in the product model to flag the changes (or at least identify the need for changes) in the process model forms the associativity problem. The liaison has been used for maintaining associativity between the product and process model. A framework has been proposed for maintaining associativity between product model and process model that makes use of expert knowledge or tribal knowledge to track impact of changes in product model or process model. An aircraft wing box has been used as an example to illustrate and validate the proposed approaches. Finally the thesis concludes by summarizing contributions of the research and outlining future work.

Práce je o problematice product placementu ve filmové tvorbě v rámci České republiky a Evropské unie. Definuje product placement a také podmínky efektivního použití, vymezuje legislativní rámec, jeho výhody a nevýhody při užití ve filmové tvorbě. Zmiňuje se i o kinoreklamě a užití komerčních komunikací v komunikaci filmové tvorby. V závěru práce jsou doporučeny legislativní změny v České republice a také nastíněn širší rámec využití product placementu ve filmové tvorbě jeho zadavateli.

This master thesis is divided into three parts. First part deals with theoretical approaches in marketing strategy with special focus on activities connected to a launch of a new product. These theoretical approaches are compared to common practice in company Renault. Second part focuses on particular case of using marketing strategy -- launching of Renault Koleos model on the Czech market. In the final part of this work we evaluate results of this launch, we try to find weak points and propose corrections of company's marketing strategy.

The thesis focuses on the entire process of the launch of the new product FIAT 500 NUOVO into the Czech market. In the introduction is presented the parent company FIAT S.p.A and the subsidiary company FIAT ČR. After initial part follows the characteristics of the car industry and market evolution emphasising the new product's market position. The other two parts of the thesis include the theoretic possibilities of marketing strategies and their practical implementation. The conclusion comprises the evaluation of implemented methods and furthermore presents the proposal for their optimalization.

The diploma thesis clarifies the concrete usage of symbols in marketing communication on the base of examination of the symbol's problems and the marketing research. It was finding out by the research how the symbolism is perceived in marketing communication, how and how much are consumers influenced by symbols, if they even realize the influence, how symbols impress them, which symbols impress them positively or negatively and which symbols they prefer. From the accomplished analysis of the results of questionnaire research follows that the most of consumers realize the symbolism in marketing communication and they are able to recognize it. Respondests were able to match concrete symbols with concrete products in many cases. Different symbols cause different reactions at respondents, which depends on gender, age and education. The usage of symbolism in marketing communication has to respect definite rules and recommendation. Usage of unsuitable symbol can lead to totally different result than was planned. That is why it is necessary to be thorough and to pay attention to the usage of symbolism in marketing communication. The usage of symbols helps the product to penetrate better the awareness of consumers and mainly to ground hard and stay in their mind.

The purpose of this research study is to explore whether consumers would be complicit in the purchase of counterfeit goods once becoming aware of the counterfeit industry being linked to terrorism. Counterfeit goods are defined as identical copies of authentic products and they are produced without the permission of the registered owner (Carpenter & Lear, 2011). Almost any product can be counterfeited from clothing, shoes, jewelry, handbags and even medicines. Counterfeit products are sold at a fraction of the cost of the authentic product. This study identifies the ‘why’ to consumer complicity to purchase the counterfeit items. There are legalities involved with the selling of the copied products, and this research identified the underlying connections to terrorism along with the damaging effects on the U.S. economy. This study examined the variables of consumer knowledge of counterfeits and link to terrorism and willingness to purchase counterfeit products.

Ascending to high altitudes can cause severe threats for the human body. Hypoxia, the lack of oxygen due to a low atmospheric pressure is a major danger in great heights.Millions of people live or travel in elevated areas, means that mountain sickness due to hypoxia is a public health problem. The worst forms of mountain illness, known as high-altitude pulmonary edema and high-altitude cerebral edema, are potentially fatal. Due to a lack infrastructure and especially bad accessibility it is very challenging to support people with first aid or transport. The aim of this master thesis in Advanced Product Design was to explore the field of hypoxia in extreme altitudes in order to create a product solution that can contribute to overcome this threat and protect people from it

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of determining whether or not the history of cigarette advertising in broadcasting developed a pattern from which a model could be abstracted and applied to other product advertisements deemed "controversial" in broadcasting. The history of broadcast cigarette advertising is analyzed in an attempt to abstract a model, The .assumption is made that this model could be capable of predicting future regulation or elimination of broadcast advertising of controversial products.

Protein arginine methylation is an important modification of proteins, involved in many cellular processes. Some examples are transcription, RNA editing, cellular communication, DNA repair, viral replication and chromatin remodeling. In recent years, the significance of protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) in human diseases has been increasingly studied, especially in cardiovascular disease and cancer. Although the importance of these enzymes is recognized, the understanding of how exactly PRMTs function is still limited. Very little information is available to explain how or why any of the different PRMTs interact with other proteins or, what determines where in that protein to place their methyl marks. Adding to this complexity, placing one of the three different methylation marks (products) or the other (mono methyl arginine MMA, asymmetric dimethyl ADMA, or symmetric dimethyl SDMA) on a protein can cause a cell to respond differently. Therefore, if we really want to understand how this family of proteins functions and how to control them, it’s essential that we understand how they achieve their product specificity; this means, how they decide which methyl mark to place on an interacting protein. In order to better understand the product specificity of this family of enzymes, I have been using as a model two Protein arginine methyltransferases that are responsible different methylation marks: PRMT1, which can make both ADMA and MMA and TbPRMT7, which can only make MMA. Using the information that crystal structure of these enzymes provide and what we already know about how PRMT activity is regulated, my aim is to better understand the mechanisms by which these enzymes achieve their product specificity.