Anisotropic thermoelectric effects can be measured in certain materials. Anisotropy can also be simulated using a repeated, layered structure of two materials cut at an angle. Various aspect ratios and angles of inclination are investigated in device geometry in order to maximize the thermopower. Eddy currents have been shown to occur in thermoelectric devices, and evidence of these currents are revealed in finite element analysis of the artificially synthesized anisotropic Peltier effect.

This study examined how attentional sub-processes contribute to binge-eating. Dense-array EEG and a version of the canonical attentional blink task were used to ascertain the neural correlates underlying the attentional sub-processes that comprise the Posner model of attention (alerting, orienting, and executive control) and how attentional activation differs for binge-eaters vs. non-binge eaters. Furthermore, we examined a number of the event-related potentials (ERP), including P2 activation, which has been linked with orientating of attention, and N2 activation which has been linked with attentional conflict. We found decreased P2 activation for binge-eaters, in the negative condition, for incorrect target 2 (T2) detection trials. We also found more N2 activation for binge-eaters than non-binge eaters, in negative trials when T2 was not detected. This pattern of results suggest that binge-eaters showed deficiencies in allocating attention to stimuli that followed negative images; this attention deficiency may be a key factor for binge-eating behavior.

Denna studie undersöker hur ett videospel som heter Crusader Kings 2 använder historia. Studien kommer också att titta på den potential videospel kan ge som pedagogiskt verktyg för lärande. Detta har analyserats i nära relation till den svenska läroplanen för ämnet historia på gymnasiet. För att upptäcka hur detta spel använder historia har spelet bryts ner i sina spelmekanismer, genre och faktorer och analyserats med hjälp av Klas-Göran Karlsson teori om de olika historiebruken för historia. För att hitta och analysera potentialen för lärande i spelet som har valts för denna studie har Young m fl teori om videospel och dess potential använts i nära relation till tidigare forskning, samt läroplanen för att analysera spelet. Denna teori om denna potential har baserats på artiklar och studier om videospels potential för lärande efter K-12 läroplanen. Resultatet är att Crusader Kings 2 potential för lärande i historia ämnet är mycket relevant till läroplanen och visar sig vara ett sätt uppfylla vad som förväntas av målen i ämnet. Det visade sig att spelet identifierades med hjälp av användningen av historia på många nivåer med hjälp av Karlssons teori om användningen av historia. Här har följande användningar identifierades: Existentiellt, moraliskt, ideologiskt, icke-bruk och kommersiellt bruk. / This study looks at the way a video game called Crusader Kings 2 uses history. The study will also look at the potential videogames can bring as pedagogical tool for learning. This have been analyzed in close relation to the Swedish curriculum for the subject history in the upper secondary school. To discover the way this video game uses history the game has been be broken down into its game mechanisms, genre and factors and analyzed using Klas-Göran Karlsson theory about the different uses of history. To find and analyze the potential for learning in the game, that have been chosen for this study Young et als theory about video games and its potential have been used in close relationship to previous research and the curriculum to analyze the game. This theory about this potential have been based on 300+ articles and studies about video games potential for learning following the K-12 curriculum. The result is that Crusader Kings 2 potential for learning in the history subject is very related to the curriculum and shows to provide a way fulfill what is expected to be learned from the goals of the subject. It was shown that the game was identified using the uses of history on many levels using Karlssons theory of the uses of history. Here the following uses was identified: Existentially, moralist, ideologist-none-use and commercial uses.

Arsenic (As) appears in the environment as various As species, which may vary in plant uptake and toxicity. Moreover, As exposure may vary between habitat due to availability and speciation, both of which are influenced by redox potential. To decrease As uptake, addition of silicate may be a tool. The aim of the study was to investigate how the external factors As availability, plant habitats, silicon and oxygen level, influenced the accumulation and speciation of As in plants for food and phytoremediation in a temperate region. The external factors were chosen due to their previously showed influence on As in plants. The risks with dietary As was investigated by plant As accumulation and speciation in carrot, lettuce and spinach grown in alum shale and glassworks soils, and by the influence of silicon on As accumulation in lettuce in hydroponics. Suitable plants for As phytoremediation was investigated by analysing plants from various habitats, and by the O2 influence on phytofiltration. The results showed that vegetables accumulated more As in soils with higher As extractability, and the As extractability in the rhizosphere was higher than in bulk soil. Also, the As concentration in lettuce was higher in hydroponics than in soil, but silicon reduced the accumulation of As in lettuce in hydroponics. Also, the more toxic inorganic As were the main As species detected in vegetables, compared with the less toxic organic As. For phytoremediation, the results showed a low As accumulation in emergent and terrestrial plants. Submerged plants had had a higher shoot As concentration. In general, the habitat had a major influence on the As accumulation in plants. The results also showed that the As accumulation properties in Elodea canadensis was reduced at higher O2. In conclusion, consumption of vegetables cultivated in As polluted soils can result in an elevated intake of inorganic As, and E. canadensis is a promising candidate for As phytofiltration in a temperate region. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defence the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript; Paper 4: Manuscript; Paper 5: Manuscript.</p>

This thesis is oriented on the development of tourism in the Pilsen region. The aim was to create a concept for the planned rebuilding of a cottage on the guesthouse and restaurant in the village Jarov in this region. This concept includes a market analysis and competition, defining technical, technological, financial requirements and determination of its overall contribution to tourism in the region. Also included is the current estate of tourism mainly in the southern part of the Pilsen region, which will by for this project also very important.

The submitted diploma thesis is dedicated to the calculation of the estimation of output gap by three estimating techniques (Hodrick-Prescott filter, Kalman filtering, and Cobb-Douglas production function) for the Czech Republic during the years 1995-2009, and, consequently, to their usefulness for testing the Okun's law as a suitable predicative tool. In other words, which of the mentioned methods is the most appropriate one for an accurate prediction of the rate of unemployment. To achieve this, the Box-Jenkins methodology is used for modelling and designing the cyclical unemployment forecasts and dynamic version of the Okun's law. The results indicate that, for the given period, there is relatively strong and unstable relationship between changes in output gap and changes in cyclical unemployment in the Czech Republic. The most suitable technique for the estimating of the future development of unemployment gap seems to be the Cobb-Douglas production function approach. This is namely based on the quantity of gained forecast errors and Granger causality.

It is true that we live in the world which is more and more influenced of knowledge. Knowledge, knowledge assets, knowledge potential is term we can hear of every day in our live. Processes in economy have big influence to the knowledge potential because it is dynamic and very sensitive quantity. The main aim of the doctoral thesis was to identify, how economic crisis influence the knowledge potential of organization.

The thesis introduces the Region of Josef Lada (the group of municipalities) and its tourism potential in terms of natural, cultural and historical attractions and tourist infrastructure. Furthermore, the reader is acquainted with activities and projects which have already been realized by the group of municipalities with a view to promote tourism. The importance of these activities and projects for the entire region and each member municipality is evaluated on the basis of research among the mayors.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / INTRODUCTION: Sustained attention is known to be dysfunctional in psychotic disorders. Sustained attention is the ability to remain focused on a specific time-locked stimulus within a task. We aimed to determine whether there are specific group differences between CON and three psychotic disorders: SCZ, MPD and BPD, then to determine differences between these psychotic disorders. This included differences in behavioural performance and prominent electrophysiological event-related potential (ERP) wave components during cueing and target processing of a visual sustained attention task. Further we aimed to characterize ERP waveform component relationships across and within these groups for demographics, substance use, behavioural performance, and clinical variables, the last limited to the psychotic groups. Lastly, we investigated the effects of prescribed medications on ERP wave components within the psychotic groups. METHODOLOGY: 103 participants (29 schizophrenia (SCZ), 28 bipolar disorder with a history of psychosis (BPD), 21 methamphetamine-induced psychotic disorder (MPD), and 30 controls (CON)) underwent electroencephalography (EEG) record while completing a visual continuous performance task. Participants were presented with 60 trials with three consecutive S’s, the presentation of the third S required a behavioural response. Prominent ERP waveform components were extracted from cues and target stimulus. Group differences were determined by ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc correction or multivariate Kruskal-Wallis test dependent on data distribution. Relationships between ERP wave components were determined appropriate with Spearman’s Rank order correlation analyses. RESULTS: (1) MPD reported higher use of substances compared to CON, SCZ and BPD. SCZ behavioural performance was poorer compared to CON which was shown by their longer response times, reduced accuracy and increased errors of omission. Clinically, MPD was found to have a shorter duration of illness compared to SCZ. Then SCZ was found to have more positive symptoms compared to BPD whereas BPD had more negative symptoms compared to SCZ. For the first cue, wave component differences were found only over the left hemisphere, for P100 amplitude over the frontal cortex, P300 amplitude over the central cortex, and N170 amplitude over the parietal cortex. For the presentation of the second cue, differences noted for all groups were localised to the frontal and central brain regions, for P100 and N170 ERP waveforms. For the target stimulus wave component differences were found over the prefrontal, frontal and parietal brain regions, within CON, SCZ, BPD and MPD. (2) For the first cue, education positively correlated with the N170 left parietal amplitude in CON and P300 right parietal amplitude in MPD. During the second cue, the left parietal N170 latency in SCZ correlated positively with education and the left central P300 latency correlated negatively with education in MPD. The age on the day of testing correlated positively with the target left frontal P300 latency in MPD. For the first cue, substance use positively correlated with the left and right parietal P300 latency and negatively for the right parietal P100 amplitude in SCZ. In MPD, a negative correlation was noted across left and right prefrontal N170 and P300 amplitudes, and positive correlation for the left prefrontal P300 latency in MPD. For the target stimulus, correlations were evident for the left and right parietal N70, N170 amplitudes, P300 latency, the right parietal P100 amplitude and left central P300 latency in SCZ. For the first cue, in SCZ PANSS total score correlated positively with left and right central P300 amplitudes and the left parietal P300 amplitude. For the second cue; in MPD, the PANSS negative symptom score, positively correlated with the P100 and N170 left parietal amplitude, left and right parietal P150 amplitude, left central and right parietal P300 amplitude. For the target, the Hamilton depression rating scale correlated positively with the left and right frontal P300 amplitude in MPD and then negatively with the right parietal P300 amplitude in SCZ. Behavioural performance in CON, positively correlated with the left parietal N70, P100, P150 and N170 amplitude the number of correct responses, and left central N170 amplitude. While the number of impulsive responses correlated negatively with the left parietal N70, P100, P150 and N170 and the left central N170 amplitude of CON. For the second cue, behavioural performance was related to the fronto-parietal relationship across all groups. For the target stimulus, impulsive responses positively correlated with the left parietal N70 latency in SCZ. Overall response time negatively correlated with the right parietal P300 latency for SCZ. (3) Medication was found to affect ERP wave components during the sustained visual attention task. For the first cue FGA’s increased the left central P100 amplitude in both SCZ and BPD and decreased the left parietal P100 amplitude in SCZ only. The use of antipsychotics increased the right parietal N70 and left central P100 amplitudes in BPD, specifically the right prefrontal N170 amplitude was increased with the use of SGA’s. Then clozapine use increased the left frontal P100 amplitude in SCZ. For the second cue, SGA’s decreased the right parietal P150 amplitude in SCZ but in MPD the right parietal P150 amplitude was increased with haloperidol use, and FGA. SGA’s increased the left parietal P300 latency in BPD and sodium valproate decreased the left prefrontal P300 latency. For the target stimulus, SGA’s decreased the right parietal P100, P150 and left parietal P150 amplitudes and increased the left central P300 latency in BPD. CONCLUSION: (1) sustained attentional performance is poorer in SCZ. Our study adds to previous studies showing attention processing deficits in SCZ, are evident during cueing of a sustained attention tasks; (2) substance use was found to slow cognitive processing, education improved executive function and information processing, and symptom severity was associated with dysfunction of prefrontal and frontal cortices; (3) antipsychotic medication was related to improved processing of salient information. These data support the current literature and provide novel insights to the attentional processing deficits during cueing in the psychotic disorders.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Introduction: Sustained attention is known to be dysfunctional in psychotic disorders. Sustained attention is the ability to remain focused on a specific time-locked stimulus within a task. We aimed to determine whether there are specific group differences between CON and three psychotic disorders: SCZ, MPD and BPD, then to determine differences between these psychotic disorders. This included differences in behavioural performance and prominent electrophysiological event-related potential (ERP) wave components during cueing and target processing of a visual sustained attention task. Further we aimed to characterize ERP waveform component relationships across and within these groups for demographics, substance use, behavioural performance, and clinical variables, the last limited to the psychotic groups. Lastly, we investigated the effects of prescribed medications on ERP wave components within the psychotic groups. Methodology: 103 participants (29 schizophrenia (SCZ), 28 bipolar disorder with a history of psychosis (BPD), 21 methamphetamine-induced psychotic disorder (MPD), and 30 controls (CON)) underwent electroencephalography (EEG) record while completing a visual continuous performance task. Participants were presented with 60 trials with three consecutive S’s, the presentation of the third S required a behavioural response. Prominent ERP waveform components were extracted from cues and target stimulus. Group differences were determined by ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc correction or multivariate Kruskal-Wallis test dependent on data distribution. Relationships between ERP wave components were determined appropriate with Spearman’s Rank order correlation analyses.