The concept of gamification is being increasingly explored and applied to offer new teaching or training tools to teachers, students or employees. The field of geology and geometallurgy wasn’t particularly discussed in the topic of gamification. With the objective of creating a synthetic geometallurgical database and a game structure for a gamified simulation of a metal mine, the eastern part of the Malmberget deposit in Sweden was simplified and modelled.The geological model was obtained with assumptions of continuity and proximity, and the lack of data was reconciled using targeted randomization and regular statistics to achieve a smoother and realistic result. A rule book was created to establish the framework that a geometallurgy game should follow,using a slightly adapted version of the Desing thinking framework by the Nielsen group, which consists of elaborating ideas and concepts, implementing them and testing the results before integrating feedbacks to the creation of future elements. The accent was put on obtaining an interactive experience where the player can try various things with a reasonable difficulty, and an accessibility to feedbacks.The purpose of this project is to elaborate a mining simulation game, that could be a valuable tool in the understanding of the interdisciplinary concept of geometallurgy, as well as raising the awareness about sustainable development and how mining can be a part of it. The starting point of this project is another attempt at gamifying geometallurgy by P. Lamberg. The simulation of mineral processing was done using the HSC Sim utilizing 8 different flowsheets that were designed to offer a variety and enable strategic choices. The events occurring at a real mine and beneficiation plant were translated into simple rules. The outcome is a realistic geological and processing model, which through the addition of mining, economics and market strategy, becomes a comprehensive geometallurgy database.

The vocal folds are essential for speech production, and a better understanding of vocal fold vibration characteristics may help improve treatments of voice disorders. However, studying real vocal folds presents significant challenges. In-vivo studies are limited by access and safety issues. Excised larynges have a short useable lifetime (on the order of minutes) and are difficult to parameterize. In contrast, synthetic vocal fold models have long useable lifetimes and can be easily parameterized. In this thesis, a series of tests performed on recently developed synthetic, self-oscillating models of the human vocal folds are discussed. These tests include measurements of vibration frequency, sub-glottal pressure, and time-averaged flow rate. The differences between one-layer and two-layer synthetic models are evaluated. Comparisons are made between synthetic model and real vocal fold behavior. The synthetic model is shown to have vibrated at frequencies, pressures, and flow rates consistent with human phonation. The influence of sub-glottal tube length on model vibration frequency is examined. Motion is observed using high-speed imaging. Velocity measurements of the glottal jet using particle image velocitmetry (PIV) were performed with and without an idealized vocal tract, including the effects of the false folds, for various cases of vocal tract asymmetry. Glottal jet velocities measured using PIV were consistent with velocities measured using excised larynges. A starting vortex was observed in all test cases. The presence of the false folds acted to restrain the sides of the starting vortex, and in some cases created new vortical structures shed from the false folds. An algorithm was created to calculate and visualize the jet core centerline. In the vocal tract cases, the glottal jet tended to skew toward the nearest wall; in the false fold cases, the opposite trend was observed as the jet skewed away from the nearest wall (towards the midplane). Plots of RMS velocity showed distinct regions of shear layer and jet core. Vocal tract cases at pressures much greater than phonation onset pressure showed significant increases in RMS velocities compared to open jet and false fold cases.

Critical infrastructure (CI) is one of the most important branches in crisis man-agement. In recent years, CI demonstrated its importance on many occasions. My work is focused on the analysis of risks which can be a possible threat to CI. This is because the most important part of securing CI is the prevention of, and prepara-tion for, interruptions or damage. The risks in this part were specified using a FRAP analysis. I also identify the main reciprocal dependencies of all CI sectors to demonstrate which sector is the most important one. Finally, I specify the process of recovering or restoring these CI sectors. A new method was intentionally used for analytical-synthetic models. This method, in conjunction with the use of a FRAP analysis, is new to the branch of crisis management and was used for first time. The main aim of my work is to improve knowledge about CI at a regional level {--} city of České Budějovice. I submit new ways of identifying risks and resolv-ing problems during the recovery phase {--} specialized in CI.

There are many different types of non-alcoholic beverages (NAB) available in the United States today compared to a decade ago. Additionally, the needs of beverage consumers have evolved over the years centering attention on functionality and health dimensions. These trends in volume of consumption are a testament to the growth in the NAB industry. Our study pertains to ten NAB categories. We developed and employed a unique cross-sectional and time-series data set based on Nielsen Homescan data associated with household purchases of NAB from 1998 through 2003. First, we considered demographic and economic profiling of the consumption of NAB in a two-stage model. Race, region, age and presence of children and gender of household head were the most important factors affecting the choice and level of consumption. Second, we used expectation-prediction success tables, calibration, resolution, the Brier score and the Yates partition of the Brier score to measure the accuracy of predictions generated from qualitative choice models used to model the purchase decision of NAB by U.S. households. The Yates partition of the Brier score outperformed all other measures. Third, we modeled demand interrelationships, dynamics and habits of NAB consumption estimating own-price, cross-price and expenditure elasticities. The Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System, the synthetic Barten model and the State Adjustment Model were used. Soft drinks were substitutes and fruit juices were complements for most of non-alcoholic beverages. Investigation of a proposed tax on sugar-sweetened beverages revealed the importance of centering attention not only to direct effects but also to indirect effects of taxes on beverage consumption. Finally, we investigated factors affecting nutritional contributions derived from consumption of NAB. Also, we ascertained the impact of the USDA year 2000 Dietary Guidelines for Americans associated with the consumption of NAB. Significant factors affecting caloric and nutrient intake from NAB were price, employment status of household head, region, race, presence of children and the gender of household food manager. Furthermore, we found that USDA nutrition intervention program was successful in reducing caloric and caffeine intake from consumption of NAB. The away-from-home intake of beverages and potential impacts of NAB advertising are not captured in our work. In future work, we plan to address these limitations.