This diploma thesis is focused on preparation and characterization of parylene C barrier properties. The layers were prepared by chemical vapour deposition (CVD). The interest in characterization of those layers is huge mainly because of their possible use in museology for the protection of the museum archives against the corrosion. Chlorinated dimer of para-xylylene was used as a precursor. Polypropylene foils, metal sheets and silica wafers were used as tested substrates for thin film preparation. Polypropylene foils were used for oxygen transmission rate measurements, metal sheets were used for corrosion tests and silica wafers were used for Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and stylus profilometry.

Derivatives market is one of the fastest growing parts of the financial market. It was reflected in a sharp increase in trading volumes over the last decade, growth in number of participants and the development of new products. These products, which were devoloped in 80's and 90's sometimes refer to "new derivatives products". The aim of this diploma thesis is analyze selected new derivatives products, concretely barrier options and electricity futures.

Every year, many archeological findings are discovered. It is necessary to document and conserve these items dug up from the ground. However, archeologists and conservators cannot handle such a big amount of newly found items. This work offers an alternative approach to standard conservation techniques, increasing the processing capacity and lowering the cost on items’ conservation. Studied alternative, mainly for protection of metallic artefacts, includes thin films based on parylene and organosilicons. Thin films were prepared on two experimental apparatuses. Parylene films were deposited by chemical vapour deposition (CVD). Final product was a thin film of parylene C. Organosilicon thin films were deposited via plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD). PECVD apparatus operates with capacitively coupled radiofrequently initiated plasma. Using hexamethyldisiloxane, thin films very similar to silicon dioxide were produced, thus called SiOx. Thin films were characterized by several methods and compared to standard treatment used by conservators – tannate layer, acrylic furnish Paraloid B72 and microcrystalline wax Revax 30. Parylene films showed excellent conformity and resistance to corrosion on iron substrate. First signs of corrosion were observed on layer of 5 µm thickness after 24 hours in salt fog. On samples coated by SiOx films, corrosion was spreading wide even during 1st hour of the corrosion test. Most probable cause was that SiOx film has thermal expansion coefficient different from iron substrate and due to this fact cracking occurs during cooling down of the treated substrate. On samples coated by standard treatment, corrosion occurred after 1-3 hours of the test. Oxygen transmission rate (OTR) measurements (performed on polypropylene substrate) confirmed good barrier properties of parylene C. Best parylene thin films had OTR approximately 170 cm3•m-2•atm-1•day-1. SiOx films reached good results with OTR 300 cm3•m-2•atm-1•day-1, compared to clean polypropylene substrate with OTR 1700 cm3•m-2•atm-1•day-1. Standard conservation layers could not be applied on polypropylene substrate, thus their OTR was not measured. We did not succeed in finding a substrate which is compatible for all types of treatments. Next, the study focused on combinations of thin films forming sandwich structures. All types let the corrosion attack the substrate during the 1st hour of the test. The cause was insufficient film thickness as well as crack ing of SiOx films due to different thermal expansion properties from the iron substrate. Although SiOx thin films were not deposited on substrate directly, they have excellent adhesion to parylenu and thus they could tear parylenu films due to thermal expansion. However, OTR measurements showed improvement in barrier properties. Multilayer parylene C–SiOx–parylene C–SiOx had OTR 5 cm3•m-2•atm-1•day-1. Final result is that parylene C thin films have better barrier properties than standard coatings and are suitable for conservation of metallic archaeological artefacts. SiOx films and multilayers showed poor anticorrosion protection of metallic substrates but they have good barrier and chemical properties in combination with other types of substrates. Mainly deposited on polymers, there is great potential for their application in many fields. Further research would be focused on new substrates for SiOx thin films and on the improvement of UV stability of parylene films.

The theme of this work is the preparation and characterization of multilayer barrier coatings to polymer and metal substrates based on SiOx and organic molecules. It deals with the determination of their properties in terms of oxygen permeability and corrosion protection. The starting materials for the preparation of these layers are hexamethyldisiloxane, octafluorocyclobutane and 4,12-dichloro[2.2]paracyclophane. These layers have been prepared with regard to their use as barrier coatings for use in archeology, with the focus on corrosion protection of coated items and other specific requirements museums. For these samples was realized characteristic of both in terms of their physical properties – the ability to resist permeation of oxygen and in terms of their chemical composition. The fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning elektron microscopy (SEM), oxygen transmission rate (OTR), contac angle measurement and corrosion testing were used for the above-mentioned characterisations.

This thesis examines in detail the nature of postoperative infectious complications in patients who underwent brain tumor surgery. It deals with the incidence of these complications and their severity, depending on various factors and suggests the most appropriate nursing procedures used in the care of a patient in whom these complications occurred. For the structure of the work is divided into two parts - theoretical and empirical. The theoretical part deals with the issues examined in terms of the medical field Neurosurgery (closer diagnoses, conditions, operations and other procedures, and complications to occur after these operations or expected performance), analyzes a nursing practice and patient care on neurosurgical ICU, and finally closely examines infections and nosocomial diseases, including a description of the most common types, their agents, diagnosis and treatment. The second, empirical part focuses on the problems from a practical point of view. With the help of set of case studies it closer which specific complications are most commonly found on the neurosurgical ICU in patients after surgery of brain tumors, what are the most common methods of treatment and nursing procedures which are most used in the care of patients with these complications. In conclusion summarizes the...

The aim of this master thesis deals with the optimization of the preparation of thin hydrogel films based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with the possibility of incorporating suitable additives (polyelectrolytes, plasticizers, etc.) into the structure of the prepared film to modify its properties. DEAE-Dextran hydrochloride and polyglutamic acid (PGA) were used as polyelectrolytes. The basic characterization of the properties was performed on modified films, which were compared with pure PVA films. The films were characterized by thickness, swelling ability, barrier properties, tensile properties, specific surface area, antimicrobial tests, and thermogravimetric analysis. The swelling ability of PVA/PGA films was very high, which may be a disadvantage for their use in the packaging industry. Swelling increases the amount of water in the matrix of the PVA film, what leads to a higher growth of microorganisms and to degradation of thin film. The water vapor transmission rate was greatly affected by the addition of a plasticizer. The small specific surface area of the films indicates a smooth surface that promotes good barrier properties. Films with the addition of a plasticizer showed relatively good mechanical properties. The values of tensile strength, elongation and elastic modulus were comparable to commercially available films such as polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE). Based on all experiments, PVA, PVA/DEAEDextran films and their variants with the addition of glycerol as a plasticizer were evaluated as the best candidates for the use of these films as packaging materials. The follow-up work could be dealing with the optimization of PVA films for oxygen permeability. Furthermore, the possibilities of using these films in the packaging industry based on the relative humidity of the environment, could be defined as other interesting area of future research.

Combinations of different acrylic resins and microcrystalline waxes are most often used for the conservation and preservation of metallic archaeological artefacts these days. However, their properties are not sufficient and satisfactory in many ways. Therefore, the aim of this doctoral thesis is to develop a conservation system which will draw on the new knowledge gained in the field of advanced materials and technologies during last years. A conservation coating based on a thin barrier film appears the most promising. The conservation coating must fulfil particularly following rather contradictory requirements: good barrier function against oxygen, humidity and other corrosive agents; transparency because of colour appearance preservation; long term stability and easy removability; possibility to apply to more objects at the same time and reasonable financial requirements of a deposition process. Parylene C polymer was chosen as suitable material for this purpose. It was prepared via modified chemical vapour deposition. Parylene removability was ensured through the soluble interlayer made of Laksil silicone-acrylic lacquer which was applied between the protected metallic object and the parylene thin film. Initially, the deposition process of Laksil/parylene bilayer was optimized, then its physical and chemical characteristics were determined and eventually, they were compared with the conventional conservation coating composed of Paraloid B72 acrylic resin and Revax microcrystalline wax. Regarding to the demands of the conservation coating, we were interested especially in barrier properties, optical properties, surface morphology and removability of Laksil/parylene bilayer. The most useful method for description of coating barrier properties was corrosion testing in which coated metallic samples were exposed to highly corrosive environment of salt spray (made of 50 g•l–1 brine), 100% humidity and temperature of 35 °C (ISO 9227). The Laksil/parylene bilayer showed excellent barrier properties; samples treated this way sustained unchanged in the corrosion chamber for almost three months. The surface roughness measured by profilometry and surface morphology scanned by SEM illustrated the synergy between Laksil and parylene layer which leads to the exceptional barrier and anticorrosion function of bilayer. The Laksil layer is able to flatten out rough surface of a substrate. Furthermore, it can toughen the item surface which is, in case of a number of archaeological findings, created by corrosion product layers with variable mechanical strength. Thereon deposited parylene film becomes smooth and defect free and can act as a good diffusion barrier. The colouristic measurements confirmed that the Laksil/parylene bilayer does not almost change the appearance of protected item, in terms of colour. The caused colour difference (ISO 11664-4) ranged around 1 which value is defined as “perceivable only for experienced observers”. The Laksil/parylene bilayer is removable thanks to the Laksil solubility in xylene. It is necessary to carefully scratch the outer parylene film to enable access of xylene solvent to the lacquer. The successful removal of Laksil/parylene bilayer was first confirmed by the EDX on metallic iron samples. Afterwards, the possibility of bilayer complete removal even from a corroded surface of the original artefact was proved by TGA. Thus the conservation treatment can be considered fully reversible.

Thin films have been used to modify surface properties of various materials for many years. Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) is one of the possible methods for their preparation and this technique is applied in this work as well. An organosilicone – hexamethyldisiloxane – is used as precursor. Thin films are created on the surface of the substrate using mixture of precursor and oxygen in radiofrequently excited capacitively coupled plasma. The aim of the thesis is to find the optimal deposition conditions for production of transparent thin layers with good barrier capabilities, low oxygen transmission rate especially. Thin film depositions were realized for different compositions of the deposition mixture in continuous and pulsed mode of plasma with varying supplied power and duty cycle values. The deposition process itself was monitored in situ by optical emission spectroscopy. Thin film coatings were analyzed to determine their physical chemical properties (infrared spectroscopy, surface energy) and barrier properties. Using optical emission spectroscopy, important particles were identified in the deposition plasma. Vibrational, rotational and electron temperatures were determined from relative intensities of chosen fragments. Composition of thin films was studied by infrared spectroscopy. The best results of oxygen transmission rate were achieved with layers prepared from deposition mixture with high oxygen content. It was possible to improve barrier properties by performing deposition in pulsed plasma mode with 20–30% duty cycle. In this diploma thesis, optimal deposition conditions of thin films from hexamethyldisiloxane with low oxygen transmission rate were determined. It is possible to use these results in practical applications, such as corrosion inhibitors for archaeological objects. Optionally, they can be used in various industry branches where it is desirable and feasible to prevent oxygen access to the material by deposition of barrier coatings.

The main aim of doctoral thesis was the study on reactivity, transport and barrier properties of biocolloidal and synthetic polymeric substances by simple diffusion techniques. It was studied mainly the influence of basic physic-chemical parameters (temperature, concentration, pH and modification of material) on the reactivity and barrier ability of chosen compounds. Further substances were chosen as a model compounds: biocolloids (humic acids, alginate, chitosan, hyaluronate) and synthetic polymer (polystyrenesulfonate). Reactivity, barrier and transport properties of chosen substances were studied by interactions with oppositely charged basic organic dyes (methylene blue, rhodamine 6G, amido black 10B respectively) in hydrogels medium based on linear polysaccharide (agarose). The attention was also paid to basic physic-chemical characterisation (infrared spectroscopy, rheology, elemental analysis, thermogravimetry and scanning electron microscopy) of chosen materials and also hydrogels. Key part of the whole doctoral thesis was the optimization of selected diffusion techniques (diffusion cell technique and non-stationary diffusion in cuvettes) designated for the study on reactivity and barrier properties of wide range compounds (optimized method should be used as an universal method for simple and fast determination of reactivity of different compounds at given or changing conditions). The rate of reactivity, transport and barrier properties was determined based on fundamental diffusion parameters such as diffusion coefficients, break-through time so called lag time, interfacial concentration of chosen organic dye, apparent equilibrium constant, tortuosity factor, partition coefficient.

In the presented thesis we study three methods of pricing European currency barrier options. With help of these methods we value selected barrier options with underlying asset EUR/CZK. In the first chapter we introduce the basic definitions from the world of financial derivatives and we describe our data. In the second chapter we deal with the classical model based on geometric Brownian motion of underlying asset and we prove a theorem of valuating Up-In-barrier option in this model. In the third chapter we introduce a model with stochastic volatility, the Heston model. We calibrate this model to market data and we use it to value our barrier options. In the last chapter we describe a jump diffusion model. Again we calibrate this jump diffusion model to market data and price our barrier options. The aim of this thesis is to decribe and to compare different methods of valuating barrier options. 1