Abstract Various bone proteins and growth factors are needed during the bone healing cascade. If the body cannot produce sufficient quantities of these factors, bone trauma healing can be improved with an implant that contains the required growth factors. However, an added bone protein extract needs a suitable delivery system to protect the proteins from degradation and to release them gradually, promoting new bone formation. This study focused on evaluating and optimization of the bone forming capacity of various scaffold systems of reindeer bone protein extract formulations using different experimental models. The tested carrier systems for various reindeer bone protein extract doses were collagen sponge and bioactive glass granules in critical-size defect model of rat femur. Calcium salt compositions (beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP), hydroxyapatite or calcium sulphate) in disc and compressed pellet forms were tested in the thigh muscle pouch model of mouse. Various β-TCP granules combined with polyethylene/glycerol and stearic acid gel were tested in a hole defect model of sheep femur and humerus. Control groups involved carrier materials with no protein extract or untreated defects. In the sheep study, reference materials also included autograft and demineralized bone matrix (DBM). New bone formation, bone healing, and carrier resorption were evaluated based on radiographs, peripheral computerized tomography (pQCT), mechanical tests, histological examination, and micro-CT. New bone formation and bone union were markedly better in groups receiving higher doses of the extract and with follow-ups of six or more weeks, compared to empty defect or carrier without extract. Resorptions of carrier materials in active groups were faster and more active than in the control groups. The greatest bone formation occurred in the groups that had the bone protein extract readily available, which indicated that bone forming factors are required in sufficient concentrations at an early stage. The micro-CT analysis showed that bone formation in the groups with the extract was comparable to autograft, while the least bone formation was observed in the DBM and untreated groups. The present study indicated that the tested reindeer bone protein extract can be used to improve bone formation with various carriers. The study suggests that an inorganic carrier material together with stearic acid is the one of most suitable carrier alternatives for this extract. The developed medical device in paste form can be an alternative for autograft use. / Tiivistelmä Luun paraneminen vaatii erilaisia proteiineja ja kasvutekijöitä. Jos elimistö ei pysty tuottamaan riittävää määrää näitä tekijöitä, luumurtuma ei parane luonnollisesti vaan vaatii hoitoa, jossa murtuma alueelle viedään tarvittavia kasvutekijöitä. Kasvutekijät kiinnitetään tarkoituksenmukaiseen kantaja-aineeseen, jonka avulla kasvutekijöiden vapautumista ja toimintaa voidaan säädellä. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli arvioida ja optimoida erilaisissa eläinmalleissa porosta eristetyn luuproteiiniuutteen kantaja-ainesysteemien toimivuutta. Testatut kantaja-ainemateriaalit olivat kollageenihuopa ja bioaktiivinen lasirae. Näitä testattiin useilla luuproteiiniannoksilla, ja mallina oli rotan reisiluun kriittisen koon murtuma. Hiiren reisilihasmallilla testattiin kalsiumsuolayhdistelmiä (beta trikalsiumfosfaatti (β-TCP), hydroksiapatiitti ja kalsiumsulfaatti) tablettina ja pellettinä. Lampaan reisi- ja olkaluiden reikämurtumamallilla testattiin erilaisia β-TCP-rakeita yhdistettynä polyetyleenistä, glyserolista ja steariinihaposta valmistettuun geeliin. Kontrollisryhmistä toinen sisälsi kantaja-aineen ilman luuproteiiniuutetta, toisessa ryhmässä murtuma jätettiin kokonaan hoitamatta. Lammaskokeessa verrattiin lisäksi omaluusiirteen ja demineralisoidun luumateriaalin (DBM) toimivuutta verrattuna poron luuproteiiniuutteeseen. Uudisluun muodostuminen, murtuman paraneminen ja kantaja-aineen hajoaminen arvioitiin natiiviröntgenillä, perifeerisellä tietokonetomografialla (pQCT), mekaanisin testein, histologisesti ja mikro-CT:llä. Luuproteiiniuutetta sisältäneillä ryhmillä oli luun paraneminen ja kantaja-aineen hajoaminen merkittävästi parempaa kuin uutetta sisältämättömillä ryhmillä. Uudisluun muodostuminen oli suurempaa korkeammilla annoksilla ja pitemmillä seuranta-ajoilla. Suurin uudisluun muodostus mitattiin ryhmillä, joissa luuproteiiniuute oli heti käytettävissä implantoinnin jälkeen. Tämä osoittaa, että varsinkin murtuman paranemisen alkuvaiheissa tarvitaan luuta muodostavia kasvutekijöitä riittävinä pitoisuuksina. Mikro-CT-analyysit osoittivat, että luuproteiiniuuttetta sisältäneet ryhmät olivat verrannollisia omaluusiirrehoidolle. Vähiten uudisluuta havaittiin DBM ja tyhjäreikäryhmissä. Tutkimus osoittaa, että poron luuproteiiniuutetta erilaisten kantajamateriaalien kanssa voidaan käyttää parantamaan luun muodostumista. Erityisesti epäorgaaninen kantajamateriaali steariinihapon kanssa on yksi soveltuvimmista vaihtoehdoista luu-uutteelle. Kehitelty pastamutoinen lääkinnällinen laite, joka sisälsi poron luuproteiiniuutteen ja kalsiumsuolakantaja-aineen, osoittautui vaihtoehdoksi omaluusiirrehoidolle.

Magister Economicae - MEcon / The study looked particularly at the operations of national carriers and governments' efforts to sustain the airlines' operations. Evidence has shown that many countries struggle to maintain operations of their flag carriers, but few countries are willing to completely leave the airlines in the hands of the private sector because of national pride. On the other hand, many of those airlines that get into private hands fail and end up being closed down or go back into state hands. These airlines are also perceived to be development tools, in particular for tourism development which is a predominant economic activity in many developing countries. For this reason, many states do not favour privatisation, even though the perception is that the airline industry is better handled by private businesses. The main conclusion of the study for Botswana is therefore that neither full state ownership nor full privatisation is the solution to addressing the problem of ailing flag carriers. There is no single solution, but a combination of several. A broader global view of national airline operations clearly shows that approaches adopted by many successful national airlines, in both developed and developing countries, is some form of partial privatisation. / South Africa

The chemical defences of insects against predators are either passive or aggressive. Passive defence is achieved through crypsis, and aggressive defence is maintained by a conspicuous or 'aposematic' (Poulton, 1890) appearance that advertises some noxious quality of the insect harmful to a predator. Aposematism is mutually beneficial to both the bearer and its predator, whereas crypsis only benefits the prey species. It is therefore not surprising that the fascinating array of chemical defences in insects is both diverse and widespread (Roth and Eisner, 1962). Intro. p. 1.

This thesis is divided into 5 chapters. In the fist chapter is generally described marketing of services and contemporary situation of air transport on the Czech market. Next chapters discuss the history, SWOT analysis and marketing strategies of low cost carriers, Lufthansa and ČSA. In the last, fifth chapter, is accomplished the comparison of the above-mentioned airlines according to their marketing strategies and Skytrax Research and is forshown the future development.

When an electromagnetic wave illuminates metal nanostructure under right circumstances, it can couple to the motion of electrons and thus give rise to so-called LSPR. When these collective oscillations non-radiatively decay, they excite charge carriers that can have, for a short moment of time, highly non-thermal energy distribution. These so-called "hot" electrons and holes can then take part in photochemical applications, e.g. in reactions on photoactive electrodes where hot electrons act as catalysts. Gold nanoparticles seem to be a good candidate for fabrication of such electrodes because they exhibit resonantly enhanced absorption due to plasmon excitation in the visible and near infrared spectral range, which could make the solar energy harvesting more efficient. In this work we present electrohemical experiments that should help to clarify the underlying principles of photochemical reactions involving hot electrons. Our model system consists of indium tin oxide electrodes covered with tungsten disulphide nanotubes that were previously decorated by gold nanoparticles. By comparing the results of chronoamperometric measurements on individual components of this system it was shown that excitation of plasmonic nanoparticles indeed leads to photocurrents and that electrochemical methods can serve as a valuable tool for analysis of photochemical reactions catalyzed by hot electrons.

Over the past 20 years, there were several low-cost airlines identified as the most successful airlines in Europe according to the number of transported passengers. Theoretical part of the thesis has several objectives. It is an analysis of the airlines success it selves as well as an analysis of their gradual development in low cost air travel within Europe and description of the low-cost aviation market in Europe in terms of the history and competitiveness. The practical part which is the main objective of the thesis is an overall analysis of the differences in business models of low-cost carriers and the impact of these differences on the development of their economic and operational performance.

This work deals with preparation of microbubble suspension from a mixture of phospholipids, palmitic acid and polyethylene glycol. Properties of prepared systems were studied using bubble tensiometry and dynamic light scattering method and were compared with commercial contrast agent SonoVue®. Suspensions were prepared in various conditions including different atmosphere and increased temperature in some steps of preparation and different solution. Effect of polyethylene glycol addition on surface activity of the system was studied. Surface activity of phospholipids was insignificant. Surface tension decreased with increasing concentration and molecular weight of polyethylene glycol in the system. Effect of different atmosphere and increased temperature showed no substantial trend. It emerged that dynamic light scattering is not suitable for this type of samples because of high polydispersity and phase separation of the system.

Cell polarity is a key concept in plant biology. The subcellular localization of Pin- formed (PIN) auxin efflux carriers in the root of "#$%&'()*&* is remarkably asymmetrical, making PINs prominent markers to study cell polarity. In spite of its developmental importance and two decades of research, the molecular basis of PIN polarity remains largely unknown. In this thesis, I employed advanced transgenic and fluorescence microscopy approaches to gain insight into several aspects of PIN polarity regulation. I participated in establishing a novel genetically encoded inhibitor of endocytosis, an invaluable tool for the study of the importance of endocytosis for various cellular processes, including PIN polarity. I demonstrated that apical polarity of PIN2 needs to be re-established after cell division and that this process depends on endocytosis, '+!,(-( protein secretion and the action of WAG1 and related protein kinases, but not transcytosis, cell-cell signaling or intact cytoskeleton. Finally, I identified the previously unknown role of MAB4/MEL proteins in PIN polarity, which lies in the ability of MAB4/MELs to reduce PIN lateral diffusion and thus contribute to PIN polarity maintenance. My results, besides broadening current understanding of PIN polarity regulation, identify mechanisms that...

As the world changes because of the globalization, the environment of the aviation changes as well. The airlines are forced to adapt to these changes and choose new strategies to operate successfully. The main objective of this thesis is to, according to the title, describe, identify and explain the processes which significantly affect current image of the world of aviation and focus on four Central European legacy carriers. The issues of globalization and its affect on behavior of economic actors, which airlines are, are discussed as first. The following part is dedicated to the characteristics of aviation and its components, the milieu and the behavior of the airlines as well as the newest strategic trends that are being chosen is described as well. The theoretical part is followed by the empirical one where the particular steps of examined airlines are analyzed and explained. The hypotheses concerning the probable behavior and adopted strategies of four analyzed carriers are expressed according to the discovered theoretical principles of the operations of current legacy (network) carriers. Whether the hypotheses are completely or partially confirmed, is discussed at the end of the empirical chapter. Key words: globalization, air transport, legacy carriers, airline alliances, hub and spoke, codeshare

Das akute Lungenversagen (Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome: ARDS) stellt ein in der Intensivmedizin häufig auftretendes Krankheitsbild dar und weist trotz intensiver Bemühungen nach wie vor eine hohe Letalität auf. Ein wichtiger pathophysiologischer Faktor bei der mit dem ARDS verbundenen schweren Gasaustauschstörung ist der intrapulmonale Rechts-links-Shunt mit daraus resultierender Abnahme des Oxygenierungsindex. Um therapeutisch eine Verbesserung der Oxygenierung zu erreichen, wurde unter anderem von Gallart et al. ein Konzept entwickelt, bei dem durch den kombinierten Einsatz eines intravenös gegebenen pulmonalen Vasokonstriktors (Almitrine) und eines inhalativ gegebenen pulmonalen Vasodilatators (inhalatives Stickstoffmonoxid: iNO) die Shuntfraktion verkleinert wird (Gallart et al. 1998). Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurde die Kombination von iNO mit der intravenösen Gabe von zellfreiem Hämoglobin (Hemoglobin Based Oxygen Carrier, HBOC) als Vasokonstriktor am Tiermodell des akuten Lungenversagens hinsichtlich hämodynamischer Parameter und der arteriellen Oxygenierung untersucht. Die Ergebnisse wurden verglichen mit einer zweiten Versuchsgruppe, in der die Tiere lediglich iNO und Hydroxyethylstärke als Kontrollsubstanz erhielten. In Pilotversuchen wurden dafür ein Tiermodell des akuten Lungenversagens etabliert und die Auswirkungen der Gabe von HBOC bei vorbestehendem Lungenschaden untersucht. Anhand der durchgeführten Versuche konnte gezeigt werden, dass sich durch die HBOC-Gabe sowohl der systemische als auch der pulmonalarterielle Blutdruck signifikant erhöhte. Durch die zusätzliche Gabe von iNO ließ sich dieser Effekt antagonisieren. Ein additiver Effekt auf die arterielle Oxygenierung durch den kombinierten Einsatz von HBOC und iNO -im Vergleich zur alleinigen Gabe von iNO- war nachweisbar, die Unterschiede waren jedoch nicht signifikant. Weitere Untersuchungen werden zeigen müssen, ob sich dieser Effekt bei größerer Fallzahl als signifikant erweist, oder ob dieser tatsächlich nicht vorhanden sein sollte.