This dissertation is an attempt at establishing a bridge between biology and physics leading naturally from the field of phase transitions in physics to the cooperative nature of living systems. We show that this aim can be realized by supplementing the current field of evolutionary game theory with a new form of self-organized temporal criticality. In the case of ordinary criticality, the units of a system choosing either cooperation or defection under the influence of the choices done by their nearest neighbors, undergo a significant change of behavior when the intensity of social influence has a critical value. At criticality, the behavior of the individual units is correlated with that of all other units, in addition to the behavior of the nearest neighbors. The spontaneous transition to criticality of this work is realized as follows: the units change their behavior (defection or cooperation) under the social influence of their nearest neighbors and update the intensity of their social influence spontaneously by the feedback they get from the payoffs of the game (environment). If units, which are selfish, get higher benefit with respect to their previous play, they increase their interest to interact with other units and vice versa. Doing this, the behavior of single units and the whole system spontaneously evolve towards criticality, thereby realizing a global behavior favoring cooperation. In the case when the interacting units are oscillators with their own periodicity, homeodynamics concerns, the individual payoff is the synchronization with the nearest neighbors (i.e., lowering the energy of the system), the spontaneous transition to criticality generates fluctuations characterized by the joint action of periodicity and crucial events of the same kind as those revealed by the current analysis of the dynamics of the brain. This result is expected to explain the efficiency of enzyme catalyzers, on the basis of a new non-equilibrium statistical physics. We argue that the results obtained apply to sociological and psychological systems as well as to elementary biological systems.

Rozbor oficiálních stanovisek EU k rozšíření EU o země Západního Balkánu (Chorvatsko, Makedonie, Černá Hora, Albánie, BiH, Srbsko, nově Kosovo) ukazuje na zdrženlivost EU k vlastnímu aktu přijetí. Přes všechna prohlášení o vůli přijmout tyto země, tato vyjádření zůstávají spíše proklamací, bez vyhlášení konkrétních dat přijetí těchto zemí do společenství. Na rozdíl od Rakouska, která jako jediná země EU deklaruje co nejrychlejší rozšíření EU o země Západního Balkánu přímo ve vládním programu jako prioritu své zahraniční politiky. Motivace Rakouska je založena na důkladné ekonomické analýze situace, kdy Rakouské investice do těchto zemí jsou nejvyšší ze všech zemí EU. Mezi Rakouskem a zeměmi Západního Balkánu a Rakouskem probíhá čilý obchod i pohyb osob, na který ostatní země EU nejsou ještě připraveny. Překážkou rychlého přijetí se tedy jeví důvody povahy nikoliv ekonomické, ale politické. Evropská unie se shoduje na roku 2008 jako na roku klíčovém v přístupových jednáních. V době publikace této práce ovšem EU nebyla s to jako celek schválit nezávislost Kosova. Minimálně tento bod zůstává otevřen k dořešení v roce 2008 spolu s dalšími body týkajícími se příštího rozšíření. EU má v této chvíli (duben 2008) jasno, že favorizovanými kandidáty pro přístup jsou Chorvatsko, Makedonie a Albánie, zatím bez konkrétního data přístupu.

This thesis focuses on the skills necessary to detect children being at risk from the adults in their surroundings based on the signals that the children manifest. The specific signs are described in the theoretical part, for example, different child expressions (on psychological, physical or behavioural level etc.) which can accompany risk exposure. The thesis also focuses on analysis of different environments in which these signals can be detected (family, school, medical examination etc.). Risk factors of children being exposed to danger in their own families are also analysed. Knowledge of these factors can facilitate the detection by surrounding people. The empirical part examines the signals most frequently used for the detection of children at risk by the adults in their proximity, as well as signs which don't get much attention (the adults are unable to perceive those signals, or they don't consider them as important). This analysis uses the data from "Children Crisis Center" (Dětské krizové centrum). Quantitative content analysis was used for the data survey. The quantity of signals registered by the family carers was compared to the quantity of signals only discovered by psychological examination. The conclusion reached by this analysis suggests, that family carers are not yet very...

This dissertation is devoted to study of complex systems in human physiology particularly heartbeats and brain dynamics. We have studied the dynamics of heartbeats that has been a subject of investigation of two independent groups. The first group emphasized the multifractal nature of the heartbeat dynamics of healthy subjects, whereas the second group had established a close connection between healthy subjects and the occurrence of crucial events. We have analyzed the same set of data and established that in fact the heartbeats are characterized by the occurrence of crucial and Poisson events. An increase in the percentage of crucial events makes the multifractal spectrum broader, thereby bridging the results of the former group with the results of the latter group. The crucial events are characterized by a power index that signals the occurrence of 1/f noise for complex systems in the best physiological condition. These results led us to focus our analysis on the statistical properties of crucial events. We have adopted the same statistical analysis to study the statistical properties of the heartbeat dynamics of subjects practicing meditation. The heartbeats of people doing meditation are known to produce coherent fluctuations. In addition to this effect, we made the surprising discovery that meditation makes the heartbeat depart from the ideal condition of 1/f noise. We also discussed how to combine the wave-like nature of the dynamics of the brain with the existence of crucial events that are responsible for the 1/f noise. We showed that the anomalous scaling generated by the crucial events could be established by means of a direct analysis of raw data. The efficiency of the direct analysis procedure is made possible by the fact that periodicity and crucial events is the product of a spontaneous process of self-organization. We argue that the results of this study can be used to shed light into the nature of this process of self-organization.

This study is comprised of two distinct parts, a chromatographic study and a didactic study.Chromatographic studyThe need for higher selectivity in chromatography purification has increased in recent years. Multimodal resins, offering novel selectivity, are a possible solution to this demand. The purpose of this study is to develop new multimodal resins with novel selectivity, using an iterative workflow. Therefore, eleven novel multimodal ligands were screened according to binding behavior using a high-throughput (HT) method. The mapping of binding behaviors was comprised of six proteins and 32 different binding buffers, with various salt concentrations and pH-levels, to allow for a wide, but efficient mapping. The data generated from the screenings were presented using binding capacity and partition coefficient and were evaluated against each other using principal component analysis (PCA). The PCA created a ligand diversity map, which separated ligands in respect to binding behavior. The information supplied by the diversity map can be used for selecting ligands for further research. The results from presenting the data in the form of partition coefficient and binding capacity were comparable, which indicated that the effects of initial protein concentrations were low. However, this study found that there are advantages and disadvantages to using both quantities. It is possible that some of the ligands screened in this study will be used in further research and it is likely that the diversity map will facilitate the development of ligands with novel selectivityDidactic studyWith a rising demand for HT screening as a method to evaluate the binding behaviors of novel ligands, in combination with the UN’s goal for quality education for all, the incentives for developing quality educational materials for HT screenings have increased. A first step towards educational materials is to outline common difficulties, thereby creating guidelines for developing educational materials. In this study, guidelines for the development of learning materials for HT screenings have been produced. The guidelines were based on identification of critical steps for the experimental procedure and utilizing employer experience of learning materials in general. Two methods for data collection was used in the didactic study: observations and interviews. The observations were performed during the training of the screening method. For the interviews, three individual and one focus group interview were held. Thereafter, a thematic analysis was performed on the data to generate themes. The results from the observations and interviews indicated that the critical steps of the learning process were the practical parts. The result of the thematic analysis showed the identification of three themes: Cohesion, Facilitation and Interaction. These themes generated four aspirational guidelines: 1. Identify crucial steps of the practical procedure. 2. Adapt to people with different backgrounds. 3. Maintain coherence throughout the learning process. 4. Utilize strategies for interaction, both human interaction and material interaction.

Notre travail est centré sur la démarche de découverte reposant sur des expérimentations réalisées avec Cabri-Géomètre. L'analyse d'un corpus débordant le cadre des Mathématiques clarifie la manière dont la découverte arrive ou est transmise, ainsi que le rôle de l'expérimentation dans ces processus. Elle justifie notre hypothèse de décomposition de la démarche de découverte expérimentale en macro-étapes pré- et post-conjectures elles-mêmes décomposables en micro-étapes du type exploration-interprétation..<br />L'analyse de la résolution d'une boîte noire particulière permet d'affiner notre modèle a priori de la démarche de découverte en y précisant le rôle de la figure (Duval), les niveaux de géométrie (praxéologies G1 et G2 de Parzysz) et leurs prolongements que nous développons (G1 et G2 informatiques), les cadres d'investigations (Millar) et la place de la preuve expérimentale (Johsua).<br />Les analyses des expérimentations mises en place permettent de disposer d'un modèle amélioré qui doit permettre aux enseignants d'avoir une connaissance minimale des étapes heuristiques du travail de leurs élèves, de concevoir des activités d'études et de recherches ayant des objectifs précis en liaison avec les étapes formalisées de notre modélisation et d'envisager leur possible évaluation.<br />Des analyses d'activités existantes avec notre grille montrent la validité du modèle étudié. Des propositions d'activités ont été construites pour favoriser l'apparition de telle ou telle phase de la recherche; elles montrent la viabilité de ce modèle dans la conception d'ingénieries didactiques générant une démarche conforme à la démarche postulée.

Telemetry system, Optimisation, Sensoric networks, Smart Grid, Internet of Things, Sensors, Information security, Cryptography, Cryptography algorithms, Cryptosystem, Confidentiality, Integrity, Authentication, Data freshness, Non-Repudiation.