This thesis describes NMR studies which probe weak interactions between amino acid side chains in folded peptide structures. Aromatic/aromatic interactions between facing phenylalanine residues have been probed in antiparallel β-sheets, while aromatic/proline interactions have been examined using cyclic peptide disulfides that occur in the venom of marine cone snails. Novel intramolecular hydrogen bonded structures in hybrid peptides containing backbone homologated residues, specifically γ-amino acids, are also described. Chapter 1 provides a brief background to the principles involved in the design of antiparallel β-sheet structures and an introduction to previous studies on aromatic/aromatic and aromatic/proline interactions in influencing peptide conformations. A summary of the NMR methods used is also presented. Chapter 2 discusses the structural characterisation of a designed 14 residue, three stranded β-sheet peptide, Boc-LFVDP-PLFVADP-PLFV-OMe (LFV14). The results described in this Chapter support the presence of multiple conformational states about the χ1 (Cα-Cβ) torsional degree of freedom for the interacting aromatic pairs in solution. Chapter 3 presents the structural characterisation of a designed 19 residue three stranded hybrid β-sheet peptide, Boc-LVβFVDPGLβFVVLDPGLVLβFVV-OMe (BBH19). β-amino acid residues (β-phenylalanine, βPhe) were incorporated at facing positions on antiparallel β-sheets. The BBH19 structure provides an example of interaction between the N and C-terminal strands in a three stranded structure with an α/β hybrid backbone. Chapter 4 focuses on studies of the conformations of the contryphan In936 (GCVDLYPWC*) from Conus inscriptus and the related peptide Lo959 (GCPDWDPWC*) from Conus loroissi. Both peptides possess a macrocyclic 23 membered ring, with multiple accessible conformational states. Chapter 5 describes conformational analysis of a novel 20 membered cyclic peptide disulfide, CIWPWC (Vi804), from Conus virgo. NMR structures were calculated for Vi804 and an analog peptide, CIDWPWC, DW3-Vi804. Chapter 6 explores the solution conformation of hybrid sequences containing α and γ residues. Oligopeptides of the type (αγ)n and (αγγ)n have been studied in solution by NMR methods. Chapter 7 provides a summary of the results described in this thesis and highlights the major conclusions.

When duties are documented, new ideas are often created regarding how the work should be carried out. Writing is an important source of development, but unfortunately the possibilities are limited when it comes to transferring new ways of thinking to personnel. As with organizational change in general, employees tend to neglect new instructions. On the basis of their personal ways of thinking, they might find that the new order is incorrect, requires more resources, lacks contact with reality, or cannot be understood. The people who have prepared the new directives think they are surely justified and easy to understand. In their eyes, those who stick to what used to be correct and reasonable seem resistant to change. The aim of this dissertation is to understand the influence of self-assessment on service cognition and to propose how this influence can be utilized to attain strategic aims. The term self-assessment refers here to the activity whereby employees, in a structured manner, collectively assess and document their own instructions. The concept of service cognition refers to individual employee’s conceptions on how to carry out their own tasks, on how colleagues carry out theirs, and on connections between activities in the common workflow. The object of study is self-assessment as business process modeling at the local offices of the Swedish Employment Service. What is explored is the crass but fruitful understanding that new ways of thinking more easily arise among those who define organizational design than among those who are expected to change. Using socio-cognitive theory as well as longitudinal and extensive action research, the reasons are investigated behind the inevitable development of units which are trusted to write their own instructions and, in so doing, start to talk about the way work is done. Despite the independence needed to coordinate by consensus, it seems that the collective mind thereby induced actually enhances opportunities for central control and change: Units designing their own routines surely become better coordinated, but also more controllable and adaptive to strategic change. Furthermore, some principles are presented to support self-assessment regarding organization and change.

Cette thèse s'intéresse aux liens entre l'évolution de la coopération et la sélection de second ordre. Dans une première partie, nous montrons comment des organismes digitaux adaptent leurs génomes pour encoder les gènes liées à la coopération d'une manière plus contrainte (suppression d'évolvabilité), notamment à l'aide d'opérons et d'overlaps impliquant aussi des gènes essentiels. Dans une deuxième partie, nous testons expérimentalement cette vision des overlaps de gènes comme "contrainte évolutive" grâce à des outils d'algorithmique et de biologie synthétique que nous avons développés. Dans une troisième partie, nous utilisons des simulations par agents pour montrer comment une forme de division du travail peut être interprétée comme un système coopératif à la lumière de la théorie évolutive moderne. Dans une dernière partie, nous montrons que la dispersion spatiale des allèles coopératives obtenue par des phénomènes de "genetic hitchiking" joue un rôle important dans l'évolution de la coopération, quand bien même ce mécanisme de dispersion s'applique aussi à des allèles non coopératives, grâce à la "relatedness" (aux loci codant pour la coopération) crée par l'invasion locale de mutations bénéfiques (à des loci non liés à la coopération) et par l'équilibre complexe entre ces mutations bénéfiques et la robustesse mutationnelle. L'ensemble de ces résultats appelle à une prise en compte plus importante des pressions sélectives de second ordre dans l'étude de l'évolution sociale, et au développement de modèles plus réalistes qui permettraient d'intégrer de telles forces évolutives. Nous insistons également sur l'importance du paysage mutationnel dans l'étude des populations bactériennes, et montrons le potentiel croissant de la biologie synthétique comme outil d'étude de ce paysage et de l'évolution microbienne en général. / In the first part, I show how digital organisms adapt their genomes to encode cooperation-related genes in a more constrained way (evolvability suppression), especially using operons and overlaps also involving essential genes. In the second part, we experimentally test this view of gene overlaps as an evolutionary constraint, using both algorithmic and synthetic biology tools that we have developed. In the third part, I use agent-based simulations to show how a form of division of labour can be interpreted as a cooperative system in the light of modern evolutionary theory. In the final part, I show that the patterns of dispersal of cooperative alleles due to hitchhiking phenomena play an important role in the evolution of cooperation. The last result holds even though the hitchhiking mechanisms also applies to non-cooperative alleles, thanks to the relatedness (at cooperation-related loci) created by the local invasion of beneficial mutations (at loci not related to cooperation). The beneficial mutations form a complex and interesting equilibrium with mutational robustness, which I investigate using in silico evolution. On the whole, these results call for a more careful consideration of the second-order selection pressures in the study of social evolution, and show the necessity for more realistic models allowing to integrate such evolutionary forces. My thesis research specifically highlights the importance of the mutational landscape in the study of microbial populations and shows the increasing potential of synthetic biology as a tool to study such landscape and microbial evolution in general.

The topic of this diploma thesis is to revitalise of one city block and to maximise of its utilisation with combination of many different functions on this concrete area. This work is based on pre-diploma project in previous semester. This project ensures many possible functions for the inhebitants and also reflects natural differentiation between privat and public usage with impact on high quality of living space and appropriate public transport. Designed build-up area is situated betveen Veveri, Kounicova and Pekarenska streets in Brno. Patterns of this area are essential for the treatment of this project when both diagonaly and verticaly crosses whole area. Substance and space treatment reflects nearby structures and is naturally connected to it. Main substance of object is divided to three blocks via communications which crosses the area. Innerblock is sedated with green vegetation, connected to transit parter with shops and services. On the parters roof there is green walk-designed cover for inhabitants and after there are higher houses. Whole building complex is closed with rambling fractional roof covers with terraces of storeyed flats. This space structure is horizontally divided by its functions. In this project there are underground garages, shops and services, administrative spaces and space for rent and mostly flats for living. Fundamental look of the building is created by external rendering covering most of building which is connected to nearby structures. Shopping mall and separate blocks and also entrances to buildings and terraces/balcony are formed by taking off the substance by which leads to its fractionalism.

The thesis deals with the new building of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Veveří street, Brno. The area discussed is situated on the border between Brno-střed and Brno-Žabovesky. It is delineated by Veveří, Šumavská, and Bulínova streets. The design concerns a complex of two universities, which comes from the new draft of local plan of Brno. This plan copes with a draft of an underground tram track. The design also follows the building programme which has been created for an architectural competition in Akademické square in Brno. Both the Faculty of Fine Arts and the Institute of Forensic Engineering (which is expected to be converted into the Faculty of Forensic Engineering) will be moved to this compound. Furthermore, common conveniences, used by all of the dislocated organization units, will be situated there, including the assembly hall, university canteen, library, exhibition grounds and technical support. Apart from the buildings of VUT, the campus will include a parking lot, requested and financed by the municipal authority of Brno, which will replace current parking spots. The arrangement of the campus proposed will allow a successive construction - during the first phase, all the parking lots must be built and subsequently, the individual faculties. FaVU will be composed of three traditional disciplines - painting, sculpture and intermedia - which will include other subdisciplines. In the design proposed, there are also external sites designed for the art of sculpture.

The final thesis is new building Basic school of art and music. The building is located in the urban area of Hronov. The building is divided into two wings. In one part of the building at 1 NP is mainly individual classrooms for play on an individual instrument. In the second part of the building is the concert hall, which is designed for orchestral rehearsal. The 2nd floor is mostly individual classrooms. In 3 NP is designed dance and ballet hall and individual classrooms. In the attic is a classroom for art education. The building has a partial basement. The building is planted on flat land. The building is brick from the system LIAPOR, overhead structures are made of panels SPIROLL, in the basement of a reinforced concrete slab. The roof construction is designed as a purlin roof and „hambalek“ purlin roofs made as saddle with a slope of 35 degrees.

The development of the site allows to connect different residential areas by pedestrian and biking routes; to remove the barrier created by the site, which destroys integral space of the town; and to create a communication axis with the hill Barbořina. At present the site is defined as an agricultural area for further development. As it is no longer used on purpose, it can be considered as brownfield. The proposal is to create a park area, which will become a part of the urban fabric, will create space for new activities and will solve communication problems, such as lack of pedestrian and bicycle connection between the town and Barbořina.

Competitive and high-risk environments require complex high technology systems, which need to be supported and maintained over their respective life cycles. These systems often have a significant consequence of failure, and require complex management systems to achieve their operational objectives. Significant leadership and management challenges exist, not only in South Africa, but also in other developing countries, where systems may be utilised beyond the lifespan they were designed for and are susceptible to obsolescence. This study was conducted by following a structured process; the research consisted of three stages. The first stage dealt with the research problem, including the delimitations of the study. The second stage was further divided into three phases. The first phase deconstructed the appropriate literature, which included the interpretation of numerous definitions of logistics, integrated logistics support, and the integrated logistics support elements. In addition, the research was grounded in the fields of operations management, supply chain management and integrated logistics support. The second phase focused on the deconstruction of six case studies from four different high technology complex systems. From the analysis of the first two phases followed the third phase of research, which focused on the identification of areas requiring further research. Further research was conducted by means of a questionnaire, the results of which were analysed for variable dependency and variable association. The third stage of the research included the collation and analysis of the findings of the first two stages of research. The analysis utilised the principles of Mode 2 research and design science research, whereby an ILS framework and associated grounded technological rules have been recommended. These recommendations are robust in nature, as they can be applied in the most challenging environment and circumstances as identified. Furthermore, by grounding the theory in the disciplines of operations management, supply chain management and integrated logistics support, the reliability, validity, relevance, and applicability of the study could be substantiated. This implied that the generated theoretical knowledge could be transferred to and applied in practice, and as such, an organisation can reap substantial value added benefits, and gain considerable competitive advantage in the market place by applying this developed ILS framework and associated ILS grounded technological rules. / Business Leadership / D. BL.

Competitive and high-risk environments require complex high technology systems, which need to be supported and maintained over their respective life cycles. These systems often have a significant consequence of failure, and require complex management systems to achieve their operational objectives. Significant leadership and management challenges exist, not only in South Africa, but also in other developing countries, where systems may be utilised beyond the lifespan they were designed for and are susceptible to obsolescence. This study was conducted by following a structured process; the research consisted of three stages. The first stage dealt with the research problem, including the delimitations of the study. The second stage was further divided into three phases. The first phase deconstructed the appropriate literature, which included the interpretation of numerous definitions of logistics, integrated logistics support, and the integrated logistics support elements. In addition, the research was grounded in the fields of operations management, supply chain management and integrated logistics support. The second phase focused on the deconstruction of six case studies from four different high technology complex systems. From the analysis of the first two phases followed the third phase of research, which focused on the identification of areas requiring further research. Further research was conducted by means of a questionnaire, the results of which were analysed for variable dependency and variable association. The third stage of the research included the collation and analysis of the findings of the first two stages of research. The analysis utilised the principles of Mode 2 research and design science research, whereby an ILS framework and associated grounded technological rules have been recommended. These recommendations are robust in nature, as they can be applied in the most challenging environment and circumstances as identified. Furthermore, by grounding the theory in the disciplines of operations management, supply chain management and integrated logistics support, the reliability, validity, relevance, and applicability of the study could be substantiated. This implied that the generated theoretical knowledge could be transferred to and applied in practice, and as such, an organisation can reap substantial value added benefits, and gain considerable competitive advantage in the market place by applying this developed ILS framework and associated ILS grounded technological rules. / Business Leadership / D. BL.

This thesis uses ecofeminist and human-animal studies lenses to explore human animal and nonhuman animal relations in early America. Most ecocritical studies of American literature begin with nineteenth-century writers. This project, however, suggests that drawing on ecofeminist theories with a human-animal studies approach sheds light on eighteenth-century texts as well. Early American naturalist travel writing offers a site replete with human and nonhuman encounters. Specifically, naturalist William Bartram's travel journal features interactions with animals in the southern colonial American frontier. Amateur naturalist Elizabeth House Trist's travel diary includes interactions with frontier and domestic animals. Sarah Trimmer's Fabulous Histories, a conduct manual that taught children acceptable behavior towards animals, provides insight about the social regulation of human and nonhuman relationships during the late eighteenth century, when Bartram and Trist wrote their texts. This thesis identifies and analyzes textual sites that blur the human subject/and animal object distinction and raise questions about the representation of animals as objects. This project focuses on the subtle discursive subversions of early Euroamerican naturalist science present in Bartram's Travels (1791) and the blurring of human/animal boundaries in Trist's Travel Diary (1783-84); Trimmer's Fabulous Histories (1794) further complicates the Euroamerican discourse of animals as curiosities. These texts form part of a larger but overlooked discourse in early British America that anticipated more well-known and nonhuman-centric texts in the burgeoning early nineteenth-century American animal rights movement.