The goal of this diploma thesis is to design a frame for an experimental vehicle. The primary object is to design a conception and layot of a drive unit. The frame design is followed by a creation of a model for an analysis. The model will serve for torsional stiffness computing using FEM analysis software. After evaluation of results additional chanhges of the design may take place. A vehicle will serve for testing combustion engines of the same conception and thus it is not intended to run on public roads.

The mathematical characterization of the sound of a musical instrument still follows Schumann’s laws [1]. According to this theory, the resonances of the instrument body, “the formants”, filter the oscillations of the sound generator (e.g., strings) and produce the characteristic “timbre” of an instrument. This is a strong simplification of the actual situation. It applies to a point source and does not distinguish between a loudspeaker and a three-dimensional instrument. In this work we investigate Finite-Element-based numerical simulations of eigenfrequencies and eigenmodes of a tuning fork in order to capture the oscillation behavior of its eigenfrequencies. We model the tuning fork as an elastic solid body and solve an eigenvalue equation derived from a system of coupled equations from linear elasticity theory on an unstructured three-dimensional grid. The eigenvalue problem is solved using the preconditioned inverse iteration (PINVIT) method with an efficient geometric multigrid (GMG) preconditioner. The latter allows us to resolve the tuning fork with a high resolution grid, which is required to capture fine modes of the simulated eigenfrequencies. To verify our results, we compare them with measurement data obtained from an experimental modal analyses of a real reference tuning fork. It turns out that our model is sufficient to capture the first eight eigenmodes of a reference tuning fork, whose identification and reproduction by simulation is novel to the knowledge of the author.

<p>Predmet&nbsp; istraživanja&nbsp; u&nbsp; ovom&nbsp; radu&nbsp; je&nbsp; eksperimentalno&nbsp; &ndash;&nbsp; teorijsko&nbsp; modelska analiza ponašanja centrično pritisnutih stubova spregnutog&nbsp; preseka.&nbsp; Modeli&nbsp; su&nbsp; formirani&nbsp; od&nbsp; AB&nbsp; stubova&nbsp; kvadratnog&nbsp; poprečnog&nbsp; preseka&nbsp; ojačanih&nbsp; na&nbsp; tri&nbsp; načina.&nbsp; U&nbsp; prvom&nbsp; slučaju&nbsp; upotrebljene su čelične cevi.&nbsp; AB stubovi su postavljeni unutar&nbsp; cevi dok je međuprostor popunjavan&nbsp; etonskim mešavinama tri različita&nbsp; kvaliteta.&nbsp; Druga&nbsp; metoda&nbsp; ojačavanja&nbsp; obuhvatala&nbsp; je&nbsp; izradu&nbsp; omotača&nbsp; od&nbsp; betona&nbsp; i&nbsp; čeličnih&nbsp; ugaonika&nbsp; međusobno&nbsp; mestimično&nbsp; spojenih&nbsp; veznim limovima čime je&nbsp; formiran &quot;kavez&quot; oko AB stuba. Razmak&nbsp; veznih&nbsp; limova&nbsp; variran&nbsp; je&nbsp; u&nbsp; dva&nbsp; slučaja.&nbsp; Treća&nbsp; metoda&nbsp; ojačavanja&nbsp; obuhvatala&nbsp; je&nbsp; pritezanje&nbsp; poprečno&nbsp; postavljenih&nbsp; visokovrednih&nbsp; zavrtnjeva. Variran je broj zavrtnjeva, odnosno njihov međusobni&nbsp; razmak.&nbsp; Numerička&nbsp; analiza&nbsp; ponašanja&nbsp; stubova&nbsp; izvršena&nbsp; je&nbsp; MKE&nbsp; metodom.&nbsp; Izvršeno&nbsp; je&nbsp; poređenje&nbsp; rezultata&nbsp; računskog&nbsp; modela&nbsp; i&nbsp; rezultata eksperimentalnog ispitivanja i dat je predlog za&nbsp; proračun nosivosti preseka/modela za sve analizirane uzorke.</p> / <p>The topic of research in this dissertation is experimental-theoretical&nbsp; model&nbsp; analysis&nbsp; of&nbsp; behavior&nbsp; of&nbsp; axially&nbsp; compressed&nbsp; composite&nbsp; section&nbsp; columns.&nbsp; Models&nbsp; are&nbsp; formed&nbsp; from&nbsp; RC&nbsp; squared&nbsp; cross&nbsp; section columns strengthened in three ways. In first case steel pipes&nbsp; were&nbsp; used.&nbsp; RC&nbsp; columns&nbsp; were&nbsp; placed&nbsp; inside&nbsp; the&nbsp; pipe&nbsp; while&nbsp; free&nbsp; space&nbsp; was&nbsp; filled&nbsp; with&nbsp; three&nbsp; different&nbsp; quality&nbsp; concrete.&nbsp; Second&nbsp; method&nbsp; of&nbsp; strengthening&nbsp; included&nbsp; making&nbsp; of&nbsp; concrete&nbsp; jacket&nbsp; and&nbsp; using&nbsp; steel&nbsp; angles&nbsp; connected&nbsp; to&nbsp; each&nbsp; other&nbsp; by&nbsp; connecting&nbsp; plates&nbsp; forming steel&nbsp; cage around RC column. Space between connecting&nbsp; plates&nbsp; were&nbsp; varied&nbsp; in&nbsp; two&nbsp; cases.&nbsp; Third&nbsp; method&nbsp; of&nbsp; strengthening&nbsp; included tightening of the cross placed prestressed bolts. Number&nbsp; of&nbsp; bolts&nbsp; and&nbsp; their&nbsp; spaces&nbsp; were&nbsp; varied.&nbsp; Numerical&nbsp; analysis&nbsp; of&nbsp; the&nbsp; behavior of columns was carried by FEM method. Comparison of&nbsp; the&nbsp; numerical&nbsp; and&nbsp; experimental&nbsp; results&nbsp; was&nbsp; conducted&nbsp; and&nbsp; numerical&nbsp; model&nbsp; for&nbsp; calculating&nbsp; cross&nbsp; section/member&nbsp; capacity&nbsp; was proposed for all analyzed specimens.</p>

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The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between media as family leisure and family functioning among families with at least one adolescent child. Specifically, this study examined the relationship between family functioning and media use, media connection, and media monitoring over time. Furthermore, because the data were nested in families, and because most family leisure research has been limited to individual-level analyses, this study incorporated mixed modeling into its analysis which accounted for family-level and individual-level variance. The sample consisted of 500 families participating in the Flourishing Families (FFP) Project, a longitudinal study of inner-family life involving families with a child between the ages of 11 and 16. Multiple regression analysis indicated there was a significant negative relationship between media use and family functioning. Mixed model analysis further indicated there was a significant positive relationship between media connection, parental media monitoring, and family functioning, and this relationship was stable over time. These relationships were significant even when accounting for the variance explained by depression, anxiety, conflict, and other demographic variables. Findings support existing media effects and family leisure research. This research, however, goes beyond existing research in its mixed level analysis that accounted for family-level variance and in its analysis of time in the stability of the relationship between media variables and family functioning. Findings further suggest the importance in parental involvement in adolescent media use when explaining variance in family functioning.

Minerals are important natural resources and their development is a historically old, yet new, idea for creating economic prosperity in developing countries. Various researchers have evolved several arguments regarding the impact of mineral resources on development and growth, but they have yet to furnish a practical method of economic evaluation of mineral resources development. This thesis focuses on the economic impact of mineral resource development in a small developing country in the South Pacific Region, namely Fiji. Fiji has expectations and faces challenges in its natural resources development. The Namosi project, a large copper-gold mine development, has been proposed and is under consideration by the Fijian government, who is deliberating on whether mining resources should be developed as a means to add to its prosperity and economic growth or alternatively conserved from the standpoint of the environment and stability. In this study, four significant issues are analyzed viz.: 1) Whether the Namosi mine development project gives a positive net private return. 2) Whether the predicted amount of revenue flowing to the Fijian government from the Namosi mine development exceeds the estimated external cost (in this case, environmental cost) from its development. 3) The impacts of the project on various levels of the Fijian economy, and whether the mine development in Fiji results in an enclave industry; and whether mining has strong or weak backward and forward production linkages with the rest of the Fijian economy. 4) Whether “Dutch disease” will ensue from mining development in Fiji and its level of severity. Regarding issue 1) above, Private Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) is conducted by applying the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) method to evaluate the Namosi mining project based on financial projections. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis is conducted in order to allow for possible variations in copper and gold prices. This analysis indicates that given the anticipated metal prices, private returns from this mining development are likely to be positive. Indeed, the current high metal prices would lead to high private returns. Regarding issue 2) above, Social Cost-Benefit Analyses are attempted. Under the given circumstances, the results show that the benefits of the mine project, as a whole for its 29-year life, substantially outweigh the environmental costs of the project to Fiji. However, due to a lack of available data on the economic magnitude of environmental spillovers, only estimates of environmental costs of the Namosi mining development could be made. Regarding issue 3) above, Input-Output model analysis is performed. Fiji’s total output (without production from the Namosi mine) is found to be F$5,529.917 million. It is estimated that the Namosi project will increase the output of Fiji directly by F$465.574 million (which includes the production inducement effect) and will result in an increase of F$543.788 million in overall Fijian output (GDP). This increase will also be followed by an increased output of about F$10-30 million in related industries, such as in the commerce, transport, and insurance sectors. Based on this Input-Output analysis, it is found that Fiji’s mining sector is an export-oriented enclave industry and that the mining industry itself has very little influence on economic activity in other sectors of the economy. Regarding issue 4) above, the Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model analysis is applied. Evidence of the likely occurrence of Dutch disease can be detected from output indicators of each industry, consumer prices and exports. Examples of Dutch disease are as follows: a decrease in output of agricultural industries and in export-oriented domestic industries; an increase in consumer prices (inflation); a decrease of exports both in exportable agricultural products and in manufactured products oriented to exports. However, several macro-variables improve, such as employees’ income, trade (exports and imports), tax revenue, tariff revenue, VAT revenue, government account (savings and expenditure) and GDP etc. These results suggest that there could be a major increase in national welfare. Thus, from an economics point of view, it has been found (by comparing gains in Fijian government revenue with potential Fijian environmental costs) that it is very likely that development of the Namosi mine will result in a net social gain to Fiji. These results are based on the application of principles of social cost-benefit analysis and indicate that a Kaldor-Hicks improvement (a potential Pareto improvement) is likely for Fiji as a result of the mining development. This means that from the predicted net revenue gains of the Fijian government from mining, those who suffer environmental losses would be compensated and the government would still have some extra revenue left over. An actual Paretian improvement is also possible.

Modal analysis for strongly stratified lakes was extended to obtain a better understanding of the dynamics of the basin-scale motions. By viewing the basin-scale motions as a superposition of modes, that have distinct periods and three-dimensional structures, the method provides a conceptual understanding for the excitation, evolution, and damping of the basin-scale motions. Once the motion has been decomposed into modes, their evolution and energetics may be extracted from hydrodynamic simulation results and field data. The method was applied to Lake Biwa, Japan, and Lake Kinneret, Israel, and used for a theoretical study. The real lake applications showed that winds excited basin-scale motions that had a surface layer velocity structure similar to the wind stress pattern. Three-dimensional hydrodynamics simulations of Lake Biwa indicated that most of the energy input from winds was partitioned into the internal waves that decayed within a few days. The gyres, on the other hand, received much less energy but dominated the dynamics during calm periods due to their slow damping. Analyses of field data from Lake Kinneret suggested that the internal waves, excited by the strong winds every afternoon, were damped over a few days primarily due to bottom friction. Theoretical investigations of damping mechanisms of internal waves revealed that bottom friction induced a velocity anomaly at the top of the boundary layer that drained energy from the nearly inviscid interior by a combination of internal wave cancelling and spin-down. These results indicate that gyres induce long-term horizontal transport near the surface and internal waves transfer energy from winds to near-bottom mixing. Modal structure of dominant basin-scale internal waves can induce large heterogeneity of nearbottom mass transfer processes. The method presented here provides a tool to determine how basin-scale motions impact on biogeochemical processes in stratified lakes.

Transportation is undergoing major changes, which can be seen as a threat or an opportunity for incumbents. Nowadays, companies are focusing on reacting on market changes and on responding to a major question, which is how to serve an increasing demand for mobility with the lowest enviromental impact. There are few established companies on czech and global market trying to answer this question. The goal of the thesis is to show how these companies work. The main framework which has been used to serve the purpose is Business Model Canvas, which helps to display business models in a structured way. Based on this analysis, we can conclude that the 11 analysed companies would could not exist without the major progress in technology. Future of these companies strongly depends on a support they can get by cities and states. This thesis brings the first deep comprehensive reflection on this topic in Czech language.

One of the most fundamental aspects of a business is revenue generation. The revenue modeldescribes how revenues are collected by a firm through selling its products and services. Asrevenue generation is of great importance to a business, it is essential for companies to analyzetheir revenue model to establish whether their current model for revenue appropriation isoptimal.After conducting pre-interviews at Bisnode AB, the commissioner of this study, it becameevident that Bisnode has a need to analyze their current revenue model for its credit decisionservices in a structured manner to ensure its competitiveness and profitability. Thus, this thesiswill study revenue model analysis for firms active in the market for credit decision services.The research was conducted through a qualitative case study at Bisnode, based on semistructuredinterviews, observations and archival information. By identifying which aspects totake into consideration when analyzing a revenue model, and by grounding the findings into theexisting literature, a complete framework for revenue model analysis was developed. Theframework facilitates revenue model analysis and consists of five different dimensions: financial,customers, strategy, competition, and macro environment. Further, by linking the case studyfindings to the existing body of literature, a work process for revenue model analysis wasproposed. The outcome of this study is a framework for revenue model analysis to be used bycompanies offering credit decision services.The findings of the research have both theoretical, managerial and sustainability implications.From a theoretical standpoint, a framework for revenue model analysis that integrates strategicmanagement literature and studies on value proposition has been proposed. Furthermore, asearlier research has been mainly focused on the business model as a whole, this report studies therevenue model as an independent research topic and lays the foundation for further research inthe domain. From a managerial perspective, the outcome of the research enables managers offirms active in the credit decision services market to comprehensively analyze revenue models ina structured fashion. Finally, the revenue model analysis framework assesses a revenue model’scompetitiveness and profitability, which contributes to the economical sustainability of a firm.

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