The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the system of municipality incomes in the Czech Republic with respect to specifics of small municipalities. In last few years these municipalities have become a frequently discussed topic because of their lower incomes. The legislation has been devoting to this problem since 2008 and the differences between large and small municipalities in the Czech Republic were removed. There is income analysis of all municipalities in the Czech Republic from 2000 up to 2012 in this thesis. The municipalities were divided into two groups. The first group contains small villages, defined as municipalities up to 499 inhabitants. In the second group there are other municipalities of the Czech Republic except small villages, statutory cities and the Capital City of Prague. The real data were recalculated per head for this analysis and minimum, maximum, median and arithmetic mean were found. Variability of incomes is evaluated from these results. Regression and correlation analysis is made in some groups of revenues because of finding dependence among variables. Disparity in incomes of small towns and other communities is assessed by comparing the arithmetic means and medians between groups of municipalities using a Two-Sample t-test and Mann-Whitney test. Revenue growth is evaluated determination of the trends of the time series using linear regression. Some specifics in financing small villages were found from these analyzes. There was also confirmation of the hypothesis that small municipalities have lower incomes per an inhabitant.

Thesis on the analysis of incomes of rural municipalities will assess the amount, structure and dynamics of the incomes of rural municipalities in the Czech Republic. Incomes are analyzed in the period 2001 ? 2008 and are dividend into tax, non-tax, capita and received subsidies. The thesis presents the theoretical basis for the analysis, particularly for the legislative influences that cause ganges in incomes of minicipal budgets. The central charter of municipal budgets as tax revenues that are derived from existing law on budgetary determinativ of taxes. Tax revenues of municipalities consist of shared taxes, entrusted taxes and local fees. The most significant change in tax revenues occurred in 2008, which inceased income, especially in smaller communities. In terms of structure are the most signifiant tax revenues from shared taxes. Non-tax revenues mainly comprise revenues from their business. Capital incomes follow from sale of fix assets and it is the smallest share of the total incomes. The second most important income are received subsidies. They are dividend according to the purpose of investment and common. Rural municipalities are dividend into five categories because of comparison. And there is salso introduced one category of non-rural municipalities. The analysis of incomes shows that municipalities in the suburban zones have a different structure of their income.

Within the last few hundred years, English has gone from being a rather small peripheral language to what it is today – a world language, spoken by millions of people worldwide. The best-known dialects to Swedish learners of English are British English (RP, Received Pronunciation) and American English (GA, General American). Traditionally, British English has been the variety taught in Swedish schools, but due to the recent and growing influence of American English, more and more pupils are using the American dialect. The purpose of this essay is to determine which of these dialects is more common among students in one Swedish school. I have also investigated if the teachers’ English pronunciation and their opinions of the different dialects, as well as the students’ own, have an impact on what variety the students choose to use. The results of the study show that although all students mixed both dialects, American features were predominant. A small number of students spoke mainly British English. A majority of the students claimed to be influenced more by the media than by their teachers. When it comes to the students’ opinions of the two dialects it appeared that the students who used more features from one dialect proved to be more positive towards that dialect. Many students found British English to be snobbish. It was also seen as slightly more classy and beautiful than GA. American English was generally considered cool but cocky. It was not considered as intelligent-sounding as RP, but instead more friendly and reliable.

The dependence of flow stress of body centered cubic metals on variables such as strain rate, temperature, strain and microstructural is a research area of continued interest. Recently, there has been renewed interest in deformation of fine grained BCC metals, which display characteristics that are different from their coarse-grained counterparts. Deformation mechanisms, strain-rate and temperature dependence, and strain hardening characteristics of fine-grained BCC metals are not well understood. The aim of this thesis is to understand the effect of strain-rate, temperature, strain and microstructure (i.e., grain size) on the mechanical response of poly¬crystalline tantalum. Among the topics addressed were constitutive modeling of flow stress, understanding the microstructural origins of strain hardening, and characterizing the effect of severe plastic deformation (SPD) on microstructure and mechanical properties. Rolling and equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) were among the processing techniques employed. Mechanical testing was conducted over a range of temperatures and strain rates, and this was supported by a slew of microscopic characterization methods. It was found that the strain hardening response depends on microstructural evolution at different strain rates. Results indicate that the same thermally activated mechanisms operate in both as-received and processed material and this was found to be the overcoming of Peierls barriers via a double-kink mechanism. Lastly, it was found that the low strain rate sensitivity of SPD processed material was not due to fine grain size, but instead due to high internals stresses.

The diploma thesis concerns with the influence of the economic crisis on economy of two city districts of Prague, Dolní Počernice and Prague 18 -- Letňany and two municipalities, Sušice and Šestajovice. The main goal is to evaluate the crisis impact on revenues and expenditure of these subjects in the years 2008 -- 2010, compare size of the crisis impact and find out whether the studied subjects performed any solutions against this situation. The theoretical part describes the basic definitions and impact of the economic crisis on public finances as a whole. In the practical part the budgets of subjects are analyzed with an emphasis on the years 2008 - 2010. The final section contains a comparison of the impact of crisis on the subjects and also examined to assess their response to the revenue decline. My conclusion is that all subjects experienced the impact of the crisis on the revenue side of their budgets, which was not very significant. The economic crisis has not significantly affected the normal operation of the surveyed municipalities and city districts of Prague and therefore may not be performed significant to countermeasures impact of the crisis. But it is not possible to precisely determine which subjects were influenced by the crisis more and less.

The English diction texts by Madeleine Marshall and Kathryn LaBouff are two ofthe most acclaimed manuals on singing in this language. Differences in style between the two have separated proponents to be primarily devoted to one or the other. An in-depth study, comparing the precepts of both authors, and applying their principles, has resulted in an understanding of their common ground, as well as the need for the more comprehensive information, included by LaBouff, on singing in the dialect of American Standard, and changes in current Received Pronunciation, for British works, and Mid-Atlantic dialect, for English language works not specifically North American or British. Chapter 1 introduces Marshall and The Singer’s Manual of English Diction, and LaBouff and Singing and Communicating in English. An overview of selected works from Opera America’s resources exemplifies the need for three dialects in standardized English training. Chapter 2 reviews notational and diction resources, and use of the International Phonetic Association’s alphabet (IPA). Chapter 3 directly compares Marshall and LaBouff’s views of the importance of the unstressed syllable, often schwa [ә] or open I [ɪ], as vital to allowing the audience to understand the flow of the sung text, and contrasts their differences regarding < r >. Chapter 4 discusses observations in applying the tenets with singers, focusing on three arias coached for this dissertation. Chapter 5 states conclusions and opportunities for further research. Figures include materials from the Juilliard School Archives. Appendices include interviews.

Tato disertační práce se věnuje lokalizaci v bezdrátových sítích se zaměřením na odhad vzdálenosti. Lokalizace je v bezdrátových sítích s mobilními ale i statickými uzly důležitým procesem, neboť znalost pozice uzlů může být během provozu sítě dále s výhodou využita. V práci je prezentována nová metoda odhadu vzdálenosti na základě měření síly přijatého signálu. Navržená metoda je postavena tak, aby s co nejnižšími energetickými náklady dosáhla požadovaného stupně přesnosti i ve značně odlišných rádiových podmínkách. Před návrhem vlastní metody byla provedena experimentální analýza spotřeby anergie a šíření signálu s jeho využitím pro lokalizační účely. Na základě provedené analýzy byla navržena nová metoda (Adaptabilní energeticky nenáročná metoda odhadu vzdálenosti), která byla následně ověřena v simulátoru a experimentální síti za reálných podmínek.

This study will explore to what extent familiarity with English accents can influence compulsory school students’ attitudes towards them. Data from questionnaires completed by 98 students were analysed. The results show that the degree of familiarity with the English accent seems to affect the attitude attributed to it. More specifically, the results indicate that a higher degree of familiarity influences the ability to express an attitude. A lower degree of familiarity leads to similar attitudes being given to the accents, which shows a lack of differentiation between them. The results also indicate a bias towards RP. While it is not necessarily harmful, teachers should be aware of this and how their own teaching may influence how different accents are perceived. It is argued that teachers need to intervene in the process of stereotyping which will help develop an awareness of students’ language attitudes. To summarize, it is difficult to draw any wide conclusions from these results due to the study’s scope. Furthermore, the target group is not representative of Swedish compulsory school students as students from the chosen school generally finish with an above-average final grade. Further research is necessary to determine more specifically how familiarity affects attitudes of English accents and if these findings recur in other areas of Sweden where the final grade average is lower.

Poaching is a persistent issue that threatens many of earth’s species including therhino. The methods used by poachers are varied, but many use guns to carry outtheir illegal activities. Gunfire is extremely loud and can be heard for kilometres.This thesis investigates whether it is possible to aid anti-poaching efforts in Kenyawith a gunshot detection and estimation device using an array of microphones. Ifsuccessful, the device could be placed around the savannah or any exposed areaand warn if poaching is taking place in the nearby. If a shot is fired within theaudible range of the device’s microphones, a trained machine learning algorithmdetects the shot on the edge using a microprocessor. The detection runs in realtime and achieved an accuracy of 93% on an unbalanced data set, where themajority class was the one without gunshots. Once a detection has been made, thereceived signal power to each microphone is used to produce a direction of arrivalestimate. The estimate can produce an angle estimate with a standard deviationof 66.78° for a gunshot, and with a standard deviation of 7.65° when testing themodel with white noise. Future implementations could use several devices thatdetected the same event, and fuse their estimates to locate the shooter’s position.All of this information, as well as the sound file, can be used to alert and assistlocal wildlife services. The challenges of this project have been centred aroundmaking a system run in real time with only a microprocessor on the edge, whilealso prioritizing low cost components for future deployment. / Project Ngulia

Prevailing propagation phenomena in certain areas play a vital role in deciding terrestrial wireless systems performance. Vertical refractivity profile below 1 km is a critical parameter for designing reliable systems; noting that there is a shortage of upper-air data worldwide. Anomalous phenomena may cause severe signal fading and interference beyond the horizon. The objectives of this thesis are to investigate dominant refractive conditions in the subtropical Arabian Gulf region, develop new approaches and empirical models for evaluating vertical refractivity profiles and relevant propagation parameters in the low troposphere, and to examine the impact of frequently experienced anomalous phenomena on terrestrial microwave links. Twenty-three years of meteorological measurements, from 1990 to 2013, are utilized using spatially separated surface stations and a single radiosonde in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Profiles of sea level, surface and upper refractivity components are statistically analysed. Three major atmospheric layers; namely 65 m, 100 m and 1 km above the ground are studied to analyse relevant propagation parameters such as sub-refraction, super-refraction, anomalous propagation probability parameter β0 and point refractivity gradient not exceeded for 1% of time. The effective earth radius factor k is investigated using a new weighted averaged approach. In addition, the seasonal structure of atmospheric ducting is dimensioned within 350 m layer above ground. Finally, microwave measurement campaign is conducted using multiple radio links operating in UAE using various frequency bands. The link budget simulations are compared with the signal strength measurements. Fading scenarios are studied against the observed anomalous conditions and several recommendations are concluded.