The deterministic theory of graphs and networks is used successfully in cases where no random component is needed. However in practice, a number of decision-making and conflict situations require the inclusion of a stochastic element directly into the model. The objective of this thesis is the introduction of stochastic optimization and its application on random networks. The reader will become familiar with three approaches to stochastic optimization. Namely two-stage optimization, multi-stage optimization and chance constraint optimization. Finally, the studied issue is demonstrated on a real telecommunication network example.

This thesis is focused on theoretical study of influence of the silanol nest defects on the hydrolysis of zeolite Chabazite under harsh steaming conditions. The motivation of the thesis was a recent experiment proving that the silanol nest defect enhances the hydrolysis of a zeolite. The harsh steaming conditions have been chosen as some important technological processes involving zeolites require high temperatures and have water vapour present. The study was performed by using density functional theory calculations. To investigate the influence of the defect two models were used a reference pristine model and a defected model containing the silanol nest defect. The two models were pure siliceous Chabazite periodical models with supercell containing 36 and 35 Si tetrahedra respectively. A multi-step hydrolysis leading to detachment of a Si(OH)4 cluster from the zeolite, known as total desilication, was calculated for the two models. Multiple possible paths of the hydrolysis were discovered, compared and discussed on both models. Both the most favourable hydrolysis paths of the two model as well as their arithmetic means were compared. The experimentally set expectations that a silanol nest defect enhances the hydrolysis of the zeolite have been met.

This dissertation deals with the Czechoslovak and Polish community of "scientists of science" (mainly historians, philosophers, and methodologists of science) from 1962 to 1989. It focuses not only on the inner evolution of this community (scientists, their works, scientific institutions etc.), but it also examines how was this community formed by the tradition of scientific thought on the one hand, and by the contemporary political and ideological context (Soviet influences, Marxism-Leninism, monopoly of the communist party) on the other. It focuses also on the ability of the scientific community to accept or reflect influences from the Western Europe or United States - which means from the so-called "capitalist countries". Two spheres are analysed to clarify dispositions of Polish and Czechoslovak "scientists of science" to foreign transfers: first, scientists' possibilities to travel to Western countries (research stays, participations at congresses etc.), and second, accessibility to foreign (mainly Western) scientific literature. Functioning of Western concepts in the community of Polish and Czechoslovak "scientists of science" is illustrated by an example of the reception of Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions from 1962. This dissertation shows that the role of scientific...

The concept of silence in Ludwig Wittgenstein's early work Abstract The work deals with the concept of silence in the early work of Ludwig Wittgenstein (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus). The aim is to explore the dichotomy of being silent-speaking and describe cases that fall into each category. Work will concentrate on the criteria of meaningfulness and meaninglessness, according to which the individual sentences classified in one category or the other. The work also offers a comparison of the reference theory in Tractatus and cognitive realism proposed by G. Lakoff and on their background shows the role and importance of silence in shaping the semantic theory of language.

In this paper we present C. S. Peirce's take on the difference between science and practice in order to identify the role practice plays in his view of the universe. This take is based on a number of notions about the general nature of signs, inquiries, inferences and arguments, which we discuss. We then survey Peirce's classification of science, show the factors it is based on and examine the mutual relations of the various fields of scientific study. This lets us finally posit practice in the realm of qualities and reactions and show the limits of scientific inquiry into certain matters. We illustrate our findings on a number of examples.

in English The view of fashion as a system of signification, first introduced in the important work of Roland Barthes The Fashion System (1967), has been dominant since the development of Fashion Studies. But in the last two decades it has been increasingly criticized and confronted with the concepts of identity as flexible dimensions. From a semiotic perspective, the materiality of clothes almost "disappears" into representation. Emerging research on fashion, on the contrary, draws on Gilles Deleuze's notions, that ideas are inseparable from their material expression, and tries to follow attempts in fashion to break with representational mode. But, if Deleuze argues that the possibilities to escape the representation belongs to modern art, with its metamorphoses, what can we argue about fashion? The thesis underlines that above all, fashion is commerce, and each brand carefully constructs its system of values. The physical experience of wearing clothes is always influenced by the meanings circulating in the system of fashion. The limitations of applied semiotics of fashion are evident (clothing and its representations always exist in the context of further semiotic systems), but ultimately unlike the heterogeneity of everyday practice, the "methodological purity" of discursive practices permits...

Systemic corruption is a common term amongst scholars and practitioners, yet there is sparse conceptual agreement and substantive analysis within the discourse. Regardless of the current deficit, there is considerable pioneering space and advantages to contrast against the overwhelming emphasis on individuals. This paper aims to broaden the conceptual scope of systemic corruption research through a pattern-to-process mixed-methods design. The design combines empirical data from the public procurement sector analyzing the spatiotemporal patterns of network behavior with a descriptive account of processes from in-depth interviews. The empirical approach statistically distinguishes the performance differentials of public procurement awards amongst firms that exhibit the characteristics of political influence from those that do not. This paper operationalizes that political influence is corruption when a public official would not have made the same decision without the special consideration of political affiliation, contribution, or network connection. After stripping away explanatory factors for firm competence, the data reveals that firms with influence characteristics win substantially more and more often performing similar work. The usage of geospatial cluster analysis, in conjunction with field...

Volunteering is a phenomenon that appeals to researchers, representatives of international institutions and governments in some countries, as a tool of social policy. Current research shows positive benefits of volunteering for the society but also for volunteers themselves. In this context, a new phenomenon, called inclusive volunteering, is emerging, which emphasizes that volunteering is open to all people in the society. At present, however, this phenomenon is not fully elucidated and researches that examine volunteering from the point of view of volunteers themselves, when considering inklusive volunteering, are very rare. The presented work aims to fill in the missing knowledge and thus contribute to the recognition of the phenomenon of volunteering through research of the previously very little known group of volunteers with a disability. The research sample consists of 27 volunteers with a disability who were interviewed. The interviews were analysed by the Strauss and Corbin's theory. The research has revealed that volunteers with a disability are experiencing a lack of social participation due to the absence of a socially valuable social role. The absence of a social role encourages the search for a new socially valuable social role that the volunteers with a disability find in...

This thesis gives a short introduction into the higher gauge algebras. We first in- troduce the BRST formalism in the context of ordinary gauge theories and show the properties that allow us to use it in the context of higher gauge theories. We define the 2-groups and show the correspondence between 2-groups and crossed modules. We then give a brief introduction into the theory of L∞-algebras - we give account of the graded manifolds and Q-manifolds. We give a short account of Homotopy Maurer-Cartan theory and show that it reduces to the BF theory in case of 4-dimensional manifold and 2-term L∞-algebra. 1

01 Abstract Betting on sporting events can be perceived by the general public as a game of chance. In the professional literature, however, betting on football matches is treated in the same way as other financial markets, where in the event of a violation of the theory of efficient markets due to the occurrence of inefficiency, there are opportunities for investors to obtain abnormal returns. The main goal of this work is to create a model capable of predicting the results of football matches on the basis of historical data better than bookmakers are able to do and test the effectiveness of the Czech betting market for football matches of the Czech highest football league. The first part of the thesis contains a more detailed presentation of the theory of efficient markets, a comparison of financial and betting markets and sources of possible inefficiency in betting markets. The second and third parts present data, models and their possible modification to increase the accuracy of estimates. The fourth part describes the results of testing individual models and subsequent simulations of betting strategies. The fifth part contains a conclusion and discussion of the results, including an indication of possible alternatives to follow-up research. The results of simulations of betting strategies confirm...