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Stroke is one of the most common causes of death in Czechia. The aim of this bachelor's thesis is to analyse trends in stroke mortality between 1995 and 2021 using data from the Czech Statistical Office. Standardized mortality rates, age-specific mortality rates, simple proportion calculations and two-dimensional decomposition method were used for this purpose. The thesis describes a significant decrease in the overall intensity of stroke mortality and intensity by age groups, as well as notable impact of stroke on the increase in life expectancy at birth. Furthermore, the thesis examines changes in the position of stroke among other causes of death, including cardiovascular diseases. The regional differentiation of stroke mortality is also analysed, revealing significant internal variability within Czechia. Additionally, the mortality trends of two main stroke types, ischaemic and haemorrhagic, are briefly outlined. Analysis of differences between men and women is included throughout the whole thesis. Keywords: mortality, stroke, standardized mortality rates, decomposition, Czechia Trends in stroke mortality in Czechia in the period 1995-2021

The decomposition of organic matter in headwater streams is a key process in stream ecology and an important component of the global carbon cycle. Decomposition rates depend on both abiotic and biotic factors, the former including temperature, discharge, and nutrient chemistry, and the latter including stream community structure and activity, trophic interactions, biodiversity, and productivity. Of the stream community, microbial decomposers play a particularly important role in decomposition by chemically degrading compounds and transferring nutrients and energy to higher trophic levels. These processes are prone to change due to current and future global warming which will affect both decomposer communities and associated decomposition rates. This thesis provides a short overview of the main factors that control stream decomposition rates, including biological factors like microbial activity, abiotic factors such as water temperature and nutrient availability, and how these factors may be altered in the future under a warmer climate. Specifically, I predict that climate change will increase microbial activity and decomposition in headwater streams due to increased water temperatures, changes in surrounding vegetation, and shifts in the hydrological regime due to global warming. .

Eulerian graphs have a closed walk traversing each edge exactly once. Finding such a walk is a basic arc routing problem based on a road network. Most of the problems with applications in operational research are NP-hard. We describe a formal model of a road network and vehicle routes and formulate several arc routing problems motivated by winter road maintenance in the Czech Republic. The main part is focused on single vehicle routing problems on trees. We propose a new unfairness minimization problem for finding a vehicle route with properties that lead to a minimal number of resident complaints against unfair maintenance. Residents feel like they are skipped when the vehicle route has multiple trips and passes nearby without providing maintenance to their street. By reduction of the necklace splitting problem to the unfairness minimization problem we prove it is PPA-complete. Further, we define a restricted arc routing problem on trees which formalize condi- tions given by Czech legislation. We proved the existence of a polynomial algorithm for deciding whether a single vehicle route exists when there is a single priority for roads. If multiple priorities are used, we express conditions and conjectures when the problem has polynomial complexity. Finally, a utilization of the model is illustrated by an...

The bachelor's thesis deals with children's perception of the whole and its parts, when working with worksheets. Worksheets are not understood separately, but are integrated in a specific didactic structure within a school project focused on Prague's legends. The work presents a selection of activities formulated to the created worksheets, which are solved by different approaches. The presented work is based on the theoretical part which is focused on preschool children, pre-mathematical literacy and worksheets. The practical part consists of the created worksheets, tasks and their characteristics. The use of worksheets during practise in kindergarten was monitored in a qualitative research on a sample of thirteen preschool children of one kindergarten. All worksheets were debating the matter of "the whole and its parts", each in a different way. The solution process presupposes activities connected with comparison, reasoning, with arrangement, sorting, assembly and decomposition. The process of solving tasks by children is recorded on video and then analyzed. The methods of solving the bachelor's task were research, qualitative research, observation, registration of observed phenomena, analysis and discussion. The data analysis divided the worksheets into usable in the original assignment and...

Concept cancer transition in the context of selected theoretical approaches related to the process of morbidity and mortality in recent decades: Case study for Czechia Abstract The aim of the diploma thesis is to introduce the cancer transition concept and to contextualize it in relation to other theoretical concepts that concentrate on change in the structure of mortality by causes of death. Furthermore, in the context of cancer transition, the current state of mortality of neoplasms is illustrated reflecting its connection to infection in the population of Czechia, and its development is covered over the 1994-2018 period. The concept of cancer transition is based on the idea that as the society develops, the proportion of deaths by infection-related neoplasms decreases and the proportion of deaths caused by non-infection-related neoplasms increases. The concept thus essentially follows Omran's theory of the epidemiological transition. However, the concept of cancer transition has, so far, been theoretically used only to a relatively limited extend in literature and has usually been described rather indirectly. In this work, it is presented as a separate theoretical concept dealing with the change in the structure of mortality in terms of causes of death and its connection to existing concepts related to...

Development of total mortality and cause-specific mortality in V4 countries since the beginning of the millennium Abstract The main aim of this thesis is to describe and evaluate the development of total mortality and mortality by selected causes in V4 countries within the period 2000-2018. The thesis focuses especially on analysing the long-term, eventually incipient mortality trends and comparing individual countries, i. e. Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Life expectancy at birth and at the age of 65 is used to analyze the development of total mortality. The development of cause- specific mortality is assessed using standardized mortality rates and the contributions of age groups and groups of causes of death to changes in the life expectancy at birth. Improving mortality conditions within the V4 were observed and evidenced by the increase in life expectancy at birth and at age 65 in all countries over almost the entire period. This favourable development was primarily due to a decrease of mortality from circulatory diseases, especially in older age (65+). It was also found that in the new millennium, the trend of increasing mortality from some causes of death, such as mental disorders and diseases of the nervous system, appeared in the V4 countries. There has also been a diversification of the...

This diploma thesis deals with the decomposition of fungal necromass in the Arctic tundra (Svalbard archipelago) under the factor of climate change (simulated by an increased temperature inside the Open Top Chamber). The dynamics of fungal necromass decomposition of two selected fungi, which differ in the level of melanin content and in C:N ratio - Laccaria laccata (hyaline, lower C:N ratio) and Phialocephala fortinii (melanized, higher C:N ratio), was compared. The aim of the work was to evaluate the influence of melanization level of fungal necromass and elevated temperature on the dynamics of fungal necromass decomposition and on the community composition of the decomposers (fungi, bacteria). The experiment focused on monitoring the dynamics of fungal necromass decomposition, changes in enzyme activity, changes in melanin content and C:N ratio during decomposition, as well as on the analysis of the microbial community composition on decomposing mycelium. Throughout the whole incubation, the necromass of P. fortinii decomposed more slowly than the necromass of L. laccata. The differences in the dynamics of decomposition were mainly due to the biochemical composition of the fungal necromass (C:N ratio and melanin content). The melanin content increased in both types of mycelium during...

Plant litter creates variously sized layer on soil and provides significant source of nutrients, especially carbon and nitrogen, for the whole ecosystem. Decomposition of plant litter forms the main source of soil organic matter and is an essential part of the global nutrient cycle. It also provides habitat for many organisms living on the boundary of soil. Also, plant litter makes a barrier which the light is unable to penetrate. Terrestrial ecosystems are affected by human activity and are subject to disturbances, including litter raking. Litter raking has been an integral part of forest management for several centuries in the past, significantly affecting the character of vegetation and the soil environment. The aim of this work is to summarize the findings of studies dealing with the effects of litter raking on the interaction between plants and soil. The first part of the paper is devoted to the litter, soil environment and its components, which are connected to the litter and second part of the paper is devoted to the effect of litter raking on the nutrient cycle, acidification, plant diversity and seed germination.

Dead wood is one of the most important reservoirs associated with forest ecosystems. In natural forests, its volume is counted in hundreds of m3 ha-1 , whereas it reaches only tens of m3 ha-1 in productive commercial forests. In contrast to soil and plant litter, deadwood is unevenly distributed on the forest floor. The specific physicochemical properties such as high content of recalcitrant polymers, low nitrogen level and impermeability negatively affect the rate of decomposition especially in the initial stages of wood deconstruction. The deadwood decomposition is very slow in comparisons with other substrates, it accumulates and thus it represents the important reservoir of nutrients. This thesis is focused on the structure, development and function of microbial (fungal) community in decomposing deadwood in unmanaged forest. Functional screening of fungi isolated from fruit bodies collected from coarse deadwood was set aside. Physico-chemical properties of deadwood including pH, carbon and nitrogen content and microbial biomass were estimated for four wood decomposition stages and three different tree species. New generation sequencing (Illumina MiSeq platform) was applied for fungal community structure analysis based on ITS2 fragment. Fungal functional screening was based on physico-chemical...

This work aims to clarify and describe the necessary conditions of the peat soil horizon formation. The following three types of locations were compared. Drained locations that were revitalized afterwards. Locations which were drained and never revitalized. And lastly undrained localities where the original peat horizons are still presented. It has been proven that the grounwater level differs in drained and undrained areas. However, there was no significant differrence between revitalized and non-revitalized areas in drained types of locations. The results confirmed that Sphagnum spp., which is the most important species in peat formation, dominates the plant community where the groundwater level is higher than 25 cm. If the grounwater level is lower than 25 cm below the surface, Sphagnum spp. disappears very quickly and degrades peat soil horizons. The work also proved the groundwater level directly affects plant comunities that more or less promote carbon accumulation in the soil but water level and anaerobic conditions have no direct affect on soil carbon accumulation and only affect the vegetation composition of the peat soil horizon.

The lowest-mortality countries: their specifics and trends of development Abstract The main objective of this work is to analyze mortality rates in the countries with the lowest mortality rates in the world between 1990 and 2013 for males and females separately. In order to assess development trends, indicators of life expectancy at birth, probability of death, which served to assess the mortality by age and using one-dimensional decomposition, the contributions of different age groups to the change in life expectancy at birth were determined. For a more detailed analysis, mortality was assessed for selected groups of death causes using standardized mortality rates and the view was complemented by a two-dimensional decomposition, which determined the contributions of age groups and major cause classes to assess how age group and cause of death has contributed to the change in life expectancy at birth. All countries have increased their life expectancy at birth and no signs of slowing are observed. The results show that each country is approaching and there are not too many differences. Selected countries have similar trends in decreasing mortality rates in older age groups and changing the order of the most important causes of death. Key words: Mortality, age and gender, causes of death, life expectancy,...

Structure and function of soil microbial communities in montane spruce forest Martina Štursová Abstract Coniferous forests are spatially heterogeneous environments and represent an important ecosystem that acts as carbon sink under current climate storing large amounts of carbon in standing biomass or as soil organic matter. The formation of organic matter via decomposition of dead biomass and transformation of rhizodeposited organic compounds is primarily mediated by microbial community of forest topsoil. Despite growing insight into the composition of these soil communities, little is known about the microbes actually responsible for those transformation processes, about the drivers shaping these communities or their response to increasing numbers of severe disturbances. Studies presented in this thesis contribute to filling the information. The studies were carried out in unmanaged spruce forests in the highest elevations of Bohemian Forest, in both, the undisturbed areas as well as those affected by bark beetle outbreaks at different time periods. Combination of methods including culturing of fungi, enzymatic activity measurements or high throughput sequencing were used to describe the microbial communities, their distribution in space and time, and factors involved in shaping these communities in those...

The main objective of this thesis was to analyse the development of mortality from selected respiratory diseases in the Czech Republic in the 1994-2014 period. Selected respiratory diseases were defined due to common characteristics, risk factors and mutual effects on each other and they are lung cancer, pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The first part of the thesis contains the definition of studied diseases, their risk factors, incidences and general trends of mortality from selected causes of death. The second part is devoted to the development of mortality from selected respiratory diseases regarding sex, age and seasonal effect. The methods for calculating in the analytical part were standardized mortality rate, two-dimensional decomposition and decomposition of the time series. The results showed different development of mortality from selected diseases between men and women and age distribution in consequence of the mortality from selected respiratory diseases. In terms of seasonal mortality, there was an effect found on pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Fertility development in selected European countries considering the timing effect from the second half of the 20th century to the present The main objective of this thesis is to evaluate the influence of the timing effect on the mean age of mothers at childbirth in the context of fertility development in selected European countries from the second half of the 20th century to the present. Another objective is to adjust the total fertility rate to the timing effect and consequently demonstrated how changes in fertility timing affect this period measure in selected countries at a given time fame. The last objective is an evaluation of the views of respondents from studied countries from the sample survey of the European Social Survey for the years 2004 and 2010 to the questions relating to the reconciliation of work and family as one of the factors affecting the timing of fertility. On the basis of Esping-Andersen's typology of welfare states, following states are selected: Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine. Changes of the mean age of mothers at childbirth are given not only by real changes in the timing of childbearing (the timing effect), but also by changes in the childbearing according to the birth order (the effect of fertility structure). The method of decomposition was used for...

Male mortality excess by causes of death in selected European countries in 2000-2013 period Abstract The aim of this thesis is to analyse and to evaluate current differences in mortality between males and females in selected European countries by causes of death. The thesis tries to capture the main features of so-called male mortality excess, and also tries to find its specifics in each individual state. Selected countries (the Czech Republic, Sweden, France and Spain) represent individual European macro-regions. The analyzed causes of death (neoplasms, diseases of nervous system, diseases of circulatory system, diseases of respiratory system and external causes) were selected based on the highest difference in the proportion of standardized mortality rates in total mortality between males and females. In the analytical part of the thesis, the methods of standardization, mortality tables and Pollard's two-dimensional decomposition of the difference in life expectancy at birth between males and females are used. To illustrate the situation of male mortality excess on the different groups of causes of death, contour plots of contributions to the difference in life expectancy at birth between males and females were created. The most significant differences in life expectancy between males and females were...

Summary: This thesis is focused on collecting information on the importance of dead wood on biogeochemical cycles of chemical elements in the mountain forest ecosystems of central Europe. The goal of this thesis was to determine the concentration of various elements(C, N, P, Ca, Mg, K, Na, Mn, Al, Fe) in the coarse woody debris of spruce samples of different age, stage of decomposition which were collected in different localities in the national park Šumava. Another goal was to determine the speed of which these elements are released from the dead wood. The information on the quantity of different elements and the speed of their release is currently lacking and could lead to better understanding of various biogeochemical cycles of elements in the mountain forest. During the decomposition the concentration of the elements N, P, Al and Fe increased whereas the Kalium concentration decreased. The other elements' (C, N, Ca, Mg, Mn) concentrations varied. Carbon constituted approximately 50% of weight in all of the samples analyzed. We carried out a laboratory experiment based on decomposition of dead wood samples in various stage of decay during a period of six months. The released concentration of CO2 was measured at two to four weeks intervals. The release of CO2 continually decreased during the experiment.....

Mortality of females from selected malignant neoplasms in the context of preventive programs in the Czech and Slovak Republic since 1994 Abstract The main aim of the thesis is to compare the differences in mortality due to female malignant neoplasms (neoplasm of the breast, cervix and colon) in the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic during 1994-2015. Changes in mortality levels have been associated with the implementation of relevant preventive programs. The development of mortality is analyzed according to age only for female population and causes of death using the standardized mortality rate of selected causes of death and age specific mortality rate and using the decomposition of life expectancy at birth between the years 1994-2001 and 2009-2015 in terms of age groups and causes of death. Results of the analytical part of the thesis show that mortality decreased during 1994-2015 but the differences among mortality in both selected countries occurred. Mortality in both the analyzed countries differed above all for malignant neoplasm of the breast. Higher efficiency of established preventive programs has been demonstrated in the Czech Republic than in the Slovak Republic. Keywords: Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, mortality by causes of death, females, prevention programs, malignant neoplasms, decomposition

The decomposition of organic substrates represents an important part of the global carbon cycle and affects its global change through CO2 release. In temperate forests, deadwood represents a large carbon stock, its amount and decomposition is crucial for ecosystem biodiversity and functioning. The fungi are omnipresent powerful decayers in all terrestrial ecosystems. Their ability to decompose all deadwood compounds, mainly lignocellulose, is highly important. Without fungi, the wood decompositions and the release of withheld nutrients back to nutrient cycles couldn't be performed. While many studies were concerned with the estimation of decomposition rates of deadwood, still deeper knowledge about microbial decomposition processes and the diversity of saproxylic species and their interaction is needed. The fungi are still underrepresented in dead wood studies. This study had two main objectives. First was to describe the fungal community on downed deadwood of Fagus sylvatica and Abies alba in natural forest of Salajka in the Czech Republic, to reflect the substrate changes during the different decay stages, and to link the enzyme activities to fungal community composition and their described ecophysiologies. Second aim was to describe the fungal communities on standing and downed dead logs of...

Dead plant biomass is a key pool of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems. Its decomposition in soil environments is thus an essential process of the carbon cycle. Fungi are considered to be the primary decomposers in soil ecosystems because of their physiological adaptations and enzymatic apparatus composed from highly effective oxidative and hydrolytic enzymes. Many recent works show that in addition to fungi, bacteria may also play a significant role in lignocellulose decomposition and among bacteria, the members of the phylum Actinobacteria are often regarded to significantly contribute to cellulose and lignocellulose decomposition. This thesis is focused on the evaluation of the role that fungi and Actinobacteria play in dead plant biomass degradation. First, it explored mechanisms involved in degradation, in particular the enzymatic breakdown of major lignocellulose components as cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. Enzymatic apparatus of the saprotrophic fungus Fomes fomentarius was explored both in vitro as well as in vivo. Several Actinobacteria were isolated from soil and comparative experiments, investigating production of hydrolytic enzymes, were carried out to track the transformation of polysaccharides and lignin by these strains. To explain the roles of lignocellulose decomposers in...

The aim of the thesis was to analyze soil microbial communities of three ecologically different locations, about 25 years old, forestry reclaimed dumps in the Republic of Poland, namely dumps of brown coal mine Bełchatów and sand mines Piaseczno and Szczakowa. I evaluated the degree of dependence of structure and composition of these communities on various substrate grain sizes and the influence of the dominant tree species. These were stands of birch (Betula pendula), pine (Pinus silvestris), oak (Quercus robur) and alder (Alnus glutinosa). Analysis of soil microbial communities was made by evaluating specific phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) of microorganisms. It is the most appropriate way to implement the relatively rapid analysis of large numbers of samples, since PLFA are easily extractable and act as biomarkers indicating the presence of a number of different microorganisms (fungi, G- and G + bacteria, Actinobacteria, etc.) and thus allowing a qualitative and quantitative assessment of whole microbial communities. PLFA analysis enables to detect a total concentration of PLFA only in living soil microbial biomass. I analyzed 66 soil samples, 33 from an Oe layer and 33 from an A layer, every in three replications, i.e. three replications were collected at each location below each tree...

This thesis examines the effect of foreign nationality on the outcomes of criminal process in the Czech Republic. Foreign citizens are overrepresented by 2% compared to their share in population in all stages of the criminal process, suggesting possible discrimination by domestic authorities. Using rich case level datasets from 2005 to 2015 observed gaps are decomposed to part explained by a difference in the objective characteristics of the cases and unexplained part, suggesting possible inequality of treatment. Foreigner gaps in probability of charge, probability of conviction, probability of imprisonment, length of the sentence and probability of release from prison on parole are decomposed. Majority of observed disparities in the outcomes can be attributed to higher involvement of foreigners in more serious crimes compared to nationals. Unexplained disparities remain in probability of imprisonment and probability of release on parole, suggesting possible unequal treatment in these two outcomes.

Comparison of mortality trends in Central Europe and Baltic countries from 1970 to the present Abstract The aim of this thesis is to assess the most important mortality trends development in countries of Central Europe and Baltic region between 1970 and 2009. The measures used involve life expectancy at birth and life expectancy at the age of 65; besides of this, the age-specific contributions to life expectancy changes are computed according to the method of R. Pressat. The convergence and divergence tendencies among the analyzed countries and between the two regions are evaluated in this thesis as well. Main findings are, on one hand, that mortality trends are relatively similar within each of the regions. When comparing regions between each other, however, significant differences, mostly in the period between mid-1980s and mid-1990s, arise, they are attributed mostly to the influence of mortality crisis in Baltic region after the Soviet Union dissolution. Even though after 1994 mortality development was favourable in Baltic countries, they did not reach mortality level of Central Europe until 2009. Keywords: mortality, Central Europe, Baltic countries, life expectancy, decomposition, convergence, divergence

In the theoretical level this thesis describes some of the statistical methods using for time series analysis with seasonal component and some of the statistical methods using only for analysis of seasonal component. In the analytical level, these statistical methods are applied to demographic time series. The seasonal component is analysed in more detail, and the progress and type of the seasonal component is compared between several european country. This thesis brings and shows some of the interesting trends, which are appeared in analysed demographic time series. Last but not least, this thesis also provides the preview on the application of some not usually using statistical methods.

The decomposition of dead plant biomass substantially contributes to the carbon cycle and therefore is one of the key processes in temperate forests. While the role of fungi in litter and deadwood decomposition was repeatedly addressed, there are just a few surveys of bacteria associated with decomposing plant biomass. The development of bacterial community within leaf litter is likely driven by the changes in litter chemistry and by the availability of nutrients in the litter. Fungal activity greatly contributes to changing properties of substrate and thus influences bacterial community. Availability of nutrients is changing during biomass decomposition from easily accessible substrates toward more recalcitrant ones (e.g. lignin). The colonization of deadwood by bacteria is influenced by various factors such as microclimate conditions, tree species and volume. The aim of this thesis was to describe bacterial community dynamics during the first two years of decomposition of leaf litter and deadwood. In the leaf litter experiment, bacterial community was analysed in the live, senescent and decomposing leaves of Quercus petraea. This experiment was performed in the Xaverovsky Haj Natural Reserve, Czech Republic. Deadwood experiment was focused on the composition of bacterial community in the initial...

Wood decaying fungi are an essential part of all forest ecosystems. On their functioning depends a number of other organisms which use substances produced during decay of wood. Enzymes that degrade wood represent indispensable tool for fungi in converting structural compounds of wood to water and carbon dioxide. That makes them an essential part of the carbon cycle in nature. The dynamic of fungal communities on decaying wood is determined by a range of abiotic and biotic factors. The variability of microclimatic conditions, differences in the wood humidity and a gaseous mode are identifying stress factors which define the presence of species adapted to those conditions. An important factor, with which we can partially predict community composition, is the degree of decomposition of wood and the history of a species on the substrate. Another indicator, which may partly explain the composition of the community is a way of dying of a tree and a type of decaying substrate. Often, the development of a community follows from the primary colonizers, with high tolerance to unfavorable conditions, through the secondary colonizers, which have the ability to obtain the substrate over primary colonizers, but require more stable microclimatic conditions, to late colonizers, who are adapted to stress factors as...

This thesis consists of one chapter accepted for publication in a book and four papers published in international journals with impact factors. All of the contributions deal with the role of wood ants in energy and nutrient fluxes in forest ecosystems. Wood ant nests are known as hot spots of carbon dioxide (CO2) production and are also thought to affect methane (CH4) flux. Stable high temperatures are maintained in ant nests even in cold environments. This study is focused on quantification of CO2 and CH4 flux in wood ant nests, contribution of ants and microbes to CO2 production, properties of nest material that affect CO2 production and the role of ants and microbes in the maintenance of nest temperature. The research was conducted in temperate and boreal forests inhabited by wood ants (Formica s. str.). Gas fluxes were measured either by an infrared gas analyser or a static chamber technique. Ants and nest materials were also incubated in a laboratory. Material properties potentially influencing CO2 flux, such as moisture, nutrient content or temperature were determined. According to the results, CH4 oxidation was lower in wood ant nests than in the surrounding forest soil suggesting that some characteristics of ant nests hinder CH4 oxidation or promote CH4 production. Wood ant nests clearly are hot...

The development of the birth rate and preschool education in the Czech Republic after 1950 Abstract The main aim of the thesis is to map in detail the development of preschool education and financial support for families with children in the Czech Republic in the context of the development of birth rate after 1950. The development of birth rate in the thesis is not only analyzed by using basic indicators, but also through deeper decomposition methods. It turns out, that quality and availability of all network preschool institutions in the context has a certain role in the birth rate. The reconciliation of work and family is very important for lots of parents and sufficient offer of preschool care can help it. However, the demand for preschool institutions exceeded supply, as was shown in accordance with obtained data. It was also found out by the insight into the outcomes of surveys that the vast majority of respondents do not think that a preschool child of working mother would be suffering. In the future, should not only expand the capacity of childcare facilities as well as other options for facilitation of reconciling work and family life, such as better offer of flexible working hours. Keywords: birth rate, decomposition, preschool facilities, financial support for families with children, surveys,...

Vegetation of post-mining sites determines soil microbial community structure and soil processes Mgr. Michaela Urbanová Abstract The aim of this thesis, which consists of four published articles, was to investigate the effect of vegetation on soil microbial communities and processes in de novo developing soil substrate on the brown-coal spoil heaps in the surrounding of city Sokolov. Spoil material - soil clayey substrate, which had been gradually mined from the opencast brown coal mine, stratified onto spoil heaps and reclaimed by assisted afforestation with selected tree species or left for spontaneous plant succession, changes its biotic and abiotic characteristic in the course of time and particularly under the influence of plants. Changes of spoil substrate characteristics are related to the growth of plant roots and particularly also to the production of plant biomass, which is decomposed gradually and takes part of soil, where participates to soil organic matter. The process of plant dead materials decomposition and transformation is the function of the activity of soil organisms and among them notably soil microorganisms. Moreover, the presence of many of them is closely related to the presence of vegetation, whose symbionts or pathogens are. The exact mechanisms of the plant-microbes interactions...

Litter decomposition requires the presence of corresponding degradative enzymes, produced mainly by fungi. Forest soils show considerable spatial heterogeneity of distribution of these enzymes at diferent scales. Moreover, enzyme pruduction varies during the year, usually accompanied by the change in fungal community composition. In this work I examined if this spatial heterogeneity can be seen even at a scale of an individual leaf and whether the fungal community differs among enzyme activity hotspots and inactive parts of the leaves. Another goal was isolation of celulytic fungi from cellulose litterbags incubated on forest floor using particle filtration and dilution-to-extinction method. In a broadleaved forest dominated by oak leaves at different stages of decay were collected: senescent leaves on twigs, and leaves after 2, 10 and 22 months of decomposition. Ten leaves per season were taken for analysis of cellobiohydrolase activity over the leaf surface. Leaves were attachmed onto melted agarose plate and leaf surface was covered with low melting point agarose containing fluorescently labelled substrate. For each leaf a map of enzyme activity was created and area with the high and low enzyme activity was identified. From both sites a square of approx. 1 cm2 was cut out, DNA was extracted and fungal...

This thesis consists of three published articles and one submitted article, and is focused on the evaluation of the effects of vegetation on soil microbial communities and processes on brown coal post-mining sites. The research sites served as deposits of infertile waste material, by which the indigenous vegetation has been buried and thus the whole ecosystem was destroyed. The restoration of the ecosystem structure and functions at these areas was based on the improvement of biotic and abiotic properties of excavated soil substrate either using assisted afforestation or using spontaneous plant succession. In this work, biochemical and molecular techniques were employed in order to testify the effect of the vegetation on soil microbial processes, structure of soil microbial communities and to follow the chemical changes in the litter composition during its decomposition. Litter chemistry, enzymatic activities and microbial biomass were followed by standard biochemical procedures including spectrometry and HPLC. Bacterial microarray was used for assessing the composition of bacterial communities in the soil of successional plots. 454-pyrosequencing was employed for detailed identification of fungal and bacterial community composition in the litter layer and the bulk soil under different tree...

Nonmarital and marital fertility in the Czech Republic and from international perspective. Trends, patterns and attitudes. Abstract The aim of this master thesis is to describe the development trends of marital and nonmarital fertility in the Czech Republic and to analyze selected indicators of fertility. As tools are used to certain methods of demographic analysis. The first part addressis the basic concepts related to the issue of marital and nonmarital fertility, data sources and a description of the historical development of nonmartial fertility. The analytical part include basic analysis of fertility by age, marital status, education, birth order and the decomposition of the total fertility rate and proportion of childern born outsider marriage in the Czech Republic and Austria too. Keywords: marital fertility, nonmarital fertility, decomposition, total fertility rate, value orientation

Dead wood plays an important role in forest ecosystems in the context of C dynamics, nutrient cycling, forest regeneration and biodiversity. Decaying wood sustains biodiversity by providing habitats and energy for fungi, bacteria, invertebrates, and many other organisms. Dead wood is resistant to decomposition and its decay is driven mainly by filamentous fungi. Community structure of wood- inhabiting fungi changes during decomposition, but the relationship between substrate quality and decomposer community is still poorly understood. This work studied fungal community composition with respect to tree species, stage of decay, volume and physico-chemical properties (such as pH, carbon and nitrogen content) of dead wood. Fungi were identified using next generation sequencing approaches - 454-pyrosequencing and Illumina MiSeq sequencing. Tree species, volume of dead wood (branches x logs) and stage of decay were the main variables affecting fungal community composition. Higher enzyme activities and content of fungal biomass indicate faster colonization of small branches than tree trunks by fungi. Fungal community composition, wood chemical properties and enzyme activities changed during decomposition. Both content of nitrogen and fungal biomass increased during decomposition. Enzyme activites peaked...

This thesis is a part of the project No. P504/11/1151 of The Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, entitled The role of plants in the greenhouse gas budget of a sedge fen. In this thesis, the decomposition rate of a standard material (cellulose) is assessed for three types of wetlands, which differ in water regime. The study took place at two localitites of marginal wetlands with standing water (Mokré louky near Třeboň, Záblatské louky), two floodplain localities (Brouskův mlýn and Hamerské louky) and two peatbog localities (intact and mined parts of Červené blato, respectively). The intensity of decomposition processes was compared among the sites using the method of cellulose bags. The bags were made from nylon nets, each was divided into five pockets and a cellulose strip was inserted in each pocket. A filter paper was used as the cellulose. These bags were placed vertically into the soil profile so that the upper sample was lying on the surface and the lowest was at the depth of 25 cm below the surface. At each locality four places were randomly selected and four replicate bags with cellulose were placed on each of them. In total 96 bags were put in place, which makes 480 cellulose samples. Two experiments, differing in length of exposition, were carried out in 2013. The samples were taken from the field sites after three and five weeks of exposure (experiment No. 1 and 2, respectively). In both experiments, the decrease in ash-free dry matter was the highest at Hamerské louky. The lowest decrease in ash-free dry matter was in the mined part of Červené blato peatbog. In the second experiment the decrease of the ashless dry matter was more noticable, which was caused by the prolonged exposure. The lowest decrease of ash-free dry matter was found in depths of 0 - 10 cm below the soil surface at all the sites.

Mortality in the Czech countries in the years 1920-1937 with emphasis on selected infectious diseases Abstract The aim of this work is to analyze mortality rates in the czech countries in the years 1920-1937. We focus on a group of infectious diseases that had in this period in terms of cause of death still a high proportion. The rate of mortality due to infectious diseases is dependent on many aspects, such as the correct detection of the disease, effective vaccines and the level of medicine. It is these causes that brought about the sharp decline in mortality due to infectious diseases in the late 19th century. Hovewer, the First World War interupted this permanent decline and the newly created Czechoslovak state had to deal with relatively high mortality due to these diseases. The inter-war period saw recurrent epidemies of infectious deseases, nevertheless until the Second World War we can see the change in mortality due to causes. The infectious diseases are gradually replaced by modern diseases, especially cancers and diseases of the circulatory system. Key words: mortality, causes of death, infectious diseases, decomposition, classification of causes of death, medical discoveries, the level of health

In forest ecosystems, substantial part of carbon enters soil in the form of plant litter. The decomposition of litter and soil organic matter represents an important process affecting nutrient cycling and carbon balance in soils. Fungi are considered the primary decomposers in terrestrial ecosystems due to the production of wide range of extracellular enzymes that allow them to attack the lignocellulose matrix in litter. Even if fungi represent key players in organic matter decomposition, the information about the structure and diversity of their communities is still limited and the roles of individual fungal taxa in forest soils remain unclear. This Ph.D. thesis focused on the characterization of fungal communities in forest soils and their potential to decompose plant litter. The method for in-depth analysis of complex microbial communities from environmental samples was established and used. In addition, single eukaryotic functional gene was analysed in soil for the first time at a depth that allowed reliable estimation of diversity. It was demonstrated that microbial community composition differs among horizons of forest soil profile. Despite similar diversity, significant differences in microbial community composition were observed between the DNA and RNA. Several microbial groups highly...

Leaf litter in temperate forests represents an important input of carbon into the soil. Main players in the decomposition of leaf litter are fungi and bacteria. While the role of fungi in litter decomposition was repeatedly addressed, there are just a few field studies where litter-associated bacteria were also considered. The aim of this work was to summarize available literature studying the structure and function of bacterial community during litter degradation. The nature of different possible substrates is discussed. Genetic approach is briefly outlined. Factors such as diversity, spatially distribution and abiotic factors that can influence community are also considered. It can be supposed that community composition changes with the change of litter chemistry and nutrient availability. The development of bacterial community might be driven by the decreasing availability of nutrients in litter. Labile compounds are utilised at the beginning of decomposition, while recalcitrant substrates are utilised later by specialist taxa. Members of the phyla Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria seem to be dominant during decomposition. Different types of relationships between fungi and bacteria also most likely influence the composition of community. This review shows that the bacterial...

This work deals with the decomposition of cellulose in wetland. The speed decomposition has been studied in several areas. Mokré Louky u Třeboně, Záblatské louky, Červené blato mined and not mined. The intensity of degradation processes were determined using the litter-bags. The experiment was done for two years and each year was used another method. Bags with cellulose were placed in the soil and the soil surface. In this work the values were determined in different places and at different times.

Title: Effect of surface electrode type on quality of decomposition of surface EMG signal Objectives: The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the effect of surface electrode type, which was used for EMG record, on the quality of decomposition of surface EMG signal using decomposition software EMGlab. Methods: The form of the thesis is an experimental essay. It was detected an EMG signal from one healthy volunteer during mild cyclic contraction. It was used three different types of electrodes (standard surface electrode, tetrode, tetrode with saw-off spikes) for EMG signal detection. These signals were decomposed in program EMGlab. The results were processed in program MS Excel, compared with each other and graphically displayed. Results: The measurement verified a hypothesis which claimed that the used type of electrode affects the quality of automatic decomposition. The best results of automatic decomposition provide the signal gained from the standard surface electrode. Key words: action potential, decomposition, surface electrodes, EMG signal, tetrode, electromyography

Analysis of mortality development in Russia using various decomposition methods Abstract The aim of this thesis is to analyze and evaluate mortality development in Russia in last 50 years by using various decomposition methods. The first part presents the method of decomposition of the difference between two demographic indicators (E. Kitagawa's method or methods from E. Arriaga, R. Pressat and J. Pollard). In the second part mortality development in Russia is analyzed by using methods that decomposed the value of demographic indicators in a given year. Mortality is divided into senescent and background component by using the Gompertz-Makeham formula and by using the logistic model. Afterwards, avoidable and unavoidable mortality and mortality due to endogenous and exogenous causes of death is analyzed. Hypotheses, set out in the introductory chapter, are verified by using different decomposition methods. Using multiple methods of decomposition enable to obtain a more complex view of the evolution of mortality in the observed period so that could be viewed from multiple perspectives and identify specific population trends in Russia. Keywords: mortality, Russia, decomposition, senescent and background mortality, avoidable mortality, endogenous, exogenous, causes of death, mortality crisis

The master?s thesis is part of the project GA ČR č. P504/11/1151- Role of plants in the greenhouse gas budget of a sedge fen. This thesis deals with the decomposition of aboveground vegetation in a herbaceous wetland. The decomposition rate was established on the flooded part of the Wet Meadows near Třeboň. The rate of the decomposition processes was evaluated using the litter-bag method. Mesh bags filled with dry plant matter were located in the vicinity of the automatic meteorological station at four randomly selected sites. Values of the decomposition rate were assessed in two experiments. In the first experiment the litter bags were fixed in April 2009. The litter bags were fixed in the vertical position and they had one size. Values of the decomposition rate were assessed for 6 sampling dates and the total exposure time was 2,5 years. The decrease of the total dry mass was 18,37 % in the first year and 13,05 % in the second year. The value of LDR was 0,7227 in the first year and 0,4740 in the second year. In the 2nd experiment the litter bags were fixed in November 2010. The litter bags were fixed in the vertical and horizontal position, respectively, and they were of two sizes (small, big). Values of the decomposition rate were assessed for 2 sampling dates and the total exposure time was one year. The total annual value of LDR was 0,5212 for the vertical bags and 1,0676 for horizontal bags.

This thesis deals with the phenomenon of racial discrimination in the U.S. labor market. The first part outlines the existing theories of discrimination and history of immigrants' residence in the U.S. It also brings some statistics from the U.S. labor market and finally reviews some literature in the field of labor market discrimination. The second part of the thesis is devoted to the empirical analysis of wage discrimination in the U.S. using the American Community Survey 1980 and 2007. With the help of Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition we break down the log-wage differential between whites and other racial groups into two parts. The first, explained, part is the part of the differential that can be explained by differences in average race characteristics. The other, unexplained, part is the part of the differential that remained unexplained. That part is then assigned as a result of discrimination. We find that while in 1980 Asians earned on average 5% more than whites, by 2007 this difference reached 15%. 15% - 21% of this difference remained unexplained. The opposite situation is observed in the case of Hispanics and Blacks. While in 1980 both, Hispanics and Afro-Americans, had on average 10% lower wage than whites, by 2007 this difference reached as much as 30%. In case of Afro-Americans, 50% -...

This thesis introduces various approaches to natural catastrophe risk assessment in (re)insurance environment. Most emphasis and further elaboration is put on probabilistic models in comparison to the standard model as proposed by Solvency II. The outcomes of natural catastrophe modeling play an important role in the design of proper actuarial models related to catastrophe risk. More specifically it is shown that they can be entirely understood in a wider actuarial context, namely risk theory. Within the Solvency II framework, probabilistic model outcomes are translated by means of the proposed decomposition methodology putting them into a similar language of the standard formula in order to create the ability to compare different results implied by either probabilistic model or standard formula. This enables both comparison of the implied dependence structure of probabilistic model to standardized correlations assumed in Solvency II, and scenario year loss factors of Solvency II to implied damage factors of probabilistic models in defined cresta zones. The introduced decomposition methodology is illustrated by flood and windstorm model outcomes calculated on exposure data of Czech insurance companies and compared to the respective standard formula parameters and outcomes. Finally, other applications of the proposed decomposition methodology are introduced, such as measurement of diversification effect or blending of different results calculated by different models or even approaches to natural catastrophe risk assessment.

This thesis is written as research project application. It is focused on an impact of forest management on soil biological activity in soil in Šumava National Park. This project is a part of a general study of overall impact of salvage logging on the soil - soil chemistry, microbial activity, soil animals, vegetation cover, temperature and humidity.

A basic literature review about decomposition processes in general and decomposition on wet ecosystems in particular was provided by this thesis. The aim of the practical part was to determine how increased fertilization changes aboveground decomposition rates of the dominant plant species in two wet grassland sites in the Czech Republic.

The aim of the study was to determine the activity of phenoloxidases and peroxidases in three dominating litter samples (Vaccinium myrtillus, Calamagrostis villosa and Picea abies) from Plešné and Čertovo lake watersheds. High activity of lignin-degrading enzymes was detected in litter incubated at 0°C. Activity of enzymes was in general higher at 10°C but the difference was not significant compared to 0°C. In Plešné Lake watershed high amount of phenolic compounds negatively influenced the activity of enzymes compared to Čertovo Lake watershed, where the effect of phenolic compounds was opposite. The highest activities of the enzymes were found in the Calamagrostis villosa litter from Plešné Lake watershed and in the litter of spruce needles from Čertovo lake watershed.

This article reports on the photocatalytic activity of transparent crystalline TiO2 films deposited on unheated glass substrates at low substrate surface temperature Tsurf≈180°C using a dual magnetron operating in bipolar asymmetric mode in Ar+O2 mixture and equipped with Ti(99.5) targets of 50 mm in diameter. The photocatalytic activity (PCA) of TiO2 films was characterized by the photocatalytic decomposition rate of two organic dyes (Acid Orange 7 and Methylene Blue). It was found that the Acid Orange 7 is more convenient for the testing of PCA activity of TiO2 films due to its higher stability. It was shown that (i) dual magnetron sputtering is suitable for a low temperature sputtering of thin TiO2 photocatalysts, (ii) thin TiO2 films sputtered at temperatures Tsurf≈180°C exhibit high PCA which strongly increases with increasing film thickness, and (iii) TiO2 films prepared at high values of pT and pO2 have anatase structure and highest PCA.

3D modelling and visualization based on general meshes needs a great amount of memory demands. Regular grids can substantially decrease them. Moreover, using the regular data structures results in efficient numerical procedures and simplicity of algorithms. On the other hand, disadvantage of regular grids is in lower flexibility of shape expression. One of the possibilities how to improve the shape expression of a regular grid is its decomposition to tetrahedra. The paper concerns the problem which arises here -- nonconformity of decomposition.