IoT応用向け環境RF信号RFエネルギーハーベスティングシステムの研究

電気通信大学201

Digital Transformation in Retail Industry - Emergence of Virtual Stores with Mixed Reality

The master thesis contains a view on the future of commerce. Emergence of mixed reality technology seems to be potential in many sectors, therefore this thesis analyzes its implication in retail. The thesis entails various topics regarding current situation of shopping and development of mixed reality technology. Afterwards a design for a mixed reality system is proposed to test out the technology's feasibility in the retail industry

Expected Value and Standard Deviation of the Center of Mass of Random Configurations

The goal of this project is to find the expected value and standard deviation of the center of mass in selected random configurations. The center of mass, which is a unique point in a system where the mean distribution of the mass is located, is calculated by dividing the sum of all of the the masses times the position they are at by the total mass of the system. The configurations considered in the paper vary upon the way we choose the positions in the configuration. In his senior project, Finn Hardy determined that the expected value of the center of mass of random configurations on the one-dimensional integer lattice 0, 1, ..., n is equal to n/2, where a random configuration is obtained by randomly assigning to each i between 0 and n a mass of value m or M, with probability p and 1-p respectively. In this project, I will propose a formula for the standard deviation of the center of mass of this lattice, as well as the expected value and the standard deviation of the center of mass in two other random configurations: the one-dimensional uniform case, where the positions are chosen uniformly from 0 to 1, and the two-dimensional uniform case, where the angle theta, based on whom the x and y coordinates are calculated, is chosen uniformly from 0 to 2pi on a unit circle. RStudio will be extensively used to create our database and statistically analyze obtained results. More complicated computations will be performed in Mathematica

Consumer Ethnocentrism, Country of Origin, Product Evaluation and Purchase Intention for Foreign Apparel Brands: the Study of Vietnam

Objectives This study attempts to explore the consumer ethnocentric and country of origin impacts on consumer behavior in the context of Vietnam. First, the study seeks to measure the variability of ethnocentric tendencies across demographic segments. Second, the study aspires to investigate the influence of country of origin on the relationship between consumer ethnocentrism and foreign product evaluation. Third, the study aims to explore whether consumer ethnocentric tendencies impact purchase intention for foreign apparel products. Summary The study adopted a quantitative design to construct the instrument. With the data collected on a sample size of 101, the independent samples t-test, the moderated multiple regression and the Pearson’s correlation coefficient were utilized to test the interrelationship between demographics, consumer ethnocentrism, country of origin, foreign product evaluation and purchase intention for foreign products. Conclusions The findings show that country of origin has positive influences on foreign product evaluation as a predictor not as moderator. Demographics does not vary with consumer ethnocentrism. Consumer ethnocentrism does not have significant influences on purchase intention for foreign products. The results leads to the need for further research

The Religious Life of Hmong Protestants in the Central Highlands of Vietnam

Since taking over the country, the Vietnamese government has been heavily criticized for their policies and actions on addressing religion and ethnic minorities-related matters. ‘Religious freedom’ is believed to be significantly restricted and ‘the life and voices of marginalized minorities’ are said to be largely taken for granted. By exploring a specific case that covers both given concerns, the thesis provides insights into how an ethnic minority group – the Hmong – has been actively living out their religious faith in a communist country since the very first mass conversion to a western religion even though the hardships on multiple life aspects that they have to confront are countless, unseen, and untold. The dissertation is built on intensive ethnographic fieldwork that was mainly done at a focal village called Yagad in the Central Highlands. Also, several field trips were conducted in some other Hmong villages of Vietnam to gather comparative data. Along with detailed participant observation notes and a variety of field notes, the research appreciates more than 100 participants’ thoughts and voices. In terms of the data analysis, interpretation, and writing-up processes, they have been done mainly in the field of Science of Religion (Religionswissenschaft). Structurally, Part I explains how the research is defined and designed and how the whole research is processed methodologically. Part II is on the Hmong and their Encounters with Christianity on regional and global scales. A more significant portion of their current conversion to Protestantism in Vietnam is reconsidered and illuminated by numerous narratives collected in the field. Part III, titled ‘the Hmong Protestants of Vietnam: An Ethnographic Study,’ intensively explores the religious life of Hmong converts in a focal village of the Central Highlands. Firstly, this part re-examines existing conclusions on mass Hmong migrations southwards in the early 1990s empirically proved to be driven by religion-related causes. It also provides a detailed investigation of their religious practices and beliefs after their conversion in the late 1980s. As a matter of fact, the Hmong converts have been establishing a well-organized church in their own ways, creating a viral religious environment that enables every adherent to intensify their faith in preferable manners. Regarding religious belief, Hmong converts’ significant changes and their concrete expressions are displayed, confirming their unique way of believing in and communicating with God compared with their Christian counterparts worldwide. Furthermore, by examining the inter-group relations between the defined Hmong group with other groups of different ethnic and political backgrounds, this Part III shows the Hmong’s process of defining ‘Peb Hmoob’, building up and strengthening their community in the alien society. Such a successful process allows them to follow their religious group in a respected co-existence of varied Protestant denominations without any problems due to denominational differences, cohabit with other ethnic groups in harmony, and freely practice their freedom of religion in boundaries. Finally, by discovering Hmong Protestants’ religious ethic, their identity markers in the Protestant context, and considering the remaining changes and concerns present in their community, the impact of ‘being a Protestant’ on these ethnic minority people’s lives is revealed, highlighting how their ethnic and religious identities have been negotiated, which eventually results in a reconstructed identity as ‘Hmong Protestants.

Anaerobic biodegradability of organic solid substrates by steam explosion or co-digestion

Organic solid waste is such a dominant source which accounts for nearly 50% of the total disposal solid waste. Besides, the fossil fuels, as a main source of energy production, are running out while the global energy demand is growing rapidly. The requirement for an alternative sustainable energy source is crucial to meet this demand, while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. Anaerobic digestion for biogas recovery from organic solid waste has become an attractive technology to solve those problems with high economic and environmental benefits. In this study, several organic solid substrates including concentrated domestic sludge, industrial sludge from slaughterhouse, spent coffee grounds, microalgae and aquatic weeds were selected to evaluate their biodegradability by steam explosion or co-digestion. Biochemical methane potential tests were conducted in batch assays to verify the biomethane production of each substrate in each strategy. The results showed that industrial sludge from slaughterhouse produced highest methane yield at 745 mL/gVS without any pre-treatment because its component consists of high proportion of lipids. The lowest methane yield was obtained for aquatic weeds mainly due to its high lignocellulosic content in the cell wall. These results supported for the assumption that lipid-rich materials may have higher methane potential in comparison with lignocellulosic materials. Steam explosion at 180°C for 30 minutes did not show a substantial improvement in the methane yield but the process promoted the methane production rate of domestic sewage sludge and aquatic weeds so that reduced the lag phase time, which further shortened the hydraulic retention time of the tests. Some inhibition processes were assessed including acceptable air content inside the vessels and the precision of the triplicates. Those assessments were important in eliminating some inhibited conditions during the digestion process as well as validating the result of biochemical methane potential test.Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Tecnología del Medio AmbienteGrado en Ingeniería Químic

Sustainable supply chain governance:A literature review

Governance is one of the core concepts underlying sustainable supply chain (SC). Although governance practices are widely acknowledged and implemented, literature discussing those practices is not as thoroughly organized. The purpose of this paper is therefore to investigate the forms, dynamics, and development of sustainable supply chain governance (SSCG). We reviewed a total of 126 articles in operations and SC management peer-reviewed journals spanning 15 years of recent research. Our literature analysis unveils several key themes concerning the popularity of contractual and relational governance, the role of SC lead firms, the network perspective, and the dynamics of governance mechanisms. At a higher conceptual level, we conclude that there exists a mutually dependent relationship between SSCG and SC complexity. The study summarizes and conceptualizes the recent scholarly conversations about SSCG and offers an agenda for further research.</p

Sustainable supply chain governance:A literature review

Governance is one of the core concepts underlying sustainable supply chain (SC). Although governance practices are widely acknowledged and implemented, literature discussing those practices is not as thoroughly organized. The purpose of this paper is therefore to investigate the forms, dynamics, and development of sustainable supply chain governance (SSCG). We reviewed a total of 126 articles in operations and SC management peer-reviewed journals spanning 15 years of recent research. Our literature analysis unveils several key themes concerning the popularity of contractual and relational governance, the role of SC lead firms, the network perspective, and the dynamics of governance mechanisms. At a higher conceptual level, we conclude that there exists a mutually dependent relationship between SSCG and SC complexity. The study summarizes and conceptualizes the recent scholarly conversations about SSCG and offers an agenda for further research.</p

Pokroky ve výzkumu a testování anthelmintik

Charles University, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové Training Workplace Department of Biochemical Sciences Doctoral Degree Program Xenobiochemistry and Pathobiochemistry Candidate Mgr. Thuy Linh Nguyen Supervisor Prof. RNDr. Lenka Skálová, Ph.D. Advisor Assoc. Prof. Ing. Petra Matoušková, Ph.D. Title of Doctoral Thesis Advances in the discovery and testing of anthelmintics The parasitic nematodes cause a considerable problem in human and animal health worldwide. The group of gastrointestinal nematodes is responsible for economic losses in livestock production. The treatment relies on the use of a limited number of anthelmintics, but their efficacy is hampered due to widespread drug resistance. Given the need for new drugs, the present thesis focuses on discovering novel compounds with potential anthelmintic effects and on the development of testing methods. Based on the literature search, we presented the possible approaches in the current development of new anthelmintics and evaluated their advantages and disadvantages in a review article. For the experiments, we used a model organism Haemonchus contortus, which is one of the most important gastrointestinal pathogens of small ruminants. The primary phenotypic screening of a small compound library against larvae identified two 'hit' compounds...Univerzita Karlova, Farmaceutická fakulta v Hradci Králové Školicí pracoviště Katedra biochemických věd Doktorský studijní program Xenobiochemie a patobiochemie Kandidátka / kandidát Mgr. Thuy Linh Nguyen Školitelka / školitel Prof. RNDr. Lenka Skálová, Ph.D. Konzultantka / konzultant doc. Ing. Petra Matoušková, Ph.D. Název disertační práce Pokroky ve výzkumu a testování anthelmintik Parazitické hlístice způsobují celosvětový problém v humánní i veterinární medicíně. Skupina gastrointestinálních hlístic u hospodářských zvířat je zodpovědná za ekonomické ztráty v živočišné produkci. K léčbě nemocí způsobených hlísticemi se užívají anthelmintika, u nichž se ale v důsledku rozšířené lékové rezistence postupně snižuje účinnost. Vzhledem k potřebě nových léčiv se tato práce zaměřuje na výzkum nových sloučenin s potenciálním anthelmintickým účinkem a na vývoji testovacích metod. Na základě literární rešerše jsme v přehledovém článku představili možné přístupy v současném vývoji nových anthelmintik a zhodnotili jejich výhody a nevýhody. K následným experimentům jsme využili parazitickou hlístici vlasovku slezovou (Haemonchus contortus), která je jedním z nejvýznamnějších gastrointestinálních patogenů malých přežvýkavců. Prvotní fenotypový screening souboru chemických látek prováděný na larvách H....Department of Biochemical SciencesKatedra biochemických vědFarmaceutická fakulta v Hradci KrálovéFaculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králov

The determinants of poverty and inequality in Vietnam : A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Lincoln University

Since the country’s reform in 1986, Vietnam has experienced economic growth and achieved significant development goals, particularly in living standard improvement, poverty reduction and income distribution. However, Vietnam faces a high, persistent poverty incidence among the rural areas and ethnic minority groups, an increasing gap between rich and poor and wide inequality income distribution between the rural than the urban sector. Despite many studies on poverty and inequality in Vietnam, there is a lack of evidence on the factors that determine both the probability of living in poverty and poverty intensity. This study investigates the determinants of poverty and poverty intensity and the sources of inequality in Vietnam particularly in rural areas and ethnic minority communes since the country became a middle-income country in 2009. Household and commune-level data are obtained by combining the 2012, 2014 and 2016 Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys. The empirical models include multiple linear regression, binary and fractional logistic regression to examine the determinants of real per capita expenditure, the likelihood of falling into poverty, and the poverty intensity for the Total Households (TH), the Total Rural Households (TRH), and the Rural Ethnic Minorities (REM) during the study period (2012-2016). In addition, we use the Generalised Entropy (GE) index decomposition method to examine the main drivers of income inequality among all households in Vietnam, particularly in the rural and ethnic minority communes. At the household level, our findings show that the household head, the household and regional characteristics significantly affect the household groups’ real per capita expenditure and the likelihood and intensity of poverty. In particular, residential location (rural and urban areas, six regions in Vietnam), ethnicity, education level, employment, household size, housing conditions and development programmes are strong determinants of welfare, poverty and the intensity of poverty of the three household groups. At the commune level, we found that general commune characteristics, infrastructure, land and non-agricultural employment opportunities significantly affected TRH’s and REM's expenditure and the probability and intensity of poverty. Previous studies that use only logit models neglected several influences on poverty intensity; this study overcomes the issue. For example, language barriers, farm size and overseas remittances did not affect REM’s likelihood of poverty but significantly influenced REM’s poverty intensity. Limited access to the district hospital or a post-office widened REM’s poverty gap; it had no statistically significant impact on the likelihood of poverty in the REM communes. We found decreasing income inequality for all Vietnamese households during the study period (2012-2016). For the decomposition of income inequality, the decreasing income inequality for both rural/urban areas and the ethnic majority was the main driver of the country’s narrowing income inequality. However, we found ethnic minorities’ increasing income inequality negatively affected the country’s total income equality. In addition, the income inequality levels within groups and between the top 10% and the bottom 10% were the main drivers of income inequality in rural areas and ethnic minority communes