Czech Contribution to LOFT

We describe the current status of the Czech contribution to the ESA LOFT space mission, with emphasis on technical aspects. Expertise available in the Czech Republic will play a positive role in the LOFT project and related developments

Potentials and Prospects of Natural Gas Utilization in Personal Transport

Import 04/07/2011Diplomová práce je zaměřena na využití zemního plynu v dopravě osob, hlavně v provozu osobních automobilů a autobusů. Jednotlivé kapitoly se postupně věnují situaci v dané oblasti ve světě a v České republice, cenám pohonných hmot, možnostem nasazení CNG v dopravě a zejména ekonomice provozu a návratnosti vložených investic.The thesis is focused on the use of natural gas in the transportation of persons, mainly for passenger cars and buses. Individual chapters deal in turn with the situation in the world region and in the Czech Republic, fuel prices, potential applications of CNG in transport and in particular the economy of operation and return on investment.Prezenční634 - Katedra ekonomiky a managementu v metalurgiivýborn

Technical, Economical and Ecological Aspects of the Use of Alternative Drives of Motor Vehicles in the Metallurgical Company

Lidé již téměř dvě stě let používají ke své přepravě, ale i k přepravě dalších věcí dopravní prostředky, které jsou poháněné benzínem či naftou. Tyto paliva se vyrábějí z ropy a jejich spalováním vzniká velké množství různých druhů škodlivin. V poslední době však dochází k rapidním úbytkům světových zásob ropy, zemního plynu a uhlí a jejich vyčerpání není v nedohlednu. Jedním ze způsobů, jak dosáhnout ekologičtějšího provozu a menší zátěže životního prostředí, je použití alternativních paliv, proto je podpora alternativních paliv jedním z pilířů udržitelné dopravy směřující k ekologicky i ekonomicky výhodnějším řešením. Odborníci, politici i široká veřejnost se dohadují, které z těchto alternativních paliv či alternativních pohonů je nejvhodnějším a nejudržitelnějším. Cílem této práce je tedy vyhodnocení a následné využití dat pro tvorbu modelu, který by mohl průmyslovým podnikům usnadnit rozhodování o jejich vozovém parku.For almost two hundred years, people have used petrol and diesel vehicles for their transport, but also for transporting other things. These fuels are made from petroleum and their combustion generates many different kinds of pollutants. Recently, however, there has been a rapid decline in world oil, gas and coal reserves, and their depletion is not overlooked. One way to achieve greener traffic and less environmental burden is the use of alternative fuels, so support for alternative fuels is one of the pillars of sustainable transport geared to environmentally and economically more advantageous solutions. Professionals, politicians and the general public are wondering which of these alternative fuels or alternative drives is the most appropriate and most sustainable. The aim of this thesis is therefore to evaluate and subsequently use the data to create a model that could facilitate industrial decision making on their fleet.634 - Katedra ekonomiky a managementu v metalurgiivyhově

The Utilization of Gas in Transport

Import 01/09/2009Prezenční634 - Katedra ekonomiky a managementu v metalurgiidobř

Detection of immunoglobulins in a laser induced fluorescence system utilizing polydimethysiloxane microchips with advanced surface and optical properties

We developed an automated laser induced fluorescence system utilizing microfluidic chips for detection and quantification of immunoglobulins. Microchips were fabricated from polydimethysiloxane (PDMS) using the so-called “prepolymerization technique.” The microchip structure helped minimize the effects of PDMS autofluorescence and light scattering. Furthermore, a thin and uniform PDMS layer forming the top of the microchip enabled proper focusing and collection of the excitation beam and the emitted fluorescence, respectively. The developed system was tested for the detection of mouse immunoglobulins. The capturing antibodies were immobilized on internal microchannel walls in the form of a polyelectrolyte. We clearly show that this immobilization technique, if correctly realized, gives results with high reproducibility. After sample incubation and washing, secondary antibodies labeled by fluorescein isothiocyanate were introduced into microchannels to build a detectable complex. We show that mouse antibodies can be quantified in a wide concentration range, 0.01–100 μg ml−1. The lower detection limit was below 0.001 μg ml−1 (6.7 pM). The developed laser induced fluorescence (LIF) apparatus is relatively cheap and easy to construct. The total cost of the developed LIF detector is lower than a typical price of plate readers. If compared to classical ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) plate systems, the detection of immunoglobulins or other proteins in the developed PDMS microfluidic device brings other important benefits such as reduced time demands (10 min incubation) and low reagent consumption (less than 1 μl). The cost of the developed PDMS chips is comparable with the price of commercial ELISA plates. The main troubleshooting related to the apparatus development is also discussed in order to help potential constructors

Microfluidic chip for fast bioassays—evaluation of binding parameters

A seven channel polystyrene (PS) microchip has been constructed using a micromilling machine and a high-temperature assembling. Protein A (PA) has been immobilized by a passive sorption on the microchannel walls. Two bioaffinity assays with human immunoglobulin G (hIgG) as a ligand have been carried out. (i) PA as the receptor and fluorescently labeled hIgG (FITC-hIgG) as the ligand, (ii) PA as the receptor with hIgG as the quantified ligand and fluorescently labeled goat anti-human IgG (FITC-gIgG) as the secondary ligand. One incubation step of the assays took only 5 min instead of hours typical for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay applications. Calibration curves of the dependence of a fluorescence signal on the hIgG concentration in a sample have been obtained in one step due to a parallel arrangement of microchannels. A mathematical model of the PA-FITC-hIgG complex formation in the chip has been developed. The values of the kinetic constant of the PA-FITC-hIgG binding (kon=5.5 m3 mol−1 s−1) and the equilibrium dissociation constant of the formed complex (Kd≤3×10−6 mol m−3) have been obtained by fitting to experimental data. The proposed microchip enables fast evaluation of kinetic and equilibrium constants of ligand-receptor bioaffinity pairs and the ligand quantification. As the use of microfluidic chips for immunoassays is often limited by price, we used procedures and chemicals that allow for an inexpensive construction and operation of the microdevice, e.g., temperature assembling as a fabrication technique, detection via an ordinary digital camera, nonspecific polystyrene as a substrate, passive sorption of biomolecules as an immobilization technique, etc