Road-traffic accident rate

Tato bakalářská práce se zabývá popisem bývalého stavu a vyhodnocením přestaveb nebezpečných úseků silnic, na kterých docházelo k častým dopravním nehodám s velkými materiálními škodami a s těžkými či smrtelnými zraněními. V bakalářské práci jsou popsána a navržena další preventivní opatření především pro chodce a cyklisty, která vedou ke snížení dopravní nehodovosti. V závěru bakalářské práce je řidičům mimo jiné doporučeno zúčastnit se kurzu na polygonním okruhu ke zvýšení řidičských zkušeností na různém druhu povrchu silnice a za různého počasí (sucho, déšť, námraza, sníh, ledovka).This thesis deals with description of the former state and reviews reconstructions dangerous sections of roads where there were frequent accidents with large material damage and heavy or fatal injuries. This thesis describes and proposed further preventive action, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists, which leads to a reduction in traffic accidents. At the conclusion of this work is also recommended for drivers to attend a course on the polygon circuit to increase driving experience of a different kind of road surface and for different weather conditions (dry surface, rain, ice, snow).

Developing a System to Arrest Transformation using a Zebrafish Model for Melanomagenesis

The recent emergence of RNA-guided CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system adapted from the natural defense mechanism found in bacteria and archaea has made the manipulation of genetic loci more feasible than ever. Using this technique we attempted to eliminate a target sequence of about 20 nucleotides from the promoter of the protein ICER (Inducible cAMP Early Repressor) located just upstream of the start sequence. ICER is a small transcription factor and supposed tumor suppressor protein that comes from the CREM (cAMP Responsive Element) gene. ICER has been found to be absent in tumor cells, marked for degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasomal pathway. By eliminating the target sequence we hope to knockout functional ICER protein in order to observe any possible effects this could have. Essentially it is believed that the elimination of ICER would lead to the generation or acceleration of tumor development. To achieve this we are using the well-characterized zebrafish (Danio rerio) melanoma model as a paradigm. Two types of methods are being utilized to insert our Cas9/gRNA construct into zebrafish: transfection via PAC2 cells and direct injection into one-cell stage embryos. In addition, we are using a number of techniques including PCR amplification, sequencing, T7 endonuclease assay, and TOPO cloning in order to provide evidence of target sequence manipulation. The long-termed objective of this study will be to determine whether eradication of ICER will affect the tumorigenesity of wild-type (EK) zebrafish in comparison to the established zebrafish model for melanoma

Characterizing the Effect of Vegetable Oil-Based Electron Donor Concentration on Complete Dechlorination of Trichloroethene and Vinyl Chloride

Chlorinated ethenes are known or suspected carcinogens. They are also among the most frequently detected organic groundwater contaminants because of wide use and poor disposal practices. Within anaerobic aquifer systems, Fe(III) reduction is a prevalent terminal electron accepting process and has often been reported as a competitive electron acceptor with respect to trichloroethene (TCE), cis-dichloroethene (cis-DCE), and vinyl chloride (VC) reduction. Often, practitioners add excessive amounts of electron donor to compensate for this competition in an effort to avoid incomplete dechlorination or cis-DCE and VC stall. Contaminated aquifer material incubations were setup to assess dechlorination rates and extent under Fe(III)-reducing conditions, and to evaluate whether excessive electron donor additions increase either the rate or extent of complete dechlorination of TCE or VC using acetate and vegetable oil-based electron donors. Sediment batch experiments were constructed to specifically assess how Fe(III) speciation and the presence of electron shuttles influenced VC dechlorination. Four treatments were investigated: (1) VC +10 mM ferrihydrite; (2) VC + 10 mM Fe(III)-NTA; (3) VC + 10 mM ferrihydrite + 500 µM AQDS; and (4) VC + 5 mM AQDS. Sediment batch experiments were also set up to specifically evaluate how electron donor concentration affected TCE and VC reduction using acetate and vegetable oils (Newman Zone® Standard without sodium lactate, CAP 18 ME, EOS 598B42) as sole electron donors. Three electron donor strategies were investigated for each series. The first donor strategy was operationally defined as stoichiometric, in which the electron donor concentration was balanced electron to electron with either the TCE or VC present and going to ethene. The second and third approaches were an excessive electron donor approach in which 5x and 10x the necessary stoichiometric amount of electron donor was added. The results of the Fe(III) speciation and electron shuttle batch study suggest Fe(III) is not inhibitory to complete dechlorination. In all incubations amended with Fe(III), VC was completely reduced to ethene, but the rate of VC reduction was faster in incubations that were not amended with Fe(III), which suggest that the presence of Fe(III) may slow the rate of reductive dechlorination. The results of the high versus low electron donor batch studies demonstrate that TCE and VC were completely degraded when the vegetable oils were amended at stoichiometric and excessive concentrations. Methane accumulations were similar regardless of the treatment applied. TCE and VC reduction were partially degraded in the presence of acetate, regardless of the concentration. Fe(III) reduction did not inhibit ethene production. The data suggest that the addition of substrate may not be necessary if the supply of indigenous electron donor is sufficient and the appropriate microorganisms are present. If electron donor should be added, amendments can start low and be increased

Optical Properties of Type III-V Semiconductor Spherical Quantum Dot Heterostructures

In recent years quantum dots (QD) have attracted increasing interest because of their wide variety of revolutionary applications. Such applications include high speed optical communication lasers, infrared photodetectors, and single photon emitters. One promising immediate application is QD solar cells. Proper analysis of the optical absorption characteristics in these solar cells requires a rigorous modeling of the electronic structure and optical properties of semiconductor heterostructures. Our emphasis will be on type III-V semiconductors. Such structures, have a great potential for increasing efficiencies, but they also possess highly degenerate and complex valence band structures. Therefore, we seek to develop a model of spherical QD band structure for type III-V Semiconductor materials, and with such results we obtain the absorption properties of the simulated QDs. We assume stress and strain effects are negligible. We also assume the conduction and spin-orbit bands are treated as distant. We utilize the spherically symmetric, single and multiple band effective mass equations along with previously developed analytical methods to simplify the problem, then we obtain the eigenfunctions and eigenenergies of the QD, and use them to model optical transitions. We assume a quasi-equilibrium Fermi-Dirac distribution for electrons and holes and obtain the microscopic transition rates and absorption coefficients. Furthermore, we implement this in Matlab with a robust graphical user interface which allows for arbitrary configurations of materials and QD sizes. With this tool, the eigenenergies, eigenfunctions, and absorption coefficients may be calculated

Supervision of the marginal teacher

Much of today\u27s rhetoric for stemming the rising tide of mediocrity in American education has focused on the unsatisfactory performance of America\u27s teachers (Sweeney and Manatt, 1984). Yet, too often the efforts of the nation\u27s very able teachers are overshadowed by the poor performances of a relatively small number of incompetent classroom teachers. The accomplishments of the competent majority will continue to be overlooked and unappreciated unless principals deal directly with unsatisfactory teachers (Bridges, 1985). What we need is a reliable and accurate method for identifying teachers who are not performing up to standard and a systematic process for helping them improve (Sweeney and Manatt, 1984)

Improving Depression Screening Completion Rates for Medicare Patients in a Primary Care Setting

The United States Preventative Services Task Force recommends screening the general adult population for depression (Siu et al., 2016). Despite increasing clinical practice guidelines recommending depression screening, only 40-50% of depressed older adults are recognized and treated (Phoh et al., 2017). The purpose of this evidence-based practice (EBP) project was to implement a medical assistant (MA) depression screening protocol, using the PHQ-9 and staff education, to improve depression screening completion rates in Medicare patients in a primary care setting. An exhaustive literature search of eight databases yielded 14 pieces of evidence that made recommendations for best practice. The evidence was appraised using appropriate tools and found to be sufficient for addressing the proposed clinical question. The evidence suggested that screening rates would experience the most improvement when using an MA screening protocol, using the PHQ-9, during patient check-in (Campbell et al., 2021; Gorman et al., 2021; Maust et al., 2017; Siniscalchi et al., 2020) and staff education (Costantini et al., 2021; Gorman et al., 2021; Heinz et al., 2021; Siniscalchi et al., 2020; Sinnema et al., 2018). Convenience sampling was used in this EBP project. Eligible patients included Medicare patients, 18 years and older, presenting for a scheduled appointment and due for an annual depression screening. Because of the large population size, random sampling was used for data analysis. The baseline group consisted of 130 patients, and the intervention group consisted of 128 patients. Following staff education, the clinic implemented an MA depression screening protocol using the PHQ-9 depression questionnaire during patient rooming. Key stakeholders included the project site facilitator and office manager, five clinic providers, the clinic’s MAs and administrative assistants, the patient population, and the organization’s human resources department. A Chi-Square Test of Independence was used to compare pre- and post-intervention depression screening completion rates, by provider, over a three-month data collection period. The primary outcome of this EBP project was increased depression screening completion rates for eligible patients following project implementation. Depression screening rates rose from 50% at baseline to 64% for the post-intervention group. A statistically significant (p = .023) higher percentage of people in the post-intervention group than in the pre-intervention (or baseline) group were screened for depression (x2 (1) = 5.203, p \u3c .05). These findings indicate that staff education and an MA depression screening protocol, using the PHQ-9 tool, are effective for improving depression screening rates in older adults. Further research is needed to assess the effect of increased depression screening compliance on overall depression recognition and response to treatment, as well as health outcomes, in Medicare patients in primary care

Analysis of Virginia Barrier Island Shoreline Movement and Correlations to Sea Level, Wave Height Changes, and Teleconnection Patterns

The Virginia barrier islands stretch from Assateague Island in the north to Fisherman’s Island in the south. This string of islands is subject to frequent North Atlantic extra-tropical storm and hurricane influence. In addition, sea level rise has the potential to cause continued shoreline loss and inlet widening for this island group. This dissertation describes the effect of sea level rise, changes in wave height, and teleconnection pattern (AO, NAO, and MEI) correlations to shoreline location changes to the islands and inlet location and width changes. Locations of island shorelines were determined from satellite and aircraft images using ArcGIS software and the USGS Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS). Geographically registered images were digitized, and multiple transect locations on each island were measured from a common offshore baseline using DSAS. The resulting distances along with the remote sensing image dates were used to construct time series of shoreline location for each island. Data frequency was controlled by image availability, and ranged from weekly to semi-monthly. Approximately 250 shorelines per island from 1990 to 2014 were digitized. The results were then interpolated to give a monthly shoreline location for each transect. The combined observations were analyzed by empirical orthogonal function (EOF) and wavelet analysis. The analysis shows that the barrier islands are moving to the south as well as becoming narrower. As a group, the shoreline movement is primarily correlated with sea level change (r2 = 0.41). The islands also respond to storms and other episodic events. The response can be resilient or catastrophic depending on the extent of shoreline loss which precedes the event. If the island shoreline has narrowed to a width that cannot withstand wave and high water level induced loss, the island and associated shoreline is permanently lost. The rate of shoreline loss returns to the pre-storm rate within several weeks after the events unless island shore is permanently lost during the event. Increased losses of island length were concentrated in years 2004-2005 and 2009-2010. Wavelet analysis confirmed and explained the EOF results by showing the presence of shoreline change cycles which become more intense at times of shoreline loss. A large reversal of shoreline loss was caused by the placement of 3.5 million m3 of sand on the south end of Wallops Island in 2012 and the attachment of a large offshore shoal to the north end of the same island. Wreck and Ship Shoal Islands have had a net shoreline gain over the study period but with continued southward migration. There are ten inlets between the Virginia Barrier islands. Five of these had width increases of more than 100% during the study period. Two of the five widened by more than 200%. As the barrier islands have become shorter, the inlets have become wider. Due to the episodic nature of the loss of some islands, the inlet width gains have also been episodic. The statistical correlation of sea level variability with inlet width change has a coefficient of determination (r2) of 0.77. The extent of this correlation is very large and may be due to a combination of sea level effects on both the islands and inlets. Inlet width change between 1999 and 2014 was analyzed by EOF and wavelet analysis. EOF analysis of all inlets indicates in addition to general widening, substantial inlet changes generally occur during high water level and high wave events associated with passing hurricanes and tropical storms. Ocean shoreline and inlet trends are for continued shoreline loss for most islands, island migration southward, and inlet widening. The findings of this study can be directly applied to adaptation or possible island protection measures where warranted

The Analysis of Volatile Organic Compounds in the Southern Chesapeake Bay, Virginia by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry

Sea-water samples from the Norfolk, Virginia area were analyzed for trace volatile organic compounds by helium sparging. Contents of the trap were injected into a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer. Analysis of the trap contents indicated the presence of aliphatic and olef1nic hydrocarbons containing up to six carbon atoms and eight halogenated compounds of up to two carbon atoms in length. The halogenated compounds which were identified were dichlorofluoromethane, trichlorotrifluoroethane, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, trichloroethane (2 isomers) bromodichloromethane, and chlorotrifluoroethylene. The relative concentrations of volatile organic compounds generally tended to increase in samples collected from water prone to urban environmental pressures. All eight halogenated compounds were detected in the Elizabeth River while six were detected in the Chesapeake Bay waters at generally lower relative concentrations. Seven of the halogenated volatile organic compounds seemed to originate from man-made or man-induced sources