Financial Risk Hedging Instruments for Public Work Contracts

Public work contracts create a substantial share of building industry performance and consume a large amount of public financial resources. Construction process should be efficient without additional costs and overrun time schedules. A very important point in this process is represented by hedging public contracts against potential risk. There are many instruments used in the Czech Republic - insurance construction contracts, contractual penalty and retention or a bank guarantee to name several of them. But not all of them are as effective as the contractors need them to be. The main aim of this paper is to find an effective set of hedging instruments in contracts for work to sufficiently fulfil their function and protect the goals of both the investor and the contractor impending business risks. Information on hedging instruments has been studied on the sample of 246 public works contracts of sewage facilities and equipment. The empirical part of the research focuses on the extent of hedging instruments used, and discusses their application in the context of efficiency. Research finds out that the most commonly used instruments are retention and bank guarantees. Furthermore, the reasons for significant changes in shares of these instruments in the course of monitoring have been analyzed. The final outputs can have societal benefits and serve the contracting authorities and suppliers as a comparison of conditions of their own work contracts or as a help in creation of new work contracts. As additional outputs of this research is also comparison of contract prices and estimated values of tender according to number of tenders and type of award procedures

Plant-based and immunostimulant-enhanced diets modulate oxidative stress, immune and haematological indices in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of three commercial diets, standard, immunostimulant-supplemented (β-glucan, vitamins C and E) and plant-based, on the degree of oxidative stress in tissues of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Selected immune and haematological indices were measured and challenge with Aeromonas salmonicida was conducted. The plant-based diet systemically modulated all oxidative stress biomarkers (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances; reduced and oxidised glutathione and their ratio) in the intestine. The ratio was elevated in all organs (liver, kidney, muscle and intestine) and an enhancement of respiratory burst and complement activity was observed even in the control fish. With the standard diet, an elevation of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances in the intestine and a decrease in some immune indices appeared after challenge. Less distinctive changes and the lowest mortality rate (the highest being with the plant-based feed) were obtained with immunostimulants. Increased total immunoglobulin, relative lymphocytosis and a decrease in the phagocyte count were observed. This study contributes especially by a thorough examination of oxidative stress indices in different tissues. The exact composition of these commercial diets is a trade secret; however, knowledge of their effects is extremely important for fish farmers using them; therefore, this study has a great practical impact

Nephrocalcinosis in farmed salmonids: diagnostic challenges associated with low performance and sporadic mortality

Disease conditions that involve multiple predisposing or contributing factors, or manifest as low performance and/or low-level mortality, can pose a diagnostic challenge that requires an interdisciplinary approach. Reaching a diagnosis may also be limited by a lack of available clinical profile parameter reference ranges to discriminate healthy fish from those affected by specific disease conditions. Here, we describe our experience investigating poorly performing rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in an intensive recirculation aquaculture, where reaching a final diagnosis of nephrocalcinosis was not as straightforward as one would wish. To list the issues making the diagnosis difficult, it was necessary to consider the creeping onset of the problem. Further diagnostic steps needed to ensure success included obtaining comparative data for fish blood profiles and water quality from both test and control aquacultural systems, excluding infections with salmonid pathogenic agents and evaluating necropsy findings. Major events in the pathophysiology of nephrocalcinosis could be reconstructed as follows: aquatic environment hyperoxia and hypercapnia RIGHTWARDS ARROW blood hypercapnia RIGHTWARDS ARROW blood acid-base perturbation (respiratory acidosis) RIGHTWARDS ARROW metabolic compensation (blood bicarbonate elevation and kidney phosphate excretion) RIGHTWARDS ARROW a rise in blood pH RIGHTWARDS ARROW calcium phosphate precipitation and deposition in tissues. This case highlights the need to consider the interplay between water quality and fish health when diagnosing fish diseases and reaching causal diagnoses.O

Cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa Contributes to the Severity of Fish Diseases: A Study on Spring Viraemia of Carp

Fish are exposed to numerous stressors in the environment including pollution, bacterial and viral agents, and toxic substances. Our study with common carps leveraged an integrated approach (i.e., histology, biochemical and hematological measurements, and analytical chemistry) to understand how cyanobacteria interfere with the impact of a model viral agent, Carp sprivivirus (SVCV), on fish. In addition to the specific effects of a single stressor (SVCV or cyanobacteria), the combination of both stressors worsens markers related to the immune system and liver health. Solely combined exposure resulted in the rise in the production of immunoglobulins, changes in glucose and cholesterol levels, and an elevated marker of impaired liver, alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Analytical determination of the cyanobacterial toxin microcystin-LR (MC-LR) and its structurally similar congener MC-RR and their conjugates showed that SVCV affects neither the levels of MC in the liver nor the detoxification capacity of the liver. MC-LR and MC-RR were depurated from liver mostly in the form of cysteine conjugates (MC-LR-Cys, MC-RR-Cys) in comparison to glutathione conjugates (LR-GSH, RR-GSH). Our study brought new evidence that cyanobacteria worsen the effect of viral agents. Such inclusion of multiple stressor concept helps us to understand how and to what extent the relevant environmental stressors co-influence the health of the fish population

Clinical and Laboratory Parameters of Carp Edema Virus Disease: A Case Report

In the present study, we describe a natural outbreak of carp edema virus disease (CEVD) in koi carp, concentrating on clinical manifestation, gross and microscopic pathology, immunological parameters, viral diagnostics, and phylogenetic analysis. Examination of white blood cell parameters showed increased monocyte and decreased lymphocyte counts in CEV-affected fish compared to healthy control fish. Regarding immune system functioning, the present work shows, for the first time, enhanced phagocytic activity in CEV-affected fish. Respiratory burst of phagocytes was strongly increased in diseased fish, the increase being attributed to an increased phagocyte count rather than enhancement of their metabolic activity. The present work also newly shows histopathological changes in the pancreatic tissue of diseased koi.O

Evaluation of Management Training Effectiveness within the DHL Express Company

Tato diplomová práce řeší problematiku v oblasti vzdělávání a rozvoje lidských zdrojů v organizaci. Cílem diplomové práce je posoudit efektivitu současného vzdělávacího systému ve společnosti DHL Express (Czech Republic) s.r.o. Diplomová práce je v první části zaměřena na teoreticko-metodologická východiska v oblasti rozvoje a vzdělávání lidských zdrojů a na principy metodologie výzkumu sociálních věd. Druhá část aplikačně-ověřovací se zabývá operacionalizací kvalitativního výzkumu. V rámci tohoto výzkumu, pro dosažení hlavního cíle, jsou stanoveny hlavní a dílčí výzkumné otázky, pomocí nichž jsou data analyzována a jednotlivé otázky zodpovězeny. Přínosem diplomové práce je nalezení nedostatku v současném vzdělávacím systému ve společnosti DHL Express (Czech Republic) s.r.o., které umožnily návrh opatření pro zefektivnění tohoto systému.This master´s thesis addresses issues connected with education and human resource development in an organization. The objective of the thesis is to assess the effectiveness of the current educational system in DHL Express (Czech Republic) s.r.o. The master´s thesis is focused in its first part on the theoretical-methodological appraisals in the area of the development and education of human resources and on the principles of the methodology of the research of social studies. The second part, the application-verification part, deals with the operationalization of the qualitative research. There are main and partial research questions set in the scope of this research in order to fulfil the objective of this paper, by means of which the data are analysed and the questions answered. The contribution of this thesis is localising of deficiencies in the current educational system in DHL Express (Czech Republic) s.r.o., which made possible introduction of measures for the increase in efficiency of this system.115 - Katedra managementuvýborn

Preparation, characterization and evaluation of application potential of semiIPN hydrogels

Aim of this thesis os to optimize set up of hydrogel based on semi-interpenetrated polymer networks. Polyhydroxyethylmethyl acrylate was chosen as an model example of hydrogel due to its common use in biomedicine. At first, thermoiniciation was used for preparation and changed to photoiniciation afterwards. Following the optimisation of the hydrogel set up with proper qualities, the polyelectrolyte sodium polystyrene sulfonate was implanted. Object of research was its impact on structure, flowing and transport features of hydrogels. All qualities were tested by drying, rheology, and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. Results clearly validate influence of hydrogel features by polyelectrolytes

Utilization of semi-Interpenetrating Polymer Networks based on poly-HEMA in modern drug-carrier systems

Hydrogel, semi-interpenetrované polymerní sítě, polyhydroxyethyl methakrylát, difúzeHydrogel, semi-interpenetrating polymer network, poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate), diffusion