Tomas Bata University in Zlín
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Design and development of a multifunction device for lead acid batteries
No full textAll machines rely on some source of energy and they are very often supported by batteries. Despite the newly developed Lithium-based batteries there is still a great number of applications where the lead acid batteries prevail. Moreover, according to some studies their usage will not drop significantly in the near future and may even grow. Therefore, there is and will be a demand for devices that would prolong their life-time and in this way contribute to sustainable materials, products and processes globally. This contribution presents one such device developed at the Department of Process Control, Faculty of Applied Informatics, Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Czech Republic. It not only enables the complete care of lead acid batteries, including their capacity recovery, but it offers other functionalities as well. As our results indicate so far, the lost lead acid batteries capacity can be significantly recovered using this device and this recovered capacity can be also verified by the same device. The reached recovery can be even over 40 percent. This microcomputer-driven device is already patented and it is in the process of commercialization, however, its further development is not closed yet and other features, discussed in this paper, could be added in the close future by our team.Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, TACR, (TP01010006
Detection of NH3 gas using CrVO4 nanoparticles
Get PDFNanostructured chromium orthovanadate with an average particle size of 65 nm was prepared by the co-precipitation technique for the chemiresistive sensor. The morphology and particle size distribution of CrVO4 nanoparticles were examined by SEM and TEM. According to XRD, most of the prepared CrVO4 material (crystallites) has a monoclinic structure belonging to the space group C2/m. XPS and UV-Vis absorbance measurements provided additional information on the main phase and the surface. The material has shown reasonable selectivity towards the NH3 gas. The as-prepared CrVO4 nanostructures exhibit a maximum relative response of 32% to 50 ppm NH3. The identical dynamic response profiles during the sequential injections of 50 ppm NH3 evinced the repeatability of the sensor. The limit of detection (LOD) value of the sensor was estimated ca 0.7 ppm using relative response values towards a wide range of NH3 concentrations from 10 ppm to 100 ppm. The sensing mechanism was expressed in terms of the surface band bending phenomenon caused by the adsorption and desorption of the ammonia. The best sensor performance was achieved at 330 °C, where the effects of humidity and moisture can be neglected. The results confirmed that the CrVO4 nanomaterial has the potential to fabricate an affordable, easy-to-make, and reliable gas sensor for NH3 gas.DKRVO, (RP/CPS/2022/007); European Union´s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, (739566); Ministerstvo Školství, Mládeže a Tělovýchovy, MŠMT; Istanbul Üniversitesi, (FYL-2021-38266); Agentúra na Podporu Výskumu a Vývoja, APVV; Vedecká Grantová Agentúra MŠVVaŠ SR a SAV, VEGA, (1/0844/21); Universität zu Köln, UoC; Univerzita Tomáše Bati ve Zlíně, UTB, (IGA/CPS/2022/002, IGA/CPS/2023/006)Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic - DKRVO [RP/CPS/2022/007]; European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme [739566]; Internal grant agency of Tomas Bata University in Zlin [IGA/CPS/2022/002, IGA/CPS/2023/006]; Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit of Istanbul University [FYL-2021-38266]; Slovak Research and Development Agency [VEGA 1/0844/21]; University of Cologn
Does improved digital governance in government promote natural resource management? Quasi-natural experiments based on smart city pilots
No full textBased on panel data for 281 cities in China from 2007 to 2021, this paper uses the global Malmquist‒Luenberger index to measure natural resource management. Using the smart city pilot as a quasi-natural experiment in government digital governance, the progressive difference-in-differences method was used to investigate whether the government's digital governance capacity promotes green and sustainable development. The main findings are as follows: the improvement of the government's digital governance capacity significantly contributes to green and sustainable development. After a series of placebo tests and robustness tests, the results of this paper still hold. Government digital governance promotes natural resource management mainly through two mechanisms: green technology innovation and intellectual property protection, and the quality of green technology innovation plays a more critical role than quantity. The impact of improved government digital governance on natural resource management varies significantly across different types of cities, cities with different political levels, and cities with different urban locations and human capital levels
Applications of clays in nanocomposites and ceramics
Get PDFClays and clay minerals are common natural materials, the unique properties of which have attracted the interest of the industry, especially because these materials are easily available, cheap, and non-toxic. Clays and clay minerals are widely used in many applications, such as in ceramic production, in the clarification of liquids, pollutant adsorbers, filler in composites and nanocomposites, soil amendments, in pharmacy, etc. This review assesses the development in the area of clay application in nanocomposites and ceramics. The first part of this study covers polymer/clay nanocomposites. Topics of interest include nanofiller sources for polymer nanocomposites, the possible ways of clay modification, polymer/clay nanocomposite classification and their processing, and polymer matrix overview with possible enhancement of nanocomposite properties. Some of the applications have already been commercialized. Approximately 80% of the polymer/clay nanocomposites are destined for the automotive, aeronautical, and packaging industries. The second part of this study describes ceramic materials with a focus on silicate ceramics. Talc and kaolinite represent the main natural raw materials for traditional ceramic applications. Less traditional cordierite, steatite, and forsterite could offer property enhancement and seem to be useful in electronics, electrical engineering, catalysts, solar thermal storage, or medical applications.Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Faculty of Technology [IGA/FT/2023/008, IGA/FT/2024/008]; Jan Amos Komensky Operational Program - EU; State budget of the Czech Republic [CZ.02.01.01/00/22_008/0004631]; EU under the REFRESH-project via the Operational Programme "Just Transition" [CZ.10.03.01/00/22_003/0000048
Self-regulation of emotions in relation to students' attitudes towards school life
Get PDFThe paper focuses on assessing, how the use of emotional regulation strategies and perceived position in formal and informal school life processes are related. The paper also aims to identify, which of the assessed school life processes are involved in the use of emotional regulation strategies, i.e. the use of adaptive emotional regulation strategies and non-adaptive emotional regulation strategies, or in the suppression of emotional manifestations. The research was carried out on a sample of 1,133 upper-primary school students using Cognitive Regulation of Emotion and Students’ Attitudes to School Life questionnaires. The results imply that the degree of use of adaptive strategies is affected by a combination of predominantly strengthening stimuli in the school environment, i.e. the perception of success and opportunity, and social inclusion in peer groups. On the contrary, high-risk environmental attributes connected with a feeling of negative experience at school play a larger part in the use of non-adaptive emotional regulation strategies. A combination of two opposing stimuli, i.e. a negative experience of school life and a positive approach by the teacher towards the pupils, contributes to the suppression of emotional manifestations. The perception of position in formal and informal school life processes as an important prerequisite for the use of students’ self-regulating mechanisms in the school environment.Tomas Bata University in Zlín, TBU; Grantová Agentura České Republiky, GA ČR, (GA CR 17-04816S)Czech Science Foundation [GA CR 17-04816S
Perceptions of social media usage to engage citizens: a qualitative study of Czech Republic municipalities
No full textInformation communication technology has altered the relationship between government and citizens in terms of intensity as well as method. Social media has been used due to its socially interactive nature by the government to attract citizens. This study aims to explore the perception of administrators from small and medium-sized municipal governments in the Czech Republic regarding the utilization of social media platforms for the purpose of engaging and communicating with citizens. The study used a qualitative research design with a phenomenological approach. The data collection process involved 21 semi-structured interviews and the engagement in 16 hours of online dialogue by the researchers. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings indicate that numerous municipalities are currently in the initial learning phase of employing social media and have yet to fully comprehend its potential. Administrators conveyed a sense of skepticism towards social media and technology at large, alongside a sense of ambiguity regarding the optimal strategies for effectively harnessing these platforms. The predominant approach adopted by most municipalities involves relying heavily on Facebook as their primary platform for disseminating information. However, they encounter difficulties in effectively leveraging other potentially beneficial websites and communication channels. In general, the research emphasizes the necessity of providing training and education to effectively incorporate social media into the communication strategies employed by local governments
Driving sustainable and competitive transition in enterprise performance management and measurement: The changing role of women in the Japanese labour market
Get PDFThe objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between sustainable and competitive transition in enterprise performance management and measurement and the changing role of women in the Japanese labour market. The work correlates the proportion of female employees in leadership positions in relation to the sector type, firm age, profits and encouragement of women’s participation in the labour force over six significant periods. The study also examines correlations between the encouragement of women’s participation in the labour force and high productivity, improvement of work-life balance and higher integration of female staff in the workforce. A questionnaire survey was conducted in 152 Japanese companies as part of the research. Non-parametric tests and exploratory data analysis were used for evaluation. The linear-by-linear test was applied to ordinal categories to determine the trend between the proportion of female employees in leadership positions and the encouragement of women’s participation in the labour force. The results indicate that partial changes have occurred as far as women in the Japanese labour market are concerned and confirm that working women are faced with persistent obstacles in terms of higher integration of female staff in the workforce and improvement of work-life balance. A future research direction worth considering is a study focused on other countries in Asia, comparing the findings with this paper
Bike-sharing system in the Czech Republic and foreign
Get PDFThis paper discusses the bike-sharing system in the Czech Republic and selected neighboring states. The current problem of deteriorating air quality is driving cities to implement an efficient, more environmentally friendly approach. One of them is introducing a system of shared resources - shared bikes, scooters, cars, and others. Our goal is to address the issue of shared bikes, which are already widely used worldwide. However, it is necessary to point out that it is essential to have the bikes appropriately distributed in the stations, and their collection during the night at frequented stations must be ensured. The paper aimed is to analyze bike-sharing systems in the Czech Republic and foreign countries in Middle Europe, primarily in the Slovak Republic. The bike-sharing system in the Czech Republic and Slovak republic was analyzed mainly. The Poland bike-sharing system was added. The analysis of the bike-sharing providers was based on the available data. Based on the results, we can conclude that two (three) primary providers are in the selected states. These providers have different ways of bike storage. The vast difference is the number of bikes in the chosen town with the same population.Univerzita Tomáše Bati ve Zlíně, UT
Colorectal cancer and prevention program focused on colonoscopy
No full textIntroduction: The article deals with the importance of prevention in the case of colorectal cancer and subsequent radiotherapy
Objective: The objective is to highlight the importance of colorectal cancer prevention focused on colonoscopy Research sample group and methodology: The research sample group consisted of 3,051 respondents who underwent a colonoscopy examination in the period of 2017-2022 for preventive or diagnostic purposes. The obtained data were processed in the STATISTICA program.
Results: Within the studied set, during colonoscopy, diagnostic examinations were performed more often than preventive examinations in 2,301 respondents, which represents 74.50%. Furthermore, we found that age is related to the diseases the respondents suffer from. According to the age at the time of the examination, more patients were over 50 (82%), mainly due to a screening that is indicated for people of this age group. During preventive Colonoscopies, 290 cases of polyps were diagnosed, which is 39.2% of all findings. The next most frequent finding during prevention were haemorrhoids, representing 32.6.
Conclusion: Participation in colonoscopy examinations for the year 2020-2021 decreased by up to 13.00% compared to the previous period due to the impact of the Covid pandemic. The impact of neglecting preventive examinations, according to experts, may be manifested in the next few years by a higher growth in the number of patients with colorectal cancer in an advanced stage of the disease, and it is important to point out the significance of colorectal cancer prevention focused on colonoscopy
Robust H∞ controller design for satellite systems with uncertain inertia matrix: A linear matrix inequality approach
No full textThis paper discusses the design of a robust H∞ controller for satellite systems that exhibit changes in its inertia matrix within a range of ±5%. Using MATLAB Simulink, the proposed approach is a Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) by LMILAB Semidefinite programming solver in YALMIP. Simulation results demonstrate the controller’s effectiveness in stabilizing the system against disturbance and maintaining performance despite variations in the inertia matrix