Discourse Relations and Connectives in Higher Text Structure

The present article investigates possibilities and limits of local (shallow) analysis of discourse coherence with respect to the phenomena of global coherence and higher composition of texts. We study corpora annotated with local discourse relations in Czech and partly in English to try and find clues in the local annotation indicating a higher discourse structure. First, we classify patterns of subsequent or overlapping pairs of local relations, and hierarchies formed by nested local relations. Special attention is then given to relations crossing paragraph boundaries and their semantic types, and to paragraph-initial discourse connectives. In the third part, we examine situations in which annotators incline to marking a large argument (larger than one sentence) of a discourse relation even with a minimality principle annotation rule in place. Our analyses bring (i) new linguistic insights regarding coherence signals in local and higher contexts, e.g. detection and description of hierarchies of local discourse relations up to 5 levels in Czech and English, description of distribution differences in semantic types in cross-paragraph and other settings, identification of Czech connectives only typical for higher structures, or the detection of prevalence of large left-sided arguments in locally annotated data; (ii) as another type of contribution, some new reflections on methodologies of the approaches under scrutiny

Helium permeation through mixed matrix membranes based on polyimides and silicalite-1

Mixed matrix membranes based on modified polyimides and silicalite-1 were prepared and studied. The novel preparation approach consists in improvement of the interfacial adhesion by employment of the coupling agent 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane in such a way which leads to forming of chemical bonds between polyimide and silicalite-1. Firstly polyimide chains were endcapped by this agent which subsequently enabled their reaction with groups naturally present on silicalite-1 surface. Membranes with silicalite-1 content up to 60 wt. % were prepared and characterized by SEM, light microscopy and permeation of gases, prevailingly of He. The accessibility of sililicalite-1 pores prior to embedding and after embedding into polymeric matrices was studied by an iodine indicator technique. The permeability of membranes for gases was measured using a semi-open permeation apparatus with a small volume. Helium permeability depended on filler content and increased monotonously with the increasing content of filler. There were, however, significant deviations of the permeability dependences on filler content from shapes predicted by Bruggeman’s model. The qualitative explanation of the data disagreement with the model was proposed based on a stratification of mixed matrix membranes found by SEM

Pathway-specific effects of ADSL deficiency on neurodevelopment

Adenylosuccinate lyase (ADSL) functions in de novo purine synthesis (DNPS) and the purine nucleotide cycle. ADSL deficiency (ADSLD) causes numerous neurodevelopmental pathologies, including microcephaly and autism spectrum disorder. ADSLD patients have normal serum purine nucleotide levels but exhibit accumulation of dephosphorylated ADSL substrates, S-Ado, and SAICAr, the latter being implicated in neurotoxic effects through unknown mechanisms. We examined the phenotypic effects of ADSL depletion in human cells and their relation to phenotypic outcomes. Using specific interventions to compensate for reduced purine levels or modulate SAICAr accumulation, we found that diminished AMP levels resulted in increased DNA damage signaling and cell cycle delays, while primary ciliogenesis was impaired specifically by loss of ADSL or administration of SAICAr. ADSL-deficient chicken and zebrafish embryos displayed impaired neurogenesis and microcephaly. Neuroprogenitor attrition in zebrafish embryos was rescued by pharmacological inhibition of DNPS, but not increased nucleotide concentration. Zebrafish also displayed phenotypes commonly linked to ciliopathies. Our results suggest that both reduced purine levels and impaired DNPS contribute to neurodevelopmental pathology in ADSLD and that defective ciliogenesis may influence the ADSLD phenotypic spectrum.ID was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 754510, THS, JL, and SP were funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU; PGC2018-095616-B-I00 to THS, PGC2018-099562-B-I00 to JL, and BFU2017-83562-P to SP), the 2017 SGR 1089 (AGAUR), FEDER, the Centres of Excellence Severo Ochoa award, and the CERCA Programme. THS was supported by the NIH Intramural Research Program, National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research. MP was funded by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG PH144/4-1 and PH144/6-1). MZ, OS, and VS were supported by Charles University, program PROGRES Q26/LF1. We would like to thank Biocev, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, for the opportunity to use their department’s equipment

Homosexuality - Deviation, or Norm

Studium humanitní vzdělanosti - Společenskovědní modulLiberal Arts and Humanities - Social Sciences ModuleFaculty of HumanitiesFakulta humanitních studi

Specifics of Entrepreneurial Environment of China Considering the Cultural Differences

The first chapter describes basic information about the Republic of China, about its evolution, history, geography and the influence of the population growth to redistribution. The second part discusses a question of entrepreneurial environment and its segmentation. It focuses on the social-cultural area, where it analyzes cultural dimensions according to Geert Hofstede's analysis, and particularly meaning of the economic area, which includes the view of China in the context of the world economics as well as the picture of China in the world economic crisis. In the last chapter are mentioned Czech companies that expand to the Chinese market and there is illustrated entire perspective in the area of international relations and international business between the Czech Republic and the Republic of China

Changes in Hormone Levels in Female Basketball Players and Their Relationship with Emotional state and Efficiency

Překládaná práce se soustředí na ženskou kompetici u basketbalistek hrajících nejvyšší soutěž České basketbalové federace. Hormonálními reakcemi na prohru a výhru se zabývala již řada studií, většina z nich však byla prováděna zejména na mužích. Našeho výzkumu se zúčastnilo 29 hráček, u kterých byly na základě slinných vzorků určeny hladiny testosteronu a kortizolu ve třech fázích sběru: bazální stav, před utkáním a po utkání. Ve všech fázích sběru bylo zároveň zjišťováno emocionální naladění respondentek. Po utkání hráčky vyplnily dotazník týkající se jejich subjektivního hodnocení výsledku utkání. Zároveň byly využity statistické záznamy z jednotlivých utkání, které vypovídaly o objektivní užitečnosti hráček. Veškeré výše zmíněné proměnné byly zkoumány ve vztahu k hladinám testosteronu a kortizolu. Výsledky odhalily, že hladiny kortizolu reagují na výsledek soutěže, kdy u prohraných hráček dochází po utkání k signifikantnímu zvýšení hladiny tohoto stresového hormonu. U vítězek dochází pouze k mírnému nárůstu hladiny kortizolu. Hladiny testosteronu nijak nereagovaly na výsledek soutěže. Bylo však zjištěno, že hráčky vítězného týmu měly celkově ve všech fázích měření vyšší hladiny testosteronu než jejich soupeřky. Rozdíl mezi vítězkami a prohranými hráčkami však nebyl ani v jednom případě signifikantní. Po...This thesis focuses on women's competition in female basketball players and their hormonal responses to winning and losing. We tested saliva samples of 29 female players for testosterone and cortisol which were collected in three phases: baseline samples, pregame samples and after game samples. In every collection phase we also inquired about the emotional state of mind of the respondents. Players completed a survey examining their subjective evaluation of the match result. We also used statistical data from every match, which provided an objective evidence on the players' usefulness. All the aforementioned variables were examined in relation to the testosterone and cortisol levels. The results have revealed that the cortisol levels are responsive to the match results, whereas the losing players display a significant rise of the stress hormone level after the match. The winners display only a slight increase in the cortisol levels. Testosterone levels did not prove to react to the match results. However, it was discovered that the winners exhibited higher levels of testosterone in all collection phases than their competitors. Nevertheless, the difference between the winners and the losers was not significant in any of the cases. The winners felt more positive after the match than the losers. The correlation...Department of General AnthropologyKatedra obecné antropologieFakulta humanitních studiíFaculty of Humanitie