Depoliticization, instrumentalization and legitimacy of Czech development cooperation: A case of imposed altruism?

This paper draws on James Ferguson’s concept of ‘anti-politics machine’ and Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of illusio to explore the nature of the international development cooperation programmes financed by the Czech government. It argues that its character as an ‘anti-politics machine’ turns development into a highly technical issue and dismisses essential political questions of global equity and policy coherence from the public debate. Moreover, the actors in the field of development cooperation are held in an illusio: they are required to appear as altruistic, which obscures their particular interests. This instrumentalization of development aid contributes to further isolation of the Czech development constituency and raises fundamental questions for the democratic legitimacy of development cooperation

The Strategy of Emerging Business

Import 05/08/2014Hlavním cílem této diplomové práce je stanovení strategie pro nově vznikající podnik, které budou vycházet z analýz vnitřního a vnějšího okolí podniku. Dílčím cílem je vhodné zvolení právní formy podniku jako součást volby strategie a zjištění, je-li vhodné začít podnikat ve zvolené lokalitě. K tomuto poslouží analýza PEST, Porterova, SWOT. Dále bude zpracováno dotazníkové šetření a zjistí se rizika spojená s podnikáním. Z těchto získaných dat se pak stanoví nejvhodnější strategie.The main objective of this thesis is to determine a strategy for newly established business, which will originate from analysis of internal and external environment of the business. Partial objective is to assess ideal legal form of the company as part of this strategy along with feasibility of running the business in that particular location. These three methods of analysis will be used for this task: PEST, Porter, SWOT. Questionaire survey will be conducted afterwards to point out possible risk related with running this business. Evaluating all these data will lead to determining the proper strategy.152 - Katedra podnikohospodářskávýborn

Inflation of Racism, Devaluation of the Poor and Fetishisation of the Critique

V prvním letošním čísle Mezinárodních vztahů vyšel článek Tomáše Profanta s názvem Rasizmus v rozvoji a rozvojové spolupráci. Publikování textu spustilo živou diskusi, kterou se redakce rozhodla podpořit oslovením některých dalších autorů a autorek a transformovat do podoby diskusního fóra. Jednotlivé příspěvky, které na rozdíl od Profantova článku neprocházely plnohodnotným recenzním řízením, se tak vyrovnávají s argumenty a metodologickými postupy původního textu, rozvíjejí jej a lokalizují do místních podmínek či poukazují na empirické příklady, jež jej potvrzují. Celé fórum uzavírá odpověď Tomáše Profanta na jednotlivé vznesené připomínky. Byť fórum reaguje na konkrétní článek, doufáme, že by i tato diskuse mohla přispět k širší reflexi práce s konceptem rasismu a její implikace pro politickou praxi. Věříme, že právě v tomto je tato debata v současném akademickém i politickém kontextu velmi aktuální

Influence of mycotoxins in barley monodiets on growth performance and rats liver histology

The presence of mycotoxins in animal feed cause health disorders and can also contribute to other factors such as stress, lack of nutrition, infectious agents etc. The aim of this article was to study effect of feed ration contaminated with mycotoxins on liver histology and live weight of laboratory rats. 15 pieces of laboratory rats were divided into 3 groups (A, B, C). The rats in first group (A) fed with part of 30% mycotoxin-contaminated barley, in second group (B were fed with 60% and in control group (C) were fed without mycotoxin-contaminated barley. Content of deoxynivalenol (DON) was 9634 µg/kg and content of zearalenone (ZEN) was 2192 µg/kg. Barley monodietus were given rats in all groups to induce a nutritional imbalance. The aim of this study was to monitor the effect of mycotoxins and nutritional imbalances on weight gains and liver histology. The question is, "will the presence of mycotoxins in feed dose increase negative effect of a monodiets on health status?" No significant differences were found between the observed parameters. The presence of mycotoxins did not aggravate the negative effect of the monodiets on liver histology of the experimental rats.O

Tertiary scholarship schemes as institutionalised migration of highly skilled labour: the mixed evidence of development effectiveness from the Czech Republic

Providing scholarships has become an integral part of the global higher education and so has research on its impacts. This article examines the tertiary scholarship scheme of the Czech government for providing scholarships to students from the global South as a part of its development cooperation programme with a double goal. Firstly, it examines the programme’s development effectiveness from the perspective of migration studies, and secondly, it investigates the underlying motivation factors which influence the students’ decisions on where they will stay after their studies. A survey among students and graduates of the scheme was triangulated with quantitative data obtained from official sources. The results show a mean values of 45 percent for brain gain, meaning that almost half of the graduates do return back home after their studies, yet this situation is aggravated by a significant share of brain waste. The major factors that influence students’ migration decisions were established to be economic factors, the utility of the studies and the ease or difficulty with which they can find jobs in their home countries

Isolation of branched chain aminoacids (Valine, Leucine and Arginine) using maghemite particles

In this paper, we report the optimal conditions for the isolation and preconcentration of branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) - leucine, valine and arginine from different types of matrix, such as tissue, plasma, blood, bacteria or cells. Herein, we focused on the synthesis of paramagnetic particles able to isolate and immobilize amino acids and thus preconcentrate it for subsequent analysis on ion-exchange liquid chromatography with VIS detector. We modified nanomaghemite (-Fe2O3) by multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and hyaluronic acid as the functional carriers providing excellent affinity properties. Our paramagnetic particles have potential for better isolation of BCAAs mainly from plasma or bacteria and in the future they can also be applied as a platform of delivery system

Stressful Daylight: Differences in Diel Rhythmicity Between Albino and Pigmented Fish

In laboratory experiments, variously colored strains of animals, including those with albino phenotypes, are commonly used. The melanocortin theory suggests, however, that coloration phenotypes alter animal physiology and behavior. Animals with the albino phenotype show photoreceptor degradation associated with lowered visual accuracy, escape reactions, etc., presumably accompanied by prevailing nocturnal activity and lowered aggressiveness. This assumption was tested in small groups of albino and pigmented European catfish, Silurus glanis, during the diel cycle. The frequency of agonistic interactions was observed during mutual contests for shelters, and subsequently, blood plasma, brain, gill, and liver samples were collected to evaluate stress parameters. In an experimental arena with shelters, the light/dark rhythmicity of locomotor activity and aggressiveness of the two phenotypes were comparable; the peak was observed at night, and a lower peak was observed at dawn. In an experimental stream without shelters, the peak of locomotor activity occurred at night for only the pigmented phenotype. In the evaluation of 4 antioxidants and 1 oxidative stress indicator, representing a total of 15 indices, albino fish showed significant rhythmicity for 8 indices, whereas pigmented catfish showed significant rhythmicity for 5 indices. The production of blood stress parameters with the peak during the day occurred only in albino fish. A complex model was fitted with the aim of evaluating the links between behavioral and biochemical indices. Time periodicity was modeled using a sine wave and confirmed parallel courses of agonistic interactions in the catfish groups; the peak at dawn was associated with a 4.08-fold (conf. int. 3.53–4.7) increase in such interactions. The changes in glucose and superoxide dismutase concentrations varied with phenotype, while the effects of cortisol, lactate and catalase did not. In summary, the rhythmicity of locomotor activity and changes in the aggressiveness of catfish were influenced by shelter availability, and the effect of light-induced stress was more apparent in albino fish than in pigmented conspecific fish. The results suggested that laboratory-raised animals with pigmentation patterns naturally occurring in the wild show more reasonable values during experiments than those with an albino phenotype

Maghemite particles for spermidine separation

We report the optimal conditions for the separation of spermidine from different types of samples, for example blood or cancer cells and its subsequent determination by ion-exchange liquid chromatography (IEC) with UV-VIS detector. Here in, we synthesized paramagnetic particles able to isolate and immobilize spermidine from blood of patients with cancer or cancer cells and thus preconcentrate it for analysis. Dowex surface was covered by nanomaghemite (-Fe2O3) or maghemite particles surface was modified by chitosan and sulfoxyethyl cellulose. The best separation properties showed Dowex microparticles. The paramagnetic particles can be used in the future for isolation of spermidine from real samples and diagnosis of cancer