The Czechs: Jobs and Work

The Czech population attaches great importance to work in their lives, both as a source of income & as a sphere in which to realize their human potential. A factor analysis of work aspects identified three general factors in the aspects of work: an 'instrumental & trade-off' factor (good pay & good job security; generous holidays, good working hours & not too much pressure; pleasant people to work with & good working conditions); a 'social factor' (an interesting, useful job, responsible job, & respected job & meeting interesting people); & a 'self-fulfillment' factor (chances for promotion, possibility of achievement, opportunity to use initiative, opportunity to use one's abilities). The importance attached to individual work aspects differs among members of individual social classes, as well as between men & women within these classes

Public Opinion Research Data on the Entry of the Czech Republic into NATO

(Author's Note: This article was written in 1998, before the Czech Republic was formally accepted as a member of NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] in Mar 1999.) Analyzes results of public opinion polls examining attitudes toward NATO among the Czech population. Support for & opposition to NATO entry closely corresponds to the political orientation of respondents, dividing Right & Left. This distinguishes the Czech Republic from Poland, where support for the country's application for NATO membership comes also from a substantial proportion of Left-oriented voters. Those against Czech membership include not only individuals with a leftist orientation, but also nationalists. This analysis of public opinion research data attempts to identify how responses to questions about the consequences of NATO entry can sort people (whose attitude toward NATO is not known) into groups of supporters & opponents of the Czech Republic joining NATO

Social Exclusion and Forms of Social Capital: Czech Evidence on Mutual Links

In this article the authors investigate the relevance of social capital to the economic and social inclusion of economically disadvantaged people. The analysis is based on data from a survey conducted on a special kind of sample, which is homogenous in one dimension of economic exclusion (income disadvantage), enabling a more in-depth study of how strongly this dimension of exclusion is associated with other dimensions of economic and social exclusion and how various forms and patterns of social capital influence economic and social inclusion (in these dimensions). The results of the analysis confirm that individual forms of social capital often play distinct and mutually independent roles. The analysis also reaffirmed findings that informal social capital is more important in the post-communist Czech Republic than formal capital and that the level of formal social participation and trust is quite low even in this specific population. All forms of social capital (distinguished here in terms of Woolcock's typology) have proven to be substantially associated with a degree of material deprivation; with informal networks showing the strongest correlation. Although these networks provide some protection against social exclusion, they are not a reliable buffer, since people of lower economic and social status have limited access to 'quality' social networks, and other forms of social capital are often absent

Anatomy of the Czech Labour Market:From Over-Employment to Under-Employment in Ten Years?

In this volume we investigate the macroeconomic aspects of labour market behaviour and its microfoundations. In the first part we deal with aggregate labour market trends and issues relevant to macroeconomic policy. The second part analyses in more detail labour flexibility, namely labour market flows, long-term unemployment and labour force deprivation. The third part addresses wage flexibility and relative wages, with special attention paid to regional unemployment elasticity of wages and returns to education. Worsening labour market performance can be seen especially in a rising NAIRU, declining labour mobility, labour deprivation due to long-term unemployment, skill mismatch and emerging signs of inflexibility in wage structures. Our conclusions are of use for both macroeconomic and labour market policies, signalling, among other messages, limitations on potential output growth stemming from deteriorated labour market performance and a need for institutional and structural changes rather than counter-cyclical policies to solve the unemployment problem in the Czech Republic.Employment, labour flows, labour force marginalisation, NAIRU, returns to education, unemployment, wage curve, wage differentials, wage inflation.

Uporaba voltmetrije za određivanje tiola i metalotioneina male molekularne mase u krvi svinje (Sus scrofa domestica)

Metallothioneins (MT) play a key role in maintaining the homeostasis of essential metals and in protecting of cells against metal toxicity as well as cell oxidative damaging. The aim of this work is to propose a new approach for processing a biological sample for analysis of thiols including metallothioneins. Moreover, the proposed procedure is tested on quantification of MT and total thiol content in blood serum of pig (Sus scrofa domestica), which has not been previously been performed. The blood serum (10 ml) was collected and transferred to 0.2 M phosphate buffer (990 ml). The sample (100 × diluted) was placed in a thermomixer, where heat denaturation of most of the proteins proceeded. The processed blood serum sample was electrochemically measured to determine total content of thiols (cysteine, glutathione, metallothionein and other low molecular thermostable thiols) and content of MT. The average level of the thiols and MT were estimated as 165 ± 20 mM and 5.2 ± 0.6 mM, respectively.Metalotioneini (MT) igraju ključnu ulogu u održavanju homeostaze esencijalnih metala i u zaštiti od toksičnih metala te od oštećivanja stanice oksidacijom. Cilj ovog rada je predložiti novi pristup obradi bioloških uzoraka za analizu tiola, uključujući metalotioneine. Osim toga, predloženi postupak se testira pri kvantifikaciji MT i ukupnog sadržaja tiola u krvnom serumu svinje (Sus scrofa domestica), što se dosad nije radilo. Prikupljan je krvni serum (10 ml) te prebacivan u 0.2 M fosfatni pufer (990 ml). Uzorak (100 × razrijeđen) je stavljen u termomikser gdje se nastavila toplinska denaturacija većine proteina. Obrađeni uzorak seruma je elektrokemijski izmjeren da bi se odredio ukupni sadržaj tiola (cistein, glutation, metalotionein i drugi termostabilni tioli male molekularne mase) te sadržaj MT. Prosječna razina tiola i MT su procijenjeni na 165 ± 20 mM, odnosno 5.2 ± 0.6 mM

Azimuthal anisotropy of charged jet production in root s(NN)=2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions

We present measurements of the azimuthal dependence of charged jet production in central and semi-central root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions with respect to the second harmonic event plane, quantified as nu(ch)(2) (jet). Jet finding is performed employing the anti-k(T) algorithm with a resolution parameter R = 0.2 using charged tracks from the ALICE tracking system. The contribution of the azimuthal anisotropy of the underlying event is taken into account event-by-event. The remaining (statistical) region-to-region fluctuations are removed on an ensemble basis by unfolding the jet spectra for different event plane orientations independently. Significant non-zero nu(ch)(2) (jet) is observed in semi-central collisions (30-50% centrality) for 20 <p(T)(ch) (jet) <90 GeV/c. The azimuthal dependence of the charged jet production is similar to the dependence observed for jets comprising both charged and neutral fragments, and compatible with measurements of the nu(2) of single charged particles at high p(T). Good agreement between the data and predictions from JEWEL, an event generator simulating parton shower evolution in the presence of a dense QCD medium, is found in semi-central collisions. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewe

Production of He-4 and (4) in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV at the LHC

Results on the production of He-4 and (4) nuclei in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S = 2.76 TeV in the rapidity range vertical bar y vertical bar <1, using the ALICE detector, are presented in this paper. The rapidity densities corresponding to 0-10% central events are found to be dN/dy4(He) = (0.8 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) x 10(-6) and dN/dy4 = (1.1 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.2 (syst)) x 10(-6), respectively. This is in agreement with the statistical thermal model expectation assuming the same chemical freeze-out temperature (T-chem = 156 MeV) as for light hadrons. The measured ratio of (4)/He-4 is 1.4 +/- 0.8 (stat) +/- 0.5 (syst). (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

Forward-central two-particle correlations in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV

Two-particle angular correlations between trigger particles in the forward pseudorapidity range (2.5 2GeV/c. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B. V.Peer reviewe