Art's Visual Efficacy: The Case of Anthony Forge's Abelam Corpus

This paper addresses the question of whether a general method is capable of accommodating the vast array of contexts in which art objects are studied. I propose a framework for such a general method, which is, however, limited to a specific research task: reconstructing the circumstances under which a culturally and/or temporally distant or “exotic” art object becomes interesting (or menacing) to look at. The proposed framework is applied to evaluate Anthony Forge’s essays on the visual art of the Abelam. The essays played a central role in the rekindling of anthropological interest in visual art, but they have also been subject to criticism for forcing on Abelam art Western categories that distort the role art objects play in the Abelam world. Assessing the corpus in terms of the proposed framework allows me to exemplify the main differences between a pragmatic and a semantic approach to gaining access to the efficacy of culturally or temporally distant art

The Substitution Principle Revisited

In their Anachronic Renaissance, Alexander Nagel and Christopher Wood identify two principles upon which, in fifteenth-century Europe, a work of art might establish its validity or authority: substitution and performance. It has become established wisdom that the dual schema of substitution and performance follows Hans Belting's dualism of the medieval cult of the image and the modern aesthetic system of art. This, I submit, is not just a mistake, but also prevents from evaluating one of the book's most ambitious contributions to art-historical theory on its own merits. An analysis of the structure of the claims made by Nagel and Wood brings to light that the two concepts—substitution and performance—do not play the same role as the conceptual pair of Bild and Kunst in Belting's influential work

Participatory budgeting like new element in regional and public economy

Participatory Budgeting (ve zkratce PB; překlad do češtiny: správa věcí veřejných v rukou veřejnosti) je nástroj, který umožňuje realizovat dvě základní výzvy: kontinuitu v demokracii a rozvoj aktivního podílu občanů na správě věcí veřejných. Protože se jedná o pokračující proces, občané mají regulérní pole působnosti pro zapojení se „vlády“ mezi jednotlivými volbami. Nezapomínejme, že municipální úroveň je nejbližší potřebám potřeb a přání občanů. A pokud chceme „revitalizovat“ aktivní zapojení občanů – je komunální úroveň nejvhodnějším místem. Cílem tohoto příspěvku je prezentovat nové poznatky o PB, které vychází z literatury a prezentací EU kurzů Learning Community.The Participatory Budgeting (PB) is one tool to address these two challenges, namely the continuity of democracy and the development of an active citizenship. Because it is an ongoing process, citizens have a regular venue to be engaged in between elections to address issues that concern them. Let’s not forget that the municipal level is the closest to people’s needs and wants, so if we want to revitalize civic engagement, the local level is a particularly good place to do that. The goal of this paper is to present new information about PB which is present in literature and during the EU courses – Learning Community

A Post-culturalist Aesthetics? A Commentary on Davis's 'Visuality and Vision'

A commentary on Whitney Davis's essay 'Visuality and Vision: Questions for a Post-culturalist Art History' published in the same issue of Estetika

Structural characterisation of outer membrane proteins from Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato by small-angle X-ray scattering

Forming the interface between the bacterial cell and the host, the outer membrane of Borrelia is known to play a key role in pathogenicity. Although Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato are considered to be Gram-negative, their outer membrane is unique, lacking liposaccharides and phosphatidylethanolamine. It contains a variety of glycolipids, surface exposed lipoproteins and a number of membrane-spanning β-barrels. BAPKO_0422, BB_0562 and BG_0408 are membrane proteins, theoretically predicted to form 8-stranded, membrane-spanning β-barrels. The aim of this work is to produce recombinant versions of these proteins, and determine molecular envelopes by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The β-barrel model can then be tested by comparing the experimental molecular envelope with the theoretical predictions. Three Borrelia proteins (BAPKO_0422, BB_0562 and BG_0408) were recombinantly expressed in the E. coli expression system using the pET-47 expression vector. The putative membrane proteins were purified by immobilised metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). The His tag of BAPKO_0422 was enzymatically removed to produce a native protein, and to allow for a visual comparison of the protein both with and without the His tag. SAXS data for each protein were collected and the overall shape was determined using ab initio methods. The pair-distance distribution function (P(r) function) of BAPKO_0422 with the His tag indicated a particle overlap potentially caused by the flexible 6-His tag at the N-terminus. Kratky plots of BAPKO_0422, BB_0562 and BG_0408 revealed the parabolic convergence for a folded particle. The low-resolution molecular envelopes of BAPKO_0422, BB_0562 and BG_0408 are consistent with the structure of an 8-stranded β-barrel. The filtered envelopes are in agreement with the shape and size of the E. coli homologue OmpX. The likely orientation of the protein within the outer membrane can be deduced by comparing molecular envelopes with and without the N-terminal His tag. The data suggest that BAPKO_0422, BB_0562 and BG_0408 are single-domain cylindrical-shaped molecules with no evidence of an internal pore. Several questions remain to be answered, such as the oligomeric state of BG_0408 and BAPKO_0422. The function of these 8-stranded β-barrels in the Borrelial outer membrane remains to be investigated

Information about business background like necessary condition of the effective aftercare policies

We have found much information about the accesses of the municipalities and regions to the aftercare policies. We want to trust that these results and analysis can help them to inspire for management of the public administration. They can use these results for increasing of their competition in their rivalry about the incoming investors

Recommendations, Experiences and Conclusions From Realized Aftercare Public Policies in Czech Republic

Czech Republic has become one of leading destinations for production foreign investments in Europe in last ten years. This success has been influenced by several factors including history, geography, policy development, economic and social progress transformation and also from Czech Republic’s entrance into NATO and the European Union. We must also take into account traditions, labour skills, price and labour productivity. The central and regional government initiatives (from municipalities and larger regions) can play active roles in foreign investment attraction. Local and central government agencies of western countries are sources of such new and direct investments to Czech Republic. Because of higher economic standards in these countries, they are able to invest internationally with greater ease and comfort. National entrepreneurs are also sources for economic development and new business. The goals of the public policies focused on the “aftercare†can be: - Support with development and expansion, - Assisting with problem solving during enterprise development, - Training and help with restructuring, - Support and assistance for multi-national corporations and investors with: research and development, design, setting up centres with a network of experts, mentors and shareable resources, - Support and assistance with networking (and advertising?), - Developing “clusters†which are centres concentrating on excellence within global competition and markets, - Many more. These specified activities can be realized with financial support from the Structural funds from the European budget and by current operating programmes already in place within the Czech Republic. This paper focuses on the research analysis interpretation of entrepreneur environment. This case study (or research) was held in Czech Republic in May 2005. We would like to make some recommendations (in the form of “best practisesâ€) to inspire other countries (which solve similar problems) and provide information. Attention will be given to defining recommendations and offering conclusions to the compatibility with the new “learning regions†theory.

Privatization and Increasing the Role of the Public as Current Trends in Security Provision

At present and in the medium-term perspective, the security systems of most European countries are challenged by a number of social and economic trends: demographic change and the selective withdrawal of state authority from the security sphere. This process has been accelerated by current efforts to reduce public spending. This briefing describes the approaches of several European countries in relation to the aforementioned trends, outlining the potential negative repercussions of these changes within the institutional framework of security.

THE ANALYSIS OF THE REGIONAL INNOVATION SYSTEMS – CZECH CASE

Czech Republic does not belong among the leaders, whose economies are characterized by strong focus on innovation, science and research. To make the situation gradually improved, there the strategic documents and concepts must exist and also very specific tools to influence the formulation of the field at certain levels of state. Czech Republic still 10 years create, update and proceed accordingly according to these documents. But more pronounced shift to focus on innovation and their impact on competitiveness is not clear. The paper focuses on the analysis of the strategic framework for supporting regional innovation systems, their components and support for regional actors who are capable of producing innovation and commerce them. Contribution will be based on the current situation in the Czech Republic.

Income differentiation of households in the CR

The Czech Republic has recently experienced phases of economic growth and periods of economic crisis, this fact affects the standard of living and household behaviour and affects the formation of life-style. This paper deals with the income situation of households. The main source of data is EU SILC survey from the years 2005 to 2008. The result of the enquiry and processing of primary data is information about the average income per household member, the poverty level and the number of households at risk of poverty. For the formulation of income differentiation is used Gini coefficient. Attention is paid to factors that affect income inequality (the number of household members, social group, age). Information, about the income situation of households, is amended by following indicators of material deprivation. The paper also analyses the impact of social transfers on income inequality. The analysis and subsequent solving of the problem of income inequality may be contributed with further analysis of empirical data of this type.income differentiation of households, poverty level, material deprivation, social transfers