Approaching the socialist factory and its workforce: considerations from fieldwork in (former) Yugoslavia

The socialist factory, as the ‘incubator’ of the new socialist (wo)man, is a productive entry point for the study of socialist modernization and its contradictions. By outlining some theoretical and methodological insights gathered through field-research in factories in former Yugoslavia, we seek to connect the state of labour history in the Balkans to recent breakthroughs made by labour historians of other socialist countries. The first part of this article sketches some of the specificities of the Yugoslav self-managed factory and its heterogeneous workforce. It presents the ambiguous relationship between workers and the factory and demonstrates the variety of life trajectories for workers in Yugoslav state-socialism (from model communists to alienated workers). The second part engages with the available sources for conducting research inside and outside the factory advocating an approach which combines factory and local archives, print media and oral history

Animal factors affecting fatty acid composition of cow milk fat: A review

The review summarizes literature dealing with the effects of animal factors (breed, cow individuality, parity and stage of lactation) on fatty acid (FA) composition of milk fat. Genetic parameters affecting the composition of the FAs in milk are reviewed and the possibilities for altering milk fat composition are discussed. Cow individuality and the stage of lactation appear to be the main animal factors affecting milk fat composition. Breed and parity affect the variability in FA composition to a limited extent. Some of these factors can be used effectively to alter milk fat composition. Polymorphism of the enzymes, stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) and acyl-CoA-diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) can explain to some extent the variability among cows. The great individual differences, probably given by varying SCD activities, may be used in breeding programmes, supported by the heritability estimates determined for individual FAs. Effective results can also be achieved through the combined effect of several factors. For instance, the level of conjugated linoleic acid could be increased not only by feed factors, but also through thorough knowledge of rumen biohydrogenation or by cow selection using information on SCD and DGAT polymorphism. The animal factors that are discussed are closely related to milk yield, particularly fat content. Both parameters can change FA composition. Thus, it is necessary in breeding programmes to take these relationships into consideration, along with known genetic correlations.Keywords: Breed, genetic correlations, heritability, milk and fat yield, parity, single nucleotide polymorphism, stage of lactatio

Intramyocellular lipid quantification from 1H long echo time spectra at 1.5 and 3 T by means of the LCModel technique

PURPOSE: To introduce a method of independent determination of CH2 and CH3 components of intramyocellular lipids (IMCLs) by using long TE for spectra measurement and LCModel for spectra evaluation, to test this technique in controls and insulin-resistant subjects, and to compare results at 1.5 and 3 T. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eight healthy volunteers and 11 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus underwent measurement using a 1.5-T MR scanner; six healthy volunteers were measured using a 3-T MR scanner. Spectra from the tibialis anterior muscle were acquired by using a point resolved spectroscopy (PRESS) sequence with the following parameters: TR/TE/ACQ = 2000 msec/270 msec/256. Spectra were processed by LCModel 6.1 software with two types of adopted basis-set. RESULTS: Spectra with good separation of both CH2 and CH3 components of IMCL and extramyocellular lipids (EMCLs) were obtained and the LCModel routine was successfully applied. The reproducibility comparison (N= 7 at 1.5 T vs. N = 5 at 3 T) showed that better results can be obtained at higher B0 values. The comparison of the healthy and insulin-resistant subjects proved that both IMCL_CH2/Cr and IMCL_CH3/Cr ratios significantly differ. CONCLUSION: Long TE spectroscopy of the human muscle with IMCL quantification using the LCModel technique can detect changes in IMCL levels as well as help in the study of fatty acyl chain composition. Using a higher field strength increased the intra-individual reproducibility by approximately 150%

The poverty business; landlords, illicit practices and reproduction of disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Czechia

This paper is guided by the question: How do illicit practices of organized groups contribute to the formation and reproduction of disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Czechia? By asking this question we depart from the dominant understanding of disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the study of organized crime. Instead of seeing them as “breeding grounds of organized crime”, it is explored how regular neighbourhoods can decline as a result of illicit practices carried out by certain organized groups. The context of the paper is the so-called “poverty business”, which refers to the renting of overpriced, substandard housing, financed considerably using housing benefits and thus exploiting the housing need of vulnerable social groups, namely Roma. Using the literature on Roma marginalization and illicit housing practices, an analytical framework that consists of the concepts of speculation, exploitation and liquidation is created and applied to two cases of disadvantaged neighbourhoods: “the Hostel” in Brno and “the Neighbourhood” in Litvínov. In conclusion, the adequacy of the organized crime perspective is critically discussed and the need for further research articulated