Who Are the Czech Materialists, Post-Materialists, and Those Who Are 'Mixed', and How Do They Differ in Their Opinions and Attitudes on Selected - Primarily Political - Subjects

Research carried out over the last 30 years in many countries shows that there exists a relationship between postmaterialist values & a wide spectrum of social issues, from protection of the environment at one end to voting behavior at the other. The aim of this article is to verify whether the observed relationships in selected, primarily political, issues are valid in the case of the Czech Republic. Data have been drawn from the 1991 & 1999 European Value Study, which provide us with the opportunity to trace changes over time. Among the issues studied here are xenophobia & ethnocentrism, relationships to the environment, voting behavior, freedom, equality, & a just society

The Early Parliamentary Elections of 1998: An Analysis of Voting Behavior in Comparison to the Parliamentary Election of 1996

Describes the voting behavior of various social & demographic groups of Czech voters in the early general election in 1998, comparing the electorates of the Left & non-Left as well as the electorates of particular left-wing parties (CSSD & KSCM) & non-left-wing parties (ODS, US, KDU-CSL). Also examined are similarities & dissimilarities of ODS & CSSD voters & changes in voting behavior between the 1996 & 1998 general elections. A profile is presented of a typical voter of each of the parliamentary parties

Subjective Mobility after 1989: Do People Feel a Social and Economic Improvement or Relative Deprivation?

Subjective judgments of social & economic mobility in Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, & the Czech Republic are investigated in an analysis of data gathered by the international comparative study, Social Stratification in Eastern Europe after 1989. It is found that in all 6 countries, a sense of improved social position is correlated with social characteristics such as a lower age group & higher level education & profession, while a sense of declining social position is linked with the inverse of these characteristics. However, the sense of social deprivation does seem to be less in the Czech Republic than in other countries; factors contributing to this are identified

Transition to University under Communism and after Its Demise. The Role of Socio-Economic Background in the Transition between Secondary and Tertiary Education in the Czech Republic 1948-1998

The aim of this study is to assess the most recent trend in inequality in access to tertiary education in the Czech Republic. The authors put forward the hypothesis claiming that the period of stable inequalities in the years 1948-1989 was followed by a period of growing inequalities during the postcommunist transformation (1989-1999). The study focuses primarily on the cultural & socioeconomic (class) dimensions of social origin & gender & their net effect on success in the transition between secondary & tertiary education. Theoretically, the paper draws primarily on the work of Raftery & Hout (1996) & Hanley & McKeever (1997), who claim that the chances of attaining higher education among individuals from families with a low social status can only increase on the condition that the demand for the given level of education has first of all been satiated among all the strata disposing of social & cultural capital. Another important theory they build on is the theory of rational action proposed by John Goldthorpe & Richard Breen (Goldthorpe 1996; Breen & Goldthorpe 1997). The principal hypothesis (inequality has grown) is tested using log-linear analysis applied on the data from various surveys carried out during 1998-2000, merged into one data set. The authors construct several models of the influence of social origin on the chances of making a successful transition between secondary & tertiary education in the years 1948-1999. The initial hypothesis of the growing effect of class origin on this transition in the period after 1989 has been confirmed. One of the strongest explanations for this trend is the insufficient expansion of the tertiary sector of education, which is incapable of satisfying the continually growing aspiration & corresponding demand for higher education in circumstances where socioeconomic inequalities are on the rise

Executive Processes, Access to the Lexicon and Visuospatial Agenda in Dyslexic, ADHD and Comorbid Schoolchildren

Ponencia presentada en el XVI Congreso Internacional Gallego-Português de Psicopedagogía, realizado en la Universidade do Minho, en Braga (Portugal), los dias 1 a 3 de septiembre de 2021, con el patrocinio de la Associación Científica Internacional de Psicopedagogía (ACIP)[Resumen] La lectura requiere activar habilidades a nivel de palabra, de texto y procesos cognitivos como la Memoria Operativa. La Memoria de Trabajo está formada por el componente verbal y el visoespacial los cuales actúan como dos sistemas bajo la orden del ejecutivo central que asigna recursos atencionales. En consonancia con la teoría magnocelular los alumnos con dislexia presentan deficiencias en muchos de los mismos dominios que los alumnos con TDAH, incluyendo el tiempo de latencia, atención, memoria de trabajo auditiva y memoria de trabajo visoespacial. El objetivo principal del presente estudio es comparar el desempeño de los escolares con TDAH y Dislexia en las pruebas léxicas y visoespaciales y la influencia de la amplitud de la Memoria Operativa. En el estudio participaron 80 escolares distribuidos en cuatro grupos de 20 sujetos (10 con alta amplitud de MO y 10 con baja amplitud de MO). Se compararon grupos con TDAH, Dislexia, TDAH + Dislexia y grupo de Control. En las pruebas léxicas y visoespaciales los grupos experimentales resultaron ser menos eficaces y eficientes que el grupo de Control. El grupo TDAH obtuvo el peor desempeño en la prueba visoespacial en comparación con resto de los grupos. El grupo Combinado resultó ser el menos eficaz y eficiente de los grupos experimentales en las tareas de acceso al léxico. La amplitud de Memoria Operativa influyó de manera clara en los datos de eficacia de todos los grupos experimentales, pero no así́ en la eficiencia.[Abstract] Competent reading is based on the activation of skills at the level of word, text and cognitive processes such as Operating Memory. The Working Memory is formed by the verbal component and the visuospatial component that act as two systems under the order of the central executive that assigns attention resources. Consistent with magnocellular theory, students with dyslexia are deficient in many of the same domains as students with ADHD, including latency time, attention, auditory working memory, and visuospatial working memory. The main objective of this study is to compare the performance of schoolchildren with ADHD and Dyslexia on lexical and visuospatial tests and the influence of the range of Working Memory. Eighty schoolchildren, divided into four groups of 20 subjects (10 with high OM amplitude and 10 with low OM amplitude) participated in the study. Groups with ADHD, Dyslexia, ADHD + Dyslexia and Control group were compared. In the lexical and visuospatial tests the experimental groups turned out to be less effective and efficient than the Control group. The ADHD group obtained the worst performance in the visuospatial test compared to the rest of the groups. The Combined group turned out to be the least effective and efficient of the experimental groups in the tasks of access to the lexicon. The amplitude of the Operating Memory clearly influences the efficacy data of all the experimental groups, but not the efficiency

Discovery of a Pederin Family Compound in a Nonsymbiotic Bloom-Forming Cyanobacterium

The pederin family includes a number of bioactive compounds isolated from symbiotic organisms of diverse evolutionary origin. Pederin is linked to beetle-induced dermatitis in humans, and pederin family members possess potent antitumor activity caused by selective inhibition of the eukaryotic ribosome. Their biosynthesis is accomplished by a polyketide/nonribosomal peptide synthetase machinery employing an unusual trans-acyltransferase mechanism. Here, we report a novel pederin type compound, cusperin, from the free-living cyanobacterium Cuspidothrix issatschenkoi (earlier Aphanizomenon). The chemical structure of cusperin is similar to that of nosperin recently isolated from the lichen cyanobiont Nostoc sharing the tehrahydropyran moiety and major part of the linear backbone. However, the cusperin molecule is extended by a glycine residue and lacks one hydroxyl substituent. Pederins were previously thought to be exclusive to symbiotic relationships. However, C. issatschenkoi is a nonsymbiotic planktonic organism and a frequent component of toxic water blooms. Cusperin is devoid of the cytotoxic activity reported for other pederin family members. Hence, our findings raise questions about the role of pederin analogues in cyanobacteria and broaden the knowledge of ecological distribution of this group of polyketides.Peer reviewe

The proposal of a GSSP for the Berriasian Stage (Cretaceous System): Part 1.

Here in the first part of this publication we discuss the possibilities for the selection of a GSSP for the Berriasian Stage of the Cretaceous System, based on the established methods for correlation in the Tithonian/Berriasian interval. This will be followed, in the second part, by an account of the stratigraphic evidence that justifies the locality of Tré Maroua (Hautes-Alpes, SE France) as the proposed GSSP. Here we discuss the possibilities for correlation in the historical J/K boundary interval, and the evolution of thinking on the positioning of the boundary over recent generations, and in relation to research in the last ten years. The Tithonian/Berriasian boundary level is accepted as occurring within magnetosubzone M19n.2n. The detailed distribution of calpionellids has been recorded at numerous sites, tied to magnetostratigraphy, and the base of the calpionellid Alpina Zone is taken to define the base of the Berriasian Stage. This is at a level just below the distinctive reversed magnetic subzone M19n.1r (the so-called Brodno reversal). We discuss a wide range of magnetostratigraphic and biostratigraphic data from key localities globally, in the type Berriasian areas of France and wider regions (Le Chouet, Saint Bertrand, Puerto Escaño, Rio Argos, Bosso, Brodno, Kurovice, Theodosia etc.). The characteristic datums that typify the J/K boundary interval in Tethys and its extensions are detailed, and the correlative viability of various fossil groups is discussed. The boundary level is correlated to well-known J/K sections globally, and a series of secondary markers and proxies are indicated which assist wider correlation. Particularly significant are the primary basal Berriasian marker, the base of the Alpina Subzone (marked by dominance of small Calpionella alpina, Crassicollaria parvula and Tintinopsella carpathica) and secondary markers bracketing the base of the Calpionella Zone, notably the FOs of the calcareous nannofossil species Nannoconus wintereri (just below the boundary) and the FO of Nannoconus steinmannii minor (just above). Notable proxies for the boundary are: 1) the base of the Arctoteuthis tehamaensis Zone in boreal and subboreal regions, 2) the dated base of the Alpina Subzone at 140.22 ± 0.14 Ma, which also gives a precise age estimate for the system boundary; and 3) the base of radiolarian “unitary zone” 14, which is situated just above the base of the Alpina Subzone