This article examines the thoughts of Ali Abd al-Raziq, an important Egyptian scholar and author of a book called Islam and the Bases of Rule (al-Islam wa Usul al-Hukm), published in 1925. In this work, Abd al-Raziq presented fundamental arguments in support of the separation of religion and politics, which were fully supported by a very original analysis of Islam's holy text, the Quran, as well as by the historical situation of the Muslim community at the time of the Prophet Muhammad. Although the publication of this book caused a great scandal in Egypt, with its author being forced to withdraw from Egyptian public life for quite a long period of time, the arguments contained in the book represent an important contribution to the debates about the desirable degree of linkage between Islam and politics in the Muslim world., Jan Kondrys., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Academic Materials Research Laboratory of Painted Artworks (ALMA) is a joint workplace of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (AFA) and the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (IIC ASCR). This is a scientific laboratory focused on the Czech cultural heritage. Combining the branches of the natural sciences, art and the history of art, ALMA seeks to deepen the knowledge of painting materials and techniques. The knowledge acquired is integrated into a complete evaluation of painted art works by origin, age, and authenticity. The ALMA Laboratory develops instrumental materials analysis methods and interprets the results in the context of art history and history of materials technology. and Silvie Švarcová, David Hradil.
The Association for Youth, Science and Technology is a non-governmental, non-profit organization of children and youth. AMAVET brings together 3500 registered active members working in various scientific disciplines. AMAVET plays an important role in conjuction with schools and school institutions, in forming the mindset of young people through informal education, which is becoming a valuable part of a whole life education. The Committee of AMAVET has chosen the ten best student projects on May 6-7, 2008 at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. and Gabriela Adámková.
CD163 is a marker of macrophages with anti-inflammatory properties and its soluble form (sCD163) is considered a prognostic predictor of several diseases including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We explored sCD163 levels at baseline and after very low-calorie diet (VLCD) or bariatric surgery in 32 patients with obesity (20 undergoing VLCD and 12 bariatric surgery), 32 obese patients with T2DM (22 undergoing VLCD and 10 bariatric surgery), and 19 control subjects. We also assessed the changes of CD163 positive cells of monocyte-macrophage lineage in peripheral blood and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) in subset of patients. Plasma sCD163 levels were increased in obese and T2DM subjects relative to control subjects (467.2±40.2 and 513.8±37.0 vs. 334.4±24.8 ng/ml, p=0.001) and decreased after both interventions. Obesity decreased percentage of CD163+CD14+ monocytes in peripheral blood compared to controls (78.9±1.48 vs. 86.2±1.31 %, p=0.003) and bariatric surgery decreased CD163+CD14+HLA-DR+ macrophages in SAT (19.4±2.32 vs. 11.3±0.90 %, p=0.004). Our data suggest that increased basal sCD163 levels are related to obesity and its metabolic complications. On the contrary, sCD163 or CD163 positive cell changes do not precisely reflect metabolic improvements after weight loss., A. Cinkajzlová, Z. Lacinová, J. Kloučková, P. Kaválková, P. Trachta, M. Kosák, J. Krátký, M. Kasalický, K. Doležalová, M. Mráz, M. Haluzík., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The velocities of the Global Positioning System (GPS) stations are widely employed for numerous geodynamical studies. The aim of this paper is to investigate the reliability of station velocities and to draw reader’s attention that for proper estimates of velocity, we need to consider the optimal character of noise. We focus on a set of 115 European GPS stations which contributed to the newest release of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF), i.e. ITRF2014. Based on stacked Power Spectral Densities (PSDs), we show that amplitudes o f seasonal signals are significant for nine harmonics of tropical year (365.25 days) and two harmonics of draconitic year (351.60 days). The amplitudes of tropical annual signal fall between 0.1-8.4 mm and are much higher for vertical component than for horizontal. Draconitic annual signal reaches the maximum amplitudes of 1.2 and 0.9 mm for North and East, respectively, whereas is slightly higher for the Up component with a maximum of 3.1 mm. We performed a noise analysis with Maximum Like lihood Estimation (MLE) and found that stations in Central and Northern Europe are characterized by spectral index between flicker and random-walk noise, while stations in Southern and Western Europe: between white and flicker noise. Both amplitudes and spectral indices of power-law noise show a spatial correlation for Up component. We compared the uncertainties of velocities derived in this study with a combination of power-law and white noises to the ones offici ally released in the ITRF2014 with a pure white noise. A ratio of the two estimates is larger than 10 for 13 % and 30 % of stations in horizontal and vertical direction, respectively with medians of 6 and 7. The large differences support the fact that at the velocity determination the proper noise characteristic should be taken into account to avoid any mislead interpretation., Anna Klos and Janusz Bogusz., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
Water is one of the most important components of the environment, having a direct effect on the maintenance of life on the Earth. In this paper, analysis of groundwater level variations, water balance and all the parameters included in these quantities, i.e. precipitation, evapotranspiration, surface run-off and subsurface run-off, were performed in the area of the Sudety Mountains for the period of November 2002 - October 2015. The groundwater level variations were computed on the basis of the mean Terrestrial Water Storage (TWS) values determined from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) observations and Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLD AS). TWS data have been determined with a spatial resolution of one degree and temporal resolution of one month. According to the results, groundwater level variation can be approximately determined by water balance changes (with reverse sign). Specifically, for the Sudety area a high average stability of total water storage over the period of past 13 years and decline in groundwater level by about 13 cm (approximately 1 cm/year) was detected., Zofia Rzepecka, Monika Birylo, Joanna Kuczynska-Siehien, Jolanta Nastula and Katarzyna Pajak., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
High temperature alters the internal microstructure of rocks and consequently changes the physical and mechanical properties of rocks. Many studies have been carried out to examine the transformations in the microstructures of rocks under high temperature through near infrared spectroscopy (NIR), Raman spectroscopy, or thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). The current review synthesizes the data from a number of literatures and summarizes the major transformations of silica rocks under high temperature. The analysis shows that silica rocks starts to lose the water adsorbed in open pores upon heating at about 150 °C. At 200-300 °C, the reaction between SiOH (silanole) in the rocks generates new Si-O-Si bonds as well as H2O, and decreases the open pores. The rocks undergo volume expansion at >550 °C, and the volume contracts and forms new micro pores or cracks which play an important role in the evacuation of the water., Jishi Geng, Qiang Sun, Yuchun Zhang and Yuliang Zhang., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is a type of thrombotic microangiopathy, in the course of which some patients may develop chronic kidney disease (CKD). It is clinically important to investigate the markers of a poor prognosis. The levels of angiotensinogen (AGT) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) in serum and urine were evaluated. Study was conducted in 29 children with a history of HUS. Serum and urine AGT concentration was significantly higher in children after HUS as compared to the control group. No differences depending on the type of HUS and gender were noted. The serum concentration of IL-18 in children after HUS was significantly lower, whereas in urine did not differ significantly between the sick and healthy children. A negative correlation between the concentration of AGT in serum and albuminuria in patients after HUS was detected. The results indicate that the concentration of AGT in serum and urine in children after HUS increases, which may indicate the activation of the intrarenal renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. The statement, that AGT may be a good biomarker of CKD after acute kidney injury due to HUS requires prospective studies with follow-up from the acute phase of the disease on a larger group of patients. Reduced IL-18 serum concentration in children after HUS with no difference in its urine concentration may indicate a loss of the protective effects of this cytokine on renal function due to previously occurred HUS., K. Lipiec, P. Adamczyk, E. Świętochowska, K. Ziora, M. Szczepańska., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The study deals with Anglophone and francophone identities in Africa on the example of Cameroon. In contemporary Africa, though quite hidden, one may encounter two ways of how both identities come into latent or open conflict. Language policies in Africa still show an inevitable impact and heritage of colonial past when European languages entered the African linguistic, political, social and cultural arenas causing further problems expecially in multi-ethnic societies or in states which came to existence by a junctiona of two different entities. This is exactly the case of Cameroon., Jan Záhořík., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Štúdia sa kriticky zaoberá diskurzívnymi aktivitami politikov a novinárov, ktorí slúžia ako modely pre imitáciu potvrdzovania, alebo naopak oponovania negatívnym stereotypom voči Rómom. Empiricky overuje tézu, že mediálny marketing politických strán zneužíva diskriminované a marginalizované skupiny na dosahovanie straníckych cieľov. Prostredníctvom kritickej systemickej lingvistiky analyzuje významové štruktúry predvolebného bilbordu, čím odhaľuje intencie komunikácie politickej strany s verejnosťou. Postupmi kritickej diskurzívnej analýzy mediálnych textov o anti-rómskom bilborde autorky identifikujú diskurzívne pozície rozmanitých aktérov, prípadne ich argumentačné stratégie, pričom kriticky reflektujú najmä asymetriu ich mediálnej prezentácie. Popisujú Diskuze / 401 sa spôsoby, akými parlamentná strana SNS implicitne (prostredníctvom bilbordu) a explicitne (vo svojich vyjadreniach) znevažuje celú etnickú skupinu. Z analýzy vyplýva, že hoci médiá uvádzajú názory rôznych diskurzívnych aktérov, v textoch chýba prezentácia argumentov, ktoré by pomohli širokej verejnosti pochopiť, prečo dehonestácia tejto stigmatizovanej skupiny je neprijateľná. Politické zneužívanie „rómskeho problému“ novinári demaskovali, avšak nevysvetlili negatívne dôsledky falošnej etnizácie nezamestnanosti, chudoby a verejnej dehonestácie Rómov., The study deals critically with discursive activities of politics and newspapermen which serve as models for imitation of confirmation or on the contrary of opposing the negative stereotypes against Roma. The thesis that the media marketing of political parties misuses the discriminated and marginalized groups for achieving the party goals is empirically verified. The meaning structures of pre-election billboard are analyzed by the means of critical systemic linguistics and thus reveals the intentions of communication of political party with the public. The authors identify the discursive positions of diverse participants, alternatively their argumentation strategies, and critically reflect especially the asymmetry of their media presentation by procedures of critical discursive analysis of media texts about the anti-Roma billboard. The ways how the parliament party SNS implicitly (through the billboard) and explicitly (in its statements) discredit the whole ethnic group are described. From the analysis follows that although media present the opinions of different discourse participants, the texts are lacking the presentation of arguments that could help the wide public to understand why the dehonestation of this stigmatized group is unacceptable. The political misuse of „Roma problem“ was unmasked by newspapermen but the negative consequences of false ethnic attribution of unemployment, poverty, and public dehonestation of Roma were not explained., Jana Plichtová, Vlasta Paholíková., and Obsahuje seznam literatury