Dr. Petr Jehlička, Snr Lecturer in Environmental Geography at the Open University in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, points out that some twenty-five years after the end of socialism, between one and two thirds of the East European middle classes still continue to grow some of the food consumed in their households - mostly not for economic reasons but primarily as their hobby. Nevertheless, social sciences in the West and a considerable part of scientific literature on home gardening in the global North continue to view this informal food production in Eastern Europe as an activity of mainly disadvantaged segments of society. He argues, moreover, that concepts generated in the Western context, where this activity is only marginal, are considered as universal knowledge, while data gathered in Eastern Europe, where household food production is dominant, are viewed as marginal and less interesting. He also describes ways in which Eastern Europe can contribute to broad international debates about this issue and various other topics in social sciences. and Jana Olivová.
The Seventh Conference of the Czech Neuroscience Society together with the First Conference of the Slovak Society for Neuroscience was jointly convened in Prague November 1-4, 2009. The conference was held in conjunction with 7th International Stem School in Regenerative Medicine, which offered Ph.D. students and young researchers the opportunity to discuss with prominent scientists in the field of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine stands at the forefront of current medical research as scientists seek to better understand regenerative abilities of our cells and tissues and to use these abilities to enable the rescue and repair of damaged tissue resulting from injury or disease. and Luděk Svoboda.
We feature and interview with Professor Curt Rice, who is an American-born Norwegian linguist and the rector of Oslo and Akershus College. He is the first rector of his institution who was not elected; he began his rectorship on August 1, 2015. Professor Rice promotes gender equality, open access and other issues related to leadership in higher education. He will be the key speaker at the 4th national conference on gender and science, which is to take place on June 22, 2016. The conference is organized by the Centre for Gender and Science of the Isntitute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. and Naďa Straková.
Creating a scientific and educational forum for students, scientists and other professionals to learn about, to share, to contribute to, and to advance the state of knowledge in its field of science is the aim of the Organization for Computational Neuroscience, which staged its annual meeting in Prague in July 18-23, 2015, co-organized by the CAS Institute of Physiology and the Charles University. Keynote speakers at the CNS 2015 Prague: Jack Cowan, Wulfram Gerstner and its president Astrid Prinz gave interviews to the Academic Bulletin, in which they highlighted the both the new findings and main open questions in computational neuroscience. This field combines mathematical analyses and computer simulations with experimental neuroscience to develop a principled understanding of the workings of the nervous systems and apply it in a wide range of technologies. Increasingly studies emphasize the circuitry and network function in the brain. Investigations are focused on the changes of the functional and anatomical features in a healthy brain as compared to dysfunctional brain states; thus, studies of the healthy brain provide insights into brain dysfunction, while observations of dysfunctional brain states give clues to normal brain functioning. This workshop explored computation in both the healthy and dysfunctional brain to uncover what each state might reveal about the other. and Jana Olivová.
Small molecules that regulate the cell division cycle are a joint research project of the CAS Institute of Experimental Botany and Palacký University’s Faculty of Science. An interview with Professor Miroslav Strnad, head of the Laboratory of Growth Regulations, describes the significance of this joint project. The laboratory concentrates its research on small molecules that regulate cell division cycle, proliferation and growth of both plant and animal cells. Cytokinins and cytokinin-derived purine inhibitors of cyclindependent kinases are the most intensively studied compounds. The multidisciplinary research team is composed of experienced plant physiologists, biochemists and organic and analytical chemists. Many students are involved in the research phase during their pre-graduate and postgraduate studies in botany, analytical and organic chemistry, biochemistry or medicinal biology. Several research projects are in progress in collaboration with international partners (University of Berlin; Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; University of Natal Pietermaritzburg, South Africa and the Vienna Medical University. and Marina Hužvárová.