The function of adult neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus is not yet completely understood, though many competing theories have attempted to explain the function of these newly -generated neurons. Most theories give adult neurogenesis a role in aiding known hippocampal/dentate gyrus functions. Other theories offer a novel role for these new cells based on their unique physiological qualities, such as their low excitability threshold. Many behavioral tests have been used to test these theories, but results have been inconsistent and often contradictory. Substantial variability in tests and protocols may be at least partially responsible for the mixed results. On the other hand, conflicting results arising from the same tests can serve as aids in elucidating the function of adult neurogenesis. Here, we offer a hypothesis that considers the cognitive nature of tasks commonly used to assess the function of adult neurogenesis, and introduce a dichotomy between tasks focused on discrimination vs. generalization. We view these two aspects as opposite ends of the continuous spectrum onto which traditional tests can be mapped. We propose that high neurogenesis favors behavioral discrimination while low adult neurogenesis favors behavioral generalization of a knowledge or rule. Since many tasks require both, the effects of neurogenesis could be cancelled out in many cases. Although speculative, we hope that our view presents an interesting and testable hypothesis of the effect of adult neurogenesis in traditional behavioral tasks. We conclude that new, carefully designed behavioral tests may be necessary to reach a final consensus on the role of adult neurogenesis in behavior., A. Pistikova, H. Brozka, A. Stuchlik., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Cílem výzkumu bylo zjistit současný stav diskriminace na základě sexuální orientace v České republice. K výzkumu byla použitá modifikovaná verze dotazníku, který již u nás použili Procházka, Janík a Hromada (2003). Dotazník má celkem 64 položek, z nichž jedna třetina je tvořena otevřenými otázkami. V kvantitativní části výzkumu jsem analyzovala data od 496 respondentů, z toho 150 lesbických žen, 289 gay mužů, 33 bisexuálních žen a 24 bisexuálních mužů. Bylo zjištěno, že rozsah diskriminace na základě sexuální orientace se v posledních letech příliš nezměnil, přičemž zkušenost s diskriminací či obtěžováním uvedlo 56 % respondentů (n=279). V několika zkoumaných oblastech se ukázalo, že s diskriminací se signifikantně více setkávají respondenti mužského pohlaví, zatímco mezi homosexuálními a bisexuálními respondenty nebyl v oblasti diskriminace shledán žádný statisticky významný rozdíl. V rámci studie byla v České republice poprvé zkoumána prevalence obtěžování na základě sexuální orientace v českých školách. Ukázalo se, že více než třetina respondentů, kteří v posledních letech navštěvovali střední školu, se stalo obětí obtěžování či diskriminace z důvodu své sexuální orientace. and The aim of this research was to explore the contemporary situation of discrimination based on sexual orientation in the Czech Republic. I used modified version of the questionnaire first used in the Czech Republic by Procházka, Janík, and Hromada (2003). The questionnaire has 64 items including 19 open questions. I detected that there have been no important changes in discrimination based on sexual orientation in the Czech Republic. 56 % of respondents (n=279) have experience with discrimination. In the quantitative part of the research, I analysed information given by 496 respondents, of whom 150 were lesbians, 289 gay men, 33 bisexual women and 24 bisexual men. In some areas, significantly higher rates of discrimination were reported by males, but there was no significant difference between homosexual and bisexual respondents. This study for the first time surveyed the bullying based on sexual orientation in Czech schools. I found that one third of respondents who attend secondary schools have been victims of discrimination or bullying.
Using company-level data from the Czech Republic dating from the years 1998, 2002, and 2004, the article examines whether the introduction of legislative measures aimed at gender equality in connection with the country’s accession to the European Union had significant effects on gender wage gaps. The main conclusion of the analysis is that within-job wage discrimination is a significant factor in the Czech labour market and that there were no substantive changes during the period studied. Women doing the same job in the same company earn about 10 per cent less than men in the Czech Republic. Much of the gender wage gap can be explained by horizontal and vertical gender segregation of the labour market. The lowest gender wage gaps are found in firms and groups of employees that are representative of or have strong ties to the socialist past. The article concludes with speculations about whether motherhood and the double-burden of women, combined with the lack of respect and authority accorded the path dependent legal system, results in legislative changes having little impact on practices in Czech society and in persistence gender wage discrimination., Alena Křížková, Andrew M. Penner, Trond Petersen., 3 tabulky, and Obsahuje bibliografii
The paper presents a simple box model simulating the temporal variation of atmospheric 13CO2 concentration, atmospheric CO2 mixing ratio and 13C content of plant material. The model is driven by observed meteorological and measured biosphere-atmosphere CO2 exchange data. The model was calibrated and validated using measurements from a Hungarian atmospheric monitoring station. The simulated atmospheric stable carbon isotope ratio data agreed well with the measured ratios considering both the magnitude and the seasonal dynamics. Observed deviations between the measured and simulated δ13Cair values were systematically negative in winters, while deviations were random in sign and smaller by an order of magnitude during periods when the vegetation was photosynthetically active. This difference, supported by a significant correlation between the deviation and modeled fossil fuel contributions to CO2 concentration, suggests the increased contribution of 13C-depleted fossil fuel CO2 from heating and the lower boundary layer heights during winter. and D. Hidy ... [et al.].
A field experiment involving two planting densities (83,333 and 166,666 plants per ha), two cropping systems (monoculture and mixed culture) and five cowpea [Vigna unguiculata L. (Walp.)] genotypes was conducted at Nietvoorbij (33°54S, 18°14E), Stellenbosch, South Africa, to select cowpea material with superior growth and water-use efficiency (WUE). The results showed significantly higher photosynthetic rates, stomatal conductance and transpiration in leaves of plants at low density and in monoculture due to greater chlorophyll (Chl) levels relative to those at high density and in mixed culture. As a result, C concentration in leaves and the amount of C, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, and B accumulated in shoots at low density and under monoculture were also much higher. Even though no marked differences in photosynthetic rates were found between and among the five cowpea genotypes, leaf C concentration and shoot C, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, and B contents differed considerably, with Sanzie exhibiting the highest C concentration and C, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, and B contents in shoots, followed by Bensogla and Omondaw, while ITH98-46 and TVu1509 had the lowest shoot concentration and contents of C, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, and B. WUE (calculated as photosynthate produced per unit water molecule transpired) was significantly greater in plants at low density and monoculture relative to those at high density and in mixed culture. Isotopic analysis revealed significant differences in δ13C values of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor L. (Moench.)] and cowpea, with higher δ13C values being obtained for plants at low density and in monoculture relative to those at high density or in mixed culture. The five cowpea genotypes also showed significant differences in δ13C values, with Sanzie exhibiting the most negative value (i.e. low WUE) and ITH98-46, the least negative δ13C value (i.e. high WUE). Whether measured isotopically or from gas-exchange studies, sorghum (a C4 species) exhibited much higher WUE relative to cowpea (a C3 species). Both correlation and regression analyses revealed a positive relationship between WUE from gas-exchange studies and δ13C values from isotopic analysis of cowpea and sorghum shoots. and J. H. J. R. Makoi, S. B. M. Chimphango, F. D. Dakora
Vaccination has been presented as a probable solution to the ongoing pandemic of covid-19 and as such has been applied in the domestic context, and at the moment as a voluntary vaccination. However, there are a number of legal issues and implications associated with vaccination, and the present article seeks to bring at least some of these into focus. Attention is given to the nature of vaccination as a public administration and health service measure, prioritisation in the selection of persons for vaccination, the phenomenon of refusal to vaccinate, the public administration's vaccination campaign, the issue of distinguishing between vaccinated and unvaccinated in the imposition of various restrictions (and the related issue of discrimination on this basis), the legal possibility of compulsory vaccination, the related issue of conscientious objection and, finally, liability for harm caused by covid-19 vaccination. However, given its scope, the text is certainly not in any sense comprehensive. and Očkování je označováno jako pravděpodobné řešení stále aktuální pandemie onemocnění covid-19 a jako takové je uplatňováno také v domácím kontextu, a to v současnosti jako očkování dobrovolné. S tímto očkováním však souvisí řada právních otázek a souvislostí, přičemž předložený článek usiluje o přiblížení alespoň některých z nich. Pozornost je věnována otázkám povahy očkování jako opatření veřejné správy a zdravotní služby, prioritizace při výběru osob k očkování, fenoménu odmítání očkování, očkovací kampaně veřejné správy, problematiky rozlišování mezi očkovanými a neočkovanými při ukládání různých omezení (a související otázce diskriminace na tomto základu), právní možnosti povinného očkování, navazující problematiky výhrady svědomí a konečně odpovědnosti za újmu způsobenou očkováním proti covidu-19. S ohledem na svou šíři však text jistě není jakkoli vyčerpávající.
Secondary labour markets usually involve job positions with forced flexibility and non-standard working conditions (part-time contracts, fixed-term contracts, work without a contract). They are characterized by no advancement prospects or opportunities for further education, exhausting physical work with inadequate wages and job insecurity, and a frequently long and tiring commute. The working conditions in this sector of the labour market often contribute to marginalization and then to the social exclusion of those who happen to be caught long term in this sector of the labour market instead of preventing and saving them from the risk of marginalization and social exclusion. One of the ways in which secondarization occurs is the universal introduction of part-time contracts in a particular sector of the labour market which then becomes an involuntary trap of underemployment, underpaid wage, insecurity and discrimination. The profession of cashier in foreigner retail chains is an example of such a development. This qualitative study shows the step by step degradation of the employment conditions in this sector and how the lives of women and men working in the sector have deteriorated. At the same time, the condition and status of the profession overall are declining. This phenomenon is referred to as the "secondarization" process, Marcel Tomášek, Radka Dudová., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The efficacy of morphometric characters for separating the species of the genus Aspidiotes Schoenherr, 1847, was evaluated. Thirty characters were analyzed. Multivariate and univariate analyses of variance, and discriminant function analysis, all dem onstrated that each species is morphometrically distinguishable. The lengths of rostrum, scape, onychium, pronotum, and width and length of elytra have the maximum discriminatory power. Males and females are also morphometrically distinguishable, mainly due to differences in the widths of rostrum between pterigia and at base of pronotum, and width and length of elytra. The classification functions provided by discriminant gave the correct identification of every single specimen by sex and species. Mahalanobis' distances between species were calculated and subjected to UPGMA clustering, to construct a dendrogram reflecting the morphometric relationships between species. This dendrogram did not correspond to the phylogenetic relationships depicted by a cladogram based on discrete characters (Sánchez-Ruiz & Alonso-Zarazaga, 1994). Some hypotheses are reviewed, which might explain this discrepancy.