The article sets out to compare the political culture and civic participation of populations in selected regions in the Czech Republic using data from the survey 'The Influence of Region-Specific Factors on the Formation of the Political Outlook of Voters', which was conducted by the Institute of Sociology in 2000-2002. The fundamental question it poses is whether the populations in selected regions differ in terms of their patterns of political culture and level of civic participation. Almond and Verba's classic definition of types of political culture is supplemented with one more type - alienation. This leads to four quantitative variables for defining the pattern of the population's mixed political culture. The level of civic participation is defined as the number of memberships in voluntary organisations. The results show that the pattern of political culture in the selected regions is almost identical. The regions do not even differ in terms of the amount of membership in voluntary civic organisations, that is, in the level of civic participation. The article concludes that in terms of political culture and civic participation the Czech Republic is quite homogeneous and is a suitable territorial unit for comparisons of political culture.
Polka and polkomanie in the Bohemia of the 1830' and 1840' was first a manifestation of the energy of the young dynamic bourgeoisie profiting from all features, which could help to build the national identity and finally result in the creation of the national state. The proofs of the Czech and popular origin of the polka came out at the same time. Many of them were soon considered just a speculation while others played an important role. The aim of the study is to investigate what was the particular reason why polka has always been considered a Czech national dance and what features were picked up from music and dance for building the identity or the national look. This approach involves principal questions such as: when did polka become the national symbol in Bohemia, how, for whom and why and what the concept of polka in Bohemia was when it started to be meaningful in the national movement? To answer these questions we have to look at some crucial facts which enable us to follow polka as a cultural text in different strata of the 19th century society in Bohemia and to identify its power. Polka considered as a myth has to be seen in the socio-cultural context and in ideological and political discourse. Its look of the Czech national symbol was created in symbolic level as a mental representation of the national circle of intellectuels and artists.
Based on a systematic study of Polish sociological literature produced in the period stretching between the elevation of Władysław Gomułka to the post of the Party's first secretary in October 1956 to the first free elections in Poland in June 1989, the author of this article offers an account of the main dilemmas and the varieties of pluralism in Polish sociology during the state socialist era. The author claims that, with the exception of the Stalinist period, Polish sociologists always occupied diverse positions on 'government' and 'society', but this diversity yielded to change in response to a particular time. Generally, in 1956-1989 Polish sociology was something unique in comparison with sociology in other so-called people's democracies, as it had a considerably high status in the country and in the world, including the West. The author argues that Polish sociology did not have to undergo a revolution in 1989 and make the move from Marxist to bourgeois sociology, as since 1956 (or even earlier, since 1945) it had been undergoing continuous change and constant reform (in theoretical domain and concerning its division into sub-disciplines) and maintained a consistent level of diversity in various respects.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques have been developed for the detection of microsporidian DNA in different biological samples. We used sequence data of the rRNA gene for the identification of Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Encephalitozoon intestinalis, E. cuniculi, and E. hellem in different biological samples of HIV-infected patients by PCR, Southern blot hybridization, restriction endonuclease digestion analysis, cloning, and comparative genetic sequencing. One primer pair was used for amplification of the entire small subunit (SSU)-rRNA gene of E. bieneusi, E, intestinalis, and E. hellem from samples with electron microscopy confirmed infection. The amplified 1.2 kb SSU-rRNA gene fragments were ligated into a pMOSBlue T-vector, transfected into pMOSS/ме competent cells, and were used as positive controls. Several primer pairs and hybridization probes were used to amplify and identify microsporidian DNA from different samples. Light microscopical examination of samples was performed in all patients and transmission electron microscopy was done on a subset of patient samples. DNA products were obtained from all samples with confirmed microsporidial infections. The identity of the DNA fragments was determined by Southern blot hybridization or by restriction endonuclease digestion analysis or by DNA sequencing. The results show that PCR is a reliable and sensitive indicator for the presence of microsporidian DNA in different biological samples of HIV-infected patients. PCR can be used further for species differentiation of microsporidia, even between species which cannot be differentiated by light and/or electron microscopy.
The influence of higher temperatures on the polypeptide composition of thylakoid membranes and pigment-protein complexes, as well as on some parameters of their functional activity, in both acclimated and non-acclimated young pea plants, was studied. Almost the whole set of polypeptides in thylakoid membranes as vvell as in T40 particles was preserved after heat treatment (5 h, 55 °C). During acclimation of the plants to high temperatures a reorganization of the photosynthetic apparatus took plače. In its thylakoids the oligomer/monomer ratio of the photosystem (PS) 2 light- harvesting antenna was more than 50 % higher compared to similar samples of the non-acclimated plants. After both the treatment of 5 h at 55 °C only (non-acclimated plants) and that with step-wise increasing temperatures (acclimated plants), the PSI activity was practically unchanged in all three variants, whereas the PS2 activity decreased more significantly in non-acclimated plants only.