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The geopolitical determinants of India's Central Asia strategy
Sandilya, Hrishabh ; Hnízdo, Bořivoj (advisor) ; Baar, Vladimír (referee) ; Riegl, Martin (referee)
Teze disertační práce Pracoviště: Institut politologických studií FSV UK Praha Jméno studenta: Hrishabh Sandilya Název disertační práce: The Geopolitical Determinants of India's Central Asia Strategy Školitel: prof. PhDr. Bořivoj Hnízdo, Ph.D. Oponenti: prof. RNDr. Vladimír Baar, CSc.; Mgr. Martin Riegl, Ph.D. Termín a místo obhajoby: FSV UK, 11/2015 Osnova tezí: 1. Abstract 2. Introduction 3. Research Method & Design 4. Contributions to Literature 5. Organization of Chapters 6. Conclusions 7. Selected Bibliography 8. Interviewees 1. Abstract This dissertation aims to identify the drivers and determinants of Indian strategy and policy with regard to the five post-Soviet, Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan within a geopolitical framework. Contemporary scholarship recognizes three determinants (drivers) of Indian strategy in the region - security and strategic necessity, energy diversification given Central Asia's abundant natural resources, and, economic engagement and connectivity. Using this identification as a stepping-stone, the dissertation seeks to rest the validity of these assumptions, and explore these determinants in detail. In addition, it attempts to identify other determinants of Indian strategy, and offers a conceptual framework through which...
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Stability in Autoregressive Time Series Models
Dvořák, Marek ; Prášková, Zuzana (advisor) ; Hušková, Marie (referee) ; Picek, Jan (referee)
The main subject of this thesis is a change point detection in stationary vector autoregressions. Various test statistics are proposed for the retrospective break point detection in the parameters of such models, in particular, the derivation of their asymptotic distribution under the null hypothesis of no change. Testing procedures are based on the maximum like- lihood principle and are derived under normality, nevertheless the asymptotic results are valid for broader class of distributions and involve also the models with certain form of dependence. Simulation studies document the quality of the results.
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The Christian Ashram Movement in India
Štipl, Zdeněk ; Vavroušková, Stanislava (advisor) ; Berounský, Daniel (referee) ; Strnad, Jaroslav (referee)
1 Zdeněk Štipl: The Christian Ashram Movement in India Abstract This thesis deals with the Christian Ashram Movement. The Movement represents a remarkable experiment of Christian inculturation in India, through which Christianity attempted to penetrate the cultural as well as the religious world of India. In spite of its long- lasting presence in India, approaching almost 2000 years, Christianity is still generally regarded a foreign element in the country. The story of Christian ashrams has been developing continuously throughout the 20th century and the idea of an ashram can be found in use across the various Christian denominations. First ashrams were established by the Protestant churches, especially in southern India. However, the Catholic Church got hold of the Movement in the late sixties, as a consequence of changes that were brought into the life of the Church by the Second Vatican Council. The Movement reached its peak in the seventies and eighties. At that time the number of ashrams in existence exceeded one hundred, they were found in every linguistic region of India, and the idea of a Christian ashram spread out not only to the neighbouring countries, but even across the globe. In the first chapter a brief overview of the history of Christianity in India is presented through the prism of...
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Three Essays on Post-Conflict Reintegration
Levely, Ian Vandemark ; Bauer, Michal (advisor) ; Filer, Randall (referee) ; Van Koten, Silvester (referee) ; Kovařík, Jaromír (referee)
Three Essays on Post-Conflict Reintegration Abstract This dissertation consists of three essays which explore the effects of conflict and the post- conflict reintegration process, each using a different methodology to study a different facet of these issues, including an analysis of survey data, an artefactual economic experiment conducted in the field, and an laboratory experiment. The research presented here demonstrates how these methods complement one another in contributing to our understanding of how conflict affects individuals' well-being and behavior. In the first essay, I analyze an existing data set from a survey of ex-combatants in Liberia to estimate the effect of a reintegration program for former soldiers on participants' income and employment status, using propensity score matching to account for self-selection bias. The second chapter also deals with the reintegration of ex-soldiers, but focuses on social capital, using a set of experiments, including trust and dictator games, to study the effects of forced military service for a rebel group on social capital in northern Uganda. In the third chapter, we study cooperation within and between groups in the laboratory, by modeling conflict with an inter- group Tullock rent-seeking contest, and manipulating groups' conflict history to measure...
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Effect of abiotic and biotic factors on Leishmania development in sand fly vectors
Hlaváčová, Jana ; Volf, Petr (advisor) ; Alten, Bülent (referee) ; Traub-Cseko, Yara Maria (referee)
The thesis deals with Leishmania development in sand flies focusing on factors that could affect the vectorial part of their lifecycle. First, we examined an effect of temperature on Leishmania development in sand flies since the global warming was suggested to be one of the most important factors affecting dissemination of leishmaniasis. Development of three Leishmania species were studied at two different temperatures (20 and 26řC); L. infantum in natural vectors Lutzomyia longipalpis and Phlebotomus perniciosus, and two closely related Viannia species L. braziliensis and L. peruviana in Lu. longipalpis. Leishmania peruviana thrived well only at the lower temperature tested. At the higher temperature, most of infections were lost between days 2 and 8 post feeding, i.e. time of blood-meal remnants defecation. This suggests that this Andean species is adapted to slower metabolism of vectors living at lower temperatures. On the other hand, L. infantum and L. braziliensis successfully developed in sand flies at both temperatures tested, which might be substantial for their further spread to new areas. Next, an impact of gregarine Psychodiella sergenti on L. tropica in Phlebotomus sergenti was studied. Gregarines are commonly found in sand flies, and in mosquitoes, they can affect development of other...
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Regulation of leukocyte signal transduction by adapter proteins with special focus on Csk anchoring proteins
Drobek, Aleš ; Brdička, Tomáš (advisor) ; Brábek, Jan (referee) ; Vomastek, Tomáš (referee)
Signaling through leukocyte receptors is an integral part of immune system homeostasis and it is crucial for immune response. Signal initiation and propagation has to be properly spatiotemporally controlled not to trigger pathological immune activation. Important part in the initiation and regulation of signaling is played by adaptor proteins. These adaptors can be involved in positive or negative control, or both, depending on what effector enzymes they bind. In presented work we studied the involvement of two adaptor proteins PSTPIP2 and LST1/A in leukocyte signaling. Both adaptors interact with several inhibitory enzymes which implicates these proteins in negative regulation of signaling. We extended current understanding of why the deficiency in the expression of one of these adaptors, PSTPIP2, results in the initiation and progression of autoinflammatory disorder chronic multifocal osteomyelitis disease in mice by describing its interactions with Csk kinase and SHIP1 phosphatase. In particular we have shown that PSTPIP2 deficiency leads to increased activity of signaling pathways and increased processing of IL-1β in neutrophils in response to a variety of stimuli and that binding to SHIP1 contributes to PSTPIP2-mediated suppression of inflammation. Our biochemical analysis of the second of...
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Oxide scintillator detectors
Lučeničová, Zuzana ; Kučera, Miroslav (advisor) ; Bryknar, Zdeněk (referee) ; Mihóková, Eva (referee)
The presented thesis focused on the study of a new material concept of Ce3+ doped multicom- ponent aluminum garnets (GdLu)3(GaAl)5O12. High purity single crystalline epitaxial films were grown by the method of liquid phase epitaxy from the BaO-B2O3-BaF2 flux with spe- cial emphasis on the elimination of the potential impurities coming from the flux. Combined experimental study of photoelectron yield (under alpha excitation), decay kinetics of fast and delayed recombination in the milisecond time range (under e-beam excitation) and photo-, cathodo- and radio-luminescence spectroscopies were used to characterize the studied mater- ial. The single-step nonradiative energy transfer from the donor Gd3+ to an acceptor Ce3+ was observed in the low Gd, Ce doped LuAG films and established as long-range dipole - dipole interaction. Special attention was devoted to the positive effect of combined Gd and Ga substitution on the extensive suppression of shallow traps, which are responsible for the slow component in the scintillation response. The best obtained scintillation characteristics of the studied epitaxial films were comparable with the top performance bulk crystals. 1
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Coinage of Roman Tetrarchy 284-312 A.D.: Organization, Nominals, Iconography
Lužický, David ; Marek, Václav (advisor) ; Bažant, Jan (referee) ; Militký, Jiří (referee)
This thesis deals with the period, which was not fully researched until now by the czech numismatists. It is a unique numismatic work fully dedicated to the tetrarchic period in czech language. Its center of gravity lies in the detailed study of the production of coins and iconography, both before the reform, in 294, and afterwards. It is also given a description of previous period of the end of the third century AD to facilitate the understanding of monetary developments and policies of the tetrarchic period. The study of the numismatic material and literature allow to deliver new opinions concerning the disintegration of tetrarchic system and of the monetary reforms from the end of the third century AD. It is discussed the problematic of using marks on coins, which are usually interpreted as an indication of nominal value. The work includes a detailed study of 1,752 gold coins of the second half of the 3rd century, which helps to clarify the vague classification of gold coins and their standards. Attached is a catalog of the Roman imperial coins from AD 284-337, which are deposited in the Charles University collection of ancient. These coins have not been published until now. Key words: Tetrarchy, Diocletian, Constantinus, nummus, monetary refroms, coinage, marks of value, XXI, Heraclea, golden...
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Study enantioselectivity and synthesis of β-lactam antibiotics catalyzed by penicilin G acylase: Biocatalysis and in-silico experiments
Grulich, Michal ; Kyslík, Pavel (advisor) ; Kotík, Michal (referee) ; Ettrich, Rüdiger (referee)
11 Abstract Penicillin G acylases (PGAs) belong among enantioselective enzymes catalyzing a hydrolysis of stable amide bond in a broad spectrum of substrates, often having high application potential. PGAEc from Escherichia coli and PGAA from microorganism Achromobacter sp. CCM 4824 were used to catalyze enantioselective hydrolyses of seven selected N-phenylacetylated (N-PhAc) α/β-amino acid racemates. The PGAA showed higher stereoselectivity for three (S) enantiomers: N-PhAc-β-homoleucine, N-PhAc-α-tert- leucine and N-PhAc-β-leucine. We have constructed a homology model of PGAA that was used in molecular docking experiments with the same substrates. In-silico experiments reproduced the data from experimental enzymatic resolutions confirming validity of employed modeling protocol. We employed this protocol to evaluate enantiopreference of PGAA towards seven new substrates with application potential. For five of them, high enantioselectivity of PGAA was predicted for. PGAA was further studied in kinetically controlled syntheses of β-lactam antibiotics (SSBA). The PGAA was significantly more efficient at synthese of ampicillin and amoxicillin (higher S/H ratio and product accumulation) compared with PGAEc . Analogously to prediction of enantioselectivity of PGAA towards new substrates this protocol was applied...
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Key mental features of the members of the armed forces for coping with conditions of the high risk of losing one's life: Importance of social support among soldiers of the ISAF mission
Bílková, Zuzana ; Štětovská, Iva (advisor) ; Kebza, Vladimír (referee) ; Stehlík, Miloslav (referee)
Mgr. Zuzana Bílková Key mental features of the members of the armed forces for coping with conditions of high risk of losing one's life: Importance of social support among soldiers of the ISAF mission Abstract This thesis focuses on the topic of social support among soldiers in the ISAF mission. It was supposed that army environment is very specific in the area of social relationships in particular and so in the area of social support. Military mission is very demanding - soldiers face a real danger of their lives, they are limited in contact with their families, in the way of spending their free time. Therefore, some soldiers suffer from mental problems when they came back. This thesis examines a potential contribution of social support during the mission and deals with the question whether social support can help soldiers to cope with it. The theoretical part summarizes three main topics - the specificity of the army environment, stress and its impact to health and performance, and social support. Different approaches towards social support, methodological difficulties, positive and negative outcomes of social support are presented. Approach of the author Eric Sonderen was used in the empirical part (Sonderen, 1991, 2012a). The empirical part presents a combine-designed survey. Semi-structured in-depth...
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