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Invasive water invertebrates in Czech Republic
Kolářová, Lucie ; Tátosová, Jolana (advisor) ; Dočkalová, Kateřina (referee)
An introduction of invasive species is considered to be one of the most actual problems of these days and is also related with water environment and water invertebrates. Occurences of many non-native species has been recorded in waters of the Czech Republic and these species can be divided into two groups. Species of the first group are invasive alien species - their ecological patterns (e.g. high growing rates, high reproductive capacity or ability to transfer exotic diseases) make their spreading more successful. North-American crayfish species (Orconectes limosus and Pacifastacus leniusculus), Dreissena polymorpha or Dikerogammarus villosus are the typical representatives of this group. The spreading of these species is very remarkable, since their introduction causes many harmful effects and has negative impacts on native fauna. However, the appearance of other group of water invertebrates has been found in our waters. These are also non-indigenous species, but their spreading is very inconspicuous - they do not reach high population densities and their invasion does not cause negative impacts on native fauna and ecosystems. The evidence of these harmless invasive species has been recorded thanks to the monitoring programs and we possibly wouldn't know about them without this monitoring. The...
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The Cyprus Crisis in 1974 and the Role of the United Nations
Lauer, Maroš ; Horčička, Václav (advisor) ; Soukup, Jaromír (referee)
This thesis explores the impact of the UN on the development of the Cyprus crisis from its beginning until its peak in 1974. This impact is analysed on two levels: 1. Negotiations of the Cyprus Crisis during the UN Security Council and General Assembly meetings and their effects on the escalation of the local situation in Cyprus. 2. Activities of the peacekeeping mission UNFICYP since its establishment in 1964 until the division of Cyprus ten years later. For the purpose of examination of the aforementioned, both detailed historical analyses, as well as theoretical concepts from international relations theory are used in this paper. The paper describes the evolution of the Cyprus Problem as a dynamic process, which needs to be perceived in its full extent, thus it is not concentrated only on the period of 1960s and 1970s, but describes original sources and causes of the conflict.
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Molecular mechanisms of amoeboid invasion of cancer cells
Paňková, Daniela ; Brábek, Jan (advisor) ; Dvořák, Michal (referee) ; Vomastek, Tomáš (referee)
Tumour cell invasion is one of the most critical steps in malignant progression. It includes a broad spectrum of mechanisms, including both individual and collective cell migration, which enables them to spread towards adjacent tissue, and form new metastases. Understanding the mechanisms of cell spreading, and invasion, is crucial for effective anticancer therapy. Two modes of individual migration of tumour cells have been established in a three-dimensional environment. Mesenchymally migrating cells use proteases to cleave collagen bundles, and thus overcome the ECM barriers. Recently described protease-independent amoeboid mode of invasion has been discovered in studies of cancer cells with protease inhibitors. During my PhD study, I have focused on determining the molecular mechanisms involved in amoeboid invasion of tumour cells. We have examined invasive abilities in non-metastatic K2 and highly metastatic A3 rat sarcoma cell lines. We have shown that even though highly metastatic A3 rat sarcoma cells are of mesenchymal origin, they have upregulated Rho/ROCK signalling pathway. Moreover, A3 cells generate actomyosin-based mechanical forces at their leading edges to physically squeeze through the collagen fibrils by adopting an amoeboid phenotype. Amoeboid invasiveness is also less dependent on...
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Plant-soil feedback as a mechanism affect species diverzity of communities
Vondráková, Zuzana ; Münzbergová, Zuzana (advisor) ; Janoušková, Martina (referee)
Plant-soil feedback is known as the interaction between plant and soil. There is the feedback, when plant affect soil during their roots and on the other side soil affect growth and development through the change of their biotic and abiotic conditions. The plant-soil feedback is important mechanism of affecting plants or their competitive plant species through the soil. In this thesis I would like to summarize the functioning of the plant-soil feedback and factors which influence the feedback, the effect of feedback on the species diversity of plant communities, role in secondary succession, invasion and during coexistence of different species. I would like to point out, in which cases this feedback was confirmed experimentally and which experimental methods are used in the study of plant-soil feedback.
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Role fibroblastového aktivačního proteinu v růstu a invazivitě gliomových buněk
Fejfarová, Edita ; Bušek, Petr (advisor) ; Szabo, Pavol (referee)
High grade astrocytomas are very progressive brain tumors. Glioblastoma multiforme is the most frequent and the most malignant type with very infiltrative phenotype of the tumor cells. Fibroblast activation protein FAP is a predominantly membrane bound prolyl peptidase bearing exo- and endopeptidase hydrolytic activities. FAP is known to play a role in wound healing, cell migration and invasion and its expression is linked to the pathogenesis of several malignancies. mRNA expression of FAP is upregulated in 48% of glioblastomas according to The Cancer Genome Atlas microarray data. The involvement of FAP in the pathogenesis of astrocytic tumors is largely unknown. The aims of this work are to analyse the expression of FAP in primary cell cultures derived from high grade gliomas and to analyse the influence of FAP on the growth, migration and invasion of glioma cells. Our ELISA and western blot results showed heterogenous expression of FAP in the studied glioma primary cell cultures and cell lines. Both enzymatic activities characteristic of FAP were detected in the primary glioma cell culture P11 with high expression of FAP. In these cells, FAP was present not only in the typical plasma membrane localization, but also in the cytoplasm as demonstrated by immunofluorescence staining. The P11 cells...
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The impact of herbivores on plant population dynamics: The importance for biological control of invasive plants
Šulcová, Hana ; Dostál, Petr (advisor) ; Kindlmann, Pavel (referee)
Herbivory is one of the most important relations between plants and animals. The herbivores affect plant populations not only by grazing, but also by trampling and disturbing the vegetation. Herbivores have also great potential to affect the population dynamics of particular plant species. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the effect of herbivores on plant population dynamics and to interpret it in relation to biological control of invasive plants. When evaluating the effect of herbivores, it is necessary to keep in mind the fact that herbivores don't affect only plants but also each other through direct as well as indirect competition. The use of different herbivore species to supress the invasive plants may not necessarily be effective. The range of the effect of herbivores on plant population dynamics depends also on the environmental conditions. Habitats with infrequent disturbances and high competition levels among plants increase the effect of biological control, because high competition facilitates competitive exlusion of the target plant species. Different life-histories of plants play are also important in terms of biological control mainly the life-span and the endurance of the seed bank affect the results. Monocarpic species with short-lived seed bank can be relatively easily reduced by...
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Decision-Making Process according to Graham T. Allison: The U.S. Administration and the Invasion of Iraq (2003)
Zrůst, Tomáš ; Ditrych, Ondřej (advisor) ; Parízek, Michal (referee)
Thesis "Decision-making process according to Graham T. Allison: American government and Iraq invasion" focuses on application of Allison's three basic conceptual models, that were introduced and broadly defined in book Essence of decision: explaining the Cuban missile crisis in 1971, on decision-making process of American administration formed by George W. Bush, which led to invasion of Iraq in 2003. Models of the rational actor, organizational process and governmental politics represented huge breakthrough in Foreign Policy Analysis and studying of decision-making processes and even after many decades they remain highly valued. Main target of this study will be testing their empirical value by using edited interpretation and through different perspectives describe and outline nature of chosen decision-making process. Thesis emphasizes differences in perception of main actor and ways, how these views influence interpretation of character of picked case and final action. Consequently, analysis is offering clear summary of causes and procedures that led to realization of invasion, presenting reasons, why is this particular decision-making process considered as defect, and also offering closer view into functioning of the first government of President George W. Bush. Keywords Decision-making process,...
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Invasion of Rumex alpinus in Krkonoše mountains
Naglová, Šárka ; Münzbergová, Zuzana (advisor) ; Matějček, Tomáš (referee)
The issue of plant invasion and of spreading alien species is a serious problem for all ecosystems. The problem is even bigger if the invasion takes place in the national park, or other important areas, such as the Giant Mountains. The Unique species diversity is undermined by non-native species, which often significantly suppress indigenous communities. Not always is this problem early and effectively regulated, or at best completely stoped, especially because each invasion is needed to be access individually, gather enough data and observations and determine an effective strategy to combat invasive species. There has been a lot of analysis written about the invasion of Rumex alpinus already, so my job is to summarize the results, determine whether the species distribution prediction was correct and if possibly determine the next steps in the fight against this invasive plant in the Giant Mountains. Key words: Rumex alpinus, invasion, The Giant (national park), the spread of the species
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The Media Agenda of Daily The Times Prior the Invasion of Iraq and the Influence of Rupert Murdoch
Pavec, Jan ; Šafařík, Petr (advisor) ; Váška, Jan (referee)
Bachelor thesis "Media agenda of daily The Times prior the Iraq War and the influence of Rupert Murdoch", using a content analysis, examines the nature of The Times reporting on Iraq prior the 2003 invasion. It also looks into an overlap of the coverage of the newspaper and the publicly declared opinions of its proprietor, Rupert Murdoch. Using historical analysis, we examine his influence on the paper. First chapter presents the theories of role of media in the public space and its relations with politics. Second chapter describes the influence of Rupert Murdoch on British politics since his entry of British media market in 1969 until the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Third chapter depicts the historical events prior the military action with special focus on British politics, the reaction of British media and public opinion. Fourth chapter contains the content analysis with the description of British media landscape, the depiction of examined daily and the content analysis method and its results. The conclusion presents the results of the content analysis, connects it to the theories of media- politics relations, depicted in the first chapter, and interprets them.
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