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Essays in Development Economics
Sargsyan, Ella ; Mittag, Nikolas Karl (advisor) ; Poyker, Michael (referee) ; Fiorin, Stefano (referee)
This dissertation investigates effective household coping strategies during profound economic shocks, as well as the impact of violent conflicts and natural disasters on parents' child gender preferences in developing countries. In light of rising concerns about food insecurity caused by a variety of crises, the first chapter investigates effective coping strategies households can employ to mitigate the lasting impacts of income shocks and associated nutrition deficits. We uncover a previously unexplored coping mechanism - home production - and establish the extent of its effectiveness in mitigating the negative effects of crises on child health. To do so, we focus on the transition period after the collapse of the Soviet Union and investigate the role of household production of potatoes. Specifically, utilizing individual-level data from Russia, Kazakhstan, and other post-Soviet countries and exploiting the variation in the soil suitability index, we establish that households that grew potatoes on land more suitable for their cultivation were able to reduce the negative effects of transition shock on the health of their children as measured by adult height and height-for-age z-score. Our findings suggest that targeted nutritional interventions are needed to mitigate long-term adverse health...
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Application of computational methods in classification of glass stones
Lébl, Matěj ; Hnětynková, Iveta (advisor) ; Kopal, Jiří (referee)
Application of computational methods in classification of glass stones Bc. Matěj Lébl Abstrakt: The goal of this thesis is to employ mathematical image processing methods in automatic quality control of glass jewellery stones. The main math- ematical subject is a matrix of specific attributes representing digital image of the studied products. First, the thesis summarizes mathematical definition of digital image and some standard image processing methods. Then, a complete solution to the considered problem is presented. The solution consists of stone localization within the image followed by analysis of the localized area. Two lo- calization approaches are presented. The first is based on the matrix convolution and optimized through the Fourier transform. The second uses mathematical methods of thresholding and median filtering, and data projection into one di- mension. The localized area is analyzed based on statistical distribution of the stone brightness. All methods are implemented in the MATLAB environment. 1
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The size of individual lipoproteins in various pathological conditions
Dušejovská, Magdaléna ; Žák, Aleš (advisor) ; Kalousová, Marta (referee) ; Kraml, Pavel (referee)
Metabolic syndrome (MS) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) represent two clinical- pathologic states with increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular complications with considerable impact on the quality of life of the patients. The knowledge about the changes in distribution of individual lipoprotein subfractions could countribute to the estimation of risk of atherosclerosis development. The studies presented in this thesis aimed at analyses of subfractions of LDL and HDL in the abovementioned pathologic states; moreover, we tried to elucidate the associations of changes in lipoprotein subfractions with clinical as well as biochemical alterations. The Study I was a placebo controlled study observing the effect of polyunsaturated fatty acids of n-3 family (PUFA n-3) administration to patients with MS who were divided to statin-treated ones (36 patients), and those without statin therapy (24 probands). The Study II comprised of 57 patients with ESRD on high volume haemodiafiltration (HV-HDF). In this Study, the parameters after 5-year follow-up were compared with baseline characteristics. Also, we included comparisons with the control group of 50 age and sex matched patients without the signs of ESRD. In Study I, we observed lowering of triacylglycerol and cholesterol content in VLDL...
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Methods for study of oxidative stress in oncology patients using flow injection analysis with electrochemical detection
Zítka, Ondřej ; Bořek Dohalská, Lucie (referee)
Thesis: Method for study of oxidative stress in oncology patients using flow injection analysis with electrochemical detection ABSTRACT An oxidative damage of an organism and its mechanisms belong to the main goals of interest in the area of biochemistry. The substances causing such type of damage, where oxygen radicals are mentioned mostly, affect an organism on the level of the most important biomolecules such as DNA. Due to this fact the transformation of nucleic bases in DNA chain to its analogues occurs and thus the functionality of genetic code may be changed leading to pathological processes. The aim of this thesis is to show the suitability of electrochemical methods for sensitive detection of products of oxidation of nucleic acids as a marker of oxidative damage. Using methods as ELISA, flow injection system and magnetic particles, the sensor for detection of 8-OHdG as a marker of oxidation of nucleic acids at oncological patients was designed and successfully applied. By using of developed method the samples of urine of fourteen patients suffering from prostate cancer were analyzed. We were able to divide the patients into three levels based on determined concentration of 8-OHdG. Whole method is not even sufficiently sensitive but it is suitable for purposes of application into the microfluidic...
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Homeless shelter
Špirková, Veronika ; Jakoubek, Marek (advisor) ; Jakubec, Filip (referee)
ŠPIRKOVÁ, Veronika: "Homeless shelter" [Diploma Thesis]. Charles University in Prague. Faculty of Philosophy; Department of Ethnology. Thesis supervisor: Doc. PhDr. Marek Jakoubek, Ph.D., Degree of Qualification: Master. Prague: FFUK, 2017. ?? p. The diploma thesis deals with the socio-spatial aspects of the social service of the day center and the dormitory designed for people without a roof. It presents its current state of affairs with regard to the clientele, the function of the shelter, the principles of affiliation in it, but also the reflection of the homeless people and the employees on the necessity of change. The aim of the thesis is to visualize the living space, opinions and values of the clients of the shelter and their relation to the place, mediated by their statements and everyday practices. The thesis is divided into eight chapters. Thematically they describe previous investigation of issue, theoretical basis, methodics of research, goals, etics and auto- ethnographic experience. They describes also clients of the shelter, its purpose and values, rules, habits that are in the shelter, and last but not least its possible reconceptualization. The conclusion of the thesis summarizes the findings of research and their possible usage in future research. Diploma thesis is elaborated on...
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Treatment of spinal cord injury by transplantation different types of stem cells
Dubišová, Jana ; Kubinová, Šárka (advisor) ; Cizkova, Dasa (referee)
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is complicated injury with serious socioeconomic consequences for the patient and his whole family. Big difficulty cause also extremely high living expenses for the patient with this type of injury. That's why there is a need for therapeutic methods which would help patients after SCI to recover the lost functions and be able at least partially to return to their normal life. Different therapeutic methods are being used for SCI treatment. In this study we used four various types of stem cells: human bone marrow stem cells (hBM-MSCs), human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs), neural precursors derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS-NPs) and neural stem cell line derived from human fetal spinal cord tissue (SPC-01). These cells have been transplanted intrathecally or intraspinally 7 days after induction of the experimental model of SCI in the rat. We studied expressions of genes related to neurogenesis, growth factors and inflammation 10 and 28 days after SCI. Our analysis showed significant changes in gene expression 10 days after SCI. Significant up-regulation in expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (Vegf), ciliary neurotrophic factor (Cntf) and interferon regulatory factor 5 (Irf5) were found after transplantation of hBM-MSCs and hUC-...
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The Wallenfels family and other Jews from Příbram during World War II
Doležalová, Kristýna ; Ebelová, Ivana (advisor) ; Smolová, Věra (referee)
This bachelor's thesis concentrates on the Jewish population in Příbram and specifically the Wallenfels family. The first part looks generally into at the development of the city of Příbram from many aspects. The second part is a guide to the history of the local Jewish population from their humble beginnings, throughout the period when they were forced from the mining towns in 1568 until the present day. Special focus has been placed on World War II and its impact on the local Jewish community. The last part is devoted to the Wallenfels family from when the first members arrived in Příbram, throughout the Holocaust in the Second World War and continues with a detailed history of the family up until 2015. The Wallenfels family history is interesting not only because of their story, but also because it typifies Jewish families in Czechoslovakia during that period.
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Analysis of WASH complex component FAM21
Dostál, Vojtěch ; Libusová, Lenka (advisor) ; Žárský, Viktor (referee)
The dynamics and function of the actin cytoskeleton depends on polymerization and branching of actin filaments, an event that is stimulated by Arp2/3. Arp2/3-dependent branching is closely linked to the pentameric WASH complex which consists of WASH, strumpellin, SWIP, CCDC53 and FAM21. WASH complex is associated mainly with endosomes. It was traditionally localized to retromer-coated domains of early endosomes which enable sorting and recycling of endocytosed material. However, latest scientific data extend the role of WASH complex to other endosomal or even non-endosomal sites. Of all the subunits of the WASH complex, FAM21 is the most prominent hub for protein-protein interactions, thanks to its long unstructured C-terminal domain. In my diploma thesis FAM21 was localized to early and late endosomes and lysosomes of U2OS human cell line. Dictyostelium discoideum was then used as a model organism to investigate FAM21 protein interactions as well as the proteins associated specifically with the C terminal domain of FAM21. Results of the study shed new light on the complex network of FAM21 interactions and question the long-standing theories on the function of WASH complex in cells. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
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Parental Choice of Elementary School in the City of Vrchlabí
Cingrová, Kateřina ; Mouralová, Magdalena (advisor) ; Pavlovská, Veronika (referee)
The aim of this bachelor's thesis called "Parental Choice of Elementary School in the City of Vrchlabí" is to find and describe strategies used by parents when choosing elementary school in a small town, in this case Vrchlabí. The text engages with the way parents influence educational trajectory of their children, and which factors play a role in deciding about the elementary school selection. In this respect it aims to discover and disclose the different strategies of parents from a small town opposite to those of parents from Prague a few years ago. The thesis presents parents as players of educational policy; it attempts to find opportunities for parents to join in on its creation and later to discover up to which level parents take advantage of these opportunities. The thesis describes possible educational inequalities and their impact on child's educational trajectory. It displays differences between elementary schools, which are enabled by current educational system of the Czech Republic, and differences which exist between individual elementary schools in Vrchlabí. It describes changes, which happened in the compulsory schooling in the past. Further, aims to show how big the impact of parents own experience is on their choice. The next part of the text stems from interviews, which were...
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Family group konferences as to tool to encourage family functioning.
Kratochvílová, Jana ; Matoušek, Oldřich (advisor) ; Vojtíšek, Petr (referee)
The thesis deals with the concept of family conferences, which are a support tool for the functioning of families. The paper' s objective is to present information about the character, implementation and difficulties of the practice of family conferences. The text is divided into a theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part focuses on the topic of family, its functioning and possibilities of its support within the Czech system of social care. Furthermore, it provides information about the benefits and the process of family conferences. The research part presents and evaluates the research of documents presenting the reasons for the implementation of family conferences, its impact and development in New Zealand, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. The research part includes qualitative research carried out in the form of an interview. It provides information about some problem-solving processes in the families. The research findings suggest that we can benefit from experience from other countries during the implementation of family conferences in the Czech Republic and that the families involved in the research are inclined to solving complex situations by their own efforts. Key words: family, vulnerable family, family group conferences, empowerment, support
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