The aim of this thesis is to explore the educational aspect of the documentary film V síti (Caught in the Net) and its impact on the Czech education system. The theoretical section of the thesis focuses mainly on presenting the topic of the film - child abuse on the internet. It deals with the topic of child safety on the internet and the context of the Czech school system. The thesis has the potential to be used in the classroom by those teachers who wish engage with this topic and educate both themselves and their students as it includes a whole chapter of recommended educational projects and programs suitable for education of second level students. The research section of the thesis deals with those teachers who saw a version of the film edited to be suitable for children, V Síti: Za školou, specifically their opinions on this project as an educational tool. The qualitative research posed a question: How did the film influence the second level of elementary school teachers' approach to child safety on the internet and its teaching? The data gathering was conducted through semi-structured interviews with nine elementary school teachers. The main conclusions include the fact that the pedagogues highly value the documentary film V síti: Za školou as a new educational tool for the prevention of...

Etwa 15% aller Paare bleiben ungewollt kinderlos. Männliche Faktoren sind in circa einem Drittel der Fälle als ursächlich anzusehen. Jedoch sind die Erfolgsraten der Therapie männlicher Infertilität durch assistierte Reproduktion auch nach über 30 Jahren seit deren Einführung unbefriedigend. Bestehende Spermienaufbereitungsmethoden wie einfaches Waschen, swim up oder die Dichtegradientenzentrifugation basieren auf makroskopisch-funktionellen Parametern wie Motilität und Morphologie. Spezifische Eigenschaften wie etwa eine aktivierte Apoptosesignalkaskade der Spermien werden dabei nicht berücksichtigt. Die wesentlichen Elemente verschiedener Signalwege der aus somatischen Zellen bekannten Apoptose konnten auch am humanen ejakulierten Spermatozoon nachgewiesen werden. Über die (negativen) Auswirkungen der Apoptose auf die männliche Fruchtbarkeit gibt es einen Konsens. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war es, Selektionsmethoden zu entwickeln, welche auf subzellulärer Ebene intakte Spermien mit dem größtmöglichen Fertilisationspotential aus dem Ejakulat extrahieren. In einem ersten Versuchskomplex konnte gezeigt werden, dass durch die Kombination von Dichtegradientenzentrifugation und swim-up (Standardmethoden in Reproduktionskliniken und andrologischen Laboren) zur Aufbereitung der Spermien von subfertilen Patienten eine akzeptable Reduktion der Spermien mit aktivierter Apoptosesignalkaskade erreicht werden kann. Jedoch gaben die großen interindividuellen Unterschiede im Separationseffekt Anlass zur Entwicklung innovativer Untersuchungs- und Separationsmethoden. So wurden unter anderem fluoreszenzbasierte Tests zur Evaluation von Spermiendefekten, wie beispielsweise einer gestörten Integrität des mitochondrialen Membranpotentials, eingeführt. In den Untersuchungen wurde die Praktikabilität dieser neuen Analyseverfahren im Routineeinsatz unter Standardbedingungen getestet und bestätigt. Die innovative Selektionsmethode der Annexin V-MACS Separation basiert auf der Bindung von Annexin V-MicroBeads an apoptotische Spermien, womit eine Subpopulation reifer, motiler und vitaler Spermien mit inaktivierter Apoptosesignalkaskade gezielt angereichert wird. Das Konzept wurde zudem erfolgreich auf ein (Glaswoll-) Festphasen-Filtersystem ohne frei schwimmende Microbeads übertragen. Dadurch gelang die Minimierung eines potentiellen Transmissionsrisikos der Microbeads bei der Anwendung im Rahmen der künstlichen Befruchtung. Den hohen Stellenwert dieser Verfahren belegen die Ergebnisse zweier in-vitro Modelle, an denen erstmalig gezeigt werden konnte, dass durch die Selektion von Spermien mit inaktivierter Apoptose-Signalkaskade höhere Fertilisationsraten erreichbar sind.

Book Summary: Thoroughly updated and featuring 75 new entries, this monumental four-volume work illuminates past and present events associated with civil rights and civil liberties in the United States. This revised and expanded four-volume encyclopedia is unequaled for both the depth and breadth of its coverage. Some 650 entries address the full range of civil rights and liberties in America from the Colonial Era to the present. In addition to many updates of material from the first edition, the work offers 75 new entries about recent issues and events; among them, dozens of topics that are the subject of close scrutiny and heated debate in America today. There is coverage of controversial issues such as voter ID laws, the use of drones, transgender issues, immigration, human rights, and government surveillance. There is also expanded coverage of women's rights, gay rights/gay marriage, and Native American rights. Entries are enhanced by 42 primary documents that have shaped modern understanding of the extent and limitations of civil liberties in the United States, including landmark statutes, speeches, essays, court decisions, and founding documents of influential civil rights organizations. Designed as an up-to-date reference for students, scholars, and others interested in the expansive array of topics covered, the work will broaden readers' understanding of―and appreciation for―the people and events that secured civil rights guarantees and concepts in this country. At the same time, it will help readers better grasp the reasoning behind and ramifications of 21st-century developments like changing applications of Miranda Rights and government access to private Internet data. Maintaining an impartial stance throughout, the entries objectively explain the varied perspectives on these hot-button issues, allowing readers to draw their own conclusions.

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v-Rel is the acutely oncogenic member of the NF-[kappa]B family of transcription factors and transforms cells through the altered regulation of pathways normally controlled by cellular NF-[kappa]B. Initial studies revealed that expression of v-Rel results in the strong and sustained activation of the ERK and JNK MAP kinases. This induction is critical for the v-Rel transformed phenotype, as suppression of MAPK activity with chemical inhibitors or siRNA severely limited colony formation of v-Rel transformed cell lines of hematopoietic origin. However, signaling must be maintained within a certain range in these cells, as strong additional activation of either pathway through expression of constitutively active MKK mutants also attenuated the transformed phenotype. Studies in primary spleen cells revealed that MAPK signaling is also required for the early stages of v-Rel-mediated transformation. However, constitutive MAPK activity further enhanced the transformation efficiency of v-Rel in primary cells. These studies, as well as analogous experiments in DT40 cells, indicate distinct requirements for MAPK activity at different stages of v-Rel-mediated transformation. The proto-oncoprotein, c-Rel, only weakly activates ERK and JNK signaling compared to v-Rel. Importantly, elevated MAPK activity enhanced transformation by c-Rel, indicating that the ability of v-Rel to induce MAPK signaling is a major contributor to its oncogenic potential. Taken together, this work demonstrates an important role for ERK and JNK activity in transformation by v-Rel. Additional studies examined mechanisms through which MAPK activity is regulated in v-Rel transformed cells. Feedback regulation of the ERK activator, MKK1, at T292 was shown to limit ERK activation in v-Rel transformed cells, preventing the detrimental effects of constitutive activity. This result is the first indication that this regulation may have a role in the maintenance of transformation. Further, several v-Rel induced cytokines were identified that activate ERK and JNK signaling in v-Rel transformed cells, revealing one means by which v-Rel-dependent transcriptional changes lead to MAPK activation. These studies demonstrate the integration of multiple mechanisms in achieving the optimal levels of MAPK activity that are essential for v-Rel-mediated transformation. / text

This dissertation seeks to describe and explain the connection between The Supreme Court and politics outside of the judicial system. It is a case study of the reaction to the Brown v. Board of Education integration decision in the American South. I apply a theoretical model of “judicialization,” arguing that when courts affect politics outside of the judicial system, they reshape politics to resemble the adversarial legal system, sparking polarized conflict and causing non-judicial political actors to make arguments in the form of constitutional doctrine. Analyzing editorials and letters to the editor from Southern newspapers, I show that debate after Brown was characterized by appeals to constitutional principles, and that Brown increased the salience of segregation in schools as a subject of political debate. I also supplement my Southern newspaper data with data from African-American newspapers and analyze Southern elections in the periods immediately before and after the education integration decision to assess the impact of the Court’s education decision on both voters and candidates. / text

The v-rel oncogene is the most efficiently transforming member of the Rel/NF-κB family of transcription factors. Identification of genes or signal transduction pathways that contribute to v-Rel transformation provide insight into the mechanisms of tumorigenesis by Rel/NF-κB proteins. In these studies, the contribution of TGF-β/Smad signaling to v-Rel transformation was assessed. TGF-β/Smad signaling regulates several cellular processes, including growth, differentiation, and apoptosis and has been implicated in a number of different cancers. Using microarray technology and Northern blot analysis, key components of the TGF-β/Smad pathway (tgf-β2 and tgf-β3 ligands, TGF-β type II receptor, and receptor-activated smad3) were identified with upregulated mRNA expression in v-Rel-transformed fibroblasts and lymphoid cells relative to control cells. A corresponding change in their protein levels was also observed. Further analysis revealed elevated levels of the phosphorylated, active form of Smad3, which correlated with its increased DNA-binding activity in v-Rel transformed cells. In contrast, the overexpression of c-Rel resulted in little to no alteration in the RNA and protein expression of members of the TGF-β/Smad pathway. Further studies demonstrated that elevated TGF-β/Smad signaling is required for the transforming ability of v-Rel. Blocking TGF-β signaling with a kinase inhibitor of TGF-β type I receptor inhibited the activation of Smad3 and dramatically reduced the ability of v-Rel transformed cells to form colonies in soft agar. Overexpression of a constitutively active form of Smad3 in the inhibitor-treated cells restored their ability to form colonies in soft agar close to the levels seen in untreated cells. Additional experiments with dominant negative Smad3 also revealed its ability to hinder the oncogenic potential of v-Rel. In complementary experiments, a stimulatory effect on v-Rel transformation was observed with cells treated with recombinant TGF-β2 ligand or overexpressed with wild-type Smad3. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that TGF-β signaling is crucial for the transformation potential of v-Rel and is primarily mediated by Smad3 activity. / text

This paper investigates the mechanism for nominative/accusative Case alternations in the siph-ta ‘want-to’ construction in Korean. I argue that the Case alternations in the Korean siph-ta construction are motivated by the peculiar property of siph- that it has dual argument structures and restructuring properties. Specifically, the structural Case on the embedded object is determined by 1) the type of the matrix vP that siph- takes—vP(DO) or vP(BE) - and 2) the presence/absence of the functional category responsible for accusative Case checking, which is selected by the matrix predicate siph-. In so doing, it is demonstrated that the dual argument structure analysis can be extended to account for the same type of Case alternations exhibited by Korean psych-verbs as well as the incompatibility between a nominative object and an embedded psych-verb in the siph-ta construction.

Decades of burgeoning humanism, intensifying lay piety, and an increasing anticlerical sentiment, paved the way for Martin Luther's reforming message when it reached the Low Countries in 1519. As ruler of the territory, Charles V resolved to curb the spread of heterodoxy via the promulgation of a series of anti-heresy edicts. Increasing in severity throughout his reign, these edicts gradually removed the prosecution of heresy from the jurisdiction of the church, placing it squarely under the control of secular officials. The success of Charles's religious legislation was therefore contingent upon the cooperation of primarily local, secular rulers. But municipal officials and their subjects viewed Charles's anti-heresy legislation as an unwelcome encroachment on their local autonomy, and a disturbing manifestation of the emperor's centralizing ambitions. Consequently, they formed a resolute front of determined resistance to the imposition of Charles's religious policies throughout his reign. This study examines the motivations underlying this opposition, as well as the specific ways in which such resistance manifested itself.Chronologically, the study addresses the years of Charles's reign (1515-1555) and geographically, the duchy of Brabant. This region, in the southern Low Countries (the modern-day borderland of Belgium and the Netherlands) was home to some of the most important urban centers in Europe. In the chapters that follow, the major Brabantine cities of Antwerp (the most lucrative commercial metropolis of the period), Leuven (home to the Catholic university and an important center of Roman theology), and Brussels (seat, after 1531, of Charles's central administration) will be examined in terms of their role in the religious controversy of the period, and the reactions of their inhabitants to the edicts promulgated by Charles.The anti-heresy edicts of Charles V represent one of the earliest attempts of a European ruler to establish a governmental policy for treating religious difference. This examination of the responses to these legal innovations provides not only a more detailed understanding of struggles for political autonomy, but a more nuanced view of belief and heterodoxy in this crucial period in the history of the early modern Low Countries.