Le but de ce travail est d’étudier deux dimensions sémiologiques, identifiées dans la littérature comme associées au trouble dépressif résistant, l’anxiété et l’apathie. Ces marqueurs cliniques et leurs corrélats radiologiques seront ensuite testés dans une analyse longitudinale du pronostic à 6 mois d’une cohorte de patients souffrant de dépression. Les données originales de ce travail sont issues de la cohorte LONGIDEP. Cette étude prospective, naturalistique, a été menée chez des patients souffrant d’un épisode dépressif majeur qui bénéficiaient, dans le cadre des soins courants, d’une évaluation clinique, neuropsychologique et d’une imagerie cérébrale à l’inclusion. Une nouvelle évaluation a été proposée à 6 mois de l’inclusion. Cette étude nous a permis de montrer que 1) l’apathie dans la dépression est associée à un profil clinique et physiopathologique spécifique, 2) l’analyse catégorielle et sémiologique de l’anxiété dans une population de sujet déprimés résistants n’étaient pas concordantes. Les déprimés résistants présentaient une hyperperfusion amygdale centro-médiane, 3) l’anxiété trait, un pattern cognitif associé à la mémoire visuo-spatiale étaient prédictifs d’une évolution péjorative de la dépression. Des anomalies structurales de régions impliquées dans la régulation émotionnelle et plus précisément l’adaptation au danger/peur, étaient associées à une évolution péjorative de la dépression. Des deux dimensions sémiologiques étudiées, l’anxiété apparaît être impliquées dans le pronostic de la dépression. L’étude des liens entre l’anxiété et les troubles de la motivation est une perspective de recherche pour la dépression résistante. / The aim of this work is to study anxiety and apathy in treatment resistant depression. These clinical factors and its imaging correlates will be tested in prediction of outcome in a 6-months follow-up. Original data were retrieved in LONGIDEP cohort. This is a prospective study conducted in routine care. Patients suffering from a mood depressive episode benefited from a clinical, neuropsychological and brain imaging. They were assessed once again at 6 months. Our study has shown that 1) apathy in depression is associated with specific clinical and pathophysiological patterns, 2) categorical and dimensional approach of anxiety in treatment resistant depression are not convergent. This latter population exhibited higher brain perfusion of centro-medial amygdala, 3) trait anxiety, cognitive patterns of visuospatial memory were predictive of pejorative outcome. Structural abnormalities in key regions involved in emotion regulation were associated with pejorative outcome of depression. Only anxiety was involved in outcome of depression. The link between anxiety and motivation should be studied in further works.

Conservation genetics of the grey wolf in Czech Republic and adjacent regions is studied in the present thesis. Analyses of twenty-one microsatellite loci, one sex-determining amelogenin gene and mitochodrial control region were used to verify species determination, identify individuals and estimate relationships between them, analyse population structure and estimate demographic trends based on samples collected between 2014 and 2021. Genetic detection of red fox and dog samples incorrectly assigned to wolves illustrates the hurdles of field monitoring of grey wolf. Direct evidence for the occurrence of F1 hybrids was not found. Wolves from Bohemia showed lower values of allelic richness in comparison to the ones from Western Carpathians, probably as a consequence of recent expansion. Geographic distances between detection sites of identical individuals were relatively small or moderate in this study, suggesting regular movements of animals within their home ranges. Only two long-distance dispersal events exceeding 300 km were detected. Results of parental analysis provided evidence of pack distribution within the studied area. Most relationships were detected between wolves in the northern region of Czech Republic where the first recolonizing wolf pack in 2014 was registered. Within the studied...

This diploma thesis is focused on research of individual recognition in African grey parrots based on visual cues from stimulus card made from photographs of familiar conspecifics, specifically on testing the significance of selected visual features. Theoretical part of the thesis deals with the general individual recognition ability followed by specifics of this ability in humans, non-human primates and birds including African grey parrot. Great attention is paid specifically to the individual recognition ability in humans, since it is the aim of this thesis to interpret the results of hypotheses testing comparatively. In order to test the hypotheses seven modifications of conspecifics' photographs were created. Experiment employed matching-to- sample as method, subjects were three African grey parrots. Findings were to a large extent in accordance with findings of analogical studies that used human subjects. Results imply, that visual information in African grey parrot is processed holistically, with structure and pigmentation of feathers on the abdominal part of the parrot having most likely the highest significance for successful individual recognition of a familiar conspecific. Key words: individual recognition, African grey parrot, comparative cognition, visual recognition

This thesis compares eroticism in the post-revolutionary work of the Czech prose writer Vladimír Páral with the bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey by the British writer E. L. James. From Páral's work, the works of Dekameron 2000 or Love in Prague, Playgirls, Book of pleasure, laughter and joy, and the Book about the whip are discussed. Also included is The Professional: Vladimír Páral about himself and other interesting things, which came out in the 1990s, but it is an autobiography. Therefore, this book will be included in the chapter on autobiographical connotations. The thesis is divided into three main parts. The first one is mainly terminological, it explains the terms sex, eroticsm, pornography, erotic and pornographic literature and love. The second part deals with the authors themselves and their body of work. It is organised into sub-chapters in which specific pieces are analysed. In the case of Páral, the parallel between the Book of pleasure, laughter and joy and Kundera's Book of laughter and forgetting is also taken into account. In the case of Fifty Shades of Grey, some similarities with the erotism in Milan Kundera's work are found. In the summary, the texts are compared in terms of the role of eroticism, sex tools, plot characters as well as author's intention and style. The subjective...

Landscape genetic approaches allow to study effects of landscape to population microevolution. Landscape can influence gene flow even in large carnivores with good dispersal ability. Understanding the influence of landscape to the gene flow between populations is crucial for species conservation, especially in the species with low population densities. Aim of the study was to describe genetic structure of the grey wolf (Canis lupus) and snow leopard (Panthera uncia) in selected areas and to determine the influence of the landscape features on observed structure. Non-invasive genetic samples of snow leopard from Nepal were analysed, as well as invasive and non-invasive samples of grey wolf from Central Europe. Population structure was determined a posteriori using Bayesian clustering approaches that integrate genetic and geographical data, and compared to landscape connectivity models. Population structure of snow leopards is mostly influenced by human presence and presence of frequented roads, which represent a substantial dispersal barrier. Habitat suitable for this species is greatly restricted by altitude, however, during dispersal they are able to overcome areas with higher elevation than what is optimal for them. Pronounced genetic difference was found between central European and Carpathian...

Human speech is considered to be unique means of communication. The beginnings of human vocalization, which develops into the speech, however, have some patterns or principles which can also be found in animal communication. It has been discovered that there are similarities between humans and animals in terms of social organization, neural control, cognition and function of vocal signals. Moreover, it seems that birds, parrots specifically, have closer parallels with humans in these respects than with other primates. Vocal ontogeny was, however, at least in parrots, investigated only marginally. Therefore it has become the subject of this study. African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) show a wide range of cognitive abilities and are thus suitable species for comparison with humans. The aim of this study was to map the early vocal development of African grey parrots until age of 11 weeks. Then it was possible to compare it theoretically with the early vocal development of children. The repertoire was mapped using video recordings of four fledglings of feral African grey parrots, which are in possession of FHS UK Prague. The recordings were analysed acoustically and visually with audio software Sound Forge Pro 11 and Sound Forge Audio Studio 10. After identifying the repertoire we used stage...

Productivity of grey rhebok and mountain reedbuck was studied at Sterkfontein Dam Nature Reserve (eastern Free State) between September 1999 and May 2002. Within a study area of 550 ha, all herds of grey rhebok and all territorial male mountain reedbuck were identified, and general population dynamics were monitored. Lambs of both species were born seasonally between September and February, while most deaths occurred between June and November. Population levels appeared to be controlled in both species mainly by the eviction of young males, but the effects of extreme weather conditions were significant, being demonstrated by the deaths of 27 % and 51 % of the grey rhebok and mountain reedbuck populations respectively during heavy snow in September 2001. Disease and predation played no role in population control. Grey rhebok formed stable harem herds with home ranges varying between 23 ha and 104 ha (95 % MCP), with an average of 57.9 ha. Home ranges in areas with extensive steep slopes tended to be smaller than those in flatter areas. The ecological density was 1/15.7 ha. Territorial male mountain reedbuck were often solitary, and only accompanied by females when these moved into their territories. Home ranges of males varied between 7 ha and 21 ha (95 % MCP), with an average of 14.8 ha, and all had areas of steep slopes within. Females showed strong preference for steep slopes and used much greater areas than males. The ecological density was 1/8.7 ha. Grey rhebok rested less than mountain reedbuck, but did not feed for longer. Grey rhebok were active intermittently all day and night, but tended to be more active in the early morning and late afternoon than in the middle of the day. During the day, mountain reedbuck were most active in the late afternoon, rested for longer periods in the middle of the day, but were also very active at night. Body condition was investigated seasonally in mountain reedbuck at Sterkfontein and also Tussen die Riviere Nature Reserve. Kidney fat indices and leg fat percentages were lowest at the end of winter before the rains started and when the nutritive value of the veld was at its lowest. Endoparasites were investigated in both antelope species, but primarily in mountain reedbuck. Seventeen species of helminths, including fifteen nematodes, one trematode, and one cestode were recovered from mountain reedbuck at Sterkfontein and TdR. The most prevalent and abundant species were Cooperia yoshidai, Longistrongylus schrenki and Haemonchus contortus. Five nematode species were recovered from four grey rhebok at Sterkfontein. / Thesis (PhD (Veterinary Wildlife))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Veterinary Tropical Diseases / unrestricted

Over the last decades, the frequency on the Nordic electrical power grid has deteriorated. Therefore, new stricter requirements are developed for the hydropower delivering regulating active power on the Frequency Containment Reserve market (FCR). This thesis aims to investigate the possibility of modeling two double-regulated hydropower plants, referred to as Unit 1 and 2, to evaluate their compliance with the new FCR-requirements.  By modeling the hydropower plants, the first goal was to find a model structure that captures the essential dynamics of the systems. A second goal was to evaluate whether the two units currently fulfill the new FCR-requirements, and investigate how the turbine governors’ settings could be optimized to fulfill the new requirements. Data obtained from FCR-tests was used in MATLAB to evaluate the two stations’ dynamic stability and performance requirements. Through system identification in MATLAB, grey-box modeling was used to create linear and non-linear turbine and waterways models for Unit 1 and Unit 2. The non-linear turbine and waterways models were implemented in Simulink, together with corresponding turbine governors, to find optimal parameter settings to fulfill the FCR-requirements.  The evaluation of the new FCR-requirements shows that none of the two units fulfills the dynamic stability requirement. However, Unit 1 fulfills the performance requirement. The results imply that double-regulated turbines will most likely have difficulties fulfilling the new requirements, which will cause major consequences in improving the frequency regulation quality. The results from the grey-box modeling present that the linear models are not validated with the step response data, due to not capturing the system dynamics when compared with provided data from the units. On the other hand, the non-linear models are validated with step response data as the model captures the system dynamics more accurately. However, the non- linear Simulink models cannot capture the dynamics of the hydropower systems for sinusoidal signals with varying frequencies which are used in the new FCR-requirement test. Consequently, the thesis has no result of the optimal parameter setting of the turbine governors to fulfill the new FCR-requirements. In conclusion, the grey-box models, with the level of detail presented in this thesis, are inadequate in capturing the system’s dynamics to evaluate the new FCR-requirements. Thus, the thesis contributes to filling a knowledge gap within the area of modeling for frequency regulation.

This article discusses ambiguous tactics of German Communist resisters in the Third Reich. The official historiography of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) portrayed Communist resisters as unfaltering heroes. By contrast, revisionist studies published after 1990 presented Communists as traitors and renegades. This study transcends these approaches that revolve around legitimation or de-legitimation of the dictatorship, and examines the dubious manoeuvring of three German Communists who strategically collaborated with the Nazis, namely Theodor Bottländer, Friedrich Schlotterbeck and Wilhelm Knöchel. While Knöchel’s attempts to outwit the Gestapo failed and could not prevent his execution, Schlotterbeck and Bottl€ander found ways to survive - largely without betraying their comrades. Even so, the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (KPD), as well as its successor in the GDR, the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (SED), reprimanded venturesome, inventive and obstinate Communists, excluded them from the party and brought them to court. The harsh reactions are indicative of the inability of Communist historiography to acknowledge ‘Eigen-Sinn’, and highlight a central shortcoming of the antifascist doctrine. Likewise, more recent revisionist approaches have failed to recognise various attempts of Communists to minimise harm and survive in the grey zone between betrayal and loyalty.

Although Anne Brontë's first novel, Agnes Grey, presents itself as a didactic treatise, Brontë's work departs from many accepted Evangelical tropes in the portrayal of its moral protagonist. These departures create an exemplary figure whose flaws potentially subvert the novel's didactic purposes. The character of Agnes is not necessarily meant to be directly emulated, yet Brontë's governess is presented as a tool of moral instruction. The conflict between the novel's self-proclaimed didactic purpose and the form in which it presents that purpose raises a number of interpretive questions. I argue that many of these questions can be answered through the application of a hermeneutic presented in Augustine's De Doctrina Christiana. Such a hermeneutic shifts the burden of interpretation away from the author and toward the reader in such a way that the moral figure becomes, not a standard to be emulated, but rather a test of the reader's personal spiritual maturity. This sign theory heavily influenced the works of medieval hagiographers such as Ælfric of Enysham, who depended on Augustine's sign theory to mediate some of the less-orthodox behaviors of saints such as Æthelthryth of Ely. I argue that by applying Augustine's hermeneutic and reading Agnes Grey in the context of these earlier didactic genres, the novel's potentially subversive qualities are not only neutralized, but become an important element of Evangelical instruction.