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Transfer of delictual liability in competition law The issue of delictual liability for anti-competitive practices and subsequent identification of party which is to be penalized for them is, with regard to effective protection of competition, a crucial one. However, it is also a topic which is, with a few notable exceptions, often addressed only superficially. This work therefore aims to perform thorough analysis of rules applicable to transfer of delictual liability both on European and Czech national level. For this purpose, it is divided into two major and comparatively separate parts. First of them is devoted to a detailed analysis of the European court of justice case-law related to the possibility of transfer of liability from the original infringer to a different legal entity. The aim is not only to identify particular criteria, which may affect such transfer of liability, but also to illustrate the direction in which the case-law of the European court of justice evolved and in which it is probable to continue heading in the future. The second part of this work deals with regulation of the transfer of liability within the Czech legal framework, commencing with adoption of Act no. 63/1991 Coll., on the Protection of Competition, up to the present. Considering the decisive influence of the...

The high social costs associated with bankruptcy have spurred searches for better theoretical understanding and prediction capability. In this paper, we investigate a hybrid approach to bankruptcy prediction, using a genetic programming algorithm to construct a bankruptcy prediction model with variables from a rough sets model derived in prior research. Both studies used data from 291 US public companies for the period 1991 to 1997. The second stage genetic programming model developed in this research consists of a decision model that is 80% accurate on a validation sample as compared to the original rough sets model which was 67% accurate. Additionally, the genetic programming model reveals relationships between variables that are not apparent in either the rough sets model or prior research. These findings indicate that genetic programming coupled with rough sets theory can be an efficient and effective hybrid modeling approach both for developing a robust bankruptcy prediction model and for offering additional theoretical insights.

The purpose of this study has been to examine how elderly people in today’s society look upon themselves and experience their own aging. We have inquired answers to the following main questions: What main events during the life course are emphasized in the elderly’s stories about their lives, and in what way has it affected their experience of growing old? In what way have social relationships, interests and the experience of health changed during the life course? How do the elderly experience their own aging, and what emotions are expressed in the speech surrounding their life course?The results of the study have been analyzed and interpreted with the help of the life course theory, Erikson’s psychosocial development theory and the continuity theory. The results show that elderly people of today don’t feel their age. They consider themselves to be young in mind though experiencing their aging through reduced mobility.

Baby boomers are living longer, and as they age, they will need more supportive services that may include housing, mobility, nutrition, personal care, or health care. Despite the studies that have been conducted on baby boomers aging in place (choosing to stay in their home versus move to an institution), the focus has been on the old and frail and very little has been done to address the lifestyle of active (physically functioning) baby boomers. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the lived, shared experiences of active baby boomers regarding their beliefs and attitudes about aging in place and the implications of this decision. The theoretical foundation of the study was based on Atchley's continuity theory. Data were gathered through in-person, semi-structured interviews with 11 participants, age 65 and older, living in a coastal area of a southern state. Data from the interviews were inductively coded and then organized around key themes. The themes from the content analysis indicated that the participants were embracing the concept of aging in place and adjusting to their limitations (i.e. physical, financial, emotional, and/or environmental) when present. Identified barriers to aging in place were access to services (specifically medical and in-home care), financial constraints, and the inability to drive or inaccessibility of transportation. This study contributes to positive social change by providing policymakers and administrators with information to strengthen the argument that the current social service delivery system is overburdened and may not meet the demands of this population in order for them to maintain their independence and autonomy. Additionally, this study raises awareness among policymakers that driving longer will in itself possess its own challenges such as visibility concerns and roadway design not conducive to aging adults.

Gait disturbances such as slow walking speed and step-to-step variability have been reported among people with mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and as risk factors for functional decline, dependency, and falls. Additionally, AD-related emotional reactions and decreased initiative can lead to physical inactivity. The aims of this thesis, therefore, were to explore how the ability to be physically active is affected in the early years of AD, and how people with mild AD and their cohabitants reason about physical activity as part of their everyday life. To meet the aims, an approach inspired by mixed methods research was used, covering measurements, observations and subjective experiences. Data were collected from different sources in parallel. Participants with mild AD were recruited at the Memory Clinic, Uppsala University Hospital. In Study I, a case study with two couples in which one member had AD, in-depth interviews and participating interviews were performed. Physical activity such as walking was viewed as a meaningful routine improving well-being. Participants were positive about making adjustments to enable physical activity. In Study II, the 25 participants with AD showed a significant lower walking capacity (10 m comfortable walk test, 6-minute walk test, Timed-up-and-Go test) at baseline compared to controls. The decline continued during the subsequent two years. The influence of a cognitive task on walking was distinct, despite this, participants maintained a health-promoting level of physical activity during the two-year study-period. In Study III, gait testing in the motor laboratory of 21 participants with AD showed a marked impact on gait parameters (e.g. slowed speed, decreased step length) by a cognitive task. Additionally, specific dual-task gait disturbances were frequent. In Study IV, in-depth interviews with 14 participants with AD indicated that physical activity was viewed as a meaningful activity, used as a means to maintain well-being and selfhood, and contributed to continuity in life. In conclusion, walking capacity deteriorates and declines in the early stages of AD. A simple cognitive task can have a substantially negative impact on walking already in mild AD. In contrast, people with AD can also gain “self-promoting benefits” from physical activity beyond the common health-promoting benefits.

Les objectifs de l’étude : cette étude a pour objectif d’explorer la relation entre les différents niveaux d’ajustement personne-environnement de travail et deux types d’intentions de retraite (i.e., retraite définitive et l’intention d’occuper un emploi de transition). Le design de recherche / la méthodologie : le questionnaire de recherche a été distribué au près d’un échantillon composé de 357 personnes âgées de 50 et plus, employées dans le secteur privée en France. Les hypothèses ont été testées en utilisant les modèles d’équation structurelle (SEM). Les résultats : les résultats de l’étude indiquent que l’ajustement entre les capacités du senior et les demandes du poste qu’il occupe est positivement et significativement liée aux deux intentions de retraite incluses dans cette étude. Aussi, les résultats de l’étude démontrent que l’ajustement personne–organisation (besoins–ressources) et l’ajustement personne-profession (congruence de valeurs) sont positivement et significativement liés à l’intention d’occuper un emploi de transition une fois retiré de l’emploi de carrière. Les apports de la recherche : l’extension du domaine d’étude des antécédents du départ à la retraite, cette étude considère la complexité de la préparation de la transition vers la retraite en explorant différents types d’intentions de départ à la retraite et l’intégration des différents niveaux d’ajustement personne-environnement dans leur étude / Purpose : this study aims to explore the relationship between the different levels of person-environment fit and two types of retirement intention (i.e., full retirement and intention to hold a bridge employment). Design/ methodolgy / approach : a representative sample of 357 aged 50 and over employed in french private-sector completed a research survey. Hypotheses were tested by using structural equation models. Findings : the results showed that : the fit between older worker’s abilities and the demands of the job was related positively to the two kinds of intentions included in this study. The perception of values congruence at the profession level and the fit between needs and supplies at the organizational level were also positively and signficantly related to the intention to hold a bridge employment after being retired from career employment. Research limitations : there are several limitations to the study : the cross sectional design, the direction of personne-environment fit, the intentional nature of our dependant variable, the mediating role of attitudinal variables. Originality / value : expanding previous research studies, the research considers the complexity of preparation of retirement transition by exploring different types of retirement intentions and the P-E fit factors related to them

In this thesis, I argue that the interdependence between personal identity and practical concerns is overstated. In paradigmatic places where philosophers and common sense suggest that personal identity constrains how we should reason and care, or vice versa, the two spheres are in fact neutral to each other. I defend this claim by considering four specific cases. First, a rough characterization of the distinction between the complex and the simple view is that the former takes personal identity to consist in other relations, whereas the latter does not. I argue that the extreme claim according to which the complex view fails to give reasons for future-directed concern can be resisted. We maintain forward-looking attitudes and projects not because someone will be us, but because we relate to future selves in other, more important ways. Second, I argue that intuitions in a range of popular imaginary cases are contaminated by practical concerns whose relevance for personal identity is far from straightforward. Third, I argue that on a closer look, the complex versus simple distinction is confused. It thus cannot be what grounds differences in judgements on what matters. Debates about personal identity should be framed in terms of better understood notions. Finally, I argue that it is not a constraint on rational transformative choice that decision-maker and transforming individual are identical. Moreover, whether we are deciding for ourselves or for others - the importance of informed consent for transformative treatments is not diminished by the decision-maker's failure to projectively imagine the outcomes.

Arguably the most popular current theories of dreaming are the functional theories, including the emotional adaptation or problem-solving theory. These theories revolve around the idea that dreams may serve an independent adaptive function, helping us to adjust to, cope with, or resolve emotionally difficult life circumstances, problems and concerns. Contrary to these theories, other researchers have argued that dreams may have no function of their own, but are an epiphenomenon of REM sleep. The cognitive theories of dreaming suggest that dream content is continuous with waking concerns and preoccupations, and that dreaming about waking concerns is not adaptive but reflective, in a similar way that waking thought or daydreaming is reflective, of what is uppermost in the mind of the dreamer. A relatively small body of research (e.g., Barrett, 1993; Cartwright, 1991; Kramer, 1993) relating to individuals who have experienced major stressful life events, is often cited as support for the theory that dreams serve the specific function of helping us to adjust or adapt to current events. Until recently, this body of work has gone largely unexamined and unreplicated, though some have questioned the findings and their implications for the function of dreaming. The research presented in this thesis examined whether dream content reflects a process of adjustment in people who had recently experienced a marital separation, by investigating the relationship between their dream content in relation to measures of adjustment over time. In Study 1, 97 recently separated participants and 93 married controls were tested on personality and coping factors, asked to answer questions about their dream content, and then monitored over 12 months for change in their adjustment. In Study 2, a subset of 42 separated participants kept dream logs for a period of four weeks. Their dream reports were subjected to a qualitative analysis of thematic content, including threat and threat mastery, and analyses were conducted to explore the relationship between threat content, mastery and adjustment. In Study 3, a subset of eight Study 2 participants participated in a case study analysis which investigated contextual information about their individual situations in relation to their dream content and adjustment, in order to explore, in a more detailed way, the relationship between dream themes, adjustment, and waking concerns. Study 4 was designed to compare the findings of the previous studies with a separate sample, using three different methodologies for the collection of dream content data. This study was carried out to replicate the previous studies with the addition of a laboratory-based data collection technique. In Study 4, 18 separated participants spent one night in the sleep laboratory, monitored with a Nightcap, which allowed dream data to be collected from them via questionnaires, dream logs, and REM awakenings. Across all of the studies, and regardless of the method used to measure dream recall and content, there was a significant concurrent relationship between better adjustment and fewer dreams relating to participants’ marital situations. Those with the most distress were the same ones who were dreaming excessively about their separation. These findings suggest that dreams are continuous with waking preoccupation, and do not function to aid adjustment. As such, they did not support the functional adaptation theories of dreaming. The findings were more consistent with the cognitive theories of dreaming, including the theory that dreams have meaning, but no independent function of their own. A significant relationship was, however, found between ego strength, coping style and adjustment, highlighting the greater influence of internal personal resources in adjusting to difficult life circumstances. While these findings do not discount the suggestion that individuals derive significant personal meaning from their dreams, nor the possibility that dreams may reflect something of the function of REM sleep, they do suggest that “adaptationist” assumptions of functional theories of dreaming may be unfounded.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to describe and explain how older employees are motivated in their work.   Method: The study was designed as a case study with a qualitative. Seven semi-structured interviews with leaders in a staffing company were carried out on Zoom and supplemented afterwards with internal-and external documents and news articles.   Results and Conclusion: The results showed that older employees are motivated through autonomy, solidarity, and competence in their work, which are the starting points for intrinsic motivation. Likewise, they were motivated by extrinsic motivation and motivational factors such as praise, responsibility, recognition, and financial aspects. Older employees' motivation is also promoted when leaders maintain a good working relationship with them and take their interests into account. / Syfte: Syftet med studien är att beskriva och förklara hur äldre medarbetare motiveras i sitt arbete. Metod: Studien utformades som en fallstudie med kvalitativ ansats. Sju semistrukturerade intervjuer med ledare i ett bemanningsföretag utfördes på Zoom och kompletterades i efterhand med interna-och externa dokument samt nyhetsartiklar. Resultat och Slutsats: Resultatet visade på att äldre medarbetare motiveras genom autonomi, samhörighet och kompetens i sitt arbete som är utgångspunkter i inre motivation. Likaså motiverades de genom yttre motivation och motivationsfaktorer såsom berömmelse, ansvar, erkännande och ekonomiska aspekter. Äldre medarbetares motivation främjas även när ledare upprätthåller god arbetsrelation till dem samt tar hänsyn till deras intressen.