Background: Occupational Balance [OB] is a core concept with deep historical roots within Western occupational science. The concept is abstract and evolving with multidimensional perspectives shaped by socio-cultural contexts Purpose: The study’s purpose is to explore how Thai Occupational Therapy [OT] students experience their OB Method: An explorative, qualitative interview method was used on ten(10) Thai OT students and a qualitative content analysis was done on the collected data. Convenient- and snowball-sampling was used to recruit participants Results: The results revealed two categories on how the students’ experienced OB: Academic phases and students experience of occupational balance and Contextual factors and occupational balance Conclusions: Thai OT students experience imbalance due to the complex interplay between various external and internal factors such as academic demands, environmental factors, culture, and role expectations. Air pollution, in combination with being a student with certain expectations has impacted the experience of OB Implications: The results can be used for further research on OB, from both students and cultural perspectives. Educators can use the results to support their students who are experiencing imbalance due to academic demands. / Bakgrund: Aktivitetsbalans är ett kärnbegrepp med historiska rötter inom västerländsk arbetsterapipraxis. Begreppet är abstrakt med multi-dimetionella perspektiv som formats av sociokulturella sammanhang Syfte: Studiens syfte är att utforska hur thailändska arbetsterapeutstudenters upplevelse av aktivitetsbalans Metod: En utforskande, kvalitativ intervjustudie användes på tio(10) thailändska arbetsterapeutstudenter och en kvalitativ innehållsanalys gjordes på den insamlade data. Bekvämlighet- och snöbolls-urval användes för att hitta deltagare Resultat: Resultaten visade två kategorier på hur thailändska arbetsterapeutstudenter upplever aktivitetsbalans: De akademiska faserna och elevernas erfarenhet av aktivitetsbalans och kontextuella faktorer och aktivitetsbalans. Slutsats: Thailändska arbetsterapeutstudenter upplever obalans på grund av det komplexa samspelet mellan olika externa och interna faktorer så som akademiska krav, miljöfaktorer, kultur och rollförväntningar. Luftföroreningar i kombination med att vara student påverkar deras upplevelse av aktivitetsbalans Implikationer: Resultaten är relevanta för vidare forskning om aktivitetsbalans, både ur studenters och kulturella perspektiv. Lärare kan använda resultaten för att stödja sina studenter som upplever obalans i samband med akademiska krav.

Cancer and autoimmune diseases both impose a substantial healthcare burden on the US and world populations. In 2016, there were over 17 million cases of cancer, leading to nearly nine million deaths. Additionally, autoimmune diseases cause substantial mortality and morbidity and are present in 3-5% of the general population. Despite the increased attention scientists now give diseases that are impacted by immune imbalance, we have yet to find regimens to treat the core cause(s) of tissue dysfunction without drastically decreasing the quality of life for many patients with either cancer or autoimmune disease. For instance, anti-CD19 Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy often aid patients to remission, but at the cost of their immune functionality as they acquire B-cell aplasia caused by on-target/off-cancer toxicity. This B-cell aplasia and other immune-related adverse events that are associated with anti-CD19 CAR T-cell treatment highlights the need for better therapeutic targets and more precise knowledge of the underlying immune response mechanisms. We argue that current approaches used to investigate and treat diseases and conditions associated with immune imbalance need to be updated. We propose viewing immune imbalance as a whole entity, rather than as separate events, to reduce at least a subset of the problems that have plagued the field for years. Our hypothesis for this study is that identifying mechanistic markers and intracellular signaling pathways that play a role in immune imbalance can facilitate the prediction of potential therapeutics. To test this hypothesis, we demonstrated in two tissue systems—breast tissue and B-cells--and three distinct diseases—Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), B-Cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (hereafter B-cell lymphoma), and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE or lupus)—that an immune-centric perspective enables discovery of cellular mechanisms that may be leveraged for diagnostics or treatment. We began with a bulk RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) differential gene expression study focusing on TNBC, which afflicts 2.3 million individuals (predominantly women) worldwide each year and is often refractory to treatment, causing 685,000 deaths annually. We followed our TNBC analysis with a similar study examining B-cell lymphoma, a blood cancer for which anti-CD19 CAR T-cell therapy is currently approved. Finally, we conducted a novel study designed to compare cancer to an autoimmune disease in a single tissue type, reflecting the immune balance dynamics affecting the relevant tissue. To do this, we compared B-cells from lymphoma and lupus to identify the shared underlying or contrasting mechanisms, indicative of tissue dysfunction and/or chronic inflammation, as well as genes demonstrating opposite directionality in their dysregulation. We believe that both the shared and the contrasting mechanisms between B-cell lymphoma and lupus will better characterize the internal immune functionality of these immune-mediated diseases, revealing additional targetable mechanisms and augmenting the development and availability of immune-balanced treatments. We propose that this approach is an effective starting point for examining the mechanisms of immune imbalance, which has not been addressed at this scale before.

Education remains one of the most gender imbalanced fields, with disproportionately fewer women in higher levels of leadership. Women who reach leadership positions in education experience many triumphs and tribulations during their tenures as principals, assistant superintendents, and superintendents. The experiences of these women in their various administrative levels of leadership can provide important insight into the reasons for their success as women superintendents in Texas. This research has probed the career trajectory of nine women who have successfully attained and retained superintendencies in Texas to determine what career decisions have helped them and the challenges these women have faced in their positions. A qualitative research method, open-ended interviews, yielded several findings of what women considered important in proceeding from teaching through the various levels and ending in becoming superintendents. According to nine successful women superintendents in Texas, there are specific characteristics one can bring to the table that would really make a difference: Communication, collaboration, compassion, preparedness, hard work, and passion. All nine participants overcame challenges when climbing to the higher levels of leadership in education. These women have achieved success in the superintendency, and several factors appear to have played into the success of these women who have achieved in education’s top position.

En 1975, Wilson et King ont proposé que l'évolution opère non seulement via des changements affectant la structure des protéines, mais aussi via des mutations qui modifient la régulation génétique. L'étude des éléments régulateurs de l'expression génétique a un rôle important dans la compréhension de l'expression de différentes maladies et de la réponse thérapeutique. Nous avons développé un algorithme bio- informatique qui nous permet rapidement de trouver des sites de régulation génétique à travers tout le génome et pour une grande quantité de gènes. Notre approche consiste à trouver des sites polymorphes (SNPs) qui sont en déséquilibre de liaison avec le débalancement allélique (AI) afin de cartographier la région régulatrice et le site responsable. Notre méthode est avantageuse par rapport à d'autres méthodes, car elle n'a pas besoin des données « phasées». De plus, les données de débalancement allélique ne sont pas affectées par des facteurs externes étant donné qu'ils sont mesurés dans la même cellule. Nous avons démontré que notre approche est fiable et qu'elle peut détecter des sites loin du gène. De plus, il peut être appliqué à des données de génotypage sans avoir besoin de les « phaser » . / Wilson and King (1975) proposed that evolution frequently operates through mutations affecting genetic regulation. Likewise, it is expected that genetic variation responsible for inter-individual differences will be due to variation in regulatory sites. Identifying such sites is thus important in the genetic and medical research. We have developed a new bioinformatics algorithm to find genome-wide regulatory sites for a big number of genes. Individuals carrying different alleles at a regulatory site will exhibit allelic imbalance(AI) due to differential expression of the two copies the same locus. Our approach consists of searching polymorphic sites (SNPs) in linkage disequilibrium with AI in order to map regulatory regions. We have detected many SNPs associated to the regulation of different genes pointed in previous studies. We have also found regulatory regions far from the transcription start site (TSS). The major advantage of this method is that phased data is not needed. In addition, AI data has the benefit of not being affected by external factors since it is measured in the same cell. The results show that our approach is reliable and it can detect sites far from the gene.

De konstnärliga högre utbildningarna med bild- och forminriktning har till övervägande del en studentsammansättning med kulturellt kapital1 hemifrån. För att hårdra betyder det att elever med litet ekonomisk, socialt eller kulturellt kapital inte söker estetiskt gymnasieprogram eller blir studenter på förberedande konstnärlig utbildning.Här ges en bild av hur villkoren ser ut på fältet och hur rekrytering till högre konstnärlig utbildning går till. Utbildningsanordnarna som intervjuas i undersökningen konstaterar den rådande sociala snedrekryteringen i Stockholm.En utbyggd användning av portfolio inom gymnasieskolan skulle kunna fungera som modell för att bryta den sociala snedrekryteringen. Portfoliomodellen ger elever och studenter utrymme att träna sig i självvärdering genom samlande och reflektion av egna alster. Att kunna värdera sig själv ger perspektiv och utvecklingsmöjligheter i förståelsen av sig själv som en del av ett större sammanhang, en helhet, en kultur. Genom de kriterier som innefattas av konstruktionen av portfolion, ges utmaning i att se nya möjligheter i sina framtida yrkes- och utbildningsval. / The education at an advanced level of Fine Arts is dominated by students with a cultural capital from their heritage2 In strong words this will mean that students with small economic, social or cultural capital won´t apply for aesthetic high schools or even become students in art schools.This degree thesis gives a picture of how the conditions look like in reality and how the recruitment to higher artistic education is conducted. The education organisers that were interviewed in the survey established that there is a prevailing social imbalance in Stockholm.A larger use of the portfolio in high-schools could stand as a model in order to break the prevailing social imbalance. The portfolio model gives each person the space, through collecting and reflection of their own material, to find and train in self evaluation. To be able to evaluate your own person it will give perspectives on his or hers development opportunities in the understanding of itself as a part of a bigger contexts, a whole, a culture. Through the criteria that are included of the structure of the portfolio, is given a challenge in seeing new possibilities in his or her future trade's - and educational choices.

Title: Qualitative diagnostics in fitness center. The aim of the diploma thesis: The aim of the theoretical part of the diploma thesis is to summarize the knowledge about the diagnostic entrance test for motion assumptions in fitness and afterwards to help as a study material for people who are interested in being educated in this department. The aim of the practical part of the diploma thesis is to perform the model situation of the diagnostic entrance test in the fitness center carried out in the presence of 10 certificated personal trainers with many years of experience and then with help of semi-structured dialogs and the overall analysis of the concept of the diagnostic, together with an analysis of their experience with diagnostic entrance test in fitness as a whole. Subsequently these data are compared with the theoretical part of this thesis. Objectives: There was used the method of analyzing specialist literature and qualitative research. The qualitative research was done in the fitness center. Results: The outcome of the project supported the theory that the diagnostic entrance test is still not common part of the work of fitness trainer and commonly implemented diagnostics in fitness does not match the theoretical principles of diagnostics, but it is sufficient for the purposes of...

Dans beaucoup de pays du continent africain l'enclavement physique se pose encore aujourd'hui comme une contrainte majeure au développement. La région de Jijel après avoir longtemps joué un rôle de premier plan dans l'Algérie du Nord, se retrouve à un certain moment de l'histoire dans une situation d'isolement et de déclin par rapport à son environnement relativement dynamique. Est-ce un espace périphérique ? Ce n'est donc pas le cas, et ce n'est surement pas sa situation qui est mise en cause puisqu'elle fait partie de l'espace central de l'Algérie d'aujourd'hui. Mais l'opposition mer/montagne qui confère une singularité à ce territoire semble avoir donné l'avantage aux territoires voisins plus accessibles et propices au développement des communications ainsi que des échanges en tous genre. Les interventions des pouvoirs publics inscrites dans un contexte d'économie planifiée et dans une approche sectorielle, n'ont pas pris en charge l'ensemble de l'espace de la wilaya en se concentrant sur la zone de plaine côtière et en isolant davantage l'espace montagneux, déjà lésé, qui continu aujourd'hui de former une barrière qui bloque ce territoire par le sud. La dynamique animée par les acteurs locaux montre de son côté le chemin d'un développement en cohérence avec les potentialités et les aptitudes locales. Mais l'une comme l'autre initiative se trouvent confrontées à l'isolement de la région et doivent donc s'appuyer inévitablement sur l'ouverture de ce territoire sur le reste du pays. / In many countries of Africa, the geographical enclosing represents a major constraint for development. Although it played a foreground role in North Algeria for a long time, the Jijel area is nowadays found to be isolated and declining compared to its relatively dynamic environment. As it is clearly not a peripheral place, its location can't be blamed since it belongs to the center of Algeria today. However the sea/mountain opposition, which is singular on this territory, seems to have logically promoted more accessible territories with the development of communications as well as exchanges of all kind. In a context of planned economy and a sector-based approach, the authorities did not consider the whole wilaya place, focusing on the coastal plain zone, and isolating the already injured mountainous space that keeps on forming a barrier, blocking this territory by the south. On the other hand, the dynamics powered by the local actors show a way of a development in coherence with the local potentialities and aptitudes. However, each initiative is confronted with the enclosing of the area and will inevitably depend on the opening of this territory to the rest of the country. Its opening towards the South could also guarantee the opening to the North, and reconcile this place with the sea-side, so that it finds back its past role of “transit zone” between North and South Mediterranean.

The main purpose of this study is to focus on Korean outward foreign direct investment (FDI) in the automotive industry of the Czech and Slovak Republic, and to analyze consequences of Hyundai Motors investment for the Czech national economy. In doing so, this study is divided into the three parts. First theoretical part is concentrated on examination of current trend of FDI flows, its impact on developing and host countries, and theories and models of FDI. Second part is focused on analysis of consequences of investment policy generally. Final part is analyzing Korean, Slovak and Czech automotive industry and the impact of Hyundai Motor Company investment decision for the Czech Republic

Espécies reativas de oxigênio (EROs) são normalmente e continuamente geradas em mitocôndrias, majoritariamente na cadeia de transporte de elétrons (CTE). Harman (1956, 1972 e 1992) teorizou que os radicais livres gerados nas mitocôndrias seriam a principal causa do envelhecimento. De fato, durante o envelhecimento é observado um desequilíbrio entre formação e remoção de EROs, que resulta em estresse redox. Essa condição favorece a formação de lesões oxidadas no DNA, acarretando em mutagênese ou morte celular. Diversos mecanismos moleculares cooperam para o reparo de DNA. Duas vias de reparo de DNA lidam com a maioria das lesões: o reparo por excisão de base (BER) e o reparo por excisão de nucleotídeos (NER). A via BER corrige pequenas modificações de bases que surgem de reações de desaminação, alquilação e oxidação. A via NER é mais versátil, reconhecendo lesões que distorcem a dupla hélice de DNA, como danos induzidos por luz UV e adutos volumos. Pacientes xeroderma pigmentoso (XP-A a XP-G) herdam mutações em um de sete genes que codificam proteínas envolvidas na via NER, ou em um gene que codifica uma polimerase translesão (XP-V). A doença é caracterizada por fotosensibilidade e incidência elevada de neoplasias cutâneas. A proteína XPC atua na etapa de reconhecimento da lesão de DNA na subvia de reparo global do genoma (GG-NER), e sua mutação dá origem aos sintomas clássicos de XP. Novas funções de XPC foram recentemente descritas: i) atuando como cofator na via BER auxiliando as DNA glicosilases OGG1, TDG e SMUG; ii) atuando como cofator transcricional de elementos responsivos a Oct4/Sox2, RXR e PPARα; e iii) na adaptação metabólica na transformação de queratinócitos. Então, propusemo-nos a investigar as relações entre XPC e a manutenção da integridade do DNA mitocondrial, a sensibilidade celular a estresse redox mitocondrial e possíveis alterações bioenergéticas e redox. Para tal, padronizamos um ensaio in vitro de cinética de incisão em DNA plasmidial a fim de investigarmos o possível papel de XPC no reparo de lesões oxidadas em mtDNA. Porém, nossos dados revelaram que XPC não se encontra em mitocôndrias. Apesar disso, células XP-C são mais sensíveis ao tratamento com azul de metileno (AM), antimicina A (AA) e rotenona (ROT), que geram estresse redox mitocondrial. A sensibilidade à AA foi completamente revertida em células corrigidas. Células XP-C apresentaram alterações quanto ao uso dos complexos mitocondriais, com diminuição da taxa de consumo de oxigênio (OCR) via complexo I e um aumento da OCR via complexo II, dependente da presença de XPC. Ademais, a linhagem XP-C apresentou um desequilíbrio redox mitocondrial com maior produção de EROs e menor atividade de GPx. O DNA mitocondrial de células XP-C apresentou níveis elevados de lesão e deleção, que no entanto não retornaram aos níveis encontrados em células selvagens na linhagem XP-C corrigida. Observamos uma acentuada diminuição da expressão de PPARGC1A, um importante regulador de biogênese mitocondrial. Contudo, não foi possível determinar o mecanismo de supressão da expressão de PPARGC1A. Por fim, identificamos que o tipo de mutação em XPC pode estar associado a expressão de PPARGC1A. Esse estudo abre novas possibilidade na investigação do papel de proteína XPC, à parte da instabilidade genômica, na adaptação metabólica e desequilíbrio redox em direção da progressão tumoral. / Mitochondria continuously produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), mainly at the electron transport chain. Harman (1956, 1972 e 1992) proposed that normal aging is driven by increased mitochondrially generated free radicals. Indeed, during the course of aging there is an increased imbalance between formation and removal of ROS, leading to redox stress. This condition favours the formation of oxidized DNA lesions, given rise to mutations and cell death. Several molecular mechanisms cooperates to repair the DNA. Two DNA repair pathways deal with the majority of lesions: base excision repair (BER) and nucleotide excision repair (NER). The BER pathway corrects small base modifications that arise from deamination, alkylation and oxidation reactions. The NER pathway is more versitile, recognizing helix-distorting lesions, such as UV-induced damage and bulky adducts. Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP-A to XP-G) patients inherit mutations in one of seven protein-coding genes involved in NER pathway, or in a gene coding a translesion DNA polymerase (XP-V). Photosensitivity and a thousand-fold increased in the risk of developing cutaneous neoplasms are the main clinical features of XP. XPC protein functions in the recognition step of global genome NER (GG-NER) sub-pathway, and mutations in this gene lead to classical XP symptoms. Recently, it has been described that XPC acts: i) as a cofactor in BER pathway through functional interaction with DNA glycosylases OGG1, TDG and SMUG1; ii) as coactivator in transcription at Oct4/Sox2, RXR and PPARα responsive elements; iii) in metabolic shift during keratinocytes transformation. Thus, we sought to investigate a possible role for XPC in the maintenance of mtDNA integrity, cellular sensitivity to mitochondrial redox stress and eventual bioenergetic and redox changes. For this purpose, we established an in vitro plasmid incision assay to investigate the possible role of XPC in the repair of oxidized lesions in mitochondrial DNA. However, our data revealed that XPC did not localized in mitochondria. Nonetheless, XP-C cells are more sensitive to methylene blue, antimycin A (AA) and rotenone treatment, which induce mitochondrial redox stress. The XP-C sensitivity to AA was completely reverted in XPC-corrected cells. XP-C cells presented altered usage of mitochondrial complexes, with decreased oxygen consumption rate (OCR) via complex I and increased OCR through complex II, an XPC-dependent phenomenon. Furthermore, the XP-C cell line showed mitochondrial redox imbalance with increased ROS production and decrease GPx activity. MtDNA from XP-C cells accumulate lesions and deletions, which, however, were found at similar levels in the corrected cell line. We identified a sharp decrease in the expression of PPARGC1A, a master regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis. Nevertheless, it was not possible to determine the mechanism of suppression of PPARGC1A expression. Finally, our results suggest a possible link between the type of XPC mutation and PPARGC1A expression. This study unfolds new possible roles for XPC, aside from its established roles in genomic instability, in metabolic adaptation and redox imbalance towards tumour progression.

A conciliação judicial de conflitos previdenciários envolve, em geral, uma proposta de acordo baseada na renúncia pelo indivíduo de parte dos valores do benefício em atraso em um processo no qual a decisão contrária ao entendimento do Instituto Nacional do Segurado Social (INSS) é muito provável. Como regra, há um notório desequilíbrio de poder envolvendo, de um lado, um litigante ocasional (indivíduo) e, de outro, um litigante habitual (INSS). O presente trabalho pretende discutir qual o papel do terceiro facilitador nesse contexto, de modo a legitimar a prática existente e avançar para uma mudança de paradigma. Para tanto, parte-se da tese de que a conciliação deve ser adequada ao conflito que se pretende tratar, cabendo ao terceiro facilitador atuar de acordo com as peculiaridades desse conflito. Desse modo, propõe-se que, para o tratamento do conflito previdenciário, o conceito de conciliador deve ser entendido em termos amplos, abrangendo não apenas o conciliador leigo, mas também o juiz conciliador e o Judiciário como conciliador interinstitucional. Embora cada uma dessas atuações possua características próprias, sustenta-se que o ponto em comum é o respeito a um devido processo legal mínimo que possibilite a existência de uma base adequada de poder e que permita, assim, a tomada de uma decisão informada pelas partes. Dessa forma, a flexibilidade instrumental própria da conciliação não impediria o estabelecimento de parâmetros mínimos da atuação do conciliador. Por isso, tendo como limite a tomada de uma decisão informada, o conciliador atuaria por meio de estratégias variadas, aproximando-se e distanciando-se das partes, com maior ou menor interferência, de acordo com as características do caso apresentado. Conclui-se que, com a atuação conjunta e coordenada das diversas espécies de conciliador é possível aprimorar qualitativamente a conciliação de conflitos previdenciários. / The court-connected conciliation (or evaluative mediation) of pension funds conflicts in Brazil involves, generally, an agreement in which the individual plaintiff waives part of a benefit in a lawsuit that the defendant, a national government agency called Instituto Nacional do Seguro Social (INSS), will probably loose. As a general rule, there is a significant imbalance of power between a one-shotter (individual) and a repeat player (INSS). The present work aims to discuss the role of the conciliator (or evaluative mediator) in this scenario, in order to legitimate the current practice and to allow a paradigm shift. Firstly, it argues that conciliation should be appropriate to the conflict to be resolved and that the conciliator also should act according to the peculiarities of this conflict. Therefore, it proposed that the definition of conciliator might be enlarged to cover not only the lay person who acts as a conciliator, but also the judge as a conciliator and the Judiciary as an interinstitutional conciliator. Although each specie has its own characteristics, it is argued that the common point is that all must try to guarantee the observance of a minimal due process of law which allows the existence of an adequate basis of power and thus enable parties to make an informed decision. Consequently, the flexibility of the conciliation rules would not prevent the establishment of minimum standards of the conciliator\'s performance. Limited by the aim to allow parties to make an informed decision, the conciliator would act through a variety of strategies. It means being close or far from the parties, interfering in a greater or a smaller level, depending on the characteristics of a particular conflict to be dealt. To sum up, this work concludes that, if the three species of conciliator work together in a coordinated way, it could be possible to have a qualitative improvement in the conciliation of pension funds conflicts.