The point of departure for this study is the linked family system – the two households where the natural parents are living, to which a child of a divorce and remarriage relates. The child has a central role in the study, and is regarded as a part of an extended family system. The position of the child as a link between the two households is unique. No one else except members of the same sibling group moves in the same way between the two households in a linked family system. The main purpose is to identify, describe, and analyse the negotiations which serve to define the link child´s family. The empirical data was obtained by qualitative semi-structured interviews with 27 children and adolescents, 17 mothers, 11 fathers and 14 stepfathers in 17 linked family systems. Topics in the interview guide were ”your family”, an ordinary day in the family, family routines and family rituals. The interviews have been supplemented with drawings and diaries. In research on family negotiation, the family as a joint project and men’s and women’s individual project are strategic concepts for understanding how modern family life works. Three different family types can be distinguished: The ”new” mother-child family, with mother and link child as negotiators, the ”new” nuclear family where the negotiations take place within the mother-household and the ”new” extended negotiation family where negotiations can cross household boundaries. The principles for negotiations are both generation- and gender-specific. The motherhood is here unconditional, while the fatherhood is conditional. For many women this leads to an extended motherhood through acting as chief negotiator between and within the households in the linked family system. The natural father is at a distance from the family’s mundane everyday life but he is expected to participate in decision-making in the child’s life. The stepfather takes part in the child’s everyday life but he seldom engages in a deeper relationship with his stepchild because – ”there already is a father.” The boys create their own individual projects with free time and activities and disappear more or less from the linked family system. The girls, as network builders and moral agents, take over the family as a project. We can speak about the family as the project of the link child – above all the project of the daughter – who works to hold together the extended linked family system. / Ingår även i Göteborgs universitets skriftserie 2000:6, ISSN 1401-5781.

Abstract Very long chain fatty acids (VLCFA) are essential molecules that take part in many different cellular processes such as membrane pore stabilization, membrane trafficking and signaling pathways. The fatty acid elongation pathway in yeast has been studied for about a decade. As part of our work on cellular VLCFA elongation, we identified and characterized the condensing enzyme as well as ketoacyl reductases of the elongation pathway in cotton. In order to identify the yeast 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydratase, we introduced a redundancy in this function by engineering a chimera consisting of the two first predicted transmembrane domains of Elo3p and the hydratase2 domain of Candida tropicalis Mfe2p. Yeast harboring the chimeric construct were subjected to random mutagenesis, and screened for mutants whose survival was dependent on the chimera. The mutants isolated contained RFT1 mutations and exhibited a defect in protein glycosylation, but no VLCFA deficiencies. The N-linked glycosylation pathway is well conserved in eukaryotes. Glycan synthesis occurs on the ER membrane; first on the cytoplasmic side up to Dol-PP-GlcNAc2Man5, which is then translocated to the ER luminal side in an Rft1p-dependent flipping process. The core glycan is further extended to Dol-PP-GlcNAc2Glc3Man9, and then transferred to an asparagine side chain of the nascent polypeptide to be glycosylated. It was found that the Elo3'-hydratase2 chimera acts as a multicopy suppressor of the Rft1p deficiency. The subsequent studies elucidated new aspects of Rft1p function, as well as a hitherto under-appreciated role of the ER associated protein degradation process in the maintenance of ER integral membrane complexes and the physical integrity of the membrane. The functionality of the human Rft1p homologue was demonstrated using a yeast complementation assay. A mutant variant from a patient was analyzed, aiding in the identification and characterization of the first reported case of a glycosylation deficiency in humans caused by a defective RFT1 allele.

The thesis examines why and how a Malaysian telecommunication company TM, adopted balance scorecard (BSC). The focus lies in the new institutional theory (NIS), particularly the institutional change model of Hopper and Major (European Accounting Review, 16(1), pp. 59-97, 2007), supplemented by theoretical triangulation involving economic, labour process and actor network theories to enrich observations and extend theory. An explanatory case study is used which employed semi structured interviews, document reviews, informal conversation and observations as method of data collection. Why TM adopted BSC lay in a complex, interrelated chain of institutions, including the government as the main shareholder, management consultants and competitor. BSC was seen as a symbol of improved competitiveness and efficiency but its diffusion and adoption involved mimetic, coercive and normative pressures. The initial reason of adopting BSC was mimetic as a way for TM to move forward after privatisation process. In addition, BSC was also seen as a tool for TM to better transformed itself in order to compete with new players in the telecommunication industry. It is also an act of gaining legitimacy as TM moved from government agency to a privatised entity. Hence, adopting new management accounting practice provides TM an acknowledgment as a private entity. Government transformation programme in 2004 acts as coercive pressure for TM to fully redesign the BSC and tie it to the reward system. Various actors were mobilized to translate and modify BSC to become a working practice in the company. This translation process continues even after the implementation of BSC as new actors join the organisation and existing actors left the organisation. TM executives adopted and used BSC whereas the operational employees showed resistance to the new system. Thus, two separate performance reward systems continue to be practiced in TM which one is based on BSC methodology while the other following the old performance measurement system.

No description available.

Programmed cell death (apoptosis) is the most common mechanism of cell death in eukaryotes. The ability of cancer cells to evade and inhibit apoptosis has become a hallmark feature of cancer. This is accomplished through a family of proteins known as the inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs). X-Linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) is one of the best characterized IAPs. XIAP suppresses apoptosis by forming complexes with cysteine-aspartic proteases (caspase), through one of its baculovirus IAP repeat (BIR) domains. Its activity is endogenously antagonized by a second mitochondria derived activator of caspase (Smac). The anti-apoptotic behaviour of XIAP and the critical role it plays in the apoptotic program makes the Smac-XIAP interaction an important drug target. To this end, our laboratory is interested in synthesizing biologically related Smac mimetics which can induce apoptosis in a MDA-MB-231 cell line. Efforts have focused on (1) understanding BIR domain binding sites which allow for this interaction, and (2) the design and synthesis of molecules which are much more effective at inducing apoptosis compared to other well known analogues. Through the synthesis and evaluation of various divalent Smac mimetics we have been able to support the hypothesis that the likely binding site on XIAP is the BIR3 domain. As well, through the synthesis of a library of novel compounds, as described in the thesis, we have been able to assess the nature of the linker which joins the two tetrapeptide units. In our effort to understand which domains Smac binds with, various divalent analogues were synthesized containing MeAVPI-linker-IPVMeA (forward-reverse) and MeAVPI-linker-MeAVPI (forward-forward) sequence, which incorporated linkers with varying degrees of flexibility. We hypothesized that the forward-forward divalent mimetics would have decreased activity compared to the peptides synthesized in a forward-reverse fashion. Lastly, information gathered from structure activity relationship (SAR) studies have shown that substituting the lysine (P2) and isoleucine residues (P4) in the AVPI protein can create more potent inducers of apoptosis than its native AVPI sequence. As one of the most potent Smac mimetic that has been previously made known contains an alkyne bridge at P2 and a large hydrophobic moiety at P4, we hypothesized that similar Smac mimetics containing a propargyl glycine residue at P2 and a bulky hydrophobic moiety at P4 will be much more potent in inducing apoptosis.

Prédire les performances des requêtes et expliquer les résultats pour assister la consommation de données liées. Notre objectif est d'aider les utilisateurs à comprendre les performances d'interrogation SPARQL, les résultats de la requête, et dérivations sur les données liées. Pour aider les utilisateurs à comprendre les performances des requêtes, nous fournissons des prévisions de performances des requêtes sur la base de d’historique de requêtes et d'apprentissage symbolique. Nous n'utilisons pas de statistiques sur les données sous-jacentes à nos prévisions. Ce qui rend notre approche appropriée au Linked Data où les statistiques sont souvent absentes. Pour aider les utilisateurs des résultats de la requête dans leur compréhension, nous fournissons des explications de provenance. Nous présentons une approche sans annotation pour expliquer le “pourquoi” des résultats de la requête. Notre approche ne nécessite pas de reconception du processeur de requêtes, du modèle de données, ou du langage de requête. Nous utilisons SPARQL 1.1 pour générer la provenance en interrogeant les données, ce qui rend notre approche appropriée pour les données liées. Nous présentons également une étude sur les utilisateurs montrant l'impact des explications. Enfin, pour aider les utilisateurs à comprendre les dérivations sur les données liées, nous introduisons le concept d’explications liées. Nous publions les métadonnées d’explication comme des données liées. Cela permet d'expliquer les résultats en suivant les liens des données utilisées dans le calcul et les liens des explications. Nous présentons une extension de l'ontologie PROV W3C pour décrire les métadonnées d’explication. Nous présentons également une approche pour résumer ces explications et aider les utilisateurs à filtrer les explications. / Our goal is to assist users in understanding SPARQL query performance, query results, and derivations on Linked Data. To help users in understanding query performance, we provide query performance predictions based on the query execution history. We present a machine learning approach to predict query performances. We do not use statistics about the underlying data for our predictions. This makes our approach suitable for the Linked Data scenario where statistics about the underlying data is often missing such as when the data is controlled by external parties. To help users in understanding query results, we provide provenance-based query result explanations. We present a non-annotation-based approach to generate why-provenance for SPARQL query results. Our approach does not require any re-engineering of the query processor, the data model, or the query language. We use the existing SPARQL 1.1 constructs to generate provenance by querying the data. This makes our approach suitable for Linked Data. We also present a user study to examine the impact of query result explanations. Finally to help users in understanding derivations on Linked Data, we introduce the concept of Linked Explanations. We publish explanation metadata as Linked Data. This allows explaining derived data in Linked Data by following the links of the data used in the derivation and the links of their explanation metadata. We present an extension of the W3C PROV ontology to describe explanation metadata. We also present an approach to summarize these explanations to help users filter information in the explanation, and have an understanding of what important information was used in the derivation.

Introductory chapter of the thesis is devoted to a major milestone in the history of insurance, i will focus on events that have significantly influenced and shaped the character development of insurance as we know it today. We will consider also the insurance situation in the Czech Republic in comparison with the European Union. This comparison should show the reader how much the reserve life insurance market in the Czech Republic, and which direction to go in the coming years. The financial crisis has affected all economic sectors. Unfavourable developments in the real estate market through banking instruments affected also global insurance market. Unit linked insurance is the most advanced form of life insurance. In many based on traditional types of life insurance, which is dedicated a separate chapter The most important chapter of my work is, as already apparent from the title of the thesis, dedicated to the unit linked insurance. We begin with the development and history, become familiar with the functioning and the most important features of unit linked insurance, we will also describe the commission system and system of operation charges, the operation of mutual funds in connection with the insurance and learn about the possible forms of indemnity. The last chapter is devoted to the methodology of Solvency 2, its role is similarly as it was in the banking sector by introducing a methodology of the Basel 2.

This master thesis discusses the niche of reinsurance business -- catastrophe bonds. It provides a brief description of reinsurance in general, insurance-linked securities and catastrophe bonds. The goal of this thesis is to describe the development of cat bond market and the influence of economic and natural shocks on it. In order to analyze the effect, quarter issuance data are used together with Swiss Re Cat Bonds return indexes. In addition, several other variables (i.e. Munich Re and Swiss Re stock prices) and indexes are used. The most important indexes are Merrill Lynch high yield bonds and structured products. The shocks' influence is examined by analyzing the correlation between cat bonds yields and other financial instruments. The conclusion of the thesis is that during economic boom cat bonds are correlated with other instruments. In times of recession cat bonds' yields prove to be negatively or not correlated with other negatively affected instrument.

The thesis discusses the process of sponsoring as a marketing instrument. It particularly focuses on sponsoring in fine and visual arts and examines how is this practice perceived by customers and what benefits does it bring to its company or brand. One key factor in said customer perception - sponsorship fit - is emphasized, which indicates the importance of a relationship between the sponsor and the sponsee. Main goal of this thesis is to explain its nature and discover, whether do representatives of Czech companies act on it or not. Theoretical part of the thesis lists relevant knowledge from current, mainly foreign literature, and the practical part employs existing consumer research and expert interviews. Together, the entire work aims to create a consistent and coherent whole, depicting the current theories and their utilization in reality. The thesis draws the conclusion that sponsorship fit in fine and visual arts does have its unique features, which need to be taken into account. Moreover, Czech companies can indicate these features adequatly and adjust their sponsoring activities accordingly.

The diploma thesis is focused on transformation of linked data and opportunities for componentization of extract, transform, load process resulting in reusability of such components. UnifiedViews serves as a framework for demonstration of implementa-tion of selected components. Initial review of related fields of study, relational data oriented ETL and linked data quality management being most prominent, is followed by bottom-up analysis of existing extractors and transformations. Identified common transformations are supplemented by operations known from transformations of relational data. Options and limits of each component candidate are discussed as well as possible cooperation with other components. The next section discusses supported ways of implementation in the selected environment and provides a list of key questions for decision making process is provided. The last part describes implementation of selected components with respect to the approach suggested in the preceding section. Practical use as well as limitations of the implemented components are demonstrated on tasks transforming public contracts datasets.