La SLA est une maladie neurodégénérative se caractérisant par la perte progressive et sélective des neurones moteurs. une mutation dans le gène codant pour VAPB a été associée avec la SLA. VAPB est une protéine du réticulum endoplasmique (RE) qui jouerait un rôle dans le transport de protéines et dans la réponse du RE aux protéines mal repliées. J'ai utilisé la technique de transfert viral de gène pour induire l'expression de VAPB humaine (hVAP-Bwt et hVAP-BP56S) dans les neurones moteurs in vitro. Nous avons observé que hVAPBP56S forme des agrégats cytoplasmiques et que la surexpression de hVAPBwt et hVAPBp56s induit la mort des neurones via un mécanisme dépendant du RE et du calcium. Dans les cellules Cos-7, l'expression de hVAP-Bwt et hVAP-Bp(-s bloque l'activité du protéasome via l'activation d'un stress du RE et la séquestration de la sous-unité 20S. Enfin, nous avons développé des souris transgéniques hVAPBp56s mais elles ne développent aucun phénotype moteur / ALS is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by a selective loss of motor neurons. A mutation in VAPB protein has been associated with ALS. VAPB, an endoplamic reticulum (ER) resident protein is proposed to play a role in protein transport and in the unfolded protein response. To manipulate VAPB (hVAPBwt and hVAPBp56s) expression in motor neurons in vitro, I used the viral gene transfer technology. hVAPBp56s induces selective motor neuron death which involved an ER-related pathway dependent on calcium signals. Studies on Cos-7 cells showed that hVAPBwt and hVAPBp56s impair the proteasome activity through the activation of ER stress and the sequestration of the 20S subnit. Moreover, we developed transgenic mice overxpressing hVAPBp56s which do not display any motor disorder.

Subsurface data derived from ~388 ft of drill core from Martin County (TX) were used to understand the depositional setting of the Wolfcamp-D, a petroleum producing interval in the Midland Basin. Elemental geochemistry collected via x-ray fluorescence revealed a highly variable depositional history marked by the deposition of diverse siliciclastic and carbonate lithofacies. Integration of multiple datasets resulted in the interpretation of nine lithofacies, whose deposition appears cyclical. Correlations between molybdenum and total organic carbon indicate slow recharge of bottom waters and anoxic/euxinicconditions within the basin. The presence of phosphatic nodules coinciding with siliceous black mudrocks suggested high levels of primary productivity driven by upwelling. High-frequency sea level variability, driven by far-field glaciation and regional paleoclimate, were key controls on both the chemostratigraphy and lithofacies. Along-strike variability is seen throughout the basin due to paleobathymetry, proximity and connections to paleochannels, and localized structures. Rhenium-osmium (Re/Os) geochronology was conducted on siliceous mudrocks with high total organic carbon. A depositional age of 300 ± 18 Ma was obtained, partially confirming previous correlations to shelf biostratigraphic data. Scatter in the Re/Os data is likely due to mixing in the basin or non-hydrogenous Os incorporated into the analysis due to the method of preparation.

The aim of this thesis is to describe perceived barriers and drivers and analyze its impact on the implementation of strategies among food retailers in order to reduce food waste. On supply chain, food retailers are in the powerful position, communicating both consumers and suppliers. Existing literatures and our findings show that food retailers engage mostly in strategies to prevent and re-use food waste. The methodology used in this thesis is qualitative research through single case study design in order to gain valuable insights from food retailers and develop the existing theories. The empirical date is collected through semi-structured interviews with a store manager, the head of logistics and a project manager and environmental ambassador, Karin Bildsten. The findings had formed several learning points. First, in this case the major barrier is lack of resources in financial and knowledge terms in order to implement strategies. Second, consumers have a strong impact on the implementation of strategies, playing both as drivers and barriers. Lastly, environmental consideration of employees is a strong driver as well as positive response from society toward implementing different strategies. This research intended to give inspiration to other researchers into this new field of research. The authors concluded with practical recommendations to food retailers as well as some advices to different stakeholders.

A new dual fuel Controlled Auto-Ignition (CAI) combustion concept was proposed and researched for lower exhaust emissions and better fuel economy. The concept takes the advantage of the complementary physical and chemical properties of high octane number gasoline and high cetane number Di-Methyl Ether (DME) to organize the combustion process. Homogeneous gasoline/air mixture is utilized as the main combustible charge, which is realised by a low-cost Port Fuel Injection (PFI) system. Pressurised DME is directly injected into cylinder via a commercial Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) injector. Flexible DME injection strategies are employed to realise the controlled auto ignition of the premixed charge. The engine is operated at Wide Open Throttle (WOT) in the entire operating region in order to minimize the intake pumping loss. Engine load is controlled by varing the amount of internal Exhaust Gas Recirculation (iEGR) which is achieved and adjusted by Positive Valve Overlap (PVO) and/or exhaust back pressure, and exhaust rebreathing method. The premixed mixture can be of either stoichiometric air/fuel ratio or fuel lean mixture and is heated and diluted by recycled exhaust gases. The use of internal EGR is considered as a very effective method to initiate CAI combustion due to its heating effect and moderation of the heat release rate by its dilution effect. In addition, the new combustion concept is compared to conventional SI combustion. The results indicate that the new combustion concept has potential for high efficiency, low emissions, enlargement of the engine operational region and flexible control of CAI combustion.

Anthropogenic inputs of nutrients and sediment are a widespread problem in U.S. streams causing localized impairment and contributing to eutrophication of coastal habitats. Sediments and dissolved nutrients interact through diverse processes including ion exchange, sorption and biotic assimilation by particle-bound bacteria. This study examined the effects of sediment re-suspension on nutrient partitioning in lab microcosms using fine benthic matter collected from two Virginia Coastal Plain streams. Kimages Creek was recently restored following dam removal and was characterized by large deposits of legacy sediments. Courthouse Creek was characterized by sandy substrates typical of Coastal Plain streams. Sediment characteristics differed between the two sites and were influenced by discharge. Net nutrient release rates were similar between streams though reactivity of Courthouse Creek sediments was greater than that of Kimages Creek. Equilibrium Phosphate Concentrations calculated for each site show that fine sediments at Kimages Creek have resulted in higher phosphorus retention potential.

First Czech villages were founded in the region of Banat, Romania, in the first half of the 19th century. The original impetus had come from the administration who intended to populate the mountainous regions of the then military border. To this day a none too numerous community of Czechs surrounded by other nations have kept their original Czech traditions, speak exclusively Czech, and proudly profess their roots. In the course of the 20th century these Czech villages were hit by three waves of re-emigration which resulted in a portion of the locals relocating to their ancestral country. The last wave of re-emigration began in 1989, following the reopening of the borders and the simplification of the whole process of relocation, and it essentially continues to this day. Young people in particular come to the Czech Republic hoping to find here a better job, higher wages and better quality of life, which goes hand in hand with it. These expectations are often exaggerated and unrealistic, though. The first part of this thesis presents a theoretical framework of the whole work, and a historical overview of the Czech community and the individual waves of re-emigration which affected it. Attention will also be paid to the continuous interest in this community on the part of the Czech authorities and...

The topic of this thesis focuses on various legal professions within the Czech Republic, such as attorneys, notaries, bailiffs and judges. These occupations are often associated with civil judiciary process. The purpose of this thesis is to define the foundations of their legal status, including the scope of their activities, and how they differ. Additionally, the thesis focuses on the role of individual professions. Firstly, important elements, such as confidentiality, independence, autonomy or responsibility will be analyzed. Secondly, the thesis will address significant problems in defining the role of the legal profession. Finally, the thesis will include several challenges lawyers face in the 21st century, for example, the provision of legal services by non-professionals. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The master thesis deals with the Antonio Salieri's opera Axur, Re d'Ormus and its premiere in 1788 at Nostitz Theatre in Prague. First part of thesis represents source research. On the basis of printed librettos, playbills and periodicals we can observe presence of Salieri's operas in repertory of Prague theaters from 1773 to 1806. Main part of thesis constitute musical and dramatic analysis of Salieri's Axur. This analysis is focused to Prague "version", which represents printed libretto. Musical and textual sources, used in analysis, was furthermore properly investigated. Through mutual comparison was suggested stemma, indicated to relations between these sources and simultaneously to processes, proceeded during transfer of work between particular theaters. I pay attention especially to axis Vienna-Prague-Dresden in period 1788-1789.

Robot motion can be described in several alternative representations, including joint configuration or end-effector spaces. These representations are often used for manipulation or navigation tasks but they are not suitable for tasks that involve close interaction with the environment. In these scenarios, collisions and relative poses of the robot and its surroundings create a complex planning space. To deal with this complexity, we exploit several representations that capture the state of the interaction, rather than the state of the robot. Borrowing notions of topology invariances and homotopy classes, we design task spaces based on winding numbers and writhe for synthesizing winding motion, and electro-static fields for planning reaching and grasping motion. Our experiments show that these representations capture the motion, preserving its qualitative properties, while generalising over finer geometrical detail. Based on the same motivation, we utilise a scale and rotation invariant representation for locally preserving distances, called interaction mesh. The interaction mesh allows for transferring motion between robots of different scales (motion re-targeting), between humans and robots (teleoperation) and between different environments (motion adaptation). To estimate the state of the environment we employ real-time sensing techniques utilizing dense stereo tracking, magnetic tracking sensors and inertia measurements units. We combine and exploit these representations for synthesis and generalization of motion in dynamic environments. The benefit of this method is on problems where direct planning in joint space is extremely hard whereas local optimal control exploiting topology and metric of these novel representations can efficiently compute optimal trajectories. We formulate this approach in the framework of optimal control as an approximate inference problem. This allows for consistent combination of multiple task spaces (e.g. end-effector, joint space and the abstract task spaces we investigate in this thesis). Motion generalization to novel situations and kinematics is similarly performed by projecting motion from abstract representations to joint configuration space. This technique, based on operational space control, allows us to adapt the motion in real time. This process of real-time re-mapping generates robust motion, thus reducing the amount of re-planning. We have implemented our approach as a part of an open source project called the Extensible Optimisation library (EXOTica). This software allows for defining motion synthesis problems by combining task representations and presenting this problem to various motion planners using a common interface. Using EXOTica, we perform comparisons between different representations and different planners to validate that these representations truly improve the motion planning.

Bakgrund: Företagsförvärv har idag blivit allt vanligare för att nå en globaliserad marknad. Företagsförvärv kan leda till förändringar såsom varumärkesbyte där försäljarna i serviceföretag har visat sig vara av stor betydelse för att förmedla det nya varumärket ut till slutkund. Syfte: Denna studies syfte är att undersöka hur anställda på ett serviceföretag som byter varumärke uppfattar det nya varumärket, hur det förmedlas i företagets olika led samt hur försäljarna slutligen förmedlar varumärket ut till slutkund. Metod: För att ta reda på hur en varumärkesförändring uppfattas på ett företag och hur det kommuniceras internt på företaget har en kvalitativ metod använts. Totalt har åtta personer deltagit i studien där fem stycken anställda med ledarpositioner samt tre försäljare har intervjuats. Slutsats: Den interna kommunikationen är enligt denna studie viktig för att försäljarna ska kunna kommunicera ut rätt information om det nya varumärket ut till slutkunden. Försäljarna har visat sig vara av stor vikt, men att det krävs ett bra och engagerat ledarskap för att varumärket ska kommuniceras ut rätt för att minska osäkerheten hos kunderna inför varumärkesförändringen. Avgränsningar: Studien är avgränsad till att undersöka intern kommunikation och ledarskap i ett service företag (Statoil) i Sverige som genomgår en varumärkesförändring. / Background: Acquisitions have today become increasingly common in order to reach a globalized market. Acquisitions may lead to changes such as re-branding, where the salesmen in service companies have proven to be of great importance to communicate the new brand to the end customer. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the employee's perceptions of a new brand in a service company which is re-branding, how it is communicated on different levels of the company and how the salesmen finally communicate the brand to the final costumer. Method: To find out how a new brand due to re-branding is perceived in a company and how it is communicated internally at the company a qualitative method has been used. A total of eight people participated in the study in which five employees with leadership positions and three salesmen were interviewed. Findings: Internal communication is according to this study important in order for the salesmen to communicate correct information about the new brand to the final customer. The salesmen have proven to be of great importance, but it requires a good and committed leadership in order to communicate the brand properly to reduce the customer's uncertainty for the new brand. Limitations: The study is limited to examine the internal communication and leadership in a service company (Statoil) in Sweden during an undergoing re-branding.