111,850 research outputs found

    Allopregnanolone: The missing link to explain the effects of stress on tic exacerbation?

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    The neurosteroid allopregnanolone (3α-hydroxy-5α-pregnan-20-one; AP) elicits pleiotropic effects in the central nervous system, ranging from neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory functions to the regulation of mood and emotional responses. Several lines of research show that the brain rapidly produces AP in response to acute stress to reduce the allostatic load and enhance coping. These effects not only are likely mediated by GABAA receptor activation but also result from the contributions of other mechanisms, such as the stimulation of membrane progesterone receptors. In keeping with this evidence, AP has been shown to exert rapid, potent antidepressant properties and has been recently approved for the therapy of moderate-to-severe postpartum depression. In addition to depression, emerging evidence points to the potential of AP as a therapy for other neuropsychiatric disorders, including anxiety, seizures, post-traumatic stress disorder and cognitive problems. Although this evidence has spurred interest in further therapeutic applications of AP, some investigations suggest that this neurosteroid may also be associated with adverse events in specific disorders. For example, our group has recently documented that AP increases tic-like manifestations in several animal models of tic disorders; furthermore, our results indicate that inhibiting AP synthesis and signalling reduces the exacerbation of tic severity associated with acute stress. Although the specific mechanisms of these effects remain partially elusive, our findings point to the possibility that the GABAergic activation by AP may also lead to disinhibitory effects, which could interfere with the ability of patients to suppress their tics. Future studies will be necessary to verify whether these mechanisms may apply to other externalising manifestations, such as impulse-control problems and manic symptoms

    author-bios-SRD-19-0063.R1 – Supplemental material for The Network Structure of Police Misconduct

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    Supplemental material, author-bios-SRD-19-0063.R1 for The Network Structure of Police Misconduct by George Wood, Daria Roithmayr and Andrew V. Papachristos in Socius</p

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Pneumocystis pneumonia in HIV-negative immunocompromised patients in internal medicine ward

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    Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) is an opportunistic infection typically observed in AIDS patients, for whom it represents a leading cause of death. However, its incidence among HIV-negative immunocompromised patients is progressively increasing, with a significantly higher mortality compared to that of AIDS-patients. We performed a retrospective observational study on HIV-negative patients with PJP. We aimed to determine their epidemiological features and their biohumoral and therapeutic variables, searching for a correlation between them and our patients' outcome. We included all patients admitted to our Internal Medicine ward from January 2010 to June 2015, who were immunocompromised at the time of admission and had microbiologically confirmed PJP (association between compatible clinical-radiological findings and qualitative polymerase chain reaction positivity on bronchoalveolar lavage). Their immune impairment was assessed considering both their medical history and their complete white blood cells (WBC), differential WBC and their CD4 cell count. Transfer to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or death was considered as an unfavorable clinical outcome, while hospital discharge or transfer to a non-ICU ward was considered as a favorable outcome. We included a total of 18 patients in our statistical analysis. We used Student's t-test and Fischer's χ-square test to compare, respectively, normally distributed continuous variables and non-continuous variables. Our patients' mean age was 65±13.9 years. All of them had cancer, mostly hematological malignancies (13/18), notably non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL; 8/13). They were all being or had been recently treated with chemotherapy (10/18) and/or high-dose glucocorticoids, with full dose or during tapering (13/18). Statistical analysis of blood tests results showed a significant difference between mean serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) concentration in the group of patients with favorable vs unfavorable outcome. Also, mean serum immunoglobulins G (IgG) concentration and certain arterial blood gas findings (mean arterial paO2/FiO2, mean blood Ph and mean paCO2) at the time of admission were significantly different in the two groups of patients. 12/18 patient's outcome turned out unfavorable. Trimethoprim + sulfamethoxazole (TMP+SMX) treatment was given to all our patients, with a mean duration of 13.39±9.36 days. Patients with a favorable outcome had received TMP+SMX treatment significantly earlier than those with an unfavorable outcome. Hematological malignancies, according to literature, confer the strongest predisposition to PJP. Both chemotherapy and high-dose Glucocorticoid treatment are well known predisposing factors. A remarkable elevation of serum LDH represents both a typical clinical feature and a well-known negative prognostic factor in PJP. Low IgG levels have never been reported as a negative prognostic factor, but their role in enhancing macrophage killing of pneumocystis may account for the worst observed prognosis in the group of patients with lower mean levels. Therefore, in order to reduce the heavy mortality rate associated with PJP, an early beginning of specific treatment is of utmost imn-commercial use only portance, and even if this is certainly true for many infectious diseases, the time gap is particularly limited in the setting of this type of pneumonia. Hence, PJP should be ruled out as soon as possible and, in case of a strong clinical-radiological suspicion, therapy should be started immediately, even while waiting for microbiological confirmation (especially in critically-ill patients)

    Využití sociálních médií v B2B prodeji

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    Tato diplomová práce se zabývá tím, jak mohou B2B obchodníci využívat sociální média v prodeji. Na základě systematické rešerše literatury, autor zjistil, že akademici, zkoumající danou problematiku, navrhují další výzkum, a to: v kterých konkrétních krocích se dají využít sociální média v prodeji (Salo, 2017). Autor se na základě toho rozhodl zjistit, jaké sociální sítě, různé technologie a pluginy se dají využít v B2B prodeji - tzv. social sellingu. Social selling se v této práci týká primárně procesu akvizice a okrajově péčí o stávající zákazníky. Autor si vybral kvalitativní průzkum pomocí 10 hloubkových polo-strukturovaných rozhovorů, aby odhalil jak, která sociální média to jsou, tak i motivaci prodejců, proč tato média používat/nepoužívat. Aby autor dodržel správnost vyhodnocení výsledků, data byla analyzována pomocí Tématické analýzy, která v této studii vykrystalizovala 2 hlavní strategické přístupy v social sellingu. Tyto přístupy (tzv. Push a Pull strategie) obsahují praktické příklady a konkrétní aktivity, které mohou prodejci využívat v každodenní praxi. Tyto výsledky jsou prezentovány s důrazem na praktičnost a jednoduchost implementace. Tvoří proto hlavní přínos autorovo výzkumu. V poslední části autor zmiňuje výzvy a manažerská doporučení, které mohou obchodníci využít v každodenním pracovním životě.This diploma thesis focuses on social media usage in B2B sales. Based on the systematic literature review conducted by the author, he has found out that recent researchers (Salo, 2017) suggest further research in the area of how and in which sales phase should various social networking sites, technologies and plugins used. To further fill this research gap, author decided to identify these social media and their usage among B2B salespeople in the so-called social selling process. The social selling process in this thesis applies mainly to acquiring new prospects and tangentially to taking care of existing clients (follow-up step). Author has chosen a qualitative research method via conducting 10 in-depth semi-structured interviews to reveal these instruments as well as motivation of a sales person on why to use social media in the selling process. The collected data was analyzed using Thematic analysis to ensure the right procedure and to identify main themes which crystalized into 2 main strategic approaches in social selling. These approaches (Push and Pull) include practical examples of concrete activities which sales people can use in their daily jobs and are presented with focus on practicality and ease of implementation. These also form the main contribution of author`s research. In the last part, author mentions challenges in social selling and recommended managerial implications for salesforce

    TeX v jednoduchém unixovém prostředí

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    summary:Při ladění TeXového dokumentu potřebujeme mnohokrát opakovaně pouštět TeX, podívat se, jak dopadl výsledek v prohlížeči DVI nebo PDF souboru, mrknout na výpis TeXu na terminálu, podívat se případně do logu a celou činnost opakovat. V tomto článku je ukázáno, jak tuto práci dělá autor článku. Proces "editor-TeX-kuk" je zde podporován jednoduchými unixovými nástroji: bashovým skriptem texloop, který si autor pro tyto účely vytvořil, dále terminálem Xterm a jednoduchým editorem, který umí navázat na klávesovou zkratku spuštění příkazu v systému. Čtenář se zde může inspirovat a přizpůsobit tyto nástroje svým vlastním potřebám. V článku je popsána funkce skriptu texloop, dále je neformálně rozveden dlouholetý vývoj autorova vztahu k textovým editorům a konečně je zde uvedena konfigurace terminálu Xterm, aby vyhovoval českému prostředí jak v kódování ISO-8859-2, tak v kódování UTF-8. Pro kódování UTF-8 si v závěru článku vygenerujeme TeXový formát csplain.summary:By debugging a TeX document it is necessary many times repeatedly to run TeX, to look for the result in DVI or PDF file, to gander the TeX output on the terminal, or eventually to have a look in the log-file, and all that action to repeat. In the paper it is show, how this work is made by author. The process '‘'editor-TeX-look' is supported by simple Unix tools: bash script texloop, created by author for these purposes, Xterm terminal and a simple editor, which is able to link to the shortcut key the activation of a system command. The reader could be inspired with the solution and to adapt these tools to his/her own needs. In the paper the function of the texloop script is described, and further the longstanding evolution of the author's relation to text editors is informal elaborated and finally a configuration of Xterm terminal, suitable for the czech environment with both ISO-8859-2 and UTF-8 encoding is introduced. For UTF-8 encoding the TeX format csplain is generated at the end of the paper

    Surface plasmon dispersion and luminescence quenching applied to planar waveguide sensors for the measurement Of chemical concentrations

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    Two novel types of planar waveguide sensors for the chemical domain are introduced. Both are realized by thin film technologies. They consist of multilayered structures coated by a very thin organic overlayer that is able to absorb the species to be measured out of the environment. This absorbtion results in a change in its dielectric function. In the first sensor to be demonstrated this change is measured using a surface plasmon mode as a probe. In the second one the radiationless energy transfer from luminescent centres incorporated in one of the layers to the overlayer serves as a probe

    Analýza perspektivy vedoucích prodeje na řízení pojišťovacích agentů v etnicky různorodých zastoupeních v Organizaci G, Malajsie.

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    Cílem této práce je odhalit klíčové faktory a výzvy spojené s řízením etnicky různorodého pojišťovacího zastoupení v oboru životního pojištění v Malajsii. Autor si klade za cíl zkoumat pohled vedoucích prodeje v Organizaci G v Malajsii na jejich způsob řízení agentů. Kombinované kvantitativní a kvalitativní metody budou použity prostřednictvím průzkumu a rozhovorů se 79 agenty a 12 vedoucími prodeje. Odpovědi budou analyzovány za účelem porozumění výzvám, kterým čelí vedoucí prodeje při řízení etnicky různorodého zastoupení, a zkoumat potenciální řešení. Autor navrhuje iniciativy a metody k posílení stylů vedení a zlepšení procesů pro udržení úspěšného zastoupení v kontextu etnické rozmanitosti.The goal of this thesis is to uncover the key factors and challenges in managing an ethnically diverse insurance agency in Malaysia's life insurance industry. The author aims to examine the sales managers' perspective in Organisation G, Malaysia, regarding their expression of managing their agents. Quantitative and qualitative methods will be employed through surveys and interviews among 79 agents and 12 sales managers. The responses will be analysed to understand the challenges sales managers face in managing a multi-ethnic agency and explore potential solutions. The author proposes initiatives and methods to enhance leadership styles and improve the processes for maintaining a successful agency in the context of multi-ethnicity

    AUTHOR BOOK

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    Vytvořil jsem autorskou knihu o čtyřiceti stránkách s ilustracemi a minimem textu. Kniha je černobílá, dominuje v ní tušová kresba štětcem a perem. Kromě té je v knize ale i text, který slouží jako poetické doplnění ilustrací. Obsah knihy se zaměřuje na úzký kruh přátel a zároveň vypovídá o autorovi jak vybranými motivy, situacemi tak linkou. Vyznění knihy je spíše pocitové, má zanechat dojem, ne popisně vysvětlovat.ObhájenoI have created author book that has 40 pages with ilustrations and minimum of text. The book is black and white and contains ink drawings. There is also text poetically coresponding with pictures
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