Spiders are generalist predators that contribute to the control of pests in agroecosystems. Land use management determines habitats including refuges for hibernation and aestivation. The availability of shelters on the ground can be crucial for maintaining populations of spider within crops. We studied the effect of the number of stones on the surface of the soil on the spider community in selected olive groves in Trás-os-Montes (northeastern Portugal). The number of stones significantly influenced the overall diversity of spiders, abundance of immature individuals and abundance of ground hunters. Agricultural management practices aimed at the conservation of soil microhabitats such as hedgerows, stonewalls and stones on the ground should be promoted in order to maintain or increase the number of shelters for potential natural enemies of pests., Jacinto Benhadi-Marín, José A. Pereira, José A. Barrientos, José P. Sousa, Sónia A.P. Santos., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The ongoing covid-19 epidemic has affected the entire world. Somewhat surprisingly, it is not the case that the most successful countries are the richest one, with the best health care. Nor is there a clear link between success and geographical location. Above all, much of the rich Western world has failed so far to protect public health effectively, and so it is appropriate to consider the question why. In this article, I focus mainly on the choice of the basic epidemiological strategy, which I consider to be one of the key factors of success or failure of many countries. I further criticize the view that the protection of human lives would harm the economy or other important values of societies. and Probíhající epidemie onemocnění covid-19 se dotkla celého světa. Poněkud překvapivě neplatí, že nejúspěšnější země jsou ty nejbohatší a s nejlepším zdravotnictvím. Stejně tak neplatí ani jasná souvislost mezi úspěchem a geografickou polohou. Především značná část bohatého západního světa v ochraně veřejného zdraví doposud selhávala a je proto vhodné položit si otázku, proč tomu tak je. V tomto článku se zaměřuji především na volbu základní epidemiologické strategie, kterou považuji za jeden z klíčových faktorů úspěchu či neúspěchu mnoha zemí. Kritickému rozboru dále podrobuji názor, že by ochrana lidských životů poškozovala ekonomiku či jiné důležité společenské hodnoty.
Farmakologická léčba psychiatrických poruch je součástí komplexní péče o nemocné s psychickými potížemi, vedle psychoterapie a poradenství, aktivizace a psychosociální rehabilitace. Volba psychofarmaka a strategie jeho podávání by měla být individualizována pro potřeby pacienta. Strategie podávání psychofarmak by měla od počátku zahrnovat i úvahy o délce podávání a možnosti jejího vysazování. Sami pacienti se kromě možných nežádoucích účinků již při první konzultaci ptají, kdy bude medikace vysazená. Toto opomíjené téma se s proměňujícím pojetím léčby, vyléčení a úzdravy v psychiatrii dostává do popředí. Je vhodné, aby tím, kdo vysazuje léky, byl psychiatr, a ne pacient sám. Základem zodpovědného rozhodnutí, kdy a jak vysadit medikaci, jsou dobře vedené, dlouhodobé studie. and Pharmacological treatment of psychiatric disorders is part of the complex care of patients with mental health problems, in addition to psychotherapy and counselling, behavioral activation and psychosocial rehabilitation. The choice of psychiatric medication and the strategy for its administration should be individualized to the needs of the patient. The strategy for the administration of psychiatric medication should include from the outset considerations about the duration of administration and the possibility of discontinuation. In addition to possible side effects, patients themselves ask when the medication will be discontinued at the first consultation. This neglected topic is coming to the fore with the changing concepts of treatment, cure, and recovery in psychiatry. It is appropriate that the psychiatrist, and not the patient, should be the one who discontinues the medication. Well-conducted, long-term studies are the basis for responsible decisions about when and how to discontinue medication.
Faecal samples were collected from cats kept as pets (n = 120) and stray cats (n = 135) in Central Europe (Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia) and screened for the presence of Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia intestinalis (Kunstler, 1882), Encephalitozoon spp. and Enterocytozoon bieneusi Desportes, Le Charpentier, Galian, Bernard, Cochand-Priollet, Lavergne, Ravisse et Modigliani, 1985 by PCR analysis of the small-subunit of rRNA (Cryptosporidium spp. and G. intestinalis) and ITS (microsporidia) genes. Sequence analysis of targeted genes revealed the presence of C. felis Iseki, 1979, G. intestinalis assemblage F, E. cuniculi Levaditi, Nicolau et Schoen, 1923 genotype II, and E. bieneusi genotype D. There was no correlation between the occurrence of detected parasites and sex, presence of diarrhoea or drug treatment (drug containing pyrantel and praziquantel). Compared to pet cats (7%), stray cats (30%) were statistically more frequently infected with protist parasites and overall may present a greater risk to human health., Martin Kváč, Lada Hofmannová, Ynes Ortega, Nikola Holubová, Michaela Horčičková, Marta Kicia, Lenka Hlásková, Dana Květoňová, Bohumil Sak, John McEvoy., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Povolání profesionálního řidiče patří mezi vysoce stresující zaměstnání s negativními dopady na zdravotní a psychickou stránku. Řidič je denně vystaven celé řadě náročných požadavků a stresorů, se kterými se musí vyrovnávat. Situace vyrovnávání se se stresem při řízení je popisována pomocí transakční teorie řidičského stresu spolu s copingovými strategiemi při řízení, které mají vliv na kvalitu řízení, a jejichž identifikace a náprava ukazují na možnosti intervence. Důležitou skupinou profesionálních řidičů jsou řidiči autobusů. Významnými stresory pro tyto řidiče jsou časový tlak, nadměrná pracovní zátěž, vysoká environmentální stimulace, problematická interakce s dalšími účastníky dopravního provozu, nedostatek sociální opory a nepravidelné směny. Mezi nejdůležitější preventivní opatření na snížení míry stresu patří eliminace nebo modifikace situací vytvářejících stres, přizpůsobení organizace práce individuálním charakteristikám řidičů a posílení osobní odolnosti řidičů vůči stresu. Jsou zde uvedeny některé konkrétní příklady realizovaných programů, ve kterých jsou použity principy vedoucí ke snížení míry stresu u těchto řidičů, zvýšení životní pohody a snížení negativních zdravotních důsledků. and The group of professional drivers belongs to high demanding jobs with high risks in health status and psychical wellbeing. Drivers are daily exposed to high demands and stressors they have to face. The situation of coping with stress is described by the transactional model of driver stress and coping strategies while driving. These strategies influence driving performance and their identification could be one of the possible interventions for stress reduction. This study focuses on the group of bus drivers, which is a significant subgroup of professional drivers. The main stressors for them are time pressure, high work demands, high environmental stimulation, problematic interactions with other road users, lack of social support and irregular shifts. The most important preventive strategies are elimination or modification of stress-producing situations, the adaptation of work organization to the individual characteristics of the driver and strengthening the driver’s resilience to stress. We describe some programs using the principles of stress reduction by professional drivers, which increase wellbeing and decrease negative health consequences.
Objectives. Teaching is a stressful job, but it is not clear what stressors teachers perceive at school and how these perceptions are associated with teacher characteristics and burnout.Sample and setting. The data were collected from 594 teachers of 6th to 9th grades from 118 schools. In an online survey, participants an-swered an open-ended question about what they perceive as the most important problems at school, and they filled a burnout scale.Questions and hypotheses. The study described types of stressors that teachers perceive. Then, it verified whether stressors and their number reported by teachers associate with gender, so-cio-economic status (SES), teaching experience, and burnout.Analyses. A mixed design was used. Stressors were identified using thematic analysis and re-lationships were verified using statistical tests.Results. The stressors found were as follows: problematic relationships with student,s parents (31%), student inappropriate behaviors (29%), non-functioning policies (27%), student lack of motivation (23%), underappreciation of educa-tion (22%), administrative overload (22%), im-proper parenting (17%), poorly handled inclu-sion (13%), and unfavorable collegial climate (8%). On average, teachers mentioned two stressors. Women more often reported student inappropriate behaviors. SES proved no signifi-cant effects. More experienced teachers less of-ten mentioned student inappropriate behaviors and unfavorable collegial climate and reported a lower number of stressors. Teachers with higher level of burnout more often complained about problematic relationships with parents and re-ported a higher number of stressors.Limitations. Although the generalizability of the results may be limited to 6th to 9th grade teachers in the Czech Republic, the study brings novel insights into the demands of teaching. and Cíle. Učitelství je považováno za stresující po-volání, ale dosud nebylo zkoumáno, jak stresory ve školách vnímají samotní učitelé a zda souvisí s jejich individuálními charakteristikami a vy-hořením.Soubor a metody. Výzkumu se zúčastnilo 594 učitelů 6.–9. ročníků ze 118 škol. Účastníci v online dotazníku odpověděli na otevřenou otázku, co považují za nejdůležitější problémy, se kterými se ve škole potýkají, a vyplnili škálu měřící vyhoření.Otázky a hypotézy. Výzkum zachytil, jaké typy stresorů ve škole učitelé vnímají. Poté ověřoval, zda jednotlivé stresory a jejich počet souvisí s pohlavím, socioekonomickým statusem, dél-kou praxe a vyhořením učitele.Analýzy. Použitý byl smíšený výzkumný design. Stresory byly identifikovány tematickou analý-zou a souvislosti mezi proměnnými byly ověřo-vány pomocí statistických testů.Výsledky. Učitelé považují za stresory ve škole tyto oblasti: problematické vztahy s rodiči žáků (31 %), nevhodné chování žáků (29 %), ne-funkční koncepce (27 %), nemotivovanost žáků (23 %), nedoceněnost školství (22 %), zahlcení administrativou (22 %), špatnou rodičovskou výchovu (17 %), nezvládnutou inkluzi (13 %) a nekolegiální klima (8 %). Ve svých odpově-dích zmiňovali průměrně dvě oblasti. Ženy si častěji než muži stěžovaly na nevhodné chování žáků. Socioekonomický status s vnímáním stre-sorů nesouvisel. Učitelé s delší praxí si méně často stěžovali na nevhodné chování žáků a ne-kolegiální klima a uváděli menší počet stresorů. Učitelé s vyšší mírou vyhoření uváděli častěji problematické vztahy s rodiči a vyšší počet stre-sorů.Limity. Přestože může být zobecnitelnost vý-sledků studie omezena na populaci učitelů 6.– 9. ročníků v ČR, výzkum přináší nové vhledy do nároků učitelské profese.
On the ventral tube of males of Onychiuroides granulosus (Stach, 1934) there is a male ventral organ, which consists of two groups of four setae that are thickened, slightly flattened and bent. All setae of the male ventral organ are inserted in a richly sculptured cuticle. At the base of each seta there are a few large cells (basal cells) that have large irregular nuclei that contain a large amount of heterochromatin. In the cytoplasm of the basal cells there are numerous mitochondria, ribosomes and a rich system of endoplasmic reticulum. The plasma membrane of the basal cells forms richly folded, deep invaginations, filled with a dense material, which also occurs in particular setae and on their surface. The present study indicates that the male ventral organ is secretory and does not confirm its previously suggested sensory function., Bożena Simiczyjew, Dariusz Skarżyński, Adrian Smolis, Romuald J. Pomorski, Marta Mazurkiewicz-Kania., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Identifying patterns with sufficient predictive power is a constant challenge for ecologists to address ecological problems related to species conservation, pollution or infectious disease control. During the last years, the amounts of parasitological studies in this sense increased, but they are still scarce in urban environments. The main aim of this study was to investigate if the helminth communities of urban rodents are structured within host assembly (compound community) or they are a result of random events occurring at each individual host scale (infracommunity). A total of 203 rodents belonging to four species, Rattus rattus (Linnaeus), Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout), Mus musculus Linnaeus and the native Oligoryzomys flavescens (Waterhouse) and captured in different landscape units of the City of Buenos Aires (industrial-residential neighbourhoods, shantytowns and parklands) were analysed. The results showed that infracommunities could be grouped according to composition and relative abundances and that they respond to the structure of the host community. Thus, the component communities defined in this study could be identified as subsets of the compound community (rodent assemblage) and infracommunities (each host) as random samples within each one. Quantitative differences among component communities were denoted by comparing the infection levels of helminths described as central species. Therefore, infracommunities of R. norvegicus and O. flavescens were the most predictable because of the high abundance of the nematodes Heterakis spumosa Schneider, 1866 and Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (Travassos, 1914), and Stilestrongylus flavescens (Sutton et Durette-Desset, 1991), respectively. Several mechanisms contribute to complexity of the structure of parasite communities, where specific parasites, definitive and intermediate hosts, and environmental and anthropogenic factors all play a role in the dynamics of the compound community., Diego Hancke, Olga Virginia Suárez., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Phoridae (scuttle flies) are widely distributed, occur in many types of habitats and are ecologically versatile, which makes them an excellent bioindicator group for evaluating faunal diversity. The structure of scuttle fly communities was compared in two Mediterranean habitats in the Montseny Natural Park (Catalonia, Spain) that differ in vegetation and microclimate: beech forest and highland scrubland. 3684 male individuals belonging to 135 species of scuttle flies were identified. Scuttle flies were more abundant in beech forest than scrubland. Observed and estimated species richness were lower in scrubland than in beech forest, while diversity was similar in both habitats. Community evenness was greater in scrubland than beech forest. Therefore, the percentage of dominant and subdominant species was higher in scrubland than beech forest, while the percentage of rare species was higher in beech forest than scrubland. Scuttle fly species composition was significantly different in the two habitats, but it was similar among plots within the same habitat. Megaselia pectoralis (Wood, 1910) and Megaselia subpleuralis (Wood, 1909) were the dominant species in beech forest, while Megaselia pusilla (Meigen, 1830), Megaselia pumila (Meigen, 1830), Megaselia superciliata (Wood, 1910) and Megaselia diversa (Wood, 1909) were the dominant species in scrubland. Trophic specialization was higher in beech forest than scrubland. Saprophages were the dominant trophic group in beech forest, while fungivores and polyphages were dominant in scrubland. The high biodiversity of scuttle flies recorded in the Montseny Natural Park indicates that there is also a high diversity of other taxa there and that these Mediterranean mountains are of high conservation status., Carlos García-Romera, José A. Barrientos., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) is a specialized tubular network, which not only maintains the intracellular concentration of Ca2+ at a low level but is also known to release and accumulate Ca2+ for the occurrence of cardiac contraction and relaxation, respectively. This subcellular organelle is composed of several phospholipids and different Ca2+-cycling, Ca2+-binding and regulatory proteins, which work in a coordinated manner to determine its function in cardiomyocytes. Some of the major proteins in the cardiac SR membrane include Ca2+-pump ATPase (SERCA2), Ca2+-release protein (ryanodine receptor), calsequestrin (Ca2+-binding protein) and phospholamban (regulatory protein). The phosphorylation of SR Ca2+-cycling proteins by protein kinase A or Ca2+-calmodulin kinase (directly or indirectly) has been demonstrated to augment SR Ca2+-release and Ca2+-uptake activities and promote cardiac contraction and relaxation functions. The activation of phospholipases and proteases as well as changes in different gene expressions under different pathological conditions have been shown to alter the SR composition and produce Ca2+-handling abnormalities in cardiomyocytes for the development of cardiac dysfunction. The post-translational modifications of SR Ca2+-cycling proteins by processes such as oxidation, nitrosylation, glycosylation, lipidation, acetylation, sumoylation, and O-GlcNacylation have also been reported to affect the SR Ca2+-release and uptake activities as well as cardiac contractile activity. The SR function in the heart is also influenced in association with changes in cardiac performance by several hormones including thyroid hormones and adiponectin as well as by exercise-training. On the basis of such observations, it is suggested that both Ca2+-cycling and regulatory proteins in the SR membranes are intimately involved in determining the status of cardiac function and are thus excellent targets for drug development for the treatment of heart disease.