Kainic acid (KA) is a potent neurotoxic substance valuable in research of temporal lobe epilepsy. We tested how subconvulsive dose of KA influences spontaneous behavior of adult Wistar rats. Animals were treated with 5 mg/kg of KA and tested in Laboras open field test for one hour in order to evaluate various behavioral parameters. Week after the KA treatment animals were tested again in Laboras open field test. Finally, rat’s brains were sliced and stained with Fluoro-Jade B to detect possible neuronal degeneration. Treatment with KA increased the time spent by locomotion (p<0.01), exploratory rearing (p<0.05) and animals traveled longer distance (p<0.01). These parameters tended to increase thirty minutes after KA administration. Week after the treatment we did not found differences in any measured behavioral parameter. Histology in terms of Fluoro-Jade B staining did not reveal any obvious neuronal damage in hippocampus. These results demonstrate that subconvulsive KA dose changes the behavioral parameters only transiently. Clarification of timing of the KA induced changes may contribute to understand mutual relationship between non-convulsive seizures and behavioral/cognitive consequences., V. Riljak, D. Marešová, J. Pokorný, K. Jandová., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Príspevok sumarizuje základné poznatky týkajúce sa subjektívne hodnotenej kvality života v seniorskom veku a možnosti jej zisťovania. V dvoch samostatných častiach je uvedený opis kvalitatívnych a kvantitatívnych postupov, pomocou ktorých je možné získať informácie o kvalite života seniorov, a tiež o jej najdôležitejších prediktoroch. V ďalšej časti sa nachádza charakteristika konkrétnych výskumných nástrojov (WHOQOL-OLD, CASP-19, QuiLL a OPQOL) z hľadiska ich vývoja, štruktúry a psychometrických vlastností, ktoré boli vytvorené pre túto vekovú kategóriu a prehľad zistení, ku ktorým sa na ich základe dospelo. V závere je uvedené stručné zhrnutie a zhodnotenie prezentovaných poznatkov a postupov, najmä z hľadiska ich výhod, nedostatkov a praktického využitia vo vzťahu k seniorom., The paper sums up the basic knowledge concerning subjectively assessed quality of life in senior age and possibilities of its detecting. In two parts, the description of qualitative and quantitative procedures by means of which it is possible to gain information concerning quality of seniors, life and also its most important predictors is presented. Further part deals with characteristics of particular research instruments (WHOQOL-OLD, CASP-19, QuiLL, and OPQOL) constructed for this age category concerning its development, structure, and psychometric characteristics and overview of findings based on these methods. In the conclusion, brief summary and evaluation of presented knowledge and procedures, namely from the standpoint of its advantages, imperfections, and practical use in seniors is presented., Monika Kačmárová., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Kvalita života a jej výskum sa od svojich začiatkov v 60-tych rokoch po súčasnosť stala v celosvetovom meradle jednou z najvýznamnejších oblastí záujmu širokého spektra vied. Existujúca rôznorodosť prístupov ku kvalite života a neprehľadné množstvo používaných nástrojov spôsobujú ťažkosti pri rozhodovaní o ich výskumnom a praktickom použití. V posledných rokoch na tento stav reagujú snahy výskumníkov v dvoch rovinách: prvá sa pokúša poskytnúť jednotné východisko, komplexný model pre hodnotenie a meranie kvality života, druhá reprezentuje pokusy usporiadať a utriediť existujúce nástroje na meranie kvality života a poskytnúť hodnotenie ich atribútov. V príspevku je upozornené na obmedzenia, ktoré limitujú ďalší progres v oblasti merania kvality života – ide predovšetkým o existujúcu konceptuálnu a pojmovú inkonzistentnosť a nedostatočné zohľadnenie aktuálnych zistení o odlišných vlastnostiach kognitívneho a afektívneho hodnotenia. V závere príspevku sú navrhnuté konkrétne riešenia týkajúce sa merania subjektívne hodnotenej kvality života., Quality of life and its study became since its beginnings in sixties to nowadays one of the most important fields of interest of wide spectrum of sciences in a worldwide measure. The existing heterogeneity of approaches to quality of life and poorly arranged amount of used instruments cause difficulties in decision making concerning its research and practical use. In last years, the effort of researchers responds to this state on two levels: the first one tries to provide an unified starting point, complex model for evaluating and measuring of quality of life, the second one represents the attempts to organize and classt the existing instruments for measuring the quality oflife and supply the evaluation of its attributes. In the study, it is pointed to the restrictions that limit the further progress in the field of measuring of quality of life - first of all the existing conceptual inconsistency and insufficient taking account of present findings concerning the different properties of cognitive and affective evaluation. In the conclusion, the particular solutions concerning the measurement the subjective evaluated quality of life are suggested., Jozef Džuka., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
V tomto článku se autoři věnují tématu subjektivního vnímání profesí jako kategorií, nicméně využívají k tomu poněkud odlišný koncept a metodu: subjektivní sociální distance. Na rozdíl od prestiže povolání sledují pravděpodobnost interakce mezi profesními skupinami. Použití tohoto přístupu, dobře známého ze studia etno-kulturních distancí (viz [Ryšavý 2003]), ke studiu stratifikace je u nás relativně nové, ač se jedná o metodu vyvinutou již na přelomu 50. a 60. let. Nejprve v krátkosti představí odlišná sociologická pojetí sociálních distancí, věnovat se budou zejména konceptu subjektivnímu, který zavedl E. O. Laumann. V druhé části přinášejí výsledky empirické analýzy subjektivních interakčních distancí k 22 profesím, které byly zjišťovány ve výzkumu “ Sociální distance 2007”. Vnímáme profese jako hierarchicky uspořádané? Existují shluky profesí, které bychom mohli označit za subjektivní sociální třídy ve vědomí lidí? Kudy vede v naší společnosti hranice mezi těmito třídami? Nejen o tom se v tomto článku dočtete více., Using the concept of subjective social distance we focus on perceptions of occupational categories. First, the the - oretical concept of social distance is introduced as a tool for measuring social stratification. Second, subjective hypothetical interactional distances to 22 occupational stimuli are analyzed with data from the Social Distances 2007 survey. People rate the stimuli hierarchically analogous to occupational prestige and socioeconomic status; however some minor divergences can be detected. Further we focus on differences among gender and members of self identified social classes. The main part assesses the hypothesis of the existence of subjective social class boundaries. The status-continuum is shared by the whole public, yet we can identify mental categorization patterns of professional groupings which draw an intense bounda - ry between white and blue collar professions. Further, four groupings regarded as subjective social class can be identified: higher professionals, female lower professionals, qualified and semi-qualified manual and non-manual workers, and unqua - lified manual professions with low prestige., and Jiří Šafr, Julia Häuberer.
Plants experience multiple abiotic stresses during the same growing season. The implications of submergence with and without saline water on growth and survival were investigated using four contrasting rice cultivars, FR13A (submergence-tolerant, salinity-susceptible), IR42 (susceptible to salinity and submergence), and Rashpanjor and AC39416 (salinity-tolerant, submergence-susceptible). Though both FR13A and IR42 showed sensitivity to salinity, FR13A exhibited higher initial biomass as well as maintained greater dry mass under saline condition. Greater reduction of chlorophyll (Chl) contents due to salinity was observed in the susceptible cultivars, including FR13A, compared to the salinity-tolerant cultivars. Exposure of plants to salinity before submergence decreased the survival chance under submergence. Yet, survival percentage under submergence was greater in FR13A compared to other cultivars. Generally, the reduction in the Chl content and damage to PSII were higher under the submergence compared to salinity conditions. The submergence-tolerant cultivar, FR13A, maintained greater quantities of Chl during submergence compared to other cultivars. Quantification of the Chl a fluorescence transients (JIP-test) revealed large cultivar differences in the response of PSII to submergence in saline and nonsaline water. The submergence-tolerant cultivar maintained greater chloroplast structural integrity and functional ability irrespective of the quality of flooding water., R. K. Sarkar, Anuprita Ray., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Extracts of Helleborus roots were traditionally used in the Balkan area for their analgesic action. We report that the pure natural product MCS-18 isolated from this source is a potent, specific and reversible antagonist of the capsaicin receptor, TRPV1, expressed in rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. TRPV1 is a nonselective cation channel expressed in a subset of cutaneous and visceral sensory nerve endings and activated by noxious heat, acidity and fatty acid metabolites of arachidonic acid, with a decisive role in inflammatory heat hyperalgesia. MCS-18 inhibited the increase in intracellular calcium concentration evoked in DRG neurons by capsaicin (300 nM) and low pH (5.5) but not by heat (43 ºC). The substance had no effect on the responses mediated by acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) or the irritant receptor TRPA1. Whole-cell patch-clamp was used to confirm the inhibition of capsaicin-induced currents by MCS-18 which was dose-dependent. The mechanism of inhibition does not require an intact cell, as capsaicin-induced currents were also inhibited in the excised outside-out configuration. The antagonism of the capsaicin and proton action on native TRPV1 by MCS-18 may be of interest for pain therapy., C. Neacsu ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Fossil continental molluscs have not hitherto been regarded as reliable paleoenvironmental indicators. Little was known about their ecological requirements or their position in characteristic biomes of the Quaternary climatic cycle, for instance in the loess steppe. Only recent analyses of their assemblages in a broad environmental context have shown that they are indicative of a number of important environmental phenomena in the same way as pollen grains or vertebrate remains. and Vojen Ložek.
Fossil molluscan successions from ca 450 sites provide evidence of the paleo-environmental history of the Czech Republic and Slovakia during the Quaternary. They not only reflect the Quaternary cycle of warm and cold phases but also a number of various events, such as the impact of the cold oscillation at 8,2 ky BP or the detailed reconstruction in time and space of the habitat patchwork in areas where other fossils are sparse or absent, particularly in karstlands, in the full scale of elevations. and Vojen Ložek.