Smoking during pregnancy presents health risks for both the mother and her child. In this study we followed changes in the production of steroid hormones in pregnant smokers. We focused on changes in steroidogenesis in the blood of mothers in their 37th week of pregnancy and in mixed cord blood from their newborns. The study included 88 healthy women with physiological pregnancies (17 active smokers and 71 nonsmokers). We separately analyzed hormonal changes associated with smoking according to the sex of newborns. In women with male fetuses, we found higher levels of serum cortisone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), 7α-OH-DHEA, 17-OH pregnenolone, testosterone, and androstenedione in smokers at the 37th week compared to non-smokers. In women with female fetuses, we found lower serum levels of 7β-OH-DHEA and higher androstenedione in smokers at the 37th week. We found significantly higher levels of testosterone in newborn males of smokers and higher levels of 7α-OH-DHEA in female newborns of smokers. Smoking during pregnancy induces changes in the production of steroids in both the mother and her child. These changes are different for different fetal sexes, with more pronounced changes in mothers carrying male newborns as well as in the newborn males themselves., K. Adamcová, L. Kolátorová, T. Chlupáčová, M. Šimková, H. Jandíková, A. Pařízek, L. Stárka, M. Dušková., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Especially during early developmental stages, competition with weeds can reduce crop growth and have a serious effect on productivity. Here, the effects of interactions between soil water content (SWC), nutrient availability, and competition from weeds on early stage crop growth were investigated, to better understand this problem. Field experiments were conducted in 2013 and 2014 using long-term study plots on loam soil in Hungary. Plots of maize (Zea mays L.) and a weed-maize combination were exposed to five fertilization treatments. SWC was observed along the 0-80 cm depth soil profile and harvested aboveground biomass (HAB) was measured. Significant differences were found between SWC in maize and maize-weed plots. In all treatments, measured SWC was most variable in soil depths of up to 50 cm, and at the 8-10 leaves (BBCH19) growth stage of the crop. The greatest depletion of SWC was detected within PK treatments across the entire soil profile and under both vegetation types, with depletion also considerable under NPK and NP treatments. Biomass growth was significantly influenced by weeds in treated plots between the BBCH 13 and 19 phenological stages, but water availability did not hamper growth rates in non-fertilized conditions. These findings suggest that, at early stages of crop growth, SWC model simulations need to include better characterisation of depth- and structure-dependent soil water uptake by vegetation.
The plexiform lesion is the hallmark of plexogenic pulmonary arteriopathy, which accompanies severe primary pulmonary hypertension. Over the years, a wide variety of hypotheses have been offered to explain the pathogenesis of these glomoid structures. Most recently, the new techniques and concepts of molecular biology have been applied to the study of the plexiform lesion and have indicated that they are composed of phenotypically abnormal endothelial cells with different pathogenic origins in primary and secondary pulmonary hypertension. The new approaches and concepts have suggested new vistas for exploration., A. P. Fishman., and Obsahuje bibliografii
For a graphical property P and a graph G, a subset S of vertices of G is a P-set if the subgraph induced by S has the property P. The domination number with respect to the property P, denoted by γP (G), is the minimum cardinality of a dominating P-set. We define the domination multisubdivision number with respect to P, denoted by msdP (G), as a minimum positive integer k such that there exists an edge which must be subdivided k times to change γP (G). In this paper (a) we present necessary and sufficient conditions for a change of γP (G) after subdividing an edge of G once, (b) we prove that if e is an edge of a graph G then γP (Ge,1) < γP (G) if and only if γP (G − e) < γP (G) (Ge,t denotes the graph obtained from G by subdivision of e with t vertices), (c) we also prove that for every edge of a graph G we have γP (G − e) 6 γP (Ge,3) ≤ γP (G − e) + 1, and (d) we show that msdP (G) 6 3, where P is hereditary and closed under union with K1.
In ancient India cosmogonic myths describing the origin and development of the world from non-being to being and from chaos to the ordered state were closely connected to ritualistic sphere of religious activity. Rituals that re-enacted the genesis of the world and the restoration of the Creator of beings Prajapati to his original state of cosmic supporting power were mirrored by the rites of passage and daily ritual activities of brahmans, householders and other members of the Aryan community who were expected to use them as means of building ordered and perfected personalities out of an original raw state given at their physical birth. High degree of concentration necessary for the correct performance of rituals made strict demands on the spiritual and mental make-up of the sacrificers and higlighted also the importance of minute technical aspects of everyday activities. These factors contributed to formation of a peculiar ascetic and rationalistic attitudes on the part of the orthodox Brahmanic elites of the early and classical period and created an intellectual milieu conducive to development of scientific methods and methodical thought in general.