Analysis of the contents and organization of pigments in leaves of more than 60 plant species from different natural habitats revealed that the majority of plants from extreme regions had a low pigment content. The arctic plants contained 40-60 % less chlorophyll (Chl) than the same species in the temperate zone. The desert plants had an extremely low pigment content. Owing to high amount of total carotenoids (Car), the arctic and high montane plants had the lowest ratios Chl/Car. The part of Chl belonging to light-harvesting (LH)-antenna varied less than the total amounts. The majority of investigated arctic plants had a smaller amount of Chl and larger part of it in the LH-antenna than plants of the temperate zone. The pigment apparatus of high montane plants was distinguished by very high Car content probably serving as protectant against photodamage: in their photosystems 1 and 2 there was 4-5 times more p-carotene than in the plants of other zones.
Diapause is a common dormancy strategy exhibited by many species of invertebrates and insects to temporarily avoid seasonally recurring unfavourable conditions for their development, most usually in winter. Less frequently, a prolonged diapause lasting two or more years is described in species living in unpredictable environments where it is adaptive, but with significant costs. In this paper we examine the occurrence of prolonged diapause in the lycaenid butterfly Tomares ballus. Pupae of this species undergo an obligate diapause from mid-May to late January the following year. However, during our rearing experiments (from 2009 to 2016) the emergence of adults occurred sequentially and a fraction of the pupae remained in diapause for up to seven years. The annual percentage emergence after the first year of diapause was 45.6%, and only barely exceeded 50.0% in 2015. Remarkably, 12 pupae (11.4% of the initial brood) remained in diapause in their eighth year. The negative exponential equation fitted to the emergence data suggests that further emergences may occur within the next five years. Therefore, the potential for successful prolonged diapause of T. ballus pupae may be more than 10 years. The adaptive value of this strategy is discussed in relation to the effects of adverse and unpredictable weather during the flight period of the butterfly, intra-guild competition, parasitoids and changes in habitat quality. We suggest that this strategy may also be exhibited by other species of Mediterranean lycaenids., Rafael Obregón, Juan Fernández Haeger, Diego Jordano., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The design and evaluation of algorithms for adaptive stochastic control of the reservoir function of a water reservoir using an artificial intelligence method (learned fuzzy model) are described in this article. This procedure was tested on the Vranov reservoir (Czech Republic). Stochastic model results were compared with the results of deterministic management obtained using the method of classical optimisation (differential evolution). The models used for controlling of reservoir outflow used single quantile from flow duration curve values or combinations of quantile values from flow duration curve for determination of controlled outflow. Both methods were also tested on forecast data from real series (100% forecast). Finally, the results of the dispatcher graph, adaptive deterministic control and adaptive stochastic control were compared. Achieved results of adaptive stochastic management were better than results provided by dispatcher graph and provide inspiration for continuing research in the field.
The paper analyses the arguments put forward by Plantinga to justify his refutation of evolutionary reliabilism, i.e. the claim that the probability that the cognitive faculties, developed in the process of unguided evolution, are reliable is low. I argue that all the thought experiments offered by Plantinga to justify this thesis suffer from a common defect – they disregard the condition of evolution or fail to take it into account properly. In addition, I argue that pointing out the difficulties that naturalistic approaches have in explaining mental causation does not lead to Plantinga’s conclusion that in a naturalistic world there would be no mental causation whatsoever.
Dlouhou dobu se předpokládalo, že populace obývající určitá území Evropy také tato území na konci doby ledové kolonizovaly jako první. Nové výzkumy však ukázaly, že v některých případech byla první příchozí populace později nahrazena jinou, pocházející z jiného glaciálního refugia. Náš článek ukazuje, že k takovému nahrazení jedné populace druhou došlo při kolonizaci Velké Británie norníkem rudým (Clethrionomys glareolus) a že při tom hrály roli fyziologické adaptace způsobené mutací v hemoglobinu., It has long been assumed that the populations that first colonized particular empty territory after the last ice age have remained there until the present day. However, recent findings in small mammals suggest that replacements involving a population from one glacial refugium at the cost of a population from another refugium may have been a not infrequent event. The article demonstrates that such population replacement took place during post-glacial colonization of Great Britain by the Bank Vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) and that physiological differences conferred by haemoglobin have probably played a role in this process., and Petr Kotlík, Silvia Marková, Karolína Filipi, Michaela Strážnická, Jeremy B. Searle.
Během posledních třiceti let se adaptivní optika proměnila z vysoce sofistikované, nákladné a utajované technologie v běžnou součást pozemských teleskopů, mikroskopů, laserových systémů či nastupujících systémů pro satelitní komunikaci. Podívejme se zblízka na technologie, které byly pro její účely vyvinuty a stojí za jejím úspěchem., In the last thirty years adaptive optics have transformed from a highly sophisticated, expensive and secret technology into a common component of earth-bound telescopes, microscopes, laser systems or emerging systems for satellite communication. Let‘s take a closer look at these technologies which have been developed within this field and stands behind its success., Jan Pilař., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
Adaptavní optické systémy se vyznačují schopností měnit své optické vlastnosti na požádání a v reálném čase. V tomto příspěvku jsou diskutovány základní prvky adaptivních optických systémů využívaných v astronomii ke kompenzaci vlivu atmosféry na zobrazení velkých pozemských teleskopů., Adaptive optical systems are those whose optical responses can be adjusted on demand, in real time. Here we discuss the basics of adaptive optical systems utilised in astronomy for compensation of aberrations due to atmospheric turbulence, which seriously impairs the performance of uncorrected large ground-based telescopes., Jaroslav Řeháček, Bohumil Stoklasa., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
To investigate the effect of glutamine-enriched total parenteral nutrition (TPM) on the protein synthesis and morphology of jejunal mucosa in non-hypercatabolic stress, sixty-two male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to surgical stress by femoral fracture. The rats were divided into 3 groups and received TPM for 8 days. One group received a standard amino acid solution without glutamine, the second group a standard solution enriched with glycine and glutamic acid, and the third group a standard solution enriched with glycyl-glutamine. All regimens were isocaloric and isonitrogenous-nitrogen (2.2 g/kg.day), glucose (150 Kcal/kg.day), and lipids (150 Kcal/kg.day). There were no statistically significant differences in jejunal mucosal thickness, DMA content, protein content, fractional synthesis rate or absolute protein synthesis among the groups after eight days of parenteral nutrition. In conclusion, the addition of glutamine to TPM did not influence either protein metabolism or morphology of the jejunal mucosa in non-hypercatabolic surgical stress.