The opera Die Burgfrau (Brno 1832) is based on the local folk tale of the White Lady, a friendly ghost, who once used to reside in the castle of Pernštejn. In the first half of the nineteenth century pieces as such were shown on stage of the City Theatre at the Zelný trh in Brno, often of Singspiel quality. The opera of the White Lady surpasses all of them in structure and thorough elaboration. In spite of their young age, the authors represented first-class among contemporary artists in Moravia. The author of the libretto Antonín Boček (1802–1847) was a known Moravian historian, whose premature death prevented him to finish his life-work. When composing the opera, the composer Antonín Emil Titl (1809–1882) was double-bass player in the Brno theatre; later, he went on to become bandmaster in Vienna. The opera combines elements of the tale with historical events. In part, it presents historical figures, and even gives the date of 1545. The ghost of the White Lady interferes in the events, in which love wins over hatred, and evil is punished. The opera met with warm welcome when first performed in Brno, and was later shown in Olomouc as well. However, it did not make it to the Vienna stage.
The incidence of diabetes mellitus is rising worldwide. The aim of this prospective epidemiological study was to compare the effects of natural and surgical menopause on parameters of glucose metabolism. In a group of 587 repeatedly examined women, with a baseline age of 45-55 years, the following subgroups of women were separated: those after bilateral oophorectomy (BO, n=37) and those in natural menopause (NAT, n=380) including women menopausal already at baseline (POST, n=89). The study parameters including glycemia, insulinemia, HOMA-IR and betacell function using HOMA-β were determined at baseline and 6 years later. Over the study period, there was a marked rise in prediabetic and diabetic values of fasting glycemia; the percentage of women with diabetic values increased in the NAT (from 0.8 % to 3.9 %) and POST (from 2.2 % to 9.0 %) subgroups, with the highest prevalence in the BO subgroup (from 8.1 % to 10.8 %). While, among women with non-diabetic fasting glycemia, an increase in fasting glycemia was observed in all study subgroups, it was more marked in the BO subgroup than in the NAT and POST ones (p=0.02 both). This difference between NAT and BO was also found in the long-term trend of development of glycemia in non-diabetic women (p=0.014). Compared with natural menopause, bilateral oophorectomy may have an adverse effect on glucose metabolism., M. Lejsková, J. Piťha, S. Adámková, O. Auzký, T. Adámek, E. Babková, V. Lánská, Š. Alušík., and Obsahuje bibliografii