The stressed state of the rock mass in the area of the Outokumpu deep drill hole, Finland, was investigated by the boundaryelement method in three mutually orthogonal planes with regard for the massif geological structure. It was found that subhorizontal components of the stress field are determined by tectonic forces acting on the boundaries of the European part of the Eurasian lithospheric plate. In the drill hole vertical section the widest variations of this field gradient occur at the depths of an ophiolite sequence in the range of 1.8-2.0 km., Stepan Savchenko and Feliks Gorbatsevich., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Tree transpiration plays a determining role in the water balance of forest stands and in seepage water yields from forested catchments, especially in arid and semiarid regions where climatic conditions are dry with severe water shortage, forestry development is limited by water availability. To clarify the response of water use to climatic conditions, sap flow was monitored by heat pulse velocity method from May to September, 2014, in a 40–year–old Pinus tabulaeformis Carr. plantation forest stands in the semiarid Loess Plateau region of Northwest China. We extrapolated the measurements of water use by individual plants to determine the area–averaged transpiration of the woodlands. The method used for the extrapolation assumes that the transpiration of a tree was proportional to its sapwood area. Stand transpiration was mainly controlled by photosynthetically active radiation and vapor pressure deficit, whereas soil moisture had more influence on monthly change in stand transpiration. The mean sap flow rates for individual P. tabulaeformis trees ranged from 9 to 54 L d−1. During the study period, the mean daily stand transpiration was 1.9 mm day–1 (maximum 2.9 and minimum 0.8 mm day–1) and total stand transpiration from May to September was 294.1 mm, representing 76% of the incoming precipitation over this period. Similar results were found when comparing transpiration estimated with sap flow measurements to the Penman–Monteith method (relative error: 16%), indicating that the scaling procedure can be used to provide reliable estimates of stand transpiration. These results suggested that P. tabulaeformis is highly effective at utilizing scarce water resources in semiarid environments.
We investigate estimators of the asymptotic variance <span class="tex">\ss</span> of a <span class="tex">d</span>-dimensional stationary point process <span class="tex">Ψ</span> which can be observed in convex and compact sampling window <span class="tex"><sub>n</sub>=n W</span>. Asymptotic variance of <span class="tex">Ψ</span> is defined by the asymptotic relation <span class="tex">{Var}(Ψ(<sub>n</sub>)) \sim ß|<sub>n</sub>|</span> (as <span class="tex">n \to ∞</span>) and its existence is guaranteed whenever the corresponding reduced covariance measure <span class="tex">\gamr(\cdot)</span> has finite total variation. The three estimators discussed in the paper are the kernel estimator, the estimator based on the second order intesity of the point process and the subsampling estimator. We study the mean square consistency of the estimators. Since the expressions for the variance of the estimators are not available in closed form and depend on higher order moment measures of the point process, only the bias of the estimators can be compared theoretically. The second part of the paper is therefore devoted to a simulation study which compares the efficiency of the estimators by means of the mean squared error and for several clustered and repulsive point processes observed on middle-sized windows.
The study investigates the effect of administered estrogen on plasma creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LD) levels in female ovariectomized rats after downhill running. Rats ovariectomized before sexual maturity were subcutaneously implanted with pellets containing 17β-estradiol or placebo. Three weeks later they were subjected to a 90-min intermittent downhill running protocol. Blood samples were obtained from the jugular vein immediately after and 72 h after exercise for determination of plasma CK, LD and 17β-estradiol levels. A two-way analysis of variance was used for data evaluation. Plasma CK and LD levels were significantly lower (p<0.05) in the estrogen-supplemented, ovariectomized animals which suggests that less muscle damage occurred compared to the controls immediately and 72 h after exercise. Estrogens may have a protective effect on muscle tissue possibly due to their antioxidant and membrane stabilizing properties., S. Sotiriadou, A. Kyparos, V. Mougios, Ch. Trontzos, G. Sidiras, Ch. Matziari., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The activity of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) is increased after alcohol consumption and can contribute to an increased level of HDL-cholesterol, which is considered to play a key role in the ethanol-mediated protective effect against cardiovascular disease. The increase in HDL-cholesterol concentration can be also due to an ethanol-enhanced synthesis and secretion of apolipoprotein A-I (apo A-I) from hepatocytes. Therefore, the hypothesis that ethanol consumption affects the LPL and apo A-I gene (LPL and APOA1, respectively) expression was tested in male C57BL/6 mice drinking 5 % ethanol or water and fed a standard chow or high-fat (HF) diet for 4 weeks. The LPL expression was determined in the heart, epididymal and dorsolumbal adipose tissues, the APOA1 expression in the liver. Alcohol consumption did not affect lipid and lipoprotein concentrations in the serum. The LPL expression was increased in the heart of mice given ethanol and HF diet compared to mice on chow and ethanol (p<0.001) and was also increased in epididymal fat in mice given ethanol and HF diet compared to mice on water and HF diet (p<0.05). Neither LPL expression in dorsolumbal fat nor APOA1 expression in the liver were affected by ethanol consumption. Our data suggest that ethanol consumption upregulate LPL expression in a tissue- and diet-dependent manner., E. Mudráková, J. Kovář., and Obsahuje bibiografii a bibliografické odkazy
The study is focused on Ethiopia and its relationship with several parts of the world, including Western Europe, the former Czechoslovakia, the United States of America and the League of Nations before the Italian invasion. Based on analytical-synthetical methodology, I have examined the real position of Ethiopia i.e. how Ethiopia was perceived or imagined in different parts of the world. In addition I have examined whether Haile Sellassie could have prevented the Italian army from invading. This was the point at which the myth of Ethiopia as the last independent country of Africa was destroyed. Some important materials, which deal with the substance of out subject, are analyzed, including primary sources written by travelers, diplomats, journalists or scholars. The main argument is that the image of Ethiopia gradually shifted from a negative one to a positive one as the war became increasingly inevitable. Without the Italian invasion, Ethiopia would have probably remained, for the most ot the world, as simply a country where slavery prevailed or where barbarians had lived since this was the major image of Ethiopia which was held in Europe at that time.