Industrial chicory, Cichorium intybus L., has rather poor early vigour under the typical early spring morning conditions of low temperatures and high light intensity. Screening tools are being developed to assess the cold tolerance/sensitivity of young industrial chicory plants under these conditions. Refinement of such tools requires better understanding of the plants' physiological responses. In this paper we discuss the effects of growth temperature (GT), measurement temperature (MT), and measuring light intensity (ML) on the relaxation of the Kautsky curve. We chose the chicory variety 'Hera', as it is known to possess a good average early vigour. Young plants of the variety 'Hera' were grown at three temperatures (GT): 16°C (reference), 8°C (intermediate), and 4°C (cold stress). The dark relaxation kinetics were analyzed at different light intensities (ML) in combination with different measurement temperatures (MT). The three components of the nonphotochemical quenching process (NPQE, NPQT, and NPQI) were determined. NPQE was not affected by GT but was significantly affected by MT and ML. NPQT and NPQI were affected by all factors and their interactions. An acclimation effect for plants grown at low GT was detected. Acclimation resulted in lower NPQT and NPQI values. The halftime of the inhibition depending on NPQ (NPQI) was not affected by any of the factors investigated. Based on the data generated, we conclude that NPQI is a valuable parameter for screening the cold sensitivity of young industrial chicory plants. and P. Lootens ... [et al.].
Industrial chicory, Cichorium intybus L., is cultivated for the production of inulin. Most varieties of industrial chicory exhibit rather poor early growth, which limits further yield improvements in their European cultivation area. The poor early growth could be due to suboptimum adaptation of the gene pool to growth at low temperatures, sometimes in combination with high light intensities, which is typical of early-spring mornings. We have used chlorophyll (Chl) a fluorescence to evaluate the response of young plants of the cultivar 'Hera' to low temperatures and high light intensities. Plants were grown at three temperatures: 16°C (reference), 8°C (intermediate), and 4°C (cold stress). Light-response measurements were carried out at different light intensities in combination with different measurement temperatures. Parameters that quantify the photosystem II (PSII) operating efficiency (including PSII maximum efficiency and PSII efficiency factor) and nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) are important to evaluate the stress in terms of severity, the photosynthetics processes affected, and acclimation to lower growth temperatures. The results clearly demonstrate that in young industrial chicory plants the photosynthetic system adapts to lower growth temperatures. However, to fully understand the plant response to the stresses studied and to evaluate the long-term effect of the stress applied on the growth dynamics, the subsequent dark relaxation dynamics should also be investigated. and S. Devacht ... [et al.].
Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a methodology for measuring best relative efficiencies of a group of peer decision-making units (DMUs) that take multiple inputs to produce multiple outputs. However, the traditional DEA model only aims to maximize the efficiency of the DMU under evaluation. This usually leads to very small weights (even zero weights) being assigned to some inputs or outputs. Correspondingly, these inputs or outputs have little or even no contribution to efficiency, which is unfair and irrational. The purpose of this paper is to address this problem. Two new weight-optimized models are proposed based upon the perspective of cross evaluation. Using the results of an Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) example, it is found that all AMTs are fully sorted. The decision maker can easily choose the best AMT. In addition, unreasonable weights of AMTs are effectively avoided.
The paper presents an analysis of the possibilities of using a data set of Sentinel-1 (S-1) Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) for urban monitoring. The study was conducted in the Olsztyn area, where by using the PSI (Persistent Scatterer InSAR) method the amount of deformation was determined, calculated using a multi-time SAR data series. Displacement values were estimated by reducing error sources related to temporal and geometrical decorrelation and atmospheric phase delay. Based on the defined assumptions, three calculation cases were prepared. This processing is based on the data from more than 648 Sentinel-1A/B images over ascending and descending orbits acquired between October 2014 and August 2018 to determine the value of the Line of Sight (LOS) ground deformation rates. Regular acquisition of SAR images from the Sentinel-1 satellite sensor in an interval of 2 days enabled the detection of more than 1000 PSI points per 1 km2 in the 10 × 10 km2 urban area. The mean LOS velocity of surface change was determined on the basis of four large data sets. and Comparable values were obtained from ascending tracks 29, 102 and descending tracks 51, 124 where mean velocity ranges respectively: A29 from -4.3 to 3.4 mm/yr, A102 from -3.9 to 3.5 mm/yr and D51 from -3.9 to 3.1 mm/yr, D124 from -3.8 to 3.2 mm/yr. Then the results of geometries were combined in pairs to compute the actual vertical motion component. In the presented work, an analysis of the terrain deformation was performed for selected characteristic objects located within the Olsztyn area. In the first case study, a detailed analysis of urban infrastructure facilities was carried out, including buildings and a section of the railway line. The other case study covers an area along the river bank. A large number of observations allowed to accurately determine the deformation model and to produce the history of deformations on the tested area, based on the analysis of time series of interferograms. The paper presents solutions using InSAR data in urban monitoring and shows why this technology is a useful tool for studying measuring urban subsidence. The results are displayed in the form of a deformation map showing the magnitude of the measured movement.
There is a growing interest of research being conducted on detecting eye blink to assist physically impaired people for verbal communication and controlling devices using electroencephalogram (EEG) signal. One particular eye blink can be determined from use of peak points. Therefore, the purpose of peak detection algorithm is to distinguish an actual peak location from a list of peak candidates. The need of a good peak model is important in ensuring a satisfy classification performance. In general, there are various peak models available in literature, which have been tested in several peak detection algorithms. In this study, performance evaluation of the existing peak models is conducted based on Artificial Neural Network (ANN) with particle swarm optimization (PSO) as learning algorithm. This study evaluates the performance of eye blink EEG signal peak detection algorithm for four different peak models which are Dumpala's, Acir's, Liu's, and Dingle's peak models. To generalize the performance evaluation, two case studies of eye blink EEG signal are considered, which are single and double eye blink signals. It has been observed that the best test performance, in average, is 91.94% and 87.47% for single and double eye blink signals, respectively. These results indicate that the Acir's peak model offers high accuracy of peak detection for the two eye blink EEG signals as compared to other peak models. The result of statistical analysis also indicates that the Acir's peak model is better than Dingle's and Dumpala's peak models.
The aim of this study was to analyze the ECG time intervals in the course of the development of chronic anthracycline cardiomyopathy in rabbits. Furthermore, this approach was employed to study the effects of a model cardioprotective drug (dexrazoxane) and two novel iron chelating compounds - salicylaldehyde isonicotinoyl hydrazone (SIH) and pyridoxal 2-chlorobenzoyl hydrazone (o-108). Repeated daunorubicin administration induced a significant and progressive prolongation of the QRS complex commencing with the 8th week of administration. At the end of the study, we identified a significant correlation between QRS duration and the contractility index dP/dtmax (r=-0.81; P<0.001) as well as with the plasma concentrations of cardiac troponin T (r=0.78; P<0.001). In contrast, no alterations in ECG time intervals were revealed in the groups co-treated with either dexrazoxane or both novel cardioprotective drugs (SIH, o-108). Hence, in this study, the QRS duration is for the first time shown as a parameter suitable for the non-invasive evaluation of the anthracycline cardiotoxicity and cardioprotective effects of both well established and investigated drugs. Moreover, our results strongly suggest that novel iron chelators (SIH and o-108) merit further study as promising cardioprotective drugs against anthracycline cardiotoxicity., A. Potáčová, M. Adamcová, H. Čajnáková, L. Hrbatová, M. Štěrba, O. Popelová, T. Šimůnek, P. Poňka, V. Geršl., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Endothelium-protective properties of pharmacological agents may be assessed by using different experimental models of endothelial dysfunction or injury. The model of endothelial dysfunction induced by vessel perfusion with polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) was used for evaluation of pentoxifylline (PTX) effects on vasoconstrictor responses to noradrenaline (NA) in the rabbit renal artery. Addition of PMN into the perfusion solution significantly increased the responses to NA at all doses. PTX administration (10-5 mol.l1) significantly diminished the constrictor responses to NA in vessels perfused with PMN+PTX when compared to the responses in PMN-perfused vessels (at dose 0.1 m g: 32.25 vs. 14.25, at dose 1 m g: 51 vs. 27.75 (p<0.01), at dose 10 m g 74.25 vs. 39.75 (p<0.05), all values expressed as median of perfusion pressure in mm Hg). The model of endothelial damage induced by repeated NA administration in 5 doses (10-50 m g of NA) was used for evaluation of the endothelium-protective effect of sulodexide (SLX). It was found that SLX (120 U/l) significantly decreased the number of desquamated endothelial cells (EC) compared to the control group (controls: 131.4± 20.1 EC, +SLX: 83.3± 13.8 EC, p<0.01). These results confirmed the favorable endothelium-protective effects of pentoxifylline and sulodexide in the two experimental models., V. Kristová, M. Kriška, P. Babál, M. N. Djibril, J. Slámová, A. Kurtanský., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Formulas for full seismic moment tensor composition are present, i.e. moment tensor is express as a function of ISO, CLVD, DC, strike, dip, rake, where ISO is amount of isotropic part, CLVD is amount of compensated liner-vector dipole and DC is amount of pure double couple. Two forms of final formulas are given: i, two matrixes multiplication, ii, extension of "classical" formulas for 6 independent moment tensor elements., Petr Kolář., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
The paper presents the results of experimental examination of the weathering grade of granite rock mass in the medieval Jeroným Mine (Czech Republic). This mine is declared as a cultural heritage site of the Czech Republic therefore, non-destructive methods for determination of the Schmidt hammer rebound value and the ultrasonic pulse velocity were used to minimize negative impact on the historical workings during in situ exploration. Weathering grade of selected parts of the rockmass in underground spaces was classified visually according to the assumed classification (Hencher and Martin, 1982 in Vahed et al., 2009) and the above mentioned measurements were performed in these parts. Results show that the rebound value and the ultrasonic pulse velocity are decreasing with increasing weathering grade for all investigated parts. Therefore this result is possible to use as a supplementary method for evaluation of weathering grade of rock massif in this mine., Markéta Lednická and Zdeněk Kaláb., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
About 75% of water for irrigation in Bangladesh comes from groundwater. As the crop yield is directly related to quality of water used for irrigation, an assessment of groundwater suitability for irrigation is essential for the growth of food production and poverty eradication. An attempt has been made in this paper to study the suitability of groundwater for irrigation in Bangladesh. Geographic information system (GIS) is used for the processing of groundwater quality data collected from 113 locations sporadically distributed over the country and the preparation of groundwater quality maps. The result shows that groundwater of the southwestern part of Bangladesh, which comprises 22.5% area of the country, is highly affected by salinity and sodium hazards. Groundwater in 10.54% area of the country is also contaminated by Arsenic above the permissible level recommended for irrigation. and Okolo 75 % vody pre závlahy v Bangladeši pochádza z podzemných vôd. Pretože úroda priamo závisí od kvality závlahovej vody, posúdenie vhodnosti vody pre závlahy je podstatné pre produkciu potravín a odstránenie chudoby. V štúdii je prezentovaný pokus o zhodnotenie vhodnosti podzemnej vody pre závlahy v Bangladeši. Na spracovanie údajov o kvalite podzemnej vody zo 113 lokalít rozmiestnených sporadicky po krajine a na prípravu máp kvality podzemnej vody sa použil geografický informačný systém (GIS). Výsledky naznačujú, že podzemná voda v juhozápadnej časti krajiny zaberajúcej 22,5 % jej plochy je silne ohrozená zasolenosťou a obsahom sodíka. Podzemná voda na ploche 10,54 % krajiny je tiež kontaminovaná obsahom arzénu nad prípustnú hranicu pre závlahovú vodu.