Coordinated regulation of apoptosis is critical for development, homeostasis, and immunity in larvae of Metazoa. We determined the full nucleotide sequence of an inhibitor of an apoptosis protein in a lepidopteran insect Mythimna separata (Walker) (MsIAP) and carried out functional analyses of the MsIAP. The full-length cDNA of MsIAP was 1642 bp, which encoded 379 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular mass of 41,834 Da, and two BIR domains and one RING domain revealed using amino acid sequence analysis. In addition, the sequences of these domains were similar to Drosophila IAP1 and those of some other lepidopteran insects. We carried out a functional analyses of MsIAP related to apoptosis regulation using RNA interference. The effects of MsIAP knockdown on adhering hemocytes and non-adhering hemocytes as controls were examined using Hoechst33342/propidium iodide staining, effector caspase activity and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labelling (TUNEL) staining. A significantly higher number of propidium iodide and TUNEL-positive cells was recorded in adhering hemocytes from MsIAP knockdown larvae than from control larvae, but these differences were not recorded for non-adhering hemocytes. However, higher effector caspase activity was detected in both adhering and non-adhering hemocytes from MsIAP knockdown larvae compared to that in control larvae. These results indicate that the knockdown of MsIAP induces apoptosis in larval adhering hemocytes, which MsIAP negatively and non-redundantly regulate apoptosis, and that IAP function is conserved in M. separata and other insect species including Drosophila and several lepidopteran insects., Masashi Kamezaki, Kakeru Yokoi, Ken Miura., and Obsahuje bibliografii
A study was conducted in Mabira Central Forest Reserve in Uganda to determine rodent species composition, relative abundance, and habitat association. A total of 1,030 rodents belonging to 14 species were captured on 10,584 trap nights. Rodent species recorded include: Lophuromys stanleyi, Hylomyscus stella, Praomys jacksoni, Mastomys natalensis, Lophuromys ansorgei, Lemniscomys striatus, Aethomys hindei, Mus triton, Mus minutoides, Deomys ferrugineus, Gerbilliscus kempi, Rattus rattus, Grammomys kuru, and Hybomys univittatus. Overall, L. stanleyi (23.7%) was the most dominant species followed by H. stella, P. jacksoni, and M. natalensis. Species richness and evenness was highest in the regenerating forest habitat and least in the intact forest habitat. Rodent abundance was significantly affected by habitat type. The regenerating forest habitat had the highest number of animals, while the lowest numbers were observed in the depleted forest habitat. Species diversity was higher in regenerating forest habitat and lowest in the intact forest. The three habitats appeared distinct in terms of rodent species composition and there was a strong association between the two trapping grids in the same habitat type. All ordination plots showed that different rodent species consistently associated with distinct habitats. Habitat type and seasonal changes influenced rodent composition, relative abundance and habitat association. Composition of rodent community reflected the level of habitat degradation and can be used as a proxy for evaluating the biodiversity of lowland tropical forests.
Faunal studies of rodent assemblages from the areas on and around Choke Mountain (north-western Ethiopia) were conducted during two field seasons in 2012 and 2018. Here we present results of a genetic study of nine rodent species, and evaluate their genetic diversity and evolutionary relationships between conspecific populations from neighbouring montane massifs. Results of comparative analysis of phylogeographic patterns in Lophuromys, Desmomys, Stenocephalemys and Tachyoryctes have emphasized the role of the Blue Nile gorge as a strong biogeographic barrier, separating “northern” and “southern” independently evolved populations. Results of genetic analysis also revealed the presence of a new taxon of Dendromus, presumably belonging to a new species. Our study allows re-evaluation this area as an important “hotspot” of Ethiopian small mammal biodiversity.
V období ranej adolescencie patria rodičia a ich správanie k významným faktorom, ktoré môžu napomôcť predchádzaniu rizikovému správaniu dospievajúcich. K najčastejším formám rizikového správania v tomto období patrí fajčenie a konzumácia alkoholu. Prvým cieľom štúdie je sledovať rozdiely v percepcii s rizikovým správaním súvisiacich faktorov medzi adolescentmi a ich matkami/ otcami. Druhým cieľom je sledovať vzťah medzi premennými súvisiacimi so správaním rodičov (percipované adolescentom) a fajčením a užívaním alkoholu u dospievajúcich. Výskumnú vzorku tvorilo 580 dospievajúcich (priemerný vek 12,51; SD = 0,59; 51,1 % dievčat), 217 matiek a 150 otcov. Vo všetkých sledovaných premenných, s výnimkou trávenia spoločného času, boli identifikované významné rozdiely medzi percepciou dospievajúcich a rodičov. Výsledky logistickej regresie ukazujú, že najvýznamnejším faktorom súvisiacim s pravdepodobnosťou fajčenia a pitia alkoholu je percipované schvaľovanie takéhoto správania zo strany rodičov. Zdá sa, že bez ohľadu na to, akým spôsobom sa rodičia snažia ovplyvňovať rizikové správanie dospievajúcich, najdôležitejšie je zabezpečiť, aby adolescenti skutočne vnímali postoj rodičov voči alkoholu/cigaretám ako nesúhlasný. Získané výsledky by mohli byť aplikovateľné aj pre učiteľov a iných významných dospelých, ktorí sú v pravidelnom kontakte s dospievajúcimi. and During the early adolescence period the parental behaviour belongsto one of the most important factors that may help to avoid adolescent risk behaviour. Among the most prevalent forms of risk behaviour in early adolescence are smoking and alcohol consumption. The first aim of this study is to explore discrepancies between parental and adolescent perceptions of several factors related to risk behaviour. The second aim of the study is to explore relationship between parental behaviour (as perceived by adolescents) and adolescents smoking and alcohol consumption. Research sample consisted of 580 adolescents (mean age 12.51, SD=0.59; 51.1% girls), 217 mothers and 150 fathers. In all studied all variables but spending free time, showed, significant differences between the perception of adolescents and their mothers /fathers were found with an exception of parental companionship. Results of logistic regression show that the most important factor that is associated with probability of smoking and drinking in early adolescence is perceived parental approval of such behaviour. It seems to be, that regardless of the way how parents try to prevent adolescents risk behaviour, the most important is to show clear and consistent disapproval of such behaviour. Our results may be applied also for teachers and significant others that are in contact with adolescents.
Rozchod rodičů je proces, který dlouhodobě ovlivňuje životy všech zúčastněných. Cílem studie je popsat rozchod rodičů z pohledu dítěte. Vnímání rodiny dětmi jsme zkoumali pomocí metody FAST. Děti stavěly typickou, ideální a konfliktní reprezentaci rodiny. Porovnávali jsme skupinu 15 dětí v situaci rozchodu rodičů a skupinu 19 dětí ve stabilním rodinném prostředí bez vážných rodičovských konfliktů, průměrný věk dětí z obou skupin je 9,5 let (rozpětí 5-15 let). Zajímali jsme se o členství v rodině, kohezi a popis konfliktů v rodině. Děti v situaci rozchodu rodičů popisovaly nižší kohezi nejenom ve vztahu mezi rodiči, ale i mezi sebou a oběma rodiči. To je v souladu se zjištěními, která poukazují na horší kvalitu rodičovství po rozchodu rodičů. Děti, jejichž rodiče se v době sběru dat rozcházeli, zahrnovaly do rodiny příbuzné nad rámec primární rodiny. Členství těchto lidí v rodině ale nebylo trvalé. Zdá se, že tyto děti hledají oporu v dalších vztazích v širší rodině, nebo nahrazují kvalitu (zhoršení vztahů po rozchodů rodičů) kvantitou ve vztazích. Popisují také rodinné konflikty s horším výsledkem a nepopisují účinné strategie řešení konfliktů. and The divorce of parents is a situation which in the long term affects life of everyone involved. The aim of this study is to describe the parents’ divorce from the child’s point of view. The perception of the family by children was examined by the FAST method. The children presented a typical, an ideal and a conflict representation of the family. We compared the group of 15 children in a divorce situation with the group of 19 children in stable family environment without significant parental conflicts. The average age of children in both groups was 9,5 years (range 5 – 15 years). We were interested in the family members, cohesion and the description of family conflicts. Children in parents’ divorce described a lower cohesion not only in the parents’ relationship but also between themselves and both parents. This supports the spillover concept in the family and is in harmony with findings, which point out the inferior quality of parenthood after the divorce. Children, whose parents were in the process of divorce during the collecting of data, included into the family also relatives outside the primary family. However, their membership in the family was not permanent. It seems that these children are seeking for support in relationships within the extended family or they substitute the quality (the worsening of quality after the divorce) by quantity in relationships. They also describe family conflicts with worse results, and they don’t describe effective strategies of solving conflicts.
Cytochrome c oxidase (COX), the terminal enzyme of mitochondrial electron transport chain, couples electron transport to oxygen with generation of proton gradient indispensable for the production of vast majority of ATP molecules in mammalian cells. The review summarizes current knowledge of COX structure and function of nuclear-encoded COX subunits, which may modulate enzyme activity according to various conditions. Moreover, some nuclear-encoded subunits possess tissue-specific and development-specific isoforms, possibly enabling fine-tuning of COX function in individual tissues. The importance of nuclearencoded subunits is emphasized by recently discovered pathogenic mutations in patients with severe mitopathies. In addition, proteins substoichiometrically associated with COX were found to contribute to COX activity regulation and stabilization of the respiratory supercomplexes. Based on the summarized data, a model of three levels of quaternary COX structure is postulated. Individual structural levels correspond to subunits of the i) catalytic center, ii) nuclear-encoded stoichiometric subunits and iii) associated proteins, which may constitute several forms of COX with varying composition and differentially regulated function.
Jealousy is defined as one of the most common automatic responses to endangering a relation-ship by a third party, and in evolutionary psy-chology it has the function of maximizing self-reproduction fitness, ensuring paternity security in men and maintaining partner,s resources in women. These include romantic jealousy, in men assuring certainty of paternity, and in women assuring the maintenance of partner,s re-sources. Thus, according to this logic, woman’s sexual infidelity should be more threatening for men and man’s emotional infidelity (emotional involvement with other women than a primary partner) should be more threatening for women. Many previous studies confirm the existence of sex differences in jealousy; men reporting high-er level of sexual jealousy and women reporting higher level of emotional jealousy. On the con-trary, studies of romantic jealousy in homosex-ual individuals show inconsistent results. Some studies suggest that the type of sexual and emo-tional jealousy does not depend on the sex of the individual who is jealous, but rather on the sex of the partner or the sex of the rival. Therefore, the aim of this review is to introduce romantic jealousy from an evolutionary perspective and to acquaint the reader with current knowledge of the study of cognitive, emotional and behavioral aspects of romantic jealousy in heterosexual and homosexual men and women. and Žárlivost bývá definována jako jedna z nejčas-tějších automatických reakcí na ohrožení vztahu třetí osobou a v evoluční psychologii má přede-vším funkci maximalizovat vlastní reprodukční zdatnost, tj. u mužů zajišťovat jistotu otcovství a u žen udržení si partnera a jeho zdrojů. Po-dle této logiky by proto pro muže měla být více ohrožující ženina sexuální nevěra a pro ženy naopak mužova emoční nevěra (emoční vazba, např. zamilování se, do jiné osoby, než je pri-mární partner). Velká část předchozích studií tuto existenci mezipohlavních rozdílů ve vnímá-ní žárlivosti, kdy muži udávají vyšší míru sexu-ální žárlivosti a ženy reportují vyšší míru emoč-ní žárlivosti, opravdu potvrzuje. Naopak studie romantické žárlivosti u homosexuálních jedinců přinášejí nejednotné výsledky. Některé studie poukazují na fakt, že se typ emoční/sexuální žárlivosti neodvíjí od pohlaví jedince, který žár-lí, ale od pohlaví partnera, na kterého je žárleno, případně od pohlaví rivala. Cílem tohoto článku je proto představit koncept romantické žárlivos-ti z evoluční perspektivy a dále seznámit čtená-ře s aktuálními poznatky studia kognitivních, emočních a behaviorálních aspektů romantické žárlivosti u heterosexuálních a homosexuálních mužů a žen.
The article is focused on the issue of interference with personal integrity of a natural person and the role of judicial consent as legal justification authorising in certain circumstances to carry out an intervention interfering with integrity. It analyses the concept of integrity and the associated ambiguities and discrepancies; it discusses whether termination of continuing influence over body or mind of a person may be considered interference with integrity. Subsequently, prerequisites for judicial decision in this respect are examined, together with relevant criteria to be followed by courts. and Článek se zabývá problematikou zásahů do integrity člověka a soudním přivolením coby právním důvodem opravňujícím v určitých situacích zákrok narušující integritu vykonat. Analyzuje pojetí integrity a nejasnosti či rozpory, které může přinášet, a zvažuje, zda lze za zásah do ní považovat i ukončení probíhajícího působení na tělo či mysl dotčené osoby. Posléze se zabývá předpoklady pro související soudní rozhodování a kritérii, jimiž se má řídit.
Veda a technológie idú neuveriteľnou rýchlosťou dopredu. Napriek tomu má zdravotnícky systém veľa nedostatkov a medicínske chyby sa stávajú neustále. V posledných rokoch sa pozornosť upriamuje na zlepšenie kvality zdravotnej starostlivosti. Podľa štatistík z národných štúdií v rôznych európskych krajinách, 8 – 10 % chýb je spôsobené ľudským faktorom. V tomto texte som prebrala najzákladnejšie koncepty individuálnej a kolektívnej zodpovednosti a poukazujem na to, že v zdravotníckom systéme sú jednotlivci častokrát súčasťou tímov a nie je možné jednoznačne určiť individuálnu zodpovednosť. Napriek tomu prevladajúca kultúra viny smeruje k sankciovaniu jednotlivca. Domnievam sa, že aktuálnosť témy na Slovensku aj v Českej republike je posilnená zvyšujúcim sa počtom prípadov pochybení, ktoré sú rozoberané v médiách. Preto poukazujem aj na možný dopad médií a kultúry viny na zdravotníckeho profesionála, ktorý pochybí, a zároveň dochádzam k záveru, že obviňovanie jednotlivca nerobí systém bezpečnejším. Naše zameranie by skôr malo smerovať na preukázanie, že jednotlivec môže byť neopatrný. Ale ak sa už stane chyba, apelovať by sme mali na zlepšenie systému a prevenciu pred rovnakými chybami. Iba takto dokážeme premeniť kultúru viny na kultúru bezpečnosti a zlepšiť zdravotnú starostlivosť. and The science and technology are evolving incredibly fast. Despite that, the healthcare system has a lot of insufficiencies and medical failures happen consistently. In recent years the focus has been on increasing the quality of healthcare. According to statistics from national studies from different European countries, 8 to 10 % of mistakes are being caused by the human factor. In this text I discuss the most fundamental concepts of individual and collective guilt and point out that in healthcare system are individuals often part of a team and it is not possible to determine unambiguously the individual responsibility. In spite of this the dominant culture of guilt tends to penalize the individual. In my opinion, the urgency of this topic in Slovakia and The Czech Republic is emphasized by the increasing number of cases of failure which are being discussed in the media. Therefore I point out even possible impact of media and the guilt culture on the medical professional who fail and simultaneously I conclude that blaming the individual does not make the system safer. Our focus should rather be centred on showing that an individual can be incautious. However when the mistake happens we should appeal to improving the system and a prevention of this type of mistakes. Only this way we can change the culture of guilt to a culture of safety and improve the healthcare.