Objectives.Religiosity and spirituality (R/S) are associated with many dimensions of human life and could contribute to one’s self-esteem; how-ever, there is no certainty that this is also appli-cable to non-religious countries. Therefore, the aim of the study was to explore the association of different aspects of R/S with self-esteem in a secular environment.Participants and setting.An online sample of 464 Czech respondents aged 15 and over (mean age 30.7; SD=12.63; 27.2% men) participated in the survey. Self-esteem, religiosity, religious attendance, frequency of prayer, negative re-ligious coping, image of God and spirituality were measured. Results. Regular prayer, spirituality (per stan-dard deviation, SD), a low level of religious struggles (per SD) and a positive God image (per SD) were associated with higher self-esteem, with odds ratios ranging from 1.28 to 2.16 (p˂0.05 to p˂0.001). In contrast, compared to non-religious respondents, religious respon-dents had an approximately 60% lower chance of having a high level of self-esteem (p˂0.05). However, a combination of R and S showed that while religious/spiritual respondents did not dif-fer significantly from non-religious respondents, religious/non-spiritual respondents had approxi-mately 79% lower chance of having good self-esteem (p˂0.001).Study limitations.The main limitation of this study is that it did not reach a representative sample, which limits the generalizability of the findings to the whole population. This is also the first study using this kind of research approach, which, however, limits the interpretation of re-sults. Moreover, it is a cross-sectional study, so any conclusions on causality cannot be made, and the questionnary used only self-report mea-sures, which could be influenced by a social de-sirability bias. and Cíle. Religiozita a spiritualita (R/S) jsou spojeny s mnoha oblastmi lidského života a mohou mít pozitivní vliv i na lidskou sebeúctu. Přesto není jisté, zda je větší intenzita náboženského a spirituálního prožívání spojena s vyšší sebe-úctou i v ateistických zemích. Cílem studie bylo zkoumat vztahy různých aspektů R/S v sekulárním prostředí. Soubor. Výzkumný vzorek tvořilo 464 českých respondentů starších 15 let (průměrný věk 30,7 let; SD = 12,63; 27,2 % muži). Prostřednictvím online dotazníku byla měřena sebeúcta, religiozita, náboženská účast, četnost modlitby, míra náboženských zápasů, obraz Boha a spiritualita. Výsledky. Pravidelná modlitba, spiritualita (SD), nižší míra náboženských zápasů (SD) a pozitiv-ní obraz Boha (SD) byly spojeny s vyšší sebe-úctou, s odds ratio v rozmezí od 1,28 do 2,16 (p ˂ 0,05 až p ˂ 0,001). Oproti těm nereligiózním měli religiózní respondenti přibližně o 60 % nižší šanci mít vyšší úroveň sebeúcty (p ˂ 0,05). Kombinace R a S ukázala, že zatímco religiózní, ale nespirituální respondenti se od těch nereligiózních v míře sebeúcty výrazně nelišili, religiózní, ale nespirituální respondenti měli přibližně o 79 % nižší pravděpodobnost dobré sebeúcty (p ˂ 0,001). Omezení studie. Tato studie nepracuje s reprezentativním vzorkem populace a výsledky se tudíž nedají zobecnit na celkovou populaci. Jedná se o první studii užívající tento přístup, což ztěžuje interpretaci výsledků. Navíc se jedná o průřezovou studii, nelze tedy dělat závěry ohledně kauzality a studie využívala pouze sebehodnotící dotazníky, které mohou být zkresleny tendencí odpovídat sociálně žádoucím způsobem.
Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is an attenuated Mycobacterium tuberculosis vaccine. We performed a series of co-infection experiments with BCG-Plasmodium chabaudi chabaudi Landau, 1965 AS using C57BL/6 mice to analyse whether BCG can affect the development of protective immunity to infection with Plasmodium spp. and the mechanism of this protection. We divided mice into four groups: BCG-inoculation 4 weeks prior to P. c. chabaudi AS infection (B-4w-Pc); simultaneous BCG-inoculation and P. c. chabaudi AS infection (Pc+B); BCG-inoculation 3 days post P. c. chabaudi AS (Pc-3-B) infection; and mono-P. c. chabaudi AS infection as control (Pc). The parasitemia level in the B-4w-Pc group was noticeably higher than control group at 6-19 days post infection (dpi). Compared with the control group, the proportion of CD4+CD69+ T cells was significantly reduced 5, 8 and 12 dpi, but the proportion of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs was significantly increased in the B-4w-Pc group on 5 and 8 dpi. The B-4w-Pc group also demonstrated reduced levels of IFN-γ and TNF-α on 5 and 8 dpi and significantly elevated level of IL-10 on 12 dpi. There were significantly fewer mDCs (CD11c+CD11b+) and pDCs (CD11c+B220+) in the B-4w-Pc group than the control group at all the time points post infection and the expression of MHC II was noticeably reduced on day 8 pi. Our findings confirmed that BCG inoculation prior to Plasmodium infection resulted in excessive activation and proliferation of Tregs and upregulation of anti-inflammatory mediators, which inhibited establishment of a Th1-dominant immune response during the early stages of Plasmodium infection by inhibiting dendritive cells response. BCG inoculation prior to P. c. chabaudi AS infection may contribute to overgrowth of parasites as well as mortality in mice., Dong-Hua Cao, Ji-Chun Wang, Jun Liu, Yun-Ting Du, Li-Wang Cui, Ya-Ming Cao., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Insights can be gained by analysing the feeding decisions of animals in terms of nutrient demands at a species or community level. Using carbohydrate and protein food baits, resource use and food preferences of Formica (Serviformica) lemani were determined at nine locations situated at different altitudes (1875 to 2400 m a.s.l.) in the alpine grassland belt above the tree line in Austria and northern Italy. F. lemani is the most common species of ant in this habitat. Sucrose baits placed around ant colonies were visited by significantly (3.9 times) more workers than protein baits. This indicates that sources of sugar (carbohydrate) are in short supply in the alpine zone, whereas availability of prey items appears to be less constraining. Overall, we recorded a decrease in the incidence of visits to baits from low (31.9% baits attracting ants at least once) to high altitudes (16.7%). Foraging ants never visited 51.5% of the baits exposed for periods of 75 min. This indicates that with increasing altitude competition for food among ant colonies becomes less intense in alpine grassland ant communities., Elia Guariento, Jan Martini, Konrad Fiedler., and Obsahuje bibliografii
A sample of chigger mites from bat hosts collected in the Balearic Islands (Western Mediterranean Sea) is found to include two species. These are the first records of bat-infesting chiggers identified to species in Spain. Chiggers collected from Pipistrellus kuhlii (Kuhl) in Menorca are identified as Oudemansidium komareki (Daniel et Dusbábek, 1959); this species, which was known from Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Moldova, Crimea, and Azerbaijan, is recorded for the first time in Spain. Chiggers collected from Plecotus austriacus (Fischer) in Formentera are identified as Trombicula knighti Radford, 1954, which was insufficiently described from a bat in Yemen and known only from its type locality. We transfer this species to the genus Trisetica Traub et Evans, 1950 and provide its re-description based on paratypes and the material from the Balearic Islands. The species Sasatrombicula (Rudnicula) balcanica Kolebinova, 1966 is synonymised with T. knighti. One species closely related to T. knighti, Trisetica aethiopica (Hirst, 1926), which was recorded in Ghana, Uganda, South Sudan, and Madagascar, is re-described on the basis of its syntype deposited in the Natural History Museum, London, UK. This specimen is designated as lectotype.
In Italy, food-borne outbreaks of opisthorchiasis have occurred since 2003, all of them originating from some lakes in Central Italy where the only European liver fluke, Opisthorchis felineus (Rivolta, 1884) is endemic. The aim of the present study is to investigate the factors that may facilitate the life cycle of O. felineus in the area of Bolsena Lake, the knowledge of the local population about opisthorchiasis, and preventative healthcare measures. We performed a descriptive observational study through the submission of questionnaires to three target populations: fishermen who fish exclusively in Bolsena Lake, restaurateurs whose businesses are close to the lake and general population living in the province of Viterbo. Results showed hazardous behaviours and eating habits in the three target populations, as well as a poor knowledge of opisthorchiasis and preventative healthcare measures., Paola Scaramozzino, Roberto Condoleo, Enrica Martini, Teresa Bossù, Silvia Aquilani, Valentina Spallucci, Elisabetta Aquilini, Selene Marozzi., and Obsahuje bibliografii
In the Pyrenees, brown bear population abundance is estimated from non-invasive genetic analyses of scat and hair samples. Although such analyses are highly beneficial for population monitoring and research, it can be especially difficult for humans to locate bear scats in the field. To address this, we have incorporated a dog (trained from an early age to detect bear scats) into these efforts since 2014. Here, we compared the effectiveness of the scat-detection dog/handler and human-only teams to locate bear scats using our work in the Pyrenees as a case study. A species validation was systematically carried out, either genetically or visually using a microscope, based on the presence of bear hair, for all scats collected from 2010 to 2019. From 2014 to 2019, the use of the dog/handler team in addition to human-only teams increased the average number of bear scats collected annually by four times in comparison with the 2010-2013 period when only humans were searching for scats. This temporal augmentation could not be explained by the increase in bear population size. From 2014 to 2019, the annual percentage of outings during which at least one bear scat was found was 17 times higher for the dog than for humans. The use of the dog also resulted indirectly in a better genotyping success and genetic identification of more individuals due to a larger choice of viable samples that could be sent to the molecular laboratory, as well as a larger number of cub scats detected by the dog. We found that even the use of a single scat-detection dog can greatly improve the efficiency of detecting target scats in challenging monitoring conditions.
Asthma is a complex disease with a variable course. Efforts to
identify biomarkers to predict asthma severity, the course of
disease and response to treatment have not been very successful
so far. Biomarker research has expanded greatly with the
advancement of molecular research techniques. An ideal
biomarker should be suitable to identify the disease as well the
specific endotype/phenotype, useful in the monitoring of the
disease and to determine the prognosis, easily to obtain with
minimum discomfort or risk to the patient. An ideal biomarker
should be suitable to identify the disease as well the specific
endotype/phenotype, useful in the monitoring of the disease and
to determine the prognosis, easily to obtain with minimum
discomfort or risk to the patient - exhaled breath analysis, blood
cells and serum biomarkers, sputum cells and mediators and urine
metabolites could be potential biomarkers of asthma bronchiale.
Unfortunately, at the moment, an ideal biomarker doesn’t exist and
the overlap between the biomarkers is a reality. Using panels of
biomarkers could improve probably the identification of asthma
endotypes in the era of precision medicine.
This article deals with the processing of personal data by the use of applications that monitor and evaluate human health, both consumer-focused applications, and applications used by doctors to assess the patient's health. By means of algorithms, these applications evaluate biometric data collected from users. Because the health applications evaluate a large amount of personal data, the processing of such data involves a risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals. If a controller or processor violates the law on the processing of personal data, the data subject is entitled to compensation for damages resulting from the breach of the data protection regulation. and Tento článek se zabývá zpracovávání osobních údajů při používání aplikací, které monitorují a vyhodnocují zdravotní stav člověka, a to jak aplikací, které se zaměřují na spotřebitele, tak aplikací, které používají lékaři pro zhodnocení zdravotního stavu pacienta. Tyto aplikace vyhodnocují pomocí algoritmů biometrické údaje shromážděné při používání aplikace uživatelem. Jelikož zdravotní aplikace vyhodnocují velké množství osobních údajů, znamená toto zpracování riziko pro práva a svobody fyzických osob. Pokud správce nebo zpracovatel poruší právní předpisy upravující zpracovávání osobních údajů, má subjekt údajů nárok na náhradu škody, která mu porušením těchto předpisů vznikla.
Insect larval development affects adult traits but the biometric relationships are usually poorly understood, including large odonates. In this study, measurements of morphological traits of larvae, exuviae and adults of Anax imperator were recorded. They were used to investigate the effects of early development on adult morphology. Results showed an increase in larval length during the final instar and the length of its exuviae significantly exceeded that of the larva. Length and body mass of teneral adults were strongly related to the length of their exuviae. Adult males were significantly longer than adult females, while both had the same body mass at emergence. Length of teneral adults was negatively related to the date of emergence in both sexes. During maturation, body mass of males only increased slightly whereas that of females increased greatly. Mature specimens were also significantly longer than teneral individuals. Body mass of mature males and length of mature females were both associated with the date of capture. Wing length did not differ between sexes or from data available from Great Britain. This study underscores the importance of taking into account larval growth in order to better understand the adult traits of odonates.
a1_Plehniella Szidat, 1951 is emended based on new collections from South American long-whiskered catfishes. It is clearly differentiated from Sanguinicola Plehn, 1905 by lacking lateral tegumental body spines and by having 6 asymmetrical caeca. Plehniella sabajperezi sp. n. infects body cavity of Pimelodus albofasciatus (Mees) from the Demerara and Rupununi Rivers (Guyana) and Pimelodus blochii (Valenciennes) from Lake Tumi Chucua (Bolivia) and Napo River (Peru). It differs from Plehniella coelomicola Szidat, 1951 (type species) by having a thin-walled vas deferens that greatly exceeds the length of cirrus-sac and that joins the cirrus-sac at level of ovovitelline duct and ootype, an internal seminal vesicle that is absent or diminutive, and a cirrus-sac that is spheroid, nearly marginal, and envelops the laterally-directed distal portion of the male genitalia. Plehniella armbrusteri sp. n. infects body cavity of P. blochii from Lake Tumi Chucua (Bolivia). It differs from P. coelomicola and P. sabajperezi by having a relatively ovoid body, a massive intestine comprising caeca that are deeply-lobed to diverticulate and terminate in the posterior half of the body, a testis that flanks the distal tips of the posteriorly-directed caeca, and a proximal portion of the vas deferens that loops ventral to the testis. Small adults (Plehniella sp.) collected from body cavity of Pimelodus grosskopfii (Steindachner) from Cienega de Jobo and Canal del Dique (Colombia) differ from congeners by having a posteriorly-constricted body region, an anterior sucker with concentric rows of minute spines, an elongate anterior oesophageal swelling, short and wide caeca, and a male genital pore that opens proportionally more anteriad., a2_This study nearly doubles the number of aporocotylids documented from South America Rivers and comprises the first record of a fish blood fluke from P. blochii, P. albofasciatus and P. grosskopfii as well as from Bolivia, Colombia, Guyana or Peru., Raphael Orélis-Ribeiro, Stephen A. Bullard., and Obsahuje bibliografii