Urban gardens can harbour a high diversity of insects, which are critically important components of urban ecosystems. In this work, we investigate the richness and diversity of a major taxon of economic and ecological importance, the aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae), and their main insect predators, the hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) and ladybirds (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), in urban gardens. We examined how variation in environmental factors associated with urbanisation (garden host plant abundance, garden plant richness, garden size, proportion of impervious surfaces in the surrounding area) directly and indirectly (via prey and predator abundance) influence the local diversity and abundance of aphids, ladybirds, and hoverflies. Sixty-seven domestic gardens located in southern England were surveyed during the peak period of aphid abundance, and the numbers and identity of aphids and their predators were recorded. We observed 45 aphid species (179917 individuals in total), 15 hoverfly species (494 individuals) and 8 ladybird species (173 individuals). We found that aphid species richness and abundance were positively associated with utilised host plant abundance and garden plant species richness. Hoverfly abundance was positively correlated with garden plant richness. The abundance of ladybirds was positively correlated with aphid abundance and garden plant species richness, and negatively associated to the proportion of impervious surfaces in the surrounding environment. The difference in responses between the two major taxa of aphid predators may reflect differences in their behaviour and natural history. Our results indicate that overall increases in urban land cover are not favourable for ladybirds as a group, and that fine scale habitat variables that are determined by garden owners have the potential to greatly affect the diversity of aphids and their primary predators., Elise A. Rocha, Estevão N.F. Souza, Lewis A.D. Bleakley, Christopher Burley, Jade L. Mott, Gloria Rue-Glutting, Mark D.E. Fellowes., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Tento článek se zabývá institutem informovaného souhlasu, zásadního právního i etického institutu v oblasti medicíny. Zkoumána je jeho etymologie, jeho ontologický status, jeho normativní síla a konečně i jeho charakteru jako komunikačního aktu. Text má prokázat tezi, že informovaný souhlas je komunikačním aktem - nikoliv pouhým mentálním stavem - který má za určitých podmínek normativní sílu. Tato normativní síla se plně projeví pouze v případě splnění základních podmínek: dostatečného poučení, dostatečného porozumění, svobodné a vážné vůle a kompetence pacienta., This article deals with the institute of informed consent, a fundamental legal and ethical institute in the field of medicine. Its etymology, ontological status, its normative power and, finally, its character as a communication act are studied. The text shows that informed consent is a communicative act - not just an inner mental state and that it has significant normative power. This normative power is manifesting itself only when certain conditions are met: sufficient disclosure, sufficient understanding, voluntariness and competence of the patient., and Adam Doležal.
Článek se zaměřuje na analýzu přístupu vybraných zahraničních právních řádů (Německo, Spojené státy americké), českého právního řádu a projektu DCFR k problematice rozsahu poučení pacienta o rizicích spojených s navrhovanou léčbou. Článek se rovněž snaží zodpovědět otázku, zda je vůbec možné a vhodné rozsah rizik, o nichž je třeba pacienta informovat, konkrétně vymezit, a pokud ano, jakým způsobem., The article is focused on the analysis of the approach of particular foreign legal orders (Germany, USA) as well as the Czech legal order and the DCFR project to the issue of the extent of disclosure of risk information. The article also seeks to answer the question whether or not it is possible and appropriate to define the extent of disclosure of risk information specifically and if so, how., and Ivo Smrž.
Betasyringophiloidus Skoracki, 2011 is a genus of quill mites (Prostigmata: Syringophilidae) that is believed to contain mono-, steno- and polyxenous parasites associated with a wide range of passerine birds (Passeriformes) across the world. In this work we applied the DNA-barcode marker (mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene fragment, COI) to verify whether Betasyringophiloidus schoeniclus (Skoracki, 2002) and Betasyringophiloidus seiuri (Clark, 1964) are actual steno- and polyxenous species associated with the currently recognised host ranges, or their populations are highly host-specific, cryptic species. Our results revealed that a population living on the Tristram's bunting Emberiza tristrami Swinhoe (Emberizidae) in Russia, so far classified as B. schoeniclus, is a new cryptic species Betasyringophiloidus emberizae sp. nov. Both topologies of the neighbor-joining and maximum likelihood phylogenetic trees as well as genetic distance (11.9% Kimura 2-parameter distance) (K2P) support species status of the mite population from E. tristrami. The same data support previously established conspecific status of B. seiuri found on the ovenbird Seiurus aurocapilla (Linnaeus) (Parulidae) (type host) and the northern waterthrush Parkesia noveboracensis (Gmelin) (Parulidae) and expand its range with a population found on a new host species Icterus pustulatus (Wagler) (Icteridae) with intraspecific K2P distance up to 1.9% and interpopulation distances ranging from 1.3 to 3.1%., Eliza Glowska, Lukasz Broda, Miroslawa Dabert., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Cílem práce bylo prozkoumat vztahy mezi mírou organizovaných aktivit dětí v předškolním věku, přesvědčením matky o přirozeném vývoji a kvalitou strategické pomoci (scaffolding) během společné hry s dítětem. Výzkumu se zúčastnilo 34 dvojic matek se svými dětmi ve věku od 52 do 83 měsíců (z toho 14 matek s vysokoškolským vzděláním). Data byla získána pozorováním společné hry se stavebnicí a pomocí dotazníků zjišťujících postoj matky k vývoji dítěte a míru organizovaných aktivit dětí. Bylo zjištěno, že u vysokoškolsky vzdělaných matek a matek s vyšším přesvědčením o přirozeném vývoji se objevuje méně nekvalitního scaffoldingu oproti matkám bez vysokoškolského vzdělání a s nižším přesvědčením o přirozeném vývoji. Ačkoli do organizovaných aktivit mimo mateřskou školu zapisují své děti více matky s VŠ vzděláním, docházka do těchto aktivit v rámci mateřské školy se u dětí matek s různým vzděláním neliší. Přestože matky s vysokoškolským vzděláním mohou nadměrně strukturovat volný čas dítěti skrze organizované aktivity, nebyla zjištěna souvislost této tendence na poskytování autonomie ve hře, a tedy na kvalitu scaffoldingu. Práce přináší nový pohled na problematiku intenzivního rodičovství a nadměrné strukturace času., The purpose of this study was to find out and verify relationships between the amount of organized activities (OAs) of children in preschool age, mother’s trust in organismic development and maternal scaffolding quality during mother-child play. Thirty-four pairs of mothers and their children aged 52-83 months participated in this study. The data was collected through a questionnaire and by observation of the game. Results revealed that higher educated mothers and mothers with higher trust in organismic development showed less poor-quality scaffolding during play in comparison to mothers without higher education and to mothers with lower trust in organismic development. Although higher educated mothers can excessively structure their children’s leisure time through OAs, there did not appear any effect of this on the autonomy support during the play and therefore on the scaffolding quality. This study brings a new view to issues of intensive parenting and the excessive structuring of children’s time., Adéla Woznicová, Renata Hlavová, Petra Daňsová, Lenka Lacinová., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
Morphometric data from spores of ten myxosporean species were statistically analysed to explore myxosporean intraspecific variation in measurements when obtained from a sample from: (1) the same plasmodium, (2) different plasmodia from the same host and (3) different host individuals and localities. In some cases, significant differences in spore dimensions were found between samples from the same plasmodium, highlighting the difficulty of obtaining representative measurements of myxosporean spore. In addition, significant differences in spore dimensions were found when plasmodia from the same site of infection were compared, suggesting that measurements of spores should come from several different plasmodia of the sampling to increase the reliability of the morphology data. Moreover, significant differences in spore dimensions were observed for most spore dimensions when data were compared between localities. In all cases, there was clear overlap in ranges of dimensions even when means differed significantly. The present statistical analysis shows that intraspecific morphometric variation of myxosporean species commonly occurs, highlighting the importance of reporting ranges of measurements for a species, not just the mean dimensions, and taking into account all evidence when assigning or describing myxosporean species., Yanhua Zhai, Christopher M. Whipps, Zemao Gu, Qingxiang Guo, Zizhen Wu, Hongmei Wang, Yang Liu., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Avian haemosporidians are common vector-borne blood parasites that have been reported in birds all over the world. Investigations of avian haemosporidian parasites are conducted mainly on passerine birds. However, studies that focus on non-passerine avian hosts are important for our understanding of the true diversity, host specificity and genetic variability among these widespread parasites. In the present study, blood samples from a total of 22 raptor birds belonging to two orders, two families and six species from the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey were investigated for three genera of avian haemosporidians (Plasmodium Marchiafava et Celli, 1885, Haemoproteus Kruse, 1890 and Leucocytozoon Sambon, 1908) using a combination of microscopic examination of blood films and nested PCR targeting the parasite mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (cyt-b). In total, six individual raptor birds identified positive for species of Plasmodium or Leucocytozoon and one individual was found co-infected with all three haemosporidian genera. We identified five parasite cyt-b haplotypes, three of which were reported for the first time. Among these, one Plasmodium haplotype is linked to a corresponding morphospecies (P-TURDUS1, Plasmodium circumflexum Kikuth, 1931). All haplotypes were clearly distinguishable in phylogenetic analyses. As one of the first studies to investigate blood parasites from non-passerine birds in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey, this study provides important new information on the phylogenetic relationships and genetic diversity of avian haemosporidian parasites from raptor birds. We discuss these findings in the context of avian haemosporidian host-parasite relationships and we draw attention to the need for microscopy to detect parasite sexual development stages in surveys of avian haemosporidians., Arif Ciloglu, Alparslan Yildirim, Onder Duzlu, Zuhal Onder, Zafer Dogan, Abdullah Inci., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The European stag beetle, Lucanus cervus, is recognised as a flagship species for biodiversity conservation. Although the species is widely distributed across Europe declines have led to it being granted protected or endangered status in a number of countries and regarded as "near threatened" by the IUCN. The integration of genetic approaches into conservation efforts is urgently needed but has been impeded to date by the lack of appropriate genetic markers. To provide such a resource the development of the first microsatellite loci for stag beetle is described. Loci were identified using two methods (i) enriched library cloning (ELC) and (ii) Restriction enzyme Associated DNA sequencing (RAD-Seq). Inefficient microsatellite detection using the ELC method suggests that RAD-Seq, or other Next Generation Sequencing based methods, may ultimately be more cost effective for obtaining informative suites of markers for this and other coleopteran species. 18 loci were characterised by genotyping 42 UK specimens collected as prey leftover/roadkill. All loci produced unambiguous genotypes and were polymorphic. Though preliminary, estimates of genetic variability suggest UK populations may be genetically depauperate. The microsatellite loci represent a suite of genetic markers that can be applied to non-invasive population monitoring and numerous other areas of Lucanus conservation and evolutionary research., Niall J. McKeown, Deborah J. Harvey, Amy J. E. Healey, Ilze Skujina, Karen Cox, Alan C. Gange, Paul W. Shaw., and Obsahuje bibliografii
In this study, we report the development of a set of 15 polymorphic microsatellite markers for the box tree moth, Cydalima perspectalis (Walker), a highly invasive insect in Europe causing significant damage to natural and ornamental Buxus trees. The markers were characterized for four distant populations in both its native (China, two populations) and invasive ranges (Czech Republic and Turkey, one population each). The number of alleles ranged from 2 to 12. No marker significantly deviated from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium for all the populations sampled. These microsatellite markers are promising tools for further studies on the invasive pathways and dispersal pattern of the box tree moth in Europe., Audrey Bras, Laure Sauné, Alain Roques, Jérôme Rousselet, Marie-Anne Auger-Rozenberg., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Here we describe 16 novel microsatellite loci in the genome of the dragonhead sap beetle Thymogethes norvegicus, which were identified using a next-generation sequencing approach. In 40 dragonhead sap beetles from a population in southern Norway, we found 2-4 alleles per locus. Expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.18-0.65. Three of the loci showed significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. After correcting for multiple tests, one pairwise locus combination displayed significant linkage disequilibrium. These novel microsatellite loci will be useful for future population structure, genetic diversity and conservation genetic studies of the dragonhead sap beetle., Oddmund Kleven, Anders Endrestøl., and Obsahuje bibliografii