Deformability of red blood cells (RBC) is the ability of RBC to change their shape in order to pass through narrow capillaries in circulation. Deterioration in deformability of RBC contributes to alterations in microcirculatory blood flow and delivery of oxygen to tissues. Several factors are responsible for maintenance of RBC deformability. One of them is the Na,K-ATPase known as crucial enzyme in maintenance of intracellular ionic homeostasis affecting thus regulation of cellular volume and consequently RBC deformability. Decreased deformability of RBC has been found to be the marker of adverse outcomes in cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and the presence of cardiovascular risk factors influences rheological properties of the blood. This review summarizes knowledge concerning the RBC deformability in connection with selected risk factors of CVD, including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes mellitus, based exclusively on papers from human studies. We attempted to provide an update on important issues regarding the role of Na,K-ATPase in RBC deformability. In patients suffering from hypertension as well as diabetes mellitus the Na,K-ATPase appears to be responsible for the changes leading to alterations in RBC deformability. The triggering factor for changes of RBC deformability during hypercholesterolemia seems to be the increased content of cholesterol in erythrocyte membranes., J. Radosinska, N. Vrbjar., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is a disorder of liver function, commonly occurring in the third trimester but sometimes also as soon as the end of the second trimester of pregnancy. Symptoms of this disorder include pruritus, plus abnormal values of bile acids and hepatic transaminases. After birth, symptoms disappear and liver function returns to normal. Though ICP is relatively non-complicated and often symptomatically mild from the point-of-view of the mother, it presents a serious risk to the fetus, making this disease the subject of great interest. The etiology and pathogenesis of ICP is multifactorial and as yet not fully elucidated. Hormonal factors likely play a significant role, along with genetic as well as exogenous factors. Here we summarize the knowledge of changes in steroid hormones and their role in the development of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy. In addition, we consider the role of exogenous factors as possible triggers of steroid hormone changes, the relationship between metabolic steroids and bile acids, as well as the combination of these factors in the development of ICP in predisposed pregnant women., A. Pařízek, M. Dušková, L. Vítek, M. Šrámková, M. Hill, K. Adamcová, P. Šimják, A. Černý, Z. Kordová, H. Vráblíková, B. Boudová, M. Koucký, K. Malíčková, L. Stárka., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Dental management behavior problems are thought to be both multifactorial and multidimensional, consisting of physiological, behavioral and cognitive components. The stress response to pain or even the anticipation of distress initiates activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and causes an increase of cortisol and catecholamines. The literature on the role of hormones in dental management behavior problems comprises about one hundred papers, which have mainly been focused on this activation of the HPA axis in various situations in dental care. They have generally used salivary cortisol as a marker of the activity of the HPA axis, sometimes combined with salivary alpha amylase. Here we summarize the literature data on the role of stress hormones in dental management behavior problems., M. Dušková, J. Vašáková, J. Dušková, J. Kaiferová, Z. Broukal, L. Stárka., and Obsahuje bibliografii
In the following paper, authors describe glycans present on cell membranes as they affect the folding, the spatial arrangement, the behavior and the interaction with the substrate of some membrane proteins. Authors describe the synthesis and assembly of a glycan on a protein, the formation of N-glycans, the maturation of an N-glycan in different cellular compartments, the structure of the glycocalyx and how it interacts with any pathogens. The study of the E-cadherin and the potassium channel to demonstrate how glycans affect the spatial arrangement, the stability and activity of the glycoproteins on the membranes. Subsequently, authors analyze the correlation between disorder glycosylation and human health. Authors define glycosylation disorders as a genetic defect that alter the structure or biosynthesis of glycans (sugar chains) in one or more biosynthetic pathways. Human glycosylation disorders reflect the disruption of early steps in the pathways of glycan biosynthesis. More in details, authors analyze the role of glycoprotein in tumor cell adhesion, in particular, in cells MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 on zeolite scaffold. In the same time, the role of metalloproteinase is described in the mobilization of cancer cells and in metastasis., P. Sprovieri, G. Martino., and Seznam literatury
The mood and behavior of individuals result from an orchestra of many factors. Among them steroids play an important role; however, only several common hormones have been investigated in this respect. It has been demonstrated that some steroid metabolites long considered merely the products of steroid hormone metabolism in fact possess considerable activity in the CNS. For this reason we studied the steroid metabolome including 50 analytes in 20 men with depression, 20 men with anxiety and 30 healthy controls. Significant differences were found not only between controls and men with either depression or anxiety, but also between men with depression and anxiety. Particularly striking were those steroids until now not generally associated with depression or anxiety, namely conjugated steroid forms, especially sulfates., M. Dušková, M. hill, M. Bičíková, M. Šrámková, D. Řípová, P. Mohr, L. Stárka., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Addiction to tobacco results in an imbalance of endocrine homeostasis in both sexes. This can also have impacts on fertility problems. The male reproductive system is less susceptible than that of females, with a worsening spermiogram in smokers, the most cited effect in the literature. However, the literature is inconsistent as to the effects of smoking on steroid hormone levels in men, and there is very little data on the effects of quitting smoking in men. In this study we followed 76 men before quitting smoking, and then after 6, 12, and 24 weeks and 1 year of abstinence. We measured basic anthropomorphic data and steroid hormone levels along with steroid neuroactive metabolites using GC-MS. We demonstrate lower androgen levels in men who smoke, and these changes worsened after quitting smoking. There was a drop in SHBG already in the first week of non-smoking, and levels continued to remain low. Male smokers have lower androgen levels compared to non-smokers. The lower the initial level of androgen, the lower the likelihood of success in quitting smoking. Changes in steroid hormones proved to be a promising marker for the prediction of success in quitting smoking., H. Jandikova, M. Duskova, K. Simunkova, B. Racz, M. Hill, E. Kralikova, K. Vondra, L. Starka., and Obsahuje bibliografii
For companies doing business in mining mineral deposits, ensuring safe work is one of the key tasks (Safety First!). One of the important trends in this area is prevention and endeavour to forestall risk situations. Risks need to be searched, technically described, spatially defined, evaluated and categorized by degree of risk. Complex geological and stability conditions can be one of the sources of persistent and significant risks, which are mainly landslides and rockslides threatening both mining equipment and employees. The problem described in this article and its solution concerns the Most Basin (formerly the North Bohemian Lignite Basin). This is a tertiary basin that was founded in the Oligocene. The main mineral is lignite and mining takes place on the surface. The main excavating machinery in the surface lignite quarries in Europe (Czech Republic, Germany, Poland) is the bucket wheel excavator., Roman Kapica, Dana Vrublová and Martin Vrubel., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Chemické vizualizace a modely jsou zvláštními druhy médií myšlení. Tato studie zkoumá několik historických případových studií – archív obrazů z muzeí, specializovaných sbírek a populárně-vědeckých časopisů – emergentních praktik materiálního modelování coby teoretické hry, jež se staly základem molekulární biologie a strukturní chemie. Sleduji dědictví nástrojů vizualizace počínaje Archibaldem Scottem Cooperem a Friedrichem Kekulé na konci 19. století, jejich vyústění do materiálních manipulativů Van’t Hoffa a užití jeho skládaných papírových "hraček“ Linusem Paulingem i jejich následné pronikání do populární obraznosti díky modelu DNA Jamese Watsona a Francise Cricka. Sleduji dále jejich vliv na současné praktiky modelování a zdůrazňuji, že materiální modely, jež tradičně stály za hranicemi deduktivní, pozitivistické vědy, jsou nyní v těchto oblastech chemie akceptovány jako způsob vědeckého uvažování., Chemical visualizations and models are special kinds of media for thinking. In this paper, I examine several historical case studies-an archive of images from museums, special collections, and popular magazines- as examples of emergent practices of physical modeling as theoretical play which became the basis for molecular biology and structural chemistry. I trace a legacy of visualization tools that starts with Archibald Scott Cooper and Friedrich Kekulé in the late 1800s, crystallizes as material manipulatives in Van’t Hoff and his folded paper “toys”, is legitimized in the California lab of Linus Pauling, and is glorified in the popular imaginary with James Watson and Francis Crick’s model of DNA. My tracing then follows several threads into contemporary modeling practices. I ultimately argue that modeling play, originally outside of the boundary of deductive, positivist science, is now an accepted mode of reasoning in these related chemical fields., and Kate McKinney Maddalena.
Od začátku 21. století roste vědomí, že software je slepou skvrnou teorie nových médií. Vzrůstající zájem o software ovlivnil také tezi předkládaného příspěvku. Vychází z předpokladu, že koncept univerzálního stroje Alana M. Turinga je jedním z mládeneckých strojů (Carrouges). Předchozí texty založené na podobné hypotéze (Daniels, Baudrillard, Turkle, Ascott) se zaměřily buď na srovnání univerzálního stroje a mládeneckého stroje na základějejich strukturálních podobností, nebo užívaly mládenecký stroj jako metaforu člověka nebo počítače (umělé inteligence). Na rozdíl od nich, tento příspěvek zdůrazňuje význam kontextu (imitační hry Turingova testu), který je klíčem k interpretaci univerzálního Turingova stroje jako mládeneckého stroje a potenciálně jako autoportrétu., Since the beginning of the twenty-first century there has been an increasing awareness that software represents a blind spot in new media theory. the growing interest in software also influences the argument in this paper, which sets out from the assumption that Alan M. Turing’s concept of the universal machine, the first theoretical description of a computer program (software), is a kind of bachelor machine (Carrouges). Previous writings based on a similar hypothesis (Daniels, Baudrillard, Turkle, Ascott) have focused either on a comparison of the universal machine and the bachelor machine in terms of the similarities of their structural features, or they have taken the bachelor machine as a metaphor for a man or a computer (artificial intelligence). Unlike them, this paper stresses the importance of the context (the imitation game of the Turing test) as a key to interpreting the universal Turing machine as a bachelor machine and, potentially, as a self-portrait., and Jana Horáková.