Atmospheric CO2 concentration continues to rise and is predicted to reach approximately 700 ppm by 2100. Some predictions suggest that the dry season in West Africa could be extended with climate change. This study examined the effects of elevated CO2 concentration and water deficit on growth and photosynthesis of juvenile cacao. Light-saturated photosynthesis (Pmax), quantum efficiency, and intrinsic water-use efficiency increased significantly in response to elevated CO2, as did a range of growth and development responses (e.g. leaf area and leaf number), but the magnitude of the increase was dependent on the water treatment. Stomatal index was significantly greater in the elevated CO2 treatment; an atypical response which may be a reflection of the environment in which cacao evolved. This study shows a positive effect of elevated CO2 on juvenile cacao which may help to alleviate some of the negative impacts of water deficit stress., F. Lahive, P. Hadley, A. J. Daymond., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Cytokines are widely known mediators of inflammation accompanying many neurodegenerative disorders including normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH). NPH is caused by impaired cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) reabsorption and treated by surgical shunt insertion. The diagnostics is still complicated and the shunt effect is not durable; after several years, dementia may develop. In the clinical practice, biomarkers support the diagnostics as well as the further time course of many neurodegenerative diseases. Until recently, no reliable biomarker for NPH was evaluated. The attempt of this review was to make a survey concerning cytokines as possible NPH markers. Among all reviewed cytokines, the most promising are CSF IL-10 and IL-33, enabling to follow-up the disease progression and monitoring the effectiveness of the shunt insertion., L. Sosvorova, M. Mohapl, J. Vcelak, M. Hill, J. Vitku, R. Hampl., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Previous studies of physiological responses to music and noise showed the effect on the autonomic nervous system. The heart rate variability (HRV) has been used to assess the activation of the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems. The present study was aimed to examine HRV with exposure to four sine-wave pure tones (20 Hz, 50 Hz, 2 kHz and 15 kHz) in an environment where the sound intensity exceeded level 65 dB (A-weighted). The participants (20 adolescent girls) were lying in supine position during exposure protocol divided into 6 periods, the first time with generated sounds and the second time without sounds. In the protocol without sound exposure, the low frequency band of the HRV spectrum was increased compared to the basal state before examination (period_1: 6.05±0.29 ms2 compared to period_5: 6.56±0.20 ms2, p<0.05). The significant increase of root Mean Square of the Successive Differences (rMSSD, period_1: 4.09±0.16 s compared to period_6: 4.33±0.12 s, p<0.05) and prolongation of R to R peak (RR) interval (period_1: 889±30 ms compared to period_5: 973±30 ms, p<0.001) were observed in the protocol without sound exposure comparing to the protocol with sound exposure where only bradycardia was observed. Contrary to rather polemical data in literature our pilot study suggests that sounds (under given frequencies) have no impact on the heart rate variability and cardiac autonomic regulation., M. Veternik, I. Tonhajzerova, J. Misek, V. Jakusova, H. Hudeckova, J. Jakus., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The aim of this paper is to explore the impact of the structure of the Czech education system on the development of the relationship between a student's achievement and his/her family background. It compares the strength of the relationship between student achievement and a student's family background in various stages of his/her education career (grades 4, 8 and 10) in the Czech Republic and in systems without early tracking that also exhibit high student performance (Canada, Nordic countries). In addition, the paper tests a hypothesis that systems with different levels of tracking differ not only in their structure but also in teaching methods and teachers' attitudes. The analysis was conducted on data sets from the IEA PIRLS 2001, the IEA TIMSS 1999, and the OECD PISA 2003.
When using the PPP method, it is recommended to take into account the tropospheric influences for obtaining reliable estimates. Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observations taken at low elevation suffer more strongly from atmospheric, antenna phase center variation and multipath effects, hence the observations are noisier than those at higher elevation angle, but they are essential to decorrelate the estimated station height and tropospheric zenith delay (ZTD). To relate the ZTD in the direction of an observation, the so-called mapping function (MF) are used. In this article the influence of different mapping function was studieds such as: Niell mapping function (NMF), Global Mapping Function (GMF) in conjunction with the Global Pressure and Temperature 2-GPT2, Vienna Mapping Function 1 and no mapping function. The MF were used at different elevation cutoff angles - 50 , 70, 100 and 150. The impact was analyzed: a) on the postfit residuals of the ionospheric free combination for phase (LC) and for pseudorange (PC), b) daily variability for North, East and Up component; c) evaluation of coordinates repeatability and how they are affected by the changes of the cutoff elevation angle and mapping function. The analyzed data was taken from 4 EUREF stations for a period of one month - October 2015. By using the VMF1 mapping function, the lowest value was obtained for the postfit residuals of the LC combination for all the stations. The difference in daily variation between each individual solution for the horizontal component is at the level of ~0.3 ÷ 0.5 mm, with smaller effect on the East component compared to North, whereas the Up component is at the level of ~1.0 ÷ 1.5 mm. The standard deviation (SD) is used as a measure of station position repeatability and the results suggested that for high precision determination a cutoff elevation angle of 100 should be used., Sorin Nistor, Norbert-Szabolcs Suba and Aurelian-Stelian Buda., and Obsahuje bibliografii
C-reactive protein (CRP) is a marker of arterial inflammation while lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) is related to plaque instability. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between the risk of unstable plaque presenting as acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and Lp-PLA2, and to assess the influence of statins on interpretation of Lp-PLA2. A total of 362 consecutive patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with acute chest pain suggestive of ACS were evaluated by cardiologists as STEMI, NSTEMI, or unstable angina, and non- ACS. Serum biomarkers measured on admission: troponin I, Creactive protein (Abbott), and Lp-PLA2 (DiaDexus). Four groups were defined according to the final diagnos-; non- ACS/statin+. Lp-PLA2 was highest in ACS/statin- group; statins decreased Lp-PLA2 both in ACS and non-ACS of about 20 %. Lp- PLA2 was higher in ACS patients in comparison with non-ACS patients group without respect to statin therapy (p<0.001). Lp- PLA2 predicted worse outcome (in terms of acute coronary syndrome) effectively in patients up to 62 years; limited prediction was found in older patients. C-reactive protein (CRP) failed to discriminate four groups of patients. Statin therapy and age should be taken into consideration while interpreting Lp-PLA2 concentrations and lower cut-off values should be used for statintreated persons., J. Franeková, J. Kettner, Z. Kubíček, A. Jabor., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The objective of this study was to evaluate the significance of blue light (B) in the growth and photosynthetic capacity of cucumber. Gas exchange, chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence kinetics, chloroplast ultrastructure, and leaf growth were investigated to explore the influence of three different light qualities of light emitting diodes (LEDs) on plant morphogenesis and the development of photosynthetic apparatus in cucumber (Cucumis sativus) leaves from emergence to full expansion under weak light [50 μmol(photon) m-2 s-1]. We found that B could significantly increase the leaf area (LA), shoot elongation, Chl a/b, net photosynthetic rate, and stomatal conductance (g s). In addition, the comparisons of maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry and the photosynthetic performance index between B-, W (white light)-, and R (red light)-grown leaves suggested that B was essential for the development of photosynthetic apparatus under weak light. B-grown leaves had the lowest Chl content under weak light, however, they had well-developed chloroplasts with the highest degree of stacked lamellae and the lowest starch accumulation. This could explain to a considerable extent the highest net photosynthetic rate per Chl unit. The results demonstrated that B optimized photosynthetic performance by improving the photosynthetic rate, increasing LA, and prolonging active photosynthesis duration under low irradiance. Therefore B is necessary to ensure healthy development of chloroplasts and highly efficient photosynthetic functions in cucumbers under a weak light environment. More importantly, our study also provided theoretical and technical support for the development of light environmental control technology., X. Y. Wang, X. M. Xu, J. Cui., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Catecholaminergic system plays an important role in hypertension development. The available results on mRNA expression of catecholaminergic system genes in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) are often contradictory. One of the possible causes might be the use of various reference genes as internal controls. In the present study, we searched for suitable reference genes in adrenal medulla or sympathetic ganglia of SHR and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats, which would enable reliable comparison of mRNA expression between these two strains. The mRNA expression was measured by quantitative real-time PCR in adrenal medulla and superior cervical ganglia of 4-week-old or 24-week-old SHR and WKY rats. We evaluated 12 reference genes by three software tools (Normfinder, BestKeeper, geNorm) and compared them for the standardization of mRNA expression. Combination of reference genes Hprt1 and Ywhaz in adrenal medulla and Gapdh and 18S in sympathetic ganglia were chosen as the best ones. 18S was found as applicable reference gene in both tissues. We found many alterations in expression of catecholaminergic system genes in adrenal medulla and sympathetic ganglia of SHR. The usage of the most or the least stable reference gene as internal control changed results moderately in sympathetic ganglia but seriously in adrenal medulla. For example, tyrosine hydroxylase (Th) gene was underexpressed in adrenal medulla of adult SHR using the appropriate reference gene but unchanged after the standardization to the least stable reference gene. Our results indicate the importance of appropriate internal control. The suitability of reference genes should be checked again in the case of change in experimental conditions., A. Vavřínová, M. Behuliak, J. Zicha., and Obsahuje bibliografii