The aim of this work was to determine two types of photosynthetic water-use efficiency in order to examine their utility as selection criteria for tolerance of energy crops to soil water deficit. Furthermore, effects of crop cultivation on soil water content and storage were investigated. Seven energy crops were examined: miscanthus, prairie cordgrass, willow, thorn-free rose, Virginia mallow, Bohemian knotweed, and topinambour. The highest values of instantaneous (WUE) and intrinsic (WUEi) water-use efficiencies were found for miscanthus and prairie cordgrass. The reduction of WUE and/or WUEi was caused mainly by a rapid rise in the transpiration rate and a greater stomatal conductance, respectively. Principal component analysis showed that neither WUE nor WUEi could be recommended as universal selection criteria for the drought tolerance in different energy crops. The proper localization of soil with a good supply of water is most the important condition for energy crop plantations., S. Podlaski, S. Pietkiewicz, D. Chołuj, T. Horaczek, G. Wiśniewski, D. Gozdowski, H. M. Kalaji., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Objectives. The present study investigated the relative importance of multiple aspects of personal resiliency for the development of externalising and internalising adjustment problems in adolescence. Subjects and setting. The sample comprised 805 adolescents (45.2% boys and 54.8% girls) from seven high schools in Kraljevo, Serbia. The mean age of the adolescents was 16.71 (SD = 1.05; range 15-18 years). The participants filled out questionnaires concerning their personal resiliency and adjustment problems during school hours. Hypotheses. It was hypothesised that sense of mastery and sense of relatedness would be negatively associated with adjustment problems, whereas emotional reactivity would be positively related to externalising and internalising problems. Statistical analyses. Descriptive statistics and correlational and regression analyses were used. Results. The findings indicated that lower levels of sense of mastery and sense of relatedness and higher levels of emotional reactivity were related to antisocial behaviour, anger control problems, emotional distress and negative sense of self. Personal resiliency accounted for a significant amount of the variance (21-37%) in all types of adjustment problems. Further analyses revealed unique relationships between separate qualities of personal resilience and each type of adjustment problem. Study limitations. The present study is limited to one cultural setting and age group. The results were based on cross-sectional and self-reported data., Cíle. Studie zkoumá relativní důležitost aspektů osobní resilience pro vývoj externalizování a internalizování při vyrovnávání se s problémy v adolescenci. Soubor. Soubor zahrnoval 805 adolescentů (45,2 % chlapců a 54,8 % děvčat) ze sedmi středních škol v Kraljevu v Srbsku. Průměrný věk adolescentů byl 16,71 (směrodatná odchylka 1,05, rozpětí 15 až 18 let). Účastníci vyplnili dotazníky zjišťující jejich osobní resilienci a vyrovnávání se s problémy během školních hodin. Hypotézy. Autoři předpokládali, že úroveň dovedností a úroveň vztahů budou negativně asociovány s vyrovnáváním se s problémy, zatímco emoční reaktivita bude v pozitivním vztahu k externalizování a internalizování problémů. Statistická analýza. Byly použity metody deskriptivní statistiky a korelační a regresní analýza. Výsledky. Nižší úroveň dovedností a nižší úroveň vztahů a vyšší úroveň emoční reaktivity jsou ve vztahu k antisociálnímu chování, problémy se zvládáním hněvu, emočním distresem a negativním sebepojetím. Osobní resilience vysvětlila značnou část variance (21-37 %) ve všech typech problémů. Další analýzy ukázaly jedinečné vztahy mezi jednotlivými složkami osobní resilience a všemi typy problémů. Omezení studie. Studie je omezena danou kulturou a věkovou skupinou. Výsledky jsou založeny na transverzální metodě a datech ze subjektivních výpovědí., Vesna Žunić-Pavlović [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
We introduce a new magnetic resonance (MR) method based on a pixel-by-pixel image processing to examine relationships between metabolic and structural processes in the pathologic hippocampus. The method was tested for lateralization of the epileptogenic zone in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Twenty patients with drug-resistant TLE and fifteen healthy controls were examined at 3T. The measurement protocol contained T2-weighted MR images, spectroscopic imaging, diffusion tensor imaging and T2 relaxometry. Correlations between quantitative MR parameters were calculated on a pixelby- pixel basis using the CORIMA program which enables automated pixel identification in the normal tissue according to control data. All MR parameters changed in the anteroposterior direction in the hippocampus and correlation patterns and their slopes differed between patients and controls. Combinations of T2 relaxation times with metabolite values represent the best biomarkers of the epileptogenic zone. Correlations with mean diffusivity did not provide sufficiently accurate results due to diffusion image distortions. Quantitative MR analysis noninvasively provides a detailed description of hippocampal pathology and may represent complementary tool to the standard clinical protocol. However, the automated processing should be carefully monitored in order to avoid possible errors caused by MR artifacts., D. Wagnerová, V. herynek, M. Dezortová, P. Marusič, P. Kršek, J. Zámečník, F. Jírů, A. Škoch, M. Hájek., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The article is devoted to an evaluation of the traditional Polish psychology. However the conceptual apparatus of the traditional Polish psychology was based on the Central European theory of intentionality, the development of Polish psychology led to the theory of psychophysical psychological functions (the theory of „actions and products”). The author’s conclusion is that the conceptual apparatus of the theory of „actions and products” may be useful in current philosophical and psychological theories of mind and cognitive processes., Jerzy Bobryk., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Based on experimental studies using the “integral velocity index of the vertical displacement of the territory” and criterion of generalized seismicity, a close functional relationship was found between two parameters of different physical nature: seismic activity and altitude displacements of the Earth’s surface in Europe. The mathematical correlation between the generalized parameters of the velocity altitude displacements on the territory and seismic activity is established according to seismic and GNSS stations for the period from 2000-2011 for the areas in Europe with close correlation between seismicity and velocity of vertical movements of the Earth’s surface. and Tretyak Kornyliy, Romaniuk Volodymyr.
The effects of various concentrations of bensulfuron-methyl residues (BSM, 0-500 μg kg-1) on the growth and photosynthesis of soybean and peanut were studied. Shoot length, root length, root-to-shoot ratio, and biomass of soybean and peanut seedlings declined with the increase of BSM residue concentrations. As the concentration of BSM increased, SPAD value, net photosynthetic rate, stomatal limitation, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate also declined with varying extent, but dark respiration rate and intercellular CO2 concentration increased gradually. PSII maximum quantum yield, actual quantum yield, and electron transport rate were significantly reduced by the BSM residues in soil, and the reduction was mostly attributed to the decrease in photochemical quenching coefficient. The results showed that photosynthesis in both crops was limited by nonstomatal factors. The residues of BSM caused reversible damage in PSII reaction centers and decrease the proportion of available excitation energy used for photochemistry., W. C. Su, L. L. Sun, Y. H. Ge, R. H. Wu, H. L. Xu, C. T. Lu., and Obsahuje bibliografii
In the near future, hydrogen will become an important fuel which may be able to resolve local problems connected with air quality. Hydrogen-propelled transport means are being developed and are already used in the automobile industry. Since the combustion of hydrogen does not produce any emissions of carbon oxides but only water, hydrogen is considered as a key fuel of the future. Hydrogen is abundantly present all over space and can be obtained from a number of resources, be they renewable or non-renewable. Global production has so far been dominated by hydrogen production from fossil fuels, with the most significant contemporary technologies being the reforming of hydrocarbons, pyrolysis and co-pyrolysis. Plasma cracking is still in the developmental stage. The preferred method of hydrogen production on an industrial scale is steam reforming of natural gas for its low operational and production costs. When the operational costs of steam reforming and partial oxidation are compared, partial oxidation seems to be a more acceptable process, but the subsequent shift makes this process more expensive. Pyrolysis processes have acceptable investment costs and besides the production of hydrogen also satisfactory yields of oils. Two-stage co-pyrolysis is suitable considering its acquisition of a high amount of hydrogen from mixed charges. It is apparent that the co-pyrolysis of organic materials with coals is a process for hydrogen production capable of competing. It can therefore play a significant role in the future., Olga Bičáková and Pavel Straka., and Obsahuje bibliografii
To understand the pathogenesis of hypercholesterolemia in Prague hereditary hypercholesterolemic (PHHC) rat, we analyzed the response of hepatic transcriptome to dietary cholesterol in PHHC and control Wistar rats. Male PHHC and Wistar rats were fed chow (C), 5 % fat (palm kernel oil) (CF) or 1 % cholesterol + 5 % fat (CHOL) diet for three weeks. Hepatic transcriptome was analyzed using Affymetrix GeneChip arrays. No differences were found in the effect of both control diets (C and CF) on lipid metabolism and gene expression of 6500 genes. Therefore, these data were pooled for further analysis. Dietary cholesterol induced accumulation of cholesterol and triacylglycerols in the liver in both strains and hypercholesterolemia in PHHC rats. However, there were no differences in response of hepatic transcriptome to CHOL diet. On the other hand, several genes were found to be differently expressed between both strains independently of the diet. Two of those genes, Apof and Aldh1a7, were studied in more detail, and their role in pathogenesis of hypercholesterolemia in PHHC rats could not been corroborated. In conclusion, the hypercholesterolemia in PHHC rats is due to physiological response of hepatic transcriptome to dietary cholesterol in different genetic background., M. Vlachová, M. Heczková, M. Jirsa, R. Poledne, J. Kovář., and Obsahuje bibliografii