The availability of the human genome sequence and the recently completed draft sequences of two major mammalian model species, the mouse (Mus musculus) and the rat (Rattus norvegicus), allow researchers to apply novel approaches for gene identification and characterization, using methods of comparative and functional genomics. Recently, a new gene coding for apolipoprotein A-V was identified in the vicinity of APOA-I/C-III/A-IV cluster on human chromosome 11q23 by comparative sequencing method. In a relatively short time, compelling evidence accumulated for the substantial role of APOA-V in lipid metabolism. Studies in knock-out and transgenic mice revealed that its expression pattern correlates negatively with triglyceride levels. This observation was verified in human population studies in variety of ethnic and age groups. Several single nucleotide polymorphisms were described and particular SNP alleles and haplotypes in the APO A-V gene region were shown to be associated with dyslipidemia. The discovery and characterization of the APO A-V demonstrates current possibilities of the integrative approaches in biology, boosted by the available bioinformatic tools., O. Šeda, L. Šedová., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Soil hydraulic conductivity is a key parameter to predict water flow through the soil profile. We have developed an automatic minidisk infiltrometer (AMI) to enable easy measurement of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity using the tension infiltrometer method in the field. AMI senses the cumulative infiltration by recording change in buoyancy force acting on a vertical solid bar fixed in the reservoir tube of the infiltrometer. Performance of the instrument was tested in the laboratory and in two contrasting catchments at three sites with different land use. Hydraulic conductivities determined using AMI were compared with earlier manually taken readings. The results of laboratory testing demonstrated high accuracy and robustness of the AMI measurement. Field testing of AMI proved the suitability of the instrument for use in the determination of sorptivity and near saturated hydraulic conductivity.
In this paper, we mainly use the properties of the minimum eigenvalue of the Fan product of $M$-matrices and Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, and propose some new bounds for the minimum eigenvalue of the Fan product of two $M$-matrices. These results involve the maximum absolute value of off-diagonal entries of each row. Hence, the lower bounds for the minimum eigenvalue are easily calculated in the practical examples. In theory, a comparison is given in this paper. Finally, to illustrate our results, a simple example is also considered.
Let u be a holomorphic function and φ a holomorphic self-map of the open unit disk D in the complex plane. We provide new characterizations for the boundedness of the weighted composition operators uCφ from Zygmund type spaces to Bloch type spaces in D in terms of u, φ, their derivatives, and φn, the n-th power of φ. Moreover, we obtain some similar estimates for the essential norms of the operators uCφ, from which sufficient and necessary conditions of compactness of uCφ follows immediately., Xin-Cui Guo, Ze-Hua Zhou., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
A full Nesterov-Todd step infeasible interior-point algorithm is proposed for solving linear programming problems over symmetric cones by using the Euclidean Jordan algebra. Using a new approach, we also provide a search direction and show that the iteration bound coincides with the best known bound for infeasible interior-point methods.
We present new explicit criteria for exponential stability of general linear neutral time-varying differential systems. Particularly, our results give extensions of the well-known stability criteria reported in \cite{Bel99,Li88} to linear neutral time-varying differential systems with distributed delays.
The paper deals with a new criterion of evaluating the disintegration by blasting operations using cylindrical as well as concentrated charges in quarries and undergrounds. The results of our research show that for seismic safety determination of blasting, the maximum of concentrated charge blasting in one delay stage is not critical, but decisive is the explosion of the total mass of blasting material., Blažej Pandula and Kamila Jelšovská., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
We studied amoebae associated with nodular gill disease (NGD) outbreaks in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum) in fish farms in South-Western Germany. Gills of 12 diseased rainbow trout were examined in fresh, by isolation attempts, histologically and using in situ hybridisation (ISH). A total of nine amoeba strains of the genera Acanthamoeba (1), Hartmannella (2), Naegleria (1), Protacanthamoeba (1) and Vannella (4) were isolated and determined using light microscopical, ultrastructural and molecular methods. Specific molecular probes designed from the SSU rDNA sequences of individual amoeba strains were used for non-radioactive ISH in histological sections. Association of Naegleria sp. with NGD and a direct ISH proof of Naegleria trophozoites attached to hyperplastic gill epithelium are novel findings, expanding the number of possible agents of NGD and supporting the hypothesis on multicausal aetiology of this disease.
Recent examinations of newly obtained materials of dracunculoid nematodes (Dracunculoidea) parasitizing marine fishes off New Caledonia, South Pacific, revealed the presence of several nematodes of the genera Philometra Costa, 1845 (Philometridae) and Ichthyofilaria Yamaguti, 1935 (Guyanemidae), including the following four new species: Philometra priacanthi sp. n. (males) from the gonads of Priacanthus hamrur (Forsskål) (Priacanthidae), Philometra tenuicauda sp. n. (male and mature and gravid females) from the gonads of Lagocephalus sceleratus (Gmelin) (Tetraodontidae), Philometra dentigubernaculata sp. n. (males) from the oculo-orbit of Tylosurus crocodilus (Péron et Lesueur) (Belonidae), and Ichthyofilaria novaecaledoniensis sp. n. (subgravid female) from the musculature of Hoplichthys citrinus Gilbert (Hoplichthyidae). The new species are characterized mainly by the length and structure of spicules and the gubernaculum, body size, location in the host and by the type of hosts. In addition, the findings of Philometra lethrini Moravec et Justine, 2008 from the gonads of Lethrinus miniatus (Forster) and L. variegatus Valenciennes (both Lethrinidae) represent new host records for this parasite; for the first time, its subgravid females were found to be up to 350 mm long. The occurrence of Philometra ocularis Moravec, Ogawa, Suzuki, Miyazaki et Donai, 2002 in the oculo-orbit of Epinephelus areolatus (Forsskål) (Serranidae) off New Caledonia was confirmed.
The original description of Myxobolus longisporus Nie et Li, 1992, the species infecting gills of Cyprinus carpio haematopterus L., is supplemented with new data on the spore morphology and pathogenicity. Spores are elongate pyriform with pointed anterior end, 15.7 (15.5-16.5) µm long, 6.7 (6-8) µm wide and 5.5 µm thick. Sutural ridge is straight and narrow. Mucus envelope is lacking. Two equal-sized elongate pyriform polar capsules are 8.5 µm long and 2.5 µm wide with convergent long axes. Polar filament coiled perpendicularly to the long axis of the capsule makes 9 (8-10) turns. Posterior end of polar capsules exceeds mid-spore by 15-20%. Cyst-like plasmodia are localised in the gill secondary lamellae. The infection is described in adult big host specimens. Gross lesions manifested as dark red colouration of gill tissues were restricted to the ventral part of the first gill arches. Remarkable site specificity (apical part of secondary lamellae) was observed in the course of development of microscopic lesions. M. longisporus is characterised also on the molecular level using sequences of SSU rRNA gene. Phylogenetic analysis based on these sequences has allowed clearer phylogenetic relationships to be established with other species of the genus Myxobolus sequenced to date.