The revival of the UN Security Council’s regulatory powers after the end of the Cold War as well as new challenges to international peace and security have led to the development and diversification of UN operational tools. In the absence of United Nations’ own material capacities to undertake necessary military action, due to the non-conclusion of agreements provided for in Article 43 of the UN Charter by which UN Member States would commit to provide the necessary force and other assistance to the Security Council upon its call, the latter developed other means. Today, there co-exist two mandated operations by the Security Council vested with the power to use force, each however within a different scope, limits and objective: UN-led “Blue Helmets” and UN-authorized military operations. This functional rapprochement causes nevertheless a great confusion, both in practice and recently in the judicial sphere. Hence, the clarification of the legal regime of each is essential. While the UN-led Blue Helmets vested with the limited power to use force represent the new generation of peacekeeping operations, the UN-authorized operations constitute a decentralized execution of the Council’s enforcement measure. In the latter case the Security Council turns to UN Member States or regional organizations and delegates them its exclusive power to use force under Article 42 of the UN Charter to execute it under set conditions. The limitation of the use of force by the UN-led operation to the strict defence of its civilian mandate does not exempt it from the regime of coercion established under Chapter VII of the UN Charter either. This raises a question of the legal status of this UN-led operation and whether possibly such tool approaches the original concept of UN enforcement forces laid down in Article 43. Analysis of the converging and diverging elements of both operations shows the complexity of this operational domain, the clarification of which is proposed in this article via a legal perspective.
The sequence diversity in the mitochondrial cytochrome-c oxidase I (COI) gene was evaluated as a tool for resolving differences among species of European adelgids collected from several localities across the Czech Republic. Members of 7 genera and 16 species were examined, and as outgroups, two species of Phylloxeridae were used. Sequence divergences within species were on average less than 0.15%, whereas divergences between species ranged from 0.0 to 4.12% for congeneric and to 13.24% for intergeneric comparisons. It is concluded that DNA barcoding of Adelgidae is a powerful tool for identifying genera, but at the species level it works only in those cases where there are no species complexes. Nevertheless, it can be used as a complement to traditional, morphological taxonomy.
The cuticular structure of juveniles of several oribatids of different families with wrinkled cuticles were compared: Hermannia gibba, Tectocepheus velatus, Scutovertex minutus, Achipteria coleoptrata and Eupelops occultus. Both the surface and internal structures of the "plissée" were studied. Light microscopy revealed several patterns in mites studied with Masson's triple stain and these results were supported by TEM. Although the "plissée" looks similar at the body surface, the structure and ultrastructure differ among groups. Some types of wrinkling is supported by small muscles, probably for changing body shape. Differences in the structure of the cuticle of the prosoma and opisthosoma were observed. The differences in the wrinkling in the cuticle in diferent lines is associated with change in the body shape in response to different moisture conditions.
In the course of cytogenetic studies on Alegoria castelnaui Fleutiaux & Sallé 1889 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Tenebrioninae: Ulomini) from Guadeloupe, a number of adult specimens were dissected. A larva was found in the abdomens of almost all of the females. The karyotype, 20,XX / 20,Xyp, and the presence of heterochromatin at multiple chromosomal locations, of the larvae and adults were similar, which excludes parasitism and indicates viviparous reproduction. The adverse habitat of the adults, i.e., putrid and fermenting pseudo-stems of banana trees rather than geo-climatic conditions, may explain the occurrence of viviparity in this species. This is the first example of (ovo-)viviparity in the Ulomini tribe and among New World Tenebrionidae. A. castelnaui is regularly collected on banana trees infested with the weevil Cosmopolites sordidus Germar, 1824, a major pest of banana trees around the word. The coexistence of these two species on banana trees may be coincidental but another Ulomini species, Eutochia pulla Erichson 1843, is described as an egg predator of C. sordidus in Africa and therefore, A. castelnaui could also be a predator of this pest.
Our own study as well as others have previously reported that hypoxia activates 15-lipoxygenase (15-LO) in the brain, causing a series of chain reactions, which exacerbates ischemic stroke. 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (15-HETE) and 15-oxoeicosatetraenoic acid (15-oxo-ETE/15-KETE) are 15-LO-specific metabolites of arachidonic acid (AA). 15-HETE was found to be rapidly converted into 15-oxo-ETE by 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (15-PGDH) in some circumstances. We have demonstrated that 15-HETE promotes cerebral vasoconstriction during hypoxia. However, the effect of 15-oxo-ETE upon the contraction of cerebral vasculature remains unclear. To investigate this effect and to clarify the underlying mechanism, we performed immunohistochemistry and Western blot to test the expression of 15-PGDH in rat cerebral tissue, examined internal carotid artery (ICA) tension in isolated rat ICA rings. Western blot and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used to analyze the expression of voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channels (Kv2.1, Kv1.5, and Kv1.1) in cultured cerebral arterial smooth muscle cells (CASMCs). The results showed that the levels of 15-PGDH expression were drastically elevated in the cerebral of rats with hypoxia, and 15-oxo-ETE enhanced ICA contraction in a dose-dependent manner. This effect was more significant in the hypoxic rats than in the normoxic rats. We also found that 15-oxo-ETE significantly attenuated the expression of Kv2.1 and Kv1.5, but not Kv1.1. In conclusion, these results suggest that 15-oxo-ETE leads to the contraction of the ICA, especially under hypoxic conditions and that specific Kv channels may play an important role in 15-oxo- ETE-induced ICA constriction., Di Wang, Yu Liu, Ping Lu, Daling Zhu, Yulan Zhu., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Římské vojenské tažení proti Marobudovi v r. 6 po Kr. představuje nejstarší přesně datovanou historickou událost vztahující se k České kotlině. Při příležitosti dvoutisíciletého výročí této události se autor zamýšlí nad metodickými problémy bádání o starší době římské v Čechách. Na příkladech chronologie archeologických horizontů, migrace etnických jednotek, římských importů a právě římského tažení v r. 6 je v článku poukázáno na fakt, že česká archeologie tradičně upřednostňuje písemné prameny před archeologickými. Mnohé údaje, o které se badatelé opírají, však nejsou v písemných pramenech doložitelné. Často se jedná pouze o domněnky a interpretace historiků. Článek upozorňuje na metodologickou neúnosnost vytváření archeologických konstrukcí, které jsou závislé na takovýchto domněnkách. and The Roman military campaign against Maroboduus in the year 6 AD is the earliest accurately dated historical event linked to the Bohemian Basin. On the occasion of its 2000th anniversary, the author considers the methodological problems attendant upon research into the early Roman period in Bohemia. Taking examples from the chronology of archaeological horizons, the migrations of ethnic units, Roman imports and the Roman campaign of 6 AD itself, the article demonstrates the fact that Czech archaeology has traditionally prioritised written over archaeological sources. Much if the data on which researchers rely, however, cannot be proven in the written record: often, they are merely the conjectures and interpretations of historians. This article highlights the methodological unjustifiability of creating archaeological constructs that are dependent on such conjectures.
A thioredoxin-like protein (txl) gene was cloned from the bumblebee, Bombus ignitus. The B. ignitus txl (Bitxl) gene spans 1777 bp and consists of three introns and four exons coding for 285 amino acid residues with a conserved active site (CGPC). The deduced amino acid sequence of the Bitxl cDNA was 65% similar to the Drosophila melanogaster txl. Northern blot analysis revealed the presence of Bitxl transcripts in all tissues examined. When H2O2 was injected into the body cavity of B. ignitus workers, Bitxl mRNA expression was up-regulated in the fat body tissue. In addition, the expression levels of Bitxl mRNA in the fat body greatly increased when B. ignitus workers were exposed to low (4°C) or high (37°C) temperatures, or injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which suggests that the Bitxl possibly protects against oxidative stress caused by extreme temperatures and bacterial infection.
The meadow spittlebug genus Philaenus (Auchenorrhyncha: Aphrophoridae) is known to display marked colour polymorphism. This study presents the results of a karyotype analysis of P. arslani from Lebanon using conventional chromosome staining, C-banding, fluorescent banding using base-specific fluorochromes (CMA3 and DAPI) and AgNOR-staining. This species has 2n = 18 + neo-XY, and differs from P. spumarius both in the number of chromosomes and sex chromosome system. During meiosis, the neo-XY bivalent is clearly heteromorphic being the largest in the complement. Furthermore, sex chromosomes show marked differences in C-banding pattern. The NOR-bearing chromosomes are the first and one of the middle-sized pairs of autosomes. NORs are G-C rich. Furthermore, some blocks of constitutive heterochromatin on the sex chromosomes are also G-C rich. All other C-bands are DAPI or DAPI/ CMA3 positive, thus containing A-T rich DNA. The significant difference in the karyotype of P. arslani and P. spumarius indicates chromosomal transformations during the evolution of the genus Philaenus.
The relative proportions of free amino acids as well as the amino acid compositions of hydrolysed unprecipitated peptides and hydrolysed whole carcasses were quantified for two aphid species: the gall-dwelling social aphid Pemphigus spyrothecae and the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum. The whole-tissue amino acid profiles of the two taxonomically distant species had a surprisingly high level of correspondence. In contrast, when comparing the A. pisum profiles obtained in the current study to those obtained in an earlier study, major differences were identified. It is concluded that there are good prospects for developing an artificial diet for P. spyrothecae. There may also exist considerable scope for tailoring the existing diets of A. pisum to suit specialised populations which develop poorly on the standard diet. The amino acid profile of P. spyrothecae is the first such profile that has been reported for a gall-forming aphid.