Metabolic syndrome is a prevalent, complex condition. The search for genetic determinants of the syndrome is currently undergoing a paradigm enhancement by adding systems genetics approaches to association studies. We summarize the current evidence on relations between an emergent new candidate, zinc finger and BTB domain containing 16 (ZBTB16) transcription factor and the major components constituting the metabolic syndrome. Information stemming from studies on experimental models with altered Zbtb16 expression clearly shows its effect on adipogenesis, cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis, lipid levels and insulin sensitivity. Based on current evidence, we provide a network view of relations between ZBTB16 and hallmarks of metabolic syndrome in order to elucidate the potential functional links involving the ZBTB16 node. Many of the identified genes interconnecting ZBTB16 with all or most metabolic syndrome components are linked to immune function, inflammation or oxidative stress. In summary, ZBTB16 represents a promising pleiotropic candidate node for metabolic syndrome., O. Šeda, L. Šedová, J. Včelák, M. Vaňková, F. Liška, B. Bendlová., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The data derived from rat models and the preliminary results of human studies provide strong indices of involvement of common ZBTB16 variants in a range of cardiovascular and metabolic traits. This cross-sectional study in the Caucasian cohort of 1517 Czech adults aimed to verify the hypothesis that ZBTB16 gene variation directly affects obesity and serum lipid levels. Genotyping of nine polymorphisms of the ZBTB16 gene (rs11214863, rs593731, rs763857, rs2846027, rs681200, rs686989, rs661223, rs675044, rs567057) was performed. A multivariate bidirectional regression with the reduction of dimensionality (O2PLS model) revealed relationships between basal lipid levels and anthropometric parameters and some minor ZBTB16 alleles. In men, the predictors - age and presence of minor ZBTB16 alleles of rs686989, rs661223, rs675044, rs567057 - were associated with significantly higher body mass index, waist to hip ratio, body adiposity index, waist and abdominal circumferences, higher total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol and explained 20 % of variability of these variables. In women, the predictors - age and presence of the rs686989 minor T allele - were also associated with increased anthropometric parameters and total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol but the obtained O2PLS model explained only 7.8 % of the variability of the explained variables. Our study confirmed that the selected gene variants of the transcription factor ZBTB16 influence the obesity-related parameters and lipid levels. This effect was more pronounced in men., B. Bendlová, M. Vaňková, M. Hill, G. Vacínová, P. Lukášová, D. Vejražková, L. Šedová, O. Šeda, J. Včelák., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The trans-border area of the Sudetes between Žďarky and Pstrążna has attracted Prussian/German, Austrian, Czech and Polish geologists since the middle of the 19th century. The history of mapping of this area reflects the scientific development of geological centres in Berlin, Vienna, Prague and Wrocław. This paper presents a description of the oldest geological maps of Lower Silesia in the context of changing knowledge on the Carboniferous and Cretaceous stratigraphy and on the tectonics of the region. On the basis of DEM and field studies the author presents his own geological map of the area of the Pstrążna Elevation together with a description of the local structural geology. A regional structural model is suggested, that explains all the local elevations as having developed in response to a dextral strike-slip activity of the Žďarky-Jakubowice Fault during late Tertiary to Recent times, at an eastern extension of the Poříčí-Hronov Fault Zone., Jurand Wojewoda., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Zdeněk Mařatka (1914–2010) by vedoucí osobností české i slovenské gastroenterologie i přes nepřízeň tehdejšího komunistického režimu. Byl jedním ze zakladatelů gastroenterologie v Československu. Habilitoval se velmi časně po 2. světové válce v roce 1948 monografií Ulcerózní kolitis, kde shrnul své osobní zkušenosti i poznatky ze studijního pobytu v USA a dalších zemích. Mařatka stál u kolébky České gastroenterologické společnosti a své působení završil vysoce úspěšným 8. kongresem ASNEMGE, na němž působil jako vědecký sekretář a jako prezident 1. kongresu trávicí endoskopie. Tyto významné akce se konaly právě v optimistickém období Pražského jara v roce 1968. Vzhledem ke své bohaté publikační činnosti byl Mařatka nominován či volen do různých mezinárodních organizací a v letech 1976–1980 byl dokonce prezidentem Evropské endoskopické společnosti (ESGE). Stál u zrodu časopisu gastroenterologické společnosti, původně nazvaný Gastroenterologia Bohema a později Československá gastroenterologie a výživa. Názvy časopisu se měnily převážně po roce 1989, bohužel ke škodě vzhledem k jeho mezinárodnímu ohlasu a prezentaci na MEDLINE či PUBMED. Mařatka byl členem redakční rady, v letech 1969–1999 byl hlavním redaktorem. Velmi byly oceňovány jeho ,,špičky“, krátká, většinou jednovětá shrnutí zajímavého zahraničního článku, které uveřejňoval v každém čísle až do své smrti. Jako editor emeritus se trvale podílel svými radami i písemnými příspěvky., Zdeněk Mařatka (1914–2010) was a leading person in a Czech and Slovak gastroenterology in spite of the infavourable approach of the official communist policy to him.. He was one of the founders of gastroenterology in Czechoslovakia. He had been habilitated in 1948 for thesis Ulcerative colitis. Mařatka stood at the first steps of foundation of Czech Gastroenterology Society very soon after the WW2 and followed with the preparation as a secretary general of the 8th ASNEMGE Congress in Prague 1968 and as a president the 1st Congress of Endoscopy in the very optimistic atmosphere of ,,Prague Spring“. He was nominated or elected by several international gastroenterology organisations, during 1976–1980 had been President of ESGE. He started with editoring of Czech gastroenterology Association journal as a member of editorial board and had been its main editor between 1969–1999. His well appreciated novelty in the magazine was a short remarks in one or two sentences from the world scientific literature which appeared in every copy. As an editor emeritus he supported the quality of the journal by many advices and contributions including articles., and Milan Kment
The presented essay was originally published as ''Il samizdat tra dialogo e monologo: Le attività editoriali di Zdeněk Mlynář e la scelta degli interlocutori'' in the Italian online journal eSamizdat: Rivista di culture dei paesi slavi (2010-11, pp. 261-80). This double issue is based on papers given at the conference ''Samizdat between Memory and Utopia: Independent Culture in Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century,'' which was held at Padua University in late May and early June 2011, and is freely accessible on the periodical website (http://www.esamizdat.it/rivista/2010-2011/index.htm). For its publication in Soudobé dějiny, the author has considerably expanded his essay, particularly after doing research in the Mlynář Papers deposited in the National Archive, Prague. The author concentrates mainly on the research and publishing activities of the politician and political scientist Zdeněk Mlynář (1930-1997) while he was in exile, which he puts into a detailed chronology of his career as a public fi gure. He asks and seeks to answer the general question whether the milieu of samizdat and independent publishing, which developed in Czechoslovakia in the 1970s and 1980s, did or did not leave deep traces also in the structures of the various political activities of those who criticised the state-sanctioned arts and sciences of ''normalisation'' Czechoslovakia. The author points out that Mlynář has today been largely ousted from Czech historical memory, even though he was amongst the leading opponents of the regime after its collapse, and tried to regain a place in Czechoslovak politics. The author recalls Mlynář’s becoming a member of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, his law studies in Moscow in the fi rst half of the 1950s, where he formed a lasting friendship with his fellow-student Mikhail Gorbachev (b. 1931), and last but not least Mlynář as an expert researching the prospects of the socialist political system in the 1960s. He then concentrates on Mlynář’s work during the Prague Spring of 1968, when he became a member of the reformist leadership of the CommunistParty on the side of Alexander Dubček (1921-1992). After the August intervention by the armies of fi ve Warsaw Pact states, Mlynář gradually became disillusioned with the possibilities of continuing reform, and he resigned from the Party leadership. In the early 1970s, he found employment in the Department of Entomology of the National Museum, Prague, and avoided political life completely. Nevertheless, he gradually started to take part in debates with other reformists expelled from the Party about the possibilities of infl uencing developments in Czechoslovakia with the help of left-wing parties in Western Europe. The author discusses Mlynář’s analyses of the situation at the time, the development of his views, and his integration into the nascent dissident movement, which appeared after the founding of Charter 77. A few months later, in June 1977 to be precise, Mlynář emigrated to Austria as a consequence of a smear campaign against the Chartists. The author focuses on Mlynář’s close work amongst Czech exiles, particularly with the increasingly diverse Listy group, which was established by Jiří Pelikán (1923-1999). The group in question was centred on the exile periodical of the same title, which was published in Rome and formed the core of Czechoslovak socialist opposition in exile. In addition, the author focuses on the efforts of Mlynář and his colleagues to win support among Western left-wing circles, particularly in relation to the Italian Communists and Socialists and later the West German Social Democrats. He also takes into account Mlynář’s political essays, which met with a considerable response amongst the public of Western Europe, and the clear shift in opinion from the initial model of a political system with Communist Party hegemony to political pluralism. In this context, the author then gives a comprehensive account of two large research and publishing projects coordinated by Mlynář. The fi rst project, from 1979 to 1982, was entitled ''Experiences of the Prague Spring of 1968''; its participants were almost exclusively Czech sociologists, historians, economists, jurists, and other specialists in exile. The project resulted in almost 30 mimeographed volumes in three language versions (mostly Italian, French, and English), which were distributed by several hundred carefully selected left-wing individuals and institutions in the West, and it culminated in a congress held in Paris. According to the author, this little known project represents one of the most profound and essentially never-published refl ections on the origins, development, and failure of the Prague Spring. The second project, entitled ''Crises in Soviet-type Systems,'' ran from 1982 to the late 1980s, and presented the perspectives of authors from a wider range of central European countries. It resulted in 16 works by Czech, Polish, Hungarian, and East German authors, published by the leading Czech exile publishing house, Index, as small paperback editions in English, French, and indeed German. The number of its subscribers grew to about 2,000. Part of the project was presenting papers at conferences and other international forums. Both of the projects in question, according to the author, demonstrate Mlynář and his colleagues’ persistent orientation to exclusive circles of the political Left in the West, whom, in their efforts to change things in Czechoslovakia, they preferred to the dissidents still in Czechoslovakia.
Endokrinní produkty adipocytů (PPAR?, A-FABP, E-FABP, leptin, adiponektin a další) modulují citlivost tkání k účinkům inzulinu a podílejí se tak na etiopatogenezi diabetes mellitus 2. typu (DM2T). Osoby s DM2T charakterizují typické změny lipidového spektra (nižší koncentrace HDL-cholesterolu, vyšší koncentrace triacylgylcerolů) a změněná endokrinní aktivita adipocytů podkožní tukové tkáně ? adipocyty ? produkují více A-FABP, E-FABP, PPAR? a méně adiponektinu. Cíl práce: Stanovit u zdravých jedinců a u diabetiků s DM2T v séru a v abdominální podkožní tukové tkáni vybrané markery metabolického syndromu, získat základní statistické charakteristiky každého z testovaných parametrů a v rámci diskuse prezentovaných nálezů se pokusit vymezit jejich pravděpodobnou úlohu při vzniku a rozvoji metabolického syndromu. Metodika: U každého z účastníků studie (zdraví: 7 mužů, 8 žen; diabetici: 18 mužů, 11 žen) byly odebrány vzorky krve a abdominální subkutánní tkáň k vyšetření HDL, TAG, inzulinu, C-peptidu, glykemie, A-FABP, E-FABP, leptinu, adiponektinu, rezistinu, PPAR? a TNF?. Výsledky: Ve většině případů dosahovaly průměrné hodnoty testovaných parametrů v séru vyšších hodnot u diabetiků než u zdravých, a to bez ohledu na pohlaví. Nižší hodnotu v séru vykazoval pouze adiponektin. Obdobná situace byla i v podkožní tukové tkáni ? u diabetiků byly signifikantně vyšší koncentrace A-FABP, E-FABP a PPAR?. Zjistili jsme také, že absolutní hodnota rozdílu sledovaného parametru u zdravých a diabetiků závisí na pohlaví. U žen diabetiček byla reálná hodnota zvýšení/snížení určitého parametru signifikantně vyšší než u mužů diabetiků. Závěr: Vysoké koncentrace A-FABP, E-FABP v séru a v podkožní tukové tkáni diabetiků, popřípadě vysoké koncentrace PPAR? v jejich podkožní tukové tkáni, naznačují, že tyto parametry mají těsný vztah k obezitě a metabolickému syndromu. Lze proto předpokládat, že v blízké budoucnosti budou využívány v klinické praxi k diagnostice tohoto onemocnění., Rabha Ben Yahia, R. Lichnovská, L. Janušová, and Lit. 38
2. konference evropského veřejného zdravotnictví se konala od 25. do 28. listopadu v Lodži. Byla organizována Evropskou asociací veřejného zdravotnictví. EUPHA je zastřešující organizací pro evropské odborné společnosti veřejného zdravotnictví. Byla založena v roce 1992. Jde o mezinárodní, mezioborovou, vědeckou a odbornou organizaci sdružující okolo 12 000 odborníků z oblasti veřejného zdravotnictví ze 40 evropských zemí. Hlavním tématem konference bylo: „Humánní ekologie a veřejné zdravotnictví“., The 2nd European Public Health Conference was held from 25 to 28 November in Lodz. It was organized by the European Public Health Association. EUPHA is an umbrella organisation for public health associations in Europe. Founded in 1992, EUPHA is an international, multidisciplinary, scientific and professional organisation, bringing together around 12 000 public health experts from 40 countries in Europe. The overall theme of the conference was ”Human Ecology and Public health”., Jan Holčík, and Lit.: 3
Ve 21. století jsou podmínky v oblasti zdraví charakterizovány vzrůstajícím množstvím vzájemně propojených faktorů, které ovlivňují zdraví a životní pohodu, a vzájemnou provázaností na globální, regionální i místní úrovni. V současné době není možné zhostit se úspěšně náročných úkolů v oblasti veřejného zdraví (např. nepřenosné choroby, antimikrobiální rezistence, nerovný přístup ke zdravotní péči a zdravotní důsledky vynucených opatření ke snížení nákladů na zdravotní péči v některých zemích) bez spolupráce mezi jednotlivými sektory a koordinace kroků na mezinárodní, národní i místní úrovni. 53 zemí z evropského regionu WHO vytvořily a přijaly evropskou strategii pro 21. století (Zdraví 2020) jako společný, výzkumem podložený souhrn opatření pro rozvoj veřejného zdraví, podporu spolupráce ve všech sektorech a na všech úrovních a koordinaci kroků vedoucích ke zlepšení zdraví a životní pohody obyvatel evropského regionu. Tento článek se věnuje vzniku a vývoji strategie Zdraví 2020, hlavním strategickým cílům, úkolům i náplni. Dále uvádí kroky nezbytné k úspěšnému zavedení strategie Zdraví 2020 v jednotlivých zemích a pomoc poskytovanou WHO zemím, které začaly v oblasti zdraví uplatňovat postupy v souladu se strategií Zdraví 2020., The 21st-century health landscape is shaped by growing global, regional and local interdependence and an increasingly complex array of interlinking factors that influence health and well-being. Most of today’s major public health challenges, including noncommunicable diseases, antimicrobial resistance, health inequalities and the health effects of austerity measures in some countries, cannot be addressed effectively without intersectoral and coordinated action at supranational, national and local levels. The 53 countries of the WHO European Region developed and adopted a European policy framework and strategy for the 21st century (Health 2020) as a common, evidence-informed policy framework to support and encourage coordinated action by policy-makers at all levels and in all sectors to improve population health and well-being. This article presents the development process of Health 2020 and its main strategic goals, objectives and content. Further, we describe what is needed to successfully implement Health 2020 in countries and how can WHO provide technical assistance to countries that embark on developing health policy aligned with the Health 2020 policy framewor, Zsuzsanna Jakab, Agis D. Tsouros, and Literatura