Number of nipples varied between ten and twelve in a sample of 51 female edible dormice Glis glis from Slovenia. Ten nipples were by far the most common condition (82 % of specimens) and only two females had twelve. Animals with eleven nipples were asymmetric in the anterior inguinal pair. Three females from Monte Gargano (Italy) had 10, 11 and 11 nipples, but the asymmetric pair was the posterior abdominal one. Since the prevailing condition among dormice (family Gliridae) is eight nipples, it is suggested that high nipple count in the edible dormouse is an ecological adaptation to a multi-annual variation in resources. Due to irregularities in mast-production years, females do not reproduce annually, which possess demands for larger litters. Either the anterior inguinal (Slovenia) or posterior abdominal pair (Italy) is involved in a switch from ten to twelve nipple condition, with the difference possibly showing a geographic pattern.
Nirmal Varmā (1929-2005) lived in Prague between 1959 and 1968. The atmosphere of Old Prague became one of the favorite motifs of his writings. He witnesses the Prague Spring of 1968, the Soviet invasion on August 21, 1968 and its aftermath in 1969, all of which influenced his political views in a decisive way.
This study investigated whether endothelin (ET)-1-induced increase in myocardial distensibility is preserved in heart failure (HF) and whether it is modulated by nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandins. New Zealand white rabbits were treated with doxorubicin (1 mg/kg, intravenously twice a week for 8 weeks, DOX-HF group) or saline (control group). Effects of ET-1 (0.1, 1, 10 nM) were tested in papillary muscles from the DOX-HF group and a control group in the presence of: i) intact endocardial endothelium (EE); ii) damaged EE; iii) NG-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA; NO synthase inhibitor), and iv) indomethacin (INDO; cyclooxygenase inhibitor). In the presence of an intact EE, ET-1 promoted concentration-dependent positive inotropic and lusitropic effects that were maintained after damaging the EE, in the presence of L-NNA or INDO and in the DOX-HF Group. ET-1 reduced resting tension at the end of the isometric twitch (increased diastolic distensibility) by 3.2±1.3 %, 6.0±1.6 % and 8.8±2.7 % (at 0.1, 1 and 10 nM, respectively), in muscles with intact EE, effect that was completely abolished after damaging EE, in the presence of L-NNA or INDO or in the DOX-HF Group. This study demonstrated that the increase in myocardial distensibility induced by ET-1 is absent in HF and is dependent of NO and prostaglandin release., C. Brás-Silva, D. Monteiro-Sousa, A. J. Duarte, M. Guerra, A. P. Fontes-Sousa, C. Moura, J. C. Areias, A. F. Leite-Moreira., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy