The present study investigated cardiac function in hearts of mice with total deficiency of the β1-, β2- and β3-adrenoceptors (TKO) in comparison to wildtype mice (WT). We investigated cardiac morphology and echocardiographic function, measured protein expression of Ca2+-regulatory proteins, SERCA 2a activity, myofibrillar function, and performed running wheel tests. Heart weight and heart-to-body weight ratio were significantly smaller in TKO as compared to WT. This was accompanied by a decrease in the size of the cardiomyocytes in TKO. Heart rate and ejection fraction were significantly diminished in TKO as compared to WT. Protein expressions of SERCA 2a, ryanodine receptor and Na+/Ca2+-exchanger were similar in TKO and WT mice, but phospholamban protein expression was increased. PKAdependent phosphorylation of phospholamban at serine 16 was absent and CaMKII-dependent phosphorylation at threonine 17 was decreased in TKO. All alterations were paralleled by a decrease in SERCA 2a-activity. A similar maximal calciumdependent tension but an increased myofibrillar calciumsensitivity was measured in TKO as compared to WT. We did not observe relevant functional impairments of TKO in running wheel tests. In the absence of β-agonistic stimulation, SERCA 2a activity is mainly regulated by alterations of phospholamban expression and phosphorylation. The decreased SERCA 2a activity following β-adrenoceptor deficiency may be partly compensated by an increased myofibrillar calcium-sensitivity., S. Lee ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Let $S$ and $R$ be two associative rings, let $ _{S}C_{R}$ be a semidualizing $(S,R)$-bimodule. We introduce and investigate properties of the totally reflexive module with respect to $_{S}C_{R}$ and we give a characterization of the class of the totally $C_{R}$-reflexive modules over any ring $R$. Moreover, we show that the totally $C_{R}$-reflexive module with finite projective dimension is exactly the finitely generated projective right $R$-module. We then study the relations between the class of totally reflexive modules and the Bass class with respect to a semidualizing bimodule. The paper contains several results which are new in the commutative Noetherian setting.
In this article, we propose an automated construction of knowledge based artificial neural networks (KBANN) for the recognition of restricted sets of handwritten words or characters. The features that better describe the chosen vocabulary are first selected, according to the characteristics of the used script, language and lexicon. Then, ideal samples of lexicon elements (words or characters) are submitted to a feature extraction module to derive their description using the chosen primitives. The analysis of these descriptions generates a symbolic knowledge base reflecting a hierarchical classification of the words (or characters). The rules are then translated into a multilayer neural network by determining precisely its architecture and initializing its connections with specific values. This construction approach reduces the training stage, which enables the network to reach its final topology and to generalize. The proposed method has been tested on the automated construction of neuro-symbolic classifiers for two Arabic word lexicons.
A study of displacements relating to geodynamical processes involves a use of accurate measurement equipment. Better and better accuracy of field surveys neglecting a survey environment can be insufficient in a reliable study. One of the environmental aspects is discussed in the paper. That is a geotechnical condition of a ground - an environment of benchmarks, which changes of position are observed in geodetic surveys. The conditions determine a ground stability affected by weather or geological processes. The main idea of the paper is to consider geotechnical and geological aspects in geodetic reasoning carried on the base of displacement analysis within a study of geodynamics. There are presented examples illustrating the problem. The first relates to former levelling observations carried in an area of Wieliczka, well geologically surveyed due to mining activity in a salt deposit. There are presented results obtained on the base of a numerical analysis. The seasonal variations of benchmarks’ heights are explained in a background of geology. The changes of ground properties induced by atmospheric conditions are suggested as the main cause of the displacements. The survey data processing provided values of displacements caused by seasonally expanding grounds. The second examples concerns ongoing observations in the area of Inowroclaw (located above the salt dome) bring similar variations of heights that can not be related to that cause. The estimated linear trend of height changes proves an uplift process of the salt dome. Derived conclusions suggest a certain methodology helpful in reliable analysis of geodetic surveys. The conclusions prove that geodetic surveys carried out for investigations of displacements in geodynamics require quite extensive geological data., Zbigniew Szczerbowski., and Obsahuje bibliografii