Phylogenetic systematics comprise the principles and methods by which we reconstruct the evolutionary history (phylogeny) of organisms and transform this reconstruction into a biological classification of these organisms. The most important progress in designing the tools for phylogenetic reconstruction was initiated by the German entomologist Willi Hennig (1913-1976), who clarified or redefined the goals of phylogenetic systematics in a book published in 1950: Grundzüge einer Theorie der phylogenetischen Systematik. An extensively revised, English translation was published in 1966: Phylogenetic Systematics. W. Hennig's "phylogenetic systematics" undoubtedly was a very significant contribution to systematics, by some systematists and philosophers even characterized as a "revolution". Hennig's redefinition and clarification of the concepts of monophyly and phylogenetic relationships created a sound foundation for systematics in general. After decades of focussing on species-level problems, Hennig redirected the interest of systematists towards the study of higher taxa and the reconstruction of phylogenetic relationships between them. A phylogenetic system is now almost universally accepted as the most useful general reference system for biology. It has been able to accommodate new developments in systematics (such as quantitative cladistics and molecular systematics), evolutionary biology (such as ecological phylogenetics), and historical biogeography.
In post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe, the effects of urban culture-led flagship projects on the quality of life of local neighbourhood communities have only received marginal attention, while the overriding focus has been on promoting economic growth and internationalisation. The aim of the article is to identify the community impacts of culture-led regeneration projects carried out in the inner city of Tallinn in the past decade. Qualitative analysis of three inner-city flagship projects—creative campus, museum, and cultural hub—revealed that culture-led regeneration projects, whether public or private initiatives, are regarded as standard business models. In terms of their influence on local communities, the projects vary depending on their focus, the degree of engagement of local groups in the planning phase and activities, and the extent of actual physical change. However, in cases where local groups have been engaged, the engagement has been selective and has primarily involved the creative class. Local residents nevertheless perceive that the projects have led to overall positive changes in physical neighbourhood characteristics.
Much recent neuroscientific work, and in particular the programme initiated by Benjamin Libet, seeks to show ''the causal closure of the physical''-that mental events never cause physical events, and in particular that our intentions never cause brain events and thereby our intentional bodily actions. But no one is justified in believing any scientific theory unless they are justified in believing that it successfully predicts certain events. Someone is justified in believing that certain events predicted by some theory did occur, if they apparently remember having perceived these events or if some other scientist apparently testifies that they have perceived these events. But we believe our apparent memories of our past perceptions of events because we believe that perceiving those events has caused brain events which have caused our present apparent memories of them; and we believe the apparent testimony of others because we believe that their intentions to testify have caused brain events in them which in turn have caused the words of their testimony to come out of their mouths. So someone could only justifiably believe the theory that mental events never cause physical events if they believe that either their past perceptions or the intentions of other scientists to tell them what they perceived, both of which are kinds of mental events, have caused brain events, which are physical events. So that theory is self-defeating; no one could ever be justified in believing it, or more generally be justified in believing the theory of the causal closure of the physical., Hodně nedávná neurovědní práce, a zejména program iniciovaný Benjaminem Libetem, se snaží ukázat ,,kauzální uzavření fyzického'' - to, že duševní události nikdy nezpůsobují fyzické události, a zejména to, že naše záměry nikdy nezpůsobují mozkové příhody a tím naše úmyslné tělesné akcí. Nikdo však není oprávněn věřit žádné vědecké teorii, pokud nejsou oprávněni věřit, že úspěšně předpovídá určité události. Někdo je oprávněn věřit, že určité události předvídané nějakou teorií se vyskytly, pokud si zřejmě pamatují, že tyto události vnímaly, nebo pokud nějaký jiný vědec zřejmě svědčí o tom, že tyto události vnímaly. Ale věříme, že naše zjevné vzpomínky na naše minulé vnímání událostí, protože jsme přesvědčeni, že vnímání těchto událostí způsobilo události mozku, které způsobily naše současné zjevné vzpomínky na ně; a věříme, že zjevné svědectví druhých, protože jsme přesvědčeni, že jejich záměry svědčit způsobily v nich mozkové události, které zase způsobily, že slova jejich svědectví vyšla z úst. Tak někdo mohl jen oprávněně věřit teorii, že duševní události nikdy nezpůsobí fyzické události, pokud se domnívají, že buď jejich minulé vnímání, nebo záměry jiných vědců, jim řekly, co vnímají, což jsou oba druhy duševních událostí, které způsobily mozkové příhody, fyzické události. Takže tato teorie je samo-porážející; nikdo nemohl být ospravedlněn, když tomu věřil,nebo obecněji být oprávněn věřit teorii kauzálního uzavření fyzické., and Richard Swinburne
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most frequently inherited form of intellectual disability and prevalent single-gene cause of autism. A priority of FXS research is to determine the molecular mechanisms underlying the cognitive and social functioning impairments in humans and the FXS mouse model. Glutamate ionotropic alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) receptors (AMPARs) mediate a majority of fast excitatory neurotransmission in the central nervous system and are critically important for nearly all aspects of brain function, including neuronal development, synaptic plasticity, and learning and memory. Both preclinical and clinical studies have indicated that expression, trafficking, and functions of AMPARs are altered and result in altered synapse development and plasticity, cognitive impairment, and poor mental health in FXS. In this review, we discuss the contribution of AMPARs to disorders of FXS by highlighting recent research advances with a specific focus on change in AMPARs expression, trafficking, and dependent synaptic plasticity. Since changes in synaptic strength underlie the basis of learning, development, and disease, we suggest that the current knowledge base of AMPARs has reached a unique point to permit a comprehensive re-evaluation of their roles in FXS.
The authors deal with the development of the settlement of the Malá Haná region on the border of historical Moravia during the Late Roman Period (stages C3–D1) and during the Migration Period. After the intense settling of settlements by the Suebi with the Roman-provincial, Przeworsk culture and Chernyakhov culture contacts, which culminate in stage D1, there are strong ties to South Moravia and the Central Danube region at Malá Haná in stages D2 and D3, or alternatively to the Danube-East Germanic cultural group from the 5th century (finds of fibulas, buckles, ironwork in the style of Untersiebenbrunn, probably a Hun sax, skeletal grave from Knínice). Through Malá Haná we can assume the movement of the Lombards on their way from Bohemia to South Moravia, as evidenced by the unique finds of parts of the belt garnitures from Jevíčko and probably also by unique finds of swords (spathae) from two other sites.
In summer 2008, the Orthopteran species Chorthippus biguttulus, Myrmeleotettix maculatus (Caelifera), Decticus verrucivorus and Platycleis albopunctata (Ensifera) were sampled in coastal heathland on the German Baltic Sea island of Hiddensee. The aim of this study was to assess differences in abundance of Orthoptera in three different habitats and determine the importance of habitat mosaics. Distribution patterns varied among species and total abundance of Orthoptera differed significantly among the three habitats. Due to species-specific habitat preferences the Caelifera were most abundant in grey dunes and the Ensifera in dwarf-shrub heath adjoining grey dunes. In conclusion, grey dunes are a suitable habitat for the Caelifera studied, while the Ensifera require a heathland mosaic consisting of both grey dunes and dwarf shrub vegetation.
It was shown that the use of biochar provides many benefits to agriculture by improving the whole complex of soil properties, including soil structure. However, the diverse range of biochar effects depends on its physicochemical properties, its application rates, soil initial properties etc. The impacts of biochar, mainly its reapplication to soils and its interaction with nitrogen in relation to water-stable aggregates (WSA) did not receive much attention to date. The aims of the study were: (1) to evaluate the effect of initial application (in spring 2014) and reapplication (in spring 2018) of different biochar rates (B0, B10 and B20 t ha–1) as well as application of biochar with N-fertilizer (40 to 240 kg N ha–1 depending on the requirement of the cultivated crop) on the content of WSA as one of the most important indicators of soil structure quality, (2) to assess the interrelationships between the contents of soil organic matter (SOM) and WSA. The study was conducted in 2017–2019 as part of the field experiment with biochar on Haplic Luvisol at the experimental station of SUA in Nitra, Slovakia. Results showed that initial application as well as reapplication of biochar improved soil structure. The most favorable changes in soil structure were found in N0B20B treatment (with biochar reapplication) at which a significantly higher content of water-stable macro-aggregates (WSAma) (+15%) as well as content of WSAma size fractions of > 5 mm, 5–3 mm, 3–2 mm and 2–1 mm (+72%, +65%, +57% and +64%, respectively) was observed compared to the control. An increase in SOM content, due to both, initial biochar application and its reapplication, significantly supported the stability of soil aggregates, while organic matter including humic substances composition did not.
While the key role of termites in the decomposition of litter in the tropics has been acknowledged for a long time, much less information exists on their importance in the recycling of dung of primary consumers, especially herbivores. A review of published studies shows that a diverse group of termites (at least 126 species) has been reported to feed on a wide range of mammalian dung (18 species). Predominantly, wood-feeding and polyphagous wood-litter feeding species were found to feed also frequently on dung. Moreover, we found that termites can quickly remove large amounts of mammalian dung, especially in the dry season, when on average about 1/3 of the dung deposited in a given habitat is removed by termites within one month (with the highest rates observed in savannas). No distinctive preference for mammalian dung over other organic food sources was observed for fungus-growing termites (Macrotermitinae), whereas the majority of the non-fungus growing taxa studied prefer dung over other food. As termites bring large quantities of dung below the soil surface, disturb and enrich soils with nutrients, dung feeding by termites appears to be a previously underestimated process important in the functioning of tropical ecosystems.
Catecholaminergic system plays an important role in hypertension development. The available results on mRNA expression of catecholaminergic system genes in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) are often contradictory. One of the possible causes might be the use of various reference genes as internal controls. In the present study, we searched for suitable reference genes in adrenal medulla or sympathetic ganglia of SHR and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats, which would enable reliable comparison of mRNA expression between these two strains. The mRNA expression was measured by quantitative real-time PCR in adrenal medulla and superior cervical ganglia of 4-week-old or 24-week-old SHR and WKY rats. We evaluated 12 reference genes by three software tools (Normfinder, BestKeeper, geNorm) and compared them for the standardization of mRNA expression. Combination of reference genes Hprt1 and Ywhaz in adrenal medulla and Gapdh and 18S in sympathetic ganglia were chosen as the best ones. 18S was found as applicable reference gene in both tissues. We found many alterations in expression of catecholaminergic system genes in adrenal medulla and sympathetic ganglia of SHR. The usage of the most or the least stable reference gene as internal control changed results moderately in sympathetic ganglia but seriously in adrenal medulla. For example, tyrosine hydroxylase (Th) gene was underexpressed in adrenal medulla of adult SHR using the appropriate reference gene but unchanged after the standardization to the least stable reference gene. Our results indicate the importance of appropriate internal control. The suitability of reference genes should be checked again in the case of change in experimental conditions., A. Vavřínová, M. Behuliak, J. Zicha., and Obsahuje bibliografii