The role of the thermophotoperiod on larval diapause induction and development of Sesamia nonagrioides was investigated under laboratory conditions. The incidences of diapause by TC 12 : 12 thermoperiods under DD, in which the thermophase was 30°C and cryophases varied from 10 to 25°C, were compared to the effects of thermophotoperiods with the same configuration. Higher incidences of diapause were recorded when larvae were exposed to thermophotoperiods with cryophases of 15-25°C, than under thermoperiods under constant darkness. In addition, larvae exhibited significantly lower percentages of diapause when exposed to cryophases < 15°C under either thermo- or thermophotoperiodic condition. Diapausing larvae when exposed to photoperiods 16L : 8D h and different temperatures of 25-30°C proceeded to development in 14-16 days. Moreover time needed for the pupation of diapausing larvae after their transfer to 12L : 12D h, was reduced from approximately 49 to 12 days depending on temperatures of exposures (25-30°C). Diapause termination was also compared under 12L : 12D h and constant temperature of 25°C or a thermoperiod of TC 12:12 (30°: 20°). Days needed for pupation at constant temperature or under the mentioned thermoperiodic regime, were approximately the same when the high temperature of the thermoperiod coincided with the scotophase, while with the co-occurrence of the high temperature of the thermoperiod and the photophase significantly additional time was needed for diapause development. Significantly shorter time was also needed for diapause development after exposure of diapausing larvae to continuous light, than to continuous darkness under 25°C. Thermoperiods of different amplitudes with the same mean temperatures proved that the higher temperature of scotophase led to higher rate of diapause development in spite of the relatively low temperature of the photophase tested. It is suggested that thermoperiod could hasten the time needed for diapause development, but it is not the crucial factor for the termination of diapause.
Repeated postnatal caffeine treatment of rat pups led to transient developmental changes in cortical epileptic afterdischarges. To know if physiological cortical functions are also affected transcallosal evoked potentials were studied. Rat pups of the Wistar strain were injected daily with caffeine (10 or 20 mg/kg s.c.) from postnatal day (P) 7 to P11, control siblings received saline. Cortical interhemispheric responses were tested at P12, 18, 25 and in young adult rats. Amplitude of initial monosynaptic components was evaluated in averaged responses. Single pulses as well as paired and frequency (five pulses) stimulations were used. Developmental rules - highest amplitude of responses in 25-day-old rats, potentiation with paired and frequency stimulation present since P18 - were confirmed. Caffeine-treated rats exhibited transient changes: single responses were augmented in P25 if high stimulation intensity was used, paired-pulse and freque ncy responses were higher in experimental than in control anim als at P12, the opposite change was observed in 18- and more ma rkedly in 25-day-old rats. No significant changes were found in adult animals, monosynaptic transcallosal responses represent a simple and robust system. The developmental profile of described changes did not exactly correspond to changes in epileptic afterdischarges supporting the possibility that afterdischarges did not arise from early monosynaptic components of responses. In spite of transient nature of changes they can reflect delayed or more probably modified brain development., J. Tchekalarova, H. Kubová, P. Mareš., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
The effects of transient and sustained hyperthyroidism on vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-like immunoreactivity (VIP-LI) levels were studied in the heart atria of developing and adult rats. Newborn rats were divided into 5 groups. Neo-T animals were treated with thyroxine (T4) during postnatal days 1-8 and sacrificed at the age of 60 days. Neo-S rats were treated with T4 during postnatal days 1-60 and sacrificed one day later. Adult-1 and Adult-2 animals received T4 during days 52-60 and were sacrificed 5-6 days and 1 day later, respectively. Control animals were injected with saline. VIP-LI concentrations were determined in extracts from the left and right atria separately. In Neo-S and Adult-2 rats, spontaneous heart rate, the weight of both atria and total T4 serum levels were significantly enhanced, while their body weight was decreased. The ratio atria weight to body weight was significantly increased in all groups except for Adult-1 animals. Hyperthyroidism led to a significant decrease in VIP-LI levels in both atria of Neo-S and Neo-T rats. Hyperthyroidism induced in adult rats also decreased VIP-LI levels in both atria. However, this change was only transient. In conclusion, our data have provided new evidence that hyperthyroidism induced during the early neonatal period interferes with the development of VIP-ergic innervation in rat atria. The period of the first few postnatal days seems to be essential for this effect, since VIP-LI concentrations in 60-day-old animals did not significantly differ between Neo-S and Neo-T atria., J. Kuncová, J. Slavíková., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The cosmologies of the pre-Socratics are usually considered to be independent, distinctive conceptions. Within the framework of these cosmologies, however, David J. Furley was able to differentiate “linear” and “centrifocal” conceptions, while Daniel W. Graham distinguished “meteorological” and “lithic” models; by way of these, they pointed out the common features of individual cosmologies and at the same time showed how they had evolved. It is, however, possible to conclude that they are both discussing the same thing. Pre-Socratic cosmologies, that is to say, experienced a significant development that was based on a change in the concept of the space of the universe. While in the Ionian archaic cosmologies of the 6th century BCE the space of the universe usually extended only between the flat Earth and the heaven, in the following century it was already being extended around the entire Earth. This led to a change not only in the concept of celestial bodies and their orbits, but in additional cosmological aspects as well. The cause of this development was Parmenides’ conception of the space of the universe, consisting of a spherical heaven with a spherical Earth in its center. and Kosmologie předsokratiků se obvykle považují za nezávislé osobité koncepce. David J. Furley však v jejich rámci odlišil „lineární“ a „centrifokální“ pojetí, zatímco Daniel W. Graham „meteorologický“ a „lithický“ model. Poukázali tím na společné rysy jednotlivých kosmologií a zároveň naznačili jejich vývoj. Lze ovšem soudit, že oba vypovídají o stejné události. Předsókratovské kosmologie totiž prošly výrazným vývojem, který vycházel ze změny v pojetí prostoru univerza. Zatímco se v iónských archaických kosmologiích 6. století př. n. l. prostor univerza zpravidla rozpínal pouze mezi plochou Zemí a nebem, v následujícím století byl již akcentován kolem celé Země. Tím došlo ke změně nejen v pojetí nebeských těles a jejich oběhů, ale i dalších kosmologických aspektů. Příčinou tohoto vývoje byla Parmenidova koncepce prostoru univerza, sestávajícího ze sférického nebe s kulovou Zemí v jeho středu.