There are three basic procedures used for an assessment of the electrical heart field from the body surface: standard electrocardiography, vectorcardiography, and body surface potential mapping (BSPM). BSPM has two major advantages over both other methods: 1) it allows exploring the entire chest surface, thus providing all the information on the cardiac electric field available at the body surface; 2) it is more sensitive in detecting local electrical events, such as local conduction disturbances or regional heterogeneities of ventricular recovery. Nevertheless the results obtained using BSPM procedure cannot answer all questions about real causality of detected changes of the electrical heart field. We tried therefore to use mathematical model of the electrical field in order to answer these questions. A simple and anatomical forward calculation model was used to test the hypothesis whether the altered position of the heart could explain heterogeneity of repolarization at late stages of pregnancy in humans. The hypothesis was declined. Further findings included: A. Repolarization duration (represented by QT interval) in healthy subjects are distributed regularly and predictably on the body surface carrying no information about local pathology. B. At any systemic analysis of ventricular repolarization, it is vital to consider the regions where any electrode systems record low amplitudes due to methodological, not pathological reasons. C. Anatomical (heterogeneous) model did not yield superior results over simple (homogenous) ones possibly since none reflected the specific torso geometry of individual patients., O. Kittnar, M. Mlček., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Effects of two adipokinetic hormones (Pyrap-AKH and Peram-CAH-II) on the presence of diacylglycerol (DG) molecular species and their fatty acid (FA) constituents in the haemolymph of the firebug Pyrrhocoris apterus were investigated using liquid chromatography (HPLC) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The results show that DGs with characteristic FAs are preferentially mobilized from the fat body (FB) by the action of both the AKHs produced by P. apterus. Both the macropterous and brachypterous morphs have similar DG and FA profiles. A difference in the action of the Pyrap-AKH and the Peram-CAH-II, however, results in distinct differences in the distribution of FAs in the macropterous morph. It seems that C16 to a slight extent and unsaturated C18 FAs mainly play a dominant role in the AKH based action, in particular linoleic acid (18:2), which represents 50-60% of the total DG mobilized. The metabolically active C16 and C18 FAs are preferentially absorbed from the linden seeds and accumulated in the FB. The relationships between AKH action and FA distribution in DGs in P. apterus, compared to other insect species are summarized and discussed in detail.
We studied the diet of 10 species of grasshopper belonging to the family Pamphagidae over a period of 3 years at 6 localities in North Eastern Algeria. The species of plants consumed by the grasshoppers was determined by comparing slide mounted specimens of the pieces of plant epidermis in their faeces with those in a reference collection of identified plants collected from the same localities. The percentages of occurrence of the different species of plants in the faeces of the grasshoppers were not related to the abundance of the plants at the sites studied. All the grasshoppers were polyphagous but differed in the percentage of Poaceae in their diets. The diet of Tmethis and Ocneridia contained a higher percentage of Poaceae than the other species and are considered to be ambivores. The three species in the Pamphagus gr. djelfensis complex differ in their diets but all tend to avoid consuming Poaceae and are categorized as forbivores. We also compared the frequency of occurrence of Fabaceae in the faeces and in the field and O. volxemii is the only species that avoided consuming this plant family. The number of sensilla on the labrum was also studied in both sexes of each species. Once one corrects for differences in the size of the labrum, the forbivores have higher numbers of sensilla in groups A1, A2 and A3 (but not A10) than the ambivores. The numbers of sensilla in the A10 group on the labrum of species of Pamphagidae is greater than on that of species of Acrididae, which are mainly graminivores and adapted to semi-arid conditions., Naima Benkenana, Abboud Harrat, Daniel Petit., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
This paper deals with the species composition of epiphytic lichens in Central European oak forests. A total of 192 oak trees at 48 localities in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary were investigated. In total, 104 lichen species were recorded and divided into three groups in accordance with their frequency of occurrence on trees within the area. The importance of abiotic factors affecting species composition was assessed by multivariate statistics. Principal component analysis illustrated that lichen assemblages reflected geographical distribution of localities and that the occurrence of many species is closely associated with several environmental factors. In particular there is a high negative association with pollution, and positive associations with precipitation, solar radiation and basic bedrock. The variation partitioning estimated the influence of environmental parameters, human impact and naturality factors on lichen composition. Cluster analysis recognized six communities of lichens, of which the members differed from those in the other communities in their autecological characteristics. Two of the communities can be assigned to Parmelion caperatae and Pertusarion amarae and seem to be similar to natural lichen communities of oak forests in Central Europe. Possible reasons for absence of several epiphytic lichen associations (Lobarion pulmonariae, Pertusarion hemisphaericae) in the forests studied is discussed and the species composition in Central Europe was compared with the lichen assemblages in oak forests in neighbouring regions (western Europe, Scandinavia). On the basis of these findings several indicative species of close to natural oak forest are suggested (Acrocordia gemmata, Bacidia rubella, Calicium spp., Caloplaca lucifuga, Cetrelia olivetorum s.l., Chrysothrix candelaris, Flavoparmelia caperata, Melanelia subargentifera).
High temperature alters the internal microstructure of rocks and consequently changes the physical and mechanical properties of rocks. Many studies have been carried out to examine the transformations in the microstructures of rocks under high temperature through near infrared spectroscopy (NIR), Raman spectroscopy, or thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). The current review synthesizes the data from a number of literatures and summarizes the major transformations of silica rocks under high temperature. The analysis shows that silica rocks starts to lose the water adsorbed in open pores upon heating at about 150 °C. At 200-300 °C, the reaction between SiOH (silanole) in the rocks generates new Si-O-Si bonds as well as H2O, and decreases the open pores. The rocks undergo volume expansion at >550 °C, and the volume contracts and forms new micro pores or cracks which play an important role in the evacuation of the water., Jishi Geng, Qiang Sun, Yuchun Zhang and Yuliang Zhang., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
DNA barcoding surveys of small insects usually extract DNA from either a complete insect or a leg. Little is known about how to optimize DNA quantity and quality from different insect parts while preserving a morphological voucher. Here, we quantify DNA yield from different body parts (antenna, hind leg, forewing, hind wing and abdomen) of the micro-moth Cameraria ohridella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) using fluorescent nucleic acid stain (PicoGreen). Samples were preserved in 100% ethanol or dried for three weeks. Our experiment was designed to encompass practical sampling options during fieldwork. DNA quality was assessed by PCR amplification of the mitochondrial COI barcode fragment. In addition, we compared PCR amplification using Platinum® Taq and Qiagen DNA Polymerase and quantified sequence success of amplified DNA. We show that overall, dry parts showed higher eluted DNA yields. PCR and sequencing success rate were slightly higher for dry tissue than ethanol-preserved parts. We also show that Platinum® Taq yielded the highest PCR success rate and that all dry tissues are sequenceable. The optimal strategy for DNA barcoding surveys is therefore to mount micro-Lepidoptera specimens in the field for morphological analysis and sample tissues (hind legs are favoured) from dried samples at a later time (several weeks) in the lab for DNA barcoding using preferentially Platinum® Taq. If larger amounts of DNA are required (i.e. for nuclear gene sequencing), several legs from one side of the specimen or the abdomen should be preserved in pure ethanol., Carlos Lopez-Vaamonde ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
In this report, we dealt with ventricular activation abnormalities in 30 patients with previous non-Q myocardial infarction (Mi) by means of the CARD1AG 128.1 device, which enables analysis of ECGs, VCGs and body surface potential maps. The diagnosis was verified by left ventriculography, echocardiography and perfusion scintigraphy. Twenty-nine healthy subjects served as the control group. Morphological findings confirmed the presence of a significant subgroup with serious left ventricular asynergy. Seven electrocardiological variables, which significantly differed from control values, disclosed that non-Q Ml is responsible for localized activation time prolongation, and that inferoposterior scars tend to delay the entire activation of ventricles, and to cause disturbances of the terminal depolarization phase together with a decrease in voltage production during QRS. Lesions of the anterior wall and the apicomesial part of the inferoposterior wall affect the distribution of the Q wave more often than the posterior basal ones. The probability of such abnormalities increases with the degree of asynergy. Some VCG criteria increase the sensitivity of electrocardiological analysis. These parameters will be used for evaluating the diagnostic value of electrocardiological analysis in the chronic non-Q Ml. Non-Q myocardial infarctions represent a heterogeneous group of infarctions from both electrophysiological and morphological aspects.
Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI), a remote sensing technique, is used for detecting surface deformation in the cities of Prague and Ostrava. PSI is able to detect vertical movements with an accuracy of less than 1 mm for a long time series of the SAR data, but the maximum detectable rate of movement is only a few centimetres per year. This technique is quite suitable for detecting recent movements in most Prague localities. On the other hand, in Ostrava and its surroundings, affected by undermining, where subsidences (1992-2006) amount to decimetres per year, movements cannot be fully detected by the PSInSAR technique. The paper presents results of analysing PSI data for two localities in Prague and one locality in the Ostrava areas. The localities are strictly situated in built-up areas with many suitable reflectors. Data from the ERS-1/2 and ENVISAT satellites covering a 13-year period for the Prague (1992-2005) and a 14-year period for the Ostrava (1992-2006) area were used. Annual movement velocities and time-series of reflectors were determined. At these three localities, where different types of movements were identified, the application and possible limitations of PSI in urban areas are shown., Pavel Kadlečík, Vladimír Schenk, Zuzana Seidlová and Zdeňka Schenková., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The main objective of this paper is to explain how the application of various interpolation methods influence the determination of vertical crustal movements at any given point. The paper compares several methods of interpolation and verifies their suitability, including kriging, minimum curvature, nearest neighbor, natural neighbor, polynomial regression, inverse distance to a power, and triangulation with linear interpolation. The calculations show that the chosen interpolation method has significant influence on the final result of the study. Nearest neighbor method was chosen to be the best., Kamil Kowalczyk, Jacek Rapinski and Marek Mroz., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Je předložena první část plánovaného souboru malých prací, určených pro tento časopis. Práce se týká věcí, podle našeho názoru důležitých pro analytickou kvalitu v klinické laboratoři. Celý soubor prací se bude zabývat tématy metrologie (charakteru předmětů měření), statistikou, vnitřní kontrolou kvality, externím hodnocením kvality a kritickými postřehy v uvedených oblastech. Příspěvky jsou napsány s maximální snahou po jednoduchosti podle konceptu ASAP-„as simple as possible“. V prvním příspěvku byl aplikován tento přístup pro odvození požadavků na analytickou kvalitu z hodnot biologických variabilit: je diskutována situace při měření koncentrace Na v krevním séru. Analytická kvalita tohoto měření je akceptovatelná, pokud dlouhodobě sledované výsledky vykazují stabilitu v rozmezí 1 %. Této stability je možné dosáhnout., This is the first article in a series of small, „loose“ contributions to this journal. The articles touch, what we think, is important about analytical quality in the medical laboratory The articles will address topics such as metrology (philosophy of the measurand), statistics, internal quality control (IQC), external quality assessment (EQA), critiques to the discipline. All contributions follow the ASAP-concept, meaning As Simple As Possible. Here, we explore the „ASAP“ concept for analytical quality specifications derived from biological variation. The application of the concept results for the great majority of the mainstream serum-, plasma-, and blood-analytes in CVa values within boundaries of 0.4 – 15 % and for Delta-SE within boundaries of 0.2 – 10 %. The take-home message is: analytical quality in the medical laboratory must NOT be viewed in absolute terms („a CVa of 2 % is good“), BUT in relative terms. A CVa of 2 % is good for S-cholesterol analysis, but NOT for S-Na analysis!, Stepman H., Stöckl D., and Literatura 11