The STESYS2 software is a new version of the IBM PC software supporting interactive stereological measurements. In comparison with the previous STESYS, it is enhanced by a number of useful options, e.g. on-line image input via a TV camera coupled with a microscope operating under MS Windows OS. The main advantage, when compared with other such software packages, is the design of the STESYS2 as a module of the freeware image processing system Image Tool which provides a user-friendly environment including a number of image processing and preprocessing routines. Capabilities of the STESYS2 are illustrated by a practical example: estimation of the surface area of capillaries in the terminal villi of human placenta by the Sandau spatial grid method., Z. Tomori, L. Matis, P. Karen, L. Kubínová, I. Krekule., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Stiff-person syndrome (SPS) is a rare disorder characterized by muscle stiffness and painful spasms. Misdiagnosis may occur due to the fact that the clinical picture of SPS is often atypical. The main pathophysiologic mechanism underlying the development of SPS is insufficient inhibition at the cortical and spinal levels. There is good evidence for a primary autoimmune etiology. A 61-year-old man was admitted to a neurological department due to muscle hypertonia with episodic attacks of painful spasms predominantly affecting axial muscles. The symptoms developed shortly after tickborne meningoencephalitis. Electromyography (EMG) revealed signs of continuous motor unit activity. Antibodies against glutamate decarboxylase (anti-GAD) were highly elevated. We present a case of a man who developed clinically severe anti-GAD positive SPS, provoked by tick-borne encephalitis. After therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) a rapid, temporary improvement of the clinical and neurophysiological findings was noted. Only after being placed on long-term immunosuppression did the patient achieve stable recovery. This case supports the importance of EMG findings and demonstrates the effect of TPE as well as the need for chronic immunosuppression in severe cases of SPS., Edvard Ehler, Jan Latta, Petra Mandysová, Jana Havlasová, Milan Mrklovský, and Literatura 22
Předmětem této studie je vztah Komunistické strany Čech a Moravy (KSČM) k vlastní minulosti z hlediska vnitřního vývoje strany a hledání politické a kulturní identity v rámci českého politického systému. Interpretace minulosti a role Komunistické strany Československa (KSČ) v českých a československých dějinách byly klíčovými prvky ideologického vývoje strany v prvním desetiletí české demokracie po listopadu 1989 a hrály ústřední roli v úsilí komunistů odpovědět na její systémový i rétorický antikomunismus. Autor ukazuje, jaký diferenciační účinek měly diskuse o minulosti v prvních polistopadových letech, kdy na jedné straně přispívaly k vnitřnímu štěpení strany, na druhé straně však také vytvářely podmínky pro její pozdější konsolidaci a získání nového sebevědomí. Počáteční reformistická strategie, inklinující k ideovým souřadnicím sociální demokracie a usilující o získání maximálního počtu voličů a v konečném důsledku podílu na vládě, jak ji zastával filmový režisér a předseda KSČM v letech 1990 až 1993, byla postupně nahrazena strategií „levicového ústupu“ (Vladimír Handl) či „voličské reprezentace“ (Seán Hanley), založené na upevnění politicko-kulturní identity a důrazu na komunikaci mezi členstvem a vedením strany. Jak autor ukazuje, „vyrovnávání s minulostí“ postupně nabralo u komunistů význam značně odlišný od většinové české společnosti. Pragmatismus následujícího vedení Miroslava Grebeníčka do jisté míry pacifikoval, avšak nevyřešil základní dilema KSČM, spočívající v rozporu mezi „logikou volebního boje“ a „logikou voličské reprezentace“. První rys po pádu reformistů v roce 1993 představovali zejména neokomunističtí teoretici (jako je filozof Miloslav Ransdorf), kteří usilovali o formulování celospolečenské socialistické alternativy, jež by byla přijatelná pro širší levicovou veřejnost. To je také vedlo ke snaze o kritičtější čtení vlastní minulosti v porovnání s většinovým členstvem. Druhý rys, tedy „logika voličské reprezentace“, zaměřená na uchovávání a posilování silné identity členů a příznivců strany, byl spjat s přetrvávající konzervativní většinou řadového členstva, reprezentovaného lokálními aktivisty, stranickým tiskem i některými členy politického vedení. Ti všichni dávali přednost programu politického a sociálního populismu a dějiny chápali spíše jako „politiku dějin“ – tedy jako oporu vlastní identity a nástroj odporu proti nepřátelskému vnějšímu prostředí. Pro oba proudy uvnitř KSČM však zůstal antikomunismus – ať už systémový či spontánní – až do konce devadesátých let jedním z hlavních, ne-li nejdůležitějším sjednocujícím, motivem, což značně limitovalo možnosti otevírat citlivé otázky vlastní minulosti i případné kritické diskuse., This article is concerned with the attitude that the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy – KSČM) has had towards its own past. It examines the subject from the perspective of the internal development of the Party and its search for a political and cultural identity in the Czech political system. The interpretation of the past and the role of the Czechoslovak Communist Party (Komunistická strana Československa – KSČ) in Czech and Czechoslovak history were key elements in the ideological development of the Party in the first ten years of Czech democracy after the Changes beginning in mid-November 1989. And they played a central role in the Communists’ efforts to respond to the new democracy’s systemic and rhetorical anti-Communism. In this article the author seeks to demonstrate what effect debates about the past had in causing divisions in the Party in the first years after the Changes. On the one hand they contributed to cleavages within the Party, but on the other they also created conditions for its later consolidation and new self-confidence. The initial reformist strategy inclined roughly to the ideas of the Social Democratic Party and sought to win the maximum number of votes and ultimately a share in government. It was supported by the film-maker and chairman of the Party, Jiří Svoboda (born 1945) from 1990 to 1993, but was gradually superseded by the strategy of what one Czech expert on international relations, Vladimír Handl, has called the ‘left-wing retreat’, and what one British political scientist, Seán Hanley, calls ‘voter representation’, based on the strengthening of political-cultural identity and the emphasizing of communication between the rank-and-file and the leadership of the Party. As the author demonstrates, the idea of ‘coming to terms with the past’ gradually acquired a meaning amongst the Communists that was markedly different from the meaning it had for most Czechs. The pragmatism of the subsequent leader, Miroslav Grebeníček (born 1947), to a certain attenuated, but did not solve, the fundamental dilemma faced by the Party, which consisted in the conflict between the ‘logic of the electoral struggle’ and the ‘logic of voter representation’. The first trend after the downfall of the reformists in 1993 included, in particular, neo-Communist theorists (like the political thinker Miloslav Ransdorf, b. 1953), who sought to formulate Socialist alternatives acceptable to most left-leaning Czechs. That also led them to attempt a more critical analysis of their own past than the majority of their, and rank-and-file members would have done. The second trend, the logic of voter representation, oriented to preserving and strengthening the strong identity of Party members and supporters, was linked with the continuing conservative majority of the rank-and-file represented by local activists, the Party press, and some members of the Party leadership. All of them preferred the programme of political and social populism. They tended to understand history as the ‘politics of history’ – in other words, as a means to support their own identity and to resist the hostile environment outside the Party. For both trends in the Party, however, the challenge presented by anti-Communism – whether systemic or spontaneous – remained, to the end of the 1990s, an important, if not the most important, unifying motive. But it considerably limited their possibilities to raise sensitive questions about their own past and to hold a potentially critical debate.
The effects of 5 pmols of adipokinetic hormone (Lom-AKH-I) on both the locomotion and mobilization of lipids were studied in 10-day-old diapausing adult females of the short-winged (brachypterous) morph of Pyrrhocoris apterus (L.). The results revealed that AKH stimulation of locomotion in this bug is wing-morph independent. The stimulatory effect of AKH on locomotion was shown to be positively correlated with its effect on lipid mobilization., Radomír Socha, Dalibor Kodrík, Rostislav Zemek, and Lit
Pharmacological preconditioning by diazoxide and a model of experimental streptozotocin-induced acute diabetes mellitus (STZ-DM) provided similar levels of cardioprotection assessed as limiting myocardial infarct size. The aim was to explore the possibility of existence of another in vitro mechanism, which could be contributory to cardioprotection mediated by diazoxide treatment. Mitochondrial membrane fluidity and ATP synthase activity in isolated heart mitochondria were determined under the influence of two factors, STZ-DM condition and treatment with diazoxide. Both factors independently increased the ATP synthase activity (p<0.05), as no interaction effect was observed upon the combination of STZ-DM with diazoxide. On the other hand, the mitochondrial membrane fluidity was significantly increased by STZ-DM only; no significant main effect for diazoxide was found. Based on the results from measurements of enzyme kinetics, we assume a direct interaction of diazoxide with the molecule of ATP synthase stimulated its activity by noncompetitive activation. Our present work revealed, for the first time, that cardioprotection induced by diazoxide may not be caused exclusively by mitochondrial KATP opening, but presumably also by a direct interaction of diazoxide with ATP synthase, although the mechanisms for achieving this activation cannot be fully delineated., M. Jašová, I. Kancirová, M. Muráriková, V. Farkašová, I. Waczulíková, T. Ravingerová, A. Ziegelhöffer, M. Ferko., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Cieľ: Na základe štyroch faktorov – kompetencie a skúsenosti sestry; možnosti a kvalita vzdelávania; stav pacienta; organizačné faktory opísať skúsenosť sestier s využívaním ošetrovateľskej diagnostiky vo výučbe a praxi. Metodika: Na zber empirických údajov sme použili dotazník vlastnej konštrukcie s otvorenými otázkami, zameraný na reflexiu stimulov a bariér pri využívaní ošetrovateľských diagnóz v oblastiach vzdelávanie, klinická prax a výskum. Na spracovanie a vyhodnotenie získaných údajov sme využili kvalitatívnu analýzu dát. Do výskumného súboru boli zaradení štyria respondenti, bývalí študenti doktorandského štúdia. Výsledky: Pri identifikovaní stimulov, ako aj bariér v používaní ošetrovateľských diagnóz dominovali v našom výskume faktory z oblasti vzdelávania, kompetencií a organizácie ošetrovateľskej starostlivosti. Pri identifikácii stimulov a bariér sa respondenti zamerali skôr na technické a administratívne aspekty práce s diagnózami ako na ich praktickú utilizáciu a reálne benefity pre pacienta. Závery: Ošetrovateľské diagnózy v klinickej praxi sú vnímame predovšetkým ako problém teoretického vymedzenia a nie východiska pre intervencie, tak ako to je napríklad pri diagnostike v iných odboroch (v medicíne, psychológii a podobne). Konkrétne príklady benefitov správnej a negatívnych konzekvencií nesprávnej diagnostiky by tak mohli prispieť k efektívnejšiemu prepojeniu teórie s praxou vo vzdelávaní. Pri prekonávaní bariéry v tejto oblasti je nutné zamerať sa najprv na kultiváciu postoja sestier a praktický význam diagnostikovania., Aim: Regarding four factors - the competence and experience of nurses, opportunities and quality of education, complexity of a patient’s situation, and organizational factors - describe the experience with the use of nursing diagnosis in nursing education and practice. Methods: To collect empirical data, we used a questionnaire of our own design with open questions, focused on the reflection of incentives and barriers by using nursing diagnoses in the areas of education, clinical practice and research. For the processing and evaluation of the data, we used qualitative data analysis. Four respondents, former PhD students were included in the research file. Results: To identify incentives as well as barriers by using nursing diagnoses factors of education, competence and organization of nursing care dominated in our study. When identifying the incentives and barriers to the use of nursing diagnoses in our study were dominated by. In addition to this respondents focused more on the technical and administrative working aspects with diagnoses as to their practical utilization and real benefits to the patient. Conclusion: Nursing diagnosis in clinical practice are perceived primarily as a theoretical definition of the problem and not as the basis for intervention, as it is in the case of the diagnosis in other fields (in medicine, psychology, etc.). Specific examples of benefits of good and negative consequences of the incorrect diagnosis could contribute to more effective interconnection of the theory and practice in education., Katarína Žiaková, Elena Gurková, Radka Šerfelová, Juraj Čáp, and Literatura