Large housing estates make up an essential portion of the housing stock in the urban structure of Polish cities. It was expected that large housing estates in Poland might experience social decline in the 1990s, but several research projects conducted in the estates did not identify any increase in social degradation. This article examines the social structure of the residents of large housing estates in Poland and identifies the main trends in current social changes. The time frame of ongoing transformations in the social structure was set around the turn of the 21st century. This analysis is based on Polish 1988 and 2002 National Census data, the Polish PESEL population database (2011), and the author’s survey data (2010–2012). Research was conducted in seven housing estates in fi ve Polish cities or towns (Poznań, Kraków, Tarnów, Dzierżoniów, and Żyrardów) and focused on analysing the sizes and types of households and their economic situation and the social structure of the estates. Results showed that large housing estates continue to have a heterogeneous social structure and to resist social deprivation processes. Depending on the period when a particular estate was built it is possible to observe distinctive features of housing estates, such as social structure renewal in housing estates from the 1950s and 1960s, residential ageing in those from the 1970s, and the risk of an exodus of young residents from estates from the 1980s. Those shared problems may soon become decisive for the future development of large estates.
Despite their wide distribution and frequent occurrence, the spatial distribution patterns of the well-known gall-inducing insects Mikiola fagi (Hartig) and Neuroterus quercusbaccarum (L.) in the canopies of mature trees are poorly described. We made use of the Swiss Canopy Crane (SCC) near Basel, Switzerland, to gain access to the canopy of a mixed temperate forest up to a height of 35 m. Within one and a half days we scanned 6,750 beech leaves and 6,000 oak leaves. M.fagi showed a distinct vertical zonation with highest abundance in the top-most parts of the canopy as well as a significant aggregation on particular trees. N. quercusbaccarum showed an even more pronounced preference for particular trees and a general preference for Quercus robur over Q. petraea. In contrast to M. fagi, no vertical zonation could be detected. We think that both gall-inducing species have greater powers of dispersal than formerly assumed since they overwinter on the forest floor and yet are able to 1) gain access to the entire canopy, 2) show preference for certain host trees. We found little evidence for the phenological synchrony hypothesis proposed to explain the intertree distribution of N. quercusbaccarum. The highest density of M. fagi galls was in those parts of the canopy exposed to high solar radiation; their host choice is probably determined by micro-climatological factors. The consequences of the distribution patterns of N. quercusbaccarum and M. fagi for their ecological interactions with the host-plant, inquilines and parasitoids (e.g., canopy-layer specific performance linked to plant chemistry, density-dependent parasitism) need now to be subjected to further scientific investigation.
The Stegana undulata species group is revised and eight new species described: S. (Steganina) flaviclypeata Chen & Chen, sp. n., S. (S.) flavipalpata Chen & Chen, sp. n., S. (S.) leucothorax Chen & Chen, sp. n., S. (S.) melanocheilota Chen & Chen, sp. n. and S. (S.) melanothorax Chen & Chen, sp. n. from southern China, and S. (S.) flaviscutellata Chen & Chen, sp. n., S. (S.) nigriclypeata Chen & Chen, sp. n. and S. (S.) nigripalpata Chen & Chen, sp. n. from eastern Malaysia. A key to all the species examined based on morphological data is provided. Based on DNA sequence data of the mitochondrial ND2 and COI genes, the relationship among six Chinese species of the undulata group and that of the S. coleoptrata and S. nigrolimbata species groups of the same subgenus is investigated, using S. emeiensis of the subgenus Stegana s. str. as an out-group. and Jin-Ming LU, Jian-Jun GAO, Xi-Peng CHEN, Hong-Wei CHEN.
The mood and behavior of individuals result from an orchestra of many factors. Among them steroids play an important role; however, only several common hormones have been investigated in this respect. It has been demonstrated that some steroid metabolites long considered merely the products of steroid hormone metabolism in fact possess considerable activity in the CNS. For this reason we studied the steroid metabolome including 50 analytes in 20 men with depression, 20 men with anxiety and 30 healthy controls. Significant differences were found not only between controls and men with either depression or anxiety, but also between men with depression and anxiety. Particularly striking were those steroids until now not generally associated with depression or anxiety, namely conjugated steroid forms, especially sulfates., M. Dušková, M. hill, M. Bičíková, M. Šrámková, D. Řípová, P. Mohr, L. Stárka., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Addiction to tobacco results in an imbalance of endocrine homeostasis in both sexes. This can also have impacts on fertility problems. The male reproductive system is less susceptible than that of females, with a worsening spermiogram in smokers, the most cited effect in the literature. However, the literature is inconsistent as to the effects of smoking on steroid hormone levels in men, and there is very little data on the effects of quitting smoking in men. In this study we followed 76 men before quitting smoking, and then after 6, 12, and 24 weeks and 1 year of abstinence. We measured basic anthropomorphic data and steroid hormone levels along with steroid neuroactive metabolites using GC-MS. We demonstrate lower androgen levels in men who smoke, and these changes worsened after quitting smoking. There was a drop in SHBG already in the first week of non-smoking, and levels continued to remain low. Male smokers have lower androgen levels compared to non-smokers. The lower the initial level of androgen, the lower the likelihood of success in quitting smoking. Changes in steroid hormones proved to be a promising marker for the prediction of success in quitting smoking., H. Jandikova, M. Duskova, K. Simunkova, B. Racz, M. Hill, E. Kralikova, K. Vondra, L. Starka., and Obsahuje bibliografii
PI4K IIα is a critical enzyme for the maintenance of Golgi and is also known to function in the synaptic vesicles. The product of its catalytical function, phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PI4P), is an important lipid molecule because it is a hallmark of the Golgi and TGN, is directly recognized by many proteins and also serves as a precursor molecule for synthesis of higher phosphoinositides. Here, we report crystal structures of PI4K IIα
enzyme in the apo-state and inhibited by calcium. The apo-
structure reveals a surprising rigidity of the active site residues important for catalytic activity. The structure of calcium inhibited kinase reveals how calcium locks ATP in the active site.
Záměr. Cílem studie bylo testování dimensionality české verze Jeffersonské škály empatie pro poskytovatele léčebné péče (JSPE-HP) na podkladě údajů získaných od representativního souboru českých lékařů a testování vlivu věku, pohlaví, délky a typu praxe na jejich výpověď. Soubor a procedura. Soubor tvořilo 1305 respondentů vybraných náhodným kvótním výběrem, dle regionu, pohlaví, věku a způsobu výkonu profese. Výsledky. Struktura nástroje byla nejprve zkoumána EFA a nález následně testován na jiném souboru CFA. Byly identifikovány tři korelované faktory s marginálně akceptovatelnou mírou shody modelu a dat. EFA vyššího řádu se Schmid-Leimanovou ortogonalizací identifikovala obecný faktor „vysvětlující“ 73,3 % rozptylu a 26,7 % rozptylu připadajících na faktory prvního řádu. Cronbachův koeficient alfa byl 0,842 a nebyl zjištěn klinicky závažný efekt věku, pohlaví, typu praxe a profesionální orientace. Neočekávaným nálezem byla relativně nízká průměrná hodnota skóru empatie ve srovnání s americkými lékaři. Výsledky studie naznačují, že česká verze JSPE-HP je jednodimensionální stupnice, psychometricky srovnatelná s US verzí a použitelná pro odhad empatického chování českých lékařů. Omezení studie. Extrapolace nálezů je limitovaná charakteristikami souborů a skutečností, že autoreferenční data nemusí nutně odrážet skutečné chování respondentů., Objectives. The aim of this study was to examine the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPEHP) underlying dimensionality and the relation of empathy scores to age, gender, practice experience, and practice type using responses from a representative sample of Czech physicians. Subjects and setting. The JSPE-HP was administered to a sample of 1,305 respondents selected using the hierarchical random proportional stratified sampling technique representing Czech physicians from the viewpoint of region, practice type, gender, and age. Results. The structure of the instrument was examined using EFA and the findings were tested on different sample using CFA. Three intercorrelated primary factors were identified with a marginally acceptable fit. High-order EFA employing Schmid-Leiman orthgonalization identified a general factor explaining 73.3% of the common variance with 26.7% explained by the first-order factors beyond the general factor. Cronbach’s alpha for total scale was 0.842 and no clinically important effect of age, gender, practice type, and professional orientation on physicians’ empathy score was found. The substantially lower mean empathy score of Czech physicians in comparison to that reported for US physicians is worthy of consideration. The results of this study indicate that the Czech version of JSPE-HP is an unidimensional scale, psychometrically comparable to the US version, and a sound instrument for self-reported assessment of the empathetic behavior of Czech physicians. Study limitation. The extrapolation of findings may be limited as the sample was representative of Czech physicians only from the viewpoint of four variables: region, practice type, gender, and age. Also, a self-report measure of empathy may not be necessarily a reflection of actual behavior in medical practice., and Jiří Kožený, Lýdie Tišanská.
To improve the results of radiotherapy for cervical cancer used local and systemic radiomodification drugs. Materials and methods: 1984 patients with locally advanced cervical cancer (2b 3a stage), which at one stage of complex treatment by a course indoarterial of regional longterm polychemotherapy (EARDPHT) mode: methotrexate 50 mg/m2, the first 12 hours, fluorouracil 1000 mg/m2, over the next 12 hours and cisplatin 100 mg/m2, for 48 hours, 2 stage surgical treatment in the volume expanding hysterectomy 3 type (modification of Wertheim Meigs). Results: The results of treatment of locally cervical cancer using VADRPHT, depending on the unilateral and bilateral tumor invasion in parametrial tissue showed that under unilateral lesion of parametrium results of treatment were higher than for the bilateral involvement of parametrium. Medical pathomorphosis in tumors of different severity was observed in 86.9% of patients, metastasis to regional lymph nodes were detected in 36% of operated patients, and also studied the degree of therapeutic pathomorphosis in lymph nodes. There was revealed that the complete regression of tumors, 5 year survival rate is 98%, whereas in tumor regression of more than 50% of the original volume 78.5%, with stabilization of tumor no more than 58.4%. Conclusion: The study of molecularbiological parameters of the tumor cells show the effectiveness of conducted neoadvent indoarterial chemotherapy and play an important role in further treatment and prediction of disease., Navruzova V. S., Yuldasheva N. Sh., and Literatura
We aimed to investigate in detail the structural mutations after influence of actellic insecticide at different doses and different temperature conditions. We tested effects of single introduction of different doses of actellic: 48, 96, 192, and 384 mg/kg. Cytogenetic effect of actellic in bone marrow cells at different temperature regimens was studied. Following actellic administration, animals were being in two temperature regimes: normal (18-20°C) and high (37-38°C). After treatment with actellic, animals were kept within 1, 2, 4 and 8 hours at high temperature (37-38°C), i.e. in a thermostat (TV-80) with access of air. In experiments, the animals were divided into seven groups. The animals of the 1st group were administered actellic at a dose 384 mg/kg and kept under normal temperature until slaughtering. The animals of the 2nd group after administration of actellic were immediately placed in an environment with a temperature of 37-38°C. Animals of the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th groups after treatment with actellic were transferred to conditions with high temperature, respectively, for 1, 2, 4 and 8 hours. The 7th group of mice was under normal temperature conditions without treatment with actellic. Our results have shown that in normal temperature conditions single exposure of actellic (384 mg/kg) did not affect the genetic apparatus of somatic cell, evidenced by the frequency of chromosome aberrations in bone marrow cells that were within the control levels. However, at high temperatures (37-38°C) the pesticide caused 6-fold larger number of chromosome aberrations in bone marrow cells, in comparison with normal conditions., Anvarjon Rakhmankulovich Shermuratov, and Literatura
To verify possibilities of the thermic sinking technology the experiments with magmatic rocks (muscovite-biotite granite, amphibole-pyroxene andesite, pyroxene basalt) were made in the preliminary research phase. The contribution presents the microscopic study results of petrographic and structural observations of the rocks after their thermic reworking. Mainly distribution of melted rocks in the form of glass, forming of brittle deformations (fractures) on the level of mineral and rock, and penetration of melt into fissures were observed., Roman Farkašovský and Michal Zacharov., and Obsahuje bibliografii