Enhanced expression of tissue factor (TF) may result in thrombosis contributing to acute clinical consequences of coronary artery disease. Several studies demonstrated elevated plasma levels of TF in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The aim of our study was to compare the concentrations of TF in coronary sinus (CS), proximal part of the left coronary artery (LCA) and peripheral vein (PV) of patients with ACS and stable coronary artery disease (SCAD). Time course of the TF plasma levels in PV was followed on day 1 and day 7 after index event of ACS presentation and was compared to day 0 values. No heparin was given prior to the blood sampling. Twenty-nine patients in the ACS group (age 63.6±10.8 years, 20 males, 9 females) and 24 patients with SCAD (age 62.3±8.1 years, 21 males, 3 females) were examined. TF plasma level was significantly higher in patients with ACS than in those with SCAD (239.0±99.3 ng/ml vs. 164.3±114.2 ng/ml; p=0.016). There was no difference in TF plasma levels in PV, CS and LCA (239.0± 99.3 ng/ml vs. 253.7±131.5 ng/ml vs. 250.6±116.4 ng/ml, respectively). TF plasma levels tended to decrease only non-significantly on the day 7 (224.4± 109.8 ng/ml). Significant linear correlation between TF and high sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) levels on day 0 was found. In conclusion, TF plasma levels are elevated in patients with ACS not only locally in CS but also in systematic circulation. Our data support the relationship between TF production and proinflammatory mediators., J. Bis ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Leptin is produced by white adipose tissue and other cell types and is involved in both short- and long-term appetite control. Here we studied effects of star vation on serum, pituitary and hypothalamic levels of leptin during 72 h period. Each of the starved groups was sacrificed simultaneously with the group of ad libitum fed animals. The progression of the discrete starvation response phases was monitored by testing the blood glucose, free fatty acid, urea and corticosterone levels. Starvation caused biphasic increase in corticosterone and free fatty acid levels, and significant but transient decrease in urea and glucose levels. Starvation also abolished diurnal rhythm of changes in leptin concentrations in serum and hypothalamic and pituitary tissues. Only 6 h starving period was sufficient to lock serum leptin at low levels, whereas 12 h were needed to silence leptin production/secretion in hypothalamus for the whole examined period. In contrast, leptin production by pituitary tissues of starved animals required 24 h to reach minimum, followed by full recovery by the end of starvation period. These resu lts indicate the tissue specific pattern of leptin release and suggest that the locally produced leptin could activate its receptor in pituitary cells independently of serum levels of this hormone., P. Vujovic ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Chronology of three consecutive mitotic events in human preimplantation embryos was examined by time-lapse imaging. In zygotes producing well-formed and pregnancy-yielding expanded blastocysts, uniform time-patterning of cleavage clusters (c) and interphases (i) was revealed: i2=11±1, i3=15±1, i4=23±1 h / c2=15±5, c3=40±10, c4=55±15 min. Oppositely, shortened or prolonged durations of one or more cell cycles were strongly predictive of poor implantation and development. Furthermore, trichotomic mitosis was discovered in 17 % of cases - zygotes cleaved into 3 blastomeres and 2-cell embryos into 5-6 cells (instead of normal 2 and 4). During conventional clinical assessment, such embryos are indistinguishable from normal, often considered just-in-course of the next cell cycle. Only detailed time-lapse monitoring paced at 10-minute intervals had proven all these embryos to be absolutely unviable, even in rare cases when they reduced their hypercellularity to normal cell counts via cell-cell fusion. Overall, we demonstrate that timelapse embryo cleavage rating (ECR) as a standalone diagnostic procedure allows for effective identification of viable early embryos with 90 % specificity, while elimination of good-looking but unviable embryos can be assumed with a specificity of 100 %. Thus, making this non-invasive and contactless approach worth of addition to routine embryo screening in clinical IVF programs., D. Hlinka ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Potential involvement of circadian clock genes in so far unknown mechanism of photoperiodic time measurement is an important question of insect life-cycle regulation science. Here we report about the cloning of full-length cDNA of the structural homologue of the Drosophila's timeless gene in Chymomyza costata. Its expression was compared in two strains: a wild-type strain, responding to short days by entering larval diapause and a npd-mutant strain, showing no photoperiodic response. The timeless mRNA transcripts were not detectable by Northern blot analysis in the fly heads of npd-mutants, while they were detectable and showed typical daily oscillations in the wild-type strain. After disrupting the normal process of timeless transcription in the wild-type strain by injection of timeless double-strandRNA into early embryos of wild-type (RNAi method: Kennerdell & Carthew 1998, 2000), a certain proportion of the individuals adopted a npd-mutant phenotype, showing no-diapause in response to short-daylength. Cloning of genomic DNA fragments revealed that npd-mutants carry a different allele, timelessnpd, with a 13-bp insertion in an intron positioned within the 5'-leader sequence. Genetic linkage analysis showed that the 13-bp insertion (a marker for timelessnpd) and the absence of response to short days (a marker for npd-phenotype) are strictly co-inherited in the F2 progeny of the reciprocal crosses between wild-type and npd-mutant flies. Such results indicated that the locus npd could code for the timeless gene in C. costata and its product might thus represent a molecular link between circadian and photoperiodic clock systems in this fly.
Between 1997 and 2001, the birth dates of free living and captive Alpine musk deer were examined to determine fawning patterns, and discuss potential influencing factors. In the wild, parturition shows strong seasonality, and occurred in three months from May to July, most of the births (75%) occurring within a 27 day period. Environmental seasonality, including the climate and forage availability, plays the major role in determining the timing of births in wild musk deer. Similarly, fawning in captivity shows constancy between years and seasonality, although with later initiation and a longer season than in the wild, influenced by an environmental seasonality of relatively lower intensity. More detailed differences in fawning patterns were observed in different rows of enclosures, resulting from differences in human care, and intensified by the social interaction among individuals within a row of enclosures. Although the fawning pattern is not strongly related to age of the captives, an individual’s reproductive history seemed to influence fawning timing and synchrony, and the birth date is not strongly related to the survival of the newborn.
The impact of blasting operations is accompanied by both positive and negative after-effects. Vibrations, activated by explosion, help to disintegrate the rocks representing a positive effect on one hand and a negative effect on the other and they endanger the surrounding buildings and other properties. If the vibrations are large enough, then the ambient objects could be damaged or destroyed. The negative effects depend on their range and strength. Vibration intensity of seismic waves is generally proportional to the weight of the explosive used. Recently, negative effects of the blasting operations and quantification of the seismic safety have been highly actual and stand for a challenging problem. The article highlights the results of the blasting operation monitoring in some quarry in Slovakia., Julián Kondela and Blažej Pandula., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
Four species new to science are described from Vanuatu, namely Holophygdon nishidae sp. n., Idiocysta vanuatuensis sp.n., Nesocypselas minicysta sp. n., and Tingis parvoroe sp. n. New records are provided for six species, five of them being new to Vanuatu: Cysteochila idonea Drake, Stephanitis subfasciata Horváth, Teleonemia scrupulosa Stål, Tingis chazeaui Guilbert, and Tingis irregularis (Montrouzier). A key to genera and species of Vanuatu is added., Eric Guilbert, and Lit