The article deals with the printer and Briefmaler (letter painter) Michael Peterle (1537-1588), who is also considered to be a woodcutter by Czech book scientists. It focuses on his pictorial broadsides and illustrated books and analyses the morphological features of the extant woodcuts. It has reached the conclusion that Peterle’s woodcutting activities cannot be proved. Apart from the art-historical perspective, it brings a number of new facts associated with Peterle’s printing activities: for instance, it documents the financial background of Prague printers in the 1570s and 1580s., Jana Tvrzníková., Obsahuje anglický abstrakt a shrnutí., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is a neuropeptide released from the autonomic nerves exerting multiple antiinflammatory effects. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of severe sepsis and hemofiltration in two settings on plasma and tissue concentrations of VIP in a porcine model of sepsis. Thirty-two pigs were di vided into 5 groups: 1) control group; 2) control group with conventional hemofiltration; 3) septic group; 4) septic group with conventional hemofiltration; 5) septic group with high-volume hemofiltration. Sepsis induced by faecal peritonitis continued for 22 hours. Hemofiltration was applied for the last 10 hours. Hemodynamic, inflammatory and oxidative stress parameters (heart rate, mean arterial pressure, cardiac output, systemic vascular resistance, plasma concentrations of tumor necrosis factor- α , interleukin-6, thiobarbituric acid reactive species, nitrate + nitrite, asymmetric dimethylarginine) and the systemic VIP concentrations were measured before faeces inoculation and at 12 and 22 hours of peritonitis. VIP tissue levels were determined in the left ventricle, mesenteric and coronary arteries. Sepsis induced significant increases in VIP concentrations in the plasma and mesenteric artery, but it decreased peptide levels in the coronary artery. Hemofiltration in both settings reduced concentrations of VIP in the mesenteric artery. In severe sepsis, VIP seems to be rapidly depleted from the coronary artery and, on the other hand, upregulated in the mesenteric artery. Hemofiltration in both settings has a tendency to drain away these upregulated tissue stores which could result in the limited secretory capacity of the peptide., J. Kuncová ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
a1_The tissue factor plays a crucial role in initiating blood coagulation after plaque rupture in patients with acute coronary syndrome. It is abundant in atherosclerotic plaques. Moreover, P-selectin, some cytokines, endotoxin and immune complexes can stimulate monocytes and induce the tissue factor expression on their surface. The aim of the study was to compare plasma levels of the tissue factor, tissue factor pathway inhibitor, P-selectin, E-selectin and ICAM-1 in patients with acute myocardial infarction, unstable angina pectoris, stable coronary artery disease and normal control subjects. In addition, plasma levels of the tissue factor, tissue factor pathway inhibitor, P-selectin, E-selectin and ICAM-1 were measured in the blood withdrawn from the coronary sinus in a subgroup of patients with unstable angina pectoris and stable coronary artery disease in which the difference between concentrations in the coronary sinus and systemic blood was calculated. A significant increase in tissue factor pathway inhibitor plasma levels was detected in patients with acute myocardial infarction (373.3±135.1 ng/ml, p<0.01) and unstable angina pectoris (119.6±86.9 ng/ml, p<0.05) in contrast to the patients with stable coronary artery disease (46.3±37.5 ng/ml) and normal subjects (45.1±14.3 ng/ml). The plasma levels of tissue factor pathway inhibitor were significantly increased both in the coronary sinus and systemic blood in the patients with unstable angina pectoris. There was only a non-significant trend to higher plasma levels of the tissue factor in patients with acute myocardial infarction and unstable angina pectoris as compared to the patients with stable coronary artery disease and normal subjects, the values being 129.1±30.2 pg/ml, 130.5±57.8 pg/ml, 120.2±45.1 pg/ml and 124.9±31.8 pg/ml, respectively., a2_Plasma levels of soluble P-selectin was only slightly, but non-significantly higher in patients with unstable angina pectoris and stable coronary artery disease (184.2±85.4 ng/ml and 201.6±67.9 ng/ml, respectively) than in patients with the acute myocardial infarction (157.4±88.4 ng/ml) or normal subjects (151.4±47.1 ng/ml). The difference in plasma levels of soluble ICAM-1 between the blood withdrawn from the coronary sinus and systemic circulation correlated significantly with the corresponding difference in plasma levels of soluble P-selectin and E-selectin. In conclusion, the tissue factor and the tissue factor pathway inhibitor play a crucial role in the initiation of arterial thrombosis. The tissue factor pathway inhibitor levels are increased both in the systemic blood and in the coronary sinus of patients with the acute coronary syndrome., M. Malý, J. Vojáček, V. Hraboš, M. Semrád, M. Mates, J. Kvasnička, P. Salaj, V. Durdil., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Chronic administration of clenbuterol, a beta-adrenoceptor agonist (2 mg/kg body weight/day for 30 days) to mice resulted in an increased body mass. Measurement of dry tissue mass suggested a protein anabolic effect in the gastrocnemius and heart. Quantitative estimation of collagen content, a non-contractile element as calculated from
hydroxyproline assay revealed its proliferation in the gastrocnemius, cardiac ventricle, intestine and to some extent also in the kidney. Clenbuterol did not induce collagen proliferation in non-muscle tissues such as the lungs and liver. Histopathological examination of sections from treated ventricles showed an extensive collagen infiltration in the subendocardium and at myonecrosis sites.
Currently-used mechanical and biological heart valve prostheses have several disadvantages. Mechanical prostheses, based on carbon, metallic and polymeric components, require permanent anticoagulation treatment, and their usage often leads to adverse reactions, e.g. thromboembolic complications and endocarditis. Xenogenous and allogenous biological prostheses are associated with immune reaction, thrombosis and degeneration, and thus they have a high rate of reoperation. Biological prostheses of autologous origin, such as pulm onary autografts, often burden the patient with a complicated surgery and the risk of reoperation. Therefore, efforts are being made to prepare bioartificial heart valves with an autologous biological component by methods of tissue engineering. They should be biocompatible, durable, endowed with appropriate mechanical properties and able to grow with a child. For this purpose, scaffolds composed of synthetic materials, such as poly(lactic acid), poly(caprolactone), poly(4-hydroxybutyrate), hydrogels or natural polymers, e.g. collagen, elastin, fibrin or hyaluronic acid, have been seeded with autologous differentiated, progenitor or stem cells. Promising results have been obtained with nanostructured scaffolds, and also with cultivation in special dynamic bioreactors prior to implantation of the bioartificial grafts into an animal organism., E. Filová ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
An assemblage of Al-low titanite and ilmenite is present in Ti-rich microgranodiorites intruded in the Moldanubian Zone of the Bohemian Massif. Titanite is characterized by coupled substitution (Al, Fe3+) + (F, OH) ⇔ Ti +O, with a slight excess of (Al, Fe3+)-OH component over of (Al, Fe3+)-F component. Ilmenites have FeTiO3 amount between 86 and 95 mol. % and are partly enriched in the MnTiO3 (pyrophanite) component (4-10 mol. %). The relatively low content of MnTiO3 component in ilmenite, together with absence of magnetite suggests that first crystallization phase of microgranodiorites connected with origin of ilmenite started in conditions of low fO2. However, titanite together with ferroactinolite originated in late-magmatic stage most likely due to hydration reaction such as clinopyroxene + ilmenite + quartz + H2O = titanite + amphibole during some increasing of fO2 and fH2O., Miloš René., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Titanium-rich biotite from granodiorite belonging to redwitzite suite of the Slavkovský les Mts. alters to mixture of low-Al titanite, Mn-enriched ilmenite, REE-fluorocarbonate (parisite) and very fine-grained mixture of chlorite and clay minerals. Titanite consists from 1.1 to 2.3 wt. % Al2O3 and from 0.4 to 1.0 wt. % Fe2O3. Titanite shows some Al+Fe3+ excess over F with significant amount of (Al+Fe3+)-OH titanite component (4-9 mol. %). Ilmenite contains considerable amount of pyrophanite component (5-8 mol. %). The retrograde assemblage of titanite with considerable amount of (Al+Fe3+)-OH titanite component and presence of ilmenite, together with chlorite, argued for low-temperature breakdown of biotite in reducing conditions., Miloš René., and Obsahuje bibliografii