Non-surgical management of aortic valve disease has been given considerable attention. Several recent publications have already reported its use in clinical practice. The main issue is to get an understanding of the pathophysiological processes and, most importantly, extensive experimental activity. In addition to testing various animal models, technical and material aspects are also being intensively investigated. It is not clear yet whether the durability and applicability of this promising development will be comparable with the standard of current cardiac surgery. Nonetheless, even the use of some models as a temporary approach helping to improve the circulatory status, not allowing safe surgery, is certainly justified. At any rate, a new stage of research and clinical application has been set off. However, experimental background continues to be simply indispensable. The paper is a short review of the issue., J. Šochman, J. H. Peregrin., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
The development of the cauda equina syndrome in the dog and the involvement of spinal nitric oxide synthase immunoreactivity (NOS-IR) and catalytic nitric oxide synthase (cNOS) activity were studied in a pain model caused by multiple cauda equina constrictions. Increased NOS-IR was found two days post-constriction in neurons of the deep dorsal horn and in large, mostly bipolar neurons located in the internal basal nucleus of Cajal seen along the medial border of the dorsal horn. Concomitantly, NOS-IR was detected in small neurons close to the medioventral border of the ventral horn. High NOS-IR appeared in a dense sacral vascular body close to the Lissauer tract in S1-S3 segments. Somatic and fiber-like NOS-IR appeared at five days post-constriction in the Lissauer tract and in the lateral and medial collateral pathways arising from the Lissauer tract. Both pathways were accompanied by a dense punctate NOS immunopositive staining. Simultaneously, the internal basal nucleus of Cajal and neuropil of this nucleus exhibited high NOS-IR. A significant decrease in the number of small NOS immunoreactive somata was noted in laminae I-II of L6-S2 segments at five days post-constriction while, at the same time, the number of NOS immunoreactive neurons located in laminae VIII and IX was significantly increased. Moreover, high immunopositivity in the sacral vascular body persisted along with a highly expressed NOS-IR staining of vessels supplying the dorsal sacral gray commissure and dorsal horn in S1-S3 segments. cNOS activity, based on a radioassay of compartmentalized gray and white matter regions of lower lumbar segments and non-compartmentalized gray and white matter of S1-S3 segments, proved to be highly variable for both post-constriction periods., J. Maršala, J. Kafka, N. Lukáčová, D. Čížková, M. Maršala, N. Katsube., and Obsahuje bibliografii
We investigated the variation in body colour and its thermoregulatory function in Meteorus pulchricornis (Wesmael) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a parasitoid wasp of Spodoptera and other free-living lepidopteran larvae. We show that the body colour of adult wasps darkens when cocoons are kept at low temperatures. The range in the variation in colour, however, differs for different parts of the body and among uniparental (thelytokous) strains. This melanism enables these wasps to attain a body temperature in sunshine up to 2°C. Moreover, this small gain in body temperature can markedly increase the flight activity of wasps at low ambient temperatures. We conclude that the variation in body colour that resulted from rearing the cocoons at different temperatures enable the wasps to adapt to changing thermal environments. The ecological significance of the difference in the degree of melanism of the different strains is discussed., Yosuke Abe, Takuma Nishimura, Kaoru Maeto., and Seznam literatury
Cautio Muciana bola pôvodne zavedená pre odkazy zriadené pod negatívnou potestatívnou podmienkou osobitného charakteru. Povaha podmienky a tým determinovaný účel kaucie sú vlastným predmetom štúdie. Autorka nesúhlasí s názorom, podľa ktorého bolo cieľom kaucie zabezpečiť účinnosť odkazu, ktorý by inak odkazovník (a následne ani jeho dedičia) nadobudnúť nemohol, pretože by sa nedožil splnenia podmienky. Tak ako pri svojom vzniku, i v klasickom práve sa kaucia uplatňovala vo vzťahu k podmienkam, ktoré sa mohli splniť až v poslednom okamihu života podmienene oprávneného. Splnenia podmienky sa legatár síce dožil, ale reálny úžitok z odkazu mali až jeho dedičia. Tento nežiaduci stav umožnila kaucia odstrániť tým, že poskytla legatárovi možnosť nadobudnúť odkaz skôr, pokiaľ sľúbil, že ak by konal v rozpore s kondíciou, vydá nadobudnutý prospech. Autorka zastáva názor, že v klasickom práve bola kaucia rozšírená i na pozitívne potestatívne podmienky, ktorých podmieňujúca udalosť spočívala v časovo neobmedzenom zachovaní určitého stavu.V dôsledku nesprávnej interpretácie klasických textov bola cautio Muciana v poklasickom práve vztiahnutá na všetky negatívne podmienky bez rozdielu,
čím stratila svoj pôvodný účel. and The cautio Muciana was originally created for legacies made under the negative potestative condition of a special nature. The character of the condition and the purpose of the caution are the subject of the article. The authoress does not agree with the opinion that the original purpose of the caution was to ensure the efficiency of legacy which the legatee otherwise could not acquire because he / she died before the fulfilment of the condition.Originally, as well as in the classical law, the caution was applied to the conditions that could be fulfilled at the earliest in the very last moment
of the legatee’s life. Even though the legatee was alive at the fulfilment of the condition, not he himself, but only his / her heirs could profit from the legacy. This was an undesirable situation that the caution enabled to eliminate. Provided the legatee gave the caution, he / she could acquire the legacy much sooner than in the very last moment of his / her life. The authoress supposes that in the classical law the caution was extended also to the positive conditions that consisted in an unrestricted preservation of a certain state. Due to the mistaken interpretation of the classical texts, the cautio
Muciana was in the post-classical law generalized to all negative conditions without any distinction. It caused that the caution has lost its original purpose.
Black rats and avian cavity-nesters share the same nest boxes in different oak habitat types on Corsica. The proportion of boxes occupied by cavity-nesting rats did not differ between broad-leaf deciduous and evergreen oak woodland, but was higher in boxes with a larger entrance hole. Competition between black rat and avian hole-nesters on Corsica may be stronger in great tits than in blue tits.
CD200 and its receptor were recognized as having the multiple immunoregulatory functions. Their immunoregulatory, suppressive, and tolerogenic potentials could be very effectively exploited in the treatment of many diseases, e.g. Alzheimer disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and allergy to name only some. Many research projects are aimed to develop clinically valuable methods being based on the structure and function of these paired molecules. In this review, we would like to introduce CD200/CD200R functions in a clinical context., Drahomíra Holmannová, Martina Koláčková, Kateřina Kondělková, Pavel Kuneš, Jan Krejsek, Ctirad Andrýs, and Literatura 51
CD200/CD200R are highly conserved type I paired membrane glycoproteins that belong to the Ig superfamily containing a two immunoglobulin‑like domain (V, C). CD200 is broadly distributed in a variety of cell types, whereas CD200R is primarily expressed in myeloid and lymphoid cells. They fulfill multiple functions in regulating inflammation. The interaction between CD200/CD200R results in activation of the intracellular inhibitory pathway with RasGAP recruitment and thus contributes to effector cell inhibition. It was confirmed that the CD200R activation stimulates the differentiation of T cells to the Treg subset, upregulates indoleamine 2,3‑dioxygenase activity, modulates cytokine environment from a Th1 to a Th2 pattern, and facilitates an antiinflammatory IL‑10 and TGF‑β synthesis. CD200/CD200R are required for maintaining self‑tolerance. Many studies have demonstrated the importance of CD200 in controlling autoimmunity, inflammation, the development and spread of cancer, hypersensitivity, and spontaneous fetal loss., Drahomíra Holmannová, Martina Koláčková, Kateřina Kondělková, Pavel Kuneš, Jan Krejsek, Ctirad Andrýs, and Literatura 46
The CD8+ natural killer (NK) subpopulation has recently been identified as a fast and reliable biodosimetric indicator within human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in vitro. In irradiated and subsequently cultivated PBMC, a decrease of the relative number of intact CD3-CD8+ lymphocytes 16 and 48 h after treatment has allowed for estimating the received dose in the range of 0 - 10 Gy and lethal/sublethal dose discrimination, respectively. Here we show that suitable biodosimeters can also be found in the peripheral blood B-cell compartment. Multiparameter flow cytometric analysis of irradiated and subsequently cultivated human PBMC revealed that both the CD27+ and CD21- B-cell subpopulations can be used as biodosimeters and the CD19+CD27+ lymphocytes have proved useful for retrospective determination of the received dose in the range of 0 - 6 Gy. In addition, several CD19+ lymphocyte subsets characterized by co-expression of CD21, CD27 and CD38 have been shown to bear biodosimetric potential, too. However, when important parameters like the original size within the CD19+ compartment, its radiation-induced changes and data variation had been taken into account, the CD27+ subpopulation proved superior to the other B-cell subpopulations and subsets. It appears that, in the dose range of 0 - 6 Gy, the relative decrease of CD27+ B lymphocytes provides more sensitive and reliable data than that of CD8+ NK-cells due mainly to lower data variation. In contrast to CD27+ B-cells, the proportions of CD27+ subpopulations of T-cells were not affected by irradiation. We have also proposed a simple experimental protocol based on full blood cultivation and three-color CD27/CD3/CD19 immuno-phenotyping as a time-saving and inexpensive approach for practical biodosimetric evaluations on simple, three-to-four color flow cytometers., Z. Řeháková, J. Šinkora, M. Vlková, D. Vokurková, J. Österreicher, J. Vávrová, D. Driák., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy