Peter Singer sa na základe preferenčného utilitarizmu a jeho metafyzických predpokladov, vychádzajúcich z Lockovho empirizmu a odlišovania človeka a osoby, vyslovuje za potraty, infanticídu, pokusy s embryami a eutanáziu. V tejto stati som poukázal na nedostatočnú argumentáciu Singera a neodôvodnenosť jeho predpokladov vychádzajúcich z empirizmu. Jej hlavným nedostatkom je empirické chápanie pojmu osoby podľa Locka a jej odlíšenie od pojmu človek. Táto definícia osoby ukazuje svoje nedostatky a zakladá sa na quinovskej nesubstančnej ontológii, ktorá však nevie vysvetliť identitu osoby v čase. Preto ju treba nahradiť adekvátnejšou definíciou, ktorá vychádza z potreby substanciálnej ontológie, ktorá zdôvodňuje identitu osoby v spojení konkrétnej duše s konkrétnym telom. Princíp indetnity ľudskej osoby tvorí konkrétna individuálna ľudská duša. Tým som preukázal, že aj bioetické dôsledky Singerovej teórie sú neudržateľné., Based on his preference utilitarianism and its metaphysical assumptions originating from Locke’s empiricism, and based on distinguishing between the human being and the person, Peter Singer argues in favor of abortion, infanticide, experiments on embryos, and euthanasia. This article points to Singer’s insufficient argumentation and states that his assumptions stemming from empiricism are not justified. The main flaw in Singer’s argumentation consists in his psychological understanding of the concept of the person and its separation from the concept of the human being. His definition of the person has manifests weaknesses and is based on Quine’s non-substantial ontology which is unable to explain personal identity through time. For this reason, it needs to be supplemented by a more adequate definition addressing the need for a substantial explanation of personal identity. Personal identity is established by the connection between a particular soul with a particular body. The human person’s principle of identity is thus guaranteed by a particular human soul. Singer’s bioethical conclusions are thus shown to be indefensible., and Peter Volek.
The concept of personal identity has recently come to play an increasingly important role in bioethical discussion concerning the beginning and end of human life. This study does not aim to represent the whole range of applications of theories of personal identity to bioethics. It focuses only on the beginning of human life, namely on the question of the moral acceptability of abortion. The author begins by describing an argument rejecting the acceptability of abortions which has been advanced by P. Lee, and it is shown that the validity of this argument depends on a certain conception of personal identity. Then the author briefly defines the psychological approach to personal identity, and he points to its weaknesses. There follows a discussion of the theory of animalism which claims that our persistence in time does not comprise any psychological factors. The conclusion of the article deals with various theories of moral status and indicates the inadequacy of functional criteria in accounting for the moral point of view. The article finishes by stating that the moral status of human beings should be founded on the concept of human dignity. If the considerations in the study have been set out correctly then they justify the following conclusion: abortions are morally unacceptable., David Černý., and Obsahuje poznámky a bibliografii
Nitric oxide (NO) is an important endogenous neurotransmitter and mediator. It participates in regulation of physiological processes in different organ systems including airways. Therefore, it is important to clarify its role in the regulation of both airway and vascular smooth muscle, neurotransmission and neurotoxicity, mucus transport, lung development and in the surfactant production. The bioactivity of NO is highly variable and depends on many factors: the presence and activity of NO-producing enzymes, activity of competitive enzymes (e.g. arginase), the amount of substrate for the NO production, the presence of reactive oxygen species and others. All of these can change NO primary physiological role into potentially harmful. The borderline between them is very fragile and in many cases not entirely clear. For this reason, the research focuses on a comprehensive understanding of NO synthesis and its metabolic pathways, genetic polymorphisms of NO synthesizing enzymes and related effects. Research is also motivated by frequent use of exhaled NO monitoring in the clinical manifestations of respiratory diseases. The review focuses on the latest knowledge about the production and function of this mediator and understanding the basic physiological processes in the airways., M. Antosova, D. Mokra, L. Pepucha, J. Plevkova, T. Buday, M. Sterusky, A. Bencova., and Obsahuje bibliografii
V roce 2010 byl v České republice poprvé zaznamenán výskyt pilatky azalkové (Nematus lipovskyi), jejichž housenice způsobují holožíry na měkkolistých pěnišnících. Druh byl již zaznamenán na více než 60 lokalitách především v Praze a ve středních Čechách, příčemž jde o první zaznamenaný výskyt druhu mimo území USA. V botanické zahradě Přírodovědecké fakulty Univerzity Karlovy v Praze byli poprvé odchyceni samci tohoto druhu., The Azalea sawfly (Nematus lipovskyi), previously known from the eastern states of the USA, was first recorded in the Czech Republic. Since the discovery of the species in 2010 in the botanical garden of Charles University in Prague, more than 60 localities of Nematus lipovskyi have been confirmed, mostly from Prague and Central Bohemia. Males of the species were found for the first time since the description of the species., and Petr Šípek, Ján Macek.
Pirátské strany jsou novým fenoménem v politice. První pirátská strana byla založena v roce 2006 ve Švédsku. Cílem tohoto článku je reflexe problematiky pirátských stran, shrnutí odborné diskuze, představení hlavních požadavků pirátských stran, přiblížení sympatizantů a voličů pirátských stran a také pokus o vysvětlení vzestupu pirátských stran. Pirátské strany lze považovat za druh liberálních stran, které se profilují v otázce svobodného internetu, komunikace a přístupu k veřejným informacím. Jejich vznik souvisí s rozvojem informační společnosti a informačních technologií, které přes nesporná pozitiva s sebou nesou podle pirátských stran riziko zneužití ve vztahu ke svobodě a soukromí jednotlivců., Pirate parties are new phenomena in politics. The first pirate party was established in Sweden in 2006 and inspi - red rise of pirate parties across the world. The aim of this article is to review discussion on pirate parties, describe major pirate issues and pirate parties’ sympathizers as well as to attempt to explain the rise of pirate parties. Pirate parties may be conceived as a sort of liberal parties, which are focused on free internet, communication and unrestrained access to public information. The rise of pirate parties is related to developments of information society and information technologies, which – in spite of clear advantages – pose a risk: they might be abused against individual freedom and privacy., and Miloš Brunclík.
Plachetnatky (čeleď Linyphiidae) jsou po skákavkách (Salticidae) druhově nejbohatší čeledí pavouků. V temperátních zónách, včetně České republiky, dokonce jde o pavoučí čeleď s největším počtem druhů. Jsou to lehcí pavouci, snadno a ochotně se šíří větrem. Jejich dobrá migrační schopnost je obzvlášť výhodná v mírných pásech, které musely být po každé době ledové znovu kolonizovány. Své české jméno dostaly plachetnatky podle lapací sítě - horizontálně upředené plachetky. Většina plachetnatek jsou drobné, nenápadně zbarvené druhy. Poměrně velká a pestře zbarvená plachetnatka keřová (Linyphia triangularis) představuje jednu z mála výjimek., The Common Hammock-Weaver is rather untypical member of the family Linyphiidae due to its large size and clear markings on the cephalothorax. It is found across a large part of the Palaearctic and occurs as a ‘generalist’ in damp forests, meadows, forest edges, parks and gardens. The web consists of a horizontal sheet and a network of loose ‘tripwires’. Mature examples of the species are found from August to October. Males show ‘mate guarding’ behaviour., and Milan Řezáč.
Plachetnatka nákorní (Drapetisca socialis) z čeledi plachetnatkovití (Linyphiidae) je jedním z mála druhů pavouků žijících v České republice, který se dokonale přizpůsobil k životu na kmenech stromů adaptacemi morfologickými (zbarvení, délka končetin) i etologickými. Síť této plachetnatky se skládá pouze z několika horizontálně a vertikálně napnutých vláken., Drapetisca socialis from the family Linyphiidae is a spider species with great morphological (coloration, long legs) and ethological (web reduction) adaptations to life on smooth tree trunks. This spider attaches an unusual reduced web vertically to tree trunks., and Ondřej Machač.
Plant volatiles can synergize the response to moth pheromone. Synthetic pheromone analogs, in turn, have the opposite effect in reducing pheromone attractiveness. To determine how these two types of stimuli interact and influence male moth behaviour, we performed wind tunnel experiments on the grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana. We noticed that a blend of host plant volatiles [(E)-β-caryophyllene, 1-hexanol, (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate and 1-octen-3-ol in a 100:20:10:5 ratio] significantly increased the response of males to an optimized blend of sex pheromone [(7E,9Z)-dodeca-7,9-dienyl acetate (E7,Z9-12:Ac), (7E,9Z)- dodeca-7,9-dienol (E7,Z9-12:OH) and (Z)-9-dodecenyl acetate (Z9-12:Ac)] in a 100:10:2 ratio. However, the response of males to the natural attractant was significantly reduced by two analogs [(9E,11Z)-tetradeca-9,11-dien-2-one (MK 2) and [(9E,11Z)-1,1,1-trifluoro-tetradeca-9,11-dien-2-one (TFMK 3)], of the major component of the sex pheromone of the insect (E7,Z9-12:Ac). When both stimuli were tested on males at pheromone:analog:plant volatile blend 1:100:1000 ratio, the plant blend offset the inhibitory effect induced by TFMK 3 but not that of MK 2. Our results show for the first time that under laboratory conditions plant volatiles can prevent inhibition by a pheromone analog., Albert Sans, Miguel Morán, Magí Riba, Ángel Guerrero, Jaume Roig, César Gemeno., and Obsahuje bibliografii
V článku se zaměřujeme zejména na aktuální taxonomii, vybrané ekologické novinky a představíme druhy ploštěnek, které lze v České republice nalézt. Text je doplněn jednoduchými určovacími tabulemi pro všechny naše druhy, včetně jednoho skoro zapomenutého endemita., In this article we focus on current taxonomy and ecological behaviour, and we introduce the flatworm species that are found in the Czech Republic. The text is supplemented by simple drawings allowing determination of all Czech species, including a nearly forgotten endemic., and Marie Reslová, Ondřej Simon.