An understanding of preferential flow in the vadose zone is crucial for the prediction of the fate of pollutants.
Infiltration basins, developed to mitigate the adverse effects of impervious surfaces in urban areas, are established above
strongly heterogeneous and highly permeable deposits and thus are prone to preferential flow and enhanced pollutant
transport. This study numerically investigates the establishment of preferential flow in an infiltration basin in the Lyon
suburbs (France) established over a highly heterogeneous glaciofluvial deposit covering much of the Lyon region. An investigation
of the soil transect (13.5 m long and 2.5 m deep) provided full characterization of lithology and hydraulic
properties of present lithofacies. Numerical modeling with the HYDRUS-2D model of water flow in the transect was
used to identify the effects of individual lithofacies that constitute the deposit. Multiple scenarios that considered different
levels of heterogeneity were evaluated. Preferential flow was studied for several values of infiltration rates applied
after a long dry period. The numerical study shows that the high contrast in hydraulic properties of different lithofacies
triggers the establishment of preferential flow (capillary barriers and funneled flow). Preferential flow develops mainly
for low water fluxes imposed at the surface. The role of individual lithofacies in triggering preferential flow depends on
their shapes (layering versus inclusions) and their sizes. While lenses and inclusions produce preferential flow pathways,
the presence of the surface layer has no effect on the development of preferential flow and it only affects the effective
hydraulic conductivity of the heterogeneous transect.
Hepatocyte nuclear factor 1-β is a transcription factor which plays a crucial role during ontogenesis in the differentiation of visceral endoderm from primitive endoderm, and is especially important for the normal development of the kidney, urogenital tract, gastrointestinal tract, liver, and pancreas. Despite the growing knowledge about the potential involvement of hepatocyte nuclear factor 1-β in the process of carcinogenesis, the exact underlying mechanism that would explain its rather varied effects in different tumours has not been sufficiently investigated. Most of the data regarding the significance of hepatocyte nuclear factor 1-β arise from genome-wide association studies and is concerned with the influence of single-nucleotide polymorphisms of hepatocyte nuclear factor 1-β on either the increased or decreased susceptibility to certain types of cancer. However, the influence of both the germinal and somatic mutations of this gene on the process of carcino-genesis is still poorly understood. According to current data, in some tumours hepatocyte nuclear factor 1-β acts as a protooncogene, while in others as a tumour suppressor gene, although the reasons for this are not clear. The exact incidence of hepatocyte nuclear factor 1-β mutations and the spectrum of
tumours in which they may play a role in the process of carcinogenesis remain unknown. From the practical point of view, immunohistochemical expression of hepatocyte nuclear factor 1-β can be used in differential diagnostics of certain tumours, especially clear cell carcinoma. In our article we review the current knowledge regarding the significance of hepatocyte nuclear factor 1-β in carcinogenesis. and Corresponding author: Michaela Bártů
This paper looks at housing strategy in a wider social and economic context and argues that a household’s (class) position in society depends on important life decisions, one of the most important of which is a person’s employment strategy and preparation for the period of retirement (pensions), which is related to housing decisions. The main context of these decisions is the welfare regime, but also a country’s economic structure (varieties of capitalism) and housing system (tax and subsidy elements of programmes). However, as the paper argues, these systems are also changing in relation to the macro effect of individual decisions.
Cardiovascular studies have confirmed that hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is involved in various signaling pathways in both physiological and pathological conditions, including hypertension. In contrast to nitric oxide (NO), which has a clear vasorelaxant action, H2S has both vasorelaxing and vasoconstricting effects on the cardiovascular system. H2S is an important antihypertensive agent, and the reduced production of H2S and the
alterations in its functions are involved in the initiation of spontaneous
hypertension. Moreover, cross-talk between H2S and NO has been reported. NO-H2S interactions include reactions between the molecules themselves, and each has been shown to regulate the endogenous production of the other. In addition, NO and H2S can interact to form a nitrosothiol/s complex, which has original properties and represents a novel nitroso-sulphide signaling pathway. Furthermore, recent results have shown that the interaction between H2S and NO could be involved in the endothelium-regulated compensatory mechanisms that are observed in juvenile spontaneously hypertensive rats. The present review is devoted to role of H2S in vascular tone regulation. We primarily focus on the mechanisms of H2S-NO interactions and on the role of H2S in blood pressure regulation in normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats.
The common pistachio psyllid (CPP) is thought to respond to nutrient availability in pistachio trees. We determined the effect of a deficiency of leaf iron (Fe) has on the abundance of the pistachio psyllid at a regional scale. First, we monitored the abundance pistachio psyllid in four pistachio orchards (24 trees as 24 repetitions) located in Maybod County, Yazd province in the centre of Iran and then measured leaf nutrient levels. Orchards were located up to 2.6 km apart. Multivariate regressions were used to determine the relationship between leaf nutrients and CPP population growth. The results indicate that the number of psyllid eggs and population growth rate of the nymphs was negatively correlated with Fe levels in the leaves, while peak numbers of psyllid eggs were positively correlated with the levels of Cu in the leaves. In a manipulative field experiment, we conducted two experiments: (1) pistachio trees treated with iron compared with control trees, and (2) pistachio trees previously treated with iron were treated with ammonium sulphate and compared with trees treated with ammonium sulphate. In the first experiment, psyllids in leaf disc-cages had a significantly greater intrinsic rate of population increase and net reproductive rate on Fe-treated trees than the control trees (Stage 1). In the second experiment, psyllids in leaf disc-cages had similar intrinsic rates of population increase and net reproduction both on the ammonium sulphate treated trees (control) and those previously treated with iron. This indicates that iron may have reacted negatively with nitrogen content of the leaves. In general, these findings indicate that when there is a deficiency of iron in the leaves, the application of nitrogen fertilizer had little effect on the performance of CPP and may have played a minor role in the population dynamics of CPP, but the application of a Fe fertilizer without considering the nitrogen content of the leaves may lead to a population outbreak.
Ferritin and increased iron stores first appea red on the list of cardiovascular risk factors more than 30 years ago and their causal role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis has been heavily discussed since the early 1990s. It seems that besides traditional factors such as hyperlipoprotein emia, hyp ertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, physical inactivity, smoking and family history, high iron stores represent an additional parameter that could modify individual cardiovascular risk. The role of iron in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis was origina lly primarily associated with its ability to cataly ze the formation of highly reactive free oxygen radicals and the oxidation of atherogenic lipoproteins. Later, it became clear that the mechanism is more complex. Atherosclerosis is a chronic fibroprolife rative inflammatory process and iron, through increased oxidation stress as well as directly, can control both native and adaptive immune responses. Within the arterial wall, iron affects all of the cell types that participate in the atherosclerotic proces s (monocytes/macrophages, endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells and platelets). Most intracellular iron is bound in ferritin, whereas redox-active iron forms labile iron pool. Pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory macrophages within arterial plaque differ with regard to the amount of intracellular iron and most probably with regard to their labile iron pool. Yet, the relation between plasma ferritin and intracellular labile iro n pool has not been fully clarified. Data from population studies document that the consumption of meat and lack of physical activity contribute to increased iron stores. Patients with hereditary h emochromatosis, despite extreme iron storage, do not show i ncreased manifestation of atherosclerosis probably due to the low expression of hepcidin in macrophages., P. Kraml., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Coprophagous insect communities play a critical role in the decomposition of vertebrate dung and provide ecosystem
functions fundamental to modern agriculture. While the ecology of dung beetles is rather well understood, niche differentiation in
coprophagous fl ies is poorly studied. Sepsid fl ies (Diptera: Sepsidae) are a vital part of the European community of coprophages,
with 6–7 widespread species of Sepsis often found co-occurring in the same pasture. To advance our ecological understanding of
the mechanisms that enable species to coexist, we investigated the oviposition preferences and larval performance of 7 common
species of Sepsis in the dung of different large domestic and wild mammals. Substrate preferences and subsequent performance
of larvae in laboratory experiments did not vary greatly. All species did very well on cow dung, the most common substrate in
Central Europe, but also on dung of horse and wild boar. In contrast, fl ies did not prefer or grow well in dung of red and roe deer,
two of the most common wild vertebrates. Thus there were only minor differences among the species tested along the specialistgeneralist (dung) gradient, indicating that differences in the choice of oviposition sites by the adults of the different fl y species
and larval performance do not constitute a major axis of ecological differentiation. Nevertheless, there was a positive correlation
between substrate choice and larval performance indicating the preference of gravid females for particular oviposition sites is
adaptive. We conclude that sepsids are common in Europe because they are well adapted to the dung of herbivorous livestock
rather than wild animals. Nevertheless, specialization on particular types of dung does not defi ne the niche of Sepsis dung fl ies
and hence plays a minor role in mediating their species diversity.
We assessed IgG antibody to Toxoplasma gondii in 300 inpatients with schizophrenia (SG), 150 outpatients with anxiety and depressive disorders (PCG), and 150 healthy blood donors (HCG). Seropositivity rates were 60.7% for SG, 36.7% for PCG, and 45.3% for HCG (p<0.001). The seropositivity rate for anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies in SG was significantly higher that in PCG (X2=23.11, OR=2.66, p=0.001) and HCG (X2=9.52, OR=1.86, p=0.002). Among SG, 85% of those who reported close cat contact had IgG antibodies to T. gondii. Close cat contacts were reported by 59% of SG, 6% of PCG, and 9% of HCG (p<0.001). There was a nonsignificant positive association between toxoplasmosis and schizophrenia for people with a contact with a cat (OR=2.221, p=0.127, CI95=0.796-6.192), and significant negative association between toxoplasmosis and schizophrenia for people without contact with a cat (OR=0.532, p=0.009, CI95=0.332-0.854). Close cat contact (OR=2.679, p<0.001), 51-65-year age group (OR=1.703, p<0.001) and education [illiterate+primary (OR=6.146, p<0.001) and high school (OR=1.974, p=0.023)] were detected as independent risk factors in multivariate logistic regression. The effect of toxoplasmosis on risk of schizophrenia disappeared in the complex model analyzed with multivariate logistic regression. In conclusion, our data suggest that the toxoplasmosis has no direct effect on the risk of schizophrenia in Turkey but is just an indication of previous contacts with a cat.