Estimation of shift between signals of two ultrasound images is the key of sonoelastography. Comparison of three methods - cross-correlation function and two versions of SAD (sum of absolute differences) has been conducted for various displacements and estimation parameters using a soft tissuemimicking gelatin phantom with harder inclusion. Resulting displacement maps were evaluated by comparison of average values and their standard deviations. and Obsahuje seznam literatury
By measurement of gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence, the effects of salt shock on photosynthesis and the mechanisms to protect photosynthetic machinery against photodamage during salt shock were investigated in leaves of Rumex seedlings. Salt shock induced significant decrease in photosynthesis both in 21 and 2 % O2. In 21 % O2, quantum yield of photosystem 2 (PS2) electron transport (ΦPS2) decreased slightly and qP remained constant, suggesting that the excitation pressure on PS2 did not increase during salt shock. In 2 % O2, however, both ΦPS2 and qP decreased significantly, suggesting that the excitation pressure on PS2 increased during salt shock. NPQ increased slightly in 21 % O2 whereas it increased significantly in 2 % O2. The data demonstrated that during salt shock a considerable electron flow was allocated to oxygen reduction in the Mehler-peroxidase reaction (MPR). Under high irradiance and in the presence of saturating CO2, the susceptibility of PS2 to photoinhibition in salt-shocked leaves was increased when the electron flow to oxygen in MPR was inhibited in 2 % O2. Hence, MPR is important in photoprotection of Rumex seedlings during salt shock. and H.-X. Chen ... [et al.].
Etiolated sunflower cotyledons developed in complete darkness and lacking photosystem (PS) 2 were exposed to continuous 200 µmol(photon) m-2 s-1 "white light" for 1, 3, 6, 12, and 18 h prior to evaluations of excitation-energy dissipation using modulated chlorophyll a fluorescence. Photochemical potential of PS2, measured as the dark-adapted quantum efficiency of PS2 (FV(M)/FM), and thermal dissipation from the antenna pigment-protein complex, measured as the Stern-Volmer non-photochemical quenching coefficient (NPQ), increased to 12 h of irradiation. Following 12 h of irradiation, thermal dissipation from the antennae pigment-protein complex decreased while the efficiency of excitation capture by PS2 centers (F'V/F'M) and light-adapted quantum efficiency of PS2 (ΦPS2) continued to increase to 18 h of irradiation. The fraction of the oxidized state of QA, measured by the photochemical quenching coefficient (qP), remained near optimal and was not changed significantly by irradiation time. Hence during the development of maximum photochemical potential of PS2 in sunflower etioplasts, which initially lacked PS2, enhanced thermal dissipation helps limit excitation energy reaching PS2 centers. Changes of the magnitude of thermal dissipation help maintain an optimum fraction of the oxidized state of QA during the development of PS2 photochemistry. and J. G. Lebkuecher ... [et al.].
The impact of floodplain hydrology on the in-stream dissolved oxygen dynamics and the relation between dissolved oxygen and water temperature are investigated. This has been done by examining the time series of dissolved oxygen and water temperature coupled with meteorological and hydrological data obtained from two lowland rivers having contrasting hydrological settings. Spectral analysis of long-term oxygen variations in a vegetated river revealed a distinct scaling regime with slope ‘-1’ indicating a self-similar behaviour. Identical slopes were obtained for water temperature and water level. The same power-law behaviour was observed for an unvegetated river at small timescales revealing the underlying scaling behaviour of dissolved oxygen regime for different types of rivers and over various time scales. The results have shown that the oxygenation of a vegetated river is strongly related to its thermal regime and flow conditions. Moreover, analysis of short-term fluctuations in the unvegetated river demonstrated that physical factors such as rainfall and backwaters play a substantial role in the functioning of this ecosystem. Finally, the results show that the relation between water temperature and dissolved oxygen concentration at the diurnal timescale exhibits a looping behaviour on the variable plot. The findings of this study provide an insight into the sensitivity of rivers to changing hydro-physical conditions and can be useful in the assessment of environmental variability.
To study 3D nuclear distributions of epigenetic hist one modifications such as H3(K9) acetylation, H3(K4) dimethylation, H3(K9) dimethylation, and H3(K27) trimethylation, and of histone methyltransferase Suv39H1, we used advanced image analysis methods, comb ined with Nipkow disk confocal microscopy. Total fluorescence intensity and distributions of fluorescently labelled proteins were analyzed in formaldehyde-fixed interphase nuclei. Our data showed reduced fluorescent signals of H3(K9) acetylation and H3(K4) dimethylation (di-me) at the nuclear periphery, while di-meH3(K9) was also abundant in chromatin regions closely associated with the nuclear envelope. Little overlapping (intermingling) was observed for di-meH3(K4) and H3(K27) trimethylation (tri-me), and for di-meH3(K9) and Suv39H1. The histone modifications studied were absent in the nucleolar compartment with the exception of H3(K9) dimethylation that was closely associated with perinucleolar regions which are formed by centromeres of acrocentric chromosomes. Using immunocytochemistry, no di-meH3(K4) but only dense di-meH3(K9) was found for the human acrocentric chromosomes 14 and 22. The active X chromosome was observed to be partially acetylated, while the inactive X was more condensed, located in a very peripheral part of the interphase nuclei, and lacked H3(K9) acetylation. Our results confirmed specific interphase patterns of histone modifications within the interphase nuclei as well as within their chromosome territories., M. Skalníková, E. Bártová, V. Ulman, P. Matula, D. Svoboda, A. Harničarová, M. Kozubek, S. Kozubek., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
In this paper, we focus on an aggregative optimization problem under the communication bottleneck. The aggregative optimization is to minimize the sum of local cost functions. Each cost function depends on not only local state variables but also the sum of functions of global state variables. The goal is to solve the aggregative optimization problem through distributed computation and local efficient communication over a network of agents without a central coordinator. Using the variable tracking method to seek the global state variables and the quantization scheme to reduce the communication cost spent in the optimization process, we develop a novel distributed quantized algorithm, called D-QAGT, to track the optimal variables with finite bits communication. Although quantization may lose transmitting information, our algorithm can still achieve the exact optimal solution with linear convergence rate. Simulation experiments on an optimal placement problem is carried out to verify the correctness of the theoretical results.
In this paper, we study the distributed optimization problem using approximate first-order information. We suppose the agent can repeatedly call an inexact first-order oracle of each individual objective function and exchange information with its time-varying neighbors. We revisit the distributed subgradient method in this circumstance and show its suboptimality under square summable but not summable step sizes. We also present several conditions on the inexactness of the local oracles to ensure an exact convergence of the iterative sequences towards the global optimal solution. A numerical example is given to verify the efficiency of our algorithm.
The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway fulfills major biological functions, but its physiologic tissue distribution and the interrelationship between pathway component activities and ubiquitin pools are unknown. Therefore, we analyzed free and conjugated ubiquitin, ubiquitin-protein ligation rates (UbPL) and chymotryptic- and tryptic-like proteasome peptidase activities in porcine skeletal muscle, heart, lung, liver, spleen and kidney (n=5 each). There were considerable differences between tissues (p<0.05 for all parameters). Lung and spleen showed high levels of free and conjugated ubiquitin and high UbPL. Proteasome activities were highest in kidney and heart. There were linear relationships between tryptic-like and chymotryptic-like proteasome peptidase activities (r2 = 0.624, p<0.001) and between free and conjugated ubiquitin tissue levels (r2 = 0.623, p<0.001). Tissue levels of free and conjugated ubiquitin correlated linear with UbPL (p<0.005), but they were not correlated with proteasome peptidase activities. The results suggest that tissue ubiquitin pools are tightly regulated and indicate a constant proportion of conjugated ubiquitin. They further support the hypothesis that ubiquitin-protein ligase systems, and probably deubiquitylating enzymes, are key regulators of ubiquitin homeostasis. The detected differences are suggestive of tissue-specific roles of ubiquitin-proteasome pathway components. Besides the known importance of the ubiquitin proteasome pathway in heart, kidney and the immune system, the results suggest the lung as another organ in which ubiquitin proteasome pathway components may also significantly contribute to disease processes., M. B. Patel, M. Majetschak., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Laboratory studies were conducted to characterise the sorption-desorption behavior of four human pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine, diclofenac, gemfibrozil, and ibuprofen) at three initial concentrations in aqueous solution on one river sediment. The results of the experiments showed that distribution coefficients were either relatively low for diclofenac and ibuprofen or higher for gemfibrozil and carbamazepine. Distribution coefficients (mean Kd values for three initial concentrations), as measured by the batch experiments, were 4.21 ± 0.58 for diclofenac, 4.98 ± 0.29 for ibuprofen, 11.28 ± 1.22 for gemfibrozil, and 44.82 ± 14.89 for carbamazepine. Based on sorption data, migration potential of the pharmaceuticals in surface waters would decrease as follows: diclofenac > ibuprofen > gemfibrozil >> carbamazepine. Only 2.44 ± 1.05%, 3.67 ± 0.35% and 1.79 ± 1.17% of the initially sorbed ibuprofen, gemfibrozil and carbamazepine were desorbed during desorption period of 48 h, respectively. Diclofenac exhibited the highest desorption (15.01 ± 2.59%). Generally, the results indicate that significant amounts of the pharmaceuticals may be eliminated from surface waters via sorption by sediment and that observed low desorption would further limit their migration in surface waters. and Hlavným cieľom štúdie bol výskum sorpcie a desorpcie štyroch humánnych farmaceutík (karbamazepín, diklofenak, gemfibrozil a ibuprofén) pri troch počiatočných koncentráciách vo vodnom roztoku vo vzorke riečneho sedimentu. Výsledky experimentov ukázali, že rozdeľovacie koeficienty boli buď nižšie pre diklofenak a ibuprofén alebo zvýšené v prípade gemfibrozilu a karbamazepínu. Stanovené hodnoty rozdeľovacích koeficientov (priemerné hodnoty Kd pre všetky tri počiatočné koncentrácie) boli 4,21 ± 0,58 pre diklofenak, 4,98 ± 0,29 pre ibuprofén, 11,28 ± 1,22 pre gemfibrozil a 44,82 ± 14,89 pre karbamazepín. Podľa stanovených hodnôt Kd sa bude mobilita skúmaných farmaceutík v povrchových vodách znižovať v poradí: diklofenak > ibuprofén > gemfibrozil >> karbamazepín. Vodou desorbovateľné podiely farmaceutík zo sedimentu boli nízke, pričom len 2,44 ± 1,05%, 3,67 ± 0,35% a 1,79 ± 1,17% z celkového sorbovaného množstva ibuprofénu, gemfibrozilu a karbamazepínu v sedimente sa počas desorpčného experimentu uvoľnilo späť do vody. Diklofenak vykazoval najvyšší rozsah desorpcie zo sedimentu (15,01 ± 2,59%). Všeobecne tieto výsledky naznačujú, že značné množstvá sledovaných farmaceutík môžu byť odstránené z povrchových vôd prostredníctvom sorpcie v sedimente a že pozorovaný nízky rozsah desorpcie bude ešte viac obmedzovať ich mobilitu v povrchových vodách.
A population of the gill parasite Hatschekia pagellibogneravei (Hesse, 1878) was studied on one of its sparid fish hosts, the blackspot seabream, Pagellus bogaraveo (Brünnich), off the coast of Madeira Island, Portugal, northeast Atlantic. Very high infection levels of this copepod were detected, with no significant seasonal differences. Abundance was negatively correlated with fish size. There were significant differences in the distribution of this copepod among the gill arches of the host, which seem to be best explained by differences in water flow within the gill habitat.