Laboratory research of cough reflex utilizes almost exclusively
male guinea pigs – a practice that represents a significant obstacle
in the successful translation of results into clinical practice. Chronic
hypersensitivity cough syndrome affects mostly postmenopausal
women and it represents significant decrease in patient’s quality
of life. No cause for such exaggerated cough can be found,
therefore this condition cannot be treated appropriately. One of
the reasons leading to the lack of relevant data about mechanisms
responsible for hypersensitivity of cough related pathways is
nowadays widely discussed gender bias, which is present in nearly
all branches of biomedical research. Since gender differences in
cough reflex physiology do exist in humans, it would be reasonable
to study cough-related phenomena on both sexes of laboratory
animals. In this study, we focused on detailed characterization of
cough response of female guinea pigs to aerosols of commonly
used tussive agents (capsaicin, distilled water, allyl isothiocyanate,
cinnamaldehyde, citric acid). In pooled data from multiple
challenges we found no statistical difference in number of cough
and cough latency between sexes. Based on our results we
conclude that the utilization of female guinea pigs model does not
lead to messy data and can be used in basic cough research.
Parasitoid females may adjust offspring sex allocation according to the number and quality of hosts available. Because in solitary species only one offspring survives per host, already parasitized hosts are of low quality and generally rejected. Superparasitism (i.e., sequential oviposition by the same or different females) results in aggressive interactions and competition for nutritional resources among larvae. We examined variations in the offspring sex ratio of Dendrocerus carpenteri (Curtis) (Hymenoptera: Megaspilidae), a solitary ectoparasitoid developing as a hyperparasitoid on the prepupae and pupae of primary aphid parasitoids inside mummified aphids. Mated females produced a female-biased sex ratio of 0.433 (proportion of sons) when caged singly and provided with 12 mummies for 2 h; they parasitized an average of four mummies/h and rarely superparasitized. Superparasitism increased when two females were caged together and provided with 12 mummies, from 1.18 to 1.24 and 1.38 eggs/host parasitized in 1, 2 and 3 h, respectively. The offspring sex ratio became increasingly more female-biased with increase in superparasitism; however, sex ratio variations were not correlated with cohort size. One mated and one unmated female provided with 12 mummies and caged together for 1 h produced a mean cohort sex ratio of 0.645, which differed from the one predicted (0.717) by an algebraic model incorporating the assumptions that both females contribute equal numbers of offspring and that the mated female does not change her offspring-sex allocation strategy. The observed shift in the cohort sex ratio to an increased female-bias indicates that mated females of D. carpenteri change their behaviour when encountering parasitized mummies or a conspecific competitor in the same patch. By depositing fertilized rather than unfertilized eggs, a female can increase the proportion of her daughters among parasitoids competing for a diminishing host supply., Manfred Mackauer, Andrew Chow., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Článek představuje teoretické pozadí metody instrumentálního obohacování Reuvena Feuersteina a její využití v praxi. Pojednává o životě autora, jeho teorii strukturální kognitivní modifikovatelnosti a zkušenosti zprostředkovaného učení. Dále představuje využití metody ve třech oblastech – školní, sociální a oblasti zdravotnictví. Ve školním prostředí se článek zaměřuje na využití u žáků s ADHD, specifickými poruchami učení, sociálním znevýhodněním a na rozvoj učitelů. V sociální oblasti představuje možnosti metody k intervenci u seniorů a dospělých, dále také u osob ve výkonu trestu odnětí svobody. V oblasti zdravotnictví představuje její aplikaci u osob s traumatickým poškozením mozku a Parkinsonovou nemocí. and This article presents the theoretical background of Reuven Feuerstein´s Instrumental Enrichment and its application. It discusses Feuerstein´s life, his theory of structural cognitive modifiability, and mediated learning experience. It shows the application of the program in three areas – education, social area, and healthcare. In the area of education, it discusses the application in students with ADHD, specific learning disabilities, social disadvantage, and a teacher´s development. In the social area, it presents the application of the program in seniors, adults, and at the prison. In the area of healthcare, application in people with traumatic brain injury and Parkinson´s disease is presented.
Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is one of the members of endocrine arm of FGF family. Its actions as a glucose and lipids metabolism regulator are widely known. Although the mechanism of FGF21 action in kidneys is still under investigation, FGF21 was considered as a marker of early kidney function decline. While many researchers focused on adult subjects in this matter, there are no data regarding children. Therefore, we have investigated the relationship between plasma or urine FGF21 levels and kidney function in a group of 42 pediatric patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Anthropometrical parameters and blood pressure were taken, routine biochemical tests were performed. The concentration of FGF21 in serum and urine was determined by enzyme immunoassay. The results revealed significantly higher serum FGF21 concentration among children from CKD group. However, serum FGF21 level was not related to gender, proteinuria, eGFR or renal replacement therapy. Urine FGF21 concentration correlated negatively with albuminuria and positively with eGFR. Documented negative correlation of FGF21 fractional excretion and eGFR is not enough to support the role of FGF21 as a biomarker for predicting kidney disease progression in children and adolescents. Other mechanisms including local kidney FGF21 production or enhanced excretion due to higher extrarenal production may result in higher urine FGF21 concentrations.
This study evaluates bone mineral density (BMD) and trabecular bone score (TBS) in relationship with new markers of chronic kidney disease (CKD), fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23), and klotho. The patients in this cross-sectional study were divided as follows: group A -patients in stages G1-3; group B -patients in stages G4 - 5 according to KDIGO. Plasma levels of soluble klotho and FGF23 were determined by ELISA. Bone mineral density (BMD) and trabecular bone score (TBS) were measured. 74 patients with CKD (mean age 68.8 years) were included in the study. Higher levels of FGF23 were observed in group B (N=15) compared to group A (N=59; p=0.001) were observed. FGF23 was higher in group A compared to group B. Significant difference in TBS within the first 3 stages of CKD was observed (mean TBS in G1=1.375 vs. G2=1.340 vs. G3a=1.24; p<0.05) and negative correlation of FGF23 and TBS (R=-0.33; p=0.05) and positive correlation between klotho and TBS (R=0.419; p=0.04) was observed. This study confirmed that FGF23 and klotho are associated with TBS, but TBS reflects a decrease in kidney function only in the first 3 stages of CKD. Thus, FGF23 and klotho together with TBS are promising markers of early trabecular bone impairment in CKD., Zuzana Kužmová, Martin Kužma, Andrea Gažová, Magdaléna Kovářová, Peter Jackuliak, Zdenko Killinger, Ján Kyselovič, Juraj Payer., and Obsahuje bibliografii
We studied the water balance, body fluid osmolality and survival of the oribatid mite, Pergalumna nervosa, when exposed to drought in field and laboratory experiments. In a replicated field experiment we artificially lowered the soil water content by putting roofs over selected plots, which reduced soil water potential to levels well below the permanent wilting percentage for plants (i.e. below -1.5 MPa). Even though a slight decrease in the abundance of P. nervosa (only found in the 0-5 cm soil layer) was recorded during the most severe drought stress (ca. -3.5 MPa), the majority of adult mites clearly survived these conditions for 3 weeks in the field without migrating to deeper soil layers. Exposing field collected adults in laboratory experiments simulating even more severe drought conditions revealed that P. nervosa can survive several weeks of gradually increasing drought stress (down to -7 MPa) with moderate water loss. The osmolality of body fluids increased as dehydration progressed, but apparently as a result of simple up-concentration of solutes and not the de novo synthesis of protective osmolytes. We compare and discuss these results in the light of what is known about other arthropods., Stine Slotsbo, Jesper G. Sørensen, Josef Stary, Martin Holmstrup., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Field tests were carried out to estimate effective unsaturated soil hydraulic properties of layered residual soils in Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil. Data of this type are important for understanding the initiation of rainstorm-induced soil landslides, which often occur in the state of Rio de Janeiro as well as other areas having similar geologic settings and climate conditions. Tests were carried out using a simplified field approach, referred to as the Monitored Infiltration Test, which requires only a tensiometer to measure pressure heads below the wetting front, triggered by flow from a Mariotte bottle which maintains a constant pressure at the top edge of the soil profile. The data can then be analyzed by numerical inversion using the HYDRUS-2D software package. The test is relatively fast since no steady-state flow conditions are needed, and versatile since the test can be carried out quickly on steep slopes with the help of a manual auger. Soil water retention and the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity functions were obtained for a range of young, mature and saprolitic residual soils. The effective hydraulic properties of the distinct residual soil layers can be quite large, reflecting a need to provide a careful analysis of field-scale hydraulic heterogeneity in geotechnical analyses.
This paper argues that financialisation exacerbates gender inequity in the United States. During the Recession, wealth-stripping activities were targeted at single female homeowners prompting severe asset depletion among single women, people of color, and those who depend on them. Rather than protecting them from risk, their home equity and bodies absorbed the failures of capitalism within their network. The paper draws on a thematic analysis of interviews with 21 single female homeowners who experienced mortgage default. Rather than focusing on risk incidence, I take their relational pathways as the object of inquiry demonstrating how activities of gendered care work act as conduits and amplifiers of financialised risk that extends the responsibility for unpaid social provision throughout the lifespan. The analysis demonstrates how their status as homeowners positioned them in between market failures and the consequences of austerity thereby restructuring the function of home equity.
Historically, public and affordable housing has been provided by the state in close conjunction with local authorities, public housing developers, and other social housing providers. Yet, affordable rental homes are now increasingly being managed, produced, or acquired by private equity firms and other institutional investors. In this contribution, we argue that ‘financialised privatisation’ is a helpful concept for understanding these shifts in state-finance compromises within the post-crisis affordable housing sector. Drawing on the case of England, we first discuss the major mechanisms of financialised privatisation and examine how an increasingly polymorphous affordable housing sector has emerged with a focus on multi-tenure and mixed-income housing tenures. We then discuss the possible challenges of this transformation and conclude that it remains very much a question whether a privately funded housing system will emerge that provides genuinely affordable housing and reduces inequalities.
The record is confirmed of a “Clariobranchus” hybrid Clarias gariepinus × Heterobranchus sp. specimen in the River Danube in Croatia. Clarias gariepinus was introduced to Europe for farming and research purposes. Because of their faster growth and short time to achieve market size, “Clariobranchus” hybrids have gained attention in European aquaculture. To date, no record has been found in the literature of “Clariobranchus” hybrid escapees in inland waters of Europe. The present finding suggests that the “Clariobranchus” hybrid escaped from an unprotected aquaculture system or open pond farm. The threat of establishment of a population of this hybrid in suitable environments, such as thermal ponds, cannot be ruled out.