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.
Reactive oxygen species are an important element of redox regulation in cells and tissues. During physiological processes, molecules undergo chemical changes caused by reduction and oxidation reactions. Free radicals are involved in interactions with other molecules, leading to oxidative stress. Oxidative stress works two ways depending on the levels of oxidizing agents and products. Excessive action of oxidizing agents damages biomolecules, while a moderate physiological level of oxidative stress (oxidative eustress) is necessary to control life processes through redox signaling required for normal cellular operation. High levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) mediate pathological changes. Oxidative stress helps to regulate cellular phenotypes in physiological and pathological conditions. Nrf2 (nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2, NFE2L2) transcription factor functions as a target nuclear receptor against oxidative stress and is a key factor in redox regulation in hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Nrf2 mediates transcriptional regulation of a variety of target genes. The Keap1-Nrf2-ARE system regulates many detoxification and antioxidant enzymes in cells after the exposure to reactive oxygen species and electrophiles. Activation of Nrf2/ARE signaling is differentially regulated during acute and chronic stress. and Keap1 normally maintains Nrf2 in the cytosol and stimulates its degradation through ubiquitination. During acute oxidative stress, oxidized molecules modify the interaction of Nrf2 and Keap1, when Nrf2 is released from the cytoplasm into the nucleus where it binds to the antioxidant response element (ARE). This triggers the expression of antioxidant and detoxification genes. The consequence of long-term chronic oxidative stress is activation of glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β) inhibiting Nrf2 activity and function. PPARγ (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma) is a nuclear receptor playing an important role in the management of cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and metabolic syndrome. PPARγ targeting of genes with peroxisome proliferator response element (PPRE) has led to the identification of several genes involved in lipid metabolism or oxidative stress. PPARγ stimulation is triggered by endogenous and exogenous ligands – agonists and it is involved in the activation of several cellular signaling pathways involved in oxidative stress response, such as the PI3K/Akt/NOS pathway. Nrf2 and PPARγ are linked together with their several activators and Nrf2/ARE and PPARγ/PPRE pathways can control several types of diseases.
Atrial fibrillation and atrial tachycardias (AF/AT) have been reported as a common condition in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH). As yet, limited data exists about the significance of the borderline post-capillary pressure component on the occurrence of AF / AT in patients with isolated pre-capillary PH. We retrospectively studied the prevalence of AF / AT in 333 patients (mean age 61±15 years, 44 % males) with pre-capillary idiopathic / familiar pulmonary arterial hypertension, and inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. The prevalence of AF / AT was analyzed in different categories of pulmonary artery wedge pressure (PAWP). In the study population overall, the mean PAWP was 10.5±3 mmHg, median of 11 mmHg, range 2-15 mmHg. AF / AT was diagnosed in 79 patients (24 %). The proportion of AF / AT among patients with PAWP below the median (≤11 mmHg) was lower than in subjects with PAWP between 12 and 15 mmHg, 30 (16 %) vs. 46 (35 %), p=0.0001. Compared to the patients with PAWP≤11 mmHg, subjects with PAWP between 12 and 15 mmHg were older (65±13 years vs. 58±16), with more prevalent arterial hypertension [100 (70 %) vs. 106 (55 %)] and diabetes mellitus [50 (35 %) vs. 48 (25 %)], showed larger size of the left atrium (42±7 vs. 40±6 mm), and higher values of right atrium pressure (12±5 vs. 8±5 mmHg), p<0.05 in all comparisons. The prevalence of AF / AT in the group studied increased with the growing post-capillary component.
a1_Sarcopenia is defined as an age-associated loss of skeletal muscle function and muscle mass and is common in older adults. Sarcopenia as a disease is currently of interest not only to orthopedists and surgeons but also to internists, endocrinologists, rheumatologists, cardiologists, diabetologists, gynaecologists, geriatricians and paediatricians. In cooperation with the 5th Internal Medicine Clinic, we, as a unit of clinical research, aimed to describe a sarcopenic specific miRNA expression profile for disease diagnostics and classification of the severity of muscle performance deterioration. This study included a total of 80 patients (age 55-86 years) hospitalized at the V. Internal medicine clinic of LFUK and UNB with different severity of muscle performance deterioration. The study participants were evaluated and classified according to short physical performance battery score (SPPB). In this study, we investigated the role of circulating miRNAs in sarcopenia in the elderly. We hypothesized that sarcopenia effects the expression of muscle tissue-specific miRNAs (MyomiRNAs), which could be potentially reflected in the blood plasma miRNA expression profile. The expression of specific circulating miRNAs in patients with different muscle performances was analyzed. Patients’ blood plasma was evaluated for the expression of myomiRNAs: miRNA-29a, miRNA-29b, miRNA-1, miRNA-133a, miRNA-133b, miRNA-206, miRNA-208b and miRNA-499, and the data were correlated with diagnostic indicators of the disease. We showed a specific sarcopenia miRNA profile that could be considered a possible biomarker for the disease. Patients with low muscle performance showed increased miRNA-1, miRNA-29a and miRNA-29b expression and decreased for the miRNA-206, miRNA-133a, miRNA-133b, miRNA-208b and miRNA-499 expression., a2_ We show that the severity of muscle performance deterioration in sarcopenia correlates with specific miRNA expression. We also propose the profile of miRNAs expression in blood plasma as a specific biomarker for sarcopenia diagnostics. Future clinical studies will be necessary to eventually naturally have to elucidate the underlined molecular mechanism responsible for specific miRNAs expression in sarcopenia pathology and progression of the disease., Simona Valášková, Andrea Gažová, Petra Vrbová, Tomáš Koller, Barbara Šalingova, Adriana Adamičková, Nikola Chomaničová, Nikoleta Hulajová, Juraj Payer, Ján Kyselovič., and Obsahuje bibliografii
This article identifies the spatial correlation between the social determinants of health in the housing area (housing prices, overcrowding, poor-quality building materials, and household socioeconomic vulnerability) and the spread of COVID-19 in Santiago de Chile. The research used data from the 2017 Census conducted by the National Institute of Statistics of Chile and data on confirmed cases of COVID-19 (PCR) by communes provided by/obtained from Chile’s Ministry of Health. The article provides a two-fold examination/analysis of the spatial correlation using the Pearson measure to observe how the virus spread from areas with high-quality housing in the early stage of the contagion to then become concentrated in areas with low-quality of housing. The second examination/analysis is a multiple linear regression to identify the housing factors that inform virus propagation. The test results show that of the four social determinants of health relating to housing assessed here, housing prices is the variable that best predicts how the social determinants of health based on housing explain the progress of the pandemic for the Santiago case, following the collinearity factors according to the data used in this study. The conclusions suggest that public policy should treat housing quality as a factor in public health and health risks that needs to be addressed with a transdisciplinary approach to urban planning in Chile.
The present study analysed the taxonomic status and phylogenetic relationships of two species of xiphidiocercariae of the ʻmicrocotylaeʼ group, Cercaria pugnax La Valette St. George, 1855, from Viviparus viviparus (Linnaeus) in the Ukraine and Cercaria helvetica XII Dubois, 1928 from Bithynia tentaculata (Linnaeus) in Lithuania. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on sequences of the ITS2 region and partial 28S gene of the nuclear rDNA revealed that both these xiphidiocercariae belong to the Lecithodendriidae Lühe, 1901 and represent larval stages of lecithodendriids parasitic in bats. Cercaria helvetica XII clustered with the typical representatives of the genus Lecithodendrium Looss, 1896, being very close, but not identical, to Lecithodendrium linstowi Dollfus, 1931. Sequences of C. pugnax matched exactly the sequences of adult Paralecithodendrium chilostomum (Mehlis, 1831). Morphological descriptions of the cercariae are included; these represent the first report of non-virgulate xiphidiocercariae belonging to the family Lecithodendriidae. Until now, the presence of glandular virgula organ in the region of the oral sucker was considered a robust synapomorphy for the Lecithodendriidae and several closely related families. Our results have shown that the relative importance of this character is in need of a re-assessment., Olena Kudlai, Virmantas Stunžėnas, Vasyl Tkach., and Obsahuje bibliografii
After anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, a decrease in muscle strength associated with muscle atrophy is frequently observed. The temporal and spatial effects of reconstructive surgery on muscle atrophy have not been examined in detail. This study aimed to 1) reveal the short and mid-term effects of reconstructive surgery on muscle atrophy, and 2) investigate the differences in the degree of atrophy after ACL reconstruction in the hindlimb muscles. ACL transection with or without reconstructive surgery was performed unilaterally on the knees of rats. Untreated rats were used as controls. At one or four weeks post-surgery, the relative muscle wet weights (wet weight/body weight) of the hindlimb muscles were calculated to assess atrophy. At one week post-surgery, muscle atrophy was induced by ACL transection and further aggravated by reconstructive surgery. Reconstructive surgery facilitated recovery from muscle atrophy in some muscles compared with those without reconstructive surgery (ACL transection alone) at four weeks post-surgery. Muscle atrophy after ACL reconstruction was greater in the rectus femoris and plantar flexors than in the semitendinosus and plantar extensors at one week post-surgery. These results indicate that reconstructive surgery exacerbates muscle atrophy in the first week post-surgery, while facilitating recovery between the first and fourth week post-surgery. After reconstructive surgery, muscle atrophy was observed not only in the quadriceps and hamstrings, but also in the lower leg muscles, suggesting the need for muscle strengthening interventions for the lower leg muscles as well as the quadriceps and hamstrings.
This mini-review aims to introduce the association between Secretory clusterin/apolipoprotein J (sCLU) and diverse musculoskeletal diseases. A comprehensive review of the literature was performed to identify basic science and clinical studies, which implied the therapeutic and prognostic role of sCLU in diverse musculoskeletal diseases. sCLU is a multifunctional glycoprotein that is ubiquitously expressed in various tissues and is implicated in many pathophysiological processes. Dysregulated expression of sCLU had been reported to be assocaited with proliferative or apoptotic molecular processes and inflammatory responses, which participated in many pathophysiological processes such as degenerative musculoskeletal diseases including ischemic osteonecrosis, osteoarthritis (OA) and degenerative cervical myelopathy (spinal cord injury), neoplastic musculoskeletal diseases, inflammatory and autoimmune musculoskeletal diseases including Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), joint damage induced by Brucella abortus, Sjogren's syndrome, idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, muscle glucose metabolism, insulin sensitivity and traumatic musculoskeletal diseases. Recent findings of sCLU in these musculoskeletal diseases provides insights on the therapeutic and prognostic role of sCLU in these musculoskeletal diseases. sCLU may serve as a promising therapeutic target for ischemic osteonecrosis, OA and spinal cord injury as well as a potential prognostic biomarker for OA and RA. Moreover, sCLU could act as a prognostic biomarker for osteosarcoma (OS) and a promising therapeutic target for OS resistance. Although many studies support the potential therapeutic and prognostic role of sCLU in some inflammatory and autoimmune-mediated musculoskeletal diseases, more future researches are needed to explore the molecular pathogenic mechanism mediated by sCLU implied in these musculoskeletal diseases.
Agrimonia eupatoria L. is an herb of the Rosaceae family, widely used in traditional (folk) medicine for its beneficial effects. Its water extracts (infusions and decoctions) are used in the treatment of airway and urinary system diseases, digestive tract diseases, and chronic wounds. Phytochemical analyses of Agrimonia eupatoria L. identified a variety of bioactive compounds including tannins, flavonoids, phenolic acids, triterpenoids and volatile oils possessing antioxidant, immunomodulatory and antimicrobial activities. The authors review the available literature sources examining and discussing the therapeutic and pharmacological effects of Agrimonia eupatoria L. at the molecular level in vitro and in vivo.
The dissociation between egocentric and allocentric reference frames is well established. Spatial coding relative to oneself has been associated with a brain network distinct from spatial coding using a cognitive map independently of the actual position. These differences were, however, revealed by a variety of tasks from both static conditions, using a series of images, and dynamic conditions, using movements through space. We aimed to clarify how these paradigms correspond to each other concerning the neural correlates of the use of egocentric and allocentric reference frames. We review here studies of allocentric and egocentric judgments used in static two- and three-dimensional tasks and compare their results with the findings from spatial navigation studies. We argue that neural correlates of allocentric coding in static conditions but using complex three-dimensional scenes and involving spatial memory of participants resemble those in spatial navigation studies, while allocentric representations in two-dimensional tasks are connected with other perceptual and attentional processes. In contrast, the brain networks associated with the egocentric reference frame in static two-dimensional and three-dimensional tasks and spatial navigation tasks are, with some limitations, more similar. Our review demonstrates the heterogeneity of experimental designs focused on spatial reference frames. At the same time, it indicates similarities in brain activation during reference frame use despite this heterogeneity., Sofiia Moraresku, Kamil Vlcek., and Obsahuje bibliografii