FeNO measurement is a validated non-invasive technique, which
is used for diagnosis and monitoring of asthma. It would be
desirable to find a reliable method to monitor allergic rhinitis (AR)
via measurement of FeNO, and/or nasal nitric oxide (nNO). The
aim of our study was the assessment of the efficacy of FeNO and
nNO as markers in AR treatment. FeNO and nNO were measured
with the portable NO analyser (NIOX MINO®) in healthy
participants and in patients with AR. The patients were examined
during the pollen season and out of it. The effect of local
corticosteroids and antihistamine therapy was observed in
patients with AR during pollen season after three weeks of
therapy. There are significant differences between FeNO and
nNO in patients with AR compared to healthy controls at all set
points of measurements. While FeNO responded well to the
treatment with both antihistamines and combined therapy, nNO
decreased only after combined therapy with antihistamines and
nasal corticosteroids. nNO monitoring alone is not a suitable
method to monitor inflammation of the upper airways in AR and
its suppression by anti-allergic treatment and should be
correlated with other markers as FeNO or symptom scores.
Cílem této práce je představit české verze metod na měření vazby v dospělosti, konkrétně metody Experiences in Close Relationships a dalších variant, které jsou z ní odvozeny, spolu s jejich základními psychometrickými vlastnostmi a specifiky. Tento přehled společně s plným zněním jednotlivých dotazníků v přílohách by měl sloužit k možnosti výběru vhodného nástroje pro různé výzkumné otázky. Informace o jednotlivých metodách, jejich výhodách a nevýhodách společně s plným zněním položek by měla přispět k sjednocení používání v českém prostředí adaptovaných metod. Tento přehled by měl také přispět k omezení dalších duplicitních překladů stejných měřících nástrojů. and The aim of this paper is to present the Czech version of the methods used to measure attachment in adulthood, specifically we are concerned with the Experiences in Close Relationship method and its derived variants together with their basic psychometric properties and specifics. With the full texts of the individual questionnaires enclosed, this overview should help researchers select the appropriate version for their research questions. The information about the individual methods, their advantages and disadvantages together with the items in full ought to contribute to the unification of the use of adapted methods and to lowering the risk of repeated translations of the same methods in the context of the Czech Republic.
An infection model for sharpsnout seabream Diplodus puntazzo (Walbaum) challenged with the myxosporean Enteromyxum leei (Diamant, Lom et Dyková, 1994), resembling the natural infection conditions, was used to evaluate the antiparasitic efficacy of a functional diet. Fish of an average weight of 12.5 ± 1.2 g were delivered either a functional (included as feed supplement at 0.3% levels) or a control extruded diet. After four weeks of administration of the experimental diets, fish were challenged with the parasites (cohabitation with infected donors; donor: recipient ratio 1 : 1). The experiment was terminated four weeks after the start of the challenge. At the end of the experiment, growth and feeding (specific growth rate and feed efficiency), as well as immunological parameters (respiratory burst activity, antibacterial activities, hemoglobin concentration, anti-protease activity and ceruloplasmin activity) were measured along with cumulative mortality and total parasitic count in the gut. No significant difference was evident with regard to growth and feeding performance, mortality, gut parasitic load or immunological parameters as the parasitical challenge significantly affected both the performance of the control and functional diet fed fish. However, there was a less prominent impact on antibacterial, anti-protease and ceruloplasmin activity in fish fed with the functional diet. Overall, the present study validated the experimental cohabitation infection model and evaluated the efficacy of a functional ingredient as an antiparasitic agent, showing some potential effects on the fish immune response.
In recent years, due to the occurrence of water shortage and drought problems, particularly in arid and semiarid regions of the world, new methods to reduce evaporation from the surface of dam reservoirs, lakes, and other waterfree surfaces are investigated. This study aimed to use hydrophobic bentonite to reduce water evaporation from water surfaces, on a laboratory scale, and field conditions for the first time. Bentonite initially became hydrophobic by stearic acid (SA). Under such conditions, hydrophobic bentonite floats on the surface of water and forms a thin coating layer. The produced hydrophobic bentonite had a contact angle of 150°, indicating its superhydrophobicity. Evaporation reduction was measured under laboratory and field conditions and it was compared to hexadecanol as the reference material. The results demonstrated that the hydrophobic bentonite efficiency under laboratory conditions was similar to that of hexadecanol and prevented water evaporation by 36%. However, under field conditions, hydrophobic bentonite and hexadecanol efficiencies were 40% and 23% to reduce evaporation for 30 days, respectively. In terms of stability, hexadecanol needed to be re-injected after three days, while hydrophobic bentonite was stable and remained on the surface for more than 100 days under laboratory conditions and for more than 15 days under field conditions without needing reinjection. This coverage with method can be used to reduce evaporation from lakes, tanks, and reservoirs of small dams.
Dams have an important role in the industrial development of countries. Irrespective of the reason for dam break, the flood can cause devastating disasters with loss of life and property especially in densely populated areas. In this study, the effects of the vegetation on the flood wave propagation in case of dam break were investigated experimentally by using the distorted physical model of Ürkmez Dam. The horizontal and vertical scales of the distorted physical model are 1/150 and 1/30, respectively. The dam break scenarios were achieved by means of a gate of rectangular and triangular shape. The results obtained from experiments performed with vegetation were compared and interpreted with those obtained from experiments at which the vegetation configuration was absent. The analysis of the experimental data showed that the presence of vegetation causes a significant decrease in water depths as the flood wave propagates to the downstream and greatly reduces its impact on the settlements. It is also revealed that dam break shape plays an important role in temporal variation of flood wave.
Joints significantly reduce rock cohesion compared to unfractured rock, but the question is what effect the possible anisotropy of the shear strength of different types of rupture has on possible subsequent failure. Both natural samples of granodiorite with natural joints and fault surfaces and gypsum models have been tested on the Matest A129 Rock shear box apparatus. The shear strength of preexisting ruptures was measured under a fixed normal stress component. The anisotropy of the shear strength of the joints and fault surfaces reached more than 60 % of maximum strength, which is a very important value for solving structural loads. The shear strength was analyzed with polar plots. The pattern of the real joints typically showed a teardrop shape with one peak of strength in a certain direction and a minimum in the opposite direction. On the contrary, striated fault surfaces are characterized by two axial directions of minimal shear strength, i.e., longitudinal and transverse, and by two axial oblique directions with maximal shear strength, so the strength distribution in the polar graph has a four-cornered shape. The study showed that the anisotropy of the shear strength of various types of ruptures is their important feature.
The intensification of agriculture has resulted in changes to mowing techniques. Slow manual cutting gave wild animals time to move to safer habitat patches and left hiding places for them. With the arrival of much faster mowing machinery this is no longer the case. To date, there are few ways of measuring direct mortality of new mowing capabilities on wildlife. In our study we aimed to answer whether a search dog, previously trained to find carcasses, could be used to assess mowing mortality of various species in different vegetation types in Hungary. Working with a handler, a carcass-trained dog fitted with a GPS surveyed several habitats post-mowing. All the animal remains detected were identified and recorded. 149 killed individuals were detected on 12 land parcels studied (158.2 carcasses/100 ha). The most affected vertebrate group was the reptiles (57%), all with protected status in Hungary, followed by mammals (30%) and birds (6%). Reptiles were predominantly represented by lizards, while rodents were the most common mammals found (91% and 70%, respectively). The dog also found dead brown hares, pheasants and roe deer (11% of all carcasses), which has implications for local wildlife managers. There was no statistical difference in the density of dead individuals between grassy meadows and leguminous vegetation, or in those found in the morning or afternoon. The mortality rate was not associated with the area of the mowed field. Our findings suggest that this is a viable use of carcass detection dogs. We recommend additional work of this kind to reveal the fatal impacts of new, faster mowing practices on wildlife living in agricultural landscapes to help mitigate conservation and game management conflicts.
Even before the 2008/9-crisis, and certainly after, trends in labour markets combined with housing and mortgage market developments made it more difficult for each new cohort of young Europeans (25-34) to complete the transition to ‘residential independence’, and to homeownership in particular. Using EU-SILC-data (2005-2018), I find that young adults’ homeownership opportunities have indeed declined across Europe, but to varying extents. Furthermore, it seems that a more socially selective group of highly educated young homeowners are entering properties, and the properties they are entering are of lower quality and in locations with fewer services. I also find indications that the transition to homeownership is being pushed beyond the commonly used age-threshold of 34. Across countries, deteriorating homeownership opportunities are more strongly associated with housing and mortgage market turmoil than with the declined employment and income security of young adults. Taken together, these findings may indicate that housing market developments, such as restricted access to mortgage credit, have become a more important explanatory factor.
Foliar anthocyanins shape a peculiar shade in a red leaf's interior leading to uneven energy distribution between the two photosystems. Accordingly, a readjustment of PSII/PSI stoichiometry could restore excitation balance. To test this hypothesis, 77 K fluorescence emission spectra of thylakoids from green and red leaves of seven species with different pigment profiles were compared. The ratio of F686/F736 served as an indication of the PSII/PSI functional ratio. To avoid possible species-dependent differences in the measured parameters, plants showing intra-individual, intra-species, or intra-leaf variation in the expression of the anthocyanic character were used. Red leaves or red leaf areas displayed higher PSII/PSI ratio, irrespectively of species and anthocyanin accumulation pattern. PSII/PSI ratio declined in parallel with anthocyanin decrease. In five species, red leaves displayed also a lower Chl a/b ratio. We conclude that red leaves growing in full sunlight develop adaptive adjustments in their chlorophyll and photosystem ratios, compatible with the shade-acclimation syndrome.