We recently developed a chlorophyll a fluorescence method (activated F0 rise) for estimating if a light wavelength preferably excites PSI or PSII in plants. Here, the method was tested in green microalgae: Scenedesmus quadricauda, Scenedesmus ecornis, Scenedesmus fuscus, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Chlorella sorokiniana, and Ettlia oleoabundans. The Scenedesmus species displayed a plant-like action spectra of F0 rise, suggesting that PSII/PSI absorption ratio is conserved from higher plants to green algae. F0 rise was weak in a strain of C. reinhardtii, C. sorokiniana, and E. oleoabundans. Interestingly, another C. reinhardtii strain exhibited a strong F0 rise. The result indicates that the same illumination can lead to different redox states of the plastoquinone pool in different algae. Flavodiiron activity enhanced the F0 rise, presumably by oxidizing the plastoquinone pool during pre-illumination. The activity of plastid terminal oxidase, in turn, diminished the F0 rise, but to a small degree.
Livestock guarding dogs (LGDs) have been used for centuries to reduce depredation on livestock and, more recently, to facilitate the conservation of threatened carnivores. Conservation organisations in southern Africa promote the use of Anatolian shepherds as LGDs. However, livestock farmers in Botswana use a variety of breeds for this purpose, including local landrace “Tswana” dogs. Our study sought to test the overall effectiveness of these local breeds as LGDs. Irrespective of breed, all LGDs reduced livestock losses, with 47.9% of farmers experiencing no losses after obtaining a guarding dog. Owners with more LGDs, and LGDs of a single sex, had greater reductions in livestock losses. Anatolian shepherds displayed more behavioural problems than other breeds in our study. The health of LGDs was reliant on them receiving a balanced diet, and owners with fewer dogs reported fewer health issues. Moreover, Tswana guarding dogs were cheaper to purchase and feed than their purebred counterparts. Our results show that local landrace dogs can be considered a cheaper and more practical alternative to purebred LGDs for reducing livestock losses and for mitigating human-wildlife conflict in Botswana.
Increasing the efficiency of photosynthesis in sugarcane canopies is the key for improving crop yield. Herein, we evaluated the photosynthetic performance along the canopy of ten sugarcane cultivars and three Saccharum species. Canopy morphological traits were evaluated, and leaf gas exchange was measured in the first (sun-exposed, +1) and the fourth (shaded, +4) fully expanded leaves and under low- and high-light conditions. Similar photosynthetic capacity was found in leaves +1 and +4 under high light in genotypes with a high leaf area index and a high fraction of the sky blocked by the foliage (> 85%). Interestingly, such canopy characteristics cause low light availability to leaves +4, suggesting the photosynthetic acclimation of these leaves to self-shading in some genotypes. We highlight IACCTC06-8126 and CTC4 as those genotypes with higher canopy photosynthetic capacity, presenting high leaf area, high photosynthetic rates in sun-exposed leaves, and high responsiveness of shaded leaves to increasing light availability.
A large-scale piano key weir laboratory study was conducted to investigate the evolution of the scour process occurring in the downstream basin for two non-cohesive granular bed materials, including the analysis of scour-hole geometry and patterns at equilibrium. It was observed that hydraulic conditions, particularly tailwater level, significantly affect the scour mechanisms and equilibrium morphology, eventually resulting in scour depths that exceeded the weir height. Unprecedented insights on the scour dynamics are also provided, along with tools to estimate the time evolution and maximum scour depth, its location in the streamwise direction, and the maximum scour length.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a unique disorder. It usually devel-ops in early childhood and, in 50% of cases, continues to be a lifelong disorder, which poses significant challenges for researchers and clini-cians. The new criteria set by the World Health Organization merged the category of Hyperki-netic Disorders and the ADHD category.This narrative review aims to explore and ease the adoption of the ADHD concept for clinicians and researchers who were used to working with Hyperkinetic Disorders by (1) analyzing the evolution of the ADHD concept from its estab-lishment in the Diagnostic and Statistical Man-ual of Mental Disorders, 3rd edition (DSM-III) until DSM-5; (2) comparing the contemporary concepts of ADHD in DSM-5 and Hyperkinetic Disorders in International Statistical Classifica-tion of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10); and (3) describing some new chal-lenges the ADHD concept will face in the future.The structure and the dimensions of the concept are explored, including some possible new core symptoms such as emotional dysregulation and mind wandering. Adult presentations of symp-toms of hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inatten-tion are presented. The recent challenges of the global pandemic of covid-19 are also addressed.In conclusion, the concept of ADHD has been dramatically improved since its establishment. However, the bio-psycho-social perspective needs to be better balanced in ADHD-related science. and Porucha pozornosti s hyperaktivitou (ADHD) je unikátní poruchou. Většinou se rozvine v raném dětství a v 50 % případů přerůstá v celoživotní poruchu, což přináší významné výzvy pro vý-zkumníky i odborníky v praxi. Nová kritéria vytvořená Světovou zdravotnickou organiza-cí spojila kategorie hyperkinetických poruch a ADHD. Cílem této narativní přehledové studie bylo prozkoumat a usnadnit osvojení koncep-tu ADHD odborníky a výzkumníky, kteří byli zvyklí pracovat s hyperkinetickými poruchami. 1) Byla analyzována evoluce konceptu ADHD od jeho ustanovení ve 3. edici Diagnostické-ho a statistického manuálu duševních poruch (DSM-III) až po DSM-5; 2) byly porovnány současné koncepty ADHD v DSM-5 a hyper-kinetické poruchy v Mezinárodní statistické klasifikaci nemocí a přidružených zdravotních problémů (MKN-10); a 3) byly popsány některé nové výzvy, kterým může koncept ADHD čelit v budoucnosti. Prozkoumány byly dimenze a struktura konceptu včetně potenciálních no-vých symptomů, jako jsou například emocio-nální dysregulace a tzv. mind wandering. Před-staveny byly také dospělé prezentace symptomů hyperaktivity, impulzivity a nepozornosti. Au-toři se dotkli také nedávných výzev spojených s globální pandemií covid-19. Závěrem lze kon-statovat, že koncept ADHD se od svého vzniku významně zlepšil. Ve vědeckém výzkumu zabý-vajícím se ADHD by však měla být více zohled-něna psycho-bio-sociální perspektiva.
Tracking and sniffer dogs have been employed in a variety of law enforcement roles world-wide and are increasingly utilized to combat wildlife crimes (i.e. poaching and trafficking). I examined the K-9 counter--poaching unit based at Akagera National Park in Rwanda. I discuss motivations and reasoning for the unit's creation, and examine the challenges faced and methods used to overcome these. I also highlight successes and best practices in place at the Park. The major challenge encountered is health issues related to the parasitic protozoan Trypanosoma spp. Minor budgetary and facility challenges exist. Developing in-house solutions such as setting up a small clinic and basic veterinary training for handlers have reduced health risks and costs. Crossbreeding the original tracking dogs from Europe with local dogs from the communities around the park has been a success. Puppies bred and trained on-site offer affordable alternatives to purchasing additional dogs from abroad. The cross-bred dogs may also be better suited for working in the Akagera environment but further scientific study is needed to understand this. Additional successes include training dogs to track both on- and off-lead, allowing for a unit with multiple skill sets and more efficient, faster tracking.
Recent studies reported association of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) with testosterone and vitamin D deficiency. Low testosterone and vitamin D levels have been linked to fatigue and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). However, the impact of testosterone and vitamin D deficiency on EDS in subjects with SDB remains unknown. The aim of this study was to explore the predictors of EDS in habitual snorers. Role of testosterone, and vitamin D was studied in detail. We also looked for associations between testosterone, vitamin D, and sleep-related indices. We prospectively enrolled 291 consecutive male patients with habitual snoring. Baseline clinical characteristics were recorded on admission. Standard overnight polysomnography was performed to detect SDB, and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) was used to assess EDS. Blood samples were obtained in a fasting condition in the morning after polysomnography to determine levels of testosterone and vitamin D. Respiratory disturbance index (RDI) (95 % CI: 1.004-1.024, p=0.005) and the use of antihistamines (95 % CI: 1.083-11.901, p=0.037) were the only independent variables significantly associated with EDS in binary logistic regression analysis. In linear multiple regression analysis, body mass index (BMI) (Beta=-0.282, p˂0.001) and oxygen desaturation index (Beta=-0.150, p=0.043) were the only independent variables significantly associated with testosterone levels, and BMI (Beta=-0.142, p=0.016) was the only independent variable significantly associated with vitamin D. We failed to find any independent association of testosterone and vitamin D with subjectively rated EDS among habitual snorers. Our results suggest an independent association between the magnitude of nocturnal desaturation and testosterone levels., Pavel Šiarnik, Matúš Jurík, Miroslava Hardoňová, Katarína Klobučníková, Jakub Veverka, Pavol Šurda, Peter Turčáni, Branislav Kollár., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Exercise can improve the cardiovascular health. However, the mechanism contributing to its beneficial effect on elderly patients with myocardial infarction is obscure. 20-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were used to establish myocardial infarction (MI) model by permanent ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) of the heart, followed by 4-week interval exercise training on a motor-driven rodent treadmill. The cardiac function, myocardial fibrosis, apoptosis, oxidative stress, and inflammatory responses were determined by using pressure transducer catheter, polygraph physiological data acquisition system, Masson's trichrome staining, and ELISA to evaluate the impact of post-MI exercise training on MI. Western blot were performed to detect the activation of AMPK/SIRT1/PGC-1α signaling in the hearts of aged rats. Exercise training significantly improved cardiac function and reduced the cardiac fibrosis. In infarcted heart, the apoptosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation were significantly reduced after 4-week exercise training. Mechanistically, AMPK/SIRT1/PGC-1α pathway was activated in the myocardial infarction area after exercise training, which might participate in the protection of cardiac function. Exercise training improves cardiac function in MI rats through reduction of apoptosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation, which may mediate by the activation of AMPK/SIRT1/PGC-1α signaling pathway.
Exercise tolerance in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis IPF is mainly limited by mechanical constrain of ventilation and high physiologic dead space. Oxygen enriched gas inhalation seems to increase ventilatory efficiency by reduction of dead space to tidal volume ratio (VD/VT) which probably mirrors improved pulmonary capillary flow and leads to longer physical tolerance at lower level of minute ventilation. The effect is noticeable at FIO2 that can be delivered in rehabilitation purposes or daily living activities.