The study is an attempt at a reconstruction of the course of the Easter celebrations in the church of the Benedictine monastery of St George at Prague Castle from the period around 1200, to when the earliest preserved record is dated, until the 15th century. The first part of the celebration was the Quem queritis dialogue; in the next act the meeting of Mary Magdalene with Christ was played out and in the third part the amassed believers were ceremonially shown the linen from the empty Sepulchre. From the 14th century, the meeting of Mary with the Spice Merchant was included before these three scenes. Where and how these scenes were played is not entirely apparent from the rubrics of the preserved liturgical manuscripts. The showing of the linen probably took place on the stairs to the eastern chancel and according to one of the records from the 14th century at the ‘iron tomb’, which might have been the tomb of Duke Boleslav II, buried in front of the staircase. The first two scenes thus almost certainly took place in the area of the eastern chancel, where the main altar was, initially transformed each year into a temporary Holy Sepulchre. A permanent stone Sepulchre, which was established there between 1344 and 1345, presented an entirely open architecture - which differed from the generally widespread closed coffin-like forms - apparently bearing the relics of St Ludmila in the tomb of green porphyry. From the 14th century, the ritual of Depositio crucis, in which a cross was placed in the Sepulchre, also began to be performed. and Petr Uličný.
The author presents a revised interpretation of the area of the NE gateway of the acropolis of the Great Moravian power centre Mikulčice-Valy and the adjacent fortification. The work is a response to a previously published picture of the overall find situation of this area (by B. Kavánová 2003), which, according to the author, does not match the infor mation available in the original documentation. The interpretation procedures clearly presented in the aforementioned monograph cannot be substantiated due to inadequate field work methods, the extent of the documentation compiled and the way in which this documentation is selected and designed This work also provides a critique of the interpre tation of the stratigraphic situation and the dating means and methods used. According to this revised interpretation, it is not possible to concur regarding the relevance of the evidence on which B. Kaváinová bases her hypothesis that there was more than one phase to the rampart. Due to this unsubstantiated interpretation, the chronology given for other settlement structures therefore lacks credibility. The text also includes a reconstruction of the passage through the fortification when the aforementioned gate was in use., Marian Mazuch., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
This article explores the spatial influences that shape the contemporary Czech party system and their consequences for the institutionalisation of the party system. First, the régionalisation of the party system is measured to identify the specific regional clusters of votes for individual parties. Second, after controlling for the impact of social cleavages, the independent effect of two macro-regions on the differences in voting decisions is analysed. In the case of Moravia, no such independent effect is evident. Conversely, in the formerly German-inhabited Sudetenland there is an effect on the vote in the case of two parties (KSČM and ODS). The historical reasons for this spatial regime are briefly discussed. Finally, the relative insignificance of spatial regimes in the Czech party system is explained with reference to its high degree of nationalisation (the level of spatial heterogeneity in regional voting results). The author employs spatial analytical techniques in the article, such as measures of spatial autocorrelation, the spatial regression model, and the Gini Index. The findings suggest that there is a high degree of spatial institutionalisation of the Czech party system and relatively insignificant contextual effects at the macro-regional level.
Proteasomes appear to be involved in the pathophysiology of various acute and chronic lung diseases. Information on the human lung proteasome in health and disease, however, is sparse. Therefore, we studied whether end-stage pulmonary diseases are associated with alterations in lung 20S/26S proteasome content, activity and 20S subunit composition. Biopsies were obtained from donor lungs (n=7) and explanted lungs from patients undergoing lung transplantation because of end stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; n=7), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF, n=7) and pulmonary sarcoidosis (n=5). 20S/26S proteasomes in lung extracts were quantified by ELISA, chymotrypsin-like proteasome peptidase activities measured and 20S proteasome β subunits analyzed by Western blot. As compared with donor lungs, proteasome content was increased in IPF and sarcoidosis, but not in COPD. The relative distribution of free 20S and 26S proteasomes was similar; 20S proteasome was predominant in all extracts. Proteasome peptidase activities in donor and diseased lungs were indistinguishable. All extracts contained a mixed composition of inducible 20S β immuno-subunits and their constitutive counterparts; a disease associated distribution could not be identified. A higher content of lung proteasomes in IPF and pulmonary sarcoidosis may contribute to the pathophysiology of human fibrotic lung diseases., T. A. Baker, H. H. Bach IV, R. L. Gemelli, R. B. Love, M. Majetschak., and Obsahuje bibliografii
a1_Ischemic preconditioning (I-PC) induced by brief episodes of ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) protects the heart against sustained I/R. Although activation of mitochondrial K ATP channels (mitoK ATP) interacting with reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been proposed as a key event in this process, their role in the antiarrhythmic effect is not clear. This study was designed: 1) to investigate the involvement of mito K ATP opening in the effect of I-PC (1 cycle of I/R, 5 min each) on ventricular arrhythmias during test ischemia (TI, 30-min LAD coronary artery occlusion) in Langendorff-perfused rat hearts and subsequent postischemic contractile dysfunction, and 2) to characterize potential mechanisms of protection confer red by I-PC and pharmacological PC induced by mito K ATP opener diazoxide (DZX), with particular regards to the modulation of ROS generation. Lipid peroxidation (an indicator of increased ROS production) was determined by measurement of myocardial concentration of conjugated dienes (CD) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in non-ischemic controls, non-preconditi oned and preconditioned hearts exposed to TI, I-PC alone, as well as after pretreatment with DZX, mito K ATP blocker 5-hydroxydecanoate (5-HD) and antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC)., a2_Total number of ventricular premature beats (VPB) that occurred in the control hearts (518±71) was significantly (P<0.05) reduced by I-PC (195±40), NAC (290±56) and DZX (168±22). I-PC and NAC suppressed an increase in CD and TBARS caused by ischemia indicating lower production of ROS. On the other hand, I-PC and DZX themselves moderately enhanced ROS generation, prior to TI. Bracketing of I-PC with 5-HD suppressed both, ROS production during PC and its cardioprotective effect. In conclusion, potential mechanisms of protection conferred by mito K ATP opening in the rat heart might involve a temporal increase in ROS production in the preconditioning phase triggering changes in the pro/antioxidant balance in the myocardium and attenuating ROS production during subsequent prolonged ischemia., J. Matejíková ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Gap junction connexin channels are important determinants of myocardial conduction and synchronization that is crucial for coordinated heart function. One of the main risk factors for cardiovascular events that results in heart attack, congestive heart failure, stroke as well as sudden arrhythmic death is hypertension. Mislocalization and/or dysfunction of specific connexin-43 channels due to hypertension-induced myocardial remodeling have been implicated in the occurrence of lifethreatening arrhythmias and heart failure in both, humans as well as experimental animals. Recent studies suggest that downregulation of myocardial connexin-43, its abnormal distribution and/or phosphorylation might be implicated in this process. On the other hand, treatment of hypertensive animals with cardioprotective drugs (e.g. statins) or supplementation with non-pharmacological compounds, such as melatonin, omega-3 fatty acids and red palm oil protects from lethal arrhythmias. The antiarrhythmic effects are attributed to the attenuation of myocardial connexin-43 abnormalities associated with preservation of myocardial architecture and improvement of cardiac conduction. Findings uncover novel mechanisms of cardioprotective (antihypertensive and antiarrhythmic) effects of compounds that are used in clinical settings. Well-designed trials are needed to explore the antiarrhythmic potential of these compounds in patients suffering from hypertension., T. Egan Benova, B. Szeiffova Bacova, C. Viczenczova, E. Diez, M. Barancik, N. Tribulova., and Obsahuje bibliografii
It is unknown whether the longer duration of vibration training (VT) has a beneficial effect on Parkinson's disease (PD). And also, the mechanisms underlying the reported sensorimotorimprovement in PD induced by short-duration of VT has not been determined. Here, we investigated the effects of longer duration (4 weeks) of low amplitude vibration (LAV) training on the numbers of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra by immunostaining and the levels of dopamine (DA) and brainderived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the striatum by HPLC and ELISA in the chronic MPTP lesion mouse. We demonstrated for the first time that the longer duration of VT could significantly increase the numbers of nigrostriatal DA neurons and the contents of striatal DA and BDNF in the MPTP mice. Our findings implied that longer duration of VT could protect dopaminergic neurons from the MPTP-induced damage probably by upregulating BDNF and also provided evidence for the beneficial effect of longer duration of VT on PD at the cellular and molecular level., L. Zhao, L. X. He, S. N. Huang, L. J. Gong, L. Li, Y. Y. Lv, Z. M. Qian., and Obsahuje bibliografii