Mean development rates under cycling temperature regimes (both alternating and sinusoidal regimes) have been found to be either accelerated, decelerated or unaffected when compared to development at constant temperature regimes with equivalent means. It is generally accepted that this phenomenon is a consequence of the non-linearity inherent in the temperature-rate relationship of insect development and is known as the rate summation, or Kaufmann, effect. Some researchers invoke an additional physiological mechanism or specific adaptation to cycling temperatures resulting in a genuine alteration of development rate. Differences in development rates at constant and cycling temperatures may have important implications for degree-day (linear) population models, which are used in bath pest management and ecological studies.
Larvae of Aglais urticae L. (small tortoiseshell), Inachis io L. (peacock), Polygonia c-album L. (comma) and Vanessa atalanta L. (red admiral) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) were reared at constant (10, 15, 20, 25, 30°C) and alternating (20/10, 25/15, 30/10, 30/20°C) regimes. Development rates under the alternating regimes used were found to differ from those under equivalent constant temperatures in a pattern suggestive of the Kaufmann effect: in all species development at 20/10°C was faster than at 15°C, and for three species development at 30/20°C was slower than at 25°C. The exception was A. urticae. A similar pattern was found for growth rate and pupal weight. The results are discussed with respect to cycling temperature theory and degree-day modelling., Simon R. Bryant, Jeffrey S. Bale, Chris D. Thomas, and Lit
Diurial variations in leaf conductance for water vapour (g^), and in rates of net photosynthesis (P^) transpiration (P) were investigated for individual Fagus crenata, Ginkgo biloba and Alnus firma trees during the growing season (May 12, June 3, August 19 and October 22, 1992), to defme the effects of main climatic factors limiting the photosynthetíc capacity of leaves. Measurements were undertaken at 1 h intervals in fully expanded leaves from 04.00 to 20.00 under sunny day and favourable water supply. Diumal patterns of gg and P^ in F. crenata were similar to G. biloba, showing strong dependence on irradiance in the early moraing and early evening, in May, June and August. The maximum values of P^, gg and water-use eíTiciency (WLIE) were recorded at 07.00 to 08.00 when photosynthetícally active radiation (PAR) and leaf temperature (Zj) were approximately 1200 pmol m'^ s"' and below 25 °C, respectively. P^, gg and WUE decreased from 08.00 to 13.00 contínuously, followed by a slight recovery at about 17.00 and a steep dechne until darkness. A. firma remained at maximum P^ from 07.00 to 14.00, and P^, gg and E were much higher than for the other two species. The peak of E in all three species always occurred at midday, coincident with maximum PAR and highest Ty But in October, P^ and E in all three species were highest around noon, also parallel to the maximum PAR and Ty
The objective of our study was to compare Doppler echocardiography imaging with pu lmonary artery thermodilution measurement during mechanical ventilation. Total 78 piglets (6 weeks old, average weight 24 kg, under general anesthesia) were divided into 4 groups under different cardiac loading conditions (at rest, with increased left ventricular afterload, with increased right ventricular preload, and with increased afterload of both heart ventricles). At 60 and 120 min the animals were examined by echocardiography and simultaneously pulmonary artery thermodilution was used to measure cardiac output. Tei-indexes data were compared with invasively monitored hemodynamic data and cardiac output values together with calculated vascular resistance indices. A total of 224 parallel measurements were obtained. Correlation was found between values of right Tei-index of my ocardial performa nce and changes in right ventricular preload (p<0.05) and afterload (p<0.01). Significant correlation was also found between left index values and changes of left ventricular preload (p<0.001), afterload (p<0.001), stroke volume (p<0.01), and cardiac output (p<0.01). In conclusion, echocardiographic examination and determination of the global performance selectively for the right and left ventricle can be recommended as a suitable non-invasive supplement to the whole set of methods used for monitoring of circulation and cardiac performance., J. Kobr ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
P-wave velocity anisotropy of rocks is often investigated by laboratory methods. The extrapolation of the laboratory results to larger rock units requires comparison with direct field measurements. Physical properties of deep-originated rocks were performed on mantle-derived peridotite from the Ivrea zone (N orthwestern Italy). These rock s were exhumed by tectonic processes during collision orogeny up to the Earth’s surface. The direct surface seismic measurements of elastic waves velocity were realized by means of shallow seismic refraction method on the outcrop of peridotite. The measuring base was about 10 m long. Laboratory seismic anisotropy measurement was realized on rock samples from the same outcrop. The geographically oriented spherical samples with diameter 50 mm were radiated by elastic waves in 132 directions under confining stress from atmospheric level up to 200 MPa. Laboratory and field values of the anisotropy of seismic wave ve locities were compared and different scales of measurements were evaluated. The field measuremen ts used frequency about 1 kHz whereas the laboratory measur ement used 700 kHz radiation. Field measurements proved relatively high value of anisotropy P-wave propagation - 25%, while laboratory experiments only 1.5%. This difference is caused by different reason of anisotropy. Laboratory samples contain only microcraks, which represents nearly continuum with rega rd to ultrasound wave length (11 mm). Rock massif, however, contains beside mickrocraks also cracks with comparable size of applied seismic wave length (10 m)., Jan Vilhelm, Vladimír Rudajev, Roman Živor, Tomáš Lokajíček and Zdeněk Pros., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
This paper discusses the quality of slant wet delays (SWD) computed from GPS measurements. The SWDs are generally used as input data for GPS tomography, which allows the three-dimensional reconstruction of water vapour distribution in the atmosphere. The research presented is based on a comparison of slant wet delays acquired by different strategies based on double-differenced Global Positioning System (GPS) data. The GPS-derived SWDs were compared with those directly measured by a water vapour radiometer (W VR). The best results from the applied G PS strategies were achieved by a simple mapping of GPS-derived zenith total delays into SWD without adding horizontal gradients or post-fit residuals., Michal Kačmařík, Jan Douša and Jan Zapletal., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
The growth parameters of the green lacewing, Chrysoperla nipponensis-B (Okamoto), were studied under laboratory conditions. The highest mortality was recorded in the immature stages (instars 1st, 2nd, 3rd and pupae) of C. nipponensis fed on the eggs of Corcyra cephalonica (37.26%). The sex ratios (proportion of female to male) when reared on the eggs of C. cephalonica and an artificial diet with ginger were 0.93 : 1.00 and 0.87 : 1.00, respectively. The maximum life spans of females reared on the eggs of C. cephalonica and an artificial diet with ginger were 63 and 64 days, respectively. The females reared on the eggs of C. cephalonica produced the highest number of eggs (10.4) on the fifth day of oviposition, whereas on the artificial diet with ginger it was 9.26 on the eighth day of oviposition. The net reproductive rate (Ro) and maximum gross reproductive rate (GRR) of C. nipponensis fed on the eggs of C. cephalonica were 69.50 and 223.10 females per female per generation, respectively, whereas for the artificial diet with ginger they were 117.24 and 236.89 females per female per generation, respectively. Mean generation time (T) was 37.06 and 48.16 for the eggs of C. cephalonica and artificial diet with ginger, respectively. The intrinsic rate of natural increase (r) was 0.11 and 0.09 females per female per day for the eggs of C. cephalonica and artificial diet with ginger, respectively. The finite rate of increase (λ) was 1.12 and 1.11 females per female per day for the eggs of C. cephalonica and artificial diet with ginger, respectively. The population doubling time (DT) was 6.05 days on the diet of eggs of C. cephalonica and 7.00 on the artificial diet with ginger., Shafique A. Memon, Dzolkhifli Omar, Rita Muhamad, Ahamd S. Sajap, Norhayu Asib, Arfan A. Gibal., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Sandstones have been widely used as a building material since the medieval time all around the Europe. Porosity is one of the main factors affecting the resistance to weathering processes and consequently to the changes of mechanical and physical properties of these stones. Rock material is generally negatively influenced especially during the winter period when frost action takes place. Effect of salt crystals and ice formation depends on the character of pore space, including the pore size distribution. Mercury porosimetry is well known method which provides information about porosity and pore size distribution of samples, but as any other method, it has its own limitations. X-ray microtomography can be used as a complementary method enabling another "view" into the pore space. Main aim of this paper has been to provide the information about the use of these two mentioned methods and comparison of obtained results, within the study of sandstone weathering. The research was focused on two commonly used Czech Cretaceous sandstones - Hořice and Božanov. The stones were exposed to the accelerated durability test which is based on the meteorological data measured in Prague winters from 1998 to 2008. There were described the changes in the area of pores diameters > 5 μm. Use of mercury porosimetry together with X-ray microtomgraphy enabled more detailed understanding of the processes inside the stone structure., Kateřina Kovářová, Robert Ševčík and Zuzana Weishauptová., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
The rare and endangered plant, Begonia fimbristipula, shows red and green phenotypes, differentiated by a coloration of the abaxial leaf surface. In this study, we compared morphological and physiological traits of both phenotypes. The results showed that the red phenotype contained a significantly higher chlorophyll content, closer arrangement of chloroplasts, and a more developed grana. In addition, the red phenotype transferred significantly more light energy into the electron transport during the photoreaction. Similarly, the maximum photosynthetic rate, instantaneous water-use and light-use efficiencies of the red B. fimbristipula were all significantly higher than those of the green individuals. The differentiation between these two phenotypes could be caused by their different survival strategies under the same conditions; epigenetic variations may be in some correlation with this kind of phenotype plasticity. Red B. fimbristipula has an advantage in resource acquisition and utilization and possesses a better self-protection mechanism against changes in environmental conditions, therefore, it might adapt better to global climate change compared to the green phenotype. Further studies on the possible epigenetic regulation of those phenotypic differentiations are needed., Y. Wang, L. Shao, J. Wang, H. Ren, H. Liu, Q. M. Zhang, Q. F. Guo, X. W. Chen., and Seznam literatury
We developed a new method for the quantitative determination of myosin heavy chain (MyHC) isoforms taking advantage of immunochemical differences and based on the ELISA principle. In the present paper we compare anal ysis of MyHC isoforms using the SDS-PAGE and the ELISA methods in the same samples of adult female inbred Lewis strain euthyroid, hyperthyroid and hypothyroid rats. In all thyroid states, the same composition and corresponding changes of MyHC isoforms were determined using both methodological approaches in the slow soleus and the fast extensor digitorum longus muscles. Our results showed that ELISA can be used for a “semi-quantitative” or “comparative” measurement of MyHC isoforms in multiple muscle samples, but that it is neither more exact no r faster compared to SDS-PAGE., Jan Říčný., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
The purpose of the present study was to examine whether the level of oxygen uptake (V.o2) at the onset of decrement-load exercise (DLE) is lower than that at the onset of constant-load exercise (CLE), since power output, which is the target of V.o2 response, is decreased in DLE. CLE and DLE were performed under the conditions of moderate and heavy exercise intensities. Before and after these main exercises, previous exercise and post exercise were performed at 20 watts. DEL was started at the same power output as that for CLE and power output was decreased at a rate of 15 watts per min. V.o2 in moderate CLE increased at a fast rate and showed a steady state, while V.o2 in moderate DLE increased and decreased linearly. V.o2 at the increasing phase in DLE was at the same level as that in moderate CLE. V.o2 immediately after moderate DLE was higher than that in the previous exercise by 98±77.5 ml/min. V.o2 in heavy CLE increased rapidly at first and then slowly increased, while V.o2 in heavy DLE increased rapidly, showing a temporal convexity change, and decreased linearly. V.o2 at the increasing phase of heavy DLE was the same level as that in heavy CLE. V.o2 immediately after heavy DLE was significantly higher than that in the previous exercise by 156±131.8 ml/min. Thus, despite the different modes of exercise, V.o2 at the increasing phase in DLE was at the same level as that in CLE due to the effect of the oxygen debt expressed by the higher level of V.o2 at the end of DLE than that in the previous exercise., T. Yano, H. Ogata, R. Matsuura, T. Arimitsu, T. Yunoki., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy