Studies have shown that uridine concentration in plasma may be an indicator of uric acid production in patients with gout. It has been also postulated that uridine takes part in blood pressure regulation. Since physical exercise is an effective tool in treatment and prevention of cardio-vascular diseases that are often accompanied by hyperuricemia and hypertension, it seemed advisable to attempt to evaluate the relationship between oxypurine concentrations (Hyp, Xan and UA) and that of Urd and BP after physical exercise in healthy subjects. Sixty healthy men (17.2±1.71 years, BMI 23.2±2.31 kg m-2, VO2max 54.7±6.48 ml kg-1 min-1) took part in the study. The subjects performed a single maximal physical exercise on a bicycle ergometer. Blood for analyses was sampled three times: immediately before exercise, immediately after exercise, and in the 30th min of rest. Concentrations of uridine and hypoxanthine, xanthine and uric acid were determined in whole blood using high-performance liquid chromatography. We have shown in this study that the maximal exercise-induced increase of uridine concentration correlates with the post-exercise increase of uric acid concentration and systolic blood pressure. The results of our study show a relationship between uridine concentration in blood and uric acid concentration and blood pressure. We have been the first to demonstrate that a maximal exercise-induced increase in uridine concentration is correlated with the post-exercise and recovery-continued increase of uric acid concentration in healthy subjects. Thus, it appears that uridine may be an indicator of post-exercise hyperuricemia and blood pressure., W. Dudzinska, A. Lubkowska, B. Dolegowska, M. Suska, M. Janiak., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp (HEC) combined with indirect calorimetry (IC) is used for estimation of insulin-stimulated substrate utilization. Calculations are based on urinary urea nitrogen excretion (UE), which is influenced by correct urine collection. The aims of our study were to improve the timing of urine collection during the clamp and to test the effect of insulin on UE in patients with type 1 diabetes (DM1; n=11) and healthy subjects (C; n=11). Urine samples were collected (a) over 24 h divided into 3-h periods and (b) before and during two-step clamp (1 and 10 mIU.kg-1.min-1; period 1 and period 2) combined with IC. The UE during the clamp was corrected for changes in urea pool size (UEc). There were no significant differences in 24-h UE between C and DM1 and no circadian variation in UE in either group. During the clamp, serum urea decreased significantly in both groups (p<0.01). Therefore, UEc was significantly lower as compared to UE not adjusted for changes in urea pool size both in C (p<0.001) and DM1 (p<0.001). While UE did not change during the clamp, UEc decreased significantly in both groups (p<0.01). UEc during the clamp was significantly higher in DM1 compared to C both in period 1 (p<0.05) and period 2 (p<0.01). The UE over 24 h and UEc during the clamp were statistically different in both C and DM1. We conclude that urine collection performed during the clamp with UE adjusted for changes in urea pool size is the most suitable technique for measuring substrate utilization during the clamp both in DM1 and C. Urine collections during the clamp cannot be replaced either by 24-h sampling (periods I-VII) or by a single 24-h urine collection. Attenuated insulin-induced decrease in UEc in DM1 implicates the impaired insulin effect on proteolysis. and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
In this study, a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was established to detect Toxoplasma gondii DNA in mice infected with T. gondii PRU strain. This LAMP assay was based on the sequence of highly repetitive B1 gene. The detection limit of T. gondii LAMP assay was 1 pg of T. gondii DNA, which was evaluated using 10-fold serially diluted DNA of cultured parasites. The LAMP assay was also highly specific for T. gondii and able to detect T. gondii DNA in urine of mice treated with dexamethasone at 90 day post infection (p.i.), although this assay could not detect the DNA in mice urine 2-6 days p.i. These results demonstrated that LAMP is effective for evaluation of therapy effectiveness for T. gondii infection. The established LAMP assay may represent a useful and practical tool for the routine diagnosis and therapeutic evaluation of human toxoplasmosis.
Urychlovače slouží k získávání intenzivních svazků iontů nebo částic s vysokou rychlostí a energií. Kinetické energie dodávané současnými urychlovači jsou v rozsahu od několika stovek keV do několika TeV (1 eV = 1.6 x 10(19) J). V makrosvětě tyto energie nikoho neohromí, ale v mikrosvětě je vše jinak: rychlost protonu s kinetickou energií 200 keV činí 2 % rychlosti světla, u elektronu se stejnou kinetickou eneregií je to dokonce 70 %. Ve světě vysokých energií se slovo urychlovač stává trochu nesmyslným, neboť rychlost částic už skoro neroste (blíží se rychlosti světla), ale roste jejich energie a tudíž i relativistická hmotnost., Zdeněk Doležal., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Computed tomography (CT) is an effective diagnostic modality for three-dimensional imaging of bone structures, including the geometry of their defects. The aim of the study was to create and optimize 3D geometrical and real plastic models of the distal femoral component of the knee with joint surface defects. Input data included CT images of stifle joints in twenty miniature pigs with iatrogenic osteochondrosis-like lesions in medial femoral condyle of the left knee. The animals were examined eight and sixteen weeks after surgery. Philips MX 8000 MX and View workstation were used for scanning parallel plane cross section slices and Cartesian discrete volume creation. On the average, 100 slices were performed in each stifle joint. Slice matrices size was 512 x 512 with slice thickness of 1 mm. Pixel (voxel) size in the slice plane was 0.5 mm (with average accuracy of ± 0.5 mm and typical volume size 512 × 512 × 100 voxels). Three-dimensional processing of CT data and 3D geometrical modelling, using interactive computer graphic system MediTools formerly developed here, consisted of tissue segmentation (raster based method combination and 5 % of manual correction), vectorization by the marching-cubes method, smoothing and decimation. Stifle- joint CT images of three individuals of different body size (small, medium and large) were selected to make the real plastic models of their distal femurs from plaster composite using rapid prototyping technology of Zcorporation. Accuracy of the modeling was ± 0.5 mm. The real plastic models of distal femurs can be used as a template for developing custom made press and fit scaffold implants seeded with mesenchymal stem cells that might be subsequently implanted into iatrogenic joint surface defects for articular cartilage-repair enhancement., P. Krupa, P. Kršek, M. Javorník, O. Dostál, R. Srnec, D. Usvald, P. Proks, H. Kecová, E. Amler, J. Jančář, P. Gál, L. Plánka, A. Nečas., and Obsahuje bibliografii
In three separate experiments, the effectiveness of a SPAD-502 portable chlorophyll (Chl) meter was evaluated for estimating Chl content in leaves of Eugenia uniflora seedlings in different light environments and subjected to soil flooding. In the first experiment, plants were grown in partial or full sunlight. In the second experiment plants were grown in full sunlight for six months and then transferred to partial sunlight or kept in full sunlight. In the third experiment plants were grown in a shade house (40% of full sunlight) for six months and then transferred to partial shade (25-30% of full sunlight) or full sunlight. In each experiment, plants in each light environment were either flooded or not flooded. Non-linear regression models were used to relate SPAD values to leaf Chl content using a combination of the data obtained from all three experiments. There were no significant effects of flooding treatments or interactions between light and flooding treatments on any variable analyzed. Light environment significantly affected SPAD values, chlorophyll a (Chl a), chlorophyll b (Chl b), and total chlorophyll [Chl (a+b)] contents in Experiment I (p≤0.01) and Experiment III (p≤0.05). The relationships between SPAD values and Chl contents were very similar among the three experiments and did not appear to be influenced by light or flooding treatments. There were high positive exponential relationships between SPAD values and Chl (a+b), Chl a, and Chl b contents. and M. S. Mielke, B. Schaffer, C. Li.
A comparison of the effects of ultrasound produced by low- and high-frequency ultrasonic apparatuses upon biological systems is one of the basic problems when studying ultrasound cavitation effects. One possibility for how to compare these effects is the indirect method which uses well-known physical quantities characterizing the interaction of ionizing radiation with matter and which also converts these quantities to one common physical quantity. The comparison was performed with two methods applied to the chemical dosimetry of ionizing radiation. The first method employed a twocomponent dosimeter which is composed of 50 % chloroform and 50 % re-distilled water (i.e. Taplin dosimeter). The other method used a modified iodide dosimeter prepared from a 0.5 M potassium iodide solution. After irradiation or ultrasound exposure, measurable chemical changes occurred in both dosimeters. The longer the exposure, the greater the chemical changes. These effects are described by the relationship of these changes versus the exposure times in both dosimeters. The UZD 21 ultrasonic disintegrator (with a frequency of 20 kHz, 50 % power output) was used as a lowfrequency ultrasound source, and the BTL-07 therapeutic instrument (with a frequency of 1 MHz and intensity of 2 W/cm2) was used as a high-frequency cavitation ultrasound source. For comparison, a 60Co gamma source was applied (60Co, gamma energies of 1.17 and 1.33 MeV, activity of 14 PBq). Results of this study have demonstrated that the sonochemical products are generated during exposure in the exposed samples of both dosimeters for all apparatuses used. The amount of these products depends linearly upon the exposure time. The resulting cavitation effects were recalculated to a gray-equivalent dose (the proposed unit is cavitation gray [cavitGy]) based on the sonochemical effects compared to the effects of ionizing radiation from the 60Co source., B. Kratochvíl, V. Mornstein., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Presented study is aimed at using additional information to improve process represen-tativity of hydrological modelling. The study region is the Haute-Mentue catchment lo-cated in the western part of Switzerland, 20 km north of Lausanne. Previous research in this catchment allowed improving of the understanding of the runoff generation by combining point soil moisture measurements (TDR) and integrating measurements both at the hillslope scale (dye tracing) and at the catchment scale (environmental tracing). In this work, environmental tracing information will be integrated into a semi-distributed hydrological model, which is a modified version of TOPMODEL taking into account a rapid stormflow generation above a less permeable soil horizon. Additional information has been incorporated by using a version of simulated annealing adapted for multi-criteria optimisation. and Štúdia je venovaná využitiu dodatkových informácií pri reálnejšej simulácii hydrologických procesov v zrážkovo-odtokovom modeli. Študovanou oblasťou je povodie Haute-Mentue, ležiace v západnej časti Švajčiarska, 20 km od Lausanne. Predchádzajúci výskum v tomto povodí, založený na kombinácii bodových meraní (TDR) a integrovaných meraní v mierke svahu (farbiace skúšky) a povodia (prirodzené stopovače), zlepšil vedomosti o tvorbe odtoku. V tejto štúdii sú informácie získané prirodzenými stopovačmi použité pri posudzovaní výsledkov simulácie odtoku pomocou semidistribuovaného hydrologického modelu (modifikovaná verzia modelu TOPMODEL, ktorá uvažuje s mechanizmom tvorby odtoku nasýtením nad vrstvou pôdy s nižšou priepustnosťou). Ďalšou dodatkovou informáciou boli výsledky automatickej optimalizácie parametrov modelu pmocou metódy vychádzajúcej z analógie medzi optimalizáciou parametrov modelu a rozdelením častíc v tuhnúcej kvapaline (tzv. simulated annealing), adaptovanej na optimalizáciu podľa viacerých kritérií.
Modern methods of monitoring landslides are based on observations of both: direct surveying (GNSS, electronic tachymetry, geometric levelling) and remote sensing (terrestrial and aerial photogrammetry, laser scanning, interferometry), as well as surface and subsurface geotechnical observations (e.g. inclinometers, extensometers, piezometers, etc.). Due to the high cost of installation of these devices and its measurement, the implementations of these methods are usually used on well-define d objects, with established landslide activity and high risk to people’s lives. The main objective of the project was to design, create and do practical tests of simple and inexpensive measurement devices, which detect first symptoms of a potential landslide movements and alert of an existing threat. These devices would be some kind of an early warning system that would register the occurrence of the first movements of the surface layers of soil, which would be a signal to start of geodetic and geotechnical monitoring of potential landslides., Bartłomiej Ćmielewski, Bernard Kontny and Kazimierz Ćmielewski., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
Three cultivars of winter hexaploid triticales M2A/JAIN, DF 99/Yogu "S5", and Asseret were grown on nutrient solution with or without 75 mM NaCl. Stomatal permeability and transpiration rate decreased in all salt-stressed triticale cultivars. Net photosynthetic rate (PN) of cv. M2A and Asseret was not affected by NaCl. On the contrary, PN in cv. DF99 was reduced in relation to control plants. A higher water-use efficiency under saline conditions led to better salt tolerance of cv. M2A compared to cvs. Asseret and DF99. and A. Morant-Avice ... [et al.].