This study investigated whether the males of the Tengmalm’s owl change their activity patterns, evaluated based on delivering prey to nestlings in respect of different food supply. During two breeding seasons 12 owl nests were continuously monitored by a camera system to obtain data on the time of male prey delivery and identification of prey items brought to nestlings. Even though the abundance of food supply differed in both years, there was no difference in the number of prey items delivered by males to their nests. Nevertheless, the species composition of food supply as well as the species composition of prey delivered by males to the nests differed between 2004 and 2006. Yet male activity patterns were the same in both years; they showed a monophasic cycle with one peak at the beginning of the night, around 22:00 and 23:00. Moreover, the males delivered prey to their chicks strictly at night time in both years and they started (the first evening arrival at the nest) and ended (the last morning arrival at the nest) their nest visiting in the same time in 2004 and 2006. The results of this study suggest that activity patterns of Tengmalm’s owl males in central Europe do not depend on varying food conditions.
To study annual and circadian activity proportion and activity allocation during the pup rearing period we analysed VHF telemetry-based data from the invasive, socially monogamous raccoon dog in North Eastern Germany. Proportions of active fixes for 26 adults indicate a mean annual activity level
of 58.3 %. There was no difference between males and females in mean annual activity or in the mean activity in each of the different seasons. A mean winter-activity level of 47.0 % ± 32.4 active fixes indicates that raccoon dogs did not hibernate; however, they became less active as the temperature decreases in winter. There were clear differences in the
proportion of active fixes observed in the biological seasons, with the
highest activity level (70.3 %) during the pup rearing period. Circadian
activity rhythm, sampled on a daily basis, indicates that raccoon
dogs were mainly crepuscular and nocturnal with a mean activity
level of 86.8 %. The mean diurnal activity level across the seasons was 32.4 %, ranging from 15.0 % in winter to 56.6 % during the pup rearing period. Allocation of active fixes for 24-h continuous observations during the first six weeks after parturition showed that males were mostly inactive, resting with the pups in the den, while females foraged to satisfy their
increased energy requirements. This point to a clear division of labour between parents, during the pup rearing period.
Recovery from exercise refers to the period between the end of a bout of exercise and the subsequent return to a resting or recovered state. It is a dynamic period in which many physiological changes occur. A large amount of research has evaluated the effect of training on intramuscular lipid metabolism. However, data are limited regarding intramuscular lipid metabolism during the recovery period. In this study, lipid metabolism-related proteins were examined after a single bout of exercise in a time-dependent way to explore the mechanism of how exercise induces intramuscular lipid metabolism adaptation. Firstly, all rats in the exercise group underwent a five-week training protocol (HIIT, five times/week), and then performed a more intense HIIT session after 72 h of the last-time five-week training. After that, rats were sampled in a time-dependent way, including 0 h, 6 h, 12 h, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, and 96 h following the acute training session. Our results discovered that five weeks of HIIT increased the content of intramuscular triglyceride (IMTG) and enhanced the lipolytic and lipogenesis-related proteins in skeletal muscle. Furthermore, IMTG content decreased immediately post HIIT and gradually increased to baseline levels 48 h postexercise, continuing to over-recover up to 96 h postexercise. Following acute exercise, lipolytic-related proteins showed an initial increase (6-12 h) before decreasing during recovery. Conversely, lipogenesis-related proteins decreased following exercise (6-12 h), then increased in the recovery period. Based on the changes, we speculate that skeletal muscle is predominated by lipid oxidative at the first 12 h postexercise. After this period, lipid synthesis-related proteins increased, which may be the result of body recovery. Together, these results may provide insight into how the lipid metabolism-related signaling changes after chronic and acute HIIT and how protein levels lipid metabolism correlates to IMTG recovery., Min Chen, Lei Zhou, Siyu Chen, Ruonan Shangguan, Yaqian Qu, Jingquan Sun., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The biosynthesis and metabolism of testosterone and cortisol are altered by the high levels of adipose tissue and the constant state of low-grade inflammation of obesity. Resistance exercise (REx) has become one of the main lifestyle interventions prescribed to obese individuals due to its ability to positively influence body composition and some biomarkers, such as cholesterol and insulin resistance. Yet, little research has been done in obese examining the effects of REx on the testosterone and blood cortisol responses, two integral hormones in both exercise and obesity. The obese testosterone response to REx and whether or not it is blunted compared to lean individuals remains elusive. Conflicting findings concerning the blood cortisol response have also been reported, likely due to variance in REx protocol and the level of obesity in the participants in studies. Comparatively, both of these hormones have been extremely well studied in untrained lean males, which could be used as a basis for future research in obese males. However, without this endocrinological information, it is unknown if the current acute REx prescriptions are appropriate for eliciting a favorable acute endocrinological response, and ultimately, a positive chronic adaptation in obese males., C. B. O'Leary, A: C. Hackney., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Principal vasoactive systems - renin-angiotensin system (RAS), sympathetic nervous system (SNS), nitric oxide (NO) and prostanoids - exert their vascular effects through the changes in calcium levels and/or calcium sensitization. To estimate a possible modulation of calcium sensitization by the above vasoactive systems, we studied the influence of acute and chronic blockade of particular vasoactive systems on blood pressure (BP) changes elicited in conscious normotensive rats by acute dose-dependent administration of Rho-kinase inhibitor fasudil. Adult male chronically cannulated Wistar rats were used throughout this study. The acute inhibition of NO synthase (NOS) by L-NAME enhanced BP response to fasudil, the effect being considerably augmented in rats deprived of endogenous SNS. The acute inhibition of prostanoid synthesis by indomethacin modified BP response to fasudil less than the acute NOS inhibition. The chronic NOS inhibition caused moderate BP elevation and a more pronounced augmentation of fasudilinduced BP changes compared to the effect of acute NOS inhibition. This indicates both short-term and long-term NOdependent attenuation of calcium sensitization. Long-term inhibition of RAS by captopril caused a significant attenuation of BP changes elicited by fasudil. In contrast, a long-term attenuation of SNS by chronic guanethidine treatment (in youth or adulthood) had no effect on BP response to fasudil, suggesting the absence of SNS does not affect calcium sensitization in vascular smooth muscle of normotensive rats. In conclusion, renin-angiotensin system contributes to the long-term increase of calcium sensitization and its effect is counterbalanced by nitric oxide which decreases calcium sensitization in Wistar rats., A. Brunová, M. Bencze, M. Behuliak, J. Zicha., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Natural glucocorticoid hydrocortisone was suggested as a potent substitution for dexamethasone in the treatment of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in neonates. The aim of this study was to investigate whether hydrocortisone is able to affect the expression of apoptotic genes and the intensity of naturally occurring cell death in the developing rat hippocampus. Hormone treatment decreased procaspase-3 and active caspase-3 levels as well as DNA fragmentation intensity in the hippocampal formation of one-week-old rats in 6 h after injection. These changes were accompanied by an upregulation of antiapoptotic protein Bcl-XL, while expression of proapoptotic protein Bax remained unchanged. The action of hydrocortisone was glucocorticoid receptor-independent, as the selective glucocorticoid receptor agonist dexamethasone did not affect either apoptotic protein levels or DNA fragmentation intensity in the hippocampal region. The data are the first evidences for in vivo antiapoptotic effects of hydrocortisone in the developing hippocampus., P. N. Menshanov, ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Introduction: Obstruction of the appendiceal lumen is the primary cause of appendicitis. The most common causes of luminal obstruction are fecaliths and lymphoid follicle hyperplasia. Additionally, bacterial infections or enteric and systemic viral diseases can cause a reaction of the lymphoid follicle. Case presentation: An 11-year-old boy with active phase of chickenpox presented on our Pediatric surgery emergency department under the impression of acute appendicitis. An appendectomy was performed on the same day. An inflamed and edematous retrocecal appendix was removed during surgery. Histological investigation of the appendix revealed transmural acute inflammation, with diffuse proliferation of inflammatory cells, with characteristic intranuclear inclusion surrounded by a clear halo. The PCR analysis of peripheral blood and appendix tissue specimen revealed positive VZV DNA. Conclusion: We have shown that varicella-zoster virus infection of the appendix is associated with acute appendicitis and possibly also with severity of the disease., Zenon Pogorelić, Mihovil Biočić, Ivo Jurić, Klaudio Pjer Milunović, Ivana Mrklić, and Literatura 11
The effect of the chronic and acute antioxidant tempol (superoxide dismutase mimetic) treatment on cardiac ischemic tolerance was investigated in adult male Wistar rats. The first experimental group was given tempol (1 mM) in drinking water for three weeks, the second group received tempol (100 mg/kg, i.v.) 10 min before test ischemia, and control rats received the same volume of solvent. Anesthetized open-chest animals (pentobarbitone 60 mg/kg, i.p.) were subjected to 20-min coronary artery occlusion and 3-h reperfusion for infarct size determination. Ventricular arrhythmias were monitored during ischemia and at the beginning (5 min) of reperfusion. Acute tempol administration shifted the time profile of ischemic arrhythmias to the later phase and significantly increased the number of ischemic and reperfusion premature ventricular complexes, respectively (504±127 and 84±21) as compared with the chronically treated group (218±36 and 47±7) or controls (197±26 and 31±7). Acute tempol-treated rats exhibited a tendency to decrease infarct size (P = 0.087). The mechanism of proarrhythmic tempol action during ischemia and reperfusion remains to be elucidated., J. Neckář, B. Ošťádal, F. Kolář., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy