The Asian neriid fly genus Telostylus Bigot (Diptera: Neriidae) is revised, including a key and illustrations of its species. Lectotype designations are proposed for four species: Telostylus babiensis de Meijere, T. decemnotatus Hendel, T. remipes (Walker) and T. trilineatus de Meijere. Two new species are described: Telostylus marshalli Sepúlveda & de Carvalho, sp. n., from Sarawak, Malaysia, and T. whitmorei Sepúlveda & de Carvalho, sp. n., from Masbate, Philippines. The morphology of Telostylus binotatus Bigot and T. remipes (Walker) is discussed in order to support their synonymy. Additionally, new country records are provided for four species: Telostylus babiensis de Meijere for Philippines, T. binotatus Bigot for Papua New Guinea, T. inversus Hennig for Malaysia and Indonesia, and T. trilineatus de Meijere for Malaysia and Philippines.
The solution of the weak Neumann problem for the Laplace equation with a distribution as a boundary condition is studied on a general open set $G$ in the Euclidean space. It is shown that the solution of the problem is the sum of a constant and the Newtonian potential corresponding to a distribution with finite energy supported on $\partial G$. If we look for a solution of the problem in this form we get a bounded linear operator. Under mild assumptions on $G$ a necessary and sufficient condition for the solvability of the problem is given and the solution is constructed.
The paper considers the mixture of randomness and fuzziness in a binary tree classifier. This model of classification is based on fuzzy observations, the randomness of classes and the Bayes rule. In this work, we present a new upper bound on the probability of error in a binary tree classifier. The obtained error for fuzzy observations is compared with the case when observations are not fuzzy, as a difference of errors. Additionally, the obtained results are compared with the bound on the probability of error based on information energy of fuzzy events. For interior nodes of decision tree, the new bound is twice as precise as the bound based on information energy.
Regulatory T cells (Treg) are a specialized subpopulation of T cells that act to suppress inadequate immune response. Psoriasis is recognized as a T -cell driven immune-mediated systemic inflammatory disease with skin manifestation. Effective therapeutical approach to treat psoriasis is Goeckerman therapy (GT ). The aim of this study was to compare the number of Treg in the peripheral blood of 27 psoriatic patients and 19 controls and to evaluate the influence of GT on Treg population in peripheral blood of patients with psoriasis. There was no significant difference in the relative number of Treg cells in the peripheral blood of healthy blood donors and patients with psoriasis before initiation of GT (P = 0.2668). In contrary, the relative number of Treg cells in peripheral blood of patients with psoriasis after GT was significantly higher than those found in healthy blood donors (P = 0.0019). Moreover, the relative number of Treg is significantly increased in psoriatic patients after Goeckerman therapy compared to the pre-treatment level (P = 0.0042). In conclusion, this significant increase in Treg count after GT is probably associated with amelioration of inflammation by GT , as disease activity expressed as PASI decreased in our patients by GT (P = 0.0001)., Kateřina Kondělková, Doris Vokurková, Jan Krejsek, Lenka Borská, Zdeněk Fiala, Květa Hamáková, Ctirad Andrýs, and Literatura 39
Specific associations between species frequently occur in ecological interactions. The aim of this study was to determine the preferences of anthomyiid flies of the genus Botanophila for particular species of fungi as sites for laying eggs and as food for both larvae and adults. The associations of their eggs, larvae and flies with the stromata of different species of Epichloë fungi infecting 7 species of grass in Poland were analyzed. Scanning electron microscopy of the surface of their eggs and an analysis of the genetic sequences of their mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase (COII) were used to identify the taxa of the flies studied. Three types of eggs were distinguished based on their shape, colour and the presence of dorsal folds and sculpturing on the shells. Tentatively, these eggs were assigned to the following species: B. laterella, B. phrenione, B. dissecta and B. lobata. COII sequences obtained from larvae that hatched from two of the types of eggs formed three distinct clades associated with the reference sequences for Botanophila phrenione, B. lobata (new to the fauna of Poland) and a putative species, “Taxon 1”. Only one of these flies (B. lobata) was restricted to a single species of Epichloë (E. bromicola on Elymus repens); B. phrenione was recorded mainly from E. typhina infecting three different species of grass. The results of this study confirm that there is not a close species specific association between this fungus and this insect., Marlena Lembicz ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
A short-winged morph, whose occurrence is controlled by a simple recessive Mendelian unit, was recently discovered in Locusta migratoria. The existence of trade-offs between flight capability associated with wing length and other fitness-related traits are often documented for insects. The present study investigated the evolutionary significance of the short-winged and long-winged morphs of this locust using two laboratory strains showing wing dimorphism. The life-history traits examined included nymphal development, adult body weight, percentage adult survival, age at first reproduction, egg production and hatchling body weight. The results indicate that there are no consistent morph-specific differences in any of these traits. Of the several possibilities considered, the most likely is that the short-winged morph of this locust is an aberration or represents an initial stage in the evolution of this species., Yudai Nishide, Seiji Tanaka., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
The acanthocephalan Echinorhynchus salmonis Müller, 1784 is a common parasite of salmonid fish, but it has rarely been reported from an intermediate host. Samples of benthic amphipods, Monoporeia affinis (Lindström), were taken from multiple, deep sites (usually below 70 m) in the Gulf of Bothnia over the course of more than a decade and examined for acanthocephalans. Overall, only 0.44% of 23 296 amphipods were infected, all with just a single worm. This prevalence is consistent with several previous reports of acanthocephalans in deep-water, benthic amphipods, but it appears low compared to that often reported for acanthocephalan species infecting littoral amphipods. Parasite occurrence did not exhibit a clear regional pattern (i.e. northern vs southern sites) nor did it have any relationship with site depth. At sites sampled over multiple years, parasite abundance was consistently low (mostly < 0.01), though two spikes in abundance (over 0.06) were also observed, indicating that infection can be substantially higher at particular times or in particular places. The median density of E. salmonis in samples containing the parasite was estimated as 8.4 cystacanths per m2., Daniel P. Benesh, Raija-Liisa Aura, Ann-Britt Andersin, E. Tellervo Valtonen., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Aims: This is the first study carried out to describe the role of fetal microchimerism (FM) in the pathogenesis of uterine cancer. The prevalence and concentration of male fetal microchimeric cells (FMCs) were examined in endometrial tissues in relation to subtypes of uterine cancer, and the histological grade and stage of the tumor. FM occurrence was analyzed in relation to risk factors including hypertension, obesity, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, age at cancer diagnosis and patient pregnancy history. The prevalence and concentration of FMCs were examined in endometrial tissues using real-time polymerase chain reaction, SRY and b-globin sequences as markers for male fetal FMCs and total DNA. The studied group involved 47 type 1 endometrial cancers, 28 type 2 endometrial cancers and 41 benign uterine diseases. Results: While the prevalence of FM was decreased only in type 1 endometrial cancer, compared to benign uterine disorders (38.3% vs.70.7%; OR = 0.257, 95% CI: 0.105 to 0.628, p = 0.003), FMC concentrations did not differ within examined groups. The lower FM prevalence was detected in low grade (grade 1 and grade 2) endometrioid cancer (38.3% vs. 70.7%, OR = 0.256, 95% CI: 0.105 to 0.627, p = 0.003) and in FIGO 1 tumors (40.7% vs. 70.7%, OR= 0.285, 95% CI: 0.120 to 0.675, p = 0.004). No correlation between FM prevalence or FMC concentrations and risk factors was demonstrated. Conclusions: A lower prevalence of male FM seemed to be associated with better prognoses in uterine cancer based on tumor subtype, histological grade and stage of the tumor. and Ilona Hromadnikova, Katerina Kotlabova, Petra Pirkova, Pavla Libalova, Zdenka Vernerova, Bohuslav Svoboda, Eduard Kucera
During a regular veterinary inspection of fishes from Lake Balaton, Hungary, echinostomatid metacercariae (Digenea), with collar spines characteristic of species of the genera Petasiger Dietz, 1909 and Paryphostomum Dietz, 1909, were found in the lateral line scales of a roach Rutilus rutilus (Linnaeus), an apparently unique site. In a subsequent examination of 586 fishes from 20 different species, similar infections were found in 11 species. The infection was virtually restricted to the lateral line scales, other scales being infected only incidentally. These encysted metacercariae had 27 collar spines, including eight larger angle spines and 19 smaller dorsal spines arranged in two rows. Two types of metacercarial cyst were found. One type had a cyst diameter of 138-171 µm × 105-120 µm and three central dorsal spines that were larger than the remainder and tended to resemble the angle spines. The second type of metacercarial cyst had a diameter of 128-157 µm × 105-115 µm and all 19 dorsal spines of the metacercaria were of a similar size. ITS sequences of the second type of metacercaria exhibited a 100% similarity to sequences of two adult Petasiger phalacrocoracis (Yamaguti, 1939) specimens collected from the gut of Phalacrocorax carbo (Linnaeus) in Hungary and to P. phalacrocoracis deposited in the GenBank database. Sequences obtained from two metacercariae of the first type showed a 2.8-2.9 % difference from sequences of the second type of metacercaria and from those of adult specimens of P. phalacrocoracis from cormorants. Based on these results, the second type metacercaria is considered to be a larval stage of P. phalacrocoracis, but the identity of the first type is uncertain. The unusual location of these metacercariae in the lateral line scales is discussed in relation to their transmission., Kálmán Molnár, David I. Gibson, Gábor Cech, Melitta Papp, Petra Deák-Paulus, Lajos Juhász, Norbert Tóth, Csaba Székely., and Obsahuje bibliografii