Medicínské technologie dokáží udělat rodiče i z člověka v pozdním seniu. Odborné debaty se soustřeďují nejen na to, jaké metody asistované reprodukce jsou eticky přijatelné, ale i na to, pro jaké skupiny lidí a za jakých okolností jsou přijatelné. Moje analýza je inspirována úmyslem státních orgánů a) zvýšit věkovou hranici pro přístup k léčbě placené ze zdravotního pojištění (ZP), b) zvýšit počty cyklů placených ze ZP; c) zrušit zákonem danou horní věkovou hranici pro samoplátce. Pro rozsáhlost tématu je text rozdělen do dvou samostatných článků. V této první části analyzuji věk pro platbu léčby ze ZP, relevantní argumenty nacházím pouze pro platbu léčby ženám do 40 let., Medical technology can make parents from persons in their late senium. Bioethical debates focus not only on what methods of assisted reproduction are ethically acceptable, but also for which of group of people and under what circumstances are they acceptable. My analysis is inspired by the intention of government a) to increase the age for access to treatment paid by health insurance (HI), b) to increase the number of cycles paid by HI, c) to abolish the upper age limit, given by law, for paying cash. The analysis is divided into two separate articles, because the topic is very broad. In this first part I analyze the age limit for payment of treatment by HI, I find relevant arguments onlxy for payment of treatment to women up to 40 years., Hana Konečná, and Literatura
Druhá část do dvou článků rozdělené analýzy věkových limitů v asistované reprodukci (ART). V této části se zaměřuji na hledání věkových limitů pro přístup k ART u samoplátců, zvažuji přitom zájmy čtyř z pěti zúčastněných členů systému: žadatele/lů o léčbu, dárce gamet, budoucího dítěte a společnosti, a rizika s tím spojená. Pro potvrzení současné zákonné věkové hranice pro ženu (den před 50. narozeninami) ani pro její zvýšení či odstranění nenacházím dostatečné důvody. Naopak se domnívám, že by měla být určena věková hranice i pro muže., The second part of analysis of age limits in assisted reproductive technology (ART), divided into two articles. In this section, I focus on defining age limits for access to ART for self-payers, I am considering the interests of four of the five participating members of the systém: ART applicant/s, gametedonor/s, child to-be-born, society, and the associated risks. I did not find sufficient grounds to confirm the current legal age limit for women (the day before the 50th birthday), nor for the increase or the elimination of the limit. On the contrary, I believe that should be addressed age limit for men., Hana Konečná, and Literatura
Vzniku trombózy v arteriálním nebo venózním cévním systému předchází složitá souhra faktorů vnějšího prostředí a faktorů genetických. Rozsáhlé genomové asociační studie se ukazují jako velice přínosné v identifikaci lokusů spojených s kardiovaskulárními onemocněními a souvisejícími rizikovými faktory. Ještě zbývá mnoho práce v identifikaci určujících genů a jejich kauzálních variant, stejně jako v definici mechanizmů, které ovlivňují vývoj a progresi onemocnění. Z výsledků studií lokusů spojených s dříve identifikovanými onemocněními se očekává zlepšení našich znalostí o patofyziologii kardiovaskulárních onemocnění a možnost identifikovat nové cíle pro léčbu. V oblasti aterotrombózy a trombofilie jsou významné výsledky z asociačních studií zaměřených na oblast ischemické choroby srdeční, ischemické cévní mozkové příhody a žilního tromboembolizmu. Klíčová slova: ateroskleróza – aterotrombóza – celogenomové asociace (GWAS) – infarkt myokardu – ischemická choroba srdeční – jednonukleotidový polymorfizmus (SNP) – trombofilie – žilní tromboembolizmus, Thrombosis in the arterial or venous vascular systems is preceded by a complex interplay between environmental and genetic factors, and it is the underlying cause of several common complex diseases. The genomewide association approach has proved successful in identifying loci associated with cardiovascular disease and related risk factors. However, much work remains to identifyning the culprit genes and causal variants as well as the mechanisms whereby they influence disease development and progression. In-depth studies of previously identified disease-associated loci are expected to improve our understanding of the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease and identify novel targets for treatment. In the field of atherothrombosis and thrombophilia are significant results from association studies focused on the area of coronary artery disease, ischemic stroke, venous thromboembolism. Key words: atherosclerosis – atherothrombosis – coronary artery disease – genomewide association study (GWAS) – myocardial infarction – single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) – thrombophilia – venous thromboembolism, and Tomáš Kvasnička
Metformin is the first line therapy of type 2 diabetics, but continued reduction of their life expectancy warrants further investigation into alternative treatment strategies. This study reports on the combinational use of metformin with aspalathin, a C-glucosyl dihydrochalcone with known glucose lowering and antioxidant properties, as an effective hypoglycemic therapy in a type 2 diabetic (db/db) mouse model. When tested as a monotherapy, a low dose of aspalathin (13 mg/kg) showed no effect, while a high dose (130 mg/kg) has already displayed a better potential than metformin in protecting against diabetes associated symptoms in db/db mice. Thus, it remains of interest to determine whether this dihydrochalcone can improve the efficacy of metformin. The results showed that this combination therapy was more effective than the use of metformin as a monotherapy in ameliorating diabetes associated symptoms, including abnormal raised fasting plasma glucose levels, impaired glucose tolerance, as well as excessively increased body weights and fat content. The treated mice also had reduced food and water consumption when compared to untreated controls, with a pronounced effect evident in the last week of treatment. Therefore, this study supports further investigations into the ameliorative effect of combination therapy of metformin and aspalathin against diabetes associated symptoms., P. V. Dludla, K. B. Gabuza, C. J. F. Muller, E. Joubert, J. Louw, R. Johnson., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Tenkojehlová aspirační cytologie patří dnes k základnímu vyšetření v tyreologii. Indikací je zejména uzel ve štítné žláze k vyloučení malignity. Ukázalo se, že riziko malignity u daného nemocného je stejné při přítomnosti více uzlů jako u nálezu uzlu jednoho. Ultrazvukové charakteristiky jsou pro určení povahy ložiska nedostatečné a všechny přítomné uzly větší než 10 mm jsou indikací k punkci. Z ostatních afekcí je aspirační cytologie indikována u granulomatózní tyroiditidy, u Hashimotovy tyroiditidy většinou jen při přítomnosti uzlu. Kromě jasně benigních a jasně maligních výsledků spadá nezanedbatelná část cytologických závěrů do šedé zóny suspektních (nejednoznačných) nálezů. Všechny jsou indikací k histologickému ověření a predikční hodnota těchto výsledků závisí na jejich typu. U folikulární neoplazie je asi 20 % a peroperační histologie nemá smysl. Volíme proto většinou hemityreoidektomii a další postup je dán definitivní histologií., Jan Čáp, Aleš Ryška, and Lit. 43
INTRODUCTION: The issue of resistance to antiplatelet therapy has raised many questions in the area of neurovascular diseases. The first objective of this work was to determine the prevalence of aspirin resistance in neurovascular patients with clinical non-responsiveness to aspirin treatment and a high-risk of atherothrombotic complications using two interpretable and independent methods (aggregation and PFA 100). The second objective was to find the correlation between both assays and to evaluate the results in groups at risk for various cerebrovascular diseases. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Laboratory tests of aspirin resistance were performed in 79 patients with clinical non-responsiveness to aspirin treatment suffering from neurovascular diseases. Patients were divided into the two groups: expected low risk for aspirin resistance due to the first manifestation of a neurovascular disease (n = 34) and expected high risk due to the second clinical manifestation of a neurovascular disease (n = 45). RESULTS: The prevalence of aspirin resistance in both groups combined as determined by the PFA-100 and CPG techniques were 50.6% and 17.7%, respectively. No correlation was found between the two techniques. CONCLUSIONS: No significant prevalence of aspirin resistance was demonstrated by either method despite the heterogeneous pathophysiological mechanisms. However, we are presently unable to provide an accurate opinion on the value of laboratory test result or routine monitoring in clinical neurology. and M. Vališ, D. Krajíčková, J. Malý, R. Malý, I. Fátorová, O. Vyšata, R. Herzig
Eleven plants of Asplenium platyneuron (ebony spleenwort) were found in disturbed serpentine woodland in south-central Slovakia (Central Europe). This find represents a new addition to the fern flora of Europe. It is probably the result of long-distance spore dispersal. The nearest known sites for this species are those in eastern North America, about 6500 km away. The important determination characters of A. platyneuron are described, the Slovakian locality characterized and an overview of the ecology and a map of the worldwide distribution of this species provided.
An assembly neural network based on the binary Hebbian rule is suggested for pattern recognition. The network consists of several sub-networks according to the number of classes to be recognized. Each sub-network consists of several neural columns according to the dimensionality of the signal space so that the value of each signal component is encoded by activity of adjacent neurons of the column. A new recognition algorithm is presented which realizes the nearest-neighbor method in the assembly neural network. Computer simulation of the network is performed. The model is tested on a texture segmentation task. The experiments have demonstrated that the network is able to segment reasonably real-world texture images.
Species assembly in ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) communities in local microhabitats was studied in a forest. The following questions were addressed: are there important filters that sort the species in the assemblages? If so, what is the specific nature of these filters? In order to address these questions rarefaction analysis was used to determine whether ground beetle species are distributed non-randomly. Next, the nature of filters was determined by analyzing (1) the community matrix and searching for the consequences of competitive exclusion and (2) species-environmental relations. Rarefaction analysis revealed that the species composition is filtered: species richness was less than expected and there were fewer than expected congeneric species coexisting at high beetle population densities. However, community matrix and body size analyses did not detect significant competition among the beetle species and the matrix was significantly nested. Species-environmental analyses indicated that the ground beetle assembly was strongly linked to ground vegetation. It is concluded that spatial distribution of ground beetles across local communities in this forest habitat is determined more by local environmental conditions than competition, and ground beetles do not interact strongly among themselves so that competitive effects do not play an important role in their distribution except at high beetle population densities. and Sonomi Shibuya, Kohei Kubota, Masahiko Ohsawa, Zaal Kikvidze.
Software measurements provide developers and software managers with information on various aspects of software systems, such as effectiveness, functionality, maintainability, or the effort and cost needed to develop a software system. Based on collected data, models capturing some aspects of software development process can be constructed. A good model should allow software professionals to not only evaluate current or completed projects but also predict future projects with an acceptable degree of accuracy.
Artificial neural networks employ a parallel distributed processing paradigm for learning of system and data behavior. Some network models, such as multilayer perceptrons, can be used to build models with universal approximation capabilities. This paper describes an application in which neural networks are used to capture the behavior of several sets of software development related data. The goal of the experiment is to gain an insight into the modeling of software data, and to evaluate the quality of available data sets and some existing conventional models.