The daily activity patterns of animals are modulated by external factors such as habitat selection, temporal niche selection, prey availability and predation risk. Furthermore, different species show a variety of responses to human disturbance; therefore, to understand the effects of human activities on wildlife, it is crucial to consider the disturbance characteristics (e.g. type, frequency, timing and location of human activity). Our objective was to evaluate whether vehicles on forest roads altered the daily temporal activity patterns of three apex predators; Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), the grey wolf (Canis lupus) and brown bear (Ursus arctos), using an extensive camera trap data set collected across a gradient of forest roads and wildlife trails in the Croatian part of the Dinaric mountains. We expected a low temporal overlap between humans and apex predators but predicted this even lower at sites where vehicles are present. Consistent with our expectations, the general overlap in temporal activity of all three apex predators and humans was low, the former being primarily active at night/dawn/dusk hours and the latter during daylight hours. In contrast, our results showed similarity in the temporal activity of all three predators on wildlife trails and forest roads where human activity was more frequent and diverse.
We studied the occurrence of apoptosis and secondary delayed cell death at various time points in the penumbra zone, which is the target for therapeutic intervention after stroke. A compression lesion was induced in the right sensory motor cortex of rat brains. At 0.5, 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h after lesioning, motor functions were evaluated by behavioral tests, and cortical layers IV and V were examined by electron microscopy. Behavioral recovery was observed at 48 h after lesioning. At 0.5-1 h in the lesioned area, the neuropil was expanded and contained affected cells. Apoptotic cells were found between 0.5-72 h, and at 12 h, 47.3 % of the total cell number was apoptotic cells. On the contralateral side, cells showed an enlarged endoplasmic reticulum at 3 h, indicating secondary delayed cell death. Our results show that a compression lesion is a useful model for studying ultrastructural changes in injured cells. The lesion results in the penumbra zone with apoptotic cell death between 0.5-72 h. As secondary delayed cell death occurred on the contralateral side at three hours after lesioning might be the time period during which injured, but still viable, neurons can be targets for acute treatment.
We compared the progression of lens opacification with the time course of oxidation of lens proteins under conditions of streptozotocin-induced experimental diabetes in rats. By the end of the 17th week, approx. 50 % of the diabetic animals developed mature cataracts. During the following month, 95 % of the eyes in the diabetic group became
cataractous. In the course of lens opacification we observed a time-dependent increase in the content of protein carbonyls and decrease in the concentration of protein sulfhydryls in the lenses of diabetic animals. Significantly higher protein carbonyl (p<0.01) and lower protein sulfhydryl (p<0.001) content was found in lenses with the advanced stage
of cataract when compared with the diabetic lenses still transparent. We showed that the values of protein carbonyls exceeding 1.2 nmol/mg protein and of sulfhydryls falling below 60 nmol/mg protein corresponded to an approximately 50 % incidence of mature cataract development. At the end of the 34th week, when all lenses of diabetic rats became cataractous, the corresponding values of protein carbonyls and sulfhydryls were 2.5 nmol/mg protein and 27 nmol/mg protein, respectively. The main finding of this study is the disclosure of quantitative relationship between the degree of protein oxidation and the rate of advanced cataract development in the widely used model of streptozotocin-induced experimental diabetes in rats.
Unusual climatic events are known to influence micro-evolutionary changes in birds through selection and directional evolution of body size. In NW Italy a notable climatic episode occurred from 1984–85 to 1986–87 when the winters were unusually severe. In the periods 1986–88 and 1997–2000 we measured the body size and mass of 808 adult hooded crows. Body size measurements of specimens collected from the same area but in two other periods (1950 and 1974) were also considered for comparison. In the 1986–88 sample (just after the unusual climatic period), there was a significant shift of body size, with a greater tarsus length than in the other three periods; body mass was also higher than in 1997–2000. The peak in tarsus length and body mass is discussed with regard to the severe weather in the winter which could have acted as a strong directional selective factor, favouring bigger birds, or may have prompted irruptive movements of Northern larger crows.
Extracorporeal life support is a treatment modality that provides prolonged blood circulation, gas exchange and can substitute functions of heart and lungs to provide urgent cardio-respiratory stabilization in patients with severe but potentially reversible cardiopulmonary failure refractory to conventional therapy. Generally, the therapy targets blood pressure, volume status, and end-organs perfusion. As there are significant differences in hemodynamic efficacy among different percutaneous circulatory support systems, it should be carefully considered when selecting the most appropriate circulatory support for specific medical conditions in individual patients. Despite severe metabolic and hemodynamic deterioration during prolonged cardiac arrest, venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA ECMO) can rapidly revert otherwise fatal prognosis, thus carrying a potential for improvement in survival rate, which can be even improved by introduction of mild therapeutic hypothermia. In order to allow a rapid transfer of knowledge to clinical medicine two porcine models were developed for studying efficiency of the VA ECMO in treatments of acute cardiogenic shock and progressive chronic heart failure. These models allowed also an intensive research of adverse events accompanying a clinical use of VA ECMO and their possible compensations. The results indicated that in order to weaken the negative effects of increased afterload on the left ventricular function the optimal VA ECMO flow in cardiogenic shock should be as low as possible to allow adequate tissue perfusion. The left ventricle can be also unloaded by an ECG-synchronized pulsatile flow if using a novel pulsatile ECMO system. Thus, pulsatility of VA ECMO flow may improve coronary perfusion even under conditions of high ECMO blood flows. And last but not least, also the percutaneous balloon atrial septostomy is a very perspective method how to passively decompress overloaded left heart.
The tendency for self-superparasitism and it's effects on the quality of the parasitoid Ooencyrtus pityocampae (Mercet) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) in parasitizing a new laboratory host, Philosamia ricini (Danovan) (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae), were investigated. In this study, female parasitoids of various ages (1-, 3- and 5-day-old) were tested individually. Parasitoids were provided with 1-day-old P. ricini eggs at ratios of 5, 10, 20, 30 and 40 host eggs per wasp. The tendency to superparasitize was dependent on the female's age and host density. Five-day-old females showed a strong tendency to superparasitize at low host densities. The development time of wasps in superparasitized eggs was longer than that of wasps in singly parasitized eggs. The size and longevity of adult parasitoids decreased significantly with superparasitism. This work contributes to the development of an efficient mass rearing and laboratory rearing of the parasitoid O. pityocampae using a new host., Hilal Tunca, Maurane Buradino, Etty-Ambre Colombel, Elisabeth Tabone., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Lead zirconatetitanate (PZT) is widely used for its ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties. Its unique properties are conditioned by perovskite structure. Crystallization into this phase is determined among others by a proper stoichiometry, where the lead concentration is a crucial parameter. That is why this paper is devoted to the control of chemical composition of PZT thin films deposited via ion beam sputtering (IBS). Our study showed that the determinative lead content in PZT films prepared by ion-beam sputtering from a multicomponent target can be easily controlled by the power of primary ion source. At the same time, the composition is also dependent on the substrate temperature and the power of assistant ion source. and Olovo zirkonát-titanát (PZT) je široce používaný pro svoje feroelektrické a piezoelektrické vlastnosti, které jsou podmíněny perovskitovou strukturou. Krystalizace PZT do této preferované fáze je podmíněna mimo jiné také správným stechiometrickým složením, kde koncentrace olova je kritickým parametrem. Samotný proces krystalizace probíhá při vysokoteplotním žíhání, při kterém ovšem dochází k nežádoucímu snížení obsahu olova v deponované vrstvě. Proto je dobré připravit vrstvu s přebytkem olova, a tím tak kompenzovat jeho úbytek při žíhání. Z toho důvodu je tento článek zaměřen na řízení chemického složení tenkých filmů PZT pomocí naprašování iontovým svazkem (IBS). Vrstvy nanesené pomocí IBS by měly teoreticky vykazovat stejné chemické složení jaké má terč, z kterého jsou nanášeny. Nicméně, v případě PZT je vhodné mít možnost kontrolovaně měnit chemické složení naprašovaných tenkých filmů pro dosažení vysokého perovskitového podílu. Naše studie odhalila, že určující obsah olova v PZT vrstvách, připravených pomocí jednoduché a duální iontové depozice z vícesložkového terče, může být snadno řízen výkonem primárního iontového zdroje. Složení je také závislé na teplotě substrátu a na energii iontů asistenčního iontového zdroje. Tenké PZT vrstvy byly připraveny s více než 30% přebytkem ze stechiometrického vícesložkového terče (tj. terč bez přebytku olova). Můžeme tedy navrhnout několik možných setů depozičních parametrů vhodných pro depozici PZT pomocí IBS pro dosažení vysokého perovskitového podílu.