To test whether macrophages can play any role in hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction, we tested the in vitro response of rings from small pulmonary arteries to the activation of macrophages by FMLP, a substance stimulating predominantly membrane-bound NADPH oxidase. A small vessel myograph was used to measure the responses of rings from small pulmonary arteries (300-400 μ m) isolated from rat lungs. Rings from 5 rats were placed into both chambers of the myograph. The vessels were stabilized for 40 min and then normalized by automatic stretching to a wall tension equivalent to the intravascular pressure 30 mm Hg. At the start of each experiment, vessels were exposed to 80 mM K + to obtain maximal contractile response, which was used to normalize subsequent contractile responses. 2x10 6 viable macrophages, obtained by peritoneal lavage, were added into one chamber, then 5 μ M FMLP was administrated to both chambers and the tension measurement was started. The hydrogen peroxide concentration produced by stimulated macrophages was measured luminometrically. The concentrations of H 2 O 2 in specimens from chambers containing activated macrophages rose from 3.5±1.5 nM to 110±28 nM within 25 min of stimulation, while FMLP itself didn’t increase the H 2 O 2 concentration from the baseline value (4.5±3 nM) in samples from control chambers. After FMLP administration, the tension of the vessel rings in the presence of macrophages reached 0.23±0.07 of maximal contractile response, it did not change in controls. The additi on of ROS scavenger 4-hydroxy- TEMPO blocked the contractile response to the activation of macrophages. We conclude that the activation of macrophages stimulates the contraction of small pulmonary arteries and that this contraction is probably mediated by reactive oxygen species., M. Žaloudíková, J. Herget, M. Vízek., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
This study was designed to evaluate the extent of foot deformation in healthy subjects during standing on an immobile support and during slow tilts of the support platform by 1 deg. The angle in ankle joint was evaluated by two methods: as an angle of shin inclination relative to the platform and as an angle, calculated on the basis of recording of the projective length of the soleus muscle. It was shown that the real changes of the angle in ankle joint during standing on an immobile platform were up to 2 times smaller than the changes of angular position of the shin relative to vertical axis. However, considerable intersubject variability was observed in this respect. During slow tilts of the support platform a marked divergence was observed in the shape of recordings of two "ankle angles" in subjects with high foot compliance. The vertical displacements of the calcaneus recorded by means of a clamp rigidly fixed at the heel were 0.5±0.3 mm (the range 0.1 - 1 mm) for each degree of body deviation in the forward or backward direction. In 12 subjects, the average foot compliance was
0.04 ±0.03 deg/Mm (maximal value 0.1 deg/Mm). It can be assumed that the mechanical properties of the foot can appreciably influence the afferent outflow during maintenance of orthograde posture in man.
Infant rats received an i. p. injection of insulin, anti-insulin serum, streptozotocin, antiglucagon serum or dexamethazone. All substances except the antiinsulin serum, raised the plasma triglyceride level. Both antisera decreased plasma cholesterol levels, while streptozotocin, insulin and dexametazone caused an increase. The activity of 3-hydroxy-3-glutaryl CoA reductase in liver and brown adipose tissue changed inversely to the cholesterol level. However, small intestinal enzyme activity was increased by insulin administration inspite of the rise in plasma cholesterol.
This paper focuses on a new model called fuzzy exchange economy (FXE), which integrates fuzzy consumption, fuzzy initial endowment and the agent's fuzzy preference (vague attitude) in the fuzzy consumption set. Also, the existence of the fuzzy competitive equilibrium for the FXE is verified through a related pure exchange economy. We define a core-like concept (called weak fuzzy core) of the FXE and prove that any fuzzy competitive allocation belongs to the weak fuzzy core. The fuzzy replica economy, which is the r-fold repetition of the FXE, is considered. Finally, we show that the weak fuzzy core of the r-fold fuzzy replica economy, i. e., the set of all fuzzy allocations which cannot be blocked by any coalition of agents, converges to the set of fuzzy competitive allocations of the FXE as r becomes large.
This review compares the geometry of conduit coronary arteries in man and animals, namely the wall/diameter ratio (1:7.4 and 1:15 respectively). The left and right ventricle volume determines the geometry (segment length and diameter) of both branches of the left coronary artery: ramus interventricularis anterior and ramus circumflexus; the range of deformation of the latter was substantially smaller. The heterogeneity of deformation was also found along the ramus interventricularis anterior, the deformation decreasing towards the apex. The above relations have consequences (i) on the haemodynamics (passive changes in conduit segment resistance), (ii) the deformation of coronary arteries triggers metabolic processes in the coronary wall. Four hours' lasting cardiac volume or pressure overload brought about an increase in the RNA content not only in the myocardium, but also in the coronary artery. The process is reversible. Moreover, the range of the RNA increase is in full concert with the heterogeneous deformability of the respective segment of the coronary tree.
In 1965 the PD-1 mapping borehole was drilled in the classical location in Březno u Loun in the Ohře facies region. It was examined by many authors with various results. In 2006 the re vision of these results was pe rformed in archival samples. Carbonate content and insoluble residue minerals were determined. The gathered data were compared with similarly examined boreholes in the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin. The correlation showed that in the western and eastern Poohří region the profiles with different stratigraphy level were compared. After the elimination of this discrepancy the actual stratigraphy of the Poohří region can be easily compared with the other regions of the basin. The Č. Zahálka's statement of the equivalency of the sediment filling of the Ohře facies region and the Jizera formation in the Kokořín region is correct. This fact was validated by the Pd-1 borehole profile, where, due to a tectonic coupling, yet unknown, missing part of the youngest sediments of the Teplice and Březno formations (the real zone Xd) was conserved., Zdeněk Štaffen., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
The ongoing growth of the human population will increase the rate of wildlife-human interactions. High levels of animal tolerance and flexible responses towards human presence seem to be among the key mechanisms behind successful wildlife-human coexistence, but this behaviour remains unexplored for most populations and species of animals. Here, we investigate the escape behaviour (measured as flight initiation distance) of the Crimean population of a charismatic and declining bird species, the lesser grey shrike (Lanius minor). We examined its relationship with starting distance of the approaching human, directness of that approach (direct or tangential), habitat type (rural or suburban), and height of the perch used by shrikes. We found that the starting distance was significantly associated with escape responses of shrikes to approaching humans. In contrast, we found no significant association between escape responses and directness of approach, habitat type, or height of perch. Our results indicate that the lesser grey shrike may exhibit low flexibility in their escape responses towards humans which may have implications for their conservation management. Our results also indicate that the widely used 30 m threshold for minimum starting distance may be insufficient for rural populations, even of small passerines.
Using the planning in Prague between the 1960s and 1980s as an example, the article deals with the transformation of the concept of a socialist city among urbanists and architects. The author describes how the generation of the inter-war modernist avant-garde inspired by works of Karel Teige (1900-1951) started reasserting itself again after Khrushchevʼs speech on architecture in 1954. Its infl uential member, Jiří Voženílek (1909-1986), became the Chief Architect of Prague. It was under his leadership that the General Plan of the Capital City of Prague was drafted at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s. The author analyzes the plan as an example of the socialist modernism and urbanistic optimism of its creators who believed that, subject to a correct application of principles of inter-war avant-garde architecture, an urbanistic transformation might become the base of a social transformation of socialism. The plan envisaged sacrifi cing not only all residential quarters of Greater Prague built at the turn of the century, but also the very principle of a traditional city with a network of living streets which socialist urbanists saw as an incarnation of all evils that the development of towns and cities had thitherto been governed by: mixing of functions, too high density of population, lack of light and air. New housing projects comprising high-rise prefab residential buildings set in greenery were to become the opposite of traditional streets. The article explains how criticism of the housing schemes, the chief representative of which was urbanist Jiří Hrůza (1925-2012), had been growing stronger since as early as the mid-1960s. Infl uenced by works of US journalist and urbanistic activist Jane Jacobs (1916-2006), he presented a comprehensive critique of socialist modernism and questioned they very principle of urban planning as a tool of social transformation. The intellectual skepticism was soon thereafter refl ected in urban planning practices in Prague; they abandoned the modernistic principle of zoning and acknowledged the value (fi rst urbanistic, later architectural) of traditional quarters. In the end of the article, the author analyzes how the urbanistic turning point was confronted with building industry practices and political preferences demanding rapid construction of fl ats and apartments. and Překlad: Blanka Medková
The East-Central European post-socialist transformations have now reached a new stage, with the need to address the problems of further modernisation and maintenance in the context of the EU. The role of elites in this process is as intermediators between the influence of the European context and the needs and interests of differentiated internal social structures. Their attitudes and behaviour exhibit a high degree of internal fragmentation and division corresponding to various strategical orientations favouring various societal models. The post-socialist Czech economic elite was initially reproduced out of former state socialist managers and their cadre reserves. After the first phase of economic developments, inspired by neo-liberal radical privatisation and elements of 'shock therapy', and once the new, more European phase ushered in many new factors, there was a distinct decline in the number of 'old-new' economic elite on the scene. In the empirical part of the article the results of several surveys are used to briefly describe the changes in the composition of the Czech economic elite in the 1994-2005 period and to summarise their attitudes and behaviour. The analysis concludes that the current image of a liberal and pro-European Czech elite is consistent with the stable and remarkable progress of the Czech economy since 1999, the considerable wealth, strong profits, and high salaries enjoyed by top elites, and the enhancement of their role in the European economy. There are also some limitations and weak points that diverge from this general picture. The article's conclusions touch on the question of the role of the economic elite in the progress of arriving at more consensual attitudes and behaviour among societal elites as a whole, favouring further economic growth, modernisation and the strengthening of social cohesion in the context of the EU.
This was the Opening Address at ''Fateful Eights in Czech History: Historical Anniversaries of 2008 and Their Signifi cance for the Czech Republic Today'', an international conference organized by the Czech Embassy in Washington, held at the George Washington University, Washington, D.C., on 23-24 October 2008. In this essay the author provides a basic overview of twentieth-century Czech history, weighing the gains and losses, the victories and defeats, the ups and downs of the Czechs, the Czech nation, Czech society, on the way from gaining independence in a democratic state to loosing it, and the German occupation, to the renewal of Czechoslovak independence and the destruction of democracy under the Communist regime, to the failed attempt at the reform of that regime, and the victory of the democratic revolution - all marked by the historical milestones of the years 1918, 1938/39, 1945-48, 1968, and 1989 - as well as the author’s refl ections on the long-term changes in the mentality of the country.