The tegument ultrastructure of the cestode Triaenophorus nodulosus has been studied in the stages of oncosphere, procercoid, plerocercoid and adult. The syncytium of primary tegument has glandular origin and is located in the peripheral areas of the oncosphere. The primary tegument degenerates at the initial stages of the procercoid development and is replaced with secondary tegument persisting throughout all following stages of the worm’s development. Two ways of microthrix formation on the body surface of procercoid were discovered. The formation of the cyst consisting of fibrillar material around the plerocercoid was observed. It fills spaces between numerous finger-like évaginations of plerocercoid’s tegument. The structural differentiation of tegument and microtriches was demonstrated on the scolex and all parts of strabila of T. nodulosus.
The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) amount in cells as the basis for mitochondrial energy generating system, which produces ATP, plays an important role in the fetal development and postnatal morbidity. Isolated human cord blood leukocytes (HCBL) contribute very little to the overall metabolic turnover, but they may serve as easily available marker cells for the study of the mtDNA amount changes in cord blood during fetal development. The aim of our study was to analyze the mtDNA amount in HCBL. HCBL were isolated from cord blood samples of 107 neonates born between the 25th and 41st week of gestation. The mtDNA amount was analyzed by the real-time PCR method. The significant negative correlations were found between the relative mtDNA amount in HCBL and gestational age (r = -0.54, p<0.01) and birth weight (r = -0.43, p<0.01), respectively. The results revealed that the mtDNA content per cell decreases in HCBL with progressing fetal development. This may be explained by gradual shift of the hematopoiesis from fetal liver to bone marrow during the second half of pregnancy presumably accompanied by decreasing cell volume of HCBL as it was shown similarly in red blood cells., M. Pejznochová, M. Tesařová, T. Honzík, H. Hansíková, M. Magner, J. Zeman., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Individuals serologically positive for the chronic infection with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii (TG) display certain personality traits differently from uninfected individuals. Experimental data in mice demonstrate that TG infection modulates behaviour. However, psychiatric patients with a personality disorder have not yet been investigated systematically. In our sample containing 896 psychiatric inpatients with the primary diagnoses of schizophrenia, major depression, schizoaffective or bipolar disorder and 214 psychiatrically unaffected controls (same geographic region, sampled during same time period) we analysed for effects of the additional diagnosis of a personality disorder in the patients. Psychiatrically, a patient can meet the criteria of a personality disorder additionally to any of the mentioned primary diagnoses. We applied logistic regression and cross-table statistics, separated groups by the presence/absence of a personality disorder (ICD-10) and adjusted for age between groups. We found that among all patients the additional diagnosis of a personality disorder was significantly associated with TG infection. Furthermore, only in the patients with an additional personality disorder medium titre responses (1:16-1:64) were associated with chronic course and high C-reactive protein (CRP) levels whereas high titre response (>1:64) was associated with a more acute recurrent clinical course. In the older individuals only there was a preponderance of medium titre responses (1:16-1:64) among the patients with personality disorder compared to those without and controls. We conclude that TG infection and the host's response to it make a difference for the diagnosis of a personality disorder. Our data support that TG infection can modulate human behaviour and personality traits.
The light response changes of oxygen evolutíon in the isolated spinách (Spinacia oleracea L.) thylakoids associated with the photoinhibition, influenced by the temperature and radical protection, were determined. Photoinhibition was performed at 20 ®C with or without an addition of antioxidant mixture consisting of glutathione, ascorbate, superoxide dismutase and catalase, oř, altematívely, at 0 oC without the antioxidants. Beside the effects on decline of atrazine binding sites and variable room temperature fluorescence, the three variants of photoinhibition differed with respect to their effects on the yield of oxygen evolutíon. Quantum yield of oxygen evolutíon (<{>02) flecline preceded Úie decrease of electron transport capacity at the beginning, while similar low values were found at the end of the treatment. In the presence of antioxidants the electron transport capacity remained high, whereas marked decline of (|»o^ occurred with the equally treated thylakoids. Comparable deviating behaviour of (t»Oj and the electron transport capacity was not found following photoinhibition at 0 oC; both were affected to the same degree, regardless if ferricyanide or the Qg- independent electron acceptor siUcomolybdate were ušed. With isolated thylakoids the quotient FyF,„, which is often ušed as a measure for photochemical efficiency of open photosystem 2 reaction centres in whole plant studies, did not decline to the same extent as (|)Oj under the dififerent photoinhibitoiy conditions applied. The main conclusion is that in thylakoid photoinhibition the independent mechanisms are associated with the changes of both the and electron transport capacity, and that the (j>02-related mechanism is inhibited at 0 oC.
We give a short survey of the Swedish erythropoietic protoporphyria patients (EPP) with respect to the lapsed time between symptom debut and diagnosis. With two examples we illustrate the consequence of undiagnosed EPP for the patient and also the family. We recall efforts to spread information among health workers in order to investigate patients
suffering from extreme sun-exposure intolerance for this uncommon kind of porphyria as well.
In this paper I argue that there is an affinity between the ‘dissident’ in Havel’s essay “The Power of the Powerless” and the ‘spectre’ in Derrida’s readings of Marx. Both are manifestations of a specific modern temporality that Derrida calls “disjointed”, because it is haunted by a revolutionary force and claim for justice. Both also evoke the weak messianic power inherent in Walter Benjamin’s historiography and the spectral responsibility recognised by this power, that is, our responsibility for past and future generations. In post-totalitarian Czechoslovakia, the “nonpolitical” dissident community prefigured the renewal of moral experiences of responsibility and solidarity. In contemporary discussions of democracy, the figure of the spectre is a reminder of the significance of the Marxist legacy beyond its ideological doctrine.
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Sonalika) seedlings were grown in Hoagland solution. Primary leaves were harvested at 8, 12, and 15 d and cut into five equal segments. Contents of photosynthetic pigments and proteins, and photosystem 2 (PS2) activity increased from base to apex of these leaves. Chlorophyll (Chl) content was maximum at 12 d in all the leaf segments, but PS2 activity showed a gradual decline from 8 to 15 d in all leaf segments. In sharp contrast, the CO2 fixation ability of chloroplasts increased from 8 to 15 d. CO2 fixation ability of chloroplasts started to decline from base to apex of 15-d-old seedlings, where the content of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase large subunit (RuBPCO-LSU) increased acropetally. RuBPCO-LSU content was maximum in all the leaf segments in 12-d-old seedlings. This shows a distinctive pattern of PS2, Chl, CO2 fixation ability of chloroplasts, and RuBPCO-LSU content along the axis of leaf lamina during development and senescence. RuBPCO-LSU (54 kDa) degraded to fragments of 45, 42, 37, 19, and 16 kDa products which accumulated along the leaf axis during ageing of chloroplasts. Thus the CO2 fixation ability of chloroplasts declines earlier than PS2 activity and photosynthetic pigment contents along the leaf lamina. and F. Dilnawaz ... [et al.].
Anguillicola australiensis (Johnston et Mawson, 1940) is widespread and common in Anguilla reinhardtii Steidachner in rivers and dams of eastern Queensland, Australia, having been found in nine out of ten localities. Overall prevalence was 50% and maximum local prevalence reached 77.7%. The parasite never attained high levels of abundance and maximum adult abundance never exceeded 3.22 or intensity 10. Adults were overdispersed throughout the eel populations and abundance was unrelated to eel or swimbladder size. The greater part of the adult population was composed of immature parasites. The occurrence of larvae in the swimbladder wall was erratic and unrelated to the size of the adult population. Larvae were never abundant and the great majority were damaged by a host response. It appears that parasites either pass through the swimbladder wall rapidly and moult to adults or if delayed are destroyed. There was no indication that a paratenic host was involved in the life cycle. There was no evidence that adult parasites had any local pathogenic effects on their hosts. The population biology of Anguillicola australiensis in its natural host Anguilla reinhardtii appears to be far more similar to those of other Pacific species of Anguillicola in Anguilla japonica in China and Japan than to A. crassus in Anguilla anguilla in Europe or Japan. This latter host-parasite combination appears to be the exception not the rule. It is suggested that the lack of pathogenicity of A. australiensis may reflect a long period of host-parasite co-evolution and/or lower transmission rates resulting in lower parasite population densities.
The existing literature, museum records, personal reports of field biologists and our own field results were compiled to assess the present distribution of the common hamster within Transylvania and the Pannonian Plain of Romania. Combining available distribution data and the existence of natural barriers we were able to designate five, possibly separate, populations: the Pannonian Plain, the Transylvanian Plateau, the Olt Valley, the Braşov Depression and the Ciuc Depression population. The Pannonian Plain and
the Transylvanian Plateau populations showed mass outbreaks in recent years. Twenty three individuals were available for the genetic analyses. The populations belonged to the Pannonia lineage, based on the sequences of 16SrRNA, cytb and ctr of mtDNA. In general we found very high diversity in mtDNA and 16 microsatellite loci. Moreover the most common ctr haplotypes for the Transylvanian Plateau were also present in the Pannonian Plain population and in populations from Hungary and Slovakia, which indicates recent or even current exchange of individuals. Summing up, recent mass outbreaks and high levels of genetic diversity, with some indication of current or very recent gene flow, showed that Romanian populations are in good state, at least compared to many other European countries. As such, these populations should be of particular interest and placed under protection, as they could serve as the reservoir of the genetic variability for the European Pannonia lineage of the common hamster.
Quantitative data are presented on the spatial distribution of metacercariae of the digenean trematode Diploslomum phoxini (Faust, 1918) in the brains of minnows, Phoxinus phoxinus (Linnaeus, 1758), from two Scottish populations. Sequential examination of serial histological sections revealed metacercariae to be unevenly distributed throughout the brain, aggregating in specific regions including the cerebellum, the medulla oblongata and the optic lobes. In addition, a number of metacercariae were found in the anterior part of the spinal cord. The inferior lobe of the cerebellum, pituitary, olfactory lobes and olfactory bulbs were largely free of metacercariae. Reasons for the uneven distribution of metacercariae within the brains of infected minnows are discussed, including the possibility that the parasite may have evolved to enhance its transmission to subsequent hosts by aggregating in regions known to be important in the control of the host’s antipredator responses.