AN EFFECT OF CROSSING WITH FRENCH BEEF BREEDS ON MEAT PERFORMANCE OF BULLS

Pokus tova obuhvaćao je 13 čistokrvnih čeških bikova Pied (C), 10 Blon\u27d Aquitaine (B) i 11 Charolais (CH) generacije križanih bikova F₁, čije su majke češke Pied ženke. Za vrijeme tova životinje su hranjene kukuruznom silažom, sijenom lucerne i koncentratima do konačne težine od 567 (C), 573 (B) i 566 (CH) kg (starosti 550, 523 odn. 556 dana). Sto se tiče performance tovljenja prosječni dnevni prirast za vrijeme tova bio je za C, B i CH 1145, 1234 odn. 1332 g, prirast neto težine bio je 538, 607 odnosno 643 g. Značajno najveći postotak randmana (p<0.01) postigli su bikovi B (60.6%) u usporedbi s C (57.4%) i CH( 58.0%). Razlike u ukupnoj količini masti nisu bile značajne s relativnim vrijednostima 2.6 (C), 2.2 (B) i 2.7 (CH)%. Tehnološka analiza polovica otkrila je značajne razlike (p<0.01) u odnosu na prvorazredno meso (C=38.7%, B=41.3% i CH=40.1%). Značajno niži (p<0.05) omjer kostiju (16.7%) bio je karakterističan za slabije kosture skupine B u usporedbi sa skupinama C i CH (17.8%). Postojale su neznačajne razlike među skupinama u rezultatima kemijske analize uzoraka MLD (sadržaj suhe tvari, sadržaj masnoće i sadržaj sirovih bjelančevina).Fattening experiment involved 13 purebred Czech Pied (C) bulls, 10 Blond\u27d\u27Aquitaine (B) and 11 Charolais (CH) F₁ generation crossbred bulls coming from Czech Pied dams. During the fattening period, animals were fed with corn silage, alfalfa hay and concentrates up to the final weight of 567 (C), 573 (B) a 566 (CH) kg (age 550, 523 and 556 days resp). As for the fattening performance, average daily gain during the fattening period for C, B and CH was 1145, 1284 and 1332 g resp., net weight gain was 538,607, and 543 g resp. Significantly highest dressing percentage (p<0.01) reached B bulls (60.6%) compared with C (57.4%) and CH (58.0%). Differences in the total amount of fat were not significant with relative values 2.6 (c). 2.2 (b) and 2.7 (CH)%. The technological analysis of carcasses revealed significant differences (P<0.01) in the proportion of first-rate meat (C=38.7%, B=41.3% and CH=40.1%). More subtle skeletons of B group were characterised by significantly (P<0.05) lower proportion of bones (16.7%) in comparison with C and CH groups (17.8%). There were insignificant differences among groups in the results of chemical analysis of eye-muscle samples (dry matter content, fat content and crude protein content)

Increasing Incidence of Geomyces destructans Fungus in Bats from the Czech Republic and Slovakia

BACKGROUND: White-nose syndrome is a disease of hibernating insectivorous bats associated with the fungus Geomyces destructans. It first appeared in North America in 2006, where over a million bats died since then. In Europe, G. destructans was first identified in France in 2009. Its distribution, infection dynamics, and effects on hibernating bats in Europe are largely unknown. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We screened hibernacula in the Czech Republic and Slovakia for the presence of the fungus during the winter seasons of 2008/2009 and 2009/2010. In winter 2009/2010, we found infected bats in 76 out of 98 surveyed sites, in which the majority had been previously negative. A photographic record of over 6000 hibernating bats, taken since 1994, revealed bats with fungal growths since 1995; however, the incidence of such bats increased in Myotis myotis from 2% in 2007 to 14% by 2010. Microscopic, cultivation and molecular genetic evaluations confirmed the identity of the recently sampled fungus as G. destructans, and demonstrated its continuous distribution in the studied area. At the end of the hibernation season we recorded pathologic changes in the skin of the affected bats, from which the fungus was isolated. We registered no mass mortality caused by the fungus, and the recorded population decline in the last two years of the most affected species, M. myotis, is within the population trend prediction interval. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: G. destructans was found to be widespread in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with an epizootic incidence in bats during the most recent years. Further development of the situation urgently requires a detailed pan-European monitoring scheme

Alien Plants Introduced by Different Pathways Differ in Invasion Success: Unintentional Introductions as a Threat to Natural Areas

BACKGROUND: Understanding the dimensions of pathways of introduction of alien plants is important for regulating species invasions, but how particular pathways differ in terms of post-invasion success of species they deliver has never been rigorously tested. We asked whether invasion status, distribution and habitat range of 1,007 alien plant species introduced after 1500 A.D. to the Czech Republic differ among four basic pathways of introduction recognized for plants. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Pathways introducing alien species deliberately as commodities (direct release into the wild; escape from cultivation) result in easier naturalization and invasion than pathways of unintentional introduction (contaminant of a commodity; stowaway arriving without association with it). The proportion of naturalized and invasive species among all introductions delivered by a particular pathway decreases with a decreasing level of direct assistance from humans associated with that pathway, from release and escape to contaminant and stowaway. However, those species that are introduced via unintentional pathways and become invasive are as widely distributed as deliberately introduced species, and those introduced as contaminants invade an even wider range of seminatural habitats. CONCLUSIONS: Pathways associated with deliberate species introductions with commodities and pathways whereby species are unintentionally introduced are contrasting modes of introductions in terms of invasion success. However, various measures of the outcome of the invasion process, in terms of species' invasion success, need to be considered to accurately evaluate the role of and threat imposed by individual pathways. By employing various measures we show that invasions by unintentionally introduced plant species need to be considered by management as seriously as those introduced by horticulture, because they invade a wide range of seminatural habitats, hence representing even a greater threat to natural areas

18F-FDG PET/CT pattern of Erdheim-Chester disease – a group of Czech patients

Introduction: Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is a rare unit of histiocytic diseases. The goal of our work was to assess 18F-FDG PET/CT presentation of this disease in patients from the Czech Republic. Methods: We analyzed overall 44 18F-FDG PET/CT examinations in 6 patients with this disease. We assessed 18F-FDG accumulation in staging examinations of these 6 patients at usual localizations, i.e. bones, brain, orbit, paranasal sinuses, periaortal space, heart, lungs, perirenal space and skin. Results: Bone 18F-FDG accumulation was detected in all patients; in 5 mostly in lower extremities. Maxillar sinuses were involved in 5/6 patients. Vascular and perirenal involvement was detected in 4/6 patients. Two patients had involved skin and hypophysis, one patient also orbits and heart. Lung involvement was not detected in any patient. Conclusions: 18F-FDG avid involvement of skeleton was the main and regular characteristic of PET/CT presentation of Erdheim-Chester disease. Also other localizations of 18F-FDG avid involvement (cardiovascular, CNS, paranasal sinuses, orbitis, skin, perirenal space) confirm known observations in ECD.