Some Diptera families from beer traps in the Volga region (Russia)

We have studied the material of some Diptera families collected with beer traps from middle part of the Volga River region (central part of European Russia: Nizhny Novgorod and Ulyanovsk regions, and southeastern part of European Russia: Saratov Region). Thirty species from 10 Diptera families are reported: Culicidae (2 spp.), Dryomyzidae (2 spp.), Lauxaniidae (7 spp.), Limoniidae (3 spp.), Pallopteridae (4 spp.), Periscelididae (1 sp.), Platystomatidae (2 spp.), Sciomyzidae (2 spp.), Tabanidae (1 sp.), Ulidiidae (6 spp.). Two species, Peplomyza intermedia Remm, 1979 (Lauxaniidae) and Periscelis annulipes Loew, 1858 (Periscelididae) are recorded from Russia for the first tim

Global Analysis of Proline-Rich Tandem Repeat Proteins Reveals Broad Phylogenetic Diversity in Plant Secretomes

Cell walls, constructed by precisely choreographed changes in the plant secretome, play critical roles in plant cell physiology and development. Along with structural polysaccharides, secreted proline-rich Tandem Repeat Proteins (TRPs) are important for cell wall function, yet the evolutionary diversity of these structural TRPs remains virtually unexplored. Using a systems-level computational approach to analyze taxonomically diverse plant sequence data, we identified 31 distinct Pro-rich TRP classes targeted for secretion. This analysis expands upon the known phylogenetic diversity of extensins, the most widely studied class of wall structural proteins, and demonstrates that extensins evolved before plant vascularization. Our results also show that most Pro-rich TRP classes have unexpectedly restricted evolutionary distributions, revealing considerable differences in plant secretome signatures that define unexplored diversity

Ultramafic vegetation and soils in the circumboreal region of the Northern Hemisphere

The paper summarizes literature on climate, soil chemistry, vegetation and metal accumulation by plants found on ultramafic substrata in the circumboreal zone (sensu Takhtajan, Floristic regions of the world, 1986) of the Northern Hemisphere. We present a list of 50 endemic species and 18 ecotypes obligate to ultramafic soils from the circumboreal region of Holarctic, as well as 30 and 2 species of Ni and Zn hyperaccumulators, respectively. The number of both endemics and hyperaccumulators are markedly lower compared to that of the Mediterranean and tropical regions. The diversity of plant communities on ultramafics soils of the circumboral region is also described. The underlying causes for the differences of ultramafic flora between arctic, cold, cool temperate and Mediterranean and tropical regions are also discussed. © 2018, The Ecological Society of Japan

Sustainability drivers and barriers: Mapping the motives for sustainable office development in Prague

In Prague the development of certified office buildings has been steadily increasing in past years with the third-party certifications as LEED or BREEAM. However, the involved actors have not yet fully acknowledged the added value of these certifications, as the willingness to pay more for the sustainability features in the office buildings remains low. The main aim of this research is to map the current state of the sustainability readiness of the Prague office market and to evaluate the sustainability awareness and behaviour of developers, investors and tenants. Such is done by mapping the theoretical drivers and barriers towards the sustainable office development in the worldwide literature and comparing them to the real perceptions of the actors in Prague. By this comparison it could be spotted, if and to what extent the national context influences the drivers and behaviour of actors within the sustainable office development. As the market state is also influenced by the national and local governmental policies, these are investigated as well. Completing this overview on the Prague local market’s perception from all the different viewpoints is an important step as not much research has yet been done in the field of the sustainable built environment in the Czech Republic. Mapping the factors for and against the sustainable office development both in theory and practice allows spotting opportunities, which could be the focus in speeding up the potential future development.Architecture and The Built EnvironmentManagement in the Built EnvironmentAdaptive Re-us

One more drop for decreasing reproduction

Toxoplasma gondii is a common protozoan parasite that infects warm-blooded animals throughout the world, including mice and humans. During infection, both, the parasite and the host, utilize various mechanisms to maximize their own reproductive success. Mice and humans are both the intermediate hosts for Toxoplasma gondii, which forms specialized vacuoles containing reproductive cysts in the formers’ tissue. As half of the human population is infected, developing a disease called toxoplasmosis, along with an ever-growing number of couples suffering with idiopathic infertility, it is therefore surprising that there is a lack of research on how T.gondii can alter reproductive parameters. In this study, a detailed histometric screening of the testicular function along with the levels of the pituitary luteinizing hormone (LH) were analysed in infected mice. Data on relative testis and epididymis weight, and sperm count were also collected. Based on the results obtained, the level of LH in the urine of Toxoplasma gondii infected mice was lower compared to the control. In direct correlation with the hormone level, testicular function and sperm production was also significantly lower in T. gondii positive group using sperm count and histometric analysis as a marker. Not only were the number of leptotene primary spermatocytes and spermatids lowered, but the number of Sertoli cells and the tubule diameter were elevated. In parallel, a pilot epigenetic study on global testicular methylation, and specific methylation of Crem, Creb1 and Hspa1genes essential for successfully ongoing spermatogenesis was performed. Global methylation was elevated in Toxoplasma infected mice, and differences in the DNA methylation of selected genes were detected between the Toxoplasma positive and control group. These findings demonstrate a direct relation between T. gondii infection and the decrease of male reproductive fitness in mice, which may contribute to an increase of infertility in humans

Integrated energy design - Education and training in cross-disciplinary teams implementing energy performance of buildings directive (EPBD)

In Europe, energy and climate policies started to take shape from the 1990s onwards culminating with the ambitious 20-20-20 climate goals and the Low-Carbon Europe roadmap 2050. The European Commission empower the importance of achieving the objective of the recast Directive on energy performance of buildings (EPBD) that new buildings built from 2021 onwards will have to be nearly zero-energy buildings. The general belief is that the energy performance optimization of buildings requires an integrated design approach and cross-disciplinary teamwork to optimize the building's energy use and quality of indoor environment while satisfying the occupants' needs.In this context, there is a substantial need for professionals such as architects and engineers specifically trained and educated in integrated design approach and trained to work in cross-disciplinary teams. To be able to push forward the development, it is essential that educational institutions foster professionals with such knowledge, skills and competences. An initiative toward this direction is the EU-project of IDES-EDU: "Master and Post-Graduate education and training in multi-disciplinary teams".The paper describes the necessity of more integrated and cross-disciplinary approaches to building design through state-of-the-art of the building sector and educational initiatives in the participating countries in the project, and through theory of design processes. The paper also communicates the results of newly developed cross-disciplinary education established by fifteen different educational institutions in Europe. Finally, the paper explains and discusses the challenges encountered during development and implementation of the education across different professions and countries. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd

Effects of additives on atmospheric pressure gliding arc applied to themodification of polypropylene

The polypropylene (PP) strips were modified with the industrial gliding arc discharge working in airflow at50 Hz. The experiments aimed at increased wettability and improved strength of the epoxy adhesive DP190 bondwith PP. While working only in dry air, the deterioration of the plasma treatment uniformity was observed athigher treatment speeds than 100 mm/s. At the same time, the tensile strength of the adhesive bond and theatomic concentrations of O and N decreased whereas the water contact angle (WCA) measurement error in-creased. The fast camera measurements revealed that the PP surface was treated by the direct contact with activeplasmafilaments. The non-uniformity of the PP surface treatment for increased treatment speed can be explainedby taking into account the stochastic character of thefilament propagation direction and the characteristic timescales of the process.As an improvement of the gliding arc treatment technology a new geometry utilizing the gas crossflow wasproposed with the help of gas dynamic simulations. The addition of argon crossflow led to an improvement ofthe treatment uniformity and, for the optimized conditions, the measured tensile strength of the adhesive bondto PP was 6.5 times higher than for the untreated PP sample. The treatments with the crossflow of argon mixedwith water vapors and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ethanol and isopropanol, did not increase the tensilestrength of the adhesive joint even though the wettability was higher for the mixtures with VOCs. Since theconcentration of functional groups measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was well correlated with thetensile strength of adhesive joints, WCA measurements cannot be used as the only parameter judging the successof the plasma treatment aimed at an improvement of adhesive joint strengt