Invertebrates of the Macocha Abyss (Moravian Karst, Czech Republic)

The invertebrates of the Macocha Abyss, Moravian Karst, Czech Republic, were collected in 2007–2008 and 222 species were identified in total. The relative abundance of individual taxa of land snails, harvestmen, pseudoscorpions, spiders, millipedes, centipedes, terrestrial isopods, beetles, and ants was evaluated. The cold-adapted mountain and subterranean species inhabit the bottom and lower part of the abyss, whereas the sun-exposed rocky margins were inhabited by thermophilous species. Macocha harbors several threatened species that are absent or very rare in the surrounding habitats. In the forest landscape, the Macocha Abyss represents a natural habitat with a distinct microclimatic gradient, and is an excellent refuge area for psychrophilous as well as thermophilous species, which significantly contributes to maintenance of landscape biodiversity.Key words: Ants, centipedes, beetles, biodiversity, harvestmen, land snails, light hole, millipedes, pseudoscorpions, terrestrial ispods, spiders.Nevretenčarji brezna Macoha (Moravski kras, Republika Češka)Med vzorčenjem v letih 2007 in 2008 smo v jami Macoha določili 222 vrst nevretenčarjev. Ovrednotili smo relativno pogostost posameznih taksonov polžev, suhih južin, paščipalcev, pajkov, stonog, kopenskih enakonožcev, hroščev in mravelj. Na mraz prilagojene gorske in podzemeljske vrste naseljujejo dno in spodnji del brezna, toploljubne vrste pa naseljujejo kamnite površine soncu izpostavljenega roba. V Macohi je več ogroženih vrst, ki jih sicer v okoliški pokrajini ne najdemo. Kot habitat s specifično mikroklimo je Macoha izjemno zatočišče za vlagoljubne in toploljubne vrste, ki pomembno prispevajo k vzdrževanju biotske raznovrstnosti v pokrajini.Ključne besede: Mravlje, stonoge, hrošči, suhe južine, kopenski polži, stonoge, psevdoškorpijoni, kopenski enakonožci, pajki, biotska raznovrstnost

Rosuvastatin Can Block Pro-Inflammatory Actions of Transgenic Human C-Reactive Protein Without Reducing its Circulating Levels

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The Response of Macro-and Micronutrient Nutrient Status and Biochemical Processes in Rats Fed on a Diet with Selenium-Enriched Defatted Rapeseed and/or Vitamin E Supplementation

The response of nutrient status and biochemical processes in (i) Wistar and (ii) spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) rats upon dietary intake of selenium-(Se-) enriched defatted rapeseed (DRS) and/or vitamin E fortification was examined to assess the health benefit of DRS in animal nutrition. Twenty-four individuals of each type of rat were used: The control group was fed with an untreated diet (Diet A). In Diets B and C, soybean meal was replaced with defatted DRS, which comprised 14% of the total diet. The selenized DRS application resulted in ∼3-fold increase of Se content in the diet. Diet C was also fortified with the addition of vitamin E, increasing the natural content by 30%. The Se content of the blood and kidneys tended to increase in the DRS groups, where the changes were significant ( < 0.05) only in the case of SHR rats. The iodine (I) content and the proportion of iodide in rat livers indicated a lower transformation rate of iodide into organoiodine compounds compared to the control. Slight and ambiguous alterations in the antioxidative response of the rat were observed in the DRS groups, but the addition of vitamin E to the diet helped to moderate these effects

Dissection of chromosome 18 blood pressure and salt-sensitivity quantitative trait loci in the spontaneously hypertensive rat

Hypertension in humans and experimental models has a strong hereditary basis, but identification of causative genes remains challenging. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for hypertension and salt sensitivity have been reported on rat chromosome 18. We set out to genetically isolate and prioritise genes within the salt sensitivity and hypertension QTLs on the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) chromosome 18, by developing and characterising a series of congenic strains derived from the SHR and normotensive Brown Norway (BN) rat strains. The SHR.BN-D18Rat113/D18Rat82 (SHR-18) congenic strain exhibits significantly lower blood pressure and is salt-resistant compared to SHR. Transplantation of kidneys from SHR-18 donors into SHR recipients is sufficient to attenuate increased blood pressure but not salt sensitivity. Derivation of congenic sublines allowed separation of salt sensitivity from hypertension QTL regions. Renal expression studies with microarray and Solexa-based sequencing in parental and congenic strains identified four differentially expressed genes within the hypertension QTL region, one of which is an unannotated transcript encoding a previously undescribed, small non-coding RNA. Sequencing selected biological candidate genes within the minimal congenic interval revealed a non-synonymous variant in SHR Transcription factor 4. The minimal congenic interval is syntenic to a region of human chromosome 18 where significant linkage to hypertension was observed in family-based linkage studies. These congenic lines provide reagents for identifying causative genes that underlie the chromosome 18 SHR QTLs for hypertension and salt sensitivity. Candidate genes identified in these studies merit further investigation as potentially causative hypertension genes in SHR and human hypertension

Direct Interaction between <i>N</i>-Acetylcysteine and Cytotoxic Electrophile—An Overlooked In Vitro Mechanism of Protection

In laboratory experiments, many electrophilic cytotoxic agents induce cell death accompanied by reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and/or by glutathione (GSH) depletion. Not surprisingly, millimolar concentrations of N-acetylcysteine (NAC), which is used as a universal ROS scavenger and precursor of GSH biosynthesis, inhibit ROS production, restore GSH levels, and prevent cell death. The protective effect of NAC is generally used as corroborative evidence that cell death induced by a studied cytotoxic agent is mediated by an oxidative stress-related mechanism. However, any simple interpretation of the results of the protective effects of NAC may be misleading because it is unable to interact with superoxide (O2•−), the most important biologically relevant ROS, and is a very weak scavenger of H2O2. In addition, NAC is used in concentrations that are unnecessarily high to stimulate GSH synthesis. Unfortunately, the possibility that NAC as a nucleophile can directly interact with cytotoxic electrophiles to form non-cytotoxic NAC–electrophile adduct is rarely considered, although it is a well-known protective mechanism that is much more common than expected. Overall, apropos the possible mechanism of the cytoprotective effect of NAC in vitro, it is appropriate to investigate whether there is a direct interaction between NAC and the cytotoxic electrophile to form a non-cytotoxic NAC–electrophilic adduct(s)

Dramenpädagogik im Fremdsprachenunterricht

Práce se snaží představit různé možnosti dramatické výchovy ve vyučování cizího jazyka. Zároveň se věnuje i problémům a překážkám, jenž jsou s tím spojené.Dokončená práce s úspěšnou obhajobo