The Characterization of Drosophila Shroom

Many complex mechanisms regulate cytoskeletal-dependant changes in cell morphology and behavior embryonic and adult life. The actin-binding protein Shroom 3 (Shrm3) appears to interact with Rho kinase (Rok) to direct the assembly of a contractile actomyosin network in neuroepithelial cells, causing apical constriction during neural tube formation. An ortholog of Shrm3 was identified, Drosophila Shroom (dShrm), that contains homology to the Shrm3 domain responsible for constriction. When properly targeted, the invertebrate domain also exhibits the ability to cause apical constriction, suggesting that the pathway is conserved in invertebrates. Drosophila melanogaster will likely provide a powerful model system to study the localization and function of Shrm during tissue morphogenesis. The project has three goals: to classify the endogenous expression of dShrm, to investigate the effects of over expressing dShrm in various tissues, and to determine a potential interaction between dShrm and dRok. There are two isoforms of dShrm we have primarily studied, dShrmA and dShrmB. Using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry, we have shown that endogenous dShrm proteins localizes to adherens junctions (dShrmA) and the apical plasma membranes (dShrmB) of cells in the ectoderm, trachea system, and other cell populations during embryogenesis. Over expression of dShrm in the ectoderm, as well as the eye and wing imaginal discs, causes dramatic defects in tissue architecture. Over expression of dShrmA with dRok has shown that there is an interaction between these two proteins. Further work will focus on defining the mechanism by which dShrm functions and which tissues require its activity during embyogenesis

Tísnivo a groteskno Já v povídkách E.T.A. Hoffmanna E.A. Poea

Anotace: Tato práce je kontrastivní studií metod, kterými E.A. Poe a E.T.A. Hoffmann dosahují ve svých povídkách tísnivých a groteskních pocitů modelováním vnímání fitktivního světa vypravěči a postavami, jakož i užíváním specifických tísnivých a groteskních figur a konceptů a hry se čtenářem. Práce je dělena na dvě části, z nichž první, stěžejní část se věnuje tísnivém a groteskním konceptům ve skupinách vybraných povídek, druhá pak poskytuje teoretickou reflexi výsledných zjištění.This thesis is a contrastive study of E.A. Poe's and E.T.A. Hoffmann's ways of achieving uncanny and grotesque effects in their short stories through modeling the perception of fictional world by narrators and characters as well as through the use of uncanny- and grotesque-specific figures and concepts and the play with reader. It is divided into two parts; the first core part studies uncanny and grotesque concepts in groups of selected short stories, the second part then provides theoretical reflection of the findings.Department of Anglophone Literatures and CulturesÚstav anglofonních literatur a kulturFaculty of ArtsFilozofická fakult

Centrosome amplification induces high grade features and is prognostic of worse outcomes in breast cancer

Table S1. Patient characteristics. Table S2. Hazard ratios from multivariate analysis. Table S3. Sequences of primers used for qRT-PCR. Figure S1. Distribution of average centrosome number per cell in the breast cancer patients represented in our TMA. Figure S2. Correlations between centrosome amplification and nodal status, patient age, and tumor size. Figure S3. Centrosome clustering but not structural abnormalities correlate with worse outcomes in breast cancer. Figure S4. CIN is prognostic of worse breast cancer-related survival. Figure S5. Centrosome amplification correlates with adverse clinical factors. Figure S6. CA correlates with higher ploidy and CIN. (DOCX 6223 kb

The singing activity of the Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) under traffic noise around highways

Steadily increasing human population is changing the environment in many ways. One of the most disturbing impacts is the development of anthropogenic noise pollution connected to ever-growing traffic intensity. The road network can have both positive and negative effects on biodiversity and populations. Many bird species use acoustic communication to establish and maintain their territories and for intra-pair and adult–young communication. Noise pollution can impact negatively on breeding success and biorhythm if this communication is masked by noise and the individuals must adjust their singing activity. Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) is a common bird species of agricultural landscapes whose population is declining due to agricultural intensification. It is found also in habitats near highways with forest steppe-like characteristics, where it is affected by the high levels of anthropogenic noise pollution. This study aimed to determine how this species adapts to noise from highway traffic by adjusting its singing activity. The influence of locality type, immediate and long-term impact of traffic noise on the average and total length of song sequences in the birdsong, and influence on the total number of recorded song sequences during the second hour after sunrise were evaluated in this study. Our results showed that Yellowhammer’s singing activity changed in localities close to highways compared to agricultural landscape. With increasing long-term traffic intensity on highways, song duration of the Yellowhammer song was decreasing. The present traffic intensity led to later onset of dawn chorus and decreasing strophe length with increasing number of passing vehicles. Furthermore, in the agricultural landscape, Yellowhammer’s song duration increased with increasing distance from the nearest road

Chromosome Mis-segregation Generates Cell-Cycle-Arrested Cells with Complex Karyotypes that Are Eliminated by the Immune System

Aneuploidy, a state of karyotype imbalance, is a hallmark of cancer. Changes in chromosome copy number have been proposed to drive disease by modulating the dosage of cancer driver genes and by promoting cancer genome evolution. Given the potential of cells with abnormal karyotypes to become cancerous, do pathways that limit the prevalence of such cells exist? By investigating the immediate consequences of aneuploidy on cell physiology, we identified mechanisms that eliminate aneuploid cells. We find that chromosome mis-segregation leads to further genomic instability that ultimately causes cell-cycle arrest. We further show that cells with complex karyotypes exhibit features of senescence and produce pro-inflammatory signals that promote their clearance by the immune system. We propose that cells with abnormal karyotypes generate a signal for their own elimination that may serve as a means for cancer cell immunosurveillance. By examining the immediate consequences of chromosome mis-segregation, Santaguida et al. show that aneuploidy causes genomic instability and the evolution of cells with complex karyotypes. Such cells undergo senescence and produce pro-inflammatory cytokines that promote their clearance by natural killer cells. Keywords: aneuploidy; cancer; immune system; genome instability; senescenceNational Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant CA206157)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant GM118066)National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U.S.) (Grant T32GM007753

Chromosome Mis-segregation Generates Cell-Cycle-Arrested Cells with Complex Karyotypes that Are Eliminated by the Immune System

Aneuploidy, a state of karyotype imbalance, is a hallmark of cancer. Changes in chromosome copy number have been proposed to drive disease by modulating the dosage of cancer driver genes and by promoting cancer genome evolution. Given the potential of cells with abnormal karyotypes to become cancerous, do pathways that limit the prevalence of such cells exist? By investigating the immediate consequences of aneuploidy on cell physiology, we identified mechanisms that eliminate aneuploid cells. We find that chromosome missegregation leads to further genomic instability that ultimately causes cell-cycle arrest. We further show that cells with complex karyotypes exhibit features of senescence and produce pro-inflammatory signals that promote their clearance by the immune system. We propose that cells with abnormal karyotypes generate a signal for their own elimination that may serve as a means for cancer cell immunosurveillance

MYC is a major determinant of mitotic cell fate

Taxol and other antimitotic agents are frontline chemotherapy agents but the mechanisms responsible for patient benefit remain unclear. Following a genome-wide siRNA screen, we identified the oncogenic transcription factor Myc as a taxol sensitizer. Using time-lapse imaging to correlate mitotic behavior with cell fate, we show that Myc sensitizes cells to mitotic blockers and agents that accelerate mitotic progression. Myc achieves this by upregulating a cluster of redundant pro-apoptotic BH3-only proteins and suppressing pro-survival Bcl-xL. Gene expression analysis of breast cancers indicates that taxane responses correlate positively with Myc and negatively with Bcl-xL. Accordingly, pharmacological inhibition of Bcl-xL restores apoptosis in Myc-deficient cells. These results open up opportunities for biomarkers and combination therapies that could enhance traditional and second-generation antimitotic agents

Technical sights - history and technical design of hydro-electric power plants

This Bachelor work deals with the exploitation of water power as a source of energy. The first part concentrates on the history of water exploitation as a source of energy. The second part deals with water mills and their reconstruction to hydraulic water plants. The third part deals with the construction of water-wheels and hydraulic water plants. The following parts deal with the hydro-electric plants and hydraulic water plants with the calculations of efficiency of their machinery

Automatic Bird Species Audio Detection

Birds have been long monitored manually, which is very labor intensive. This work tries to explore and compare different types of neural networks (MLP,CNN,RNN,CRNN) to automatically find and classify acoustic activity of birds within audio recordings of wilderness. It could save a lot of time and effort, since people wouldn't have to go through the recordings and manually identify the birds. By saving lots of time, bird monitoring could be done at greater scale, helping with conservation and scientific research. The objective is to build a user-friendly application, where the user can train a new bird- identifying model and use it without needing any computer skills.