From Regional to National Clouds: TV Coverage in the Czech Republic

Media, and particularly TV media, have a great impact on the general public. In recent years, spatial patterns of information and the relevance of intangible geographies have become increasingly important. Gatekeeping plays a critical role in the selection of information that is transformed into media. Therefore, gatekeeping, through national media, also co-forms the generation of mental maps. In this paper, correspondence analysis (a statistical method) combined with cloud lines (a new visual analytics technique) is used to analyze how individual major regional events in one of the post-communist countries, the Czech Republic, penetrate into the media on a national scale. Although national news should minimize distortions about regions, this assumption has not been verified by our research. Impressions presented by the media of selected regions that were markedly influenced by one or several events in those regions demonstrate that gatekeepers, especially news reporters, functioned as a filter by selecting only a few specific, and in many cases, unusual events for dissemination.     

Early prostaglandin E synthesis is an obligatory event in the induction of cell proliferation in mouse epidermis in vivo by the phorbol ester TPA

Following the topical application of the phorbol ester TPA to mouse skin $\text{in vivo}$ a rapid increase of the prostaglandin E content after 10 and 60 minutes was observed. Pretreatment of mouse skin with indomethacin abolished the first PGE peak as well as the cellular proliferation induced by TPA. Both effects could not be prevented when indomethacin was applied 30 to 60 minutes after TPA treatment, suggesting that the early increase in epidermal PGE is an obligatory event in the course of the induction of epidermal cell proliferation by TPA. A small increase of epidermal PGE was also seen after treatment with the TPA-analogue “Ti₈”, whereas 4-O-methyl-TPA was inactive in this respect. “Ti₈”-induced epidermal cell proliferation could be partially inhibited by indomethacin, whereas 4-O-methyl-TPA-induced cell proliferation was insensitive to the drug.     

Transdermal enhancement through rat skin of luciferase plasmid DNA loaded in elastic nanovesicles

Transdermal absorption of luciferase plasmid (pLuc) was enhanced by loading in elastic cationic liposomes and niosomes and the application of iontophoresis or the stratum corneum (SC) stripping method. Cationic liposomes (DPPC/Chol/DDAB at a 1:1:1 molar ratio) and niosomes (Tween61/Chol/DDAB at a 1:1:0.5 molar ratio) were prepared by the freeze-dried empty liposomes method. The elastic vesicles were prepared by hydrating the lipid or surfactant film by 25% of ethanol instead of distilled water. Gel electrophoresis of all nanovesicles showed the 100% pLuc entrapment efficiency. All nanovesicles loaded with pLuc showed larger vesicular sizes than the nonloaded vesicles of about 1.4 times for liposomes and 1.7 times for niosomes. The nanovesicles loaded with pLuc demonstrated less positive zeta potential than the nonloaded vesicles. The pLuc loaded in elastic vesicles kept at 4 ± 2 and 27 ± 2°C for 8 weeks gave the remaining pLuc of about 70 and 60% for liposomes and 85 and 73% for niosomes, respectively. For nonelastic vesicles kept at 4 ± 2°C, 56 and 61% of the remaining pLuc were observed for liposomes and niosomes, respectively, while at 27 ± 2°C, all pLuc were degraded. The deformability indices of the elastic liposomes and niosomes loaded with the pLuc were 16.64 ± 2.92 and 20.72 ± 0.82, whereas the nonelastic vesicles gave 9.35 ± 0.09 and 10.08 ± 0.12, respectively. Transdermal absorption through rat skin pretreated with SC stripping or treated with iontophoresis of pLuc loaded in nanovesicles by vertical Franz diffusion cells was investigated at 37°C. The cells were stopped and the skin and the receiving solution were withdrawn at 1, 3, and 6 hours and the pLuc contents in the stripped SC, whole skin (viable epidermis and dermis; VED), and the receiving solution were assayed by the modified gel electrophoresis and gel documentation. Without the SC stripping technique or iontophoresis, the pLuc loaded and nonloaded in nonelastic cationic liposomes or niosomes were not found in SC, VED, and receiving solution. The fluxes in the whole skin of pLuc loaded in nonelastic liposomes and niosomes with SC stripping and iontophoresis at 6 hours gave 2.73 ± 0.46 and 3.83 ± 0.73, and 7.01 ± 1.22 and 9.60 ± 1.31 g/cm²/h, respectively, while pLuc loaded in elastic liposomes and niosomes without the SC stripping and iontophoresis at 6 hours showed 2.79 ± 0.09 and 2.84 ± 0.04 g/cm²/h, respectively. The pLuc loaded in elastic niosomes or in nonelastic niosomes with iontophoresis was found in the receiving solution with a higher amount than that loaded in elastic liposomes or nonelastic liposomes with iontophoresis. The fluxes in the receiving solution of pLuc loaded in nonelastic liposomes and niosomes with iontophoresis at 6 hours were 6.71 ± 0.31 and 8.82 ± 0.28 g/cm²/h, respectively. For elastic liposomes and niosomes, the fluxes of the loaded pLuc in the receiving solution were the same, at about 1.9 g/cm²/h. Although pLuc loaded in nonelastic niosomes with iontophoresis gave the highest delivery of the plasmid in VED and receiving solution, a more promising applicable approach for gene delivery has been suggested to be the elastic niosomal systems, since no equipment is required.     

Detection of genetic variants affecting cattle behaviour and their impact on milk production: a genome‐wide association study

Behaviour traits of cattle have been reported to affect important production traits, such as meat quality and milk performance as well as reproduction and health. Genetic predisposition is, together with environmental stimuli, undoubtedly involved in the development of behaviour phenotypes. Underlying molecular mechanisms affecting behaviour in general and behaviour and productions traits in particular still have to be studied in detail. Therefore, we performed a genome‐wide association study in an F₂ Charolais × German Holstein cross‐breed population to identify genetic variants that affect behaviour‐related traits assessed in an open‐field and novel‐object test and analysed their putative impact on milk performance. Of 37 201 tested single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs), four showed a genome‐wide and 37 a chromosome‐wide significant association with behaviour traits assessed in both tests. Nine of the SNPs that were associated with behaviour traits likewise showed a nominal significant association with milk performance traits. On chromosomes 14 and 29, six SNPs were identified to be associated with exploratory behaviour and inactivity during the novel‐object test as well as with milk yield traits. Least squares means for behaviour and milk performance traits for these SNPs revealed that genotypes associated with higher inactivity and less exploratory behaviour promote higher milk yields. Whether these results are due to molecular mechanisms simultaneously affecting behaviour and milk performance or due to a behaviour predisposition, which causes indirect effects on milk performance by influencing individual reactivity, needs further investigation.     

Auslese von Pflaumenformen der GattungPrunus domestica (L.) für die Samengewinnung und Anzucht von Pflaume-Veredelungsunterlagen

Zusammenfassung Die Beurteilung des obstbaulichen Wertes der z.Zt. als Veredelungsunterlagen verwendeten Pflaumensämlinge desP. domestica-Formenkreises ist sehr schwierig, weil diese Sammelart genetisch außerordentlich uneinheitlich ist. Der Mangel an Saatgut von obstbaulich wertvollenP. domestica-Abkömmlingen hat zur stärkeren Verwendung der zuP. cerasifera gehörenden, nicht in allen Anbaugebieten ausreichend frostharten Myrobalanenpflaume geführt. Vorliegende Arbeit hatte zum Ziel,P. domestica-Samenmutterbäume mit einer morphologisch und physiologisch weitgehend einheitlichen F₁-Nachkommenschaft ausfindig zu machen.Es wurden 34 Pflaumensorten, darunter bekannte Stammbildnersorten, die verbreitetsten Edelsorten, die meisten in der Regel nur vegetativ vermehrten Unterlagenklone sowie eigene Auslesen aus umfangreichen Sämlingsbeständen auf ihre Eignung als Samenspender geprüft. Es wurde besonderer Wert darauf gelegt, Typen zu erhalten, deren F₁-Generation so wenig aufspaltet, daß morphologische extrem abgewandelte Nachkommen nicht auftreten.Die Mehrzahl der Edelsorten erwies sich als ungeeignet. Vermehrungswürdig waren einige Auslesen aus Damas blanc und St. Julien d'Orleans.Es zeigt sich, daß die morphologischen Unterschiede bei Sämlingen der F₁-Generation bei den geprüften selbstfertilen Hüttnerauslesen geringer waren als bei denen der zum Vergleich herangezogenen selbsterilen Großen Grünen Reneklode.Sämlinge wertvoll erscheinender Samenspendersorten wurden in Prussendorf und Altenweddingen aufgepflanzt und mit den Edelsorten Wangenheim, Hauszwetsche und Czar veredetl. Hierbei zeigte die Unterlage P. Hüttner 35/V/8 Leistungen, welche weit über denen der P. Große Grüne Reneklode lagen.Eine gleiche Anzahl Sämlinge blieb unveredelt, um weitere Beobachtungen über das morphologische und physiologische Verhalten der F₁-Nachkommenschaft der Samenspendersorten anstellen zu können.Es ist notwendig, an die baumschulmäßige die obstbauliche Prüfung der neu herausgestellten Samenspendersorten anzuschließen. Die hierfür notwendigen Pflanzungen wurden bereits vorgenommen.Mit 6 Textabbildungen.Die Untersuchungen erstrecken sich auf die Zeit von 1933 bis Juni 1952.