Carpinion-Gesellschaften in Mittel- und Nordmähren

In dieser Arbeit werden Ergebnisse phytozönologisch-ökologischer Forschungen der nord-und mittelmährischenCarpinion-Gesellschaften zusammengefasst. Das westtschechoslowakischeGalio-Carpinetum Oberd. 1957 (mit drei Subassoziationen), das (vor)karpatischeCarici pilosae-Carpinetum R. etZ. Neuh. 1964 (mit fünf Subassoziationen) und das schwach boreokontinentaleTilio-Carpinetum Traczyk 1962 (mit vier Subassoziationen) werden hier behandelt. Die Beziehungen der einzelnen Gesellschaften zu Geländefaktoren, Bodentypen, einigen physikalischen und chemischen Bodeneigenschaften sowie die Verbreitung der wichtigstenCarpinion-Assoziationen in Mähren und ihr mathematischer Vergleich werden ebenfalls berücksichtigt.     

A comparative study of the ecology ofFestuca valesiaca Gaudin andFestuca rupicola Heuff

The ecology of two dominant grass species growing in xerothermic grasslands of the Bohemian Karst has been compared. Field observations and experimental cultivations showed thatFestuca valesiaca Gaudin can better tolerate more extreme dry and warm conditions of southern slopes.Festuca rupicola Heuff. possesses greater competitive capacity in deeper and wetter soils. Young seedlings ofF. valesiaca survice successfully the overheating of the soil surface exposed, to strong insolation.     

Sexual dimorphism in the size of nuclei with dioecious plants

Measurements of the size of the nuclei of dioecious plants showed that the nuclei of male and female plants differ in agreement with the larger quantity of chromatin. The male. plants ofRumex acetosella andMelandrium album had larger nuclei, their Y chromosome being larger than the X chromosome, the same is true forRumex acetosa where the Y chromosome is smaller but there are two in the set.Ginkgo biloba had larger female nuclei because the Y chromosome was smaller than the X. The curves obtained by grouping all the nuclei of both sexes never had two peaks with regard to the small differences between the classes of maximum frequency.     

Catalytic properties of extracts from tyrosine phenol lyase producing cells of Escherichia intermedia: Multienzyme complex instead of the single multisubstrate enzyme

Kinetic parameters for the formation of pyruvate from L-tyrosine catalysed by the cell extract of Escherichia intermedia A-21 differ markedly from the parameters of crystalline tyrosine phenol lyase taken from the literature. The substrate specificity of the enzyme in the cell extract was also found to be different from that in the crystalline state. The cell extracts did not show any activity with respect to D-tyrosine, while the reactions with L-and D-enantiomers of serine were brought about mainly by active sites which differ kinetically from the active site responsible for the main reaction. The ratio of activities with respect to L-tyrosine, L-serine and D-serine varied widely depending on the composition of the medium on which the cells had been grown. The high activity of the preparation with respect to L-tyrosine is not a sufficient condition for successful tyrosine synthesis from dl-serine. High activities towards serine enantiomers are also necessary.     

Vegetation map of Europe: Current state

In the present contribution, a brief survey of the progress of work on the Vegetation map of Europe within the last two years is given. The most important tasks of this period were: 1) Continuing compilation and completion of the thirteen remaining sheets of the Map, scale 1∶2,500,000, 2) Elaboration of the explanatory text, 3) Compilation of a General vegetation map of Europe, scale 1:10,000,000.     

Size and taxonomic constraints determine the seed preferences of Carabidae (Coleoptera)

Several species of carabid beetles are important postdispersal predators of the seeds of herbaceous plants. The preferences of carabids for particular seeds differ, but the factors that determine their choice are little studied. We tested the hypothesis that preferences are determined by taxonomic constraints (carabid species affiliation), and carabid and seed size. The preferences were determined for adults of 30 species of central European field carabids mainly belonging to the tribes Zabrini (17 species) and Harpalini (10 species) (body mass 1–36 mg). In a cafeteria experiment the beetles were offered an excess of seeds from 28 species of dicotyledoneous herbaceous plants (mass 0.1–8.7 mg). The number of seeds eaten during a 5-day experiment was used as an estimate of preference. Mass of the preferred species of seed eaten was positively related to carabid body mass in both tribes. Multivariate analysis indicated three groups of carabid species with marked preferences for particular species of seeds: (i) species of Harpalini favoured mainly the seed of Cirsium arvense and Viola arvensis, (ii) some species of Zabrini the seeds of Asteraceae (Taraxacum officinale, Tripleurospermum inodorum and Crepis biennis) and (iii) other species of Zabrini the small seeds of Brassicaceae and Caryophyllaceae. The species of Harpalini were more generalist and accepted a greater proportion of seed species than Zabrini of the same size. Preferences of carabid seed predators were thus determined by taxonomic and size constraints, as in other groups of predators.     

Laryngeal inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor in a man: a case report

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a pseudosarcomatous lesion occurring in soft tissue and organs. It is known under a wide number of terms, such as inflammatory pseudotumor, plasma cell granuloma, pseudosarcomatous myofibroblastic proliferation. IMT is most commonly located in the lung, while laryngeal location is rarely described. Due to its biology it can be misdiagnosed as a malignant tumor. We present a case of IMT of larynx, recognized in time and treated with laser ablation. Our case demonstrates the importance of timely IMT recognition in order to avoid overtreatment. This diagnosis should also alert clinicians to close follow-up of these patients.     

Restoring the activity of serum-inhibited bovine lung extract surfactant (BLES) using cationic additives

In this work four cationic additives were used to improve the surface activity of lung surfactants, particularly in the presence of bovine serum that was used as a model surfactant inhibitor. Two of those additives were chitosan in its soluble hydrochloride form with average molecular weights of 113 kDa and 213 kDa. The other two additives were cationic peptides, polylysine 50 kDa and polymyxin B. These additives were added to bovine lipid extract surfactant (BLES) and the optimal additive-surfactant ratio was determined based on the minimum surface tension upon dynamic compression, carried out in a constrained sessile drop (CSD) device in the presence of 50 μl/ml serum. At the optimal ratio all the BLES-additive mixtures were able to achieve desirable minimum surface tensions. The optimal additive-surfactant ratios for the chitosan chlorides are consistent with a previously proposed patch model for the binding of the anionic lipids in BLES to the positive charges in chitosan. For the peptides, the optimal binding ratios were consistent with ratios established previously for the binding of these peptides to monolayers of anionic lipids. The optimal formulation containing these peptides were able to reach low minimum surface tension in systems containing 500 μl/ml of serum, matching the effectiveness of a lung surfactant extract that had not undergone post-separation processes and therefore contained all its proteins and lipids (complete lung surfactant).