(EN) Analogously to normal stem cells within the tissues, cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been proposed to be responsible for maintenance and growth of tumours. CSCs represent a small fraction of cells within the tumour, which is characterised by self-renewal capacity and ability to give rise to a tumour when grafted into immunocompromised mice. Cells with increased stemness properties are believed to be responsible for tumour resistance, metastases formation and relapse after tumour treatment. The first part of this work concentrates on resistance of the tumours, which is often associated with increased expression of ATP-binding cassete (ABC) transporters pumping chemotherapeutics out of the cells. For the purposes of this study, we utilized an in vitro model of CSCs, based on cultivation of cells as 3D "spheres". Expression profiling demonstrates that our model of CSCs derived from breast and prostate cancer cell lines express higher mRNA level of ABC transporters, particularly ABCA1, ABCA3, ABCA5, ABCA12, ABCA13, ABCB7, ABCB9, ABCB10, ABCC1, ABCC2, ABCC3, ABCC5, ABCC8, ABCC10, ABCC11 and ABCG2 among the cell lines tested. The protein level of ABC transporters tested in breast CSCs showed higher expression of ABCB8, ABCC1, ABCC2, ABCC10 and ABCG2 but downregulation of ABCB10 and ABCF2 proteins....

This work deals with issues of preparation of intermetallics based on iron, nickel and titanium aluminides. It works with an idea of preparation of bulk material by reaction synthe-sis from kinetic spraying deposits by cold spray. Theoretical part is concerned with phases and compounds of these aluminides for structural applications, their characteristics and present fabrication. In experimental part there are studied microstructures created by annealing of deposits.

The content of analytical part of this thesis is the study of airborne dust samples collected in places with its higher concentration: by the Prague Ring (D0 motorway) and near the Ostrava's iron-mills. In both places, automobile transportation or industrial production are the primary sources of particulate matter emissions in the air. Received samples of PM1, PM2, PM10 a TSP filters were obtained by a standard air pollution monitoring procedure. This study examines the relationship between the magnetic parameters of the samples, their level of concentration of metals frequently present in emissions from these sources, the total mass of the dust fraction in the samples and the meteorological parameters (for Ostrava samples). The magnetic properties of the filters were investigated by magnetometric analyzes using a vibration sampling magnetometer. The concentrations of the metals were monitored by X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, the weight of parts of dust filtres was measured on laboratory scales.

Táto diplomová práca sa zaoberá štúdiom alfa-Fe2O3(012) vystaveného vodnému prostrediu. Súčasný stav poznania ohľadom oxidov železa s pozornosťou vkladanou do popisu alfa-Fe2O3 a jeho (012) povrchu je stručne zhrnutá. Experimentálná časť tejto práce začína s popisom unikátného zariadenia na depozíciu kvapalnej vody na povrchy monokryštalických vzoriek compatibilného s podmienkami ultra vysokého vákuua. Jednotlivé konštrukčné časti a detaily sú diskutované. Navrhnutý systém bol testovaný na vzorkách striebornej fólie a monokryštálu Fe3O4 s povrchovom v rovine [100]. Chemické zloženie a morfológia povrchu po experimente s kvapalnou vodou je diskutovaná. Navrhnuté zariadenie bolo použité na štúdium interakcie vody so známymi (1x1) a (2x1) povrchovými alfa-Fe2O3(012). Experimentálne dáta ukazujú, že voda sa viaže na obe reconštrukcie disociatívne s určitým množstvom molekulárnej vody naviazanej na adsorbované hydroxydi. (1x1) sa zdá javý stabilná po expozícii rôznym tlakom vodnej pary, zatial čo (2x1) vykazuje zmenu na (1x1) pri expozíciach vyšším tlakom vodnej pary alebo po niekolo minútovej expozíci electrónovému zväzku. Ďalej sú v tejto práci prezentované prvé výsledky z štúdie prechodu (1x1) rekonštrukcie na (2x1) pomocou mikroskpie nízkoenergiových elektrónov. Výsledky ukazujú, že táto premena na nižších teplotách je inciovaná na hranách atomárnych vrstiev a defektov na povrchu, ktorá potom postupuje smerom k stredu atomárnych terás. Meranie na vyšších teplotách vykazuje postupnú premenu povrchu naznačúju viaceru nukleačných centrech z ktorých sa (2x1) povrch širi ďalej.

The main focus areas of this master thesis include the writing of a literature review, which contains an overview and segregation of pigments which are used in the preparation of cosmetic products. The thesis is focused on the properties and characterization of pigments for use in cosmetology. The following focus is on legislation, more specifically on pigments that the cosmetic industry allows, limits and does not allow. The main part of this thesis is an overview of methods for the characterization of pigments. The practical part deals with the characterization of particles of selected cosmetic pigments by applying methods for determination of color, elemental and phase composition, particle size and morphology. The thesis is concluded by evaluation of the achieved results.

This thesis deals with reaction synthesis of materials Fe–Al, Fe–Cu and Fe–Ni from cold spray. In literature analysis are introduced these systems and for each system there is brief description of binary equilibrium diagram. Furthermore here are some short explanations of diffusion, Kirkendall effect and other possible processing technologies of intermetallic materials. In experimental part, samples of sprayed materials were annealed and then microstructural changes were investigated. This thesis contains photographs of microstructure, results from scanning electron microscopy, X-ray, and measurements of microhardness.

This thesis deals with the combined ultra-high vacuum (UHV) and electrochemical (EC) studies of selected iron oxide surfaces, namely Fe3O4(001) and -Fe2O3(012). The state-of- the-art knowledge regarding these surfaces is briefly reviewed, and importance of understanding these materials in the electrochemical environment is discussed. The design of the transfer system between UHV and EC environment is presented; individual features of the system are thoroughly discussed and the system is used for testing the stability of the Fe3O4(001) (2×2)R45° surface reconstruction in ambient conditions. The experimental results presented in this thesis show that the Fe3O4(001) (2×2)R45° reconstruction, utilized as an adatom array for single atom catalysis studies, survives both exposure to air and to liquid water, if the exposure is achieved in well-controlled fashion. Further, this thesis presents the first-ever atomic scale scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) study of the -Fe2O3(012) surface, which is important for photoelectrochemical water splitting. STM images of two surface reconstructions of the -Fe2O3(012) surface known to date are presented. A bulk terminated model of the (1×1) reconstruction is confirmed and a novel surface structure model for the (2×1) reconstructed surface is proposed. Adsorption studies of H2O and O2 on the (2×1) reconstructed surface are documented by timelapse STM.

Adaptation to chronic hypoxia activates endogenous signaling cascades, which lead to cardiac protection against acute ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. The molecular mechanism of this phenomenon has not been fully clarified yet. However, it was proved that reactive oxygen species (ROS) take part in cardioprotective signaling pathway inducted by chronic hypoxia. The high level of ROS must be precisely regulated by antioxidative system of a cell. The aim of diploma thesis was to examine the effect of intermittent hypobaric hypoxia (IHH, 7 000 m) on relative amount of antioxidative enzymes (peroxiredoxin 6 - PRX6, thioredoxin 1 and 2 - TRX1 and TRX2, thioredoxin reductase 1 - TRXR1) and also enzymes of iron metabolism (heme oxygenase 1 and 2 - HO1 and HO2, aconitase 1 and 2 - ACO1 and ACO2), which participate in regulation of cell redox state. Moreover, we studied the effect of adaptation to IHH and an antioxidant tempol on relative amount of calcium-independent phospholipase A2 (iPLA2). iPLA2 can remove peroxidized fatty acids from membrane phospholipids. On the other hand, iPLA2 can damage cell in I/R conditions. All enzymes were studied in homogenates from normoxic and IHH adapted rat left ventricular myocardium by Western blot. Adaptation to IHH caused a decrease of PRX6 and on the opposite an increase of...

Safety concerns arising from cytotoxic behavior of nanoparticles (NPs) in complex biological environment remain the main problem limiting NPs application in biomedicine. In this study, we have investigated cytotoxicity of NPs with different composition, shape and size, namely SiO2 NPs (SiNPs, 7-14 nm), superparamagnetic iron oxide NPs (SPIONs, 8 nm) and carboxylated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTCOOHs, diameter: 60-100 nm, length: 1-2 μm). Cytotoxicity was evaluated with newly designed screening assay capable to simultaneously assess activity of cell dehydrogenases, activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) released from cells into environment and number of intact cell nuclei and apoptotic bodies in human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) culture growing in the very same well of the 96-well plate. Aforementioned attributes were subsequently utilized to obtain information about cell viability and necrotic and apoptotic aspects of cell death. Results from this "three-in-one" cell death screening (CDS) assay showed that SiNPs and CNTCOOHs evoked pronounced cytotoxic effect demonstrated as decrease of cell viability and development of apoptotic bodies formation. In contrast to this, SPIONs induced only mild cytotoxicity. Moreover, SiNPs impaired cell membrane leading to increased LDH release...