Ranunculus trichophyllus agg. (thread-leaved water crowfoot) represents a taxonomically challenging group of aquatic plants in which the presence of several significantly different genotypes and the genome size variation have been recently revealed. The results of previous studies suggest that cryptic taxa occur in this group, being so far overlooked due to considerable morphological reduction and extensivephenotypic plasticity. In this thesis, the variation and genetic relationships of four morphologically similar homophyllous water-crowfoot species was critically assessed in the area of Central Europe, using a combination of modern biosystematic methods (flow cytometry, direct DNA sequencing, morphometric analyses), specially focusing on the complex of R. trichophyllus.. The genome size analysis via flow cytometry was confirmed as a suitable method for determining the studied species; further, several hybrid combinations were revealed using this approach. However, recent interspecific hybridization is rather infrequent in the interest group. The results of DNA analyses indicate an importance of hybridization events in the evolution of sect. Batrachium: all the polyploid taxa studied are probably of allopolyploid origin. Two cryptic taxa within the traditionally recognized species R. trichophyllus have...

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The University Course Timetabling Problem (UCTP) is the problem of assigning locations (lecture halls, computer rooms) and time slots (time and date) to a set of events (lectures, labs) while satisfying a number of constraints such as avoiding double-bookings. Many variants of problem formulations exist, and most realistic variants are thought to be NP-hard. A recent trend in solving hard scheduling problems lies in the application of hybrid metaheuristics, where improvements are often found by hybridizing a population-based approach with some form of local search. In this paper, an implementation of a Genetic Algorithm (GA) that solves the UCTP is hybridized with local search in the form of Tabu Search (TS). The results show significant improvements to the performance and scalability over the non-hybridized GA. Two application strategies for the TS are investigated. The first strategy performs a switch-over from the GA to the TS, while the second interleaves the two algorithms. The effectiveness of each application strategy is seen to depend on the characteristics of the individual algorithms. / Schemaläggningsproblemet UCTP (University Course Timetabling Problem) består av problemet att tilldela platser (föreläsningssalar, laborationssalar) och tidpunkter (datum och klockslag) till en mängd tillställningar (föreläsningar, laborationer) under kravet att upprätthålla en mängd restriktioner, exempelvis att undvika dubbelbokningar. Det finns många varianter av problemformuleringen och de flesta realistiska formuleringer anses ge upphov till NP-svåra optimeringsproblem. En förhållandevis ny trend för lösningsmodeller till svåra schemaläggningsproblem ligger i tillämpningen av hybrida metaheuristiker, där förbättringar ofta ses när populationsbaserade algoritmer kombineras med någon typ av lokalsökning. I denna rapport undersöks en UCTP-lösning baserad på en Genetisk Algoritm (GA) som hybridiseratsmed en lokalsökning i form av en Tabusökning (TS). Resultaten visar på signifikanta förbättringar i prestanda och skalbarhet jämfört med den icke-hybridiserade GA:n. Två appliceringsstrategier för TS undersöks. Den första strategin utgörs av att byta algoritm från GA till TS, medan den andra utgörs av att sammanfläta de två algoritmerna. Appliceringsstrategiernas effektivitet ses bero av de individuella algoritmernas egenskaper.

Our primary goal was to determine if leukocytes are a source of nerve growth factor (NGF) in mouse spleen. Noradrenergic nerves were localized to arteries and white pulp in normal spleens but only to arteries in ultra-immunodeficient R2G2 mice that lack leukocytes. NGF mRNA was detected in vascular cells and leukocytes of normal spleen, and several of the latter were T cells based on double labeling for NGF mRNA and CD3. Our findings indicate NGF is produced by vascular cells and to a lesser extent by leukocytes in spleen and provide support for pleiotropic actions in spleen and salivary glands.

Burkitt lymphoma is a highly aggressive B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma characterised by translocation of gene on chromosome 8. This translocation is usually detected by fluorescent in-situ hybridisation (FISH) studies as part of routine diagnostic work-up and prognostication. FISH testing is commonly done with the break-apart probe (BAP). This case illustrates how this testing can be falsely negative. This patient is a young male diagnosed with Stage I low-risk Burkitt with FISH negative for translocation initially on BAP testing. Additional testing with dual FISH probe detected translocation. FISH testing using BAPs alone may be falsely negative for translocations creating a diagnostic challenge and compromising the treatment approach and assessment of prognosis.

[pt] Propostas mais antigas para nominalizações sentencias se concentram nas gerundivas do inglês, analisando-as como nominalizações a partir de sentenças (Lees, 1960; Chomsky, 1970), enquanto investigações mais recentes variam em analisá-las como estruturas sentencias podadas (Frank e Kroch, 1994) ou nominalizações a partir de diferentes domínios (Abney, 1987; Alexiadou, 2001; Panagiotidis e Grohmann, 2005; Kornfilt e Whitman, 2011). Em comum, essas propostas observam a subordinação (sentencial) como gatilho para o processo de inserção de um elemento nominalizador na estrutura sintática. Enfrentam, contudo, dificuldades no tratamento da complexidade interna das estruturas resultantes, apresentando problemas de violação de c-seleção e de definição adhoc da defectividade dos traços das categorias envolvidas. O presente trabalho lança a hipótese de que as nominalizações sentenciais emergem da hibridação das categorias funcionais C e D, contestando a ideia clássica de que tais categorias constituem (tão somente) conjuntos estanques de traços. A hipótese abre caminho para uma análise das gerundivas do inglês como estruturas dominadas por uma categoria funcional híbrida, nesse caso C(interseção)D (complementizador interseção com determinante). A análise proposta pode se aplicar translinguisticamente, podendo ainda abarcar diferentes tipos de nominalização dentro de uma mesma língua. / [en] Early studies on nominalization focus on English gerunds as sentential nominalizations (Lees, 1960; Chomsky, 1970), while recent investigations vary in analysing them as pruned clauses (Frank and Kroch, 1994) or nominalizations of different syntactic domains (Abney, 1987; Alexiadou, 2001; Panagiotidis and Grohmann, 2005; Kornfilt and Whitman, 2011). In common, these proposals understand (clausal) subordination as a trigger for insertion of a nominalizer element into the syntactic structure. They face however, difficulties in dealing with the internal complexity of the resulting structures, while challenging principles of c-selection and appealing to ad-hoc definitions for the defectiveness of the involved categories. The present study raises the hypothesis that sentential nominalizations result from hybridization of the functional categories C and D, rejecting, thus, the classical idea that these functional elements are formed only by rigid, solid sets of formal features. This hypothesis paves the way for an analysis of English gerundives as structures headed by a hybrid functional category, in this case, C(intersection)D (complementizer intersection determinant). This analysis might apply crosslinguistically while explaining different types of intra-language nominalizations.

Skin infections by keratinophilic fungi are commonly referred to as dermatophytosis and represent a major health burden worldwide. Although patient numbers are on the rise, data on virulence factors, their function and kinetics are scarce. We employed an ex vivo infection model based on guinea pig skin explants (GPSE) for the zoonotic dermatophyte Trichophyton (T.) benhamiae to investigate kinetics of the virulence factors subtilisin (sub) 3, sub 6, metallocarboxypeptidase A (mcpA) and isocitrate lyase (isol) at gene level for ten days. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) were used to detect and quantify the transcripts, respectively. Kingdom-spanning, species-specific and virulence factor-specific probes were successfully applied to isolated fungal elements showing inhomogeneous fluorescence signals along hyphae. Staining results for inoculated GPSE remained inconsistent despite thorough optimization. qPCR revealed a significant increase of sub 3- and mcpA-transcripts toward the end of culture, sub 6 and isol remained at a low level throughout the entire culture period. Sub 3 is tightly connected to the de novo formation of conidia during culture. Since sub 6 is considered an in vivo disease marker. However, the presented findings urgently call for further research on the role of certain virulence factors during infection and disease.

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