‘If-then’ rule sets are one of the most expressive and human-readable knowledge representations. This thesis deals with optimization and analysis of decision and inhibitory rules for decision tables with many-valued decisions. The most important areas of applications are knowledge extraction and representation. The benefit of considering inhibitory rules is connected with the fact that in some situations they can describe more knowledge than the decision ones. Decision tables with many-valued decisions arise in combinatorial optimization, computational geometry, fault diagnosis, and especially under the processing of data sets. In this thesis, various examples of real-life problems are considered which help to understand the motivation of the investigation. We extend relatively simple results obtained earlier for decision rules over decision tables with many-valued decisions to the case of inhibitory rules. The behavior of Shannon functions (which characterize complexity of rule systems) is studied for finite and infinite information systems, for global and local approaches, and for decision and inhibitory rules. The extensions of dynamic programming for the study of decision rules over decision tables with single-valued decisions are generalized to the case of decision tables with many-valued decisions. These results are also extended to the case of inhibitory rules. As a result, we have algorithms (i) for multi-stage optimization of rules relative to such criteria as length or coverage, (ii) for counting the number of optimal rules, (iii) for construction of Pareto optimal points for bi-criteria optimization problems, (iv) for construction of graphs describing relationships between two cost functions, and (v) for construction of graphs describing relationships between cost and accuracy of rules. The applications of created tools include comparison (based on information about Pareto optimal points) of greedy heuristics for bi-criteria optimization of rules, and construction (based on multi-stage optimization of rules) of relatively short systems of rules that can be used for knowledge representation.

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are ligand-gated ion channels which are located on neuromuscular junction and in central and perifric nervous system. Activity of nicotinic receptor might be modulated by variety of pharmacological agents. In this work, we have focused on the study of the inhibition effect of tacrine and its derivatives on the nicotinic acetycholine receptors of muscle and neuronal type. These derivatives function as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and also interact with nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. The majority of current forms of treatment of Alzheimer's disease is based on cholinesterase inhibitors. We have studied the mechanism of tacrine and its derivatives by using patch clamp method in the configuration of whole-cell recording. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Charles University Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology Student: Jana Kucková Supervisor: PharmDr. Marie Vopršalová, CSc. Title of diploma thesis: Testing antioxidant properties of selected acetylcholinesterase inhibitors Very widespread Alzheimer's disease is typical by a complex pathology. Its causality is not clearly understood. There is increasing discussion due to the negative impact of free radicals on this disease formation. There are testing new substances that have also antioxidant properties, in addition to their classical effects. The aim of this diploma thesis is spectrophotometric testing of antioxidant properties of selected acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. It is based on DPPH test where the presence of antioxidants with antiradical activity causes the reduction of the color stable 2,2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical to a colorless molecule. The principle of the method is the measurement of decrease in absorbance (decolorization) of selected substances that are directly proportional to the antioxidant (antiradical) efficacy of the analyzed inhibitors. It focuses on twelve samples, Phenothiazine, which is the leader structure of new inhibitors synthesis, and two standards. Antioxidant activity is expressed as the effective...

Background: Generally, older adults perform worse than younger adults in complex working memory span tasks. So far, it is unclear which processes mainly contribute to age-related differences in working memory span. Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate age effects and the roles of proactive and coactive interference in a recognition-based version of the operation span task. Methods: Younger and older adults performed standard versions and distracter versions of the operation span task. At retrieval, participants had to recognize target words in word lists containing targets as well as proactive and/or coactive interference-related lures. Results: Results show that, overall, younger adults outperformed older adults in the recognition of target words. Furthermore, analyses of error types indicate that, while younger adults were only affected by simultaneously presented distracter words, older adults had difficulties with both proactive and coactive interference. Conclusion: Results suggest that age effects in complex span tasks may not be mainly due to retrieval deficits in old age. / Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.

In recent years, tyrosine kinase inhibitors have been more and more used for the targeted cancer therapy, due to their ability to disrupt intracellular signalling pathways associated with the development of tumours. Cabozantinib is the tyrosine kinase inhibitor which has been approved for the treatment of thyroid cancer and it is also effective against several other types of cancer. However, multiple drugs combination is often used in anticancer therapy, which may result in their cytochrome P450-mediated interactions. Although this may affect the therapeutic effect of the drugs and cause adverse effects on the organism, very little is known about the effect of cabozantinib on biotransformation enzymes. Therefore, the effect of cabozantinib not only alone but also in combination with the known cytostatic ellipticine on the expression and the activity of cytochromes P450 1A1, 1A2 and 1B1 in rat liver and kidney in vivo was studied in this work. The gene expression was determined by quantitative PCR, the amount of protein was studied by Western blotting and consecutive immunodetection. The enzyme activity was studied using specific marker reactions, 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylation for CYP1A1, 7-methoxyresorufin O-demethylation for CYP1A2 and 17β-estradiol 4-hydroxylation for CYP1B1. Our results...

Charles University Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Analysis Author: Katharina Zenkerová Supervisors: Assoc. Prof. PharmD. Jan Zitko, Ph.D.; Prof. Romano Silvestri Title of diploma thesis: Design and synthesis of novel 3-aroyl-1-arylpyrrole derivatives as potential tubulin polymerization inhibitors Key word: anticancer agents; pyrrole; tubulin polymerization inhibitors Cancer is a major burden of disease worldwide and it remains one of the most difficult illnesses to treat. Since the percentage of people suffering from cancer is increasing, an enormous effort to design and develop better medicaments is needed. Microtubules are a key component of the cytoskeleton in most eukaryotic cells and they represent an attractive target for antitumor agents, due to the significant mitosis rate of tumor cells. Since cancer cells usually display higher proliferation rates than normal cells, drugs that interfere with microtubules dynamic equilibrium, also known as antimitotic agents, have become a fruitful approach to develop anticancer agents in clinical use. In fact, agents interfering with microtubules may either inhibit the tubulin polymerization or block microtubules to disassembly, both causing the arrest of cell division and the consequent...

Objective: Binge-eating disorder (BED) in adults is associated with alterations in executive functions (EF) and obesity. Much less is known about these relationships in adolescents, including whether poor EF are associated with eating disorder psychopathology and/or elevated body mass index. The present study examined EF in response to neutral stimuli in youth with BED. Method: Adolescents with BED and obesity (n=22), individually matched adolescents with obesity (n=22), and normal weight (n=22) completed neuropsychological tests targeting inhibition (Color-Word Interference Test), sustained attention (D2 Concentration Endurance Test), cognitive flexibility (Comprehensive Trail Making Test), and decision-making (Iowa Gambling Task). Results: Adolescents with BED and obesity displayed significantly poorer inhibitory control compared to normal-weight adolescents. This effect persisted after controlling for the level of secondary education. However, initial differences between adolescents with obesity and normal-weight controls regarding inhibitory control and sustained attention vanished after controlling for education. The three groups did not differ regarding cognitive flexibility and decision-making. Moreover, adolescents with BED and obesity did not perform worse than adolescents with obesity on any of the neuropsychological tests. Discussion: Overall, our results indicate adolescent BED is associated with only a few alterations in general EF, specifically inhibitory control, and underline BED and educational level as confounding factors in neuropsychological research on obesity. To further delineate EF profiles of adolescents with BED, future research should focus on EF in response to disorder-related stimuli and experimental settings with high ecological validity.

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor that occurs during infancy. Despite the great progress has been made in contemporary clinic medicine some forms of neuroblastoma disease are still found very difficult to treat . This work focuses on the effects of histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDAC) in the neuroblastoma cell lines. It is known that HDAC inhibitors may contribute to recurrence of the tumor cells by affecting the chromatin structure and thus increase the expression of critical tumor suppressor genes. These genes activate apoptotic pathways that may even be independent of caspases. We observed the efficiency of used HDAC inhibitors as under standard conditions an in hypoxia (1 % O2). Inadequate amount of oxygen supply is one of the characteristic features of tumors and it also may contribute to chemoresistance. With the hypoxia-induced chemoresistance of tumor cells, the influence of HIF-1α is expected. Some HDAC inhibitors reduce the amount of HIF-1α in hypoxia and thus HIF transcription factor activity. Thus, the first part of this study is concerned with the acquisition of suitable experimental arrangement for the monitoring of induction of cellular death in human neuroblastoma cell lines SK-N-AS and UKF-NB-3. Secondly, this paper provides the evaluation of the influence...

α-Synuclein (AS) is a small intrinsically disordered protein expressed in neurons and abundantly present in synapses where it is involved in regulation of synaptic vesicle-mediated protein trafficking. Misfolding of AS into amyloid fibrils is a key process in progression of Parkinson's disease (PD), the second most common neurodegenerative disorder which has no cure to date. Inhibition of AS aggregation and blocking of cell-to-cell spreading of AS fibrils is a promising strategy for PD treatment. However, rational design of inhibitors of this type remains complicated due to the lack of thorough knowledge about the mechanisms of aggregation. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to gain deeper knowledge about AS aggregation and to apply it for developing inhibitors of AS fibrillization. In my work on the mechanisms of AS aggregation, I first determined that the concentration of AS that enables the fibril growth is an order of magnitude lower than the concentration of AS required for initial fibril formation from monomers. I explored fibril disaggregation at AS concentrations below its Kd value, and characterized AS aggregation at low micromolar concentrations. I then investigated how different modifications of AS C-terminus (namely, extensions of various sizes and charges) affect fibril growth and...

This study was undertaken to compare the MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) and MPC (mutant prevention concentration) values for oxytetracycline and florfenicol against strains of Pasteurella multocida isolated from cattle and pigs, and for enrofloxacin against strains of Salmonella Typhimurium isolated from horses. Isolates of P. multocida from cattle and pigs, and S. Typhimurium from horses were obtained from specimens or isolates from contributing laboratories. All the equine isolates and 50% of the cattle and pig isolates were from clinically sick animals. All isolates were tested in duplicate with both the MIC and the MPC methods. The MIC method used was the standardized microdilution method performed in microtitre plates. The MPC method used was according to the method described by Blondeau. This method was modified, to make use of smaller plates and lower volumes of antimicrobials, but retaining a final bacterial concentration of 109 colony-forming units per ml. The antimicrobials were dissolved as described in the certificates of analyses. Enrofloxacin and oxytetracycline were dissolved in water, and florfenicol was dissolved in alcohol. For the MPC method, an additional control was added to one quadrant of a four-quadrant 90mm plate/petri dish. The antimicrobials were tested as individual antimicrobials and not as combinations. Both the MIC and MPC methods included ATCC (American Type Culture Collection) strains as control organisms and were evaluated according to the guidelines of the CLSI (Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute). The MIC50 values for enrofloxacin against Salmonella Typhimurium isolates from horses was 0.25 ìg/ml and the MPC50 values 0.5 ìg/ml. A comparative reference range was not available as enrofloxacin is not registered in South Africa for use in horses, and is used extra-labelly. The results for florfenicol against P. multocida yielded an MIC50 value of 0.5 ìg/ml and an MPC50 value of <2 ìg/ml. The close relationship of these two concentrations is an indication of the effectiveness of florfenicol when used against P. multocida. The PD/PK data with a value of 141.78 for AUC/MIC provided additional support for the efficacy of florfenicol against P. multocida. The PD/PK value of >125, is an effective parameter for treatment of Gram-negative bacteria. The corresponding results for oxytetracycline were above the MIC value but fell within the mutant selection window. The results point to the fact that the use of oxytetracycline against P. multocida may not be effective in preventing the appearance of first step mutant strains when used at current recommended dosages. The PK/PD data, using AUC/MIC, yielded a value of 56. Some of the isolates (55.17%) had an MPC value of 16 ìg/ml. Whereas the MIC method is used routinely in diagnostic laboratories, the MPC method can be employed to generate data that can be applied where antimicrobial treatment of certain bacteria is problematic and standard treatment may lead to the development of resistance. Data obtained from such studies will enable manufacturers of antimicrobial drugs to adapt antimicrobial therapy where practical and feasible to prevent the development of first step mutants. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Veterinary Tropical Diseases / unrestricted