The aim of this thesis is an engineering design of plunger pump with linear motor. This type of pump is used especially for blood pumping in heart surgery. The theoretical part is focused on distribution of pumps, description of extracorporeal circuit and booster heart history. There are basic calculations derived, which describe plunger pump performance. Then varied designs of plunger pumps follows, which are differed in size, shape and application. Next part includes design of reverse valves and their CFD computation.

This thesis deals with study and design of plunger pump with linear motor. This pump can be used for blood pumping in heart surgery. The theoretical part of this thesis is focused on description of extracorporeal circuit, heart boosters and artificial heart. This thesis provides an overview of check valves which are used in heart surgery too. Basic equitations for pump design are derived and calculated in this thesis. The pump design and manufacturing by the 3D technology was made by previous results. Finally, in this thesis are compared theoretical results and experimental data.

This doctoral thesis originated as a requirement of micropump for artificial heart with using a suitable type of electric drive. It is an interdisciplinary cooperation of FSI Brno, Department of Fluid Engineering of Viktor Kaplan, FEKT Brno, Department of Power Electronics and finally the doctors from Cardiology Medical Center in St. Ann’s Hospital. FSI Brno made mechanical solutions of micropump, FEKT Brno solved electric drive and Cardiologic Medical Center gave the knowledge of human anatomy. Work deals with design, creation and testing of various types micropumps for medicamentous using. In this thesis was suggested various solutions of electric drive for micropump, its structure and function. Work is primarily experimental in nature and is heavily supported by a creative approach in creating a variety of proposed solutions. Several proposals of micropump have been made with different types of electric drives (DC motors, hybrid stepper motor, piezomotors). Finally, from the technical and economical point of view was chosen the most suitable type of electric drive and it was created a functional prototype of the double-action pump and its properties were tested.

It has been reported that opioid receptor activation mimics ischemic preconditioning, which may protect the heart from the development of infarction. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) during infarction stimulates cytokine production leading to inflammation and injury of the heart tissue. Our aim was to study the effect of morphine in vitro on the viability and oxidative state of H9c2 cells (rat cardiomyoblasts) and the role of TLR-4 during oxidative stress. Our experiments showed that pretreatment with morphine before tert-butylhydroperoxide (t-BHP)-, 2,2'-bipyridyl (BP)- and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced oxidative stess had protective effect on the viability of H9c2 cells and markedly reduced the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The protective effect of morphine was diminished after naloxone treatment, which confirms the role of opioid receptors in preconditioning. TLR-4 inhibition by TAK-242 pretreatment and silencing TLR-4 by RNA interference resulted in a partial increase in cell viability but significant attenuation of ROS production after t-BHP and BP treatment. The action of LPS was reduced in response to TLR-4 silencing. Interestingly, naloxone pretreatment and suppression of TLR-4 markedly alleviated oxidative stress and resulted in a significant improvement of cell viability. We...

Adaptation to chronic hypoxia is characterized by a variety of functional changes in order to maintain metabolic and energy homeostasis. It has been known for many years that both humans and animals indigenous or adapted to high-altitude hypoxia are more tolerant to an acute ischemic injury of the heart. HIF1α is found as a primary transcriptional regulator of adaptive response to hypoxia in all tissues, whereas HIF2α is more tissue specific. The activity of HIFα is regualted by prolyl hydoxylases (EGLN). The EGLN1 was shown to be more efficient in HIF1α hydroxylation than in HIF2α. As well as the EGLN3 is more specific for HIF2α . Under hypoxic conditions, HIF activates the transcription of about 70 genes. Hence, HIF1α and HIF2α can play an essential role in pathophysiology of ischemic heart disease. The aim of our study was to determine myocardial expression of HIFs and its regulatory hydroxylases in adult male Wistar rats adapted to continuous normobaric hypoxia (H; FIO2 = 0.1) for 3 weeks. Another two groups of rats were exposed to normobaric hypoxia intermittently for either 8 h/day (INH) or 23 h/day (RH) during the 3-week adaptation period. While H induces protective cardiac phenotype, the later regimen (RH) does not. The protein expression of HIFs, PHDs and FIH were then determined by...

Cardiac energy metabolism is the one of the most complex system in the body. To sustain life, but also to respond quickly to any sudden changes (e.g. running, emotional stress), the heart has developed a unique ability and has become a metabolic "omnivore". At physiological conditions, long chain fatty acids (LCFAs) present the major energetic source for the adult myocardium. However, the cardiac energy metabolism may be compromised during pathophysiological states. One of the most dangerous is, undoubtedly, ischaemia-reperfusion injury with its acute form, myocardial infarction. However, the adaptation to chronic hypoxia has been known for decades for its cardioprotective effect against I/R. Changes of cardiac energy metabolism induced by the adaptation have not been fully explored and the system conceals still too many secrets. This thesis has aimed to determine how adaptation to chronic hypoxia affects the cardiac metabolism of the rat LVs in the following set-ups: 1. The effect of chronic normobaric hypoxia (CNH; 3 weeks, 5500m) during a brief I/R protocol in vitro on the protein kinase B/hexokinase (Akt/HK) pathway, including the expression and phosphorylation of Akt, the expression and localization of HK, the expression of mitochondrial creatine kinase (mtCKS), and the level of Bcl-2 family...

Maternal diabetes mellitus negatively affects embryonic development and increases the risk for congenital malformations. Besides direct teratogenicity, diabetic intrauterine milieu can predispose an individual to chronic diseases later in life, including cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and diabetes mellitus, in a process termed fetal programing. Molecular mechanisms of embryonic and fetal responses to maternal diabetes are still not fully elucidated. Using mouse model, we show that maternal diabetes induces gene expression changes in the hearts of developing embryos. The most significant changes in the expression of 11 selected genes were detected at the developmental stage associated with completion of cardiac septation, myocardial mass expansion, and increased insulin production in the embryonic pancreas. These affected genes encode products involved in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, a crucial process in heart development. Using immunohistochemistry, we detected increased hypoxia in the diabetes-exposed hearts at the critical stage of cardiac development. Correspondingly to increased hypoxia, the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor A was increased in the heart of diabetes-exposed embryos. Based on our results indicating the...

Background: In recent years mechanical circulatory assist devices became an established option in bridging patients with refractory heart failure to heart transplantation. One of the alleged limitations of mechanical devices is a high degree of antibody production with possible deleterious effect on subsequent heart transplantation outcome. Aim: The main goal of this study is to assess the role of antibodies on the outcome of surgical treatment of patients with end- stage heart failure. Method: Firstly, we present a literature review on the current state of knowledge of possible immunologic mechanisms involved in antibody production in left ventricular assist device (LVAD) recipients, new methods of antibody detection, desensitization strategies and overview of published evidence assessing the impact of sensitization on post-transplantation outcome. In the experimental part of our study we prospectively evaluated the presence of anti-Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor (AT1R) antibodies in 83 Heart Mate II (HMII) recipients who were implanted at our institution between 2008 and 2012 and survived the first 60 days. On-device survival and device malfunction, major infection, major bleeding and neurologic dysfunction were compared between antibody positive and antibody negative recipients. Out of a total...

The aim of this thesis was to clarify the influence of the stress on the adrenergic and muscarinic receptors in the heart and in the lungs. Research was perform on rat hearts and lungs and on the hearts and lungs of the CRH KO mice. First, we assessed mRNA levels of all α- and β-adrenergic receptor and muscarinic receptor subtypes. Subsequently, we performed the radioligand-binding studies to determine densities of these receptors. We identified all three α1-adrenergic receptor subtypes in the rat lungs. In the lungs of WT mice, we found that the amount of α1-adrenergic and muscarinic receptors was sex-dependent. Densities of the former were higher in females and those of the latter were higher in males. There was no difference between males and females in β-adrenergic receptor density. As for CRH KO mice, the basal densities of studied receptors were lower than in CRH WT mice (except β1-adrenergic receptors in females). The main purpose of the thesis was to detect the immobilization-induced changes in the studied receptors in the kontrol (WT) and CRH KO mice. Short-term and long-term immobilization caused decrease in all α1-adrenergic receptor subtypes in females, whereas only α1A-adrenergic receptors decreased in males. The amount of β1-adrenergic receptors decreased in males and remained without...

The centre of S. Francis of Sales's spirituality is love. In my thesis, first of all, I deal with formative influences which formed his personality. This is the starting point in the discourse about Francis's theological optimism, its roots and its influence on the conception of God. For S. Francis God is esentially the God in Trinity, who share love in the highest manner also with a man through the mystery of Incarnation. Francis's conception of love that has its seat in the heart of a human being is connected with that conviction. In the very top of a heart there is the will which is called up to make decisions according to love that gives the true motivation. On the way of the growth of love the highest aim is the holy indifference, which enables God to act in a human heart according to His intentions. For S. Francis love to God is closely connected with love to a man who is the image of God. During his direction of souls to love S. Francis recommends first of all kindness and as the main mens a prayer and sacraments. The heart which has become fully pervaded with love, which loves and is loved, we can best contemplate at Virgin Mary.