Existing studies have demonstrated that choosing a partner is strongly determined by physical and personal characteristics of a parent of the opposite sex. This influence is affected by the quality of the relationship with the parent during one's childhood. There are many studies focused on choosing a partner in relation to self-similarity. They show that many characteristics are shared between partners. The partner self-similarity has a positive impact on one's satisfaction in and stability of a relationship. Previous research also shows consistency in choosing a partner, meaning there exists a resemblance among ex-partners. The main objective of this thesis is to make a contribution to understanding the mechanisms of choosing a partner based on similarity (colour of eyes and hair) with the parent of the opposite sex and/or based on self-similarity. Next aim is to explore consistency in choosing a partner according to phenotype characteristics (eye and hair colour). The online survey involved overall 1 266 participants, 942 women and 324 men. The survey provided following results. Women choose self-similar partners in terms of eye colour; they also choose their partners depending on the eye colour of their father. Those women with hair colour similar to their partner's show higher relationship...

Monocytes and macrophages are important components of the innate immune response. These mononuclear phagocytes form a heterogeneous cell population, of which phenotype and functions can be modified under the influence of different signals coming from the surrounding microenvironment. The aim of this work was to modulate the phenotype of these cells by a variety of stimulants and to compare the changes induced on the model of THP-1 monocytic cell line and on the human peripheral blood monocytes. Surface marker expression was analyzed by flow cytometry. Further on, IL-8 production was evaluated by Luminex assay and the concentration of soluble calprotectin was assessed by ELISA. The most significant changes in surface marker expression were induced by exposure to IFNγ. This cytokine increased the expression of CD54, CD14 and HLA-DR on the surface of THP-1 cell line. Higher concentrations of IFNγ promoted higher apoptotic rate and augmented calprotectin expression and production in THP-1 cell line. On the surface of monocytes, IFNγ stimulation resulted only in the upregulation of CD54 expression. IL-4 increased the expression of CD36 by THP-1 cell line and inhibited the expression of CD163 by human monocytes. LPS stimulation caused the suppression of HLA-DR activation in monocytes and enhanced IL-8...

Anti-inflammatory cytokines have an important role in the development of inflammatory reactions. If an acute inflammation turns into chronical it is very often a pathological phenomenon. Chronicle inflammations accompany a whole number of serious diseases with an unclear prognosis, such as some of the autoimmune diseases. Usually, the cause of these diseases is not quite clear and the treatment is mainly symptomatic with an effort to suppress the immunity system. For this purpose we use various immunosuppressant drugs, and biological treatment is used, too. Another possibility is to use bioactive secondary metabolites produced by various microorganisms. In this group there are for example macrolides antibiotics, and a big potential is also seen in the recently discovered polyketides. The objective of this work is to test the newly acquired secondary metabolites that were isolated in the Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Actinomycetes at the Czech Academy of Sciences. Tested were manumycin A, manumycin B, colabomycin E, asukamycin A, asukamycin D, β-rubromycin, deoxynybomycin. As comparative substances were used the macrolides antibiotics clarithromycin and azithromycin dehydrate, all of them commercial pharmaceuticals. These substances were tested on the monocytic line THP-1. Cells were stimulated...

Many research articles describes fish oil as a beneficial for health. Mainly for prevention of cardiovascular diseases or that fish oil reduces cholesterol in blood stream. Aim of this study is to investigate effects of fish oil specifically of his parts EPA+DHA, on a modulation of immune system and phenotypic differentiation. For the experiment were chosen monocytes and macrophages obtained from experimental group of animals which was fed a diet consist of the addition of fish oil in an amount 45mg/kg of live weight. Then inflammatory state was induced by LPS. Cells surface receptors were analyze through flow cytometry specifically CD14, CD163, SLA-DR and theirs combinations after they were statistically processed. Results shows proinflammatory effects of fish oil however they were statistically not significant.

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There remain inconsistencies in the literature concerning the intelligence of subjects infected with latent toxoplasmosis. The main goals of this work are to find out whether, a) latent toxoplasmosis influences the intelligence of infected subjects and b) whether Rh negative and Rh positive subjects respond to the infection in different ways. In this work we used a complex test of intelligence, The Structure Intelligence Test I-S-T 2000 R. We were able to statistically control for the confounding variable the size of the place of residence in childhood. This had benefits when compared to previous studies. The differences in intelligence were measured in students of The Faculty of Science. The sample used included 46 toxoplasma-infected and 188 toxoplasma-free individuals. Using nonparametric tests we found lower numerical, fluid and general intelligence in toxoplasma-infected subjects compared to noninfected subjects. In addition, these tendencies were also observed in the results of parametric tests. Further to these components of intelligence there was also found to be a lower component of numerical knowledge in toxoplasma-infected males. By contrast, no differences between infected and noninfected individuals was found to occur in the female test subjects. No statistically significant...

Interleukin-1alpha (IL-1alpha) is a well-known proinflammatory mediator acting as a secreted molecule. However, in addition to its ability to activate its membrane-bound receptor, there is growing evidence on its noncanonical nuclear function, which classifies IL-1alpha as a "dual function cytokine". This nuclear action depends on the evolutionary conserved N-terminal domain of IL-1alpha. After proteolytic processing, the N-terminal domain of IL-1alpha translocates into nucleus. Histone acetyltransferase (HAT) complexes were previously identified as nuclear targets of IL-1alpha precursor. However, the specific protein which is responsible for the interaction between IL-1alpha and HAT complexes has not been identified yet. To dissect this interaction, the N-terminal domain of IL-1alpha was produced in yeast. Suitability of this experimental setup for testing the interaction between IL-1alpha and eukaryotic HAT complexes was evaluated in this study. IL-1alpha has been analyzed in this study using bioinformatics approaches as well. Putative amphipatic acidic helixes of IL-1alpha have been characterized. One of the potential binding partners of these domains is protein Ada2. Protein Ada2, mature IL-1alpha and IL-1alpha precursor in fusion with epitopes suitable for affinity purification were produced in...

Objective: Mutations in the parkin (PARK2) gene have been associated with autosomal recessive early-onset Parkinson's disease (EOPD) with various frequencies in different populations. The aim of the study is to describe phenotypic characteristics of Czech EOPD patients, to evaluate the influence of environmental risk factors, and to determine the frequency of parkin allelic variants in patients and healthy controls. Methods: A total of 70 EOPD patients (age at onset ≤ 40 years) and 75 controls were phenotyped and screened for the sequence variants and exon rearrangements in the parkin gene. Results: The main features in the phenotype of the patients' sample were: the absence of cognitive deficit, high occurrence of dystonia, depression, hyperhidrosis, an excellent response to dopaminergic therapy, early onset of dyskinesia and motor fluctuation. Patients with mutations in the parkin gene had significantly lower age at onset. The agricultural occupation and work with chemicals increased the risk of EOPD, however the coffee drinking appeared to be a protective factor. Parkin mutations were identified in five patients (7.1%): the p.R334C point mutation was present in one patient, four patients had exon deletions. The detected mutations were observed in the heterozygous state except one homozygous...

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neuro-developmental diagnosis that occurs around four times more often in males compared to females. Most of what is known about ASD, as well as diagnostic criteria and screening tools are therefore based on male expressions. Little is known if females differ from males and how female specific expressions of ASD looks like. The aim of this study is therefore to investigate the explanations of the male bias and increase the understanding of these sex differences and female expressions of ASD. My research provides a systematic review of 35 articles that has examined these areas. By conducting a thematic analysis I found that females and males diagnosed with ASD in general show similar expressions but that there is small evidence for female specific expressions. By using the theory of gender stereotyping I am discussing these results and argue that research in the area is caught in a looping effect. The reviewed articles use predominantly male samples while researching sex differences and are therefore reproducing the male bias. Because the stereotypical male expressions persist, females need to express more severe symptoms in order to be detected and correctly diagnosed. I suggest that by increasing the number of female participants in research, the female expression of ASD will be better understood which can aid social workers to detect and provide adequate support and interventions for females. / Autismspektrumtillstånd (AST) är en utvecklingsrelaterad neuro-diagnos som förekommer fyra gånger så ofta hos män som hos kvinnor. Det mesta av den nuvarande kunskapen om ASD samt diagnoskriterier och screening-verktyg är därför baserade på manliga uttryck. Huruvida kvinnor skiljer sig från män och hur kvinnliga uttryck ser ut är fortfarande relativt outforskat. Min studies syfte är att undersöka den manliga snedfördelningen som finns i diagnosen för att öka förståelsen för könsskillnader och kvinnliga ASD uttryck. Detta sker genom en systematisk forskningsöversikt av 35 artiklar som avhandlar nämnda områden. Genom att genomföra en tematisk analys fann jag att kvinnor och män överlag uppvisar liknande uttryck men att det trots det finns bevis för vissa kvinnospecifika uttryck. Jag belyser dessa resultat vidare genom en teori om könsstereotyper och argumenterar för att forskningen på området är fast i en looping-effekt. Då de granskade artiklarna använder övervägande manliga forskningsobjekt när de utforskar könsskillnader så återskapas den manliga snedfördelningen. På grund av detta så fortlever den stereotypiska manliga bilden vilket gör att kvinnor behöver uppvisa starkare symptom för att bli upptäckta och få en korrekt diagnos. Jag föreslår därför att forskningen ökar antalet kvinnliga deltagare så att kvinnliga ASD-uttryck kan bli bättre förstådda vilket kan hjälpa professionella i socialt arbete and enklare upptäcka och bistå med adekvata interventioner och stödprogram för dessa kvinnor.

Antimicrobial proteins contained in the albumen represent maternal effects, including the non- genetic component allocated into the egg during its oogenesis. Especially for species, whose broods are exposed to environmental influences until completation, these proteins play a crucial role in the viability of embryos due to their potential to influence the risk of microbial infection, which is considered one of the main causes of reduced hatchability. Also, it is assumed that these proteins, beacause of their specific traits, may influence phenotype of chicks, especially its size and immunity in the early postembryonal stage. In my thesis I focused on three antimicrobial proteins of avian egg white - avidin, lysozyme and ovotransferrin, which vary in their antimicrobial activity. For a better understanding of causal relationships between the concentrations of these proteins in the albumen and their effect on hatching success or offspring phenotype, a series of manipulation experiments and correlative measurements were performed. These experiments were held on the eggs of two precocial species - Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica) and Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos). Our results indicate a crucial role of antimicrobial proteins in reducing the risk of bacterial infection and their natural concentration...