Vascular smooth muscle cells display a certain level of phenotype plasticity. Under specific conditions fully differentiated cells are able to undergo dedifferentiation and to restart growth and proliferation. An organ culture method is a useful technique for the analysis of dedifferentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells, because it provides an opportunity for studying the changes in cell phenotype. The aim of this study was to investigate the basic contractile characteristics in rat femoral arteries cultured for different time periods (from one to three days). In addition, the effects of fetal bovine serum (FBS), that contains various growth factors and other biological active molecules, on contractile function were studied. We also tried to attenuate cell dedifferentiation by lowering the calcium influx, because calcium is an important second messenger participating in cell growth and proliferation. To achieve this goal we used cultivation with nifedipine, a voltage-dependent calcium channel inhibitor. The cultivation without FBS slightly decreased arterial contractility, whereas the cultivation with FBS decreased arterial contractility considerably. The major change in contractility of arteries cultivated with FBS occurred approximately within 24 hours of cultivation. The cultivation with...

Primula elatior represents a promising model for addressing the role of phenotypic plasticity vs. genetic basis of traits in populations differentiated along altitudinal gradients. Phenotypic plasticity is mainly exhibited by the extensive variability of the leaves. Genetic structure of P. elatior populations has been poorly studied so far, the first insights suggested potentially large intraspecific genetic variation. Therefore, the first aim of this study was to reveal the genetic structure as well as morphological and cytological variation of P. elatior populations in the central Europe and compare those to another two intraspecific taxa from the southeastern Europe. Further, I selected three target mountain regions to address the role of altitudinal differentiation for structuring genetic diversity. Finally, I evaluated the status of the putative endemic species Primula elatior subsp. corcontica from the Krkonoše Mts. Microsatellite analyses, multivariate morphometrics and flow cytometry were employed to evaluate variation of P. elatior populations. I identified six major genetic groups by genotyping 12 nuclear microsatellite loci in the study area of central and southeastern Europe with the clear separation of subp. intricata. Focused on the central Europe, three well-defined genetic groups...

4 ABSTRACT Characteristic high helmets in Daphnia cucullata, which increase resistance of Daphnia against various invertebrate predators, can be induced by chemical cues released by these invertebrates but also by small-scale turbulence. I evaluated the response of D. cucullata to both factors in several clones originating from two riverine pools differing in their predator regime. In a large pool, the dominant invertebrate predator is the cladoceran Leptodora kindtii, and the Daphnia population there shows a typical cyclomorphosis. In the second (small) pool, Daphnia do not produce helmets, despite the presence of the phantom midge larvae Chaoborus flavicans. I compared phenotypic changes of Daphnia cucullata clones from these pools to Chaoborus kairomones and to a small-scale turbulence in laboratory experiments. Kairomones induced significantly longer helmets in clones from both pools; however, only clones form the large pool reacted also to turbulence. As all daphnids in the experiments responded to chemical cues from Chaoborus, I assume that either the kairomone dose under natural conditions in the small pool is too low to induce helmets or the phenotypic response of the local population is mediated by other factors. On the other hand, the variation of response to small-scale turbulence suggests that...

Plants adjust to challenging environments by genetically fixed changes and phenotypically plastic response. Alpine environments pose multiple challenges to plant life including cold, high irradiance and short vegetative period. To survive such specific conditions, plants often significantly alter their morphology. In my thesis I studied to which extent specific traits of alpine ecotypes repeatedly appear among independently formed alpine populations and to which extent these changes represent fixed genotypic differentiation vs phenotypic plasticity. To address these questions I performed an experiment in which Arabidopsis arenosa plants from sixteen populations belonging to two ecotypes (alpine and foothill) were grown in conditions resembling alpine vs foothill conditions. Specifically, I modified levels of irradiance and temperature and complemented alpine-like and foothill-like treatment by additional two extreme treatments to reach full-factorial design. I used discriminant and classificatory analysis to examine the overall morphological differentiation characterised by set of twenty measured traits. Then I examined variation in each trait by statistical Bayesian model that I designed for this purpose. I found out that although ecotypes are predominantly differentiated by fixed morphological...

Dissertation thesis is focused on evaluation of influence of exposure in 5% salt fog on fatigue behavior of AZ31 and AZ61 magnesium alloy fabricated by squeeze casting method. Microstructure and mechanical properties of experimental materials have been evaluated. The AZ61 alloy was solution heat treated after prior optimization of the heat treatment process based on microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties. Depths of corrosion damage, corrosion rate and mechanism of corrosion of all three experimental alloys have been evaluated. Influence of prior corrosion exposure for 480 and 1000 hours on fatigue behavior of experimental materials was evaluated. Obtained data were compared with data obtained using smooth test specimens. Fractographic analysis was carried out on both smooth and precorroded specimens. Furthermore, influence of aluminium on corrosion and fatigue behavior of tested alloys was defined.

Master's thesis focuses on numerical modeling of automotive tasks. The text is divided into two main parts. A fuel supply module is the main topic of all numeric analyses of this thesis and it is introduced in the first part. Basics of theoretical continuum mechanics and finite elements method are also explained in the first part. The second part is split into two main topics of the fuel supply module - material damping and contact numerical modeling. Practical reasons for parameter optimization are explained along with particular optimization results and underlying theoretical background.

Predation and prey responses to predators in aquatic environment are reviewed with emphasis on non-lethal effect of predators on prey life history, antipredator behavior and related mechanisms. The review focuses on dragonfly larvae and other groups of prey with complex life histories, mainly anurans. The review is complemented by laboratory experiments examining the effects of varied food availability and predation risk on a selected species of dragonfly, Sympetrum vulgatum.

The question of the tempo of evolution is amongst the oldest conundrums in evolutionary biology and has not been satisfactorily answered yet. One of the attempts to do so is the frozen plasticity theory, which postulates that a sexually reproducing species is only capable of evolution within short periods of time after its genetic polymorphism decreases e.g. as a consequence of peripatric speciation. In the longer periods of evolutionary stasis, its evolution is limited by frequency- dependent selection and pleiotropy. In this work, I have produced an open source software simulating the respon- ses of populations of sexually reproducing individuals to varying environmental conditions. Using this software, I simulated evolution of populations with different probabilities of arising of alelles affecting more phenotypic traits and frequency- dependent selected alleles that have opposing phenotypic effects when present at the locus in one copy, respectively two copies. I observed trends predicted by the theory of frozen plasticity: slower adap- tation to instant environmental changes, lower achieved fitness and more frequent extinctions of populations with higher portions of investigated types of alleles, but only with low effect sizes and without statistical significance. For future research, it would be desirable...

Master's thesis deals with the analysis of the impact of transport vehicle on a building structure. Transport vehicle is represented by an airliner and building structure is represented by a containment of a nuclear power plant. The aim of thesis was to explore the possibility of numerical simulation of an impact of transport vehicle on a building structure utilizing the RFEM program and evaluation of the damage extent.

The subject of this thesis was to develop a comprehensive methodology for evaluating the plasticity of molding sand. This study was focused on four types of mixtures that are used in the foundry industry. For the evaluation of plasticity was important to provide an indicator of the deformation ability, calculation of deformation and logarithmic transformation for compression. Plasticity methodology was applied in this work only on the pressure effect. Studies of this issue can have a great influence on the production of correct forms due to the ability to withstand tension without breaking form.