|
Characterization of bacterial genes encoding DbtC-like extradiol dioxygenase with bioremediation potential for aromatic compounds in locality Hradčany
Šnajdrová, Renata ; Bořek Dohalská, Lucie (advisor) ; Nešvera, Jan (referee)
Aromatic pollutants pose a serious environmental problem. Petroleum and its derivates belong to the most abundant contaminants in the Czech Republic and their sanation is a priority objective for improving the life quality of the population. Bioremediation is a technology taking advantage of the natural capacity of soil and water microbial community to degrade environmental pollutants. Deeper understanding and detailed knowledge on specialized bacterial species, pathways and genes is required for selection, optimization and application of targeted bioremediation approach and for monitoring of its results. Recent analysis of a metagenomic library constructed from highly contaminated soil of the former military air-base Hradčany has identified a novel group of catabolic genes encoding extradiol dioxygenase similar to DbtC of Burkholderia sp. DBT1. The DbtC-like enzymes are among the three priority groups of extradiol dioxygenases with biodegradation relevance for the locality. The present study of soil bacterial isolates and metagenomic fosmid clones harboring the genes of interest gained evidence about the dbtC-like genes as a part of highly mobile gene cassette. Transposon insertion mutagenesis identified the genes joined with the expression of the extradiol dioxygenase activity. The dbtC-like genes were...
|
|
Electrospinning of Modified Biopolymers for Medical Applications
Pavliňáková, Veronika ; Martinová,, Lenka (referee) ; Zajíčková, Lenka (referee) ; Vojtová, Lucy (advisor)
Předkládaná disertační práce se zabývá přípravou a charakterizací nových biokompatibilních nanovláken s potenciální aplikací v medicíně. V této práci byl výběr jednotlivých složek pro přípravu nanovlákenného materiálu zvolen tak, aby vyhovoval nárokům tkáňového inženýrství. Literární rešerše shrnuje poznatky o elektrostatickém zvlákňování a o jeho parametrech. Dále se věnuje možnostem elektrostatického zvlákňování proteinů kolagenu a želatiny a jejich směsmi se syntetickými polymery a biopolymery a anorganickými plnivy. Teoretická část řeší také různé postupy síťování nanovláken vedoucí ke zlepšení jejich hydrolytické stability a mechanických vlastností. Poslední část je zaměřena na anorganické nanotrubky halloysitu (HNT), které získaly svou pozornost díky svým vynikajícím fyzikálním a biologickým vlastnostem. V experimentální části byly zpracovány dvě případové studie, z nichž každá se zabývá přípravou nanovlákenných biomateriálů s potenciální aplikací v medicíně. První studie je zaměřena na přípravu a charakterizaci nových hydrolyticky stabilních antibakteriálních želatinových nanovláken modifikovaných pomocí oxidované celulózy. Unikátní inhibiční účinky nanovláken byly testovány na kmenu bakterie Escherichia coli pomocí metody chemické bioluminiscence. Kultivované buňky lidského papilárního adenokacinomu plic prokázaly dobrou adhezi a proliferaci k povrchu nanovláken. Druhá část popisuje vliv zdroje a množství anorganických halloysitových nanotrubek na strukturu a vlastnosti amfifilních nanovláken ze směsi želatiny a syntetického polykaprolaktonu. Přídavek HNT zlepšil tepelnou stabilitu, mechanické vlastnosti (jak tuhost, tak prodloužení) a snížil krystalinitu nanovláken. HNT z různých zdrojů neměl vliv na chování buněk, ale mírně ovlivnil proliferaci a životaschopnost buněk na povrchu nanovláken.
|
|
Molecular phylogeography of the tench Tinca tinca (Linnaeus, 1758)
Lajbner, Zdeněk ; Kotlík, Petr (advisor) ; Flajšhans, Martin (referee) ; Macholán, Miloš (referee)
The tench Tinca tinca (Linnaeus, 1758) is a valued table fish native to Europe and Asia, but which is now widely distributed in many temperate freshwater regions of the world as the result of human-mediated translocations. Spatial genetic analysis applied to sequence data from four unlinked loci (introns of three nuclear genes and mitochondrial DNA) defined two groups of populations that were little structured geographically but were significantly differentiated from each other, and it identified locations of major genetic breaks, which were concordant across genes and were driven by distributions of two major phylogroups. This pattern most reasonably reflects isolation in two principal glacial refugia and subsequent range expansions, with the Eastern and Western phylogroups remaining largely allopatric throughout the tench range. However, this phylogeographic variation was also present in European cultured breeds and some populations at the western edge of the native range contained the Eastern phylogroup. Thus, natural processes have played an important role in structuring tench populations, but human-aided dispersal have also contributed significantly, with the admixed genetic composition of cultured breeds most likely contributing to the introgression. I have then designed novel PCR-RFLP assays...
|
|
Joseph-Arthur de Gobineau: Les Pléiades
Čermák, Břetislav ; Jamek, Václav (referee) ; Pohorský, Aleš (advisor)
This thesis is devoted to the most important prosaic work of J.-A. Gobineau, the novel Sons of Kings. Its aim is to give a detailed description of the eponymous characters which the author considers to be the elite of mankind. The thesis is divided into three parts: each chapter regards the exceptional nature of the sons of kings from different points of view. By paying attention to individual levels in the piece we are trying to define the common basis of the exceptionality of the sons of kings. The first chapter treats the racial theories of Gobineau. The novel is put into context with one other piece by the same writer, An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races. We illustrate that on the racial level the exceptionality of the sons of kings is due to certain inborn capabilities that are shared by all descendants of Germanic kings; at the same time we clarify the relationship between the notions of nobility and race. The second chapter discusses the relationship between the individual and society. Special attention is paid to the influence of environment on the intellectual and emotional evolution of mankind. We also focus on the question of confronting the alternative as a means of self-discovery. The specific quality of the sons of kings lies in their freedom of judgment, which allows them to stand...
|
|
Towards a better understanding of ungulate diets: a methodological approach
Holá, Michaela ; Červený, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Stádník, Luděk (referee)
Populations of European ungulates have grown substantially over recent decades, resulting in considerable environmental and socio-economic impacts. Availability and quality of natural and supplemental food sources are among the main factors driving their population dynamics. Detailed knowledge of feeding strategies of management-targeted species is therefore of primary importance for their successful management. Over time, methods to study the feeding strategies of animals have also evolved considerably but each has its advantages as well as limitations. This doctoral thesis uses a combination of traditional methods (i.e. stomach content analysis) and novel methods (i.e. stable isotope analysis, near infrared reflectance spectroscopy) to achieve a better understanding of feeding strategies of two important ungulate species (i.e. wild boar and red deer) in the Czech Republic, where their populations are on the rise and supplementary feeding is rampant. Next, this dissertation aims to introduce and to establish a basis for these novel methodological approaches for the study of free-ranging individuals. In this respect, it also addresses methodological issues related to their application in this field.
The diet composition of wild boar was investigated by examining stomach contents in order to identify their dependence on food resources of human origin (i.e. agricultural crops and supplemental foods). Foods of human origin were the dominant diet type and constituted the bulk of the diet of wild boar throughout the year. A necessary prerequisite for application of stable isotope analysis is the trophic discrimination factor (i.e. systematic difference between the isotopic composition of the consumer tissues and that of the diet), which was experimentally determined for stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes, the two most commonly used in ecology, in hair tissue of wild boar and red deer. Furthermore, possible sources of variation (such as sex, age, body weight, and lactation) on isotopic discrimination were investigated. The results of the experiments provide a starting point for the successful use of stable isotope analysis in field studies on wild boar and red deer. Finally, application of near infrared reflectance spectroscopy was proven to be useful in measuring faecal indices of food quality for red deer. The results of this thesis will contribute towards efficient management of wild boar and red deer in the Czech Republic.
|
|
Characterization of recombinant human serine racemase
Hoffman, Hillary Elizabeth ; Konvalinka, Jan (advisor) ; Křen, Vladimír (referee) ; Čeřovská, Noemi (referee)
6 Brief Abstract The pyridoxal-5'-phosphate-dependent enzyme serine racemase (SR) is responsible for the biosynthesis of D-serine in the mammalian central nervous system. D-serine acts as a neurotransmitter and coagonist, together with L-glutamate, of ionotropic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs). Excitotoxic D-serine levels have been implicated in neuropathologies including Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. SR inhibitors offer a novel and potentially highly specific approach for attenuation of NMDAR-mediated glutamate excitotoxicity and for further study of the pathway. Many of the SR inhibitors described to date are small, naturally occurring compounds, and novel structures capable of influencing SR's activity are highly sought after. Moreover, structural information about this enigmatic enzyme is lacking, and suitable animal models need to be identified for inhibitor studies. This thesis presents the first published biochemical comparison of mouse and human SR orthologs, validating, at least in part, the use of mouse models in SR research. Additionally, hydroxamic acids are introduced as a novel class of SR inhibitors. While the experimentally determined structure of a mammalian SR remains elusive, random and site-directed mutagenesis experiments in combination with multiple...
|
|
The meditation of man and nature in essay of Mexican author
Junková, Eliška ; Housková, Anna (advisor) ; Fousek, Michal (referee)
This work is concentrated on analysis of pictures of nature in Spanish-American essayistic text. That is why it approaches theoretic resource of essay genre in the light of different accesses of literature theoreticians in the beginning: Northrop Frye, Jose Luis Gómes-Martínez, Josef Hrabák, Ortega y Gasset and Alfonso Reyes. Subsequently it shortly foreshadowes an evolution of essay genre in Europe. Further it is concentrated on hacceity of this genre in Spanish-America. This part is based on studies of: Fernando Aínsa, Anna Housková, José Luis Gómez-Martínez, John Skirius.
|
|
The concept of space in the literary work of Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares
Tobiašová, Veronika ; Sánchez Fernández, Juan Antonio (referee) ; Housková, Anna (advisor)
This thesis, entitled "The Concept of Space in the Literary Work of Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares", presents the concept of space in the literary work of Borges and Bioy Casares, in particular in the short stories "The House of Asterion" and "The 69 Circular Ruins", and the novel The Invention of Morel. The study is based on theoretical works on the concept of space. Its main focus are the literary archetypes that appear in the works in question, and the ways in which the lines between the real and the fictitious fade away. It presents the vision of the world of both writers. The first part of this work is based on Daniela Hodrová's theory of secular and sacred places and it analyzes the process of the "profanization of the sacred" in the works in question. The places originally dedicated to God lack in both authors a sacred character. Both writers convert literary space of their works into a place of artistic creation. Both the magician of "The Circular Ruins" and Morel of Bioy's novel make an attemp to imitate the demiurgic act. As far as Hodrová's analysis of house and prison is concerned, both writers create a house-prison hybrid; the places which are closed in a way (the museum, the maze), become the representation of the world where the character (Asterion, the narrator of The Invention of...
|
|
Autobiography in the novels by Luis Sepúlveda
Šoubová, Petra ; Housková, Anna (advisor) ; Vydrová, Hedvika (referee)
This diploma thesis deals with the presence of autobiographical techniques in selected novels by the Chilean writer Luis Sepúlveda (Patagonia Express, etc.). The first part focuses on the theoretical approach to autobiography. Acquired information will be subsequently applied to Sepúlveda's novels. The analysis of selected novels relates Sepúlveda's novels both with his biographical background and with literary tradition, i.e. it examines particular techniques which traditionally belong to autobiograpfy: ways to evoke autobiographical impression in narration, prounoun forms, dealing with space and time.
|
|
Fantastic in the novel Blank Gaze by José Luís Peixoto
Rubešová, Lucie ; Flemrová, Alice (advisor) ; Dufková, Vlasta (referee)
The main objective of this thesis is to define narrative scheme and elements of the fantastic in the novel Blank Gaze (Nenhum Olhar, 2000) by a Portuguese writer, José Luís Peixoto. His works have been considered part of the mythic narrative current, which, according to a common definition, often draws attention to deformed values of today's society. For José Luís Peixoto, the fantastic, from a modern perspective, or neofantastic, an alternative means for expressing a need for belief in today's society. This fact becomes the main and timeless legacy of the work, and the reader does not be aware of details of religious rules. After the introduction the thesis focuses on outlining the literary and historical context of contemporary Portuguese prose. The second chapter also pays attention to the biography and bibliography of José Saramago, both politically and ideologically involved author. Similarly to Peixoto, in his works he touches the human essence and presents unconventional reflections about values of present society. The third chapter tries to introduce Peixoto as an autor of Blank Gaze. It also mentions him as the laureate of the 2011 José Saramago Prize - a reward which is awarded to Portuguese writers younger than thirty five. The fourth chapter discusses the beginning and development of...
|
guest ::
