Multimammate mice of the genus Mastomys are widespread in sub-Saharan Africa and occur in a wide range of open habitats. Representatives of this genus are the most common African rodents, the main vertebrate agricultural pests and vectors of human pathogens. In Ethiopia, the biogeographically most complex eastern African country, several species have been reported, but their distribution has never been described because of their cryptic morphology. Here we present genetically identified species from 377 Ethiopian Mastomys specimens and analyse their distributional patterns. The genus, represented by four species, inhabits most of the country, with the exception of the highest mountains and dry areas, such as the Afar triangle and the Somali region. For the first time we document M. kollmannspergeri from a single locality in the northernmost part of Ethiopia. Three previously recorded species are more widespread – M. erythroleucus was found at 32 localities, M. natalensis at 13 localities and the Ethiopian endemic species M. awashensis at 18 localities. and Phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences indicates that only one of the six phylogroups of M. natalensis and one of the four phylogroups of M. erythroleucus are represented in Ethiopia. Haplotype network analysis indicates two subclades of Ethiopian M. erythroleucus separated by the Ethiopian Rift Valley. Using presence records, we constructed distribution models for the species and analysed the level of overlap. The predicted distribution shows most overlap between M. awashensis and M. natalensis, which is in agreement with empirical data as both species were found in sympatry at four localities. A medium level of overlap was predicted between M. natalensis and M. erythroleucus and both species were found co-existing at two localities. This study not only presents the first detailed distribution of cryptic Mastomys species, but also clearly identifies multimammate mice as model taxa for future evolutionary studies (e.g. the evolution of coexistence or host-parasite interactions) and indicates the regions suitable for such studies.
We show that dynamical systems in inverse problems are sometimes foliated if the embedding dimension is greater than the dimension of the manifold on which the system resides. Under this condition, we end up reaching different leaves of the foliation if we start from different initial conditions. For some of these cases we have found a method by which we can asymptotically guide the system to a specific leaf even if we start from an initial condition which corresponds to some other leaf. We demonstrate the method by two examples. In the chosen cases of the harmonic oscillator and Duffing's oscillator we find an alternative set of equations which represent a collapsed foliation, such that no matter what initial conditions we choose, the system would asymptotically reach the same desired sub-manifold of the original system. This process can lead to cases for which a system begins in a chaotic region, but is guided to a periodic region and vice versa. It may also happen that we could move from an orbitThe paper deals with numerical simulation of a compressible flow in time-dependent 2D domains with a special interest in medical applications to airflow in the human vocal tract. The mathematical model of this process is described by the compressible Navier-Stokes equations. For the treatment of the time-dependent domain, the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) method is used. The discontinuous Galerkin finite element method (DGFEM) is used for the space semidiscretization of the governing equations in the ALE formulation. The time discretization is carried out with the aid of a linearized semi-implicit method with good stability properties. We present some computational results for the flow in a channel, representing a model of glottis and a part of the vocal tract, with a prescribed motion of the channel walls at the position of vocal folds. of one period to an orbit of another period.
Photosynthetic parameters were studied in Arbutus unedo L. trees growing at either ambient (AC) or elevated EC (mean 465 µmol mol-1) CO2 concentration near a natural CO2 vent in Orciatico, Italy Diurnal courses of net photosynthetic rate (PN), ratio of variable to maximum chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm), and quantum yield of electron transport through photosystem 2 (Φ2) were measured on sun and shade leaves. The contents of N, C, Ca, K, P, and chlorophyll (Chl) and specific leaf area (SLA) in these leaf categories were also determined. A morning peak and midday depression of PN were found for both AC and EC sun leaves. Long-term EC caused little or no down-acclimation of PN in sum leaves. The estimate of total daily CO2 uptake was lower in AC leaves than in EC leaves. In shade leaves, it reached up to 70 % of the value of sun leaves. The Fv/Fm ratio showed decreasing trend in the morning, reached a minimum at midday (90 % of dawn value), and then increased in the afternoon. The EC had no effect on Fv/Fm either in sun or shade leaves. Plants grown near the CO2 spring had lower Chl content, higher SLA, and higher Ca and K contents than plants grown under AC. and M. Barták, A. Raschi, R. Tognetti.
The Lama forest is the largest natural forest in southern Benin, and one of the last remnant forests within the Dahomey Gap. It harbours several species of major importance in terms of conservation. Small mammals are known to represent more than 80% of the African mammalian species diversity but they have received little attention in Benin. In this article we present the results of the first terrestrial small mammal species inventory (murid rodents and shrews) in the Lama forest. In September and October 2007, we captured 280 small mammals belonging to 12 species, identified by morphological and genetic analysis. We also provide detailed cytogenetic data for six of the 12 captured species. For five of them, we compare our data with previously published karyotypes, and for the sixth one (Hylomyscus pamfi), the karyotype is published here for the first time. Two of the captured species are closed-forest specialists (Praomys misonnei, H. pamfi), and H. pamfi is endemic to the Dahomey Gap region. Our results are congruent with those obtained on other animal groups, and highlight the importance of the Lama forest for the conservation of the country's forest biodiversity.
Pathway of protochlorophyilide (Pchlide) biosynthesis, properties of Pchlide in vitro and in vivo, its in vivo localization, structure, localization and properties of the enzyme NADPH-Pchlide oxidoreductase, and phototransfonnation and dark reduction of Pchlide to chlorophyllide are reviewed.
Objectives. Teaching is a stressful job, but it is not clear what stressors teachers perceive at school and how these perceptions are associated with teacher characteristics and burnout.Sample and setting. The data were collected from 594 teachers of 6th to 9th grades from 118 schools. In an online survey, participants an-swered an open-ended question about what they perceive as the most important problems at school, and they filled a burnout scale.Questions and hypotheses. The study described types of stressors that teachers perceive. Then, it verified whether stressors and their number reported by teachers associate with gender, so-cio-economic status (SES), teaching experience, and burnout.Analyses. A mixed design was used. Stressors were identified using thematic analysis and re-lationships were verified using statistical tests.Results. The stressors found were as follows: problematic relationships with student,s parents (31%), student inappropriate behaviors (29%), non-functioning policies (27%), student lack of motivation (23%), underappreciation of educa-tion (22%), administrative overload (22%), im-proper parenting (17%), poorly handled inclu-sion (13%), and unfavorable collegial climate (8%). On average, teachers mentioned two stressors. Women more often reported student inappropriate behaviors. SES proved no signifi-cant effects. More experienced teachers less of-ten mentioned student inappropriate behaviors and unfavorable collegial climate and reported a lower number of stressors. Teachers with higher level of burnout more often complained about problematic relationships with parents and re-ported a higher number of stressors.Limitations. Although the generalizability of the results may be limited to 6th to 9th grade teachers in the Czech Republic, the study brings novel insights into the demands of teaching. and Cíle. Učitelství je považováno za stresující po-volání, ale dosud nebylo zkoumáno, jak stresory ve školách vnímají samotní učitelé a zda souvisí s jejich individuálními charakteristikami a vy-hořením.Soubor a metody. Výzkumu se zúčastnilo 594 učitelů 6.–9. ročníků ze 118 škol. Účastníci v online dotazníku odpověděli na otevřenou otázku, co považují za nejdůležitější problémy, se kterými se ve škole potýkají, a vyplnili škálu měřící vyhoření.Otázky a hypotézy. Výzkum zachytil, jaké typy stresorů ve škole učitelé vnímají. Poté ověřoval, zda jednotlivé stresory a jejich počet souvisí s pohlavím, socioekonomickým statusem, dél-kou praxe a vyhořením učitele.Analýzy. Použitý byl smíšený výzkumný design. Stresory byly identifikovány tematickou analý-zou a souvislosti mezi proměnnými byly ověřo-vány pomocí statistických testů.Výsledky. Učitelé považují za stresory ve škole tyto oblasti: problematické vztahy s rodiči žáků (31 %), nevhodné chování žáků (29 %), ne-funkční koncepce (27 %), nemotivovanost žáků (23 %), nedoceněnost školství (22 %), zahlcení administrativou (22 %), špatnou rodičovskou výchovu (17 %), nezvládnutou inkluzi (13 %) a nekolegiální klima (8 %). Ve svých odpově-dích zmiňovali průměrně dvě oblasti. Ženy si častěji než muži stěžovaly na nevhodné chování žáků. Socioekonomický status s vnímáním stre-sorů nesouvisel. Učitelé s delší praxí si méně často stěžovali na nevhodné chování žáků a ne-kolegiální klima a uváděli menší počet stresorů. Učitelé s vyšší mírou vyhoření uváděli častěji problematické vztahy s rodiči a vyšší počet stre-sorů.Limity. Přestože může být zobecnitelnost vý-sledků studie omezena na populaci učitelů 6.– 9. ročníků v ČR, výzkum přináší nové vhledy do nároků učitelské profese.
Preventing human-wildlife conflict is key to maintaining viable predator populations. In Namibia, over 90% of cheetahs are found outside of protected areas, therefore risk of conflict with farmers is high. Since 1994, the Cheetah Conservation Fund has implemented a programme to prevent livestock depredation using livestock guarding dogs (LGDs). Long-term (25-year period) monitoring efforts in Namibia have provided insights on the efficiency and performance of LGDs and farmers‘ perceptions. LGDs reduced livestock losses for 91% of respondents and farmers were highly satisfied with their LGD. Poor performance from behavioural issues, such as “staying at home” and “chasing game”, was linked to the LGDs receiving less care and being found in poorer body condition. Unwanted ecological impacts of wildlife killings by LGDs merit further investigation, but occurrence of behavioural issues reduced over time, suggesting a targeted and adaptive management approach to increase performance. Addressing behavioural issues, increasing LGD lifespans and understanding LGD performance under different conditions will be crucial for optimising LGD management leading to better performance. Our long-term study provides unique insights into a highly successful programme and is recommended to be replicated and adapted where imminent human-predator conflicts threaten coexistence.
We describe two new species of white-toothed shrews from south-western and central Ethiopia, based on recent collections and an application of morphological and genetic methods, Crocidura similiturba sp. nov. and Crocidura makeda sp. nov. Comparisons are provided with other Crocidura species known to occur in the country. Both new species are currently known only from the Ethiopian Highlands. Furthermore, we provide new geographical records and discuss biogeographical patterns in the country. New molecular data, even if based primarily on mitochondrial cytochrome b, suggests substantial divergence within afrotropical Suncus megalura, suggesting that the East African lineage might be considered separated at the species level – Suncus sorella (Thomas, 1897), stat. nov. Molecular data support a monophyly of the clade, grouping most Crocidura species endemic to Ethiopia (the East African subclade of the Old World clade), but also indicates additional colonisations of Ethiopian Plateau from East and Central Africa in the past. The remarkable number of endemics shows that Ethiopia is an important centre for the Crocidura radiation, as is the case for other groups of non-flying terrestrial vertebrates.
To write about "Vladimír Skalička and Linguistic Anthropology" might seem somewhat surprising if we take into consideration the generaly prevailing immanentist attitudes of the great Czech linguist (1909-1991; see also „Skaličkiana“, in Skalička 2004: 16). These attitudes may have been most strikingly documented, with even international repercusions, in the area of language typology. And yet: let us stress that at least since the time of the study Problém jazykové různosti (The Problems of Language Variety, 1947/48), there have appeared themes in Skalička‘s work that could be qualified as expressions of an interest in what is today called „linguistic anthropology“; this scope can be divided into three groups: (1) The „Eurasian“ group (or „Sprachbund“), which can be found in in Skalička‘s early bibliography but which returns later - albeit on a purely general level - in his considerations of language affinities. (2) The group of „primitive language", once a popular object of both linguistics and ethnology (the best example is the Australian aranta). Let us add that this group is not free of certain paradoxes: on one hand, Skalička admits an organic, distinctive role of gestures, but on the other hand he rejects the existence of a primitive language. (3) The group of „language and society", in which it is interesting not only to observe Skalička‘s explicit „ethnolinguistic" scepticism or circumspection, but also - precisely in this context - echoes of both Marrism and Marxism, which exteriorize the somewhat simplistic evolutionist and social perspective that can be hardly made compatible with the perspective of modem empirie ethnology. The explicitness of these echoes in Skalička‘s attitudes toward the above mention relation, gradually fades away.
Rakousko-Uhersko vstoupilo do světového válečného konfliktu nedostatečně připravené, také pokud se týká zásob potravin. Jednou z používaných strategií k zvládnutí nedostatku potravin se staly přírodní náhražky. Největší uplatnění našly surogáty z různých kulturních rostlin, pokusy s využitím divoce rostoucích rostlin narážely na nechuť spotřebitelů i na potíže s jejich sběrem. Nebylo výjimkou, že nějaká komodita se používala k přípravě náhražky a zároveň sama byla ve svém původním použití nahrazována. Patrně nejvíc se přírodní náhražky uplatnily u chlebové mouky - byla nahrazována moukou ječnou a kukuřičnou či bramborami. U kávy první světová válka přinesla náhražky náhražek dominujících v předválečném období. Velký význam měly náhražky ječmene, respektive sladu u piva (např. kukuřice, ovocné a zeleninové odpadky či různé sušené listí). Často se s náhražkami setkáváme i u masa. Objevovaly se do té doby silně tabuizované druhy (psí maso, ondatry, zdechliny), etnografové a historici (Čeněk Zíbrt) připomínali některé dávné pochoutky (žáby, vrabce či čmeláky). Diskutována byla rovněž problematika náhrady masa houbami či luštěninami. Jako náhražky zeleniny se využívaly plané rostliny. U tuků se snažily úřady prosadit např. výrobu oleje z kukuřičných klíčků nebo z máku. Náhražky byly považovány za výplod bláznivých německých učenců a podle toho také ironizovány v tisku. Lidi, kteří se zapojili do výzkumu náhražek na straně Rakouska-Uherska, často čekal cejch zrádců národa (např. Julius Stoklasa, Ivan Horbaczewski). V dobovém diskurzu ovšem nehrály roli jen přírodovědecké výzkumy, v oblasti přírodních náhražek se často objevovaly snahy využít lidové tradice nebo odkazů na historii, a sejmout tak z náhražek ódium ''cizácké novoty''. Nejvýrazněji vyšel vstříc této objednávce Č. Zíbrt. Široký sortiment náhražek naznačuje šíři bádání i velký zájem ze strany úřadů, podporujících podobné výzkumy, zároveň svědčí i o chaotičnosti hledání. Značná část navrhovaných náhražek zůstala na úrovni provozních pokusů a do distribuční sítě se ani nepropracovala. Větší důležitosti nabyly jen v případě základních potravin jako byla chlebová mouka a pivo, kde leckdy pomohly zachránit obyvatelstvo před hrozbou smrti z podvýživy., Austro-Hungary entered the world war conflict insufficiently prepared even with regard to supplies of food. One of the strategies that it employed to deal with the lack of foodstuffs involved natural substitutes, particularly surrogates from various cultivated plants, but experiments using wild plants came up against consumers' reluctance and difficulties in gathering them. It was not exceptional for some commodity to be used to manufacture a substitute, but itself to be substituted in its original usage. Natural substitutes were used most of all as bread flour, which was replaced by rye, maize or potato flour. As for coffee, the First World War brought with it substitutes for the substitutes that predominated during the prewar period. Great importance was attached to substitutes for barley, or malt for beer (e.g. maize, fruit and vegetable waste or various dried leaves). Substitutes for meat are also frequently met with, as types that had hitherto been taboo (dog meat, muskrat and carrion) first made an appearance. Ethnographers and historians (Čeněk Zíbrt) have drawn attention to several delicacies from days gone by (frogs, sparrows and bumble bees). There has also been some discussion over the issue of mushrooms and pulses as meat substitutes. Wild plants were used as vegetable substitutes. As for fats, the authorities attempted to promote the production of oil from e.g. maize sprouts and poppies. Such substitutes were considered the brainchild of mad German eggheads and lampooned as such in the press. People who got involved in research into substitutes for Austria-Hungary often came to be branded traitors to the nation (e.g. Julius Stoklasa and Ivan Horbaczewski). In the discourse of the period it was not only natural science research that played a part, but there were also efforts involved in the search for natural substitutes to take advantage of popular traditions and the historical legacy in order to remove the ''foreign novelty'' tag from substitutes. Čeněk Zíbrt most notably filled the bill here. The broad range of substitutes indicates the extent of the research involved and the great interest of the authorities supporting similar research bears witness at the same time to the chaotic nature of the search. A considerable number of the proposed substitutes remained at the level of operational experiments and never found their way to the distribution networks. They only acquired greater importance in the case of basic foodstuffs such as bread flour and beer, where they sometimes helped to save the population from the threat of death through malnutrition. (Translated by Melvyn Clarke.), and Překlad resumé: Melvyn Clarke