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Abstract The first embryonic division represents a starting point for the development of a new individual. In many species, tight control over the first embryonic division ensures its accuracy. However, the first division in humans is often erroneous and can impair embryo development. To delineate the spatiotemporal organization of the first mitotic division typical for normal human embryo development, we systematically analyzed a unique timelapse dataset of 300 IVF embryos that developed into healthy newborns. The zygotic division pattern of these best-quality embryos was compared to their siblings that failed to implant or arrested during cleavage stage. We show that division at the right angle to the juxtaposed pronuclei is preferential and supports faithful zygotic division. Alternative configurations of the first mitosis are associated with reduced clustering of nucleoli and multinucleation at the 2-cell stage, which are more common in women of advanced age. Collectively, these data imply that orientation of the first division predisposes human embryos to genetic (in)stability and may contribute to aneuploidy and age-related infertility.

Translator training has been increasingly relying on simulations of real-life professional practice. One way of bringing learning closer to authentic professional experience is by introducing project-based instruction. The aim of this paper is to present a project conducted in an optional literary translation seminar at the Institute of Translation Studies (Charles University, Faculty of Arts) in the summer semester of the 2018/2019 academic year. Providing students with an opportunity to engage in an authentic translation assignment, the project was a collaborative translation of Bertha von Suttner’s Die Waffen nieder! (Lay Down Your Arms) from German into Czech under the supervision of two Czech university teachers. During the opening session, a work schedule was drawn up, covering all the stages of translation and editing. Later, groups of students worked on individual chapters, consulting across the teams and with the teachers, both in person and through online shared documents, which is also where the editing took place. The students worked independently on authentic tasks in a real-life context, with the teachers acting as facilitators. The principles of cooperative learning were applied to the project as sharing, collaborating and mutual support were part of all the stages of the translation. The participants were administered a questionnaire to explore the learners’ attitudes and feelings regarding project-based learning in translator training with a view to identifying the possibilities and limits of this type of learning experience compared with conventional forms of instruction. The latter part of the presentation will comment on the most interesting student responses.

The egg plays a pivotal role in the reproduction of our species. Nevertheless, its fundamental biology remains elusive. Transmission electron microscopy is traditionally used to inspect the ultrastructure of female gametes. However, two-dimensional micrographs contain only fragmentary information about the spatial organization of the complex oocyte cytoplasm. Here, we employed the Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB-SEM) to explore human oocyte intracellular morphology in three dimensions (3D). Volume reconstruction of generated image stacks provided an unprecedented view of ooplasmic architecture. Organelle distribution patterns observed in nine donor oocytes, representing three maturational stages, documented structural changes underlying the process by which the egg acquires developmental competence. 3D image segmentation was performed to extract information about distinct organelle populations, and the following quantitative analysis revealed that the mitochondrion occupies ∼ 4.26% of the maturing oocyte cytoplasm. In summary, this proof-of-concept study demonstrates the potential of large volume electron microscopy to study rare samples of delicate female gametes and paves the way for applying the FIB-SEM technique in human oocyte research.

Research background: The executives of SMEs that have higher innovativeness, risk taking, proactiveness, competitive aggressiveness and autonomy dynamize the strategic posture of SMEs, thus, those firms can reach better financial and economic conditions. However, existence of many differences among countries, such as cultural values and market conditions, can cause variations in EO of these executives. Therefore, this fact can be one of the reasons why the performance and financial power of SMEs differ in various countries. Purpose of the article: This study aspires to find out the differences in entrepreneurial orientation (EO) of younger and older, female and male, and more and less educated executives of SMEs from various countries. Methods: 1141 Czech and 479 Turkish executives were analyzed separately by the Mann-Whitney U test, to find out the differences in EO. The researcher ran the analyzes by SPSS Statistical Software. Findings & Value added: The results indicate that risk-taking and competitive aggressiveness of the executives differ regarding their gender, while innovativeness, proactiveness and autonomy do not. While there are significant differences between proactiveness, autonomy and innovativeness of older and younger executives, no differences exist in risk-taking and competitive aggressiveness. Regarding educational status, more educated executives perform better in innovativeness, proactiveness and autonomy, while less educated executives have higher propensities in risk taking and competitive aggressiveness. Masculinity, fear of failure, perception of obstacles, motivation of SMEs’ executives and location of businesses might be the reasons of these results. By including the survey respondents from different countries and all dimensions of EO into the analyses, this study finds similarities and differences in gender, age and education levels and of SMEs’ executives and their EO. This research also suggests some policies for governments and institutions to close the gap between EO of the executives. These facts not only make this research to unique, but also constitute a valuable addition to the literature.

Roku 1928 byly v rámci dostavby katedrály sv. Víta nalezeny hroby jejích prvních stavitelů, Matyáše z Arrasu a Petra Parléře. V jejich těsné blízkosti se zároveň nacházel i hrob neznámé osoby, z něhož byly vyjmuty fragmenty luxusních tkanin. Poté se na objev na téměř 90 let zapomnělo, teprve v nedávné době došlo v depozitáři na Pražském hradě k jeho úspěšnému restaurování a interpretaci. Pravděpodobně se jedná o obsah hrobu vysokého církevního představitele, pohřbeného okolo přelomu 14. a 15. století v mimořádně bohaté pohřební výbavě. Dochovaly se pozůstatky hedvábné punčochy a kožené boty a dále fragmenty látek určitelné jako pozůstatky kasule, alby zdobené výšivkami a mitry pošité zlatými zdobenými tkanicemi. Na základě zjištěných poznatků je možné hrob hypoteticky připsat zvolenému pražskému arcibiskupu Mikuláši Puchníkovi († 1402).

Background and Aims: Elderly nursing home residents are especially prone to a severe course of SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this study, we aimed to investigate the complex immune response after vaccination depending on the convalescence status and vaccine. Methods: Sampling took place in September–October 2021. IgG antibodies against spike protein and nucleocapsid protein, the titer of virus neutralization antibodies against delta and (on a subset of patients) omicron, and cellular immunity (interferon-gamma release assay) were tested in nursing home residents vaccinated with Pfizer, Moderna (both 30–31 weeks after the completion of vaccination), or AstraZeneca (23 weeks) vaccines. The prevalence with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was evaluated in Stata version 17. Results: 95.2% (95% CI: 92.5–97.1%) of the 375 participants had positive results of anti-S IgG, 92.8% (95% CI: 89.7–95.2%) were positive in virus neutralization assay against delta, and 89.0% (95% CI: 84.5–92.5%) in the interferon-gamma-releasing assay detecting cellular immunity. Results of the virus neutralization assay against omicron correlated with those against delta but the neutralization capacity was reduced by about half. As expected, the worst results were found for the AstraZeneca vaccine, although the vaccination-to-test period was the shortest for this vaccine. All immune parameters were significantly higher in convalescent residents than in naive residents after vaccination. No case of COVID-19 occurred during the vaccination-to-test period. Conclusions: A high immune response, especially among vaccinated convalescents (i.e., residents with hybrid immunity), was found in elderly nursing home residents 5–7 months after vaccination against SARS-CoV-2. In view of this, it appears that such residents are much better protected from COVID-19 than those who are only vaccinated and the matter of individual approach to the booster dose in such individuals should be further discussed.

Editorial

For the first time in the Czech Republic, bacteria identified as Pseudomonas marginalis, Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum and Pseudomonas putida were isolated from tubers of Zantedeschia spp. with symptoms of tuber soft rot. The symptoms occurred on mother tubers as well as on new daughter tubers of different calla lily hybrids with yellow spathe, calla lily cv. Mango with bright orange spathe and Zantedeschia rehmanii with pink spathe. The percentage of diseased plants of the total plants in the plot was around 10%. When inoculated into potato tuber slices, strains of P. marginalis and P. c. subsp. carotovorum produced soft rot. Pectolytic activity of P. marginalis strains was less intensive than that of the P. c. subsp. carotovorum strain. The results confirm that bacterial soft rot of Zantedeschia spp. may have several causes.