Obedient mothers, healthy children: communication on the risks of reproduction in state-socialist Czechoslovakia.

The article analyses medical communication in popular media relating to the risks in reproduction in the state-socialist Czechoslovakia between 1948 and 1989 and shows how it used emotions as an instrument to control women's reproductive behaviour. In particular, we use an approach inspired by Donati's (1992) political discourse analysis and by Snow and Bedford's (1988) framing analysis to explore communication on the risk of infertility in the abortion debate, the risk of fetal abnormalities in the prenatal screening debate, and the risk of emotional deprivation and morbidity in infants in the debate on mothering practices. The analysis contributes to the knowledge on how the construction of risk in reproduction, including childcare, serves to create a moral order of motherhood by defining what constitutes 'irresponsible' reproductive behaviours and their associated risks, and in doing so may lead to the further marginalisation of already marginalised people. We explain how expert discourse on reproduction and care aimed at the general public worked by constructing risks, a fear of these risks, and women's responsibility for avoiding them in order to regulate women's behaviour through self-discipline, which worked alongside other disciplinary techniques. These techniques were applied unequally and mainly to marginalised groups of women, such as women of Roma ethnicity and single mothers.

Otakar Tardy, the founder of the ENT department in Litomysl - commemoration on the 45th anniversary of his death.

Otakar Tardy was born on June 14th 1907 in Kutná Hora. He graduated from the medical faculty of Masaryk university in Brno and trained at the local ENT clinic under the supervision of professor Frantisek Ninger. In 1938 he founded the ENT department in Litomysl, one of the largest in Czechoslovakia. He significantly contributed to the development of organized health care in the East Bohemian region and was very involved in social life. He headed the department until 1971 when he retired. He died in 1978.

Revival of psychology in former Czechoslovakia and the contemporary Czech Republic after the fall of Totalitarian communist regimes.

After the general societal and political change in November 1989 in Czechoslovakia, the subject "History of Psychology" became the stable component of curriculum of studying psychology at the Department of Psychology of Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague. The author of this paper has taught "History of Psychology" in Czech since 1998 for more than 20 years all students of psychology and he is teaching this subject the students of ERASMUS+ program from whole Europe, studying at Charles University in Prague, now. Indivisible part of the curriculum is represented by the history of Czechoslovak and Czech psychology. In References, the most important publications in the field of history of Czechoslovak and Czech psychology are presented.

Communist Funeral Reform in Central Europe (1948-1989): From Religious to Civil Funerals in Czechoslovakia and Hungary.

The authors examine funeral reform in the second half of the 20th century in Central and Eastern Europe via the historical comparative analysis approach. Examining the case studies of Czechoslovakia and Hungary, the article argues that although the newly-developed civil (socialist) funeral ceremonies in the two countries followed a similar pattern, in the Czech part of Czechoslovakia, civil funerals followed by cremation became the norm during the forty years of communist rule, whereas in Hungary they did not become the popularly accepted approach, in a similar way to the Slovak part of Czechoslovakia, where Roman Catholic funerals and inhumation remained dominant. The significant difference in the results of efforts toward reform was due principally to differing cultural histories, attitudes toward both religion and cremation and the availability of the infrastructure required for conducting civil funerals.

Celebrating the Czechoslovak atom: from 'Atoms for Peace' to Expo 58.

The Czechoslovak-Soviet exhibition 'Atoms for Peace' was held in Prague and Bratislava in 1956. This exhibition became a symbol of Czechoslovak-Soviet 'friendship' and Soviet influence on the Czechoslovak nuclear programme. At the Brussels World's Fair in 1958 (Expo 58), one of the most popular Czechoslovak exhibits was the betatron, which would become a symbol of Czechoslovak nuclear pride. The article analyzes the planning, creation and reception of these two exhibitions, as well as the popular image of the Czechoslovak betatron in the Czechoslovak press and literature of that time. It shows how, in Czechoslovakia, the paradigm of Czechoslovak-Soviet friendship and Soviet dominance converged and became entangled with the effort to present Czechoslovakia as an industrially developed country capable of building the nation's nuclear industry (partly) on its own. One of the results of this entanglement was the betatron - a highly successful and celebrated Czechoslovak nuclear exhibit that captivated both domestic and international audiences.

Sound on the Quiet: Speaker Identification and Auditory Objectivity in Czechoslovak Fonoscopy, 1975-90.

Audio technologies that allowed eavesdropping on private conversations were a key tool in Cold War-era surveillance practices. In 1975, in the midst of the Cold War, a criminal police agency called the Fonoscopy Department was established in Czechoslovakia's capital, Prague, to explore the forensic potential of sound analysis for speaker identification. This article reveals for the first time that, aside from the well-known Czechoslovak secret police's wiretapping and eavesdropping activities, an independent government agency engaged in forensic fonoscopy, developing sound-based expertise. Examining the department's practices challenges the notion of mechanical and visually grounded objectivity to show how forensic science negotiated objective knowledge at the intersection of aural analysis and visualization technologies. More generally, the article contributes to debates on utilizing "sonic skills" to produce knowledge and evidence for security and legal purposes.

Within-family intergenerational trends in age at menarche relative to political changes in Czechoslovakia after World War II.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to examine a secular trend in age at menarche (AAM) in the former Czechoslovak (and descendant Slovak and Czech) population in relation to its large-scale political and social events taking place after World War II. METHODS: The study included 211 women aged 18-30 (born during 1984-1998), and their relatives: mothers, sisters, and grandmothers, yielding a total of 421 women. Changes in retrospectively recalled AAM between the three generations of women (oldest-grandmothers, middle-mothers, and youngest-daughters) were studied in pairwise comparisons. Relationships between AAM and the birth/conception date were analyzed relative to three events in the post-WWII Czechoslovakia (1948, 1968, and 1989). RESULTS: AAM was the highest in the oldest generation, slightly lower in the middle generation and the lowest in the youngest generation. Mixed-Effect Model showed statistically significant interaction between the date of conception, historical events, and the period before and after the event. CONCLUSIONS: The recorded decline in AAM is congruent with secular trends reported in the literature. However, the decreasing trend was not linear and included an increase in AAM in women conceived within the five-year period after the invasion of Czechoslovakia by communist armies in 1968.

Psychology in the Czech lands: Bohemia, Czechoslovakia, and the Czech Republic.

The article provides a comprehensive review of Czech psychology-its history and its current state. It enumerates significant psychologists who were Czech, born in Bohemia or who were instrumental for the development of psychology in the region. The article also enumerates Czech psychological associations along with their main representatives, journals, and academic facilities involved in education and research in psychology. It is pointed out that the origins of psychology as a science are in the Central Europe-the first laboratory of W. Wundt was in Leipzig, Germany; S. Freud was born in Bohemia, in the Moravian city of Príbor and he practiced in Vienna, Austria. The Czech capital Prague will also become the capital of the psychological science in 2020 when it will be hosting the 32nd International Congress of Psychology (ICP 2020).

Carl von Rokitansky, the Linné of pathological anatomy.

Carl von Rokitansky was one of the most important figures in pathological anatomy, and was largely responsible for the resurgence of Vienna as the great medical center of the world in the mid-19th century. He was born in current Hradec Králové, studied medicine in Prague and Vienna and was graduated in 1828. He was greatly influenced by the anatomy, embryology and pathology studies of Andral, Lobstein and Meckel. At the Vienna School, he was Johann Wagner pathological anatomy assistant and became a pathology professor, where he remained until four years before his death. Rokitansky emphasized the importance of correlating patient symptoms with postmortem changes. It is possible that he had access to between 1,500 and 1,800 cadavers annually to be able to perform 30,000 necropsies; in addition, he reviewed several thousand more autopsies. In Handbuch der pathologischen Anatomie, published between 1842 and 1846, he made numerous descriptions: lobar and lobular pneumonia, endocarditis, diseases of the arteries, cysts in several viscera, various neoplasms and acute yellow atrophy of the liver. With his brilliant work on gross pathology, Rokitansky established the nosological classification of diseases, for which Virchow named him "the Lineé of pathological anatomy".Carl von Rokitansky fue una de las figuras más importantes en la anatomía patológica y el responsable, en parte, del renacimiento de Viena como centro de la medicina a mediados del siglo XIX. Nació en la actual Hradec Králové, estudió medicina en Praga y Viena y se graduó en 1828. Tuvo gran influencia de los estudios de anatomía, embriología y patología de Andral, Lobstein y Meckel. En la escuela de Viena fue asistente de anatomía patológica de Johann Wagner y se convirtió en profesor de anatomía patológica, donde permaneció hasta cuatro años antes de su muerte. Rokitansky hizo énfasis en correlacionar la sintomatología del enfermo con los cambios post mortem. Es posible que haya tenido acceso a entre 1500 y 1800 cadáveres al año para que pudiera realizar 30 000 necropsias; además, revisó varios miles más de autopsias. En Handbuch der Pathologischen Anatomie, publicado entre 1842 y 1846, realizó numerosas descripciones: de la neumonía lobular y lobular, endocarditis, enfermedades de las arterias, quistes en varias vísceras, diversas neoplasias y de la atrofia aguda amarilla del hígado. Con su brillante labor de patología macroscópica, Rokitansky estableció la clasificación nosológica de las enfermedades, por lo cual Virchow lo llamó "el Linneo de la anatomía patológica".

Swan, Ganz, and Their Catheter: Its Evolution Over the Past Half Century.

Jeremy Swan and William Ganz developed their eponymous pulmonary artery (PA) catheter in the 1970s and, in the process, revolutionized measurement of cardiac output, pressures within the left side of the heart, and resistance in systemic and pulmonary circulations. Their invention enabled diagnostic measurements at the bedside and contributed to the birth of critical care medicine; technologic advances preceding the PA catheter generally could not be used at the bedside and required patients to be stable enough to be taken to the catheterization laboratory. Swan and Ganz worked in the same department but had quite dissimilar backgrounds and personalities. This article describes their lives and careers, the state of intensive care before and after their catheter was introduced, and the natural life cycle the PA catheter faced as new, less invasive technology arrived to replace it.

Applying honey dressings to non-healing wounds in elderly persons receiving home care.

OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to determine the clinical effectiveness of honey dressings in the management of non-healing wounds in elderly persons receiving home care. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Design: a prospective interventional study. The sample comprised 40 Czech home care clients (aged over 65 years) with non-healing wounds who were randomly assigned to two groups. Wounds were treated with honey (intervention group) or conventional (controls) dressings. Each wound was studied for three months. A detailed description of a wound (location, size, wound bed, edges, amount of exudate, odor, adjacent skin) were recorded. Wounds were assessed with the Wound Healing Continuum and pain intensity with the Visual Analog Scale. RESULTS: Over the 3-month period, 16 (80%) individuals in the intervention group had their wounds completely healed, as compared with only six (30%) controls. There was no statistically significant difference in wound size between the groups on Day 1 (p = 0.1801). Ninety days later, the difference in wound size between the groups was statistically significant (p = 0.0041). There was a statistically significant difference in pain intensity between the two groups (p = 0.0007), with higher pain scores being indicated by controls. CONCLUSION: The study results showed that the application of honey dressings to non-healing wounds resulted in faster healing, wound size reduction and lower pain intensity.

Management and outcome of colorectal cancer during pregnancy: report of 41 cases.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer in pregnancy is rare, with an incidence of 0.8 per 100,000 pregnancies. Advanced disease (stage III or IV) is diagnosed more frequently in pregnant patients. We aimed to review all cases of colorectal cancer in pregnancy from the International Network on Cancer, Infertility and Pregnancy database in order to learn more about this rare disease and improve its management. METHODS: Data on the demographic features, symptoms, histopathology, diagnostic and therapeutic interventions and outcomes (obstetric, neonatal and maternal) were analysed. RESULTS: Twenty-seven colon and 14 rectal cancer cases were identified. Advanced disease was present in 30 patients (73.2%). During pregnancy, 21 patients (51.2%) received surgery and 12 patients (29.3%) received chemotherapy. Thirty-three patients (80.5%) delivered live babies: 21 by caesarean section and 12 vaginally. Prematurity rate was high (78.8%). Eight babies were small for gestational age (27.6%). Three patients (10.7%) developed recurrence of disease. Overall 2-year survival was 64.4%. CONCLUSION: Despite a more frequent presentation with advanced disease, colorectal cancer has a similar prognosis in pregnancy when compared with the general population. Diagnostic interventions and treatment should not be delayed due to the pregnancy but a balance between maternal and foetal wellbeing must always be kept in mind.

Commemorating 50 years since the first heart transplantation in Bratislava - Czechoslovakia.

The first human-to-human heart transplantation in Czechoslovakia, and the 25th transplantation in the world, was performed in Bratislava, the second largest city in Czechoslovakia on July 9, 1968. The operation was carried out by a team led by Professors Karol Siska and Ladislav Kuzela at the second Surgical Clinic at the Comenius University of the Medical Faculty in Bratislava, Partizanska Street-only seven months after the first heart transplantation performed by Dr. Christiaan Barnard in Cape Town. Other members of the team in Bratislava included surgery recipients Siska, Kuzela, Pivkova, Holoman; surgery donors Schnorrer, Kuzela, Holoman; an extracorporeal circulation team of Treger, Carsky, Podolay; anesthesiologists Sobesky and Neumanova; operating room nurses Machkova, Homerova, Kralova, and operating room laboratory technician Malinova. The donor was P.V., a 46-year-old man, who suffered from a deadly brain trauma. The recipient was S.H., a 54-year-old woman with a failing heart, heavily affected diseased lungs, kidneys and liver. Her heart began to work, but lasted only for five hours. (Additional members of the team, Prof. Simkovic and Drs. Silvay and Sujansky were in the USA at the moment of transplantation, in Houston and New York, subsequently) (Tab. 1, Fig. 2, Ref. 62). Keywords: first heart transplantation in Bratislava, 2nd Surgical Clinic at the Comenius University.

Holding on to history and each other: The unexpected LGBTQ legacy of a Czech Holocaust survivor and a Torah scroll from her hometown.

A Czech Holocaust survivor rescued by a Kindertransport in 1939; a long-lost Torah scroll, rediscovered in 1964, from a Jewish community wiped out in World War II; a German American lesbian who converted to Judaism in 2001. Three disparate stories, unfolding decades apart, converge in one memorable encounter, a Kristallnacht commemoration in Los Angeles organized by Beth Chayim Chadashim (BCC), the world's first LGBTQ synagogue, which leads to an enduring friendship and fresh insight into contemporary queer Jewish life. In this personal essay, longtime BCC member Sylvia Sukop interweaves history and autobiography to explore the beauty and power of ritual, the resonance of the "Choose life" passage in Deuteronomy that her congregation reads from its rescued Czech scroll every Yom Kippur, and the many forms that good deeds and survival can take. Progressive faith communities, the author suggests, and the traditions in which they are rooted make space to witness and affirm the fullness of one another's humanity, bridging differences and fostering unexpected kinship in a brutally divisive world.

Wolf outside, dog inside? The genomic make-up of the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog.

BACKGROUND: Genomic methods can provide extraordinary tools to explore the genetic background of wild species and domestic breeds, optimize breeding practices, monitor and limit the spread of recessive diseases, and discourage illegal crossings. In this study we analysed a panel of 170k Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms with a combination of multivariate, Bayesian and outlier gene approaches to examine the genome-wide diversity and inbreeding levels in a recent wolf x dog cross-breed, the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog, which is becoming increasingly popular across Europe. RESULTS: Pairwise FST values, multivariate and assignment procedures indicated that the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog was significantly differentiated from all the other analysed breeds and also well-distinguished from both parental populations (Carpathian wolves and German Shepherds). Coherently with the low number of founders involved in the breed selection, the individual inbreeding levels calculated from homozygosity regions were relatively high and comparable with those derived from the pedigree data. In contrast, the coefficient of relatedness between individuals estimated from the pedigrees often underestimated the identity-by-descent scores determined using genetic profiles. The timing of the admixture and the effective population size trends estimated from the LD patterns reflected the documented history of the breed. Ancestry reconstruction methods identified more than 300 genes with excess of wolf ancestry compared to random expectations, mainly related to key morphological features, and more than 2000 genes with excess of dog ancestry, playing important roles in lipid metabolism, in the regulation of circadian rhythms, in learning and memory processes, and in sociability, such as the COMT gene, which has been described as a candidate gene for the latter trait in dogs. CONCLUSIONS: In this study we successfully applied genome-wide procedures to reconstruct the history of the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog, assess individual wolf ancestry proportions and, thanks to the availability of a well-annotated reference genome, identify possible candidate genes for wolf-like and dog-like phenotypic traits typical of this breed, including commonly inherited disorders. Moreover, through the identification of ancestry-informative markers, these genomic approaches could provide tools for forensic applications to unmask illegal crossings with wolves and uncontrolled trades of recent and undeclared wolfdog hybrids.

Remembering George Feher (1924-2017).

We provide a tribute to George Feher, one of the founding scientists in the use of biophysical techniques to probe photosynthetic complexes, especially the bacterial reaction center. His early life is briefly reviewed followed by a description of the impact of his 30 years of photosynthesis research. We describe his pioneering work in bacterial photosynthesis that helped to provide a detailed picture of the molecular events responsible for light energy capture and the subsequent electron and proton transfer events in photosynthetic organisms. These studies had a profound and lasting impact on our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of photosynthesis. We also include some personal comments from his former students and colleagues.

Protistology Conferences: The Beginnings. The First International Protozoology Conference (Prague 1961) and the Tribute to Otto Jírovec, its Spiritual Father.

Two events have helped to shape protozoology/protistology as a specific scientific discipline. The first such event was the creation of the Society of Protozoologists in the U.S. in 1947 (and of its Journal of Protozoology, first published in 1954), the second event was the First International Conference on Protozoology, held in 1961 in Prague. The history of the Society of Protozoologists was comprehensively treated by Corliss (1998); the history of the Prague Conference is presented here as reminiscences and personal interpretation of events of the author, who was one of the conference organizers and a member of the organization committee. Special attention is given to the personality and scientific accomplishments of Otto Jírovec, the 1961 conference spiritual father and president. It is concluded that the Prague Conference, while establishing the tradition of protistology meetings, helped protistology to attain its present status as a fundamental science discipline, which discovers and interprets the web of life at one of its, basic, "microbial" levels. Protists literally permeate the earth biosphere and in a way represent the "dark matter" of the living world, still awaiting many discoveries.

Differences in food intake and genetic variability in taste receptors between Czech pregnant women with and without gestational diabetes mellitus.

PURPOSE: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) represents the most frequent metabolic disorder in pregnancy. Since dietary intake plays an important role in obesity and type 2 diabetes development, it is likely to be for the susceptibility to GDM too. Food preferences, driving partly the diet composition, are changing during pregnancy. Taste and genetic variability in taste receptors is an important factor in determining food preferences. Aims of our study were (1) to characterize dietary habits of pregnant women and to find possible differences in food preferences between healthy pregnant women and those with GDM and (2) to ascertain possible association of several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in taste receptor (TR) genes with GDM. METHODS: A total of 363 pregnant women (293 with GDM and 70 with physiologic pregnancy) were included in the study. Dietary pattern spanning the period of approx. 6 months preceding the time of GDM screening was assessed using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. A total of five SNPs in TR genes were selected for genotyping based on their functionality or previous associations. RESULTS: Women with GDM exhibited significantly more frequent meat consumption (esp. poultry, pork and smoked meat), dairy products and sweet beverages consumption. The legumes consumption was found to be inversely correlated with fasting glycaemia (P = 0.007, Spearman). CC genotype in TAS2R9 gene (SNP rs3741845) was significantly associated with GDM (P = 0.0087, Chi-square test). CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed differences in dietary intake of selected food items between healthy pregnant women and those with GDM and genetic association of bitter taste receptor allele with GDM.

In the aftermath of SPRINT: further comparison of unattended automated office blood pressure measurement and 24-hour blood pressure monitoring.

AIMS: Several papers reported that unattended automated office blood pressure (uAutoOBP) is closely related to daytime ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). In the present study, we aim to study uAutoOBP and its relation to 24-hour ABPM and ABPM variability. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Stable treated hypertensive subjects were examined in two Czech academic hypertension centres. uAutoOBP was measured with the BP Tru device; attended BP three times with auscultatory method (AuscOBP) by the physician. ABPM was performed within one week from the clinical visit. RESULTS: Data on 98 subjects aged 67.7 ± 9.3 years with 24-hour ABPM 120.3 ± 10.6/72.7 ± 7.9 mm Hg are reported. uAutoOBP was lower than 24-hour (by -5.2 ± 11.3/-0.5 ± 6.9 mm Hg) and daytime (by -6.7 ± 12.82.4 ± 8.0 mm Hg) ABPM and the individual variability of the difference was very large (up to 30 mm Hg). The correlation coefficients between ABPM and uAutoOBP were similar compared to AuscOBP (p ≥ .17). Variability of uAutoOBP, but not AuscOBP, readings during one clinical visit was related to short-term blood pressure variability of ABPM. The difference between AuscOBP and uAutoOBP was larger in patients with white-coat effect compared to other blood pressure control groups (25.1 ± 7.0 vs. 2.2 ± 10.3 mm Hg; p = .0036). CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that uAutoOBP is not good predictor of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, not even of the daytime values. It might, however, indicate short-term blood pressure variability and, when compared with AuscOBP, also detect patients with white-coat effect.