Early diagnostics of ovarian cancer is difficult, because there are no symptoms until the disease has progressed to an advanced stage. As urine contains many intrinsic fluorophores, modern fluorescence techniques are perspective candidates for new routine urine tests. The presented work deals with differences in the fluorescence of metabolites in urine of ovarian cancer patients comparing to healthy volunteers using the fluorescence excitation-emission matrices. The most serious differences were found in undiluted urine at the fluorescence emission wavelengths from 400 nm to 460 nm when excited at 310 - 390 nm. Statistical analyses of our data have shown a 5-fold reduction in the intensity of the peak at 330/420 nm (excitation/emission wavelength) for undiluted urine samples excreted by cancer patients as compared to those of normal donors. Moreover, the ratio of intensities of the peaks at 370/440 nm and at 330/420 nm is 18-times elevated in urine excreted by patients with ovarian cancer as compared to healthy urine samples. The observed changes could be interpreted as reduction of the presence of pyridoxic acid, whereas blue-fluorescing pteridines becomes dominant in excitation-emission matrices of cancer urine samples in comparison to healthy donors. We suggest pteridines, which are related to cellular metabolism, as suitable candidates for neoplasia-associated fluorescent markers in human urine. Our work showed that monitoring of human urine fluorescent metabolites offers an alternative for ovarian cancer screening.

Early diagnosis of bladder cancer is crucial for improvement of cancer specific survival and recurrence rate. We analyzed the possible role of fluorescence urine analysis in bladder cancer diagnosis. The cohort consisted of 20 healthy controls, 40 patients with hematuria and 75 patients with hematuria and histologically proven bladder tumor. Synchronous fluores- cence spectra with a 70 nm wavelength difference were recorded for (1:1-1:128) urine dilutions. Concentration matrices of synchronous spectra (CMSS) were used to classify samples into tested groups. CMSS analysis allowed us to distinguish patients with tumor from patients with hematuria with a sensitivity 55% and specificity 74.7%. This is comparable to the sensitivity and specificity of other non-invasive tests like BTA stat and nmP-22 (Bladder check®). Lower fluorescence inten- sity of Imax 280 nm and ratio of 280 nm to 450 nm was found to be associated with the presence of tumor. We have found an association of decreased fluorescence with the stage of the disease. Our data suggest that CMSS urine analysis has a potential role in the non-invasive diagnostic tests for bladder cancer, but it cannot replace the current diagnostic algorithm yet.

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Human–animal relationships have long been the subject of controversy because they are shaped by several cultural, inter-individual, and evolutionary factors. Understanding these relationships, however, is important to optimize conservation efforts. There is agreement that perceived similarity between animals and humans is associated with more positive attitudes. The human–animal similarity could be caused by phylogenetic closeness. We hypothesized that the bipedal posture of an animal may be perceived as a cue of phenotypic similarity with humans. We examined this topic by comparing perceived cuteness, fear, and willingness to protect animals differing in body posture, body size, and phylogenetic closeness with humans on a sample of N = 349 Slovak participants. We found that the bipedal posture enhanced perceived cuteness, but this effect was most pronounced in small-bodied animals, particularly those with direct eye contact. Phylogenetically close and small-bodied species (e.g., small mammals) received greater conservation support than phylogenetically distant species (e.g., invertebrates). However, anthropomorphic-looking animals received greater conservation support, suggesting that pictures of animals that more closely resemble humans can be used in conservation campaigns.

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The aim of the study was to compare the effect of windthrow treatments established after the windstorm in 2004 on the activity of enzyme dehydrogenase (DHA) in forest topsoils. We also focused on the effect of the recent windthrow (May 2014) on the DHA in topsoil. Soil samples were collected in July 2014 from four sites in the Tatra National Park: EXT -tree trunks and wood debris extracted after the windstorm in 2004, NEX -area left for self-regeneration after the windstorm in 2004, REX -tree trunks and wood debris extracted after the windstorm (May 2014), REN -Norway spruce stand set as a control plot. We measured pH, dry weight %, soil organic matter (SOM), carbon content in microbial biomass (C bio ) and DHA. Dehydrogenase activity at studied plots was the lowest at the EXT plot and the highest values were measured at the REN plot. DHA at NEX was similar to REN suggesting comparable ecological conditions at these plots comparing to EXT. Carbon content in microbial biomass at plots reflected intensity of dehydrogenase activity in sequence EXT < REX < NEX < REN.

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Early diagnosis of ovarian cancer could lead to decreased mortality. We assessed the possible use of urine autofluorescence analysis in its diagnostics and screening.We analysed urine from 42 healthy volunteers, 35 patients with benign, and 36 patients with malignant ovarian tumors. Synchronous fluorescence spectra with a 70 nm wavelength difference were recorded for (1:1 -1:1024) urine dilutions. Concentration matrices of synchronous spectra (CMSS) were used to classify samples into tested groups.CMSS analysis allowed us to distinguish patients with malignant tumors from healthy ones with a high sensitivity (91.67 %) and specificity (100 %), a positive predictive value (PPV) 100 % and a negative predictive value (NPV) 93.33 %. However, discrimination between benign and malignant ovarian tumors was weaker, with sensitivity 86.11 %, specificity 77.14 %, PPV 79.49 % and NPV 84.38 %. Fluorescence intensity and the position of peaks at 330 and 360 nm were found to be associated with the grade and stage, suggesting that different fluorescent metabolites may prevail at different stages of the disease.CMSS analysis of urine provides an alternative for ovarian cancer screening method development and could be used as a diagnostic test to detect the recurrence of the disease after therapy. Key words: adnexal tumor, metabolite, native fluorophore, ovarian cancer, synchronous fluorescence spectrum, urineIn 2012, the estimated incidence, mortality and 5-year prevalence of ovarian cancer in women in the world was 238 719, 151 905 and 586 624 respectively [1]. Approximately three quarters of cases present in the advanced stages (stages III and IV) where the 5-year overall survival (OS) is 18 -34 % in contrast to 66 -89 % in early stages (stage I and II) [2]. Diagnosis in the early stages could lead to decreased mortality through early curative therapy [3].