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Aims. The aim of this study was to clarify whether volleyball and handball players, as representatives of the so-called overhead athletes, already have an increased ROM and specific local hypermobility in the shoulder joints in the junior categories. These changes are described by goniometric measurements and hypermobility tests according to Sachse and Beighton. The results are examined with respect to gender and sport specialization. Methods. Ninety-five subjects without previous shoulder joint injury aged 16 to 19 years, including 73 volleyball and handball players, were tested. The cohort included 33 men, 40 women, 34 handball players and 39 volleyball players. The control group consisted of 22 participants, including 11 men and 11 women. The majority (90.5%) of the study participants were right-hand dominant. Only 9.5% of the participants were left-handed. Measurements were taken with a goniometer with digital display and hypermobility tests according to Sachse and Beighton. Results. In a selected group of volleyball and handball players, the ROM of the shoulder joints of the dominant arm was significantly greater in three ways: into extension, horizontal adduction and external rotation. On the other hand, the ROM of their shoulder joints in internal rotation is smaller and the research group has significant hypermobility in the glenohumeral (scapulohumeral) joint compared to the control group. Our study showed that females compared to males playing volleyball and handball have a significantly higher degree of internal rotation of both dominant and non-dominant arms. No significant differences were found when comparing volleyball and handball players. The difference in ROM between the dominant and non-dominant arms of volleyball and handball players was shown in extension and external rotation.

Bats of Greece have been studied since the second half of the 19th century. Their distribution and ecology, however, remain poorly understood. Conservation efforts for the protection of the roosting and foraging habitats of their populations in Greece are limited. To date, 35 bat species have been recorded from Greece. Four species (Eptesicus anatolicus, Plecotus auritus, Myotis brandtii and Rousettus aegyptiacus) have a limited distribution in the country and the presence of one species (Myotis mystacinus) requires verification. The present study summarises all existing knowledge and adds several hundred new records on the distribution of bats of Greece. Additionally, it provides a summary of new insights on various aspects of their roosting ecology, foraging habitat use, altitudinal distribution, winter activity and landscape characteristics around major roosts. Finally, it discusses the current research and conservation needs of Greek bats.

The bat fauna of United Arab Emirates (UAE) has so far received very little attention. This paper presents a review of published records and voucher specimens in museum collections. We reviewed 39 references and identified 116 records concerning nine species belonging to five families. Fifteen of these records mention 71 specimens of six species in collections. Distribution maps of known locations are provided for each species. Most records (70%) date back more than 10 years and two species have not been recorded for more than 40 years. Based on the bat fauna of Oman, a more thoroughly investigated neighbouring country, the presence of at least nine other, still unrecorded, species is expected. The status of bats in UAE and their conservation concerns are discussed. We encourage further field studies of the bat fauna of UAE.

Endogenous retrovirus (ERV) sequences provide a rich source of information about the long-term interactions between retroviruses and their hosts. However, most ERVs are derived from a subset of retrovirus groups, while ERVs derived from certain other groups remain extremely rare. In particular, only a single ERV sequence has been identified that shows evidence of being related to an ancient Deltaretrovirus, despite the large number of vertebrate genome sequences now available. In this report, we identify a second example of an ERV sequence putatively derived from a past deltaretroviral infection, in the genomes of several species of horseshoe bats (Rhinolophidae). This sequence represents a fragment of viral genome derived from a single integration. The time of the integration was estimated to be 11–19 million years ago. This finding, together with the previously identified endogenous Deltaretrovirus in long-fingered bats (Miniopteridae), suggest a close association of bats with ancient deltaretroviruses.

Tourism is regarded as the world’s future. Agritourism is a unique symbiosis of agriculture and tourism. Based on extensive analysis of the state agritourism in the Czech Republic, it was found that information on agritourism facilities is very diverse and disorderly, lacking a specializedportalforagro-tourism. Agritourism facilities in th eCzech Republic is several thousand, but most of them have non-quality websites, or none at all. It should been sured that entrepreneurs in the agritourism (farmers) had knowledge easily and with minimum cost to present their own small farm on the web, such as using Web content management system (WCMS). It is proposed the new portal solution, which according to the principles ofWeb 2.0 will provide greater information sharing among the partners in the field of agri-tourism.

Echolocation calls identified as searching calls of Tadarida teniotis were recorded at two sites in the forested mountainous part of the Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine, in September 2009. Description of the records is given and possible occurrence of T. teniotis in Crimea is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]