POLISH TOWNS AND THE CHANGES IN THEIR AREAS AND POPULATION DENSITIES

DOI: 10.2478 Available on-line at: http://www.bulletinofgeography.umk.pl http://versita.com/bgssThis article presents the spatial and population density changes in Polish towns in the years 1960–2003. The assumed time frame allowed identifying area changes for a complete set of towns in different socio-economic conditions: the period of intense industrialisation, the economic crisis of the 1980s, the period of economic transition and finally in the years of a market economy. The investigation revealed that the trend shown by changes and the size of a town as measured by the number of its population are distinctly interrelated. It also demonstrated a much stronger dynamics of changes in the first subperiod, i.e. years 1960–1985, followed by a phase of relative stabilization (compared with the previous period) after the year 1980 (mainly of the spatial changes). Moreover, change intensity and change trends observed for the urban areas and population densities vary considerably in terms of space

Home enteral nutrition in children—2010 nationwide survey of the polish society for clinical nutrition of children

Published epidemiologic data on the administration rates of enteral/parenteral home nutrition is very limited. The aim of this first nationwide study was to assess the availability of pediatric home enteral nutrition (HEN) services in Poland. The questionnaire was sent to all regional centers providing pediatric HEN services in Poland (n = 14). The analysis included the number of pediatric patients who received HEN in 2010, their demographic characteristics and geographical distribution. Furthermore, the distributions of indications and methods of enteral nutrition administration were analyzed, along with the reasons of withdrawal from the HEN program. The number and fraction of children receiving HEN increased in 2010, from 433 (11.34 per 1 million inhabitants) on January 1st to 525 (13.75) on December 31st. Marked differences were observed in geographical distribution of this parameter, from zero to up to 30 pediatric patients per 1 million inhabitants. Median age of patients was 6 years (range: 9 months–18 years). In most cases, HEN was prescribed due to neurological disorders (n = 337, 64.2%), and administered by means of gastrostomy (n = 450, 85.71%). This study revealed the dynamic development of pediatric HEN services in Poland but also documented their potential regional shortages

Potentiation of the anti-tumour effects of Photofrin®-based photodynamic therapy by localized treatment with G-CSF

Photofrin®-based photodynamic therapy (PDT) has recently been approved for palliative and curative purposes in cancer patients. It has been demonstrated that neutrophils are indispensable for its anti-tumour effectiveness. We decided to evaluate the extent of the anti-tumour effectiveness of PDT combined with administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) as well as the influence of Photofrin®and G-CSF on the myelopoiesis and functional activity of neutrophils in mice. An intensive treatment with G-CSF significantly potentiated anti-tumour effectiveness of Photofrin®-based PDT resulting in a reduction of tumour growth and prolongation of the survival time of mice bearing two different tumours: colon-26 and Lewis lung carcinoma. Moreover, 33% of C-26-bearing mice were completely cured of their tumours after combined therapy and developed a specific and long-lasting immunity. The tumours treated with both agents contained more infiltrating neutrophils and apoptotic cells then tumours treated with either G-CSF or PDT only. Importantly, simultaneous administration of Photofrin®and G-CSF stimulated bone marrow and spleen myelopoiesis that resulted in an increased number of neutrophils demonstrating functional characteristics of activation. Potentiated anti-tumour effects of Photofrin®-based PDT combined with G-CSF observed in two murine tumour models suggest that clinical trials using this tumour therapy protocol would be worth pursuing. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig

²²²Rn release rate from groundwater to the atmosphere

The authors conducted studies on the release rate of 222Rn from groundwater flowing out of a spring, from metamorphic reservoir rocks. This source gives rise to a stream about 205 m long. The activity concentration of Rn in the spring was about 700 Bq/dm33, took place at a distance of about 1 70-180 metres from the spring. With regard to the waterflow path, flowtime and the volume of water flowing through the cross-section of the tested stream, the exhalation coefficient of 222Rn from water to atmospheric air is 3.80 Bq/dm3/m, 1.51 Bq/dm3/s and 1. 25 Bq/dm3/dm3, respctively. According to the authors, further research conducted in other springs occurring in other types of rocks and under different flow conditions (at different times of the year) will allow characterizing the dynamics of the process of 222Rn release from groundwater through surface waters into the atmosphere. Perhaps this process can be described with a universal mathematical function

Comparative analysis of the Baszkówka and Mt. Tazerzait chondrites: genetic conclusions based on astrophysical data and the mineralogical and petrological data

The L5 chondrites Baszkówka and Mt. Tazerzait are characterised. Their astronomical, mineralogical and petrological characteristics confirm that these meteorites are similar. They could be derived from the same parent body, though from the different depths below its surface. A third meteorite - the Tjerebon - might have arisen from the same swarm of meteoroids. The parent body to these meteorites in the asteroid belt can not be established at present. The porosity, of these chondrites suggests that they formed close to the surface of their parent asteroid. The process of formation of the parent rock of the Baszkówka chondrite is similar in some respects to sedimentation of a weakly compacted terrestrial sandstone. Thus, a two-stage geological history may be envisaged: firstly formation of the component minerals and mineral aggregates of this meteorite. Then, later in a different environment, the accretion of fragments of this parent material, together with a small amount of matrix, into a strongly porous sedimentary rock

The Zakłodzie enstatite meteorite: Mineralogy, petrology, origin, and classification

The Zakłodzie meteorite was found in September 1998, about 40 km west of Zamość, in southeast Poland. Macroscopic and microscopic observations (in transmitted and reflected light), microprobe analyses, cathodoluminescence images, and X-ray diffraction data show that the meteorite is composed of clino- and orthoenstatite, two generations of feldspars, relict olivine (forsterite), a polymorph of SiO2 (apparently cristobalite), and opaque minerals: Fe-Ni alloy (kamacite and taenite), troilite, schreibersite, graphite, and sulfide (Mg, Mn, Fe)S, which is probably keilite. The texture is fine- to inequigranular of cumulate type, locally intergranular. The MgS-FeS thermometer indicates that the sulfides crystallized at ~580-600 degrees C. Thus, the Zakłodzie meteorite formed by the nearly complete melting of an enstatite chondrite protolith, probably at ~4.4 Ga; the process was likely caused by the decay of the 26Al nuclide in the planetesimal interior. The second stage of its evolution, which could have happened at ~2.1 Ga, involved partial re-melting of most fusible components, probably due to collision with another body. The structure, composition, and origin of the meteorite and its relation to the parent rock indicate that Zakłodzie may represent a primitive enstatite achondrite.The Meteoritics & Planetary Science archives are made available by the Meteoritical Society and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform February 202

What is at risk? – an environmental health risk assessment related with pharmaceutical substances in drinking water

Constantly increasing rate of drugs’ consumption can be related with environmental abundance of drug substances and their degradation products. Unused and used drugs are often discharged into municipal wastewaters or landfills. Wastewater treatment plants are not able to remove the entire load of drugs. Especially those which occur occasionally or at very low concentrations. Therefore, a variety of pharmaceuticals occur in surface and drinking water sources. A chronic low-level exposure to drugs occurring in a water environment can cause: antibiotic resistance, allergic reactions (eg. Penicillin), cause carcinogenesis (oxytetracycline, furazolidone), nephropathy (gentamicin) and have a negative impact on the natural human intestinal microflora. Therefore, it is not an easy task to assess a common human health effects related with chronic exposure to low doses of active pharmaceutical substances. Nonetheless, such knowledge seems essential in order to undertake preventive actions that would substantially decrease the level of health risk

Petrology of the Baszkówka L5 chondrite: A record of surface-forming processes on the parent body

We review the petrology of Baszkówka, present new microprobe data on mineral constituents, and propose a model for surface properties of the parent body consistent with these data. The low shock index and high porosity of the Baszkówka L5 chondrite mean that considerable primary textural and petrographic detail is preserved, allowing insight into the structure and evolution of the parent body. This meteorite formed in a sedimentary environment resembling that in which pyroclastic rocks are deposited. The origin of the component chondrules, achondritic fragments (mostly olivine and pyroxene aggregates), chondritic-achondritic aggregates, and compound chondrules can be explained by invoking collision of 2 melted or partially melted planetesimals, each covered with a thin crust. This could have happened at an early stage in the evolution of the solar system, between 1 and 2 Myr after its origin. The collision resulted in the formation of a cloud containing products of earlier magmatic crystallization (chondrite and achondrite fragments) from which new chondrules were created. Particle collision in this cloud produced fragmented chondrules, chondritic-achondritic aggregates, and compound chondrules. Within this low-density medium, these particles were accreted on the surface of the larger of the planetesimals involved in the collision. The density of the medium was low enough to prevent grain-size sorting of the components but high enough to prevent the total loss of heat and to enable the welding of fragments on the surface of the body. The rock material was homogenized within the cloud and, in particular, within the zone close to the planetesimal surface. The hot material settled on the surface and became welded as molten or plastic metal, and sulfide components cemented the grains together. The process resembled the formation of welded ignimbrites. Once these processes on the planetesimal surface were completed, no subsequent recrystallization occurred. The high porosity of the Baszkówka chondrite indicates that the meteorite comes from a near-surface part of the parent body. Deeper parts of the planetesimal would have been more massive because of compaction.The Meteoritics & Planetary Science archives are made available by the Meteoritical Society and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform February 202