Infective Cardiomyopathy

Both the infectious agent and development of inflammatory response to infection can lead to irreversible myocardial injury, which affects the outcome of short- and long-term prognosis. In the case of the rapid elimination of the infectious agent and rapid withholding of inflammatory process, changes in myocardium are small. If the immune response does not lead to complete elimination of infectious agent or inflammation progresses after removing the virus, chronic myocardial damage may develop. Persistence of the virus in myocardium, postinfectious immune reaction, autoimmunity, and primary cardiac damage may result in the development of progressive ventricular dysfunction, development of cardiac arrhythmias, and exacerbation of symptom. Because of the long-term consequences, it is important to diagnose infective cardiomyopathy (IC) quickly and start appropriate treatment. However, IC is still a diagnostic challenge. Infective cardiomyopathy is often underdiagnosed because of a wide spectrum of factors causing IC—infectious, toxic, immunologic, and various clinical manifestation. The processes responsible for the development of IC take place at the cellular level, which is why it is important to make the diagnosis not only based on clinical symptoms and imaging but also to confirm it with the use of histological, immunohistochemical, and molecular studies. Progress in the diagnosis and understanding of the pathomechanisms responsible for the development of IC contributed to the use of new therapeutic options. Immunosuppresive and immunomodulative treatment is still of limited use. However, in some cases of viral IC, targeted antiviral treatment can be added to the standard heart failure therapy resulting in improvement of the prognosis

Signs of geoeffective space weather events in cosmic rays during the first half of the solar cycle 24

Solar originating events are continually evident in galactic cosmic ray (GCR) flux registered at the ground by neutron monitors. We analyze time intervals of sporadic Forbush decreases (Fd) observed by neutron monitors (NM) during the first half of solar cycle 24. We consider NMs data, as well as, solar, heliospheric and geoma - gnetic activity parameters, around those periods, using different mathematical tools. Subsequently, an impact of space weather phenomena on energy infrastructure is well known, in the further step we consider logs from one of the Polish transmission lines operators during the time intervals of Fds. Based on the data from the Ins- titute of Meteorology and Water Management-Polish National Research Institute we exclude from the analysis the weather-related failures. We found that the increase in the superposed averaged number of failures appears around Forbush decreases

Effect of Growing Period and Cultivar on the Yield and Biological Value of Brassica rapa var. narinosa

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the usefulness of Brassica rapa var. narinosa for field production in Central European climatic zone in order to introduction of this species to large-scale farming. Chinese flat cabbage cultivars, ‘Tatsoi’ and ‘Misome’, were the object of the 2-year-long field experiment in south Poland, conducted in 2 terms: plantings in the middle and at the end of August, harvests in the middle of September and on the beginning of October (1st and 2nd growing period, respectively). Plants were evaluated for morphological and chemical variability at the transplant stage. The yield and bioactive compounds content in the leaf petioles of mature plants were also studied. Analyses of juvenile plants, conducted before transplanting, showed that ‘Misome’ transplants were greater, but they had less leaves then ‘Tatsoi’. Transplants of both cultivars from the 2nd growing period had greater fresh weight, but the content of dry matter, soluble sugars and carotenoids was lower. Total and marketable yield, rosette mass, L-ascorbic acid and crude fibre content were greater for both cultivars planted in the middle of August and harvested in the middle of September. Leaf petioles of Chinese flat cabbage from the 2nd growing period were significantly richer in dry matter and soluble sugars. Only the level of carotenoids and chlorophylls was not influenced by the growing period. ‘Misome’ gave the greater marketable yield of better structure, and had a higher content of biologically active compounds than ‘Tatsoi’, with the exception of crude fibre. In Central Europe conditions, this cultivar should be recommended for plantings in the middle of August to achieve the best yields of high nutrient content

Prenatal diagnosis--principles of diagnostic procedures and genetic counseling.

The frequency of inherited malformations as well as genetic disorders in newborns account for around 3-5%. These frequency is much higher in early stages of pregnancy, because serious malformations and genetic disorders usually lead to spontaneous abortion. Prenatal diagnosis allowed identification of malformations and/or some genetic syndromes in fetuses during the first trimester of pregnancy. Thereafter, taking into account the severity of the disorders the decision should be taken in regard of subsequent course of the pregnancy taking into account a possibilities of treatment, parent's acceptation of a handicapped child but also, in some cases the possibility of termination of the pregnancy. In prenatal testing, both screening and diagnostic procedures are included. Screening procedures such as first and second trimester biochemical and/or ultrasound screening, first trimester combined ultrasound/biochemical screening and integrated screening should be widely offered to pregnant women. However, interpretation of screening results requires awareness of both sensitivity and predictive value of these procedures. In prenatal diagnosis ultrasound/MRI searching as well as genetic procedures are offered to pregnant women. A variety of approaches for genetic prenatal analyses are now available, including preimplantation diagnosis, chorion villi sampling, amniocentesis, fetal blood sampling as well as promising experimental procedures (e.g. fetal cell and DNA isolation from maternal blood). An incredible progress in genetic methods opened new possibilities for valuable genetic diagnosis. Although karyotyping is widely accepted as golden standard, the discussion is ongoing throughout Europe concerning shifting to new genetic techniques which allow obtaining rapid results in prenatal diagnosis of aneuploidy (e.g. RAPID-FISH, MLPA, quantitative PCR)

Catalytic photodegradation of organic compounds using TiO2/pillared clays synthesized using a nonconventional aluminum source

This study evaluates the photocatalytic degradation of 2,6-dichlorophenol (2,6-DCP), triclosan (TCS) and bisphenol A (BPA) by ultraviolet (UV) and visible (VIS) light in the presence of TiO2/catalysts synthesized by wet impregnation followed by calcination. The catalyst supports used were three alumina pillared clays (Al-PILC) synthesized using various aluminum sources and montmorillonite (Mt) as raw material. One of the Al-PILC was prepared following the conventional method (Al-PILCCM), using a commercial aluminum salt, and the other two were synthesized using a saline slag, with the aluminum used being extracted with the alkaline (Al-PILCBE) or the acid (Al-PILCAE) method. Mt was impregnated with various amounts of titanium (1, 5, 10, and 20 wt% Ti) and evaluated for the photodegradation of the aforementioned pollutants, comparing the results with those obtained using commercial anatase. Due to the higher conversion rates, 10 and 20 wt% Ti were chosen to impregnate the Al-PILC and to evaluate the photocatalytic performance. All materials were characterized by several techniques, which confirmed the successful formation of TiO2 in the anatase phase. In all cases, photodegradation was higher when using UV light and the most photodegraded pollutant was TCS (85.15 ± 0.49%), followed by 2,6-DCP (65.43 ± 0.79%) and, to a lesser degree, BPA (36.15 ± 0.65%). Al-PILC showed higher photodegradation percentages, with Al-PILCAE exhibiting the highest values for both types of light. An analysis of the photoproducts by HPLC-MS suggested that the preferred pathway for TCS and 2,6-DCP photodegradation depends on the type of light used.The authors are grateful for financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) through project PID2020-112656RB-C21. YC thanks the Universidad Pública de Navarra for a pre-doctoral grant (IberusTalent, European Union's H2020 research and innovation program under Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement N° 801586). AG also thanks Banco Santander for funding via the Research Intensification Program

Markery procesu zapalnego a niewydolność serca

Niewydolność serca jest zespołem klinicznym charakteryzującym się objawami wewnątrznaczyniowego i śródmiąższowego przeciążenia objętościowego (duszność, trzeszczenia nad polami płucnymi, obrzęki) lub objawami niedostatecznej perfuzji tkankowej (zmęczenie czy niewielka tolerancja wysiłków fizycznych). Jedynie część tych objawów wynika z mechanicznego uszkodzenia mięśnia sercowego. Pozostałe próbuje się wyjaśnić udziałem mechanizmów hemodynamicznych, immunologicznych, neurohumoralnych oraz stresu oksydacyjnego. Aktywacja tych układów początkowo może powodować fizjologiczne korzyści, ale ostatecznie prowadzi do uszkodzenia poprzez generowanie niedokrwienia, zaburzeń rytmu, zmian naczyniowych i strukturalnych w mięśniu sercowym, przyczyniając się do powstania wielu objawów niewydolności serca. Obecna koncepcja patogenezy niewydolności serca opiera się na dwóch pojęciach: remodelingu komory i neuroendokrynnej aktywacji. Remodeling komory jest złożonym procesem, w trakcie którego obserwuje się przerost miocytów, zmiany w macierzy zewnątrzkomórkowej oraz tzw. wyślizgiwanie się miocytów (myocyte slippage). W obrębie neurohumoralnego układu dochodzi do aktywacji dobrze poznanych układów, takich jak układ współczulny i układ renina-angiotensyna-aldosteron, ale też obserwuje się zwiększone stężenia przedsionkowego czynnika natiuretyczego, mózgowego czynnika natiuretycznego czy endoteliny-1. Zarówno układ neurohumoralny, jak i remodeling mięśnia sercowego prowadzą do aktywacji układu immunologicznego. W efekcie tego obserwuje się zwiększone uwalnianie cytokin prozapalnych, aktywację makrofagów, limfocytów B i T, które mogą wpływać na funkcję mięśnia sercowego bezpośrednio lub pośrednio — poprzez oddziaływanie na mięśnie obwodowe, śródbłonek lub inne narządy. Obecnie koncepcja patofizjologiczna niewydolności serca podkreślająca rolę aktywacji procesów immunologicznych jest powszechnie akceptowana, podobnie jak prognostyczna rola markerów procesu zapalnego. Wykładniki procesu zapalnego można podzielić na klasyczne, mniej specyficzne, ale nadal często używane, takie jak leukocyty, fibrynogen, białko C-reaktywne, w tym oznaczane metodą wysokoczułą (hsCRP , high sensivity CRP), OB oraz nowoczesne, do których można zaliczyć interleukiny (liczne podtypy, m.in. 1, 2, 6, 10), czynnik martwicy nowotworów — TNF α, układ dopełniacza, ekspresję molekuł adhezyjnych, aktywację makrofagów czy limfocytów. Wydaje się, że dokładniejsze poznanie czynników stanu zapalnego, ich roli i mechanizmów działania pozwoli nie tylko na lepsze wytłumaczenie obecności objawów klinicznych lub określenie rokowania chorego, ale również wpłynie na dobór terapii, co w konsekwencji może zahamować niektóre procesy uszkadzające serce lub nawet poprawić jego czynność. Rozwój technik umożliwia dokładniejsze wykrywanie i pomiar stężenia coraz bardziej specyficznych markerów procesu zapalnego, w tym cytokin i ich receptorów. W przypadku kilku markerów procesu zapalnego (TNF, IL-6) udało się poznać ich mechanizmy działania, znaleźć zależność między stężeniem cytokiny a klasą niewydolności serca według klasyfikacji NYHA czy też śmiertelnością. (Folia Cardiol. 2004; 11: 861–871