Secondary prevention of stroke in elderly people in Poland—Results of PolSenior study

Background and purpose The purpose of the study was to evaluate the frequency of use of oral antiplatelet (OAP) and anticoagulant (OAC) drugs as secondary stroke prevention among older people in Poland and its association with sociodemographic factors, place of residence, and concomitant cardiovascular risk factors. Material and methods The study group consisted of 426 subjects with a history of a previous stroke (mean age of 81.5±8.2 years), participants of multicentre, population-based PolSenior study. Results Among the study group, 261 people (61.3%) used at least one drug as a secondary prevention. OAPs were regularly used by 237 people (55.6%), and OACs—by 25 people (5.9%). The most often used drug was acetylsalicylic acid. Ticlopidine was more frequently used than clopidogrel, and acenocoumarol was used more often than warfarin. Among all of the concomitant cardiovascular risk factors, congestive heart failure was mostly associated with OAP treatment, and a history of atrial fibrillation—with OAC treatment. Use of drugs did not depend on age, sex, place of residence (rural or urban), level of education and personal income, but it was associated with the region where the respondents lived. Conclusions Secondary cardiovascular preventive therapy in Poland is used too rarely in older people after stroke, and it especially concerns anticoagulant therapy in those with a history of atrial fibrillation. Structured educational programmes should be developed in Poland to improve usage of secondary preventive therapy in the elderly

Application of probabilities of chain micromodifications for calculating its conformational entropy using the Monte Carlo method

Wydział Chemii: Zakład Chemii FizycznejPrzedstawiono metodę obliczeń prawdopodobieństw mikromodyfikacji łańcucha na pomocą algorytmów Verdiera-Stockmayera stowarzyszoną z metodą Metropolis – Monte Carlo. Znaleziono zależności pomiędzy tymi prawdopodobieństwami a efektywną liczbą koordynacyjną, wymuszoną odległością pomiędzy końcami łańcucha oraz entropią konformacyjną. Uzyskane zależności pozwoliły na sformułowanie nowej metody obliczania entropii konformacyjnej. Opracowaną metodę wykorzystano do obliczeń entropii konformacyjnej i energii swobodnej Helmholtza łańcucha swobodnego oraz poddanego naprężeniom pod wpływem sił zewnętrznych zanurzonego w różnych rozpuszczalnikach oraz w obecności i nieobecności ograniczeń przestrzennych. Porównanie wyników opracowanej metody z wynikami uzyskanymi metodą expanded ensemble Monte Carlo wskazuje na jej poprawność. Wykazano skuteczność opracowanej metody do obliczania entropii konformacyjnej łańcucha w wybranych układach.This thesis presents the calculation method of probabilities of micro-modifications of a chain by means of the Verdier-Stockmayer algorithms associated with the Metropolis – Monte Carlo method. Dependencies between these probabilities and the effective coordination number, the forced distance between chain terminal segments and the chain conformational entropy have been found. The dependencies allow the formulation of the new method of calculation of the conformational entropy. The new method was applied for calculation of the conformational entropy and the free Helmholtz energy of free and stretched chains immersed in different solvents and in the presence or absence of geometrical constraints. The comparison of results of the new method with results of the expanded ensemble Monte Carlo method, confirms the accuracy of the new tested method. The effectiveness of the new method regarding calculation of the conformational entropy of a chain in some selected system has been proved

Conformational entropy of a polymer chain grafted to rough surfaces

A polymer molecule (represented by a statistical chain) end-grafted to a topologically rough surface was studied by static MC simulations. A modified self-avoiding walk on a cubic lattice was used to model the polymer in an athermal solution. Different statistical models of surface roughness were applied. Conformational entropies of chains attached to uncorrelated Gaussian, Brownian, and fractional Brownian surfaces were calculated. Results were compared with the predictions of a simple analytical model of a macromolecule end-grafted to a fractal surface. [Figure: see text] ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00894-012-1546-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Graph rules hierarchy as a tool of collaborative game narration creation

This paper presents a computer tool for collaborative narration creation based on graph rules hierarchy that was developed and tested with collaboration of students of Jagiellonian University in Poland. The tool is made of two modules: internal representation of game world graph model and animation system: The former describes the narration points and story arcs and the latter uses basic animations and blends them together to create animated sequences. The opportunity to develop the system as a group effort allowed to identify and address workflow bottleneck and proved that using layered graph representation of the functional elements of the story, characters, locations, and objects is viable method to design plots and quest for video games. Dynamically changing graph can be visualized at any stage and helps to perceive the story as animated sequences. This on the other hand if used for video games story design enables to observe character actions, possible paths the player can take and quickly iterate on the story components. The contribution of this paper is to propose an innovative tool which allow the designers and animators to work together within one platform