Nea Paphos : season 2005

The fieldwork proceeded in September 2005 concurrently in two locations within the area of our concession.1 Emphasis was placed upon investigations of the northern part of the House of Aion (=HA), rooms nos 24-32, including 24E and 24N, and in the area immediately south of the central part of the Villa of Theseus, i.e., inside the Hellenistic House (=HH), rooms 9E, 10E, 14 and 15

Nea Paphos : season 2006

The excavation season started on 31 August and lasted until 30 September 2006.1 The work was concentrated in two areas, the so-called Hellenistic House, immediately south of the Villa of Theseus and the House of Aion. In the Hellenistic House, research was carried out in rooms numbered 9E, 10E, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19. The excavation in the House of Aion (HA) continued the work started in 2005 in the northern part of the building. Of the two sectors explored, one was located on the northern continuation of a courtyard (no. 27) with the expected rooms being found, no. 28 on the east and nos 29 and 31 on the west. These rooms have been deeply disturbed by a huge modern trench, removing walls, mosaic floors and the western part of a stone pavement. The other sector, further west in Rooms 12E, 12W and 33, proved better preserved and of greater interest

Ostry zespół ciasnoty przedziałów powięziowych po zespoleniu złamania trzonu kości piszczelowej. Opis trzech przypadków

Acute compartment syndrome(ACS) is an urgent state in orthopedic surgery, which most often  occurs secondarily to tibial shaft fracture. Delayed diagnosis of ACS can lead to very serious complications, including  limb inefficiency or amputation. The diagnosis of ACS is based on characteristic clinical signs, like pain, paresthesia, pallor, paralysis, pulsessness, and poikilothermia. In patients with disorted logic contact diagnosis may be difficult and introduction of intercompartmental pressure measurement into diagnostic process may be useful. In this article three clinical cases of acute compartment syndrome after tibial diaphyseal fracture treated with intramedullary  reamed locking nail from Departement of Trauma and Orthopedic Surgery will be presented. Profile of those patients fully corresponds to characteristic of patients that are most at risk for this type of complication. All patients were treated with urgent fasciotomy. Additionally, in treatment of wounds  after fasciotomy also negative pressure wound therapy system and hyperbaric oxygen therapy were used. The final outcome of patients’ treatment correlates with time elapsed since the onset of symptoms.Ostry zespół ciasnoty przedziałów powięziowych (ZCPP) jest uznawany za stan nagły w ortopedii, który najczęściej rozwija się wtórnie do złamań trzonu kości piszczelowej. Opóźnione rozpoznanie ZCPP prowadzić może do poważ-nych powikłań, jak znaczne obniżenie sprawności kończyny, czy nawet jej amputację.Najważniejszą rolę w diagnostyce ZCPP odgrywa bada-nie kliniczne w oparciu o charakterystyczne objawy, takie jak ból, zaburzenia czucia, bladość, porażenie, zanik tętna i poikilotermia.Rozpoznanie ZCPP na podstawie objawów klinicznych może być utrudnione u chorych z ograniczonym kontaktem logicznym. W takich przypadkach włączenie pomiaru ciśnienia wewnątrz przedziałów powięziowych do procesu diagnostycznego może być pomocne.W poniższym artykule opisane zostały trzy przypadki kliniczne ostrego zespołu przedziałów powięziowych po złamaniu trzonu piszczeli leczonego zespoleniem blokowa-nym gwoździem śródszpikowym z Oddziału Chirurgii Urazowo-Ortopedycznej. Profil opisanych chorych w pełni odpowiada charakterystyce pacjentów najbardziej narażo-nych na wystąpienie tego powikłania. Wszyscy chorzy po rozpoznaniu ostrego zespołu przedziałów powięziowych poddani byli pilnej fascjotomii. Pomocniczo w leczeniu ran po fascjotomii stosowano system opatrunków podciśnie-niowych i terapię tlenem hiperbarycznym. Ostateczny wynik leczenia prezentowanych pacjentów w istotny sposób korelował z czasem od wystąpienia pierwszych objawów zespołu ciasnoty przedziałów powięziowych do wykonania fascjotomii

Simulation and optimization of groundwater exploitation for the water supply of Tarnów agglomeration (southern Poland)

This paper presents the application of the simulation-optimization approach to optimize groundwater intake for water supply of Tarnów agglomeration. Tarnów agglomeration is supplied with water from extensively exploited surface and groundwater intakes located at the confluence of the rivers Dunajec and Biała. Groundwater intakes capture water from the Quaternary aquifer, which is recharged by rainfall and direct infiltration from the rivers and irrigation ditches. Hydrogeological conditions occurring within the area under consideration were mapped by using a single-layer numerical model in Processing Modflow software. After calibrating the simulation model, a simulation-optimization approach was developed in the aim to aid the process of searching the best scheme of exploitation of groundwater intake. The unit response matrix method was used to connect the simulation model with the optimization procedure. In the optimization task the objective functions concerning the total volume of groundwater intake discharge and infiltration amount from Dunajec river or irrigation ditches were applied. Several constraints concerned both the maximum and minimum capacity of individual wells and entire intake, as well as desirable or undesirable drawdown values in selected control points and control areas. Finally, twelve variants of optimization tasks, for different boundary conditions and different objective functions, were solved and optimal schemes of well discharge distribution within the intake were calculated. The results of optimization show that, depending on the intended objective and the constraints imposed, the best exploitation scenario under the given conditions may be found

Dendritic cells in autoimmune disorders and cancer of the thyroid

Dendritic cells (DCs), considered as one of the crucial immune regulatory populations, are implicated in the immune pathology of various disorders. Also in the thyroid gland, DCs were shown to be involved in early and chronic phases of various types of autoimmunity — including Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and Graves’ disease. In thyroid malignant processes, DCs are suggested as an important element of both tumour defence and tumour immune evasion mechanisms. Recent findings emphasize a crucial role of interactions between particular DC subsets and other regulatory cell populations (e.g. FoxP3+ regulatory T cells) in thyroid pathology. Additionally, an increasing attention has been paid to the control of DC function by thyrometabolic conditions. (Folia Histochemica et Cytobiologica 2014, Vol. 52, No. 1, 18–28

Shaping Facebook and Twitter Public Spheres: The Case of Swiss Franc Mortgage Holders in Poland

The article focuses on the online communication on Polish Facebook and Twitter around issues related to mortgage loans in Swiss francs. Based on 20k posts retrieved from both Facebook and Twitter, we found the most active actors and the most common topics appearing on those micro-public spheres. It was revealed that actors with institutional affiliation and those who are not affiliated discuss different problems and share dissimilar content related to Swiss franc debts. It was also found that certain categories of actors may influence online discussions on both social networking sites by promoting specific content in order to pursue their institutional interests. Finally, the diversity of topics and problems discussed by the two categories of actors identified on Facebook and Twitter suggest that Swiss franc mortgage holders are a good example of “connective action” with no clear identity or community traits that led to favourable judgment of the European Court of Justice. The article focuses on the online communication on Polish Facebook and Twitter around issues related to mortgage loans in Swiss francs. Based on 20k posts retrieved from both Facebook and Twitter, we found the most active actors and the most common topics appearing on those micro-public spheres. It was revealed that actors with institutional affiliation and those who are not affiliated discuss different problems and share dissimilar content related to Swiss franc debts. It was also found that certain categories of actors may influence online discussions on both social networking sites by promoting specific content in order to pursue their institutional interests. Finally, the diversity of topics and problems discussed by the two categories of actors identified on Facebook and Twitter suggest that Swiss franc mortgage holders are a good example of “connective action” with no clear identity or community traits that led to favourable judgment of the European Court of Justice.

Nea Paphos : season 2003

The 2003 season had as its aim the examination of 53 trenches excavated in preparation for a roofing project commissioned by the Cyprus Government to protect the remains of the socalled Villa of Theseus and the House of Aion, uncovered in earlier Polish excavations.1) The trial pits, 2 by 2 m and 1.5 m deep in principle, were excavated under the supervision of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus between January and August 2003. In 27 cases, the trenches were extended because initial excavations had exposed structures prohibiting the use of these locations under planned roof supports, but had left some hope that a suitable spot could be found immediately nearby. During a study campaign in September 2003,2) the Polish mission documented the trenches and examined the collected finds. The present report presents the results and interpretation of this work. As no other publication of this data is scheduled, it was deemed essential to discuss it in more detail than a preliminary report normally admits

Adjustable single incision sling Ajust — the effects of first operations controlled by pelvic floor sonography

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate using PFS-TV the mid-term results of our first operative experience with implanting a single incision sling — Ajust™. Material and methods: One and the same surgeon has operated all the patients with symptoms of stress urinary incontinence. Ajust was the only performed procedure. Postoperative evaluation consisted of: a standardized interview and examination, a cough test and a PFS-TV for evaluation of urinary continence and tape location. PFS-TV was performed under standardized conditions at rest and during maximum Valsalva maneuver. Results: This is a retrospective analysis of data from a total of 31 patients who attended a control visit between the 36th and the 50th month following the operation. Sixteen patients (51.6%) were cured. There were statistically significant differences in urethral mobility (p < 0.0007) and tape-urethra distance (p < 0.002) between cured and not-cured group. The difference in urethral length was not statistically significant. 77.8% of women with a hypermobile urethra was cured in contrast to 15.4% with a normobile urethra. Neither of the groups had a hypomobile urethra patient. There were no significant complications intra- or post-operatively. De novo urgency was observed in 1 patient only. Conclusions: Implantation of Ajust tape seems to be a safe mode of operative treatment for SUI in women. Our mid-term results suggest that long term effects might be worse compared to retropubic or transobturator tapes, especially at first operative experience with Ajust. Urethral mobility seems to be an important risk factor for treatment failure after Ajust implantation. It seems that patients that may benefit from Ajust most are women with urethral hypomobility but this needs to be verified with a prospective study

Effect of L-thyroxine treatment on peripheral blood dendritic cell subpopulations in patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis

Recent reports suggested dendritic cells (DCs) to be important players in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid processes in humans. However, there are virtually no data addressing the influence of thyroid autoaggression-associated disturbances of thyrometabolic conditions on DCs biology. The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of L-thyroxine supplementation on conventional and plasmacytoid peripheral blood DCs subtypes in patients with hypothyroidism due to Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT). Eighteen patients with newly diagnosed hypothyroidism due to HT were included into the study. All patients received L-thyroxine treatment with doses adjusted to reach euthyroidism. Peripheral blood DC subtypes structure and immunoregulatory phenotype were analyzed by flow cytometry in the same patient prospectively at two time points: (i) beforeand (ii) 3 months after beginning of L-thyroxine treatment (hypothyroidism vs. euthyroidism, respectively). Percentage of plasmacytoid DCs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells fraction was significantly decreased in the course of L-thyroxine treatment (0.27 ± 0.19 vs. 0.11 ± 0.08; p < 0.05), whereas we did not observe any changes in the number of conventional DCs. However, the phenotypic analysis showed a significant increase of conventional DCs expressing CD86 and CD91 (64.25 ± 21.6% vs. 86.3 ± 11%; p < 0.05 and 30.75 ± 11.66% vs. 44.5 ± 13.3%; p < 0.05; respectively) in euthyroid patients. Standard L-thyroxine supplementation in HT patients exerted significant immunoregulatory effects, associated with quantitative and phenotypic changes of peripheral blood DC subpopulations

Metal-coupled folding as the driving force for the extreme stability of Rad50 zinc hook dimer assembly

The binding of metal ions at the interface of protein complexes presents a unique and poorly understood mechanism of molecular assembly. A remarkable example is the Rad50 zinc hook domain, which is highly conserved and facilitates the Zn2+-mediated homodimerization of Rad50 proteins. Here, we present a detailed analysis of the structural and thermodynamic effects governing the formation and stability (logK12 = 20.74) of this evolutionarily conserved protein assembly. We have dissected the determinants of the stability contributed by the small β-hairpin of the domain surrounding the zinc binding motif and the coiled-coiled regions using peptides of various lengths from 4 to 45 amino acid residues, alanine substitutions and peptide bond-to-ester perturbations. In the studied series of peptides, an >650 000-fold increase of the formation constant of the dimeric complex arises from favorable enthalpy because of the increased acidity of the cysteine thiols in metal-free form and the structural properties of the dimer. The dependence of the enthalpy on the domain fragment length is partially compensated by the entropic penalty of domain folding, indicating enthalpy-entropy compensation. This study facilitates understanding of the metal-mediated protein-protein interactions in which the metal ion is critical for the tight association of protein subunits