Various Aspects of Auditory Fatigue Caused by Listening to Loud Music

This chapter presents results of research on influence of auditory fatigue on some aspects of listening condition measured among various groups of listeners. Three experiments have been carried out. The aim of the first one was to find the influence of the kind of headphones used by young people on their hearing loss. The second experiment was concerning the temporary threshold shift (TTS) caused by the listening of loud musical signals after several time of sound exposure. The main interest of the third experiment was the detection ability of changes in spectrum of musical samples obtained after several time of listening to the loud music. It turned out that except for frequency of 4 kHz there is no relation between the types of preferred headphones and the shift of hearing threshold while for the frequency of 4 kHz, a statistically important influence of the headphone types on the threshold values was observed. The second and third experiments were carried out under conditions which normally exist in a studio or on the stage when the sound material is recorded and/or mixed. It turned out that after several loud music listening sessions the average value of temporary threshold shift reached more than 3 dB for 1 kHz and increased up to 6–7 dB with an exposure time of 120 min. On the basis of results obtained from the third experiment, it was found that the decrease in ability to detect the spectrum changes for longer noise exposure exists particularly for lower changes (of ±1.5 dB) and at all frequency regions under investigation. It may suggest that the hearing system gets tired for the region of higher frequencies faster than for other bands after listening to loud music. The results may also be influenced by the mental fatigue which occurred after several time duration of permanently played loud sounds, together with demanding tasks. Such conditions involving the mental engagement in a noisy environment, which is referred to the natural scenery of the studio work can significantly reduce the time of exhaustion which causes the decrease of accuracy in solving several tasks. It should be also noted that the tendencies observed within young people culture in listening loud music in order to be isolated from the environment is actually causing not the TTS phenomenon but permanent threshold shift (PTS)

Primary aldosteronism — recent progress and current concepts

Pierwotny hiperaldosteronizm (PA) to najczęstsza postać nadciśnienia tętniczego uwarunkowanego hormonalnie, którego częstośćw ogólnej populacji chorych na nadciśnienie tętnicze szacuje się na 6–13%. Wśród pacjentów z nadciśnieniem tętniczym opornymna leczenie odsetek chorych z PA jest jeszcze większy. Dzięki intensywnym badaniom z dziedziny nauk podstawowych i tworzeniudużych rejestrów chorych z PA poznawany jest wpływ nadmiaru aldosteronu nie tylko na układ sercowo-naczyniowy, ale również namorfologię i funkcję pozostałych organów . W najnowszych badaniach podkreśla się odmienności w regulacji gospodarki wapnioweju chorych z gruczolakiem nadnercza i PA. Wiele miejsca poświęca się doskonaleniu metod diagnostyki, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniemcewnikowania żył nadnerczowych, które zyskuje coraz większe znaczenie. W ciągu ostatniego roku pojawiło się wiele publikacji dotyczącychwystępowania mutacji w kanale potasowym u chorych z guzem nadnercza i PA. Wyodrębniono również nową postać rodzinniewystępującego hiperaldosteronizmu — FIII.Leczenie pacjentów z PA w dalszym ciągu opiera się na stosowaniu antagonistów receptora dla mineralokortykoidów lub adrenalektomii,optymalnie poprzedzonej potwierdzeniem lateralizacji w wydzielaniu aldosteronu za pomocą cewnikowania żył nadnerczowych.Primary aldosteronism is the commonest form of hormone-related hypertension, with an estimated prevalence of 6–13% in the generalpopulation of hypertensive patients. Among patients with resistant hypertension, the proportion of PA is even higher. Through intensiveresearch in the field of basic science and the creation of large registries of patients with PA, it is possible to understand the effect ofexcess aldosterone not only on the cardiovascular system but also on the morphology and function of the other organs. Recent researchhas highlighted the differences in the regulation of calcium metabolism in patients with adrenal adenomas and PA. A lot of attention hasbeen paid to the improvement of diagnostic methods, with particular emphasis on adrenal vein sampling, which is becoming increasinglyimportant. In recent years there have been many publications on the prevalence of mutations in the potassium channel in patients withadrenal tumours and PA. A new form of familial hyperaldosteronism - FIII, has also been distinguished. Treatment of patients with PAstill relies on the use of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists or adrenalectomy, preferably preceded by a confirmation of aldosteronesecretion lateralisation by adrenal vein sampling

Macroinvertebrates in streams and rivers in the City of Łódź

In the City of Łódź there are 29 streams and rivers of various sizes, 18 of them named and 11 unnamed, whose total length is 125 km. The aim of the present study was gaining initial knowledge of the abundance and diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrates in water courses in the City of Łódź. Collected aquatic macroinvertebrates were represented by 18 taxons. The highest occurrence was recorded for Dipterans (Chironomidae) (present in all samples), Oligochaeta, Ephemeroptera and Gastropoda. The distribution of macroinvertebrates along the investigated streams varied very much. The Jasień and Łódka Streams turned out least abundant and taxonomically diverse in macroinvertebrates. The opposite were the Bzura and Łagiewniczanka Streams. It confirmed that usually the differences in macroinvertebrate distribution and diversity resulted from pollution of the running waters with domestic and industrial sewage, transforming of certain water courses into sewage-storm canals, regulation including covering of river beds and banks with concrete.Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 dofinansowane zostało ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę

Antioxidant and neuroprotective activity of vitamin E homologues : in vitro study

Here we present comparative data on the inhibition of lipid peroxidation by a variety of tocochromanols in liposomes. We also show for the first time the potential neuroprotective role of all the vitamin E homologues investigated on the neuronally differentiated human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell line. α-Tocopherol had nearly no effect in the inhibition of lipid peroxidation, while β-, γ-, and δ-tocopherols inhibited the reaction completely when it was initiated in a lipid phase. Similar effects were observed for tocotrienol homologues. Moreover, in this respect plastochromanol-8 was as effective as β-, γ-, and δ-tocochromanols. When the prenyllipids were investigated in a 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) test and incorporated into different lipid carriers, the radical oxidation was most pronounced in liposomes, followed by mixed micelles and the micellar system. When the reaction of tocochromanols was examined in niosomes, the oxidation was most pronounced for α-tocopherol and plastochromanol-8, followed by α-tocotrienol. Next, using retinoic acid-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells, we tested the protective effects of the compounds investigated on hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2))-induced cell damage. We showed that tocotrienols were more active than tocopherols in the oxidative stress model. Plastochromanol-8 had a strong inhibitory effect on H(2)O(2)-induced lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and H(2)O(2)-induced decrease in cell viability. The water-soluble α-tocopherol phosphate had neuroprotective effects at all the concentrations analyzed. The results clearly indicate that structural differences between vitamin E homologues reflect their different biological activity and indicate their potential application in pharmacological treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. In this respect, the application of optimal tocochromanol-carrying structures might be critical

Exotic phase transitions in RERhSn compounds

Crystal and magnetic properties of three equiatomic ternary RERhSn compounds (where RE = Ce, Nd, Gd) have been studied by means of X-ray diffraction, ac, and dc magnetic susceptibility measurements, as well as using Mössbauer spectroscopy with 119Sn and 155Gd resonances. CeRhSn does not order magnetically down to 2 K while NdRhSn undergoes ferromagnetic transition at TC = 10.3 K and GdRhSn orders antiferromagnetically below TN = 16 K. Our CeRhSn and NdRhSn samples become superconductive below 6.5 K and 6.9 K, respectively

Ichthyofauna of streams in the Vistula river system in the City of Łódź

In 2010 in the City of Łódź, Central Poland, electrofishing was carried out at 12 sites in the Miazga, Bzura, Sokołówka and Lagiewniczanka Streams in the Vistula system. Eight fish species were recorded, of which two were alien (giebel Carassius gibelio and topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva) and only two were rheophilic (ide Leuciscus idus and gudgeon Gobio gobio). Roach Rutilus rutilus and three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus constituted 64% of all the fish in samples. Stone loach Barbatula barbatula, usually common in other similar streams, was absent. The fish distribution and abundance was significantly determined by the stream regulation. In the Sokołówka electrofishing was conducted earlier at the same six sites in 2002. Seven species were recorded in both terms; in 2010 ide (coming from stocking) was captured instead of the previously recorded crucian carp Carassius carassius. The total fish abundance was over twice lower than in 2002.Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 dofinansowane zostało ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę