Research Methodology of Entrepreneurship and Innovativeness of Higher Education Institutions

The article presents the issues of entrepreneurship and innovativeness of universities in the context of the analysis of the European Union guidelines and determining the competitive position of the university with the use of the strategic group maps. The aim of the article is to present different variants of strategic group maps, called by the authors 1D, 2D and 3D maps, which enable the identification of the competitive situation in the sector of higher education in Poland. The study focused on two sets of criteria of differentiation of the universities’ strategies, which are entrepreneurship and innovativeness. The research problem was formulated in the form of the following questions: whether the described methods of 1D, 2D and 3D maps may be applied to the analysis of competition in the sector of higher education institutions in Poland, in relation to entrepreneurship and innovativeness

Quality assessment of a daily diet for 1st grade in elementary school children in Bydgoszcz

The aim of the dissertation was analysis and assessment of eating manner of 1st grade children from 5 elementary schools in Bydgoszcz.The analyzed group consisted of 85 students attending to 2012/2013 school year to 1st grade of 5 elementary schools in Bydgoszcz. Data concerning products, meals and beverages consumption were obtained for each person. The quality assessment of daily menus was carried out via two methods: the Bielińska's and Szczygłowa's method. The statistical analysis was performed at a significance level of p≤0.05.The assessment by Szczygłowa's method has shown 3% of appropriate menus and 17% of satisfactory menus. High percentage of unsatisfactory menus were stated (80%). Through Bielińska's method there were 37% of good menus, 48% required improvement and 15% were inappropriate. The analysis of particular Bielińska's assessment criteria has depicted that over 90% of menus contained, recommended for children, amount of 4-5 meals and proper breaks between meals. Unfortunately, less the half of menus contained vegetables/fruit in 3 meals, and only 20% - wholemeal bread, groats and pulses. Under 80% and 75% of menus contained properly raw vegetables/fruit at least once a day and minimum of 2 portions of diary products. The quality assessment has shown the differences in nutrition quality between sex groups and analyzed schools (≤0.05). Appropriate and satisfactory menus according to Szczygłowa almost 3 times more frequently appeared in boys' than girls' menus. 1. Quality assessment of menus among 1st grade in elementary school children in Bydgoszcz has indicated inaccuracies in their content.2. Differences in quality between boys' and girls' menus and between analyzed schools have been stated.3. Indicated inaccuracies in menus' content point out the risk of minerals and vitamins shortage in children' nutrition

ATM-deficient neural precursors develop senescence phenotype with disturbances in autophagy.

ATM is a kinase involved in DNA damage response (DDR), regulation of response to oxidative stress, autophagy and mitophagy. Mutations in the ATM gene in humans result in ataxi A-Telangiectasia disease (A-T) characterized by a variety of symptoms with neurodegeneration and premature ageing among them. Since brain is one of the most affected organs in A-T, we have focused on senescence of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) derived from A-T reprogrammed fibroblasts. Accordingly, A-T NPCs obtained through neural differentiation of iPSCs in 5% oxygen possessed some features of senescence including increased activity of SA-β-gal and secretion of IL6 and IL8 in comparison to control NPCs. This phenotype of A-T NPC was accompanied by elevated oxidative stress. A-T NPCs exhibited symptoms of impaired autophagy and mitophagy with lack of response to chloroquine treatment. Additional sources of oxidative stress like increased oxygen concentration (20 %) and H2O2 respectively aggravated the phenotype of senescence and additionally disturbed the process of mitophagy. In both cases only A-T NPCs reacted to the treatment. We conclude that oxidative stress may be responsible for the phenotype of senescence and impairment of autophagy in A-T NPCs. Our results point to senescent A-T cells as a potential therapeutic target in this disease

Statins and colorectal cancer

Statins are naturally occurring compounds that inhibit the enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase. Through their beneficial management of the body’s lipid metabolism, they are widely used medicinal drugs employed extensively in the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. In addition, many studies to date have shown the therapeutic advantages derived from using statins in conditions such as endometriosis, osteoporosis, polycystic ovary syndrome and rheumatic disease. Due to the steady increase of cancer morbidity rates, as demonstrated by epidemiological data, the putative role of statins in treating or preventing cancer has been ever more frequently investigated; including for colorectal cancer. This paper attempts to bring together current knowledge/ evidence on statin therapy targeted at the development, disease course and treatment of colorectal cancer, both in terms of epidemiological findings and clinical observations. Because of the reported link between metabolic disorders and the development of colorectal cancer, particular focus is given to the effects of statins on signalling pathways involving insulin-like growth factors (IGFs)

Potential Use of Silica Nanoparticles for the Microbial Stabilisation of Wine: An In Vitro Study Using Oenococcus oeni as a Model

The emerging trend towards the reduction of SO2 in winemaking has created a need to look for alternative methods to ensure the protection of wine against the growth of undesired species of microorganisms and to safely remove wine microorganisms. This study describes the possible application of silica nanospheres as a wine stabilisation agent, with Oenococcus oeni (DSM7008) as a model strain. The experiment was conducted firstly on model solutions of phosphate-buffered saline and 1% glucose. Their neutralising effect was tested under stirring with the addition of SiO2 (0.1, 0.25, and 0.5 mg/mL). Overall, the highest concentration of nanospheres under continuous stirring resulted in the greatest decrease in cell counts. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses showed extensive damage to the bacterial cells after stirring with silica nanomaterials. Then, the neutralising effect of 0.5 mg/mL SiO2 was tested in young red wine under stirring, where cell counts were reduced by over 50%. The obtained results suggest that silica nanospheres can serve as an alternative way to reduce or substitute the use of sulphur dioxide in the microbial stabilisation of wine. In addition, further aspects of following investigations should focus on the protection against enzymatic and chemical oxidation of wine

Analysis of genes involved in response to doxorubicin and a GD2 ganglioside-specific 14G2a monoclonal antibody in IMR-32human neuroblastoma cells

Neuroblastoma is the most common extra-cranial solid tumor of childhood and it is characterized by the presence of a glycosphingolipid, GD2 ganglioside. Monoclonal antibodies targeting the antigen are currently tested in clinical trials. Additionally, several research groups reported results revealing that ganglioside-specific antibodies can affect cellular signaling and cause direct cytotoxicity against tumor cells. To shed more light on gene expression signatures of tumor cells, we used microarrays to analyze changes of transcriptome in IMR-32 human neuroblastoma cell cultures treated with doxorubicin (DOX) or a mouse monoclonal antibody binding to GD2 ganglioside 14G2a (mAb) for 24 h. The obtained results highlight that disparate cellular pathways are regulated by doxorubicin and 14G2a. Next, we used RT-PCR to verify mRNA levels of selected DOX-responsive genes such as RPS27L, PPM1D, SESN1, CDKN1A, TNFSF10B, and 14G2a-responsive genes such as SVIL, JUN, RASSF6, TLX2, ID1. Then, we applied western blot and analyzed levels of RPS27L, PPM1D, sestrin 1 proteins after DOX-treatment. Additionally, we aimed to measure effects of doxorubicin and topotecan (TPT) and 14G2a on expression of a novel human NDUFAF2 gene encoding for mimitin protein (MYC-induced mitochondrial protein) and correlate it with expression of the MYCN gene. We showed that expression of both genes was concomitantly decreased in the 14G2a-treated IMR-32 cells after 24 h and 48 h. Our results extend knowledge on gene expression profiles after application of DOX and 14G2a in our model and reveal promising candidates for further research aimed at finding novel anti-neuroblastoma targets

Statyny w raku jelita grubego

Statyny należą do związkow chemicznych pochodzenia naturalnego, wykazujących aktywność inhibicyjną wobec enzymu redukatazy 3-hydroksy-3-metylo-glutarylo-CoA. Tym samym, poprzez wywieranie korzystnego efektu na gospodarkę lipidową organizmu, należą do powszechnie stosowanych lekow w prewencji pierwotnej i wtornej chorob układu sercowo-naczyniowego. Ponadto w wielu dotychczasowych badaniach podejmowano temat korzyści terapii statynami w takich schorzeniach jak: endometrioza, osteoporoza, zespoł policystycznych jajnikow i choroby reumatyczne. Z uwagi na niekorzystne dane epidemiologiczne, wskazujące na stały wzrost zachorowalności na nowotwory złośliwe, coraz częściej podejmowane są badania na temat ewentualnej pozytywnej roli statyn w profilaktyce i leczeniu chorob onkologicznych, w tym raka jelita grubego. W prezentowanej pracy autorzy podjęli probę syntezy dotychczasowej wiedzy na temat znaczenia terapii statynami w rozwoju, przebiegu i leczeniu raka jelita grubego, z uwzględnieniem danych epidemiologicznych oraz obserwacji klinicznych. Z uwagi na udokumentowany związek występowania zaburzeń metabolicznych z rozwojem raka jelita grubego szczegolny nacisk położono na analizę udziału statyn w szlakach sygnałowych związanych z insulinopodobnymi czynnikami wzrostu