Folic acid - influence on male fertility, spermatogenesis, sperm DNA fragmentation and subsequent growth of the embryo and fetus

Introduction: Men's infertility is a multifactorial disorder. According to scientific literature, among men with reduced fertility, growing interest in folic acid is observed. This review describes the effect of folic acid on spermatogenesis, sperm concentration, sperm DNA fragmentation and the growth of the embryo and fetus. Material and methods: The work was based on the articles published in PubMed, medical books and websites. Results: Folic acid affects the trajectory of embryo growth in pregnancy conceived spontaneously, there is a negative correlation between the concentration of folic acid in the semen and the indicator of sperm DNA fragmentation and sperm concentration are statistically higher in folic acid supplements. Conclusions: The results suggest that the father's exposure to folic acid before conception may affect the health of his offspring, and therefore care before conception should be changed from an approach focused on a woman to a couple-based approach

TOT and TVT as surgical methods of treatment of stress urinary incontinence in women - meta-analysis

Introduction: Urinary incontinence can affect up to 50% of women in the world. The most common is stress incontinence, which consists in involuntary, uncontrolled urination when the pressure in the abdominal cavity increases. Among the most commonly used methods of treating stress urinary incontinence there are treatments using a synthetic tape - TOT and TVT. In this work, both methods were compared in terms of e.g. their effectiveness, the presence of complications, the safety of both procedures and the method of performing both procedures. Material and methods: The work was based on the articles published in PubMed, medical books and websites. Results: Both TOT and TVT in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence are highly effective. Both short-term and long-term treatment results of both methods are very good and very similar. In the case of TOT, the subjective cure <1 year is 62-98%, where with TVT - 71-97%. Subjective long-term cure (>5 years) was 43-92% with TOT and 51-88% with TVT. The incidence of complications after TOT is significantly lower, but there is a higher probability of having to perform a repeat procedure to treat stress urinary incontinence. TVT has a lower risk of reoperation in >5 years (1.1%) but has a higher risk of chronic perineal pain. Conclusions: The placement of a tension-free TVT or TOT tape should be the surgery of choice for women with simple stress urinary incontinence. However, there is a higher risk of chronic perineal pain 12 months after having a tape placed behind the symphysis. The technique of passing the tapes through the obturator holes is associated with a lower risk of bladder injury and less discomfort during bladder emptying compared to the TVT technique. After TOT surgery both pain in the inner thighs and inguinal area and vaginal damage are more common than after TVT

Effects of scaling direction on adults’ spatial scaling in different perceptual domains

Abstract The current study investigated adults’ strategies of spatial scaling from memory in three perceptual conditions (visual, haptic, and visuo-haptic) when scaling up and down. Following previous research, we predicted the usage of mental transformation strategies. In all conditions, participants (N = 90, aged 19–28 years) were presented with tactile, colored graphics which allowed to visually and haptically explore spatial information. Participants were first asked to encode a map including a target. Then, they were instructed to place a response object at the same place on an empty, constant-sized referent space. Maps had five different sizes resulting in five scaling factors (3:1, 2:1, 1:1, 1:2, 1:3). This manipulation also allowed assessing potentially symmetric effects of scaling direction on adults’ responses. Response times and absolute errors served as dependent variables. In line with our hypotheses, the changes in these dependent variables were best explained by a quadratic function which suggests the usage of mental transformation strategies for spatial scaling. There were no differences between perceptual conditions concerning the influence of scaling factor on dependent variables. Results revealed symmetric effects of scaling direction on participants’ accuracy whereas there were small differences for response times. Our findings highlight the usage of mental transformation strategies in adults’ spatial scaling, irrespective of perceptual modality and scaling direction

Dataset on spatial scaling in visual and haptic domains

Dataset from original study to be published in Scientific Reports. The article is entilted "Effects of scaling direction on adults’ spatial scaling in different perceptual domains"</p

The Effect of Combining Natural Terpenes and Antituberculous Agents against Reference and Clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis Strains

Background: On account of emergence of multi- and extensively drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) strains, combinations of drugs with natural compounds were tested to search for antibiotic activity enhancers. In this work we studied terpenes (α-pinene, bisabolol, β-elemene, (R)-limonene, (S)-limonene, myrcene, sabinene), which are the main constituents of essential oil obtained from Mutellina purpurea L., a plant with described antitubercular activity, to investigate their interactions with antibiotics against reference Mtb strains and multidrug-resistant clinical isolates. Methods: The serial dilution method was used to evaluate the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of tested compounds, while the fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) was calculated for characterization of interactions. Moreover, IC50 values of tested compounds were determined using monkey kidney epithelial cell line (GMK). Results: The combinations of all studied terpenes with ethambutol or rifampicin resulted in a synergistic interaction. Bisabolol and (R)-limonene decreased the MIC for rifampicin at least two-fold for all tested strains, however no synergistic action was observed against virulent strains. The tested terpenes showed slight (bisabolol) or no cytotoxic effect against normal eukaryotic cells in vitro. Conclusions: The obtained enhanced activity (FICI &lt; 0.5) of ethambutol and rifampicin against H37Ra strain under the influence of the studied terpenes may be correlated to the capability of essential oil constituents to modify bacterial resistance mechanisms in general. The observed differences in avirulent and virulent bacteria susceptibility to terpenes tested separately and in combinations with antibiotics can be correlated with the differences in the cell wall structure between H37Ra mutant and all virulent strains

Engineering–geological investigation of the river bottom near a dam’s stabilization threshold based on two different evaluation methodologies

The article concerns engineering and geological studies of the river bed near the threshold stabilizing the water flow of the Wloclawek hydroelectric power plant in Poland. We paid attention to the differences in river erosion behind the dam, as one section of the study area was dominated by erosion of potholes and the other by sedimentation of river material. A protective threshold (partly concrete, partly gabion) was built to stabilize the water flow and optimize the hydrological regime near the dam. As a result of the erosion process (behind part of the hydroelectric power plant) and sedimentation (behind part of the weir), this threshold is constantly being destroyed. This threatens uncontrolled changes in water level, instability of water masses and, consequently, constitutes a threat to the stability of the hydrotechnical structure. The principal aim of the study is to propose a new methodology to perform a risk assessment and to indicate how to protect the threshold structure. Initially, geodetic and bathymetric measurements were performed of the river bed, potholes and the threshold. Then the results were analysed, the risks were estimated and two independent risk assessment procedures were proposed. One suggestion concerning the area of potholes was to backfill them to protect the threshold made of concrete slabs. In the second section, there is a sedimentation of the river material around the gabion threshold, which is damaged, especially during flooding. To protect this gabion threshold, a different approach has been taken of modelling the water flow based on digital bottom models (DBMs). An engineering-geological investigation of one river bottom benefited from two types of protection features (a concrete threshold and gabion threshold) using two different methodologies to evaluate hazard and design subsequent protection of the thresholds. The results of our study support the structure's managers in maintaining its safety.Web of Science811art. no. 2

DataSheet1_Anticancer potential of acetone extracts from selected Potentilla species against human colorectal cancer cells.docx

Cinquefoils have been widely used in local folk medicine in Europe and Asia to manage various gastrointestinal inflammations and/or infections, certain forms of cancer, thyroid gland disorders, and wound healing. In the present paper, acetone extracts from aerial parts of selected Potentilla species, namely P. alba (PAL7), P. argentea (PAR7), P. grandiflora (PGR7), P. norvegica (PN7), P. recta (PRE7), and the closely related Drymocalis rupestris (syn. P. rupestris) (PRU7), were analysed for their cytotoxicity and antiproliferative activities against human colon adenocarcinoma cell line LS180 and human colon epithelial cell line CCD841 CoN. Moreover, quantitative assessments of the total polyphenolic (TPC), total tannin (TTC), total proanthocyanidins (TPrC), total flavonoid (TFC), and total phenolic acid (TPAC) were conducted. The analysis of secondary metabolite composition was carried out by LC-PDA-HRMS. The highest TPC and TTC were found in PAR7 (339.72 and 246.92 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g extract, respectively) and PN7 (332.11 and 252.3 mg GAE/g extract, respectively). The highest TPrC, TFC, and TPAC levels were found for PAL7 (21.28 mg catechin equivalents (CAT)/g extract, 71.85 mg rutin equivalents (RE)/g extract, and 124.18 mg caffeic acid equivalents (CAE)/g extract, respectively). LC-PDA-HRMS analysis revealed the presence of 83 compounds, including brevifolincarboxylic acid, ellagic acid, pedunculagin, agrimoniin, chlorogenic acid, astragalin, and tiliroside. Moreover, the presence of tri-coumaroyl spermidine was demonstrated for the first time in the genus Potentilla. Results of the MTT assay revealed that all tested extracts decreased the viability of both cell lines; however, a markedly stronger effect was observed in the colon cancer cells. The highest selectivity was demonstrated by PAR7, which effectively inhibited the metabolic activity of LS180 cells (IC50 = 38 μg/ml), while at the same time causing the lowest unwanted effects in CCD841 CoN cells (IC50 = 1,134 μg/ml). BrdU assay revealed a significant decrease in DNA synthesis in both examined cell lines in response to all investigated extracts. It should be emphasized that the tested extracts had a stronger effect on colon cancer cells than normal colon cells, and the most significant antiproliferative properties were observed in the case of PAR7 (IC50 LS180 = 174 μg/ml) and PN7 (IC50 LS180 = 169 μg/ml). The results of LDH assay revealed that all tested extracts were not cytotoxic against normal colon epithelial cells, whereas in the cancer cells, all compounds significantly damaged cell membranes, and the observed effect was dose-dependent. The highest cytotoxicity was observed in LS180 cells in response to PAR7, which, in concentrations ranging from 25 to 250 μg/ml, increased LDH release by 110%–1,062%, respectively. Performed studies have revealed that all Potentilla species may be useful sources for anti-colorectal cancer agents; however, additional research is required to prove this definitively.</p

Molecular Characterization of Rifampin- and Isoniazid-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Strains Isolated in Poland

A total of 105 rifampin (RMP)- and/or isoniazid (INH)-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from different parts of Poland in 2000 were screened for mutations associated with resistance to these drugs by two molecular methods, namely sequence analysis and real-time PCR technology. Three loci associated with drug resistance were selected for characterization: they were rpoB (RMP), katG, and the regulatory region of inhA (INH). Nineteen different mutations were identified in 64 RMP-resistant strains, and five new alleles were described. The most common point mutations were in codons 531 (41%), 516 (16%), and 526 (9%) of the rpoB gene. Mutations were not found in two (3%) of the isolates. In the case of resistance to INH, six different mutations in the katG gene of 83 resistant strains were detected. Fifty-seven (69%) isolates exhibited nucleotide substitutions at codon 315. One strain harbored a mutation affecting codon 279 (Gly279Thr). Twelve of 26 INH-resistant strains with the wild-type codon 315 (14.5% of all strains tested) had the mutation −15C→T in the regulatory region of inhA. A full correlation between the DNA sequence analysis and real-time PCR data was obtained. We conclude that the real-time PCR method is fast and reliable for the detection of RMP and INH resistance-associated mutations in M. tuberculosis clinical isolates