Planck pre-launch status : The Planck mission

Peer reviewe

Chosen problems of Polish legislation on transport of dangerous materials

W artykule omówiono postęp w latach 2000-2010 w prawodawstwie polskim w odniesieniu do problematyki wybranych zagadnień transportu towarów niebezpiecznych. Szczególny nacisk położony został na omówienie takich kwestii, jak dobór trasy przewozu i jej nadzór, kontrola transportu drogowego towarów niebezpiecznych czy parkingi dla pojazdów przewożących materiały niebezpieczne.Progress in the years 2000-2010 in chosen problems of Polish legislation on transport of dangerous materials has been discussed. Special focus was put on aspects such as transport route selection and supervision, road transportation of dangerous materials control and parking lots designed to host rucks carrying hazardous substances

Occupational Safety and Health in Poland in the 1990s: A Regulatory System Adapting to Societal Transformation

The societal transformation underway in Poland created a fundamental challenge to the occupational health and safety system, as the ideological and administrative principles on which it was founded vanished along with the communist-dominated regime. This paper examines the regulatory reform in Poland during the 1990s: its structural elements, implementation record and future prospects. Drawing on five case studies of privatized firms, a mailed questionnaire, and policy and institutional analysis, we find that Poland had considerable success in developing an effective regulatory system for managing occupational health hazards in privatized sector while also achieving considerable socioeconomic progress. The fundamental legitimacy of the regulators and regulatory process, the availabiliy of information about firms and regulatory intents, and the capacity for case-specific decision making, are among the key explanatory factors. The case-specific implementation in Poland is consistent with models advocated by several authors in relation to other industrialized European economies (termed variously as negotiated compliance,\u27 \u27tit-for-tat,\u27 cooperation-deterrence),despite a uniquely Polish context related to the continuing legacy of the communist era. The study shows how in Poland a good \u27fit\u27 between regulatory institutions and policies on he one hand, and their social context on the other hand, contributes to the effectiveness of the regulatory system

The Environmental Regulation of Privatized Industry in Poland

The authors examine the operation of the environmental protection system in Poland. Drawing upon the results of a mailed questionnaire survey of privatized manufacturing firms, they investigate the degree to which Poland has been successful in strengthening its environmental regulatory system. In general, the survey data reveal an operational system of environmental protection that is an amalgam of traditional command-and-control regulation and flexible enforcement that is well suited to the current political and economic conditions of Poland. Among the features of this regulatory system, which supports improved environmental performance for privatized firms, are a tough system of facility licensing, a flexible approach to compliance, good information availability at the local level, and broad agreement as to the legitimacy of environmental protection among firms in Poland. The authors stress the importance of matching regulatory strategy to societal context

Putative Structural and Functional Coupling of the Mitochondrial BKCa Channel to the Respiratory Chain.

Potassium channels have been found in the inner mitochondrial membranes of various cells. These channels regulate the mitochondrial membrane potential, the matrix volume and respiration. The activation of these channels is cytoprotective. In our study, the single-channel activity of a large-conductance Ca(2+)-regulated potassium channel (mitoBKCa channel) was measured by patch-clamping mitoplasts isolated from the human astrocytoma (glioblastoma) U-87 MG cell line. A potassium-selective current was recorded with a mean conductance of 290 pS in symmetrical 150 mM KCl solution. The channel was activated by Ca(2+) at micromolar concentrations and by the potassium channel opener NS1619. The channel was inhibited by paxilline and iberiotoxin, known inhibitors of BKCa channels. Western blot analysis, immuno-gold electron microscopy, high-resolution immunofluorescence assays and polymerase chain reaction demonstrated the presence of the BKCa channel β4 subunit in the inner mitochondrial membrane of the human astrocytoma cells. We showed that substrates of the respiratory chain, such as NADH, succinate, and glutamate/malate, decrease the activity of the channel at positive voltages. This effect was abolished by rotenone, antimycin and cyanide, inhibitors of the respiratory chain. The putative interaction of the β4 subunit of mitoBKCa with cytochrome c oxidase was demonstrated using blue native electrophoresis. Our findings indicate possible structural and functional coupling of the mitoBKCa channel with the mitochondrial respiratory chain in human astrocytoma U-87 MG cells

Effects of TMPD/ascorbate on mitoBK_Ca channel activity.

<p><b>A.</b> Single-channel recordings of the mitoBK_Ca channel activity in symmetric 150/150 mM KCl isotonic solution (200 µM Ca²⁺) at +40 and −40 mV under control conditions, after the addition of 250 µM TMPD with 500 µM Ascorbate (Asc) and after perfusion. <b>B.</b> Analysis of the probability of channel opening under the conditions described in A. *P<0.01 vs. the control.</p