Biomechanical Simulation of Peyronie’s Disease

A pathological disorder of human penile function, known as Peyronie’s disease, is characterized by the formation of plaque particles within the tunica albuginea. The plagues in the shape of rigid plate form in the scars as a result of the imperfect healing process. Due to high stiffness, plagues are the source of pain and anomalous deformations during erectile penis function. The authors simulate the biomechanical behavior of the penile structure by a 3D finite element model. The numerical model is based on the real geometrical shape and the tissue structure with consideration of large nonlinear deformations. The penile erection is modeled by the initial strains imposed on the corpus cavernosa. The stress analysis is performed in a case study of various plague locations. The Peyronie’s syndrome manifested by the penis angular deviation simulated by the analysis is compared with the clinical data. The computational simulations provide a rational explanation for the clinical observations on patients. The objective is to apply the proposed modeling approach for the development and validation of treatment methods based on the application of shock waves

Characteristics of farm managers in Poland and selected Central-Eastern European Countries

Socio-demographic characteristics of farm managers in the European Union. Women – farm managers in the European Union. Socio-economic characteristics of farm managers in the Czech Republic. Managing the agricultural production of Ukraine: social and economic characteristics of the management staff. Analysis of the socio-demographic profile of the farm managers in Bulgaria. Socio-economic characteristics of farm managers in Romania and their implications upon farm performance. Transformation of socio-demographic characteristics of Polish managers of private farms in the conditions of growing competition in the light of field studies. Economic activity of managers of individual farms in Poland

An Outbreak of Trichophyton quinckeanum Zoonotic Infections in the Czech Republic Transmitted from Cats and Dogs

Trichophyton quinckeanum, a zoophilic dermatophyte mostly known as the causative agent of rodent favus, is relatively rarely reported to cause human infections. Indeed, no infections were detected in Czechia between 2012 and 2015 despite routine verification of species identification by ITS rDNA sequencing. By contrast, 25 human and 11 animal cases of infection were documented from December 2016 to December 2020 and the rates tended to grow every following year. Interestingly, most of the cases were reported in the Olomouc region, suggesting a local outbreak. We bring the evidence that human T. quinckeanum infections are most commonly contracted from infected cats or, less frequently, dogs. Although rodents or contaminated soil and environment could be the source of infection to cats and dogs, the occurrence of infections in multiple animals in the same household suggests direct transmission among animals. Confirmation of the identification by molecular methods is highly recommended due to morphological similarity with T. mentagrophytes/T. interdigitale. Antifungal susceptibility testing of isolates to eight antifungals was performed using EUCAST methodology (E.Def 11.0). Among the tested antifungals, terbinafine, amorolfine, ciclopirox and efinaconazole were most potent in vitro and elevated minimum inhibitory concentrations were obtained for fluconazole and ketoconazole

Structural changes in agriculture since EU accession in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary

The collaboration that has led to the publication of this book can be traced back to April 2013, when the Research Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics (VÚEPP) in Bratislava, Slovak Republic, approached the Research Institute of Agricultural Economics (AKI) in Budapest, Hungary, with a view to establishing a programme of bilateral cooperation. The approach was very positively received by AKI, and the idea rapidly developed into a plan for a series of trilateral cooperation activities that also included the Institute of Agricultural Economics and Information (IAEI) in Praha, Czech Republic. Representatives of the three institutes met in Budapest at the end of May, 2013 and agreed to work together to enhance mutual research collaboration in the field of agricultural economics, share information and discuss issues related to agricultural economics in the three countries, and establish a coordination group composed by members of the three research institutes. The cooperation was formalised through the signing, in December 2013, of a trilateral Agreement covering the period 2014-2016 covering the following topics: (a) publication of individual or common papers in the institutes’ journals or other journals, and exchange of journals between institutes; (b) exchange of experience via trilateral meetings of specialists; (c) cooperation with other scientific entities and support for affiliation to international networks or construction of a specific network in the institutes’ common field of research interest; (d) applications and participation in common international projects; and (e) participation at international meetings with common research/papers and cooperation in organisation of different international meetings. The three institutes agreed that this would be an excellent way to better disseminate, nationally and internationally, the results of their research work and to open new perspectives to future mutual cooperation. The centrepiece of the programme of cooperation was a trilateral research project entitled “The CAP Impact on the Effectiveness of Use of Agricultural Production Factors and the Economic Efficiency of Agricultural Production and Product Sectors in the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic and Hungary”. The general objective of this project has been: research on rural areas and the agrifood sector by sectoral analysis, country comparisons, identification of positive and negative influences on the rural and agricultural economy, dissemination of research results, and proposals for future policies in the field. Initially intended to cover four topics (implementation of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), agricultural land ownership and related issues, competitiveness and profitability of crop and animal production, and the efficiency of food industry production), further discussion led to eight topics of joint research being agreed