Project-based work and sustainable development : a comparative case study of cultural animation projects

Currently, a growing interest in the issues related to sustainable development can be observed, with the role of culture in stimulating this development increasing simultaneously. Nevertheless, the function and meanings of culture for sustainable development, as well as culture in the context of sustainable development, have so far remained under-emphasised and under-theorised. For this reason, in this paper we will look at practical examples of culture and sustainable development combined. The undertaken research problem explores the project-based work in the field of cultural animation, and its impact on the pursuit of the objectives of sustainable development at the local level. Two case studies of Polish organisations involved in cultural animation activities have been analysed herein. Based on the research results, we showed that cultural animation is an important tool for enabling local communities to achieve sustainable development. What is also important is the fact that cultural animation activities often take the form of project-based work, which significantly affects the methodology and extent of their implementation. Therefore, in this article we also point to the relationship between the management of animation projects and the idea of sustainable development, emphasising both advantages and disadvantages thereof

Large prospective validation and cultural adaptation of the Polish version of the Swiss Spinal Stenosis Questionnaire for patients with lumbar spinal stenosis

Objective The aim of this prospective cohort study was to translate, validate and perform a cultural adaptation of the Polish version of the Swiss Spinal Stenosis Questionnaire (P-SSSQ), a disease-specific questionnaire for assessing symptom severity, physical function and satisfaction with treatment in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). Material and methods Patients were prospectively recruited at two orthopedic centres in Krakow, Poland, between January 2011 – October 2016. During the interview, each patient completed the P-SSSQ, SF-36 Health Survey, and a demographic data questionnaire. After translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and pilot testing, assessment was made of the internal consistency, test–retest reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness of the P-SSSQ subscales. Results Finally, 171 consecutive patients were included in the study. Cronbach’s alpha and ICC values were above 0.8 for all three subscales of the P-SSSQ. The symptom severity domain was highly negatively correlated with physical functioning and bodily pain of SF-36, with Pearson correlation coefficients of -0.68 and -0.63, respectively. The physical function domain was highly negatively correlated with physical functioning (r = -0.62). The satisfaction subscale was also highly negatively correlated with the change in the symptom severity (r = −0.61) and physical function scale (r = −0.65). Conclusions The proposed version of the P-SSSQ showed excellent measurement properties and can be considered validated for use in Polish. It is easy to understand, quick to complete, and the psychometric properties of the original version are maintained

Plutonium, 90Sr and 241Am in human bones from southern and northeastern parts of Poland

The paper presents the results of our study on 238Pu, 239Pu, 240Pu, 241Am and 90Sr concentration in human bones carried out on a set of 88 individual samples of central Europe origin. Bone tissue samples were retrieved under surgery while introducing hip joint implants. The conducted surgeries tend to cover either southern or northeastern parts of Poland. While for the southern samples only global fallout was expected to be seen, a mixed global and Chernobyl fallout were to be reflected in the others. Alpha spectrometry was applied to obtain activity concentration for 238Pu, 239?240Pu, 241Am, while liquid scintillation spectrometry for 90Sr and mass spectrometry to receive 240Pu/239Pu mass ratio. Surprisingly enough, and to the contrary to our expectations we could not see any significant differences in either Pu activity or Pu mass ratio between the studied populations. In both populations Chernobyl fraction proved marginal. The results on 90Sr and 241Am confirm similarities between the two examined groups

Bacterial putative metacaspase structure from Geobacter sulfureducens as a template for homology modeling of type II Triticum aestivum metacaspase (TaeMCAII)

Metacaspases, cysteine proteases belonging to the peptidase C14 family, are suspected of being involved in the programmed cell death of plants, although their sequences and substrate specificity differ from those of animal caspases. At present, the knowledge on the metacaspase reaction mechanism is based only on biochemical data and homology models constructed on caspase templates. Here we propose a novel template for metacaspase modeling and demonstrate important advantages in comparison to the conventionally used caspase templates. We also point out the connection between plant and bacterial metacaspases, underlining the prokaryotic roots of Programmed Cell Death (PCD)

Projekt koncepcyjny zagospodarowania siedliska wiejskiego na południowym Mazowszu

Celem pracy było opracowanie projektu koncepcyjnego siedliska wiejskiego w miejscowości Bukówno, gm. Radzanów. W projekcie uwzględniono elementy charakterystyczne dla wsi położonej w regionie Ziemi Białobrzeskiej, na południowym Mazowszu. Ogród zajmuje powierzchnię 2600 m2. Na terenie przeprowadzono inwentaryzację szaty roślinnej, analizę wybranych elementów środowiska i powiązań widokowych, a na podstawie uzyskanych informacji wykonano projekt zagospodarowania działki

Ultrasound presentation of abdominal non-Hodgkin lymphomas in pediatric patients

Introduction: Burkitt’s lymphoma accounts for approximately 25% of lymphomas diagnosed in children of developmental age. The tumor is localized mainly in the intestine (usually in the ileocecal region), mesenteric lymph nodes and extraperitoneal space. The clinical symptoms are non-specifi c and include: abdominal pain, vomiting, gastrointestinal bleeding, and acute abdomen suggesting appendicitis or intestinal intussusception. On ultrasound examination, Burkitt’s lymphoma may manifest itself in various ways, depending on the origin of the lesion. Aim: The aim of this paper was to review the ultrasound manifestation of abdominal Burkitt’s lymphoma in children. Material and methods: The analysis included 15 pediatric patients with Burkitt’s non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the abdominal cavity. The mean age of the patients was 9.5. Abdominal and gastrointestinal ultrasound examinations were conducted using a Siemens scanner with a convex transducer of 3.5–5 MHz and linear array transducer of L4 – 7.5 MHz. Results: Ultrasound examinations conducted in the group of 15 patients revealed pathological masses localized in the gastric wall in 3 patients (20%), in the ileocecal region in 10 patients (67%) and a disseminated process in 2 patients (13%). In 12 patients with a diagnosed Burkitt’s non-Hodgkin lymphoma in an extragastric localization, differences in the morphology of the lesions were observed. Conclusions: The clinical and ultrasound picture of abdominal Burkitt’s lymphoma in children is variable. A careful ultrasound assessment of all abdominal organs conducted with the use of convex and linear probes increases the chances of establishing an adequate diagnosis.Wprowadzenie: Chłoniak nieziarniczy Burkitta stanowi około 25% chłoniaków wieku rozwojowego. Guz ten lokalizuje się głównie w jelitach (z predyspozycją do okolicy krętniczo- -kątniczej), w węzłach chłonnych krezki i przestrzeni pozaotrzewnowej. Objawy kliniczne choroby są niespecyficzne: bóle brzucha, wymioty, krwawienie z przewodu pokarmowego, objawy ostrego brzucha sugerujące zapalenie wyrostka robaczkowego lub wgłobienie jelitowe. W badaniu ultrasonograficznym jamy brzusznej chłoniak Burkitta może mieć różną manifestację, co wiąże się z punktem wyjścia zmiany. Cel pracy: Celem pracy jest przedstawienie obrazu ultrasonograficznego chłoniaków Burkitta jamy brzusznej u dzieci. Materiał i metoda: Analizie poddano 15 dzieci z chłoniakiem nieziarniczym Burkitta jamy brzusznej. Średnia wieku pacjentów wynosiła 9,5 roku. Badania ultrasonograficzne jamy brzusznej oraz przewodu pokarmowego wykonano aparatem Siemens, stosując głowicę convex 3,5–5 MHz i liniową L4 – 7,5 MHz. Wyniki: W badaniu ultrasonograficznym w analizowanej grupie 15 pacjentów u 3 (20%) patologiczna masa zlokalizowana była w ścianie żołądka, u 10 (67%) w okolicy krętniczo-kątniczej, u 2 (13%) proces był rozsiany w jamie brzusznej. U 12 pacjentów z rozpoznanym nieziarniczym chłoniakiem Burkitta w lokalizacji pozażołądkowej stwierdzono różną morfologię zmian w obrazie ultrasonograficznym. Wnioski: Obraz kliniczny oraz ultrasonograficzny chłoniaka Burkitta jamy brzusznej u dzieci może się różnie manifestować. Dokładna ocena w badaniu ultrasonograficznym wszystkich narządów jamy brzusznej głowicami convex i liniową zwiększa szanse prawidłowego rozpoznania