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Jakość życia a sprawność funkcjonalna chorych na stwardnienie rozsiane

Background. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease and the most common one influencing central nervous system. It is a con­dition that significantly impairs the patient’s life. It deteriorates functional abilities in all aspects of daily life, and thus worsens the quality of life.Aim. The aim of the study was to evaluate functional capacity in patients with multiple sclerosis and its impact on quality of life.Materials and methods. The study was covered by 50 people. The tests were carried out using a diagnostic survey. Usedresearch tools were interview questionnaires for socio-demographic data and standardized research tools: ADL and IADL scale and the scale of Quality of Life WHOQOL-BREF. For statistical analysis of the correlation the coefficient test Spearman’s rho-test and Kolmogorov-Smirnov were used. Statistical significance of differences was determined at a confidence level of p<0.05.Results. The study included men and women. Women accounted for the majority of the study population — 64%, andonly 33% of the respondents were men. The vast majority of respondents lived with the family — 78%. Among the respondents, 86% had suffered over 20 years, only 14% of respondents had suffered no more than 10 years. Analyses have shown that the test people were more efficient in terms of basic and complex activities of daily living, the higher they assessed the quality of their own lives.Conclusions.1.A statistically significant correlation was shown between the assessment of quality of life and the exercise of the basic activities of daily living for people with multiple sclerosis.2.Statistically significant differences were observed between the assessment of quality of life and performance ofcomplex activities of daily living for people with multiple sclerosis.3.No statistically significant relationship was observed between the duration of the disease and the assessment ofthequality of life in various fields according to scale WHOQOL-Bref. (PNN 2013; 2(5): 188–194)Wprowadzenie. Stwardnienie rozsiane to przewlekła i najczęstsza choroba ośrodkowego układu nerwowego. Jest schorzeniem, które znacznie zaburza życie chorego. Pogarsza sprawność funkcjonalną we wszystkich aspektach życia codziennego, a co za tym idzie, pogarsza także jakość życia.Cel. Celem pracy była ocena sprawności funkcjonalnej chorych na stwardnienie rozsiane i jej wpływ na jakość życia.Materiał i metody. Badaniem zostało objętych 50 osób. Badania zostały przeprowadzone metodą sondażu diagnostycznego. Użyte narzędzia badawcze to kwestionariusz wywiadu dla danych socjodemograficznych oraz standaryzowane narzędzia badawcze: skala ADL i IADL, a także Skala Jakości Życia WHOQOL-BREF. Do analizy statystycznej wykorzystano test współczynnika korelacji rho-Spearmana i test Kołmogorowa-Smirnowa. Istotność statystyczną różnic określono na poziomie ufności p<0,05.Wyniki. W badaniu brali udział mężczyźni i kobiety. Kobiety stanowiły większość badanej populacji — 64%, a tylko 33% badanych stanowili mężczyźni. Zdecydowana większość badanych osób mieszkała z rodziną — 78%. Wśród badanych86% chorowało powyżej 20 lat, tylko 14% respondentów chorowało nie dłużej niż 10 lat. Analizy wykazały, że im badane osoby były bardziej sprawne w zakresie podstawowych i złożonych czynności życia codziennego, tym wyżej oceniały jakość własnego życia.Wnioski.1.Wykazano istotną statystycznie zależność pomiędzy oceną jakości życia a wykonywaniem podstawowych czynności życia codziennego przez osoby chore na stwardnienie rozsiane.2.Wykazano istotne statystycznie różnice między oceną jakości życia a wykonywaniem złożonych czynności życia codziennego przez osoby chore na stwardnienie rozsiane.3.Nie wykazano istotnych statystycznie zależności pomiędzy czasem trwania choroby a oceną jakości życia w poszczególnych dziedzinach skali WHOQOL-Bref. (PNN 2013; 2(5): 188–194

The self-care of diabetics : the role of a nurse

Chorzy na cukrzycę powinni stać się samowystarczalni w zakresie kontroli stężenia glukozy we krwi oraz wstrzyknięć insuliny do tkanki podskórnej. Posiadanie tych umiejętności nie uzależnia ich od innych osób. Stawiają się w komfortowej sytuacji, jaką jest zdolność do samoopieki. Wychodząc naprzeciw tej tezie autorzy omawiają korzystanie ze strzykawki do wstrzyknięć insuliny, charakteryzują obsługę automatycznych wstrzykiwaczy ( PEN-ów). Przedstawiają także nowoczesne rozwiązania techniczne stosowane w leczeniu chorych na cukrzycę insulinozależną.Diabetics should become self-sufficient as far as controlling their glucose level and injecting insulin to the subcutaneous tissue are concerned. Having these skill makes them independent from the help of others. It puts them in a convenient position of being capable of self-care. With the intention of exploring this matter, the authors discuss using the syringe to inject insulin and characterize the use of automatic injectors (pens). They also present modern technological solutions used for treating the insulin-dependent diabetics

Micro-CT study of male genitalia and reproductive system of the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, 1908 (Insecta: Hemiptera, Liviidae)

The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), Diaphorina citri, is a major vector of the bacteria Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus and C.L. americanus, which cause Huanglongbing disease (HLB) (aka Citrus greening disease), considered the most serious bacterial disease of citrus trees. As part of a multidisciplinary project on psyllid biology (www.citrusgreening.org), the results presented here concern a detailed anatomical study of the male reproductive system (testes, seminal vesicles, accessory glands, sperm pump, connecting ducts, and aedeagus) using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). The study summarizes current knowledge on psyllids male reproductive system and represents significant advances in the knowledge of ACP anatomy.This work was supported by USDA-NIFA Award 2014-70016-23028 ªDeveloping an Infrastructure and Product Test Pipeline to Deliver Novel Therapies for Citrus Greening Diseaseº, 2015-2020

Interrogation of the perturbed gut microbiota in gouty arthritis patients through in silico metabolic modeling

Recent studies have shown perturbed gut microbiota associated with gouty arthritis, a metabolic disease characterized by an imbalance between uric acid production and excretion. To mechanistically investigate altered microbiota metabolism associated with gout disease, 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequence data from stool samples of gout patients and healthy controls were computationally analyzed through bacterial community metabolic models. Patient-specific community models constructed with the metagenomics modeling pipeline, mgPipe, were used to perform k-means clustering of samples according to their metabolic capabilities. The clustering analysis generated statistically significant partitioning of samples into a Bacteroides-dominated, high gout cluster and a Faecalibacterium-elevated, low gout cluster. The high gout cluster was predicted to allow elevated synthesis of the amino acids D-alanine and L-alanine and byproducts of branched-chain amino acid catabolism, while the low gout cluster allowed higher production of butyrate, the sulfur-containing amino acids L-cysteine and L-methionine, and the L-cysteine catabolic product H2S. By expanding the capabilities of mgPipe to provide taxa-level resolution of metabolite exchange rates, acetate, D-lactate and succinate exchanged from Bacteroides to Faecalibacterium were predicted to enhance butyrate production in the low gout cluster. Model predictions suggested that sulfur-containing amino acid metabolism generally and H2S more specifically could be novel gout disease markers

Genome biology of the paleotetraploid perennial biomass crop Miscanthus

Miscanthus is a perennial wild grass that is of global importance for paper production, roofing, horticultural plantings, and an emerging highly productive temperate biomass crop. We report a chromosome-scale assembly of the paleotetraploid M. sinensis genome, providing a resource for Miscanthus that links its chromosomes to the related diploid Sorghum and complex polyploid sugarcanes. The asymmetric distribution of transposons across the two homoeologous subgenomes proves Miscanthus paleo-allotetraploidy and identifies several balanced reciprocal homoeologous exchanges. Analysis of M. sinensis and M. sacchariflorus populations demonstrates extensive interspecific admixture and hybridization, and documents the origin of the highly productive triploid bioenergy crop M. x giganteus. Transcriptional profiling of leaves, stem, and rhizomes over growing seasons provides insight into rhizome development and nutrient recycling, processes critical for sustainable biomass accumulation in a perennial temperate grass. The Miscanthus genome expands the power of comparative genomics to understand traits of importance to Andropogoneae grasses

Genetic complexity of miscanthus cell wall composition and biomass quality for biofuels

BACKGROUND: Miscanthus sinensis is a high yielding perennial grass species with great potential as a bioenergy feedstock. One of the challenges that currently impedes commercial cellulosic biofuel production is the technical difficulty to efficiently convert lignocellulosic biomass into biofuel. The development of feedstocks with better biomass quality will improve conversion efficiency and the sustainability of the value-chain. Progress in the genetic improvement of biomass quality may be substantially expedited by the development of genetic markers associated to quality traits, which can be used in a marker-assisted selection program. RESULTS: To this end, a mapping population was developed by crossing two parents of contrasting cell wall composition. The performance of 182 F1 offspring individuals along with the parents was evaluated in a field trial with a randomized block design with three replicates. Plants were phenotyped for cell wall composition and conversion efficiency characters in the second and third growth season after establishment. A new SNP-based genetic map for M. sinensis was built using a genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) approach, which resulted in 464 short-sequence uniparental markers that formed 16 linkage groups in the male map and 17 linkage groups in the female map. A total of 86 QTLs for a variety of biomass quality characteristics were identified, 20 of which were detected in both growth seasons. Twenty QTLs were directly associated to different conversion efficiency characters. Marker sequences were aligned to the sorghum reference genome to facilitate cross-species comparisons. Analyses revealed that for some traits previously identified QTLs in sorghum occurred in homologous regions on the same chromosome. CONCLUSION: In this work we report for the first time the genetic mapping of cell wall composition and bioconversion traits in the bioenergy crop miscanthus. These results are a first step towards the development of marker-assisted selection programs in miscanthus to improve biomass quality and facilitate its use as feedstock for biofuel production

High-throughput field phenotyping using hyperspectral reflectance and partial least squares regression (PLSR) reveals genetic modifications to photosynthetic capacity

Spectroscopy is becoming an increasingly powerful tool to alleviate the challenges of traditional measurements of key plant traits at the leaf, canopy, and ecosystem scales. Spectroscopic methods often rely on statistical approaches to reduce data redundancy and enhance useful prediction of physiological traits. Given the mechanistic uncertainty of spectroscopic techniques, genetic modification of plant biochemical pathways may affect reflectance spectra causing predictive models to lose power. The objectives of this research were to assess over two separate years, whether a predictive model can represent natural and imposed variation in leaf photosynthetic potential for different crop cultivars and genetically modified plants, to assess the interannual capabilities of a partial least square regression (PLSR) model, and to determine whether leaf N is a dominant driver of photosynthesis in PLSR models. In 2016, a PLSR analysis of reflectance spectra coupled with gas exchange data was used to build predictive models for photosynthetic parameters including maximum carboxylation rate of Rubisco (Vc,max), maximum electron transport rate (Jmax) and percentage leaf nitrogen ([N]). The model was developed for wild type and genetically modified plants that represent a wide range of photosynthetic capacities. Results show that hyperspectral reflectance accurately predicted Vc,max, Jmax and [N] for all plants measured in 2016. Applying these PLSR models to plants grown in 2017 resulted in a strong predictive ability relative to gas exchange measurements for Vc,max, but not for Jmax, and not for genotypes unique to 2017. Building a new model including data collected in 2017 resulted in more robust predictions, with R2 increases of 17% for Vc,max. and 13% Jmax. Plants generally have a positive correlation between leaf nitrogen and photosynthesis, however, tobacco with reduced Rubisco (SSuD) had significantly higher [N] despite much lower Vc,max. The PLSR model was able to accurately predict both lower Vc,max and higher leaf [N] for this genotype suggesting that the spectral based estimates of Vc,max and leaf nitrogen [N] are independent. These results suggest that the PLSR model can be applied across years, but only to genotypes used to build the model and that the actual mechanism measured with the PLSR technique is not directly related to leaf [N]. The success of the leaf-scale analysis suggests that similar approaches may be successful at the canopy and ecosystem scales but to use these methods across years and between genotypes at any scale, application of accurately populated physical based models based on radiative transfer principles may be required