Occurrence of Gastro-Intestinal Parasites in Polish Primitive Horses from the Roztocze National Park, Poland

The study was performed to investigate the gastrointestinal parasite fauna using the method of diagnostic deworming in own modification in 29 Polish primitive horses (Equus caballus) from the Roztocze National Park, south-east of Poland. The parasite community was comprised of 35 species represented by three nematode families (Strongylidae, Ascaridae, Habronematidae), one cestode family (Anoplocephalidae) and larvae of insects from the family Gasterophilidae (Diptera). Strongylidae being 100 % prevalent was represented by 31 species from the subfamily Strongylinae (6 species) and Cyathostominae (25 species). Parascaris equorum was recorded in 48.3 %, Habronema muscae in 55.2 %, tapeworms (Anoplocephala perfoliata) in 24.1 % and Gasterophilus intestinalis larvae in 41.4 % of horses surveyed. The present results showed high prevalence of pathogenic intestinal parasites, which create the risk of health problems for horses living free in the reserve as well as stabled horses, when rarely treated.Обсуждаются результаты исследования желудочно-кишечной паразитофауны у 29 лошадей породы польський коник (Equus сaballus), которые разводятся в условиях вольного и конюшенного содержания в Розточанском национальном парке, что на юго-востоке Польши. При этом был использован метод диагностической дегельминтизации в собственной модификации. Выявлено, что сообщество паразитов состояло из 35 видов, которые были представлены семeйствами Strongylidae, Ascaridae, Habronematidae (Nematoda), Anoplocephalidae (Cestoda) и личинками насекомых из семейства Gasterophilidae (Diptera). Стронгилиды были найдены у всех исследованных лошадей (100 %) и представлены 31 видом из подсемейства Strongylinae (6 видов) и Cyathostominae (25 видов). Parascaris equorum был зафиксирован в 48,3 %, Habronema muscae в 55,2 %, ленточные черви (Anoplocephala perfoliata) в 24,1 % и личинки Gasterophilus intestinalis в 41,4 % исследованных лошадей. Полученные результаты выявили высокую распространенность патогенных кишечных паразитов, которые представляют опасность для здоровья лошадей в условиях вольного и конюшенного содержания, а также в случае нерегулярных антигельминтных обработок поголовья

Follow up Clinical Observations of a Patient with Replantation, Transplantation and Implantation

The paper presents the case of a young female patient treated with T.B.R. implants after unsuccessful replantation. The patient applied for the treatment in the Prosthodontic Department in January 1994, three months after the procedure of retained canine replantation. Before the replantation the patient had been treated with an orthodontic traction device, but the treatment was unsuccessful. The lack of bony restitution and permanent inflammation was the reason for canine extraction and immediate denture application. Bony defect after unsuccessful replantation and canine extraction was the reason for the surgical procedure of augmentation by transplantation from iliac bone 6 months later. Healing after bone augmentation was satisfactory and provided favourable conditions for implant installation. Two cylinder T.B.R. implants were placed in the region of the missing canines in September 1995. After 6 months the healing screws were connected to the implants. After 1 week a small correction of the gingival flap, pulling the mucous membrane on the labial surface, was made on the right side. Healing then proceeded without additional problems. The final prosthetic restorations were made in March 1996.The patient has a regular check-up. The implant mobility is measured with Periotest and depth of gingival pockets with Florida probe

Bacterial Communities Associated with Poa annua Roots in Central European (Poland) and Antarctic Settings (King George Island)

Abstract: Poa annua (annual bluegrass) is one of the most ubiquitous grass species in the world. In isolated regions of maritime Antarctica, it has become an invasive organism threatening native tundra communities. In this study, we have explored and compared the rhizosphere and rootendosphere dwelling microbial community of P. annua specimens of maritime Antarctic and Central European origin in terms of bacterial phylogenetic diversity and microbial metabolic activity with a geochemical soil background. Our results show that the rhizospheric bacterial community was unique for each sampling site, yet the endosphere communities were similar to each other. However, key plant-associated bacterial taxa such as the Rhizobiaceae family were poorly represented in Antarctic samples, probably due to high salinity and heavy metal concentrations in the soil. Metabolic activity in the Antarctic material was considerably lower than in Central European samples. Antarctic root endosphere showed unusually high numbers of certain opportunistic bacterial groups, which proliferated due to low competition conditions. Thirteen bacterial families were recognized in this study to form a core microbiome of the P. annua root endosphere. The most numerous were the Flavobacteriaceae, suspected to be major contributors to the ecological success of annual bluegrass, especially in harsh, Antarctic conditions

Współczesna rola echokardiografii w monitorowaniu kardiotoksyczności leków przeciwnowotworowych. Stanowisko grupy ekspertów polskiego Klinicznego Forum Obrazowania Serca i Naczyń

Recent oncology development results in significant reduction of morbidity and mortality of several kinds of cancer. Such great achievements are at the cost of frequent cardiotoxicity, which predominantly is manifested as cardiomyopathy, cardiac dysfunction and heart failure (HF). Cardiotoxicity may manifest early — during treatment or late — after treatment completion. There are type 1 — anthracycline-related and type 2 — trastuzumab-related cardiotoxicity. Early detection of cardiotoxicity is crucial for preventing late heart dysfunction and HF. Baseline echocardiographic assessment should be performed in every patient before initiation of cancer treatment and serial monitoring of cardiac safety by means of echocardiography is recommended. The most widely used for this purpose is left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) calculated by Simpson’s method with 2 dimensional transthoracic echocardiography. LVEF has numerous limitations, among which significant inter- and intraobserver variability, late decrease of LVEF with its often irreversibility are the most important. Noncontrast 3 dimesional echocardiography is the most reproducible technique for LVEF measurement. Newer echocardiographic technique — myocardial strain imaging has the potential to detect early subclinical cardiac dysfunction due to cardiotoxicity and may be used for the prediction of LV dysfunction. The role of other echocardiographic parameters, particularly of LV diastolic function has not been exactly defined in literature. The decision on discontinuation or modification of cancer therapy should be based on 2 improper, separate measurements of particular echocardiographic parameter or better more than 1 improper parameter should be taken into account. After completion of cancer treatment, echocardiography follow-up is recommended to detect late cardiotoxicity

Role of echocardiography in monitoring of cardiac toxicity of cancer pharmacotherapy. Expert consensus statement of the Polish Clinical Forum for Cardiovascular Imaging

Recent oncology development results in significant reduction of morbidity and mortality of several kinds of cancer. Such great achievements are at the cost of frequent cardiotoxicity, which predominantly is manifested as cardiomyopathy, cardiac dysfunction and heart failure (HF). Cardiotoxicity may manifest early — during treatment or late — after treatment completion. There are type 1 — anthracycline-related and type 2 — trastuzumab-related cardiotoxicity. Early detection of cardiotoxicity is crucial for preventing late heart dysfunction and HF. Baseline echocardiographic assessment should be performed in every patient before initiation of cancer treatment and serial monitoring of cardiac safety by means of echocardiography is recommended. The most widely used for this purpose is left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) calculated by Simpson’s method with 2 dimensional transthoracic echocardiography. LVEF has numerous limitations, among which significant inter- and intraobserver variability, late decrease of LVEF with its often irreversibility are the most important. Noncontrast 3 dimesional echocardiography is the most reproducible technique for LVEF measurement. Newer echocardiographic technique — myocardial strain imaging has the potential to detect early subclinical cardiac dysfunction due to cardiotoxicity and may be used for the prediction of LV dysfunction. The role of other echocardiographic parameters, particularly of LV diastolic function has not been exactly defined in literature. The decision on discontinuation or modification of cancer therapy should be based on 2 improper, separate measurements of particular echocardiographic parameter or better more than 1 improper parameter should be taken into account. After completion of cancer treatment, echocardiography follow-up is recommended to detect late cardiotoxicity

Role of echocardiography in monitoring of cardiac toxicity of cancer pharmacotherapy. Expert consensus statement of the Polish Clinical Forum for Cardiovascular Imaging

Recent oncology development results in significant reduction of morbidity and mortality of several kinds of cancer. Such great achievements are at the cost of frequent cardiotoxicity, which predominantly is manifested as cardiomyopathy, cardiac dysfunction and heart failure (HF). Cardiotoxicity may manifest early — during treatment or late — after treatment completion. There are type 1 — anthracycline-related and type 2 — trastuzumab-related cardiotoxicity. Early detection of cardiotoxicity is crucial for preventing late heart dysfunction and HF. Baseline echocardiographic assessment should be performed in every patient before initiation of cancer treatment and serial monitoring of cardiac safety by means of echocardiography is recommended. The most widely used for this purpose is left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) calculated by Simpson’s method with 2 dimensional transthoracic echocardiography. LVEF has numerous limitations, among which significant inter- and intraobserver variability, late decrease of LVEF with its often irreversibility are the most important. Noncontrast 3 dimesional echocardiography is the most reproducible technique for LVEF measurement. Newer echocardiographic technique — myocardial strain imaging has the potential to detect early subclinical cardiac dysfunction due to cardiotoxicity and may be used for the prediction of LV dysfunction. The role of other echocardiographic parameters, particularly of LV diastolic function has not been exactly defined in literature. The decision on discontinuation or modification of cancer therapy should be based on 2 improper, separate measurements of particular echocardiographic parameter or better more than 1 improper parameter should be taken into account. After completion of cancer treatment, echocardiography follow-up is recommended to detect late cardiotoxicity

LATE-NC aggravates GVD-mediated necroptosis in Alzheimer's disease

It has become evident that Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is not only linked to its hallmark lesions-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs)-but also to other co-occurring pathologies. This may lead to synergistic effects of the respective cellular and molecular players, resulting in neuronal death. One of these co-pathologies is the accumulation of phosphorylated transactive-response DNA binding protein 43 (pTDP-43) as neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions, currently considered to represent limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy neuropathological changes (LATE-NC), in up to 70% of symptomatic AD cases. Granulovacuolar degeneration (GVD) is another AD co-pathology, which also contains TDP-43 and other AD-related proteins. Recently, we found that all proteins required for necroptosis execution, a previously defined programmed form of neuronal cell death, are present in GVD, such as the phosphorylated necroptosis executioner mixed-lineage kinase domain-like protein (pMLKL). Accordingly, this protein is a reliable marker for GVD lesions, similar to other known GVD proteins. Importantly, it is not yet known whether the presence of LATE-NC in symptomatic AD cases is associated with necroptosis pathway activation, presumably contributing to neuron loss by cell death execution. In this study, we investigated the impact of LATE-NC on the severity of necroptosis-associated GVD lesions, phosphorylated tau (pTau) pathology and neuronal density. First, we used 230 human post-mortem cases, including 82 controls without AD neuropathological changes (non-ADNC), 81 non-demented cases with ADNC, i.e.: pathologically-defined preclinical AD (p-preAD) and 67 demented cases with ADNC. We found that Braak NFT stage and LATE-NC stage were good predictors for GVD expansion and neuronal loss in the hippocampal CA1 region. Further, we compared the impact of TDP-43 accumulation on hippocampal expression of pMLKL-positive GVD, pTau as well as on neuronal density in a subset of nine non-ADNC controls, ten symptomatic AD cases with (ADTDP+) and eight without LATE-NC (ADTDP-). Here, we observed increased levels of pMLKL-positive, GVD-exhibiting neurons in ADTDP+ cases, compared to ADTDP- and controls, which was accompanied by augmented pTau pathology. Neuronal loss in the CA1 region was increased in ADTDP+ compared to ADTDP- cases. These data suggest that co-morbid LATE-NC in AD impacts not only pTau pathology but also GVD-mediated necroptosis pathway activation, which results in an accelerated neuronal demise. This further highlights the cumulative and synergistic effects of comorbid pathologies leading to neuronal loss in AD. Accordingly, protection against necroptotic neuronal death appears to be a promising therapeutic option for AD and LATE

Evaluation of acidogenesis products’ effect on biogas production performed with metagenomics and isotopic approaches

Background: During the acetogenic step of anaerobic digestion, the products of acidogenesis are oxidized to substrates for methanogenesis: hydrogen, carbon dioxide and acetate. Acetogenesis and methanogenesis are highly interconnected processes due to the syntrophic associations between acetogenic bacteria and hydrogenotrophic methanogens, allowing the whole process to become thermodynamically favorable. The aim of this study is to determine the influence of the dominant acidic products on the metabolic pathways of methane formation and to find a core microbiome and substrate-specific species in a mixed biogas-producing system. Results: Four methane-producing microbial communities were fed with artificial media having one dominant component, respectively, lactate, butyrate, propionate and acetate, for 896 days in 3.5-L Up-flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) bioreactors. All the microbial communities showed moderately different methane production and utilization of the substrates. Analyses of stable carbon isotope composition of the fermentation gas and the substrates showed differences in average values of δ13C(CH4) and δ13C(CO2) revealing that acetate and lactate strongly favored the acetotrophic pathway, while butyrate and propionate favored the hydrogenotrophic pathway of methane formation. Genome-centric metagenomic analysis recovered 234 Metagenome Assembled Genomes (MAGs), including 31 archaeal and 203 bacterial species, mostly unknown and uncultivable. MAGs accounted for 54%–67% of the entire microbial community (depending on the bioreactor) and evidenced that the microbiome is extremely complex in terms of the number of species. The core microbiome was composed of Methanothrix soehngenii (the most abundant), Methanoculleus sp., unknown Bacteroidales and Spirochaetaceae. Relative abundance analysis of all the samples revealed microbes having substrate preferences. Substrate-specific species were mostly unknown and not predominant in the microbial communities. Conclusions: In this experimental system, the dominant fermentation products subjected to methanogenesis moderately modified the final effect of bioreactor performance. At the molecular level, a different contribution of acetotrophic and hydrogenotrophic pathways for methane production, a very high level of new species recovered, and a moderate variability in microbial composition depending on substrate availability were evidenced. Propionate was not a factor ceasing methane production. All these findings are relevant because lactate, acetate, propionate and butyrate are the universal products of acidogenesis, regardless of feedstock