Tissue banking training courses: Polish experience

Personnel directly involved in the donation, procurement, testing, processing, preservation, storage and distribution of human tissues and cells should be appropriately qualified and provided with timely and relevant training according to EU directives. In the time of new tissue and cells regulations implementation such a training system existed in Poland only at a local level. The first training programme outlines for various groups of health professionals engaged in tissue banking practice was created in co-operation with the Institute for LifeLong Learning at University of Barcelona in 2006. This initial training courses were financially supported by EU Transition Facility Programme 2004. Then, starting from 2006, based on previous experience, system of advanced training courses was created. This training programme was financially supported by the National Programme for the Development of Transplantation Medicine 2006–2009—POLGRAFT financed by Polish Ministry of Health. During 2006 and 2007 first set of tissue banking initial training courses were provided according to TF 2004 project. Over 200 pathologists, forensic medicine specialists and other medical doctors responsible for donor screening and classification, medical directors of tissue establishments, technical staff; tissue graft users: orthopaedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, cardiosurgeons and ophthalmologists were trained. Between 2006 and 2009 there were organized 8 advanced tissue banking training courses according to POLGRAFT programme. There were organized both theoretical and practical courses on various aspects of tissue for over 350 persons. We present our experience in organisation of international and national tissue banking training courses

Operacja plastyczna przepukliny pachwinowej i resekcja wola guzowatego powikłane zespołem paciorkowcowego wstrząsu toksycznego (STSS) wywołanym przez Streptococcus pyogenes - opis dwóch przypadków

W niniejszej pracy przedstawiono dwa przypadki zespołu paciorkowcowego wstrząsu toksycznego (STSS) po zabiegach plastyki przepukliny pachwinowej i subtotalnej resekcji wola guzowatego obojętnego. Oba poważne powikłania leczenia chirurgicznego leczono na oddziale intensywnej terapii. W dochodzeniu epidemiologicznym nie wykazano źródła zakażenia. Wdrożenie szeregu procedur profilaktycznych doprowadziło do eliminacji tego typu zakażeń.This paper presents two cases of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) after an inguinal hernioplasty and a goiter subtotal resection. These serious complications of surgery were treated in our Intensive Care Ward. An epidemiological investigation did not reveal the source of infection. STSS elimination was achieved by antimicrobial procedures and prophylaxis

Effect of accelerated electron beam on mechanical properties of human cortical bone: influence of different processing methods

Accelerated electron beam (EB) irradiation has been a sufficient method used for sterilisation of human tissue grafts for many years in a number of tissue banks. Accelerated EB, in contrast to more often used gamma photons, is a form of ionizing radiation that is characterized by lower penetration, however it is more effective in producing ionisation and to reach the same level of sterility, the exposition time of irradiated product is shorter. There are several factors, including dose and temperature of irradiation, processing conditions, as well as source of irradiation that may influence mechanical properties of a bone graft. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect e-beam irradiation with doses of 25 or 35 kGy, performed on dry ice or at ambient temperature, on mechanical properties of non-defatted or defatted compact bone grafts. Left and right femurs from six male cadaveric donors, aged from 46 to 54 years, were transversely cut into slices of 10 mm height, parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bone. Compact bone rings were assigned to the eight experimental groups according to the different processing method (defatted or non-defatted), as well as e-beam irradiation dose (25 or 35 kGy) and temperature conditions of irradiation (ambient temperature or dry ice). Axial compression testing was performed with a material testing machine. Results obtained for elastic and plastic regions of stress–strain curves examined by univariate analysis are described. Based on multivariate analysis, including all groups, it was found that temperature of e-beam irradiation and defatting had no consistent significant effect on evaluated mechanical parameters of compact bone rings. In contrast, irradiation with both doses significantly decreased the ultimate strain and its derivative toughness, while not affecting the ultimate stress (bone strength). As no deterioration of mechanical properties was observed in the elastic region, the reduction of the energy absorption capacity of irradiated bone rings apparently resulted from changes generated by irradiation within the plastic strain region

Charakterystyki i obszary zastosowań telekomunikacyjnych usług multimedialnych. Telekomunikacja i Techniki Informacyjne, 2002, nr 1-2

Przedstawiono modele i omówiono charakterystyki funkcjonalne pięciu standaryzowanych kategorii telekomunikacyjnych usług multimedialnych, takich jak: wideotelefonia, wideotekst, interaktywna prezentacja audiowizualna, wideokonferencja i telekonferencja audiograficzna. Dla każdej z opisanych kategorii usług określono potencjalne obszary zastosowań, wskazano jej najbardziej popularne aplikacje i zaprezentowano prognozy zapotrzebowania na te aplikacje. Ponadto dla każdej z tych aplikacji podano wymagania dotyczące pasma i inne uwarunkowania sieciowe

Security theory and practice: Special missions unit GROM: an instrument of the security policy of The Republic of Poland. Thirtieth anniversary of the formation

Z przedmowy: "W tym roku przypada 30. rocznica powołania do życia Jednostki Wojskowej GROM. Decyzja o utworzeniu Jednostki została podjęta przez rząd premiera Tadeusza Mazowieckiego 13 lipca 1990 roku. Generał Petelicki dołożył wszelkich starań, by nowo powstała Jednostka dorównywała umiejętnościami i wyszkoleniem najlepszym jednostkom specjalnym na świecie oraz by jako równorzędny partner mogła z nimi prowadzić zadania na teatrze działań wojennych. Kolejni Dowódcy kontynuowali zamysł Generała, utrzymując najwyższy poziom wyszkolenia oraz ciągle zwiększając możliwości i zdolności bojowe Jednostki dzięki doświadczeniom nabytym podczas misji oraz licznych szkoleń w kraju i za granicą. Budowanie jednostki od początku oparte było na najlepszych praktykach i doświadczeniach zagranicznych oddziałów sił specjalnych, w szczególności tych ze Stanów Zjednoczonych i Wielkiej Brytanii."(...

SVM Algorithm for Industrial Defect Detection and Classification

This article presents a new algorithm for recognizing defects and discontinuities. It is a neural classification algorithm of the SVM class used for the vision system in the technological sequence. At the basis of the used method of Support Vector Machines (SVM) lies the concept of decision-making space, which is divided by building boundaries separating objects with different class affiliation, that is, defects and discontinuities. The Support Vector Machines method is supposed to perform classification tasks by constructing in a multidimensional space hyperplane separating cases belonging to different classes

Chitosan-Human Bone Composite Granulates for Guided Bone Regeneration

The search for the perfect bone graft material is an important topic in material science and medicine. Despite human bone being the ideal material, due to its composition, morphology, and familiarity with cells, autografts are widely considered demanding and cause additional stress to the patient because of bone harvesting. However, human bone from tissue banks can be used to prepare materials in eligible form for transplantation. Without proteins and fats, the bone becomes a non-immunogenic matrix for human cells to repopulate in the place of implantation. To repair bone losses, the granulate form of the material is easy to apply and forms an interconnected porous structure. A granulate composed of β-tricalcium phosphate, pulverized human bone, and chitosan—a potent biopolymer applied in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and biotechnology—has been developed. A commercial encapsulator was used to obtain granulate, using chitosan gelation upon pH increase. The granulate has been proven in vitro to be non-cytotoxic, suitable for MG63 cell growth on its surface, and increasing alkaline phosphatase activity, an important biological marker of bone tissue growth. Moreover, the granulate is suitable for thermal sterilization without losing its form—increasing its convenience for application in surgery for guided bone regeneration in case of minor or non-load bearing voids in bone tissue