Biological responses of oaks to pruning

The paper provides a comparison of biological consequences of pruning oak trees leaving stubs with the oaks in which branches were removed along tree−trunk surface. The wood around all examined knots was healthy. Zones of rotten wood were detected in the great majority of knots, especially in the pruned trees with retained stubs. Moreover, the occlusion time of knots without stubs was markedly shorter. The results of the research point to the purposefulness of pruning oaks without leaving stubs

High pressure processing for food safety

Food preservation using high pressure is a promising technique in food industry as it offers numerous opportunities for developing new foods with extended shelf-life, high nutritional value and excellent organoleptic characteristics. High pressure is an alternative to thermal processing. The resistance of microorganisms to pressure varies considerably depending on the pressure range applied, temperature and treatment duration, and type of microorganism. Generally, Gram-positive bacteria are more resistant to pressure than Gram-negative bacteria, moulds and yeasts; the most resistant are bacterial spores. The nature of the food is also important, as it may contain substances which protect the microorganism from high pressure. This article presents results of our studies involving the effect of high pressure on survival of some pathogenic bacteria - Listeria monocytogenes, Aeromonas hydrophila and Enterococcus hirae - in artificially contaminated cooked ham, ripening hard cheese and fruit juices. The results indicate that in samples of investigated foods the number of these microorganisms decreased proportionally to the pressure used and the duration of treatment, and the effect of these two factors was statistically significant (level of probability, P ≤ 0.001). Enterococcus hirae is much more resistant to high pressure treatment than L. monocytogenes and A. hydrophila. Mathematical methods were applied, for accurate prediction of the effects of high pressure on microorganisms. The usefulness of high pressure treatment for inactivation of microorganisms and shelf-life extention of meat products was also evaluated. The results obtained show that high pressure treatment extends the shelf-life of cooked pork ham and raw smoked pork loin up to 8 weeks, ensuring good micro-biological and sensory quality of the products

Przezcewnikowa implantacja zastawki aortalnej z bezpośredniego dostępu aortalnego: pierwsze zabiegi w Polsce

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is an alternative option for the treatment of severe aortic stenosis in patients carrying an elevated operative risk of conventional surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR). Recently, data from randomised clinical trials confirmed superiority of TAVI when compared with the conservative treatment in inoperable patients, and its non-inferiority when compared with AVR in a high-risk population. Transfemoral vascular access remains the preferred route for delivering the bioprosthesis. However, in a significant proportion of patients, the presence of severe iliac-femoral arteriopathy or small vessel diameter render the transfemoral approach unusable. In this article, we report the first Polish experience of two successful TAVI procedures with bioprostheses (both balloon- and self-expandable) delivered using direct aortic access.Przezcewnikowa implantacja zastawki aortalnej (TAVI) jest alternatywną opcją terapeutyczną u pacjentów z ciężką stenozą zastawki aortalnej, charakteryzujących się wysokim ryzykiem klasycznej chirurgicznej wymiany zastawki. Dane z ostatnich badań randomizowanych wskazują na istotną redukcję śmiertelności u chorych nieoperacyjnych leczonych za pomocą TAVI w porównaniu z osobami leczonymi zachowawczo oraz na brak istotnych różnic w śmiertelności u pacjentów wysokiego ryzyka w porównaniu z klasycznym zabiegiem chirurgicznym. Dostęp przezudowy jest obecnie najczęstszą i preferowaną drogą dostarczenia biologicznej protezy zastawki. Jednak mała średnica naczynia lub obecność istotnych zmian miażdżycowych w obrębie tętnic biodrowych i udowych wyklucza zastosowanie tej techniki. W niniejszej pracy przedstawiono doświadczenia własne dotyczące dwóch pierwszych w Polsce zabiegów TAVI wykonanych z bezpośredniego dostępu aortalnego