Computer Technology in the Biomechanical Analysis of Bar-Bell Lifting Motion Structures

An improper selection of muscle-building exercises or a technically poor execution of an exercise frequently leads to an inadvertent loading of the motion system of man, to injuries, to a poorer resulting achievement, or to a deceleration of the expected performance growth, to a disturbed dynamic stereotype and -last but not least-to motivation losses. In order to be able to cope with the problems outlined above, it was necessary to create a data collection and processing system for speedpower and technical parameters realized on a bar-bell. The information thus obtained allows for assessing a weight-lifter's performance in qualitative and quantitative terms, using a set of pre-defined criteria. Consequently, prerequisites for describing and correcting potential mistakes in an executed exercise, as well as for its optimization and economization, are provided

Histopathological evaluation of recurrent goiter.

The recurrent goiter is the regrowth of thyroid tissue after thyroidectomy. An inadequate surgical removal of the thyroid gland, lack of substitution therapy and pathological stimulation of the thyroid growth can all promote the recurrence. The aim of this study was to find the connection between the histopathological findings during the first and second operation and the recurrence of goiter. The study group consisted of 29 women and 1 man. The mean time to recurrence was 15 years. The most frequent histopathological finding during the first and second operation was struma nodosa. According to our observations different histopathological findings were found in 63.4% cases after primary and secondary thyroidectomy. Some genetic investigations showed that nodules in recurrent goiters did not derive from nodules left during the first operation but from a group of cells which had high growth potential. Thus, not only the operation technique and substitution after operation are key factors of successful therapy of goiter, but also other factors which stimulate the re-growth of thyroid tissue

RESPIRATORY SOUNDS AS A SOURCE OF INFORMATION IN ASTHMA DIAGNOSIS

Around 300 million people all over the world at all age level suffer from asthma [1]. Patients with this disease have primarily difficult breathing with wheezing in respiratory sounds, cough and feeling of constricted chest. Therefore their physical activity is strongly limited [2]. Nowadays, there are several methods for asthma diagnosis, for example spirometry, measuring of peaks of expiratory velocity or measuring of bronchial reactivity. Although these methods are sufficiently reliable in most cases, they have also some imperfections, which are obvious especially by diagnosing of badly collaborating patients, e.g. small children aged up to three years. These infants can’t provide operations required for diagnosis, so results performed diagnosis are not reliable. For this reason, there is an idea of developing non invasive method of asthma diagnosis and other pulmonary diseases that would not need collaboration of patient [3]. One of the most probably working usable principles is comparison of air flow in airways of healthy and ill person. The difference of the air flow is caused by bronchial obstruction and constriction of airways of patient. There are other sounds and wheezing in the respiratory sounds detectable during breathing as a typical manifestation of the disease [4]. These phenomena can be detected by hearing of sound or by harmonic analysis

The importance of preoperative elevated serum levels of CEA and CA15-3 in patients with breast cancer in predicting its histological type.

It is not known whether in patients with breast cancer the occurrence of elevated serum tumour markers depends on its histological type. The aim of the study was to assess relationship between breast cancer histological type and the presence of increased serum levels of CEA and CA 15-3. The study population was 428 patients (all women, mean age 52.5 years), treated at The Department of Surgery of Wroclaw Medical University from 2005 to 2008 due to breast cancer. All of them had their preoperative CA 15-3 and CEA serum concentrations measured. According to the TNM system, 21% of patients were in stage I, 32.5% in stage II, 46.5% in stage III of the disease. In patients with ductal type of the cancer the elevated serum levels of CEA and CA 15-3 were observed in 48.7% and 42.2%, in lobular type in 42.4% and 52.5%, and in non-ductal/tubular types in 48.1% and 40.4% (p=N/S). Stepwise logistic regression analyses showed that ductal breast cancer is related to elevated CEA and normal CA 15-3 serum levels. The histological types of breast cancer are not significantly related to elevated serum levels of CEA and/or CA 15-3

Religion, Partisanship, and Attitudes Toward Science Policy

We examine issues involving science which have been contested in recent public debate. These “contested science” issues include human evolution, stem-cell research, and climate change. We find that few respondents evince consistently skeptical attitudes toward science issues, and that religious variables are generally strong predictors of attitudes toward individual issues. Furthermore, and contrary to analyses of elite discourse, partisan identification is not generally predictive of attitudes toward contested scientific issues

Prognostic value of CA 19-9 level in resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

The prognosis in patients with pancreatic cancer is poor and some authors describe it as a lethal disease. At the time of diagnosis only 14% of patients could be surgically treated and up to 30% of them die within 12 months. Therefore, further clinical investigations on preoperative patient qualification are needed. A total of 81 patients were included into the study. The CA 19-9 concentration was measured before surgery by an automated, commercially available enzyme immunoassay in Axsym analyzer (Abott Diagnostics Laboratory). A value of 37 U/ml was used as the upper limit of normal levels. Tumors were staged according to the Union Against Cancer (UICC) of 2004 and graded during the histological evaluation according to the G0-G4 scale. All patients were monitored every three month via outpatient clinic visits. In the case of missing visit we contacted the families to establish the cause. We assessed perioperative, 12 month, 2 year and 5 year survival. Twelve moth, 2 year and 5 year survival were assessed in the whole studied population and in the group of patients with the exception of these who died during the perioperative period. The total five year survival was 6%. The median time of survival was 467 days (range: 163 - 586 days). The perioperative period was survived by 91.4% patients, 12 months were survived by 71.6% patients, 2 years were survived by 35.8% patients, 5 years were survived by 6.2% patients. The serum Ca 19-9 level was above the normal limit in 80.5% patients. ROC curve analysis revealed that CA 19-9 level of more than 106 U/ml was linked to 2 year survival with 79.3% sensitivity and 74.5% specificity. Preoperative level of CA 19-9 below 106U/ml represents a predictive factor of 2- and 5-year survival, independent of other factors, such as lower size of the tumor, absence of metastases to lymph nodes, female gender of patients. After exclusion of the patients who died in the perioperative period, no relationship could have been disclosed between preoperative CA 19-9 levels and one year survival. The observation points to the chance that patients with higher levels of CA 19-9 harbour micrometastases, the development of which is sufficiently slow to allow for a one-year survival of the patients but which increase the risk of death after two and five years

DNA hybridization on membrane-modified carbon electrodes

The DNA-modified membrane electrode was prepared by casting a mixture of nitrocellulose (NC) with target DNA (tDNA) in organic solvent on glassy carbon electrode (GCE). Unlabeled polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-amplified human genomic sequence (628 bp) or synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) were used as tDNAs, creating a recognition layer. Biotinylated ODNs were used as hybridization probes to recognize specific nucleotide sequences. The hybridization events were detected via an enzyme-linked electrochemical assay involving binding of streptavidin-coupled alkaline phosphatase (SALP) to the biotin labels of the probe bound to tDNA. After the probe hybridization and SALP binding, the electrode was immersed into an electroinactive enzyme substrate (1-naphthyl phosphate). The alkaline phosphatase converted the inactive substrate into electroactive 1-naphthol that penetrated through the NC membrane to the GCE surface and was subsequently detected using an anodic voltammetric signal. The optimized method offered a good discrimination between complementary and nonspecific DNAs and yielded well-defined responses for both single-copy and repetitive tDNA sequences. In contrast to previously published methods using electrodes with mechanically attached membranes, the previously mentioned electrode is easily amenable to parallel DNA analysis. Copyright © Taylor & Francis, Inc

Measurement of inclusive D*+- and associated dijet cross sections in photoproduction at HERA

Inclusive photoproduction of D*+- mesons has been measured for photon-proton centre-of-mass energies in the range 130 < W < 280 GeV and a photon virtuality Q^2 < 1 GeV^2. The data sample used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 37 pb^-1. Total and differential cross sections as functions of the D* transverse momentum and pseudorapidity are presented in restricted kinematical regions and the data are compared with next-to-leading order (NLO) perturbative QCD calculations using the "massive charm" and "massless charm" schemes. The measured cross sections are generally above the NLO calculations, in particular in the forward (proton) direction. The large data sample also allows the study of dijet production associated with charm. A significant resolved as well as a direct photon component contribute to the cross section. Leading order QCD Monte Carlo calculations indicate that the resolved contribution arises from a significant charm component in the photon. A massive charm NLO parton level calculation yields lower cross sections compared to the measured results in a kinematic region where the resolved photon contribution is significant.Comment: 32 pages including 6 figure

Measurement of Jet Shapes in Photoproduction at HERA

The shape of jets produced in quasi-real photon-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies in the range $134-277$ GeV has been measured using the hadronic energy flow. The measurement was done with the ZEUS detector at HERA. Jets are identified using a cone algorithm in the $\eta - \phi$ plane with a cone radius of one unit. Measured jet shapes both in inclusive jet and dijet production with transverse energies $E^{jet}_T>14$ GeV are presented. The jet shape broadens as the jet pseudorapidity ($\eta^{jet}$) increases and narrows as $E^{jet}_T$ increases. In dijet photoproduction, the jet shapes have been measured separately for samples dominated by resolved and by direct processes. Leading-logarithm parton-shower Monte Carlo calculations of resolved and direct processes describe well the measured jet shapes except for the inclusive production of jets with high $\eta^{jet}$ and low $E^{jet}_T$. The observed broadening of the jet shape as $\eta^{jet}$ increases is consistent with the predicted increase in the fraction of final state gluon jets.Comment: 29 pages including 9 figure