Naturalness bias in palatalization: An experimental study

In the present study, we report on an artificial language learning experiment aiming to test the idea that it is easier to learn palatalization before a front vowel than it is to learn depalatalization in the same context. The motivation for the study comes from recent work by Czaplicki (2013), who provides a detailed analysis of palatalization-related effects in Polish, showing that they have no phonological basis. The conclusion he reaches is that ‘phonological naturalness does not play a role in linguistic computation’ Czaplicki (2013:32). It is nevertheless the case that palatalization is cross-linguistically much more common than depalatalization. If naturalness plays no role in computation, the typological asymmetry must arise from elsewhere, for example, from biases in learning difficulty. Our results provide provisory evidence that there is a small but statistically significant advantage for learning palatalization over depalatalization for adult Hungarian speakers

Immunotherapeutical approaches for multiple myeloma

Multiple myeloma (MM) is characterized by deep immunodeficiency caused by many factors including uncontrolled production of monoclonal immunoglobulin and inhibitory effect of microenvironment. Despite the use of different therapeutic strategies as drug treatment, chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation still remains an incurable disease. Novel treatment modalities introduced for MM significantly increased overall survival, but it still reaches not more than 4 years. Therefore there is a necessity to generate novel therapeutical strategies that successfully improve quality of MM patients life and cause complete recovery. Tumor-associated antigens (TAA) are potential targets for cancer immunotherapy due to their limited expression on normal tissues or restriction to tumor cells. Epitopes derived from TAA induce specific, cytotoxic T lymphocytes which are able to recognize and eradicate myeloma cells with good efficacy. These features allow to construct various types of peptide-based vaccines, which could prolong MM patients life and lead to complete remission. In this work we have characterized (C/T), human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), X-box binding protein 1 (XBP-1), PAS domain-containing protein 1 (PASD-1), receptor for hyaluronic acid-mediated motility (RHAMM), mucin 1 (MUC-1), Wilms Tumor-1 (WT1), that might represent a target for peptide-based immunotherapy. Results from first clinical trials on immunotherapy in MM were also characterized

Immunoterapia peptydowa w leczeniu chorych na szpiczaka plazmocytowego

The modifications of the immune system with immunomodulatory drugs or monoclonal antibodies are still insufficient to obtain long-lasting complete remissions in most of the multiple myeloma patients (MM). Peptide-based immunotherapy combined with an autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, immunomodulatory drugs or monoclonal antibodies might represent novel therapeutic strategies, that might retain immune control on disease development and progression resulting in prolonged overall survival. New epitopes derived from tumor-associated antigens (TAA), that are able to induce strong and long-term immune response against MM cells are under investigation. Peptide modifications or targeting multiple epitopes on MM cells could efficiently induce stronger immune response in comparison with single and natural antigens. In this work we have summarized the results of latest studies regarding characterization of TAA that could be used as targets for peptide-based immunotherapy as well as clinical trials utilizing peptide immunotherapy in MM

Artykaina plus morfina versus sama artykaina w leczeniu bólu podczas zabiegu endodontycznego z powodu nieodwracalnego zapalenia miazgi : badanie randomizowane, kontrolowane

Standardowe znieczulenie miejscowe nie gwarantuje całkowitego ustąpienia bólu podczas zabiegu endodontycznego usuwania miazgi w stanie nieodwracalnego zapalenia. Celem pracy było sprawdzenie, czy miejscowe znieczulenie za pomocą morfiny w dawce 1 mg dodanej do standardowego znieczulenia za pomocą artykainy w porównaniu z samą artykainą zmniejszy odczuwanie bólu w czasie 48 godz. po zabiegu endodontycznym. W podwójnie ślepej próbie klinicznej uczestniczyły 32 osoby, które miały nieodwracalne zapalenie miazgi pierwszego zęba trzonowego szczęki. Uczestnicy badania byli zrandomizowani do dwóch grup: grupy badawczej, która otrzymywała artykainę i morfinę (n = 9), oraz grupy kontrolnej, która otrzymywała tylko artykainę (n = 23). Nasilenie bólu badano za pomocą numerycznej skali oceny bólu oraz skali wzrokowo- -analogowej przed zabiegiem oraz 1, 2, 6, 12, 24 i 48 godz. po zabiegu. Nie stwierdzono istotnych różnic nasilenia bólu między dwoma grupami w obu skalach oceny bólu we wszystkich kolejnych punktach oceny aż do 48 godz. po zabiegu. Stwierdzono jedynie nieistotne statystycznie mniejsze odczuwanie bólu po 12 godz. u chorych leczonych morfiną i artykainą (p = 0,08). Badanie było finansowane z grantu Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego (UJ) i miało zgodę Komisji Bioetycznej UJ nr: 2008/K/ZDS/000518. Dodanie morfiny do artykainy w celu mniejszego odczuwania bólu podczas endodontycznego usuwania miazgi w stanie nieodwracalnego zapalenia nie ma wpływu na odczuwanie bólu, choć większą skuteczność tego znieczulenia obserwowano wcześniej podczas zabiegów chirurgicznych w jamie ustnej. Wskazane są dalsze badania oceniające skuteczność opioidów w miejscowym znieczuleniu podczas zabiegów endodontycznych.Standard local anaesthetics do not guarantee complete absence of pain during endodontic debridement of the inflamed pulp. We investigated whether the addition of l mg of morphine to local articaine anaesthesia as compared to articaine alone could reduce pain sensations during endodontic debridement and within 48 h after the procedure. Thirty-two patients with pain attributed to irreversible pulpitis of the first upper molar participated in this randomized, double-blind trial. Patients were randomly assigned either to the study group (patients receiving periapical injection of modified local anaesthetic solution with morphine, n = 9) or to the control group (patients receiving standard anaesthetic solution without morphine, n = 23). The pain intensity was assessed using the visual analogue scale and verbal score before and directly after endodontic debridement, as well as at 1, 2, 6, 12, 24 and 48 h after the procedure. Neither the visual analogue scale nor verbal score differed between both groups before or during the endodontic debridement, as well as during 48-hour follow-up. However, there was an insignificant tendency for greater pain relief in patients treated with articaine and morphine at 12 h after endodontic debridement (p = 0.08). The study was funded by a Jagiellonian University in Poland (JU) grant, and was registered with the JU Ethical Committee No. 2008/K/ZDS/000518. The addition of morphine to local articaine anaesthesia does not influence pain intensity in patients undergoing endodontic debridement in contrast to the previously described pain-relief effect in patients after oral surgery. However, future studies are needed to evaluate the role of opioids in local anaesthesia in endodontic procedures

Programmed Death-1 and Its Ligand Are Novel Immunotolerant Molecules Expressed on Leukemic B Cells in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Programmed death-1 (PD-1) is an immunoreceptor predominantly expressed on exhausted T cells, which through an interaction with its ligand (PD-L1), controls peripheral tolerance by limiting effector functions of T lymphocytes. qRT-PCR for PD-1, PD-L1 and their splicing forms as well as flow cytometric assessment of surface expression was performed in a cohort of 58 chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients. In functional studies, we assessed the influence of the proliferative response of leukemic B-cells induced by IL-4 and CD40L on PD-1 transcripts and expression on the protein level. The median level of PD-1, but not PD-L1, transcripts in CLL patients was higher in comparison to healthy volunteers (HVs, n = 43, p = 0.0057). We confirmed the presence of PD-1 and PD-L1 on the CLL cell surface, and found the expression of PD-1, but not PD-L1, to be higher among CLL patients in comparison to HVs (47.2% vs. 14.8%, p<0.0001). The Kaplan-Meier curves for the time to progression and overall survival in groups with high and low surface expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 revealed no prognostic value in CLL patients. After stimulation with IL-4 and CD40L, protein expression of PD-1 was significantly increased in samples that responded and up-regulated CD38. PD-1, which is aberrantly expressed both at mRNA and cell surface levels in CLL cells might represent a novel immunotolerant molecule involved in the pathomechanism of the disease, and could provide a novel target for future therapies

Introduction to the evaluation of the environmental footprint for the oil and natural gas production sector

In connection with the ongoing activities of the European Commission (EC) for the unification of the product market and the development of common methods for measuring environmental performance over the life cycle of products and organizations, guidelines for the environmental footprint methodology are being developed. Among the guidelines developed so far at European level, there are no guidelines for the energy sector, including the hydrocarbon extraction sector. Despite the lack thereof, it is necessary to start the preparatory stage now for their possible future introduction due to threats to the competitiveness of Polish enterprises and the competitive position of a given product on the market. In the 2013 Communication, the European Commission proposes two methods for measuring environmental performance. One concerns the environmental assessment of products, while the other concerns the environmental assessment for the organization. The article discusses the possibility of using the Life Cycle Assessment method (LCA) to assess the products environmental footprint (PEFs) and organizations (OEFs) related to oil and gas sector. LCA is considered to be one of the most objective and accurate methods of environmental assessment and its main purpose is to reduce negative environmental impacts throughout the entire life cycle. The traditionally understood product life cycle includes stages, ranging from obtaining raw materials, through processes related to transport, production, to the use and post-use phase of a given product. Currently in Poland, LCA is not a widely known (practiced) tool, which is why there is a need to increase the involvement of the science sector (research, R&D and consulting centers) in order to encourage Polish enterprises to become interested in the issue of environmental life cycle assessment. Thanks to the LCA method, it is possible to assess the ecological effect of changes planned in the organization in various areas of its activity (technological, administrative, infrastructural). LCA may also be part of a strategic, multi-faceted analysis of the efficiency of the Polish oil and natural gas production sector

2014, 551−561 Physicochemical Problems of Mineral Processing

Abstract: Photocatalysts based on TiO 2 co-doped with rare earth metal (RE) and gold nanoparticles have been prepared using a sol-gel method and followed by gold reduction. Specific surface areas of the modified photocatalysts were calculated by the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method (BET). Diffuse reflectance spectra of the obtained photocatalysts were recorded with a UV-Vis spectrophotometer (DRS UV-Vis). The influence of the type of rare earth metal on photoactivity of Au-RE-TiO 2 nanocomposites in model reaction manifested by toluene photodegradation in a gas phase was investigated. The obtained results showed that photodegradation of toluene in the gas phase is possible over Au-RE-TiO 2 irradiated by UV or Vis light. The Au-RE-TiO 2 photocatalysts relative to undoped TiO 2 , did not caused an increase of toluene degradation in the air under visible light. The samples doped with Er 3+ or Pr 3+ presented the highest activity in solar light among of Au-RE-TiO 2 . It was observed that both metal dopants affected the surface area of TiO 2 . The Au-RE-TiO 2 photocatalysts relative to undoped TiO 2 exhibited the absorption properties under Vis light