Module of geodesic foliation on the flat torus

We study properties of geodesic foliations on the flat, n-dimensional torus. Using the isomorphism of the Hodge star, we obtain some facts concerning compact totally geodesic surfaces (which are the leaves of geodesic foliations). We compute the p-module of a geodesic foliation. On the basis of these results, we derive a kind of reciprocity formula for the product of modules of two orthogonal foliations. We relate this product with the number of intersections of their leaves. We also obtain a formula for a product of modules of a finite number of geodesic foliations

Lifestyle and health related behaviors of middle school students from city and village schools

Health behaviors determine human health in the highest degree. Physical activity, balanced nutrition and avoidance of risky behaviors, such as smoking, alcohol abuse or unjustified slimming is a starting point to keep healthy for many years. Extremely important is creating health related behaviors in youth period, because then learned habits and behaviors are becoming established and find reflection in the next years of human life. The object of this thesis is an attempt to estimate the level of health related behaviors and lifestyle of middle school students from city and village schools

The prognostic value of myocardial perfusion scintigraphy compared to coronary angiography in women with positive stress test results

BACKGROUND: Modern diagnostic strategy in coronary arterydisease (CAD) makes it necessary not only to establish a diagnosisbut also to assess the cardiovascular risk. It is not clearwhich strategy should be followed in the case of women withpositive ECG stress test results to assess prognosis and startappropriate diagnostics and treatment.The aim of the study was to assess the prognostic value ofmyocardial perfusion scintigraphy in comparison with coronaryangiography in women suspected of CAD and with positive ECGstress test results.MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study population comprised115 women (mean age 58.08 ± 8.8 years) suspected of CAD, witha history of chest pain and positive stress test results, who underwent myocardial perfusion scintigraphy. In 58 women coronaryangiography was performed as the next step of the diagnosticprocedure. All the patients were interviewed and had a physicalexamination, including the assessment of the cardiovascularrisk in accordance with the SCORE (Systematic Coronary RiskEvaluation) scale and the probability of CAD (POST-TEST) inaccordance with the ESC guidelines. The gated single photonemission computed tomography (GSPECT) with Tc-99m-MIBIwas considered positive if moderate perfusion changes wereobserved in at least two segments or severe reversible perfusiondisorders were found, regardless of the number of involved segments.The degree of coronary stenosis was assessed visuallyand changes greater than 50% stenosis of the luminal diameterwere considered haemodynamically significant.RESULTS: The evaluation period covered 43.2 ± 30.8 monthson average. The sensitivity of myocardial perfusion scintigraphyagainst cardiovascular events was 100% and the sensitivity ofcoronary angiography was 92.3%. The specificity was 93.1%and 88.9% respectively.The PPV of scintigraphy for cardiovascular events was 65% and ofcoronary angiography was 70.6%. The NPV was 100% and 97.6%respectively. The accuracy of myocardial perfusion scintigraphy forcardiovascular events was 93.9% and the accuracy of coronaryangiography for cardiovascular events was 89.7%. The survivalanalysis confirmed the high prognostic value of SPECT and coronaryangiography. However, if compared, myocardial perfusionscintigraphy was a better predictor of survival without cardiovascularevents than coronary angiography was (c2 = 9.39, p < 0.01).The most important factors in assessing the cardiovascular riskin the study population included: positive result of myocardialperfusion scintigraphy, positive result of coronary angiography,and high SCORE and high POST-TEST values.CONCLUSIONS: Myocardial perfusion scintigraphy is superiorto coronary angiography in the prediction of necessary revascularisation procedures in women suspected of coronary arterydisease and with positive stress test results

Infection as a predisposition cause of coronary artery disease

Procesy zapalne odgrywają znaczącą rolę w rozwoju choroby niedokrwiennej, inicjacji ostrych zepołów wieńcowych, a także powikłań choroby, takich jak powstawanie restenozy we wszczepionym do naczynia wieńcowego stencie czy rozwijająca się niewydolność serca. Lepsze poznanie mechanizmów pro- i przeciwzapalnych być może pozwoli na wykorzystanie czynników przeciwzapalnych (IL-10, INF-α, TGF) w terapii. Nadzieje te związane są jednak z koniecznością weryfikacji przez przyszłe badania kliniczne.Inflammatory processes play an important role in the development of coronary artery disease and onset of acute coronary syndrome as well as progression of disease complications e.g. coronary stent restenosis or heart failure. Better recognition of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory mechanisms make it possible to use anti-inflammatory factors (Il-10, TNF-α, TGF) in therapy but it must be verified by future clinical studies

α-Synuclein induced cell death in mouse hippocampal (HT22) cells is mediated by nitric oxide-dependent activation of caspase-3

AbstractOur previous studies indicated that exogenous α-synuclein (ASN) activates neuronal nitric oxide (NO) synthase (nNOS) in rat brain slices. The present study, carried out on immortalized hippocampal neuronal cells (HT22), was designed to extend the previous results by showing the molecular pathway of NO-mediated cell death induced by exogenous ASN. Extracellular ASN (10μM) was found to stimulate nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and increase caspase-3 activity in HT22 cells, leading to poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP-1) cleavage. The inhibitor of Ca2+-dependent NOS (N-nitro-l-arginine, 100μM) prevented ASN-evoked caspase-3 activation and PARP-1 degradation. ASN exposure resulted in apoptotic death of HT22 cells and this effect was reversed by inhibition of NO synthesis and caspase-3 activity. Our results demonstrated that extracellular ASN induces neuronal cell death by NO-mediated caspase-3 activation

Rehabilitation of speech in Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease in spite of being nowadays considered as an inauspicious health prognosis because of its incurable nature, can be combated by the use of a number of non-pharmacological methods. With their help a patient will be able to retain full independence and mobility as long as possible. The immediate cause of the disease is a disorder of the proper functioning of the extrapyramidal system, which is associated with the occurrence of characteristic symptoms such as dysfunction of the musculoskeletal system and the autonomic nervous system, abnormal sensation and mental disorders. Planning of the improvement is guided by the presence of the primary symptoms such as muscle rigidity, slowness of movement and tremor. One of the effects of the co-occurrence of these symptoms are speech disorders. There is a number of characteristic features for speech disorders of a person with Parkinson's disease and they mainly concern its quality. These dysfunctions negatively affect the patient's communication with the environment. Properly implemented physical activity brings beneficial results, causing a delay in the buildup of disease symptoms

Wstęp

Prezentowana publikacja dotyczy wybranych zagadnień związanych z kulturą fizyczną i zdrowotną współczesnego człowieka. Autorzy – specjaliści z zakresu pedagogiki, nauk medycznych i nauk o kulturze fizycznej – podejmują m.in. problematykę wartości kultury fizycznej w procesie kształcenia i wychowania, współczesnych czynników promocji zdrowia i edukacji zdrowotnej, zdrowotnych uwarunkowań aktywności ruchowej czy społecznych kontekstów idei olimpijskiej. Tematyka ta wpisuje się w ważny nurt rozważań, w którym poszukuje się nowych rozwiązań pedagogicznych, zwłaszcza w odniesieniu do idei edukacji olimpijskiej i zdrowotnej

Biohydrogen and Biomethane (Biogas) Production in the Consecutive Stages of Anaerobic Digestion of Molasses

Anaerobic digestion, whose final products are methane and carbon dioxide, has been used to produce biogas from waste biomass as an alternative energy source. For the purpose of innovative, modern technologies based on microbial processes, it is desirable to separate the hydrogen- (hydrolysis and acidogenesis) and methane-yielding (acetogenesis and methanogenesis) stages of anaerobic digestion to respectively favor the production of hydrogen and methane under controlled conditions. Previously, we developed a benchscale (3- and 3.5-litre bioreactors) two-stage anaerobic digestion system producing hydrogen (in stage 1)and methane (in stage 2) from sucrose-rich by-products of the sugar beet refining industry as the primary energy substrates under mesophilic conditions. Recently, the two-stage system for hydrogen and methane production has been successfully scaled up 10-fold (a pilot scale) and currently operates in one of the Polish sugar factories. The efficiency of hydrogen and methane production were directly proportional to the scale of installation. The obtained results led to the development objectives of further research that the end result will be an innovative solution for the sugar factory as a producer of gaseous biofuels

Diurnal blood pressure variations in patients with hypertension and stroke or transient ischemic attack

Wstęp Liczne badania wykazały, że dobowy profil ciśnienia typu non-dipper lub extreme dipper, duża zmienność ciśnienia, a szczególnie jego wysoki ranny wzrost to czynniki zwiększające ryzyko udaru mózgu u osób z nadciśnieniem. Natomiast tylko w nielicznych pracach ocenia się dobową zmienność ciśnienia tętniczego u pacjentów bezpośrednio po przebytym incydencie mózgowo-naczyniowym. Dlatego celem niniejszej pracy była ocena zmian ciśnienia tętniczego, a szczególnie jego zmienności dobowej u pacjentów z udarem niedokrwiennym mózgu w ostrym okresie w porównaniu z pacjentami z przemijającymi epizodami niedokrwienia (TIA). Materiał i metody Badania przeprowadzono u 25 chorych w wieku 49-87 lat z objawami udaru mózgu oraz długotrwałym nadciśnieniem tętniczym w wywiadzie (15 pacjentów z udarem niedokrwiennym mózgu oraz 10 chorych z TIA). Grupę kontrolną stanowiło 15 pacjentów z nowo wykrytym nadciśnieniem tętniczym, bez wykładników niedokrwienia mózgu. U wszystkich chorych wykonano 24-godzinne ABPM - u pacjentów z udarem mózgu lub TIA w 3 dobie hospitalizacji, a u pacjentów z nadciśnieniem niepowikłanym w pierwszej dobie, przed podjęciem leczenia hipotensyjnego. Wyniki W trzeciej dobie od początku incydentu mózgowego skurczowe ciśnienie tętnicze (SBP) było istotnie wyższe (p < 0,001) u pacjentów z udarem mózgu (152,3 &plusmn; 17,3 mm Hg) niż u pacjentów z TIA (129,3 &plusmn; 14,1 mm Hg). Natomiast maksymalne spadki SBP u chorych z TIA (87,3 &plusmn; 16,8 mm Hg) były istotnie większe w porównaniu z pacjentami z udarem mózgu i z niepowikłanym nadciśnieniem tętniczym (odpowiednio 110,8 &plusmn; 25,7 i 103,4 &plusmn; 15,2 mm Hg). Fizjologiczny nocny spadek SBP był zaburzony u pacjentów z udarem mózgu i wynosił 5,4 &plusmn; 2,3% w porównaniu z 11,3 &plusmn; 7,8% u pacjentów z TIA i 11,7 &plusmn; 6,9% u chorych z nadciśnieniem tętniczym niepowikłanym. Dobowa zmienność SBP była istotnie nasilona u pacjentów z TIA w porównaniu z pacjentami z udarem mózgu. Wnioski U pacjentów z TIA szybciej niż u pacjentów z udarem niedokrwiennym dochodzi do normalizacji SBP. Jednocześnie pacjenci z TIA mają tendencję do dużych spadków SBP. W udarze mózgu stwierdza się zmniejszony spadek ciśnienia (szczególnie SBP) w nocy. Natomiast chorzy z TIA wykazują zwiększoną zmienność ciśnienia tętniczego, szczególnie SBP, w porównaniu z pacjentami z udarem niedokrwiennym mózgu.Background It was found that non-dipper and extreme dipper blood pressure profile, increased blood pressure variability and morning surge of blood pressure are risk factors of stroke in hypertensive patients. Less is known about changes in blood pressure pattern in acute phase of cerebrovascular event. The aim of the study was to compare changes in blood pressure pattern in patients with ischemic stroke and those with TIA. Material and methods Twenty five hypertensive patients with symptoms of stroke (15 patients with acute ischemic stroke and 10 patients with TIA) and 15 patients with newly diagnosed uncomplicated hypertension were studied. 24-h ABPM was performed on the third day of hospitalization in patients with cerebrovascular event and on the first day, before antihypertensive therapy in hypertensive controls. Results Mean 24-hour systolic blood pressure was significantly higher (p < 0,001) in patients with stroke (152,3 &plusmn; 17,3 mm Hg) than in patients with TIA (129,3 &plusmn; 14,1 mm Hg) while maximal fall in systolic blood pressure was significantly higher in patients with TIA (87,3 &plusmn; 16,8 mm Hg) in comparison with patients with stroke and patients with uncomplicated hypertension (110,8 &plusmn; 25,7 and 103,4 &plusmn; 15,2 mm Hg respectively). Night blood pressure fall was decreased in stroke patients (5,4 &plusmn; 2,3%) and 24-h blood pressure variability was increased in patients with TIA. Conclusions Systolic blood pressure normalizes faster in patients with TIA than in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Greater maximal drops in systolic blood pressure were also noticed in patients with TIA. Night systolic blood pressure fall was diminished in patients with acute stroke while 24-h blood pressure variability was increased in patients with TIA