Trace element concentrations in lichens collected in the Beskidy Mountains, the Outer Western Carpathians

The aim of the study was to assess trace metal air pollution in the Beskidy Mountains, the Outer Western Carpathians, Poland, with a widely used bioaccumulating organism, a lichen, Hypogymnia physodes. Lichens were collected at five stands (mountains) in parallel transect and analyzed for cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) content. Concentrations of Cd, Pb and Zn in lichens were elevated, indicating moderate air pollution. The studied sites grouped in two clusters, with the three more contaminated sites being at the west end of the transect, and the two less polluted sites being situated more eastward. Such a pattern can be explained by the location of industrial centers and prevailing wind direction in southern Poland. The strongest correlation was noticed between Zn and Pb, which are known to occur jointly in ore deposits and are being processed in nearby Polish and Czech industrial regions

EFFECT OF ALUMINIUM AND MAGNESIUM ON THE CORROSION RESISTANCE OF ZINC COATINGS

This article presents the research on corrosion resistance of Zn-Al-Mg coatings with varying aluminium and magnesium content. Aluminium and magnesium were added directly to the zinc bath at 10:1 rate. There was found more than sixfold increase in corrosion resistance of zinc coatings with aluminium content at the level of 4% of weight and magnesium content at the level of 0.4% of weight. In contrast to the amounts applied in the literature, such content of these alloy additives in the zinc bath limits to a significant extent the amount of intermetallic phases in zinc coatings obtained from such baths. This, in consequence, results in high resistance to corrosion with simultaneous retention of high plasticity of these coatings

Endometriosis with dyspnea – is it possible?

Dyspnea is defined by American Thoracic Society as a subjective experience of breathing discomfort that consist of qualitatively distinct sensation that vary in intensity. As a pulmonary symptom, it is rarely associated with pathology of the reproductive organs. However, shortness of breath can be the first sign of endometriosis. The entity known as thoracic endometriosis syndrome is a manifestation of endometriosis, within the lung parenchyma or on the diaphram and pleural surface. This includes catamenial pneumothorax, hemothorax, hemoptysis, and pulmonary nodules

History of glucose monitoring: past, present, future

New technologies in diabetes care are developing dynamically in recent years. The article presents a historical outline of the methods of glucose measurement and current and developing glucose monitoring technologies

Physical activity in prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus

Type 2 diabetes in more than 70% of cases is caused by overweight and obesity. In many cases, a proper diet and increased physical activity are effective in the prevention and treatment of insulin resistance and pre-diabetes, which usually prevents the development of the disease. However, the recommendations for physical activity in type 2 diabetics differ from those for healthy people. The paper presents an analysis of recommendations concerning physical activity in the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes

The time course of processing perfective and imperfective aspect in Polish : Evidence from self-paced reading and eye-tracking experiments

This paper is a contribution to a long-standing discussion related to the domain of aspectual interpretation. More precisely, it focuses on the impact of the degree of specificity and morphological complexity on the time course of processing of perfective (prefixed perfective and semelfactive perfective) and imperfective (simple imperfective and iterative imperfective) verbs in Polish. In two experiments, eye-tracking during reading and self-paced reading, we tested a hypothesis based on Frisson & Pickering (1999), Pickering & Frisson (2001), and Frisson (2009) that the interpretation of semantically underspecified verbs should be delayed to the end of a sentence. As predicted, in both of the reported experiments significantly longer reading measures were observed for aspectually underspecified simple imperfective verbs as compared to aspectually more specific perfective verbs in the sentence-final region. Our second major prediction was that morphological complexity of aspectual forms should cause computational cost directly on the verbal region. As predicted, significantly longer reading times were observed on morphologically complex (prefixed) perfective verbs and (suffixed) semelfactive perfective verbs as compared to their morphologically simple imperfective counterparts in the eye-tracking experiment. This effect was not confirmed in the self-paced reading experiment. This difference between the results in the two reported experiments is attributed to the differences between the methods used

Linking soils and streams during events : response of stream water K+K^{+} concentration to soil exchangeable K+K^{+} concentration in small catchments with fragipan soils (Carpathian Foothills, Poland)

The study aimed to determine the linkage between soil exchangeable potassium ($K^{+}$) concentration and stream water $K^{+}$ concentration during rainfall and snowmelt events in small catchments with different land use (Carpathian Foothills, Poland). The complementary geochemical and hydrochemical approach used in the study produced new information on the role of particular soil horizons and contributing areas such as hillslope or riparian areas in $K^{+}$ delivery to stream channels during events. Horizons lying above the nearly impermeable fragipan (Btx) play the most important role in the process of $K^{+}$ influx to streams during most event types except snowmelts with frozen soils, in all the studied catchments. In the woodland catchment, rapid flushing of $K^{+}$ from the topsoil Ah horizon with higher hydraulic conductivity ($K_{sat}$) and higher exchangeable K+ concentrations than in the lying lower E horizon resulted in a clockwise hysteresis of $K^{+}$ in stream water during most events. In agricultural catchments, changes in stream water $K^{+}$ concentration during events were determined by distinct differences between soil exchangeable $K^{+}$ concentrations on hillslopes and in riparian areas

Small for gestational age is an independent risk factor for N neurodevelopmental impairment

Background: There is a deficit of publications regarding the impact of small for gestational age (SGA) on later neurodevelopment of premature infants and existing results are conflicting. Objectives: The aim of the present study was multifaceted neurodevelopmental assessment of children born prematurely, with particular assessment of SGA as an independent risk factor for impairment in prematurely born children. Methods: Eighty-nine children born with very low birth weight were evaluated at the age of 50 months. Anthropometric measurements and several psychomotor tests (WeeFIM-Functional Independence Measure scale, Leiter Test-Non-Verbal Psychometric Evaluation, DTVP-2-Developmental test of Visual Perception, CAST-Childhood Autism Spectrum test, EAS-C-temperament questionnaire and TSD-children vocabulary test) were performed in each child. Results: SGA appears to be a risk factor for low self-reliance (mean WeeFIM score 89 ± 20 points vs 99 ± 15; P = 0.034), decreased non-verbal intelligence (Leiter score 87±18 points vs 100±18 points; P = 0.022) and low visual perception (Frostig test 81±17 points vs 93±17 points; P = 0.035). Moreover, the incidence of autism spectrum disorders was significantly higher in the SGA group (21% vs 2.8%; P = 0.029). There were no differences in frequency of cerebral palsy diagnosis, vocabulary test results and temper tests scores between SGA and AGA groups. Conclusions: Birth weight small for gestational age seems to be an additional, independent risk factor of neurodevelopmental delay in prematurely born childre

Ocena zależności między częstością występowania cukrzycy a wybranymi czynnikami demograficznymi

Wstęp. Chorobowość z powodu cukrzycy rośnie w szybkim tempie. Wzrost ten wiąże się przede wszystkim ze zwiększoną częstością występowania nadwagi i otyłości oraz starzeniem się społeczeństwa. Celem pracy jest ocena częstości występowania cukrzycy wśród osób dorosłych zamieszkujących typowy powiat wschodniej Polski oraz określenie zależności między występowaniem cukrzycy a wybranymi czynnikami demograficznymi. Materiał i metody. W badaniu wzięło udział 1225 osób zamieszkujących powiat janowski województwa lubelskiego w wieku 36–65 lat. Jednym z narzędzi badawczych był kwestionariusz ankiety. Uzyskane wyniki zostały opracowane statystycznie. Dla celów statystycznych badani zostali pogrupowani w 5-letnich przedziałach wiekowych. Wyniki. Częstość występowania cukrzycy w badanej populacji wynosi 4,7%. Badanie wykazuje wzrost częstości zachorowania wraz z wiekiem. Chorobowość w poszczególnych grupach wiekowych wynosi: 0,6% (36–40); 1,5% (41–45); 2,0% (46–50); 5,1% (51–55)