The most common contact lens-related complications: A brief review of the literature

Introducion and purpose Millions of people use contact lenses every day. Their primary and most common use is correcting refractive errors. Despite their beneficial purpose, contact lens use has many complications. It is estimated that 5 to 50% of patients may develop at least a single complication. The state of knowledge Contact lens-related complications are multifactorial. One of the main reasons for contact lens discontinuation is contact lens discomfort. Patients most often report dryness, burning, and irritated eyes. Other disorders can be briefly divided into conjunctival and corneal complications. The most common conjunctival and allergic complication of contact lens use is giant papillary conjunctivitis. Other significant conditions involving the conjunctiva can also be superior limbic keratoconjunctivitis or allergic or toxic conjunctivitis. Corneal complications, on the other hand, seemed to be much more severe. These include superficial punctate keratitis, peripheral corneal ulceration, and contact lens-related keratitis. Also, abrasion can occur due to improper eye hygiene or mechanical damage during lens replacement. It should also be remembered that prolonged use of lenses can lead to hypoxia and corneal edema. Summary This paper briefly outlines the possible complications of contact lens use. It is important to remember that despite their appropriate use, sometimes significant complications can occur. Noteworthy, corneal, or conjunctival complications require discontinuation of the lenses and appropriate treatment

The Impact of E-Cigarettes on Oral Injuries and Bone Fractures

Introduction The rising prevalence of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use has prompted concerns regarding its potential health implications. While much attention has focused on respiratory and cardiovascular effects, injuries, oral trauma, and bone fractures linked to e-cigarette use have received less scrutiny. This paper aims to comprehensively review the landscape of injuries, oral trauma, and bone fractures induced by e-cigarettes, shedding light on this underexplored facet of e-cigarette-related harm. Material and Methods This literature review has analyzed 16 papers. Inclusion criteria: researches and case reports published after 2015. PubMed and Google Scholar has been searched to identify the papers.  Analysis of the Literature Existing literature suggests a growing incidence of injuries, oral trauma, and bone fractures associated with e-cigarette use, albeit with limited systematic investigation. Mechanisms underlying these injuries range from device malfunctions to inadvertent impacts during use. Case reports highlight a spectrum of injuries, including oral burns, dental trauma, and skeletal fractures, often involving the face and mouth regions. Conclusions Despite the lack of comprehensive epidemiological data emerging evidence underscores the need for heightened awareness and preventive measures to mitigate e-cigarette-related injuries. Enhanced education, regulation of e-cigarette devices, and promotion of safer usage practices are crucial steps towards reducing the burden of e-cigarette-related harm on oral and skeletal health

Acute hepatologic and nephrologic effects of calcitriol in Syrian golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus)

Although vitamin D is included in the group of fat-soluble vitamins, it must be considered as a prohormone. Its active forms, including calcitriol, have pleiotropic effects and play an important role in the regulation of cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis, as well as in hormone secretion, and they demonstrate anti-cancer properties. Since calcitriol delivery can be beneficial for the organism, and Syrian golden hamsters represent a unique experimental model, we decided to investigate its toxicity in this species. In this study, we injected calcitriol intraperitoneally at doses 0 (control), 0.180±0.009 µg/kg and 0.717±0.032 µg/kg. Animal behavior was observed for 72 hrs after injection, and afterwards blood, liver and kidneys were collected for post-mortem examination, electron microscopy, and hematology analyses. The highest dose of calcitriol induced a change in animal behavior from calm to aggressive, and the liver surface showed morphological signs of damage. Following injection of calcitriol, ultrastructural changes were also observed in the liver and kidneys, e.g. vacuolization and increased number of mitochondria. There was also a trend for increased serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), but not of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) or GGTP (gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase). There was no change in Ca, Mg and P levels, as well as in blood morphology between experimental and control groups. These results indicate that calcitriol at 0.717, but not at 0.180 µg/kg, may induce acute damage to the liver and kidneys, without inducing calcemia. We propose that the hepatotoxic effect of calcitriol in hamster constitutes the primary cause of behavioral changes

Wild vascular plants gathered for consumption in the Polish countryside: a review

BACKGROUND: This paper is an ethnobotanical review of wild edible plants gathered for consumption from the end of the 18(th )century to the present day, within the present borders of Poland. METHODS: 42 ethnographic and botanical sources documenting the culinary use of wild plants were analyzed. RESULTS: The use of 112 species (3.7% of the flora) has been recorded. Only half of them have been used since the 1960s. Three species: Cirsium rivulare, Euphorbia peplus and Scirpus sylvaticus have never before been reported as edible by ethnobotanical literature. The list of wild edible plants which are still commonly gathered includes only two green vegetables (Rumex acetosa leaves for soups and Oxalis acetosella as children's snack), 15 folk species of fruits and seeds (Crataegus spp., Corylus avellana, Fagus sylvatica, Fragaria vesca, Malus domestica, Prunus spinosa, Pyrus spp., Rosa canina, Rubus idaeus, Rubus sect. Rubus, Sambucus nigra, Vaccinium myrtillus, V. oxycoccos, V. uliginosum, V. vitis-idaea) and four taxa used for seasoning or as preservatives (Armoracia rusticana root and leaves, Carum carvi seeds, Juniperus communis pseudo-fruits and Quercus spp. leaves). The use of other species is either forgotten or very rare. In the past, several species were used for food in times of scarcity, most commonly Chenopodium album, Urtica dioica, U. urens, Elymus repens, Oxalis acetosella and Cirsium spp., but now the use of wild plants is mainly restricted to raw consumption or making juices, jams, wines and other preserves. The history of the gradual disappearance of the original barszcz, Heracleum sphondylium soup, from Polish cuisine has been researched in detail and two, previously unpublished, instances of its use in the 20(th )century have been found in the Carpathians. An increase in the culinary use of some wild plants due to media publications can be observed. CONCLUSION: Poland can be characterized as a country where the traditions of culinary use of wild plants became impoverished very early, compared to some parts of southern Europe. The present use of wild plants, even among the oldest generation, has been almost entirely restricted to fruits

Optimalozation of staining Rab7 protein in normal cells from Vero cell line

Białko Rab 7 odgrywa ważną rolę w endocytozie komórkowej m. in. podczas transportu wewnątrzkomórkowego. Uczestniczy ono w transferze z wczesnych do późnych endosomów, co pozwala na wykorzystanie go jako znacznika transportu endosomów w komórce. W niniejszej pracy licencjackiej opisana została procedura optymalizacji protokołu barwienia białka Rab 7. Wykonano w tym celu szereg modyfikacji standardowego protokołu m. in. zmianę ilości detergentu w roztworze do permeabilizacji, czy zmianę buforu blokującego. Wykazano również większą specyficzność przeciwciał kozich anty-Rab 7 niż testowanych alternatyw. Stwierdzono ponadto, że brak permeabilizacji przy utrwalaniu próbek w 4% formalinie oraz wykorzystanie do płukania próbek buforu PBS, niezawierającego detergentu Tween 20 poprawiło jakość uzyskanych preparatówRab 7 plays an important role in cell endocytosis, among others like trafficking. It is a specific coordinator of transition from early endosomes to the late one which allows it to be used as a marker for observing the internalisation and movements of cargo (trafficking) between the cell membrane and Golgi apparatus or cell nucleus. In this bachelor's thesis, the procedure of optimalizing the staining cells for Rab7 protein was described. A number of modification of the standard staining protocol were carried for example: reduction the volume of detergent in solution used to permeabilize or using different blood serum form many animals in blocking buffer. It was found that the greater specifity for the anti-Rab7 antibodies is that derived from goat against antibodies obtained form other animals. It was also proved that if the permeabilizetion step was skipped for the plate perpetuated in PFA moreover if the rising solution was contain only 1xPBS instead of mix 1xPBS and Tween 20, it positively impacted for staining process. Finally gave proof of and ensured that the key changes which worthwhile affected the purity were: fixation samples in PFA in lieu of using methanol, skipped permeabilization step, erase Tween 20 from rising solution and working with antibodies acquire from goat in ratio 1:100 while blocking another proteins in 5% BSA or 5% beef serum solution

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of selected groups of compounds forming the flavor profile of coffee beans. Determination of the impact of roasting parameters on this profile

Kawowiec Coffea L. jest rośliną użytkową znaną od stuleci ze swoich stymulująco-pobudzających właściwości. Aby przygotować z jego nasion napar, wywar lub macerat konieczna jest ich obróbka termiczna tzw. wypalanie ziarna. W trakcie tego procesu w nasionach zachodzi szereg zjawisk fizycznych i reakcji chemicznych powiązanych ze sobą oraz uwidaczniane są szczególne walory smakowe i zapachowe charakterystyczne dla danego regionu, szczepu oraz sposobu obróbki surowca między zbiorem a wypałem.Celem pracy było określenie zależności między długością (stopień wypału) i parametrami wypału (profil wypału) nasion kawowca a składem ilościowym i jakościowym wybranych grup związków tworzących profil smakowy wypalonego ziarna kawowego gotowego do spożycia.Przedmiotem badań były ziarna pochodzące z Papui Nowej Gwinei, regionu Simbu, miasta Kundiawa, z plantacji położonej na wysokości 1800-1900 m n.p.m. Ziarna te są mieszanką trzech odmian kawowca: Blue Mountain, Arusha oraz Typica. Analiza ilościowa białek przeprowadzona została po ekstrakcji w zimnym buforze PBS, w oparciu o me- todę Bradforda. Uzyskane wyniki wskazują na zawartość wagową ok. 10% białek w zielonym ziarnie, co mieści się w granicach typowych dla kawowca. Podczas wypału ziarna zaobserwowano gwałtowny spadek ilości bia- łek w momencie organoleptycznego odczuwania reakcji Maillarda, które objawiają się zapachem świeżo pie- czonego chleba. Zawartość białek spadła do poziomu ok. 5-6%. Analiza jakościowa białek nie przyniosła sa- tysfakcjonujących wyników, ze względu na brak prawidłowego rozdziału elektroforetycznego. Zaobserwowano jednak intensywny prążek na granicy styku żelu zagęszczającego oraz rozdzielającego, który zinterpretowano jako wielkocząsteczkowe związki z grupy melanoidyn. Przeprowadzone testy na obecność lipidów i cukrów mają charakter wstępny i wymagają poszerzonych analiz o charakterze ilościowym w oparciu o wysokospraw- ną chromatografię cienkowarstwową i wysokosprawną chromatografię cieczową.Pracę wzbogacono o wyniki przeprowadzonego testu smaku – cuppingu – w celu porównania wyników analiz biochemicznych z odczuciami organoleptycznymi losowo wybranych trzech osób oraz dwóch specjali- stów, dbających o poprawne przeprowadzenie procedury. Zgodnie z oczekiwaniem, wraz ze zwiększającym się stopniem wypału zauważono spadek nieprzyjemnej, ostrej goryczy, a w przypadku dłuższych wypałów poja- wienie się innej goryczy, rozmytej w odczuciu. Towarzyszył temu stopniowy wzrost słodyczy oraz narastające do momentu drugiego pękania, a następnie zanikające po nim, owocowość, kwiatowość i smak innych produk- tów spożywczych. W ostatniej próbce odczuwano głównie słodycz, miękką gorycz oraz smak szlachetnego drewna z nieprzyjemnym posmakiem starej ryby oraz węgla, z odczuciem negatywnej suchości w ustach.Coffea L. is a crop plant known for centuries for its stimulating properties. In order to prepare an infusion, decoction or maceration from its seeds, it is necessary to roast them. During this proces, a number of physical processes and chemical reactions take place in seeds, and the specific taste and aroma values characteristic for a particular region, strain and the method of processing between harvesting and roasting are revealed. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the roasting time period (roasting level) as well as roasting parameters (roasting profile) of coffee beans and the quantitative and qualitative composition of se- lected groups of compounds which form the flavor profile of roasted coffee beans ready for brewing. The subject of research were beans from Papua New Guinea, Simbu region, near the city of Kundiawa, a plantation located at altitude of 1800-1900 m AMSL. These beans are a blend of three varieties of coffee: Blue Mountain, Arusha and Typica.Protein quantification was performed after extraction in cold PBS, using the Bradford method. The obta- ined results indicate the protein content by weight of approx. 10% in green beans, which was within the limits typical for a coffee plant. During the roasting process, a sharp decrease in the amount of proteins was obse- rved at the moment of the organoleptic perception of the Maillard reactions, which were manifested by the smell of freshly baked bread. The protein content dropped to the level of approx. 5-6%. Qualitative analysis of proteins did not provide satisfactory aswer due to the lack of proper electrophoretic separation. However, an intense band was observed at the interface between the stacking and separating gels, which was interpreted as macromolecular compounds from the melanoidin group. The tests for the presence of lipids and sugars are preliminary and require extended quantitative analyzes based on high performance thin chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography. Additionally, the taste test, cupping, was performed to compare the biochemical analysis with the orga- noleptic sensations of randomly selected three volunteers and two specialists who took care of the proper con- duct of the procedure. Expectedly, with the increasing degree of roasting, a decrease in unpleasant, sharp bit- terness was noticed, and in the case of longer roasting times the appearance of a different bitterness, blurred in perception. This was accompanied by a gradual increase in sweetness and the fruity, floral notes and some fla- vor of other food products increasing until the second cracking and then disappearing afterwards. In the end, mainly sweetness, soft bitterness and the taste of fine wood with an unpleasant aftertaste of old fish and coal were felt, with a negative dry mouth feeling