The Calendar of the Library of Łódź University 1945–2014 (abbreviated)

Dynamika systematycznego wzrostu, nowoczesna przestrzeń intelektu, labirynt znaków, magia zaangażowanych w swoją pracę ludzi z pasją – to tylko kilka haseł, które przychodzą na myśl, kiedy chcemy przywołać nazwę Biblioteki Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego i 70 lat jej historii. Łódź przed dwoma wiekami powstawała z tradycji niejednorodnych, i podobnie powstawał – jako mozaika różnych treści intelektualnych – Uniwersytet Łódzki

Food supplements’ non-conformity in Europe – Poland: a case study

Background: Mislabelling and substitution of ingredients in food supplements is a growing concern for regulators, businesses and consumers. Whilst there is a body of literature that has considered food and drink substitution and mislabelling, there is limited published research on the compliance of food supplements with regulatory requirements. Scope and Approach: Using secondary data, the aim of this research was to identify the main factors influencing food supplements non-compliance in the European Union (EU) but with specific emphasis on Poland. The sources of data in this review were: (1) the register of pro-health foods maintained by the Chief Sanitary Inspector (GIS) in Poland; (2) unpublished data from the European Commission DG Health and Food Safety (EC DG SANTE); (3) the EU Food Fraud Network and the Administrative Assistance and Cooperation System (EU FFN & AAC) Reports; (4) the Polish Trade Inspection (IH) Report; and (5) the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) Portal. Key findings and conclusions: The level of food supplements non-compliance with stated legal requirements especially mislabelling is identified in this research. Policy needs to be strengthened both at the EU level, where overarching regulatory governance can be introduced, and also in individual member states, such as Poland, where situational socio-economic factors such as health-care provision, the associated absorptive capacity of the food supplements’ market and the level of ability of national institutions to institute effective regulatory and market governance influence the incidence of food supplements

A study on adulteration in cereals and bakery products from Poland including a review of definitions

The aim of the study was to critique the food adulteration trends associated with cereals and bakery products from Poland. The methodological approach was to firstly review existing literature to define and outline the challenge of food adulteration and the degree of harmonisation, or not, of definitions, and then to analyse local and European data on the prevalence of food adulteration and mislabelling in the cereals and bakery sector more generally, and specifically in Poland. Analysis of general RASFF notifications of cereal and bakery products linked to Poland (n=177) revealed that most non-compliances were due to mycotoxins, undeclared allergens and undeclared genetically modified materials. Key notable trends included an increase in incorrect allergen labelling with only two incidents directly associated with adulteration firstly with melamine and also suspicion of deliberate contamination of milk powder with rodenticide. Data from IJHARS share similar trends where most reported irregularities associated with cereal and bakery products were related to mislabelling. The definition of adulterated foodstuffs in Poland concentrates on mislabelling particularly regarding product composition rather than being differentiated by the motivation of the perpetrator. This is not in step with other definitions where intent is seen an inherent aspect of a determination of an instance of food fraud or adulteration. This work demonstrates that even in harmonized regulatory areas such as the EU there are local definitions of adulteration that due to the lack of consistency could influence collective approaches to determining the extent of or addressing the problem of mislabelling, misrepresentation and misbranding as a form of adulteration

Znakowanie żywności wolnej od GMO w polskim systemie prawa żywnościowego

Przedmiotem badań było znakowanie żywności wolnej od GMO w celu określenia istoty znakowania żywności i pasz w odniesieniu do wykorzystania GMO podczas ich wytwarzania. W artykule dokonano analizy dogmatycznej przepisów ustawy z 13 czerwca 2019 r. o oznakowaniu produktów wytworzonych bez wykorzystania organizmów genetycznie zmodyfikowanych jako wolnych od tych organizmów na tle regulacji prawa UE. Zastosowano następujące metody badawcze: analizę aktów normatywnych, analizę źródeł literaturowych, analizę dokumentów wtórnych (sprawozdań, raportów). W opracowaniu omówiono problemy wynikające ze stosowania inżynierii genetycznej w uprawie roślin i hodowli zwierząt, dokonano przeglądu regulacji UE dotyczących GMO oraz szczegółowo przeanalizowano nowe przepisy dotyczące znakowania żywności wolnej od GMO w Polsce. Realizacja prawa do informacji poprzez znakowanie żywności tworzy podstawę dokonywania przez konsumentów świadomych wyborów i ma zasadnicze znaczenie dla zapewnienia im wysokiego poziomu ochrony życia, zdrowia i interesów ekonomiczno-społecznych. Ujednolicenie informacji o specyfice produktów wolnych od GMO w nowej ustawie sprawia, że przekaz jest jasny i przejrzysty, co może wpłynąć na budowanie zaufania między konsumentami i producentami żywności i pasz

The threat of ransomware in the food supply chain: a challenge for food defence

In the food industry, the level of awareness of the need for food defence strategies has accelerated in recent years, in particular, mitigating the threat of ransomware. During the Covid-19 pandemic there were a number of high-profile organised food defence attacks on the food industry using ransomware, leading to imperative questions over the extent of the sector’s vulnerability to cyber-attack. This paper explores food defence through the lens of contemporary ransomware attacks in order to frame the need for an effective ransomware defence strategy at organisational and industry level. Food defence strategies have historically focused on extortion and sabotage as threats, but often in terms of physical rather than cyber-related attacks. The globalisation, digitalisation and integration of food supply chains can increase the level of vulnerability to ransomware. Ransomware is an example of an organised food defence threat that can operationalise both extortion and sabotage, but the perpetrators are remote, non-visible and often anonymous. Organisations need to adopt an effective food defence strategy that reduces the risk of a ransomware attack and can enable targeted and swift action in the event an incident occurs. Further collaboration between government and the private sector is needed for the development of effective governance structures addressing the risk of ransomware attacks. The novelty of this article lies in analysing the issue of ransomware attacks from the perspective of the food sector and food defence strategy. This study is of potential interest to academics, policy makers and those working in the industry

Neurological and neuropsychological post-covid complications

Introduction: COVID-19 is an acute respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It attacks the respiratory system in particular, however, it can also lead to gastrointestinal or neurological diseases. The disease leads to numerous neurological complications. Material and method: the purpose of this study is to review the neurological and neuropsychological complications that have arisen as a result of COVID-19 outbreak. The literature available on the PubMed scientific platform was reviewed. Time descriptors were set for 2020-2022. Results: Neurological symptoms are mainly due to cerebral hypoxia due to respiratory failure. These include encephalitis, meningitis, encephalopathies, seizures, disorders of consciousness, smell, taste and vision, among others. Neuropsychological complications can also occur. Conclusions: Pulmonary abnormalities, neurological complications and exercise intolerance were frequently identified complications among COVID-19 survivors. The main neurological symptoms reported were fatigue, concentration changes, memory loss, and sleep disturbances. In contrast, the longest-lasting complications were fatigue, loss of concentration or memory, weakness, pain and dizziness. Keywords: "COVID-19", "postcovid neurological symptoms", "neurological complications"

Impact of neurological disorders occurring in neurodegenerative diseases on the conversation process and patients' quality of life

Introduction : Dialogue, or conversation, is the ability to speak as well as listen.  It plays a very important role in interpersonal relations.Speech disorders are a group of of disorders that includes various types of speech production difficulties. Speech production depends on the coordination of several motor acts: respiration, phonation, articulation, resonance and prosody. Phonation is the complex activity of producing sound by vibration of the vocal cords.  Resonance is the amplification of sounds at specific frequencies through vibration in the chest, throat and sinuses. Prosody includes a set of phonetic features, such as tone, loudness, tempo, and the overall timbre of speech, which are designed to intended to preserve the meaning and character of speech. Disruption of any of these related elements results in motor speech disorders. Material and method : An overview is presented of language disorders in diseases neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease(PD) and Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA). Their impact on the conversation process and the patient's quality of life assessment was evaluated. The paper was based on scientific publications posted on the PubMed scientific platform. Results : Speech and language disorders are the main symptoms of FRDA, which significantly affect the patients' quality of life. Patients often present with dysarthria, resulting from causes of central and peripheral and additional primary language disorders. The classic speech disorder in PD is hypokinetic dysarthria, manifested by hypophonia; monotonous, uneven and strained speech; reduced prosody (melodic voice); crowded articulation; inadequate pauses in speech; freezing of speech, unclear articulation. Conclusions : The described disease entities show a significant impact on the deterioration of the process of of conversation by the patient, thus showing a significantly negative impact on the patients' quality of life.   &nbsp

Speech disorders in primary progressive aphasia (PPA)

Introduction : Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a group of neurodegenerative disorders whose main feature is speech and language dysfunction. There are three main forms of PPA - non-fluent variant - agrammatic (nfvPPA), semantic variant (svPPA) and logopenic variant (lvPPA). These include the canonical syndromes currently recognized by consensus diagnostic criteria. . Material and method : An overview of language disorders in primary progressive aphasia is presented. The impact on the conversation process and the patient's quality of life assessment was evaluated. The work was based on scientific publications posted on the scientific platform PubMed. Results : In order to diagnose PPA, criteria must be met, i.e., language difficulties are the main feature of the clinical picture, language difficulties are the main cause of disability in daily life, and that aphasia is the most significant disorder in the initial period of the disease. Conclusions : PPA significantly affects both the production and comprehension of speech. It affects the idea, content, construction and delivery of the patient's speech. In addition, it causes significant difficulties in the repetition of speech, both full sentences and words alone. Keywords : "speech disorders", "aphasia", "dysarthria", "primary progressive aphasia". &nbsp