An attempt at an integrated assessment of the tourism attractiveness of a region: the example of north Karelia (Finland)

The article presents a proposal for an integrated assessment of the tourism attractiveness of a region. The holistic approach used in the author's master's thesis is given as an example. The article presents the results of a survey and ‘point bonitation’ (a ranking method) for the North Karelia region. In the summary, there is an attempt to assess the methods which were applied in the research

Cmentarz Żydowski oraz działalność Gminy Żydowskiej w Łodzi jako przykład dziedzictwa kulturowego miasta

Artykuł pochodzi z książki pt. „Dziedzictwo kulturowe - ochrona i adaptacja jako szansa na rozwój”, red. W. Tołoczko, Łódź 2008Prorektor ds. Nauki Uniwersytetu Łódzkieg

Selected methods of studying a college’s image

Positive image and reputation building are important strategies in developing the permanent recognition of a college in the education market. Although it seems challenging to measure image and reputation, they are an important opportunity to gain a competitive advantage due to the fact that they are unique, hard to imitate and increase a college’s chances of attracting more students. Image management requires systematic marketing research. This article is the author’s proposition for a set of image research methods that can be used by colleges

Regulation of size and scale in vertebrate spinal cord development

All vertebrates have a spinal cord with dimensions and shape specific to their species. Yet how species‐specific organ size and shape are achieved is a fundamental unresolved question in biology. The formation and sculpting of organs begins during embryonic development. As it develops, the spinal cord extends in anterior–posterior direction in synchrony with the overall growth of the body. The dorsoventral (DV) and apicobasal lengths of the spinal cord neuroepithelium also change, while at the same time a characteristic pattern of neural progenitor subtypes along the DV axis is established and elaborated. At the basis of these changes in tissue size and shape are biophysical determinants, such as the change in cell number, cell size and shape, and anisotropic tissue growth. These processes are controlled by global tissue‐scale regulators, such as morphogen signaling gradients as well as mechanical forces. Current challenges in the field are to uncover how these tissue‐scale regulatory mechanisms are translated to the cellular and molecular level, and how regulation of distinct cellular processes gives rise to an overall defined size. Addressing these questions will help not only to achieve a better understanding of how size is controlled, but also of how tissue size is coordinated with the specification of pattern

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

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"

Próba syntetycznej oceny atrakcyjności turystycznej regionu na przykładzie Karelii Północnej (Finlandia)

Zaproponowana metoda oceny regionu pod kątem turystycznym została zastosowana w pracy magisterskiej K. Kowalskiej pt. Atrakcyjność turystyczna Karelii Północnej (Finlandia), która powstała w Instytucie Geografii Miast i Turyzmu Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego pod kierunkiem prof. Stanisława Liszewskiego w 2010 r.W artykule przedstawiono propozycję syntetycznej oceny atrakcyjności turystycznej regionów. To holistyczne podejście znalazło zastosowanie w pracy magisterskiej autorki, która posłużyła za przykład. Zaprezentowano wyniki badań ankietowych oraz waloryzacji bonitacji punktowej wykonane dla regionu Karelii Północnej. W podsumowaniu znalazła się próba oceny metod zastosowanych przez autorkę

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

The study of phenylboronic acid optical properties towards creation of a glucose sensor

The article presents influence of pH and glucose concentration on phenylboronic acid (PBA) fluorescence studied by steady-state and time-resolved measurements. Fluorescence of PBA decreases with growing pH. These changes reflected acid-base equilibrium of PBA and allowed to estimate value of pKd as 9.2, which is comparable with literature data. Fluorescence intensity of phenylboronic acid is quenched in presence of glucose. The effect of quenching is more pronounced with increasing pH. At pH 7 quenching can be described by Stern-Volmer equation, at pH 8 and 9 by modified one. The obtained quenching constants are growing with pH increase. The quenching of phenylboronic acid fluorescence by glucose is a static one, which is confirmed by time-resolved measurements. Two lifetimes were found for fluorescence decay of phenylboronic acid. The lifetimes are practically independent on pH and glucose concentration and also fraction of both lifetimes are nearly the same. The obtained Stern-Volmer constants can be interpreted as apparent equilibrium constants of ester formation between acid and glucose