Quantitative description of the fruit industry and fruit supply chains in Poland

The development of consumer-driven, efficient, responsive and innovative supply chains is crucial for the growth of fruit consumption in Europe and for a competitive, sustainable fruit sector. Currently, fruit supply chains are characterized by a relatively low level of consumer orientation and consumer-driven innovations. The awareness of the functioning of supply chains in the European fruit sector should be increased to be able to increase the level of consumer-drivenness, efficiency, and responsiveness of fruit supply chains. This paper presents the results of review of fruit supply chains’ from the fruit industry in Poland. The analysis of supply chains is preceded by a review of fruit consumption, fruit production, trade characteristic and trends. Moreover, the role of different actors in the functioning of fruit supply chains is presented as well as their quantitative characteristics. To present the characteristics of the fruit industry in Poland with particular attention to functioning of supply chains in Poland, desk research was carried out. This type of research includes use of general access sources of information. The following sources were used: literature on functioning of supply chains and role of particular actors in a chain, analyses considering characteristic of fruit industry conducted by various research institutes as well as reports on a current state and development perspectives of fruit market in Poland. In addition, statistical data from the national statistical office were used.fruit production, fruit consumption, fruit industry, fruit supply chains, trade, horticulture, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Persistent Infiltration and Impaired Response of Peripherally-Derived Monocytes after Traumatic Brain Injury in the Aged Brain.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause for neurological disabilities world-wide. TBI occurs most frequently among the elderly population, and elderly TBI survivors suffer from reduced recovery and poorer quality of life. The effect of age on the pathophysiology of TBI is still poorly understood. We previously established that peripherally-derived monocytes (CCR2⁺) infiltrate the injured brain and contribute to chronic TBI-induced cognitive deficits in young animals. Furthermore, age was shown to amplify monocyte infiltration acutely after injury. In the current study, we investigated the impact of age on the subchronic response of peripherally-derived monocytes (CD45hi; CCR2⁺) and their role in the development of chronic cognitive deficits. In the aged brain, there was a significant increase in the number of peripherally-derived monocytes after injury compared to young, injured animals. The infiltration rate of peripherally-derived monocytes remained elevated subchronically and corresponded with enhanced expression of CCR2 chemotactic ligands. Interestingly, the myeloid cell populations observed in injured aged brains had impaired anti-inflammatory responses compared to those in young animals. Additionally, in the aged animals, there was an expansion of the blood CCR2⁺ monocyte population after injury that was not present in the young animals. Importantly, knocking out CCR2 to inhibit infiltration of peripherally-derived monocytes prevented chronic TBI-induced spatial memory deficits in the aged mice. Altogether, these results demonstrate the critical effects of age on the peripherally-derived monocyte response during the progression of TBI pathophysiology

In vivo metabolic imaging of Traumatic Brain Injury.

Complex alterations in cerebral energetic metabolism arise after traumatic brain injury (TBI). To date, methods allowing for metabolic evaluation are highly invasive, limiting our understanding of metabolic impairments associated with TBI pathogenesis. We investigated whether 13C MRSI of hyperpolarized (HP) [1-13C] pyruvate, a non-invasive metabolic imaging method, could detect metabolic changes in controlled cortical injury (CCI) mice (n = 57). Our results show that HP [1-13C] lactate-to-pyruvate ratios were increased in the injured cortex at acute (12/24 hours) and sub-acute (7 days) time points after injury, in line with decreased pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) activity, suggesting impairment of the oxidative phosphorylation pathway. We then used the colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor inhibitor PLX5622 to deplete brain resident microglia prior to and after CCI, in order to confirm that modulations of HP [1-13C] lactate-to-pyruvate ratios were linked to microglial activation. Despite CCI, the HP [1-13C] lactate-to-pyruvate ratio at the injury cortex of microglia-depleted animals at 7 days post-injury remained unchanged compared to contralateral hemisphere, and PDH activity was not affected. Altogether, our results demonstrate that HP [1-13C] pyruvate has great potential for in vivo non-invasive detection of cerebral metabolism post-TBI, providing a new tool to monitor the effect of therapies targeting microglia/macrophages activation after TBI

Minimal access surgery compared with medical management for gastro-oesophageal reflux disease : five year follow-up of a randomised controlled trial (REFLUX)

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The effect of the rolling process on selected properties of magnesium copper with microadditives

The article presents the results of rolling magnesium copper castings with microadditives of P, Al, Ti, and Zr. The castings were made in the process of static casting into rods with a diameter of 20 mm. The obtained castings were shaped with a 3 % draft into bars of square cross-section and rolled on a shape mill with 20 % drafts on average. Mechanical properties were determined in a static tensile test at selected degrees of plastic deformation (57,2 %, 76,9 % and 91,3 %). At the final stage of cold working of the wire rods with a total draft of 91,3 %, the microstructure and electrical conductivity were examined. The research indicates a strong influence of microadditives on the strengthening of castings in the rolling process and their electrical conductivity

Clinical and economic evaluation of laparoscopic surgery compared with medical management for gastro-oesophageal reflux disease : 5-year follow-up of multicentre randomised trial (the REFLUX trial)

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Two-Dimensional Diffusion in the Presence of Topological Disorder

How topological defects affect the dynamics of particles hopping between lattice sites of a distorted, two-dimensional crystal is addressed. Perturbation theory and numerical simulations show that weak, short-ranged topological disorder leads to a finite reduction of the diffusion coefficient. Renormalization group theory and numerical simulations suggest that longer-ranged disorder, such as that from randomly placed dislocations or random disclinations with no net disclinicity, leads to subdiffusion at long times.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure