KAROL LIPIŃSKI AS A MUSICAL INTERPRETER IN THE PRE-JOACHIM ERA

The work concerns a study of Karol Lipiński – the early nineteenth century Polish violinist – focusing on his activity as a musical interpreter. The work is supported by a comparison with another violinist acknowledged in this field – Joseph Joachim. The work is divided between four chapters: The first chapter begins with a discussion on the development of the concept of musical interpretation in the context of the broader social and aesthetical changes of the early nineteenth century, and ends with a summary of Joachim’s interpretative activity in the latter half of the same. The second chapter includes Lipiński’s biographical sketch and discusses his musical style based on available sources. The third chapter focuses on Lipiński’s activities as a musical interpreter and consists of three subchapters, each concerning different kinds of activity within this area, such as performing other composers’ solo and chamber works, music editing, and leading an orchestra. The fourth and final chapter attempts to answer the following questions: How innovative, in relation to the dominant trends of the time, was his approach to a music interpretation? Did he influence Joachim? If so, to what degree? Finally, why did the name of Lipiński fade into oblivion while Joachim prevailed

Inflammatory reaction and angiogenesis intensity in aortic wall according to clinical manifestation of abdominal aortic aneurysm

Wstęp. Celem pracy jest ocena parametrów histologicznych w zależności od obrazu klinicznego tętniaka ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem obecności i jakości procesu zapalnego oraz nasilenia angiogenezy.   Materiały i metody. Materiał pobierano od chorych operowanych w Klinice Chirurgii Ogólnej i Naczyniowej AM w Łodzi w latach 1998&#8211;2000. Fragmenty ściany aorty utrwalano w 9-procentowym formaldehydzie. Do badań zakwalifikowano 98 przypadków. Wyróżniono 5 grup badawczych: 1. Chorzy z tętniakami operowanymi planowo (n = 50); 2. Osoby z tętniakami objawowymi i pękniętymi (n = 18); 3. Pacjenci z tętniakami aorty współistniejącymi z niedrożnością aortalno-biodrową (n = 9); 4. Chorzy z niedrożnością aortalno-biodrową bez tętniaka (n = 14); 5. Grupa kontrolna &#8211; osoby z prawidłową aortą pobraną od dawców narządów (n = 7). Preparaty barwione h + e oceniano pod względem obecności i/lub nasilenia procesu zapalnego, stosując skalę HISA, określano liczbę limfocytów T, limfocytów B, makrofagów oraz liczbę naczyń krwionośnych. W badaniach półilościowych oceniano liczbę naczyń w skali 1&#8211;3. Wyniki poddano analizie statystycznej z użyciem testu Manna-Whitneya. Wyniki. Nasilenie angiogenezy w grupie 2 było znamiennie statystycznie wyższe niż w pozostałych grupach. W grupie tej stwierdzono także największą liczbę makrofagów w błonie zewnętrznej (M = 47 vs. M = 34 w grupie 1; p < 0,01), limfocytów T w błonie środkowej (M = 447 vs. M = 292; p < 0,01), limfocytów B w błonie zewnętrznej (M = 633 vs. M = 431; p < 0,01), a także granulocytów (M = 26 vs. M = 7; p < 0,01). Grupę chorych z tętniakami objawowymi charakteryzowało także największe nasilenie procesu zapalnego w ścianie aorty oceniane w skali HISA. Wnioski. Wykazano korelację pomiędzy nasileniem procesu zapalnego i angiogenezy w ścianie aorty a klinicznymi objawami tętniaka.Background. The aim of the study was the estimation of histological parameters in association with the clinical manifestation of aortic aneurysm, mainly the intensity of angiogenesis and inflammatory infiltration. Material and metods. Material was obtained from patients operated on in the Department of General and Vascular Surgery at the Medical University of Łódź in 1998&#8211;2000. The samples of aortic wall were fixed in formalin. 98 cases were selected for the study and divided into 5 groups: 1. Patients with aneurysms undergoing elective surgery (n = 50); 2. Patients with aneurysms symptomatic and ruptured (n = 18); 3. Patients with aneurysms coexisting with aorto-iliac occlusion (n = 9); 4. Patients with aorto-iliac occlusion without aneurysm (n = 14); 5. Control group with normal aorta obtained from organ donors (n = 7). Slides were stained with h + e, the presence of inflammatory reaction was estimated according to conditions described in Histologic Inflammatory Scale Aneurysm. The numbers of T-cells, B-cells and macrophages were calculated after immunohistochemistry. The number of blood vessels was described semiquantitatively, using the 3-degree scale. Results. The intensity of angiogenesis in the second group was significantly higher than in the other groups. In this group we found the highest number of macrophages in adventitia (M = 47 vs. M = 37 in the first group; p < 0.01), T-cells in media (M = 447 vs. 292; p < 0.01), B-cells in adventitia (M = 633 vs. M = 431; p < 0.01) and neutrophiles (M = 26 vs. M = 7; p < 0.01). The symptomatic group also had the biggest intensity of inflammatory reaction estimated in HISA. Conclusions. We show the correlation between angiogenesis and inflammatory intensity and clinical manifestation of aneurysm

‘Opioidergic postconditioning’ of heart muscle during ischemia/reperfusion injury

  Background: Ischemic preconditioning and postconditioning are the novel strategies of attaining cardioprotection against ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Previous studies suggested the role of opioid pathway, however the class of opioid receptors responsible for this effect in humans remains unknown. The aim of the study was to assess the influence of opioids on simulated I/R injury outcomes in the hu­man myocardium. Methods: Trabeculae of the human right atrium were electrically driven in organ bath and subjected to simulated I/R injury. Morphine (10–4M, 10–5M, 10–6M) or d-opioid receptor agonist DADLE (10–8M, 10–7M, 10–6M) was used at the time of re-oxygenation. Additional trabecula was subjected to hypoxia protocol only (Control). Contractive force of the myocardium was assessed as the maximal force of a contraction (Amax), the rate of rise of the force of a contraction (Slope L) and relaxation as the rate of decay of the force of a contraction (Slope T). Results: Application of morphine 10–4M resulted in increase of Amax, Slope L and Slope T during re-oxygenation period as compared to Control (77.99 ± 1.5% vs. 68.8 ± 2.2%, p &lt; 0.05; 45.72 ± 2.9% vs. 34.12 ± 5.1%, p &lt; 0.05; 40.95 ± 2.5% vs. 32.37 ± 4.3%, p &lt; 0.05). Parameters were not significantly different in the lower morphine concentrations. Application of DADLE 10–6M resulted in decrease of Amax and Slope L as compared to Control (68.13 ± 5.5% vs. 76.62 ± 6.6%, p &lt; 0.05; 28.29 ± 2.2 vs. 34.80 ± 3.9%, p &lt; 0.05). Conclusions: At re-oxygenation, morphine improves systolic and diastolic function of the human myo­cardium in the dose-dependent manner. Delta-opioid receptor stimulation attenuates systolic function of human heart muscle which remains in contrast to previous reports with animal models of I/R injury. (Cardiol J 2017; 24, 4: 419–425

Usefulness of serum VEGF concentration measurement to estimate aortic aneurysm risk of rupture

Wstęp. Celem niniejszej pracy jest ocena przydatności oznaczania wartości stężeń VEGF w surowicy u chorych z tętniakami aorty brzusznej w celu oceny ryzyka pęknięcia. Analizowano stężenia VEGF w surowicy pacjentów z tętniakami aorty w zależności od objawów klinicznych tętniaka oraz zbadano korelację wartości stężeń VEGF w surowicy z ekspresją tego czynnika w ścianie aorty.Materiał i metody. Materiał badawczy stanowiły próbki surowicy pobrane od chorych przed zabiegiem oraz fragmenty ściany aorty uzyskane od tych samych pacjentów podczas operacji rekonstrukcyjnej aorty. Wyodrębniono następujące grupy: I - tętniaki operowane planowo (n = 49), II - tętniaki objawowe i pęknięte (n = 19), III - niedrożności aortalno-biodrowe (n = 17), IV - grupa kontrolna, którą stanowiły fragmenty ściany aorty pobranej od dawców narządów (n = 9) oraz surowica pobrana u chorych operowanych planowo z powodu przepuklin i żylaków kończyn dolnych (n = 34). Stężenie VEGF w surowicy oznaczano metodą ELISA. Ekspresję VEGF w tkance oceniono morfometrycznie, zliczając komórki VEGF-dodatnie po wykonaniu odczynów immunohistochemicznych. Wyniki. Ekspresja VEGF w ścianie aorty była największa w grupie II. Stwierdzono istotną statystycznie różnicę tej wartości w porównaniu z grupą I (p < 0,003). Wykazano statystycznie znamienne różnice ekspresji VEGF między pozostałymi grupami (p < 0,001). Największą średnią wartość stężenia VEGF w surowicy odnotowano w grupie II, ale różnice między wartościami w poszczególnych grupach nie były istotne statystycznie, mimo że korelacja między wartościami VEGF w surowicy a ekspresją w tkance okazała się silna (p < 0,001). Wniosek. Wyniki badań wskazują na istotną rolę VEGF (i angiogenezy) w rozwoju tętniaka aorty, jednak brak specyficzności uniemożliwia zastosowanie pomiaru jego stężeń w ocenie dynamiki powiększania się tętniaka i ryzyka jego pęknięcia.Background. Risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) rupture is difficult to estimate. Angiogenesis in aneurysm walls is an important morphologic finding. One of the most important factors stimulating angiogenesis is vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The aim of our study was to evaluate if the two values: VEGF expression in aortic wall tissues, and VEGF serum concentration correlate with clinical manifestations of aneurysms, and if these two values correlate with each other. Material and methods. Aorta tissue samples were taken in the operating room from patients undergoing aorta reconstruction for aneurysms: electively (group I, n = 49), emergency (group II, n = 19) or because of aortoiliac occlusion (AIO) (n = 17). Control tissue was taken from healthy organ donors (n = 9). Blood samples were obtained from these patients before surgery. Control serum samples were taken from patients undergoing surgery because of hernias and varices. Expression of VEGF in tissue was measured with use of morphometric analysis in slides after immunohistochemistry with anti-VEGF antibodies. Vascular endothelial growth factor serum concentration was measured with the use of ELISA. Results. The highest level of serum VEGF was observed in the symptomatic AAA group (mean value: 404.3 pg/ml; sv = 331.7). Electively operated AAA showed lower serum VEGF concentration (mean value = 285.3; sv = 300.9), AIO and control: 366.4 and 277.3 respectively. These differences were not significant. Strong correlation was observed between VEGF serum level and VEGF tissue expression. Significant differences were shown in VEGF positive cell numbers between all examined groups (mean cell number in AAA symptomatic = 140.9, elective AAA = 108.5, AIO = 51.4, control = 21.0). Conclusions. There is strong correlation in VEGF tissue expression with clinical manifestation of AAA. Vascular endothelial growth factor serum concentration is not a good clinical marker to estimate the risk of rupture

Na-P1 zeolite synthesis and its crystalline structure ripening through hydrothermal process using coal combustion by-products as substrates

Energy industry sector is one of the major environment pollutants. This branch also generates significant amounts of by-products such as slugs, slug-ash mixtures, ashes and microspheres, which can be very harmful for the earth ecosystems. Statistically the microspheres (MIC) constitute from 0.6% to 2.5% of the total amount of post combustion wastes. MIC occurs mainly in fly ashes (less often in slugs) as the smallest, hollow, spherical particles. MIC is composed mainly of crystalline and amorphous aluminosilicate phases. The combustion conditions have strong influence on MIC composition. Mineral and chemical composition of MIC is very similar to F type of fly ashes; consequently there is a possibility to use them as substrates for zeolite synthesis. Zeolites are minerals from microporous, aluminosilicate group (Szala et al. 2015). Among others, they are characterized by specific channels and chambers occurrence in their structure, which results in a number of important features like: ion exchange, sorption, molecular sieve or catalytic properties. This is the reason for wide use of zeolites in numerous industrial sectors (Ahmaruzzaman 2010). The aim of this study is a synthesis of Na-P1 zeolite at semi-technical scale by conversion of microspheres under hydrothermal conditions in an alkaline medium. This study involves also research of Na-P1 zeolite structure ripening in order to optimize the synthesis conditions. Microspheres from Stalowa Wola Power Plant (Poland) were used as a substrate. For the synthesis of Na-P1 phase the following conditions were applied: 90 dm 3 of water, 15 kg of microsphere, 11 kg of sodium hydroxide (3 mol/dm 3 ), temperature: 80°C, and reaction time up to 26 h (Franus et al. 2014). The zeolite conversion was performed on semi-technical scale installation (Wdowin et al. 2014). During the conversion, samples were collected from the reactor after 2, 4, 6, 10, 14, 26 hours. To investigate the influence of time for zeolitization process efficiency these samples were analyzed in terms of chemical and mineral composition, structural and textural properties. The main attention was paid to the evolution of the Na-P1 unit cell parameters observed as a function of time (calculations and models were performed for every sample). The phase’s composition was determined with powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) method using a PANalytical X’pert MPD diffractometer (with a PW 3050/60 goniometer), Cu lamp, and a graphite monochromator. The analysis was performed within the angle range of 5–65 2θ. PANalytical X’Pert Highscore software was used to process the diffraction data. The identification of mineral phases was based on the PDF-2 release 2010 database formalized by the ICD and IZA-SC Database of Zeolite Structures. The experimental calculations of the unit cell parameters were performed using UnitCell software. The spatial model of Na-P1 zeolite cell was prepared using Mercury 3.7 Windows software. The morphological forms and the chemical composition of the main mineral components were determined with scanning electron microscope (SEM) FEI Quanta 250 FEG equipped with the SE detector and a system of chemical composition analysis based on energy dispersive X-ray-EDS of EDAX company. N 2 adsorption-desorption measurements were carried out at 77 K using ASAP 2020 volumetric adsorption analyzer (Micromeritics). The specific surface areas (S BET ) of the samples were evaluated using the standard Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method for nitrogen adsorption data in the range of relative pressure p / p 0 from 0.06 to 0.3. The total pore volumes were estimated from single-point adsorption at a relative pressure of 0.98. XRD data indicates that main phases in microsphere are amorphous aluminosilicate glass, mullite and quartz. The obtained product is dominated by Na-P1 phase. Experimental calculations of cell parameters and fabricated models confirm crystallographic similarity to Na-P1 pattern. Noteworthy is the fact that the unit cell parameters depend on reaction time. Calculations indicate that the cell parameters (walls length: a , b , c and cell volume) increase with time towards to pattern values. This phenomenon may be interpreted as a ripening of crystalline structure. An in-depth look at this matter can lead to better estimation of synthesis conditions, which have a significant impact to the total cost of zeolites production – especially at a larger scale. SEM shows progressive dissolution (also as a function of time) of aluminosilicate glass in favor of crystallization of zeolite phase. EDS analysis confirms similarity of chemical composition of the obtained samples to a standard Na-P1 zeolite. Calculated textural properties indicate increase of S BET with the reaction time. Simultaneously, the average pore diameters decrease. The S BET of synthetized Na-P1 was 4.62 m 2 /g after 2 h but it increased to 47.92 m 2 /g after 26 h. This is an effect of growing contribution of zeolite phase in relation to the initial substrates in the sample during the reaction time. The experimental conditions allowed synthesizing Na-P1 zeolite from microsphere particles in the prototype installation. Zeolitization process strongly influences the textural properties by increasing S BET and improving pore structure. The microsphere from Stalowa Wola Power Plant is a promising material for the synthesis of Na-P1 zeolite in the prototype installation. Still, the reaction parameters should be reconsidered, basing on the obtained results, in order to reduce the cost of the zeolite production as much as possible. This is required before proceeding to the full technical production scale. To observe increase of zeolite amount in entirety synthesis batch (and to link it with cell behavior) the Rietveld analysis will be provided

The co-application of hypoxic preconditioning and postconditioning abolishes their own protective effect on systolic function in human myocardium

Background: Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) and postconditioning (POC) are well documented to trigger cardioprotection against ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, but the effect oftheir both co-application remains unclear in human heart. The present study sought to assessthe co-application of IPC and POC on fragments of human myocardium in vitro.Methods: Muscular trabeculae of the human right atrial were electrically driven in the organbath and subjected to simulated I/R injury – hypoxia/re-oxygenation injury in vitro. To achieveIPC of trabeculae the single brief hypoxia period preceded the applied lethal hypoxia, and to achieve POC triple brief hypoxia periods followed the lethal hypoxia. Additional muscular trabeculae were exposed only to the hypoxic stimulation (Control) or were subjected to the non-hypoxic stimulation (Sham). 10 μM norepinephrine (NE) application ended every experiment to assess viability of trabeculae. The contraction force of the myocardium assessed as a maximal amplitude of systolic peak (%Amax) was obtained during the whole experiment’s period.Results: Co-application of IPC and POC resulted in decrease in %Amax during the re-oxygentaionperiod and after NE application, as compared to Control (30.35 ± 2.25 vs. 41.89 ± 2.25, 56.26 ± 7.73 vs. 65.98 ± 5.39, respectively). This was in contrary to the effects observed when IPC and POC were applied separately.Conclusions: The co-application of IPC and POC abolishes the cardioprotection of either intervention alone against simulated I/R injury in fragments of the human right heart atria

Leczenie chorego z pękniętym tętniakiem aorty brzusznej i z nieoperacyjnym rakiem jelita grubego - opis przypadku i przegląd piśmiennictwa

Jednoczasowe występowanie u pacjenta choroby nowotworowej i pękniętego tętniaka aorty brzusznej w praktyce klinicznej występuje rzadko. Ze względu na coraz większą liczbę zachorowań na nowotwory, coraz lepsze i bardziej wyrafinowane badania diagnostyczne, a także wzrost w populacji liczby osób powyżej 65. roku życia, lekarze coraz częściej w swojej praktyce będą spotykać się z pacjentami, u których jednoczasowo występuje tętniak aorty brzusznej i choroba nowotworowa. Leczenie takich chorych wciąż budzi duże kontrowersje. W niniejszej pracy przedstawiono przypadek leczenia chorego z pękniętym tętniakiem aorty brzusznej i nieoperacyjnym rakiem jelita grubego. Poruszono także problematykę etyczną i prawną związaną z postępowaniem lekarza w takich przypadkach.It is very unusual to encounter in clinical practice a simultaneous neoplasm and a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm in one patient. Because of the growing number of patients suffering from neoplasms, better and more precise diagnostic procedures, and a growing population of people over 65 years old, doctors will, more often than not, meet patients with simultaneous abdominal aortic aneurysm and neoplasm disease. The treatment of such cases gives rise to a great deal of controversy. In this paper, the treatment of a patient with a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm and with unoperative colon carcinoma is presented together with the ethical and legal problems related to medical procedures in such cases