Egyptian textiles and their production: ‘word’ and ‘object’

This volume presents the results of a workshop that took place on 24 November 2017 at the Centre for Textile Research (CTR), University of Copenhagen. The event was organised within the framework of the MONTEX project—a Marie Skłodowska-Curie individual fellowship conducted by Maria Mossakowska-Gaubert in collaboration with the Contextes et Mobiliers programme of the French Institute for Oriental Archaeology in Cairo (IFAO), and with support from the Institut français du Danemark and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Twelve essays are arranged in 4 sections: I. Weaving looms: texts, images, remains; II. Technology of weaving: study cases; III. Dyeing: terminology and technology; IV. Textile production in written sources: organisation and economy. Contributors include: Maria Mossakowska-Gaubert, Johanna Sigl, Fleur Letellier-Willemin, Lise Bender Jørgensen, Anne Kwaspen, Barbara Köstner, Peder Flemestad, Ines Bogensperger & Helga Rösel-Mautendorfer, Isabelle Marthot-Santaniello, Aikaterini Koroli, Kerstin Dross-Krüpe, Jennifer Cromwell, and Dominique Cardon. With 66 full-colour illustrations.https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeabook/1086/thumbnail.jp

Pedagog w zmieniającej się szkolnej rzeczywistości

Artykuł z numeru 3/2011 internetowego czasopisma edukacyjnego ORE "Trendy

Health-related quality of life impairment and indirect cost of Crohn’s disease : a self-report study in Poland

Evidence on indirect cost of Crohn's disease (CD) is available but typically provides information on the loss of productivity at paid work of patients. In the present study, the quality of life and indirect costs of CD patients were assessed (overall and by disease severity).A self-report questionnaire-based study among adult Polish patients with CD was performed. We collected data on patients' characteristics, quality of life, loss of productivity, consumption of medical resources, and out-of-pocket expenses. The disease severity was determined using the patient's version of the Harvey-Bradshaw index. Productivity costs were assessed from the social perspective, using a human capital approach. The cost of absenteeism, presenteeism and permanent work disability was valuated using the gross domestic product per worker. The patients' productivity loss at unpaid work was measured by time inputs of others to assist patients. The productivity loss among informal caregivers and patients' productivity loss at unpaid work were valuated with the average wage in Poland. The results were adjusted for confounders.The responses from 200 patients (47% in remission) were analysed. The mean utility index was 0.839 (SD 0.171). The total indirect cost was estimated at €462.47 per patient per month (24.0%, absenteeism; 35.0%, work disability; 30.4%, presenteeism; 0.4%, productivity loss at unpaid work; and 10.4%, informal care). A significant correlation of the quality of life and productivity losses with disease severity was observed. Compared with active disease, the remission subgroup had a higher utility index by 16% (p<0.001) and lower indirect costs by 71% (p = 0.003) for absenteeism, 41% (p = 0.030) for presenteeism, 76% (p<0.001) for productivity loss at unpaid work, and 75% (p<0.001) for informal care.Our study revealed the social burden of CD and high dependency of indirect costs and quality of life on the severity of CD in Poland

First evidence for STING SNP R293Q being protective regarding obesity-associated cardiovascular disease in age-advanced subjects - a cohort study

Obesity is a risk factor for several aging-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Especially, cardiovascular disease is triggered by obesity by inducing vascular senescence and chronic low-grade systemic inflammation, also known as inflamm-aging. Released molecules from damaged cells and their recognition by the innate immune system is one of the mechanisms driving inflamm-aging. Obesity results in mitochondrial damage, leading to endothelial inflammation triggered by cytosolic mtDNA via the cGAS/STING pathway. Recently, we have shown STING SNP R293Q to be associated with a decreased risk for aging-related diseases in current smokers. Since current smoking triggers DNA damage that, similar to obesity, may result in the release of DNA into the cytoplasm, we hypothesized that the cGAS/STING pathway can modify the phenotype of aging also in obese subjects. Therefore, the objective of our study was to investigate whether STING R293Q is associated with aging-related diseases in obese individuals. We indeed show that STING 293Q is associated with protection from combined aging-related diseases (P = 0.014) and, in particular, cardiovascular disease in these subjects (P = 0.010). Therefore, we provide the first evidence that stratification for obesity may reveal new genetic loci determining the risk for aging-related diseases

Functional polymorphisms of the leptin and leptin receptor genes are associated with longevity and with the risk of myocardial infarction and of type 2 diabetes mellitus

Wstęp: Długowieczności często towarzyszy dobry stan zdrowia, opóźnione zachorowanie na „choroby związane z wiekiem”, których przebieg jest zwykle łagodny. Leptyna (LEP) znacząco wpływa na metabolizm oraz na inne funkcje organizmu. Aby sprawdzić, czy ekstremalna długowieczność i jej fenotyp są powiązane z odmianami genów leptyny i receptora leptyny (LEPR), przebadaliśmy częstość występowania polimorfizmów –2548 G/A i +19 G/A genu LEP oraz K109R, Q223R, i K656N genu LEPR u stulatków i w grupach kontrolnych.Materiał i metody: Częstość występowania polimorfizmów genów LEP i LEPR badano metodą analizy długości fragmentów restrykcyjnych u 128 stulatków, 414 młodych kontroli (Y), 226 pacjentów z zawałem serca (MI) i u 190 pacjentów z cukrzycą 2 typu (DM2).Wyniki: Genotyp GG polimorfizmu –2548 G/A genu LEP był znamiennie częstszy u stulatków niż w grupach Y, MI i DM2 (odpowiednio p = 0,048, p = 0,003 i p = 0,049). Genotyp AA polimorfizmu K109R genu LEPR był znamiennie rzadszy u stulatków niż w grupach Y, MI i DM2 (odpowiednio p = 0,026, p = 0,013 i p = 0,001).Wnioski: Sugerujemy, że szlak oddziaływań leptyny bierze udział w regulowaniu długości życia, być może poprzez modulowanie ryzyka zachorowania na MI i DM2. (Endokrynol Pol 2014; 65 (1): 11–16)Introduction: Longevity is commonly associated with good health and with delayed onset of age-related diseases with usually benign course. Leptin (LEP) significantly affects metabolism and numerous functions of the organism. To find out if extreme longevity and its phenotype are associated with genetic variants of leptin and leptin receptor (LEPR) genes, we analysed the frequencies of the –2548 G/A and +19 G/A LEP, as well as the K109R, Q223R, and K656N LEPR polymorphisms in centenarians and in control groups.Material and methods: The frequencies of the LEP and LEPR polymorphisms were tested by restriction fragment length polymorphism in 128 centenarians, 414 young controls (Y), 226 myocardial infarction (MI) patients, and 190 type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) patients.Results: The GG genotype of the –2548 G/A LEP polymorphism was significantly more common in centenarians than in the Y, MI and DM2 groups (p = 0.048, p = 0.003, p = 0.049, respectively). In addition, the AA genotype of the K109R LEPR polymorphism was significantly less frequent in centenarians than in the Y, MI, and DM2 groups (p = 0.026, p = 0.013, and p = 0.001, respectively).Conclusions: We suggest that the leptin pathway plays a role in the regulation of longevity, possibly by modulating the risk of development of MI and of DM2. (Endokrynol Pol 2014; 65 (1): 11–16

TLR-6 SNP P249S is associated with healthy aging in nonsmoking Eastern European Caucasians - A cohort study

Background To investigate mechanisms that determine healthy aging is of major interest in the modern world marked by longer life expectancies. In addition to lifestyle and environmental factors genetic factors also play an important role in aging phenotypes. The aged immune system is characterized by a chronic micro-inflammation, known as inflamm-aging, that is suspected to trigger the onset of age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, and Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 (DMT2). We have recently shown that a Toll-like receptor 6 variant (P249S) is associated with susceptibility to cardiovascular disease and speculated that this variant may also be associated with healthy aging in general by decreasing the process of inflamm- aging. Results Analyzing the PolSenior cohort we show here that nonsmoking S allele carriers are significantly protected from age-related diseases (P = 0.008, OR: 0.654). This association depends not only on the association with cardiovascular diseases (P = 0.018, OR: 0.483) for homozygous S allele carriers, but is also driven by a protection from Diabetes Mellitus type 2 (P = 0.010, OR: 0.486) for S allele carriers. In addition we detect a trend but no significant association of this allele with inflamm-aging in terms of baseline IL-6 levels. Conclusion We confirm our previous finding of the TLR-6 249S variant to be protective regarding cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, we present first evidence of TLR-6 249S being involved in DMT2 susceptibility and may be in general associated with healthy aging possibly by reducing the process of inflamm-aging

Use of renal risk drugs in a nation-wide Polish older adult population : an analysis of PolSenior database

Abstract Background Numerous medications should be avoided, or require dose adjustment in subjects with impaired kidney function. We aimed to assess the prevalence of potentially inappropriate use of renal risk drugs in a nation-wide, community-dwelling Polish older adult population. Methods We analysed regular intake of 38 medications that should be avoided, requiring dose modification, increase the risk of pre-renal kidney injury, or may cause potassium retention in subjects with moderately to severely impaired renal function in the PolSenior data base (N = 4514, mean age 76 ± 11 yrs). Kidney function was assessed with short Modification of Diet in Renal Disease formula estimated glomerular filtration rate (sMDRD) and Cockcroft-Gault creatinine clearance (CC). Results There were 855 (19%) individuals with sMDRD < 60 ml/min/1.73m2, and 1734 (38%) with CC <  60 ml/min. Among drugs that should be avoided, spironolactone (20.4% of patients as classified by sMDRD and 17.5% by CC), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (13.4 and 11.3%), hydrochlorothiazide (11.1 and 11.0%), and metformin (6.9 and 8.2%) were most frequently used. The most frequently used drugs requiring dose modification were piracetam (13.9% by sMDRD, and 11.9% by CC), digoxin (8.3 and 8.8%), and gliclazide (6.8 and 5.9%). Classification of a drug use as ‘appropriate’ or ‘inappropriate’ was discordant depending on the method of kidney function assessment (sMDRD or CC) in up to 30%. Subgroups with sMDRD < 60 ml/min/1.73m2 and with CC <  60 ml/min were taking ≥2 drugs increasing the risk of pre-renal kidney injury more frequently than individuals with better kidney function (46.6 vs. 23.1 and 33.0% vs. 24.4%, respectively). There were 24.7% of individuals with sMDRD < 60 ml/min/1.73m2 and 18.0% with CC <  60 ml/min taking 2 or more drugs increasing serum potassium level. The proportion of subjects with hyperkalaemia increased with the number of such drugs. Conclusions Use of drugs that should be avoided or require dose adjustment due to renal impairment, and potentially inappropriate drug combinations is a common problem in older adults in Poland. Assessment of kidney function with sMDRD may result in overlooking of requirements for dose adjustment formulated based on creatinine clearance. Trial registration Not applicable