The OSCE mission in Sarajevo within the scope of building a system for the protection of the rights of national minorities in Bosnia-Herzegovina with specific reference to the Roma community

Misja OBWE w Sarajewie rozpoczęła działalność niemal natychmiast po podpisaniu Dokumentu z Dayton, a prócz monitoringu realizacji porozumienia pokojowego, jednym z podstawowych pól jej aktywności jest promowanie i pomoc w budowie państwa prawa w Bośni i Hercegowinie. Szczególnym zadaniem było i jest tworzenie w tym podzielonym konfliktami społecznymi i narodowościowymi państwie mechanizmów kontroli przestrzegania podstawowych praw człowieka. Artykuł przedstawi zatem aktywność misji OBWE w BiH w tej dziedzinie, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem sytuacji Romów w tym państwie. Będzie również próbą oceny dotychczasowych jej osiągnięć i wskazaniem najważniejszych niepowodzeń i przeszkód w procesie normalizacji i dochodzenia do międzynarodowych standardów Federacji BiH.The OSCE mission in Sarajevo started soon after the Dayton Document had been signed. Apart from monitoring of the implementation of this peace agreement, one of the main areas of OSCE's activity has been promoting and helping to build a rule of law in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A special task has been to create state mechanisms for monitoring the observance of basic human rights in this divided ethincally and socially country. This paper will therefore analyse the activity of the OSCE mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) in the above mentioned area, with particular emphasis given on the situation of Roma population in this country. It will also be an attempt to assess B&H's achievements so far as well as most important setbacks and obstacles in the normalisation process and to reaching out international standards

Pogranicze kościelne diecezji krakowskiej i wrocławskiej na Śląsku na przełomie XVIII i XIX wieku

The issue includes the territory of the decanates of Bytorn and Pszczyna in Upper Silesia and the decanates of Siewierz and Lelów in the region of Częstochowa and New Silesia. All these decanates used to belong to the Cracow diocese although most of them were beyond the borders of Poland. Until 1741 all Silesia was under the Austrian rule. It was only after the Silesian war between Prussia and Austria in 1741 that Silesia was subjected to the Prussian rule. Soon after the first partition, on January 4, 1773, the Prussian authorities demanded that the Cracow bishop Kajetan Sołtyk grant powers for the Bytom and Pszczyna decanates. Finally, territorial affiliation of these two decanates was decided in the years 1816-1821. Talks were held then between Nibuhr, plenipotentiary of the Prussian government and cardinal Consalvi, representative of the Holy See, concerning reorganization of church administration in Prussia. By the powers of the papal bulla De salutare animarum of July 16, 1821 the decanates of Bytom and Pszczyna were incorporated into the Wroclaw diocese.Zagadnienie to obejmuje tereny dekanatów bytomskiego i pszczyńskiego na Górnym Śląsku (53 parafie - 1815 r.) i tereny dekanatów siewierskiego i lelowskiego w okręgu Częstochowy i Nowego Śląska (Siewierz, Kłobuck, Pilica; 46 parafii i 3 filie - 1807 r.)

Błogosławiony ks. Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski

The article presents the life and work of Blessed Rev. Stefan Wincenty FrelichowskiArtykuł przedstawia życie i działalność księdza Stefana Wincentego Frelichowskiego

Fatigue or fulfilled opportunity? : local communities facing local self-government policy in light of Poland's EU membership and decentralisation

The article below is a response to the question about consequences of two milestones of contemporary Polish history to the local communities. These two events of the latest history are significant: 15 years since the territorial reform and introduction of three‑leveled regional authority and the 10th anniversary of Polish membership in the European Union. Based on the researchesand replies to the questions of the respondents we are allowed to address an issue not only of potential successes and benefits connected with the mentioned events but also all failures, which create discomfort in existence of local communities in their homeland. The author presents an attitude of citizens of 6 Polish municipalities to the European Union as well as the most important advantages and disadvantages of Polish participation in thestructures of the EU (connotations to the EU, satisfaction from drawdown European funds and the matter of introducing common currency to Polish economics). Data from the surveys will be confronted with the perspective of respondents to low public administration, predominantly in municipalities (an ability to absorb EU funds with all the consequences such as debts, decisions consulting, satisfaction from civil service along with the most common pathologies)

Growth differentiation factor-15 is associated with muscle mass in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and promotes muscle wasting in vivo.

BACKGROUND: Loss of muscle mass is a co-morbidity common to a range of chronic diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Several systemic features of COPD including increased inflammatory signalling, oxidative stress, and hypoxia are known to increase the expression of growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15), a protein associated with muscle wasting in other diseases. We therefore hypothesized that GDF-15 may contribute to muscle wasting in COPD. METHODS: We determined the expression of GDF-15 in the serum and muscle of patients with COPD and analysed the association of GDF-15 expression with muscle mass and exercise performance. To determine whether GDF-15 had a direct effect on muscle, we also determined the effect of increased GDF-15 expression on the tibialis anterior of mice by electroporation. RESULTS: Growth differentiation factor-15 was increased in the circulation and muscle of COPD patients compared with controls. Circulating GDF-15 was inversely correlated with rectus femoris cross-sectional area (P < 0.001) and exercise capacity (P < 0.001) in two separate cohorts of patients but was not associated with body mass index. GDF-15 levels were associated with 8-oxo-dG in the circulation of patients consistent with a role for oxidative stress in the production of this protein. Local over-expression of GDF-15 in mice caused wasting of the tibialis anterior muscle that expressed it but not in the contralateral muscle suggesting a direct effect of GDF-15 on muscle mass (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Together, the data suggest that GDF-15 contributes to the loss of muscle mass in COPD

FHL1 activates myostatin signalling in skeletal muscle and promotes atrophy

Myostatin is a TGFβ family ligand that reduces muscle mass. In cancer cells, TGFβ signalling is increased by the protein FHL1. Consequently, FHL1 may promote signalling by myostatin. We therefore tested the ability of FHL1 to regulate myostatin function. FHL1 increased the myostatin activity on a SMAD reporter and increased myostatin dependent myotube wasting. In mice, independent expression of myostatin reduced fibre diameter whereas FHL1 increased fibre diameter, both consistent with previously identified effects of these proteins. However, co‐expression of FHL1 and myostatin reduced fibre diameter to a greater extent than myostatin alone. Together, these data suggest that the expression of FHL1 may exacerbate muscle wasting under the appropriate conditions

MuRF-1 and Atrogin-1 Protein Expression and Quadriceps Fiber Size and Muscle Mass in Stable Patients with COPD

INTRODUCTION: Animal studies demonstrate the importance of the E3 ubiquitin ligases, Muscle RING-Finger Protein 1 (MuRF-1) and atrogin-1, in muscle protein degradation during acute muscle atrophy. Small clinical studies suggest MuRF-1 and atrogin-1 expression in the quadriceps muscle is also increased in stable patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease compared to controls. However, it remains unclear whether these ligases have a role in maintaining a muscle-wasted state in COPD patients. METHODS: 32 stable COPD patients (16 with a low fat-free mass index (FFMI), 16 with a normal FFMI) and 15 controls underwent lung function and quadriceps strength tests and a percutaneous quadriceps biopsy. Quadriceps MuRF-1 and atrogin-1 protein were quantified with western blotting. Quadriceps fiber cross-sectional area (CSA) and fiber proportions were determined by immunohistochemistry on muscle sections. MuRF-1 and atrogin-1 levels were compared between COPD patients with and without a low FFMI, and between patients and controls, and correlations between MuRF-1 and atrogin-1 levels and quadriceps fiber CSA in the patients were investigated. RESULTS: Atrogin-1 protein levels were lower in patients than controls, but similar in patients with a low and normal FFMI. MuRF-1 levels did not differ between any groups. MuRF-1 and atrogin-1 levels were not associated with quadriceps fiber CSA or quadriceps strength in patients. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic upregulation of ubiquitin ligases was not evident in the quadriceps muscle of stable COPD patients with a low muscle mass. This does not exclude the possibility of transient increases in ubiquitin ligases during acute catabolic episodes