Metacarpal sign

Background Archibald's sign, or metacarpal sign is defined as shortening of the IV and V metacarpal bones, is a rare phenomenon found in the Turner syndrome, homocystinuria and in Albright's osteodystrophy. Objectives The aim of the article was to show a rare case of metacarpal sign with atypical shortening of the III and IV metacarpal bones not connected with gonadal dysgenesia, genetic disorders nor osteodystrophy. Material and methods Case report of a 60-year-old female patient. Results Artchibald's metacarpal sign in the described case was accompanied by erosive arthritis in the left lower extremity. No features of genetic disorders nor gonadal disgenesia were found in the patient. Undifferentiated seronegative asymmetric erosive arthritis developed in the patient. The level of parathormon was within the normal range. No signs of tumor were seen in bone scintigraphy. Conclusions Archibald's metacarpal sign may be present in patients without genetic disorders

Development of Novel Anode Materials for Lithium Ion Batteries

This thesis focuses on the development of new anodes for Li ion batteries. Aluminium has been long considered as promising anode material for Li ion batteries because of its low cost, abundance, and low toxicity. Aluminium undergoes alloying with lithium through intermetallic LiAl formation which offers a relatively high theoretical capacity of 993 mAh/g compared to 372 mAh/g for graphite that is currently the principal anode material in commercial Li ion batteries. However, despite intensive research, all aluminium-based anodes tested so far suffered from rapid capacity fading and failure within first few cycles. Furthermore, there is insufficient understanding of the mechanisms of such capacity fading and the lack of ideas how to overcome this problem. In this work, we were able to demonstrate that the problems that have been plaguing Al anodes are not insurmountable and can be solved by judicious selection of the anode materials, their conditioning and treatment, as well as battery design. An important difference from all other studies is that we propose and justify the use of electrochemical approach to formation of the LiAl nanostructure directly on the bulk anode surface, as opposed to usual methods tested in the literature that involve application of various kinds of nanoparticles, nanowires, as well as thin evaporated or sputtered films. Using the approach developed in this work, we were able to fabricate and test battery prototypes with Al anodes, LiFePO4 cathodes and solid polymer electrolyte that showed sustained performance for more than 400 cycles over wide range of charge-discharge rates with high output voltage of 2.6 – 2.8 V and over 90% coulombic efficiency without any failure or capacity fading

Perfomance analysis of libraries for testing web applications on the ASP.NET Core platform

This paper conducts a performance analysis of three libraries: XUnit, NUnit, MSTest, aiming to compare the time performance. The performance was checked using load test, synchronous and asynchronous tests. The synchronous and asynchronous tests were divided into groups of 10, 25, 50 and 100 test cases. The tests were carried out using an inhouse project written on the ASP.NET Core platform

β-Hydroxy β-methylbutyrate (HMB) supplementation during pregnancy and perinatal period in animals studies and possible application in humans

β-Hydroxy β-methylbutyrate (HMB) is a diet supplement known for its positive impact on muscle anabolism, which makes it very popular among amateur sportsmen. Diet enriched with HMB leads to decreased proteolysis in muscle tissue, which is extremely important in the process of muscle regeneration after intensive training. As the number of possible implications of this molecule in medicine is still growing, the aim of this review was to find potential applications of HMB in women and their infants during pregnancy and perinatal period.  The HMB usage during pregnancy or shortly after birth is connected with increased muscle anabolism in the infants. Many factors like mTOR signaling pathway, increased activity of GH/IGF-1 axis or elevated blood concentration of some amino acids may be responsible for this effect. Such activity might be potentially helpful for infants born with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). Improvement in quality and quantity of colostrum and milk, positive impact on bones and cartilages or immunostimulating effect and deceased enamel roughness, which potentially reduces the risk of caries, are other potential benefits. Although numerous possible positive effects have been postulated, there seems to be insufficient data on safety of long term HMB supplementation, especially in pregnancy and perinatal period. Moreover, there are studies that imply increased peripheral insulin resistance after prolonged supplementation of HMB.  HMB usage can be beneficial in numerous health states, also in pregnancy and perinatal period, especially in infants with low birth weight or born preterm, but further investigation is needed to estimate benefits to risk ratio and introduce specific guidelines

Effect of subacute poisoning with selected pyrethroids on fresh spatial memory and movement activity in mice

Introduction. Pyrethroids are commonly used in agriculture and for indoor insect control. They act as neurotoxins mainly  via sodium channels in neurons. People can be exposed to traces of these xenobiotics dermally, with food, at home or at workplace. Three pyrethroids: cypermethrin, lambdacyhalothrin, and betacyfluthrin were chosen for modelling subacute oral poisoning in mice.The aim of the study was to assess if 7-day exposure to 0.1LD50 of each compound could impair memory and motor activity in mice.Material and methods. A total of 64 mice were divided into  8 groups of 8 animals: females controls, males controls, females receiving cypermethrin, males receiving cypermethrin, females receiving lambdacyhalothrin, males receiving lambdacyhalothrin, females receiving  betacyfluthrin, males receiving betacyfluthrin. They were given 0.1LD50 of a pyrethroid dissolved in canola oil by gavage daily for 7 days. They were tested in a Y-maze on day 1 and 7.Results. Subacute poisoning with betacyfluthrin significantly reduces locomotor activity in females on day 1  and in both genders on day 7 without effect on fresh spatial memory.Conclusion. Betacyfluthrin is the most harmful of the tested pesticides

Detection of carbonates in water softeners

The skin is one of the most important and the largest organ of human body. Skin hygiene requires use of water. Water can be hard. Hard water effectively hinders the washing process. The purpose of the work is to detect carbonates in bath salts and water softeners. Materials and methods A total of 80 samples were collected: micellar fluids-5, tonics-6, shampoos-17, shower gels-6, bath salts-13, soaps-11, washing gels-6, softeners-3, washing capsules-3, washing powders-4, dishwasher tablets-5, bathwatercolour-1. One gram of test substance was added to 10 cm3 of distilled water,heated until the precipitate dissolved and poured into a tube. A few drops of 3 mol / dm3 H2SO4 were added. The evolution of gas bubbles indicated the presence of carbonates. In our experiment we have found the presence of bicarbonate only in effervescent tablets for baby baths, Salt Iwonicka and in bathing balls. Conclusions: Not all products containing "bath salt" contain bicarbonate. Budget bath salts in the composition have sodium chloride or sodium lauryl sulphate, but they do not contain bicarbonate. Micellar liquids, shower gels, face wash gels, soaps, shampoos, powders and liquids for washing and rinsing fabrics, dishwasher products do not contain carbonates. The most bicarbonate salt contains Iwonicka Salt. Detergents such as washing powders, washing liquids and fabric rinses and dishwasher products contain phosphonates, which give off abundant foam

Prolonged consumption of energy drinks does not affect the processes of memory, and increases the activity of transaminases, and cholesterol concentration – animal model study results

Background . The consumption of energy drinks (ED) is popular among young people. There are concerns that it could be harmful for their health. Objectives. The aim of the study was to analyze the influence of ED consumption on animals for 30 subsequent days on memory, weight gain and biochemical parameters (alanine transaminase-ALT, asparagine transaminase-AST, creatinine, cholesterol and glycated hemoglobin-HbA1C). Material and methods . The study was conducted on 32 mice (16 females and 16 males). The mice received standard feed for rodents ad libitum. The animals were randomly assigned to four groups (8 animals each): I – female controls provided with water ad libitum, II – females provided with ED ad libitum, III – male controls provided with water, and IV – males provided with ED. Every 7 days memory retention in a passive avoidance task, and fresh spatial memory in a Y-maze were checked. The results were analyzed with Statistica 10.0. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results. The consumption of ED did not affect fresh spatial memory or memory retention in the experiment. Males drinking ED gained weight at a faster rate than control males. ED significantly increased the activity of AST in the blood sera of females and, to a lesser degree, of ALT in both males and females drinking ED. ED did not significantly affect the oncentration of creatinine or HbA1C, but significantly increased the concentration of cholesterol in the blood of males from group IV. Conclusions . The prolonged consumption of ED does not affect memory processes, but increases the activity of transaminases and cholesterol concentration in blood sera in the mice model

Zastosowanie testu stania na jednej nodze do oceny aktywności choroby i nasilenia bólu u pacjentów z chorobami układu ruchu — badanie pilotażowe

Introduction. One leg standing test (OLST) used to be used to assess the risk of falls in elderly people. Aim of the study. The aim of the study was to compare OLST, visual pain scale (VAS) and disease activity scale — DAS28 in two groups of patients: with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA). Materials and methods. Twenty patients participated in the study. Their participation was voluntary and anonymous. OLST time was measured on the right and then on the left leg of each patient. VAS was used to assess their joint pain. For patients with RA DAS28 was calculated. Results. The mean right leg OLST times were longer in patients with OA than in patients with RA. The patients with RA could stand on one leg the shorter, the higher their VAS and DAS28 were. Conclusions. OLST can be used as an alternative method to VAS and DAS28 in assessment of musculoskeletal disease activity.Wstęp. Test stania na jednej nodze (TSJN) dotychczas był stosowany do oceny ryzyka upadków u ludzi w podeszłym wieku. Cel pracy. Porównanie wyników TSJN, wzrokowej skali bólu (VAS) oraz skali aktywności choroby DAS28 w dwóch grupach pacjentów: z reumatoidalnym zapaleniem stawów (RZS) oraz chorych na chorobę zwyrodnieniową stawów (ChZS). Materiał i metody. W badaniu dobrowolnie i anonimowo wzięło udział 20 pacjentów konsultowanych w poradni reumatologicznej. Mierzono czas stania na prawej, potem na lewej nodze u każdego pacjenta. Uczestnicy określali odczuwany poziom bólu stawów na wzrokowej skali bólu (VAS). Pacjentom z RZS wyliczano wskaźnik aktywności choroby DAS28. Wyniki. Średni czas stania na prawej nodze był istotnie dłuższy u pacjentów z ChZS, niż pacjentów z RZS. Chorzy na RZS stali na każdej z nóg tym krócej, im wyższy były ich VAS oraz DAS28. Wnioski: Test stania na jednej nodze (TSJN) może być alternatywnym do VAS i DAS28 narzędziem służącym do oceny aktywności choroby układu ruchu

Side effects of drugs used in cancer chemotherapy

IntroductionChemotherapy is a systemic treatment of tumors with use of cytotoxic agents which affect the whole organism destroying cells tumor cells which divide quickly. These medicines damage also healthy tissues of the organism causing some side effects in different systems of organs. Objective The objective of this study is to review the most common side-effects of drugs used in chemotherapy based on the available literature.  Methods22 publications published between 2005-2016 concerning side-effects of drugs used during the chemotherapy of the cancer were analyzed. Results and discussion Majority of the side-effects of chemotherapeutic drugs are symptoms from the digestive tract, bone marrow, cardiovascular system and kidneys. A systematic review of medicines responsible for these symptoms was accomplished.ConclusionsMajority of patients treated with chemotherapy experience its’ side effects. The most noticeable ones are those of the digestive tract, like diarrhea or vomiting, which cause considerable discomfort and arouse the urgent need for the doctor’s help. However, the most dangerous effects, which directly threaten a patient’s life are severe cytopenias and unexpected failure of the cardiovascular system