“The darts to wound with endless love!” On Hannah Cowley’s response to Frances Burney’s "Evelina"

The paper traces the intertextual echoes of Frances Burney’s debut novel, "Evelina", in "The Belle’s Stratagem", a play by Burney’s contemporary Hannah Cowley. The latter was certainly an avid admirer of Burney. In one of her poems she pays tribute to the novelist and praises her ability to achieve uncommon subtlety in the depiction of characters in her writing: “What pen but Burney’s …/… draws from nature with a skill so true” (Escott 2012: 38). The paper, however, argues that the connection between the writers and their literary productions goes much further than the obeisance paid to Burney in Cowley’s admiring verses. The congruence between the plots of "Evelina" and "The Belle’s Stratagem", and, in some instances, the very wording used in the two texts, poses immediate questions about its significance in Cowley’s popular play (which was first produced in 1780, two years after the publication of Burney’s debut). The conclusions suggest that Cowley deliberately drew Burney’s novel into a discussion on viable models of femininity and matrimony in contemporary society. But they also point to a wider phenomenon, namely, the extent to which the relationship between the eighteenth-century theatre and novel was reciprocal. While several recent studies discuss the influence of the theatre on the novel, little has been said on the importance of the novel for the development of the contemporary drama. This new reading of Cowley’s "The Belle’s Stratagem" as a response to Burney’s "Evelina" shows the immediacy with which a literary dialogue could be opened by authors and appreciated by audiences on the vibrant eighteenth-century cultural scene

Acinetobacter baumannii: biology and drug resistance — role of carbapenemases

Acinetobacter baumannii is a Gram-negative, glucose-non-fermenting, oxidase-negative coccobacillus, most commonly associated with the hospital settings. The ability to survive in adverse environmental conditions as well as high level of natural and acquired antimicrobial resistance make A. baumannii one of the most important nosocomial pathogens. While carbapenems have long been considered as antimicrobials of last-resort, the rates of clinical A. baumannii strains resistant to these antibiotics are increasing worldwide. Carbapenem resistance among A. baumannii is conferred by coexisting mechanisms including: decrease in permeability of the outer membrane, efflux pumps, production of beta-lactamases, and modification of penicillin-binding proteins. The most prevalent mechanism of carbapenem resistance among A. baumannii is associated with carbapenem-hydro­lysing enzymes that belong to Ambler class D and B beta-lactamases. In addition, there have also been reports of resistance mediated by selected Ambler class A carbapenemases among A. baumannii strains. Resistance determinants in A. baumannii are located on chromosome and plasmids, while acquisition of new mechanisms can be mediated by insertion sequences, integrons, transposons, and plasmids. Clinical relevance of carbapen­em resistance among strains isolated from infected patients, carriers and hospital environment underlines the need for carbapenemase screening. Currently available methods vary in principle, accuracy and efficiency. The techniques that deserve particular attention belong to both easily accessible unsophisticated methods as well as advanced techniques based on mass spectrometry or molecular biology. While carbapenemases limit the therapeutic options in A. baumannii infections, studies concerning novel beta-lactamase inhibitors offer a new insight into effective therapy

Management of dermatological adverse events during nivolumab treatment

Programmed death 1 receptor (PD-1) inhibitors, such as nivolumab, are effective in the treatment of advanced and metastatic melanoma, as well as in kidney, bladder, and non-small cell lung carcinomas. Adverse events of PD-1 inhibitors result mostly from autoimmune mechanisms, include gastrointestinal inflammatory diseases, hepatotoxicity, neurotoxicity, endocrinopathies, and skin toxicities. In this article, we highlight the main cutaneous adverse events associated with PD-1 inhibitors and provide a set of practical guidelines about their management. Additionally, we report a case of nivolumab-induced bullous pemphigoid in a patient with metastatic melanoma.Programmed death 1 receptor (PD-1) inhibitors, such as nivolumab, are effective in the treatment of advanced and metastatic melanoma, as well as in kidney, bladder, and non-small cell lung carcinomas. Adverse events of PD-1 inhibitors result mostly from autoimmune mechanisms, include gastrointestinal inflammatory diseases, hepatotoxicity, neurotoxicity, endocrinopathies, and skin toxicities. In this article, we highlight the main cutaneous adverse events associated with PD-1 inhibitors and provide a set of practical guidelines about their management. Additionally, we report a case of nivolumab-induced bullous pemphigoid in a patient with metastatic melanoma

High throughput analysis of Rpi genes in potato cultivars, breeding lines and wild Solanum species

Poster presented at 12TH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF PLANT PATHOLOGY ICPP2023, Lyon, France The research leading to these results has received funding from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021, project DivGene: UMO2019/34/H/NZ9/0055

Tubercular inflammation of cervical lymph nodes with a colliquative tuberculosis focus - a case study

Gruźlica skóry jest szczególną postacią gruźlicy, o zróżnicowanym obrazie klinicznym wynikającym z wewnątrz- lub zewnątrzpochodnej drogi zakażenia, mechanizmów odpornościowych oraz niekorzystnych warunków rozwoju dla prątka. Nietypowy przebieg i objawy mogą powodować trudności w postawieniu prawidłowego rozpoznania oraz odpowiednio wczesnego rozpoczęcia leczenia. Przy rozpoznaniu gruźlicy skóry należy brać pod uwagę szeroką diagnostykę różnicową obejmującą między innymi leiszmaniozę, promienicę, trąd, grzybice głębokie. W pracy przedstawiono przypadek gruźlicy węzłów chłonnych i gruźlicy rozpływnej skóry, początkowo mylnie rozpoznanej jako promienica i powikłanej rumieniem wielopostaciowym. W opisywanym przypadku w badaniach bakteriologicznych bioptatów ze zmian skórnych prątków gruźlicy nie wykryto. Rozpoznanie choroby ustalono na podstawie obecności ziarniny swoistej w ostatnim z wykonanych badań histopatologicznych, nadwrażliwości na tuberkulinę oraz obecności DNA prątków w badaniu łańcuchowej reakcji polimerazy (PCR). Zdaniem autorów w przypadku klinicznego podejrzenia gruźlicy skóry wydaje się być uzasadnione nawet kilkukrotne wykonywanie badania histopatologicznego ze zmian. Wynik powinien być uzupełniony jedną z metod badania materiałów skąpoprątkowych, na przykład przez identyfikację materiału genetycznego prątków za pomocą amplifikacji kwasów nukleinowych metodą PCR.Cutaneous tuberculosis is a specific form of tuberculosis, characteristic of a differentiated clinical picture and resulting from either endo- or exogenous way of infection, immunological mechanisms and unfavourable conditions for mycobacterium development. The untypical course and symptoms of the disease may cause certain difficulties in obtaining a proper diagnosis and, in consequence, result in delayed onset of appropriate treatment. When diagnosing cutaneous tuberculosis, a broad apparatus of differential diagnostics should be applied, taking into account other diseases such as leishmaniasis, actinomycosis, leprosy or deep mycoses. We report a case of lymph node tuberculosis and of colliquative tuberculosis of the skin, at first erroneously diagnosed as actinomycosis, complicated by multiform erythema. In the reported case, no tuberculous bacilli were identified in bacteriological evaluations of bioptates collected from the skin changes. The final diagnosis of the disease was determined by the presence of specific granulation tissue in the last performed histopathological studies, as well as by hypersensitivity to tuberculin and the presence of mycobacterial DNA in PCR evaluation. According to the authors, in case of clinically suspected cutaneous tuberculosis, repeated (several) histopathological studies of samples from observed changes seem to be fairly justified. The results of histopathological studies should be completed by one of the methods of oligomycobacterial material evaluation, e.g. by identification of mycobacterial genetic material by means of nucleic acid amplification in the PCR method

Leczenie biologiczne łuszczycy w Polsce

Psoriasis biological treatment in PolandBiologics are an important, but expensive treatment option in certain inflammatory diseases. Psoriasis is chronic disease that is a major public health problem in all countries. The paper shows the practical applicability of biological agents in this disease therapy. Many aspects of the clinical, cost and availability of biological treatment of psoriasis in Poland were discussed

Amplicon sequencing of NBS LRR genes conferring resistance to Phytophthora infestans in potato

Poster presented at 2023 IS-MPMI Congress, Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, Providence, USA The research leading to these results has received funding from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021, project DivGene: UMO2019/34/H/NZ9/0055