Znaczenie przestrzeni w procesie scalania miasta

An integral part of the process of uniting the city is to notice importance of common places as fields of concentration of interpersonal acting. The need for gathering places is the result of human nature and determines space perception. The urban habitat is perceived by citizens mainly through the form and nature of the common areas. First of all common spaces showcase the settlements, neighborhoods, cities and create a sense of bond - attachment with the place. The quality of urban interiors affects the formation of social ties and thereby the attractiveness of the urban environment. Improper adjustment of public spaces disintegrates urban structure. In effect makes it difficult or even impossible to identify with the place. The confrontation of the reality with the need for change often stimulates local community to action, which change space in collaboration with the architect (as in the Stockholm district Tensta - Piazza Taxingeplan). Actions bonding urban structure can take various forms but most commonly lead to formation a space oriented to users, encouraging residents to integration.W procesie scalania miasta integralną rolę stanowi dostrzeżenie rangi przestrzeni wspólnych jako miejsc koncentracji aktywności międzyludzkich. Potrzeba miejsc spotkań jest wynikiem natury człowieka i warunkuje jego percepcję przestrzeni. Środowisko miejskie jest głównie postrzegane przez mieszkańców przez pryzmat formy i charakteru przestrzeni wspólnych. To właśnie przestrzenie wspólne stanowią wizytówkę osiedli, dzielnic, miast tworząc poczucie przywiązania – łączności z danym miejscem. Jakość wnętrz urbanistycznych wpływa na budowanie więzi społecznych a przez to na atrakcyjność środowiska miejskiego. Nieodpowiednie dostosowanie przestrzeni publicznych dezintegruje strukturę miejską, w efekcie utrudnia, a wręcz uniemożliwia identyfikację z danym miejscem. Konfrontacja rzeczywistości z potrzebą zmian niejednokrotnie aktywizuje lokalne społeczności do działań, które przy współpracy z architektem zmieniają przestrzeń (jak w sztokholmskiej dzielnicy Tensta-Piazza Taxingeplan). Działania spajające strukturę miejską przybierają różnorodne formy, jednak najczęściej prowadzą do wytworzenia przestrzeni o charakterze dospołecznym, skłaniającej mieszkańców do integracji

Report from the research: "The factory of culture – paid and voluntary work at cultural festivals"

The research material is based on in-depth, partially structured interviews. However, the scope of topics was very wide and conversations mostly referred to: problems that the employees encountered at work, their motivation, expectations towards current work, as well as their future prospects. Answers that gradually appeared in the interviews have been then confronted with the analysis of data and documents that the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage made available. Budgets of particular festivals and general data on their financial support have also been confronted with the interviews. Such an analysis gave us a stronger, structural base for conclusions made over the interpretation of interviews. One question that surprised us, but also showed us the benefits of the grounded theory, was the fact that data obtained from interviews mirrored the data from the documents. In total there were 48 interviews with the employees, co-workers and volunteers who worked at 12 festivals financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage located in 6 different cities in Poland

Diagnostic value of non-enhanced computed tomography in identifying location of ruptured cerebral aneurysm in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage

Background. In patients with SAH and multiple aneurysms, the ruptured lesion must be identified to prevent recurrent bleeding.Aim of the study. To assess the diagnostic value of non-enhanced computed tomography (NECT) in identifying the rupture site in patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) and multiple aneurysms.Material and methods. We included patients with SAH revealed by NECT and multiple aneurysms detected on computed tomography angiography (CTA) in whom a ruptured aneurysm was identified during neurosurgery. Two radiologists predicted the location of the ruptured aneurysm based on the distribution of the SAH and location of intracerebral haematoma (ICH) by NECT.Results. Eighty-three patients with a mean age of 55.7 ± 14.4 years were included. Ruptured aneurysms were significantly larger (mean size 7.7 ± 4.7 mm) than unruptured aneurysms (mean size 5.9 ± 4.5 mm; p = 0.014). Interobserver agreement was 0.86 (p < 0.001). Overall sensitivity and specificity of radiological prediction were 78.3% (95% CI, 68.6%-87.1%) and 96.4% (95% CI, 94.3%-97.8%) respectively. Overall PPV and NPV were 78.3% (95% CI, 67.6%-86.3%) and 96.8% (95% CI, 94.8%-98.1%) respectively. The sensitivity and PPV for aneurysms in the anterior communicating, anterior, and middle cerebral arteries appeared to be significantly higher than in other locations (p = 0.015 and 0.019 respectively). Analysis of independent predictive factors of correct radiological location revealed that ICH predisposes to a correct radiological diagnosis with an odds ratio of 8.57 (95% CI, 1.07-68.99; p = 0.03).Conclusions. NECT has a high diagnostic value in identifying the source of bleeding in patients with multiple aneurysms for anterior circulation aneurysms, especially with coexisting ICH. For other locations, NECT is not reliable enough to base treatment decisions upon

Evaluation of motivation to quit smoking in outpatients attending smoking cessation clinic

Wstęp: Skuteczność leczenia uzależnienia od nikotyny zależy nie tylko od zastosowanej metody, lecz w dużej mierze również od motywacji pacjenta. Celem autorów pracy była ocena stopnia motywacji oraz określenie najbardziej motywującego czynnika u pacjentów zgłaszających się do poradni antynikotynowej. Materiał i metody: Zbadano 111 osób uzależnionych od nikotyny (50 mężczyzn, 61 kobiet). Średni wiek badanych wyniósł 58 lat. Do oceny wykorzystano: test motywacji według N. Schneider, test uzależnienia Fagerströma i kwestionariusz poradni antynikotynowej. Wyniki: Najczęstszą motywacją do rzucenia palenia była troska o zdrowie (83% badanych). W teście motywacji wynik wyniósł średnio 6,93; średni stopień uzależnienia w teście Fagerströma - 5,49. Gotowość do rzucenia palenia w ciągu miesiąca zadeklarowało 87 badanych (w tym: w ciągu 24 godzin 36%, w ciągu tygodnia kolejne 23%, w ciągu 4 tygodni 28%). Motywacja do porzucenia palenia była podobna u mężczyzn i kobiet. Wnioski: Troska o zdrowie jest najsilniejszym czynnikiem motywującym pacjentów poradni przeciwnikotynowej do rzucenia palenia, zarówno wśród kobiet, jak i mężczyzn. Gotowość do podjęcia próby zaprzestania palenia, oceniana pośrednio deklarowanym czasem, po którym zostanie podjęta próba, nie koreluje ze stopniem motywacji do zaprzestania palenia.Introduction: The success in smoking cessation depends not only on a method of treatment but also on patient motivation. The aim of this study was to estimate the motivation and the main reason to quit smoking among outpatients attending smoking cessation clinic. Material and methods: One hundred and eleven patients (50 men and 61 women), mean age 58, filled in a motivation test, nicotine dependence test and a questionnaire of the clinic. Results: The main motivation to quit was for the health reasons (83%). Mean motivation test result was 6.93; mean nicotine addiction evaluated in dependence test was 5.49. Eighty seven percent of patients were ready to quit smoking during one month (36% in 24 hours; 23% in one week; 28% in four weeks). There was no significant difference beetwen men and women. Conclusions: The main motivation to quit smoking were the health reasons as well among men as women. There was no correlation between the readiness to quit smoking determined as time to quit attempt and the motivation test

Evaluation of carbetocin (Pabal) efficacy in the prevention of the postpartum hemorrhage in women after cesarean section – preliminary report

Abstract Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of carbetocin in prevention of PPH in women after cesarean section. Material and Methods: We enrolled 60 patients who had undergone cesarean section in tertiary referential center, Department of Perinatology, Medical University of Lodz, Poland, between January and June 2008. Each patient obtained a single 100μg dose of carbetocin intravenously during cesarean section, immediately after the delivery of the baby and prior to the delivery of the placenta . We evaluated postoperative blood parameters in 2 and 12 hours after the operation, the proportion of patients requiring additional uterotonic agents and adverse events in the whole population and in the group of women with high risk of PPH. Results: 58.1% of patients underwent emergency and 41.3% elective cesarean section delivery. The risk factor of PPH was identified in 38 women (63.3%). The results of this study indicate that carbetocin produces rapid and longlasting uterine tone. A small drop in mean hemoglobin and hematocrit levels 2 and 12 hours after the operation was observed. 15% of patients required the use of additional uterotonic agents. In the group of women with high risk of PPH, carbetocin appeared to be effective in 79% of the patients. Only 11.4% of patients had minor adverse events. Conclusions: Carbetocin appears to be an effective new drug in the prevention of postpartum hemorrhage, not only among women undergoing cesarean section but also in the group of women with PPH risk factors

Use of Hydrothermal Carbonization and Cold Atmospheric Plasma for Surface Modification of Brewer’s Spent Grain and Activated Carbon

This paper presents results that show the effect of hydrothermal carbonization and subsequent cold plasma jet treatment with helium and argon on the structure and sorption properties of a material—spent brewery grain. Treatment of activated carbon, with a cold atmospheric plasma jet, was used comparatively. The effect of activation on the pore structure of the materials was carried out by the volumetric method at low pressure (N2, 77 K). The specific surface area as well as the total pore volume, average pore size, and pore size distribution were determined using different theoretical models. A high improvement in the sorption capacity parameter was obtained for hydrochars after cold atmospheric plasma jet treatment with an increase of 7.5 times (using He) and 11.6 times (using Ar) compared with hydrochars before cold atmospheric plasma jet treatment. The increase in specific surface area was five-fold (He) and fifteen-fold (Ar). For activated carbon, such a large change was not obtained after plasma activation. Regardless of the gas used, the increase in structural parameter values was 1.1–1.3

Characterization of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension : data from the polish registry of pulmonary hypertension (BNP-PL)

Current knowledge of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) epidemiology is based mainly on data from Western populations, and therefore we aimed to characterize a large group of Caucasian PAH adults of Central-Eastern European origin. We analyzed data of incident and prevalent PAH adults enrolled in a prospective national registry involving all Polish PAH centers. The estimated prevalence and annual incidence of PAH were 30.8/mln adults and 5.2/mln adults, respectively and they were the highest in females ≥65 years old. The most frequent type of PAH was idiopathic (n = 444; 46%) followed by PAH associated with congenital heart diseases (CHD-PAH, n = 356; 36.7%), and PAH associated with connective tissue disease (CTD-PAH, n = 132; 13.6%). At enrollment, most incident cases (71.9%) were at intermediate mortality risk and the prevalent cases had most of their risk factors in the intermediate or high risk range. The use of triple combination therapy was rare (4.7%). A high prevalence of PAH among older population confirms the changing demographics of PAH found in the Western countries. In contrast, we found: a female predominance across all age groups, a high proportion of patients with CHD-PAH as compared to patients with CTD-PAH and a low use of triple combination therapy

An expert opinion of the Polish Cardiac Society Working Group on Pulmonary Circulation and the Polish Society for Rheumatology on the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension in patients with connective tissue disease

Systemic connective tissue diseases (CTDs) comprise a large group of diseases that are auto-immune in nature and characterized by the involvement of multiple systems and organs. Pul-monary hypertension (PH) of various etiologies may develop in the course of CTD, including pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), PH secondary to the lung disease, postcapillary PH in the course of left heart disease, and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). In addition, the different forms of PH may coexist with each other. Among patients with CTD, PAH occurs most commonly in those with systemic sclerosis, where it affects ap-proximately 8%–12% of patients. The prognosis in patients with untreated PAH is very poor. It is particularly important to identify the high-risk CTD-PAH population and to perform effi-cient and accurate diagnostics so that targeted therapy of the pulmonary arteries can be intro-duced. Echocardiography is used to screen for PH, but clinical and echocardiographic suspicion of PH always requires confirmation by right heart catheterization. Confirmation of PAH ena-bles the initiation of life-prolonging pharmacological treatment in this group of patients, which should be administered in referral centers. Drugs available for pharmacological management include endothelin receptor antagonists, phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors, and prostacyclins

Polish consensus on gastric cancer diagnosis and treatment – update 2022

This document – “Polish consensus on gastric cancer diagnosis and treatment – update 2022” – represents an expert consensus following a year’s worth of dedicated effort by a team of specialists throughout 2021, put forward in a con­ference in December 2021 in Krakow, and finalized below for publication in 2022. The effective date of this document is June 14th 2022. The work that went into updating this consensus was made under auspices of the Polish Society of Surgical Oncology and the Association of Polish Surgeons

Polski konsensus diagnostyki i leczenia raka żołądka – aktualizacja 2022

This document – “Polish consensus on gastric cancer diagnosis and treatment – update 2022” – represents an expert consensus following a year’s worth of dedicated effort by a team of specialists throughout 2021, put forward in a con­ference in December 2021 in Krakow, and finalized below for publication in 2022. The effective date of this document is June 14th 2022. The work that went into updating this consensus was made under auspices of the Polish Society of Surgical Oncology and the Association of Polish Surgeons.Końcowy kształt niniejszego dokumentu – „Polski konsensus diagnostyki i leczenia raka żołądka – aktualizacja 2022” – jest wynikiem prac zespołu ekspertów, które prowadzone były w 2021 r., zwieńczone konferencją w grudniu 2021 r. w Krakowie i przygotowane w ostatecznej wersji do publikacji w roku 2022. Pracom nad aktualizacją konsensusu patronowały równorzędnie dwa towarzystwa naukowe: Polskie Towarzystwo Chirurgii Onkologicznej i Towarzystwo Chirurgów Polskich