The impact of coffee on human health

Introduction: Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the world. It contains lots of biologically active ingredients. These compounds not only have aromatic properties, but many of them also have antioxidant, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiviral and relaxing smooth muscle properties. The aim of the study: The purpose of the study is to collect and review scientific publications about the impact of coffee on health. Material and method: The paper uses standard criteria as the research method. Additionally, during the literature review on PubMed and Google Scholar platforms, keywords such as coffee, caffeine, health, impact were used. Description of the state of knowledge: Numerous studies suggest that coffee impact on the long-term functioning of the organism is negligible and is associated with the consumption of coffee for a longer period of time. Chlorogenic acid, caffeine and trigoneline are primarily responsible for the positive effect. They have a hypoglycemic, bactericidal and antioxidant effect. Diterpenes, such as kahweol and cafestol may have negative influence on health. Research also suggests that coffee can reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease and type 2 diabetes. Summary: The results show that coffee ingredients can have both positive and negative effects on health. However, before these observations can be used to create nutritional advice, further research is needed. They will allow a better understanding of the mechanisms of action of the compounds responsible for reduced risk of diabetes mellitus or Parkinson's disease. Keywords: coffee, caffeine, health, cardiovascula

Precise profiling of Facebook users or reading tea leaves? : critical analysis of the algorithm created by Michał Kosiński and used by Cambridge Analytica

W artykule poddano analizie działanie narzędzia ApplyMagicSauce.com, stworzonego przez naukowców do profilowania użytkowników mediów społecznościowych. Stało się o nim głośno, gdy mechanizm jego działania został wykorzystany przez firmę Cambridge Analytica, zaangażowaną w kampanię prezydencką Donalda Trumpa i zwolenników wystąpienia Wielkiej Brytanii z Unii Europejskiej. Grupa sześciu osób, składająca się z wykładowcy oraz studentów dziennikarstwa i komunikacji społecznej, postanowiła poddać się badaniu z wykorzystaniem tego narzędzia, udostępniając dane ze swoich prywatnych profili na portalu Facebook. Celem, jaki sobie postawiono, było wykazanie, jak działa takie narzędzie, i krytyczna analiza jego skuteczności. Badanie przeprowadzono pod koniec 2017 roku.In the article the operation of the tool ApplyMagicSauce.com was analyzed. It was created by researchers in order to make the profilization of social media users possible and became famous when the principles of operation of this tool were used by the company Cambridge Analytica, involved in the presidential campaign of Donald Trump as well as the supporters of the British withdrawal from the European Union. A group of six people consisting of one lecturer and students of journalism and social communication decided to undergo a study using this tool, providing data from their private profiles on Facebook. The goal was to show how the tool works and the critical analysis of its effectiveness. The study was conducted in November 2017

Molecular and Functional Characterization of MobK Protein—A Novel-Type Relaxase Involved in Mobilization for Conjugational Transfer of Klebsiella pneumoniae Plasmid pIGRK

Conjugation, besides transformation and transduction, is one of the main mechanisms of horizontal transmission of genetic information among bacteria. Conjugational transfer, due to its essential role in shaping bacterial genomes and spreading of antibiotics resistance genes, has been widely studied for more than 70 years. However, new and intriguing facts concerning the molecular basis of this process are still being revealed. Most recently, a novel family of conjugative relaxases (Mob proteins) was distinguished. The characteristic feature of these proteins is that they are not related to any of Mobs described so far. Instead of this, they share significant similarity to tyrosine recombinases. In this study MobK—a tyrosine recombinase-like Mob protein, encoded by pIGRK cryptic plasmid from the Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical strain, was characterized. This study revealed that MobK is a site-specific nuclease and its relaxase activity is dependent on both a conserved catalytic tyrosine residue (Y179) that is characteristic of tyrosine recombinases and the presence of Mg2+ divalent cations. The pIGRK minimal origin of transfer sequence (oriT) was also characterized. This is one of the first reports presenting tyrosine recombinase-like conjugative relaxase protein. It also demonstrates that MobK is a convenient model for studying this new protein family

Determined. Is man (not)variable?

Some people are able to give up our addictions day by day, while others hesitate to do that for a years. Some of us could learn upon their mistakes, and others do not see the schemes governing their lives despite explicit information given. What decides on our ability to change our behavior and the way we think? This question can be considered partially answered from the research on the monovular twins – as it turns out that they are not identical, contrary to the pub-lic opinion. Considering child`s physical and mental growth we can think not only about the ge-netic influence, but also other factors, such as: foetal development, environmental and social conditions and – last but not least – their autonomous decisions made in adult life. In this paper the author analyzes all of this influences to give an answer to the former questions

Science of emotions and physiognomy. Edition and analysis of the novel Eliza Orzeszkowa W klatce.

Praca magisterska pt. Emocjonologia i fizjonomika. Edycja i analiza powieści Elizy Orzeszkowej «W klatce» składa się z dwóch części. Pierwsza dotyczy analizy emocji zawartych w utworze oraz sposobu ich przedstawiania. Portrety bohaterów zostały porównane z ideami fizjonomistów, m.in. Johanna Lavatera czy Karola Darwina. Starali się oni określić charakter człowieka na podstawie jego wyglądu, a szczególnie twarzy. Skupiano się przede wszystkim na kształcie czoła, brwi, nosa i ust, ale zwracano uwagę także na takie cechy jak kolor skóry lub zmarszczki. W pracy opisane zostały podobieństwa powieściowych postaci i ich charakterów z opisanymi zjawiskami w pracach fizjonomistów.Część drugą stanowi edycja powieści W klatce, której podstawą jest wydanie Lewntala z 1887 roku. Tekst odpowiednio złożono i zmodernizowano, zachowując cechy językowe utworu. Ortografię i interpunkcję zmieniono według zasad współczesnych, a słowa, które wyszły z użycia wyjaśniono w przypisach, aby dzieło było zrozumiałe dla współczesnego odbiorcy.My master’s thesis entitled Science of emotions and physiognomy. Edition and analysis of the novel Eliza Orzeszkowa «W klatce» consits of two parts. First concerns analysis of emotions included in work and the way of their depiction. Portraits of characters were compared with ideas of physiognomists, among others Johann Lavater or Karol Darwin. They were trying to describe human’s character on the basis of his appereance, especially face. First of all it was focused on the shape of forehead, eyebrows, nose and mouth but also skin or wrinkles. In my thesis I described similarities of novel’s characters and their personalities with phenomenons described in physiognomist’s researches.Part two is an edition of novel «Wklatce» which is based on Lewental’s publication from 1887. Text was adequatly tracked and modernized saving lingustic features of piece. Ortography and punctuation were changed according to modern principles and the words, which came out from usage, were explained in footnotes so the work could be comprehensible for a contemporary receiver

SORPCJA CHROMU (VI) NA MODYFIKOWANYCH ZEOLITACH NATURALNYCH

Celem badań było wyznaczenie równowagi sorpcji jonów chromu (VI) z roztworów wodnych na modyfikowanych zeolitach naturalnych pochodzących z Włoch i USA. Do syntezy organo-zeolitów zastosowano HDTMA-Br w ilości dwukrotnej pojemności kationowymiennej zeolitów (2,0 ECEC). Badania przeprowadzono w warunkach nieprzepływowych przy odczynie pH równym 3,0; 4,0 i 5,0 w temperaturze pokojowej. Największą efektywność sorpcji jonów Cr(VI) uzyskano dla chabazytu przy pH=4 i uziarnienia poniżej 0,25 mm, kiedy w roztworze dominowały jony wodorochromianowe HCrO4-

Zastosowanie dydaktycznych aplikacji mobilnych przez personel pogotowia ratunkowego

INTRODUCTION: The specificity of work in the emergency medical service requires making quick and accurate diagnostic and therapeutic decisions on the spot. To this end, a variety of educational materials proves to be helpful. This study describes the role of mobile applications used on a daily basis by the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) team. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted a survey in 2018 among EMS workers using an on-line questionnaire. The surveyed group consisted of 91 people (paramedics, nurses and doctors). We expressed the results of our research in the form of arithmetic mean and mean standard errors. We also used the Chi-square test for independence and considered results significant at the p < 0.05 level. RESULTS: Mobile applications are used by 96.7% of respondents (n=88), regardless of gender (x2=0.184; p=0.668), occupation (x2=1.163; p=0.559) or length of service (x2=7.449; p=0.114). The vast majority (92.3%; n=84) consider them necessary in everyday work. Applications for smartphones are most often used (91.2%; n=83), especially in the field of pharmacotherapy. The majority of study participants (68.1%) indicate the need for new graphic mobile applications, especially in the field of paediatric patient management. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of EMS workers nowadays use teaching aids in their daily practice and use is not dependent on sociodemographic factors. Respondents most often use smartphone applications that incorporate pharmacotherapy. Further work on making mobile applications available is desirable.WSTĘP: Specyfika pracy w pogotowiu ratunkowym wymaga podejmowania na miejscu zdarzenia szybkich i trafnych decyzji diagnostyczno-terapeutycznych. W tym celu pomoce okazują się różnorodne materiały edukacyjne. Przeprowadzone badanie ukazuje rolę aplikacji mobilnych stosowanych na co dzień przez personel medyczny zespołów ratunkowych. MATERIAŁ I METODY: Badanie zostało przeprowadzone w 2018 roku wśród pracowników pogotowia ratunkowego, za pomocą kwestionariusza on-line. Grupę badaną stanowiło 91 osób (ratowników medycznych, pielęgniarek i lekarzy). Wyniki badań własnych zostały wyrażone w postaci średnich arytmetycznych i średnich błędów standardowych. Do analizy wyników statystycznych posłużono się testem niezależności Chi2. Wszystkie wyniki uznano za istotne przy p < 0,05. WYNIKI: Z pomocy dydaktycznych korzysta 96,7% respondentów (n=88), niezależnie od płci (x2=0,184; p=0,668), wykonywanego zawodu (x2=1,163; p=0,559), czy stażu pracy (x2=7,449; p=0,114). Zdecydowana większość (92,3%; n=84) uważa je za niezbędne w codziennej pracy. Najczęściej wykorzystywane są aplikacje na smartfona (91,2%; n=83), szczególnie w zakresie farmakoterapii. Większość uczestników badania (68,1%) wykazuje zapotrzebowanie na powstanie nowych środków dydaktycznych, zwłaszcza z zakresu postępowania z pacjentem pediatrycznym. WNIOSKI: Pomoce dydaktyczne są współcześnie używane wśród większości pracowników pogotowia ratunkowego. Użytkowanie pomocy dydaktycznych nie jest zależne od czynników socjodemograficznych. Badani najczęściej korzystają z aplikacji na smartfona, obejmujących tematykę farmakoterapii. Pożądane są dalsze prace nad udostępnianiem aplikacji mobilnych

Sorpcja Cr(VI) na tufach zeolitowych modyfikowanych HDTMA

The removal of Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions was investigated using clinoptilolite and phillipsite-chabazite rich tuffs. These minerals were modified using hexadecyltrimethyl – ammonium bromide (HDTMA-Br) and used for Cr(VI) ions removal. The physicochemical characteristics of zeolitic minerals were revealed by XRD, XRF, BET and FT-IR techniques. The uptake capacities of modified zeolites were compared in batch sorption experiments. To predict the sorption isotherms and to determine the characteristic parameters for process design, three isotherm models the Freundlich, the Langmuir, and the Bilangmuir, were applied to experimental data. The data obtained reveal homogeneous Cr(VI) sorption on one kind of active sites on PC-HDTMA surface and heterogeneous sorption on two kinds of active sites on CL-HDTMA surface

Fixed-Bed Modification of Zeolitic Tuffs and Their Application for Cr(VI) Removal

Natural clinoptilolite tuff (CL) and chabazite-clinoptilolite tuff (CH) were modified in fixed-bed column by immobilization of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HDTMA-Br), then investigated as a sorbent for inorganic anions of Cr(VI). The proposed modification technique combined with surfactant solution batching allows minimizing the surfactant loses through foaming and crystallization and creation of stable organic coverage. The HDTMA loading depended on the mineral composition of the zeolitic tuff, the topology of its external surface, and process conditions. The maximum surface coverage was obtained by gradually dosing surfactant solution in the smallest volume of batches and corresponded up to 100% and 182% of external cation exchange capacity (ECEC) for mono and double layer coverage, respectively. In case of mono layer coverage, modification proceeds until the exhaustion of surfactant in supply solution, while in the double layer one, until equilibrium of HDTMA concentration in both zeolitic and liquid phases was established. The efficiency of Cr(VI) uptake by prepared surface modified zeolites (SMZs) increased with increasing of HDTMA loading. In the case of mono layer SMZs, the capacities of CH-HDTMA and CL-HDTMA were 10.3 and 5.4 mg/g, respectively, while in the case of double layer SMZs, the amount of Cr uptake on CH-HDTMA and CL-HDTMA were 16.8 and 15 mg/g, respectively. Ion exchange is the predominant mechanism of Cr(VI) sorption but it takes place only if modification resulted in at least partial double layer coverage. The XPS analysis reveals Cr(VI) reduction to a less-toxic Cr(III) by the electron donating N-containing groups and by reaction with Fe+2 ions on the zeolite external surface

Treatment of Liquid Digestate by Green Algal Isolates from Artificial Eutrophic Pond

The ability of aquatic microalgae to treat the liquid digestate obtained from the anaerobic digestion of plant waste was investigated. Microalgae were isolated from natural environment for a laboratory-scale cultivation and were then used to remove nutrients and organic contaminants from the liquid digestate. It was shown that the microalgae consortia (Tetradesmus obliquus, Microglena sp., Desmodesmus subspicatus) could reduce nitrogen, phosphates, and total COD by up to 70%, 57%, and 95%, respectively. A new algae genus Microglena was isolated, which in a consortium with Tetradesmus obliquus and Desmodesmus subspicatus exhibited a high efficiency in the removal of both organic contaminants and nutrients from the liquid fraction of digestate