Reduction of copper slag with the use of carbon granulates

The investigation results on the reduction of slag from fl ash smelting furnace and the use of carbon granulates obtained from fi ne-grained waste materials of both the coal enrichment and coking processes have been presented in the paper. The investigation results on the reduction of slag from fl ash furnace and the use of carbon granulates obtained from fi ne-grained waste materials of both the coal enrichment and coking processes have been presented in the paper.Web of Science53458758

Evaluation of the Soil Enzymes Activity as an Indicator of the Impact of Anthropogenic Pollution on the Norway Spruce Ecosystems in the Silesian Beskid

Activity of soil enzymes is considered as a good indicator of natural and anthropogenic disturbances of the functioning of the soil. Heavy metals can inhibit the activity of enzymes in varying degree, depending on soil properties such as content of clay materials, organic matter and pH of soil solution. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of physicochemical and biological properties of soils on the condition of Norway spruce stands in Silesian Beskid. In the soil samples enzymatic activity of four enzymes (alkaline and acid phosphatase, dehydrogenase and urease) and concentration of three selected heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Zn) and sulfur were determined. The analyses showed no reduced activity of investigated enzymes. Presumably, despite of low pH values of the soil, organic matter contained in the soil is able to effectively bind heavy metal ions, limiting their cycling in the environment. It can be concluded that the condition of spruce stands in Silesian Beskid is not affected by the soil contamination

Seroprevalence of bovine herpesvirus 1 related alphaherpesvirus infections in free-living and captive cervids in Poland.

To determine the occurrence of bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) related alphaherpesvirus infections in cervids, 1194 serum samples of wild ruminants originating from 59 forest districts of Poland were tested with IBR gB ELISA and virus neutralization test (VNT) against BoHV-1 and cervid herpesvirus 1 (CvHV-1). The seroprevalence differed significantly between free-living and captive cervids (P<0.001) with a total of 89 out of 498 (17.9%) and 268 out of 696 (38.5%) seropositive animals in each type of population. In free-ranging cervids, the highest seroprevalence was found among red deer (25.6%) and in fallow deer (23.1%), while it was the lowest in roe deer (1.7%). The seroprevalence varied at the district level between 0 and 100% with the mean value of 17.4% (95% CI:10.1-24.0). Additionally, seroprevalence was associated with afforestation (chi(2)=7.5; P=0.006) and to some degree with the mean of cattle density in province (chi(2)=7.0; P=0.08). The mean antibody titre against CvHV-1 in VNT (161.8; 95%CI: 146.0-177.6) has been significantly higher (P<0.0001) than the mean titre of BoHV-1 antibodies (10.1; 95%CI: 8.9-11.4). The results showed that BoHV-1 related alphaherpesvirus infections are present in population of free-ranging and farmed cervids in Poland. Based on the VNT results and considering the low susceptibility of red deer to BoHV-1, it seems that the dominant alphaherpesvirus circulating in wild ruminants is most likely CvHV-1 and therefore it is rather unlikely that deer in Poland could play any role as a reservoir of BoHV-1 for cattle

Ileal transposition in rats influenced glucose metabolism and HSP70 levels

Objective: Ileal transposition procedure (IT), in combination with sleeve gastrectomy, is widely used to induce diabetes remission and to control related metabolic abnormalities. A transposition of a long segment of distal ileum in obese Zucker rats improved glucose tolerance 6 months after IT. The premise of our study was to to examine the long - term effects of ileum transposition on the liver glycolytic enzymes content in a euglycemic group of operated Zucker rats. Methods: Twenty male Zucker rats underwent either the transposition of 50% distal ileum or a sham surgery. Six months after surgery, liver tissue concentrations of glycogen synthase kinase alpha (GSK-3α), glucose 6-phosphatase (G6PC), glycogen phosphorylase (PYGM) and phosphofructokinase (PFK) and HSP70 were assessed by immunoenzymatic methods. Results: HSP70 values were significantly higher in the IT group compared to SHAM. G6PC liver concentrations in the IT group were almost 1.45-fold lower than in the SHAM operated rats. Statistical analyses (F-test) showed HSP70 levels were significantly related to caveolin-1and SHAM group. Conclusions: Lowered glycolytic enzyme concentrations assessed in the liver suggest positive effects on glucose metabolism in long-term observations

BRONCO: Automated modelling of the bronchovascular bundle using the Computed Tomography Images

Segmentation of the bronchovascular bundle within the lung parenchyma is a key step for the proper analysis and planning of many pulmonary diseases. It might also be considered the preprocessing step when the goal is to segment the nodules from the lung parenchyma. We propose a segmentation pipeline for the bronchovascular bundle based on the Computed Tomography images, returning either binary or labelled masks of vessels and bronchi situated in the lung parenchyma. The method consists of two modules, modeling of the bronchial tree and vessels. The core revolves around a similar pipeline, the determination of the initial perimeter by the GMM method, skeletonization, and hierarchical analysis of the created graph. We tested our method on both low-dose CT and standard-dose CT, with various pathologies, reconstructed with various slice thicknesses, and acquired from various machines. We conclude that the method is invariant with respect to the origin and parameters of the CT series. Our pipeline is best suited for studies with healthy patients, patients with lung nodules, and patients with emphysema

Stężenia metaloproteinaz macierzy 2 i 9 oraz ich inhibitorów tkankowych 1 i 2 w krążeniu wieńcowym i obwodowym u pacjentów ze stabilną chorobą wieńcową

Wstęp: Rola zaburzenia równowagi w procesach produkcji i degradacji macierzy zewnątrzkomórkowej w patogenezie choroby niedokrwiennej serca, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem ostrych zespołów wieńcowych, jest ostatnio tematem wielu naukowych dociekań. Celem niniejszej pracy była ocena stężenia metaloproteinaz 2 i 9 (MMP-2, MMP-9) oraz tkankowych inhibitorów metaloproteinaz 1 i 2 (TIMP-1, TIMP-2) w krążeniu wieńcowym oraz obwodowym u pacjentów ze stabilną chorobą wieńcową i w grupie kontrolnej. Metody: Badaniem objęto 25 pacjentów z dławicą piersiową w II i III klasie według CCS poddanych koronarografii z powodu nieskuteczności farmakoterapii. Stężenie MMP-2, MMP-9 oraz TIMP-1 i TIMP-2 oznaczano w osoczu krwi pobranej z krążenia wieńcowego z okolicy blaszki miażdżycowej oraz z żyły obwodowej. Grupę kontrolną stanowiło 16 osób z dolegliwościami bólowymi w klatce piersiowej, bez zmian miażdżycowych w badaniu koronarograficznym, poddanych takim samym procedurom. Wyniki: Nie odnotowano znamiennych statystycznie różnic w stężeniu MMP-2 i MMP-9 oraz ich inhibitorów tkankowych TIMP-1 i TIMP-2 w krążeniu wieńcowym i obwodowym między grupą badaną i kontrolną. Stężenia metaloproteinaz i ich inhibitorów w osoczu krwi pobieranej z okolicy blaszek miażdżycowych nie różniły się także zasadniczo od stężenia obserwowanego w krwi obwodowej. Wnioski: Choroba wieńcowa o stabilnym przebiegu nie wiąże się z nadmierną degradacją macierzy zewnątrzkomórkowej, wyrażoną zmianami w stężeniach metaloproteinaz 2 i 9 oraz ich tkankowych inhibitorów

Endothelial hemostatic markers in type 2 diabetes and without diabetes in patients with advanced peripheral arterial disease

Wstęp. Cukrzyca typu 2 (DM2) jest ważnym czynnikiem ryzyka w miażdżycy tętnic kończyn dolnych (PAD). Zaburzenia metaboliczne w DM2, jak insulinooporność i hiperglikemia, powodują zwiększoną syntezę reaktywnych tlenowych rodników, które, wywołując proces zapalny i dysfunkcję śródbłonka, prowadzą do aterotromobozy. Uszkodzona ściana naczyniowa uwalnia do krwi śródbłonkowe markery hemostazy. Celem badań było oznaczenie śródbłonkowych markerów hemostazy: czynnika tkankowego (TF), jego inhibitora (TFPI), trombomoduliny (TM), czynnika von Willebranda (vWF), tkankowego aktywatora plazminogenu (t-PA) i inhibitora aktywatorów plazminogenu typu 1 (PAI-1) we krwi chorych z DM2 i bez DM2 u pacjentów z zaawansowaną PAD. Materiał i metody. Śródbłonkowe markery hemostazy oznaczono w osoczu krwi 91 pacjentów z zaawansowaną PAD i DM2, w tym 37 kobiet i 54 mężczyzn w wieku 65,2 ± 9,0 lat. Grupę kontrolną stanowiło 59 pacjentów z zaawansowaną PAD, ale bez DM2. Obie grupy były w podobnym przedziale wieku i płci, z podobnymi czynnikami ryzyka i w większości współistniejącymi chorobami. Jedynie u pacjentów z DM2 częściej występowała dyslipidemia (p &lt; 0,022). Krew pobierano rano na czczo do 3,2% cytrynianu sodu w proporcji 9:1. Śródbłonkowe markery hemostazy oznaczono metodami immunoenzymatycznymi ELISA przy zastosowaniu komercyjnych zestawów firmy American Diagnostica. Wyniki. Stężenia śródbłonkowych markerów: TF, TFPI, TM, vWF, t-PA i PAI-1 w osoczu pacjentów z PAD i DM2 były podobne jak u pacjentów z PAD, ale bez DM2. Natomiast pacjenci z PAD i DM2 oraz z PAD bez DM2 mieli stężenia TF i vWF istotnie statystycznie wyższe (odpowiednio p &lt; 0,05 i p &lt; 0,0001), a TM niższe (p &lt; 0,001) w porównaniu z grupą referencyjną osób zdrowych. Za różnice były odpowiedzialne: starszy wiek, PAD i proces rewaskularyzacji. Stężenia TFPI, t-PA i PAI-1 były natomiast prawie jednakowe w trzech grupach: z DM2, bez DM2 i w grupie referencyjnej. Wniosek. Współistniejąca DM2 z PAD nie zwiększała uwalniania śródbłonkowych markerów hemostazy, co może potwierdzać pogląd o wspólnej etiologii DM2 i PAD polegającej na tak zwanej dysfunkcji śródbłonka naczyń.Background. Type 2 diabetes (DM2) plays an important role as a risk factor for peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Metabolic abnormalities in DM2, as insulin resistance and hyperglycemia cause overproduction of reactive oxygen species, which via inflammation and endothelial dysfunction lead to atherothrombosis. The injured arterial wall releases hemostatic endothelial markers. The aim of the study was to determine: tis­sue factor (TF), tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI), thrombomodulin (TM), von Willebrand factor (vWF), tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) and plasminogen activators inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) in type 2 diabetes and without diabetes in patients with advanced PAD. Material and methods. Endothelial markers were examined in 91 patients with PAD and DM2; 37 women and 54 men — aged 65.2 ± 9.0 years. Control group concluded 59 PAD patients without DM2. Both groups of patients were in similar compartments of sex and age with similar risk factors and coexisting diseases. Only in patients with DM2 more frequently appeared dyslipidemia (p &lt; 0.022). Blood was collected in the morning to 3.2% sodium citrate in proportion 9:1. Endothelial hemostatic markers were determined with enzyme immunoassay ELISA using commercial tests of American Diagnostica. Results. The levels of endothelial markers: TF, TFPI, TM, vWF, t-PA and PAI-1 in patients with PAD and DM2 were similar compared to patients without DM2. But patients with DM2 had the concentration of TF and vWF significant higher (p &lt; 0.005, p &lt; 0.0001) and TM lower (p &lt; 0.001) in comparison with reference group of healthy patients. But levels of TFPI, t-PA and PAI-1 were almost equal in all three groups of patients with DM2, without DM2 and of healthy persons. Conclusion. DM2 coexisting in PAD patients did not change the release of endothelial hemostatic markers from arterial wall. This confirms the view of “endothelial dysfunction” as common etiology of both diseases PAD and DM2.

Cryptic SARS-CoV-2 lineage identified on two mink farms as a possible result of long-term undetected circulation in an unknown animal reservoir, Poland, November 2022 to January 2023

In late 2022 and early 2023, SARS-CoV-2 infections were detected on three mink farms in Poland situated within a few km from each other. Whole-genome sequencing of the viruses on two of the farms showed that they were related to a virus identified in humans in the same region 2 years before (B.1.1.307 lineage). Many mutations were found, including in the S protein typical of adaptations to the mink host. The origin of the virus remains to be determined.</p

Inflammatory markers in peripheral arterial disease patients after endovascular revascularization with new restenosis

Wstęp. Zapalenie odgrywa kluczową rolę w powstawaniu i rozwoju miażdżycy tętnic, także u pacjentów z miażdżycą tętnic kończyn dolnych (PAD). Zabiegi rewaskularyzacyjne stanowią czynnik ryzyka, który nasila ten proces, niekiedy prowadząc do powstania restenoz.Cel. Oznaczenie stężenia fibrynogenu, białka C-reaktywnego (CRP), interleukin 6 i 10 (IL-6 i IL-10), zasadowego czynnika wzrostu fibroblastów (bFGF) i transformującego czynnika wzrostu (TGF-b1) we krwichorych z PAD po obwodowej, wewnątrznaczyniowej rewaskularyzacji i u pacjentów z restenozami.Materiał i metody. Przebadano 150 pacjentów z PAD, w tym 90 mężczyzn i 60 kobiet w wieku 50–88 (średnio 65,5) lat. Podczas 12-miesięcznej obserwacji po obwodowej, wewnątrznaczyniowej rewaskularyzacji u 38 pacjentów powstały restenozy. Grupa kontrolna dla oznaczanych cytokin składała się z 15 klinicznie zdrowych osób w wieku 60–83 lat bez niedokrwienia kończyn dolnych. Krew pobierano na czczo do 3,2% cytrynianu sodu w proporcji 9:1 (do oznaczenia fibrynogenu i CRP) i 2,6 ml krwi mieszano z EDTA do pomiaru cytokin: IL-6, IL-10, bFBF, TGF-beta1. Cytokiny badano przy użyciu komercyjnych zestawów metodą immunoenzymatyczną, a fibrynogen i CRP za pomocą analizatora koagulologicznego.Wyniki. We krwi pacjentów z PAD po obwodowej rewaskularyzacji stężenie fibrynogenu i CRP było wyższe od normy laboratoryjnej. Podczas 12-miesięcznej obserwacji parametry te nadal wzrastały: CRP prawie dwukrotnie, a fibrynogen tylko o około 10%. Z badanych cytokin tylko IL-10 i bFGF różniły się istotnie statystycznie od grupy kontrolnej. Cytokiny były również wyższe u pacjentów z powstałymi restenozami, mieściły się jednak, z wyjątkiem TGF-beta1, w szerokich normach laboratoryjnych podanych przez producentów testów.Wnioski. 1. U pacjentów z PAD po wewnątrznaczyniowej rewaskularyzacji stężenie CRP i fibrynogenu podczas rocznej obserwacji wyraźnie się zwiększyło.2. U tych pacjentów obserwowano istotną korelację między prozapalnym CRP i przeciwzapalną interleukiną 10.3. Stężenie CRP, fibrynogenu i cytokin: IL-6, bFGF, TGF-b1 i IL-10 zwiększało się także po powstaniu restenozu pacjentów z PAD, potwierdzając udział w tym procesie miernie nasilonego zapalenia.Introduction. Inflammation plays a central role in the pathophysiology and progression of atherosclerosis, also in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Revascularization is a risk factor which intensifies this process sometimes leading to newly developed restenosis.Aim. To determine the levels of fibrinogen, C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 10 (IL-10), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta1) in the blood of patients with PAD after endovascular revascularization of lower limbs and in patients with new restenosis.Material and methods. The study included 150 patients with PAD (90 men and 60 women), aged 50–88 (mean 65.5) years after successful peripheral angioplasty (PTA) and/or stenting. Within 12 months after revascularization procedure in 38 PAD patients restenosis occurred. Control group for cytokines consisted of 15 clinically healthy subjects without limb ischaemia aged 60–83 years. Fasting blood was drawn in the morning and put into 3.2% sodium citrate in a 9:1 proportion (for determination of fibrinogen and CRP), and 2.6 ml of blood was mixed with EDTA for determination of cytokines: IL-6, IL-10, bFGF and TGF-beta1. All parameters were measured in the plasma of patients with commercial kits for enzyme immunoassay; fibrinogen and CRP levels were measured with coagulometer.Results. In the plasma of patients with PAD after revascularization, the levels of fibrinogen and CRP were significantly higher than in controls. These markers increased within 12 months of observation: CRP level increased almost two-fold and fibrinogen only by about 10%. All examined cytokines in PAD patients with restenosis were higher than in those without restenosis, but the difference was significant only for IL-10 and bFGF. But increased cytokines in patients with restenosis were within the laboratory norms specified by reagent producers except of TGF-beta1.Conclusions.1.In PAD patients after endovascular revascularization the levels of CRP and fibrinogen during one yearobservation significantly increased.2.In these patients, significant correlation was observed between pro-inflammatory CRP and anti-inflam-matory IL-10.3.The concentrations of CRP, fibrinogen and cytokines (IL-6, bFGF, TGF-beta1 and IL-10) were also higher inPAD patients with restenosis indicating the involvement of low-grade inflammation in this process

Metabolic surgery in zucker rats influenced miRNA, caveolin-1 expression and lipid metabolism

Aims: A transposition of the long segment of distal ileum in obese Zucker rats improved glucose tolerance 6 months after IT. It was undertaken to compare the gene expression of miRNA-103, -107 and caveolin-1 in the liver of euglycemic groups of IT relative to SHAM operated rats. Main methods: Obese, male Zucker rats underwent either transposition of 50% distal ileum or sham surgery. For determining the gene expression, the Real-Time PCR for caveolin-1 and miRNA-103, -107 was performed. Plasma concentrations of LDL, HDL, TG and total cholesterol were measured with enzymatic colorimetric assays after optimization procedure. Key findings: The Cav-1 expression in liver tissue after ileal transposition was 1.22 times higher compared to the SHAM group (SHAM median 63.58, min 41.3, max 82.4; IT median 77.35, min 60.8, max 95.41, p < 0.001). miRNA-107 expression was significantly downregulated by 0.6-fold in the IT group compared to the SHAM group (SHAM median 507.51, min 236.42, max 721.29; IT median 355.2, min 278.15, max 478.15, p < 0.015. The level of TG was significantly higher after IT surgery (SHAM median 115, min 96, max 143; IT median 153, min 115, max 162, p = 0.001). The total cholesterol plasma levels decreased after IT (SHAM median 178, min 161, max 183; IT median 128, min 103, max 114, p < 0.000001). The LDL plasma level in IT was two-fold lower than in the SHAM (SHAM median 117, min 68, max 151; IT median 58, min 45, max 61, p < 0.000001). Significance: The transposition of 50% of the distal ileum lead to an increase in caveolin-1 and reduction in miR-107 expression compared to those of SHAM group. Endogenous miR-107 is more involved in regulation of the functions of insulin-target liver tissue than miRNA-103. Reduced LDL and cholesterol plasma levels suggest positive effects on lipid metabolism in long-term observations. The present study is the first to show a lack of IT effect regarding triglycerides six months after surgery