Quality of Life and Optimism in Patients with Morphea

Despite extensive knowledge about quality of life of people suffering from dermatological diseases, data on patients with morphea are scarce. The aim of our study was to compare the quality of life of healthy controls and morphea patients, as well as to determine the correlation of this variable with the level of dispositional optimism. The study included 47 patients with morphea and 47 healthy controls, matched for gender and age. Cantril’s Ladder and Life Orientation Test-Revised were used to assess the levels of life satisfaction and dispositional optimism, respectively. LoSSI was used for the objective assessment. The anticipated level of life quality and the level of dispositional optimism were statistically significantly lower in morphea patients (p = 0.032 and p = 0.014, respectively) when compared to controls. There were no differences in the assessment of current (p = 0.168) and past (p = 0.318) levels of life quality. Also, we proved that type of morphea did not differentiate the current (p = 0.175), past (p = 0.620) and future (p = 0.356) assessment of the quality of life. In the group of morphea patients there was a statistically significant correlation between the level of dispositional optimism and current (p = 0.002, r = 0.43), as well as anticipated (p < 0.001, r = 0.57) levels of life quality. Current level of life quality of healthy controls and morphea patients is comparable, whereas the latter anticipate their future life situation to be significantly worse than the former. Higher level of life satisfaction correlates with higher level of optimism

Selected Aspects of the Living Situation of Persons Suffering from Syphilis – Poznan Study

In the last years, a considerable increase in syphilis incidencewas observed in Poland. This is a condition with serious health and psychosocialconsequences. The research demonstrates that one of the eventswhich significantly modify the course of human life is the somatic diseaseexperience; hence, it was decided to examine selected aspects of the livingsituation of persons suffering from syphilis, which refer to the socialposition held by these persons. Materials for the research were collectedbased on the anonymous authors’ survey composed of 16 questions. Theresearch lasted for two years and covered a group of 42 syphilitic patients(35 males and 7 females). The mean age of male patients was 35.7 and offemale patients 37.0 years. Among the participants, 8 persons had beensubjected to treatment for a few years, 11 for about a year, and 22 personshad recently become ill. Patients assessed the attitude toward themselvesmostly as invariable, followed by unstable; 45.2% of subjects consideredtheir position in the family as average and 42.9% as high; 28.6% of patientsassessed their occupational position as average and the same numberadmitted to be currently out of work. Most frequently, unemployed werepatients who had been affected by the disease for several years (62.5%),whereas their social position was assessed either as high (47.6%) or average(45.2%). Irrespective of the duration of the disease, patients (duringhospitalization) usually met a lot of people. It has been proven that mostof the syphilitic patients do not have negative attitude toward themselvesand do not assess their social position as inferior, regardless of the durationof the disease. Such a picture of the living situation may be a manifestationof the compensation for the negative mental state, activation ofother defense mechanisms or proper strategy of coping with the stressor.The generally optimistic image of the studied group of syphilitic patientsmay constitute a warning against an increased risk from the infectedpersons

Sympathoinhibitory effect of statins in chronic heart failure

Contains fulltext : 89087.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)OBJECTIVES: Increased (central) sympathetic activity is a key feature of heart failure and associated with worse prognosis. Animal studies suggest that statin therapy can reduce central sympathetic outflow. This study assessed statin effects on (central) sympathetic activity in human chronic heart failure (CHF) patients. METHODS: Sympathetic activity was measured in eight patients with CHF patients during 8 weeks after discontinuation and 4 weeks after restart of statin therapy by microneurography for direct muscle sympathetic nerve recording (MSNA) and measurement of arterial plasma norepinephrine concentrations. RESULTS: During discontinuation of statin therapy, MSNA was significantly increased (73 +/- 4 vs. 56 +/- 5 and 52 +/- 6 bursts/100 beats, p = 0.01). Burst frequency was significantly higher after statin discontinuation (42 +/- 3 burst/min without statin vs. 32 +/- 3 and 28 +/- 3 burst/min during statin therapy, p = 0.004). Mean normalized burst amplitude and total normalized MSNA were significantly higher after statin discontinuation (mean normalized burst amplitude 0.36 +/- 0.04 without statin vs. 0.29 +/- 0.04 and 0.22 +/- 0.04 during statin, p < 0.05; total normalized MSNA 15.70 +/- 2.78 without statin, vs. 9.28 +/- 1.41 and 6.56 +/- 1.83 during statin, p = 0.009). Arterial plasma norepinephrine levels and blood pressure were unaffected. INTERPRETATION: Statin therapy inhibits central sympathetic outflow in CHF patients, as measured by MSNA.1 april 201

Analiza działalności gospodarczej Lasów Państwowych w Polsce w latach 1951-1975

The study comprises the analysis of economic activities of the State Forests in Poland in years 1951-1975. The subject of analyses comprises mean five-year values of basic economic tasks, employment structure and remunerations.Działalność gospodarcza Lasów Państwowych w Polsce po II wojnie światowej była i jest różnie oceniana. Oceny nie zawsze są poparte wnikliwą analizą materiałów źródłowych. W pracy tej przeprowadzono analizę na podstawie materiałów źródłowych Generalnej Dyrekcji Lasów Państwowych oraz roczników statystycznych GUS. Przedmiotem analizy były cztery grupy zagadnień:- zmiany w powierzchni leśnej, w tym rozmiar prac odnowieniowych i zalesieniowych,- zmiany w stanie zasobów leśnych i wynikające z tego różne natężenia pozyskania drewna,- zmiany w zakresie ubocznego użytkowania lasu,- zmiany w zatrudnieniu i płacach.Ze względu na liczbę zagadnień będących przedmiotem analizy, jak i okres badań, w pracy posłużono się wartościami średnimi z pięcioleci z lat 1951-1975. Analiza wykazała dynamikę zmian w poszczególnych obszarach działalności. W analizowanym okresie powierzchnia lasów wzrosła o 0,9 mln ha, co spowodowało wzrost lesistości Polski z około 22 do 27%. Zdecydowanie wzrosły zasoby drzewne na pniu: mniej więcej o 250 mln m3 drewna i osiągnęły w 1975 roku wartość 979 mln m33. W analizowanym okresie wzrosło również pozyskanie drewna i osiągnęło w 1975 roku wartość prawie 25 mln m3. Należy jednak zaznaczyć, że rozmiar pozyskanego drewna był cały czas mniejszy od wartości przyrostu drewna, co świadczy o racjonalnym gospodarowaniu zasobami leśnymi w kraju. W analizowanym okresie wzrosła również liczba zatrudnionych pracowników; swą największą wartość (160 tys. osób) osiągnęła w końcu lat sześćdziesiątych XX wieku.

Economic aspects of different ways of renovation of forest

The paper deals with artificial and natural regeneration cost structure. The studies confirm the economic profitability of natural regeneration method

Forest development and conservation policy in Poland

Whilst, in many countries, the scale of forest loss from business-as-usual development is immense, in Poland, this problem does not exist. However, obtaining additional land areas for afforestation is a main issue in Poland. In Poland, after the World War II, the forest area has been systematically growing. In 1945, the forest area was about 6.5 million ha, and the forest cover was 21%. In 2016, the forest area reached 9.2 million ha, and forest cover amounted to 29.5%. Today, there are 0.24 ha of forests per one inhabitant of Poland. The size of wood resources in stands is also changing. In 1945, forest resources on the trunk amounted to approximately 906 million m3 , and in 2016, it reached 2.4 million m3. The problem, however, is the uneven distribution of forests in Poland. Forests in Poland are very strictly protected by law. There are two most important acts, Forest Act of 2001 and Nature Conservation Act of 2004, that regulate principles for the retention, protection and augmentation of forest resources. Over the past decades in Poland, the social demands regarding non-economical functions of forest such as recreational activities, soil and water protection and mitigation of global warming became an important and constantly growing challenge for forest managers. Thus we suggest that, first of all, it is very important to extract the leading function for a given forest area. Interactions between development and conservations policies are very tied and may suggest the need of their integration. In this article, we present the concept of development policy for forest management and forest protection in Poland