Comparability of SIRS and SIRS-2 Classifications with External Response Bias Criteria

The current study compared the classification groups between the SIRS and SIRS-2 using samples of disability claimants and criminal defendants. Results suggest that the newly revised SIRS-2 may have less clinical utility than the original SIRS. Implications of these results for both clinical and forensic settings are discussed

Malowidła artysty gdańskiego Johanna Kriega w Pelplinie

The paper deals with an artist active in the Baltic city (c. 1590-1643/47) about whom relatively little is known both with regard to his biography and oeuvre. While correcting some data related to the first topic, namely place of birth (Spickendorf close to Magdeburg), identity of wife (Dorothea Scheder) and original religious affiliation (Calvinist), the author concentrates on the issue of paintings executed by the master, which, although much praised in an 18th century manuscript, remain practically unidentified. There exist thirty one signed and attributed drawings, some of which are now lost, but the only painterly works confirmed by sources are five small emblematic depictions from 1640. These decorate the altar of St. Jacob the Elder in ex-Cistercian church in Pelplin, now cathedral, around thirty miles south of Gdańsk; the artist executed them after he converted to Roman Catholicism and joined the monastery following the death of his wife in 1632.The apparent lack of paintings by Krieg in comparison with a considerable number of extant drawings brought on several attempts at attributions, persisting in part, none of which seems plausible, however. The present text proposes the authorship of Krieg with regard to an ensemble of paintings in the Pelplin cathedral church, hitherto hardly noticed in literature, which can be dated to c. 1640. Executed on the backs of late medieval church stalls, they are only partially visible today, and were in part removed recently to the former summer refectory of the convent. The set consists of an upper row of religious pictures illustrating the Creed and a lower row of emblematic paintings commenting on them. Especially the latter works, containing partly allegorical and mythological elements, are well comparable both in figure and landscape details to drawings by Krieg, but also to the few emblematic pictures in nearby altar. Most similarities occur in the southern row of paintings on the stalls, probably executed by Krieg personally. The northern row, where the affinities are fewer, was apparently finished by another hand, while pictures representing Evangelists on the backs of two further, independent stalls originally used by officers of the Cistercian convent, were probably made by Krieg jointly with an apprentice. Four modest emblematic depictions – also dated approximately 1640 – on the altar of St. Ursula in Pelplin cathedral church, complete the number of paintings, which can for now be given to the Gdańsk artist turned lay brother in the monastery.The paper deals with an artist active in the Baltic city (c. 1590-1643/47) about whom relatively little is known both with regard to his biography and oeuvre. While correcting some data related to the first topic, namely place of birth (Spickendorf close to Magdeburg), identity of wife (Dorothea Scheder) and original religious affiliation (Calvinist), the author concentrates on the issue of paintings executed by the master, which, although much praised in an 18th century manuscript, remain practically unidentified. There exist thirty one signed and attributed drawings, some of which are now lost, but the only painterly works confirmed by sources are five small emblematic depictions from 1640. These decorate the altar of St. Jacob the Elder in ex-Cistercian church in Pelplin, now cathedral, around thirty miles south of Gdańsk; the artist executed them after he converted to Roman Catholicism and joined the monastery following the death of his wife in 1632.The apparent lack of paintings by Krieg in comparison with a considerable number of extant drawings brought on several attempts at attributions, persisting in part, none of which seems plausible, however. The present text proposes the authorship of Krieg with regard to an ensemble of paintings in the Pelplin cathedral church, hitherto hardly noticed in literature, which can be dated to c. 1640. Executed on the backs of late medieval church stalls, they are only partially visible today, and were in part removed recently to the former summer refectory of the convent. The set consists of an upper row of religious pictures illustrating the Creed and a lower row of emblematic paintings commenting on them. Especially the latter works, containing partly allegorical and mythological elements, are well comparable both in figure and landscape details to drawings by Krieg, but also to the few emblematic pictures in nearby altar. Most similarities occur in the southern row of paintings on the stalls, probably executed by Krieg personally. The northern row, where the affinities are fewer, was apparently finished by another hand, while pictures representing Evangelists on the backs of two further, independent stalls originally used by officers of the Cistercian convent, were probably made by Krieg jointly with an apprentice. Four modest emblematic depictions – also dated approximately 1640 – on the altar of St. Ursula in Pelplin cathedral church, complete the number of paintings, which can for now be given to the Gdańsk artist turned lay brother in the monastery

Johann Aken – zapomniany malarz obszaru bałtyckiego i jego dzieła

The paper deals with a 17th painter, active in the Baltic area, that was until now virtually unknown outside Estonia. In the Tallinn town hall there exists a locally renowned cycle of paintings made by Johann Aken with an assistant and signed by him in 1667. The biblical scenes, illustrating examples of burgher and Christian virtue and extolling good government, are remarkably largely based on prints after two great Netherlanders – Rembrandt and Rubens, apart from the popular graphic work of Matthaus Merian. This reaching out to Rembrandt’s oeuvre for artistic patterns in an outlying region was noticed as early as 1906 by Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, who spotted the same phenomenon with regard to a large Ecce Homo painting, dated 1647, in a village church in Hela (Hel), now in the National Museum in Gdańsk (Danzig): the picture is based on Rembrandt’s Christ before Pilate etching. Neither this scholar, however, nor his followers, linked the Tallinn and Gdańsk compositions to one another. Estonian researchers managed to unearth, in time, an extensive judicial document from 1663, concerning Aken’s imputed bigamy, which was eventually proven false. Sideline information from the source discloses the painter worked in Reval (Tallinn) since early 1662, but came from Danzig. This, in turn, led the author of the present paper to compare the Tallinn city hall works with the one in Gdańsk: it seems that apart from some minor differences, perhaps in part resulting from later overpainting, all these works were made by the same hand. Identical average quality painterly handling, representation of somewhat puppetlike human figures and an interest towards depicting architecture settings – both a bit erroneous as far as anatomy and perspective is concerned – are discernible in some other pictures preserved in Gdansk and its whereabouts. These include a Return of the Prodigal Son in St. Anne’s chapel (c. 1650), a ceiling consisting of nine paintings from a burgher’s house, now in Old Town City Hall (1642 ?), and a Visitation, altar retable in the cathedral church in Gdańsk-Oliwa (1645). Especially the latter two show in some details considerable proximity with the Tallinn cycle, and all of these works are again mostly based on Netherlandish prints, including some by Rembrandt and some after Rubens. No archival evidence on Aken seems to have survived in Gdańsk, this proving, however, that the artist was not a guild member there. Nonetheless, further discovered sources inform he appeared in Lubeck in 1656, baptizing there his son, and was buried in St. Peter’s church in Riga in 1689. The decision to move to the former town was probably made in order to escape a major Polish- Swedish war that began in 1655. In any case, neither in Lubeck, nor in today’s Latvia any traces of his further activity may be found. This first attempt to produce a more general biographical sketch of Johann Aken, who was most probably born c. 1610, still leaves open two important questions. First, whether he was a Netherlander by descent, as suggested in literature (at one point, his Gdańsk ‘Ecce Homo’ panel was attributed to a Dutchman, Helmich van Twenhuysen), and second – this issue tied to the former – why did he choose so many then recent and very novel graphic patterns by Rembrandt to produce his thematically typical and artistically average pictures current in the region of Europe where he practiced his proffesion.Tekst poświęcony jest siedemnastowiecznemu malarzowi działającemu w regionie bałtyckim, który do chwili obecnej był praktycznie nieznany poza Estonią. W ratuszu w Tallinie zachował się cykl malowideł, cieszący się na lokalnym gruncie pewnym rozgłosem, wykonany przez Johanna Akena z pomocnikiem i podpisany przezeń w roku 1667. Składające się na ten zespół sceny biblijne, będące też ilustracjami cnót mieszczańskich i chrześcijańskich, oraz wysławiające dobre rządy, powtarzają w dużej mierze – co godne uwagi – kompozycje graficzne autorstwa dwóch wielkich Niderlandczyków, Rembrandta i Rubensa; w pozostałych obrazach użyto jako wzorów popularnych rycin Matthäusa Meriana. Owo sięganie do dorobku Rembrandta na obszarze położonym daleko poza centrami artystycznymi zostało zauważone już w roku 1906 przez Cornelisa Hofstede de Groot, który odnotował podobny fenomen w odniesieniu do dużego malowidła Ecce Homo, datowanego 1647, przechowywanego wtedy w starym kościele w Helu, a obecnie znajdującego się w zbiorach Muzeum Narodowego w Gdańsku; to ostatnie dzieło powtarza schemat akwaforty Rembrandta Chrystus przed Piłatem. Ani ten badacz, ani kolejni autorzy zajmujący się tematem nie połączyli jednak ze sobą obrazów w Tallinie i Gdańsku. Estońskim historykom sztuki udało się z czasem odnaleźć obszerny dokument sądowy z roku 1663, dotyczący zarzutów bigamii stawianych Akenowi, które w końcu okazały się nieprawdziwe. Poboczne informacje zawarte w tym źródle ujawniają, iż malarz pracował w ówczesnym Rewalu (Tallinie) od początków roku 1662, ale pochodził z Gdańska. Okoliczność ta skłoniła autora artykułu do porównania prac w ratuszu tallińskim z obrazem gdańskim: wydaje się, iż abstrahując od niewielkich różnic formalnych, być może po części spowodowanych późniejszymi przemalowaniami, wszystkie te prace wykonane zostały przez tę samą rękę. Identyczny, przeciętnej klasy sposób budowania formy malarskiej, nieco kukiełkowate figury ludzkie i widoczne zainteresowanie dla teł architektonicznych – oba elementy przedstawiane odpowiednio z pewnymi błędami anatomii i perspektywy – dostrzec ponadto można w kilku dalszych obrazach istniejących w Gdańsku i okolicy. Składają się na nie: Powrót Syna Marnotrawnego w kaplicy św. Anny (ok. 1650), dziewięć malowideł na stropie pochodzącym z kamienicy mieszczańskiej, obecnie pokoju burmistrza w Ratuszu Staromiejskim (1642?) i Nawiedzenie Najświętszej Marii Panny, obraz retabulowy w ołtarzu pod tym samym wezwaniem w katedrze oliwskiej (1645). Zwłaszcza malowidła stropowe i Nawiedzenie wykazują w szczegółach znaczne podobieństwo do cyklu z Tallinna, a większość z tych dzieł ponownie oparta jest na rycinach niderlandzkich, w tym szeregu autorstwa Rembrandta i Rubensa. W Gdańsku nie zidentyfikowano do tej pory dokumentacji źródłowej dotyczącej Akena; świadczy to, iż nie był on członkiem cechu. Ujawniono natomiast wpisy archiwalne dotyczące jego pojawienia się w Lubece w roku 1656 (chrzest syna) oraz pochówku w kościele św. Piotra w Rydze w roku 1689. Decyzję o wyjeździe do pierwszego z wymienionych ośrodków wymusiła prawdopodobnie druga wojna polsko-szwedzka. Ani jednak w Lubece, ani na terenie dzisiejszej Łotwy nie odnaleziono dalszych śladów działalności artysty. Zaprezentowana tu pierwsza próba naszkicowania całościowej biografii malarza, urodzonego przypuszczalnie około 1610 roku, nie przyniosła też niestety odpowiedzi na dwa ważne pytania: po pierwsze, czy był on pochodzenia niderlandzkiego (jego Ecce Homo w gdańskim muzeum przypisywane było niegdyś Holendrowi, Helmichowi van Tweenhuysen); po drugie zaś – zagadnienie powiązane z poprzednim – dlaczego używał on tak wielu nowatorskich wtedy rycin Rembrandta jako wzorów dla swej tematycznie typowej i artystycznie przeciętnej sztuki, w rodzaju obiegowym w regionie Europy, gdzie Aken prowadził swą działalność

Królowa Saby przed Salomonem – nieznane malowidło Stephana Kesslera w Muzeum Narodowym w Warszawie

Despite being included in the Museum’s collection as early as 1946, the painting has no literature and is being displayed in a corridor of the administrative part of the institution, largely hidden from the public eye. The picture, which can be easily identified by subject, was brought from Silesia and could well originate from the former collection of the Dukes von Hochberg und zu Pless in Hochberg (Książ) castle in that province. This supposition is based on the composition’s resemblance in facial features, architectural detail and overall painterly execution, somewhat coarse, to a set of four pictures, illustrating the Evangelical parable of Prodigal Son, and simultaneously constituting allegories of The Four Seasons, once preserved in that residence. The ensemble, now owned by the National Museum in Wrocław, was signed in 1674 by Stephan Kessler, a painter born in Donauworth in Bavaria and active in Brixen (Bressanone), South Tirol, whose father came from Silesia. The Queen of Sheba, which can be dated to 1660–1670, resembles the Wrocław and many other paintings by Kessler also in large size, in tackling – repeatedly – Biblical and other historical or allegorical themes, and in basing the composition on prints from various periods and milieus, very often made after Rubens, however. In this case, graphic works by Dirck Volckertsz. Coornhert, Matthaus Merian the Elder, and Paulus Pontius seem to have been used. Apart from discussing the main topic, the author reports on two further unpublished pictures by Kessler – a Judith and Holofernes, a partly workshop piece on the Paris art market in 1993, and Moses, Israelites and the Pharaoh’s army drowning in the Red Sea, a good quality work in private possession in Poland.Despite being included in the Museum’s collection as early as 1946, the painting has no literature and is being displayed in a corridor of the administrative part of the institution, largely hidden from the public eye. The picture, which can be easily identified by subject, was brought from Silesia and could well originate from the former collection of the Dukes von Hochberg und zu Pless in Hochberg (Książ) castle in that province. This supposition is based on the composition’s resemblance in facial features, architectural detail and overall painterly execution, somewhat coarse, to a set of four pictures, illustrating the Evangelical parable of Prodigal Son, and simultaneously constituting allegories of The Four Seasons, once preserved in that residence. The ensemble, now owned by the National Museum in Wrocław, was signed in 1674 by Stephan Kessler, a painter born in Donauworth in Bavaria and active in Brixen (Bressanone), South Tirol, whose father came from Silesia. The Queen of Sheba, which can be dated to 1660–1670, resembles the Wrocław and many other paintings by Kessler also in large size, in tackling – repeatedly – Biblical and other historical or allegorical themes, and in basing the composition on prints from various periods and milieus, very often made after Rubens, however. In this case, graphic works by Dirck Volckertsz. Coornhert, Matthaus Merian the Elder, and Paulus Pontius seem to have been used. Apart from discussing the main topic, the author reports on two further unpublished pictures by Kessler – a Judith and Holofernes, a partly workshop piece on the Paris art market in 1993, and Moses, Israelites and the Pharaoh’s army drowning in the Red Sea, a good quality work in private possession in Poland

Theory and applications of an atoms in molecules approach to the Xα -SCF method

We have studied the Xα -SCF problem with an atoms in molecules approach. LCAO-molecular orbitals are used and the molecular charge and exchange densities are built up from atomic contributions. We have applied our method to CH3F with subsequent comparison to ab initio calculations. The Xα -SCF dipole moment of CH3F is 1.76 D compared with an experimental value of 1.79 D. We also give calculations of TCNQ and TTF with comparisons to recent Xα calculations using the overlapping sphere modification of a muffin-tin potential. Quadrupole moments for TCNQ and TTF have also been determined. The Journal of Chemical Physics is copyrighted by The American Institute of Physics

Adekwatna nefroprotekcja metodą skutecznej kardioprotekcji

Populacja pacjentów z przewlekłą chorobą nerek (CKD, chronic kidney disease) charakteryzuje się wysokim ryzykiem zachorowania na schorzenia układu krążenia oraz wysoką śmiertelnością w ich następstwie. Analiza przebiegu i rokowania CKD wskazuje również na fakt, że istnieje ścisły związek między zaawansowaną chorobą nerek i wielkością ryzyka powikłań sercowo-naczyniowych, prowadzący do sytuacji, w której ryzyko to wzrasta w miarę pogłębiania się uszkodzenia nerek. Wynika to między innymi z istnienia wspólnych szlaków patogenetycznych skutkujących z jednej strony progresją przewlekłych nefropatii, z drugiej zaś rozwojem groźnych dla życia powikłań kardiologicznych. Kluczową rolę w tej sekwencji zdarzeń odgrywa nadmierna aktywacja układu renina-angiotensynaaldosteron (RAA, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone). Wczesne wykrycie CKD oraz adekwatne leczenie nefroprotekcyjne oparte na farmakologicznej blokadzie układu RAA powinno skutkować zmniejszeniem ryzyka rozwoju zmian w układzie sercowo- naczyniowym i ograniczeniem śmiertelności w tej grupie pacjentów. Forum Nefrologiczne 2011, tom 4, nr 2, 144–15

Bröllmannowie – złotnicy toruńscy przełomu XVII i XVIII wieku. Addenda i corrigenda

The paper constitutes an annex to the text by Jacek Tylicki, published in this journal in two parts (1992 and 1994). It completes biographical data on the Brollmanns, revises some former attributions and presents recently discovered objects made in their workshops. Newer archival research disclosed that the second wife of Niklaus and mother of both Johann Christian and Samuel was Anna Chodowiecka, related to the somewhat younger renowned draughtsman and engraver from Gdańsk, Daniel Chodowiecki. Exact life dates of her both sons are now known; it is also possible to pinpoint the dwellings of all the members of the family on the town map. Niklaus and Johann Christian have been members of the town’s authorities (within the ‘Third Order’), and the latter also held the elder’s post in the local Calvinist religious commune. Johann Christian was married to Elisabeth Hemling, and had two sons with her, none of which continued, however, their father’s profession. The younger son of Niklaus, Samuel, probably did not erect his own workshop, collaborating with his brother. Eighteen further objects have now been found, which originated with certainty from the workshops of both silversmiths. Among them, Niklaus produced two chalices, one paten and an altar lamp typical in form and decoration; furthermore, interesting and scarce lay objects by this master have surfaced: a beaker, a tazza with floral decoration, another sizeable tazza inset with coins as well as a coin tankard and a doctoral thesis. All of them confirm the known abilities of the craftsman, displaying high technical and artistic quality, as well as his knowledge of most up-to-date stylistic trends, visible in decoration. The newly identified part of Johann Christian’s oeuvre comprises a chalice, a devotional painting application in form of a crown, a pair of candlesticks, three beakers and a spoon – objects typical both for formerly known production of the master, and of the Toruń milieu in general. There appeared, however, also two others, much more worthwhile: an imposing tankard decorated with personifications of virtues in high quality repousse technique, and a tea box (unique in Toruń silversmith) with regence ornament. In its diversity, Johann Christian’s work shows similarity to the production of such celebrated local masters as Johann Christian Bierpfaff, Jakob Sachs, or Stephan Petersen, and in singular cases his products resemble the ones from their ateliers. As it has already been pointed out before, however, it represents – in contrast to the aforementioned masters – a very uneven level of craftsmanship both in technical and purely artistic terms: while the craftsman was rather at ease executing the repousse parts, he apparently could not adequately cope with the engravings. The recently found objects by both masters are especially worth attention as far as those of lay character are concerned, since such items are relatively rare in Toruń silverware production. Equally important is that in numerous cases their history and persons of commissioners are well known

Praktyczne aspekty zastosowania farmakologicznej blokady układu renina-angiotensyna-aldosteron w nefroprotekcji

Farmakologiczna blokada układu renina-angiotensyna-aldosteron stanowi podstawę leczenia nefroprotekcyjnego w przewlekłych chorobach nerek z białkomoczem lub upośledzoną funkcją nerek. Udowodniono, że inhibitory konwertazy angiotensyny oraz antagoniści receptorów AT-1 dla angiotensyny II zmniejszają białkomocz oraz zwalniają progresję niewydolności nerek. W artykule tym omówione zostały praktyczne aspekty stosowania obu grup leków, antagonistów receptora mineralokortykoidowego oraz inhibitorów reniny u pacjentów z przewlekłą chorobą nerek. Sprecyzowano podstawowe cele leczenia. Przedyskutowano zasady wyboru terapii, dawkowania leków oraz korzyści i niebezpieczeństwa wynikające z łącznego stosowania leków z różnych grup. Omówiono strategie leczenia chorych z białkomoczem, niewydolnością nerek oraz zasadność stosowania leków hamujących układ renina-angiotensyna-aldosteron u chorych dializowanych i po przeszczepieniu nerki. Omówione zostały niebezpieczeństwa związane ze stosowaniem tych leków oraz zasady monitorowania terapii