Rational productive use of inorganic nitrogen reserves released in permanent meadow situated on humic alluvial soil

The aim of the study was to work out a method for quantitative assessment of soil nitrogen available for grassland sward (net mineralization), released in alluvial soils in Żuławy. Quantitative assessment of the pool of released nitrogen enables improvement of N management in fertilization of grassland sward and may contribute to the limitation of its dispersal in the natural environment.  Studies were carried out in Żuławy Elbląskie in heavy, shallow humic alluvial soil containing about 350 t of soil organic matter and from 13 to 20 t of total nitrogen (TN) per hectare. The study object was permanent meadow sward of different intensity of utilisation and inorganic fertilisation. The efficiency of net mineralization of soil N was determined with the use of indirect balance method. Łaukajtys’s mini lysimetres installed on each experimental plot were used to estimate nitrogen losses in leachates. Depending on the frequency of mowing and different NPK fertilization, meadow sward took up from 80 to 170 kg N released due to mineralization of soil organic matter, which made up about 25 to 50% of nutrient demands of meadow sward. It was also shown that meadow sward uses from 58% to 78% of the total amount of introduced N for growth increment, depending on the intensity of utilization and fertilization

A Case Study in Hierarchical Control - The Upper Vistula Multireservoir System

Water resource systems have been an important part of resources and environment related research at IIASA since its inception. As demands for water increase relative to supply, the intensity and efficiency of water resources management must be developed further. This in turn requires an increase in the degree of detail and sophistication of the analysis including economic, social and environmental evaluation of water resources development alternatives aided by application of mathematical modeling techniques, to generate inputs for planning, design, and operational decisions. This paper is part of the comparative studies on operational decisionmaking in the multiple reservoir water resources systems initiated in 1979 by the "Regional Water Management" Research Task of the Resources and Environment Area of IIASA. Following introduction to some basic concepts of a hierarchical approach to the control of complex systems, the model of the Upper Vistula System in Poland is presented and the results of preliminary computations are discussed

Biomarkers as prognostic factors in endometrial cancer.

Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic malignancy in more developed countries. Approximately 75% of cases are diagnosed at an early stage with a tumor confined to the uterine corpus. Although most patients are cured by surgery alone, about 15-20% with no signs of locally advanced or metastatic disease at primary treatment recurs, with limited responsiveness to systemic therapy. The most common basis for determining the risk of recurrent disease has been classification of endometrial cancers into two subtypes. Type I, associated with a good prognosis and endometrioid histology and type II, associated with a poor prognosis and non-endometrioid histology. This review will focus primarily on the molecular biomarkers that have supported the dualistic model of endometrial carcinoma and help determine which patients would benefit from either adjuvant therapy or more aggressive primary treatment

Operation of Multiple Reservoir Systems: A Case Study of the Upper Vistula System (An Introduction)

Water resource systems have been an important part of resources and environment related research at IIASA since its inception. As demands for water increase relative to supply, the intensity and efficiency of water resources management must be developed further. This in turn requires an increase in the degree of detail and sophistication of the analysis, including economic, social and environmental evaluation of water resources development alternatives aided by application of mathematical modeling techniques, to generate inputs for planning, design, and operational decisions. During the year of 1978 it was decided that parallel to the continuation of demand studies, an attempt would be made to integrate the results of our studies on water demands with water supply considerations. This new task was named "Regional Water Management" (Task 1, Resources and Environment Area). This paper is concerned with operational decision-making in the existing multiple reservoir systems. Following a short description of the case system, three different approaches to optimization of the system's operation are presented. First, the three-step stochastic implicit approach; second, the simulation approach; and third, the approach based on the concepts of hierarchical control systems. Distinction is made between the long-term reservoir operation rules and the short-term operational decisions using the real-time forecasts of reservoir inflows and water demands. The paper is part of a collaborative study on the operation of the Upper Vistula multiple reservoir system in Poland, carried out by the Institute for Meteorology and Water Management, Warsaw, Poland and IIASA

Znaczenie prognostyczne VEGF i jego receptorów w raku endometrium typu endometrioidalnego

Abstract Background: Angiogenesis is of crucial importance for endometrial tumor growth and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) is the key mediator of angiogenesis. Objective: The purpose of our study was to assess the prognostic value of VEGF and its receptors in relation to endometrioid endometrial carcinomas. Material and methods: In this study, we conducted an immunohistochemical evaluation of VEGF and VEGFRs expression in 84 tissue samples obtained from endometrioid endometrial cancer patients undergoing curative surgical treatment. Results: Out of 84 cancers, strong positive expression of VEGF was seen in 35 (42%) tumors. The overall strong positive rates were 33% for VEGFR-1 and for 15% for VEGFR-2. There was a significant correlation between clinical stage and VEGF and VEGFR-1 overexpression (p=0.027 and p=0.004, respectively). Additionally, there was a significant correlation between histological grade and VEGF and VEGFR-1 overexpression (pStreszczenie Wstęp: Angiogeneza ma istotne znaczenie we wzroście raka endometrium. Naczyniowo-śródbłonkowy czynnik wzrostu (VEGF) jest kluczowym mediatorem angiogenezy. Cel pracy: W pracy oceniono wartość prognostyczną VEGF i jego receptorów w endometrioidalnym raku endometrium. Materiał i metody: Przeprowadzono immunohistochemiczną ocenę ekspresji VEGF i VEGFR w 84 preparatach uzyskanych od chorych leczonych operacyjnie. Wyniki: Wśród 84 raków intensywnie dodatnią ekspresję VEGF obserwowano w 35 (42%) przypadków. Intensywnie dodatnią ekspresję VEGFR-1 stwierdzono w 33% a VEGFR-2 w 15% przypadków. Wykazano istotny statystycznie związek pomiędzy stopniem zaawansowania klinicznego a nadekspresją VEGF i VEGFR-1 (p=0,027 i p=0,004 ). Ponadto, stwierdzono znamienny statystycznie związek pomiędzy nadekspresją VEGF i VEGFR-1 a zróżnicowaniem histologicznym (

Quality of life in long-term survivors of early stage endometrial cancer

Introduction. Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynaecological malignancy in developed countries. Effective treatment of the early stage of the disease is achieved by surgery alone. An increasing number of patients with EC become long-term survivors; therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the quality-of-life (QOL) of EC survivors. Materials and Method. A total of 328 survivors who had completed cancer treatment more than 3 years ago, and had previously completed questionnaires concerning QOL – European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) and depression – Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Patients were grouped into those with surgery alone or surgery with adjuvant radiotherapy. Responses were compared with 284 healthy women who were seen for standard gynaecologic screening examinations. Results. According to the presented results, the QOL of women with EC after surgical treatment was equal to that of healthy women in the control group. Treatment with adjuvant radiotherapy influenced the QOL, with the exception of emotional functioning (p=0.028). No statistically significant differences were found in scores on the BDI-II between groups for the cognitive-affective factor, the somatic factor, or the total sum score. Conclusions. The quality of life in EC survivors approximates that of healthy controls after 3 years post-surgical treatment. Patients treated for early stage EC should be informed about the anticipated good prognosis and the low risk of psychosocial and physical long-term effects. Cancer survivors who are treated by surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy may be especially at risk for emotional functioning problems

Mutations in the KRAS gene in ovarian tumors.

RAS genes are the most frequently mutated oncogenes detected in human cancer. In this study we analyzed the presence of mutations at codon 12 of the KRAS gene in 78 women with ovarian tumor, including 64 invasive ovarian cancers and 14 borderline ovarian tumors, using an RFLP-PCR technique and we evaluated whether such alterations were associated with the selected clinicopathological parameters of the patients. KRAS codon 12 gene mutations were found in 6,2% of ovarian cancer tissue and in 14,3% of the borderline ovarian tumor. KRAS mutations were found with a significantly higher frequency in mucinous and borderline tumors compared to serous tumors (

A morphometric study of nucleolar organiser regions in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

The study sought a correlation between the number of AgNOR granules and the degree of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). Thirty-five sections (5 normal, 10 CIN1, 10 CIN2 and 10 CIN3) were subjected to retrospective analysis. The percentage of cells with 1, 2, 3, 4 and more AgNORs was calculated and the number of granules per 100 cells was counted. The number of cells containing single granules decreases. However, the number increases with CIN level when the cells contain 4 and more AgNORs. The number of granules per 100 cells also increases with the degree of CIN. It can be thus concluded that the number of cells with 4 and more AgNOR granules can serve as a CIN differentiation exponent

Towards Multiple, Sustained, and Indirect Actions

The EU is increasingly concerned with the diffusion and uncertainty of risks and threats in the neighbourhood, and resilience appears as a useful and pragmatic policy framework to address risks in areas of limited statehood and contested orders. The working paper draws from extensive report analysis and semi-structured interviews with EU officials to examine the diplomatic, economic, and military instruments that the EU mobilizes in a resilience-informed external action. The main contribution is that these instruments are increasingly facilitating resilience through multiple, long-term, and indirect actions. First, instruments have expanded and diversified to undertake as many different actions as possible. Second, they are sustained over long periods of time, even when there are no risks or threats or after peace and stability have been reached. Third, since resilience emerges “from below”, building on societies’ own resources and tools, EU instruments facilitate resilience indirectly, through constant engagement in the neighbourhood

Mutations of the KRAS oncogene in endometrial hyperplasia and carcinoma.

The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and clinicopathological significance of KRAS point mutation in endometrial hyperplasia and carcinoma. We analysed KRAS in 11 cases of complex atypical hyperplasia and in 49 endometrial carcinomas using polymerase chain reaction associated with restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFPL). Point mutations at codon 12 of KRAS oncogene were identified in 7 of 49 (14,3%) tumor specimens and in 2 of 11 (18,2%) hyperplasias. No correlation was found between KRAS gene mutation and age at onset, histology, grade of differentiation and clinical stage. We conclude that KRAS mutation is a relatively common event in endometrial carcinogenesis, but with no prognostic value