The lost document of Albert, duke of Strzelce, for Cistercian monks from Jemielnica, dated may 30, 1328. A supplement to "Urkunden des Klosters Himmelwitz"

The article concerns a document of Albert, duke of Strzelce, issued on May 30, 1328. The document itself is lost. It is known only from one sentence in the 2nd volume of Codex diplomaticus Silesiae and from register compiled by Augustin Weltzel and Friedrich von Schirnding. Both researchers used a translation of the document by Jucundinus Pientak, which is a basis of this source edition

Który Bolko? Wokół problemu identyfikacji sprawcy napadu na studenta praskiego

The following article returns to the difficulties in identifying the Duke of Opole, the culprit in the attack on a student from Prague, Henryk Stange. To this end, the article refers to an article by Robert T. Tomczak, agreeing with the suggestion that there exists no sufficient evidence that Bolko V obtained a bachelor degree at the university in Prague. However, the article disagrees with the further claims made in Tomczak’s article, who argues that the culprit in the attack could be, in fact, Bolko IV, Duke of Opole. To support this dissent, the article proves that, contrary to Tomczak’s claims, the oldest son of Bolko IV was also identified in foreign sources as the Duke of Opole, even after he was given his own province (Głogówek). Moreover, the emphasis on the young age of Bolko V, which supposedly rules him out as a suspect, appears to be misleading. In addition, the author doubts the correctness of identifying the rambunctious duke as Bolko IV, considering the political situation at that time as well as later historical records. The author also points to the similarities between the description of Bolko V in the Annales Glogovienses — concerning multiple instances of reproof which ended with excommunication — and the actual excommunication of Bolko V’s father in the beginning of the 15th century

Problem chronologii w nowszych pracach dotyczących Bolka V : przebieg wypraw wojennych z początku lat 30. XV w. wraz z uzupełnieniami do itinerarium księcia opolskiego

The article deals with a war expedition by Bolko V, appearing in the latest historical works, which is said to have taken place in 1432. In examining the letter, which serves as the basis for describing military campaigns conducted that year, the author points out that the publisher made a mistake in dating it. The mistake was noticed and corrected by the publisher himself, but some contemporary historians have overlooked it. This leads to an incorrect presentation of the battles taking place in Upper Silesia during the first half of the 1430s. The author, confronting the content of the letter with the so-called Strzelin fragment, points out that it must have been written in 1430 in accordance with the correction issued by the publisher of the source

Rycerstwo opolskie do połowy XV wieku

Since the beginning of the 15th century, the Duchy of Opole went through subsequent stages of division into smaller duchies and repeated consolidation and division between the representatives of the Opole Piast dynasty. In turn, the local knights, who often held land in different regions of the land, needed to adapt to the changing districts. The first chapter discusses the division of the Duchy of Opole between the particular dukes. The borders of the administrative districts were in constant flux. It was also possible to notice the influence of knights possessing estates located along the borders on the subsequent shapes of the district border. Chapter two discusses the issues of terminology applied to the knights. It notices similar tendendcies in nomenclature with regard to the act of bestowing knighthood to other regions of Europe. The chapter also discusses the censure of knighthood. Chapter three is devoted to the composition and distribution of the knights of Opole. In the studied duchy, it was possible to identify more than three hundred families, of which in many cases there are only singular known representatives remaining. It is, therefore, difficult to assess the precise number of that social group in the studied area. Within the studied period of time, two families — the Bes family and the Strzała family — significantly surpassed other families when it comes to their wealth as well as, with time, their importance. The majority of the local families had medium or small (one village) estates, which could be extended through endowment from the local sovereign and subsequent purchase of land, coming to form a small complex of family holdings. This type of family development, which owed their prosperity to the duke, was a rarity according to the sources. For faithful service, local rulers rewarded knights with castles or towns. The knights owed predominantly allodial land and estates, even though some sources point to the existence of several estates which functioned as fiefdoms. Moreover, those families who arrived at the area from outside were in minority on the lands of the Opole Piast dynasty. Chapter four concerns the public activity of the knights of Opole. In a hundred and fifty years, he Duchy of Opole, similarly to the rest of Silesia, experienced significant changes in the structure of court and administrative offices. In the beginning of the 14th century, the most important official was the high bailiff, equivalent to the Silesian office of the palatine. The sources mention also the offices of the court justiciary, the master of the hunt, the deputy master of the hunt, and the procurator. In the second half of the 14th century, this hierarchy went through a gradual transformation, depending on the duchy. The most important office at court became the office of the marshal or chief steward. He was in charge of the treasurer, the master of the hunt, the deputy master of the hunt, the head chef and the chamberlain, whose function was reduced to managing the court servants. Apart from that, the chancellery also formed a part of the court office, though it was expanded only during the reign of Władysław II, who employed a chancellor. At other courts, those who worked at the chancellery were known as writers or notaries. The administrative offices underwent transformation as well. At the turn of the 14th century, the duchy was divided into castellanies, governed by a castellan. The local estates of the duke were managed by the steward. In time, the function of the castellan was diminished, while the official himself was more often known as a burgrave. Castellanies were substituted with districts. In this new administrative system, the most important office, apart from the duke himself, was that of a district head. He managed the stewards of local estates, justices of the peace as well as the burgraves who managed the castle and its crew

Benzo[a]pyrene and cyclopenta[c]phenanthrene suppress expression of p53 in head kidney of rainbow trout

Although p53, a protein of important tumor suppressive function, has been extensively studied in mammals, relatively little is known about the p53 pathways in lower vertebrates. Particularly, limited information exists on possible influences of environmental contaminants on the expression of the p53 gene in fish. In the current study, we assessed the effects of benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P; potent tumor promoter) and cyclopenta[c]phenanthrene (CP[c]Ph; clastogenic agent) exposure on a 24h profile of p53 gene expression in head kidney of juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). To analyze the p53 transcription rate, we developed protocol for the examination of both mRNA and heterogeneous nuclear (hn) RNA of the gene, using Real-Time RTPCR approach. The results show that both compounds are capable of suppressing p53 transcriptional activity within 12h of the treatment. Our finding supports the idea that structurally different PAHs may influence cell physiologic functions controlled by p53 in fish, in part, by down-regulating its RNA expression levels

Cyclopenta[c]phenanthrene induction of CYP1A in brain of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

We assessed the effects of cyclopenta[c]phenanthrene (CP[c]Ph) and benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P; positive control) on CYP1A gene expression in brain of juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) using the quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (Q-RT-PCR). A group of hatchery raised rainbow trout, with an average body mass of 49.4 g and total length of 15.5 cm were given an intraperitoneal injection (10 mg*kg-1) of either CP[c]Ph or B[a]P in corn oil (2 mg*mi-1 corn oil) or corn oil alone (control). After 24 and 48 h, trout brains were collected for mRNA isolation and analysis. After 24 hours of the exposure, only B[a]P-treated rainbow trout had 10-fold higher number of CYP1A transcripts (mean = 3.63*106 transcripts*µg-1 total RNA) than control fish (3.24*105 transcripts*µg-1 total RNA; Tukey test, P<0.05). After 48 hrs, significantly higher levels of CYP1A expression (Tukey test, P<0.001) were found in either CP[c]Ph- or B[a]P- induced group (1.45*106 and 6.92*106 transcriptsźµg-1 total RNA, respectively) over a control group (mean=1.41*105 transcripts*µg-1 total RNA). The finding that CYP1A in brain tissue was inducible by CP[c]Ph, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) of different than B[a]P planar characteristics, may further validate the use of rainbow trout brain CYP1A mRNA levels as a biomarker of PAH exposure

Preliminary study on adverse effects of phenanthrene and its methyl and phenyl derivatives in larval zebrafish, Danio rerio

Toxic effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been extensively studied in fish, although knowledge concerning biological activities of phenanthrene and its derivatives remains still incomplete. The aim of this work was to evaluate lethal and sublethal effects of benzo(a)pyrene, phenanthrene and phenanthrene derivatives (1-methylphenanthrene, 4-methylphenanthrene, 1-phenylphenanthrene and 4-phenylphenanthrene) on zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae. We conducted acute toxicity test, using 96h static renewal exposure to a series of the PAH concentrations (0.05, 0.50, 5.00, 50.00µmol*l-1), to determine the No Effect Concentration (NEC) value for each compound examined. The mean NEC estimates obtained in the study were 5.16۪.45µmol*l-1 (B[a]P), 4.88۪.13µmol*l-1 (Ph), 40.24䔰.93µmol*l-1 (1P-Ph), 47.92ۭ.61µmol*l-1 (1M-Ph), 24.31۱.33µmol*l-1 (4P-Ph) and 3.11۫.01µmol*l-1 (4M-Ph) and suggested the following order of PAH toxicities on Danio rerio larvae: 4M-Ph>Ph˜B[a]P>4PPhP-Ph>1M-Ph. To gain insight into possible molecular mechanisms of apparent toxicity of phenanthrene derivatives on zebrafish larvae, we examined mRNA expression of cyp1a, cyp1b1, and vtg genes in the larvae exposed for 48h to a PAH concentration of 0.50µmol*l-1. Whereas the larvae exposed to each tested PAH displayed many developmental abnormalities (i.e. pericardial and yolk sac edema, dorsal curvature, or tail malformations), no significant upregulation of cyp1a and cyp1b1 mRNA was observed, except for zebrafish exposed to B[a]P. However, significant reduction of vtg mRNA was observed in the larvae exposed to phenanthrene and its 4P- derivative. The results may contribute to the development of a new knowledge about effects of structurally diverse phenanthrene derivatives on vertebrate organisms

MicroRNA expression profiles in liver and colon of sexually immature gilts after exposure to Fusarium mycotoxins

To improve our knowledge of the role of microRNAs (miRs) in responses of the porcine digestive system to two Fusarium mycotoxins, zearalenone (ZEN) and deoxynivalenol (DON), we examined the expression of 7 miRs (miR-9, miR-15a, miR-21, miR-34a, miR-122, miR-125b, and miR-192), previously found to be deregulated in diseased liver and colon cells. In this study, immature gilts were exposed to NOEL doses of ZEN (40 μg/kg/d), DON (12 μg/kg/d), ZEN+DON (40+12 μg/kg/d), and placebo (negative control group) for 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 42 days. Before the treatment, expression levels of the selected miRs were measured in the liver, the duodenum, the jejunum, and the ascending and the descending colon of the gilts. Hierarchical clustering of the tissues by their miR expression profiles was consistent with what would be expected based on the anatomical locations and the physiological functions of the organs, suggesting that functions of the miRs are related to the specificities of the tissues in which they are expressed. A subset of 2 pairs of miRs (miR-21+miR-192 and miR-15a+miR-34a), which were assigned to two distinct clusters based on their tissue abundance, was then evaluated in the liver and the ascending and the descending colon during the treatment. The most meaningful results were obtained from the ascending colon, where a significant effect of the treatment was observed, suggesting that during the exposure to mycotoxins, the pathways involved in cell proliferation and survival were disordered. Changes in miR expression in the liver and the descending colon of the treated gilts were smaller, and were associated more with treatment duration than the exposure to ZEN, DON, or ZEN+DON. Further research should focus on identification of genes whose expression is regulated by these aberrantly expressed miRs. This should facilitate understanding of the miRNA-regulated biological effects of mycotoxins