WIEDZA EKSPERCKA I EKSPERCKOŚĆ PRZEZ DOŚWIADCZENIE W DZIEDZINIE AUTYZMU: KONTEKST POZAINSTYTUCJONALNY

W artykule przedstawione są koncepcje i teorie wiedzy eksperckiej, a także dyskusje nad epistemologicznym statusem wiedzy eksperckiej, kompetencji poznawczych wchodzących w zakres eksperckości oraz autorytetu eksperta. Są one traktowane jako rodzaj wiedzy pozainstytucjonalnej, tylko w niewielkim stopniu nawiązującej do wiedzy naukowej i akademickich środowisk. Zreferowane zostają stanowiska A. Goldmana, H. Collinsa i R. Evansa, Z. Majdika i W. Keitha, T. Burge’a oraz J. Shanteau w kwestii prawomocności wiedzy eksperckiej oraz sposobów jej uzasadniania. Wskazuje się na problematyczność i pewne ograniczenia tradycyjnych stanowisk w sprawie wiarygodności wiedzy eksperckiej i autorytetu eksperta. Na przykładzie zjawiska spektrum autyzmu i tradycyjnych sądów na jego temat – w szczególności ekspertyz wydawanych o osobach nim objętych oraz potocznych opinii i stereotypów – przedstawiona zostaje dyskusja nad zmianami zachodzącymi w tej dziedzinie wiedzy i społecznej praktyki. Omawiane są koncepcje eksperckości przez doświadczenie w temacie autyzmu, w tym również tzw. samorzecznictwa i samorzecznictwa-naukowców. Te nowe postawy poznawcze i społeczne funkcje ekspertów ds. spektrum autyzmu analizowane są również od strony epistemologicznej wiarygodności tego rodzaju wiedzy i kompetencji

Sequential Classification of Palm Gestures Based on A* Algorithm and MLP Neural Network for Quadrocopter Control

This paper presents an alternative approach to the sequential data classification, based on traditional machine learning algorithms (neural networks, principal component analysis, multivariate Gaussian anomaly detector) and finding the shortest path in a directed acyclic graph, using A* algorithm with a regression-based heuristic. Palm gestures were used as an example of the sequential data and a quadrocopter was the controlled object. The study includes creation of a conceptual model and practical construction of a system using the GPU to ensure the realtime operation. The results present the classification accuracy of chosen gestures and comparison of the computation time between the CPU- and GPU-based solutions

Electrophoretic characteristics of metalloproteinase’s activity of serum of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia – preliminary data

Metalloproteinases play an important role in the development and metastasis of many cancers. Their activity is also an important component of tumorgenesis associated processes such as angiogenesis, decreased apoptosis, or unlimited proliferation of pathological cells. In this study we tried to estimate a differences of metalloproteinase activity digesting the gelatin in the sera of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and healthy people, by the zymographic technique. To confirm that the gelatinolytic activity originated from the metalloproteinases their specific inhibitors: phenanthroline and ethylene– diaminetetraacetic acid were used. In patient’s sera a zymographic analysis revealed the presence of additional activity. The first of them are located in a region corresponding to a molecular weight of approximately 240 kDa, probably corresponds to the dimer of proMMP–9. Another two active fractions present in the sera of patients suffering from leukemia corresponded to a molecular weight of about 110 and 130 kDa probably represents a complex of proMMP–9 with lipocain. In a control sera, only one activity could be observed exhibiting a molecular weight of about 110 kDa, which is stronger than corresponding fraction in patient’s sera. The biggest difference between the two investigated sera was gelatynolytic activity located in the region of a molecular weight of about 94 kDa, which probably corresponded to proMMP–9. In some leukemic sera this activity was several times higher compared to the control samples, in which there was a constant and relatively low level of it. Despite significant activity of proMMP–9 in sera of patients with CLL no biologically active equivalent band of molecular weight 84 kDa were detected. The fractions which corresponded to different forms of MMP–2 (72, 64 kDa) were present in the sera of tumor and control, although proMMP–2 was more strongly expressed in the control samples

Electrophoretic method of cysteine proteinase identification in the sera of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) based on biotinylated iodoacetamide

Wstęp: Proteinazy cysteinowe są enzymami regulującymi liczne procesy fizjologiczne oraz patologiczne w organizmie człowieka. Zaburzenie ich aktywności może przyczyniać się do wystąpienia wielu chorób. Pełnią one ważną rolę w procesie kancerogenezy, uczestnicząc w inwazji, transformacji nowotworowej, angiogenezie, apoptozie oraz powstawaniu przerzutów. Celem pracy było opracowanie elektroforetycznej metody identyfikacji proteinaz cysteinowych w surowicach pacjentów z przewlekłą białaczką w oparciu o jodoacetamid biotynylowany. Materiał i metody: Badania wstępne przeprowadzono na handlowym preparacie papainy (EC 3.4.22.2), dobrze poznanej i szeroko stosowanej roślinnej proteinazy cysteinowej o masie cząsteczkowej 23,4 kDa. Badania wykonano na próbach surowicy uzyskanych z pełnej krwi pobranej od pacjentów chorych na przewlekłą białaczkę limfocytową (PBL) oraz surowicach kontrolnych uzyskanych od dawców. Surowice po wstępnej inkubacji z jodoacetamidem mieszano z buforem do prób i poddawano rozdziałowi elektroforetycznemu w żelu poliakrylamidowym zawierającym dodecylosiarczan sodu (SDS–PAGE). Rozdzielone elektroforetycznie białka po transferze na nitrocelulozową membranę, poddawano dalszej analizie za pomocą streptawidyny skoniugowanej z peroksydazą chrzanową (HRP). Użycie substratu dla HRP, czterochlorowodorku 3,3’–diaminobenzydynyny (DAB), umożliwiało identyfikację biotynylowanego jodoacetamidu, a przez to związanych z nim w sposób nieodwracalny proteinaz cysteinowych obecnych w badanych surowicach. Wyniki: Analiza porównawcza surowic pobranych od pacjentów chorych na przewlekłą białaczkę limfocytową w odniesieniu do surowic kontrolnych pozwoliła na identyfikację dodatkowego białka o charakterze proteinazy cysteinowej o masie cząsteczkowej wynoszącej około 37 kDa, które nie występowało lub było obecne w niewielkiej ilości w surowicach kontrolnych. Wnioski: Opracowana metoda umożliwia wykrywanie proteinaz cysteinowych w surowicach kontrolnych, jak i u pacjentów chorych na przewlekłą białaczkę limfocytową.Introduction: Cysteine proteases are enzymes that regulate numerous physiological and pathological processes in the human body. Disorders of their activity can lead to a number of diseases. They play an important role in the process of carcinogenesis, participating in the invasion, transformation, angiogenesis, apoptosis and metastasis. The aim of this study was to elaborate the electrophoretic method of cysteine proteinases identification in the sera of patients suffering from chronic lymphocytic leukemia based on biotinylated iodoacetamide. Material and methods: Preliminary studies were carried out on the commercially available papain (EC 3.4.22.2) well known and widely used plant cysteine protease with a molecular weight 23,4 kDa. The study was conducted on the blood samples taken from patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and control sera from healthy donors. The sera after the preincubation with iodoacetamide were mixed with the sample buffer followed by electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gel containing sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS–PAGE). The separated proteins were electrophoretically transferred to the nitrocellulose membranes and subjected to the further analysis using streptavidin conjugated with horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The use of substrate for HRP 3,3’- diaminobenzidine tetrachloride (DAB) allows the biotinylated iodoacetamide and thereby cysteine proteinase identification. Results: The comparative analysis of the sera from the patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and the control sera led to the identification of additional protein with a cysteine protease characteristic having a molecular weight of about 37 kDa, which did not occur or was present in a smaller amount of the control sera. Conclusions: The developed method allows the detection of cysteine proteases which are present in the control sera and the sera of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Importance of Altered Gene Expression of Metalloproteinases 2, 9, and 16 in Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Preliminary Study

Acute myeloid leukemia is a group of hematological neoplasms characterized by a heterogeneous course and high mortality. The important factor in the neoplastic process is metalloproteinases, proteolytic enzymes capable of degrading various components of the extracellular matrix, which take an active part in modifying the functioning of the cell, including transformation to cancer cell. They interact with numerous signaling pathways responsible for the process of cell growth, proliferation, or apoptosis. In the present study, changes in the expression of MMP2, MMP9, and MMP16 genes between patients with AML and people without cancer were examined. The impact of cytogenetic changes in neoplastic cells on the expression level of MMP2, MMP9, and MMP16 was also assessed, as well as the impact of the altered expression on the effectiveness of the first cycle of remission-inducing therapy. To evaluate the expression of all studied genes MMP2, MMP9, and MMP16, SYBR Green-based real-time PCR method was used; the reference gene was GAPDH. For two investigated genes MMP2 and MMP16, the lower expression level was observed in patients with AML when compared to healthy people. The MMP9 gene expression level did not differ between patients with AML and healthy individuals which may indicate a different regulation of gene expression in acute myeloid leukemia. However, no correlation was observed between the genes’ expression of all tested metalloproteinases and the result of cytoreductive treatment or the presence of cytogenetic changes. The obtained results show that the expression of MMP2 and MMP16 genes is reduced while the expression of MMP9 is unchanged in patients with acute myeloid leukemia. This may indicate a different regulation of the expression of these genes, and possible disruptions in gene transcription or posttranscriptional mechanisms in the MMP2 and MMP16 genes, however, do not affect the level of MMP9 expression. Obtained results in AML patients are in contrary to various types of solid tumors where increased expression is usually observed

HaN-Seg

Background and purpose: To promote the development of auto-segmentation methods for head and neck (HaN) radiation treatment (RT) planning that exploit the information of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging modalities, we organized HaN-Seg: The Head and Neck Organ-at-Risk CT and MR Segmentation Challenge. Materials and methods: The challenge task was to automatically segment 30 organs-at-risk (OARs) of the HaN region in 14 withheld test cases given the availability of 42 publicly available training cases. Each case consisted of one contrast-enhanced CT and one T1-weighted MR image of the HaN region of the same patient, with up to 30 corresponding reference OAR delineation masks. The performance was evaluated in terms of the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and 95-percentile Hausdorff distance (HD$_{95}$), and statistical ranking was applied for each metric by pairwise comparison of the submitted methods using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: While 23 teams registered for the challenge, only seven submitted their methods for the final phase. The top-performing team achieved a DSC of 76.9 % and a HD$_{95}$ of 3.5 mm. All participating teams utilized architectures based on U-Net, with the winning team leveraging rigid MR to CT registration combined with network entry-level concatenation of both modalities. Conclusion: This challenge simulated a real-world clinical scenario by providing non-registered MR and CT images with varying fields-of-view and voxel sizes. Remarkably, the top-performing teams achieved segmentation performance surpassing the inter-observer agreement on the same dataset. These results set a benchmark for future research on this publicly available dataset and on paired multi-modal image segmentation in general