Assessment of Speech Prosody in Dysphonic Patients

The article is an attempt to organize the issues related to the diagnosis of prosodic skills in people with dysphonia. The tasks it deals with concern the features of prosodic characteristics of speech, mainly in relation to the Polish language, the functions performed by prosody in communication, the relationship of certain features of phonation to the speaker’s realisation of these functions and the disorders of their realisation in people with dysphonia. It also presents the methods and tools used in the description and evaluation of prosodic expression, which can be used in clinical practice.Artykuł stanowi próbę uporządkowania problematyki związanej z diagnozą sprawności prozodycznych u osób z dysfonią. Zagadnienia w nim poruszane dotyczą cech charakterystyki prozodycznej mowy, głównie w odniesieniu do języka polskiego, funkcji pełnionych przez prozodię w komunikacji, związku określonych cech fonacji z realizowaniem przez mówcę tych funkcji oraz zaburzeniami ich realizacji u osób z dysfonią. Wymieniono w nim również metody i narzędzia wykorzystywane w opisie i ocenie ekspresji prozodycznej, które można wykorzystać w praktyce klinicznej

Wybrane prawa kobiet przestępczyń w świetle polskich i międzynarodowych uregulowań prawnych na tle teorii przestępczości

The article puts forward a thesis about the particularly unfavourable situation of female criminals on the labour market. It is treated as a negative premise for effective social rehabilitation. This thesis is proven through the presentation of concepts explaining the specificity of women’s crime, as well as difficulties in their social rehabilitation related to unequal treatment on the labour market. Since Poland’s accession to the EU, the situation of women pertaining to equal treatment and discrimination in the workplace has improved markedly, but there is still much to be done. As far as legal provisions are concerned, women are afforded solid protection, though there is still room for improvement. A great imbalance exists between the rights of mothers and fathers to a paternity leave, which enforces the idea of women as stay-at-home mothers as well as puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to access to and termination of employment, promotion and so on. Employers may, therefore, see women as more costly and less productive than men, which negatively affects women’s employment opportunities (which is especially visible in the case of female criminals). This article is an attempt to show that changing the law itself is not sufficient and will not afford full and effective protection against gender discrimination in the workplace. Changing the society’s perception of women is crucial if their rights are to be fully realised and women themselves must also know the extent of their rights and be willing to take advantage of them without fear of being discriminated against at work, because of their gender and criminal historyW artykule postawiono tezę o szczególnie niekorzystnej sytuacji kobiet przestępczyń na rynku pracy. Potraktowano to jako negatywną przesłankę efektywnej resocjalizacji. Dowód na słuszność tezy przeprowadzono poprzez wybiórczą prezentację koncepcji wyjaśniających specyfikę przestępczości kobiet, a także trudności w ich resocjalizacji, co wiąże się z nierównym traktowaniem na rynku pracy. Od czasu przystąpienia Polski do Unii Europejskiej sytuacja kobiet związana z równym traktowaniem i dyskryminacją w miejscu pracy znacznie się poprawiła, wciąż jednak pozostaje wiele do zrobienia. Jeśli chodzi o przepisy prawne, kobietom zapewnia się solidną ochronę, lecz nadal istnieje wiele obszarów zaniedbanych. Występuje zwłaszcza duża nierównowaga pomiędzy prawami matek i ojców do urlopu rodzicielskiego, co utrwala stereotyp kobiet jako matek pozostających w domu oraz stawia je w niekorzystnej sytuacji w zakresie dostępu do pracy i rozwiązania stosunku pracy, awansu itp. Pracodawcy postrzegają kobiety jako bardziej kosztorodne i mniej produktywne w pracy niż mężczyźni, co negatywnie wpływa na możliwości zatrudniania kobiet. W artykule podjęto próbę wykazania, że sama zmiana prawa nie jest wystarczająca, gdyż nie zapewnia pełnej i skutecznej ochrony przed dyskryminacją ze względu na płeć w miejscu pracy (co szczególnie widoczne jest w przypadku kobiet przestępczyń). Zmiana postrzegania kobiet przez społeczeństwo ma kluczowe znaczenie, jeśli ich prawa mają być w pełni realizowane. Co więcej, kobiety same muszą znać zakres swoich praw i być gotowe do korzystania z nich bez obawy o bycie dyskryminowanymi w miejscu pracy ze względu na płeć i kryminalną przeszłość

Regenerative potential of the product CardioCell derived from the Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells for treating hindlimb oschemia

In recent years, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have emerged as a promising therapeutic modality in regenerative medicine. They hold great promise for treating civilization-wide diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, such as acute myocardial infarction and critical limb ischemia. MSCs isolated from Wharton’s jelly (WJ-MSCs) may be utilized in both cell-based therapy and vascular graft engineering to restore vascular function, thereby providing therapeutic benefits for patients. The efficacy of WJ-MSCs lies in their multipotent differentiation ability toward vascular smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells and other cell types, as well as their capacity to secrete various trophic factors, which are potent in promoting angiogenesis, inhibiting apoptosis and modulating immunoreaction. Ischemic limb disease is caused by insufficient nutrient and oxygen supplies resulting from damaged peripheral arteries. The lack of nutrients and oxygen causes severe tissue damage in the limb, thereby resulting in severe morbidities and mortality. The therapeutic effects of the conventional treatments are still not sufficient. Cell transplantations in small animal model (mice) are vital for deciphering the mechanisms of MSCs’ action in muscle regeneration. The stimulation of angiogenesis is a promising strategy for the treatment of ischemic limbs, restoring blood supply for the ischemic region. In the present study, we focus on the therapeutic properties of the human WJ-MSCs derived product, Cardio. We investigated the role of CardioCell in promoting angiogenesis and relieving hindlimb ischemia. Our results confirm the healing effect of CardioCell and strongly support the use of the WJ-MSCs in regenerative medicine

Metropolia "Silesia" - aspiracje konurbacji górnośląskiej

The article brings the idea to organize the superstructure ”Silesia” closer. The idea to create the common urban system came from the town councils of the Silesian conurbation and was caused by the need to find a way to change the image of the traditional Silesian region and its postindustrial role in the economic space of the country and Europe. That’s why The Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union (GZM) was established and registered (2009), the association to establish “Silesia” initially, but without administrative-legal power. Such organizational “revolution” of the Silesian conurbation has originated many problems (semantic, administrative and economic ones) and released a broad social discussion, in which arguments of proponents and opponents of such undertaking in the Silesian region appeared

Matrix Metalloproteinases in Cardioembolic Stroke : From Background to Complications

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are endopeptidases participating in physiological processes of the brain, maintaining the blood–brain barrier integrity and playing a critical role in cerebral ischemia. In the acute phase of stroke activity, the expression of MMPs increase and is associated with adverse effects, but in the post-stroke phase, MMPs contribute to the process of healing by remodeling tissue lesions. The imbalance between MMPs and their inhibitors results in excessive fibrosis associated with the enhanced risk of atrial fibrillation (AF), which is the main cause of cardioembolic strokes. MMPs activity disturbances were observed in the development of hypertension, diabetes, heart failure and vascular disease enclosed in CHA2DS2VASc score, the scale commonly used to evaluate the risk of thromboembolic complications risk in AF patients. MMPs involved in hemorrhagic complications of stroke and activated by reperfusion therapy may also worsen the stroke outcome. In the present review, we briefly summarize the role of MMPs in the ischemic stroke with particular consideration of the cardioembolic stroke and its complications. Moreover, we discuss the genetic background, regulation pathways, clinical risk factors and impact of MMPs on the clinical outcome

The level of knowledge of high school students from lubelskie voivodeship about performing first aid

Introduction First aid plays a key role in saving human life. It not only prevents the deterioration of the victim's health, but also determines survival. Every year, thousands of people die of various injuries, car accidents and other critical situations. This figure could be significantly lower if the accident witnesses provided first aid to the victims. Material and method Diagnostic survey was selected as the research method, and the research tool was an authorial questionnaire, examining the level of students' knowledge about first aid. It was based on the guidelines of the European Resuscitation Council 2015. The questionnaire consisted of 20 closed single-choice questions and only one of the 4 answers was correct. The obtained results were statistically analyzed using STATISTICA 12 software (StatSoft Polska). For the correlation study the χ2 test was used, and the significance level was taken as

Liposome-based DNA carriers may induce cellular stress response and change gene expression pattern in transfected cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>During functional studies on the rat stress-inducible <it>Hspa1b </it>(<it>hsp70.1</it>) gene we noticed that some liposome-based DNA carriers, which are used for transfection, induce its promoter activity. This observation concerned commercial liposome formulations (LA), Lipofectin and Lipofectamine 2000. This work was aimed to understand better the mechanism of this phenomenon and its potential biological and practical consequences.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that a reporter gene driven by <it>Hspa1b </it>promoter is activated both in the case of transient transfections and in the stably transfected cells treated with LA. Using several deletion clones containing different fragments of <it>Hspa1b </it>promoter, we found that the regulatory elements responsible for most efficient LA-driven inducibility were located between nucleotides -269 and +85, relative to the transcription start site. Further studies showed that the induction mechanism was independent of the classical HSE-HSF interaction that is responsible for gene activation during heat stress. Using DNA microarrays we also detected significant activation of the endogenous <it>Hspa1b </it>gene in cells treated with Lipofectamine 2000. Several other stress genes were also induced, along with numerous genes involved in cellular metabolism, cell cycle control and pro-apoptotic pathways.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our observations suggest that i) some cationic liposomes may not be suitable for functional studies on <it>hsp </it>promoters, ii) lipofection may cause unintended changes in global gene expression in the transfected cells.</p

Cholinergic and inflammatory phenotypes in transgenic tau mouse models of Alzheimer’s Disease and Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration

All authors have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication. This work was funded by NCN grant 2014/15/B/NZ4/05041 and WisTa Laboratories Ltd. CH and CW serve as officers in both WisTa Laboratories Ltd. and TauRx Therapeutics Ltd. The sponsor was involved in the design of the study; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; and in the writing of the report. The corresponding authors had full access to all the data and had final responsibility for submission of the report for publication.Peer reviewedPublisher PD