Structure of the solution set to differential inclusions with impulses at variable times

A topological structure of the solution set to differential inclusions with impulses at variable times is investigated. In order to do that an appropriate Banach space is defined. It is shown that the solution set is an $R_{\delta}$-set. Results are new also in the case of~differential equations with impulses at variable times

IgG4-Related Disease and the Spectrum of Mimics in Rheumatology

Immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4)-related disease (IgG4-RD) is an immune-mediated condition that can affect almost any organ. It is a chronic, systemic, inflammatory condition of unknown etiology. Pseudotumor formation is the most common and characteristic clinical symptom. The variable organ dysfunction reflects the clinical presentation. Because there are not specific antibodies for this disease, histopathological assessment provide the pivotal role in the diagnosis. IgG4-RD is characterized by a lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate composed of IgG4+ plasma cells, storiform fibrosis, obliterative phlebitis and mild to moderate eosinophilia. In this chapter we present the newest knowledge of the IgG4-RD pathogenesis and then concentrate on clinical symptoms which can mimic many other conditions in rheumatology, e.g., this common as Sjӧgren syndrome or rare as vasculitis or idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis

Cryoglobulinemia in the course of a primary Sjögren’s syndrome

A 58-year-old woman with primary Sjögren’s syn­drome (pSS), peripheral neuropathy and positive serum cryoglobulin was admitted for evaluation of purpura on her skin. Cryoglobulinemic vasculitis was diagnosed based on clinical and laboratory find­ings . There was no response to cyclophosphamide pulse therapy, steroid therapy and cyclosporine. We presente the discussion about cryoglobulinemic vasculitis in pSS, the overall prognosis (B-cell lym­phomas) and differential diagnosis

Pancreatic heterotopia in the gallbladder: an incidental finding after cholecystectomy

 Ectopic pancreas in the gallbladder is found very rarely in histological examination after cholecystectomy. The etiology of this entity is not yet clear, but there exist several hypotheses about its origin. Our histological study revealed both exocrine and endocrine components of pancreatic tissue as shown by H&E and immunohistochemical staining of a gallbladder sections of a 55-year old man. Ectopic pancreatic tissue may be an underestimated cause of acute idiopathic pancreatitis thus detailed postoperative histological examination may decrease the number of acute pancreatitis cases without the known cause.

Adopting ISO 24617-8 for Discourse Relations Annotation in Polish: Challenges and Future Directions

This paper explores a discourse relations annotation project carried out under the CLARIN-PL initiative, leveraging the ISO 24617-8 standard. The goal is to boost research interoperability and foster multilingual research. Our team of three linguist-annotators tackled the annotation of a corpus spanning several genres, including e.g., literature and press articles in the Polish language. This effort was guided by a project expert and external linguists from the CLARIN-PL language technology research infrastructure. Several significant challenges emerged during the process. Ambiguities within the ISO standard’s relation categories, poorly-defined definitions for certain relation categories, and the difficulty of identifying and annotating implicit discourse relations, which lack explicit discourse connectives or signaling devices, were among the key issues. To overcome these problems, we implemented strategies such as regular team meetings, collaborative annotation forms, and preliminary revisions to the annotation scheme. This paper presents the project, the annotation process, and offers initial annotation data on the discourse relations and connectives identified within the corpus. Looking forward, we discuss potential enhancements to the process, including additional revisions to the guidelines and conclude with an overview of the project’s contributions and a discussion of our future development plans

A lemon lexicon for DBpedia

Unger C, McCrae J, Walter S, Winter S, Cimiano P. A lemon lexicon for DBpedia. In: Sebastian H, Agata F, Caroline B, Pablo M, Dimitris K, eds. Proceedings of 1st International Workshop on NLP and DBpedia, co-located with the 12th International Semantic Web Conference (ISWC 2013), October 21-25, Sydney, Australia. NLP & DBpedia 2013. CEUR Workshop Proceedings; 2013

Selected genetic factors increasing risk of neoplasia

Introduction: Neoplasia is defined as abnormal and excessive growth of selected tissue. Several factors, such as mutations in selected genes, can increase the risk of cancer expansion in human body. The aim of the article is to review the selected genetic factors which increase the risk of neoplasia and results of their presence in the human body. Material and methods: Articles in the Google Scholar, Pub Med database have been analysed using keywords: cancer, neoplasia, genetic factors, driver genes, cancer transformation, older people. Results: The aim of several genes is repairing damaged or dysfunctional DNA and preventing cells from abnormal or excessive. Mutations in selected genes cause inhibited production of the gene protein product or a change in its function, which increase the risk of neoplasia. The presence of mutated genes results in the initiation of the process leading to expansion of cancer cells in selected tissue. Moreover, a genetic mutation can lead to syndrome of tumors occurring in several organs. However, the increasement of cancer risk is related to numerous mutations, whereas the minority of carcinomas occur because of congenital gene defect and the majority is caused by environmental factors which contribute to creating various mutations. Conclusions: Thanks to the development of genetics in the field of medicine and introduction of genetic tests, the process of diagnosis of several tumors and syndromes is more efficient than in the past. The occurrence of mutation in genes, such as BRCA1, BRCA2, VHL, MSH2 and MLH1 and many more, relates to presence of selected tumors. By the introduction of pharmacogenetics, dozens of molecular-targeted drugs are used in the treatment of several types of cancers leading the achievement of therapeutic success. Nevertheless, the genetic background of many types of cancers is unknown and needs further study, as well as drugs targeting at selected genes mutations requires more development and guidelines in the treatment process. Keywords: cancer; neoplasia; genetic factors; driver genes; cancer transformation; older people

Optical properties of Eu(III) and Tb(III) complexes with pyridine- and quinoline- based ligands under high hydrostatic pressure

The spectroscopy of nitrate complexes of Eu(III) and Tb(III) with chiral and racemic imine-based [L1 = (N,N'-bis (2-pyridylmethylidene)-1,2-(R,R + S,S)-cyclohexanediamine) and L3 = N, N'-bis(2-quinolylmethylidene)-1,2-(R,R + S,S)-cyclohexanediamine] and amine-based [L2 = N,N'-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-1,2-(R,R + S,S)-cyclohexanediamine) and L4 = N,N'-bis(2-quinolylmethyl)-1,2-(R,R + S,S)-cyclohexanediamine] ligands has been studied under high hydrostatic pressure (above 100 kbar). With the increasing pressure, a reduction of the Tb(III) and Eu(III) luminescence intensity is detected for all the complexes, whilst a significant reduction of the Tb(III) and Eu(III) excited state lifetimes has been observed for all Tb-based complexes [L1Tb(NO3)(3) -> L4Tb(NO3)(3)] and only for the Eu(III) complexes containing the imine-based ligands [L1Eu(NO3)(3) and L3Eu(NO3)(3)]. This behavior has been rationalized taking into account two main aspects: i) the relative position of the energy levels of the ligands and the metal ions and ii) the change of these position upon compression DFT calculations have been also performed to elucidate the nature of the orbitals involved in the UV electronic absorption transitions (NTO orbitals) upstream of the energy transfer process to the metal ion

The Influence of Soldering Profile on the Thermal Parameters of Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs)

The effect of solder joint fabrication on the thermal properties of IGBTs soldered onto glass-epoxy substrate (FR4) was investigated. Glass-epoxy substrate with a thickness of 1.50 mm covered with a 35μm thick Cu layer were used. A surface finish was prepared from a HAL (hot air leveling) Sn99Cu0.7Ag0.3 layer with a thickness of 1÷40 μm. IGBT transistors NGB8207BN were soldered with SACX0307 (Sn99Ag0.3Cu0.7) paste. The samples were soldered in different soldering ovens and at different temperature profiles. The thermal impedance Zth(t) and thermal resistance Rth of the samples were measured. Microstructural and voids analyzes were performed. It was found that the differences for different samples reached 15% and 20% for Zth(t) and Rth, respectively. Although the ratio of the gas voids in the solder joints varied between 3% and 30%, no correlation between the void ratios and Rth increases was found. In the case of the different soldering tech-nologies the microstructure of the solder joint showed significant differences in the thickness of the IMC (intermetallic compounds) layer; these differences correlate well with the time above liquidus during the soldering process. The thermal parameters of IGBTs could be changed due to the increased thermal conductivity of IMC layer as compared to the thermal conductivity of the solder bulk. Our research highlighted the importance of the soldering technology used and the thermal profile in the case of the assembly of IGBT components

Whole-body cryostimulation as an effective method of reducing oxidative stress in healthy men

Background. Whole-body cryostimulation (WBC) is the therapeutic exposure of the total human body (without underwear) to a very low temperature (below –100°C) for 120–180 s. Currently, WBC is used more frequently not only in the treatment of patients suffering from various diseases, but also by healthy people as a wellness method. Objectives. The aim of this research is to evaluate the impact of WBC procedures on oxidative stress parameters in healthy men. Material and Methods. The study involved 32 healthy male subjects who were randomly divided into 2 groups: 16 men exposed to WBC procedures with subsequent kinesiotherapy (WBC group) and 16 men exposed only to kinesiotherapy procedures (KT group). Depending on the group, the subjects were exposed to 10 daily WBC procedures lasting 3 min, with a subsequent 60-min of kinesiotherapy, or exclusively to kinesiotherapy. In subjects from both groups, a day before the beginning of a cycle of treatment and a day after its completion, the level of selected indicators of oxidative stress and non-enzymatic antioxidants, as well as the activity of antioxidant enzymes in serum, plasma and erythrocyte lysates were determined. Results. In the WBC group subjects, we recorded a statistically significant decrease in the concentrations of most of the parameters of oxidative stress with an accompanying increase in plasma concentrations of non-enzymatic antioxidants (total antioxidant status and uric acid). We recorded no significant changes in the activities of antioxidant enzymes (plasma total superoxide dismutase (SOD) and its isoenzymes SOD-Mn and SOD-ZnCu, erythrocyte catalase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase). Conclusions. The results we obtained confirmed that WBC decreases oxidative stress in healthy men (Adv Clin Exp Med 2016, 25, 6, 1281–1291)