Flexible as a librarian . How to manage a medium-size medical library

Medical University of Lodz is the largest medical school in Poland. The Information and Library Centre, with about 30 employees, is considered a medium-sized academic library by local standards. Being a medical library, we face several tasks that are less common in other types of libraries. Besides providing services for students and organizing e-resources for academic staff, we are involved in the research process, taking part in Systematic Reviews (SR), cooperating with the University and Hospital administration to prepare data for Hospital Based Health Technology Assessment (HB-HTA) analyses. Other tasks include managing the CRIS system, which provides key data for University stakeholders, running a publishing house, digitizing old and rare books and journals from our library collection, and taking on many other roles in promoting Library Services. Many of these tasks have appeared recently; some of them were not even present a few years ago.As the library manager since 2016 and deputy since 2005, I have had the opportunity to learn valuable lessons on how to motivate staff to accept change and adapt to new roles, and how to manage a small team to meet diverse needs. In this presentation, I will show how I try to inspire my librarians to be more flexible, how to convince them that change is an opportunity, and how cooperation with other libraries can improve these processes

Fallowing of selected arable fields in a farmland mosaic affects processes on landscape level: a case study of small mammal communities

In 2008 on six 1-ha plots the structure and species diversity of small mammal community inhabiting a narrow belt of coastal zone of the Łuknajno Lake (Masurian Lake District, North-East of Poland) were studied. The results obtained were compared with the results of similar studies carried out in the same area in 1981, when still intensive agricultural activities were present around the lake (abandoned in 1991 by leaving the agricultural fields fallow). In comparison with 1981, a decrease in the number of species inhabiting the fringe of the lake was discovered, as well as some significant changes in the domination structure of the community. Currently, the dominant forest species - the bank vole Myodes glareolus (Schreber 1780) and the yellow-necked mouse Apodemus flavicollis (Melchior 1834) - replaced the most numerous in 1981 - the striped field mouse Apodemus agrarius (Pallas 1771). Taking into consideration the fact that environmental conditions at the coastal zone have not changed, it was suggested that the changes in the community of small mammals were caused by setting aside arable lands around the lake. The results obtained lead to the conclusion that the range of the ecological effects of local changes in the landscape mosaic may include an area much larger than the one directly affected by these changes. They constitute the basis for a discussion on the relationship between various elements of environmental mosaic in heterogeneous landscape

Pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a devastating neurodegenerative disease affecting both upper and lower motor neuron. Despite extensive research the primary cause of the disease has not been indentified and the causative treatment is lacking. The present article describes mechanisms involved in the disease development and progression, including oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, mitochondrial dysfunction, protein aggregation, RNA processing, alterations of cytoskeleton functions and axonal transport, glial cell involvement and programmed cell death.Biomedical Reviews 2011; 22: 7-14

SPRING BASED ON FLAT PERMANENT MAGNETS: DESIGN, ANALYSIS AND USE IN VARIABLE STIFFNESS ACTUATOR

Modern robot applications benefit from including variable stiffness actuators (VSA) in the kinematic chain. In this paper, we focus on VSA utilizing a magnetic spring made of two coaxial rings divided into alternately magnetized sections. The torque generated between the rings is opposite to the angular deflection from equilibrium and its value increases as the deflection grows – within a specific range of angles that we call a stable range. Beyond the stable range, the spring exhibits negative stiffness what causes problems with prediction and control. In order to avoid it, it is convenient to operate within a narrower range of angles that we call a safe range. The magnetic springs proposed so far utilize few pairs of arc magnets, and their safe ranges are significantly smaller than the stable ones. In order to broaden the safe range, we propose a different design of the magnetic spring, which is composed of flat magnets, as well as a new arrangement of VSA (called ATTRACTOR) utilizing the proposed spring. Correctness and usability of the concept are verified in FEM analyses and experiments performed on constructed VSA, which led to formulating models of the magnetic spring. The results show that choosing flat magnets over arc ones enables shaping spring characteristics in a way that broadens the safe range. An additional benefit is lowered cost, and the main disadvantage is a reduced maximal torque that the spring is capable of transmitting. The whole VSA can be perceived as promising construction for further development, miniaturization and possible application in modern robotic mechanisms

Ocjena otpornosti drva na utjecaj umjetnih atmosferskih uvjeta mjerenjem tlačne čvrstoće

The purpose of the study was to determine the influence of artificial weathering on selected properties of wood. This paper presents the changes of incompressive strength of wood along fi bers. The study involved wood of different density and anatomy - 17 species of tropical wood commercially available in Europe and Scots pine and European oak. The specimens were exposed to artificial weathering consisting of soaking wood in water, drying at 70 °C and exposure to UV radiation. Three-step aging cycle was repeated 140 times. In general, the tested wood species changed their compressive strength differently under the influence of artificial weathering. The process of artificial weathering caused a loss of strength of all tested wood species. The extent of changes depended on initial properties of wood (especially density) and anatomy. The changes were most pronounced at the beginning of the artificial weathering process.Cilj istraživanja bio je utvrditi utjecaj umjetnih atmosferskih uvjeta na promatrana svojstva drva. U radu je prikazana promjena tlačne čvrstoće drva uzduž vlakanaca. Istraživanje je provedeno na vrstama drva različite gustoće i anatomske građe – istraženo je 17 vrsta tropskog drva komercijalno dostupnoga u Europi te drvo običnog bora i europskog hrasta. Uzorci su bili izloženi umjetnim atmosferskim uvjetima: naizmjeničnom potapanju drva u vodi, sušenju na 70 °C i izlaganju UV zračenju. Ciklus koji se sastojao od ta tri postupka ponovljen je 140 puta. Općenito, promjena tlačne čvrstoća drva pod utjecajem umjetnih atmosferskih uvjeta za istraživane je vrste drva različita. Izlaganje umjetnim atmosferskim uvjetima prouzročilo je smanjenje tlačne čvrstoće svih istraživanih vrsta drva. Opseg promjena nakon izlaganja povezan je s početnim svojstvima drva (posebno s gustoćom) i anatomskom građom. Najveći intenzitet promjena zabilježen je na početku izlaganja umjetnim atmosferskim uvjetima