Search

The purpose of the presented article is to evaluate the students' perception of the online teaching educational model as a part of the "Biochemistry with Elements of Chemistry" course conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic at the Faculty of Medicine of the Jagiellonian University Medical College. The first part of the article reflects upon the pandemic impact on the transition from the in-person (standard format) to a complete remote learning format. The next part is based on the responses of the students to a questionnaire and presents an analysis of the students' preferences and perceptions regarding synchronous and asynchronous teaching methods. Students answered questions about the advantages and disadvantages of distance learning programs. They indicated the most suitable learning mode in terms of gaining knowledge and enhancing their motivation to learn. They listed factors that facilitated remote learning as well as those which made it difficult and posed a challenge to adjust to the new system, in all types of classes, that is, lectures, seminars, and laboratories. The last part of this paper presents the results of the students' performance in the pandemic-enforced system and compares them with the results from the previous class of students from the past year, when teaching was conducted mainly in the standard format. The conclusions from the given analysis may enable beneficial changes for the "Biochemistry with Elements of Chemistry" course for remote teaching in the future. It may also provide valuable insights for such types of courses conducted at other Universities and promote deliberations to continuously improve learning outcomes.

In the recently published article by Koza et al. (SAGE Open, 2023, 13, doi: 10.1177/21582440231177974), the authors analyzed the academic promotion system in Poland between 2011 and 2020. They concluded that "the Polish system of academic promotions in the past decade can hardly be regarded as based on pure merit", suggesting the impropriety, based on the participance of the members of the Central Board for Degrees and Titles in panels of experts evaluating the applications. Biochemistry was provided as a research discipline in which such an "impropriety" was the most pronounced, though other disciplines were only slightly less "improperly affected". Although the calculations presented by Koza and others (Koza et al., 2023) were proper, their conclusions were affected by fundamental errors in assessing the roles of the panelists and misinterpretation of the data. The drawbacks of the interpretations of the facts and in drawing conclusions are presented and discussed in this paper, underlining the necessity of being very careful when assessing any phenomenon and concluding about any mechanism. Indeed, only very well substantiated conclusions, strongly supported by objective data, should be published. This rule is very well known in biochemistry and other exact and natural sciences, and should be mandatory in all other research disciplines.

In this paper, I am presenting the background and a short outline of the research on the neutral and ionic tautomeric forms of pyrimidines, purines and their derivatives, carried out in the late 1960s under the guidance of professor David Shugar, in the Biophysics Department of Warsaw University.

Purine and pyrimidine nucleoside phosphorylases catalyze the reversible phosphorolytic cleavage of the glycosidic bond of purine and pyrimidine nucleosides, and are key enzymes of the nucleoside salvage pathway. This metabolic route is the less costly alternative to the de novo synthesis of nucleosides and nucleotides, supplying cells with these important building blocks. Interest in nucleoside phosphorylases is not only due to their important role in metabolism of nucleosides and nucleotides, but also due to the potential medical use of the enzymes (all phosphorylases in activating prodrugs - nucleoside and nucleic base analogs, high-molecular mass purine nucleoside phosphorylases in gene therapy of some solid tumors) and their inhibitors (as selective immunosuppressive, anticancer and antiparasitic agents, and preventing inactivation of other nucleoside drugs). Phosphorylases are also convenient tools for efficient enzymatic synthesis of otherwise inaccessible nucleoside analogues. In this paper the contribution of Professor David Shugar and some of his colleagues and coworkers in studies of these remarkable enzymes carried out over nearly 40 years is discussed on the background of global research in this field.

Soft water lakes with isoetids (SLI) are ecosystems prone to degradation due to the low buffer capacity of their waters. One of the main threats resulting from human impact is eutrophication due to agriculture, catchment urbanization and recreational use. In this paper, changes in the water chemistry and transformation of biocoenoses of one of the largest Polish SLI, Lake Jeleń, over the past 30 years are presented. The lake is located within the borders of a city, and a significant part of its catchment is under agriculture and recreation use. The physicochemical (concentration of nutrients, organic matter, electrical conductivity, oxygen saturation and water pH) and biological parameters (macrophytes and phytoplankton) were measured in summer 1991, 2004, 2013 and 2018. Since the beginning of the 1990s, a gradual increase in the trophy of the lake has been observed as indicated by increased nutrient availability, deterioration of oxygen conditions and a decrease in water transparency. The alterations of water chemistry induce biological transformations, in particular, an increase in phytoplankton abundance (4-fold increase of biomass in epilimnion) as well as a gradual reduction in the range of the phytolittoral (from 10 to 6 m), a decrease in the frequency of isoetids, Lobelia dortmanna and Isoetes lacustris, and expansion of plant species characteristic for eutrophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study concerned Polish coastal lakes separated from the Baltic Sea by a sandbar. The study was designed to determine whether the aquatic plants in the coastal lakes in Poland accumulate Cu, Ni, Cd. The material consisted of water and aquatic plant samples collected in the years 2012 and 2013 in lakes Resko Przymorskie, Jamno, Bukowo, Kopań and Wicko. The metal with the lowest content (mg.kg-1) in the plants was Cd, and the concentrations can be arranged as follows: Cd < Ni < Cu (mean 0.46 < 1.91 < 5.56) in 2012 and (mean 1.04 < 1.86 < 4.68) in 2013. For water, the order of concentrations (mg.l-1) of metals was follows: Cd < Ni < Cu (mean 0.0010 < 0.0033 < 0.0035) in 2012 and Cd < Cu < Ni (mean 0.0036 < 0.0107 < 0.0115) in 2013. The metal bioaccumulation in hydro-macrophytes expressed by means of a bioaccumulation factor (BCF) was as follows: Cd < Ni < Cu (mean 474 < 1447 < 1519) in 2012 and Ni < Cd < Cu (mean 201 < 369 < 542) in 2013. The metal concentrations in samples were found comparable with those in moderately polluted surface waters. Statistically significant regression was only found between Cd concentration in water and in plants (R = 0.3484). Conductivity does not affect metals content in samples. Statistically significant differences were noted between water reaction and the content of all metals in water, and Cd content in case of the plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chemical compositions (Na, NH, K, Mg, Ca, Cl, NO, NO, SO, HCO) of wet precipitation and nitrogen isotope compositions δN(NH) were studied from January to December 2010 in Wrocław (SW Poland). Results of a principle component analysis show that 82 % of the data variability can be explained by three main factors: 1) F1 (40 %) observed during vegetative season (electrical conductivity, HCO, NO, NO, NH and SO), mainly controlling rainwater mineralization; 2) F2 (26 %) observed during vegetative and heating seasons (K, Ca and Mg), probably representing a combination of two processes: anthropogenic dusts and fertilizers application in agricultural fields, and 3) F3 (16 %) reported mainly during heating season (Na and Cl) probably indicating the influence of marine aerosols. Variations of δN(NH) from −11.5 to 18.5 ‰ identify three main pathways for the formation of NH: 1) equilibrium fractionation between NH and NH; 2) kinetic exchange between NH and NH; 3) NH exchange between atmospheric salts particles and precipitation. The coupled chemical/statistical analysis and δN(NH) approach shows that while fossil fuels burning is the main source of NH in precipitation during the heating season, during the vegetative season NH originates from local sewage irrigation fields in Osobowice or agricultural fertilizers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of polymorphisms of the eNOS gene on the clinical status of patients with normal and high tension glaucoma. Methods: 266 Polish Caucasian patients with primary open angle glaucoma were studied. Of the 266, 156 had normal tension glaucoma (NTG) and 110 high tension glaucoma (HTG). DNA material was isolated from peripheral venous blood using commercial kits. Real-time PCR reaction was used to amplify the promoter site of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene, including the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) site T-786C and part of the 7th exon of eNOS, including G894T SNP. Genotypes were determined with TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assays. Results: There were no significant differences in frequencies of the allelic variants of both polymorphisms. In G894T SNP, however, the wild GG form was more common in the HTG group. The SNP of the eNOS gene did not significantly influence the progression rate in either of the groups studied. There were no differences in variants of the eNOS gene regarding the necessity for and success of surgery and the progression of the disease. In the NTG group, no statistical correlation was observed between G894T, T786C polymorphism variants, and risk factors such as optic disc haemorrhages, optic disc notches, and peripapillary atrophy. Mean diastolic and systolic pressure during the day and night were lowest in NTG patients with the CC variant of the T786C polymorphism. No statistical correlation was observed between the G894T and T786C polymorphisms and capillaroscopic examination results. Conclusions: Genotype frequencies are similar for both the eNOS G894T and T-786C polymorphisms in NTG and HTG patients. These polymorphisms do not correlate with risk factors and do not influence the state of the capillary system in NTG patients. Systolic blood pressure is lower in NTG patients with mutated alleles of both polymorphisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. During studies on chemotherapy-induced apoptosis in lymphoid cells, we noted that aggregation of spectrin occurred early in apoptosis, i.e. before activation of initiator caspase(s) and prior to exposure of phosphatidylserine (PS). We also found that protein kinase C theta (PKC-θ) co-localized with spectrin in these aggregates. Our previously published studies indicated that in formation of early apoptotic spectrin aggregates, either PKC-θ or other apoptosis-related proteins are involved. Taking into consideration above data, we decided to test the effect of PKC-θ and Fas-associated death domain protein (FADD) on spectrin aggregation in these cells during tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-induced apoptosis. Material and methods. For PKC-θ gene (PRKCQ) or FADD gene expression silencing in Jurkat T cells we used lentiviral particles containing shRNA and scrambled shRNA, respectively. Spectrin aggregates were detected by Western blotting after Triton-X 100 extraction in pellet and soluble fractions or by confocal imaging. Results. TRAIL-induced apoptosis results in spectrin aggregation and leads to translocation and aggregation of PKC-θ. We found that phorbol-myristate acetate, a PKC activator and translocation inducer, has only a small effect on spectrin aggregation. To further confirm this, we have also shown that knock down of PRKCQ in Jurkat T cells accelerates the formation of TRAIL-induced spectrin aggregates. Transient overexpression of the β-spectrin C-terminal fragment, containing multiple S/T phosphorylation sites, potential substrate sites for PKC-θ, accelerated the formation of spectrin aggregates. Silencing of downstream TRAIL receptor effector gene, FADD, delayed aggregation of spectrin, but did not reduce PKC-θ localization to the plasma membrane. Conclusions. In summary, our results show for the first time involvement of spectrin aggregation in TRAIL receptor-FADD apoptotic pathway and indicate that TRAIL-induced spectrin aggregate formation is mediated by FADD and negatively regulated by PKC-θ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While numerous ancient human DNA datasets from across Europe have been published till date, modern-day Poland in particular, remains uninvestigated. Besides application in the reconstruction of continent-wide human history, data from this region would also contribute towards our understanding of the history of the Slavs, whose origin is hypothesized to be in East or Central Europe. Here, we present the first population-scale ancient human DNA study from the region of modern-day Poland by establishing mitochondrial DNA profiles for 23 samples dated to 200 BC – 500 AD (Roman Iron Age) and for 20 samples dated to 1000–1400 AD (Medieval Age). Our results show that mitochondrial DNA sequences from both periods belong to haplogroups that are characteristic of contemporary West Eurasia. Haplotype sharing analysis indicates that majority of the ancient haplotypes are widespread in some modern Europeans, including Poles. Notably, the Roman Iron Age samples share more rare haplotypes with Central and Northeast Europeans, whereas the Medieval Age samples share more rare haplotypes with East-Central and South-East Europeans, primarily Slavic populations. Our data demonstrates genetic continuity of certain matrilineages (H5a1 and N1a1a2) in the area of present-day Poland from at least the Roman Iron Age until present. As such, the maternal gene pool of present-day Poles, Czechs and Slovaks, categorized as Western Slavs, is likely to have descended from inhabitants of East-Central Europe during the Roman Iron Age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The impact of fast changes in obesity indices on other measures of metabolic health is poorly defined in the general population. Using the Polish accession to the European Union as a model of political and social transformation we examined how an expected rapid increase in body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference relates to changes in lipid profile, both at the population and personal level. Methods: Through primary care centres in 444 Polish cities, two cross-sectional nationwide population-based surveys (LIPIDOGRAM 2004 and LIPIDOGRAM 2006) examined 15,404 and 15,453 adult individuals in 2004 and 2006, respectively. A separate prospective sample of 1,840 individuals recruited in 2004 had a follow-up in 2006 (LIPIDOGRAM PLUS). Results: Two years after Polish accession to European Union, mean population BMI and waist circumference increased by 0.6% and 0.9%, respectively. This tracked with a 7.6% drop in HDL-cholesterol and a 2.1% increase in triglycerides (all p<0.001) nationwide. The direction and magnitude of the population changes were replicated at the personal level in LIPIDOGRAM PLUS (0.7%, 0.3%, 8.6% and 1.8%, respectively). However, increases in BMI and waist circumference were both only weakly associated with HDL-cholesterol and triglycerides changes prospectively. The relation of BMI to the magnitude of change in both lipid fractions was comparable to that of waist circumference. Conclusions: Moderate changes in obesity measures tracked with a significant deterioration in measures of pro-atherogenic dyslipidaemia at both personal and population level. These associations were predominantly driven by factors not measureable directly through either BMI or waist circumference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mass size distributions of ambient aerosol were measured in Zabrze, a heavily industrialized city of Poland, during a summer and a winter season. The chemical analyses of the surface layer of PM, PM and PM in this area were also performed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Results suggested that the influence of an atmospheric aerosol on the health condition of Zabrze residents can be distinctly stronger in winter than in summer because of both: higher concentration level of particulate matter (PM) and higher contribution of fine particles in winter season compared to summer. In Zabrze in June (summer) PM and PM reached about 20 and 14 μg/m, respectively, while in December (winter) 57 and 51 μg/m, respectively. The XPS analysis showed that elemental carbon is the major surface component of studied airborne particles representing about 78%-80% (atomic mass) of all detected elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a checklist of 51 pathogens of lamprey species found in Poland, including European river lamprey Lampetra fluviatilis (Linnaeus, 1758), European brook lamprey Lampetra planeri (Bloch, 1784), Ukrainian brook lamprey Eudontomyzon mariae (Berg, 1931), Danubian brook lamprey Eudontomyzon vladykovi Oliva and Zanandrea, 1959 and sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus Linnaeus, 1758. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research was conducted in valleys of sinuous rivers that drain medium-high mountain, foreland basin and upland areas, where loose Quaternary deposits predominate. The cyclic pattern determined for deposits of the oxbow sedimentary subenvironment in the Upper Odra Basin can be expressed as a few alternative sequences. The best-developed cycle occurring on a relatively high level of probability, is represented by the unilateral transition from channel to overbank deposits and upwards-bilateral oscillations between overbank and biochemical, as well as biochemical and slope deposits. In the first stage, oxbow filling processes are usually determined by autocyclic factors (resulting from spatial relations between abandoned channels and the active channel). As a consequence, overbank and/or biochemical sediments usually overlie channel deposits. Later, allocyclic processes could easily dominate autocyclic processes. In these cases, overbank, slope and late-Holocene alluvial fan deposits were delivered to oxbow basins as a result of the influence of outside factors such as climate or human impact. In the Upper Odra catchment, facies succession in the sequences of deposits infilling abandoned channels was mainly determined by climatic factors (in the Late Vistulian, early and mid-Holocene) and anthropogenic factors (in the late Holocene, especially in the last dozen centuries or more). The course of sedimentary processes conditioned by climate and human activity was modified by orographic factors associated with spatial relations among abandoned channels and both the active channel as well as valley slopes. However, the geological structure had a smaller influence on the course of sedimentary processes in the oxbows. The diversity of bedrock lithology in the individual drainage areas determined the thickness and lithological features of the given series of deposits but not the facies succession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]