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For many years metformin has been the gold standard in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. According to recommendations of the most important diabetes associations, this is the first-choice drug for use as monotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Metformin is also recommended in combined treatment when monotherapy is no longer effective. It is then combined with a sulfony­lurea, an incretin, flozin, or insulin, irrespective of the number of insulin injections per day. Besides its properties used in the treatment of diabetes, metformin has been treated for some time as a drug of a so-called pleiotropic activity, as each year brings new reports about its favourable effect in different conditions. At present, the scope of reimbursed indications of this drug has been expanded to include prediabetes, insulin resistance syndromes, and polycystic ovary syndrome. Metformin does not stimulate insulin secretion by the beta cells of the pancreas, and thus it is a drug that does not cause hypoglycaemia. The blood glucose-lowering effect of the drug is a consequence of hepatic glucose production inhibition, and of peripheral tissue (muscle tissue, fatty tissue) sensitisation to the effect of insulin of both endogenous and exogenous origin. The exact mechanism of metformin action at the cellular level remained unknown for a long time. Studies performed in recent years have provided a great deal of information that enables better understanding of the mechanism of action of the drug as well as the clinical effects resulting from its use. Metformin, besides improvement of glycaemia, is neutral to body weight, is cardioprotective, improves lipid profile, and has a probable anti-cancer effect. Metformin accumulation in the intestinal mucosa may interfere with FDG (18F-deoxyglucose) PET-CT image assessment. The aim of this article is a detailed discussion of metformin properties, its mechanisms of action, and clinical effects.

The pedagogical discourse situated in the context of significant phenomena and processes specific to contemporary reality cannot disregard issues related to the educational support of children and the youth. This support plays a special role when various threats to the development of the child, “smuggled” under the banner of development opportunities, specifically understood interest of the child and their subjectivity, occur. We face such a situation, among others, in the conditions of consumerism and its offers addressed to the youngest. This article reveals, firstly, a need to reflect on the mediation of the child in the conditions of the consumerist world. Secondly, it shows the dangers stemming from the fact of treating the child as a consumer entity and creating the illusion of their subjectivity Thirdly, it draws attention to the need to support the child educationally in the sense of creating aid conditions and circumstances conducive to building their subjective status and identity, which enable the child to cope, among others, with challenges of the consumerist world. The said support is an important factor in preventing the formation of illusory subjectivity of young people. W dyskursie pedagogicznym usytuowanym w kontekście znaczących zjawisk i procesów charakterystycznych dla współczesnej rzeczywistości nie może zabraknąć kwestii związanych ze wspieraniem wychowawczym dzieci i młodzieży. Wspieranie to odgrywa szczególną rolę wtedy, kiedy pojawiają się różnorakie zagrożenia dla rozwoju dziecka ,,przemycane” pod szyldem szans rozwojowych, specyficznie pojmowanego dobra dziecka i jego podmiotowości. Z taką sytuacją mamy do czynienia m.in. w warunkach konsumpcjonizmu i jego ofert skierowanych do najmłodszych. Artykuł niniejszy odsłania, po pierwsze, potrzebę namysłu nad zapośredniczeniem dziecka w warunkach konsumpcjonistycznego świata. Po wtóre, pokazuje zagrożenia płynące z faktu traktowania dziecka jako konsumenckiego podmiotu i tworzenia iluzji jego podmiotowości. Po trzecie, kieruje uwagę na konieczność wspierania wychowawczego dziecka w rozumieniu tworzenia warunków i okoliczności pomocowych sprzyjających budowaniu jego statusu podmiotowego i podmiotowej tożsamości, pozwalających na radzenie sobie m.in. z wyzwaniami konsumpcjonistycznego świata. Wspieranie, o którym mowa, jest ważnym czynnikiem zapobiegającym powstawaniu iluzorycznej podmiotowości młodych ludzi.

The chapter discusses the relevance of Rosa Luxemburg’s ideas contained in her Accumulation of Capital in understanding the shift in the balance of power inspired by the transformation of financial sectors from the second half of the 20th century until recent times. Luxemburg’s theory of the necessity of non-capitalist strata for capitalist development is reinterpreted to understand the emergent changes in power relations. It is argued that deepening social disparities have constituted a precondition for the establishment of finance-led capitalism in the last decades, which can be interpreted as parallel to Rosa Luxemburg’s theory of the necessity of non-capitalist accumulation serving as a field of exploitation for the development of capitalism.

This paper examines the relationship between financial sector transformation and income inequality. We construct an econometric model of income concentration for a panel of 16 OECD countries in the years 1995-2009. From our study, financial sector transformation, measured individually by three indicators (GDP share of stock market value traded, bank income and private credit), emerges as a nexus of complex and interconnected phenomena, which are strongly associated with the concentration of income at the top of the distribution.

Diabetes as a global epidemic is the fourth cause of death in the world currently. Ninety percent of all cases of diabetes represent patients with type 2 diabetes, in whom worsening of glycaemic control is observed with progression of the disease. A number of trials which have been conducted so far showed that lack of sufficient glycaemic control in both type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients accelerates progression of late complications of the disease. Although targets how to treat diabetes have been clearly defined few patients achieve them and maintain optimal metabolic control. Administration of insulin in type 1 diabetes is crucial for survival of the patients. Because of progressive course of the disease insulin is not rarely the only tool to achieve full normalization of glycaemia in type 2 diabetic patients. Chronic hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetic patients is the main reason to start insulin therapy. Decision about insulin administration is usually associated with patient's confusion and fear, mainly because of multiple subcutanoeus injections and risk of hypoglycaemia or secondary weight gain. Studies on inhaled insulin have been successfully completed recently. In the spring of 2005 Exubera, the first insulin inhaler, has been registered. The aim of this overview is to present the current clinical data on Exubera in treatment of patients with type 1 and 2 diabetes.

Blood glucose measurements are important components of a effective diabetes management. Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) provides the possibility for collecting information on glucose levels at different timepoints and facilitates patient empowerment. However, the efficacy of SMBG in particular groups of patients is controversial. Self-monitoring is postulated to have a beneficial effect on metabolic control in type 1 diabetes as it is essential to adjust insulin doses. In type 2 diabetes the efficacy of frequent glucose measurements remains uncertain. The purpose of this paper is to overview recent data in the field of self-control to evaluate the influence of SMBG on glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes. The results of studies suggest that SMBG can have an important role in improving metabolic control if it is an integral part of a wider educational strategy. SMBG can be especially recommended for type 2 diabetic patients with suboptimal metabolic control in order to promote dietary and lifestyle changes as well as treatment correction as a response to feedback provided by blood glucose results.

Structures of l-phenylalanine (phe) conformers were subjected to geometry optimization. Conformers of phe were optimized at the B3LYP and MP2 levels using the Gaussian 03 package. The relative energies, free energies and dipole moments of these conformers were subsequently calculated. The aggregation process of phe molecule has been also studied with B3LYP calculations using 6-31G* basis set. We suggest the possible mechanism of phenylalanine dimer formation. The interaction between two identical molecules of the amino acid involves hydrogen bonding CO⋯HOOC, forming cyclic dimers. Before dimer formation conformational changes (trans/cis isomerization) should occur. The trans form is energetically more stable than the cis one, but through an entropy-effect of association, the cis form can be dominating as it results in two hydrogen bonds. The conformational barrier height of cis/trans isomerization was calculated. The results are a continuation of our experimental studies on phenylalanine amino acid.

Diabetes mellitus has the negative influence on life expectancy. Most effective efforts to reverse this tendency are focused on outpatient intervention. However, treatment during hospitalizations due to coexisting diseases plays also important role. In the review the maintenance algorithms during hospitalization at intensive care unit as well as at acute myocardial infarction were presented and discussed. Currently available data suggest that intravenous insulin infusion to achieve normoglycemia and standard monitoring are most effective. After hospital discharge aggressive hypoglycemic treatment is mandatory to improve prognosis wile the drug choice seem to play the secondary role.

The crystal structures of two ortho-hydroxyacetophenones (5-cyano-2-hydroxyacetophenone and 2-hydroxy-4-methoxy-5-nitroacetophenone) were determined by X-ray diffraction at 100 K. These experimental values are compared with quantum mechanical DFT calculations (B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p)). DFT calculations have resulted in potential energy surfaces for the ground state (GSPES). The effect of intramolecular interactions, in particular of intramolecular hydrogen bonds, on steady-state fluorescence spectra in non-polar solvents and solid state at room temperature show interesting results. Excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) was evidenced by a large Stokes shifted fluorescence (∼11,000 cm−1). Intensive fluorescence was observed in the solid state of 5-cyano-2-hydroxyacetophenone.

Two metal-organic frameworks of [(CH3)2NH2][M(HCOO)3], where M=Mg and Cd, have been investigated by temperature-dependent IR and Raman methods in order to determine the nature of the phase transition. Our results indicate that phase transition in the Mg-compound is driven by ordering of the dimethylammonium cations. Additional X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic studies on Cd-compound as the function of temperature reveal that this compound does not undergo any structural phase transition. We attribute this behavior to the large size of the cavity occupied by the dimethylammonium cations and thus weak hydrogen bonding between these cations and formate ions.

Quantification in localization microscopy with reversibly switchable fluorophores is severely hampered by the unknown number of switching cycles a fluorophore undergoes and the unknown stoichiometry of fluorophores on a marker such as an antibody. We overcome this problem by measuring the average number of localizations per fluorophore, or generally per fluorescently labeled site from the build-up of spatial image correlation during acquisition. To this end we employ a model for the interplay between the statistics of activation, bleaching, and labeling stoichiometry. We validated our method using single fluorophore labeled DNA oligomers and multiple-labeled neutravidin tetramers where we find a counting error of less than 17% without any calibration of transition rates. Furthermore, we demonstrated our quantification method on nanobody- and antibody-labeled biological specimens.

Single crystals of BaHf(BO3)2 are grown on a Pt wire from BaHfO3 (3.5 mol%) solved in a BaB4O7 melt (1050 °C soaking temperature, 1000-940 °C crystallization temperature gradient).

The issues tackled in the article relate to education as a creative activity, situated in the context of what is referred to as mediated communication. The main purpose of these deliberations is to consider whether education, for years perceived as and referred to as a creative activity, may still be one in the conditions of changing social reality and, above all, in terms of changes in communication between the main subjects of education, i.e. teachers and students. Changes in the processes of intersubject communication observed today and largely mediated by the media, predominantly the Internet, can foster education by making it doubly creative. Being indirect quasi-interactions, however, they may pose a threat to natural interpersonal relationships, which education should primarily be based upon. Thus, reflection on these issues is needed since the media, as a “new partner” in education, which is currently changing its shape, nature and scope, represent a challenge both for teachers and widely understood educators.

Endothelial cell–cell junctions must perform seemingly incompatible tasks during vascular development—providing stable connections that prevent leakage, while allowing dynamic cellular rearrangements during sprouting, anastomosis, lumen formation, and functional remodeling of the vascular network. This review aims to highlight recent insights into the molecular mechanisms governing endothelial cell–cell adhesion in the context of vascular development.

The effectiveness of treatment of painful diabetic polyneuropathy remains unsatisfactory. The aim of this study was to compare effects of intravenous vs. subcutaneous insulin delivery in patients with diabetic symmetric sensorimotor polyneuropathy on pain relief, the quality of life, sleep disturbance, and the nerve conduction.Thirty-four patients with diabetic polyneuropathy (mean age 62 ± 10 years, duration 17 ± 10 years), who reached a pain score over 40 mm on the VAS scale, HbA(1c) 7.5-10%, were randomly assigned to continuous intravenous insulin infusion (examined group) and multiple injections (control subjects). Before and after five days of the insulin treatment the effects on pain relief (SFMPQ-VAS), the quality of life improvement (EuroQol EQ-5D), and sleep disturbances (AIS) were assessed.Both groups experienced significant pain reduction, improvement of the quality of life, and reduction of sleep disturbances, i.e. a VAS in the study group of 69 ± 14 mm before treatment vs. 40 ± 19 mm after treatment (p0.001), and in control subjects 66 ± 16 mm vs. 47 ± 17 mm (p0.001). No difference in level of pain intensity reduction between the groups studied was found.Intensification of insulin treatment applied for five days results in improvement of the physical condition of patients with painful diabetic polyneuropathy, through pain relief, and improvement of the quality of life and sleep quality. The efficacy of insulin intravenous infusion and multiple injections is comparable.

The nuclear pore complex (NPC) mediates selective transport across the nuclear envelope (NE) and plays crucial roles in several additional cellular functions. In higher eukaryotes, the NPC and the NE disassemble and reassemble during cell division and live-cell imaging has been a powerful tool to analyze these dynamic processes. Here, we present a method for the kinetic analysis of postmitotic NPC assembly and reestablishment of transport competence in intact cells by multicolor 4D imaging and photoswitching. By applying the methods we have established previously using normal rat kidney to HeLa cells, we demonstrate the conservation of NPC assembly in different mammalian cells. We recently showed that the molecular organization of the NPC can be studied by combining stochastic super-resolution microscopy with single-particle averaging and present this method here in detail.

Dipeptidil peptidase 4 inhibitors (DPP-4) are a group of antihyperglycemic agents. DPP-4 is an enzyme expressed on lymphocyte surface as co-stimulatory molecule in activation processes. The aim was to assess lymphocyte subpopulations initially and after 14 days of treatment with DPP-4 inhibitors sitagliptin, saxagliptin and vildagliptin.The study was conducted in three groups 10 subjects each, of type 2 diabetic patients. In subjects studied an initial tests followed by repeated ones after 14 days of treatment with sitagliptin, saxagliptin, and vildagliptin in therapeutic doses were performed. Baseline test as well as lymphocyte subpopulations (total T cells, and T-cell subsets CD4+, CD8+, CD26+, CD45RA+, CD45RO+, CD4+/CD25+) using 7-colour flow cytometry method were performed.In patients receiving sitagliptin no significant increase in lymphocyte subpopulations were observed. In patients who received vildagliptin significant increase of total T-cells (p0.05); in patients treated with saxagliptin significant (p0.05) though mild increased percentage of total T-cells and CD4+, CD26+, CD45RO+ subsets were found.The study showed mild but significant increase of several T-cell subsets after treatment with saxagliptin and vildagliptin with non significant elevation after treatment with sitagliptin. It seems that changes are not expressed enough to have a clinical impact.

The nuclear pore complex (NPC) mediates selective transport across the nuclear envelope (NE) and plays crucial roles in several additional cellular functions. In higher eukaryotes, the NPC and the NE disassemble and reassemble during cell division and live-cell imaging has been a powerful tool to analyze these dynamic processes. Here, we present a method for the kinetic analysis of postmitotic NPC assembly and reestablishment of transport competence in intact cells by multicolor 4D imaging and photoswitching. By applying the methods we have established previously using normal rat kidney to HeLa cells, we demonstrate the conservation of NPC assembly in different mammalian cells. We recently showed that the molecular organization of the NPC can be studied by combining stochastic super-resolution microscopy with single-particle averaging and present this method here in detail.

Work and non-work life are the two most important spheres constituting a biography of an individual that are interwoven and should be mutually complementary. Today's reality is not conducive to maintaining the synergy between these spheres, which is manifested in the form of conflict and perceiving them as opposing each other. In recent years an increasing appropriation of the personal sphere of individuals by work is particularly noticeable, which contributes to disturbances in their physical, mental and social development. Requirements of professional work increasingly interfere with non-professional activity, which is why more and more often discussed issue is to achieve a balance between work and non-work life. It seems that this issue is an important problem area of social sciences and should be analysed in conjunction with the idea of sustainable development. In this book, taking into account the fact that the objective of sustainable development is to improve the quality of life, both in the socio-economic and individual dimension, it has been assumed that the balance between work and non-work sphere, constituting an important element of the quality of work and thus being a component of the overall quality life, can be a ‘way’ to sustainable development. At the same time the well-being of an individual can be considered as a ‘way’ to a globally understood harmonious and positive development. The specified areas of work and non-work life were the basis to undertake an in-depth reflection in the environment of social scientists, which resulted in this publication. It has been divided into three complementary parts: Evolution of the relationship work – non-work life in the context of civilization changes, Work environment as a dominant space for implementation of sustainable development of an individual and Work and family - synergy or dissonance of roles? In search of balance. The discussed problem questions form a set of interdisciplinary issues, for which ‘human work’ remains the central category of considerations - the main conceptual category of a pedagogical subdiscipline - pedagogy of work. The authors of the presented articles hope that although this compilation does not exhaust the discussed subject, the issues contained in it will encourage both interdisciplinary scientific discussion, and - perhaps above all - personal reflections on combining work and private life, which has never been as difficult as it is now. W niniejszej książce, uwzględniając fakt, iż celem zrównoważonego rozwoju jest podnoszenie jakości życia, zarówno w wymiarze społeczno-gospodarczym, jak i jednostkowym, przyjęto założenie, iż równowaga pomiędzy pracą a sferą pozazawodową, stanowiąc ważny element jakości pracy i będąc tym samym składnikiem ogólnej jakości życia, może stanowić „drogę” do zrównoważonego rozwoju jednostki. Jednocześnie także pomyślność życia indywidualnego człowieka rozpatrywana być może jako „droga” do globalnie rozumianego harmonijnego i pozytywnego rozwoju cywilizacji. Idea Work-Life Balance rozpatrywana w aspekcie jednostkowo-społecznym wpisuje się zatem w filozofię zrównoważonego rozwoju, a brak jej optymalnej realizacji powoduje daleko idące skutki o charakterze ekonomicznym. Treści przekazywanego do rąk Czytelnika opracowania obejmują zarówno rozważania teoretyczne, jak i wyniki badań empirycznych przeprowadzonych przez poszczególnych Autorów zainteresowanych tą problematyką. Całość została podzielona na trzy części, wzajemnie dopełniające się: (1) Ewolucja relacji praca-życie pozazawodowe w kontekście zmian cywilizacyjnych, (2) Środowisko pracy jako dominująca przestrzeń realizacji zrównoważonego rozwoju jednostki, (3) Praca i rodzina – synergia czy dysonans ról? W poszukiwaniu równowagi. W ich ramach podjęto zagadnienia teoretycznych aspektów koncepcji równowaga praca-życie pozazawodowe; istoty i przesłanek konfliktu pomiędzy tymi dwoma obszarami biografii jednostki; przeobrażeń świata pracy, w tym zwłaszcza kontroli i organizacji czasu pracy, warunkujących ich wzajemne relacje. Rozważaniom poddano również wpływ społecznego środowiska pracy oraz nowych wzorców kariery zawodowej rozpatrywanych jako dysfunktory równowagi pomiędzy sferą zawodową i pozazawodową. Problematykę tą zaprezentowano ponadto jako element koncepcji społecznej odpowiedzialności biznesu. W dalszej części skupiono się na analizie relacji między pracą a rodziną i wpływie tych relacji na doświadczanie jakości życia, w tym także na zagadnieniu macierzyństwa i wspierania rozwoju kariery zawodowej osób sprawujących opiekę nad dziećmi. W książce zawarto także propozycję narzędzia do pomiaru efektywności radzenia sobie z realizacją zadań rozwojowych okresu wczesnej dorosłości. Dziękując Wszystkim, którzy przyczynili się do powstawania niniejszej pracy, żywię nadzieję, że choć opracowanie to nie wyczerpuje podjętego tematu, to zagadnienia w nim zawarte pobudzą zarówno do interdyscyplinarnej dyskusji naukowej, jak i – a może przede wszystkim – do osobistych przemyśleń na temat łączenia pracy z życiem prywatnym, które jeszcze nigdy nie było takie trudne jak obecnie. Kierując się sentencją Arystotelesa, iż „Szczęście zależy od nas samych”, w książce poszukiwano odpowiedzi na pytanie: Czy osiągnięcie synergii w tej materii jest w ogóle możliwe?

Cercopagis pengoi, a species native to the Ponto-Caspian area, was recorded for the first time in the Baltic Sea in the Gulf of Riga and in the open Gulf of Finland in 1992. Sampling in the shallow coastal area of the western part of the Gulf of Gdansk at weekly intervals between April 1999 and April 2000 revealed the presence of C. pengoi in the zooplankton community. The species was recorded twice, at densities of 1369 indiv. m-3 on 30 July 1999 and 421 indiv. m-3 on 5 August 1999, when the water temperature was at its maximum, in excess of 21.7oC and 23.9oC respectively. C. pengoi had never been recorded in the Gulf of Gdansk prior to 1999.

Type 2 diabetic (T2D) patients are particularly prone to macrovascular complications. Coronary heart disease is two to four times more frequent in T2D patients compared with non-diabetic individuals. Patients with diabetes mellitus who underwent acute MI have unfavourable prognosis. Diabetes and Insulin–Glucose Infusion in Acute MI study (DIGAMI) has shown that metabolic control by means of insulin–glucose i.v. infusion in the acute phase of MI followed by long-term intensive insulin therapy improves prognosis in the T2D patients. The DIGAMI-2 study did not confirm conclusions of DIGAMI 1 study. The authors of this article comment on the results of DIGAMI 2 and attempt to answer how T2D patients should be treated after MI.