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Background: In recent years, food allergy has been diagnosed more frequently in children and adolescents. The environment is more toxic and chemical substances that are additives to food dominate the diet. Also, a changing lifestyle, exposure to stress, and a poorly balanced diet may have an impact on the occurrence of allergies. In society, more children suffer from food allergies than adults, and food allergies are becoming an increasingly serious social and medical problem. Aim of the study: The aim of this study is to review the subject of food allergies in children, with a focus on the social and medical problems associated with this condition. Material and methods: 31 studies, published in the last 10 years, were found in databases such as the Polish Medical Bibliography, PubMed Medline, and Google Scholar, using the following keywords: “food allergy”, “risk factors”, “diet”, “psychology”, “social aspects”. Conclusions: Given the potentially serious medical and social consequences resulting from allergic diseases, the increasing incidence of allergies among children and young people should motivate medical personnel and educators to receive additional training and to conduct further research in this area.

WstępCelem pracy było określenie wybranych uwarunkowań osobowościowych pacjentów z rozpoznanym reumatoidalnym zapaleniem stawów.Materiał i metodyBadania kliniczne o charakterze pilotażowym przeprowadzono wśród 108 pacjentów z rozpoznanym reumatoidalnym zapaleniem stawów. Większość badanej próby (69%) stanowiły kobiety. Badania pro-wadzono od marca do kwietnia 2015 r. na oddziałach reumatologicznych szpitali województwa śląskiego. Wybrane cechy osobowościowe zmierzono za pomocą dwóch narzędzi psychometrycznych: Skali Typu A-Framingham w polskiej adaptacji Juczyńskiego oraz Inwentarza Osobowości NEO-FFI, zaadaptowanego do polskich warunków przez Zawadzkiego i wsp. W badaniu wykorzystano także metryczkę socjodemograficzną.WynikiWyniki badań wykazały podwyższone nasilenie wzoru zachowania A w badanej grupie. Stwierdzono dodatnią zależność między wzorem zachowania A a neurotycznością. Zaobserwowano również istotne statystycznie dodatnie związki między ekstrawersją a otwartością na doświadczenie oraz między sumiennością i ugodowością. Wykazano także, że zachodzą istotne statystycznie ujemne związki między neurotycznością a ekstrawersją oraz ugodowością. Zaobserwowano istotną korelację pomiędzy zmiennymi socjodemograficznymi, takimi jak: płeć, stan cywilny, wykształcenie, wiek, a cechami osobowościowymi, jak: ekstrawersja, sumienność i neurotyczność, ugodowość i otwartość na doświadczenie.WnioskiCzynnik osobowościowy ma istotne znaczenie u pacjentów z rozpoznanym RZS. Kontynuacja badań klinicznych w zakresie uwarunkowań osobowościowych chorych na RZS oraz poznanie tych uwarunkowań mogą przyczynić się do głębszego zrozumienia etiopatogenezy, przebiegu choroby oraz wpłynąć na efektywniejsze leczenie tego schorzenia.

Aim of the studyThe dangers resulting from the dysfunctional use of mobile phones by adolescents are presented in the study. The main aim of the conducted study was the exploration of addiction to mobile phones used by secondary students as well as the presentation of differences in addiction to mobile phones in group of women and men. 470 Polish secondary students from Silesia took part in the study.Subject or material and methodsThe author’s distributed questionnaire which contained questions concerning the types of the Internet activity, the aims and intensity of use of modern means of communication (computers with the Internet access and the mobile phones) and the Survey form and the Mobile Phone Addiction Assessment Questionnaire (KBUTK) by Potembska and Pawłowska were used in the study.ResultsThe criteria of being at risk of mobile phone addiction were fulfilled by about 35% of tested students and about 4% of students were addicted to mobile phones. Analyzing the level of addiction to mobile phones by gender, it can be stated that more women than men fulfill the criteria of being addicted and being at risk of addiction to mobile phones.DiscussionThe obtained results proved the hypothesis formulated in the study which assumed that there are statistically significant differences between the students who correctly and pathologically use mobile phones in total and by gender.ConclusionsThe problematic use of mobile phones by the adolescents may be a cause of health problems and social expense.

The telemonitoring problem of high-risk pregnancies at home is introduced, and some design issues of the monitoring system are identified. A Medical Cyber-Physical System (MCPS) approach has been taken. Various MCPS design issues and requirements, like: interaction of caregivers and a patient with the MCPS system, Plug-and-Play architecture, maintenance support for caregivers, interoperability of medical devices, medical workflows automation, dependability of the system, smart alerting, and intelligent acquisition of biosignals, have been addressed. The telecare system consists of the Body Area Network (BAN) of advanced sensors that are interconnected on a body of a pregnant woman, the Personal Area Network (PAN) that is responsible for embedded processing of physical signals, smart alerting, an intelligent human-machine-interface, and a reliable transmission channel to the Surveillance Centre located in a hospital or a local medical centre. The system integrates the new strategy for abdominal signal acquisition and analysis based on the smart selection of algorithms realized in the mobile instrumentation of PAN. Dependable telemedical systems, when broadly deployed, will provide a high societal value to high-risk pregnant women, especially those in dispersed rural areas.

The paper introduces the problem of designing a medical cyber-physical system (MCPS) for telecare of pregnant women at home. Design challenges and requirements have been shortly explained, as well as the innovative elements of the underlined holistic design methodology and the architecture. The system consists of the Body Area Network (BAN) of advanced sensors that are interconnected on a body of a pregnant woman, the Personal Area Network (PAN) that is responsible for embedded processing of physical signals, smart alarms, and a transmission channel to the Central Surveillance Centre located in a hospital. It is expected that dependable telemedical systems will provide a high societal value to high-risk pregnant women, especially those in dispersed rural areas.

The paper presents a new approach to improve efficiency of the verification process through acceleration of tests. The verification eco-system based on well-accepted industry standards, consisting of essential functionality and an emulation platform is described in the article. The JPEG2000 encoder has been developed with the use of this emulation platform in order to verify both, the new approach and the possibility of reducing verification process time. The new approach allows to save verification time, due to significant reduction of tests execution time. Additionally, a debug capability, which is provided by the emulation system, enables quick identification and elimination of implementation bugs. The presented solution can be supported by Universal Verification Methodology (UVM) like methodology to create the best suited environment. In order to use such methodology, the SystemC language has been enhanced by UVM-SystemC library. The library in combination with the approach presented in the paper and the use of the emulation platform can deliver the complete system to verify IP cores of average complexity. It gives an opportunity to avoid a commercial logic simulator within the verification process.

Flower extracts of Prunus spinosa L. (blackthorn)—a traditional medicinal plant of Central and Eastern Europe indicated for the treatment of urinary tract disorders, inflammation, and adjunctive therapy of cardiovascular diseases—were evaluated in terms of chemical composition, antioxidant activity, potential anti-inflammatory effects, and cellular safety in function of fractionated extraction. The UHPLC-PDA-ESI-MS3 fingerprinting led to full or partial identification of 57 marker constituents (36 new for the flowers), mostly flavonoids, A-type proanthocyanidins, and phenolic acids, and provided the basis for authentication and standardization of the flower extracts. With the contents up to 584.07 mg/g dry weight (dw), 490.63, 109.43, and 66.77 mg/g dw of total phenolics (TPC), flavonoids, proanthocyanidins, and phenolic acids, respectively, the extracts were proven to be rich sources of polyphenols. In chemical in vitro tests of antioxidant (DPPH, FRAP, TBARS) and enzyme (lipoxygenase and hyaluronidase) inhibitory activity, the extracts effects were profound, dose-, phenolic-, and extraction solvent-dependent. Moreover, at in vivo-relevant levels (1–5 μg/mL) the extracts effectively protected the human plasma components against peroxynitrite-induced damage (reduced the levels of oxidative stress biomarkers: 3-nitrotyrosine, lipid hydroperoxides, and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances) and enhanced the total antioxidant status of plasma. The effects observed in biological models were in general dose- and TPC-dependent; only for protein nitration the relationships were not significant. Furthermore, in cytotoxicity tests, the extracts did not affect the viability of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), and might be regarded as safe. Among extracts, the defatted methanol-water (7:3, v/v) extract and its diethyl ether and ethyl acetate fractions appear to be the most advantageous for biological applications. As compared to the positive controls, activity of the extracts was favorable, which might be attributed to some synergic effects of their constituents. In conclusion, this research proves that the antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory capacity of phenolic fractions should be counted as one of the mechanisms behind the activity of the flowers reported by traditional medicine and demonstrates the potential of the extracts as alternative ingredients for functional products supporting the treatment of oxidative stress-related pathologies cross-linked with inflammatory changes, especially in cardiovascular protection.

Flower extracts of Prunus spinosa L. (blackthorn)—a traditional medicinal plant of Central and Eastern Europe indicated for the treatment of urinary tract disorders, inflammation, and adjunctive therapy of cardiovascular diseases—were evaluated in terms of chemical composition, antioxidant activity, potential anti-inflammatory effects, and cellular safety in function of fractionated extraction. The UHPLC-PDA-ESI-MS3 fingerprinting led to full or partial identification of 57 marker constituents (36 new for the flowers), mostly flavonoids, A-type proanthocyanidins, and phenolic acids, and provided the basis for authentication and standardization of the flower extracts. With the contents up to 584.07 mg/g dry weight (dw), 490.63, 109.43, and 66.77 mg/g dw of total phenolics (TPC), flavonoids, proanthocyanidins, and phenolic acids, respectively, the extracts were proven to be rich sources of polyphenols. In chemical in vitro tests of antioxidant (DPPH, FRAP, TBARS) and enzyme (lipoxygenase and hyaluronidase) inhibitory activity, the extracts effects were profound, dose-, phenolic-, and extraction solvent-dependent. Moreover, at in vivo-relevant levels (1–5 μg/mL) the extracts effectively protected the human plasma components against peroxynitrite-induced damage (reduced the levels of oxidative stress biomarkers: 3-nitrotyrosine, lipid hydroperoxides, and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances) and enhanced the total antioxidant status of plasma. The effects observed in biological models were in general dose- and TPC-dependent; only for protein nitration the relationships were not significant. Furthermore, in cytotoxicity tests, the extracts did not affect the viability of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), and might be regarded as safe. Among extracts, the defatted methanol-water (7:3, v/v) extract and its diethyl ether and ethyl acetate fractions appear to be the most advantageous for biological applications. As compared to the positive controls, activity of the extracts was favorable, which might be attributed to some synergic effects of their constituents. In conclusion, this research proves that the antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory capacity of phenolic fractions should be counted as one of the mechanisms behind the activity of the flowers reported by traditional medicine and demonstrates the potential of the extracts as alternative ingredients for functional products supporting the treatment of oxidative stress-related pathologies cross-linked with inflammatory changes, especially in cardiovascular protection.

The paper presents a scalable architecture for fast emulation of Systems-on-Chip. It is implemented on a dedicated modular FPGA-based hardware platform. This verification eco-system presents a new approach to improve efficiency of the verification process through hardware-based acceleration of tests. The system consists of dedicated hardware modules and third-party; easy-to-get evaluation boards to provide an affordable solution for SMEs with fast bring-up time for emulation purposes. By complying to many industry standards in the areas of communication interfaces, memory modules, and connectors, the presented platform acts as a cost-effective, desktop-size solution and can be used in early stages of hardware-assisted verification process. It provides a debug capability which enables quick identification and elimination of implementation bugs. The paper also reports on the use of the emulation environment in FPGA-in-the-Loop simulation. This solution may be applied to a broad range of applications.

The Medical Cyber-Physical System (MCPS) for telemonitoring of pregnant women at home is introduced in the paper. The system comprises the Body Area Network (BAN) of advanced sensors that are interconnected on a body of a pregnant woman and the Personal Area Network (PAN) which is responsible for embedded processing of physical signals, smart alerts, and human-machine-interface. A reliable transmission channel assures communication with the Central Surveillance Centre located in a hospital. The paper focuses on the problem of biosignals acquisition and measurement that is solved using the smart selection of algorithms for abdominal signal analysis in the mobile instrumentation of PAN.

The paper presents a visual knowledge-based approach for designing collaborative networks of engineering design organizations. The novelty of this holistic approach lies in integrated modelling of business, engineering, and learning processes. Distributed design tasks are easier coordinated due to explicit representation of management procedures as visual knowledge models of design flows and workflows. Furthermore, these visual models enable definition of design task patterns that can support design innovation management and learning across distributed teams. Proliferation of this approach in engineering communities is conditioned by availability of appropriate open platforms enabling distributed collaborative design and continuous learning processes in a frame of a collaborative engineering network.

A methodology, an application scenario and a new system enabling collaborative distributed design have been presented. The system based on Tool Registration and Management Services (TRMS) constitutes the core of the engineering collaborative infrastructure that has been deployed in the distributed design of intellectual property (IP) components. The system assures information security (including user authorization, data and transfer encrypting), communication through firewalls, remote administration of users and tools, and some support for distributed inter-organization workflows.

The present work is concerned with experimental results of DMTA and DSC techniques, which are used to study phase relaxation behavior of chitosan having various DD and its blends with polyvinyl alcohol (PVAL) and hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC). The analysis of DMTA spectra of chitosan leads to recognition of a few molecular relaxations in chitosan and in its blends. A strong effect of water presence on the macromolecular dynamics is observed. Double “wet” relaxations (close to ambient temperature) are observed. Optical film transparency of the chitosan blends with PVAL and HPC allows us to predict good miscibiliry of components in the complex systems. However, unchanged temperatures of the glass transitions of PVAL and isotropization of HPC in the blends indicate separation of components. However, a low content of PVAL or HPC can be molecularly distributed in a chitosan matrix giving a miscible system of good mechanical properties.

Results of photo- and thermodegradation of chitosan of different degrees of deacetylation (DD) were discussed. On the basis of the results of thermodegradation under isothermal and dynamic conditions thermal stability of chitosan films, also photochemically modified samples (UV irradiated for 1 h), was estimated. Investigations under isothermal conditions were carried out in the air atmosphere and cover the temperature range from 100°C to 200°C. Basing on the results of weight loss it was found that most susceptible to degradation was the sample of the higher DD; with an increase of temperature the observed changes were more distinct. Both during thermo- and photodegradation a decrease of DD of chitosan was observed. Modification of chitosan films by UV irradiation decreases the characteristic parameters of thermodestruction.

We cordially welcome all participants of DDECS 2011 in Cottbus. You find yourselves in the southeastern corner of the German state of Brandenburg, very close to the border with Poland and not far from the Czech Republic. Our region is called “Lausitz” in German, “Łuzyce” in Polish and “Lužice“ in Czech language. It is one of a few regions in Germany which have a second official language, Sorbic, and also Cottbus has an official second name - Chosebuz. Lausitz is definitely an international region by history, since part of the area is now located on Poland, but also because Sorbic is reasonably well understood by Polish and Czech native speakers. Furthermore, the king of Bohemia in Prague was the supreme ruler of the region for centuries.

The paper presents a collaboration platform with model-based configurable services. It is a part of a more general approach developed by the EU project MAPPER that enables distributed collaboration over adaptive knowledge-intensive engineering processes. In a model-configured infrastructure, active knowledge models (AKMs) of products and processes become the basis for user-composed services, tools and methodologies available to users in customisable workplaces. A multi-layered architecture that offers a powerful means for configuration of services for particular application areas has been described. The presented approach and the collaboration platform have been experimented with in a collaborative engineering use case in electronic industry that integrated two dispersed SMEs. Experiences learned are summarized.