Search

Introduction: Due to an imbalanced redox status, cancer cells generate intrinsically higher levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) compared to normal cells. Targeting ROS is an important therapeutic strategy for cancer as exemplified by cancer drugs, which induce ROS-dependent synergistic cytotoxicity in gastric cancer cells. The present study was designed to assess the level of selected oxidative stress biomarkers in blood plasma derived from gastric cancer patients.Material and methods: The study assessed the oxidative/nitrative biomarkers in blood plasma isolated from 51 gastric (adenocarcinoma) cancer patients, compared to a control group of 32 healthy volunteers. Oxidative stress was evaluated using a panel of biomarkers such as plasma protein thiol groups and 3-nitrotyrosine levels as well as indicators of plasma lipid peroxidation, i.e. lipid hydroperoxides (LOOH) and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS). Additionally, the total antioxidant capacity of blood plasma (non-enzymatic capacity of blood plasma, NEAC) was also estimated.Results: Our results showed that patients with gastric cancer had significantly different levels of thiol groups (lower, p < 0.001) and 3-nitrotyrosine (higher, p < 0.0001), LOOH (higher, p < 0.05), TBARS (higher, p < 0.05), NEAC (lower, p < 0.0001), compared to the control group.Conclusions: The present study indicates considerable oxidative/nitrative stress in gastric cancer patients. Our pilot study shows that not a single marker, but a biomarker panel, may be a more reliable representation of oxidative stress in patients with gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aim of the study was to investigate the occurrence of balance disorders in children after mild head trauma.Material and Methods: Ninety patients after mild head trauma, aged 7-18 years, were examined on a stabilometric platform 48 h and 12 weeks after injury. The results were compared with 50 healthy children. Seven selected parameters of the stabilogram were measured and analyzed.Results: Children hospitalized after head trauma represented 3.78% of all surgical admissions and 6.6% of all patients after head trauma reporting to the emergency department. The values of all parameters in the entire study group 48 h after injury were significantly higher than 12 weeks later (p < 0.03), when they decreased to the level of the values in the controls. An inverse relationship between the value of each parameter and the child's age, both in the study group 48 h after injury (p < 0.014) and in the controls (p < 0.008), was found. The values of all parameters in children of the study group aged 11-15 years 48 h after the injury were significantly higher than 12 weeks later (p < 0.05), and significantly higher than in the controls (p < 0.05). The best indicators describing disorders and normalization of body balance control processes were the total path length of center of pressure (SP-EO), the average center of pressure deflection (MA-EO) and the average center of pressure sagittal deflection (MAAP-EO).Conclusions: Minor head trauma clearly, though temporarily, disturbed body postural control, especially affecting children aged 11-15. However, all examined patients 3 months after injury controlled the body balance, like their healthy peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Przegląd Elektrotechniczny is the property of Przeglad Elektrotechniczny and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Przegląd Elektrotechniczny is the property of Przeglad Elektrotechniczny and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article is concerned with various modes of narrative memory in Travels with Herodotus, considered against the background of Ryszard Kapuściński's other travelogues. A close examination of the specific manifestations of memory in terms of its content and the manner of remembering and presenting a story reveals that each of the key narrative figures in Kapuściński's factual fiction, i.e. the reporter, the writer, the historiographer, and the traveler, is endowed with a bundle of narrative memory modes (attitudes). These attitudes are distinct and complementary, but they also interlock in a way peculiar to each of the Kapuściński's character types. Their integrity is also secured by the author's intention to keep track of 'Memory [travelling] along the Roadways of the World'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chitosan is a linear N-deacetylated derivative of chitin, soluble in acetic solutions. The deacetylation of chitin can be achieved enzymatically using chitin deacetylase (ChDa) (EC 3.5.1.41), which hydrolyses the N-acetamido groups of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine residues in chitin and chitosan. Complementary DNA (cDNA), which encodes ChDa, was isolated from M. rouxii s well as other fungi. Chitin deacetylase activity was detected in partially purified and concentrated crude extract of the protein from Mucor circinelloides IBT-83. Additionally, two open reading frames (ORF), putatively encoding ChDa, were identified and amplified from cDNA of this strain. Each ORF was molecularly cloned and sequenced. Amino acid sequences of ChDaI and ChDaII were predicted, using nucleotide sequences of these cDNA clones, and analysed by means of bioinformatics tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepta(isobuthyl)ethyltriethoxysilyloctasilsesquioxane was synthesized by hydrosilylation of hepta(isobuthyl)vinyloctasilsesquioxane with triethoxysilane, over Karstedt catalyst and tetrahydrofuran. Hybrid systems of silica and monofunctional silsesquioxane (SiO2/POSS) were obtained by solvent evaporation, using emulsion silica (ES) and hydrated silica (HS), obtained by precipitation in emulsion or water media. For their surface modification hepta(isobuthyl)ethyltriethoxysilyloctasilsesquioxane was used. The hybrids were characterized by dispersion analysis (NIBS method and laser diffraction technique) and morphological analysis (transmission electron microscopy) as well as wettability profiles in an aqueous system. The adsorptive properties of the hybrids were evaluated on the basis of surface area BET, pore volume and size. The effectiveness of modification of the hybrid fillers was tested by FTIR and 29Si CP MAS NMR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]