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Nowadays, multiclassifier systems (MCSs) are being widely applied in various machine learning problems and in many different domains. Over the last two decades, a variety of ensemble systems have been developed, but there is still room for improvement. This paper focuses on developing competence and interclass cross-competence measures which can be applied as a method for classifiers combination. The cross-competence measure allows an ensemble to harness pieces of information obtained from incompetent classifiers instead of removing them from the ensemble. The cross-competence measure originally determined on the basis of a validation set (static mode) can be further easily updated using additional feedback information on correct/incorrect classification during the recognition process (dynamic mode). The analysis of computational and storage complexity of the proposed method is presented. The performance of the MCS with the proposed cross-competence function was experimentally compared against five reference MCSs and one reference MCS for static and dynamic modes, respectively. Results for the static mode show that the proposed technique is comparable with the reference methods in terms of classification accuracy. For the dynamic mode, the system developed achieves the highest classification accuracy, demonstrating the potential of the MCS for practical applications when feedback information is available.

Structural low-temperature phase transformations in LiCsSO4 are analysed in a newly tailored simple model of the static soliton in the periodically modulated phases of the one-dimensional compressible Ising model. It is shown that the original hcp symmetry is crucial for understanding of the anomalous temperature-dependence of the Brillouin shift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Riccia fluitans, an amphibious liverwort, exhibits a fascinating adaptation mechanism to transition between terrestrial and aquatic environments. Utilizing nanopore direct RNA sequencing, we try to capture the complex epitranscriptomic changes undergone in response to land-water transition., Results: A significant finding is the identification of 45 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), with a split of 33 downregulated in terrestrial forms and 12 upregulated in aquatic forms, indicating a robust transcriptional response to environmental changes. Analysis of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modifications revealed 173 m6A sites in aquatic and only 27 sites in the terrestrial forms, indicating a significant increase in methylation in the former, which could facilitate rapid adaptation to changing environments. The aquatic form showed a global elongation bias in poly(A) tails, which is associated with increased mRNA stability and efficient translation, enhancing the plant's resilience to water stress. Significant differences in polyadenylation signals were observed between the two forms, with nine transcripts showing notable changes in tail length, suggesting an adaptive mechanism to modulate mRNA stability and translational efficiency in response to environmental conditions. This differential methylation and polyadenylation underline a sophisticated layer of post-transcriptional regulation, enabling Riccia fluitans to fine-tune gene expression in response to its living conditions., Conclusions: These insights into transcriptome dynamics offer a deeper understanding of plant adaptation strategies at the molecular level, contributing to the broader knowledge of plant biology and evolution. These findings underscore the sophisticated post-transcriptional regulatory strategies Riccia fluitans employs to navigate the challenges of aquatic versus terrestrial living, highlighting the plant's dynamic adaptation to environmental stresses and its utility as a model for studying adaptation mechanisms in amphibious plants., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The study aimed to determine whether four weeks of motor imagery training (MIT) of goal-directed reaching (reaching to grasp task) would affect the cortical activity during motor imagery of reaching (MIR) and grasping (MIG) in the same way. We examined cortical activity regarding event-related potentials (ERPs) in healthy young participants. Our study also evaluated the subjective vividness of the imagery. Furthermore, we aimed to determine the relationship between the subjective assessment of motor imagery (MI) ability to reach and grasp and the cortical activity during those tasks before and after training to understand the underlying neuroplasticity mechanisms. Twenty-seven volunteers participated in MIT of goal-directed reaching and two measurement sessions before and after MIT. During the sessions 128-channel electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded during MIR and MIG. Also, participants assessed the vividness of the MI tasks using a visual analog scale (VAS). The vividness of imagination improved significantly (P < .05) after MIT. A repeated measures ANOVA showed that the task (MIR/MIG) and the location of electrodes had a significant effect on the ERP's amplitude (P < .05). The interaction between the task, location, and session (before/after MIT) also had a significant effect on the ERP's amplitude (P < .05). Finally, the location of electrodes and the interaction between location and session had a significant effect on the ERP's latency (P < .05). We found that MIT influenced the EEG signal associated with reaching differently than grasping. The effect was more pronounced for MIR than for MIG. Correlation analysis showed that changes in the assessed parameters due to MIT reduced the relationship between the subjective evaluation of imagining and the EEG signal. This finding means that the subjective evaluation of imagining cannot be a simple, functional insight into the bioelectrical activity of the cerebral cortex expressed by the ERPs in mental training. The changes we noted in ERPs after MIT may benefit the use of non-invasive EEG in the brain-computer interface (BCI) context.Trial registration: NCT04048083., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

This study explored the effect of kinesthetic motor imagery training on reaching-to-grasp movement supplemented by a virtual environment in a patient with congenital bilateral transverse upper-limb deficiency. Based on a theoretical assumption, it is possible to conduct such training in this patient. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether cortical activity related to motor imagery of reaching and motor imagery of grasping of the right upper limb was changed by computer-aided imagery training (CAIT) in a patient who was born without upper limbs compared to a healthy control subject, as characterized by multi-channel electroencephalography (EEG) signals recorded before and 4, 8, and 12 weeks after CAIT. The main task during CAIT was to kinesthetically imagine the execution of reaching-to-grasp movements without any muscle activation, supplemented by computer visualization of movements provided by a special headset. Our experiment showed that CAIT can be conducted in the patient with higher vividness of imagery for reaching than grasping tasks. Our results confirm that CAIT can change brain activation patterns in areas related to motor planning and the execution of reaching and grasping movements, and that the effect was more pronounced in the patient than in the healthy control subject. The results show that CAIT has a different effect on the cortical activity related to the motor imagery of a reaching task than on the cortical activity related to the motor imagery of a grasping task. The change observed in the activation patterns could indicate CAIT-induced neuroplasticity, which could potentially be useful in rehabilitation or brain-computer interface purposes for such patients, especially before and after transplantation. This study was part of a registered experiment (ID: NCT04048083)., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Mencel, Jaskólska, Marusiak, Kamiński, Kurzyński, Wołczowski, Jaskólski and Kisiel-Sajewicz.)

Objectives: Cancer morbidity rates have been increasing steadily. A longer lifespan and easier access to modern diagnostic and therapeutic methods are the main reasons for the growing number of cancer survivors. Additionally, some types of oncological treatment, such as radiotherapy or immunosuppression, may also increase the risk of secondary tumors. These factors have resulted in an increased incidence of primary multiple cancers. Multiple primary cancers are generally under-stood as either synchronous, in which the cancers occur at the same time, or metachronous, in which the cancers follow in sequence (for instance, more than 2 months apart).The results published in other studies show that between 2% and 15.8% of all cancer patients have more primary multiple cancers. Within this group with multiple primary cancers, some have bilateral breast cancer, and our study focuses on patients from this group., Material and Methods: Our study describes 10 patients who were treated for bilateral synchronous breast cancer at the Cracow Branch of the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology during the years 1992-2014 and who developed another primary tumor after their treatment bilateral synchronous breast cancer., Results: In our discussion we present detailed data on the incidence of metachronous cancers in the 10 patients, including breast cancer, following the treatment of their other primary tumors., Conclusion: The 10 cases of our study, and clinical experiences and publications in general show how important it is for patients to continue medical follow-up after treatment of primary tumors, not only to detect recurrences as early as pos-sible, but also to diagnose any other malignancies occurring in other sites, including secondary, treatment-related tumors.

Background: Subperiosteal inflammatory disease, subperiosteal abscess and orbital cellulitis are the most common sequelae of both acute and chronic sinusitis. Early, appropriate evaluation and management observing signs and symptoms of orbital inflammation are required to prevent blindness. Computerised tomography (CT) is the investigation of choice in diagnosing the discussed pathological conditions. Cellulitis does not require drainage of the orbit on a routine basis. Conventionally, the orbital abscess is drained via an external incision and sinus surgery is performed at the same time to remove the focus of infection. More recently, successful treatment both of the sinuses and decompression of the orbit has been accomplished endoscopically via an intranasal approach., Aim: The aim of the paper was to analyse the results of intranasal endoscopic procedures performed in individuals with orbital complications of sinusitis in search for optimal treatment of this group of patients., Material and Methods: Records of 7 patients aged from 14 to 68 (mean 33) years treated in our department for orbital complications of sinusitis between February 2005 and August 2006 were analysed retrospectively. One retrobulbar abscess was diagnosed. In the remaining 6 patients the diagnosis of cellulitis, in one case complicated with cavernous sinus thrombosis, was established. 7 endoscopic frontosphenoethmoidectomies, one with endonasal decompression of the orbital abscess, were performed., Results: All preoperative symptoms subsided in all operated individuals. No complications were observed., Conclusions: Surgical treatment of the focus of infection in the sinuses and drainage of orbital abscess can be accomplished endoscopically via an intranasal approach with little morbidity, easy identification of anatomical structures, physiological drainage of the sinuses and superior cosmetic result. Our experience suggests that the optimal method of treatment consists in surgical endoscopic removal of the focus of infection located in the sinuses with simultaneous drainage of the abscess in the orbit.

Introduction: The harmonic scalpel has been used in tonsil surgery for several years. The comparison of harmonic scalpel tonsillectomy with other tonsillectomy techniques has been the subject of many studies. The research results proved to be contradictory, particularly concerning postoperative complications and complaints. Most authors observed reduced intraoperative bleeding during harmonic scalpel tonsillectomy., Objective: Analysis of harmonic scalpel tonsillectomy results and review of literature. Material and methods. The harmonic scalpel was used for 71 tonsillectomies in the Department of Otolaryngology UJ CM between 2002-2007. The surgical procedure and postoperative results were analyzed retrospectively and compared with other tonsillectomy techniques., Results: The harmonic scalpel provided sufficient intraoperative hemostasis in 67% of cases. 33% of patients required electrocautery, vessel ligation in the operation field or suturing of the marginal tissue to control bleeding. Postoperative hemorrhage requiring surgical intervention occurred in 3 patients. No other severe postoperative complications were observed in either group., Conclusions: Harmonic scalpel tonsillectomy is an effective and safe alternative technique in tonsil surgery. In some cases however other hemostasis techniques may be necessary to control intense bleeding.

Dichotomous noise detected with the help of various single-molecule techniques convincingly reveals the actual occurrence of a multitude of conformational substates composing the native state of proteins. The nature of the stochastic dynamics of transitions between these substates is determined by the particular statistical properties of the noise observed. These involve nonexponential and possibly oscillatory time decay of the second order autocorrelation function, its relation to the third order autocorrelation function, and a relationship to dwell-time distribution densities and their correlations. Processes gated by specific conformational substates are distinguished from those with fluctuating barriers. This study throws light on the intriguing matter of the possibility of multiple stepping of the myosin motor along the actin filament per ATP molecule hydrolyzed.

Background: Osteomas are relatively common, benign, slow-growing, often asymptomatic neoplasms of the paranasal sinuses occurring mainly in the frontal and ethmoid sinuses. Surgical removal is done if they extend beyond the boundaries of the sinus, continue to enlarge, are localized in the region adjacent to the nasofrontal duct, or if signs of chronic sinusitis are present and, regardless of size, in symptomatic tumors. Progressive headaches and chronic inflammation of the adjacent mucous membrane are the most common symptoms. Surgical approaches are divided into external, endoscopic drill-out, and combined endoscopic and external procedures., Material/methods: Seventeen patients with osteomas of the paranasal sinuses were studied (mean age: 42.7 years, range: 15-73 years). Most commonly involved was the frontal sinus (11 cases, including a giant tumor comprising both frontal sinuses and 2 osteomas penetrating to the orbit), followed by ethmoid cells (3) and maxillary sinuses (2)., Results: One osteoma was diagnosed in the sphenoid sinus. All were removed surgically. Eight open procedures were performed to remove frontal and maxillary osteomas, five tumors were removed under endoscopic guidance, and four via combined procedures. No postoperative complications were observed. No recurrences were noted. All patients remain asymptomatic., Conclusions: Resection of small and medium-sized osteomas of the paranasal sinuses can be safely and radically performed using endoscopic techniques. It allows their radical resection and very good cosmetic effects. Giant frontal sinus osteomas can be effectively approached by a combined external and endoscopic procedure. Obliteration of the sinus is not mandatory if the mucous membrane is intact.

Dysphagia is frequent in patients after partial laryngectomy for cancer initially located in the supraglottic area. To ensure the best quality of life, establishing how the patient feels after treatment is necessary. Therefore, a self-administered questionnaire was designed to evaluate the dysphagia. 95 patients (75 male and 20 women) who were operated in ENT Department CMUJ between 1998-2004 participated in this study. The MDADI questionnaire in the Polish version was used. The subjective evaluation by the patient of dysphagia is directly related to the size of the tumor and the extent of the partial laryngectomy treatment. Patients, whose tumor was located in supraglottic-glottic area, had subtotal laryngectomy m. Miodoński. Their quality of life was significantly worse due to dysphagia than those with tumors located only in the supraglottic area. Swallowing dysfunctionality was significantly greater after the resection of the hyoid bone. Reconstruction of the base of a tongue by a graft of angiopedunculated submandibular gland diminished the difficulties in swallowing. Moreover, the longer the period after treatment, the higher the quality of life becomes because of the improvement in the swallowing functionality.

The authors present the case of a 21-year-old female in who, during the course of cholesteatoma, extracranial complications occurred twice in the form of Bezold's abscess. This type of the complication of otitis media occurs extremely rare. Medical literature has recorded about 20 cases of such complications. Due to commonly applied antibiotic therapies, extracranial and intracranial complications are rarely recorded in the course of otitis media, their mortality rate, however, amounts to a dozen or so per cent. The paper presents the way in witch the infection of otitis media spreads towards the neck. The authors stress the significance of computer tomography in diagnostic. Radical mastoidectomy and exploration of the neck were performed on the patient. Antibiotic regimens were based on antimicrobial sensitivity patterns. Presently, the patients is under constant laryngologist observation.

An increasing body of experimental evidence indicates the slow character of internal dynamics of native proteins. The important consequence of this is that theories of chemical reactions, used hitherto, appear inadequate for description of most biochemical reactions. Construction of a contemporary, truly advanced statistical theory of biochemical processes will need simple but realistic models of microscopic dynamics of biomolecules. In this review, intended to be a contribution towards this direction, three topics are considered. First, an intentionally simplified picture of dynamics of native proteins which emerges from recent investigations is presented. Fast vibrational modes of motion, of periods varying from 10(-14) to 10(-11) s, are contrasted with purely stochastic conformational transitions. Significant evidence is adduced that the relaxation time spectrum of the latter spreads in the whole range from 10(-11) to 10(5) s or longer, and up to 10(-7) s it is practically quasi-continuous. Next, the essential ideas of the theory of reaction rates based on stochastic models of intramolecular dynamics are outlined. Special attention is paid to reactions involving molecules in the initial conformational substrates confirmed to the transition state, which is realized in actual experimental situations. And finally, the two best experimentally justified classes of models of conformational transition dynamics, symbolically referred to as "protein glass" and "protein machine", are described and applied to the interpretation of a few simple biochemical processes, perhaps the most important result reported is the demonstration of the possibility of predominance of the short initial condition-dependent stage of protein involved reactions over the main stage described by the standard kinetics. This initial stage, and not the latter, is expected to be responsible for the coupling of component reactions in the complete enzymatic cycles as well as more complex processes of biological free energy transduction.

The slow character of conformational transition dynamics in native proteins, recently becoming more and more apparent, makes conventional theories of chemical reactions inapplicable for the description of enzymatic reactions. Any contemporary statistical theory of biochemical processes has to be based on a possibly simple but realistic model of microscopic dynamics of participating biomolecules. In a model considered in this paper the dynamics of enzymatic protein is approximated by a quasi-continuous diffusive motion of its solid-like structural elements relative to each other. The enzymatic reaction is assumed to involve three steps (a covalent tranformation preceded and followed by association-dissociation processes with the substrate and the product), each step being gated by conformational diffusion. In general, the reaction proceeds in three stages: initial, transient and steady-state. Carefully approximated analytical formulae describing the kinetics in each stage are derived. In the limit of the fast internal dynamics of the enzyme, when compared to the local chemical transformations, the initial stage of reaction, dependent on the initial distribution of enzyme conformations, is absent and all the formulae describing the remaining two stages simplify to those provided by the classical theory of Haldane. However, following recent studies, the rule seems to be that it is the conformational dynamics of the enzyme, and not the details of chemical mechanism, that affects the rate of enzymatic reaction. Apart from the possibility of the initial inhomogeneous kinetics, the important result obtained in the limit of slow conformational dynamics is that the kinetic mechanisms of a reaction differ in general between the transient and steady-state stages. Possibilities of carrying out an experimentum crucis directly discrediting the conventional approach are considered.

A patient in age 68 years with malignant fibrohistiocytoma of the larynx was surgically treated in the department of Otolaryngology, Medical University in Cracow. Fibrohistiocytoma is very rare tumor of the larynx. The diagnosis was supported by immunohistochemical examination. In the course of treatment were observed local relapses and neck metastases.

We present historical review of pharyngooesophageal reconstruction after resection for carcinoma and pharynx and oesophagus stenosis. This paper presents development and complications after surgical treatment of pharynx and oesophagus. The most important of pharynx and oesophagus resection is reconstructive surgery.

Great progress in studies of protein dynamics in the past decade propels an essential alteration in our understanding of the enzymatic catalysis phenomenon. A careful analysis of assumptions made by the hitherto used conventional theory of chemical reactions shows that neither of them is in fact satisfied. One of the reasons is the presence of a slow interconformational dynamics within the protein native state. In consequence, the simple classical statement "enzymes accelerate reactions by decreasing the free energy of activation" represents only half of the truth. Enzymatic reactions actually proceed through 'gates' of relatively low free energy but it is not the process of activated gate crossing that limits the reaction rate, but the process of generally non-activated gate opening, controlled by the conformational relaxation. Possible consequences of this fact are pointed out.

The present paper deals with an application of a three-stage classifier based on a decision tree logic to the diagnosis of acute abdominal pain. On the basis of clinical information collected from a series of 476 patients suffering from abdominal pain of acute onset, the method of multistage classifier synthesis is presented. The results of classification accuracy using a modified version of k-nearest neighbours strategy for different features used at interior nodes of a tree are given.

This paper describes the basic concept of a multistage classifier and gives the results of the application of this approach to the diagnosis of vibratory syndrome and other diseases with similar symptoms. The multistage classifier was applied to classification of the most informative symptoms at particular stages of classification.