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This article discusses the housing situation of Holocaust survivors returning to post-war Kraków and Łódź – cities which were home to two of the largest pre-war Jewish communities in Poland, and which were not destroyed during the Second World War. The author indicates and describes factors which shaped the housing situation, including wartime and post-war displacements, the plunder of Jewish property during and after the war, Polish legislation regarding its restitution, as well as the post-war housing policy of the Polish state. Personal literary accounts by Jewish people reveal not only the creation and functioning of ‘camp families,’ but also the peculiar, neighbourly communities full of tensions, misunderstandings and, sometimes, violence.

When a new EU directive on municipal waste management was implemented in Poland over 5 years ago, there were practically no IT systems on the market allowing for comprehensive support of this process. Significant changes revealed a number of problems that the municipalities had to face and are facing today, trying to create an integrated system of waste management. IT systems used by municipal units before the amendment of the act have been proved insufficient to be able to efficiently manage the collection of waste from residents. The new regulations significantly influenced, among others, the process of information flow between entities in the waste management system. New participants in the municipal waste management process have been introduced, which from that moment has had to be dealt with by municipal units - the entire organization of the waste collection process and information activities in this area fell on the municipalities. This article presents the results of research on IT systems used in municipalities and its needs in this area. These surveys were carried out using a questionnaire sent to municipalities in the Silesian Voivodeship. Its aim was to identify the features and functions that should be met by the IT system, allowing for comprehensive management of the new municipal waste management system.

Purpose: Dual energy computed tomography (DECT) is a new method of computed tomography (CT) imaging, allowing the assessment of not only the object's morphology, but also its composition. The aim of the study was to evaluate the potential of in vitro DECT evaluation of urinary stones' chemical composition. Material and methods: Six samples of surgically removed renal stones were scanned using DECT and analyzed by scanner vendor software. Uric acid stones were marked red and calcium stones white by the software. The real composition of the stones was finally verified using physicochemical laboratory analysis. Results: In 5 out of 6 samples, the composition of stones in DECT (3 samples identified as uric acid and 2 samples as calcium) was consistent with the physicochemical analysis (3 samples identified as uric acid, 1 as calcium phosphate, 1 as calcium oxalate). In DECT it was not possible to determine more precisely the type of calcium compounds (calcium phosphate vs. calcium oxalate) as established in the physicochemical analysis. In one stone identified in physicochemical analysis as uric acid, DECT detected a composite layered structure containing both uric acid and calcium compounds. Conclusions: DECT allows uric acid to be distinguished from calcium urinary tract stones, which is crucial in the choice of appropriate therapy. Using the available hardware and software, it was not possible to more accurately distinguish types of calcified stones. Evaluation of the stone type in DECT may be limited in the case of mixed chemical composition.

Bacterial meningitis is a major diagnostic and therapeutic problem among children and neonates, with severe, rapidly progressing course and potentially life-threatening complications. Early antibacterial treatment is essential for the patient’s favorable prognosis. Cerebral imaging plays an important role in the diagnostic process alongside physical examination and laboratory tests. Magnetic resonance imaging is the gold standard for diagnosing bacterial meningitis. Because of limited availability of magnetic resonance imaging, cranial ultrasound is the first imaging procedure to be performed (if the anterior fontanelle is preserved providing an adequate acoustic window). The safety and reliability of ultrasound examination, possibility to perform the examination at bedside without the need for sedation make cranial ultrasound a useful tool both for preliminary diagnostic investigation and for the monitoring of both treatment and long-term complications. Sonographic findings in patients with bacterial meningitis and possible complications are diverse. Changes can be seen on the surface of the brain, in the extra-axial space, in the ventricular system and in brain tissue. In some cases they can also be visible in the lumbosacral segment of the spinal cord. This paper presents ultrasound characteristics of lesions associated with bacterial meningitis in neonates and infants, based on the authors’ own material and data from the available literature.

Summary Background The aim of this study was to evaluate the alterations in the neoplastic tissue of GIST following Imatinib treatment. Material/Methods CT studies of 14 patients with inoperable primary tumors and 56 patients with metastatic and recurrent disease after chemotherapy were analyzed retrospectively. The following alterations in features of primary and secondary tumors were analyzed: dimension, degree and type of contrast enhancement, outlines of lesions, presence of intratumoral bleeding, presence of calcifications. Results In the analyzed group of primary, metastatic and recurrent tumors after treatment with Imatinib in most cases a decrease in size and contrast enhancement were observed; the outlines of lesions became well circumscribed. Following the treatment, the number of tumors enhancing inhomogeneously decreased. In primary tumors the percentage of calcifications increased, whereas in metastatic tumors calcifications were observed only after treatment. There was no bleeding found within primary tumors after treatment. In metastatic disease, increased percentage of tumors with transient intratumoral bleeding was observed. There were also some unconventional CT images following treatment, such as: cystic transformation of lesions, enlargement of lesions, appearing of new lesions suggesting progression of the disease, stationary dimensions of lesions during local progression of the disease, simultaneous decrease and increase in size of metastatic lesions or appearance of new ones. Conclusions Right from the start of Imatinib therapy in inoperable and disseminated GIST patients, specific CT images, not seen during conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy, were observed.

On 28 December 1944, the Central Jewish Historical Commission (CŻKH) was established at a meeting, During the first few months of its life, a dense network of regional branches was established, with five voivodship commissions (in Kraków, Wrocław, Warsaw, Białystok and Katowice) and twenty-one lower-level local commissions. The Kraków branch launched intensive efforts in many areas as soon as it was established. In a report on his July 1945 inspection there, CŻKH representative Noe Grüss declared: “The Central Jewish Historical Commission looks with pride and satisfaction at the works of the Kraków Commission, which is the only unit so far to have exceeded the task of gathering materials and became a co-author of the great work of recording the tragedy of Polish Jewry”.The archives of the Kraków Commission, deposited at the Jewish Historical Institute, are the wealthiest of the regional Central Commission records held there. Its contents attests to the vigorous efforts of the Kraków branch, the value of the research done by it, and it also warrants the hypothesis about its unique accomplishments, confirmed by subsequent scientific careers of its employees.