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Level of public finances decentralization in European Union countries
PublikacjaResearch background: Despite of the universality of the implementation in democratic countries the principle of decentralization resulting from the belief that it is an instrument to improve the efficiency of public funds management, both the scope of public services and the level of decentralization in individual countries are not identical. Purpose of the article: Comparison the scope of fiscal decentralization...
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Association of Genes Related to Oxidative Stress with the Extent of Coronary Atherosclerosis
PublikacjaOxidative stress is believed to play a critical role in atherosclerosis initiation and progression. In line with this, in a group of 1099 subjects, we determined eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to oxidative stress (PON1 c.575A>G, MPO c.463G>A, SOD2 c.47T>C, GCLM c.590C>T, NOS3 c.894G>T, NOS3 c.786T>C, CYBA c.214C>T, and CYBA c.932A>G) and assessed the extent of atherosclerosis in coronary arteries based on...
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Electronic structure calculations in electrolyte solutions: Methods for neutralization of extended charged interfaces
PublikacjaDensity functional theory (DFT) is often used for simulating extended materials such as infinite crystals or surfaces, under periodic boundary conditions (PBCs). In such calculations, when the simulation cell has non-zero charge, electrical neutrality has to be imposed, and this is often done via a uniform background charge of opposite sign (“jellium”). This artificial neutralization does not occur in reality, where a different...
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COVID-19 and digital deprivation in Poland
PublikacjaResearch background: The problem of digital deprivation is already known, but the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted its negative consequences. A global change in the way of life, work and socialisation resulting from the epidemic has indicated that a basic level of digital integration is becoming necessary. During the lockdown, people were forced to use ICTs to adapt to a rapidly changing reality. Current experience with coronavirus...
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Mathematical Modeling of Ice Dynamics as a Decision Support Tool in River Engineering
PublikacjaThe prediction of winter flooding is a complicated task since it is affected by many meteorological and hydraulic factors. Typically, information on river ice conditions is based on historical observations, which are usually incomplete. Recently, data have been supplemented by information extracted from satellite images. All the above mentioned factors provide a good background of the characteristics of ice processes, but are not...
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Opitmalising Human Development Index with sensitivity analysis
PublikacjaResearch background: Composite indicators are commonly used not only to measure economic development, the standard of livin g, competitiveness, fairness, effectiveness but are also willingly implemented in to many different fields. How- ever, it seems that in most cases the variable weig hting procedure is avoided or erroneous since in most cases so-called “wights by belief” are...
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The non-invasive evaluation of heart function in patients with an acute myocardial infarction: The role of impedance cardiography
PublikacjaBackground: The purpose of this study was to analyze hemodynamic changes in patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) at an early stage of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and at one-month follow-up. Methods: Patients with AMI (n = 27) who underwent PCI were analyzed using impedance cardiography (ICG). ICG data were collected continuously (beat by beat) during the whole PCI procedure and thereafter at every...
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Detecting Apples in the Wild: Potential for Harvest Quantity Estimation
PublikacjaKnowing the exact number of fruits and trees helps farmers to make better decisions in their orchard production management. The current practice of crop estimation practice often involves manual counting of fruits (before harvesting), which is an extremely time-consuming and costly process. Additionally, this is not practicable for large orchards. Thanks to the changes that have taken place in recent years in the field of image...
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Segmentation Quality Refinement in Large-Scale Medical Image Dataset with Crowd-Sourced Annotations
PublikacjaDeployment of different techniques of deep learning including Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) in image classification systems has accomplished outstanding results. However, the advantages and potential impact of such a system can be completely negated if it does not reach a target accuracy. To achieve high classification accuracy with low variance in medical image classification system, there is needed the large size of the...
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Determinants of trade balance in Polish and Czech manufacturing sectors
PublikacjaResearch background: A strong industrial base is essential for achieving long-term sustainable economic growth and export competitiveness. In that sense, manufacturing remains a significant contributor to exports in the CEE countries. However, its role and its influence vary between CEE economies and change over time. Purpose of the article: The main objective of this paper is to compare the determinants of the international competitiveness,...
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Waveguide model of the hearing aid earmold system
PublikacjaBackground The earmold system of the Behind-The-Ear hearing aid is an acoustic system that modifies the spectrum of the propagated sound waves. Improper selection of the earmold system may result in deterioration of sound quality and speech intelligibility. Computer modeling methods may be useful in the process of hearing aid fitting, allowing physician to examine various earmold system configurations and choose the optimum one...
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Waveguide model of the hearing aid earmold system
PublikacjaBackground The earmold system of the Behind-The-Ear hearing aid is an acoustic system that modifies the spectrum of the propagated sound waves. Improper selection of the earmold system may result in deterioration of sound quality and speech intelligibility. Computer modeling methods may be useful in the process of hearing aid fitting, allowing physician to examine various earmold system configurations and choose the optimum one...
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A Mammography Data Management Application for Federated Learning
PublikacjaThis study aimed to develop and assess an application designed to enhance the management of a local client database consisting of mammographic images with a focus on ensuring that images are suitably and uniformly prepared for federated learning applications. The application supports a comprehensive approach, starting with a versatile image-loading function that supports DICOM files from various medical imaging devices and settings....
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O07 Filaggrin insufficiency renders keratinocyte-derived small extracellular vesicles capable of affecting CD1a-mediated T-cell responses and promoting allergic inflammation
PublikacjaThe association between FLG loss-of-function mutations and the development of atopic dermatitis (AD) indicates that filaggrin is critical to skin barrier function; the mutations are also linked to additional allergic manifestations, but it is unknown how the skin may influence inflammation in distant tissues. Here we investigated the impact of filaggrin insufficiency on keratinocyte-derived exosome-enriched small extracellular...
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Volatile Organohalogen Compounds Determination with Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction Applying Solvent Lighter than Water
PublikacjaBackground: Volatile organohalogen compounds (VOX) are a group of environmental pollutants that risk the quality of drinking water. These compounds are characterized by certain acute and chronic toxicities, possessing mutagenic properties. Because of these potential risks factors that these compounds cause, the maximum allowable concentrations (MACs) have been established by respective organizations. The abundance of VOX, their...
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Social convergence in Nordic countries at regional level
PublikacjaResearch background: Geographical proximity, common historical roots and collaboration within the Nordic Council cause the Nordic countries to be often wrongly treated as monoliths. However, in reality, Nordic regions differ in terms of broadly defined social and economic development. Issues concerning the standard of living are one of the priorities of the Helsinki Treaty signed by Nordic countries. Purpose of the article: The...
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An Analysis of Contextual Aspects of Conceptualization: A Case Study and Prospects
PublikacjaIn this chapter we present a new approach to development of modularized knowledge bases. We argue that modularization should start from the very beginning of modeling, i.e. from the conceptualization stage. To make this feasible, we propose to exploit a context-oriented, semantic approach to modularization. This approach is based on the Structural Interpretation Model (SIM) presented earlier elsewhere. In the first part of thischapter...
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Characterization of exceptionally thermostable single-stranded DNA-binding proteins from Thermotoga maritima and Thermotoga neapolitana
PublikacjaBACKGROUND: In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in SSBs because they find numerous applications in diverse molecular biology and analytical methods.RESULTS: We report the characterization of single-stranded DNA binding proteins (SSBs) from the thermophilic bacteria Thermotoga maritima (TmaSSB) and Thermotoga neapolitana (TneSSB). They are the smallest known bacterial SSB proteins, consisting of 141 and 142 amino...
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Application of adjusted subpixel method (ASM) in HRCT measurements of the bronchi in bronchial asthma patients and healthy individuals
PublikacjaBackground: Recently, we described a model system which included corrections of high-resolution computedtomography (HRCT) bronchial measurements based on the adjusted subpixel method (ASM).Objective: To verify the clinical application of ASM by comparing bronchial measurements obtained bymeans of the traditional eye-driven method, subpixel method alone and ASM in a group comprised ofbronchial asthma patients and healthy individuals.Methods:...
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Morphometric evaluation of the delayed cerebral arteries response to acetazolamide test in patients with chronic carotid artery stenosis using computed tomography angiography
PublikacjaBackground: The evidence accumulates that the response to acetazolamide test is delayed on the ipsilateral side to stenosis. However, the effect of acetazolamide beyond 30 minutes after acetazolamide administration remains unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the diameters of: anterior cerebral arteries (ACAs), middle cerebral arteries (MCAs) and posterior cerebral arteries (PCAs) before and 60 minutes after the acetazolamide...
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Microbial diversity of inflamed and noninflamed gut biopsy tissues in inflammatory bowel disease.
PublikacjaBACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic gastrointestinal condition without any known cause or cure. An imbalance in normal gut biota has been identified as an important factor in the inflammatory process. METHODS: Fifty-eight biopsies from Crohn's disease (CD, n = 10), ulcerative colitis (UC, n = 15), and healthy controls (n = 16) were taken from a population-based case-control study. Automated ribosomal intergenic...
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Photocatalytic activity of zinc oxide nanorods incorporated graphitic carbon nitride catalyst
PublikacjaBackground Photocatalysts are user-friendly and serve as compatible materials for degrading industrial dye pollutants. This study utilizes zinc oxide/graphitic carbon nitride (ZnO/g-C3N4) nanocomposites against degrading methylene blue (MB). Methods The hydrothermal method assisted sonication technique was used to fabricate the ZnO/g-C3N4 composite with varying ratios of ZnO/g-C3N4 (1:0.25, 1:0.50, 1:1). The synthesized materials...
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Current advances in membrane processing of wines: A comprehensive review
PublikacjaBackground Membrane-based operations, especially pressure-driven membrane operations, are today well-established procedures for various applications in the wine industry thanks to their intrinsic properties and undoubted advantages over traditional methods. Emerging membrane processes, such as pervaporation, electrodialysis and osmotic distillation, forward osmosis, membrane contactors, offer new and interesting perspectives to...
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Labour share and income inequalities in the European Union, taking into account the level of development of economies
Publikacjaesearch background: The relationship between labour share and income inequality is a complex and multifaceted problem. Despite ongoing discussions among economists, there is still no consensus on the direction of the relationship between labour share and income ine-quality. Purpose of the article: The article aims to assess the impact of labour share on income inequal-ity, which is measured in three ways: the Gini index...
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Hybrid Laboratory of Radio Communication With Online Simulators and Remote Access
PublikacjaContribution: Two toolsets for the remote teaching of radio communication laboratory classes: 1) online simulators for individual work of students and 2) a remote access system to laboratory workstations for group work. Initial assumptions and method of implementation of both tools are presented. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a change in teaching at all levels of education. The specificity of practical classes, such...
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The atlas of inequality aversion: theory and empirical evidence on 55 countries from the Luxembourg Income Study database
PublikacjaResearch background: In the distributive analysis, the constant relative inequality aversion utility function is a standard tool for ethical judgements of income distributions. The sole parameter ε of this function expresses a society’s aversion to inequality. However, the profession has not committed to the range of ε. When assessing inequality and other welfare characteristics, analysts assume an arbitrary level of ε, common...
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Rethinking Sustainable Cities at Night: Paradigm Shifts in Urban Design and City Lighting
PublikacjaSince the establishment of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, various perspectives on sustainable cities have been developed and adopted in order to achieve a better and more sustainable future. However, background research has revealed that these goals and targets are limited because they do not take into account the growing body of lighting-related research in diverse fields...
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Remote Work Support Needs of Employees with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Poland: Perspectives of Individuals with Autism and Their Coworkers
PublikacjaBackground and Aims: With remote work becoming more common across industries, employees with autism may experience different work support needs from neurotypical peers. However, the specific remote work needs of this group of employees are underexplored in the literature. We aim to propose ways to assess workplace digital adaptation needs for individuals with autism and a framework for communicating these needs to employers. Methods:...
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DIAGNOSTIC INFORMATION ANALYSIS OF QUICKLY CHANGING TEMPERATURE OF EXHAUST GAS FROM MARINE DIESEL ENGINE PART I SINGLE FACTOR ANALYSIS
PublikacjaIn this paper, attention was paid to the problem of low controllability of marine medium- and high-speed engines during operation, which significantly limits the parametric diagnosis. The measurement of quickly changing temperature of engine exhaust gas was proposed, the courses of which can be a source of diagnostic information. The F statistic of the Fisher-Snedecor distribution was chosen as a statistical tool. Laboratory tests...
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Higher Responsiveness to Rosuvastatin in Polygenic versus Monogenic Hypercholesterolemia: A Propensity Score Analysis
PublikacjaBackground: The monogenic defect in familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is detected in ∼40% of cases. The majority of mutation-negative patients have a polygenic cause of high LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C). We sought to investigate whether the underlying monogenic or polygenic defect is associated with the response to rosuvastatin. Methods: FH Individuals were tested for mutations in LDLR and APOB genes. A previously established LDL-C-specific...
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In vivo imaging of the human eye using a two-photon excited fluorescence scanning laser ophthalmoscope
PublikacjaBACKGROUND. Noninvasive assessment of metabolic processes that sustain regeneration of human retinal visual pigments (visual cycle) is essential to improve ophthalmic diagnostics and to accelerate development of new treatments to counter retinal diseases. Fluorescent vitamin A derivatives, which are the chemical intermediates of these processes, are highly sensitive to UV light; thus, safe analyses of these processes in humans...
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Seasonal changes of mercury speciation in the coastal sediments
PublikacjaPurpose Mercury speciation in sediments is linked to environmental conditions and processes. Domination of particular mercury species depends on its source, displays considerable seasonal behavior, and may be further modified due to oxygen levels, icing conditions, or the input of fresh organic matter. The purpose of this study was to examine the coastal area of the Gulf of Gdańsk in terms of mercury contamination and the influence...
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Chemical Derivatization Processes Applied to Amine Determination in Samples of Different Matrix Composition
PublikacjaAmines are important biological compounds, and so their analysis and monitoring in various matrices is worthy of investigation and development.Due to the polar nature of amines, chromatographic analysis of free amines is generally unsatisfactory owing to adsorption and decomposition of the solute on the column, resulting in peak tailing and losses. Therefore, many derivatization reactions are employed to reduce the polarity, improve...
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A multi‑criteria approach to investigate spatial distribution,sources, and the potential toxicological effect of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments of urban retention tanks
PublikacjaBottom sediments deposited in retention tanks (RTs) located on two urban streams (Oliwski and Strzyza) in the central part of Gdansk (Poland) were analysed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons’ (PAHs) content. PAHs were extracted from samples with methylene chloride, then the extracts were subjected to clean-up applying the solid phase extraction (SPE) method. Quantitative and qualitative determination of 16 PAHs was performed...
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Analysis of the influence of polystyrene microplastics and their derivatives on the DNA of human colon epithelial cells HT29 with the comet assay
PublikacjaWe have been using plastic for almost a century and nowadays a lot of them circulates as pollutants in the environment and still defragmenting to micro and nanoscale. The exposition through the food chain and its precise impact on human health is still not clear. In our study, we tested real food packaging after contact with food products and real thermoinsulation and environmental samples of polystyrene in different model liquids,...
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Water retention curves of sandy soils obtained from direct measurements, particle size distribution, and infiltration experiments
PublikacjaAccurate information about soil water retention curves (SWRCs) of sands is essential for evaluating groundwater recharge and vulnerability to contamination in many shallow sandy aquifers which are widespread on post glacial areas in Northern Europe and North America. Pedotransfer functions (PTFs) allow to estimate SWRC from basic physical characteristics of soils, such as textural composition. However, in the case of clean sands...
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Anticancer Properties of Amino Acid and Peptide Derivatives of Mycophenolic Acid
PublikacjaBackground: Although Mycophenolic Acid (MPA) is applied as prodrugs in clinic as an immunosuppressant, it also possesses anticancer activity. MPA acts as Inosine-5’-Monophosphate Dehydrogenase (IMPDH) inhibitor, where the carboxylic group at the end of the side chain interacts with Ser 276 of the enzyme via hydrogen bonds. Therefore, MPA derivatives with other polar groups indicated high inhibition too. On the other hand, potent...
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A new concept of PWM duty cycle computation using the Barycentric Coordinates in a Three-Dimensional voltage vectors arrangement
PublikacjaThe paper presents a novel approach to the Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) duty cycle computing for complex or irregular voltage vector arrangements in the two (2D) and three–dimensional (3D) Cartesian coordinate systems. The given vectors arrangement can be built using at least three vectors or collections with variable number of involved vectors (i.e. virtual vectors). Graphically, these vectors form a convex figure, in particular,...
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Multifactor consciousness level assessment of participants with acquired brain injuries employing human–computer interfaces
PublikacjaBackground A lack of communication with people suffering from acquired brain injuries may lead to drawing erroneous conclusions regarding the diagnosis or therapy of patients. Information technology and neuroscience make it possible to enhance the diagnostic and rehabilitation process of patients with traumatic brain injury or post-hypoxia. In this paper, we present a new method for evaluation possibility of communication and the...
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Burnout as a State: Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Relationship Between Exhaustion and Disengagement in a 10-Day Study
PublikacjaBackground: Burnout has been traditionally seen as a chronic and stable state in response to prolonged stress. However, measures of momentary burnout are not well established, even though the within-person approach suggests that the symptoms of burnout may vary from day to day for the same employee. The aim of this study is to examine the daily inter- and intra-personal variability of the symptoms of burnout and the cross-lagged relationship...
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Folate/homocysteine metabolism and lung cancer risk among smokers
PublikacjaBackground: Folate and homocysteine are involved in DNA synthesis and methylation processes, which are deregulated during carcinogenesis. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between folate/homocysteine concentrations, the functional polymorphisms of folate/homocysteine genes and lung cancer risk among cigarette smokers. Study design: The study included 132 lung cancer patients and 396 controls from...
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Stereoselective Alkylation of Indole with 5-Arylidene-Meldrum’s Acids in the Presence of Organocatalysts
PublikacjaBackground: Indole motif is frequently present in biologically active compounds. Enantiomerically pure or enriched 2,2-dimethyl-5-(aryl(1H-indol-3-yl)methyl)-1,3-dioxane-4,6-diones can be considered as a convenient starting point for the synthesis of a indole ring fused with cyclic ketones with biological activity. Preparation of chiral 2,2-dimethyl-5-(aryl(1H-indol-3-yl)methyl)-1,3-dioxane- 4,6-diones requires the reaction of...
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Selected adipocytokines in patients with an incidentally discovered pheochromocytoma
PublikacjaBACKGROUND: Adipose tissue secretes many adipokines and cytokines, which may be an additional risk factor of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in patients with an incidentally discovered pheochromocytoma (PHEO). The aim of the study was to investigate levels of selected adipocytokines in these patients. METHODS: This prospective study included 12 patients with an incidentally discovered PHEO and 18 healthy participants. In...
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Effect of the integration into Global Value Chains on the employment contract in Central and Eastern European countries
PublikacjaResearch background: In the era of globalization, there is a need to address decent work deficits in Global Value Chains (GVCs). The forms of working conditions reveal a broad dispersion of contents. The literature review exposes hardly any Europe-focused research assessing the socioeconomic impact of global production links and going beyond their pure economic effects assessed in terms of employment, productivity or wages. Purpose...
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Habitat-related patterns of soft-bottom macrofaunal assemblages in a brackish, low-diversity system (southern Baltic Sea)
PublikacjaCoastal areas provide a high variety of sedimentary habitats that influence the structure of resident fauna even on small geographical scales. Therefore, examinations of spatial variations in benthic assemblages require background knowledge of the environmental and biotic heterogeneity of habitats in order to understand ecological processes in such areas. The effect of habitat-related abiotic and biological variables on macrofaunal...
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Synthesis, characteristics, and photocatalytic activity of zinc oxide nanoparticles stabilized on the stone surface for degradation of metronidazole from aqueous solution
PublikacjaAbstract Background: The presence of antibiotics such as metronidazole in wastewater even at low concentrations requires searching for a suitable process such as advanced oxidation process (AOP) to reduce the level of pollutants to a standard level in water. Methods: In this study, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were synthesized by thermal method using zinc sulfate (ZnSO4) as a precursor, then, stabilized on stone and was used...
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Transcriptomic landscape of blood platelets in healthy donors
PublikacjaBACKGROUND Blood platelet RNA-sequencing is increasingly used among the scientific community. Aberrant platelet transcriptome is common in cancer or cardiovascular disease, but reference data on platelet RNA content in healthy individuals are scarce and merit complex investigation. METHODS We sought to explore the dynamics of platelet transcriptome. Datasets from 204 healthy donors were used for the analysis of splice variants,...
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Drug-drug interaction potential of antitumor acridine agent C-1748: The substrate of UDP-glucuronosyltransferases 2B7, 2B17 and the inhibitor of 1A9 and 2B7
PublikacjaBackground The compound 9-(2′-hydroxyethylamino)-4-methyl-1-nitroacridine (C-1748), the promising antitumor agent developed in our laboratory was determined to undergo phase I metabolic pathways. The present studies aimed to know its biotransformation with phase II enzymes – UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) and its potential to be engaged in drug-drug interactions arising from the modulation of UGT activity. Methods UGT-mediated...
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Production of fuel briquette from solid waste biomass using natural resin as a binder
PublikacjaBackground: This research aimed to evaluate the use of natural resin as a binder for the production of fuel briquette from solid waste biomass.Methods: Proximate analyses were made for fuel briquette prepared from solid waste biomass using natural resin as a binder in comparison with using starch as a binder.Results: The results for density, percent content of moisture, percent content of volatile matter, percent...
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Evaluating the risk of endometriosis based on patients’ self-assessment questionnaires
PublikacjaBackground Endometriosis is a condition that significantly affects the quality of life of about 10 % of reproductive-aged women. It is characterized by the presence of tissue similar to the uterine lining (endometrium) outside the uterus, which can lead lead scarring, adhesions, pain, and fertility issues. While numerous factors associated with endometriosis are documented, a wide range of symptoms may still be undiscovered. Methods In...