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The study was aimed at investigations of the relationships growth-climate at two oak species growing in forests of north-western Poland; the red oak, the most abundant deciduous tree species of foreign origin, in terms of the appearance sites and surface, and the common oak, the most abundant domestic oak species. The research material were samples taken with a Pressler increment borer from 51 oak trees from two research plots. Within the surfaces selected, trees grow in a fresh forest habitat, in the floral association of the lowland fertile beech forest, also called the Pomerania beech forest, with plants characteristic for the association of the lowland humid beech forest with mercuries, encountered only in the Puszcza Bukowa (Beech Forest). The trees investigated were in good and very good health conditions, only scarce branch and bough deadwood could be observed in the canopies. On the basis of measurements of the annual growth widths, three local chronologies were constructed; two for the red oak and one for the common oak. After the indexation, they were used for dendroclimatical analyses; signature years, correlation and response function. The red oaks forming the shortest chronology (79-year-long pattern representing ca. 90-year-old trees) exhibited the narrowest mean annual increments (1.27 mm), in comparison to the longer chronologies (156 and 151 years in length, the increment widths 1.55 and 1.59 mm, respectively). This could be due to relatively high density of the tree stand, formation of the second stage, beneath the main canopies, as well as lack sufficient amount of the sunlight for the red oaks from that research plot. At both the species analysed, the predominating factor affecting the annual growth widths proved to be the amount of precipitation in the growth season, particularly in June and July, as well and thermal conditions of October of the year preceding the vegetation season in question. In the time of present climatic changes, as well as shifting ranges of the species of plants and animals (including insect pests of the forest trees), knowledge of the relation growth-climate for one of the foreign trees, most often introduced in Poland, characterized by fast growth, resistance on insect pests, and high quality of wood, becomes highly important for the forest management, particularly at planning seedlings, of which effects would be possible to evaluate in over 100 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2004-2006, 50 trees of downy oak (Quercus pubescens), pedunculate oak (Q. robur) and sessile oak (Q. petraea) were sampled in the Bielinek Nature Reserve. The following chronologies were established from their tree-ring series: OMS of 212 years (1793-2004) for downy oaks well as D10 of 183 years (1817-1999) and D13 of 211 years (1789-1999) for the two indigenous oak species pedunculate and sessile oak, respectively. These chronologies were used for signature years and response function analyses. All three chronologies were highly similar, which points to identical responses to the ambient meteorological conditions. The radial increment of downy oak depends primarily on the amount of precipitation. A high annual sum of precipitation, copious rain in spring-summer in particular, results in wide tree rings. Precipitation in form of rain and snow in winter, too, enhance tree growth by raising the groundwater level and improving the water supply in the habitat during the subsequent spring. Droughts in spring and summer, coupled with high air temperature, result in narrow rings. The tree-ring width/climate relationships at the two indigenous oak species are very similar to those of downy oak. Responses are, however, more distinct and with a higher statistical significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the influence of varying climatic conditions on radial growth of Scots Pine in the area of Western Pomerania. The research was aimed to evaluate the influence of air temperature and precipitation on dimensions of radial growth of the analysed tree species. The investigations demonstrated high dependence of the annual growth width upon temperature in winter and the beginning of spring. Precipitation influenced the annual growth in summer months, particularly in June and July. In the site with high level of ground water (very humid forest habitat) the rainfall had a negative effect on the annual growth width - contrary to the other analysed sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of non-invasive tools in conjunction with artificial intelligence (AI) to detect diseases has the potential to revolutionize healthcare. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) is a technology that can be used to analyze biological samples in a non-invasive manner. This study evaluated the use of NIR spectroscopy in the fingertip to detect neutropenia in solid-tumor oncologic patients. A total of 75 patients were enrolled in the study. Fingertip NIR spectra and complete blood counts were collected from each patient. The NIR spectra were pre-processed using Savitzky–Golay smoothing and outlier detection. The pre-processed data were split into training/validation and test sets using the Kennard–Stone method. A toolbox of supervised machine learning classification algorithms was applied to the training/validation set using a stratified 5-fold cross-validation regimen. The algorithms included linear discriminant analysis (LDA), logistic regression (LR), random forest (RF), multilayer perceptron (MLP), and support vector machines (SVMs). The SVM model performed best in the validation step, with 85% sensitivity, 89% negative predictive value (NPV), and 64% accuracy. The SVM model showed 67% sensitivity, 82% NPV, and 57% accuracy on the test set. These results suggest that NIR spectroscopy in the fingertip, combined with machine learning methods, can be used to detect neutropenia in solid-tumor oncology patients in a non-invasive and timely manner. This approach could help reduce exposure to invasive tests and prevent neutropenic patients from inadvertently undergoing chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suppressor gene research is one of the main current trends in modern cancer research. Oncogenesis, including colorectal cancer (CRC), is a process strictly dependent on the proper functioning of the suppressor genes and their proteins. The molecular genetic studies of hereditary cases and sporadic forms of cancer conducted for several years have revealed that a significant feature of the occurrence and progression of neoplastic changes is silencing of the expression of tissue-specific suppressor genes. Restoring the proper activity of the respective suppressor proteins plays a key role in anti-cancer prevention and gives hope for the development of effective personalised therapy. This review presents the latest reports on the molecular mechanisms regulating the expression, activity, and function of suppressor genes, which were silenced in tissues and cell lines of colorectal cancer, and restoration of their correct expression inhibited the proliferation and invasion of CRC cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim of the research: To investigate whether the polymorphisms of GSTP1, GSTT1 and GSTM1 genes are associated with colorectal cancer in a sample of Polish patients with and without type 2 diabetes. Material and methods: Over 200 patients aged > 40 years were recruited and divided into 4 age-matched groups: patients with diagnosed type 2 diabetes, patients with diagnosed type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer, patients with colorectal cancer and without type 2 diabetes and patients without type 2 diabetes and without colorectal cancer. DNA for genetic testing was isolated from blood samples. The GST gene polymorphism was examined using qPCR method, with TaqMan probes. It included GSTP1 SNP Ile105Val (rs1695) polymorphism, and deletion of copies of GSTT1 and GSTM1 genes (genotypes GSTT1 null/null and GSTM1 null/null). Results: The analysis of the frequency of GST gene polymorphisms in the group of patients with type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer compared to patients with type 2 diabetes showed no statistically significant differences. There were also no statistically significant differences in the distribution of GST gene polymorphisms between patients with diabetes or/and colorectal cancer and population without these diseases. Conclusions: Extending the analysis to further genetic and environmental factors and taking into account their mutual interactions is needed to search for the relationship between type 2 diabetes and an increased risk of colorectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This high-resolution, multiproxy, palaeoenvironmental study of the Słowińskie Błota raised bog in N Poland, 10 km from the Baltic Sea, covering the last 1200 years reveals different aspects of environmental change in a range of spatial scales from local to regional. Testate amoebae allowed quantitative reconstruction of the local water table using a transfer function based on a training set from N and W Poland. Special attention is paid to the testate amoeba Arcella discoides, which responds to rapid water-table fluctuations more than to average surface wetness. Macrofossils supported by local pollen tracked the local vegetation dynamics caused by local human impact and disturbance, including nutrients. Regional pollen showed human-induced landscape change outside the bog. Tree rings of Pinus sylvestris reflected the history of tree establishment and desiccation of the bog. Strong correlations between DCA axes 1 of regional pollen, of macrofossils and of testate amoebae, and a testate-amoebae-based water-table reconstruction that excludes A. discoides, indicate that changes on all spatial scales are linked, which is explained by a strong hydrologic connection between bog and surroundings. The combination of proxies shows that groundwater levels were modified by both human impact and climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) is a serious complication associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. Heat-shock protein 27 (HSP27) plays a role in the defense of the kidney tissue against various forms of cellular stress, including hypoxia and oxydative stress, both features associated with CI-AKI. The aim of our study was to evaluate a potential predictive value of HSP27 for CI-AKI in patients subjected to percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). Included were 343 selected patients subjected to PCI. Exclusion criteria were conditions that potentially might influence HSP27 levels. HSP27 serum levels were evaluated prior to PCI, together with serum creatinine, the concentration of which was also evaluated twice at 48 and 72 h post PCI. CI-AKI was diagnosed in 9.3% of patients. Patients in whom CI-AKI was diagnosed were older (p < 0.001), were more often females (p = 0.021), had higher prevalence of diabetes (p = 0.011), hypotension during PCI (p < 0.001), albuminuria (p = 0.004) as well as multivessel disease (p = 0.002), received higher contrast volume (p = 0.006), more often received contrast volume (CV) above the maximum allowed contrast dose (MACD) (p < 0.001), and had lower HSP27 level (p < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, CV > MACD (OR 1.23, p = 0.001), number of diseased vessels (OR 1.27, p = 0.006), and HSP27 (OR 0.81, p = 0.001) remained independent predictors of CI-AKI. Low concentration of HSP27 is an emerging, strong and independent predictor of CI-AKI in patients subjected to PCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]