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Nanotechnology offers new tools for developing therapies to prevent and treat oral infections, particularly biofilm-dependent disorders, such as dental plaques and endodontic and periodontal diseases. Chlorhexidine (CHX) is a well-characterized antiseptic agent used in dentistry with broad spectrum activity. However, its application is limited due to inactivation in body fluid and cytotoxicity toward human cells, particularly at high concentrations. To overcome these limitations, we synthesized nanosystems composed of aminosilane-coated magnetic nanoparticles functionalized with chlorhexidine (MNP@CHX). In the presence of human saliva, MNPs@CHX displayed significantly greater bactericidal and fungicidal activity against planktonic and biofilm-forming microorganisms than free CHX. In addition, CHX attached to MNPs has an increased ability to restrict the growth of mixed-species biofilms compared to free CHX. The observed depolarization of mitochondria in fungal cells treated with MNP@CHX suggests that induction of oxidative stress and oxidation of fungal structures may be a part of the mechanism responsible for pathogen killing. Nanoparticles functionalized by CHX did not affect host cell proliferation or their ability to release the proinflammatory cytokine, IL-8. The use of MNPs as a carrier of CHX has great potential for the development of antiseptic nanosystems.

Stroke is the second cause of death and more importantly first cause of disability in people over 40 years of age. Current therapeutic management of ischemic stroke does not provide fully satisfactory outcomes. Stroke management has significantly changed since the time when there were opened modern stroke units with early motor and speech rehabilitation in hospitals. In recent decades, researchers searched for biomarkers of ischemic stroke and neuroplasticity in order to determine effective diagnostics, prognostic assessment, and therapy. Complex background of events following ischemic episode hinders successful design of effective therapeutic strategies. So far, studies have proven that regeneration after stroke and recovery of lost functions may be assigned to neuronal plasticity understood as ability of brain to reorganize and rebuild as an effect of changed environmental conditions. As many neuronal processes influencing neuroplasticity depend on expression of particular genes and genetic diversity possibly influencing its effectiveness, knowledge on their mechanisms is necessary to understand this process. Epigenetic mechanisms occurring after stroke was briefly discussed in this paper including several mechanisms such as synaptic plasticity; neuro-, glio-, and angiogenesis processes; and growth of axon.

The preparation of Polish Air Force cadets for survival in isolation is a necessary element of their training, to demonstrate just how difficult can be the conditions they could encounter in a combat situation. Objective. The aim of the research was to assess the effect of long-term survival training on selected coordination motor skills in Air Force cadets. Fifteen air force cadets aged 19.6±0.3 years exercised for 36 hours during survival training without the possibility to sleep. They were examined 4 times: Day 1 - before effort (training), Day 2 - after 24 hours training, Day 3 - directly after 36 hours training, Day 4 - next day, after an all night rest. They were examined for shooting and reaction time, the ability to maintain body balance, running motor adjustment, handgrip force differentiation, and on Days 1 and 3, exercise capacity was evaluated with a 1 mile walking test. The survival training resulted in significant decreases in maximum handgrip strength, corrected 50% max handgrip, maintenance of body balance and heart rate. No changes occurred in reaction time, running motor adjustment and shooting performance. Overnight rest did not result in recovery of any of the examined factors to the values observed on Day 1. Survival training combined with sleep deprivation mostly affected peripheral factors depending on strong action from both muscles and nervous system, whereas complex tasks involving short-term central alertness and moderate exertion were maintained. In order to improve performance, more endurance strength training, if possible combined with sleep deprivation, should be introduced in military training.

Metallic biomaterials in the oral cavity are exposed to many factors such as saliva, bacterial microflora, food, temperature fluctuations, and mechanical forces. Extreme conditions present in the oral cavity affect biomaterial exploitation and significantly reduce its biofunctionality, limiting the time of exploitation stability. We mainly refer to friction, corrosion, and biocorrosion processes. Saliva plays an important role and is responsible for lubrication and biofilm formation as a transporter of nutrients for microorganisms. The presence of metallic elements in the oral cavity may lead to the formation of electro-galvanic cells and, as a result, may induce corrosion. Transitional microorganisms such as sulfate-reducing bacteria may also be present among the metabolic microflora in the oral cavity, which can induce biological corrosion. Microorganisms that form a biofilm locally change the conditions on the surface of biomaterials and contribute to the intensification of the biocorrosion processes. These processes may enhance allergy to metals, inflammation, or cancer development. On the other hand, the presence of saliva and biofilm may significantly reduce friction and wear on enamel as well as on biomaterials. This work summarizes data on the influence of saliva and oral biofilms on the destruction of metallic biomaterials.

In Poland drug programmes developed by the Minister of Health and financed by the National Health Fund are special reimbursement frameworks of innovative, expensive, and mostly hospital based medical products used for a small number of patients. The research presented in this paper is based on data analysis published by the National Health Fund in Poland. The analysis focused on estimating public payer expenditure on drugs available within drug programmes from 2015 to 2018. In subsequent years, reimbursement of drugs used within drug programmes was associated with the National Health Fund budget expenditure of 635 mln USD, 755 mln USD, 854 mln USD, and 921 mln USD, respectively. Reimbursement of oncology drug programmes constituted 48.1%, 42.5%, 47.1%, and 52.4% and were approximately 305, 312, 402, 483 mln USD, whereas values of non-oncology drug programmes were approximately 330, 434, 452, and 438 mln USD which constituted 51.9%, 57.5%, 52.9%, and 47.6% respectively. Despite the fact that the expenditure on drug programs in Poland are increasing every year, they undoubtedly improve the patient's access to the most innovative oncological and nononcological therapies in the Polish healthcare system.

The paper presents the results of in vitro studies of fretting and fretting corrosion processes of Ti6Al4V implant alloy in the environment of natural saliva and self-made mucin-based artificial saliva solutions. The study was performed on a specially designed fretting pin-on-disc tester, which was combined with a set used for electrochemical research. The open circuit potential measurements and potentiodynamic method were used for corrosion tests. The worn surfaces were subjected to microscopic observations and an evaluation of wear. Results were interpreted using the dissipated energy and third-body approaches. The X-ray diffraction analysis showed that titanium oxides constitute over 80% of the friction products. Special attention was paid to the role of saliva and its substitutes, which in certain cases can lead to the intensification of fretting wear. On the basis of the received results, a new phenomenological model of fretting corrosion processes was proposed. This model involves the formation of an abrasive paste that is a combination of metal oxides and the organic components of saliva.

The synovial fluid is responsible for adequately lubricating, moisturizing, and nutritional human joints. This liquid should have appropriate viscoelastic properties and ensure a low coefficient of friction in biotribological systems. Many artificial synovial fluid preparations used in viscosupplementation treatments are based on hyaluronic acid. This work aimed to evaluate the influence of molecular weight on the functional properties of solutions based on hyaluronic acid. 1% solutions based on hyaluronic acid with five different molecular weights from 50,000 Da to 2 MDa were made. Rheological (viscosity, viscoelasticity), tribological (coefficient of friction, wear assessment), and wettability tests were carried out. Significant differences were observed in the rheological tests, where the viscosity strictly depends on the molecular weight of the hyaluronic acid. It has been shown that the molecular weight of HA has little effect on the coefficient of friction. On the other hand, the differences in the tribological wear are much more significant. The molecular weight of biopolymers is one of the essential parameters in developing new artificial synovial fluids. Using a higher molecular weight of hyaluronic acid increases viscosity and wettability, resulting in less tribological wear.

Purpose Angiopoietin-like protein 4 (ANGPTL4) regulates lipid metabolism by inhibiting lipoprotein lipase activity and stimulating lipolysis in adipose tissue. The aim of this study was to find out whether the mountain ultra-marathon running influences plasma ANGPTL4 and whether it is related to plasma lipid changes. Methods Ten healthy men (age 31 ± 1.1 years) completed a 100-km ultra-marathon running. Plasma ANGPTL4, free fatty acids (FFA), triacylglycerols (TG), glycerol (Gly), total cholesterol (TC), low (LDL-C) and high (HDL-C) density lipoprotein-cholesterol were determined before, immediately after the run and after 90 min of recovery. Results Plasma ANGPTL4 increased during exercise from 68.0 ± 16.5 to 101.2 ± 18.1 ng/ml ( p  < 0.001). This was accompanied by significant increases in plasma FFA, Gly, HDL-C and decreases in plasma TG concentrations ( p  < 0.01). After 90 min of recovery, plasma ANGPTL4 and TG did not differ significantly from the exercise values, while plasma FFA, Gly, TC and HDL-C were significantly lower than immediately after the run. TC/HDL-C and TG/HDL-C molar ratios were significantly reduced. The exercise-induced changes in plasma ANGPTL4 correlated positively with those of FFA ( r  = 0.73; p  < 0.02), and HDL-C ( r  = 0.69; p  < 0.05). Positive correlation was found also between plasma ANGPTL4 and FFA concentrations after 90 min of recovery ( r  = 0.77; p  < 0.01). Conclusions The present data suggest that increase in plasma FFA during mountain ultra-marathon run may be involved in plasma ANGPTL4 release and that increase in ANGPTL4 secretion may be a compensatory mechanism against fatty acid-induced oxidative stress. Increase in plasma HDL-C observed immediately after the run may be due to the protective effect of ANGPTL4 on HDL.

The article presents the assumptions of a new specialist thyroid package (PS1) in outpatient specialist care in the field of endocrinology, which was introduced by the National Health Fund (NFZ – Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia) from January 2020. It became an impulse to characterize the current problems affecting specialist care in the field of endocrinology, search for their potential causes and propose strategies that are intended to contribute to increasing the efficiency of the system.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of titanium bone fixations on mitochondrial activity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, glutathione metabolism, and selected markers of oxidative/nitrosative stress in the periosteum-like tissue of patients treated with mandible fractures. The study group consisted of 30 patients with bilateral fractures of the mandible body eligible for surgical treatment. Our study is the first one that indicates disturbances of mitochondrial activity as well as a higher production of ROS in the periosteum-like tissue covering titanium fixations of the mandible. We also found significantly higher levels of reduced glutathione and enhanced activity of glutathione reductase in the periosteum homogenates of patients in the study group compared to the control group. Levels of nitrosative (S-nitrosothiols, peroxynitrite, nitrotyrosine) and oxidative stress biomarkers (malondialdehyde, protein carbonyls, dityrosine, kynurenine, and N-formylkynurenine) were statistically elevated in periosteum-like tissue covering titanium fixations. Although exposure to titanium fixations induces local antioxidant mechanisms, patients suffer oxidative damage, and in the periosteum-like tissue the phenomenon of metallosis was observed. Titanium implants cause oxidative/nitrosative stress as well as disturbances in mitochondrial activity.