Short-Lived Human Umbilical Cord-Blood-Derived Neural Stem Cells Influence the Endogenous Secretome and Increase the Number of Endogenous Neural Progenitors in a Rat Model of Lacunar Stroke

Stroke is the leading cause of severe disability, and lacunar stroke is related to cognitive decline and hemiparesis. There is no effective treatment for the majority of patients with stroke. Thus, stem cell-based regenerative medicine has drawn a growing body of attention due to the capabilities for trophic factor expression and neurogenesis enhancement. Moreover, it was shown in an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model that even short-lived stem cells can be therapeutic, and we have previously observed that phenomenon indirectly. Here, in a rat model of lacunar stroke, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the positive therapeutic effects of short-lived human umbilical cord-blood-derived neural stem cells (HUCB-NSCs) through the distinct measurement of exogenous human and endogenous rat trophic factors. We have also evaluated neurogenesis and metalloproteinase activity as cellular components of therapeutic activity. As expected, we observed an increased proliferation and migration of progenitors, as well as metalloproteinase activity up to 14 days post transplantation. These changes were most prominent at the 7-day time point when we observed 30 % increases in the number of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-positive cells in HUCB-NSC transplanted animals. The expression of human trophic factors was present until 7 days post transplantation, which correlated well with the survival of the human graft. For these 7 days, the level of messenger RNA (mRNA) in the analyzed trophic factors was from 300-fold for CNTF to 10,000-fold for IGF, much higher compared to constitutive expression in HUCB-NSCs in vitro. What is interesting is that there was no increase in the expression of rat trophic factors during the human graft survival, compared to that in non-transplanted animals. However, there was a prolongation of a period of increased trophic expression until 14 days post transplantation, while, in non-transplanted animals, there was a significant drop in rat trophic expression at that time point. We conclude that the positive therapeutic effect of short-lived stem cells may be related to the net increase in the amount of trophic factors (rat + human) until graft death and to the prolonged increase in rat trophic factor expression subsequently

Represje władz komunistycznych wobec radomskiego proboszcza ks. Jana Wiącka

Rev. dr Jan Wiącek (1900—1973) was a cleric of the Sandomierz diocese. Wiącek was a parish priest in Radom for 13 years, and then in Koprzywni­ca near Sandomierz for another 20 years. He started leading the parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Radom-Glinice in the summer of 1941 under the Nazi occupation. After the war ended, he continued to build the local church. In 1949, Bishop Jan Lorek, the ordinary of the Sandomierz diocese, put him in charge of the parish of the Care of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Radom; Wiącek also served as a dean. It was thanks to him that the parish repaid large pre-war debts. He was first troubled by restrictions on the part of state authorities in 1950. Initially these included financial sanctions (dis- proportionately high taxes). The authorities also wanted to forcibly accom- modate additional tenants in the presbytery. Rev. Wiącek was intimidated, harassed by night phone calls and threatened. The authorities insisted that Wiącek should join the movement of the so-called "patriotic priests" who supported the government and criticised the Church hierarchy. When he flatly refused, state authorities demanded that he be removed from his po- sition. To this end, they used the decree of 9 February 1953. Bishop Lorek defended Rev. Wiącek by submitting appeals to central authorities. The dispute lasted eight months; faced with pressure, the bishop finally granted Rev. Wiącek a period of leave. In February 1954 he transferred Wiącek to the parish in Koprzywnica. Despite efforts made after the political thaw of late 1956/early 1957, the state authorities did not allow him to return to Radom.Ks. dr Jan Wiacek (1900-1973) był duchownym diecezji sandomierskiej. Przez 13 lat był proboszczem w Radomiu, a następnie przez kolejne 20 lat w Koprzywnicy koło Sandomierza. Proboszczem parafii Najświętszego Serca Jezusowego w Radomiu-Glinicach został w okresie okupacji niemieckiej latem 1941 r. Po zakończeniu wojny kontynuował budowę tamtejszego kościoła parafialnego. W 1949 r. bp Jan Lorek, ordynariusz diecezji sandomierskiej mianował go proboszczem eksponowanej parafii Opieki Najświętszej Maryi Panny w Radomiu, pełnił także funkcję dziekana. Jego zasługą było spłacenie sporych, przedwojennych długów parafii. Restrykcje ze strony władz państwowych dotknęły go w 1950 r. Początkowo były to sankcje finansowe (niewspółmiernie wysokie podatki). Władze chciały także przymusowo dokwaterować na plebanię dodatkowych lokatorów. Próbowano go zastraszyć, nękano nocnymi telefonami i pogróżkami. Naciskano, by włączył się w działania ruchu tzw. „księży patriotów”, wspierających władze państwowe i występujących z krytyką hierarchii kościelnej. Kiedy stanowczo odmówił, władze państwowe zażądały usunięcia go ze stanowiska. Do tego celu wykorzystano dekret z 9 lutego 1953 r. Bp Lorek bronił ks. Wiącka, kierował odwołania do władz centralnych. Spór trwał osiem miesięcy, a w końcu przymuszony hierarcha udzielił ks. Wiąckowi urlopu. W lutym 1954 r. przeniósł go na probostwo w Koprzywnicy. Mimo podejmowanych starań po odwilży politycznej na przełomie 1956/1957 r. władze państwowe nie dopuściły do jego powrotu do Radomia

The Attitude of State Authorities Towards the Roman Catholic Church in Opatów District in the Years 1933–1939

W artykule przedstawiono jak w świetle sprawozdań starosty prezentował się Kościół rzymskokatolicki na terenie powiatu opatowskiego w latach 1933-1939. Niektóre informacje uzupełniono dokumentami z archiwów kościelnych. Problematykę zgrupowano wokół dwóch kwestii: problemów wewnętrznych Kościoła oraz styku spraw publicznych i wyznaniowych. W tej pierwszej grupie mieściły się uroczystości kościelne, inwestycje budowlane, ale też konflikty w parafiach, problemy dotyczące bezpieczeństwa oraz zmiany personalne. Uwagę starostów zwracały obchody z udziałem biskupów. Sporo miejsca poświęcono świętu Chrystusa Króla, patronującego Akcji Katolickiej oraz rocznicom koronacji papieża Piusa XI. Sygnalnie pojawiały się informacje o rekolekcjach i misjach parafialnych oraz zakonach zaangażowanych w ich przeprowadzenie. Rzadko wspominano o pielgrzymkach oraz inwestycjach budowlanych. Władze państwowe interesowały się konfliktami, do których dochodziło w parafiach. W sprawozdaniach odnotowano kilka napadów bandyckich na plebanie i duchownych oraz wybryki chuligańskie i profanacje. Zmiany personalne w obsadzie placówek duszpasterskich zauważane były w przypadku proboszczów, a wyjątkowo wikariuszy. W drugiej części artykułu przedstawiono tematykę dotyczącą społeczno-politycznej aktywności duchownych. Starostowie odnotowywali udział księży w uroczystościach patriotycznych i świeckich. Czasem pojawiały się wzmianki o nabożeństwach związanych z zawodami sportowymi. Analizowano echa aktualnych wydarzeń politycznych oraz obchodów związanych z kultywowaniem pamięci o marszałku Józefie Piłsudskim. Zwracano uwagę na wpływy Stronnictwa Narodowego wśród duchowieństwa i oddziaływanie na młodzież katolicką. Pojawiały się wiadomości o konfliktach kleru z radykalnym, sanacyjnym Legionem Młodych. Odnotowywano spory między duchowieństwem rzymskokatolickim i polskokatolickim. Uwagę zwróciło kilka publicznych wypowiedzi duchownych skierowanych przeciw Żydom, krytykujących ich zachowanie podczas procesji Bożego Ciała. W latach trzydziestych odnotowano przypadki postaw antysemickich związanych z bojkotem żydowskich placówek handlowych. The article outlines the image of Roman Catholic Church in Opatów District in the years 1933–1939 in the light of the reports of starostes (district/country level official administrators). Some information was supplemented with documents from church archives. The subject matter concerns two issues: the Church’s internal problems and the intersection of public and religious affairs. The former group included church celebrations, construction projects, but also conflicts in parishes, security issues and personnel changes. The starostes’ attention was drawn to the celebrations with the participation of the bishops. Much space was devoted to the feast of Christ the King, the patron saint of Catholic Action, and the anniversaries of the coronation of Pope Pius XI. There were announcements about parish retreats and missions and the religious orders involved. Pilgrimages and construction projects were rarely mentioned. The state authorities were interested in the conflicts that occurred in the parishes. The reports noted several bandit attacks on parsonages and clergy, as well as vandalism and profanity. Personnel changes in the staffing of pastoral offices were noted for parish priests, and occasionally for vicars. The second part of the article presents topics on the socio-political activity of the clergy. The starostes noted the participation of priests in patriotic and secular ceremonies. Occasionally there were references to services related to sports competitions. Echoes of current political events and celebrations related to the cultivation of the memory of Marshal Józef Piłsudski were analysed. Attention was paid to the influence of the National Party among the clergy and the impact on Catholic youth. Information about conflicts between the clergy and the radical Sanation-oriented Youth Legion was also included in the research material. Disputes between the Roman Catholic and Polish Catholic clergy were noted. Attention was drawn to several public statements by clerics against Jews, criticizing their behaviour during the Corpus Christi procession. In the 1930s, there were cases of anti-Semitic attitudes related to boycotts of Jewish retail establishments

Titles of Mo Yan’s books in translation into closer and farther languages: Is nature or culture the main cause of changes?

Translating titles is one of the most complex problems that translation researchers (primarily those working in a literary field) may encounter. For many reasons, which I outline in the introduction to the present paper, the original meaning of a title often undergoes much greater modifications than in other places of the translated text. The object of my investigation are changes – some radical – that occurred in the translations of 12 titles of novels and short story collections by the Chinese author and Nobel Prize winner Mo Yan, which were rendered into languages both close to us geographically and culturally (European ones: Romanic and Germanic) and farther in this respect (Asian tongues: Japanese and Korean). Based on a combined analysis of the translated titles and interviews with some of their (co-)authors, an extensive taxonomy of various causes of these changes is proposed. A crucial question, which unfortunately cannot be answered fully in this paper, concerns the nature-culture dilemma: do the modifications result mainly from the translator’s nature (personality or even simply temperament) or from the culture s/he lives in (i.e. the editorial/translational title-giving custom)

Implementation of a miniaturized sensor system using screen-printed carbon electrodes for on-site detection of MDMA in seized drugs

3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly known as ecstasy, is a widely abused psychoactive substance, especially in the context of club and party scenes. Due to its prevalence and the associated health risks, rapid and reliable methods for its detection are essential, particularly for forensic investigations. This study presents the development of a portable sensor system for the detection of MDMA using screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCE) and square wave voltammetry (SWV) technique. The SPEs were manually fabricated in the laboratory, and the electrochemical behavior of MDMA was thoroughly characterized, with special attention given to the influence of pH on the oxidation process. The method was optimized for quantitative analysis with a detection limit of 0.5 µM and a linear range of 2.5–50 µM. The sensor demonstrated high reproducibility, satisfactory precision (intra-day CV%: 2.1–7.1 %; inter-day CV%: 5.4–6.3 %), and excellent recovery rates (89–105 %). The system was successfully applied to the analysis of authentic ecstasy samples, and the results were consistent with those obtained by the reference UHPLC-DAD method. The fully manual fabrication, cost-effectiveness, and low detection limits of this sensor system, combined with its simplicity, portability, and reliability, suggest its strong potential as an effective and accessible tool for on-site MDMA detection in forensic applications, even in resource-limited settings

Versatile optimization-based speed-up method for autofocusing in digital holographic microscopy

We propose a speed-up method for the in-focus plane detection in digital holographic microscopy that can be applied to a broad class of autofocusing algorithms that involve repetitive propagation of an object wave to various axial locations to decide the in-focus position. The classical autofocusing algorithms apply a uniform search strategy, i.e., they probe multiple, uniformly distributed axial locations, which leads to heavy computational overhead. Our method substantially reduces the computational load, without sacrificing the accuracy, by skillfully selecting the next location to investigate, which results in a decreased total number of probed propagation distances. This is achieved by applying the golden selection search with parabolic interpolation, which is the gold standard for tackling single-variable optimization problems. The proposed approach is successfully applied to three diverse autofocusing cases, providing up to 136-fold speed-up

Mn-based methacrylated gellan gum hydrogels for MRI-guided cell delivery and imaging

This work aims to engineer a new stable injectable Mn-based methacrylated gellan gum (Mn/GG-MA) hydrogel for real-time monitored cell delivery into the central nervous system. To enable the hydrogel visualization under Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), GG-MA solutions were supplemented with paramagnetic Mn2+ ions before its ionic crosslink with artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF). The resulting formulations were stable, detectable by T1-weighted MRI scans and also injectable. Cell-laden hydrogels were prepared using the Mn/GG-MA formulations, extruded into aCSF for crosslink, and after 7 days of culture, the encapsulated human adipose-derived stem cells remained viable, as assessed by Live/Dead assay. In vivo tests, using double mutant MBPshi/shi/rag2 immunocompromised mice, showed that the injection of Mn/GG-MA solutions resulted in a continuous and traceable hydrogel, visible on MRI scans. Summing up, the developed formulations are suitable for both non-invasive cell delivery techniques and image-guided neurointerventions, paving the way for new therapeutic procedures.Sílvia Vieira acknowledges the FCT Ph.D. scholarship (SFRH/BD/102710/2014). J. Miguel Oliveira and J. Silva-Correia acknowledge the FCT grants under the Investigator FCT program (IF/01285/2015 and IF/00115/2015, respectively). The authors also acknowledge the funds provided under the project NanoTech4ALS, funded under the EU FP7 M-ERA.NET program, and ESF (POWR.03.02.00-00-I028/17-00)