Selenium concentrations in human renal cortex, liver, and hair in northern Poland.

The aim of this study was to (1) determine the selenium concentration in the renal cortex, liver, and hair in 64 residents from northern Poland (Gdansk region) aged 17-81 yr, who died suddenly, and (2) assess whether a correlation between the selenium concentration in hair and in the renal cortex and liver occurs. Selenium was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry using the hydride generation method. The mean selenium concentration in the renal cortex, liver, and hair in the investigated persons was 0.791+/-0.191 microg/g (wet weight), 0.289+/-0.084 microg/g (wet weight), and 0.443+/-0.128 microg/g, respectively. No age-dependent differences in selenium level in the investigated tissues was found. Also, no correlation between the selenium concentrations in hair and in renal cortex and liver was assessed.

Selenium levels in human plasma and hair in northern Poland.

The aim of this study was to (1) estimate the concentration of selenium in the plasma of 146 residents (65 men and 81 women) and in the hair of 34 persons from the Gdansk region in northern Poland, aged 19-70 and (2) compare the obtained results with data corresponding to healthy populations living in different European countries. Selenium in plasma was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry using the hydride generation method. The mean selenium concentration in plasma of the investigated persons was 73.3 +/- 14.1 microg/L, 76.7 +/- 13.2 microg/L in men, and 70.4 +/- 14.7 microg/L in women. No age - dependent differences in plasma selenium were found in the investigated population. In 20% of the investigated persons, the selenium level in plasma was lower than 60 microg/L. The mean selenium concentration in hair was 0.30 +/- 0.11 microg/g. A positive, statistically significant correlation between selenium concentrations in the plasma and hair of the investigated persons was found. The obtained results indicate that the selenium level in significant part of this population is suboptimal and should be elevated by supplementation with this element.

[Development of the concept of evaluation in educational programmes]. / Rozwój projecia ewaluacji w programach edukacyjnych.

The term evaluation has only recently found its place in educational terminology, in Poland. As in other domains, it has now become established, but even today there are studies in which such terms as control or assessment of teaching, without mentioning evaluation, are used. In the leading Polish education dictionary by Okon from 1984, there is no entry under evaluation. However, the concept of educational evaluation has been taken up in many pedagogic works by the 1990. The precise functions, the object of evaluation and the information needed should be well defined with respect to the evaluated programme. A ISO the criteria must be spelled out and the values of the planners and of the consumers ought to be concordant. This paper attempts to show the trends and the developing concepts in educational evaluation and their significant at the time of Poland's accession to the European Union.

Oligo(A) and double-stranded segments in polyadenylated and non-polyadenylated RNA from cytoplasm and nuclei of chick embryo.

Chick embryonic RNA was fractionated by affinity chromatography on oligo(dT)-cellulose and poly(U)-Sepharose into three classes: poly(A)+RNA containing poly(A) segments of 100 and more residues, poly(A)-oligo(A)+RNA containing oligo(A) segments of about 25 residues, and poly(A)-oligo(A)-RNA which bound to neither of the beds used and which contained double-stranded segments of 300 and more base pairs. These three classes of RNA were found in cytoplasmic as well as in heterogeneous nuclear RNA. Double-stranded segments in hnRNA, unlike those in cytoplasmic RNA, were intermolecular in nature; this may explain the occurrence of "giant" molecules in hnRNA.