Nonlinear dynamic system identification using Chebyshev functional link artificial neural networks.

A computationally efficient artificial neural network (ANN) for the purpose of dynamic nonlinear system identification is proposed. The major drawback of feedforward neural networks, such as multilayer perceptrons (MLPs) trained with the backpropagation (BP) algorithm, is that they require a large amount of computation for learning. We propose a single-layer functional-link ANN (FLANN) in which the need for a hidden layer is eliminated by expanding the input pattern by Chebyshev polynomials. The novelty of this network is that it requires much less computation than that of a MLP. We have shown its effectiveness in the problem of nonlinear dynamic system identification. In the presence of additive Gaussian noise, the performance of the proposed network is found to be similar or superior to that of a MLP. A performance comparison in terms of computational complexity has also been carried out.

[Determination of content of zinc and cooper in table and therapeutic mineral water]. / Ocena zawartosci cynku i miedzi w stolowych wodach mineralnych i leczniczych.

Mineral table water and therapeutic water are good sources of macro- and microelement. Increase of consumption and variety of kinds of mineral water was the reason for undertaking this research. Contents of zinc and copper were determined in 13 kinds of mineral table water and in 12 kinds of therapeutic water by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry method (AAS) in Pye-Unicam SP0192 apparatus, after earlier concentration. Content of copper in mineral table water was from 0.4 microgram/l in "Krynica Zdrój" water to 11 micrograms/l in "Mazowszanka" water and in therapeutic water and from 1.7 micrograms/l to 22.6 micrograms/l. Content of zinc in mineral table water was from 7 micrograms/l to 640 micrograms/l and in therapeutic water was from 24 micrograms/l to 88 micrograms/l.

[Effect of intensive prenatal and diabetic care on newborn of diabetic mothers--14 years of observation]. / Wplyw intensywnej opieki polozniczo-diabetologicznej na losy noworodków matek chorych na cukrzyce--14 lat obserwacji.

UNLABELLED: Modern management of pregnancies complicated by maternal diabetes mellitus has in view delivery at term an healthy child with correct body mass and in good metabolic condition. THE AIM: Of our work was estimation of influence of intensive prenatal and diabetical cares on frequency of occurrence of failures and complications at newborns of mothers with pregestational diabetes mellitus delivered in period from 1987 to 2000. Study include 228 of newborns of diabetic mothers of class B-RF according to White, born in our hospital between 25 and 40 weeks of pregnancy. In aim of estimation of percentage of perinatal mortality, congenital malformations, prematurity, hyper- and hypotrophy in examined population of new-born children of mothers with PGDM, material was subdivided into 3 groups in 4 and 5-years intervals: group I (n = 96) 1987-1990, group II (n = 72) 1991-1995, group III (n = 60) 1996-2000r. RESULTS: Systematical decrease of percentage of perinatal mortality in examined groups from 7.3% to 5.0% was ascertained. There was a significant association between decreasing of number of congenital malformations in investigated new-born population from 12.5% to 5.0% and 2,5-times increasing of percentage of women with PGDM managed by combined team of diabetologist and obstetricians before conception. We observed an essential decreasing of percentage of prematurity in investigated material from 51.6% to 20.0%. Percentage of births of new-born children with macrosomy on space analysed of years was comparable. (13.7%, 14.1% and 15.0%) in spite of increasing of percentage of childbirths at term from to 80%. We did not ascertain increasing of percentage of incidents of IUGR. The percentage of IUGR in investigated groups carried out 5.3%, 5.6% and 5.0% in spite 2-times increasing of percentage of births of children of mothers with diabetes in class R and RF according to the White classification. CONCLUSIONS: Well controlled diabetes, intensive management of diabetic women by combined team of diabetologists and obstetricians on space 14 of years of activity of our Department due to decreasing of percentage of: perinatal mortality from 7.3% to 5.0%, congenital malformations from 12.5% to 5.0% and premature deliveries from 51.6% to 20.0% in population of new-born children of mothers with PGDM.

[Total magnesium in serum and cerebrospinal fluid in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]. / Magnez calkowity w surowicy krwi i plynie mózgowordzeniowym pacjentów ze stwardnieniem bocznym zanikowym.

The significance of trace elements in the aetiopathogenesis of ALS is still unknown. Magnesium plays an essential role in fundamental cellular reactions. The aim of this study was to estimate total magnesium concentration in serum and cerebrospinal fluid of ALS patients. 15 persons with ALS and 12 controls took part in the examination. Magnesium was determined by spectrophotometric atomic-absorption method. Total magnesium concentration in serum of ALS patients was statistically insignificant lower than in the control group, but in cerebrospinal fluid was it statistically insignificantly higher than in the control group. Outcomes of our own investigations do not show any essential role of magnesium in the aetiopathogenesis of ALS.

[Exposure to toxocariasis and tularemia among workers at Bialowieza National Park]. / Zagrozenia tokosokaroza i tularemia pracowników Bialowieskiego Parku Narodowego.

Everyday contact of the workers of Bialowieza sanctuary with animals may create a risk of infection by microorganisms attacking animals. The reported study was undertaken for carrying out an epidemiological analysis of tularemia and toxocarosis in this group of workers. Tularaemia infection was not found in then. In 12% of these workers antibodies to Toxocara canis were found, and fire workers had articular borreliosis. Antibodies to taxocara were disclosed in 10% of the Bialowieza population not employed in the sanctuary and 30% of the population of the village Kruklanka in the Pisz Forests. The workers of the Bialowieza Sanctuary are not exposed to Toxocara canis infection more than the remaining population of Bialowieza and the population in the Kruklanka village in a region far from Bialowieza.

[Substantiation of the use of implantation method in surgical reinnervation of kidney transplant]. / Obosnovanie primeneniia implantatsionnogo metoda khirurgicheskoi reinnervatsii pochechnogo transplantata.

New operative method of surgical reinnervation of transplanted kidney was elaborated, experimentally substantiated on 39 mongrel dogs and used in 26 recipients of allonephrotransplants in three transplantation centres. The efficacy and security for recipient of the proposed combined implantation in sinus of transplanted kidney of atraumatically mobilized iliac vegetative plexuses consisting of fascia-adventitia strip-like flaps and lower hypogastric nerves of recipient zone with the neuroterminals preserved was noted. The method may be used independently and in combination with method of nephrogangliotransplantation.

Substrate-dependent cadmium toxicity affecting energy-linked K+/86Rb transport in Staphylococcus aureus.

Bacteria accumulate high amounts of potassium in the cytoplasm. For studying transport of K+ (with 86Rb as a marker) in bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus 17810S), the cells were depleted of the internal K+ pool by a DNP treatment. Kinetics and energetics of 86Rb transport was assayed with glucose as an exogenous energy source. It was shown that 86Rb uptake proceeded via a low affinity K+ transport system with an apparent K(m) of 2.3 mmol/L Rb+. Studies with the lipophilic cation TPP+ (tetraphenylphosphonium), the protonophore CCCP (carbonyl cyanide 3-chlorophenylhydrazone) and inhibitors (HQNO--2-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline N-oxide; iodoacetate) indicated that 86Rb transport was driven by delta psi (membrane potential) generated via the respiratory chain. The effect of Cd2+ on 86Rb transport was assayed with two energy donors--glucose and L-lactate. It was found that Cd2+ strongly inhibited delta psi-dependent 86Rb transport energized by cadmium-sensitive glucose oxidation, but was not toxic when cadmium-insensitive L-lactate was used as an energy source. The mechanism of these differential, substrate-dependent effects of Cd2+ on 86Rb transport is discussed.

Addressing the needs of a clinical service in the operational constraints of commissioning.

Limited resources, increased demand and current commissioning structures has put the rationalisation of health care high on the agenda. Any prioritisation process needs to be clinically led and client driven so reactive ad hoc arrangements are minimised and structures for good practice enabled. This paper argues that the current context be used as an opportunity to critically evaluate the services speech and language therapy aim to provide. By defining our aims and demonstrating the range and boundaries of our effect we can be proactive in structuring our services appropriately. Such an exercise currently underway in City and Hackney is outlined which aims to: describe an optimum structure for provision and the resources required, propose possible models within current resource and highlight the gap between the two.

[Lead, cadmium, copper and zinc content in vegetables, gooseberry fruit and soil from gardening plots of Lublin]. / Zawartosc olowiu, kadmu, miedzi i cynku w warzywach, owocach agrestu oraz glebie ogrodów dzialkowych Lublina.

Lead, cadmium, copper and zinc contents in vegetables, fruits of gooseberries and in soil of Lublin gardening plots "Pionier" and "Podzamcze" both situated along heavy traffic streets, and "Pionier" additional to the close vicinity of automobile factory were determined by atomic absorption spectrophofometry. Statistical analysis of the results respected the streets or factory distances from the gardening plots, and the species of the vegetables. Levels of the determined elements in the most of the samples were lower than permitted by the Ministry of Health Regulation established in 1993. According to that Regulation a slight exceeding of zinc content in the red beetroots and in the overground parts of the leak were found. Lead content in the parsley root and in the dill was close to the tolerance limit. Both lead and cadmium of the soil of "Podzamcze" gardening plot significantly exceeded the levels considered as tolerable for unpolluted grounds, whereas the soil of "Pionier" contained lead close to limit of tolerance level.

Sub- and supercritical fluid chromatography on packed columns: a versatile tool for the enantioselective separation of basic and acidic drugs.

Various chiral stationary phases were investigated in sub- and supercritical fluid chromatography for the separation, without derivatization, of basic (beta-blockers, benzodiazepines) and acidic (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, beta-agonists) pharmaca. For all racemates, baseline separation was achieved within short analysis times. For several solutes, the high resolution obtained allowed injection of milligram amounts and semipreparative collection of the enantiomers. The parameters affecting enantioselectivity (column efficiency, influence of modifiers and basic or acidic additives, and temperature) have been studied. Enantiomerization of 3-OH-benzodiazepines could be suppressed by working at low temperatures or by using acetonitrile as a comodifier. Serial coupling of different chiral stationary phase columns resulted in a column triplet (Chiralpak AD, an amylose derivative; Chiralcel OD, a cellulose derivative; and Chirex 3022, a Brush-type with pi-donor characteristics) on which all solutes investigated could be baseline separated.

[Evaluation of heavy metal contamination of potatoes from various regions of Poland]. / Ocena skazenia metalami ciezkimi krajowych ziemniaków pochodzacych z róznych rejonówn Polski.

Mercury, cadmium and lead contents were determined in 210 samples of potatoes of five cultivars, originating from four regions of Poland (Tarnobrzeg Province, Southern Region, Middle-Eastern Region, Poznan Province). Analysis was performed by the ASA method. Cadmium and lead were determined by the extraction technique, after metal complexing with APDC. Methyl isobutyl ketone was the organic phase. "Dry" mineralization of samples for cadmium and lead determinations was performed in a muffle furnace at 400 degrees C. Mercury was assayed by the cold vapour technique after "wet" mineralization with sulphuric and nitric acid in a Bethe apparatus. Mean mercury content was ca. 5.5 micrograms/kg for the samples from the uncontaminated regions; samples from the Southern Region contained on the average 12.9 micrograms/kg, i.e. twice more. Cadmium contents in potatoes from all the investigated regions were increased by an average of 0.029-0.064 mg/kg. Lead content in single samples was between 0.015-0.500 mg/kg; mean Pb contents in samples from the Southern Region, as compared with the Lublin region, were about twice higher. Hg, Cd and Pb contents were determined in the same samples of peeled potatoes and of their peels, this allowing for evaluation of the distribution of the investigated heavy metals in the tuber. It was found that lead occurs in the peels in 60-70%, and in the pulp in only 30-40%. As concerns cadmium and mercury, these metals appear in the tuber in 70-80%, and the peels in only 25-30%.

[Effect of disconnection of various types of autonomic mediation on the adenyl system of the cortex of a solitary kidney]. / Vliianie vykliuchenii razlichnyjh vidov vegetativnoi mediatsii na sostoianie adenilovoi sistemy kory edinstvennoi pochki.

The authors studied the ATP, ADP, and AMP intratissue content and the energy charge of the kidney cortex in compensatory hypertrophy during a continuous blocking effect produced by daily guanethidine and atropine injections on the transsynaptic mechanisms of sympathetic and parasympathetic neuromediation. Chronic disorders of energy metabolism were noted in both groups, which were more marked in deparasympathization. Complex combinations of the constant functional load exerted on the organ with the metabolic effects of the mediatory block in the tissues and disorders of their blood supply are the causes of tissue energy deficiency. The disorders of energy metabolism in the late periods of the experiment (after 60 days) in both cases were caused by deterioration of the blood supply to the cortex due, probably, to the noted accumulation in the tissue of metabolites of macroergic compounds which are vasoconstrictors of the renal arterioles.

[An experimental study of the energy metabolism in the cortex of the single denervated kidney]. / Eksperimental'noe izuchenie énergoobmena v kore edinstvennoi denervirovannoi pochki.

The long-term study of intratissular contents of ATP, ADP, AMP and the energy charge of the renal cortex in rats under the conditions of experimental combination of compensatory hypertrophy and chronic nervous decentralization enabled the authors to make the conclusion on the chronic energy-deficient status of the tubular cortical zones manifest by a two-wave decrease in the pool and the impaired spectrum of the adenyl system constituents. A negative trophic effect of demediatorization of chronically overloaded tissue of the cortex was found to be responsible for the disorders in the energy metabolism levels in the early phase of the disease and two months later for the progressive hypoperfusion of the cortical tubular system of a single denervated kidney.

[Structural and functional changes in the mitochondrial apparatus of cortical tubules of the solitary kidney in chronic blockade of cholinergic mediation]. / Strukturno-funktsional'nye izmeneniia mitokhondrial'nogo apparata kortikal'nykh kanal'tsev edinstvennoi pochki pri khronicheskoi blokade kholinergicheskoi mediatsii.

In 15, 30 and 90 days the effect of continuous atropine pharmacological blockade of parasympathetic innervation on morphometrical characteristics of epithelial mitochondria in the cortical segments of the canaliculi has been studied in a single kidney of Wistar rats. The maximal degree of the alternative changes has been determined in the proximal canaliculi. In the distal canaliculi epithelium a compensatory increase of the main quantitative parameters in mitochondria has been registered. The plasticity of the mitochondrial apparatus, specific for the collecting tubules under compensatory hypertrophy, is inhibited under conditions of deparasympathization.

[Renal blood flow as a factor in the realization of trophic influences during compensatory hypertrophy under denervation]. / Pochechnyi krovotok kak faktor realizatsii troficheskikh vliianii pri kompensatornoi gipertrofii v usloviiakh denervatsii.

In the Wistar rats, the effect of nervous decentralization of a single kidney on the changes of local blood flow in the cortex and medulla, was studied. Phasic changes of the intraorganic [correction of interorgan] hemodynamics involving a cortical perfusion increase during 15 days followed by a progressive decrease of the local blood flow, were recorded. The redistribution in the kidney blood flow involved a decrease of the tissue blood flow in the cortex within 30 days along with a rise in the local medullary blood flow. The cortical blood flow decrease was due to a changed reactivity of the denervated kidney's arterioles and lesion of the tubulo-interstitium in the cortex.

[Local cortical and medullary blood flows to the single kidney in chemical sympathectomy]. / Kortikal'nyi i medulliarnyi lokal'nye krovotoki edinstvennoi pochki v usloviiakh khimicheskoi desimpatizatsii.

Topological shifts of intracortical and intramedullary blood flow were studied with the hydrogen clearance technique in the single kidney of Wistar rats. A hyperperfusion of the cortex due to contralateral nephrectomy and vasodilating effect of sympatholytic agent, was found during first 24 hours. Cortical blood flow decreased and medullary one increased within 7 days, which was due to compensatory shifts in the kidney necessary for the adaptation of the kidney to the tissue deficit of adrenergic transmitter, and for the maintenance of the water-salt homeostasis in conditions of a systemic peripheral sympathectomy .

[Effect of chronic denervation on blood flow and ultrastructural and functional status of the tubule system of the solitary kidney]. / Vliianie khronicheskoi denervatsii na krovosnabzhenie i u'ltra- strukturno-funktsiona'lnoe sostoianie kana'ltsevoi sistemy edinstvennoi pochki.

The sodium kidney treatment, local blood flow in the cortex and medulla as well as ultrametric parameters of mitochondria of different regions of the rat kidney duct system were studied under compensatory hypertrophy of kidneys (CHK) and against a background of aftereffects of single kidney decentralization (SKD). In all 120 experiments have been conducted. In the course of the first two weeks of the experiment the local blood flows in the cortex of SKD increased by 30% as compared to those under CHK and natriuresis+ was thrice as high (due to a decrease in proximal reabsorption). In this case coefficients of structural organization Km and of energy efficiency (Ke) of mitochondria lowered in cells of proximal ducts. Later on the intensity of local blood flows in the cortex of SKC was not only lower progressively than that under CHK but also of the control, simultaneously local blood flows in medulla being increased. The complete equalization of the sodium transport parameters of SKD up to their values under CHK did not occur. The rise of ultrametric parameters of the medullary ducts of SKD segments is associated with the intensification of their hemoperfusion.

[Changes in the pool and spectrum of adenine nucleotides in the cortex of the solitary kidney in chronic denervation]. / Izmeneniia pula i spektra adeninnukleotidov kory edinstvennoi pochki v usloviiakh khronicheskoi denervatsii.

Chronic energy-++-deficient condition of nephron cortical portions manifested in a two ware pool decrease and spectrum impairment of the adenyl system components was revealed as a result of the long-term studies in tissue contents of ATP, ADP, AMP in the rat renal cortex under conditions of experimental combination of compensatory hypertrophy and chronic nervous decentralization. A negative trophic effect of chronically overloaded cortex tissue de-mediation is responsible for energy metabolism at the early phase while at the later stage, beginning two months after the experiment, the progressing hypoperfusion of the cortical tubular system of a single denervated kidney is.

[Changes in local blood flow in the solitary kidney after chronic blockade of cholinergic mediation]. / Izmeneniia lokal'nogo krovotoka edinstvennoi pochki pri khronicheskoi blokade kholinergicheskoi mediatsii.

The method of hydrogen clearance has been used to study the influence of compensatory hypertrophy and continuous 120-day pharmacologic blockade of parasympathetic nerves by atropine on interorgan peritubular blood circulation of the Wistar line rat kidneys. Reliable "lagging" of the cortical blood flow behind the analogous values of the control group with a single kidney is noted. Decrease of the cortex perfusion under conditions of cholinergic blockade is due to "baring" of the high sympathogenic tonus of cortical vessels in spite of postnephrectomic hyperperfusion in the control. A conclusion is made concerning significance of cholinergic mediation in development of compensatory hypertrophy of a single kidney in syndrome of its denervation impairment.