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A Zielinski

Publications and source records attributed to A Zielinski.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Evaluation of tickborne encephalitis case classification in Poland.

Central European tickborne encephalitis (TBE) is a viral disease of the central nervous system. Despite a surveillance system for TBE existing in Poland since 1970, there are no standardised case definitions and different diagnostic tests are used in various regions. The purpose of this study was to summarise four years of surveillance data using standardised case definitions. From 1999 to 2002, 607 cases of TBE were reported to Poland's national surveillance system: 386 (63.6%) were males, 331 (54.5%) lived in rural areas, and 186 (30.6%) were between 30 and 50 years old. Of 606 diagnosed cases, 453 (74.7%) had aseptic meningitis, 109 (18.0%) had meningoencephalitis, and 44 (7.3%) had meningoencephalomyelitis. Of the 607 reported cases, 602 (99.2%) could be classified: 153 (25.4%) as confirmed, 343 (57.0%) as probable, and 106 (17.6%) as possible cases. There was a significant difference in classified cases by gender: 28.6% of male cases were classified as confirmed, compared with 19.7% of female cases (chi2= 10.48, p=0.0053). There was a significant difference in case classification by clinical diagnosis: 32.4% of cases with meningoencephalitis were classified as confirmed cases, compared with 24.7% of cases with aseptic meningitis (chi2=11.79, p=0.019). There were also significant differences in the distribution by case definition group across geographical regions. For appropriate monitoring of TBE, a uniform and valid case definition should be used in European countries. With only 25% of reported cases meeting the definition for confirmed cases, there is a need for more complete follow-up and standardised testing of suspect cases.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Vascular exchange in the kidney. Regional characterization by multiple indicator tomography.

In previous work with the method of multiple indicator dilution (MID), we have established that a spatially distributed model of transcapillary exchange proposed by Goresky, Ziegler, and Bach (GZB) accurately describes, at the in vivo whole-organ level, the handling of extracellular indicators in the canine renal cortex. To date, however, it has not been possible to assess the key hypothesis that GZB corresponds to the actual local mechanism of exchange in vivo and is not just a compact summary of the kidney's average whole-organ behavior. By adapting the MID method to high speed computed tomography (CT), we are now able to report that the GZB mechanism is an accurate description of renal cortical transcapillary exchange down to volumes of cortical tissue comprising no more than a few per cent of the total cortical mass, i.e., containing no more than a few thousand nephrons. A small bolus of iohexol (radiopaque extracellular indicator) or iodipamide ethyl ester microparticles (radiopaque plasma indicator) injected into the renal artery was followed by CT as it passed through the kidney and into the renal vein. Time-attenuation value curves of the two contrast media obtained from the renal vein and from regions of interest in the cortex were then modeled with the GZB mechanism and with a more complex formulation that includes GZB as a limiting case. When applied to the data, the models converged to GZB as the best fit for each region examined. The GZB mechanism is found to provide excellent agreement with the regional data.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Demonstration of renal tubular flow by selective angiographic computed tomography.

A high-speed computed tomography scanner was used to study the bulk flow of a small bolus of nonionic contrast medium through the renal tubules of five dogs. A 0.5-mL bolus of iohexol 300 (150 mg iodine) was injected rapidly into the renal artery, and transverse images of the kidney were obtained at 15-second intervals over 300 seconds. The mean attenuation values measured in regions of interest in the papilla and the cortex were displayed as a function of time. Curves from the papillary regions of interest showed two peaks, the first corresponding to the passage of the bolus through the loops of Henle that extend into the papilla and the second to the passage of the bolus through the terminal collecting tubules. The cortical regions of interest showed the cortical return peak, which corresponded to the passage of the bolus through the distal convoluted tubules. The peaks generated by this method can be used to measure the transit times of the bolus from the glomeruli to the loops of Henle in the papilla, from the loops of Henle to the distal convoluted tubules, and from the distal convoluted tubules to the distal collecting tubules. The mean total transit time in dehydrated dogs was 169 seconds. The method is compared with contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (with gadolinium diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid), which has been used by other researchers for the same purpose.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

An electronic method for measuring joint tenderness in rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: To test the precision of a new electronic method for measuring joint tenderness. METHOD: Joint tenderness was measured in 30 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, using an electronic dolorimeter. The results were compared with joint tenderness counts, which were made according to the American Rheumatism Association (ARA) methods. RESULTS: The intra-observer variability using the electronic method was significantly decreased compared with the conventional ARA joint tenderness counts. CONCLUSION: The electronic method is more efficient for use in clinical trials than is the conventional ARA joint tenderness count.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMed1985

Self-stimulation of an 'aversive' brain structure: the mesencephalic central gray area.

Four experiments were performed in BALB/c mice implanted either in the lateral hypothalamus (LH) or in the dorsal part of the mesencephalic central gray area (CG) or both in LH and CG. In the first 3 experiments the animals were placed in a Y-maze where they could successively trigger and turn off continuous electrical stimulation. Expt. 1 showed that mice stimulated in CG (like animals stimulated in LH) are able to discriminate between the reinforced and the non-reinforced arm of the Y-maze in order to self-administer the stimulation. This behavior was observed whether the experimental situation was a simple spatial discrimination or a more complex light-dark discrimination. During the second experiment, the animals could choose between stimulation of low intensity (in one arm) or high intensity (in the other arm). We observed that, like LH animals, CG implanted mice chose the higher stimulation, despite its strong aversive component. On the other hand, Expt. 3 showed that when the animals could chose between CG stimulation, whose intensity was progressively increased, and LH stimulation whose intensity remained constant (low) they preferred the latter. When the mice were placed in a lever-press box where they could obtain 0.2 s of electrical stimulation (last experiment), LH animals showed vigorous self-stimulation behavior, whereas CG animals showed only a weak response rate. These results show that, in spite of its aversiveness, dorsal CG stimulation has an appetitive component whose magnitude may vary under different experimental conditions.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Prevention of experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis in rats by fetal alpha-fetoprotein-rich fractions.

Rats immunized with Torpedo acetylcholine receptor (AChR) developed experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG) manifested by an early acute phase and a late chronic phase. In the animals the acute and the chronic diseases were prevented by the administration of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-rich fractions obtained from human amniotic fluid and umbilical cord serum. Both the clinical and the electromyographic manifestations of EAMG was affected by AFP treatment. The anti-AChR antibody level as well as the cellular immune response to AChR were also affected by AFP. Rats immunized with Torpedo AChR and treated with AFP-rich fractions showed low levels of antibodies to rat AChR, and an inhibited proliferation response of lymphocytes to the antigen AChR. The addition of AFP in vitro to the lymphocyte culture significantly inhibited the proliferative response to AChR and to the mitogen phytohemagglutinin. AFP is present in high amounts during pregnancy, and therefore the present findings suggest that clinical remissions of myasthenia gravis during the second half of pregnancy may be attributed to the immunosuppressive effect of AFP.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1983

A Y-maze test reveals the positively reinforcing properties of electrical stimulation of the mesencephalic central gray area.

Animals stimulated in the dorsal part of the mesencephalic central gray area (CG) are able, as are animals stimulated in the lateral hypothalamus, to discriminate between the reinforced and the non-reinforced arm of an Y-maze to trigger a continuous electrical stimulation. This result clearly demonstrates that stimulation of the dorsal part of CG has an appetitive component.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Binding of myasthenia gravis antibodies to different acetylcholine receptor preparations.

A group of myasthenia gravis (MG) patients was studied in order to demonstrate the differential ability of acetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibodies to bind to AChRs from different sources. Four different AChR sources were used: human muscle, denervated rat muscle, normal rat muscle and the electric organ of the electric ray, Torpedo californica. We demonstrated that AchR antibodies from MG patients tested reacted best with receptors from human muscle, and least with the electric ray receptor. The patients were classified into three categories, each representing an antibody level pattern. THe most common pattern was that in which the antibody level for human AchR is highest, followed by decreasing values for AchRs of denervated rat muscle, normal rat muscle, and that of the electric organ of the electric ray. No correlation was found between the patient-specific antibody pattern and a clinical description of the MG patient.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

The surface immunoglobulin receptors of human lymphocytes in pollinosis.

The immunological reaction of immediate as well as delayed type is produced in patients with pollinosis by the contact with pollen allergens. The immunological disturbances partially connected with function of T and B lymphocytes can be treated as the basal mechanism of pollinosis. The presence of surface immunoglobulins (SIg) from classes IgA, IgG and IgM on the B lymphocytes in circulating blood from the patients with pollinosis in various stages of the disease were studied. The method of direct immunofluorescence was used. The decrease of B lymphocytes with SIg of IgG was found. On the basis of presence SIg (IgA, IgG, IgM) on lymphocytes the four periods of various immunological reaction in pollinosis were differentiated: I - primary immunological response, II - secondary immunological response, III - immunological exhaust, IV - immunological stabilization.

Adolescent↗