The Bulletin of the Polish Academy of Sciences: Technical Sciences (Bull.Pol. Ac.: Tech.) is published bimonthly by the Division IV Engineering Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences, since the beginning of the existence of the PAS in 1952. The journal is peer‐reviewed and is published both in printed and electronic form. It is established for the publication of original high quality papers from multidisciplinary Engineering sciences with the following topics preferred: Artificial and Computational Intelligence, Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology, Civil Engineering, Control, Informatics and Robotics, Electronics, Telecommunication and Optoelectronics, Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, Thermodynamics, Material Science and Nanotechnology, Power Systems and Power Electronics.

Journal Metrics: JCR Impact Factor 2018: 1.361, 5 Year Impact Factor: 1.323, SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) 2017: 0.319, Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) 2017: 1.005, CiteScore 2017: 1.27, The Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education 2017: 25 points.

Abbreviations/Acronym: Journal citation: Bull. Pol. Ac.: Tech., ISO: Bull. Pol. Acad. Sci.-Tech. Sci., JCR Abbrev: B POL ACAD SCI-TECH Acronym in the Editorial System: BPASTS.

Prof. Monika Kaczmarek from the PAS Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research discusses the impact of nutrition and environment on human and animal development.

The variation law of dissolved silica (DSi), dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) and nutrition structure after the Three Gorges Project (TGP) impounding as well as their ecological effect were analyzed according to monitoring survey of the Yangtze River Estuary in spring (May) and summer (August) from 2004-2009. The results showed that after impounding, DSi and DIN concentration decreased and increased, respectively. During the study period, DSi decreased by about 63%, while DIN almost tripled. DIP concentration fluctuated slightly. With respect to nutrition structure, N:P increased, whereas Si:P and Si:N declined. According to chemometry standard of nutrient limits, nutrition structure tended to be imbalanced and the limiting factor of phytoplankton growth (P) was studied. Changes of nutrition structure have largely decreased diatom and caused different composition of dominant phytoplankton species. This may change ecosystem structure of the Yangtze River Estuary.

Weed competition in southern Brazil is one of the main limiting factors for Oryza sativa L. (flooded rice) yield. Echinochloa spp. (barnyardgrass) occurs at a high frequency. Although the potential for weed interference in this cereal is well known, there is little information available about the impact of nutrient competition on rice. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the increase of the barnyardgrass population and the development and nutrition of flooded rice plants at different stages of development. The treatments consisted of growing populations of barnyardgrass competing with the crop from stage V4, which were: 0, 1, 6, 13, 100 and 200 plants · m−2. The experimental design was randomized blocks with two replications, and the experimental units were plots 1.53 m wide by 5 m long. Plant biomass, nutrient uptake and loss of productivity were determined with three replications. An increase in the barnyardgrass population reduced the dry mass of rice leaves and stems, regardless of the evaluation period and the vegetative or reproductive period. Barnyardgrass plants had a significant impact on the reduced grain yield of a flooded rice crop, mainly due to high nutrient competitiveness, especially N in the vegetative period and K in the reproductive period. Barnyardgrass caused a loss of yield by unit · m−2 of 1.13%. The competition for N between rice and barnyardgrass plants was higher in the vegetative period, while for K, Ca and Mg the highest competition occurred in the reproductive period.

B a c k g r o u n d: Regulation of energy balance in patients with short bowel syndrome (SBS) is disturbed due to lack of significant part of the intestine. The goal of the research was to analyse the plasma concentrations of selected regulatory peptides — ghrelin, visfatin, and irisin — in children with SBS.

M e t h o d s: To achieve this aim we recruited study group consisted of 28 children with SBS fed parenterally for at least two weeks, mean age 14 ± 5 months and mean standardised body mass index (SDS-BMI) –1.26 ± 0.84. The control group was represented 25 healthy children of matching age and SDS-BMI. The plasma concentrations of peptides (ghrelin, visfatin, and irisin) were determined using immunoassays, and liver enzymes (AST, ALT, GGT) using an auto-analyser.

R e s u l t s: We observed lower visfatin and ghrelin levels in the study group as compared to controls (both P <0.0001). The lowest total ghrelin concentration was observed in SBS children after ileal resection (P = 0.0016). Irisin concentration did not differ between the groups. Most of the SBS children showed elevated liver enzymes activities at the first measurement and during one-year follow-up.

C o n c l u s i o n: Our findings showed that plasma ghrelin and visfatin themselves may play a role in the course of SBS, while a lack of disturbance in irisin might imply that it is neither playing any role nor it is affected by SBS itself.

The research was conducted on 40 young alpine goats (kids) divided into two groups. First group consisted of 20 kids demonstrating clinical signs of muscular dystrophy. Second group was a control and consisted of 20 animals that received intramuscular injection (2ml per animal) of vitamin E and selenium preparation containing in 1ml 50 mg of tocopherol acetate, 0.5mg of sodium selenite and solvent on 2nd day of life. The kids were clinically examined and blood for laboratory analyses was sampled three times from day 5 of their life in 10 day intervals. In addition, six 24 days old kids demonstrating clinical signs of muscular dystrophy and six control kids were subjected to biceps femoris biopsy.

Serum total protein, glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol as well as AST, CK and LDH were determined in all the animals. In addition, the activity of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) was determined in whole blood and serum concentrations of selenium and vitamin E were determined in 6 kids from each group. Total lactate dehydrogenase activity and its separation into isoenzymatic fractions were determined in the collected biopsy material. The muscle samples collected were additionally subjected to histopathological examination consisting of HE staining and HBFP staining to detect necrotic muscle fibers.

Symptoms of muscular dystrophy began to appear in the first group between 17 and 23 days of age and included tremors of the limbs, poor posture, stilt gait and increased time of laying. The control animals did not show any symptoms of the disease during the experiment. Hypoproteinemia, hypoglycemia, cholesterol reduction and elevated triglycerides level associated with lipolysis of adipose tissue have been found in the sick kids. A significant decrease in selenium, vitamin E and activity of glutathione peroxidase levels was observed in the kids with symptoms of muscular dystrophy. The activity of AST, CK and LDH was significantly higher in the animals with symptoms of the disease as well. Five isoenzymes were obtained in the electrophoretic separation of lactate dehydrogenase into isoenzymatic fractions in the muscle tissue. LDH4 and LDH5 isoenzymes were dominating, and a significant increase in LDH5 fraction of the sick animals was also observed. Histopathological examination of muscle samples from sick animals revealed changes characteristic for the presence of Zenker necrosis.

Since plant responses to selenium nanoparticles (nSe) had not been clarified, this study was carried out to evaluate the effects of nSe (10 and 100 μM) on photosynthesis performance, ion homeostasis, antioxidant system, and phenylpropanoids in strawberry exposed to salt stress. Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy analyses indicated that foliar-applied nSe can be taken up by leaves and trans-located to roots. Salinity led to an increase in Na concentration and reductions in Ca and K contents which were relieved by the nSe applications. Moreover, the nSe treatment at 10 μM alleviated the NaCl-induced lesion to PSII functioning, contributing to improvement in water-splitting complex (Fv/Fo) under salinity. The exposure to nSe at a concentration of 100 µM exhibited a moderate stress, determined by the increases in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and lipid peroxidation rate (membrane integrity index). The nSe10 treatment increased catalase activity and phenylpropanoid derivatives contents (salicylic acid, catechin, and caffeic acid) and decreased the content of oxidants under salinity condition. Consequently, nSe utilization at a suitable dose can be an effective method to alleviate signs of salt stress via improvements in photosynthesis, ion hemostasis, photosynthesis performance, salicylic acid (a vital signaling defensive hormone), and antioxidant machinery.