Evaluation of depression in patients with alzheimer's disease according to the location of medical care

The objective of the study was to assess the severity of depression and to assess the level of self-sufficiency of patients with Alzheimer's disease, with particular emphasis on the place of residence and level of education. The study covered 90 people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. All respondents were persons over 65?years of age and residents of cities with a population over one-hundred thousand. The research method based on this work is the author's own questionnaire, the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS) about depression and the Karnofsky Performance Scale Index (KPSI) for assessment of a patient's self-sufficiency. Regardless of residence, patients with Alzheimer's disease displayed signs of mild or moderate depression (100% in social welfare homes and hospital patients and 60% in those with caregivers at home). Patients with Alzheimer's disease have an unsatisfactory salary in social-economic terms. In those with Alzheimer's disease, quality of life is best for those in family homes under the care of their immediate family. People with a vocational education were the largest group of people diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Patients at home and in the hospital had a higher level of physical activity, but most patients in the hospital needed regular medical care, as did patients in social welfare homes.     

Ocena skuteczności Lactobacillus rhamnosus ATC A07FA w zapobieganiu martwiczego zapalenia jelit wcześniaków z bardzo małą urodzeniową masą ciała: badanie z randomizacją (wstępne wyniki)

BackgroundEvidence suggests that probiotics, as a group, are reducing the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). The efficacy of each probiotic strain needs to be evaluated separately.ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy of administering Lactobacillus rhamnosus ATC A07FA (L. rhamnosus) for the prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) ≥2 by the criteria of Bell in very low-birth-weight preterm infants.MethodPreterm infants children fulfillingthe inclusion criteria (gestational age <32 weeks and birth weight <1500 g and partial orfull enteral feeding) were enrolled in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. They received L. rhamnosus (commercially available as Lakcid) at a dose of 1.2 × 10¹⁰ CFU or a placebo orally, twice daily, for the duration of the hospital stay. The primary outcome measures were NEC ≥2 by the criteria of Beli, sepsis and death.ResultsThe study was stopped prematurely because of slow recruitment. Data from 55 preterm infants were included in the fina? analysis. In the experimental group, compared with the placebo group, the risk of developing NEC ≥2 by the criteria of Beli was reduced, however the difference was not statistically significant (1/30; 3.3% versus A/25; 16%, RR 0.2, 95% Cl 0.02 do 1.75). L. rhamnosus did not significantly affect the risk of developing sepsis or death. There was also no difference between the probiotic and placebo groups for any of the other secondary outcomes. No adverse events were reported.ConclusionThe administration of L. rhamnosus ATC A07FA compared with placebo had no effect on the incidence of NEC. Further studies with sufficient sample size are warranted.     

Avian Feathers as Bioindicators of the Exposure to Heavy Metal Contamination of Food

The aim of this study was to determine the possibility of using feathers of blue tit nestlings to assess the level of endogenous accumulation of lead. For this purpose we conducted an experiment with lead application to randomly chosen nestlings from eight randomly drawn broods. Five days after the exposure, feathers of lead-treated nestlings had significantly higher lead concentrations than control nestlings. This result suggests that feathers can be used as reliable non-destructive bioindicators to assess the level of heavy metals originating from contaminated food, which is of great significance for comparative studies on ecological consequences of pollution.     

Histopathological evaluation of duodenal biopsy in the PreventCD project. An observational interobserver agreement study

Aim of the current study was to evaluate the inter‐observer agreement between pathologists in the diagnosis of celiac disease (CD), in the qualified context of a multicenter study. Biopsies from the “PreventCD” study, a multinational‐ prospective‐ randomized study in children with at least one‐first‐degree relative with CD and positive for HLA‐DQ2/HLA‐DQ8. Ninety‐eight biopsies were evaluated. Considering diagnostic samples with villous atrophy (VA), the agreement was satisfactory (κ = 0.84), but much less when assessing the severity of these lesions. The use of the recently proposed Corazza‐Villanacci classification showed a moderately higher level of agreement (κ = 0.39) than using the Marsh‐Oberhuber system (κ = 0.31). 57.1% of cases were considered correctly oriented. A number of >4 samples per patient was statistically associated to a better agreement; orientation did not impact on κ values. Agreement results in this study appear more satisfactory than in previous papers and this is justified by the involvement of centers with experience in CD diagnosis and by the well‐controlled setting. Despite this, the reproducibility was far from optimal with a poor agreement in grading the severity of VA. Our results stress the need of a minimum of four samples to be assessed by the pathologist.     

Antibiotic resistance of Staphylococcus-like organisms isolated from a recreational sea beach on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea as one of the consequences of anthropogenic pressure

Antibiotic resistance of Staphylococcus-like organisms (STLO) isolated from a recreational sea beach located on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea was studied. The results of the present study showed that STLO inhabiting sand and seawater of the beach strongly differed in the resistance level to tested antibiotics. These microorganisms were most resistant to ampicillin, penicillin, oxytetracycline and susceptible to gentamicin, neomycin and streptomycin. Moreover, the level of antibiotic resistance among bacteria isolated from different parts of the beach also differed. Bacteria inhabiting the seawater, shoreline and the middle part of the beach were more antibiotic-resistant than bacteria isolated from the dune. The majority of bacteria inhabiting the seawater and sand were resistant to 3–8 antibiotics out of 12 tested in this study. Generally, there was no difference in antibiotic resistance between Staphylococcus-like organisms isolated from the surface and subsurface sand layers. STLO strains isolated from Ustka Beach were most resistant to β-lactam and tetracycline antibiotics, and most susceptible to aminoglycosides.     

Follow-up in soft tissue sarcomas

The strategy for the follow-up of soft tissue sarcomas (STS) after therapy is tailored to the individual risk of recurrence and based on efficient rather than sophisticated methods of observation. Along with advances in the treatment of sarcomas, earlier detection of a less advanced and resectable recurrent disease (local or metastasis—especially to the lungs) can prolong patient survival. Since the majority of STS relapses occur within 5 years after treatment (approximately 80?% of metastases to the lung and close to 70?% of local recurrences within the first 2–3 years), in the period between 2 and 3 years after treatment, it is mandatory to follow-up patients every 3 months and perform careful history and physical examination (especially scars after surgery of the primary site) and a chest X-ray. There is no reason to perform other studies in asymptomatic patients (unless the patient reports symptoms). In case of retroperitoneal or intraperitoneal STS (including gastrointestinal stromal tumor), contrast-enhanced computed tomography of the abdomen and pelvis is recommended as the follow-up modality of choice. In this paper we outline the current recommendations for the follow-up strategy.     

Anti-osteopenic effect of alpha-ketoglutarate sodium salt in ovariectomized rats

The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of alpha-ketoglutarate sodium salt (AKG) treatment on the mineralization of the tibia in female rats during the development of osteopenia (Experiment-1) and in the condition of established osteopenia (Experiment-2). Thirty-two female rats were ovariectomized (OVX) to induce osteopenia and osteoporosis and another 32 female rats were sham-operated (SHO) and then randomly divided between the two experiments. In Experiment-1, the treatment with AKG started after a 7-day period of convalescence, whereas in Experiment-2 the rats were subjected to a 60-day period of osteopenia fixation, after which the actual experimental protocol commenced. AKG was administered in the experimental solution for drinking at a concentration of 1.0?mol/l and a placebo (PLC) was used as a control solution. After 60?days of experimental treatment the rats in both experiements were sacrificed, the body weight recorded, and blood serum and isolated tibia were stored for further analysis. The bones were analyzed using tomography and densitometry, and for estimation of mechanical properties the 3-point bending test was used. Serum concentrations of osteocalcin and collagen type I crosslinked C-telopeptide were measured. The anabolic effects of AKG on bone during osteopenia development in Experiment-1 not only stopped the degradation of bone tissue, but also stimulated its mineralization. The usage of AKG in animals with established osteopenia (Experiment-2) was not able to prevent bone atrophy, but markedly reduced its intensity. The stimulation of tibia mineralization after AKG treatment has been also argued in healthy SHO animals. The results obtained prove the effectiveness of AKG usage in the prophylaxis and therapy of osteopenia and osteoporosis, induced by bilateral gonadectomy. Additionally, the results clearly prove that treatment with AKG improves the mineralization of bone tissue in healthy animals.     

Channel Interaction and Current Level Affect Across-Electrode Integration of Interaural Time Differences in Bilateral Cochlear-Implant Listeners

Sensitivity to interaural time differences (ITDs) is important for sound localization. Normal-hearing listeners benefit from across-frequency processing, as seen with improved ITD thresholds when consistent ITD cues are presented over a range of frequency channels compared with when ITD information is only presented in a single frequency channel. This study aimed to clarify whether cochlear-implant (CI) listeners can make use of similar processing when being stimulated with multiple interaural electrode pairs transmitting consistent ITD information. ITD thresholds for unmodulated, 100-pulse-per-second pulse trains were measured in seven bilateral CI listeners using research interfaces. Consistent ITDs were presented at either one or two electrode pairs at different current levels, allowing for comparisons at either constant level per component electrode or equal overall loudness. Different tonotopic distances between the pairs were tested in order to clarify the potential influence of channel interaction. Comparison of ITD thresholds between double pairs and the respective single pairs revealed systematic effects of tonotopic separation and current level. At constant levels, performance with double-pair stimulation improved compared with single-pair stimulation but only for large tonotopic separation. Comparisons at equal overall loudness revealed no benefit from presenting ITD information at two electrode pairs for any tonotopic spacing. Irrespective of electrode-pair configuration, ITD sensitivity improved with increasing current level. Hence, the improved ITD sensitivity for double pairs found for a large tonotopic separation and constant current levels seems to be due to increased loudness. The overall data suggest that CI listeners can benefit from combining consistent ITD information across multiple electrodes, provided sufficient stimulus levels and that stimulating electrode pairs are widely spaced.