The use of pioglitazone and the risk of bladder cancer in people with type 2 diabetes: nested case-control study

Objective To determine if the use of pioglitazone is associated with an increased risk of incident bladder cancer in people with type 2 diabetes

Advanced ankylosing spondylitis diagnosed after infection of the digestive tract — case report

Inflammatory spondyloarthrophaties (SpA) are a group of diseases with a close aetiology and clinical course. Infections , especially bacterial, of the digestive tract are possible causes of SpA. Infectious pathogens may penetrate the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract, of the urogenital tracts, respiratory tract and induce the reactive arthritis or exacerbate the previously diagnosed, chronic SpA. Dysbiosis also plays an important role in the pathogenesis of SpA. In the report, authors presented a case of a patient with a long-time backbone pain, in whom Yersinia enterocolitica infection of the digestive tract preceded the peripheral arthritis and inflammatory pain of the spine. The radiological images showed the characteristic changes of the advanced ankylosing spondylitis

Zespół hemofagocytowy indukowany terapią hormonalną – studium przypadku klinicznego

Zespół hemofagocytowy (ang. – HLH) charakteryzuje się nieprawidłową aktywacją układu immunologicznego, u podłoża której leżą zmiany genetyczne lub nabyte zaburzenia cytotoksyczności limfocytów T i NK. Objawy kliniczne są niespecyficzne i różnorodne, a postawienie rozpoznania, pomimo dostępności badań dodatkowych, jest niezwykle trudne. W artykule zaprezentowano przypadek kliniczny chorej, u której pierwotnie w obrazie klinicznym dominowała nawracająca gorączka oraz zmiany skórne sugerujące rozpoznanie rumienia guzowatego. Pomimo rozpoczęcia steroidoterapii oraz stosowania empirycznej antybiotykoterapii stan pacjentki nie ulegał poprawie. Do objawów klinicznych dołączyły się splenomegalia oraz zaburzenia w badaniach dodatkowych: trójukładowa cytopenia, hiperferrytynemia, hipertriglicerydemia, hipofibrynogenemia. Ponadto w obrazie histopatologicznym szpiku kostnego stwierdzono obecność hemofagocytów. Na podstawie obrazu klinicznego oraz badań dodatkowych postawiono rozpoznanie HLH. W terapii zastosowano chemioterapię zgodnie z protokołem HLH-2004, uzyskując całkowitą remisję

Apremilast w leczeniu łuszczycowego zapalenia stawów — stanowisko ekspertów Polskiego Towarzystwa Reumatologicznego i Polskiego Towarzystwa Dermatologicznego

Apremilast jest inhibitorem fosfodiesterazy 4 stosowanym w leczeniu chorych na łuszczycowe zapalenie stawów. Zespół ekspertów Polskiego Towarzystwa Reumatologicznego (PTR) i Polskiego Towarzystwa Dermatologicznego (PTD) uważa, że apremilast może stanowić dodatkową opcję terapeutyczną w aktualnym schemacie postępowania terapeutycznego po stwierdzeniu nieskuteczności klasycznych syntetycznych leków modyfikujących przebieg choroby lub ich nietolerancji

Factors associated with quality of life in systemic sclerosis: a cross-sectional study

© 2019, The Author(s). Introduction: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disease characterized by progressive fibrosis of the skin and internal organs, leading to their failure and disturbances in the morphology and function of blood vessels. The disease affects people in different ways, and identifying how the difficulties and limitations are related to quality of life may contribute to designing helpful interventions. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with quality of life in people with SSc. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 11 rheumatic centres in Poland. Patients diagnosed with SSc were included. Quality of life was measured using the SSc Quality of Life Questionnaire (SScQoL). The following candidate factors were entered in preliminary multivariable analysis: age, place of residence, marital status, occupational status, disease type, disease duration, pain, fatigue, intestinal problems, breathing problems, Raynaud’s symptoms, finger ulcerations, disease severity, functional disability, anxiety and depression. Factors that achieved statistical significance at the 10% level were then entered into a final multivariable model. Factors achieving statistical significance at the 5% level in the final model were considered to be associated with quality of life in SSc. Results: In total, 231 participants were included. Mean age (SD) was 55.82 (12.55) years, disease duration 8.39 (8.18) years and 198 (85.7%) were women. Factors associated with quality of life in SSc were functional disability (β = 2.854, p < 0.001) and anxiety (β = 0.404, p < 0.001). This model with two factors (functional disability and anxiety) explained 56.7% of the variance in patients with diffuse SSc and 73.2% in those with localized SSc. Conclusions: Functional disability and anxiety are significantly associated with quality of life in SSc. Interventions aimed at improving either of these factors may contribute towards improving the quality of life of people with SSc

Application of the de Job method in the evaluation of the stoichiometry of uranyl phosphate complexes sorbed on bentonite

For the first time, the continuous variation method was applied for the evaluation of the stoichiometry of uranyl phosphate complexes sorbed on bentonite. Sorption of UO2(CH3COO)2⋅2H2O in the presence of Na2HPO4⋅7H2O from 0.001 mol/L solutions led to the appearance of maxima in the sorption peaks of U(VI) and P(V) ions at molar ratios of [U(VI)]/[P(V)]s = 1.4, 3.3, 3.6 and 1.2, 1.7. It is suggested, based on complementary XRD and XPS data, that the UO2HPO4 complex is located on aluminols (ºAl-OH) whereas the (UO2)3(PO4)2⋅4H2O complex is precipitated in the interlamellar space of bentonite. The participation of (UO2)3(OH)5+ and (UO2)4(OH)7+ species in the formation of U(VI) surface complexes is suggested, based on the deconvolution of sorption spectra of U(VI) on the bentonite in the presence of phosphates

Naphthalene sorption on red clay and halloysite modified by quaternary ammonium salts

Sorption of naphthalene on modified red clay and halloysite was carried out successfully. It was established that the process was of pseudo-second-order mechanism. The maximum sorption capacities were 9.23 mg/g and 112.79 mg/g for red clay and halloysite, respectively

Luminescent Sol-Gel Glasses from Silicate–Citrate–(Thio)Ureate Precursors

Recent advancements in synthesis and analysis of the composites based on silica and carbon quantum dots have revealed great potential of such systems in bioimaging, sensor, as well as solid-state lighting applications. Most of the synthetic methods for obtaining such materials are still relatively complex and costly. The aim of this work was to study the luminescent properties of silica-based composites prepared by the simple sol-gel method using low-cost silicate&ndash;citrate&ndash;(thio)ureate precursors. The glassy composites were prepared by acid hydrolysis of ethyl silicate (40%) in aqueous solution of citric acid ureates or thioureates with the citric acid-to-(thio)urea molar ratio of 1:1, 1:1.5 or 1:3. The results of spectrofluorimetric analysis have shown that heat-treated at 270 &deg;C such silica gels upon UV excitation (with an optimum at &lambda;exc = 360 nm) emit light in a visible spectrum (400&ndash;600 nm). Upon this, photoluminescence efficiency of ureate-derived glasses (quantum yield 70.53% for 1:1.5 sample) appeared to be much higher than that for thioureate-derived glasses (quantum yield 11.25% for 1:3 sample) suggesting that the preparation conditions to obtain the glasses with optimal photoluminescence characteristics are quite different in case of urea and thiourea. Thus, citrate&ndash;ureate-derived silica glasses already demonstrate very good potential to be efficient materials for different fluorescence-related applications