Prevalence of other autoimmune diseases in polyglandular autoimmune syndromes type II and III

Polyglandular autoimmune syndromes (PAS) are complex, heterogeneous disorders in which various autoimmune diseases can occur, affecting both endocrine and non-endocrine organs. In this meta-analysis, the prevalence of associated autoimmune disorders was investigated in PAS II and III.A comprehensive search in MEDLINE and Embase databases identified 479 studies with the keywords of PAS II and PAS III. 18 records containing a total of 1312 patients fulfilled our inclusion criteria (original studies reporting at least 10 cases and containing the combination of other autoimmune disorders) and were selected for further analysis. A meta-analysis of prevalence was performed using the random-effects model with the calculation of 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results of each meta-analysis were displayed graphically using forest plots.Distinction between PAS II and PAS III was made in 842 cases, of which 177 and 665 were PAS II and III (21.1 vs 78.9%), respectively. The prevalence of Hashimoto's thyroiditis was significantly higher than that of Graves's disease (39% [95% CI 17-65%] vs. 4% [95% CI 0-10%], respectively; p = 0.001). In PAS II, Addison's disease (AD) coexisted with AITDs, T1DM or the combination of these conditions in 65, 18 and 10% of cases, respectively. In addition, one other endocrine and five non-endocrine organ-specific autoimmune disorders were reported. In PAS III, two other autoimmune endocrinopathies, six non-endocrine organ-specific, and four systemic autoimmune disorders were found in combination with AITDs.AITDs, T1DM and AD are the most common combinations in PAS, thus screening for these conditions seems to be reasonable

Monitoring the early signs of cognitive decline in elderly by computer games: an MRI study

BACKGROUND: It is anticipated that current and future preventive therapies will likely be more effective in the early stages of dementia, when everyday functioning is not affected. Accordingly the early identification of people at risk is particularly important. In most cases, when subjects visit an expert and are examined using neuropsychological tests, the disease has already been developed. Contrary to this cognitive games are played by healthy, well functioning elderly people, subjects who should be monitored for early signs. Further advantages of cognitive games are their accessibility and their cost-effectiveness. PURPOSE: The aim of the investigation was to show that computer games can help to identify those who are at risk. In order to validate games analysis was completed which measured the correlations between results of the 'Find the Pairs' memory game and the volumes of the temporal brain regions previously found to be good predictors of later cognitive decline. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: 34 healthy elderly subjects were enrolled in the study. The volume of the cerebral structures was measured by MRI. Cortical reconstruction and volumetric segmentation were performed by Freesurfer. RESULTS: There was a correlation between the number of attempts and the time required to complete the memory game and the volume of the entorhinal cortex, the temporal pole, and the hippocampus. There was also a correlation between the results of the Paired Associates Learning (PAL) test and the memory game. CONCLUSIONS: The results gathered support the initial hypothesis that healthy elderly subjects achieving lower scores in the memory game have increased level of atrophy in the temporal brain structures and showed a decreased performance in the PAL test. Based on these results it can be concluded that memory games may be useful in early screening for cognitive decline

Dislocation structure and crystallite size distribution in plastically deformed metals determined by diffraction peak profile analysis

The dislocation densities and arrangement parameters and the crystallite size and size-distributions are determined in tensile or cyclically deformed polycrystalline copper specimens by X-ray diffraction peak profile analysis. The Fourier coefficients of profiles measured by a special high resolution X-ray diffractometer with negligible instrumental broadening have been fitted by the Fourier transforms of ab-initio size and strain profiles, It is found that in the fatigued samples the dislocations are mainly of edge type with strong dipole character In the fatigued specimens the dislocation densities are found to be larger than in the tensile deformed samples when the saturation and flow stress levels are the same

Komplexní geochemický výzkum interakcí a migrací organických a anorganických látek v horninovém prostředí:Sorpce organických polutantů přírodními sorbenty

Zpráva se zabývá problematikou charakterizace organické hmoty hornin, sedimentů a půd jako přírodních sorbentů a interakcemi těchto materiálů s organickými polutanty v modelových systémech hornina - voda. Výsledky analýz byly podrobeny auditu jakosti a spolehlivosti statistickým hodnocením údajů včetně vyšetření korelací mezi definitivně příbuznými analytickými veličinami. Byly validovány metody stanovení triazinových herbicidů ve vodách a zeminách pomocí HPLC. Výsledky jsou uvedeny v přílohách