Practical aspects of HBsAg quantification. Data presented at the seminar “Advances in blood donor screening” (Warsaw, 5–6 October 2015)

Stężenie antygenu HBs jest ważnym klinicznie wskaźnikiem aktywności zakażenia HBV. Jest dotychczas jedynym opracowanym nieinwazyjnym markerem aktywności cccDNA oraz intensywności zakażenia hepatocytów. Dynamiczny spadek stężenia tego wskaźnika, niezależnie od rodzaju prowadzonej terapii, jest korzystnym rokowniczo markerem wskazującym na szansę utraty HBsAg. Jest to prawdziwe zarówno w stosunku do aktualnych, jak i przyszłych terapii anty-HBV. Rolę oznaczania HBsAg najlepiej poznano w przebiegu leczenia zakażeń HBV przy użyciu interferonu pegylowanego (PEG-IFN). W niniejszej pracy przedstawiono aktualną wiedzę na temat praktycznych aspektów pomiaru stężenia antygenu HBs.Quantification of HBsAg is an important clinical marker of chronic hepatitis B activity. So far it is the only noninvasive indicator of cccDNA activity and severity of HBV infection of hepatocytes. A dynamic change of serum HBsAg levels, regardless of the type of administered therapy or in the natural course of chronic hepatitis B, might be predictive of HBsAg-loss which is the optimal end-point of HBV-infection. It is valid not only for current therapies but also for those in development. The most comprehensive knowledge of clinical application of HBsAg quantification has been gained during PEG-IFN therapy. This review focuses on the practical aspects of HBsAg quantification

Primary hepatocellular carcinoma in HBV infected patient - a case report

Hepatocellular carcinoma is primary neoplasm of the liver, which usually accompanies cirrhosis of this organ. This malignancy neoplasms commonly occurs all around the world. The frequency of morbidity on this disease is correlated with frequency of HBV and HCV infections in the population. That is caused due to the pathogenic effects of these viruses, among others on liver cells, affecting carcinogenesis. Appropriate and early treatment of infection reduces the chance of developing cancer. In our article we present the case, 63-years-old male, with primary hepatocellular carcinoma correlated with hepatitis B virus infection. Unfortunately, the neoplasm was diagnosed too late, and despite the comprehensive treatment introduced, the patient died

Infection with hepatitis C virus as a cause of nervous system disorders

Hepatitis C is a disease caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV), which prevalence may reach over 5% in some countries. Untreated infection may lead to death due to cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. Almost 80% of infected patients occurs as asymptomatic. Symptoms of hepatitis C may include jaundice, nausea, vomiting, fever or muscle and joint pains. Even half of the patients experience nervous system disorders, due to the affinity of some types of HCV to nerve cells. It is also estimated that up to 30% of patients with chronic hepatitis C will develop cirrhosis within 25-30 years. Currently, the vast majority of infected patients can be cured thanks to the introduction of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs)

Properties of neutron doped multicrystalline silicon for solar cells

The technology of neutron transmutation doping of silicon wafers in MARIA nuclear research reactor is described. The studies of the radiation defects performed with positron annihilation confirmed that divacancies dominate in the irradiated material. Thermal treatment of irradiated silicon at 700-1000°C produces void - phosphorus complexes and void aggregates. The resistivity of the samples produced by neutron transmutation doping was found to be uniform within 2.5% limits. The severe reduction of the minority carrier lifetime in irradiated samples was confirmed

Actinomycosis - forgotten disease as a diagnostic challenge

Łanowy Patrycja, Ślusarz Krystian, Dzindzio Jakub, Pyka Weronika, Bichalski Miłosz, Blaszkowszka Maria, Jaroszewicz Jerzy. Actinomycosis - forgotten disease as a diagnostic challenge. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2019;9(5):256-264. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2901660 http://ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/view/6922 The journal has had 7 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. Part B item 1223 (26/01/2017). 1223 Journal of Education, Health and Sport eISSN 2391-8306 7 © The Authors 2019; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license Share alike. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 28.04.2019. Revised: 28.04.2019. Accepted: 18.05.2019. Actinomycosis - forgotten disease as a diagnostic challenge Patrycja Łanowy1, Krystian Ślusarz1, Jakub Dzindzio1, Weronika Pyka1, Miłosz Bichalski1, Maria Blaszkowszka1, Jerzy Jaroszewicz1*, ¹Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology in Bytom, Medical University of Silesia, Poland E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], 1*Coressponding author: [email protected] ABSTRACT Actinomycosis is neglected, uncommon disease caused by bacteria. The greatest difficulty in correct and early diagnostics of actinomycosis is the fact that it often mimics other conditions. The difficulties in diagnostic of actinomycosis result in misdiagnosis, lengthening the patient's treatment time, unnecessary surgical treatment and sometimes dangerous complications. Aim of the article: The aim of the article is to familiarize readers with the rarest conditions that have been mistaken for actinomycosis. KEYWORDS: actinomycosis, diagnostic difficulties, misdiagnosis, malignancy mimicking tumo

Classification supporting COVID-19 diagnostics based on patient survey data

Distinguishing COVID-19 from other flu-like illnesses can be difficult due to ambiguous symptoms and still an initial experience of doctors. Whereas, it is crucial to filter out those sick patients who do not need to be tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection, especially in the event of the overwhelming increase in disease. As a part of the presented research, logistic regression and XGBoost classifiers, that allow for effective screening of patients for COVID-19, were generated. Each of the methods was tuned to achieve an assumed acceptable threshold of negative predictive values during classification. Additionally, an explanation of the obtained classification models was presented. The explanation enables the users to understand what was the basis of the decision made by the model. The obtained classification models provided the basis for the DECODE service (decode.polsl.pl), which can serve as support in screening patients with COVID-19 disease. Moreover, the data set constituting the basis for the analyses performed is made available to the research community. This data set consisting of more than 3,000 examples is based on questionnaires collected at a hospital in Poland.Comment: 39 pages, 5 figure

Profilaktyka reaktywacji zakażeń HBV – rekomendacje grupy roboczej profilaktyki reaktywacji HBV

Reaktywacja zakażenia HBV jest istotnym problemem u chorych poddawanych terapiom, które poprzez działanie immunomodulujące wpływają na upośledzenie odporności przeciwwirusowej, takim jak: leczenie biologiczne (np. przeciwciała monoklonalne powodujące deplecję limfocytów CD20, przeciwciała anty-TNF), chemioterapia, leczenie immunosupresyjne (np. kortykosteroidy, cyklosporyna, azatiopryna). Ryzyko reaktywacji wiąże się również z nowymi terapiami stosowanymi w leczeniu nowotworów hematologicznych, takimi jaki inhibitory kinaz tyrozynowych, inhibitory proteasomu czy przeciwciało anty-CD38, daratumumab. Populacją szczególnie zagrożoną są chorzy poddawani transplantacji komórek krwiotwórczych, w szczególności chorzy po transplantacji allogenicznej, u których prowadzone jest leczenie immunosupresyjne. W pracy przedstawiono epidemiologię, czynniki ryzyka reaktywacji oraz aktualne zasady postępowania dotyczące profilaktyki reaktywacji zakażenia HBV

Lung volume irradiation procedures in patients with pneumonia during COVID-19 infection – physical aspects of treatment planning and dosimetry

Introduction. The paper presents an original, used in our Institute, method of lung volume irradiation in patients with pneumonia during COVID-19 infection. Material and methods. Procedures such as the simulation of treatment and radiotherapy are performed in a treatment room. Real time radiation treatment planning is realized as 2D planning (Irreg Planning VMS) in a separate room, and the 3D (eclipse VMS) dose distribution is calculated after the treatment. During radiation exposure, a fluence map is measured. Results. A method of irradiating the lungs of patients with COVID-19 was developed, which allows to shorten the time the patient is on the treatment table and minimize contacts between the patient and staff. Conclusions. The presented procedure made it possible to minimize the time of patient’s stay in the radiotherapy department and at the same time, it retains all the required quality assurance procedures in radiotherapy treatment

Puszcza Białowieska : miniprzewodnik naukowy

"Dzisiejsza roślinność Puszczy jest wynikiem procesów ekologicznych, które kształtowały ją od schyłku ostatniego zlodowacenia, kiedy ocieplenie klimatu umożliwiło rozwój ekosystemów leśnych na tym terenie. Około 12 tysięcy lat temu rozprzestrzeniły się tu lasy sosnowo-brzozowe, a następnie kolejno przybywały inne gatunki drzew, które wędrowały z cieplejszych rejonów Europy, gdzie przetrwały okres zlodowacenia. Stopniowo wzbogacały one tutejsze lasy i powodowały ich zróżnicowanie w zależności od warunków siedliskowych. Do pierwszych przybyszów, po sośnie i brzozie, należały wiąz i leszczyna, a między ok. 9300 a 3800 lat temu miał miejsce najbujniejszy rozwój wielogatunkowych, mieszanych lasów liściastych." (fragm.