An Assessment of IT Students' Awareness in the Field of Instant Messengers Security

Instant Messengers, though being around for decades, only in recent years they have managed to gain much more popularity. Today, they are the most common way of communicating, especially among young people. However, where information is being transferred there is a potential risk of it being intercepted, manipulated or disrupted. Thus, Security of Instant Messengers became a matter of high importance comprising of not only protecting the users’ sensitive information but also privacy. Also important is the awareness of the users. Are they aware of the dangers that come with directing sensitive information in this manner? Are they taking the necessary steps to shield themselves from breach attempts? This article was written to present and evaluate the awareness of IT students in the field of instant messengers security

An assessment of portal to learn foreign languages

Foreign languages learning is becoming more and more popular. A lot of people decides to start learning but in many cases some barriers exist. In small towns or villages there are no qualified teachers. This problem can be solved by remote teaching. Last time it is a popular method to make language lessons via voice communicators. Such a method should be supported by another tool to send tasks to do to students or to examine them. A portal to support learning foreign languages and to ensure communication between teacher and students was created by authors. The goal of the paper is to present its capabilities and to verify its usefulness

Do the short die young? Evidence from a large sample of deceased Polish adults

Body height is associated with various socioeconomic and health-related outcomes. Despite numerous studies, the relationship between stature and longevity remains uncertain. This study explores the association between self-reported height and lifespan. Data from 848,860 adults who died between 2004 and 2008 in Poland were collected. After excluding a small proportion of records due to missing data or errors, we examined records for 848,387 individuals (483,281 men, age range: 20–110 years; 365,106 women, age range: 20–112 years). Height was expressed as standardized residual variance derived from linear regression in order to eliminate the variance of year of birth on height. After the elimination of the cohort effect, five height classes were designated using centiles: very short, short, medium, tall and very tall. The differences between sexes and among classes were evaluated with two-way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey’s test. The effect size was assessed using partial eta squared (η2). Pearson’s r coefficients of correlation were calculated. The effect of sex on lifespan was nearly 17 times stronger than the effect of height. No correlation between height and lifespan was found. In conclusion, these findings do not support the hypothesis that taller people have a longevity advantage. We offer tentative explanations for the obtained results

Optimizing treatment strategies for a MET exon 14 skipping mutation in non-small-cell lung cancer: a case report of sequential immunotherapy and targeted therapy and literature review

The MET exon 14 skipping mutation is found in approximately 3–4% of non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC). In 2020, the American Food and Drug Administration approved the first drug targeting this mutation. Capmatinib is a selective MET tyrosine kinase inhibitor. In the European Union, capmatinib is used when the patient needs further treatment after receiving immunotherapy or platinum-based chemotherapy, or both. In the described case, due to disease progression during treatment with pembrolizumab and then with platinum-based chemotherapy, next-generation sequencing was performed, which allowed for detection of the MET gene exon 14 skipping mutation. Targeted therapy with capmatinib was the only method of treatment resulting in a partial response to the disease and improvement of the patient’s quality of life. This case indicates the importance of detailed molecular diagnosis and selection of the optimal method of treatment to prolong survival of the patient with advanced NSCLC. Due to promising results of research conducted so far, in the future, selective MET tyrosine kinase inhibitors — capmatinib and tepotinib — may become the new standard of first-line treatment in NSCLC patients with the MET exon 14 skipping mutation

Celiac disease - a review on recent advances in characteristics, diagnostic and treatments

Introduction and purpose: Celiac disease occurs in 1% of the general population. However, many cases remain unrecognized. The disease is a chronic immune-mediated disorder triggered by the ingestion of gluten that appears in individuals with genetic susceptibility. Celiac disease can develop in paediatric patients as well as adults. The purpose of this review is to analyze the newest information on the characteristics, diagnosis and treatment of patients with celiac disease.  Material and methods: This review was based on available data collected in the PubMed database and published between 2015 and 2022. The research was done by looking through keywords such as: “celiac disease”, “Gluten-Free Diet”, “diagnosis” and “treatment”. Results: The diagnosis of celiac disease is most often delayed due to the broad spectrum of presentations. Screening of at-risk individuals is important to progress the diagnosis. It is additionally crucial to raise clinicians' attention to non-specific parenteral symptoms that may indicate celiac disease. The majority of the symptoms arise from nutritional deficiencies caused by intestinal malabsorption. According to scientific reports, the most common deficiencies of people with celiac disease are iron, folic acid, vitamin B12, fat-soluble vitamins and a calcium. Conclusions: Recent years have seen the emergence of research into new therapeutic options, but their efficacy and safety still need to be evaluated more thoroughly. Strict adherence to a gluten-free diet by patients is still the only treatment option at present. Celiac disease, due to the constant increase in knowledge about its pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment is an important material for further research

Potential anti-cancer features of metformin

INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE: Metformin is one of the most frequently prescribed medications in the whole world. This lipophilic biguanide is widely used as a first-line medicine for patients suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus because of its high effectiveness in monotherapy, and in connection with other antidiabetic drugs. Glucose-lowering properties of metformin were initially used only in the therapy of type 2 diabetes mellitus, but some data indicate that these properties might state an alternative in the prevention or treatment of some cancers both among diabetic and non-diabetic patients. STATE OF KNOWLEDGE: Metformin molecular mechanisms of action were thoroughly investigated, differentiated, and described, but in the context of the glucose-lowering effect. As a multiway drug, used mainly in diseases characterized by an increased level of glucose in the blood, numerous medical trials were conducted to find other treating properties of metformin. Recently, a few reports presented the potential connection between using metformin in the prevention and treatment of neoplasms in the same mechanisms. The scientists analyzed the influence of metformin’s action on various cancers and drew conclusions. The research on potential anti-cancer features of metformin was conducted for a relatively short period and still presents a challenge to scientists. CONCLUSIONS: The aim of this review is to gather current knowledge and present the latest discoveries about potential anti-cancer features of metformin. We discuss the potential underlying molecular mechanisms of metformin’s action in the human body and indicate the connection between the prevention and treatment of neoplasms. Additionally, we point out the exact cancers in which metformin might play a significant role

Hypothermia as a treatment option for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in newborns – A literature review

Introduction and purpose: Neonatal asphyxia is a medical condition in which the neonate is not able to maintain sufficient respiratory function. The hypoxia may be caused by either an impaired respiratory activity of the neonate or an interruption of blood flow to the placenta in the period immediately before or during delivery, which resulted in inadequate oxygen perfusion to vital organs. Description of the state of knowledge: Hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a form of perinatal hypoxia, occurring in newborns after the 35th week of gestation and presenting along with neurological disorders. In fact, it is a major cause of death and infant disability. The incidence of HIE is approximately 2-5 per 1000 live births. The standard recommended treatment for perinatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy is therapeutic hypothermia. There are two methods used: selective head cooling with moderate whole-body hypothermia (SHC) and whole-body hypothermia (WBC). In both cases, metabolism and neural tissue destruction are slowed down. Conclusions: Therapeutic hypothermia is a promising treatment option for neonatal encephalopathy. Thus, it decreases the risk of death and neurological deficits in the form of cerebral palsy, epilepsy and psychomotor retardation. Whole-body hypothermia appears to be a more successful method than selective head cooling, however more research is still needed. &nbsp