The ‘oecumenical Schools’: a Forgotten Civic Initiative in Hungary

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Location and type of isocitrate dehydrogenase mutations influence clinical characteristics and disease outcome of acute myeloid leukemia

Background: Mutations of isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2 are novel common genetic alterations identified in acute myeloid leukemia. Aims: To investigate the frequency, clinical associations and prognostic effect of isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2 mutations together, followed by a detailed investigation of particular mutations. Methods: A consecutive cohort of 376 patients diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia were enrolled to compare clinical characteristics. Prognostic impact was analyzed for 314 patients younger than 60 years treated with curative intention. Isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2 mutations were screened using allele-specific PCR and high resolution melting, followed by a confirmatory sequencing. Results: Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) 1 and 2 mutations were mutually exclusive, detected in 8.5% and 7.5% of the cases respectively. Presence of mutations was associated with older age (p=0.001), higher platelet count (p=0.001), intermediate risk karyotype (p<0.0001), nucleophosmin1 mutation (p=0.022), and with lower mRNA expression level of ABCG2 gene (p=0.006), as compared to mutation negative cases. Remission, relapse rates and overall survival were not different in IDH-mutation positive patients. Interestingly, particular mutations differred in association with nucleophosmin1 mutation: co-occurrence was observed in 14.3% of R132C vs. 70% of R132H carriers (p=0.02); and in 47.4% of R140Q vs. 0% R172K carriers (p=0.02) of IDH1 and IDH2 genes, respectively. R132H negatively influenced overall survival compared to isocitrate dehidrogenase 1 and 2 negative (p=0.02) or to R132C (p=0.019) patients. Conclusions: IDH mutations are frequent recurrent mutations in acute myeloid leukemia. Although a general common pathogenetic role is proposed, our results indicate that differences in clinical characteristics and treatment outcome may exist among disctinct mutations of both genes

Consensus-based recommendations for the management of uveitis associated with juvenile idiopathic arthritis:the SHARE initiative

BACKGROUND: In 2012, a European initiative called Single Hub and Access point for pediatric Rheumatology in Europe (SHARE) was launched to optimise and disseminate diagnostic and management regimens in Europe for children and young adults with rheumatic diseases. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common rheumatic disease in children and uveitis is possibly its most devastating extra-articular manifestation. Evidence-based guidelines are sparse and management is mostly based on physicians' experience. Consequently, treatment practices differ widely, within and between nations. OBJECTIVES: To provide recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of JIA-associated uveitis. METHODS: Recommendations were developed by an evidence-informed consensus process using the European League Against Rheumatism standard operating procedures. A committee was constituted, consisting of nine experienced paediatric rheumatologists and three experts in ophthalmology from Europe. Recommendations derived from a validated systematic literature review were evaluated by an Expert Committee and subsequently discussed at two consensus meetings using nominal group techniques. Recommendations were accepted if >80% agreement was reached (including all three ophthalmologists). RESULTS: In total, 22 recommendations were accepted (with >80% agreement among experts): 3 on diagnosis, 5 on disease activity measurements, 12 on treatment and 2 on future recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: The SHARE initiative aims to identify best practices for treatment of patients suffering from JIA-associated uveitis. Within this remit, recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of JIA-associated uveitis have been formulated by an evidence-informed consensus process to suggest a standard of care for JIA-associated uveitis patients throughout Europe

Rho-Regulatory Proteins in Breast Cancer Cell Motility and Invasion

The importance of the Rho-GTPases in cancer progression, particularly in the area of metastasis, is becoming increasingly evident. This review will provide an overview of the role of the Rho-regulatory proteins in breast cancer metastatis.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44220/1/10549_2004_Article_5264599.pd

Pozabljen trenutek v edukacijskih politikah. Madzarsko-svedska studija primera iz zgodnjih 70. let prejsnjega stoletja

After the brutal uprising of 1956, there was a decade of gradual reform in Hungary under the Kadar regime. As part of this decade of reform, Hungary received permission to join the IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievements), an organisation that had been established in the late 1950s by the well known Swedish educator and researcher Torsten Husén, who played an intermediary role in education policy between the West and the East. One step in fulfilling this role was his initiation a summer school under the umbrella of the IEA in the Swedish resort area of Graenna. The Hungarians were the only delegates from behind the Iron Curtain to participate. For them, it was a unique experience to view the centralised Swedish welfare state with contributions of American liberal democracy and education. This summer school of 1971 has since been forgotten, yet most of the initiatives of education policy after the political turn of 1989/90 have their roots there. This is especially true of the work and career of the well known Hungarian educator and a follower of Husén, the late Zoltán Bathory. (DIPF/Orig.

La escuela única: su extensión y dificultades en Hungría

La escuela comprensiva o única surge a finales de la Segunda Guerra Mundial en toda Europa como instrumento promotor de la democratización de la educación. Escuela no selectiva y uniforme en fines y curriculum, abarca el nivel elemental y la escuela secundaria inferior en Europa oriental, mientras que el mismo concepto es aplicado al grado superior de la escuela secundaria en las partes occidentales del continente. En Hungría, pese a haber sido planeada en los años de la primera contienda mundial, no constituyo objeto de legislación hasta el año 1945. El paso de los regimenes comunistas por el sistema ocasiona la perdida de la esencia mas intima de las escuelas comprensivas constituida por los ideales de democracia, iniciativa, igualdad social, lo que provoca su disolución en la mayoría de los países de Europa central y oriental. A la posible cuestión sobre si la Europa nuevamente unida establecerá nuevas formas de comprensividad en sectores sociales y en educación o si forjara a esta una nueva selectividad social, el autor, manifestando su deseo de armonización de los objetivos de comprensividad y modernización, aboga en concreto por la libre elección de la escuela secundaria inferior en el desarrollo de su propio perfil, por la armonización del currículo del 9.° y 10.° curso, así como por el establecimiento de un examen al final del 10.° curso.

Integration through Separation? Minority Tertiary Education at the Crossroad

1. The educational systems in Central and Eastern Europe follow the global trend of expansion. Secondary schooling (upper secondary level) are on the way to become general in many of those societies. The post-secondary (post-compulsory) level of schooling starts to expand. This is a new situation for both government and minority politicians. Minority education as a political demand for equal opportunities /provisions appears today at all levels of schooling including post-secondary /post-compulsory /higher education. Minority education at tertiary level will be one of the burning political issues of the coming years. 2 Former studies of the educational policies at the school levels show various answers to minority demands (education as a melting pot, bilingual /intercultural education etc). The answers can be grouped as policies for integretion vs policies for separation. 3 Model A: Policies for integration. They can be described by the following characteristics • structural development (building communities, organizations, initiating movements, stressing common heritages etc) as the leading valu