A note on inverses of power series

AbstractWe show the recurrence formula for coefficients of an inverse of a power series of two variables. This problem arises from geodesy

Antioxidative, sensory and volatile profiles of cookies enriched with freeze-dried Japanese quince (Chaenomeles japonica) fruits

The study aimed at assessing effects of freeze-dried Japanese quince fruit (FJQF; 0–9%) added to cookies to improve their antioxidant attributes during storage, sensory and volatile characteristics and acceptability by consumers. Cookies containing FJQF had 2-3.5-fold higher radical scavenging activity and exhibited less secondary lipid oxidation products compared with the control cookies. Enriched cookies had higher contents of volatile hexanal, heptanal, octanal, 2-heptenal, (E) than control cookies. Acetic acid dominated in the volatile profile of enriched cookies (ranging 7.05–23.37%), hence intensities of acidic and citrus aroma were scored high. Cookies stored for 16-weeks showed increased amounts of hydrocarbons as compared with fresh cookies and new hydrocarbons were also generated, which were not detected in fresh cookies. The consumer panel indicated a higher preference for cookies containing 1.0 and 1.5% FJQF than those containing 6.0 and 9.0%

Thyroid dysfunction in patients with diabetic retinopathy

Thyroid disease and diabetes mellitus (DM) are the most common endocrinopathies in clinical practice that interact with each other. On the one hand, thyroid hormones regulate carbohydrate metabolism and pancreas functions, and on the other hand DM affects the function and work of the thyroid gland. Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a highly specific neurovascular complication of both type 1 and type 2 DM, which is a significant cause of vision loss on a global scale. In DM, the internal blood-retinal barrier is the earliest to be damaged, and changes in neuroretina result from the loss of its adaptation to metabolic disorders. Patients with DM have a higher incidence of thyroid disease compared to people without DM. The coexistence of DM with thyroid disease leads to endothelial damage, and the degree of its dysfunction has a significant impact on the course of macro- and microangiopathic complications in patients. There are few reports in the literature about the impact of thyroid disease and substitution of levothyroxine preparations on the development and course of DR in patients with DM. It is unknown whether the fact that patients with unrecognised hypothyroidism are not treated with levothyroxine preparations disrupts thyroid hormone homeostasis to the extent that it may contribute to a higher incidence of DR. This review discusses recent clinical trials for thyroid dysfunction in patients with DR.

Arteriovenous fistula of superficial temporal vessels

We present a case of patient with a rare vessel pathology — arteriovenous fistula (AVF) of superficial temporal artery and vein. The 56-year-old man was admitted to the Department of Neurology because of a headache in the right temporal region with concomitant buzzing sound in his right ear. The pain was present mainly in the evenings and was stronger when touching the temporal region. He denied having any head injury in the last few years. There were no signs of central nervous system involvement in the neurological examination. Within the right temporal area a subcutaneous mass with redness of the surrounding skin and with palpable and audible pulsatile thrill was observed. In computed tomography (CT) of the head no abnormalities were found. In duplex-Doppler ultrasound examination of carotid arteries the systolic blood velocity in the right external carotid artery was over two times higher than in the left one. Its flow profile was turbulent and low-resistant. In CT angiography (CTA) an AVF between superficial temporal artery and vein was revealed — it was located at the level of the right zygomatic arch. In both CTA and magnetic resonance angiography, no abnormal connections between extra- and intracranial vessels were found. The patient underwent surgery with good result — all the symptoms disappeared. AVFs of vessels of the scalp are rare and their aetiology is mainly traumatic or iatrogenic. By describing this case we wanted to draw attention to less frequent causes of headache