Oral Clefts with Associated Anomalies: Findings in the Hungarian Congenital Abnormality Registry

BACKGROUND: Over the years, great efforts have been made to record the frequency of orofacial clefts in different populations. However, very few studies were able to account for the etiological and phenotypic heterogeneity of these conditions. Thus, data of cases with syndromic orofacial clefts from large population-based studies are infrequent. METHODS: Clinically recognized and notified syndromes and associations including cleft lip with or without cleft palate and other congenital anomalies were selected from the Hungarian Congenital Abnormality Registry (HCAR) between 1973 and 1982 and prevalence rates were calculated. RESULTS: Of 3,110 cases reported as having orofacial clefts, 653 had multiple congenital abnormalities. Of these, 60 (9.2%) had a known etiology (monogenic: 25 or 3.8%, chromosomal: 31 or 4.7%, teratogenic: 4 or 0.6%). Seventy-three subjects (11.2%) had schisis in addition to the oral cleft. Skeletal anomalies were the most common malformations among cases with cleft lip with/without cleft palate (CL/P) and cleft palate (CP). Disorders of the central nervous system and cardiovascular malformations were also frequently associated. CONCLUSION: Surveillance systems, such as the HCAR, provide useful information about prevalence rates of congenital anomalies in a population. However, in a field where new syndromes are being discovered and classifications regularly updated, these rates should only be accepted as provisional.Massachusetts Center for Birth Defects Research and Prevention of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health; Peer Foundation/Cleft Palate Foundation Etiology Gran

Personalised health education against health damage of COVID-19 epidemic in the elderly Hungarian population (PROACTIVE-19): protocol of an adaptive randomised controlled clinical trial

Early reports indicate that COVID-19 may require intensive care unit (ICU) admission in 5-26% and overall mortality can rise to 11% of the recognised cases, particularly affecting the elderly. There is a lack of evidence-based targeted pharmacological therapy for its prevention and treatment. We aim to compare the effects of a World Health Organization recommendation-based education and a personalised complex preventive lifestyle intervention package (based on the same WHO recommendation) on the outcomes of the COVID-19.PROACTIVE-19 is a pragmatic, randomised controlled clinical trial with adaptive "sample size re-estimation" design. Hungarian population over the age of 60 years without confirmed COVID-19 will be approached to participate in a telephone health assessment and lifestyle counselling voluntarily. Volunteers will be randomised into two groups: (A) general health education and (B) personalised health education. Participants will go through questioning and recommendation in 5 fields: (1) mental health, (2) smoking habits, (3) physical activity, (4) dietary habits, and (5) alcohol consumption. Both groups A and B will receive the same line of questioning to assess habits concerning these topics. Assessment will be done weekly during the first month, every second week in the second month, then monthly. The composite primary endpoint will include the rate of ICU admission, hospital admission (longer than 48 h), and mortality in COVID-19-positive cases. The estimated sample size is 3788 subjects per study arm. The planned duration of the follow-up is a minimum of 1 year.These interventions may boost the body's cardiovascular and pulmonary reserve capacities, leading to improved resistance against the damage caused by COVID-19. Consequently, lifestyle changes can reduce the incidence of life-threatening conditions and attenuate the detrimental effects of the pandemic seriously affecting the older population.The study has been approved by the Scientific and Research Ethics Committee of the Hungarian Medical Research Council (IV/2428- 2 /2020/EKU) and has been registered at clinicaltrials.gov ( NCT04321928 ) on 25 March 2020

Románia felkészülése az Európai Uniós tagságra

A diplomamunka keretein belül megpróbáltam felvázolni a keleti bővítés: elméleti kereteit, lehetőségeit és ennek gyakorlati megvalósulását Románia esetében. A rendszerváltás utáni gazdasági átalakulást öt oldalról közelítettem meg: makroökonómiai stabilizáció, privatizáció, bankszektor átalakulása, munkapiac átalakulása és a külkereskedelmi kapcsolatok alakulása. Majd három problémás területet mutattam be: mezőgazdaság, környezetvédelem és korrupció. Végül az Európai Bizottság Romániáról közölt országjelentése alapján az unió szemszögéből világítottam meg az eseményeket és eredményeket.BaBibliogr.: fol. 64-68v

Neurotoxic Effects of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles on the Somatosensory System of Rats Following Subacute Intratracheal Application

Metal-containing nanoparticles have newly been recognized as one of the major factors in occupational and other inhalation exposures. Fumes containing manganese, cadmium or lead are formed in high-temperature industrial processes. Metal oxide (MnO2, CdO2, PbO) nano¬particles were synthesized and instilled in aqueous suspension in the trachea of rats for 6 weeks, and functional changes in the somatosensory system were studied. From treated rats, as well as untreated and vehicle controls, spontaneous and stimulus-evoked activity of the primary somatosensory cortex, and compound action potential from the tail nerve, were recorded in urethane anaesthesia. In the spontaneous activity there was a shift to higher frequencies in all treated groups. The latency of the somatosensory evoked potential was typically lengthened and its dependence on the frequency of stimulation increased by high dose of Cd and Pb, and by high and low dose of Mn. On the tail nerve, Pb had the strongest effect. The similarity of the three metals’ effects indicated common mechanisms of action, most likely disturbance of Ca-dependent neuronal phenomena and oxidative stress