Heart failure and diabetes mellitus: insight into comorbidity

Diabetes mellitus (DM) and heart failure (HF) are frequent comorbidities with a bidirectional relationship. Patients with HF have increased risk of developing DM, and those with DM are at greater risk of developing HF. HF does not fit clearly into the microangiopathy and macroangiopathy groups. It is known that coronary artery disease and arterial hypertension are the major causes of HF; however, it has been shown that DM can trigger functional and structural abnormalities in the myocardium via diabetic cardiomyopathy, a condition with either restrictive or dilated phenotype. While HF treatment is equally effective and safe in patients with and without DM, this statement is not applicable for antidiabetic treatment. Several antidiabetic drugs, such as rosiglitazone, pioglitazone and saxagliptin increase the risk of hospitalisation for HF, therefore these antidiabetic drugs are contraindicated in patients with DM and HF or patients at risk of developing HF. Despite a large number of clinical evidence, uncertainty about the safety of antidiabetic drugs in patients with HF always exists. In this review, the issues of DM treatment in patients with HF are addressed in detail

Perceptions of Foreign Language Teachers for M-Learning

Educational technology is a set of systems consisting of tech savvy equipment, processes and methods for the effective and positive implementation of educational theories. Nowadays, when the internet is becoming widespread, and mobile device technologies such as smartphones and tablets have been developing rapidly, it is possible to access educational content without being connected to a place. Today, almost everyone has smartphones. Many social networks, sites, applications are available. Many studies have shown that technology is effective in the field of education. For teachers with foreign language and their perceptions of learning through the help of technology are important. In this study, it is important to determine teachers' perception levels of mobile applications that contribute to foreign language learning. The "mobile learning perception scale" developed to access the research data. Items that are mentioned in the scale are basically positive question, "absolutely disagree", "disagree", "undecided", "agree", "strongly agree". After analysing the reliability of the survey, the overall result was found as Cronbach ? = 0,963. A total of 180 teachers attended from North Cyprus and Russian universities. According to the result of the research, the teachers' perception of mobile learning is high. But this rate is proportional to age. There is a difference in the findings regarding the use of mobile technology when looking at the professional seniority and age ranges. This is due to the fact that recently, technology-supported trainings have been increased and the addition of "material design courses" and "technology-supported trainings" at universities play an important role in increasing perceptions. The use of mobile technology can be increased by providing in-service trainings to teachers with high professional experience and ages

Lactoferrin Induces Erythropoietin Synthesis and Rescues Cognitive Functions in the Offspring of Rats Subjected to Prenatal Hypoxia

The protective effects of recombinant human lactoferrin rhLF (branded “CAPRABEL™”) on the cognitive functions of rat offspring subjected to prenatal hypoxia (7% O2, 3 h, 14th day of gestation) have been analyzed. About 90% of rhLF in CAPRABEL was iron-free (apo-LF). Rat dams received several injections of 10 mg of CAPRABEL during either gestation (before and after the hypoxic attack) or lactation. Western blotting revealed the appearance of erythropoietin (EPO) alongside the hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) in organ homogenates of apo-rhLF-treated pregnant females, their embryos (but not placentas), and in suckling pups from the dams treated with apo-rhLF during lactation. Apo-rhLF injected to rat dams either during pregnancy or nurturing the pups was able to rescue cognitive deficits caused by prenatal hypoxia and improve various types of memory both in young and adult offspring when tested in the radial maze and by the Novel Object Recognition (NOR) test. The data obtained suggested that the apo-form of human LF injected to female rats during gestation or lactation protects the cognitive functions of their offspring impaired by prenatal hypoxia