Sjögren’s Syndrome as an Ocular Problem: Signs and Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment

Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune disease of exocrine glands, which is characterized by dry mouth and dry eye, though ocular disturbances, such as dry eye disease, may be the first sign of the problem. In pathogenesis of SS, activated T-cells and B-cells infiltrate the lacrimal glands and autoimmune process leading to cell destruction. This process causes hyposecretion of tears and aqueous-deficient dry eye disease. Evaporative dry eye disease is connected with Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) and/or goblet cell loss. There are many questionnaires and tests to dry eye disease diagnosing, but there is no “gold standard.” Correlation of data from symptom questionnaires and results of ocular staining score, Schirmer test I (without anesthesia), and break-up-time make it easier to diagnose. The treatment of SS includes both local (tear drops and moistures) and systemic (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs—NSAIDs, glucocorticoids, and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs—biologics) therapies, but it is individual. We would like to present recent data on the ocular involvement and perspective of dry eye disease diagnosis and treatment in patients with SS

Erratum

"Erratum on the article ‘On geometric properties of spherical conics and generalization of π in navigation and mapping’" Geodesy and Cartography. First published online: 17 Jan 201

On geometric properties of spherical conics and generalization of π in navigation and mapping

First, we cover the conical curves on 2-dimensional modeling sphere S 2 showing their geometric properties affecting the hyperbolic navigation. We place emphasis on the geometric definition of spherical parabola and relate it to the notions of spherical ellipse and hyperbola and give simple geometric proofs for relations between conical curves on the sphere. In the second part of the paper function  representing the ratio of the circle's circumference to its diameter has been defined and researched to analyze the potential discrepancies in the spherical and conical projective models on which the navigational computations are based on. We compare some non-Euclidean geometric properties of curved surfaces and its Euclidean plane model in reference to the local and global approximation. As a working tool we use  function for geometric comparison analysis in the theory of long-range navigation and cartographic projection. We state the existence of the infinite number of the circles having the same radius but different circumference on the conical surface. Finally, we survey the exemplary proposals of generalization of function . In particular, we focus on the geometric structure of applied model treated as a metric space showing the differences in the outputting computations if the changes in a metric are made. We also relate the function  to Tissot's indicatrix of distortion

Comparison of peritumoral and subareolar injection of Tc99m sulphur colloid and blue-dye for detection of the sentinel lymph node in breast cancer

BACKGROUND: The new trend in diagnosis of the lymph node is sentinel node biopsy. This method has become increasingly accepted as a minimally invasive alternative to routine axillary dissection. Although the results of numerous studies have shown that sentinel node biopsy can accurately determine the axillary nodal status, the identification rates and false-negative rates have been variable. The sentinel lymph node is defined as the first node in the lymphatic basin that receives the primary lymphatic flow. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between September 1998 and August 2002 123 patients with primary operative breast cancer without clinical palpable axillary lymph nodes were enrolled in the study. There were two groups of patients according to sentinel node identification technique: 51 patients (Group I) received parenchymal, peritumoral injection of 1.0 ml of 16 MBq Tc99m-radiolabelled sulphur colloid and single intradermal injection of blue-dye over the tumour. The next 72 patients (Group II) received intradermal, periareolar one-site injection of 0.5 ml of 16 MBq Tc99m-radiolabelled sulphur colloid and blue-dye. RESULTS: Sentinel lymph node was found in 41 (80.4%) cases in Group I and in 67 (93.0%) cases in Group II (p = 0.028). The localisation of the axillary lymph node as a "hot spot" visualised by lymphoscintigraphy was successful in 39/51 (76.5%) cases in Group I and 67/72 (93.0%) in Group II, p = 0.004). In both groups the success of sentinel node identification in the axillary region by lymphoscintigraphy was connected with sentinel lymph node finding during surgery (Group I: p < 0.001, Group II: p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that intradermal, periareolar one-site injection of Tc99m-radiolabelled sulphur colloid and bluedye is superior to peritumoral 4-sites injections Tc99m-radiolabelled sulphur colloid and single intradermal injection of bluedye over the tumour in sentinel lymph node identification

Safety of transfusion in terms of transmission of blood born infectious agents in the light of reports presented at the 23rd Congress of the International Society of Blood Transfusion

Podczas 23. Zjazdu Międzynarodowego Towarzystwa Przetaczania Krwi w Amsterdamie omawiano różnorodne aspekty działań zmierzających do ograniczania ryzyka przenoszenia czynników zakaźnych drogą krwi. W niniejszym opracowaniu zwrócono szczególną uwagę na: trudności związane z procedurą kwalifikacji dawców krwi, między innymi na zjawisko tak zwanych test seekers (osób zgłaszających się, by oddać krew przede wszystkim w celu uzyskania wyników badań wirusologicznych), sformułowania zawarte w ankietach epidemiologicznych, źródła zakażeń dawców, u których stwierdzono markery infekcji, oraz efektywność różnych strategii prowadzenia badań przeglądowych markerów zakażenia HBV. Przedstawiono najważniejsze informacje odnoszące się do nowo pojawiających się czynników zakaźnych, między innymi wirusów, takich jak wirus Zachodniego Nilu (WNV) i wirus Dengi (DENV) uznawanych obecnie za największe potencjalne zagrożenie dla bezpieczeństwa przetoczeń oraz dokategoryzacji EID wprowadzonej przez grupy ekspertów ze Stanów Zjednoczonych i Europy. Poświęcono także uwagę innym czynnikom zakaźnym, istotnym dla bezpieczeństwa transfuzji, takim jak ludzki wirus cytomegalii (CMV) i parwowirus B19 (B19V). Podsumowano wyniki dotychczasowych prac badawczych, których celem było ograniczenie ryzyka powikłań wywoływanych przez bakterie. W niniejszym opracowaniu omówiono również doniesienia zaprezentowane przez polską służbę krwi

Problematyka agresji wobec ratowników medycznych w zespołach ratownictwa medycznego

Wprowadzenie: W publikacji przedstawiona została problematyka agresji skierowanej przeciw ratownikom medycznym pracującym w zespołach ratownictwa medycznego. Materiał i metoda: Badanie przeprowadzono metodą ankietową w grupie 50 ratowników medycznych. Badanie miało charakter dobrowolny i anonimowy. Wyniki: 96% ratowników medycznych uczestniczących w badaniu zadeklarowało, że w ciągu ostatniego roku, w czasie pracy w systemie Państwowego Ratownictwa Medycznego, spotkało się z agresją. Najczęstszą formą agresji była agresja słowna. U 22% uczestników badania w wyniku agresji doszło do uszczerbku na zdrowiu. Większość ankietowanych nie zgłosiła jednak przypadków agresji policji. Podsumowanie: Zjawisko agresji wobec personelu medycznego jest istotnym problemem Państwowego Ratownictwa Medycznego w Polsce i wymaga interwencji oraz zmian na poziomie systemowym, a także indywidualnej pomocy osobom dotkniętym tym zjawiskiem.Introduction: The publication presents the issue of aggression addressed to paramedics working in medical emergency teams. Material and methods: The study included 50 paramedics who completed a questionnaire carried out by the authors. The survey was voluntary and anonymous. Results: During 12 months prior to the study, 96% of responders experienced aggression during working in the State Medical Rescue System in Poland. The most frequent form of aggression was verbal aggression. 22% of participants experienced assault and their health was damaged as a result of patient’s aggressive behaviour. However, most of the respondents did not report this fact to the police. Conclusions: An aggression against medical personnel is a significant problem of State Medical Rescue System in Poland. It requires systemic changes as well as an individual support for units affected by this problem

Gaze transitions when learning with multimedia

Eye tracking methodology is used to examine the influence of interactive multimedia on the allocation of visual attention and its dynamics during learning. We hypothesized that an interactive simulation promotes more organized switching of attention between different elements of multimedia learning material, e.g., textual description and pictorial visualization. Participants studied a description of an algorithm accompanied either by an interactive simulation, self-paced animation, or static illustration. Using a novel framework for entropy-based comparison of gaze transition matrices, results showed that the interactive simulation elicited more careful visual investigation of the learning material as well as reading of the problem description through to its completion