Selected nutritional risk parameters in patients with laryngeal cancer — a comparison with other patients hospitalized in a Department of Laryngology and patients with colorectal cancer

Background: It is assumed that neoplasm greater in size may affect a patients’ nutritional status and prognosisstronger than smaller one. The aim of this study was to compare the nutritional status and prognosisof patients with laryngeal cancer (LC), recognized as tumour smaller in size, and patients with colorectalcancer (CRC) who were hospitalized in our hospital during the one year period. Methods: The retrospective review of medical documentation of all 1,134 patients hospitalized in a Departmentof Otolaryngology. Results: The laryngeal tumour was smaller than colorectal. Nutritional risk concerned 9% of patients withLC, was greater than in patients with other laryngeal disorders (1.4%), and lower than in patients withCRC (37%). A Nutritional Risk Screening (NRS) 2002 score ≥ 3 was the only significant factor influencingthe risk of in-hospital all-cause mortality, 14- and 30-day readmissions in patients with LC, and the risk of14-day rehospitalization in patients with CRC. Conclusions: Risk of malnutrition in patients with LC was lower than in counterparts with CRC, and concern9% and 37% of patients, respectively. Nutritional risk diagnosed in patients with LC had a strongerassociation with the prevalence of the measured outcomes (in-hospital death, the risk of 14-day and30-day readmission, length of hospitalization) than in individuals with CRC

Assessment of health behaviour of school-age youth

I n t r o d u c t i o n. Adolescence is a very important period for young people as it is the time when the patterns of health behaviour stabilize and in such form may be adopted for the rest of one’s life. This age group is also most prone to behaviour posing a risk to health and lacking behaviour good for health. The period of education is the most suitable to make teenagers aware of how much depends on themselves. Adolescence is often the time of rebellion and independent decision making which influence both the diet, way of spending fee time, personal and mental hygiene as well as abusing dangerous substance. The aim of the study was to assess the health behaviour of lower secondary school attendees in the scope of diet and physical activity by means of a questionnaire. The materials were based on research regarding health behaviour. The study group consisted of 90 students (60% male, 40% female). A questionnaire was chosen as the study method. The study was performed in 2012, from May until September. The results were comparable with HBSC results from 2006 in which 64.4% of the adolescents did not achieve the recommended physical activity minimum. The research has shown that adolescents prefer passive ways of spending their free time. Studies which monitor the state of behaviour linked with the health of the youth are carried out both internationally, nationally and locally. Poland achieves poor results in comparison to other countries when it comes to level of physical activity and amount of time spent on passive leisure.Okres dorastania jest bardzo ważny dla młodzieży, ponieważ stabilizują się wzory zachowań zdrowotnych, które w utrwalonej formie mogą towarzyszyć człowiekowi przez całe życie. Dorastająca młodzież jest najbardziej narażoną grupą społeczeństwa na występowanie zachowań ryzykownych dla zdrowia i niedostatki w zakresie zachowań dla zdrowia korzystnych. Etap edukacji to najlepszy moment na uświadomienie nastolatkom, jak wiele zależy od nich samych. Młodzież w okresie dojrzewania przeżywa często czas buntu i podejmowania samodzielnych decyzji, ma wpływ na samodzielny sposób odżywiania się, spędzania wolnego czasu, higienę osobistą, higienę umysłowa, czy decydując sięganiu po różnego rodzaju używki. Niekorzystne dla zdrowia zachowania prowadzić mogą do wielu chorób somatycznych w tym np. chorób układu sercowo-naczyniowego czy nowotworowych będących najczęstszymi przyczynami umieralności. Kształtowanie prozdrowotnych zachowań młodzieży jest więc niezwykle istotne dla budowania potencjału zdrowotnego przyszłych pokoleń. Dlatego też realizacja treści prozdrowotnych ma pomóc w przekazaniu zasobu wiedzy teoretycznej o zdrowiu, pozwala ukształtować postawę człowieka zainteresowanego własnym zdrowiem i dbającego o nie

Ocena zachowań zdrowotnych młodzieży szkolnej

I n t r o d u c t i o n . Adolescence is a very important period for young people as it is the time when the patterns of health behaviour stabilize and in such form may be adopted for the rest of one’s life. This age group is also most prone to behaviour posing a risk to health and lacking behaviour good for health. The period of education is the most suitable to make teenagers aware of how much depends on themselves. Adolescence is often the time of rebellion and independent decision making which influence both the diet, way of spending fee time, personal and mental hygiene as well as abusing dangerous substance. The aim of the study was to assess the health behaviour of lower secondary school attendees in the scope of diet and physical activity by means of a questionnaire. The materials were based on research regarding health behaviour. The study group consisted of 90 students (60% male, 40% female). A questionnaire was chosen as the study method. The study was performed in 2012, from May until September. The results were comparable with HBSC results from 2006 in which 64.4% of the adolescents did not achieve the recommended physical activity minimum. The research has shown that adolescents prefer passive ways of spending their free time. Studies which monitor the state of behaviour linked with the health of the youth are carried out both internationally, nationally and locally. Poland achieves poor results in comparison to other countries when it comes to level of physical activity and amount of time spent on passive leisure.Okres dorastania jest bardzo ważny dla młodzieży, ponieważ stabilizują się wzory zachowań zdrowotnych, które w utrwalonej formie mogą towarzyszyć człowiekowi przez całe życie. Dorastająca młodzież jest najbardziej narażoną grupą społeczeństwa na występowanie zachowań ryzykownych dla zdrowia i niedostatki w zakresie zachowań dla zdrowia korzystnych. Etap edukacji to najlepszy moment na uświadomienie nastolatkom, jak wiele zależy od nich samych. Młodzież w okresie dojrzewania przeżywa często czas buntu i podejmowania samodzielnych decyzji, ma wpływ na samodzielny sposób odżywiania się, spędzania wolnego czasu, higienę osobistą, higienę umysłowa, czy decydując sięganiu po różnego rodzaju używki. Niekorzystne dla zdrowia zachowania prowadzić mogą do wielu chorób somatycznych w tym np. chorób układu sercowo-naczyniowego czy nowotworowych będących najczęstszymi przyczynami umieralności. Kształtowanie prozdrowotnych zachowań młodzieży jest więc niezwykle istotne dla budowania potencjału zdrowotnego przyszłych pokoleń. Dlatego też realizacja treści prozdrowotnych ma pomóc w przekazaniu zasobu wiedzy teoretycznej o zdrowiu, pozwala ukształtować postawę człowieka zainteresowanego własnym zdrowiem i dbającego o nie

Mesh-covered (Roadsaver) stent as a new treatment modality for symptomatic or high-risk carotid stenosis

Introduction: Prevention of periprocedural stroke has a crucial role in carotid artery stenting (CAS) procedures. Aim: To assess retrospectively 30-day safety and effectiveness of 41 procedures of internal and common carotid artery stenting using the Roadsaver double nitinol layer micromesh stent in 40 non-consecutive patients with symptomatic or high-risk carotid artery stenosis. Material and methods: The patients were men (n = 31) and women (n = 9); mean age was 67.8 ±7.9 years. Femoral access was used in 39 cases, whereas radial access was used in 2. Proximal (n = 27) or distal (n = 14) embolic neuroprotection was used. Results: The Roadsaver stents (nominal diameter 7, 8 or 9 mm, length 25 or 30 mm) were implanted successfully in all cases. One minor stroke occurred after common carotid artery intubation with a guiding catheter (before stent deployment) and one transient postprocedural ischemic attack (TIA) of the ipsilateral cerebral hemisphere was observed. Internal/common carotid artery stenosis severity was evaluated by duplex Doppler. Maximal peak systolic velocity (PSV) before CAS was in the range: 2.0–7.0 m/s, mean: 3.9 ±1.0 m/s, at 24–48 h after stenting mean PSV was 1.1 ±0.4 m/s (p < 0.05), and at 30 days 1.1 ±0.3 m/s (p < 0.05). Maximal end-diastolic velocity (EDV) was 0.85–3.5 m/s, mean 1.4 ±0.5 m/s, at 24–48 h after stenting mean EDV was 0.3 ±0.1 m/s (p < 0.05), and at 30 days 0.4 ±0.1 m/s (p < 0.05). No restenosis or thrombosis was observed. Angiographic stenosis decreased from 82.9 ±9.1% (range: 61–97%) to 19.3 ±7.3% (range: 0–34%) (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The CAS using the Roadsaver stent seems to be safe and effective. Further studies involving larger patient populations and longer follow-up are needed

Serotype-Specific Pneumococcal Status prior to PCV 13 Administration in Children and Adolescents with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

The aim of this study was to evaluate the serotype-specific pneumococcal status of children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who were na&iuml;ve to pneumococcal vaccination before administering the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV 13). This was an open, prospective study on children and adolescents aged 5&ndash;18 years who had IBD and were na&iuml;ve to pneumococcal vac&shy;cination. A single dose of PCV 13 was administered to each patient. The geometric mean concentrations (GMCs) were measured for all 13 serotypes. A total of 122 subjects completed the study. Prevaccination GMCs ranged from 0.55 &mu;g/ml (serotype 4) to 4.26 &mu;g/ml (sero&shy;type 19A). Prior to the administration of PCV 13, high GMCs were detected in older children and adolescents who had IBD and were na&iuml;ve to pneumococcal vaccination

A chemical survey of exoplanets with ARIEL

Thousands of exoplanets have now been discovered with a huge range of masses, sizes and orbits: from rocky Earth-like planets to large gas giants grazing the surface of their host star. However, the essential nature of these exoplanets remains largely mysterious: there is no known, discernible pattern linking the presence, size, or orbital parameters of a planet to the nature of its parent star. We have little idea whether the chemistry of a planet is linked to its formation environment, or whether the type of host star drives the physics and chemistry of the planet’s birth, and evolution. ARIEL was conceived to observe a large number (~1000) of transiting planets for statistical understanding, including gas giants, Neptunes, super-Earths and Earth-size planets around a range of host star types using transit spectroscopy in the 1.25–7.8 μm spectral range and multiple narrow-band photometry in the optical. ARIEL will focus on warm and hot planets to take advantage of their well-mixed atmospheres which should show minimal condensation and sequestration of high-Z materials compared to their colder Solar System siblings. Said warm and hot atmospheres are expected to be more representative of the planetary bulk composition. Observations of these warm/hot exoplanets, and in particular of their elemental composition (especially C, O, N, S, Si), will allow the understanding of the early stages of planetary and atmospheric formation during the nebular phase and the following few million years. ARIEL will thus provide a representative picture of the chemical nature of the exoplanets and relate this directly to the type and chemical environment of the host star. ARIEL is designed as a dedicated survey mission for combined-light spectroscopy, capable of observing a large and well-defined planet sample within its 4-year mission lifetime. Transit, eclipse and phase-curve spectroscopy methods, whereby the signal from the star and planet are differentiated using knowledge of the planetary ephemerides, allow us to measure atmospheric signals from the planet at levels of 10–100 part per million (ppm) relative to the star and, given the bright nature of targets, also allows more sophisticated techniques, such as eclipse mapping, to give a deeper insight into the nature of the atmosphere. These types of observations require a stable payload and satellite platform with broad, instantaneous wavelength coverage to detect many molecular species, probe the thermal structure, identify clouds and monitor the stellar activity. The wavelength range proposed covers all the expected major atmospheric gases from e.g. H2O, CO2, CH4 NH3, HCN, H2S through to the more exotic metallic compounds, such as TiO, VO, and condensed species. Simulations of ARIEL performance in conducting exoplanet surveys have been performed – using conservative estimates of mission performance and a full model of all significant noise sources in the measurement – using a list of potential ARIEL targets that incorporates the latest available exoplanet statistics. The conclusion at the end of the Phase A study, is that ARIEL – in line with the stated mission objectives – will be able to observe about 1000 exoplanets depending on the details of the adopted survey strategy, thus confirming the feasibility of the main science objectives.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Identification of genetic variants associated with Huntington's disease progression: a genome-wide association study

Background Huntington's disease is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene, HTT. Age at onset has been used as a quantitative phenotype in genetic analysis looking for Huntington's disease modifiers, but is hard to define and not always available. Therefore, we aimed to generate a novel measure of disease progression and to identify genetic markers associated with this progression measure. Methods We generated a progression score on the basis of principal component analysis of prospectively acquired longitudinal changes in motor, cognitive, and imaging measures in the 218 indivduals in the TRACK-HD cohort of Huntington's disease gene mutation carriers (data collected 2008–11). We generated a parallel progression score using data from 1773 previously genotyped participants from the European Huntington's Disease Network REGISTRY study of Huntington's disease mutation carriers (data collected 2003–13). We did a genome-wide association analyses in terms of progression for 216 TRACK-HD participants and 1773 REGISTRY participants, then a meta-analysis of these results was undertaken. Findings Longitudinal motor, cognitive, and imaging scores were correlated with each other in TRACK-HD participants, justifying use of a single, cross-domain measure of disease progression in both studies. The TRACK-HD and REGISTRY progression measures were correlated with each other (r=0·674), and with age at onset (TRACK-HD, r=0·315; REGISTRY, r=0·234). The meta-analysis of progression in TRACK-HD and REGISTRY gave a genome-wide significant signal (p=1·12 × 10−10) on chromosome 5 spanning three genes: MSH3, DHFR, and MTRNR2L2. The genes in this locus were associated with progression in TRACK-HD (MSH3 p=2·94 × 10−8 DHFR p=8·37 × 10−7 MTRNR2L2 p=2·15 × 10−9) and to a lesser extent in REGISTRY (MSH3 p=9·36 × 10−4 DHFR p=8·45 × 10−4 MTRNR2L2 p=1·20 × 10−3). The lead single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in TRACK-HD (rs557874766) was genome-wide significant in the meta-analysis (p=1·58 × 10−8), and encodes an aminoacid change (Pro67Ala) in MSH3. In TRACK-HD, each copy of the minor allele at this SNP was associated with a 0·4 units per year (95% CI 0·16–0·66) reduction in the rate of change of the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) Total Motor Score, and a reduction of 0·12 units per year (95% CI 0·06–0·18) in the rate of change of UHDRS Total Functional Capacity score. These associations remained significant after adjusting for age of onset. Interpretation The multidomain progression measure in TRACK-HD was associated with a functional variant that was genome-wide significant in our meta-analysis. The association in only 216 participants implies that the progression measure is a sensitive reflection of disease burden, that the effect size at this locus is large, or both. Knockout of Msh3 reduces somatic expansion in Huntington's disease mouse models, suggesting this mechanism as an area for future therapeutic investigation