Citrulline, Intestinal Fatty Acid-Binding Protein and the Acute Gastrointestinal Injury Score as Predictors of Gastrointestinal Failure in Patients with Sepsis and Septic Shock.

Gastrointestinal (GI) failure can be both a cause of sepsis and a consequence of the systemic pro-inflammatory response in sepsis. Changes in biomarkers of enterocyte damage, citrulline and I-FABP (intestinal fatty acid binding protein), may indicate altered intestinal permeability and damage. The study group consisted of patients with sepsis ( = 28) and septic shock ( = 30); the control group included patients without infection ( = 10).

Intestinal Fatty Acid Binding Protein (I-FABP) as a Prognostic Marker in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients.

Gastrointestinal symptoms are common in critically ill COVID-19 patients. There is currently no generally recognized method of assessing gastrointestinal injury in unconscious or sedated intensive care unit (ICU) patients. I-FABP (intestinal fatty acid binding protein) and citrulline have previously been studied as potential biomarkers of enterocyte damage in various gastrointestinal tract diseases, and changes in the levels of these markers may reflect intestinal wall damage in COVID-19.

Explainable Artificial Intelligence Helps in Understanding the Effect of Fibronectin on Survival of Sepsis.

Fibronectin (FN) plays an essential role in the host's response to infection. In previous studies, a significant decrease in the FN level was observed in sepsis; however, it has not been clearly elucidated how this parameter affects the patient's survival. To better understand the relationship between FN and survival, we utilized innovative approaches from the field of explainable machine learning, including local explanations (Break Down, Shapley Additive Values, Ceteris Paribus), to understand the contribution of FN to predicting individual patient survival.

Fibronectin as a Marker of Disease Severity in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus alters the expression of genes for extracellular matrix proteins, including fibronectin. The aim of the study was to establish the relationship between different forms of fibronectin, such as plasma (pFN), cellular (EDA-FN), and proteolytic FN-fragments, and disease severity and mortality of critically ill patients treated in the intensive care unit. The levels of pFN, EDA-FN, and FN-fragments were measured in patients with a viral (N = 43, COVID-19) or bacterial (N = 41, sepsis) infection, using immunoblotting and ELISA.

Cancer Education in Poland: Current Status and Suggestions for Improvement.

In this article, we want to describe the opportunities we experienced though involvement with the AACE and EACE to improve cancer education in poland from our points of view as fifth-year medicine students. By participating in the annual meeting of the EACE that our university (Wroclaw ) hosted and also the ESMI-ESO course on medical oncology for medical students, we were able to improve our doctor- patient skills and deepen our knowledge caring for cancer patients. In our opinion in the obligatory medical curriculum in Poland, the curricular offerings in oncology should be better coordinated and there is too little attention to the teaching of the so called "soft skills" for future doctors.