Report on the Effect of the Implementation of an Early Detection and Prevention of Cancer Program on Families at High Hereditary Risk-Concentrating on Patients Undergoing Genetic Diagnostics and Counseling in Central Poland.

Over a 46-month period, the objectives of the National Cancer Control Program (NCCP, pol. Narodowy Program Zwalczania Chorób Nowotworowych), coordinated by the Ministry of Health, were pursued by conducting genetic diagnostics on individuals at high risk of developing cancer. A total of 1097 individuals were enrolled in the study, leading to the identification of 128 cases of germline mutations.

The influence of comorbidities on mortality in bronchiectasis: A prospective, observational study.

Background: Bronchiectasis is a progressive chronic disease associated with an increased risk of mortality.

Objectives: To identify the prevalence of comorbidities in patients with bronchiectasis and the impact of these comorbidities on mortality.

Material And Methods: A cohort of 93 patients with computed tomography (CT)-confirmed bronchiectasis admitted consecutively to a tertiary teaching hospital was observed over a period of 5 years.

Tell Me, What Do You See?-Interpretable Classification of Wiring Harness Branches with Deep Neural Networks.

In the context of the robotisation of industrial operations related to manipulating deformable linear objects, there is a need for sophisticated machine vision systems, which could classify the wiring harness branches and provide information on where to put them in the assembly process. However, industrial applications require the interpretability of the machine learning system predictions, as the user wants to know the underlying reason for the decision made by the system. We propose several different neural network architectures that are tested on our novel dataset to address this issue.

The Usefulness of Cell-Based and Liquid-Based Urine Tests in Clarifying the Diagnosis and Monitoring the Course of Urothelial Carcinoma. Identification of Novel, Potentially Actionable, and Somatic Mutations.

Bladder cancer is one of the most common cancers in global statistics. One of the issues associated with this disease is the high incidence of cases with delayed diagnosis and what factors correlate with worse treatment outcomes. A possible reason for this may be the rather limited availability of non-invasive diagnostic tools.

Does bronchiectasis affect COPD comorbidities?

Introduction: COPD and bronchiectasis, chronic inflammation disorders of the bronchial tree through the mechanism of 'spill-over' of inflammatory mediators, may lead to systemic manifestations of illness of the respiratory system and comorbidities. The aim of the study was to evaluate the frequency of coexisting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchiectasis and influence of bronchiectasis on COPD comorbid diseases.

Material And Methods: A post-hoc cross-sectional analysis of cohort study of 288 consecutive patients hospitalized due to acute exacerbation of COPD was performed.

Comparative analysis of 13 HPV genotypes diagnosed in urine sediment cells vs. desquamated cervical epithelial cells.

Introduction: The human papilloma virus (HPV) belongs to double-stranded, DNA circular viruses which infect the epithelial cells. The highest incidence of HPV is identified in malignant processes which affect the uterine cervix, as well as vulvar, penile, rectal and pharyngeal regions.

Goal Of Study: An attempt to find correlations between HPV incidence rates in urine sediment cells and in desquamated epithelial cells of the uterine cervix in a group of patients with frequent, recurrent cystitis.

Methotrexate treatment efficacy in sarcoidosis might be related to TNF-α polymorphism: real life preliminary study.

Introduction: Methotrexate therapy improves lung function in selected sarcoidosis patients. Variation in TNF gene was associated with response to treatment. To determine the predictive role of-308 G/A, -857C/T, -863 C/A and -1031 T/C α polymorphism in the efficacy of MTX for progressive pulmonary sarcoidosis.

Sarcoidosis as a risk factor for venous thromboembolism.

Sarcoidosis as a chronic condition of immune dysregulation might be associated with increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). In this study we report three cases of sarcoidosis and pulmonary embolism (PE) occurring together, that share common clinical, serological and pathological findings, confirming the diagnosis of active pulmonary sarcoidosis and no others co-existing prothrombotic factors. We hypothesized that the hypercoagulability and increased risk for VTE in sarcoidosis may be attributable to active local and generalized inflammatory process.

PPI-G4 Glycodendrimers Upregulate TRAIL-Induced Apoptosis in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Cells.

Although chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common adult leukemia in Western world, it remains incurable with conventional chemotherapeutic agents. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is an antitumor candidate in cancer therapy. This study examines the proapoptotic effects of poly(propylene imine) (PPI) glycodendrimers modified with the maltotriose residues (PPI-G4-OS-Mal-III and PPI-G4-DS-Mal-III) on the TNF family in CLL cells.

Diagnostics of SHOX gene rearrangement in 46,XX women with idiopathic short stature.

Introduction: The SHOX gene has been mapped at the pseudoautosomal region 1 (PAR1) of chromosomes X (Xp22.33) and Y (Yp11.32).

Pilot program on distance training in spirometry testing - the technology feasibility study.

Introduction: Office spirometry has been widely used in recent years by general practitioners in primary care setting, thus the need for stricter monitoring of the quality of spirometry has been recognized.

Material And Methods: A spirometry counseling network of outpatients clinics was created in Poland using portable spirometer Spirotel. The spirometry data were transferred to counseling centre once a week.

The influence of comorbidities on mortality in sarcoidosis: a observational prospective cohort study.

Aim: The aim of this study was to identify the frequency and prevalence of comorbidities in sarcoid patients and to assess their influence on overall mortality in the cohort of patients with sarcoidosis.

Materials And Methods: A cohort of 557 patients with histologically confirmed sarcoidosis diagnosed between 2007 and 2011 and a group of non-sarcoid controls were observed. All patients were carefully observed for comorbidities and mortality.

Causes of deaths in COPD patients in primary care setting--a 6-year follow-up.

Introduction: COPD is one of the most frequent respiratory diseases responsible for patients' disability and mortality. In 2005 a single primary care practice, COPD was diagnosed in 183 out of 1,960 eligible subjects ≥ 40 years (9.3%).

[Evaluation of genomic imbalance in endometrial hyperplasia and carcinoma].

Objective: The main goal of our study was to identify the earliest and specific genetic changes which could be associated with an increased risk of neoplastic transformation in a group of patients with endometrial hyperplasia. Another goal was to characterize genetic changes associated with advanced forms of cancer.

Material And Methods: The study involved forty-four (44) female patients, including five (5) patients with no histopathologically confirmed hyperplastic features, twenty-six (26) patients with histopathologically confirmed endometrial hyperplasia, and thirteen (13) patients with diagnosed carcinoma of the endometrium.

Methotrexate as a single agent for treating pulmonary sarcoidosis: a single centre real-life prospective study.

Introduction: The first-line therapy in chronic sarcoidosis, according to WASOG/ATS/ERS recommendations, is GCS. This therapy is associated with significant adverse effects and finally does not alter the natural history of the disease. The objective of our study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of monotherapy with MTX, as an alternative to GCS, in progressive pulmonary sarcoidosis.

Fatal clinical outcome in a patient with sarcoidosis-lymphoma syndrome.

A 62-year-old female suspected of malignant disease underwent a splenectomy that revealed noncaseating granulomas in the histological specimen. Chest X-ray (CXR) and lung CT scans suggested sarcoidosis stage II. TBLB showed noncaseating granulomas.

[Evaluation of motivation to quit smoking in outpatients attending smoking cessation clinic].

Introduction: The success in smoking cessation depends not only on a method of treatment but also on patient motivation. The aim of this study was to estimate the motivation and the main reason to quit smoking among outpatients attending smoking cessation clinic.

Material And Methods: One hundred and eleven patients (50 men and 61 women), mean age 58, filled in a motivation test, nicotine dependence test and a questionnaire of the clinic.

[Smoking habits in a family physician's practice].

Introduction: Poland is the one of the countries in the European Union with the highest prevalence of smokers. The involvement of family physicians in smoking cessation activity could improve this situation. The aim of this study was to estimate smoking habits, their intensity and nicotine dependence in a family physician's practice (urban and rural population).

Evolution of upper airway resistance syndrome.

The question of whether upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS) is a distinct disease or an initial feature of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome is still a matter of debate. We evaluated a retrospective group of UARS patients to determine the evolution of UARS over time and the relationship between clinical evolution and subjects' phenotype. Investigations were performed in 30 patients, in whom UARS was diagnosed between 1995 and 2000 by the use of full polysomnography (PSG) without oesophageal pressure (Pes) measurement.

[Influence of neck circumference and body mass index on obstructive sleep apnoea severity in males].

Introduction: Obesity and male gender are the main risk factors for the development of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA); however, some epidemiological data has shown that neck circumference (NC) > or = 43 cm is a better predictor of obstructive event frequency than body mass index (BMI). The aim of this study was to assess the relation between NC and BMI on OSA severity in males.

Material And Methods: The subjects completed a sleep questionnaire and Epworth sleepiness scale before the sleep study (full polysomnography or PolyMesam study).

[Six-minute walk test in obstructive sleep apnoea].

Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess results of 6MWT in non-selected group of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) patients. In healthy adult subjects 6-minute walking distance (6MWD) range from 400 to 700 m. Obesity, the main symptom of OSA, is one of the factors associated with reduction of 6MWD (another common factors: older age, shorter height, female sex, pulmonary, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal diseases).