Analysis of the Influence of Different Diameters of De Laval Supersonic Nozzles on the Key Splashing Parameters of Remaining Slag.

The paper is devoted to the analysis of a supersonic nozzle system effect in gas-cooled lances on the technological parameters of slag splashing in an oxygen converter. Simulation calculations were carried out, taking into account the parameters of nozzles used in the technological lines of converter steel plants in Ukraine and Brazil. The problems were solved in several stages.

Subsets of Eosinophils in Asthma, a Challenge for Precise Treatment.

The existence of eosinophils was documented histopathologically in the first half of the 19th century. However, the term "eosinophils" was first used by Paul Ehrlich in 1878. Since their discovery and description, their existence has been associated with asthma, allergies, and antihelminthic immunity.

[Allergen immunotherapy in treating allergic eosinophilic asthma].

Currently, the approach to a patient with asthma is in accordance with personalized medicine wherein the decision on the treatment pathway is based on the type of asthmatic inflammation and other comorbidities that accompany asthma. For an allergic asthma patient, allergen immunotherapy (AIT), which has a disease-modifying effect and the potential to prevent further progression of allergic symptoms, is one of the treatment modalities. It is an effective treatment that, unlike pharmacotherapy, modifies the course of allergic respiratory diseases and induces allergen specific immune tolerance that persists for up to several years after treatment cessation.

Effect of individual allergen sensitization on omalizumab treatment outcomes in patients with severe allergic asthma determined using data from the Czech Anti-IgE Registry.

Background: Omalizumab is an efficient drug for patients with uncontrolled severe allergic asthma (SAA). However, little is known about the differences in omalizumab treatment outcomes among patients with different types of atopic sensitization. Here, we assessed the effect of sensitization to individual allergens or their combinations on the outcomes of anti-IgE therapy in patients with SAA.

Evolution of our view on the IgE molecule role in bronchial asthma and the clinical effect of its modulation by omalizumab: Where do we stand today?

Bronchial asthma is a heterogeneous disease whose definition and treatment are based on evidence of variable airway obstruction and airway inflammation. Despite the enormous increase in the amount of information on the pathogenesis of this disease, diagnosis is still an unresolved problem, as we still lack sensitive and specific biomarkers. On the other hand, at the turn of the 20th and 21st century, there was a rapid development of therapeutic modalities based on the principle of biological therapy.

Serum periostin levels in asthma patients in relation to omalizumab therapy and presence of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps.

Introduction: The serum periostin level is a promising biomarker of type 2- high inflammation pattern of bronchial asthma. It has been proven that serum periostin levels decrease in response to systemic and inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) therapy. However, we have only limited knowledge about changes in serum periostin levels reflecting omalizumab (OMA) treatment and other variables, such as chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP).

[Anaphylactic symptoms and anaphylactic shock].

Anaphylactic symptoms and anaphylactic shock are serious, rapidly developing and potentially fatal systemic reactions occurring after contact with the trigger, followed by release of a number of substances that affect vascular permeability, smooth muscle tone of blood vessels and bronchi with activation of the systemic inflammatory cascade. From a pathophysiological point of view, it can be an IgE-mediated immune response followed by massive release of biologically active mediators from mast cells and basophils (IgE dependent). If the mastocyt/basophil is degranulated via a direct IgE-free pathway, it is non-allergic (non-IgE dependent, anaphylactoid anaphylaxis).

Real-world effectiveness and safety of omalizumab in patients with uncontrolled severe allergic asthma from the Czech Republic.

Introduction: This was a sub-group analysis of patients with uncontrolled persistent allergic asthma (AA) in the healthcare setting of the Czech Republic, from a global non-interventional, 2-year post-marketing, observational eXpeRience registry.

Aim: To evaluate the real-life effectiveness and safety of omalizumab.

Material And Methods: Patients with uncontrolled persistent AA (currently defined by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) as uncontrolled severe AA) who started omalizumab treatment 15 weeks before inclusion in the registry were analysed for physicians' global evaluation of treatment effectiveness (GETE), asthma symptoms, corticosteroid use, exacerbation rate, asthma control, quality of life, healthcare utilisation and safety during a 24-month observation period.

Small, Prospective, Observational, Pilot Study in Patients with Severe Asthma after Discontinuation of Omalizumab Treatment.

Purpose: Omalizumab has demonstrated clinical efficacy in severe allergic asthma by reducing exacerbation rates and increasing quality of life. However, data concerning its sustained effect after treatment discontinuation are still needed.

Methods: This analysis was an observational pilot study (simple within-subjects design) of 12 patients experiencing severe asthma, treated with omalizumab, for 1 year after treatment discontinuation.

[Intensive care, a department where relational care counts].

The intensive care unit is a department where the seriousness of the patients' condition requires a high level of technical skill. It is also a place where professionals need to demonstrate relational care in their practice. A nurse shares her experience of what she describes as an extremely rewarding role.

[Survival Analysis Three-year Follow-up of Pacients with Head and Neck Cancer].

Background: Patients with head and neck cancer are predominantnly at the risk for malnutrition. Monitoring of nutritional status and pre-treatment variables can favorably observe many prognostic indicators for overall survival in head and neck cancer before and during oncological treatment up to three years in head and neck cancer pacients.

Materials And Methods: In 726 patients diagnosed head and neck cancer patients with curative intent, were collected data according to the monitoring scheme of observation.

Scoring of the radiological picture of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia: a study to verify the reliability of the method.

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a clinical form of usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP). Computed chest tomography (CT) has a fundamental role in the multidisciplinary diagnostics. However, it has not been verified if and how a subjective opinion of a radiologists or pneumologists can influence the assessment and overall diagnostic summary.

[Long Term Monitoring of Nutritional, Clinical Status and Quality of Life in Head and Neck Cancer Patients].

Background: Malnutrition in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients decreases survival, quality of life (QOL) and oncological outcomes. The aim of the prospective three-year study was to compare QOL, clinical symptoms and variables (complications, survival and mortality rates in HNC patients).

Patients And Methods: A total of 726 patients aged 55 to 72 years with treatable HNC were included from January 2004 to December 2009; these patients were randomized to either group with PEG and enteral nutrition and nonPEG group with nutritional counselling according to nutritional care.

Incidence of fecal Enterobacteriaceae producing broad-spectrum beta-lactamases in patients with hematological malignancies.

Aim: Given the steadily increasing numbers of resistant bacteria, the frequency and severity of infections are on the rise. In patients with hematological malignancies, the treatment itself increases the risk of complicating bacterial infections. One important mechanisms of resistance is production of broad-spectrum beta-lactamases, increasingly detected not only in bacterial pathogens but also in bacteria contained in the normal microflora of the human body.

Failure of noninvasive prediction of pulmonary hypertension in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) in patients with advanced idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a complication connected with unfavorable prognosis. Great efforts have been made in attempting to establish a reliable non-invasive method which would enable detection of this complication. In this context a formula using pulmonary function parameters was published with outstanding results.

Impairment of nasal mucociliary clearance in former smokers with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease relates to the presence of a chronic bronchitis phenotype.

Background: Associations between nasal and bronchial impairment have been repeatedly described in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), whereas nasal mucociliary clearance (MCC) in COPD patients is not yet fully understood. We studied nasal MCC parameters in COPD patients and compared them with healthy adults (HA) and with cystic fibrosis (CF) patients with compromised MCC.

Methodology: An observational study of 98 COPD ex-smokers and subjects from control groups evaluated for nasal MCC time (NMCCt) and by digital video microscopy of nasal mucosa recording ciliary beat frequency (CBF) and ciliary beat pattern.

[Cell death and its role in immunopathogenesis of infectious diseases].

Cell death is still a matter of debate and scientific opinions have been challenged and are not uniform due to complexity of this issue. Recent research has brought some new evidence about the very subtle border between programmed cell death and necrosis. The concept of their mutual independence, broadly accepted for decades, is now significantly challenged.

Rapid onset of ICAM-1 expression is a marker of effective macrophages activation during infection of Francisella tularensis LVS in vitro.

Francisella tularensis is capable to modulate immunobiological activities of the host cells. We focused on the expression of ICAM-1 (CD54) on J774.2 mouse macrophage cell line infected by F.

[Principles of macrophage resistance to intracellular parasites].

Intracellular parasitism is a phenomenon present in nature for more than one billion years. Its keystone is the intriguing ability of viruses and some bacteria to survive and multiply inside eukaryotic host cells and to parasitize on their metabolic machinery. According to the classical definition, germs are classified as intracellular parasites only if they are able to survive inside macrophages.

J774 macrophage-like cell line cytokine and chemokine patterns are modulated by Francisella tularensis LVS strain infection.

Mutual interactions were investigated between intracellular parasitic bacterium Francisella tularensis (F.t.; highly virulent bacterium responsible for tularemia, replicating within the host macrophages) and murine macrophage-like cell line J774.

The effect of interferon-gamma and lipopolysaccharide on the growth of Francisella tularensis LVS in murine macrophage-like cell line J774.

Background: Francisella tularensis, a causative agent of human tularemia, displaying the ability to proliferate inside the human cells.

Aims: To evaluate the growth potential of F. tularensis LVS strain in macrophage-like cell line J774 modulated by recombinant interferon gamma and E.

[Mucosal immunity with emphasis on urinary tract immunity and diabetes].

Protective immune response in urinary tract is frequently impaired in patients with diabetes. Immunity in this mucosal compartment displays unique characteristics; e.g.

[Long term effectiveness of surgical cryoablation for chronic atrial fibrillation in patients undergoing surgery for severe mitral valve regurgitation].

Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate effectiveness of surgical cryoMAZE ablation for chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients undergoing mitral valve surgical intervention.

Methodology: Forty-seven patients (31 females), aged 67.3 +/- 7.

[Innate immunity, receptors for exogenous and endogenous danger patterns in immunopathogenesis of atherosclerosis--part II: TLR receptors, significance of genetic polymorphism of danger signals receptors].

The most important set of receptors for danger patterns are TLR receptors. Together ten different TLR receptors were identified so far. Majority of TLR receptors is expressed on the cell surface to identify extracellulary localized danger signals.