Gdańsk Medical University

About: Gdańsk Medical University is a education organization based out in Gdańsk, Poland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Cancer. The organization has 4893 authors who have published 11216 publications receiving 260523 citations.

Recommendations for Implementing Lung Cancer Screening with Low-Dose Computed Tomography in Europe.

Abstract: Lung cancer screening (LCS) with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) was demonstrated in the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) to reduce mortality from the disease European mortality data has recently become available from the Nelson randomised controlled trial, which confirmed lung cancer mortality reductions by 26% in men and 39-61% in women Recent studies in Europe and the USA also showed positive results in screening workers exposed to asbestos All European experts attending the "Initiative for European Lung Screening (IELS)"-a large international group of physicians and other experts concerned with lung cancer-agreed that LDCT-LCS should be implemented in Europe However, the economic impact of LDCT-LCS and guidelines for its effective and safe implementation still need to be formulated To this purpose, the IELS was asked to prepare recommendations to implement LCS and examine outstanding issues A subgroup carried out a comprehensive literature review on LDCT-LCS and presented findings at a meeting held in Milan in November 2018 The present recommendations reflect that consensus was reached

Self-awareness of motor dysfunction in patients with Huntington's disease in comparison to Parkinson's disease and cervical dystonia.

Abstract: Individuals suffering from Huntington's disease (HD) have been shown to present with poor self-awareness of a variety of symptoms. The aim of this study was to better assess the self-awareness of motor symptoms and activities of daily living (ADL) impairment in HD, in comparison to Parkinson's disease (PD) and cervical dystonia (CD). In particular, the anosognosia/anosodiaphoria of involuntary movements has been investigated. Self-awareness was tested in 23 patients with HD by comparing patient and caregiver ratings in reference to clinical control groups (25 PD with dyskinesias, PDdys; 21 PD without dyskinesias, PDndys; and 20 with CD). Patients were assessed neurologically by relevant rating scales. Self-awareness was tested using a scale based on 15 films demonstrating 3 types of motor symptoms (chorea/dyskinesias, parkinsonism, torticollis) as well as the Self-Assessment Parkinson's Disease Disability Scale. General cognitive status, verbal learning, cognitive control, and mood were also analyzed. Our results indicate that self-awareness of choreic movements was affected more severely in HD than in PDdys, despite comparable cognitive status. Patient-proxy agreement on ADL impairment was roughly similar in all clinical groups. The results are discussed in the context of orbitofrontal-limbic pathology as a potential trigger of anosognosia/anosodiaphoria in individuals with HD.

Dietary Habits before and during the COVID-19 Epidemic in Selected European Countries

Abstract: During the so-called “second wave of the pandemic” in Europe, the authors conducted a cross-sectional online survey that aimed to examine changes in dietary habits and associated practices, as well as physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic and before the onset of lockdowns in three European countries: Poland, Austria and the United Kingdom. Methods: The online observational study, both prospective and retrospective, conducted with the use of social media for the distribution of an anonymous online questionnaire, was completed from 1 October to 30 October 2020, during the second wave of the pandemic in Europe. The study encompassed a total of 1071 adults from Poland (n = 407), Austria (n = 353) and the United Kingdom (n = 311). Results: The results of this study indicate that the COVID-19 confinement period influenced eating behavior and the level of physical activity in a group of adult residents of Poland, Austria and the United Kingdom. The general shopping frequency decreased, regardless of the place and manner. However, there was an increased interest in online grocery shopping. The resulting data revealed an increased frequency of the daily consumption of food products such as dairy, grains, fats, vegetables and sweets (p < 0.05). A rise in the frequency of purchasing frozen goods and food with long shelf life has also been observed. The changed workplace and working conditions or unemployment probably affected a perceptible rise in alcohol consumption (p = 0.02). In turn, physical activity levels markedly decreased, which reflected the body mass changes. Conclusion: The dietary habits in the studied countries have changed as a result of the pandemic situation. They contribute to the aggravation of the problem of excess body weight and its health consequences.

Prevention of sexual transmission of Zika virus.

Abstract: Zika virus transmission by sexual intercourse was first suggested by Foy et al.2 Published in 2011, this study described the case of a male patient infected with Zika virus in south-eastern Senegal in 2008 who infected his wife via sexual intercourse upon return to the United States of America. Since then and up to 19 May 2016, sexual transmission of Zika virus has been reported in ten countries (United States of America 3, France 4, Italy 5, Argentina 7, Chile 8, Peru 9, Portugal 10, New Zealand 11, Canada 12 and Germany 13) and referred mainly to vaginal intercourse. On 2 February 2016 the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the first documented case of a man infected with Zika virus through anal sex.6 Soon after, a case report published in April 2016 raised the suspicion of Zika virus transmission through oral sex. The case, identified in February 2016, had sexual contact with a partner with symptoms of Zika virus infection. Transmission via oral sex was suspected as the sexual activity involved vaginal intercourse, with no condom and no ejaculation, and oral sex with ejaculation.4

Lessons from application of the UNRES force field to predictions of structures of CASP10 targets

Abstract: The performance of the physics-based protocol, whose main component is the United Residue (UNRES) physics-based coarse-grained force field, developed in our laboratory for the prediction of protein structure from amino acid sequence, is illustrated. Candidate models are selected, based on probabilities of the conformational families determined by multiplexed replica-exchange simulations, from the 10th Community Wide Experiment on the Critical Assessment of Techniques for Protein Structure Prediction (CASP10). For target T0663, classified as a new fold, which consists of two domains homologous to those of known proteins, UNRES predicted the correct symmetry of packing, in which the domains are rotated with respect to each other by 180° in the experimental structure. By contrast, models obtained by knowledge-based methods, in which each domain is modeled very accurately but not rotated, resulted in incorrect packing. Two UNRES models of this target were featured by the assessors. Correct domain packing was also predicted by UNRES for the homologous target T0644, which has a similar structure to that of T0663, except that the two domains are not rotated. Predictions for two other targets, T0668 and T0684_D2, are among the best ones by global distance test score. These results suggest that our physics-based method has substantial predictive power. In particular, it has the ability to predict domain-domain orientations, which is a significant advance in the state of the art.