Aim: To examine the level of social support of cancer patients and those undergoing surgery, and to investigate whether there are differences in social support of cancer patients according to the type of cancer. Design: A cross-sectional study. Methods: The study included 81 participants with colon, breast and lung cancer, of whom 49 (60%) were women and 32 (40%) were men, divided into three groups according to the type of cancer, one month after surgery and oncological treatment. The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and data from medical records were used. Results: Lung cancer patients rated their health as moderate or poor, whereas those with breast cancer reported their health as very good or good (χ2 test, p = 0.003). Participants with colon cancer rated social support from family (Kruskal-Wallis test, p = 0.02) and social support from friends (Kruskal-Wallis test, p = 0.005) significantly better than patients with lung or breast cancer. Conclusion: Overall social support was rated significantly better by colon cancer patients compared to those with lung or breast cancer. Social support plays an important role in the treatment of cancer patients, and the study findings could help to develop personalized interventions and support programs for these individuals.

Aim: The objective of this study was to examine healthcare professionals' perceptions of patient safety culture in long-term care facilities in Slovakia. Design: A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional study. Methods: The research sample included 161 healthcare professionals from 12 long-term care facilities in Slovakia. Empirical data were collected from December 2023 to February 2024 using the Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture (NHSPSC). Results: Respondents rated the safety culture highest in the dimensions of Feedback and Communication About Incidents (72%) and Overall Perceptions of Resident Safety (69%) according to the NHSPSC. In contrast, the lowest ratings were for Staffing (36%), Nonpunitive Response to Mistakes (38%), and Compliance with Procedures (40%). Analysis revealed statistically significant associations between degree of patient safety, all dimensions of safety culture, and overall job satisfaction (p < 0.05). Patient safety ratings were influenced by the number of patients per shift and healthcare professionals' intentions to leave their jobs. Conclusion: Patient safety culture significantly influences the level of safety experienced by patients residing in long-term care facilities in Slovakia. Assessment of this culture helps identify areas for improvement and raises awareness of safety among healthcare professionals.

Aim: Complications associated with obesity may negatively affect the physiological growth and development of the fetus and the health of the child. The aim of the research was to determine the effect of pregnancy and the postpartum period on the body composition of first-time pregnant women using standardized anthropometric methods with the use of the Matiegka method for fractionation of body composition. Design: A longitudinal cohort study. Methods: The study was conducted in gynecological outpatient clinics on a population of 40 nulligravidas aged 18-40 years. The women were assessed in three stages corresponding to the trimesters of pregnancy and Stage IV, the postpartum period of six weeks. The parameters obtained were used to determine body composition according to the Matiegka method. The women were divided into two groups according to BMI, normal weight and overweight and obesity. Results: Significant changes in body composition were found during the measurements in Stages I-IV, with a decrease in skeletal muscle mass and an increase in fat component. There were significant changes in body composition between the categories of women with BMI normal weight and BMI overweight and obese in the ratio of skeletal muscle to body fat. Conclusion: The results indicate that monitoring body composition in pregnant women is important not only for preventing maternal obesity, but also for preventing fetal macrosomia and possible maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality associated with childbirth and the postpartum period.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the perception of the work environment among intensive care unit (ICU) nurses in Slovakia and identify factors that influence their evaluation. Design: A cross-sectional descriptive study. Methods: The study was conducted between July and October 2023 using the Practice Environment Scale-Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI). Data were collected from 153 ICU nurses across four hospitals. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and nonparametric tests were used for data analysis. Results: The work environment received a generally positive evaluation, with collegial nurse-physician relations receiving the highest ratings, whereas staffing and resource adequacy scored the lowest. Significant correlations were found between job satisfaction, satisfaction with material resources, and perception of patient safety and positive evaluations of the work environment (p ≤ 0.05). Multiple regression analysis identified job satisfaction, satisfaction with material resources, and patient safety evaluation as key predictors of a positive work environment (p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: These findings underscore the importance of addressing staffing adequacy, resource availability, and leadership support to improve the work environment for ICU nurses, with implications for both nurse retention and patient outcomes.

Aim: The study aimed to investigate the level of postpartum anxiety in the research sample of women after childbirth and factors related to increased level of postpartum anxiety. The goal was also to establish the basic psychometric properties of the Postpartum Specific Anxiety Scale (PSAS-SK) in the Slovak language, and explore selected sociodemographic, perinatal, and anamnestic factors related to increased level of postpartum anxiety in a Slovak research sample. Design: Quantitative cross-sectional research study. Methods: The study involved 122 postpartum women (four-eight weeks postpartum, age 29.5; ± 4.8; 19-42). Data were collected using the standardized PSAS-SK questionnaire alongside sociodemographic and anamnestic data. Statistical analyses included nonparametric tests (Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U test) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to assess the results. Results: Clinically significant levels of postpartum anxiety occurred in 25% of research participants. We found a significant relationship between perception of childbirth as traumatic and increased levels of postpartum anxiety. However, no significant relationship was confirmed between level of postpartum anxiety and education parity, type of childbirth, complications during pregnancy, perinatal loss, skin-to-skin contact, or health complications in the child. The PSAS-SK had high internal consistency in a Slovak research sample (Cronbach's alpha 0.96). Results of the CFA focusing on confirmation of the four-factor structure of the PSAS-SK indicated the following results: χ2(df = 405) = 2188.0, p < 0.001, CFI = 0.07, RMSEA = 0.008. Conclusion: The Postpartum Specific Anxiety Scale is a valuable tool for the early detection of postpartum anxiety symptoms and for supporting interventions to manage heightened anxiety during the postpartum period, including recommendation of specialized mental health care when appropriate.

Aim: The aim of this integrative literature review was to identify and synthetize empowering educational actions (EEA) that can be taken by nurses to support the empowerment of patients with long-term health problems. Design: An integrative literature review. Methods: The review followed methodology by Whittemore and Knafl. Four databases (PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, Scopus) were searched between January 2000 and October 2023 for relevant studies published in English. After complimentary manual searches, the quality of the included studies (n = 9) was assessed independently by two researchers using a tool by Hawker et al. Data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. Results: Three main categories of nurses' actions were synthetized: supporting patients' knowledge and skills, supporting patients' well-being, and supporting trust-based relationships and collaboration. Conclusion: Empowering patient education (EPE) is essential in supporting patients with long-term health problems to manage their own health. Nurses use varied empowering educational actions as part of EPE. The review's results can be used to increase awareness and understanding of actions nurses can take to support empowerment of patients with long-term health problems as part of patient education both in clinical practice and nursing education.

Phase separation forms membraneless compartments, including heterochromatin "domains" and repair foci. Pericentromeric heterochromatin mostly comprises repeated sequences prone to aberrant recombination. In Drosophila cells, "safe" homologous recombination (HR) repair of these sequences requires their relocalization to the nuclear periphery before Rad51 recruitment and strand invasion. How this mobilization initiates is unknown, and the contribution of phase separation is unclear. Here, we show that Nup98 nucleoporin is recruited to repair sites before relocalization by Sec13 or Nup88, and downstream of the Smc5/6 complex and heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1). Remarkably, Nup98 condensates are immiscible with HP1 condensates, and they are required and sufficient to mobilize repair sites and exclude Rad51, thus preventing aberrant recombination while promoting HR repair. Disrupting this pathway results in heterochromatin repair defects and widespread chromosome rearrangements, revealing an "off-pore" role for nucleoporins and phase separation in nuclear dynamics and genome integrity in a multicellular eukaryote.

• MeSH
• chromozomální proteiny, nehistonové metabolismus   genetika   MeSH
• Drosophila melanogaster * genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• dvouřetězcové zlomy DNA MeSH
• heterochromatin * genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• homolog proteinu s chromoboxem 5 MeSH
• komplex proteinů jaderného póru * metabolismus   genetika   MeSH
• proteiny buněčného cyklu metabolismus   genetika   MeSH
• proteiny Drosophily * metabolismus   genetika   MeSH
• rekombinační oprava DNA * MeSH
• rekombinasa Rad51 * metabolismus   genetika   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Allodiploid hybrid species, Aspergillus latus, belonging to section Nidulantes, is a hybrid of A. spinulosporus and an unknown species closely related to A. quadrilineatus and A. sublatus. This hybrid has often been misidentified as the species in section Nidulantes, such as A. nidulans, A. spinulosporus, A. sublatus, or other cryptic species. Aspergillus latus has not been reported in Japan as well as Asia so far. In this study, we screened 23 clinical strains identified as A. spinulosporus isolated in Japan from 2012 to 2023 and found seven A. latus strains. To characterize the A. latus strains, we conducted comprehensive phenotyping including morphological observation, whole genome sequences, and phylogenetic analysis based on calmodulin (CaM) gene. In addition, we conducted antifungal susceptibility testing for A. latus strains. As a result, the morphological characters of A. latus were more similar to those of A. spinulosporus compared to A. sublatus. However, the ascospore of A. latus differed from that of A. spinulosporus. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that different CaM alleles from the same isolate clustered separately with A. spinulosporus and A. sublatus, consistent with its hybrid origin. Furthermore, A. latus strains showed reduced susceptibility to caspofungin and amphotericin B compared to A. spinulosporus, while they were susceptible to azoles. Our results suggest that A. latus has been a causative pathogen of aspergillosis in Japan since 2013.

• MeSH
• antifungální látky farmakologie   MeSH
• Aspergillus * genetika   klasifikace   izolace a purifikace   účinky léků   MeSH
• aspergilóza * mikrobiologie   epidemiologie   MeSH
• fylogeneze MeSH
• kalmodulin genetika   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mikrobiální testy citlivosti MeSH
• sekvenování celého genomu MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Japonsko MeSH

Given the high incidence of diet-related diseases, including type 2 diabetes and cancer, there is a growing need to explore new strategies for their prevention. Although polyphenols are known to reduce starch digestibility and lower the in vitro glycemic index, their antioxidant capacity and cytotoxic properties, when complexed with starches, remain underexplored. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the antioxidant activity, total polyphenol content, and cytotoxic potential of polyphenol-starch complexes formed using common dietary polyphenols-(+)-catechin, epigallocatechin gallate, hesperidin, naringenin, trans-ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid, quercetin, and kaempferol-and widely consumed starches from wheat, rice, potato, and maize. Antioxidant activity (FRAP and DPPH) together with the total polyphenols content (Folin-Ciocalteu) were tested: (1) before (undigested) enzymatic hydrolysis of the tested sample; (2) after (digested) enzymatic hydrolysis of the tested sample and (3) after hydrolysis of the sample and its centrifugation (supernatant). Cytotoxicity against colon cancer (Caco-2, HT29) and normal colon (CCD 841CoN) cell lines were determined in vitro by the MTT method. In undigested samples, the highest antioxidant activity was obtained with the addition of quercetin to wheat, rice, and maize starch (6735.8 μmol Fe2+/g d.m., 678.8, 539.4 μmol Trolox/g d.m., respectively), and epigallocatechin gallate to wheat, rice, potato, and maize starch (692.1, 538.0, 625.8, 573.6 μmol Trolox/g d.m., respectively). In digested samples, the highest antioxidant activity was obtained with the addition of quercetin to wheat and rice starch (2104.5 μmol Fe2+/g d.m., 742.1 μmol Trolox/g d.m., respectively). In the case of the natant of the digested samples, the highest value was recorded for the addition of (+)-catechin to potato starch and trans-ferulic acid to maize starch (823.7 μmol Fe2+/g d.m., 245.1 μmol Trolox/g d.m., respectively). The addition of quercetin to wheat and rice starch and (+)-catechin to potato starch (0.239, 0.151, 0.085 g gallic acid/g d.m., respectively) resulted in the highest total polyphenol content. Furthermore, quercetin demonstrated the most significant level of cytotoxic activity against the tumor cell line Caco-2 (IC50 = 275.6 μg/mL; potato starch). Overall, quercetin was identified as the most significant or one of the most significant for all parameters evaluated.

• MeSH
• antioxidancia * farmakologie   chemie   MeSH
• buňky HT-29 MeSH
• Caco-2 buňky MeSH
• katechin analogy a deriváty   MeSH
• kukuřice setá chemie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nádorové buněčné linie MeSH
• polyfenoly * chemie   farmakologie   MeSH
• rýže (rod) chemie   MeSH
• škrob * chemie   farmakologie   MeSH
• viabilita buněk účinky léků   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

The use of microfluidic sperm sorting (MFSS) systems in infertility treatment is increasing due to their practicality and ease of use. While often presented as highly effective, their efficacy in patients with varying sperm analysis results remains uncertain. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of MFSS compared with the swim-up (SU) technique in terms of oxygen radical levels and spermiogram parameters. Samples from each patient were processed using both methods, followed by assessments of sperm concentration, motility, morphology, DNA integrity, acrosomal status, and mitochondrial membrane potential. Participants were selected based on sperm analysis and categorized as normozoospermic (n = 40) or non-normozoospermic (n = 28). An analysis of separation techniques revealed no significant differences, except for a lower percentage of DNA-fragmented sperm in the MFSS group compared with SU within the non-normozoospermic cohort (SU: 10.0% vs. MFSS: 5.69%, p = 0.027). No differences were observed between SU and MFSS in normozoospermic men. The MFSS method is a simple technique, frequently used in laboratories, that yields good results but does not offer a substantial advantage over SU. The primary benefit of MFSS appears to be a significant reduction in the proportion of sperm with DNA fragmentation compared with SU in patients with abnormal sperm analysis results.

• MeSH
• analýza spermatu metody   MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• fragmentace DNA MeSH
• intracytoplazmatické injekce spermie * metody   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• membránový potenciál mitochondrií MeSH
• mikrofluidika * metody   MeSH
• motilita spermií * MeSH
• mužská infertilita terapie   MeSH
• separace buněk * metody   MeSH
• spermie * cytologie   metabolismus   MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• srovnávací studie MeSH