[The preparation of patients with urinary stone disease to extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy].

The treatment of urinary stone disease is one of the most urgent and complex issue in modern urology. Citrate is one of the most important natural urinary inhibitors of stone formation. In this regard, the drugs containing citrate sodium and potassium are being actively used. AIM: to assess the efficiency and safety of Uryklar, dietary supplements. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 57 patients with proximal ureteric stones were included in the study (intervention group (n=30) and control group (n=27)). After stenting all patients received antispasmoic, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial therapy. In the intervention group Uryklar was additionally administered (405 mg), 1 capsule TID for 1 month. All patients were undergone to extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy with subsequent removing of the stent. In all cases multiplanar CT was done before and 28 days after initiation of drug therapy for determination of stone size, contour and density. 10 days after stent removal the symptoms and stone-free rate were assessed using US, plain X-ray and intravenous urography, blood count, urinalysis, biochemical blood analysis. RESULTS: In patients receiving Uryklar, there was a significant reduction of stone size during the observation, up to complete dissolution.

Investigation of the correlation between virulence factors and genotypic profiles of Candida albicans isolated from turkeys.

Candida albicans exists as an element of the normal flora in the skin, mucosa, and gastrointestinal tract, which is the principal reservoir for this organism. When the delicate balance in the host-yeast relationship is tipped in favour of the microorganism by antimicrobial treatment, illness, or other debilities of the host, fungi may overgrow and cause disease, such as candidiasis. The aim of this study was to analyse three virulence factors, haemolysin, proteinase, and phospholipase, with the genotypic profiles of C. albicans isolated from turkeys and to investigate if any correlation between these features exists. The genotypic profiles were generated using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with the RDS6 primer, and the enzymatic activity was evaluated in culture. Among the C. albicans isolates, four genotypic profiles using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and three enzymatic profiles were defined. Genotypic profile A was characterised by seven bands, genotypic profile B was characterised by nine bands, genotypic profile C was characterised by nine bands, and genotypic profile D was characterised by four bands. Enzymatic profile I demonstrated no haemolysin or proteinase activity, but phospholipase activity was present; enzymatic profile II displayed no proteinase activity, but haemolysin and phospholipase activity were produced; and enzymatic profile III revealed all three types of enzymatic activity. The genotypic profiles were strictly correlated with the enzymatic profiles among the C. albicans isolates from poultry.

Cytogenetic and molecular characterization of the Abies alba genome and its relationship with other members of the Pinaceae.

Genome size, karyotype structure, heterochromatin distribution, position and number of ribosomal genes, as well as the ITS2 sequence of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) were analysed in silver fir (Abies alba Mill.). The analysis also included characterization of the Arabidopsis-type of telomeric repeats in silver fir and in related species. The results were compared with results from other species of the Pinaceae, to evaluate phylogeny and chromosomal and molecular evolution in the Pinaceae. Integrated chromosomal data provided insights into chromosome and karyotype evolution in the Pinaceae. The evolutionary trend for GC-rich heterochromatic blocks seems to involve loss of blocks that are not associated with rDNA. Similarly, numerous large blocks of interstitial plant telomeric repeats that are typical for all analysed species of the genus Pinus were not observed in the evolutionarily younger genera, such as Abies, Picea and Larix. On the contrary, the majority of telomeric sequences in these three genera appeared confined to the chromosome ends. We confirmed the current position of Abies and Tsuga in subfamily Abietoideae and the position of Pinus in the subfamily Pinoideae based on ITS2 sequences. Pseudotsuga is placed together with Larix into the subfamily Laricoideae. We conclude that the current position of the genus Picea in the subfamily Abietoideae should be reconsidered and, possibly, the genus Picea should be reclassified as a separate subfamily, Piceoideae, as recently proposed.

[Functional changes in the lower part of the urethra in women following hysterectomy and hysterectomy-ovariectomy ]. / Funktsional'ni zminy nyzhnikh sechovyvidnykh shliakhiv u zhinok pislia hister- ta histerovarioektomiï.

Functional deterioration of a lower part of the urethra has been observed in woman after the operation. It has been partially recovered at the late postoperative period. Further studying pre- and postoperative function of a lower part of the urethra is of importance to develop a strategy of prevention and treatment functional deterioration of a lower part of the urethra in woman after the operation of hyster- and hysterovaroactomia.

Serum total, LDL, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides related to age, gender and cigarette smoking in patients with first acute myocardial infarction.

The aim of this study was to examine relationships between total cholesterol, LDL, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and age, gender, and cigarette smoking in 190 patients (132 men and 58 women) aged 34-87 years with first AMI. The control group included 103 patients (57 men and 46 women) aged 29-90 years without a history of angina pectoris or AMI. High total cholesterol (over 5.2 mmol/L) was observed in 75% of patients with AMI vs. 48% of patients in the control group (p < 0.001). Patients with AMI had significantly higher total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels than controls (p < 0.0001). HDL cholesterol levels were significantly lower among patients with AMI than among the control group patients (p < 0.0001). Serum total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol is higher in patients with AMI up to 60 years old, but lower in patients older than 60 years. Women aged less than 50 years had significantly higher HDL cholesterol (p < 0.001), lower LDL cholesterol (p < 0.001), and lower total cholesterol (p < 0.05) than those over 50 years. Smokers with AMI who smoked over 20 cigarettes per day had significantly higher total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides levels than the non-smokers (p < 0.05). These findings suggest important influences of hyperlipoproteinemia and cigarette smoking upon development of myocardial infarction, especially in younger patients.

[History of psychiatric facilities in the Silesian region in the 19th century]. / Historie psychiatrického ústavnictví ve slezském regionu v XIX. století.

A historiographic paper in which the authors--psychiatrists--deal, based on research in archives, with the period preceding by approximately 100 years the opening of the psychiatric sanatorium in Opava. The beginnings of institutional care of the mentally sick in the Silesion region were in 1841 and were associated with the construction of an "asylum" on the grounds of the newly built hospital in Opava, a small house for 20-24 patients kept under inhuman conditions. An advance was the provisional arrangement involving the lease of a castle in Albrechtice for 36 and finally 90 patients in 1873. The regulations of the institute and rules of behaviour of the keepers were already on an advanced level of psychiatric in-patients care. The concept of the Opava sanatorium was according to documents in the archives elaborated by the 51-year-old Dr. Franz Köstl, one of the founders of Prague psychiatric institutions. His project has been preserved. The Opava sanatorium was opened and work started on March 29, 1889.

[Perinatal asphyxia and psychopathologic symptomatology in adolescence]. / Die perinatale Asphyxie und die psychopathologische Symptomatologie im Jugendalter.

The author in his present paper discusses the results obtained in his examinations of a group of 15-year-olds who during birth underwent a shorter or longer asphyxia. The cases were recorded on the basis of notes on the course of birth in the obstetrical clinic in Opava in 1950. The children, after 15 years, are examined psychiatrically, psychologically by special methods of test, neurologically, and electroencephalographically, and the objective anamnesis is obtained from both parents and school and is analyzed. The results obtained confirm some information given in literature on the increased incidence of pseudoneurotic phenomena and on very discrete neurological symptomatology in individuals with perinatal damages. There were found neither gross defects of intellect nor any indications of a pronounced lesion of the central nervous system. The author also presented the results of statistical investigations by reference to the occurrence of selected symptoms in the basic group in comparison with a control group of children that did not suffer from asphyxia.