Short- and long-term clinical outcomes of nintedanib therapy in IPF patients with different phenotypes: A retrospective registry-based study.

Background: There is a lack of data on the long-term effect of nintedanib on survival in specific groups of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients with different phenotypes. We investigated the outcomes of nintedanib therapy in an observational study of a large multicentre real-world cohort of IPF patients with various initial characteristics.

Methods: The analysis included IPF patients treated with nintedanib (NIN) and IPF patients not receiving antifibrotic treatment (NAF) enrolled for the EMPIRE registry in 2015-2020.

The Impact of Switching to a Second Antifibrotic in Patients With Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: A Retrospective Multicentre Study From the EMPIRE Registry.

Introduction: Most patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) treated with antifibrotics (AF) have progressive disease despite treatment. A switch of AF may improve survival, but evidence from randomised controlled trials is missing. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of an AF switch on survival and FVC decline in patients from the European MultiPartner IPF registry (EMPIRE).

How to follow the new EU Council recommendation and improve prostate cancer early detection: the Prostaforum 2022 declaration.

Unlabelled: An updated Council of the EU recommendation on cancer screening was adopted in December 2022 during the Czech EU presidency. The recommendation included prostate cancer as a suitable target disease for organised screening, and invited countries to proceed with piloting and further research. To support further discussions and actions to promote early detection of prostate cancer, an international conference in November 2022 (Prostaforum 2022) resulted in a joint declaration.

Survival and lung function decline in patients with definite, probable and possible idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis treated with pirfenidone.

Background: There is no clear evidence whether pirfenidone has a benefit in patients with probable or possible UIP, i.e. when idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is diagnosed with a lower degree of diagnostic certainty.

Sharing datasets of the COVID-19 epidemic in the Czech Republic.

At the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing access to data (properly optimised regarding personal data protection) plays a crucial role in providing the general public and media with up-to-date information. Open datasets also represent one of the means for evaluation of the pandemic on a global level. The primary aim of this paper is to describe the methodological and technical framework for publishing datasets describing characteristics related to the COVID-19 epidemic in the Czech Republic (epidemiology, hospital-based care, vaccination), including the use of these datasets in practice.

Control Centre for Intensive Care as a Tool for Effective Coordination, Real-Time Monitoring, and Strategic Planning During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

In the Czech Republic, the strategic data-based and organizational support for individual regions and for providers of acute care at the nationwide level is coordinated by the Ministry of Health. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country needed to very quickly implement a system for the monitoring, reporting, and overall management of hospital capacities. The aim of this viewpoint is to describe the purpose and basic functions of a web-based application named "Control Centre for Intensive Care," which was developed and made available to meet the needs of systematic online technical support for the management of intensive inpatient care across the Czech Republic during the first wave of the pandemic in spring 2020.

Predictors of quality of life in Czech female breast cancer survivors following treatment with special interest to coping strategies.

Objectives: This study examined the prognostic significance of breast cancer patients characteristics (coping strategies, BMI, age) and disease characteristics (stage of disease, relapse) with respect to quality of life (QoL) following treatment.Sample and settings: 120 breast cancer patients following treatment were recruited. Health-related QoL was assessed using the Czech version of FACT-B and SF-36; additionally, we used a life satisfaction questionnaire.

Interactive algorithms for teaching and learning acute medicine in the network of medical faculties MEFANET.

Background: Medical Faculties Network (MEFANET) has established itself as the authority for setting standards for medical educators in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, 2 independent countries with similar languages that once comprised a federation and that still retain the same curricular structure for medical education. One of the basic goals of the network is to advance medical teaching and learning with the use of modern information and communication technologies.

Objective: We present the education portal AKUTNE.

Patients with advanced and metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with targeted therapy in the Czech Republic: twenty cancer centres, six agents, one database.

Unlabelled: The incidence and mortality of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in the Czech Republic are among the highest in the world. Several targeted agents have been recently approved for the treatment of advanced/metastatic RCC.

Objective: Presentation of a national clinical database for monitoring and assessment of patients with advanced/metastatic RCC treated with targeted therapy.

Characterization of the DMD/BMD patient population in Czech Republic and Slovakia using an innovative registry approach.

Effective planning of clinical trials requires an appropriate number of patients who fulfil given inclusion criteria. In the case of so called "orphan" diseases, such as Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD/BMD), the number of suitable patients within one country is usually limited. We developed a detailed registry of Czech and Slovak DMD/BMD patients which may contribute to cooperation on the European level.

Growth assays with mixed cultures of cyanobacteria and algae assessed by in vivo fluorescence: One step closer to real ecosystems?

A growth toxicity assay with mixed cultures of cyanobacteria and algae using in vivo fluorescence is presented. Test organisms (the green alga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and the cyanobacterium Aphanothece clathrata) growing alone and in a mixture were exposed to selected chemicals. P.

Effects of aqueous extracts from five species of the family Papaveraceae on selected aquatic organisms.

The effects of aqueous root extracts from five species of the family Papaveraceae on the growth of cyanobacteria, algae, and other non-target aquatic organisms were investigated to evaluate their potential use as algicides or cyanocides in the aquatic environment. Dicranostigma lactucoides and Sanguinaria canadensis featured the highest toxicity while Macleaya microcarpa was found to be the least toxic to all aquatic organisms tested. The Chelidonium majus extract had the best properties as a potential algicide or cyanocide because of its significant toxicity to phytoplankton and lower toxicity to non-target aquatic organisms as compared with the other Papaveraceae family members.

Detection and estimation of potentially toxic cyanobacteria in raw water at the drinking water treatment plant by in vivo fluorescence method.

In vivo fluorescence methods have been accepted as a quick, simple, and useful tool for quantification of phytoplankton organisms. In this paper, we present a case study in which fluorescence methods were employed for the selective detection of potentially toxic cyanobacteria in raw water at the drinking water treatment plant. The occurrence of cyanobacteria in the drinking water reservoir and in raw water was monitored by phycocyanin fluorescence measurements and by standard methods for phytoplankton quantification (cell counts, chlorophyll a).