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Wanda Błeńska (1911-2014), a Polish physician, established a leprosy treatment center in the village of Buluba in Uganda in 1951, which lasted until 1993. Through her efforts, the village for lepers in Buluba, established in 1934, which had previously been a place of isolation conducted by the Little Sisters of St. Francis in Uganda, became such an important leprosy treatment and research center that eventually the facility was able to cooperate with similar centers in India and South Africa. It then became affiliated with research institutes in London and Amsterdam; the Borstel Research Institute near Hamburg, Germany; and the World Health Organization. Błeńska developed a working relationship with the government of Uganda and contributed to changes in the government provision of health care for lepers by creating a network of leprosy treatment stations throughout the country. Through her efforts, public health education and leprosy prophylaxis became available for thousands of people, effectively changing the national attitude toward this disease. In 1994, one of the buildings of the St. Francis hospital complex in Buluba was named in her honor (The Wanda Blenska Training Centre).

Infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) worsens the prognosis in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), but the underlying mechanisms are not yet established. We intended to assess whether EBV affects the course of CLL by the deregulation of the CTLA-4/CD86 signaling pathway. We used polymerase chain reaction to measure the load of EBV DNA in the blood of 110 newly diagnosed patients with CLL. The expression of CTLA-4 and CD86 antigen on lymphocytes was assessed with flow cytometry. Additionally, CTLA-4 and CD86 serum concentrations were measured through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Fifty-four percent of the patients had detectable EBV DNA [EBV(+)]. In EBV(+) patients the CTLA-4 and CD86 serum concentrations and their expressions on investigated cell populations were significantly higher than in EBV(−) patients. EBV load correlated positively with unfavorable prognostic markers of CLL and the expression of CTLA-4 on CD3+ lymphocytes (r = 0.5339; p = 0.027) and CD86 on CD19+ cells (r = 0.6950; p < 0.001). During a median follow-up period of 32 months EBV(+) patients were more likely to require treatment or have lymphocyte doubling (p < 0.001). Among EBV(+) but not EBV(−) patients, increased expressions of CTLA-4 lymphocytes were associated with elevated risks of progression. We propose that EBV coinfection may worsen prognosis in CLL patients, partly due to EBV-induced up-regulation of CTLA-4 expression.

Maternal obesity is one of the leading health problems in the world. Excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) can lead to many complications during pregnancy, especially when it is accompanied by diabetes. Moreover, the risk of excessive GWG in pregnant women is significant, irrespective of prenatal counseling. Studies on this subject concerning coping with stress are lacking in the literature. The present work is aimed at evaluating the styles of coping with stress and their relation to GWG in pregnant women with gestational diabetes (GDM) for whom sudden adaptation to dietary management during this period can be challenging. It was indicated that women with GDM reported high stress related to potential maternal-fetal complications and worries about compliance with dietary management. The overall weight gain of participants in pregnancy was determined in connection to their prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and classified based on the Institute of Medicine guidelines. A standardized psychological scale was used to assess coping styles. The results showed that almost half of the participants did not meet the Institute of Medicine recommendations for weight gain during pregnancy. There were significant correlations between the styles of coping with stress and the GWG. Additionally, low correlations were indicated between emotional, avoidant, task-oriented coping styles and the age of pregnant women with GDM. Regression analysis showed that the stress-coping style that focused on emotions was the most predictive of overall weight gain. There is a need for a better understanding of psychological barriers in achieving the recommended GWG and potential limitations in providers’ interventions, particularly for GDM.

Jańczyk Magdalena, Samek Ilona, Rolińska Agnieszka. Women’s knowledge about pregnancy complicated by breast cancer and the attitude towards the implementation of anti-cancer therapy. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2019;9(9):170-181. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3387095 http://ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/view/7386 The journal has had 5 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. § 8. 2) and § 12. 1. 2) 22.02.2019. © The Authors 2019; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license Share alike. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 25.08.2019. Revised: 30.08.2019. Accepted: 05.09.2019. Women’s knowledge about pregnancy complicated by breast cancer and the attitude towards the implementation of anti-cancer therapy Magdalena Jańczyk (1); Ilona Samek (1); Agnieszka Rolińska (2) 1) Student Research Group of Applied Psychology, Medical University of Lublin 2) Department of Applied Psychology, Medical University of Lublin *Address for correspodence: Smolniki 7/12, 18-520 Stawiski, telephone number: 662237472, e-mail address: magdajanczyk7@gmail.com ORCID ID: Magdalena Jańczyk: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4948-9463 Ilona Samek: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5538-5396 Agnieszka Rolińska: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5595-3077 Abstract Introduction and purpose: Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer during pregnancy. Women can treat it, but pregnancy has a significant impact on the types and duration of using treatment. Purpose is to present the opinions of women about pregnancy complicated by breast cancer. Material and methods: 206 women participated in the study. We used a survey on the Internet. The average age of the respondents was 31.2. To establish whether an observed frequency distribution differs from a theoretical distribution the chi2 test of goodness-of-fit was used, to estimate relation we use the chi2 test of independence. Results: There were statistically significant differences between the number of women who believe that breast cancer is benign vs. malignant. Most often indicated as a safe method of diagnosis in pregnant women were: biopsy, mammography with lead shield, ultrasound, there was also a relationship between the place of residence and the choice of biopsy and ultrasound. A significant difference was noted between the number of women declaring an attitude forward delay vs starting treatment in pregnancy. There was a significant relationship between the pregnancy experience and the declared decision on the time of beginning of the therapy. Conclusions: The results suggest that women are aware of the malignancy of breast cancer. Many of them incorrectly differentiate the effects of this cancer in pregnant women and not pregnant. Biopsy, mammography with lead shield, ultrasound are perceived as the safest methods of diagnosis. Significantly more respondents claim that they would postpone the therapy until the end of pregnancy. Women who have never been pregnant more often declare that they would decide to postpone treatment. Key words: breast cancer; pregnancy; attitude; knowledge.

Background: Eyelid tumors are rare skin cancers, the most common of which is basal cell carcinoma characterized primarily by local growth. In addition to surgery, radiotherapy is among the basic methods of treatment. External beam radiotherapy is associated with the risk of complications within ocular structures, especially the lens. In the case of interstitial brachytherapy, it is possible to administer a high dose to the clinical target volume (CTV), while reducing it in the most sensitive structures. Methods: This paper presents the results of an analysis of 28 patients treated with interstitial high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy for skin cancers of the upper and lower eyelid, medial and lateral canthus, and the cheek, nose and temples with the infiltration of ocular structures. The patients were treated according to two irradiation schedules: 49 Gy in 14 fractions of 3.5 Gy twice a day for 7 days of treatment, and 45 Gy in 5 Gy fractions twice a day for 5 days. The mean follow-up was 22 months (3–49 months). Results: two patients (6%) had a relapse: a local recurrence within the irradiated area in one of them, and metastases to lymph nodes in the other. The most common early complication was conjunctivitis (74%), and the most common late complication was dry eye syndrome (59%). Conclusions: Interstitial HDR brachytherapy for skin cancers of the upper and lower eyelid, medial and lateral cants, and the cheek, nose and temples with infiltration of ocular structures is a highly effective, short and relatively low burden type of treatment.