Aim - In this study, we aimed to examine the risk factors, topographic features and stroke mechanisms of acute ischemic unilateral infarcts of thalamus. Methods - Patient with isolated thalamic infarct and those with posterior cerebral artery (PCA) infarction who were admitted to our hospital between January 2014 and January 2017 with acute unilateral thalamic infarction (TI) were included in this study (isolated thalamic infarction/ isolated TI; thalamic and posterior cerebral artery infarction/PCA+TI). Demographic characteristics and vascular risk factors of the patients were determined. Thalamic infarct areas were recorded topographically as anterior, posteromedial, ventrolateral, posterolateral, more than one area, and variant areas. Stroke mechanism was determined according to the criteria of „Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment” (TOAST). Patients with isolated TI and PCA TI were compared according to risk factors, stroke mechanism and infarct topography. Results - Forty-three patients with a mean age of 63.3 ± 14.5 years were included in the study. Twenty-eight patients (60.1%) were found to have isolated TI and the remaining 15 patients (34.9%) had PCA+TI. 32.1% of patients with isolated TI had sensory symptoms on presentation, and 60% of patients with PCA-TI had sensorimotor symptoms. The mean age, the mean score on National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and the mean frequency of atrial fibrillation were higher in PCA+TI patients than in isolated-TI patients (p: 0.04, p: 0.004, p: 0.02 respectively). 32.6% of the patients had ventrolateral, 30.2% had posteromedial involvement. Ventrolateral topography was seen in 46.7% of the PCA+TI patients, while posteromedial topography was seen in 39.3% of the isolated-TI patients. 53.6% of the isolated-TI had small vessel disease etiology, while 40% of the PCA+TI had cardioembolic etiology, and the other 40% had large artery atherosclerosis. Conclusion - Our study showed that the most ommon stroke mechanism in patients with thalamic infarction is the small vessel disease. Isolated TI and PCA+TI patients differ in terms of etiologic mechanism and infarct topography. Variant territorial involvement and multiple area involvements can be quite common in thalamic infarcts.

[Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterised by increased local and generalised bone resorption, which manifests in the develoment of marginal erosions and generalised osteoporosis, respectively. An increasing number of data suggest that lymphocytes, proinflammatory cytokines and other mediators involved in inflammation contribute to arthritic bone resorption. Therefore, the term ‘osteoimmunology’ has also become widely used. In RA, Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor kappa B (RANK) and its ligand (RANKL) play a crucial role in bone resorption. These proteins, which belong to the tumor necrosis factor a (TNF-a) receptor and TNF ligand superfamilies, respectively, activate osteoclasts while interacting with T cells, synovial fibroblasts and other cytokines (e.g. IL-1, IL-17), which results in bone resorption. Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a decoy receptor that also belongs to the TNF receptor family and inhibits RANK-RANKL interactions. There is increased RANKL production and decreased OPG production in RA. The interaction of RANKL with IL-17 is particularly important. Regarding therapy, sulfasalazine, methotrexate and biological agents, especially TNF inhibitors suppress RANKL-mediated bone resorption and thus the development of joint erosions. RANKL-RANK interaction can be directly inhibited by recombinant OPG or anti-RANKL antibody (denosumab). Among these agents, denosumab gave promising results in experiments performed in animal models of arthritis. These were followed by a phase II human RA trial, which proved that denosumab decreased MRI erosion scores in RA.]

[The trial of Galileo, who abjured his scientific convictions in the face of the Inquisitions was the most persistent and disturbing artistic theme of both Bertolt Brecht’s and Németh Laszlo’s writing careers. All three of them attended medical school. Galileo and Brecht never graduated whilst Németh’s medical work was subordinated to the art which became his vocation. The authors examine the genesis of Brecht’s and Németh’s dramas on Galileo, the possible effect of their medical studies or practice and their illnesses on their plays, and compare the work of the artists. This paper shows the process of their evaluating and re-evaluating their works and their struggle for further development of their artistic vision. Brecht’s and Németh's dramas, together with their formations and effects, can illuminate our understanding of the historically changing perpectivity of the scientific and artistic truth. ]

[Introduction - Quality of health and social care is being assessed by largely different methods. Obtaining comparable and valuable data is difficult. Thus, internationally developed instruments have special value. Sample and methods - A set of instruments has been developed simultaneously using World Health Organization’s instrument development method. One of these is the instrument “Quality of Care and Support for People with Disabilities”. Response scales contain five options for physically and three for intellectually disabled persons. Psychometric analysis of the Hungarian instrument version was based on interviews with 151 physically and 166 intellectually disabled persons. Results - Answering rate was high, above 95% with the exception of one item. Internal consistency of the two instrument versions by Cronbach’s alpha is 0.845 and 0.745 respectively. Lowest satisfaction was found in the domain “information” in both groups that correlates significantly with health conditions at p<0.01 and p<0.05 level respectively. Conclusions - The field trial confirms validity and reliability of the instrument. Its wider use may help the evaluation of satisfaction concerning different components of quality of care, consequently better tailoring of services to needs.]