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The article concerns integration and disambiguation of data related to the maritime domain. A developed system is described, which collects and merges data about several maritime-related entities (vessels, vessel types, ports, companies etc.) retrieved from different internet sources and feeds the data into a single database. This process is however not trivial. There are few challenges, which need to be faced to successfully conduct it. Firstly, in different sources, entities may be referenced to in different ways, for example, by using different text strings. Additionally, some of these references may be ambiguous, i.e. potentially the reference may point to more than one entity. To enable efficient analysis of data coming from different sources, such ambiguities must be resolved automatically as a preprocessing step, before the data is uploaded to the database and utilized in further computations. The aim of the disambiguation process is to assign artificial, unique identifiers to each entity and then, if possible, automatically assign these identifiers to each data item related to a given entity. In the article, developed methods for resolving such ambiguities are discussed and their evaluation is presented.

Background. Renal function affects thyroid function and adipocytokines in many ways. We aimed to assess the adipocytokines adiponectin and leptin in relation to thyroid function in patients with chronic renal failure treated conservatively, in haemodialysed patients and in kidney allograft recipients.Methods. The study was performed on 33 patients with chronic renal failure, 64 haemodialysed patients, 54 kidney allograft recipients and 38 healthy volunteers. Thyroid volume was estimated sonographically, thyroid hormones were determined by Micropartide Enzyme Immunoassay (MEIA), and serum adiponectin and leptin were assessed by radioimmunoassay.Results. Serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free T4 and free T3 were within the normal range. Adiponectin correlated significantly with free T3, haematocrit, haemoglobin, platelet count, body mass index (BMI) and urea in kidney allograft recipients. In haemodialysed patients, adiponectin correlated with free T4 and TSH, whereas leptin correlated with free T3. Multiple regression analysis showed that adiponectin was independently related only to the serum concentration of free T3 and urea in kidney transplant recipients and to free T4 and adequacy of dialysis in haemodialysed patients. In univariate analysis in patients with chronic renal failure, adiponectin correlated with free T3 and platelet count, and in healthy volunteers adiponectin correlated only with free T3 and triglycerides, and leptin correlated with BMI.Conclusions. We described novel relationships between adiponectin and thyroid hormones in patients with kidney diseases. However, possible pre-existing thyroid dysfunction prior to transplantation (during dialysis therapy) and immunosuppression after transplantation make all these findings relatively complex. Therefore, the relationships between adiponectin and the thyroid axis in patients with chronic renal failure, in haemodialysed subjects or in kidney transplant recipients merit additional studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15), a member of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily, participates in processes associated with myeloma development and its end-organ complications. It plays a significant role in both physiological and abnormal erythropoiesis and regulates iron homeostasis through modulation of hepcidin. It is abnormally secreted in marrow stromal cells of patients with multiple myeloma (MM), which may reflect the tumor microenvironment. We analyzed the associations of serum GDF-15 with clinical characteristics of 73 MM patients (including asymptomatic MM) and the laboratory indices of renal function, anemia, and inflammation. Baseline serum GDF-15 was studied as the predictor of two-year survival. We defined five clinically relevant subgroups of patients (symptomatic MM only, patients with and without remission, patients on chemotherapy, and without treatment). Increased GDF-15 concentrations were associated with more advanced MM stage, anemia, renal impairment (lower glomerular filtration and higher markers of tubular injury), and inflammation. Most of the results were confirmed in the subgroup analysis. Serum cystatin C and urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin were associated with GDF-15 independently of other variables. In the studied MM patients, GDF-15 did not significantly predict survival (p=0.06). Our results suggest that serum GDF-15 reflects myeloma burden and shares a relationship with several markers of prognostic significance, as well as major manifestations.

Introduction: Contrast nephropathy is a potentially serious complication of PCI, particularly in patients with chronic kidney disease – CKD. Material and methods: Assessment of the effects of preventive measures on the prevalence of contrast-induced nephropathy in 529 consecutive patients with coronary artery disease undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions. In all the patients 24 h before PCI all nephrotoxic drugs (NSAIDs, diuretics, biguanidine derivatives in diabetic patients) were withdrawn and doses of ACEi were either withdrawn or reduced. Results: Only 27.4-47.7% of patients with normal serum creatinine at admission had eGFR over 90 ml/min according to Cockcroft-Gault and MDRD formulae. In 39 patients we observed a rise in serum creatinine of more than 25% relative to baseline. More frequently they were females, hypertensive, PCI time was longer and contrast volume was higher. In 5 pts (0.9%) acute renal failure was observed (rise in creatinine more than 0.5 mg/dl relative to baseline). These patients received more contrast agent (p