Gdańsk Medical University

Clinical trials are conducted under rigorous ethical and regulatory frameworks to protect participants, including ethics committee approval, informed consent, oversight, and personal data protection. However, public awareness of these safeguards in Poland remains insufficiently studied. We conducted a nationwide cross-sectional survey via computer-assisted web interviews with 1200 adults in Poland (January 2023). Awareness was defined as agreement with statements reflecting ethical and regulatory safeguards; "high awareness" indicated endorsement of at least 7 out of 9 items. A questionnaire covered nine core principles of clinical trials, including ethical review, informed consent, participant rights, and data protection. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and logistic regression identified factors associated with high awareness (≥ 7/9 endorsed items). Awareness was generally high: 88.1% recognised the need for trials to introduce new drugs and 83.7% knew that informed consent was required. However, gaps in knowledge regarding regulatory oversight and data protection were identified. In the final multivariable logistic regression model, lower education was associated with reduced odds of high awareness (secondary vs. higher: aOR = 0.56; post-secondary vs. higher: aOR = 0.54), as was uncertainty about prior clinical trial participation ("do not know" vs. no: aOR = 0.55). Model discrimination was limited (AUC = 0.59). Awareness of core ethical safeguards, such as informed consent, was high, but gaps remained in regulatory oversight and data protection. Education was the strongest correlate, indicating a need for targeted communication.

Background: Guided endodontics (GE), introduced in 2016, is an innovative approach aimed at addressing the challenges faced in endodontic treatment, particularly in cases of pulp canal obliteration (PCO). Objectives: This narrative review aims to assess the efficacy and application of static guided endodontics to facilitate minimally invasive access to difficult-to-locate root canals during primary endodontic treatment of incisors and canines. Method: A search strategy of the literature was performed on PubMed until 18 November 2025. The review synthesizes findings from 28 studies, focusing on recent advancements, procedural planning, and clinical outcomes related to GE. Results: Key findings indicate that GE may improve the ability to locate and treat calcified canals, reduce complications associated with traditional methods. Radiographic assessments and clinical indicators demonstrate favorable short- to medium-term outcomes; however, there is an absence of standardized protocols for long-term follow-up. Conclusions: Recommendations for future research include the establishment of unified technical guidelines to enhance consistency and comparability of results across clinical settings. Overall, guided endodontics represents a promising advancement in improving the success of root canal therapy while preserving natural dentition. The primary goal of this article is to update the literature review on static guided endodontics in anterior teeth during primary endodontics.

Nursing students face high academic and emotional demands that may adversely affect their mental well-being and psychological resources. Understanding the relationships between stress, life orientation, and sense of coherence is essential for developing effective support strategies. This study aimed to examine the mediating role of perceived stress in the relationship between life orientation and sense of coherence among nursing students, with the year of study as a moderator. A multicentre cross-sectional study was conducted between October and December 2023 among 2,689 undergraduate nursing students in Poland aged 18–30 years. Data were collected using a sociodemographic questionnaire and standardized instruments: LOT-R, SOC-29, and PSS-10. Moderated mediation analyses were performed. Most participants reported high levels of perceived stress and high dispositional optimism, while sense of coherence scores were moderate. Optimism showed a negative direct association with meaningfulness, which strengthened in the second year of study and became partially mediated by stress in the third year. In the first two years, higher optimism was associated with lower manageability; this relationship weakened in the third year, suggesting adaptive changes. The third year emerged as a critical period, during which stress significantly reduced comprehensibility and meaningfulness and played a stronger mediating role between optimism and sense of coherence. Perceived stress mediates the relationship between life orientation and sense of coherence in nursing students, with patterns differing across years of study. These findings highlight the need for targeted educational and psychological interventions to enhance stress management, emotional resilience, and psychological resources, particularly in later stages of nursing education. Not applicable.

Background: Malnutrition and its risk are prevalent in older adults and contribute to frailty, morbidity, and mortality. Poor oral health-particularly tooth loss and inadequate prosthetic rehabilitation-may impair chewing, limit dietary variety, and accelerate nutritional decline. We investigated associations between dentition status, denture use, and nutritional status in a nationally representative sample of Polish older adults. Methods: We analyzed data from 5214 participants aged ≥60 years from the nationwide cross-sectional PolSenior2 study. Dentition status was classified as functional dentition (≥20 teeth), partial dentition (1-19 teeth), or edentulism (0 teeth). Nutritional status was assessed using the Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF); impaired nutritional status was defined as MNA-SF <12 (malnourished or at risk). Additional indicators included hypoalbuminemia (<35 g/L) and small calf circumference (<31 cm). Associations were tested using chi-square and multivariable logistic regression adjusted for age, sex, education, and place of residence. Results: Functional dentition was present in 15.5%, partial dentition in 48.1%, and edentulism in 36.4% of participants. The proportion of edentulous individuals increased across worsening MNA-SF categories (26.2% in well-nourished, 41.8% in at risk, 46.9% in malnourished). In adjusted models, edentulism was associated with higher odds of impaired nutritional status compared with functional dentition (OR: 1.66; 95% CI: 1.32-2.10; p < 0.001), while partial dentition showed a non-significant trend (OR: 1.22; 95% CI: 0.98-1.52; p = 0.077). Among edentulous participants, denture use was more common in well-nourished individuals than in those with impaired nutritional status (93.0% vs. 77.2%), suggesting a possible association between active prosthetic rehabilitation and better nutritional status. Conclusions: In Polish older adults, tooth loss-particularly edentulism-is associated with poorer nutritional status. Screening for malnutrition risk may benefit from incorporating basic oral health and denture-use assessment while improved access to prosthetic rehabilitation may support nutritional resilience in ageing populations.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains one of the most aggressive breast cancer subtypes and is associated with limited therapeutic options, underscoring the urgent need for novel treatment strategies. In this study, a library of seventeen 1,3,5-triazine derivatives potentially targeting TNBC was developed using an activity-based approach. Compounds were synthesized via an ultrasound-assisted protocol, providing an efficient and environmentally friendly methodology. The synthesized library was evaluated in vitro against the human TNBC cell lines MDA-MB-468, MDA-MB-231, and Hs578T, as well as the non-tumorigenic epithelial cell line MCF10A. Compounds 9 and 17 exhibited the most promising antiproliferative activity against TNBC cell lines (MDA-MB-468: IC50 = 36.62 µM for 9 and 38.29 µM for 17; MDA-MB-231: IC50 = 37.32 µM for 9 and 32.86 µM for 17; Hs578T: IC50 = 57.26 µM for 9 and 34.87 µM for 17), while maintaining acceptable selectivity toward non-cancerous cells. The lead compounds were further assessed in vivo using a Danio rerio model to evaluate general toxicity and cardiotoxicity. In addition, ADME parameters were predicted for all compounds using biomimetic chromatography. Overall, compounds 9 and 17 emerged as promising small-molecule candidates for TNBC treatment, requiring further toxicological evaluation in more human-relevant in vivo models.

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) shows promising results in lymphoma detection, prediction, and classification. However, translating these findings into practice requires a rigorous assessment of potential biases, clinical utility, and further validation of research models. Objective: The goal of this study was to summarize existing studies on artificial intelligence models for the histopathological detection of lymphoma. Design: This study adhered to the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. A systematic search was conducted across three major databases (Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science) for English-language articles and reviews published between 2016 and 2025. Seven precise search queries were applied to identify relevant publications, accounting for variations in study modality, algorithmic architectures, and disease-specific terminology. Results: The search identified 612 records, of which 36 articles met the inclusion criteria. These studies presented 36 AI models, comprising 30 diagnostic and six prognostic applications, with Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) being the predominant architecture. Regarding data sources, 83% (30/36) of datasets utilized Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&amp;E)-stained images, while the remainder relied on diverse modalities, including IHC-stained slides, bone marrow smears, and other tissue preparations. Studies predominantly utilized retrospective, private cohorts with sample sizes typically ranging from 50 to 400 patients; only a minority leveraged open-access repositories (e.g., Kaggle, TCGA). The primary application was slide-level multi-class classification, distinguishing between specific lymphoma subtypes and non-neoplastic controls. Beyond diagnosis, a subset of studies explored advanced prognostic tasks, such as predicting chemotherapy response and disease progression (e.g., in CLL), as well as automated biomarker quantification (c-MYC, BCL2, PD-L1). Reported diagnostic performance was generally high, with accuracy ranging from 60% to 100% (clustering around 90%) and AUC values spanning 0.70 to 0.99 (predominantly &gt;0.90). Conclusions: While AI models demonstrate high diagnostic accuracy, their translation into practice is limited by unstandardized protocols, morphological complexity, and the “black box” nature of algorithms. Critical issues regarding data provenance, image noise, and lack of representativeness raise risks of systematic bias, hence the need for rigorous validation in diverse clinical environments.

Pediatric cholecystitis and cholelithiasis management is heterogeneous. We surveyed European centers to map current practices, training exposure, and outcomes of pediatric biliary cholecystectomy. A 24-item cross-sectional international survey was developed by the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS) Section of Paediatric Surgery and distributed to centers in 31 UEMS member states. Items covered institutional resources, indications and timing, surgical approach and adjuncts (ERCP, ICG), training exposure, and center-level outcomes; results are reported as n (%), median (IQR). Outcomes were reported at the center level and were self-reported by participating institutions. Thirty-two centers from 23/31 states responded (74.2%). Pediatric surgeons were primary operators in 84% (shared with adult surgeons in 16%); ERCP access was 66%. Trainee operator share was 22.5% (IQR 5-50) and simulator access 56%. ICG cholangiography was routine in 12.5% and selective in 31%. Acute calculous cholecystitis: 6% always index-admission and 59.4% interval (29-41 days) cholecystectomy; post-ERCP choledocholithiasis: 16% always index-admission cholecystectomy. In 2023, 185 cases were reported: 98.9% laparoscopic with 1.6% conversion; median age 14 years (IQR 12.25-15), operative time 90min (IQR 60-110), length of stay 2 days (IQR 1-2); 10 complications (5.4%). Substantial heterogeneity persists in both care pathways and training exposure; most centers lack formal pediatric-specific guidelines, and trainee-led operating remains limited, supporting the need for evidence-based protocols and structured training pathways.