Blanka Klimova

Alzheimer's disease and language impairments: social intervention and medical treatment

Communication is very important for people to be successfully integrated into social environment and make and maintain relationship. Particularly, language difficulties lead to social exclusion of the people affected with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and contribute to a significant decrease in the quality of their life and also have a big impact on their family members who in most cases become their caregivers who need to communicate with their loved ones in order to meet their needs. Therefore, the goal of this study is to describe language impairments in the individual phases of AD and discuss their improvement with respect to AD on the basis of literature review. The authors of this article use traditional research methods in order to achieve the goal set mentioned earlier. First, a method of literature review of available sources describing language impairments in the individual phases of AD is exploited. Second, to show how informal caregivers and relevant drugs can successfully intervene in the improvement of these language impairments, a method of comparison of different research studies exploring such social intervention and medical treatment is used.

The antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and anti-inflammatory activities of Spirulina: an overview

Spirulina is a species of filamentous cyanobacteria that has long been used as a food supplement. In particular, Spirulina platensis and Spirulina maxima are the most important. Thanks to a high protein and vitamin content, Spirulina is used as a nutraceutical food supplement, although its other potential health benefits have attracted much attention. Oxidative stress and dysfunctional immunity cause many diseases in humans, including atherosclerosis, cardiac hypertrophy, heart failure, and hypertension. Thus, the antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and anti-inflammatory activities of these microalgae may play an important role in human health. Here, we discuss the antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and anti-inflammatory activities of Spirulina in both animals and humans, along with the underlying mechanisms. In addition, its commercial and regulatory status in different countries is discussed as well. Spirulina activates cellular antioxidant enzymes, inhibits lipid peroxidation and DNA damage, scavenges free radicals, and increases the activity of superoxide dismutase and catalase. Notably, there appears to be a threshold level above which Spirulina will taper off the antioxidant activity. Clinical trials show that Spirulina prevents skeletal muscle damage under conditions of exercise-induced oxidative stress and can stimulate the production of antibodies and up- or downregulate the expression of cytokine-encoding genes to induce immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory responses. The molecular mechanism(s) by which Spirulina induces these activities is unclear, but phycocyanin and β-carotene are important molecules. Moreover, Spirulina effectively regulates the ERK1/2, JNK, p38, and IκB pathways. This review provides new insight into the potential therapeutic applications of Spirulina and may provide new ideas for future studies.

Current Approaches Against Alzheimer's Disease in Clinical Trials

Alzheimers disease (AD) is a progressive degenerative brain disease which causes mental and physical decline, gradually resulting in death. Currently, this disease represents one of the uppermost human issues, both from the medical and economic point of view. Interest in the discovery of a drug for AD is enormous. However, despite the long-term and worldwide effort for a more effective therapy, the only available treatment is a symptomatic use of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) and memantine. New therapeutic approaches as well as those based on cholinergic or amyloid theory have not brought the desired benefits yet. Thus, the question is whether an effective drug for this progressive disease will ever be developed or whether people will have to rely only on prevention and minimize risk factors of AD.

Investment evaluation of cloud computing in the European business sector

The importance of cloud computing is acknowledged both at national and entrepreneurial level. Its potential in business has been already described in many studies (Dillon et al., 2010; Bayrak et al., 2011; Nuseibeh, 2011; Repschlaeger et al., 2013). However, many European countries do not exploit it much in spite of many positive responses made by respected consulting companies. The reasons for this are a very low level of changes in companies, ignorance of opportunities of the given technology and, consequently, an inability to count the return of investment. Therefore, the aim of this article is to introduce a tool for the investment evaluation of cloud computing, which corresponds to the needs of the European business environment and to the properties of this technology. Furthermore, the cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) method is explored. This method is adjusted for cloud computing on the basis of companies’ requirements, which were collected from quantitative and qualitative surveys and from the interviews with experts in cloud computing from academic and business environments. In addition, individual stages of the CBA method used in cloud computing are described.

Older People and Their Attitude to the Use of Information and Communication Technologies--A Review Study with Special Focus on the Czech Republic (Older People and Their Attitude to ICT).

ABSTRACT Rising standards of living and good quality health care have contributed to people living longer. According to the Eurostat agency (Benáčová & Valenta, 2009), in the next 50 years there will be twice as many older people worldwide. The aging process, however, brings about new economic and social issues. Therefore, there is constant effort to prolong the active age of these older people who want to lead an active, fulfilling, and quality life in a sense of their inclusion, socialization, and independence. This can be achieved not only by continuous support from their family members. Current trends also show an important role for information and communication technologies (ICT) in the prolonging of an active life. The purpose of this review study is to explore the role of ICT in the lifestyle of older people and show how the Czech older people can cope with the use of ICT in their life. The methods exploited in this review study include a literature review of available sources exploring the use of ICT by older people and a comparison of the very few research studies exploring this topic in the Czech environment. The objective was to illustrate how the role of ICT in the life of the Czech older people and their training in the use of ICT can lead to a gradual positive change in their attitude towards ICT.

Non-Pharmacological Approaches to the Prevention and Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease with Respect to the Rising Treatment Costs

Alzheimers disease is a serious degenerative disease which is mainly typical of the developed countries. The prevalence percentage in Africa is only 2.6 %, whereas in America it is 6.5 % and in Western Europe 7.2 %. Overall, this disease affects 44 million people worldwide. With respect to the demographic development, a number of people suffering from Alzheimers disease is expected in future. The key issue is not only the discovery of an effective medication, but also the early diagnosis, prevention and care about people with AD, as well as the provision of an equivalent rise of places in health and social institutions. Since the treatment of Alzheimers disease (AD) imposes a severe economic and social burden, the main purpose of this study is to analyze and compare available non-pharmacological approaches to the prevention and treatment of patients with AD with special focus on their cognitive competences. In addition, the analysis also concentrates on the costs of pharmacological care in individual countries all over world. This is done by using Drummonds methodological approaches to direct and indirect costs. The analysis of non-pharmacological approaches is conducted on the basis of literature review of both clinical and review studies relevant for the research issue in the acknowledged databases and a comparison and evaluation of their findings.

Making academic writing real with ICT

Abstract The aim of the article is to explore the potential use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) as a tool that supports and improves students’ skills of formal written English in the context of higher education. The article begins first by explaining how ICT is implemented in an optional course on academic writing taught at the Faculty of Informatics and Management in Hradec Kralove for 5 years already. Therefore, a short introduction to the concept of blended learning is mentioned. Furthermore, referring to the corresponding research literature, main pedagogy theories connected with the use of ICT are described, i.e. constructivism and activity theory. In addition to that, it shows how students’ newly acquired knowledge and skills of formal written English result in real electronic publishing. Finally, students’ end products of their half-semester effort are demonstrated and benefits of such work examined.

Tutor as an important e-learning support

Abstract Teachers are all the time looking for different ways of increasing the quality of their teaching. At present the use of computers and new technologies has become an important aspect of education. They have enabled the teaching community to redefine some of the strategies and concepts of teaching and learning. In this climate computer-based distance learning courses have emerged. One of the supports of the distance learning is e-learning, which is widely used at the University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic. The article attempts to examine how the traditional role of a teacher in the e-courses changes and what preconditions are pivotal for the tutoring of such courses. In addition to that, it describes a creation of e-learning courses from the pedagogical point of view. Finally, a few problems of practical e-tutoring run at a university level in the Czech Republic are depicted.

Fate of deoxynivalenol and deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside during cereal-based thermal food processing: a review study

Deoxynivalenol (DON), the most commonly occurring trichothecene in nature, may affect animal and human health through causing diarrhea, vomiting, gastrointestinal inflammation, and immunomodulation. DON-3-glucoside (DON-3G) as a major plant metabolite of the mycotoxin is another “emerging” food safety issue in recent years. Humans may experience potential health risks by consuming DON-contaminated food products. Thus, it is crucial for human and animal health to study also the degradation of DON and DON-3G during thermal food processing. Baking, boiling, steaming, frying, and extrusion cooking are commonly used during thermal food processing and have promising effects on the reduction of mycotoxins in food. For DON, however, the observed effects of these methods, as reported in numerous studies, are ambiguous and do not present a clear picture with regard to reduction or transformation. This review summarized the influence of thermal processing on the stability of DON and the formation of degradation/conversion products. Besides this, also a release of DON and DON-3G from food matrix as well as the release of DON from DON-3G during processing is discussed. In addition, some conflicting findings as reported from the studies on thermal processing as well as cause-effect relationships of the different thermal procedures are explored. Finally, the potential toxic profiles of DON degradation products are discussed as well when data are available.

Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases: Expected Economic Impact on Europe—A Call for a Uniform European Strategy

The purpose of this study is to analyze the economic burden of persons with Alzheimers disease (AD) and Parkinsons disease (PD) in Europe. On the basis of available data about the number of persons with dementia, their prevalence, and treatment and care costs, a mean cost burden is estimated for the year of 2030 and for the year of 2050 in Europe. The method of retrospective analysis of available sources was used; furthermore, analysis of database data such as WHO and Eurostat, which provide information about the number of older people and people with dementia; and specification of direct and indirect medical and nonmedical costs of patients with AD and PD from current studies was also used. The findings of this study confirm that the number of patients affected with AD and PD, as well as annual costs of the treatment and care of these patients, in the selected European countries are rapidly growing. The cost burden of both AD and PD in the selected European countries rises year by year, and by 2050, the cost burden of both diseases in fact will be almost two times higher in comparison with the year of 2010. In 2050, the overall mean cost burden is estimated to reach 357 billion Euros. The European Union calls for a joint initiative in the development of a uniformed strategic plan in the fight against dementia.