Diabetes mellitus is a common systemic metabolic disease associated with high healthcare costs. Type 2 diabetes is a problem worldwide and its doubling in the last 30 years is a fact. The occurrence of diabetes is positively correlated with the growing number of overweight and obesity patients....

Background/Objectives: Cellulite is a common aesthetic condition in women, traditionally assessed using visual inspection and palpation-based scales that are inherently subjective. Therefore, image-based methods that may support standardized severity grading are of growing interest. To evaluate infrared thermography as an imaging-based method for grading cellulite severity and to perform methodological validation of a newly developed thermographic classification scale by comparing it with clinical palpation and anthropometric parameters. Methods: This retrospective, non-interventional study analyzed anonymized clinical and thermographic data from 81 women with clinically assessed cellulite. Cellulite severity was evaluated using the Nürnberger–Müller palpation scale and a newly developed five-point thermographic scale based on skin surface temperature differentials and histogram pattern analysis. The associations between the assessment methods were evaluated using ordinal statistical measures, and agreement was assessed using weighted Cohen’s kappa statistics. Results: Thermographic grading demonstrated high agreement with palpation-based assessment, with a percentage agreement of 93.8% and an almost perfect agreement based on weighted Cohen’s κ. A strong ordinal association was observed between the methods. Thermography consistently classified a subset of cases as one grade higher compared with palpation. No statistically significant associations were observed between thermographic grade and body mass index or waist-to-hip ratio. Conclusions: Infrared thermography enables image-based grading of cellulite severity and shows a strong concordance with established palpation scales. The proposed thermographic classification provides preliminary methodological validation of an imaging-based grading approach. Further multicenter studies involving multiple assessors and diverse populations are required to assess reproducibility, specificity, and potential clinical applicability.

Postural stability is an important component of functional health in older adults; however, longitudinal observations from routine community physical activity programs remain limited. This exploratory secondary observational analysis compared changes in postural stability between two archival cohorts of University of the Third Age participants assessed over different observation periods. The dataset comprised 48 paired assessment records representing 43 unique participants. Five individuals appeared in both historical datasets; therefore, the primary independent comparison included 24 participants in the longer-observation cohort and 19 in the shorter-observation cohort. The respective intervals between baseline and follow-up assessments were 408–568 and 21–76 days. The cohorts corresponded to programs offering 77 and eight scheduled physical activity sessions, respectively, although individual attendance was not documented. Postural stability was assessed using the HUMAC Balance System under two 30-s firm-surface conditions with eyes open and eyes closed. Ten outcomes were evaluated using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests for within-cohort changes and Mann–Whitney U tests for between-cohort differences in change scores, with Holm adjustment for multiple comparisons. No outcome changed significantly in the longer-observation cohort after adjustment. In the shorter-observation cohort, the eyes-closed sway index and eyes-closed stability score (ECSS) changed in a less favorable direction (Holm-adjusted p = 0.043 and p = 0.048, respectively). Between-cohort differences in change were significant for both outcomes (Holm-adjusted p = 0.019 for each; rank-biserial correlations −0.553 and 0.557, respectively). Sensitivity analyses using alternative strategies to exclude overlapping records retained the statistical significance of these findings. The results demonstrate differences in selected eyes-closed postural stability measurements between archival cohorts; however, scheduled activity exposure and follow-up duration were inseparable. Consequently, the findings do not establish an independent effect of exercise duration or preservation of postural control attributable to physical activity. Prospective studies with comparable observation intervals and verified individual exercise exposure are required to determine their clinical significance.

Introduction and objective: In 2017, a regulation enabling the retrofitting of property rights from the State Treasury to state legal persons and state organizational units (Art. 51a of the Real Estate Management Act) was introduced in Poland. The policymakers intended to expand the catalogue...

Wprowadzenie: Leczenie uzdrowiskowe jest szeroko stosowane w dzisiejszej medycynie i zyskuje coraz większe uznanie wśród pacjentów. Celem pracy jest argumentacja empiryczna jako podstawa innowacyjnych modyfikacji lecznictwa uzdrowiskowego w Polsce. Materiał i metody: Grupowanie problemów zdrowotnych i wieku pacjentów zostało przeprowadzone zgodnie z metodologią Głównego Urzędu Statystycznego (GUS). Wyniki: W 2018 roku największa liczba pacjentów korzystała ze świadczeń w ramach chorób reumatologicznych (ok 300 tys.), następnie w ramach interwencji kwalifikowanych do kardiologii (ponad 43 tys.) oraz neurologii (ponad 33 tys.). W roku 2023 liderem pozostały interwencje kwalifikowane do reumatologii, a kardiologiczne zamieniły pozycję rankingową z neurologicznymi. Wnioski: Dane epidemiologiczne z lat 2018-2023, a więc obejmujące także okres po pandemicznym, stanowią zbiór przesłanek uzasadniających nieodzowny wzrost znaczenia medycyny prewencyjnej w codziennej praktyce klinicznej, ale także podczas lecznictwa uzdrowiskowego.

The entry into force of the Act of 24 April 2003 on Public Benefit Activities and Volunteering created a legal framework for enhanced cooperation between non-governmental organizations and local government units. Local government units are required to adopt cooperation programs with non-governmental organizations and entities conducting public benefit activities and to commission these entities to carry out specific public tasks. The aim of this article is to analyze the scope of public tasks transferred to entities classified as the so-called third sector by local government units and to analyze the legal environment of this process, which will allow for the drawing of general and de lege ferenda conclusions.