The composition and function of human milk is unique and gives a basis for the development of modern artificial milk formulas that can provide an appropriate substitute for non-breastfed infants. Although human milk is not fully substitutable, modern milk formulas are attempting to mimic human milk and partially substitute its complex biological positive effects on infants. Besides the immunomodulatory factors from human milk, research has been focused on the composition and structure of human milk fat with a high content of β-palmitic acid (sn-2 palmitic acid, β-palmitate). According to the available studies, increasing the content of β-palmitate added to milk formulas promotes several beneficial physiological functions. β-palmitate positively influences fatty acid metabolism, increases calcium absorption, improves bone matrix quality and the stool consistency, and has a positive effect on the development of the intestinal microbiome.

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The qualitative assessment of the echogenicity of the renal cortex and the medulla is one of the most important diagnostic criteria in the assessment of diffuse renal parenchymal disease. It is of interest to complete this assessment by quantitative data. The echogenicity of the cortex and medulla was quantitatively analysed in digitized images. The coefficient of variation of repeated measurements was 0.83% and the coefficient of variation made by two different individuals was 2.03%. The influence of furosemide on the echogenicity of the renal parenchyma was measured in 4 healthy adults. The echogenicity of the renal cortex is after 3 and 6 min significantly increased, while the echogenicity of the medulla remained unchanged. Our study shows that a precise measurement of echogenicity in renal parenchyma is possible. Under the influence of furosemide there will be a significant increase in the echogenicity of the renal cortex.

A modified McMaster method has been used for the diagnosis and estimating helminth egg load in human faecal samples obtained from random consecutive patients in the areas non-endemic for helminth infections (Slovak Republic, North West Russia). Both positive and negative findings were in a 100 % concordance to those obtained with a reference method accepted in clinical diagnostic laboratories (microscopy of the native stool smear). The McMaster method was efficient in detecting nematode eggs in patients' stool samples with egg load varying from very low (15 -60 epg for T. trichiura) to moderate (1650 -4500 epg for A. lumbricoides). Therefore, this method may be successfully (and with a better technical feasibility) used for the diagnosis of intestinal helminth infections in non-endemic areas, with further quantitative analysis of the sample when required.

Abstract. The study of the shadowing property has a long history but for interval maps it is rather new. Recent research in this direction is mainly focused on the positive entropy maps and work for zero entropy is still seldom to be found in the literature. In this paper we give a characterization of zero topological entropy maps which have the shadowing property. Moreover, our condition is necessary for any continuous function to have the shadowing property.