The evaluation of parents' knowledge about psychophysical development of the 0-12 months old children

Introduction: A process of psychomotor development should take place harmoniously according to a fixed plan. Because of the fact, that not every child develops properly, parents ought to possess basic knowledge of child’s psychomotor development. It could enable them to notice any possible abnormalities and turn to a specialist for help in time. Aim: The aim of the study is to assess parents' knowledge about the psychomotor development of children aged 0-12 months and the impact of selected socio-demographic factors on the level of this knowledge Materials and methods: The research involved 111 parents who filled in the questionnaire form on psychomotor development of a child in its first year. Results: It has been proven that a general level of parents’ knowledge ranges from low to good. Moreover, based on the research it can be claimed, that people who graduated from universities gain better knowledge on a person’s development than people who didn’t. Similarly, parents with a bigger amount of children and what’s connected, better experience, achieve better results. Finally, a large majority of parents claim that their knowledge is better that it really is. Conclusions: Comparing the outcome with the results of other researchers it can be concluded, that the level of knowledge on child’s psychomotor development is rather low. The reason of that might be the lack of needed education on the area. Taking into consideration a quite wide range of available sources of information, parents can find many possibilities to broaden their knowledge. To improve the situation various actions encouraging self-improvement of parents’ level of knowledge should be introduced. In the future a similar research should take place to check if the level of awareness of this issue is heightened. &nbsp

Herbal medicine IMOD suppresses LPS-induced production of proinflammatory cytokines in human dendritic cells

Traditional medicines that stimulate or modulate the immune system can be used as innovative approaches to treat immunological diseases. The herbal medicine IMOD has been shown to strongly modulate immune responses in several animal studies as well as in clinical trials. However, little is known about the mechanisms of IMOD to modulate immunity. Here we have investigated whether IMOD modulates the immunological function of human dendritic cells (DCs). IMOD alone did not induce DC maturation nor production of cytokines. Notably, IMOD decreased the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-12 p70 and TNFα by LPS-activated DCs at both mRNA and protein levels in a dose dependent manner. In contrast, treatment with IMOD did not affect LPS induced-production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Furthermore, IMOD inhibited T cell activation/proliferation by LPS-treated DCs and skewed T-cells responses towards the T helper type 2 polarization. These data strongly indicate that IMOD has a potent immunomodulatory ability that affects TLR signaling and thereby modulates DC function. Insight into the immunomodulatory effect of herbal medicine IMOD may provide innovative strategies to affect the immune system and to help combat various disease

Granulocyte concentrates: Prolonged functional capacity during storage in the presence of phenotypic changes

Background Granulocyte transfusion has been proposed as a bridging therapy for patients with prolonged p

Granulocyte transfusion therapy: randomization after all?

Granulocyte transfusions were first used to treat infections in neutropenic patients in the early 1960s. The first donors were patients with chronic myeloid leukemia. Forty years later the value of these transfusions remains unclear. In this perspective article Drs. Drewniak and Kuijpers discuss the relevant data. See related paper on page 1661

Acute coronary syndrome without ST segment elevation in a patient with familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy - a case report

Acute coronary syndrome without ST segment elevation in a patient with familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: A case of a 46-year-old male with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and cardioverter-defibrillator implanted due to a history of syncopal sustained ventricular tachycardia, is presented. The patient had undergone coronary angiography two years before current hospitalisation which showed normal coronary arteries. This time the patient was admitted to the hospital due to a typical chest pain. ECG showed predominantly paced QRS complexes and negative T waves in V2-V6 which were present on ECG recorded a few months earlier. Troponin I plasma concentration was significantly elevated. Coronary angiography revealed critical stenosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery which was successfully treated with angioplasty and stent implantation. Diagnosis and treatment of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are discussed

In vitro co-culture of human intestinal organoids and lamina propria-derived CD4+ T cells

Summary: Crosstalk between immune cells and intestinal stem cells (ISCs) in vivo plays a critical role in tissue homeostasis and inflammation; however, in vitro models based on primary cells recapitulating this interaction were lacking. Here, we provide a detailed protocol for an autologous in vitro long-term 3D co-culture system of human intestinal CD4+ T cells and ISCs to study T cell-intestinal epithelial cell interactions during tissue development and inflammation.For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Schreurs et al. (2019)

Two Taxonomic Innovations in South American Gentianella (Gentianaceae)

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Toll-like receptor-induced reactivity and strongly potentiated IL-8 production in granulocytes mobilized for transfusion purposes

Transfusion of granulocytes from granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF)/dexamethasone (dexa)-treated donors can be beneficial for neutropenic recipients that are refractory to antimicrobial therapy. G-CSF/dexa treatment not only increases the number of circulating neutrophils but also affects their gene expression. Because of the intended transfusion of these granulocytes into patients who are severely ill, it is of importance to establish to what extent mobilization affects the cellular behavior of neutrophils. Here, we studied the effects of mobilization on Toll-like receptor (TLR)-mediated responses. Mobilized granulocytes displayed increased gene and protein expression of TLR2, TLR4, TLR5, and TLR8. Although mobilized granulocytes displayed normal priming of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase activity and a slight increase in adhesion in response to TLR stimulation, these cells produced massive amounts of interleukin-8 (IL-8), in particular to TLR2 and TLR8 stimulation. The increase in IL-8 release occurred despite reduced IL-8 mRNA levels in the donor granulocytes after in vivo G-CSF/dexa treatment, indicating that the enhanced TLR-induced IL-8 production was largely determined by posttranscriptional regulation. In summary, granulocytes mobilized for transfusion purposes show enhanced TLR responsiveness in cytokine production, which is anticipated to be beneficial for the function of these cells on transfusion into patients

Changes in gene expression of granulocytes during in vivo granulocyte colony-stimulating factor/dexamethasone mobilization for transfusion purposes

The treatment of healthy donors with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and dexamethasone results in sufficient numbers of circulating granulocytes to prepare granulocyte concentrates for clinical purposes. Granulocytes obtained in this way demonstrate relatively normal functional behavior combined with a prolonged life span. To study the influence of mobilizing agents on granulocytes, we used oligonucleotide microarrays to identify genes that are differentially expressed in mobilized granulocytes compared with control granulocytes. More than 1000 genes displayed a differential expression pattern, with at least a 3-fold difference. Among these, a large number of genes was induced that encode proteins involved in inflammation and the immune response, such as C-type lectins and leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptors. Because mobilized granulocytes have a prolonged life span, we focused on genes involved in the regulation of apoptosis. One of the most prominent among these was CAST, the gene encoding calpastatin. Calpastatins are the endogenous inhibitors of calpains, a family of calcium-dependent cysteine proteases recently shown to be involved in neutrophil apoptosis. Transcriptional activity of the CAST gene was induced by G-CSF/dexamethasone treatment both in vivo and in vitro, whereas the protein expression of CAST was stabilized during culture. These studies provide new insight in the genotypic changes as well as in the regulation of the immunologic functions and viability of mobilized granulocytes used for clinical transfusion purposes