Dendritic cells in peripheral blood of patients with breast and lung cancer--a pilot study.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are regarded as the most potent antigen presenting cells that are well suited to activate T cells toward various antigens, such as tumor-associated antigens, due to their costimulatory activity. There is evidence that DCs are of diverse origin, with at least two types of myeloid and lymphoid precursors implicated in their generation. The recent reports demonstrated that the number and function of dendritic cells might change dramatically in cancer patients. In the present study we evaluated the percentage of myeloid and lymphoid DCs in patients with breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and in the healthy donors. The percentage of both DC populations was significantly lower in patients with NSCLC than in the control group. In patients with breast cancer, the number of lymphoid DCs was significantly higher than in NSCLC patients. The obtained results suggest influence of pathological states on host immune system. The decrease in the number of DCs in the peripheral blood from cancer patients may be closely correlated with the type of tumour

The polymorphisms of the MMP-1 and the MMP-3 genes and the risk of pelvic organ prolapse

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: To investigate the associations between single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) type 1G/2G at position −1607/−1608 of the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 gene and SNP type 5A/6A at position −1612/-1617 of the MMP-3 gene and the development of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) in women. METHODS: 133 patients with symptomatic POP were included in the study group. The control group consisted of 132 women with a normal pelvic floor. 1G/2G MMP-1 and 5A/6A MMP-3 SNPs were determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragments length polymorphism analysis. RESULTS: When estimated individually none of the investigated SNPs were associated with POP. The combined MMP-1/MMP-3 SNP analysis showed that the following polymorphic pairs were overrepresented in women with POP: 1G/2G −5A/6A, 2G/2G −5A/6A, 2G/2G −5A/5A, 1G/1G −6A/6A, p = 0.005. CONCLUSIONS: The combined effect of −1607/−1608 MMP-1 and −1612/−1617 MMP-3 SNPs may contribute to the development of POP in some women

Dendritic cells in peripheral blood of patients with breast and lung cancer--a pilot study.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are regarded as the most potent antigen presenting cells that are well suited to activate T cells toward various antigens, such as tumor-associated antigens, due to their costimulatory activity. There is evidence that DCs are of diverse origin, with at least two types of myeloid and lymphoid precursors implicated in their generation. The recent reports demonstrated that the number and function of dendritic cells might change dramatically in cancer patients. In the present study we evaluated the percentage of myeloid and lymphoid DCs in patients with breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and in the healthy donors. The percentage of both DC populations was significantly lower in patients with NSCLC than in the control group. In patients with breast cancer, the number of lymphoid DCs was significantly higher than in NSCLC patients. The obtained results suggest influence of pathological states on host immune system. The decrease in the number of DCs in the peripheral blood from cancer patients may be closely correlated with the type of tumour

Rehabilitation in Parkinson Disease

 Parkinson Disease is a neurodegenerative disease which pathogenesis is not well known. Gait and balance disorders are the most basic symptoms of PD. The occurrence of the symptoms depends on  phase of disease and patient’s individual attributes. Rehabilitation is one of the possible way  to assuage the occurrence of the symptoms. Methods of  physiotherapy have to be chosen individually to every patient.  Using the methods correctly can help the patient to overcome the symptoms at daily life and improve their quality of life

Consumer Confidence Indexes in New EU Member States

One of the most important economic indicators developed on the basis of agents’ opinions is consumer confidence index. Such a situation stems from the fact that consumption is usually the most important element of total demand. In well developed economies in which consumer confidence indexes have been used for many years a lot of attention is paid to analysis of their behavior. They are the element of composite leading indicators developed among others by the European Commission and the US Trade Department. In the emerging economies, in which analyses of consumer behavior were introduced relatively recently, qualitative data on consumer confidence is treated with less attention. This suggests conducting research in such a field for new EU member states. Countries which joined EU in 2004 r. are: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia. This group of countries was subject to analysis presented in the paper. The main aim of the research is to find and analyze relationships between consumer confidence indexes and chosen macroeconomic variables. Research questions refer to common direction in such an analysis conducted worldwide: to identify factors influencing consumers’ opinion and check whether changes of consumer confidence lead to changes of chosen economic variables. Consumption in the state of equilibrium depends on propensity to consumption (measured by confidence index) and on possibilities which are represented by disposable income. Quantitative monthly data used in the research refers to purchasing power of households and consumption expenditure. On the other hand the scope of the research was aimed at main economic time series which can influence agents expectations. Composite consumer confidence index cannot be commonly applied to describe volatility of various types of consumption, so in the research simple (component) indicators were used as well. The analysis of linear relationships is based on the cross correlations. In order to find lags and leads there were estimated Pearson correlation coefficients for shifts ±12 months. The analysis of linear relationships was extended by Granger’s causality test in order to verify whether quantitative variables influence consumer’s answers. Reverse relationships were also verified. In order to track nonlinear relationships neural networks module of Statistica was used. In the case algorithm of optimal data set for model time series was applied. Achieved results allow to identify relationships between analyzed economic time series, but also can be treated as first step for introducing consumer confidence indicators to economic forecasting in chosen developing EU economies.

Revisiting semicontinuous silver films as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy substrates

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a very promising analytical technique for the detection and identification of trace amounts of analytes. Among the many substrates used in SERS of great interest are nanostructures fabricated using physical methods, such as semicontinuous metal films obtained via electron beam physical vapor deposition. In these studies, we investigate the influence of morphology of semicontinuous silver films on their SERS properties. The morphologies studied ranged from isolated particles through percolated films to almost continuous films. We found that films below the percolation threshold (transition from dielectric-like to metal-like) made of isolated silver structures provided the largest SERS enhancement of 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) analyte signals. The substrate closest to the percolation threshold has the SERS signal about four times lower than the highest signal sample

Heterogeneous Carbon Gels: N‑Doped Carbon Xerogels from Resorcinol and N‑Containing Heterocyclic Aldehydes

Direct, acid (HCl) initiated sol–gel polycondensation of resorcinol with pyrrole-2-carboxaldehyde or its derivative <i>N</i>-methyl-2-pyrrolecarboxaldehyde yields thermosetting phenolic organic gels with N-content of up to 8.4 wt %. After carbonization, sturdy monoliths of N-doped carbon xerogels with N-content of up to 8 wt % are produced. The morphology and porosity of the doped carbons can be tuned by the solvent composition and the amount of polymerization catalyst used. An increase in carbonization temperature from 600 to 1000 °C strongly affects the carbon gels’ microporosity, resulting in a decrease in N₂ adsorption capacity, but a significant increase in H₂ adsorption capacity (at −196 °C). The growing H₂ sorption capacity with the decreasing specific surface area (measured by N₂) is related to the gradual shrinkage of the carbon xerogel matrix and narrowing of the small micropores. In addition, it is demonstrated that pyridine-based heterocyclic aldehydes, that is, 2- or 4-pyridinecarboxaldehyde, condensate with resorcinol in basic conditions (KOH, NH₄OH). However, in this case, monoliths cannot be produced and powders/rigid solid precipitates are obtained instead. If NH₄OH is used as a sol–gel polycondensation catalyst, N-doped foams are obtained as a final carbonaceous product