Progress and trends in pediatric hematopoietic cell transplantation in Central-East European countries

Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is widely used as a treatment for acquired and congenital disorders. In recent years, a significant increase in transplant activity around the world has been observed, especially in Eastern European countries. This article aimed to assess progress and trends in pediatric HCT in Central-Eastern European countries between 2013 and 2018. Transplant activity survey in 2013 and 2018 in nine Central-Eastern European countries (Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine) was performed. The highest transplant rates in total were found in the Czech Republic and Hungary. When calculated per 10 million of the pediatric population, a 25.9% increase in the number of allo-HCT was observed with the highest in Croatia, Romania, Lithuania, and Poland; and a 12.2% increase in the number of auto-HCT was observed with the highest in Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania, Poland, Ukraine, and Croatia. We have shown, over the years 2013 and 2018, in some countries of Central-Eastern Europe that there was a significant increase in transplant activity, especially in those with the lower rates. This increase was observed mainly in centers already existing in 2013, especially in the allo-HCT setting. The rise of activity was significantly less influenced by the creation of new transplant centers or the increase in the number of pediatric transplant beds. In conclusion, our analysis indicates that in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, and Slovenia, the actual infrastructure and the number of HCTs cover the needs, whereas in other countries, especially in Romania and Ukraine, the number of HCT needs to be increased

Standard level Mathematics: worked solutions CD developed for the IB Diploma

Este práctico CD-ROM de ejercicios cubre las necesidades básicas para conseguir el Diploma de Bachillerato Internacional en estudios de matemáticas. Los temas de los ejercicios del CD-ROM son: álgebra y números (ecuaciones de segundo grado), lógica y probabilidad, funciones (funciones exponenciales y gráficos), geometría y trigonometría (la regla del seno y el área de un triángulo, la regla del coseno), estadísticas (clasificación de datos, tablas de frecuencia y polígonos), cálculo diferencial (ecuaciones de línea tangentes), matemáticas financieras.scBiblioteca de Educación del Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte; Calle San Agustín, 5 - 3 planta; 28014 Madrid; Tel. +34917748000; [email protected]

Standard level Mathematics: worked solutions CD developed for the IB Diploma

Este práctico CD-ROM de ejercicios cubre las necesidades básicas para conseguir el Diploma de Bachillerato Internacional en estudios de matemáticas. Los temas de los ejercicios del CD-ROM son: álgebra y números (ecuaciones de segundo grado), lógica y probabilidad, funciones (funciones exponenciales y gráficos), geometría y trigonometría (la regla del seno y el área de un triángulo, la regla del coseno), estadísticas (clasificación de datos, tablas de frecuencia y polígonos), cálculo diferencial (ecuaciones de línea tangentes), matemáticas financieras.scBiblioteca de Educación del Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte; Calle San Agustín, 5 - 3 planta; 28014 Madrid; Tel. +34917748000; [email protected]

Metalloprotease Dependent Release of Placenta Derived Fractalkine

The chemokine fractalkine is considered as unique since it exists both as membrane-bound adhesion molecule and as shed soluble chemoattractant. Here the hypothesis was tested whether placental fractalkine can be shed and released into the maternal circulation. Immunohistochemical staining of human first trimester and term placenta sections localized fractalkine at the apical microvillous plasma membrane of the syncytiotrophoblast. Gene expression analysis revealed abundant upregulation in placental fractalkine at term, compared to first trimester. Fractalkine expression and release were detected in the trophoblast cell line BeWo, in primary term trophoblasts and placental explants. Incubation of BeWo cells and placental explants with metalloprotease inhibitor Batimastat inhibited the release of soluble fractalkine and at the same time increased the membrane-bound form. These results demonstrate that human placenta is a source for fractalkine, which is expressed in the syncytiotrophoblast and can be released into the maternal circulation by constitutive metalloprotease dependent shedding. Increased expression and release of placental fractalkine may contribute to low grade systemic inflammatory responses in third trimester of normal pregnancy. Aberrant placental metalloprotease activity may not only affect the release of placenta derived fractalkine but may at the same time affect the abundance of the membrane-bound form of the chemokine

Characterization of Croatian Rape (Brassica sp.) Honey by Pollen Spectrum, Physicochemical Characteristics, and Multielement analysis by ICP-OES

Rape (Brassica sp.) unifloral honey from Croatia was characterized by certain physicochemical parameters, micro- and macroelement content, and pollen spectrum, as determined in 21 honey samples. The Brassica sp. pollen type was predominant in the analyzed samples and ranged between 60 and 98%, with Trifolium spp., Robinia pseudoacacia, Rosaceae, Helianthus annuus, Salix spp., and Taraxacum officinale as the main accompanying pollen types. The electrical conductivity mean value was 0.22 +/- 0.05 mS/cm and the glucose/fructose ratio mean value was 1.1 +/- 0.07, whereas sucrose was absent in the samples. The most abundant macroelement was potassium (K) (268.49 mg/kg), followed by phosphorus (P) (60.23 mg/kg), calcium (Ca) (54.02 mg/kg), sodium (Na) (22.52 mg/kg), sulfur (S) (15.79 mg/kg), and magnesium (Mg) (12.58 mg/kg). Toxic elements were mainly bellow the LODs; only arsenic (As) concentration was detectable in higher amount (0.233 mg/kg), which may be related to the high arsenic concentration in the soil and groundwater of eastern Croatia. The differences between the two harvesting seasons observed in a large number of elements could be related to climatic and soil conditions and different nectar yields originating from the associated plant species

Personality Traits of Croatian University Students with Internet Addiction

Specific personality traits may predispose individuals to various forms of addictive behaviors. This study aimed to investigate the association between personality traits of university students and Internet addiction (IA). A sample of 1051 university students was recruited from the largest university in Eastern Croatia. A structured anonymous questionnaire that included questions regarding students’ sociodemographic information and Internet usage patterns, the Young Internet Addiction Test and Big Five Inventory served as a research tool. The study revealed that 1.0% of the studied sample expressed severe IA while 24.6% of study participants expressed some signs of addiction. The IA was detected in 576 (80.0%) students who used the Internet mainly for social networking, in 30 (78.9%) students who mainly used it for online gaming, and in 153 (52.2%) students who mainly used it for university assignments (p < 0.001). Higher neuroticism, higher extraversion, and higher openness to new experiences were connected with IA in general (p < 0.001). Higher neuroticism, higher extraversion, and higher openness to new experiences were significantly associated with addictive behavior during social networking (p < 0.001). Higher extraversion and higher openness to new experiences were significantly associated with addictive behavior during Internet usage for university assignments (p = 0.025), while there were no significant associations between specific personality traits and addictive behavior during online gaming (p = 0.059). Personality traits must be taken into account while developing programs and implementing interventions for preventing IA in the university student population

An Analysis of Medical Laboratory Technology Journals’ Instructions for Authors

Instructions for authors (IFA) need to be informative and regularly updated. We hypothesized that journals with a higher impact factor (IF) have more comprehensive IFA. The aim of the study was to examine whether IFA of journals indexed in the Journal Citation Reports 2013, "Medical Laboratory Technology" category, are written in accordance with the latest recommendations and whether the quality of instructions correlates with the journals' IF. 6 out of 31 journals indexed in "Medical Laboratory Technology" category were excluded (unsuitable or unavailable instructions). The remaining 25 journals were scored based on a set of 41 yes/no questions (score 1/0) and divided into four groups (editorial policy, research ethics, research integrity, manuscript preparation) by three authors independently (max score = 41). We tested the correlation between IF and total score and the difference between scores in separate question groups. The median total score was 26 (21-30) [portion of positive answers 0.63 (0.51-0.73)]. There was no statistically significant correlation between a journal's IF and the total score (rho = 0.291, P = 0.159). IFA included recommendations concerning research ethics and manuscript preparation more extensively than recommendations concerning editorial policy and research integrity (Ht = 15.91, P = 0.003). Some policies were poorly described (portion of positive answers), for example: procedure for author's appeal (0.04), editorial submissions (0.08), appointed body for research integrity issues (0.08). The IF of the "Medical Laboratory Technology" journals does not reflect a journals' compliance to uniform standards. There is a need for improving editorial policies and the policies on research integrity

Identification of the cell type that expresses IL-33 in inflammatory foci in infected liver tissue as F4/80⁺ macrophages.

<p>BALB/c mice were injected i.v. with 5x10⁵ PFU of WT MCMV (MW97.01) and liver tissue was harvested on day 5 p.i. (<b>A</b>) Consecutive serial 1-μm sections of liver tissue focusing on an infected hepatocyte (Hc) that is delimited from uninfected tissue by a sheath made up by a mononuclear cell infiltrate. The expression of the indicated marker molecules was tested in a two-color IHC (2C-IHC) staining. (<b>a</b>-<b>d</b>) Identification of the infected Hc by red staining of the intranuclear viral IE1 protein. (<b>a</b>) Focus-forming mononuclear cells are not CD31^<b>+</b> black-stained endothelial cells (EC). (<b>b</b>) Focus-forming mononuclear cells are not CD3ε^<b>+</b> black-stained cells, thus excluding α/ß and γ/δ T cells as well as NKT cells. (<b>c</b>) Identification of focus-forming mononuclear cells as black-stained F4/80^<b>+</b> macrophages (Mø). (<b>d</b>) IL33-expressing cells stained in turquoise-green color colocalize with focus-forming F4/80 macrophages in the neighboring section of image <b>c</b>. Counterstaining with hematoxylin. Arrows point to the indicated cell types exemplarily. The bar markers represent 50 μm throughout. (<b>B</b>) 2C-IHC verifying colocalization of F4/80 and IL33 on the cellular level. (<b>a</b>) Higher resolution image of an advanced, aged focus consisting of a cluster of dual-stained F4/80⁺ (red) IL33⁺ (turquoise-green) macrophages (Mø) surrounding an infected hepatocyte (Hc) that is identified by an intranuclear inclusion body. Note that dually-expressing macrophages localize also to liver tissue outside of a focus. (<b>b</b>) A young focus in which dual-stained F4/80^<b>+</b> (red) IL33⁺ (turquoise-green) macrophages cling to an infected hepatocyte (Hc) that shows the pathocytomorphology of an owl’s eye cell with an intranuclear inclusion body that indicates the late phase (L phase) in the viral gene expression program. Counterstaining with hematoxylin. Arrows point to sites of interest. The bar markers represent 50 μm.</p

Treg cells show an activated phenotype after MCMV infection.

<p>BALB/c mice were i.v. injected with 2x10⁵ PFU of WT MCMV (clone MW97.01) or left uninfected. (<b>A</b>) Absolute number of Treg cells in spleen and liver is shown. (<b>B</b>) Representative FACS plots and (<b>C</b>) graphs showing percentages and (<b>D</b>) median fluorescence intensity (MFI) of Ki-67 expression by naive Treg cells. (<b>F</b>) Bcl-2 expression by naive Treg cells. (<b>E</b>) Mice were treated with BrdU in drinking water for 6 days starting at the day of infection. Percentage of BrdU positive Treg cells on day 7 was determined. (<b>G</b>) Histograms show a representative expression of different markers by Treg cells from uninfected and 7 days infected mice. (<b>H</b>) Representative FACS plots and (<b>I</b>) graphs showing percentages and (<b>J</b>) median fluorescence intensity (MFI) of ST2 expression by Treg cells isolated from the spleen and liver of naive BALB/c and ST2^-/- mice. Data are shown as mean ± SEM of n = 3–5 mice from one representative experiment out of three. *p<0.05; ** p<0.01; ***p<0.001 from two tailed, unpaired Student’s t-test.</p