Modal share changes due to COVID-19: The case of Budapest.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a rapid and significant impact on mobility. One of the most important responses of countries worldwide to slow the spread of the pandemic is to restrict the movement of people, which has had a considerable effect on transport systems. However, the reduction of transport is not identical for all modes of transport: public transport has seen the greatest decline so far.

Systemic treatment of adrenocortical carcinoma in children: data from the German GPOH-MET 97 trial.

Background: Adrenocortical cancer (ACC) in childhood is a rare disease with poor prognosis. Complete surgical resection, systemic chemotherapy, and mitotane therapy are important curative treatment options for patients with advanced-stage tumors. Since 1997, pediatric ACC patients in Germany have been treated according to the non-randomized, single arm study GPOH-MET-97.

Limited prognostic value of the 2004 International Union Against Cancer staging classification for adrenocortical carcinoma: proposal for a Revised TNM Classification.

Background: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignancy, and it was only in 2004 that the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) defined TNM criteria and published the first staging classification. However, to date, the prognostic value of the proposed classification has not been evaluated.

Methods: The German ACC Registry comprising 492 patients was searched for patients who were diagnosed between 1986 and 2007 with detailed information on primary diagnosis and a minimum follow-up of 6 months.

Number of genomic imbalances correlates with the overall survival for adrenocortical cancer in childhood.

Background: Adrenocortical tumours (ACT) in children are rare and, if malignant, often associated with poor prognosis. Relevant cytogenetic factors for prognosis are hardly available.

Procedures: We analysed 14 adrenocortical cancers (ACC) of children by comparative genomic hybridisation (CGH).

UICC-2002 TNM classification is not suitable for differentiated thyroid cancer in children and adolescents.

Background: Recently the UICC-TNM classification for differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) was changed neglecting the special circumstances for children affected by the disease. While the 1997 TNM classification grouped tumours View Article and Find Full Text PDF

[Procedure guideline for radioiodine therapy and 131iodine whole-body scintigraphy in paediatric patients with differentiated thyroid cancer].

The procedure guideline for radioiodine ((131)I) therapy and (131)I whole-body scintigraphy of differentiated thyroid cancer in paediatric patients is the counterpart to the procedure guidelines (version 3) for adult patients and specify the interdisciplinary guideline for thyroid cancer of the Deutsche Krebsgesellschaft concerning the nuclear medicine part. Characteristics of thyroid cancer in children are the higher aggressiveness of papillary thyroid cancer, the higher frequency of extrathyroidal extension and of disseminated pulmonary metastases as well as the high risk of local recurrences. Radioiodine therapy is generally recommended in children, the (131)I activity depends on the children's body weight.

Immunomodulatory effect of vitamin C on intracytoplasmic cytokine production in neonatal cord blood cells.

Background: Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is an essential water-soluble antioxidant in cells and plasma. Besides metabolic functions, vitamin C is also known to contribute to immune homeostasis. Recently, it has been demonstrated that vitamin C has an inhibitory effect on the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in adult whole blood cells in vitro.

Characteristic genomic imbalances in pediatric pheochromocytoma.

Pheochromocytoma (PCC) in children is rare, genetically not well described, and often related to a poor prognosis. We detected genomic imbalances in all 14 tumors from children analyzed by comparative genomic hybridization. A combinatorial loss of chromatin from 3p and 11p was a common feature in 10 of 14 (72%) patients, which was a result of either a loss of a total chromosome 3 and a total chromosome 11 in 6 of 10 patients, or confined deletions of their p arms in 4 of 10 patients.

Treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in children and adolescents: definitive results of a multicenter study (NPC-91-GPOH).

Background: Preliminary results of combined neoadjuvant chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and postradiation interferon beta (IFN-beta) in children and adolescents with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, especially in high-risk patients, have been promising.

Methods: From 1992 to 2003, 59 patients (58 high-risk patients and 1 low-risk patient, median age 13 yrs; range, 8-25 yrs) were treated in the GPOH-NPC-91 study. The Stage II patient received irradiation as initial therapy.

Effects of vitamin C on intracytoplasmic cytokine production in human whole blood monocytes and lymphocytes.

Background: Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is an essential water-soluble nutrient which primarily exerts its effect on immune homeostasis as physiological antioxidant. However, conflicting data exist regarding the effect of vitamin C on the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Methods: It was the aim of this study to investigate the impact of vitamin C on intracytoplasmic production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in monocytes and lymphocytes by flow cytometry after human whole blood assay.

Differential maturation of the innate immune response in human fetuses.

Newborns and especially preterm infants show a unique susceptibility to severe bacterial infections that cause significant morbidity and mortality. As very few data are available on innate immune functions in human fetuses, we conducted a comprehensive study to investigate the expression of several adhesion molecules essentially involved in migration (CD11a, CD11b, CD11c, CD18, and CD62L). Furthermore, phagocytic activity, generation of respiratory burst products, and production of several proinflammatory cytokines were assessed.

Failure to thrive in a 14-month-old boy with lymphopenia and eosinophilia.

We describe the case of a 14-month-old boy with delayed-onset SCID due to ADA-deficiency which was masqueraded only by failure to thrive. Remarkably, the child had no serious infections and an adequate immune response. However, absolute lymphopenia, eosinophilia and absent thymus on chest x-ray were indicative for immunodeficiency.

Immature anti-inflammatory response in neonates.

The inflammatory response plays a major role in the induction of several neonatal diseases. We hypothesize that an imbalance between the pro- and anti-inflammatory response is crucial for the previously shown enhanced production of proinflammatory cytokines in term and preterm infants during infection. To test this hypothesis, we compared the capacity to produce the main anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 and TGF-beta in term infants, preterm infants and adults at different levels of synthesis by quantitative real time reverse-transcribed PCR, flow cytometry, as well as enzyme-linked immunoassay.

Immunodeficiency and Hodgkin's disease: treatment and outcome in the DAL HD78-90 and GPOH HD95 studies.

Background: Excellent treatment results have been obtained for children with Hodgkin's disease (HD). Children with immunodeficiencies who present with HD do not have such a favourable prognosis.

Patients And Methods: A systematic literature search using MEDLINE and a search for immunodeficiencies in the database of the trials DAL HD78-HD90 and GPOH HD95 (n = 2263) were carried out.

Longitudinal analysis of Epstein-Barr viral load in plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells of transplanted patients by real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Background: Posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in transplant recipients and is caused by iatrogenic suppression of T cell function. Elevations in the Epstein-Barr viral (EBV) load in plasma (>1000 EBV copies/100 microL plasma) or peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) (>5000 EBV copies/microg PBMC DNA) as determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR) have been shown to be sensitive indicators for the development of PTLD in patients.

Methods: The diagnostic value of frequent monitoring of EB viral load in peripheral blood from 46 patients after heart transplantation was investigated compared with 21 healthy controls in a prospective longitudinal study.

Successful long-term erythrocytapheresis therapy in a patient with symptomatic sickle-cell disease using an arterio-venous fistula.

The use of long-term automated erythrocytapheresis via an arterio-venous fistula for the prevention of recurrent ischaemic stroke in a child with sickle-cell disease (SCD) has not been described previously. We report the successful use of this technique in a 13-year-old boy. A procedure was performed every 36 +/- 6 days, transfusing six units of donor packed red blood cells (RBCs) and discarding 1318 +/- 174 mL of exchanged erythrocytes (Hct 60%).

Influence of specimen age and use of different negative controls in determination of intracytoplasmic levels of cytokines after whole-blood culture assay.

Intracytoplasmic detection of cytokines by flow cytometry has become a powerful tool in the characterization of cytokine-producing cells. However, it is not known to what extent specimen age and the use of various negative controls may influence the amount of cytokine-positive cells. We therefore compared different times of storage and the use of several negative controls in the determination of intracytoplasmic levels of cytokines.

Enhanced interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 synthesis in term and preterm infants.

There is growing evidence that sepsis-related complications in neonates are crucially mediated by the action of proinflammatory cytokines. It has previously been demonstrated that elevated IL-6 and IL-8 levels can predict brain damage and chronic lung disease in preterm infants. However, it is the current view that neonates have a reduced capability to produce proinflammatory cytokines.

Patients at risk for development of posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder: plasma versus peripheral blood mononuclear cells as material for quantification of Epstein-Barr viral load by using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

Background: Early diagnosis of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) is required to detect a stage of disease that is more likely to respond to treatment. Elevated levels of EBV DNA were found in peripheral blood of patients at the onset of PTLD.

Methods: To compare plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) as material for real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR) measurement of Epstein-Barr viral load, we used two sets of primers and probes specific for the BAM HI-K or BAM HI-W region of the EBV genome.

Detection of Epstein-Barr virus DNA in peripheral blood of paediatric patients with Hodgkin's disease by real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Hodgkin's disease (HD) is commonly associated with latent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. The aim of our study was a detailed molecular analysis of the EBV status in the peripheral blood of paediatric patients with HD. Blood samples from HD patients were examined before (n=28) and after treatment (n=12).