Soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor in vaginally collected amniotic fluid predicting fetal inflammatory response syndrome: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Improving noninvasive antenatal diagnosis of fetal inflammatory response syndrome (FIRS) can assist in the evaluation of prenatal risk and reduce perinatal outcomes. This study aimed to determine whether soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) in vaginally collected amniotic fluid is significant in identifying FIRS after preterm premature rupture of membranes before 34 weeks of gestation.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of 114 pregnant women and their newborns after preterm premature rupture of membranes at 22-34 weeks of gestation.

Immunogenicity and clinical effectiveness of mRNA vaccine booster against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron in patients with haematological malignancies: A national prospective cohort study.

Information regarding the protective anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels and the effectiveness of the mRNA vaccines against the Omicron variant in patients with haematological malignancies is limited. We prospectively followed two times BNT162b2 vaccinated oncohaematological patients (n = 1010) without prior COVID-19 for PCR-confirmed breakthrough infections during the Alpha/Delta and the Omicron phases of the pandemic. Anti-S1-IgG levels were longitudinally monitored in patients who had received the third (booster) vaccine dose.

Umbilical Blood Levels of IL-6 and TNF-α as Predictors of the Central Nervous System Damage and Retinopathy in Preterm Infants.

Objective: The aim was to identify the critical levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and vascular endothelial growth factor-A in umbilical cord blood that could be used as markers for predicting the central nervous system (CNS) damage and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in preterm infants.

Study Design: A total of 158 preterm infants, born at 22 to 34 weeks of gestation, were evaluated in the first week after birth and at 36 to 37 weeks of postconceptual age.

Results: A significant relationship between CNS changes and concentrations of IL-6 ( < 0.

sICAM-1 as potential additional parameter in the discrimination of the Sjögren syndrome and non-autoimmune sicca syndrome: a pilot study.

Objective: Both Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and non-autoimmune sicca syndrome (nSS) can show symptoms of dry eyes and a dry mouth, and objective reductions in tear and saliva production. Dry eyes and dry mouth are frequent but they are distinct pathological entities that require diagnostic discrimination.

Methods: The aim of present study was to compare the serum levels of sICAM-1, TFF3, RANTES, adiponectin, and FGF in primary (pSS), secondary due to rheumatoid arthritis (sSS), non-autoimmune sicca syndrome (nSS), and healthy groups.

Sjögren's Syndrome: Concerted Triggering of Sicca Conditions.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of persistence of mumps virus and some cells that interact with viral infection in the focus of the autoimmune epithelitis and peripheral blood of Sjögren's syndrome patients in comparison to patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and nonautoimmune sicca syndrome (nSS).

Materials And Methods: 126 patients (119 women and 7 men) were grouped into four groups: (1) patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS), (2) patients with secondary Sjögren's syndrome due to rheumatoid arthritis (sSS), (3) patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and (4) patients with nonautoimmune sicca syndrome (nSS). Immunohistochemical analysis of immune response to the suggested silent persistence of mumps virus in the minor labial salivary gland biopsies and flow cytometric analysis of blood cells was done.

Tandem Core-Shell Si-TaN Photoanodes for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting.

Nanostructured core-shell Si-TaN photoanodes were designed and synthesized to overcome charge transport limitations of TaN for photoelectrochemical water splitting. The core-shell devices were fabricated by atomic layer deposition of amorphous TaO onto nanostructured Si and subsequent nitridation to crystalline TaN. Nanostructuring with a thin shell of TaN results in a 10-fold improvement in photocurrent compared to a planar device of the same thickness.

Are cytotoxic effector cells changes in peripheral blood of patients with Sjögren's syndrome related to persistent virus infection: Suggestions and conundrums.

Etiology of Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is still unknown, but there is strong evidence that certain pathogens of bacterial or viral origin can incite autoimmune response. The aim of this study was to quantitatively evaluate changes of the main cell populations (dendritic cells, natural killer, natural killer T and cytotoxic T lymphocytes) presumably participating in virus clearance in peripheral blood of patients with primary SS (pSS). In analyzing cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) populations we observed alterations in the frequency of highly cytotoxic effector CD8/57/27/45RA, less cytotoxic CD8/57/27/45RA effector cells and cytotoxic memory CD8/57/27/45RA effector cells.