Lower percentages of natural killer cells in children with type 1 diabetes and their siblings.

Introduction: One of the most common children's endocrine and autoimmune diseases in the world is type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The incidence of type 1 diabetes is constantly increasing, and according to current estimates, the number of children with T1DM in the world has exceeded 542,000. There are 3 main components emphasized in the pathogenesis: genetic and environmental factors, and the patient's immune system.

Salivary and serum concentrations of selected pro- and antiinflammatory cytokines in relation to oral lesions among children undergoing maintenance therapy of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the most common type of childhood cancer, accounting for about 23% of all cancers diagnosed in this age group. The last stage of radical treatment is remission maintenance, during which hospitalization is not necessary. The lesions occurring in the oral cavity caused by medications and chemotherapy may also be directly related to hematological and systemic disorders.

Humoral response against myelin associated glycoprotein reflects oligodendroglial degeneration in Parkinson's disease.

Unlabelled: Identification of disease-specific diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers which would enable early detection and follow-up of Parkinson's disease (PD) is a crucial problem. Recently, we confirmed the presence of adaptive immune response against different glial-derived antigens in PD.

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess humoral response against myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) on a larger group of PD patients.

Early Markers of Tubulointerstitial Fibrosis in Children With Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome: Preliminary Report.

Unlabelled: Tubulointerstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of chronic kidney disease (CKD). They are also major determinants in chronic kidney disease development and progression in patients with primary renal diseases characterized by persistent or recurrent proteinuria. The purpose of the study was to assess urinary excretion of alpha-glutathione S-transferase (alpha-GST), pi-glutathione S-transferase (pi-GST), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), and serum NGAL level in children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS).

Search for patterns by combining cosmic-ray energy and arrival directions at the Pierre Auger Observatory.

Energy-dependent patterns in the arrival directions of cosmic rays are searched for using data of the Pierre Auger Observatory. We investigate local regions around the highest-energy cosmic rays with [Formula: see text] eV by analyzing cosmic rays with energies above [Formula: see text] eV arriving within an angular separation of approximately 15[Formula: see text]. We characterize the energy distributions inside these regions by two independent methods, one searching for angular dependence of energy-energy correlations and one searching for collimation of energy along the local system of principal axes of the energy distribution.

Regulatory T lymphocytes and transforming growth factor beta in epithelial ovarian tumors-prognostic significance.

Background: Regulatory T lymphocytes (Treg) are characterized by the presence of CD4+ surface antigen. Today the transcription factor FOXP3 is considered to be the most specific marker of Treg cells. The aim of the study was to estimate the percentage of Treg in peripheral blood and the tissue of the epithelial ovarian tumor and blood serum TGF-beta concentrations and relationships between them.

Surgery decreases number of cells secreting cytotoxic mediators and increases secretion of interleukin 10 in patients with lung cancer.

Aims: The phenomenon of immunosuppression induced by surgery is widely described as the adverse impact of surgical interventions on leukocytes' populations and secretion of several cytokines. Best of our knowledge, we present the first report evaluating the effect of surgical treatment on the specific anti-cancer immune response against tumour antigens.

Methods: The study included 30 patients operated on for lung cancer.

Impact of cladribine therapy on changes in circulating dendritic cell subsets, T cells and B cells in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Background: Cladribine causes sustained reduction in peripheral T and B cell populations while sparing other immune cells. We determined two populations of dendritic cells (DCs): namely CD1c(+)/CD19(-) (myeloid DCs) and CD303(+)/CD123(+) (plasmacytoid DCs), CD19(+) B lymphocytes, CD3(+) T lymphocytes and CD4(+) or CD8(+) subpopulations in patients with multiple sclerosis after cladribine therapy.

Methods: We examined 50 patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SP MS) according to McDonalds et al.

Measurement of the proton-air cross section at √s=57 TeV with the Pierre Auger Observatory.

We report a measurement of the proton-air cross section for particle production at the center-of-mass energy per nucleon of 57 TeV. This is derived from the distribution of the depths of shower maxima observed with the Pierre Auger Observatory: systematic uncertainties are studied in detail. Analyzing the tail of the distribution of the shower maxima, a proton-air cross section of [505±22(stat)(-36)(+28)(syst)] mb is found.

Morphometric characteristics of the small and large intestines of Mus musculus during postnatal development.

The objective of this study was to investigate the size of the small and large intestine in postnatal development of Mus musculus mice. The gut was obtained from 2-, 4-, 6-, and 12-week-old animals. The morphometric analysis was performed at microscopic level.

Measurement of the depth of maximum of extensive air showers above 10{18} eV.

We describe the measurement of the depth of maximum, X{max}, of the longitudinal development of air showers induced by cosmic rays. Almost 4000 events above 10;{18} eV observed by the fluorescence detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory in coincidence with at least one surface detector station are selected for the analysis. The average shower maximum was found to evolve with energy at a rate of (106{-21}{+35}) g/cm{2}/decade below 10{18.

Effects of vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency in lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) alevins at hatching stage.

The objectives of this study were to examine the relationship between thiamine concentrations in unfertilized eggs and yolksac individuals of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), along with any associated histopathological changes in the tissues of alevins at the hatching stage. We address these questions in a lake trout population from different spawning grounds of Lake Michigan (North and South), known for compromised survival due to early mortality syndrome (EMS). However, a dichotomous forage base of lake trout spawning stocks, with a dietary thiaminase-rich alewife in the North, and dietary low-thiaminase round goby in the South, provides the basis for the assumption that different diets may lead to differences in severity of EMS between different stocks.

Observation of the suppression of the flux of cosmic rays above 4 x 10 (19) eV.

The energy spectrum of cosmic rays above 2.5 x 10;{18} eV, derived from 20,000 events recorded at the Pierre Auger Observatory, is described. The spectral index gamma of the particle flux, J proportional, variantE;{-gamma}, at energies between 4 x 10;{18} eV and 4 x 10;{19} eV is 2.

Upper limit on the diffuse flux of ultrahigh energy tau neutrinos from the Pierre Auger Observatory.

The surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory is sensitive to Earth-skimming tau neutrinos that interact in Earth's crust. Tau leptons from nu(tau) charged-current interactions can emerge and decay in the atmosphere to produce a nearly horizontal shower with a significant electromagnetic component. The data collected between 1 January 2004 and 31 August 2007 are used to place an upper limit on the diffuse flux of nu(tau) at EeV energies.

Correlation of the highest-energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic objects.

Using data collected at the Pierre Auger Observatory during the past 3.7 years, we demonstrated a correlation between the arrival directions of cosmic rays with energy above 6 x 10(19) electron volts and the positions of active galactic nuclei (AGN) lying within approximately 75 megaparsecs. We rejected the hypothesis of an isotropic distribution of these cosmic rays with at least a 99% confidence level from a prescribed a priori test.

Upper limit on the photon fraction in highest-energy cosmic rays from AGASA data.

A new method to derive an upper limit on photon primaries from small data sets of air showers is developed which accounts for shower properties varying with the primary energy and arrival direction. Applying this method to the highest-energy showers recorded by the AGASA experiment, an upper limit on the photon fraction of 51% (67%) at a confidence level of 90% (95%) for primary energies above 1.25 x 10(20) eV is set.

scanning electron microscopy of lingual papillae in the common shrew, Sorex araneus, L.

The dorsal surface of the tongue of the adult common shrew (Sorex araneus L.) was examined by scanning electron microscopy. As in the other insectivores, three types of lingual papillae were observed: filiform, fungiform and vallate papillae.