Tonicity in English (RP) and Modern Greek (M.GR): a contrastive investigation

(no abstract available

A comparison of the intonation of modern Greek and English with special reference to Greek learners of English

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DX192887 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Postnatal innate immune development: From birth to adulthood

It is well established that adaptive immune responses are deficient in early life, contributing to increased mortality and morbidity. The developmental trajectories of different components of innate immunity are only recently being explored. Individual molecules, cells, or pathways of innate recognition and signaling, within different compartments/anatomical sites, demonstrate variable maturation patterns. Despite some discrepancies among published data, valuable information is emerging, showing that the developmental pattern of cytokine responses during early life is age and toll-like receptor specific, and may be modified by genetic and environmental factors. Interestingly, specific environmental exposures have been linked both to innate function modifications and the occurrence of chronic inflammatory disorders, such as respiratory allergies. As these conditions are on the rise, our knowledge on innate immune development and its modulating factors needs to be expanded. Improved understanding of the sequence of events associated with disease onset and persistence will lead toward meaningful interventions. This review describes the state-of-the-art on normal postnatal innate immune ontogeny and highlights research areas that are currently explored or should be further addressed. © 2017 Georgountzou and Papadopoulos

Postnatal innate immune development: From birth to adulthood

It is well established that adaptive immune responses are deficient in early life, contributing to increased mortality and morbidity. The developmental trajectories of different components of innate immunity are only recently being explored. Individual molecules, cells, or pathways of innate recognition and signaling, within different compartments/anatomical sites, demonstrate variable maturation patterns. Despite some discrepancies among published data, valuable information is emerging, showing that the developmental pattern of cytokine responses during early life is age and toll-like receptor specific, and may be modified by genetic and environmental factors. Interestingly, specific environmental exposures have been linked both to innate function modifications and the occurrence of chronic inflammatory disorders, such as respiratory allergies. As these conditions are on the rise, our knowledge on innate immune development and its modulating factors needs to be expanded. Improved understanding of the sequence of events associated with disease onset and persistence will lead toward meaningful interventions. This review describes the state-of-the-art on normal postnatal innate immune ontogeny and highlights research areas that are currently explored or should be further addressed. © 2017 Georgountzou and Papadopoulos

Propranolol treatment for severe infantile hemangiomas: A single-centre 3-year experience

Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness, safety and tolerability of propranolol as single-agent treatment in patients with problematic, proliferative-phase, infantile hemangiomas (IHs). Methods: Oral propranolol was administered at a dose of 2 mg/kg/day to 28 children. Cardiologic evaluation was performed before treatment initiation. Hemodynamic variables and blood glucose levels were monitored during the first 24 h of treatment, while the children were hospitalized. Clinical response and tolerance were assessed every month, along with photographic documentation. Macroscopic regression was considered the reduction >90% in the size of the IHs. Results: Effects on colour and growth were observed within the first month in all cases. Twenty-four patients completed treatment after a mean duration of 7.56 months, and their hemangiomas were successfully regressed. Propranolol was administered again, with satisfactory results, in three patients (12.5%) because of hemangioma regrowth. Satisfactory response is noticeable in ongoing cases. Episodes of hypotension were noted in four patients. There were no treatment interruptions because of side effects. Conclusions: Propranolol, as first-line treatment, yielded excellent results with very good clinical tolerance and also seems to be effective in relapses. The optimal duration of the treatment remains to be defined by long-term observation. © 2012 Foundation Acta Pædiatrica

Atopic children are more susceptible to viral respiratory infection at the age of 2–5 years old

Background: The susceptibility of the atopic population to respiratory infections (RI) has not been fully elucidated. This susceptibility is attributed to the immune dysregulation that characterizes atopic diseases. Although, the exact mechanisms involved are not fully understood, there is evidence that shows that the maturation of innate immunity progresses differently in patients with atopy. Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the susceptibility to viral RIs (VRI) based on the number and duration of them in different age groups in subjects with atopy and subjects without atopy. Methods: Seventy-eight subjects (39 healthy and 39 with atopy) were included in the study. All the subjects were evaluated by a specialist and defined as being atopic if they had a clinical history and/or symptoms compatible with any allergic diseases and relevant sensitizations. Epidemiologic data were recorded based on a standardized questionnaire, which included recording habits, conditions, and living environment as well as the history of viral infections during the last year. Results: In our population, children with atopy were found to be more susceptible to viral RIs than children without atopy (p = 0.02), whereas there was no difference in susceptibility between healthy adults and adults with atopy (18–45 years old). More specifically, the atopic age group 2–5 years old showed the higher susceptibility to VRIs. Conclusion: This study provided evidence that children with atopy, especially at ages 2–5 years old, had more numerically and prolonged RIs than did the subjects without atopy. These clinical findings support the hypothesis of distracted maturation of innate immunity in subjects with atopy. Copyright © 2023, OceanSide Publications, Inc., U.S.A

Utilizing a Homecare Platform for Remote Monitoring of Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Homecare and home telemonitoring are a focal point of emerging healthcare schemes, with proven benefits for both patients, caregivers and providers, including reduction of healthcare costs and improved patients’ quality of life, especially in the case of chronic disease management. Studies have evaluated solutions for remote monitoring of chronic patients based on technologies that allow daily symptom and vital signs monitoring, tailored to the needs of specific diseases. In this work, we present an affordable home telemonitoring system for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), based on an application for mobile devices and Bluetooth-enabled sensors for pulse oximetry and blood pressure measurements. Besides monitoring of vital signs, the system incorporates communication via videoconferencing and emergency response, with support from a helpdesk service. A pilot study was conducted, in order to verify the proposed solution’s feasibility. The results support the utilization of the system for effective monitoring of patients with IPF. © 2017, Springer International Publishing AG

Differential maturation trajectories of innate antiviral immunity in health and atopy

Background: The maturation of innate immune responses in health and atopy is still incompletely understood. Methods: We aimed to evaluate age-related trajectories of the TLR3 and TLR7/8 pathways from birth to adulthood and whether these differ between healthy and atopic individuals. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from 39 otherwise healthy, atopic and 39 non-atopic subjects, aged 0–45 years. Selected cytokines involved in antiviral responses were measured by Luminex in culture supernatants of poly(I:C)- and R848-stimulated PBMCs. The non-parametric correlation between age and cytokine expression and differences in developmental trajectories between healthy and atopic subjects were estimated. Patterns of cytokine development were identified with principal component analysis. Results: Normal innate immune maturation entails significant and progressive age-related changes in the production of IL-1β, TNF-α, MIP-1β, MCP-3, IP-10, IL-10, IL-12p70, and IFN-γ upon TLR3 and/or TLR7/8 stimulation. Individual cytokines made small contributions to the observed variability; chemokines MCP-3 and IP-10 were key contributors. The development of these pathways deviated in atopic subjects with significant differences observed in the trajectories of IL-1β, MIP-1β, and IL-10 syntheses. Conclusion: TLR3 and TLR7/8 pathways mature during childhood, while atopy is associated with an abnormal maturation pattern. Suboptimal responses in Th1, inflammatory cytokine, and chemokine production may be implicated in poor antiviral immunity in atopics. Moreover, the deficient maturation of IL-10 synthesis may be implicated in the breaking of tolerance, characterizing the onset of atopic disease. © 2021 EAACI and John Wiley and Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Propranolol inhibits growth of hemangioma-initiating cells but does not induce apoptosis

BACKGROUND: Infantile hemangioma (IH) is the most common tumor of infancy. The first-line therapy for IH is propranolol, a non-selective β-adrenergic receptor antagonist. However, mechanisms for the therapeutic effect of propranolol and regrowth of IH following cessation of treatment in some cases are not clear. We have recently shown that IH arises from multipotent stem cells. Whether IH stem cells are responsive to propranolol and are selectively targeted is unknown, and is the focus of this study. METHODS: IH stem cells were exposed to propranolol and assayed for cellular and molecular alterations. We used endothelial cells (ECs) as controls and bone marrow-mesenchymal progenitor cells (bm-MPCs) as normal stem/progenitor counterparts to determine selectivity. RESULTS: Our results show that propranolol significantly reduced IH stem cell growth but failed to induce caspase-3 activation. Normal bm-MPCs and mature ECs showed maintained or increased caspase-3 activation and significantly reduced cyclin-D1 levels. We further show that IH stem cells may escape apoptosis by inducing anti-apoptotic pathways. CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals that propranolol does not induce apoptosis in IH stem cells, which is in contrast to ECs. Escape from apoptosis in IH stem cells may involve induction of anti-apoptotic pathways