Oral tolerance inhibits pulmonary eosinophilia in a cockroach allergen induced model of asthma: a randomized laboratory study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Antigen desensitization through oral tolerance is becoming an increasingly attractive treatment option for allergic diseases. However, the mechanism(s) by which tolerization is achieved remain poorly defined. In this study we endeavored to induce oral tolerance to cockroach allergen (CRA: a complex mixture of insect components) in order to ameliorate asthma-like, allergic pulmonary inflammation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We compared the pulmonary inflammation of mice which had received four CRA feedings prior to intratracheal allergen sensitization and challenge to mice fed PBS on the same time course. Respiratory parameters were assessed by whole body unrestrained plethysmography and mechanical ventilation with forced oscillation. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) and lung homogenate (LH) were assessed for cytokines and chemokines by ELISA. BAL inflammatory cells were also collected and examined by light microscopy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CRA feeding prior to allergen sensitization and challenge led to a significant improvement in respiratory health. Airways hyperreactivity measured indirectly via enhanced pause (Penh) was meaningfully reduced in the CRA-fed mice compared to the PBS fed mice (2.3 ± 0.4 vs 3.9 ± 0.6; p = 0.03). Directly measured airways resistance confirmed this trend when comparing the CRA-fed to the PBS-fed animals (2.97 ± 0.98 vs 4.95 ± 1.41). This effect was not due to reduced traditional inflammatory cell chemotactic factors, Th2 or other cytokines and chemokines. The mechanism of improved respiratory health in the tolerized mice was due to significantly reduced eosinophil numbers in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (43300 ± 11445 vs 158786 ± 38908; p = 0.007) and eosinophil specific peroxidase activity in the lung homogenate (0.59 ± 0.13 vs 1.19 ± 0.19; p = 0.017). The decreased eosinophilia was likely the result of increased IL-10 in the lung homogenate of the tolerized mice (6320 ± 354 ng/mL vs 5190 ± 404 ng/mL, p = 0.02).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results show that oral tolerization to CRA can improve the respiratory health of experimental mice in a CRA-induced model of asthma-like pulmonary inflammation by reducing pulmonary eosinophilia.</p

Artificial radiotracer applications in aquatic environment

The use of artificial radiotracers in the environment is analogous to their use in the human body. In both domains they provide data on flow rates and pathways, on exchange with materials and on their final discharge from the studied system. Artificially injected radiotracers have been used to investigate flow in natural waters since the 1950's. Identification of flow paths, diagnosis of blockages or leakage, measurement of flow rates, dispersion and exchange processes, such as biological uptake or sorption, are all aspects to which a wide range of artificial radioactive tracers have been applied. Increasingly radiotracers are used in combination with numerical modelling to improve confidence in the predictive capacity of models used in the management of our water resources and to extend their spatial applicability. In turn this allows us to use less and less tracer and demonstrate that the human and environmental impact of modern radiotracer studies is minimal. © The authors.https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/46/062/46062646.pdfInternational Atomic Energy Agenc

Applications and impact of radiotracers and nucleonic measurement systems for investigation of sediment transport

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Radiotracer applications: case studies from four continents

Case studies are a simple way to demonstrate how radiotracers can be successfully used in the environment in addressing water resources contaminant transport and coastal management issues. This paper presents ten case studies from Korea, France, Brazil, Hong Kong, Australia, Belgium and Sweden using a variety of radiotracers including 99mTc, 198Au, 3H, 82Br, 32P, 175+181Hf, 160Tb, 51Cr(III), 65Zn, 54Mn and 35S. These studies address physical transport processes such as dispersion and mixing, reactive transport and adsorption and contaminant uptake. Traced components include water, effluent, nutrients, contaminants and mud in rivers, lakes, wetlands and coastal waters.International Atomic Energy Agenc

Estilo motivacional e comportamento assertivo de professores de Educação Física ao longo da carreira

Resumo O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar o estilo motivacional e o comportamento (assertivo, inassertivo e agressivo) de professores de Educação Física de uma cidade do noroeste do Paraná, ao longo da carreira docente (n = 49). Como instrumentos de pesquisa foram utilizados o questionário Problemas na Escola, o Inventário de Assertividade e os dados demográficos. Os dados foram analisados a partir da estatística inferencial: Shapiro-Wilk, Alpha de Cronbach, Anova de Medidas Repetidas e Correlação de Spearman (p &#8804; 0,05). O estilo motivacional com mediana superior foi o estilo altamente promotor de autonomia (Md = 5,88) e o com mediana inferior foi o estilo altamente controlador (Md = 2,88), com diferenças estatisticamente significativas. Os resultados demonstraram correlações positivas entre as variáveis: inassertividade e estilo altamente controlador (&#961; = 0,63); agressividade e estilo altamente controlador (&#961; = 0,69); e a inassertividade e agressividade (&#961; = 0,82) dos professores que atuam com carga horária de até 20 horas semanais. Conclui-se que os professores de Educação Física apresentaram um estilo motivacional mais promotor de autonomia e que ocorreu relação entre o estilo motivacional e o comportamento assertivo, inassertivo e agressivo dos professores, considerando o tempo de experiência e a carga horária semanal inferior

Diagnostic performance of planar scintigraphy using (99m)Tc-MIBI in patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism: a meta-analysis

Parathyroid scintigraphy using (99m)Tc-MIBI is not currently considered a valuable diagnostic tool for the localization of involved glands in patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT). However, published data about its diagnostic accuracy are discordant and a meta-analysis about this topic is still lacking. The aim of our study is to meta-analyze the published data about the diagnostic performance of (99m)Tc-MIBI parathyroid scintigraphy in patients with SHPT