Phototherapy in allergic rhinitis

Allergic rhinitis, commonly known as hay fever, is a condition characterized by the inflammation of the nasal passages caused by allergens such as pollen, dust mites, animal dander, and mold. It affects approximately 10-30% of the global population, and its symptoms include sneezing, runny nose, nasal congestion, itchy eyes, and throat irritation. One of the treatment options for allergic rhinitis is phototherapy, a non-invasive and drug-free approach that has shown promising results in managing the condition. Objectives. The main objective is to study phototherapy in the treatment of allergic rhinitis compared with placebo therapy. We want to apply an effective therapeutic method, a safe one, without notable side effects, cheaper, which improve the health of our patients, and the quality of their life. Methods. It is randomized study, investigating the effect of placebo controlled rhinophototherapy, for a total of 187 patients who met the criteria for inclusion/exclusion. Rhinophototherapy effect was investigated measuring the nasal flow (rhinomanometry) and individual scores for subjective and objective symptoms. Results. Patients treated with phototherapy = 65, placebo = 32 patients treated. Evolution lot phototherapy: very good - 67% improvement, good improvement - 28%, 5% - unfavorable evolution. Analyzing the placebo treated group: good results - 10%, 43% moderate-improvement, evolution - 47% unfavorable. Conclusions. Phototherapy is an effective therapeutic method to treat patients with allergic rhinitis, is a well tolerated therapy, with minor side effects, easy to implement and monitor

Therapeutical protocol in otitis seromucosa

Introduction. In the first part of the paper, the authors propose to systematize the data from the literature on seromucous otitis. Material and methods. We performed a retrospective clinical study, starting from the premise that there are 3 therapeutic trends for children with chronic seromucous otitis in medical practice. A first group includes children who only underwent adenoidectomy, the second who underwent adenoidectomy and myringotomy and the third group who underwent adenoidectomy and the installation of a trans- tympanic drainage tube. The results were compared, and a new therapeutic protocol regarding the pediatric patients with chronic seromucous otitis comes as a final conclusion

Improved Race Times in Marathoners Older than 75 Years in the Last 25 Years in the World's Largest Marathons

Performance trends of elite marathoners are well investigated. However, performance of elderly marathoners (> 75 years) competing in the world's largest city marathons is not well-known. We examined marathon race data of 1,691 marathon finishes (i.e. 218 women and 1,473 men) competing between 1990 and 2014 in 5-year age groups 75-79, 80-84, 85-89, and 95-99 years in four races (Berlin, New York, Chicago and Boston) of the 'World Marathon Majors'. The number of female (r² = 0.50, P < 0.0001) and male (r² = 0.88, P < 0.0001) finishers increased significantly across years. The number of women (r² = 0.36, P = 0.0019) and men (r² = 0.88, P < 0.0001) in age group 75-79 years increased. In age group 80-84 years, the number of women (r² = 0.36, P = 0.0111) and men (r² = 0.54, P < 0.0001) also increased. In age groups 85-89 to 95-99 years, however, the number of female and male finishers remained unchanged. Across years, women (r² = 0.26, P = 0.0090) and men (r² = 0.31, P = 0.0035) reduced their race times. Women and men in age group 75-79 years improved race times. In age groups 80-84 to 90-94 years, women and men were not able to reduce race times. In summary, participation increased and performance improved in female and male marathoners competing in age groups 75-79 to 95-99 years where the largest increases in participation and the largest improvements in performance were found in women and men in age group 75-79 years

Participation and performance trends in elderly marathoners in four of the world’s largest marathons during 2004–2011

Performance and age of elite marathoners is well known. Participation and performance trends of elderly marathoners (75 years and older) are not well investigated. This study investigated participation and performance trends in elderly marathoners older than 75 years competing during 2004–2011 in four races (Berlin, New York, Chicago and Boston) of the ‘World Marathon Majors’ using mixed-effects regression models. Participation for women and men remained unchanged at 17 and 114, respectively, during the investigated period. For all finishers, marathon race times showed a significant and positive trend for gender, calendar year and age. For the annual fastest, calendar year and age showed a significant and positive trend. For the annual three fastest, gender, calendar year and age showed a significant and positive trend. The gender difference for the annual fastest and the annual three fastest showed no change across years. For the annual fastest and the annual three fastest, race times were fastest in the youngest age group (75–79 years) and slowest in the oldest age group (85–89 and 80–84 years, respectively). The gender difference in marathon race times remained unchanged across years at 19.7 ± 11.2, 28.1 ± 23.8 and 41.9 ± 22.6 % for the annual fastest in age groups 75–79, 80–84 and 85–89 years, respectively. For the annual three fastest men and women in age groups 75–79 and 80–84 years, the values were 23.7 ± 3.2 and 30.0 ± 13.2 %, respectively. In summary, for marathoners older than 75 years participating during 2004–2011 in four of the largest marathons in the world, participation for female and male runners remained unchanged, the fastest women and men became slower across years and the gender difference in performance remained unchanged. These findings might be the results of the relatively short period of time of 8 years. Future studies might investigate the performance trends in a large city marathon across a longer period of time

Complex Investigation of High Efficiency and Reliable Heterojunction Solar Cell Based on an Improved Cu2O Absorber Layer

This study is aimed at increasing the performance and reliability of silicon-based heterojunction solar cells with advanced methods. This is achieved by a numerical electro-optical modeling and reliability analysis for such solar cells correlated with experimental analysis of the Cu2O absorber layer. It yields the optimization of a silicon tandem heterojunction solar cell based on a ZnO/Cu2O subcell and a c-Si bottom subcell using electro-optical numerical modeling. The buffer layer affinity and mobility together with a low conduction band offset for the heterojunction are discussed, as well as spectral properties of the device model. Experimental research of N-doped Cu2O thin films was dedicated to two main activities: (1) fabrication of specific samples by DC magnetron sputtering and (2) detailed characterization of the analyzed samples. This last investigation was based on advanced techniques: morphological (scanning electron microscopy—SEM and atomic force microscopy—AFM), structural (X-ray diffraction—XRD), and optical (spectroscopic ellipsometry—SE and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy—FTIR). This approach qualified the heterojunction solar cell based on cuprous oxide with nitrogen as an attractive candidate for high-performance solar devices. A reliability analysis based on Weibull statistical distribution establishes the degradation degree and failure rate of the studied solar cells under stress and under standard conditions

UV SENSING EFFECT IN LANGMUIR-BLODGETT COMPLEX FILMS CONTAINING A NOVEL SYNTHESIZED Fe(III) PORPHYRIN

A novel structure of metalloporphyrin, namely: 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-porphyrin Fe(III) chloride, was successfully synthesized. UV sensitive structure based on barium stearate functionalized with the novel synthesized porphyrin and carbon nanotubes was obtained. A five monolayers structure was deposited from solution by Langmuir -Blodgett technique onto a ceramic substrate with interdigital platinum electrodes. The complex film shows sensitivity to UV radiation due to the fact that an electron is excited from a Fe d orbital into a porphyrin antibonding π orbital and is moved onto the ligand that is attached, facilitating the charge separation, while the presence of SWCNT activates the transport of the charge carriers