Frequency of sensitizations and allergies to house dust mites

House dust mites and storage mites are grouped together under the name "domestic mites". As a result, mites can trigger allergic diseases of the upper and lower respiratory tract as well as cross-reactions to other allergens. Sensitization to house mites is widespread in the German population. Around eleven million adults in Germany are sensitized (15.9%). Men are affected more often than women, and sensitization occurs more frequently in large cities and in those with a higher socioeconomic status. Sensitizations are less common in old age. As clinically silent sensitizations, they can lead to diagnostic problems, which is the case with about 40% of sensitizations

Biology of house dust mites and storage mites

House dust mites and storage mites have a high allergenic potential and lead to sensitization through the formation of specific IgE antibodies. Due to their preferred stay in houses, they belong to the group of house mites, which are referred to as "domestic mites" in the English-speaking world.Their anatomy and biology justify their astonishing adaptability to changing environmental situations (e.g. temperature, humidity, food) and make it understandable that measures to reduce their frequency are usually difficult to implement in practice

What makes student entrepreneurs? On the relevance (and irrelevance) of the university and the regional context for student start-ups

Student start-ups are a significant part of overall university entrepreneurship. Yet, we know little about the determinants of this type of start-ups and, specifically, the relevance of context effects. Drawing on organizational and regional context literature, we develop and test a model that aims to explain student entrepreneurship in a contextual perspective. Based on unique micro-data and using multi-level techniques, we analyse nascent and new entrepreneurial activities of business and economics students at 41 European universities. Our analysis reveals that individual and contextual determinants influence students’ propensity to start a business. While peoples’ individual characteristics are most important, the organizational and regional contexts also play a role and have a differentiated effect, depending on the source of the venture idea and the stage of its development. Organizational characteristics, like the prevalence of fellow students who have attended entrepreneurship education, influence whether students take action to start a new firm (nascent entrepreneurship) but do not seem to support the actual establishment of a new firm. In contrast, the latter is less dependent on the university context but more strongly influenced by regional characteristics. Overall, our study contributes to our understanding of the emergence of start-ups in the organizational context of universities and has implications for initiatives and programs that aim at encouraging students to become entrepreneurs. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11187-016-9700-6

a pilot study

Background Due to its high allergenic potential Ambrosia artemisiifolia has become a health threat in many European countries during the last few decades. Hence, several cities and communities initiated ragweed eradication campaigns. In Berlin, Germany, so-called Ambrosia scouts are being assigned the task of finding and eliminating this weed. We sought to evaluate the potential risk of sensitization and allergy in these individuals. Findings In order to assess the risk of sensitization and allergy, we followed-up 20 Ambrosia scouts by skin-prick test with inhalant allergens, immunoserological and pulmonary function tests. Additionally, medical conditions were evaluated by a questionnaire especially designed for this study. Despite close contact to ragweed over a median duration of 13.8 months, none of the participants became sensitized or allergic to ragweed. One individual developed a clinical non- relevant sensitization towards the taxiconomically-related plant mugwort. A decline in relative FEV1 was most probably due to heavy smoking. Conclusions Our surprising findings suggest that intensive contact and exposure to high ragweed pollen concentrations do not necessarily result in sensitization and/or allergy, meaning that the allergenic potential of this weed might be lower than hitherto expected. However, it is also conceivable that continuous exposure to high allergen levels induced tolerance in the ragweed workers. Due to the relatively small number of subjects studied, our results might be biased and therefore investigations on larger study groups are needed

Effect of Pollen-Specific Sublingual Immunotherapy on Oral Allergy Syndrome

BACKGROUND: Oral allergy syndrome (OAS) triggered by fruit and vegetables often occurs in patients with pollen-induced rhinoconjunctivitis because of cross-reactive epitopes in pollen and associated foods. This open observational study examined the effect of pollen-specific sublingual immunotherapy ([SLIT] B. U. Pangramin or SLITone involving birch/alder/hazel, grasses/rye, and/or mugwort) on OAS triggered by several foods in patients treated in standard practice. Very few studies have examined SLIT use in this situation. METHODS: Patients (n = 102) had pollen-induced rhinoconjunctivitis and OAS and were followed for up to 12 months. Baseline OAS (triggers, symptoms, and symptom severity) was assessed by questionnaire and patient history. Change in OAS was assessed using oral challenge test with 1 or 2 dominant food triggers (and compared with the sum score calculated from the OAS questionnaire at baseline) and clinician ratings of change. Pollen-induced rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms and medication use were also measured. RESULTS: In the oral challenge test, 77.0% of patients were considered responders (decrease in sum score of ≥ 50%; no difference in patients receiving B. U. Pangramin or SLITone). At baseline, investigators rated OAS severity as at least moderate in 94.9% of patients compared with 36.9% after 12 months of treatment. After 12 months, OAS was rated as much or very much improved in 72.9% of patients. Sublingual immunotherapy significantly reduced rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms and medication use. Only 10% of patients experienced adverse drug reactions. CONCLUSION: This study supplements the sparse literature on this topic and suggests that pollen-specific SLIT can reduce OAS triggered by pollen-associated foods in patients with pollen-induced rhinoconjunctivitis

On the Transit Potential of the Planet Orbiting iota Draconis

Most of the known transiting exoplanets are in short-period orbits, largely due to the bias inherent in detecting planets through the transit technique. However, the eccentricity distribution of the known radial velocity planets results in many of those planets having a non-negligible transit probability. One such case is the massive planet orbiting the giant star iota Draconis, a situation where both the orientation of the planet's eccentric orbit and the size of the host star inflate the transit probability to a much higher value than for a typical hot Jupiter. Here we present a revised fit of the radial velocity data with new measurements and a photometric analysis of the stellar variability. We provide a revised transit probability, an improved transit ephemeris, and discuss the prospects for observing a transit of this planet from both the ground and space.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ. Radial velocities will be made available in the on-line version and through the NASA Star and Exoplanet Database (NStED). Minor corrections from ApJ proof have been applie

What drives solo and team startups at European universities? The interactive role of entrepreneurial climate, gender, and entrepreneurship course participation

Student entrepreneurship can take the form of solo or team efforts. While a positive and supportive university context is likely to increase entrepreneurial activities in general, it is unclear whether this effect is equally strong on both forms of entrepreneurship and for all types of students. Focusing on students embedded in universities, we study the entrepreneurial climate of universities and its combined effects with gender and entrepreneurship education on solo and team entrepreneurship. Drawing from organizational theory and team formation literature, we hypothesize that a positive entrepreneurial climate stimulates both, solo and team entrepreneurship. Yet, we argue that this effect is contingent on individuals’ intrinsic preferences for independence or growth which may differ by gender and entrepreneurship course participation. We test our hypotheses by means of a multilevel and longitudinal research design, using a large international dataset on student entrepreneurs (GUESSS). We find that a positive entrepreneurial climate indeed fosters solo and team startups of students, with gender and entrepreneurship education having an interactive effect. Our results suggest that a positive climate leads to more solo startups of women and more team startups of men. We contribute to a better understanding of student entrepreneurship and, specifically, the formation of solo and team startups. Our results elucidate the hitherto overlooked person-context dynamics and help explain why a supportive university context can unintentionally widen the gender gap in team startups