Investigating International Time Trends in the Incidence and Prevalence of Atopic Eczema 1990-2010: A Systematic Review of Epidemiological Studies

The prevalence of atopic eczema has been found to have increased greatly in some parts of the world. Building on a systematic review of global disease trends in asthma, our objective was to study trends in incidence and prevalence of atopic eczema. Disease trends are important for health service planning and for generating hypotheses regarding the aetiology of chronic disorders. We conducted a systematic search for high quality reports of cohort, repeated cross-sectional and routine healthcare database-based studies in seven electronic databases. Studies were required to report on at least two measures of the incidence and/or prevalence of atopic eczema between 1990 and 2010 and needed to use comparable methods at all assessment points. We retrieved 2,464 citations, from which we included 69 reports. Assessing global trends was complicated by the use of a range of outcome measures across studies and possible changes in diagnostic criteria over time. Notwithstanding these difficulties, there was evidence suggesting that the prevalence of atopic eczema was increasing in Africa, eastern Asia, western Europe and parts of northern Europe (i.e. the UK). No clear trends were identified in other regions. There was inadequate study coverage worldwide, particularly for repeated measures of atopic eczema incidence. Further epidemiological work is needed to investigate trends in what is now one of the most common long-term disorders globally. A range of relevant measures of incidence and prevalence, careful use of definitions and description of diagnostic criteria, improved study design, more comprehensive reporting and appropriate interpretation of these data are all essential to ensure that this important field of epidemiological enquiry progresses in a scientifically robust manner

Modeling the relationship between ground surface settlements induced by shield tunneling and the operational and geological parameters based on the hybrid PCA/ANFIS method

International audienc

Application of the hybrid ACP/ANFIS method for the prediction of surface settlement induced by an earth pressure tunnel boring machine with consideration of the encountered geology

International audienc

Assessment of ground surface displacements induced by an earth pressure balance shield tunneling using partial least squares regression

International audienc

Examination of the Potential for Adaptive Chirality of the Nitrogen Chiral Center in Aza-Aspartame

The potential for dynamic chirality of an azapeptide nitrogen was examined by substitution of nitrogen for the α-carbon of the aspartate residue in the sweetener S,S-aspartame. Considering that S,S- and R,S-aspartame possess sweet and bitter tastes, respectively, a bitter-sweet taste of aza-aspartame 9 could be indicative of a low isomerization barrier for nitrogen chirality inter-conversion. Aza-aspartame 9 was synthesized by a combination of hydrazine and peptide chemistry. Crystallization of 9 indicated a R,S-configuration in the solid state; however, the aza-residue chiral center was considerably flattened relative to its natural amino acid counterpart. On tasting, the authors considered aza-aspartame 9 to be slightly bitter or tasteless. The lack of bitter sweet taste of aza-aspartame 9 may be due to flattening from sp2 hybridization in the urea as well as a high barrier for sp3 nitrogen inter-conversion, both of which may interfere with recognition by taste receptors

<i>N</i>-Aminosulfamide Peptide Mimic Synthesis by Alkylation of Aza-sulfurylglycinyl Peptides

<i>N</i>-Aminosulfamides are peptidomimetics in which the C_αH and the carbonyl of an amino acid residue are both respectively replaced by a nitrogen atom and a sulfonyl group. Aza-sulfurylglycinyl tripeptide analogs were effectively synthesized from amino acid building blocks by condensations of <i>N</i>-protected amino hydrazides and <i>p</i>-nitrophenylsulfamidate esters. The installation of <i>N</i>-alkyl chains and access to other aza-sulfuryl amino acid residues were effectively achieved by chemoselective alkylation

<i>N</i>-Aminosulfamide Peptide Mimic Synthesis by Alkylation of Aza-sulfurylglycinyl Peptides

<i>N</i>-Aminosulfamides are peptidomimetics in which the C_αH and the carbonyl of an amino acid residue are both respectively replaced by a nitrogen atom and a sulfonyl group. Aza-sulfurylglycinyl tripeptide analogs were effectively synthesized from amino acid building blocks by condensations of <i>N</i>-protected amino hydrazides and <i>p</i>-nitrophenylsulfamidate esters. The installation of <i>N</i>-alkyl chains and access to other aza-sulfuryl amino acid residues were effectively achieved by chemoselective alkylation