The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the management and course of chronic urticaria

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically disrupts health care around the globe. The impact of the pandemic on chronic urticaria (CU) and its management are largely unknown. Aim: To understand how CU patients are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic; how specialists alter CU patient management; and the course of CU in patients with COVID-19. Materials and Methods: Our cross-sectional, international, questionnaire-based, multicenter UCARE COVID-CU study assessed the impact of the pandemic on patient consultations, remote treatment, changes in medications, and clinical consequences. Results: The COVID-19 pandemic severely impairs CU patient care, with less than 50% of the weekly numbers of patients treated as compared to before the pandemic. Reduced patient referrals and clinic hours were the major reasons. Almost half of responding UCARE physicians were involved in COVID-19 patient care, which negatively impacted on the care of urticaria patients. The rate of face-to-face consultations decreased by 62%, from 90% to less than half, whereas the rate of remote consultations increased by more than 600%, from one in 10 to more than two thirds. Cyclosporine and systemic corticosteroids, but not antihistamines or omalizumab, are used less during the pandemic. CU does not affect the course of COVID-19, but COVID-19 results in CU exacerbation in one of three patients, with higher rates in patients with severe COVID-19. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic brings major changes and challenges for CU patients and their physicians. The long-term consequences of these changes, especially the increased use of remote consultations, require careful evaluation

The Future of Agent-Based Modeling

In this paper, I elaborate on the role of agent-based (AB) modeling for macroeconomic research. My main tenet is that the full potential of the AB approach has not been realized yet. This potential lies in the modular nature of the models, which is bought by abandoning the straitjacket of rational expectations and embracing an evolutionary perspective. I envisage the foundation of a Modular Macroeconomic Science, where new models with heterogeneous interacting agents, endowed with partial information and limited computational ability, can be created by recombining and extending existing models in a unified computational framework

Septicaemia models using Streptococcus pneumoniae and Listeria monocytogenes: understanding the role of complement properdin

Streptococcus pneumoniae and Listeria monocytogenes, pathogens which can cause severe infectious disease in human, were used to infect properdin-deficient and wildtype mice. The aim was to deduce a role for properdin, positive regulator of the alternative pathway of complement activation, by comparing and contrasting the immune response of the two genotypes in vivo. We show that properdin-deficient and wildtype mice mounted antipneumococcal serotype-specific IgM antibodies, which were protective. Properdin-deficient mice, however, had increased survival in the model of streptococcal pneumonia and sepsis. Low activity of the classical pathway of complement and modulation of FcγR2b expression appear to be pathogenically involved. In listeriosis, however, properdin-deficient mice had reduced survival and a dendritic cell population that was impaired in maturation and activity. In vitro analyses of splenocytes and bone marrow-derived myeloid cells support the view that the opposing outcomes of properdin-deficient and wildtype mice in these two infection models is likely to be due to a skewing of macrophage activity to an M2 phenotype in the properdin-deficient mice. The phenotypes observed thus appear to reflect the extent to which M2- or M1-polarised macrophages are involved in the immune responses to S. pneumoniae and L. monocytogenes. We conclude that properdin controls the strength of immune responses by affecting humoral as well as cellular phenotypes during acute bacterial infection and ensuing inflammation

Studies on the usable properties of innovative wound dressings

The new implemented wound dressings should meet several requirements connected with the clinical safety and performance. The series of PN-EN 13726 Standards describes the tests methods for the verification the most important parameters related to mentioned performance and safety of a new designed wound dressing being the base for the risk analysis (according to PN-EN ISO 14971:2009 Standard). The aim of the research was to evaluate the behavior of several types of new designed prototypes of innovative wound dressings made of various form of chitosan (such as: foams, films, etc.). The behavior of studied chitosan wound dressings was evaluated before and after of accelerated aging according to ASTM F 1980-07:2002 to establish the effect of the wound dressings storing conditions. The presented study is a continuation of earlier research

Preliminary studies on the usable properties of innovative wound dressings

There is endless and growing demand on a novel and innovative wound dressings, which except basic protective performance accelerate the process of wounds healing and/or replace the patient skin function. The studies on the new wound dressings result from the need of the quick and effective treatment of wounds, such as: having no tendency to heal, posttraumatic wounds, scalding wounds, ulcerations or bedsores. Chitosan is a biopolymer originated from chitin by N-acetylation. Due to the special behavior, such as: biological activity, it is linked to polymers having several and multifunctional applications, especially for designing of medical devices. The aim of the research was to evaluate the comprehensive performance of several kinds of chitosan prototypes of innovative wound dressings made of various usable form of chitosan. The evaluation of mentioned prototypes of wound dressing was carried out using the guidelines from series of PN-EN 13726 Standards harmonized with UE Directive 93/42/EEC and 2007/47/WE for medical devices