Effects of topical mometasone furoate therapy on local and systemic macrophage migration inhibitory factor levels in allergic rhinitis patients

Amaç: Bu çalışmada mometazon furoat nazal sprey (MFNS) ile tedavi ettiğimiz alerjik rinitli hastalarda tedavi öncesi (TÖ) / tedavi sonrası (TS) serumda ve nazal lavaj sıvılarında makrofaj migrasyon inhibitör faktör (MİF) düzeylerini araştırdık. Ayrıca, tedavinin naza lmukozadaki eozinofil düzeyine etkilerini irdeledik. Gereç ve Yöntem: İlk muayene sırasında alerjik rinit yakınmalarının en az ikisine sahip olan 22 hastanın semptomları skorlandı, muayene bulguları kaydedildi; serumda ve nazal lavaj sıvısında MİF değerleri saptandı. Hastalara günde bir kez 100 g MFNS (Nasonex®) başlandı. TS dördüncü haftada semptomlar ve muayene bulguları yeniden değerlendirildi, nazal lavaj/serum MİF değerleri ELISA metodu ile ölçüldü. Nazal mukoza impresyonsitolojisimateryallerinde eozinofillerin diğer hücrelere göre oranları hesaplandı. Bulgular: TÖ/TS nazal lavaj MİF ortalaması (sırasıyla 503,53 294,50 pg/ml ve 1422.35 1097,98 pg/ml, P0.05) bulundu. Nazal mukozanın impresyon sitolojisinde eozinofil yüzdesi TÖve TS, sırasıyla 51.86 28,94 ve 25.64 23,60 idi. Eozinofil yüzdeleri arasındaki fark istatistiksel olarak anlamlıydı (p<0.001). Semptomskorları ortalaması TÖve TS sırasıyla 16,95 4,27 ve 9,24 3,38 idi. Skor ortalamalarındaki fark istatistiksel olarak anlamlıydı (P<0.001). Sonuç: HastalarımızdaTSda anlamlı klinik bir düzelme görüldü.TS semptomskorları ve nazalmukoza eozinofil yüzdeleri belirgin şekilde azaldı. TSda lokal MİF düzeylerinde ise artış izlendi. MFNS tedavisini takiben MİF değerlerinde izlenen anlamlı değişikliğin klinik düzelmeyle ilişkisinin daha ayrıntılı incelenmesi gerekmektedir.Background: In this study we aimed to investigate the systemic and local levels of macrophagemigration inhibitory factor (MIF) before and after topically applied mometasone furoate therapy in patients with allergic rhinitis. We also investigated the effects of therapy on local eosinophil accumulation. Material and Methods: Twenty-two patients (8 males and 14 females; median of 46 years ranging, from 17 to 68 years) with AR were subjects of this study. Percentages of eosinophils in nasal smears were calculated. MIF levels in serum and nasal lavage were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Topical glucocorticoid treatment significantly inhibited total symptom score (TSS) (16,95 4,27 and 9,24 3,38, respectively, p<0.001). After therapy, mean percentages of eosinophils decreased significantly (51.86 28,94 and 25.64 23,60 respectively, p<0.001) by impression cytology. MIF levels both in serum (782,55 759,43pg/ml and 917.10 1080,37 pg/ml, respectively) and nasal lavage (503,53 294,50 pg/ml and 1422.35 1097,98 pg/ml, respectively) increased after mometasone therapy. However, only the change in nasal lavage samples was statistically significant (p<0.001). Conclusions: TSS and nasal eosionophil numbers in nasal mucosa decreased following therapy. Further investigations are needed to evaluate the relations between clinical improvement and the significant changes in MIF levels following MFNS treatment

Indoor Air in Beauty Salons and Occupational Health Exposure of Cosmetologists to Chemical Substances

The indoor environment in four beauty salons located in Athens (Greece) was examined in order to investigate the occupational health exposure of cosmetologists to various chemical products typically used in their work. Chemical substances chosen for investigation were volatile organic compounds (VOCs), formaldehyde, ozone and carbon dioxide. Total VOCs levels measured showed significant variation (100–1,450 μg m−3) depending on the products used and the number of treatments carried out, as well as ventilation. The main VOCs found in the salons were aromatics (toluene, xylene), esters and ketones (ethyl acetate, acetone, etc.) which are used as solvents in various beauty products; terpenes (pinene, limonene, camphor, menthenol) which have a particular odor and others like camphor which have specific properties. Ozone concentrations measured in all salons were quite low (0.1 and 13.3 μg m−3) and formaldehyde concentrations detected were lower than the detection limit of the method in all salons (<0.05 ppm). Carbon dioxide levels ranged between 402 and 1,268 ppm, depending on the number of people present in the salons during measurements and ventilation. Cosmetologists may be exposed to high concentrations of a mixture of volatile organic compounds although these levels could be decreased significantly by following certain practices such as good ventilation of the areas, closing the packages of the beauty products when not in use and finally selecting safer beauty products without strong odor

Guidelines for management of ischaemic stroke and transient ischaemic attack 2008

This article represents the update of the European Stroke Initiative Recommendations for Stroke Management. These guidelines cover both ischaemic stroke and transient ischaemic attacks, which are now considered to be a single entity. The article covers referral and emergency management, Stroke Unit service, diagnostics, primary and secondary prevention, general stroke treatment, specific treatment including acute management, management of complications, and rehabilitation

Convergence properties of some adaptive filtering algorithms

Le propriétés de convergence d'un algorithme du gradient souple (VLMS) pour un critère de la valeur absolue de l'erreursont analysées. VLMS vise à minimiser une fonction de l'erreur. Il calcule aussi un estimé du vrai gradient et, par conséquent, est plus performant que l'algorithme du gradient usuel qui minimise la valeur absolue de l'erreur (CLMS). La supériorité de l'algorithme du gradient souple (VLMS) sur l'algorithme usuel (CLMS) pour la prédiction est illustrée par les mesures des gains de prédiction obtenus pour trois séquences de parole différentes

Prediction techniques applied to Differential Pulse-Code Modulation systems for encoding speech signals

Differential pulse-code modulation (DPCM) is an efficient digitization technique for encoding speech signals. The two principal components of a DPCM system are the quantizer and the predictor, either or both of which can be adaptive. This thesis describes the investigation of various differential pulse-code modulation systems. Initially, fixed, i.e. time-invariant, predictors using long-term signal statistics of the speech signal are examined. The performance of such a predictor in a DPCM system having a fixed quantizer is studied. Then by replacing the fixed predictor with one whose coefficients are calculated at fixed time intervals, the performance of the encoder, in terms of signal to noise ratio (SNR), is improved by 3-5 dB. A further improvement of 2–3 dB in SNR is obtained when an adaptive quantizer is used in the DPCM system. However, the block adaptive predictor requires the transmission of prediction coefficients to the receiving end at the expense of an increase in the channel band width. [Continues.

Codeur de parole utilisant des bancs de filtres efficaces et des quantificateurs vectoriels

L'étude des bancs de filtres numériques pour le codage de la parole à moyen débit s'est enrichie de contributions récentes visant une implantation efficace à l'aide de réseaux polyphasés couplés à une Transformée en Cosinus Discrète. Cependant, les formules données dans la littérature ne couvrent pas tous les cas. Dans l'article que nous présentons, nous généralisons ces formules à un nombre quelconque de sous-bandes et un nombre quelconque de coefficients du filtre prototype offrant par là-même une grande souplesse de conception. Une autre particularité des bancs de filtres obtenus est que la réponse complète analyse-synthèse est linéaire en phase, bien que cette condition puisse ne pas être vérifiée par les filtres eux-mêmes. De plus, la réalisation efficace de ces bancs de filtres généralisés peut également se faire à l'aide de réseaux polyphasés, couplés à une Transformée en Cosinus Discrète. Dans le codage de la parole en sous-bandes, le banc d'analyse sert à partager le signal en plusieurs signaux qui sont codés de façon dynamique, avec plus ou moins de précision selon leur puissance relative. On calcule donc, pour un intervalle de temps donné, les puissances de chaque signal de sous-bande. Cette information auxiliaire, servant à l'attribution des débits, doit être transmise au récepteur à un débit le plus faible possible pour permettre d'attribuer au codage des signaux de sous-bande un débit suffisant. Nous montrons dans l'article que le codage de l'information auxiliaire par une technique de quantification vectorielle est tout à fait adapté. Après avoir décrit le codeur proprement dit, l'article présente des résultats de codage incluant, entre autres, les effets d'erreurs en transmission. Le codeur ainsi obtenu est de bonne qualité et, grâce à une protection de l'information auxiliaire, résiste à des taux d'erreurs élevés