Study of urinary leukotriene E4 in atopic dermatitis: relation to disease severity

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic relapsing inflammatory skin disease prevalent in patients with a personal or family history of atopy. Cysteinyl leukotrienes (LTs) are inflammatory mediators which play a role in the pathogenesis of atopic diseases. Urinary leukotriene E4 (LTE4) has been used as an index of the whole body cysteinyl LTs production. Objective: This study was meant to evaluate the importance of LTs in atopic dermatitis (AD) and to study the correlation of urinary LTE4 with disease severity and some commonly altered parameters in AD. Methods: The study included 30 children and adolescents diagnosed to have atopic dermatitis. Ten age and sex matched healthy children and adolescents were enrolled for comparison. They were subjected to clinical evaluation and measurement of urinary LTE4, absolute eosinophilic count, serum IgE and IL-4 and IL-5 in peripheral blood mononuclear cell culture (PBMC) supernatant. The patients were categorized into mild (n=5), moderate (n=16) and severe (n=9) AD subgroups. Results: The study revealed a significant increase in absolute eosinophilic count, urinary LTE4, serum IgE and IL-4 and IL-5 in PBMC culture supernatant in the patients as compared to controls. Moreover, urinary LTE4 levels were significantly increased in moderate and severe cases of AD as compared to the control group, whereas mild cases had levels that were comparable to the controls. Urinary LTE4 levels were higher in severe (p < 0.01) and moderate cases (p < 0.05) when compared to mild cases. Significant positive correlations could be elicited between urinary LTE4 and PBMC IL-4, disease severity scale, absolute eosinophilic count and serum total IgE. However, urinary LTE4 could not be correlated statistically with PBMC IL-5. Conclusion: Elevation in urinary LTE4 excretion in AD patients was demonstrated reflecting increased production of cysteinyl LTs. Urinary LTE4 was correlated to clinical and laboratory markers of severity suggesting that it could be an easy, non invasive and objective prognostic test in AD. Trials of 5-lipoxygenase inhibitors and LT receptor antagonists as additional lines of therapy in AD could thus be suggested.Keywords: atopic dermatitis, urinary LTE4, IgE, IL-4, IL-5, eosinophilic countEgypt J Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2003; 1(2): 134-

Anonymisation of geographical distance matrices via Lipschitz embedding

BACKGROUND: Anonymisation of spatially referenced data has received increasing attention in recent years. Whereas the research focus has been on the anonymisation of point locations, the disclosure risk arising from the publishing of inter-point distances and corresponding anonymisation methods have not been studied systematically. METHODS: We propose a new anonymisation method for the release of geographical distances between records of a microdata file-for example patients in a medical database. We discuss a data release scheme in which microdata without coordinates and an additional distance matrix between the corresponding rows of the microdata set are released. In contrast to most other approaches this method preserves small distances better than larger distances. The distances are modified by a variant of Lipschitz embedding. RESULTS: The effects of the embedding parameters on the risk of data disclosure are evaluated by linkage experiments using simulated data. The results indicate small disclosure risks for appropriate embedding parameters. CONCLUSION: The proposed method is useful if published distance information might be misused for the re-identification of records. The method can be used for publishing scientific-use-files and as an additional tool for record-linkage studies

Evaluating Maintainability Prejudices with a Large-Scale Study of Open-Source Projects

Exaggeration or context changes can render maintainability experience into prejudice. For example, JavaScript is often seen as least elegant language and hence of lowest maintainability. Such prejudice should not guide decisions without prior empirical validation. We formulated 10 hypotheses about maintainability based on prejudices and test them in a large set of open-source projects (6,897 GitHub repositories, 402 million lines, 5 programming languages). We operationalize maintainability with five static analysis metrics. We found that JavaScript code is not worse than other code, Java code shows higher maintainability than C# code and C code has longer methods than other code. The quality of interface documentation is better in Java code than in other code. Code developed by teams is not of higher and large code bases not of lower maintainability. Projects with high maintainability are not more popular or more often forked. Overall, most hypotheses are not supported by open-source data.Comment: 20 page

Anisotropic nonlinear elasticity in a spherical bead pack: influence of the fabric anisotropy

Stress-strain measurements and ultrasound propagation experiments in glass bead packs have been simultaneously conducted to characterize the stress-induced anisotropy under uniaxial loading. These measurements, realized respectively with finite and incremental deformations of the granular assembly, are analyzed within the framework of the effective medium theory based on the Hertz-Mindlin contact theory. Our work shows that both compressional and shear wave velocities and consequently the incremental elastic moduli agree fairly well with the effective medium model by Johnson et al. [J. Appl. Mech. 65, 380 (1998)], but the anisotropic stress ratio resulting from finite deformation does not at all. As indicated by numerical simulations, the discrepancy may arise from the fact that the model doesn't properly allow the grains to relax from the affine motion approximation. Here we find that the interaction nature at the grain contact could also play a crucial role for the relevant prediction by the model; indeed, such discrepancy can be significantly reduced if the frictional resistance between grains is removed. Another main experimental finding is the influence of the inherent anisotropy of granular packs, realized by different protocols of the sample preparation. Our results reveal that compressional waves are more sensitive to the stress-induced anisotropy, whereas the shear waves are more sensitive to the fabric anisotropy, not being accounted in analytical effective medium models.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Low scale B-L extension of the Standard Model at the LHC

The fact that neutrinos are massive indicates that the Standard Model (SM) requires extension. We propose a low energy (<TeV) B-L extension of the SM, which is based on the gauge group SU(3)_C x SU(2)_L x U(1)_Y x U(1)_{B-L}. We show that this model provides a natural explanation for the presence of three right-handed neutrinos in addition to an extra gauge boson and a new scalar Higgs. Therefore, it can lead to very interesting phenomenological implications different from the SM results which can be tested at the LHC. Also we analyze the muon anomalous magnetic moment in this class of models. We show that one-loop with exchange Z' may give dominant new contribution ~ few x 10^{-11}.Comment: 12 page

ECONOMICAL STUDY OF IN VIVO AND IN VITRO PROPAGATION OF RUSSELIA EQUISETIFORMIS

This experimental trial was performed throughout two successive seasons (2015-2016) and (2016-2017) at the nursery of Horticulture Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt. Intended to find out the effect of the individual and combined effects of different growing media with different types of propagation on morphological traits and some chemical constituents of Russelia equisetiformis Schlecht. & Cham plant. Accordingly, on September 1st, in the two seasons, different plant parts of the whole plant (tip and mid cutting of 10-12 cm length, besides divisions containing foliage and root parts were planted in 10 cm plastic pots (one plant/pot) for every growing media used. The plants were left to grow under open field conditions. The layout of the experiment was a factorial experiment in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates (2 growing media × 3 types of propagation). The results emphasized that the mixture of sand + 15% compost proved its mastery in improving vegetative growth parameters (plant height, number of branches/plant, fresh and dry weight of shoots). Besides, it was the best mixture used for raising fresh and dry weight of roots. Also, such mixture was superior in increasing survival rate %. Meantime, it raised pigments content in the leaves (chlorophyll a, b, total chlorophylls and carotenoids). Results showed also the prevalence of using division parts in propagation, which to improvise the above mentioned morphological traits studied in both seasons. Meanwhile, using tip cuttings in propagation proved its mastery in raising survival rate %, whereas using mid cuttings was the best in rising chlorophyll (b) in the leaves in both seasons. Also, using either mid cuttings or division parts was the best in raising total chlorophyll in the leaves. Using tip cuttings or division parts was the best in increasing carotenoids content in leaves in the first season, whereas using either mid cuttings or division plants was the best for raising the same content in the second one. From the aforementioned results, it could be recommended to use division parts in propagation and using the mixture of sand + compost 15% in pots for obtaining the best characters of Russelia equisetiformis plant under local conditions. Moreover, a protocol of micropropagation of Russelia equisetiformis was established using nodal explants taken from the main shoot and lateral branches. Explants were sterilized using 0.1% (w/v) mercuric chloride for 7 and 10 min for the main shoot and lateral branches explants, respectively as 100% of explants were surface decontaminated, survived and stimulated to form shoots. Data of the multiplication stage showed that the highest survival percentages were recorded when explants were cultured on MS medium supplemented with BAP at 0.25 or 0.50 mg/l or kin at 0.25 mg/l which recorded 97.22, 93.06 and 94.44%, respectively. The significantly highest number of the formed shootlets/explant (3.05) was obtained when medium was supplemented with 0.75 mg/l BAP during the third subculture. The significantly highest value of shootlet length (4.72 cm) was recorded when 0.25 mg/l of kin was used during the second subculture. The most suitable treatment for rooting stage was ¾ MS strength which recorded 100% rooting, 8.86 roots/plantlet with 4.56 cm root length. The in vitro propagated plantlets (microshoots with well-developed roots) were hardened in greenhouse with 82% survival rate. From the above mentioned results, it could be concluded that using tissue culture in propagation is considered the best economic way for the propagation of theRusselia equisetiformis plant comparing with that gained from the other propagation method used. Additionally, it could be mentioned that the profitability rate % of the production by the way of tissue culture method only 780.73% comparing with 338.2% terminal cutting

RESPONSE OF POT MARIGOLD (Calendula officinalis L.) TO DIFFERENT APPLICATION METHODS AND CONCENTRATIONS OF SEAWEED EXTRACT

This research study was carried out in the open field during the two successive seasons of 2012/2013 and 2013/2014. The aim of this investigation was to study the response of pot marigold (Calendula officinalis L.) to different application methods and concentrations of seaweed extracts applied as a commercial compound. Seven treatments were initiated, i.e. three concentrations of seaweed extracts (500, 1000, 1500) were used either as foliar spray or as soil drench in addition to the control treatment (tap water). Results indicated that foliar spray with 1500 ppm of seaweed extract increased significantly plant height, number of flowers per plant and vase life in the two tested seasons. However, foliar spray with the lowest concentration of seaweed extract (500 ppm) resulted in significant increments in flower stalk length, flower diameter and carbohydrates content. Moreover, the same concentration showed significant increases in total carotenoids, nitrogen, and phosphorus percentage when used as soil drench in the two tested seasons

A Protocol for the Secure Linking of Registries for HPV Surveillance

In order to monitor the effectiveness of HPV vaccination in Canada the linkage of multiple data registries may be required. These registries may not always be managed by the same organization and, furthermore, privacy legislation or practices may restrict any data linkages of records that can actually be done among registries. The objective of this study was to develop a secure protocol for linking data from different registries and to allow on-going monitoring of HPV vaccine effectiveness.A secure linking protocol, using commutative hash functions and secure multi-party computation techniques was developed. This protocol allows for the exact matching of records among registries and the computation of statistics on the linked data while meeting five practical requirements to ensure patient confidentiality and privacy. The statistics considered were: odds ratio and its confidence interval, chi-square test, and relative risk and its confidence interval. Additional statistics on contingency tables, such as other measures of association, can be added using the same principles presented. The computation time performance of this protocol was evaluated.The protocol has acceptable computation time and scales linearly with the size of the data set and the size of the contingency table. The worse case computation time for up to 100,000 patients returned by each query and a 16 cell contingency table is less than 4 hours for basic statistics, and the best case is under 3 hours.A computationally practical protocol for the secure linking of data from multiple registries has been demonstrated in the context of HPV vaccine initiative impact assessment. The basic protocol can be generalized to the surveillance of other conditions, diseases, or vaccination programs