Component-Resolved in Vitro Diagnosis in Peach-Allergic Patients

BACKGROUND: The in vitro diagnosis of pollen-related food allergy presents low specifi city and reproducibility with many conventional extracts. This can be improved using natural purifi ed allergens, recombinant purifi ed allergens, or both. OBJECTIVE: We compared specifi c immunoglobulin (Ig) E determination (sIgE), the basophil activation test (BAT), the histamine release test (HRT), and the cellular allergen stimulation test (CAST) using natural and recombinant allergens in the diagnosis of peach allergy. METHODS: Thirty-two peach allergic patients were studied. Skin prick tests were performed with commercial peach and extract with Mal d 1, nPru p 3, and profi lin (nPho d 2). sIgE, BAT, CAST, and HRT were determined using rPru p 3, rMal d 3, rBet v 1, rMal d 1, and rMal d 4. RESULTS: Agreement between the techniques was good with all the allergens, except HRT with rMal d 1 and rMal d 4. With rPru p 3, sIgE, CAST, BAT, and HRT showed sensitivity values of 88%, 81%, 72%, and 69% and specifi city values of 100%, 93%, 97%, and 83%, respectively. In patients with systemic symptoms or contact urticaria, the values were 100%, 85%, 81%, and 81%. In patients with oral allergy syndrome, sensitivity to profi lins or homologues of Bet v 1 was detected in 100% of the cases by all the techniques, except by HRT with rMal d 1, which detected 66% of the cases. CONCLUSIONS: The use of single allergens in the in vitro diagnosis of peach allergy by specifi c IgE determination, BAT, and CAST offers high specifi city and sensitivity, with better results than the HRT

Pru p 3 mutants exhibit low IgE-binding capacity: a good strategy for specific peach immunotherapy.

Treatment of food allergy consists of the avoidance of the specific allergenic food. However, the possibility of cross-reactivity with other food sources makes this practice sometimes ineffective. The use of hypoallergenic molecules with the ability to stimulate T cells may be a promising tool for specific immunotherapy

Test de activación de basófilos en el diagnóstico de alergia a medicamentos

In this paper we study the reliability of the basophil activation test (BAT) in the "in-vitro" diagnosis of allergy to betalactams and to metamizol, and the sensitivity and specificity of the technique are analyzed. To this end, we studied 58 patients allergic to betalactam antibiotics with a positive cutaneous test facing any derivative of penicillin and 30 healthy controls who tolerated betalactams, and 26 patients allergic to metamizol with an immediate reaction and 30 healthy controls who tolerated the medicine. Sensitivity to BAT in allergy to betalactams was 52.8%, and specificity was 92.6%. For metamizol, sensitivity was 42.3% and specificity was 100%. The positive predictive value of BAT in allergy to betalactams was 18.9% and the negative predictive value was 98.4%. For metamizol, the positive predictive value of the technique was 100% and the negative predictive value was 99.4%. The joint use of BAT and CAP (specific IgE) makes it possible to diagnose some 65% of patients allergic to betalactams. The combined use of cutaneous tests and BAT in allergy to metamizol detects 70% of the cases. BAT is a useful, non-invasive technique in the "in-vitro" diagnosis of allergy to betalactams and metamizol

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug hypersensitivity syndrome. A multicenter study I. clinical findings and in vitro diagnosis

ackground: We present the results obtained from the largest series of in vitro diagnostic tests ever reported in patients with clinically validated hypersensitivity to acetylsalicylic acid (ASA)/nonsteroidal anti-infl ammatory drugs (NSAID) compared with various categories of controls tolerating ASA/NSAIDs. This multicenter study, which was performed within the framework of the European Network for Drug Allergy (ENDA) group, showed that the basophil activation test (BAT), particularly when used with the 3 NSAIDs aspirin (ASA), diclofenac (DIC), and naproxen (NAP), allows us to confi rm the diagnosis of NSAID hypersensitivity syndrome. The results of the cellular allergen stimulation test (CAST) frequently correlate with those of the BAT, although not always. An unexpected fi nding was that basophil activation by NSAIDs is not an all-or-nothing phenomenon restricted to clinically hypersensitive patients, but that it also occurs in a dose-related manner in some NSAID-tolerant control individuals. Therefore, NSAID hypersensitivity appears as a shift in the normal pharmacological response to NSAIDs. These fi ndings allow us to formulate a new rational hypothesis about the mechanism of NSAID hypersensitivity syndrome, a mechanism that most authors continue to describe as “unknown.” Methods: We enrolled 152 patients with a history of hypersensitivity to NSAIDs and 136 control participants in 11 different centers between spring 2003 and spring 2006. Flowcytometric BAT was performed. Results: The most noteworthy results of our study were that 57% of 140 patients presented very clear-cut positive BAT results to multiple NSAIDs, and 16% were entirely negative. In about 27% of cases, positive results were obtained with 1 or 2 concentrations of a single NSAID. There is clearly a correlation between the results of BAT and CAST. Conclusions: BAT seems particularly indicated in patients with a clinical history of NSAID intolerance, and in whom a provocation test is not advisable for ethical, clinical, or other reasons

Topics in Noncommutative Geometry Inspired Physics

In this review article we discuss some of the applications of noncommutative geometry in physics that are of recent interest, such as noncommutative many-body systems, noncommutative extension of Special Theory of Relativity kinematics, twisted gauge theories and noncommutative gravity.Comment: New references added, Published online in Foundations of Physic

Measurement of prompt photon production in sNN√=8.16 TeV p+Pb collisions with ATLAS

The inclusive production rates of isolated, prompt photons in p+Pb collisions at sNN√=8.16 TeV are studied with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider using a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 165 nb−1 recorded in 2016. The cross-section and nuclear modification factor RpPb are measured as a function of photon transverse energy from 20 GeV to 550 GeV and in three nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass pseudorapidity regions, (-2.83,-2.02), (-1.84,0.91), and (1.09,1.90). The cross-section and RpPb values are compared with the results of a next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculation, with and without nuclear parton distribution function modifications, and with expectations based on a model of the energy loss of partons prior to the hard scattering. The data disfavour a large amount of energy loss and provide new constraints on the parton densities in nuclei.We acknowledge the support of ANPCyT, Argentina; YerPhI, Ar-menia; ARC, Australia; BMWFW and FWF, Austria; ANAS, Azer-baijan; SSTC, Belarus; CNPq and FAPESP, Brazil; NSERC, NRC and CFI, Canada; CERN; CONICYT, Chile; CAS, MOST and NSFC, China; COLCIENCIAS, Colombia; MSMT CR, MPO CR and VSC CR, Czech Republic; DNRF and DNSRC, Denmark; IN2P3-CNRS, CEA-DRF/IRFU, France; SRNSFG, Georgia; BMBF, HGF, and MPG, Germany; GSRT, Greece; RGC, Hong Kong SAR, China; ISF and Benoziyo Center, Is-rael; INFN, Italy; MEXT and JSPS, Japan; CNRST, Morocco; NWO, Netherlands; RCN, Norway; MNiSW and NCN, Poland; FCT, Portu-gal; MNE/IFA, Romania; MES of Russia and NRC KI, Russian Fed-eration; JINR; MESTD, Serbia; MSSR, Slovakia; ARRS and MIZŠ, Slovenia; DST/NRF, South Africa; MINECO, Spain; SRC and Wallen-berg Foundation, Sweden; SERI, SNSF and Cantons of Bern and Geneva, Switzerland; MOST, Taiwan; TAEK, Turkey; STFC, United Kingdom; DOE and NSF, United States of America. In addition, in-dividual groups and members have received support from BCKDF, Canarie, CRC and Compute Canada, Canada; COST, ERC, ERDF, Hori-zon 2020, and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, European Union; Investissements d’ Avenir Labex and Idex, ANR, France; DFG and AvH Foundation, Germany; Herakleitos, Thales and Aristeia pro-grammes co-financed by EU-ESF and the Greek NSRF, Greece; BSF-NSF and GIF, Israel; CERCA Programme Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain; The Royal Society and Leverhulme Trust, United Kingdom

Combination of searches for Higgs boson pairs in pp collisions at \sqrts = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This letter presents a combination of searches for Higgs boson pair production using up to 36.1 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy root s = 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The combination is performed using six analyses searching for Higgs boson pairs decaying into the b (b) over barb (b) over bar, b (b) over barW(+)W(-), b (b) over bar tau(+)tau(-), W+W-W+W-, b (b) over bar gamma gamma and W+W-gamma gamma final states. Results are presented for non-resonant and resonant Higgs boson pair production modes. No statistically significant excess in data above the Standard Model predictions is found. The combined observed (expected) limit at 95% confidence level on the non-resonant Higgs boson pair production cross-section is 6.9 (10) times the predicted Standard Model cross-section. Limits are also set on the ratio (kappa(lambda)) of the Higgs boson self-coupling to its Standard Model value. This ratio is constrained at 95% confidence level in observation (expectation) to -5.0 &lt; kappa(lambda) &lt; 12.0 (-5.8 &lt; kappa(lambda) &lt; 12.0). In addition, limits are set on the production of narrow scalar resonances and spin-2 Kaluza-Klein Randall-Sundrum gravitons. Exclusion regions are also provided in the parameter space of the habemus Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model and the Electroweak Singlet Model. For complete list of authors see http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2019.135103</p

Searches for lepton-flavour-violating decays of the Higgs boson in s=13\sqrt{s}=13 TeV pp\mathit{pp} collisions with the ATLAS detector

This Letter presents direct searches for lepton flavour violation in Higgs boson decays, H → eτ and H → μτ , performed with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The searches are based on a data sample of proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy √s = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1. No significant excess is observed above the expected background from Standard Model processes. The observed (median expected) 95% confidence-level upper limits on the leptonflavour-violating branching ratios are 0.47% (0.34+0.13−0.10%) and 0.28% (0.37+0.14−0.10%) for H → eτ and H → μτ , respectively.publishedVersio

Comparison between simulated and observed LHC beam backgrounds in the ATLAS experiment at Ebeam =4 TeV

Results of dedicated Monte Carlo simulations of beam-induced background (BIB) in the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are presented and compared with data recorded in 2012. During normal physics operation this background arises mainly from scattering of the 4 TeV protons on residual gas in the beam pipe. Methods of reconstructing the BIB signals in the ATLAS detector, developed and implemented in the simulation chain based on the \textscFluka Monte Carlo simulation package, are described. The interaction rates are determined from the residual gas pressure distribution in the LHC ring in order to set an absolute scale on the predicted rates of BIB so that they can be compared quantitatively with data. Through these comparisons the origins of the BIB leading to different observables in the ATLAS detectors are analysed. The level of agreement between simulation results and BIB measurements by ATLAS in 2012 demonstrates that a good understanding of the origin of BIB has been reached