Иммунологические исследования в практике первичной медицинской помощи (состояние и перспективы)

Laboratory of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, Nicolae Testemitanu State Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Congresul III al Medicilor de Familie din Republica Moldova, 17–18 mai, 2012, Chişinău, Republica Moldova, Conferinţa Naţională „Maladii bronhoobstructive la copii”, consacrată profesorului universitar, doctor habilitat Victor Gheţeul, 27 aprilie, Chişinău, Republica MoldovaIntroducere. Testarea statusului imun al organismului uman este una din verigile prioritare în descifrarea mecanismelor imunopatogenetice, diagnosticul de laborator şi monitorizarea eficacităţii tratamentului suplimentat cu remedii imunotrope al multor maladii. Actualmente Centrele Medicilor de Familie şi Asociaţiile Medico-Teritoriale din republică sunt dotate cu echipament contemporan pentru realizarea cercetărilor imunoenzimatice în multiple stări patologice. Acest fapt a favorizat performanţa diagnosticului imunologic al maladiilor infecţioase, stărilor autoimune, tumorilor, alergozelor, colagenozelor etc. Discuţii În pofida implementării pe larg a metodei imunoenzimatice în diagnosticul de laborator al asistenţei medicale primare, o problema stringentă şi nerezolvată o constituie testarea statusului imun prin determinarea populaţiilor şi subpopulaţiilor limfocitare cu utilizarea anticorpilor monoclonali (anti-CD3, -CD4, -CD8, -CD16, -CD20, -CD25, -CD70), aprecierea cantitativă a imunoglobulinelor serice, clasele M, G, A şi E, activităţii fagocitare a mononuclearelor şi polimorfonuclearelor. Detecţia cantitativă a populaţiilor limfocitare poate fi realizată prin flaucitometrie sau imunofluorescenţă indirectă. Testul de rozetare, utilizat actualmente în unele laboratoare, este considerat neinformativ şi nu se utilizează nici într-o ţară, şi argumentează necesitatea implementării metodelor acceptate în plan internaţional. Medicului primar îi revine rolul prioritar în diagnosticul imunodeficienţelor primare şi secundare, care necesită o cercetare imunologică minuţioasă cu o corecţie a dereglărilor imune prin utilizarea remediilor imunotrope. Imunomodularea răspunsului imun în diverse stări patologice este inadmisibilă fără aprecierea prealabilă a valorilor indicilor statusului imun. De menţionat faptul administrării imunomodulatorilor în diverse stări morbide în baza tablou-lui clinic. Doar evaluarea manifestărilor clinice în asociere cu monitoringul indicilor, statusul imun pe parcursul tratamentului suplimentat cu remedii medicamentoase cu acţiune imunotropă va avea aport informaţional despre eficacitatea tratamentului administrat. Împlementarea metodelor de testare a statusului imun ar facilita optimizarea procedeelor de diagnosticare a stărilor imunopatologice, frecvent înregistrate în medicina primară. De o importanţă majoră este şi testarea statusului imun cu aprecierea imunităţii celulare şi umorale, a sensibilizării organismului la diverşi agenţi infecţioşi, remedii medicamentoase şi chimice în procesul de pregătire prevaccinală a persoanelor cu stări imunodeficitare şi alergice pentru selecţia unei tractici şi modalităti optime de utilizare a preparatelor de profilaxie imună. Actualmente, tot mai frecvent se constată modificări ale antigenelor celulelor sanguine (de ex., eritrocite) în stările tumorale, ciroză hepatică, bacteriemie etc, care fac dificilă aprecierea grupurilor sanguine şi duc la erori în interpretarea lor. În scopul profilaxiei acestora este necesară realizarea metodei încrucişate cu eritrocite standard şi seruri izohemaglutinabile sau anticorpi monoclonali, precum şi utilizarea reagenţilor monoclonali anti-A1, A-slab. De regulă, în laboratoarele de diagnostic imunologic se efectuează testarea grupului sanguin numai cu utilizarea anticorpilor monoclonali, ceea ce contravine legislaţiei în vigoare. Concluzii 1. Valorificarea stărilor de deficienţă imună, alergice, monitorizarea eficacităţii tratamentului suplimentat cu remedii imunotrope necesită utilizarea metodelor de testare a statusului imun. 2. Utilizarea reagenţilor de specificitate selectivă în testările izoimunologice ar contribui la reducerea numărului de erori la testarea grupurilor sanguine în condiţiile de normă şi diferite afecţiuni imunopatologice

Direct and Inverse Variational Problems on Time Scales: A Survey

We deal with direct and inverse problems of the calculus of variations on arbitrary time scales. Firstly, using the Euler-Lagrange equation and the strengthened Legendre condition, we give a general form for a variational functional to attain a local minimum at a given point of the vector space. Furthermore, we provide a necessary condition for a dynamic integro-differential equation to be an Euler-Lagrange equation (Helmholtz's problem of the calculus of variations on time scales). New and interesting results for the discrete and quantum settings are obtained as particular cases. Finally, we consider very general problems of the calculus of variations given by the composition of a certain scalar function with delta and nabla integrals of a vector valued field.Comment: This is a preprint of a paper whose final and definite form will be published in the Springer Volume 'Modeling, Dynamics, Optimization and Bioeconomics II', Edited by A. A. Pinto and D. Zilberman (Eds.), Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics. Submitted 03/Sept/2014; Accepted, after a revision, 19/Jan/201

Composition and structure variation for magnetron sputtered tantalum oxynitride thin films, as function of deposition parameters

Tantalum oxynitride thin films were produced by magnetron sputtering. The films were deposited usinga pure Ta target and a working atmosphere with a constant N2/O2ratio. The choice of this constant ratiolimits the study concerning the influence of each reactive gas, but allows a deeper understanding of theaspects related to the affinity of Ta to the non-metallic elements and it is economically advantageous.This work begins by analysing the data obtained directly from the film deposition stage, followed bythe analysis of the morphology, composition and structure. For a better understanding regarding theinfluence of the deposition parameters, the analyses are presented by using the following criterion: thefilms were divided into two sets, one of them produced with grounded substrate holder and the otherwith a polarization of −50 V. Each one of these sets was produced with different partial pressure of thereactive gases P(N2+ O2). All the films exhibited a O/N ratio higher than the N/O ratio in the depositionchamber atmosphere. In the case of the films produced with grounded substrate holder, a strong increaseof the O content is observed, associated to the strong decrease of the N content, when P(N2+ O2) is higherthan 0.13 Pa. The higher Ta affinity for O strongly influences the structural evolution of the films. Grazingincidence X-ray diffraction showed that the lower partial pressure films were crystalline, while X-rayreflectivity studies found out that the density of the films depended on the deposition conditions: thehigher the gas pressure, the lower the density. Firstly, a dominant -Ta structure is observed, for lowP(N2+ O2); secondly a fcc-Ta(N,O) structure, for intermediate P(N2+ O2); thirdly, the films are amorphousfor the highest partial pressures. The comparison of the characteristics of both sets of produced TaNxOyfilms are explained, with detail, in the text.This work was supported by FEDER through the COMPETE Program and by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of the Strategic Project PEST-C/FIS/UI607/2013. This paper was also supported by the Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development (SOPHRD), ID134378 financed from the European Social Fund and by the Romanian Government

On the chemistry, photocatalytical, and corrosion behavior of co-sputtered tantalum and titanium oxynitride thin films

Direct current magnetron co-sputtered titanium and tantalum based oxynitride coatings (TaTiON) were analyzed in terms of their chemistry, surface morphology, surface energy, photocatalytic activity, and corrosion resistance. The variable parameter for the deposition was the applied current on each target, changing between 0.75A and 0.25A for the Ta target, and from 0.25A to 0.75 A for the Ti target, to obtain a total current of 1A. Reference single-sputtered samples (TaON and TiON) were deposited under identical conditions. It was observed that a higher degree of oxidation occurred in the samples deposited with higher current on the Ti target, while nitriding and oxynitriding processes occurred only on the surfaces of the films containing Ta. In terms of surface roughness, the co-sputtered coatings exhibited significantly smaller values, compared to the single-sputtered coatings. The highest photodegradation efficiency was registered for the co-sputtered sample which contains the highest N concentration. The corrosion rate, obtained from electrochemical tests, varies in a rather large domain, as function of the chemical species in the coatings.Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, CNCS - UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P1- 1.1-TE-2019-1209, within PNCDI III. Valentin Craciun acknowledges the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research under the Romanian National Nuclear Program LAPLAS VI (contract no. 16 N/2019, ELI-RO_2020_12)

Targeted EGFR Nanotherapy in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Despite advances in treatment, the prognosis remains poor, highlighting the need for novel therapeutic strategies. The present review explores the potential of targeted epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) nanotherapy as an alternative treatment for NSCLC, showing that EGFR-targeted nanoparticles are efficiently taken up by NSCLC cells, leading to a significant reduction in tumor growth in mouse models. Consequently, we suggest that targeted EGFR nanotherapy could be an innovative treatment strategy for NSCLC; however, further studies are needed to optimize the nanoparticles and evaluate their safety and efficacy in clinical settings and human trials

Low Vitamin K Status in Patients with Psoriasis Vulgaris: A Pilot Study

Psoriasis vulgaris (PV) is a disease characterized by skin manifestations and systemic inflammation. There are no published studies to date on vitamin K status assessed by extrahepatic vitamin K-dependent proteins [e.g., osteocalcin (OC) and matrix Gla protein (MGP)] in patients with PV, even if vitamin K was found to promote wound contraction and decrease the healing time of the skin. Metabolic syndrome (MS), a comorbidity of PV, was found to influence vitamin K status, and vitamin D was found to be involved in the pathogenesis of PV. Therefore, our aim was to assess the status of vitamins K and D in subjects with PV. We enrolled 44 patients with PV and 44 age- and sex-matched subjects as a control group (CG), of which individuals with MS were designated the CG with MS subgroup. Furthermore, the PV patients were stratified into two subgroups: those with MS (n = 20) and those without MS (n = 24). In addition to the quantification of vitamin D and MGP in all subjects, the uncarboxylated OC/carboxylated OC (ucOC/cOC) ratio was also assessed as an inversely proportional marker of vitamin K status. We found an increased ucOC/cOC ratio in the PV group compared to CG but also a greater ucOC/cOC ratio in the PV with MS subgroup than in the CG with MS subgroup. MGP was decreased in the PV with MS subgroup compared to CG with MS subgroup. There was no difference in the vitamin D concentration between the groups. This is the first study to report decreased vitamin K status in patients with PV, independent of the presence of MS