Multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome. A principal component analysis of symptoms

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is a chronic and/or recurrent condition with somatic, cognitive, and affective symptoms following a contact with chemical agents whose concentrations do not correlate with toxicity in the general population. Its prevalence is not well defined; it mainly affects women between 40 and 50 years, without variations in ethnicity, education and economic status. We aimed to assess the core symptoms of this illness in a sample of Italian patients. Two physicians investigated different symptoms with a checklist compilation in 129 patients with MCS (117 women). We conducted a categorical Principal Component Analysis (CATPCA) with Varimax rotation on the checklist dataset. A typical triad was documented: hyperosmia, asthenia, and dyspnoea were the most common symptoms. Patients also frequently showed cough and headache. The CATPCA showed seven main factors: 1, neurocognitive symptoms; 2, physical (objective) symptoms; 3, gastrointestinal symptoms; 4, dermatological symptoms; 5, anxiety-depressive symptoms; 6, respiratory symptoms; 7, hyperosmia and asthenia. Patients showed higher mean prevalence of factors 7 (89.9%), 6 (71.7%), and 1 (62.13%). In conclusion, MCS patients frequently manifest hyperosmia, asthenia, and dyspnoea, which are often concomitant with other respiratory and neurocognitive symptoms. Considering the clinical association that is often made with anxiety, more studies are necessary on the psychosomatic aspects of this syndrome. Further analytical epidemiological studies are needed to support the formulation of aetiological hypotheses of MCS

Molecular and computational diagnostic approach identifies FOXP3, ICOS, CD52 and CASP1 as the most informative biomarkers in acute graft versus host disease.

BACKGROUND: Acute graft-versus-host disease is a severe complication of allogeneic stem cell transplantation in which the functional immune cells of the donor recognize the recipient as foreign and mount an immunological attack. There is an urgent need for better diagnostic instruments for the assessment of acute graft-versus-host disease. In the present study, a novel bioinformatics framework was used to identify gene expression patterns associated with acute graft-versushost disease in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. DESIGN AND METHODS: Peripheral blood cells were collected prospectively from patients who did develop acute graftversus-host disease (YES) and from those who did not (NO). Gene expression profiling was performed using a panel of 47 candidate genes potentially involved in alloreactive responses. The entire population of YES/NO acute graft-versus-host disease patients formed the experimental validation set. Personalized modeling based on a gene selection technique was applied to identify the most significant mRNA transcripts, which were then used to profile individual data samples for training and testing the classification/prediction framework. RESULTS: A leave-one-out cross-validation procedure was performed to investigate the robustness of the classification framework producing the following results: 100% on the training dataset and 97% on the testing dataset. According to our integrated methodology, transcripts for FOXP3, ICOS, CD52 and CASP1, genes involved in immune alloreactive responses and participating in immune cell interactions, were identified as the most informative biomarkers in allogeneic stem cell transplant recipients experiencing acute graft-versus-host disease. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that the integrated methodology proposed is useful for the selection of valid gene targets for the diagnosis of acute graft-versus-host disease, producing satisfactory accuracy over independent clinical features of the allogeneic transplanted population

PON1 polymorphisms can predict generalized anxiety and depressed mood in patients with multiple chemical sensitivity

Background: Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is a chronic condition with somatic, cognitive and affective symptoms that follow contact with chemical agents at usually non toxic concentrations. We aimed to assess the role of genetic polymorphisms involved in oxidative stress on anxiety and depression in MCS. Materials & methods: Our study investigated the CAT rs1001179, MPO rs2333227, PON1 rs662 and PON1 rs705379 polymorphisms in MCS. Results: The AG genotype of the PON1 rs662 and the TT and CT genotypes of the PON1 rs705379 were involved in anxiety and depression. Discussion: These results are in line with existing evidence of PON1 involvement in MCS and suggest a further role of this gene in the exhibition of anxiety and depression in this disease

The involvement of hypothalamus\u2013pituitary\u2013adrenal (Hpa) axis in suicide risk

Stress and Hypothalamic\u2013Pituitary\u2013Adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation play a major role in various pathophysiological processes associated with both mood disorders and suicidal behavior. We conducted a systematic review with the primary aim of clarifying the nature and extent of HPA axis activity and suicidal behavior. The second aim of this review was to investigate whether potential biomarkers related to HPA axis abnormalities act as individual susceptibility factors for suicide. The PRISMA statement for reporting systematic reviews was used. Only articles published in English peer-reviewed journals were considered for possible inclusion; we excluded case reports, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews, and studies that did not clearly report statistical analysis, diagnostic criteria, or the number of patients included. Overall, 36 articles on HPA axis and suicide risk met inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Studies that investigated tests detecting biomarkers and the role of early life stressors in suicide risk were also included. We found that HPA axis activity is involved in suicide risk, regardless of the presence or absence of psychiatric conditions. The HPA axis abnormalities, mainly characterized by hyperactivity of the HPA axis, may exert an important modulatory influence on suicide risk. Impaired stress response mechanisms contribute to suicide risk. Targeting HPA axis dysregulation might represent a fruitful strategy for identifying new treatment targets and improving suicide risk prediction

Building a smart maintenance architecture using smart devices: A web 2.0 based approach

reserved6noIn industrial environment to optimize and to improve maintenance operations could be one of main goals to achieve for enhancing revenues for machinery manufacturers providing after-sales services to their customers. Especially remote maintenance and diagnosis are aspects investigated in literature and in real environments in the last years. In fact, remote access and role-specific data distribution can become the next level upgrade of maintenance, diagnostic and flow control management using smart sensors, actuators and smart consumer devices (smartphone, tablet, etc.). In this paper, a real case study has been proposed: a new web-services based server application in order to have remote access to the data streams and to analyze them in an Italian machinery company manufacturer has been provided. This solution permits to have the machine status available on a web page, very strict time responses, a better user profiling and innovative control system based on line smart devices monitoring machine data and sending notification sounds when needed. The result is a platform connecting, by using the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm, industrial machineries with a smart device android app and with a web application build with web 2.0 based technologies.Alexandru, Ana M; Fiasche, Maurizio; Pinna, Claudia; Taisch, Marco; Fasanotti, Luca; Grasseni, PiergiorgioAlexandru, ANA MARIA; Fiasche', Maurizio; Pinna, Claudia; Taisch, Marco; Fasanotti, Luca; Grasseni, Piergiorgi

A smart web-based maintenance system for a smart manufacturing environment

Maintenance is a practice in manufacturing that had never been available to remote control and management until the introduction of web-connected portable smart devices. In the last years several studies and applied research have been conducted for achieving this objective in an efficient way and with the aim to enhance the business activity related to. Remote access and role-specific data distribution can become the next level upgrade of maintenance, diagnostic and flow control management using smart sensors, actuators, and smart consumer devices (smartphone, tablet, etc.). In this project, a real case is presented, an Italian company, the end user of the project, tried to achieve this goal creating with the all consortium, a new web-services based server application in order to have remote access to the data stream, which permits to have the machine status available on the web, very strict time responses, a better user profiling and innovative control system based on smart devices monitoring real time machine data and sending notification sounds when needed. The result is a platform connecting, using the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm, industrial machineries with a smart device android app and with a web application running on a normal browser

Social things - the SandS instantiation

At a time when socialism as an economic option is variously questioned, very few people are against social instances of our life such as entertainment, customer assistance, and so on. This happens with the management of many things accompanying our life as well. We can find both the reason and the evidence for the viability of this trend in one very basic fact: things are social because they work better. However, also in this sphere social politics are highly questionable. Here we introduce the perspective adopted in the European project SandS within a framework of Internet of Things. In this case things are agents interacting on the network within a service centric approach where a sound hierarchy dispatches instructions. It is a complete ecosystem where the social network develops a collective intelligence subtending new concrete functionalities that are centered on the user willing and fostered by his/her feedbacks. The central role of the user reflects on all aspects of the ecosystem, from the family of things which are socially governed: the household appliances (the white goods) that affect our everyday life, up to the employed hardware and software: strictly open source

Dopamine DRD2 and DRD3 Polymorphisms Involvement in Nicotine Dependence in Patients with Treatment-Resistant Mental Disorders

Patients affected by mental disorders smoke more than the general population. The reasons behind this habit are genetic, environmental, etc. This study aims to investigate the correlations between some polymorphisms and the smoking habits and nicotine dependence in patients with psychiatric disorders. We recruited 88 patients with treatment-resistant mental disorders, including 35 with major depressive disorder, 43 with bipolar spectrum disorder, and 10 with schizophrenia spectrum disorder. We carried out a clinical and psychometric assessment on current smoking habits, years of smoking, number of daily cigarettes, and level of nicotine addiction. The patients performed a peripheral blood sample for DNA analyses of different polymorphisms. We searched for correlations between the measures of nicotine addiction and analysed genotypes. The expression of the T allele of the DRD2 rs1800497 and DRD3 rs6280 polymorphisms significantly correlated with a lower level of nicotine dependence and lower use of cigarettes. We did not find significant correlations between nicotine dependence and OPRM1 rs1799971, COMT rs4680 and rs4633 polymorphisms, CYP2A6 rs1801272 and rs28399433, or 5-HTTLPR genotype. Concluding, DRD2 rs1800497 and DRD3 rs6280 polymorphisms are involved in nicotine dependence and cigarette smoking habits in patients with treatment-resistant mental disorders