59 research outputs found
Impact of peanut consumption in the LEAP Study: Feasibility, growth, and nutrition
BACKGROUND: Early introduction of peanut is an effective strategy to prevent peanut allergy in high-risk infants; however, feasibility and effects on growth and nutritional intake are unknown. OBJECTIVE: We sought to evaluate the feasibility of introducing peanut in infancy and explore effects on growth and nutritional intake up to age 60 months. METHODS: In the Learning Early About Peanut Allergy trial, 640 atopic infants aged 4 to 11 months were randomly assigned to consume (6 g peanut protein per week) or avoid peanut until age 60 months. Peanut consumption and early feeding practices were assessed by questionnaire. Dietary intake was evaluated with prospective food diaries. Anthropometric measurements were taken at all study visits. RESULTS: Peanut was successfully introduced and consumed until 60 months, with median peanut protein intake of 7.5 g/wk (interquartile range, 6.0-9.0 g/wk) in the consumption group compared with 0 g in the avoidance group. Introduction of peanut in breast-feeding infants did not affect the duration of breast-feeding. There were no differences in anthropometric measurements or energy intakes between groups at any visits. Regular peanut consumption led to differences in dietary intakes. Consumers had higher intakes of fat and avoiders had higher carbohydrate intakes; differences were greatest at the upper quartiles of peanut consumption. Protein intakes remained consistent between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Introduction of peanut proved feasible in infants at high risk of peanut allergy and did not affect the duration of breast-feeding nor impact negatively on growth or nutrition. Energy balance was achieved in both groups through variations in intakes from fat and carbohydrate while protein homeostasis was maintained
Monitoring the orientation of rare-earth-doped nanorods for flow shear tomography
Rare-earth phosphors exhibit unique luminescence polarization features
originating from the anisotropic symmetry of the emitter ion's chemical
environment. However, to take advantage of this peculiar property, it is
necessary to control and measure the ensemble orientation of the host particles
with a high degree of precision. Here, we show a methodology to obtain the
photoluminescence polarization of Eu-doped LaPO4 nano rods assembled in an
electrically modulated liquid-crystalline phase. We measure Eu3+ emission
spectra for the three main optimal configurations ({\sigma}, {\pi} and
{\alpha}, depending on the direction of observation and the polarization axes)
and use them as a reference for the nano rod orientation analysis. Based on the
fact that flowing nano rods tend to orient along the shear strain profile, we
use this orientation analysis to measure the local shear rate in a flowing
liquid. The potential of this approach is then demonstrated through tomographic
imaging of the shear rate distribution in a microfluidic system.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures + supplementary files for experimental and
numerical method
Allergen specificity of early peanut consumption and effect on development of allergic disease in the Learning Early About Peanut Allergy study cohort
BACKGROUND: Early introduction of dietary peanut in high-risk infants with severe eczema, egg allergy, or both prevented peanut allergy at 5 years of age in the Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) study. The protective effect persisted after 12 months of avoiding peanuts in the 12-month extension of the LEAP study (LEAP-On). It is unclear whether this benefit is allergen and allergic disease specific. Objective: We sought to assess the effect of early introduction of peanut on the development of allergic disease, food sensitization, and aeroallergen sensitization. METHODS: Asthma, eczema, and rhinoconjunctivitis were diagnosed based on clinical assessment. Reported allergic reactions and consumption of tree nuts and sesame were recorded by questionnaire. Sensitization to food allergens and aeroallergens was determined by means of skin prick testing and specific IgE measurement. RESULTS: A high and increasing burden of food allergen and aeroallergen sensitization and allergic disease was noted across study time points; 76% of LEAP participants had at least 1 allergic disease at 60 months of age. There were no differences in allergic disease between LEAP groups. There were small differences in sensitization and reported allergic reactions for select tree nuts, with levels being higher in the LEAP consumption group. Significant resolution of eczema and sensitization to egg and milk occurred in LEAP participants and was not affected by peanut consumption. CONCLUSION: Early consumption of peanut in infants at high risk of peanut allergy is allergen specific and does not prevent the development of other allergic disease, sensitization to other food allergens and aeroallergens, or reported allergic reactions to tree nuts and sesame. Furthermore, peanut consumption does not hasten the resolution of eczema or egg allergy
Composite Octet Searches with Jet Substructure
Many new physics models with strongly interacting sectors predict a mass
hierarchy between the lightest vector meson and the lightest pseudoscalar
mesons. We examine the power of jet substructure tools to extend the 7 TeV LHC
sensitivity to these new states for the case of QCD octet mesons, considering
both two gluon and two b-jet decay modes for the pseudoscalar mesons. We
develop both a simple dijet search using only the jet mass and a more
sophisticated jet substructure analysis, both of which can discover the
composite octets in a dijet-like signature. The reach depends on the mass
hierarchy between the vector and pseudoscalar mesons. We find that for the
pseudoscalar-to-vector meson mass ratio below approximately 0.2 the simple jet
mass analysis provides the best discovery limit; for a ratio between 0.2 and
the QCD-like value of 0.3, the sophisticated jet substructure analysis has the
best discovery potential; for a ratio above approximately 0.3, the standard
four-jet analysis is more suitable.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figure
Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases
The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of
aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs)
can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves
excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological
concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can
lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl
radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic
inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the
involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a
large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and
inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation
of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many
similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e.
iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The
studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic
and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and
lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and
longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is
thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As
systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have
multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent
patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of
multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the
decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference
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Teplizumab (anti-CD3 mAb) treatment preserves C-peptide responses in patients with new-onset type 1 diabetes in a randomized controlled trial: Metabolic and immunologic features at baseline identify a subgroup of responders
High-dose immunosuppressive therapy and autologous HCT for relapsing-remitting MS
Objective: To evaluate the safety, efficacy, and durability of multiple sclerosis (MS) disease stabilization after high-dose immunosuppressive therapy (HDIT) and autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Methods: High-Dose Immunosuppression and Autologous Transplantation for Multiple Sclerosis (HALT-MS) is a phase II clinical trial of HDIT/HCT for patients with relapsing-remitting (RR) MS who experienced relapses with disability progression (Expanded Disability Status Scale [EDSS] 3.0–5.5) while on MS disease-modifying therapy. The primary endpoint was event-free survival (EFS), defined as survival without death or disease activity from any one of: disability progression, relapse, or new lesions on MRI. Participants were evaluated through 5 years posttransplant. Toxicities were reported using the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (AE). Results: Twenty-five participants were evaluated for transplant and 24 participants underwent HDIT/HCT. Median follow-up was 62 months (range 12–72). EFS was 69.2% (90% confidence interval [CI] 50.2–82.1). Progression-free survival, clinical relapse-free survival, and MRI activity-free survival were 91.3% (90% CI 74.7%–97.2%), 86.9% (90% CI 69.5%–94.7%), and 86.3% (90% CI 68.1%–94.5%), respectively. AE due to HDIT/HCT were consistent with expected toxicities and there were no significant late neurologic adverse effects noted. Improvements were noted in neurologic disability with a median change in EDSS of −0.5 (interquartile range −1.5 to 0.0; p = 0.001) among participants who survived and completed the study. Conclusion: HDIT/HCT without maintenance therapy was effective for inducing long-term sustained remissions of active RRMS at 5 years
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