75 research outputs found
I templi rupestri della XVIII dinastia: analisi strutturale e degli aspetti cultuali
La ricerca si propone di fornire una nuova chiave di lettura delle strutture templari rupestri egiziane e nubiane della XVIII dinastia. Il lavoro si compone di una prima sezione, in cui ciascun monumento viene analizzato indipendentemente dagli altri, e di una seconda sezione, in cui l'insieme di tali strutture viene riesaminato alla luce di quanto emerso durante la ricerca
Chapter Dalla geografia storica all’archeologia del paesaggio e dell’ambiente. Una irrinunciabile eredità di Massimo Quaini
This contribution discusses the legacy of Massimo Quaini’s research in the field of postclassical rchaeology and, in particular, in the study of landscape and environment. Its active participation in the archaeological theoretical debate is highlighted through the analysis of his bibliography and experiences from the 70’s until his last works with the Territorialist Society and the Laboratory of Environmental Archaeology and History (LASA) of the University of Genoa
Validation study of a new chemiluminescent singleplex IgE assay in a set of Italian allergic rhinitis patients
Background: The measurement of specific IgE to allergenic extracts and molecules in patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) is crucial for a precise diagnosis and further immunotherapy. Companies providing in vitro diagnostic methods in allergology continuously strive for the optimization and modernization of such methods. A new generation of automated allergy tests based on chemiluminescence detection and paramagnetic microparticles is now available, with possible advantages in sample volume, cost-effectiveness and avoidance of sample-related interference.
Objectives: To test whether sIgE antibody levels obtained with a new singleplex chemiluminescent method have a good agreement with the corresponding results obtained with a "gold standard" test.
Methods: We tested sera from 368 AR patients. Specific IgE sera levels (kU/L) to a comprehensive panel of 15 allergen extracts and 6 molecules were tested with ImmunoCAP® (Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc, Phadia AB, Uppsala, Sweden) and NOVEOS™ (HYCOR® Biomedical, Garden Grove, CA, USA). We evaluated the qualitative and quantitative performance of the new NOVEOS system in matching the outcome of ImmunoCAP to each of the examined allergens.
Results: In relation to ImmunoCAP, the overall diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of sIgE tests with NOVEOS were 90.8% (95% CI = 88.6-92.7) and 96.2% (95% CI = 93.9-97.8), respectively. These values were higher when only molecules were considered (sensitivity = 98.7% [95% CI = 96.4%-99.7%]; specificity = 94.2% [95% CI = 88.4%-97.6%]) and lower when only extracts were considered (sensitivity = 87.6% [95% CI = 84.7%-90.2%]; specificity = 97% [95% CI = 94.4%-98.6%]). Spearman's correlation between the data set of both methods for a ≥ 0.1 kU/L cut-off was 0.84 (p < .001).
Conclusions: The new singleplex NOVEOS system presented good results for qualitative and quantitative comparisons when testing specific serum IgE antibodies against a range of 21 allergens. This novel immunoassay system using only 4 µl of sample per test appears to be robust and reliable and can, therefore, be used as an aid in allergy diagnosis
The Challenges of O2 Detection in Biological Fluids: Classical Methods and Translation to Clinical Applications
Dissolved oxygen (DO) is deeply involved in preserving the life of cellular tissues and
human beings due to its key role in cellular metabolism: its alterations may reflect important
pathophysiological conditions. DO levels are measured to identify pathological conditions, explain
pathophysiological mechanisms, and monitor the efficacy of therapeutic approaches. This is particularly relevant when the measurements are performed in vivo but also in contexts where a variety of
biological and synthetic media are used, such as ex vivo organ perfusion. A reliable measurement of
medium oxygenation ensures a high-quality process. It is crucial to provide a high-accuracy, real-time
method for DO quantification, which could be robust towards different medium compositions and
temperatures. In fact, biological fluids and synthetic clinical fluids represent a challenging environment where DO interacts with various compounds and can change continuously and dynamically,
and further precaution is needed to obtain reliable results. This study aims to present and discuss
the main oxygen detection and quantification methods, focusing on the technical needs for their
translation to clinical practice. Firstly, we resumed all the main methodologies and advancements
concerning dissolved oxygen determination. After identifying the main groups of all the available
techniques for DO sensing based on their mechanisms and applicability, we focused on transferring
the most promising approaches to a clinical in vivo/ex vivo settin
Serological Profile of Children and Young Adults with at Least One SARS-CoV-2 Positive Cohabitant: An Observational Study
At the end of 2019, a new disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 appeared
in Wuhan Province in China. Children seemed to be infected less frequently than adults, and family
clusters seemed to play an important role in the spread of the pandemic. The aim of this study is to
evaluate the serological profile of children and young adults between 4 and 16 years of age in order
to assess the transmission patterns of COVID-19 between cohabitants. The subjects lived with at
least one cohabitant who tested positive for the disease using a nasopharyngeal swab. To avoid
contact with the disease, families were interviewed by telephone. Forty-nine children and
adolescents with a mean age of 11 years were then subjected to a rapid lateral flow chromatographic
test. Of them, seven (14.3%) were immunoglobulin G (IgG)-positive, and four (8.2%) were
immunoglobulin M (IgM)-positive. In total, 16.3% of the tested sample had antibodies against
SARS-CoV-2: this may confirm the lower vulnerability of children to COVID-19, despite the small
sample size. The time from the negativization of the cohabitant until the test day may have
influenced the results, especially when this timeframe is wide
IgE antibody repertoire in nasal secretions of children and adults with seasonal allergic rhinitis: A molecular analysis
Background:
There is growing interest both in testing IgE in nasal secretions (NS) and in molecular diagnosis of seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR). Yet, the reliability of nasal IgE detection with the newest molecular assays has never been assessed in a large cohort of pollen allergic patients.
Objective:
To investigate with microarray technology and compare the repertoires of specific IgE (sIgE) antibodies in NS and sera of a large population of children and adults with SAR.
Methods:
Nasal secretions were collected with an absorbent device (Merocel 2000®, Medtronic) and a minimal dilution procedure from 90 children and 71 adults with SAR. Total IgE (tIgE) (ImmunoCAP, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TFS)) and sIgE antibodies against 112 allergen molecules (ISAC-112, TFS) were measured in NS and serum.
Results:
Nasal sIgE was detectable in 68.3% of the patients. The detected nasal sIgE antibodies recognized airborne (88%), vegetable (10%), and animal food or other (<1%) allergen molecules. The prevalence and average levels of sIgE in NS and serum were highly interrelated at population level. A positive nasal sIgE antibody to a given molecule predicted the detection of the same antibody in the patient's serum with a specificity of 99.7% and a sensitivity of 40%.
Conclusions:
The concentration of sIgE is much lower in nasal secretions than in the serum. sIgE assays with very high analytical sensitivity and sampling methods with minimal dilution will be therefore needed to validate nasal secretions as alternative to serum in testing the sIgE repertoire
“Whole” vs. “fragmented” approach to EAACI pollen season definitions: A multicenter study in six Southern European cities
Background: The adequate definition of pollen seasons is essential to facilitate a correct diagnosis, treatment choice, and outcome assessment in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis. A position paper by the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) proposed season definitions for Northern and Middle Europe.
Objective: To test the pollen season definitions proposed by EAACI in six Mediterranean cities for seven pollen taxa.
Methods: As part of the @IT.2020 multi-center study, pollen counts for Poaceae, Oleaceae, Fagales, Cupressaceae, Urticaceae (Parietaria spp.), and Compositae (Ambrosia spp., Artemisia spp.) were collected from January 1 to December 31, 2018. Based on these data, pollen seasons were identified according to EAACI criteria. A unified monitoring period for patients in AIT trials was created and assessed for feasibility.
Results: The analysis revealed a great heterogeneity between the different locations in terms of pattern and length of the examined pollen seasons. Further, we found a fragmentation of pollen seasons in several segments (max. 8) separated by periods of low pollen counts (intercurrent periods). Potential monitoring periods included often many recording days with low pollen exposure (max. 341 days).
Conclusion: The Mediterranean climate leads to challenging pollen exposure times. Monitoring periods for AIT trials based on existing definitions may include many intermittent days with low pollen concentrations. Therefore, it is necessary to find an adapted pollen season definition as individual solution for each pollen and geographical area
Chapter Dalla geografia storica all’archeologia del paesaggio e dell’ambiente. Una irrinunciabile eredità di Massimo Quaini
Chapter Dalla geografia storica all’archeologia del paesaggio e dell’ambiente. Una irrinunciabile eredità di Massimo Quaini
This contribution discusses the legacy of Massimo Quaini’s research in the field of postclassical rchaeology and, in particular, in the study of landscape and environment. Its active participation in the archaeological theoretical debate is highlighted through the analysis of his bibliography and experiences from the 70’s until his last works with the Territorialist Society and the Laboratory of Environmental Archaeology and History (LASA) of the University of Genoa
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