2,492 research outputs found
Atypical Bacteria and Macrolides in Asthma
<p/> <p><it>Chlamydophila pneumoniae </it>and <it>Mycoplasma pneumoniae </it>are common pathogens causing acute illness in both the upper and lower airways. Several observations are supportive of a possible causative role of these pathogens in asthma; however, more evidence is required before this becomes meaningful in clinical practice. Atypical bacteria can enhance airway hyperresponsiveness and inflammation, both of which have been associated with exacerbations in patients with preexisting asthma. It is less clear whether the above mechanisms might also be responsible for the development of asthma. Difficulties in accurately diagnosing these infections contribute to such uncertainty. In the present report, evidence of the involvement of <it>Chlamydophila </it>and <it>Mycoplasma </it>infection in the development and the progression of asthma are reviewed.</p
On the realization of Symmetries in Quantum Mechanics
The aim of this paper is to give a simple, geometric proof of Wigner's
theorem on the realization of symmetries in quantum mechanics that clarifies
its relation to projective geometry. Although several proofs exist already, it
seems that the relevance of Wigner's theorem is not fully appreciated in
general. It is Wigner's theorem which allows the use of linear realizations of
symmetries and therefore guarantees that, in the end, quantum theory stays a
linear theory. In the present paper, we take a strictly geometrical point of
view in order to prove this theorem. It becomes apparent that Wigner's theorem
is nothing else but a corollary of the fundamental theorem of projective
geometry. In this sense, the proof presented here is simple, transparent and
therefore accessible even to elementary treatments in quantum mechanics.Comment: 8 page
IgE-Mediated Multimorbidities in Allergic Asthma and the Potential for Omalizumab Therapy
Allergic asthma often coexists with different pathological conditions, called multimorbidities, that are mostly of allergic nature and share a common underlying inflammatory pathophysiological mechanism. Multimorbidities of allergic asthma may influence asthma control, its severity, and patients' response to treatment, and contribute to the overall socioeconomic burden of the disease. Immunoglobulin E (IgE) is known to play a central role in the pathogenesis of various allergic diseases, including asthma. Thus, IgE-mediated immunologic pathways present an attractive target for intervention in asthma and multimorbidities. In this review, we discuss the most frequently reported IgE-mediated multimorbidities in allergic asthma, including allergic rhinitis, rhinoconjunctivitis, atopic dermatitis, vernal keratoconjunctivitis, chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, food allergies, and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. Omalizumab is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody against IgE and has been in use to treat allergic asthma for more than a decade. We comprehensively review the clinical evidence for omalizumab in the treatment of the aforementioned multimorbidities in allergic asthma
Impact of COVID-19 on Pediatric Asthma : Practice Adjustments and Disease Burden
BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether asthma may affect susceptibility or severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in children and how pediatric asthma services worldwide have responded to the pandemic. OBJECTIVE: To describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric asthma services and on disease burden in their patients. METHODS: An online survey was sent to members of the Pediatric Asthma in Real Life think tank and the World Allergy Organization Pediatric Asthma Committee. It included questions on service provision, disease burden, and the clinical course of confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection among children with asthma. RESULTS: Ninety-one respondents, caring for an estimated population of more than 133,000 children with asthma, completed the survey. COVID-19 significantly impacted pediatric asthma services: 39% ceased physical appointments, 47% stopped accepting new patients, and 75% limited patients' visits. Consultations were almost halved to a median of 20 (interquartile range, 10-25) patients per week. Virtual clinics and helplines were launched in most centers. Better than expected disease control was reported in 20% (10%-40%) of patients, whereas control was negatively affected in only 10% (7.5%-12.5%). Adherence also appeared to increase. Only 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported among the population; the estimated incidence is not apparently different from the reports of general pediatric cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: Children with asthma do not appear to be disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Outcomes may even have improved, possibly through increased adherence and/or reduced exposures. Clinical services have rapidly responded to the pandemic by limiting and replacing physical appointments with virtual encounters. (C) 2020 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.Peer reviewe
Two-loop non-planar hexa-box integrals with one massive leg
Based on the Simplified Differential Equations approach, we present results
for the two-loop non-planar hexa-box families of master integrals. We introduce
a new approach to obtain the boundary terms and establish a one-dimensional
integral representation of the master integrals in terms of Generalised
Polylogarithms, when the alphabet contains non-factorisable square roots. The
results are relevant to the study of NNLO QCD corrections for and
Higgs-boson production in association with two hadronic jets.Comment: Ancillary files attached. Mathematica notebook files updated.
Accepted for publication in JHE
Social and economic costs of food allergies in Europe: translation and trans-cultural adaptation into different languages of a questionnaire to measure costs and health utility
Background: With the growth in international comparative research in the field of health economics, new tools to collect comparative data from disparate countries are required to measure and compare the costs of illnesses. Methods: A multistep approach was used to translate an English questionnaire to measure the costs of food allergies across 12 European countries, using WHO guidelines as a minimum standard. Greek, Polish and Spanish translations are presented as case studies. Survey response rates and item non-response rates were analysed to evaluate the process. Results: Questionnaires were adapted to reflect different health professions and health settings in each country. Spain achieved the highest response rate (85%) and lowest item non-response rate (85%; 1.52%) compared to Poland (68%; 4.97%) and Greece (38%; 10.64%). Spain implemented a more complex translation protocol than Poland and Greece. Conclusion: More complex translation protocols yield better results, but this paper concludes that good channels of communication between originators of questionnaires and translators is most effective way of ensuring good quality outcomes
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Synthesis of inositol phosphate-based competitive antagonists of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors.
Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors (IP3Rs) are intracellular Ca(2+) channels that are widely expressed in animal cells, where they mediate the release of Ca(2+) from intracellular stores evoked by extracellular stimuli. A diverse array of synthetic agonists of IP3Rs has defined structure-activity relationships, but existing antagonists have severe limitations. We combined analyses of Ca(2+) release with equilibrium competition binding to IP3R to show that (1,3,4,6)IP4 is a full agonist of IP3R1 with lower affinity than (1,4,5)IP3. Systematic manipulation of this meso-compound via a versatile synthetic scheme provided a family of dimeric analogs of 2-O-butyryl-(1,3,4,6)IP4 and (1,3,4,5,6)IP5 that compete with (1,4,5)IP3 for binding to IP3R without evoking Ca(2+) release. These novel analogs are the first inositol phosphate-based competitive antagonists of IP3Rs with affinities comparable to that of the only commonly used competitive antagonist, heparin, the utility of which is limited by off-target effects.Supported by a Senior Investigator Award from the Wellcome Trust 101844 (to C.W.T.), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council UK and the German Academic Exchange Service (to V.K.). A.E.K. thanks the Research Committee of AUTh for financial support. C.W.T. and V.K. thank Dr S. B. Shears (N.I.E.H.S, U.S.A.) for his helpful advice.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from the Royal Chemistry Society via http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C5OB02623
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