The clinical meaning of histamine skin reactivity

The definition of the “atopic state”, i.e. subjects presenting at least one skin wheal with a minimum diameter of 3 mm induced by an allergen skin-prick test (ASPT), is based on the assumption that wheal size depends entirely on the amount of histamine produced in the antigen-antibody reaction. Several epidemiological studies have, however, demonstrated that an ASPT-elicited wheal is heavily modulated by “histamine skin reactivity” (HSR), i.e. the size of the wheal induced by a prick test performed with a given solution of histamine. HSR not only varies widely depending on the individual characteristics and geographical setting, but also changes over time; these differences in HSR markedly influence the amount of specific IgE required to produce a wheal of at least 3 mm in an ASPT. We should therefore ideally conceive the existence of two types of” atopic patients”: one type in whom “atopy” is mainly the result of an increased level of specific IgE antibodies, and another type in whom positive ASPTs are mainly the result of marked skin reactivity to even small amounts of histamine. If hyper-reactivity to histamine occurs not only in the skin but in parallel also in other parts of the organism, especially at the mucosal level, “normal” histamine production may cause chronic or recurrent clinical symptom

Antimicrobial susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae from children attending day-care lefts in a central Italian city

ObjectiveTo undertake a survey of nasopharyngeal carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae, which reflects strains causing infection, in 100 children under 3 years of age attending day-care lefts in Frosinone, a city near Rome.MethodsFifty-three unique isolates of S. pneumoniae, isolated from 41 of the children tested, were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility to penicillin, cefotaxime, erythromycin, clindamycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol and trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole.ResultsResistance rates were as follows: penicillin, 20.7% (15% intermediate; 5.7% resistant); trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole, 64.2%; erythromycin, 64.2%; clindamycin, 30.2%; tetracycline, 32.1%; and chloramphenicol, 3.8%. Except for three intermediate strains, all strains were susceptible to cefotaxime. Only five strains were susceptible to all of the antibiotics tested. An unusual finding of this study was that 23 of the 34 erythromycin-resistant strains were penicillin susceptible, whereas erythromycin-resistant strains found in other countries are predominantly penicillin resistant as well. In addition, 18 of the 34 erythromycin-resistant strains were susceptible to clindamycin. Serogroups 6, 14, 19 and 23 accounted for 84.9% of the isolates.ConclusionsThese data show that carriage of antibiotic-resistant pneumococci in children under 3 years of age is high in Frosinone, Italy. Information on resistance rates in pneumococcal disease in different age groups and on prevalence of drug resistance in other parts of the country is urgently needed

Severe steatohepatitis in a patient with a rare neutral lipid storage disorder due to ABDH5 mutation

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Enhanced allergic sensitisation related to parental smoking

The objective of this study was to assess the role of parental smoking in changes, after a four year interval (1983-7), in the prevalence and severity of the atopic state in 166 pre-adolescent children. Allergy skin prick tests were related to parental smoking habits and their changes during this same interval. The total number of cigarettes smoked by parents decreased in 56 families while it increased in only 16. Boys had significantly more persistently positive skin tests and changed more frequently from negative to positive. The skin test index did not show significant changes in girls. This index did not change in children of persistent non-smokers or those starting to smoke during this period, while it increased among sons of those that quit smoking and of persistent smokers. This was not only due to those boys who became skin test positive during follow up. When analysis was restricted to 14 boys who had been skin test positive in 1983 and whose parents were persistent smokers, the index increased in eight, remained unchanged in four, and decreased in only two. This report supports the hypothesis that parental smoking is a factor that, together with specific allergenic exposure, may enhance allergic sensitisation in children

Balance between Regulatory T and Th17 Cells in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: The Old and the New

Pathogenic mechanisms underlying the development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are very complex and not yet entirely clarified. However, the pivotal role of T lymphocytes in the induction and perpetuation of aberrant immune response is well established. Among T cells, IL-17 producing T helper (Th17) cells and regulatory T (Treg) cells represent an intriguing issue to be addressed in SLE pathogenesis, since an imbalance between the two subsets has been observed in the course of the disease. Treg cells appear to be impaired and therefore unable to counteract autoreactive T lymphocytes. Conversely, Th17 cells accumulate in target organs contributing to local IL-17 production and eventually tissue damage. In this setting, targeting Treg/Th17 balance for therapeutic purposes may represent an intriguing and useful tool for SLE treatment in the next future. In this paper, the current knowledge about Treg and Th17 cells interplay in SLE will be discussed

Association of asthma with extra-respiratory symptoms in schoolchildren: two cross-sectional studies 6 years apart

Epidemiological information on symptoms affecting extra-respiratory organs and apparatuses in asthmatic children is scarce. The aim of this study therefore was to evaluate, at a population level, if and what extra-respiratory symptoms are associated with asthma. Two questionnaire-based, cross-sectional surveys were carried out on 1,262 students (651 males; mean age 9.57 years, age-range 6-14 years) in 1992 and on 1,210 students (639 males; mean age 9.02 years, age-range 6-14 years) in 1998, from two elementary and two junior high schools in Rome, Italy. Questionnaires included queries about asthma and its risk factors and extra-respiratory symptoms (headache, restlessness, sleep disturbances, urticaria, itching, and abdominal pain). Of responders, 11.9% (279/2,342) had a history of asthma. After adjustment for gender, family history of atopic disease, low birth weight, early respiratory problems, and damp house, asthma was significantly associated with recurrent abdominal pain (odds ratio [OR] 1.90; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04, 3.16), itching (OR 3.15; 95% CI: 1.75, 5.68), and urticaria (OR 2.52; 95% CI: 1.02, 6.20). Asthma was reported by 10.2% (201/1,962) of children unaffected by this triad, by 20.1% (56/279; OR 2.20) with one of the symptoms, and by 31.6% (12/38; OR 4.04) with two or more symptoms. An emerging characteristic of pediatric asthma in our setting appears to be its association with certain extra-respiratory symptoms (abdominal pain, itching, and urticaria). A global, internistic approach to asthmatic children is increasingly required both in the clinical setting and in future epidemiological studies

An image-based kinematic model of the tibiotalar and subtalar joints and its application to gait analysis in children with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

In vivo estimates of tibiotalar and the subtalar joint kinematics can unveil unique information about gait biomechanics, especially in the presence of musculoskeletal disorders affecting the foot and ankle complex. Previous literature investigated the ankle kinematics on ex vivo data sets, but little has been reported for natural walking, and even less for pathological and juvenile populations. This paper proposes an MRI-based morphological fitting methodology for the personalised definition of the tibiotalar and the subtalar joint axes during gait, and investigated its application to characterise the ankle kinematics in twenty patients affected by Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA). The estimated joint axes were in line with in vivo and ex vivo literature data and joint kinematics variation subsequent to inter-operator variability was in the order of 1°. The model allowed to investigate, for the first time in patients with JIA, the functional response to joint impairment. The joint kinematics highlighted changes over time that were consistent with changes in the patient’s clinical pattern and notably varied from patient to patient. The heterogeneous and patient-specific nature of the effects of JIA was confirmed by the absence of a correlation between a semi-quantitative MRI-based impairment score and a variety of investigated joint kinematics indexes. In conclusion, this study showed the feasibility of using MRI and morphological fitting to identify the tibiotalar and subtalar joint axes in a non-invasive patient-specific manner. The proposed methodology represents an innovative and reliable approach to the analysis of the ankle joint kinematics in pathological juvenile populations

Software inteligente para la digitalización de placas espectroscópicas

La Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas (FCAG) de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) tiene un rico historial de observaciones astronómicas, geofísicas y meteorológicas. En particular, su colección de observaciones incluye 15.000 registros espectroscópicos en placas de vidrio obtenidas entre 1920 y 1980. La recuperación de los registros espectroscópicos implica un proceso complejo que incluye varias etapas: la recopilación de las placas fotográficas y sus respectivos metadatos; el escaneo de las placas y su conversión a archivos con formatos útiles a la astronomía y la extracción de los espectros y su calibración en longitud de onda. Dada la cantidad de registros y las dificultades de su procesamiento, usando métodos manuales la recuperación del patrimonio completo llevaría una cantidad de tiempo prohibitiva y podría introducir diferencias en la sistematización y el análisis de los registros. En este artículo presentamos un software inteligente para ayudar en la recuperación de la información contenida en las placas. El software contiene un módulo que detecta de forma automática los espectros, agiliza la carga de los metadatos y verifica su estandarización. El uso del software permitirá reducir significativamente las horas-persona necesarias y los errores de procesamiento.XXIII Workshop Agentes y Sistemas Inteligentes (WASI)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

Deep learning para aplicaciones astronómicas, visión por computadora y sistemas médicos

Esta línea de investigación se centra en el estudio y desarrollo de Sistemas Inteligentes para la resolución de problemas de reconocimiento de patrones en imágenes, video y datos médicos, utilizando técnicas de Aprendizaje Automático clásicas, junto con Redes Neuronales Convolucionales y Aprendizaje profundo. El trabajo presentado describe diferentes casos de aplicación en visión por computadora, Astronomía y predicción de diabetes. Una de las líneas de investigación principales que se continúa desarrollando es el reconocimiento de lengua de señas. Este es un problema complejo y multidisciplinar, que presenta diversos subproblemas a resolver como el reconocimiento del intérprete, la segmentación de manos, la clasificación de diferentes configuraciones y de un gesto dinámico, entre otros. En esta área se está estudiando la forma de reconocer formas de mano de la Lengua de Señas con conjuntos de datos de tamaño reducido, dada la falta de datos de entrenamiento para este dominio. Además, se están utilizando Redes Recurrentes para reconocer señas dinámicas, utilizando la base de datos LSA64 de Lengua de Señas Argentina [2]. Por último, se están utilizando Redes Generativas Adversarias (GANs) para aumentar bases de datos de formas de mano, con el objetivo de complementar desde otro enfoque el entrenamiento de modelos para su clasificación. Por otro lado, se está estudiando la forma en que las redes neuronales codifican la invarianza a las transformaciones y otras propiedades transformacionales, con el objetivo de poder analizar y comparar estos modelos. De esta forma se espera poder mejorar los modelos de clasificación de objetos transformados, en particular, de formas de mano. Siguiendo con la línea de reconocimiento de patrones en imágenes, se está llevando a cabo una colaboración con investigadores de la Facultad de Astronomía y Geofísica de la UNLP para crear modelos de clasificación de imágenes de objetos celestes. Además, se está desarrollando un sistema para recuperar la información de placas. Por último, se estudiaron modelos de Aprendizaje Automático para la predicción temprana de la enfermedad de diabetes.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic