Effects of omalizumab therapy on allergic rhinitis: a pilot study

The use of omalizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody able to binding Ig-E, is currently authorized only for treatment of severe bronchial asthma. The use of omalizumab in other Ig-E related diseases is off-label, although some studies have provided promising results about it. The aim of this study was to evaluate if therapy with omalizumab in patients affected by asthma and allergic rhinitis has an impact also on allergic rhinitis-related symptoms

Generalized parton distributions, the hunt for quark orbital momenta

The Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs) are the appropriate framework for a universal description of the partonic structure of the nucleon. They characterize the dynamics of quarks and gluons inside the nucleon and consequently contain information about the spin of the nucleon. The current experimental knowledge about GPDs is reviewed with the emphasis on the determination of E^q(Q^2,x,xi,t), the least known and constrained GPD, of particular importance in the nucleon spin puzzle. The perspectives of this experimental program are also addressed.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures Proceedings of the XVIIIth Symposium on Spin Physics, Charlottesville (Virginia, USA), October 6-11,200

Controlling the Er content of porous silicon using the doping current intensity

The results of an investigation on the Er doping of porous silicon are presented. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, optical reflectivity, and spatially resolved energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) coupled to scanning electron microscopy measurements were used to investigate on the transient during the first stages of constant current Er doping. Depending on the applied current intensity, the voltage transient displays two very different behaviors, signature of two different chemical processes. The measurements show that, for equal transferred charge and identical porous silicon (PSi) layers, the applied current intensity also influences the final Er content. An interpretative model is proposed in order to describe the two distinct chemical processes. The results can be useful for a better control over the doping process

Status of Longitudinal Polarized Parton Densities and Higher Twist

The present status of the longitudinal polarized parton densities (PDFs) and the contribution of their first moments to the nucleon spin is discussed. Special attention is paid to the role of higher twist effects in determining the PDFs and to the polarized strange quark and gluon densities, which are still not well determined from the present data.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures; to appear in the proceedings of the 18th International Symposium on Spin Physics (SPIN20008), October 6 - 11, 2008, Charlottesville, Virginia, US

Spacetime perspective of Schwarzschild lensing

We propose a definition of an exact lens equation without reference to a background spacetime, and construct the exact lens equation explicitly in the case of Schwarzschild spacetime. For the Schwarzschild case, we give exact expressions for the angular-diameter distance to the sources as well as for the magnification factor and time of arrival of the images. We compare the exact lens equation with the standard lens equation, derived under the thin-lens-weak-field assumption (where the light rays are geodesics of the background with sharp bending in the lens plane, and the gravitational field is weak), and verify the fact that the standard weak-field thin-lens equation is inadequate at small impact parameter. We show that the second-order correction to the weak-field thin-lens equation is inaccurate as well. Finally, we compare the exact lens equation with the recently proposed strong-field thin-lens equation, obtained under the assumption of straight paths but without the small angle approximation, i.e., with allowed large bending angles. We show that the strong-field thin-lens equation is remarkably accurate, even for lightrays that take several turns around the lens before reaching the observer.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Comment on "A centrosome-independent role for gamma-TuRC proteins in the spindle assembly checkpoint"

Müller et al. (Reports, 27 October 2006, p. 654) showed that inhibition of the γ-tubulin ring complex (γ-TuRC) activates the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC), which led them to suggest that γ-TuRC proteins play molecular roles in SAC activation. Because γ-TuRC inhibition leads to pleiotropic spindle defects, which are well known to activate kinetochore-derived checkpoint signaling, we believe that this conclusion is premature

Prevalence of Chlamydophila felis and feline herpesvirus 1 in cats with conjunctivitis in northern Italy.

The prevalence of Chlamydophila felis and feline herpesvirus 1 (FHV-1) infection in cats with conjunctivitis in northern Italy was investigated by conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. In cats with conjunctivitis, C felis and FHV-1 were detected in 14 of 70 (20%) and in 23 of 70 (33%) animals, respectively. None of the 35 control cats were positive for C felis, whereas 7 (20%) of these cats were positive for FHV-1. Mixed infections were present in 5 of 70 cats (7%). Cats positive for C felis were significantly younger than control animals (P = .02), whereas no significant age differences were observed between FHV-1-positive cats and control cats (P = .41) or between FHV-1-positive animals and C felis-positive animals (P = .16). Cats sampled during acute-phase conjunctivitis were also investigated for the presence of C felis by conjunctival scrapings. In this acute phase, substantial agreement was found when comparing the results of the 2 methods (K = .80). The association between PCR results and conjunctivitis was evaluated for the 2 pathogens. The presence of C felis was significantly associated with conjunctivitis (P = .004), whereas the detection of FHV-1 did not significantly correlate with the clinical sign (P = .25), suggesting that, by itself. PCR is not suitable for the diagnosis of FHV-1-related conjunctivitis

Ultra-weak photon emission from the seed coat in response to temperature and humidity - a potential mechanism for environmental signal transduction in the soil seed bank

Seeds beneath the soil sense the changing environment to time germination and seedling emergence with the optimum time of year for survival. Environmental signals first impact with the seed at the seed coat. To investigate whether the seed coat has a role in environmental sensing we investigated their ultra-weak photon emission (UPE) under the variable temperature, relative humidity and oxygen conditions they could experience in the soil seed bank. Using a custom built luminometer we measured UPE intensity and spectra (300-700 nm) from Phaseolus vulgaris seeds, seed coats and cotyledons. UPE was greatest from the internal surface of the seed coat. Seed coat UPE increased concomitantly with both increasing temperature and decreasing relative humidity. Emission was oxygen dependent and it was abolished by treatment with dinitrophenylhydrazine demonstrating the key role of seed coat carbonyls in the phenomenon. We hypothesize that beneath the soil surface the attenuation of light (virtual darkness: low background noise) enables seeds to exploit UPE for transducing key environmental variables in the soil (temperature, humidity and oxygen) to inform them of seasonal and local temperature patterns. Overall, seed coats were found to have potential as effective transducers of key fluctuating environmental variables in the soil

Su alcune formazioni a Olea europaea L. var. sylvestris Brot. della Sardegna

On the Olea europaea L. var. sylvestris Brot. woodlands in Sardinia.The phytosociological analysis of Olea europaea. var. sylvestris woodlands occurring in Sardinia are here presented. The following sintaxa are described for the first time: Cyclamino repandi-Oleetum sylvestris and Myrto communis-Oleetum sylvestris are referred to the Quercion ilicis alliance while Asparago acutifolii-Oleetum sylvestris and Asparago albi-Oleetum sylvestris are referred to the Oleo-Ceratonion alliance

Einstein boundary conditions for the 3+1 Einstein equations

In the 3+1 framework of the Einstein equations for the case of vanishing shift vector and arbitrary lapse, we calculate explicitly the four boundary equations arising from the vanishing of the projection of the Einstein tensor along the normal to the boundary surface of the initial-boundary value problem. Such conditions take the form of evolution equations along (as opposed to across) the boundary for certain components of the extrinsic curvature and for certain space-derivatives of the intrinsic metric. We argue that, in general, such boundary conditions do not follow necessarily from the evolution equations and the initial data, but need to be imposed on the boundary values of the fundamental variables. Using the Einstein-Christoffel formulation, which is strongly hyperbolic, we show how three of the boundary equations should be used to prescribe the values of some incoming characteristic fields. Additionally, we show that the fourth one imposes conditions on some outgoing fields.Comment: Revtex 4, 6 pages, text and references added, typos corrected, to appear in Phys. Rev.