Acknowledgement to reviewers of JSAN in 2016

The editors of JSAN would like to express their sincere gratitude to the following reviewers for assessing manuscripts in 2016.[...

The design of the instrument control unit and its role within the data processing system of the ESA PLATO Mission

PLATO1 is an M-class mission of the European Space Agency's Cosmic Vision program, whose launch is foreseen by 2026. PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars aims to characterize exoplanets and exoplanetary systems by detecting planetary transits and conducting asteroseismology of their parent stars. PLATO is the next generation planetary transit space experiment, as it will fly after CoRoT, Kepler, TESS and CHEOPS; its objective is to characterize exoplanets and their host stars in the solar neighbors. While it is built on the heritage from previous missions, the major breakthrough to be achieved by PLATO will come from its strong focus on bright targets, typically with mvv<=8. The prime science goals characterizing and distinguishing PLATO from the previous missions are: the detection and characterization of exoplanetary systems of all kinds, including both the planets and their host stars, reaching down to small, terrestrial planets in the habitable zone; the identification of suitable targets for future, more detailed characterization, including a spectroscopic search for biomarkers in nearby habitable exoplanets (e.g. ARIEL Mission scientific case, E-ELT observations from Ground); a full characterization of the planet host stars, via asteroseismic analysis: this will provide the Community with the masses, radii and ages of the host stars, from which masses, radii and ages of the detected planets will be determined

Current progress in the understanding of IgE-FcεRI interaction

The last decade has seen a wealth of studies aimed at the characterization of the binding between IgE and its high-affinity receptor, FcεRI. IgE-FcεRI complex formation is a major molecular event in atopic allergy. IgE-FcεRI binding connects allergen recognition to cellular triggering, ultimately leading to disease manifestations. Consequently, pharmacological intervention at this site is of universal relevance for atopic allergy. Until recent years, the complexity of IgE-FcεRI binding, together with the difficulty in obtaining fully functional recombinant IgE and FcεRI derivatives, often led to confusion and difficulty in data interpretation. Major advances in the understanding of this intricate protein-protein interaction have now been accomplished. Most of the current knowledge on the IgE-FcεRI recognition mode derives from long-lasting efforts in the field of structural biology. Protein engineering, high-throughput screening, immunological and biochemical studies also made relevant contributions in this domain. The data accumulated to date predict that IgE and FcεRI use their modular architecture to approach each other in an asymmetric stepwise manner determining a 1:1 stoichiometry. This recognition appears to be enhanced by conformational changes occurring upon binding, leading to the well-known high-affinity. In conclusion, the vast amount of high-quality data available broadened our knowledge on the IgE-FcεRI system; however, the fine structural details of the recognition process are still largely hypothetical. More studies are necessary to provide the experimental comprehensive picture required to carefully design efficient drugs acting at the IgE-FcεRI interface. Copyright © 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel

Effects of omalizumab on basophils: Potential biomarkers in asthma and chronic spontaneous urticaria

Omalizumab is an anti-IgE humanized monoclonal antibody approved for the treatment of severe asthma and chronic spontaneous urticaria. Omalizumab binds free serum IgE and antagonizes its interaction with FcεRI, which is considered the main pharmacodynamic mechanism responsible for the clinical response to the treatment. The reduction of IgE serum concentration down-regulates the cellular expression of FcεRI on basophils. However, the biological events occurring on basophils during the therapy with omalizumab are multiple and complex. Here we review the current evidence regarding the specific biological effects of omalizumab on basophils in patients with asthma and chronic spontaneous urticaria. In addition to the modulation of IgE receptors, omalizumab may affect basophils homeostasis, intra-cellular signaling, cellular responsiveness/activation and cytokine release. These effects may be partially responsible for the clinical success of omalizumab and potentially provide useful biological markers for future assessment of the clinical response to the treatment. However, further investigation is required to better elucidate the role of basophils during the treatment with omalizumab

Start of Packet Detection and Synchronization for LoraWAN Modulated Signals

LoRaWAN is one of the most employed systems among the Low PowerWide Area Networks. An open problem for the LoRaWAN system is the receiver’s overall synchronization, including the detection of the start of the LoRaWAN packet and the correction of the carrier frequency offset and time offset. The implementation of such a subsystem in currently available chipsets for LoRaWAN is not known. This paper provides a description of a new synchronization subsystem for a LoRaWAN receiver in realistic scenarios, considering the usual operating regions (in terms, for example, of Signal-to-Noise Ratio, maximum carrier frequency offset, and allowed Packet Error Rate). The ambiguity of the effects of the time offset and the carrier frequency offset on the LoRaWAN preamble are established analytically. Different options for the synchronization subsystem are provided, one of which is particularly suited if the requirements on the maximum frequency offset are those set for off–the–shelf chipsets. The performance of the proposed synchronization subsystem and the start of the packet detection algorithm is evaluated through a campaign of simulations. The results confirm that the proposed subsystem meets all of the requirements for successful demodulation and detection of the data part following the preamble