The current role of sublingual immunotherapy in the treatment of allergic rhinitis in adults and children

Allergic rhinitis is a very common disease affecting about 20% of people. It may be treated by allergen avoidance when possible, by antiallergic drugs such as antihistamines and topical corticosteroids, and by allergen-specific immunotherapy. The latter is the only treatment able to act on the causes and not only on the symptoms of respiratory allergy and is able to maintain its efficacy even after stopping, provided an adequate duration of treatment of 3–5 years is ensured. Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) was introduced in the 1990s as a possible solution to the problem of adverse systemic reactions to subcutaneous immunotherapy and has been demonstrated by more than 50 trials and globally evaluated thus far by five meta-analyses as an effective and safe treatment for allergic rhinitis. Life-threatening reactions are extremely rare. However, it is important to note that clinical efficacy occurs only if SLIT meets its needs, ie, sufficiently high doses are regularly administered for at least 3 consecutive years. This is often overlooked in the current practice and may prevent the same success reported by trials from being achieved

Endogenous glutamine decrease is associated with pancreatic cancer progression

Abstract Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is becoming the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the Western world. The mortality is very high, which emphasizes the need to identify biomarkers for early detection. As glutamine metabolism alteration is a feature of PDAC, its in vivo evaluation may provide a useful tool for biomarker identification. Our aim was to identify a handy method to evaluate blood glutamine consumption in mouse models of PDAC. We quantified the in vitro glutamine uptake by Mass Spectrometry (MS) in tumor cell supernatants and showed that it was higher in PDAC compared to non-PDAC tumor and pancreatic control human cells. The increased glutamine uptake was paralleled by higher activity of most glutamine pathway-related enzymes supporting nucleotide and ATP production. Free glutamine blood levels were evaluated in orthotopic and \u202

Association between EEG Paroxysmal Abnormalities and Levels of Plasma Amino Acids and Urinary Organic Acids in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abnormalities in the plasma amino acid and/or urinary organic acid profile have been reported in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). An imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory neuronal activity has been proposed as a mechanism to explain dysfunctional brain networks in ASD, as also suggested by the increased risk of epilepsy in this disorder. This study explored the possible association between presence of EEG paroxysmal abnormalities and the metabolic profile of plasma amino acids and urinary organic acids in children with ASD. In a sample of 55 children with ASD (81.8% male, mean age 53.67 months), EEGs were recorded, and 24 plasma amino acids and 56 urinary organic acids analyzed. EEG epileptiform discharges were found in 36 (65%) children. A LASSO regression, adjusted by age and sex, was applied to evaluate the association of plasma amino acids and urinary organic acids profiles with the presence of EEG epileptiform discharges. Plasma levels of threonine (THR) (coefficient = −0.02, p = 0.04) and urinary concentration of 3-Hydroxy-3-Methylglutaric acid (HMGA) (coefficient = 0.04, p = 0.02) were found to be associated with the presence of epileptiform discharges. These results suggest that altered redox mechanisms might be linked to epileptiform brain activity in ASD

Requirements for acquiring a high-quality house dust mite extract for allergen immunotherapy

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Innovative superparamagnetic iron-oxide nanoparticles coated with silica and conjugated with linoleic acid: Effect on tumor cell growth and viability

One of the goals for the development of more effective cancer therapies with reduced toxic side effects is the optimization of innovative treatments to selectively kill tumor cells. The use of nanovectors loaded with targeted therapeutic payloads is one of the most investigated strategies. In this paper superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) coated by a silica shell or uncoated, were functionalized with single-layer and bi-layer conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Silica was used to protect the magnetic core from oxidation, improve the stability of SPIONs and tailor their surface reactivity. CLA was used as novel grafting biomolecule for its anti-tumor activity and to improve particle dispersibility. Mouse breast cancer 4T1 cells were treated with these different SPIONs. SPIONs functionalized with the highest quantity of CLA and coated with silica shell were the most dispersed. Cell viability was reduced by SPIONs functionalized with CLA in comparison with cells which were untreated or treated with SPIONs without CLA. As regards the types of SPIONs functionalized with CLA, the lowest viability was observed in cells treated with uncoated SPIONs with the highest quantity of CLA. In conclusion, the silica shell free SPIONs functionalized with the highest amount of CLA can be suggested as therapeutic carriers because they have the best dispersion and ability to decrease 4T1 cell viability

Diagnóstico operativo empresarial de la empresa Unión Andina de Cementos S.A.A. – UNACEM

El presente diagnóstico operativo empresarial tiene por finalidad hacer una síntesis de los principales aspectos operativos de la Planta Atocongo de Unión Andina de Cementos S.A.A. – UNACEM, la principal fábrica de cemento del país. Con una producción anual de más de 5 millones de toneladas de cemento y una participación del mercado de más del 45% se constituye como uno de los principales motores para el desarrollo nacional a través de los principales proyectos de infraestructura a través del tiempo. Así, se busca exponer los aspectos clave de su operación desde aquellos a nivel macro como el diseño del proceso productivo y la planta hasta aquellos de mediano plazo como las decisiones de planeamiento agregado, estrategia de mantenimiento, costos y cadena de suministro para continuar detallando las decisiones operativas o del día a día como la programación de las operaciones y la función de compras y almacenes. A lo largo del trabajo de investigación se plantean oportunidades de mejora y conclusiones, las mismas que buscan sugerir una solución operativa, concisa y factible fruto de la experiencia de los autores del presente trabajo dentro de empresas de diferentes rubros. Se ha buscado tener un enfoque marcado en la rentabilidad, consiguiéndose un ahorro anual estimado de S/ 6’085,434 con una inversión estimada de S/ 2’904,926 para de esta manera obtener un beneficio para la empresa de S/ 3’180,508. Sin embargo no hemos dejado de lado el impacto en la seguridad industrial, la calidad y la mejora de procesos, pilares básicos para la sostenibilidad de cualquier empresa en nuestros días.The purpose of this business operational diagnosis is to summarize the main operational aspects of the operation of Unión Andina de Cementos S.A.A. – UNACEM Atocongo Plant, the main cement factory in the country. With an annual production of more than 5 million tons of cement and a market share of more than 45%, it is one of the main engines for national development through the main infrastructure projects over time. Thus, it seeks to expose the key aspects of its operation from those at the macro level such as the design of the production process and the plant to those of the medium term such as aggregate planning decisions, maintenance strategy, costs and supply chain to continue detailing the operational or day-to-day decisions such as the programming of operations and the function of purchases and warehouses. Throughout the research report, opportunities for improvement and conclusions are raised that seek to suggest an operative, concise and feasible solution resulting from the experience in other organizations of the authors of this work. It has sought to have a marked focus on profitability, achieving an estimated annual savings of S/ 6’085,434 with an estimated investment of S/ 2’904,926 in order to obtain a profit for the company of S/ 3’180,508. However, we have not neglected the impact on industrial safety, quality and process improvement, basic pillars for the sustainability of any company today.Tesi

Catching allergy by a simple questionnaire

Background: Identifying allergic rhinitis requires allergy testing, but the first-line referral for rhinitis are usually primary care physicians (PCP), who are not familiar with such tests. The availability of easy and simple tests to be used by PCP to suggest allergy should be very useful. Methods: The Respiratory Allergy Prediction (RAP) test, based on 9 questions and previously validated by a panel of experts, was evaluated in this study. Results: An overall number of 401 patients (48.6% males, age range 14-62 years) with respiratory symptoms was included. Of them, 89 (22.2%) showed negative results to SPT, while 312 (77.8%) had at least one positive result to SPT. Cohen's kappa coefficient showed that all questions had an almost perfect excellent agreement between pre and post-test. The algorithm of decision-tree growth Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detector showed that answering yes to the question 4 (Your nasal/ocular complains do usually start or worsen during the spring?), 6 (Did you ever had cough or shortness of breath, even during exercise?) and 8 (Do you use nasal sprays frequently?) gave a probability to have a positive SPT of 85%. Conclusions: These findings show that RAP test can be proposed as an useful tool to be used by physician other than allergists when evaluating patients with rhinitis, suggesting the need of allergy testing