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•Severe COVID19 patients display a dysregulation in host inflammatory responses characterized by low IFN and high proinflammatory cytokine expression.•Comprehensive studies have ...identified viral antagonists of PAMP recognition, IFN induction, and IFN receptor signaling.•SARS-CoV-2 proteins indirectly inhibit host immune responses by disrupting nuclear trafficking, RNA maturation, mRNA translation, and protein trafficking.•The development of replication competent viruses and the implementation of varied cell and animal models will continue to shape our understanding of host-pathogen interaction that shape SARS-CoV-2 disease outcomes.
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and is characterized by a delayed interferon (IFN) response and high levels of proinflammatory cytokine expression. Type I and III IFNs serve as a first line of defense during acute viral infections and are readily antagonized by viruses to establish productive infection. A rapidly growing body of work has interrogated the mechanisms by which SARS-CoV-2 antagonizes both IFN induction and IFN signaling to establish productive infection. Here, we summarize these findings and discuss the molecular interactions that prevent viral RNA recognition, inhibit the induction of IFN gene expression, and block the response to IFN treatment. We also describe the mechanisms by which SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins promote host shutoff. A detailed understanding of the host-pathogen interactions that unbalance the IFN response is critical for the design and deployment of host-targeted therapeutics to manage COVID-19.
This study examines the persistent impacts of historical racebased discriminatory housing policies on contemporary urban environments in the United States. Specifically, we examine the relationships ...between Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) grades assigned to neighborhoods in the 1930s and the current distribution of tree canopy and level of exposure to air pollution hazards. Our results indicate a clear gradient in tree canopy by HOLC grade, with better neighborhood grades associated with significantly higher percentage of tree canopy coverage. The pattern also exists for airborne carcinogens and respiratory hazards, with worse neighborhood grades associated with significantly higher hazards exposure. Our findings indicate that early 20th century discriminatory housing policies exert a contemporary influence on patterns of green space exposure in American cities, with implications for health and health inequities. Our findings suggest that, in order to achieve equitable access to the benefits of urban greenspace, we must acknowledge these historical influences and consider policies and practices that directly counter these influences, for example, through targeted greenspace development in areas historically identified as unfit for investment.
•Increasing urban tree canopy is a recognized strategy to reduce air pollutants.•There is a systematic disparity in spatial distributions of urban tree canopy.•Current levels of tree canopy reflect a gradient established by the HOLC maps.•There is a similar gradient in airborne carcinogens and respiratory hazards.
Elicitors of anaphylactic reactions are any sources of protein with allergenic capacity. However, not all allergic reactions end up in the most severe form of anaphylaxis. Augmenting factors may ...explain why certain conditions lead to anaphylaxis. Augmenting factors may exhibit three effects: lowering the threshold, increasing the severity, and reversing acquired clinical tolerance. Common augmenting factors are physical exercise, menstruation, NSAIDs, alcohol, body temperature, acute infections, and antacids. Therapeutic options may address causative, preventive, pragmatic, or symptomatic considerations: avoid the eliciting food, take an antihistamine before any situation with a possible risk of augmentation, separate food and sport (at least for 2 h), and carry an adrenaline autoinjector at all times. Individual patterns include summation effects and specific patterns. In conclusion, in the case of a suggestive history but a negative oral challenge, one should consider the possible involvement of augmenting factors; after anaphylactic reactions, always ask for possible augmentation and other risk factors during the recent past; if augmentation is suspected, oral food challenges should be performed in combination with augmenting factors; and in the future, standardized challenge protocols including augmenting factors should be established.
Beyer and Clausen-Schaumann give a survey of the classical works in mechanochemistry. Beyer and Clausen-Schaumann put the key mechanochemical phenomena into perspective with recent results from ...atomic force microscopy and quantum molecular dynamics simulations.
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine facilitators of behavior change and weight loss among African-American women who participated in the Moving Forward Efficacy trial.
Methods
Linear ...mixed models were used to examine the role of self-efficacy, social support, and perceived access to healthy eating, exercise, and neighborhood safety on weight, physical activity, and diet. We also examined the mediation of self-efficacy, social support, and perceived access to healthy eating, exercise, and neighborhood safety on weight loss, physical activity, and diet using the Freedman Schatzkin statistic.
Results
We found no evidence to suggest mediation, but some direct associations of self-efficacy, certain types of social support and perceived access to exercise on weight loss, and behavior change.
Conclusion
We determined that self-efficacy, social support, and perceived access to exercise played a role in weight loss, increased MVPA, and better diet. The role of self-efficacy and perceived access to exercise were more consistent than social support.
Background
Cow's milk allergy (CMA) is one of the most commonly reported childhood food problems. Community‐based incidence and prevalence estimates vary widely, due to possible misinterpretations of ...presumed reactions to milk and differences in study design, particularly diagnostic criteria.
Methods
Children from the EuroPrevall birth cohort in 9 European countries with symptoms possibly related to CMA were invited for clinical evaluation including cows' milk‐specific IgE antibodies (IgE), skin prick test (SPT) reactivity and double‐blind, placebo‐controlled food challenge.
Results
Across Europe, 12 049 children were enrolled, and 9336 (77.5%) were followed up to 2 years of age. CMA was suspected in 358 children and confirmed in 55 resulting in an overall incidence of challenge‐proven CMA of 0.54% (95% CI 0.41–0.70). National incidences ranged from 1% (in the Netherlands and UK) to <0.3% (in Lithuania, Germany and Greece). Of all children with CMA, 23.6% had no cow's milk‐specific IgE in serum, especially those from UK, the Netherlands, Poland and Italy. Of children with CMA who were re‐evaluated one year after diagnosis, 69% (22/32) tolerated cow's milk, including all children with non‐IgE‐associated CMA and 57% of those children with IgE‐associated CMA.
Conclusions
This unique pan‐European birth cohort study using the gold standard diagnostic procedure for food allergies confirmed challenge‐proven CMA in <1% of children up to age 2. Affected infants without detectable specific antibodies to cow's milk were very likely to tolerate cow's milk one year after diagnosis, whereas only half of those with specific antibodies in serum ‘outgrew’ their disease so soon.
Anaphylaxis has been defined as a ‘severe, life‐threatening generalized or systemic hypersensitivity reaction’. However, data indicate that the vast majority of food‐triggered anaphylactic reactions ...are not life‐threatening. Nonetheless, severe life‐threatening reactions do occur and are unpredictable. We discuss the concepts surrounding perceptions of severe, life‐threatening allergic reactions to food by different stakeholders, with particular reference to the inclusion of clinical severity as a factor in allergy and allergen risk management. We review the evidence regarding factors that might be used to identify those at most risk of severe allergic reactions to food, and the consequences of misinformation in this regard. For example, a significant proportion of food‐allergic children also have asthma, yet almost none will experience a fatal food‐allergic reaction; asthma is not, in itself, a strong predictor for fatal anaphylaxis. The relationship between dose of allergen exposure and symptom severity is unclear. While dose appears to be a risk factor in at least a subgroup of patients, studies report that individuals with prior anaphylaxis do not have a lower eliciting dose than those reporting previous mild reactions. It is therefore important to consider severity and sensitivity as separate factors, as a highly sensitive individual will not necessarily experience severe symptoms during an allergic reaction. We identify the knowledge gaps that need to be addressed to improve our ability to better identify those most at risk of severe food‐induced allergic reactions.
Food allergy can have significant effects on morbidity and quality of life and can be costly in terms of medical visits and treatments. There is therefore considerable interest in generating ...efficient approaches that may reduce the risk of developing food allergy. This guideline has been prepared by the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology's (EAACI) Taskforce on Prevention and is part of the EAACI Guidelines for Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis. It aims to provide evidence‐based recommendations for primary prevention of food allergy. A wide range of antenatal, perinatal, neonatal, and childhood strategies were identified and their effectiveness assessed and synthesized in a systematic review.
Based on this evidence, families can be provided with evidence‐based advice about preventing food allergy, particularly for infants at high risk for development of allergic disease. The advice for all mothers includes a normal diet without restrictions during pregnancy and lactation. For all infants, exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for at least first 4–6 months of life. If breastfeeding is insufficient or not possible, infants at high‐risk can be recommended a hypoallergenic formula with a documented preventive effect for the first 4 months. There is no need to avoid introducing complementary foods beyond 4 months, and currently, the evidence does not justify recommendations about either withholding or encouraging exposure to potentially allergenic foods after 4 months once weaning has commenced, irrespective of atopic heredity. There is no evidence to support the use of prebiotics or probiotics for food allergy prevention.
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