Background
Component‐resolved diagnostics (CRD) are promising tools for diagnosing food allergy, offering the potential to determine specific phenotypes and to develop patient‐tailored risk profiles. ...Nevertheless, the diagnostic accuracy of these tests varies across studies; thus, their clinical utility remains unclear. Therefore, we synthesized the evidence from studies investigating the diagnostic accuracy, risk assessment ability, and cost‐effectiveness of CRD for food allergy.
Methods
We systematically searched 10 electronic databases and four clinical trial registries for studies published from January 2000 to February 2017. The quality of included studies was assessed using QUADAS‐2. Due to heterogeneity, we narratively synthesized the evidence.
Results
Eleven studies met inclusion criteria, altogether recruiting 1098 participants. The food allergies investigated were cow's milk, hen's egg, peanut, hazelnut, and shrimp. The components with the highest diagnostic accuracy for each allergen, along with their sensitivity‐specificity pairs, were as follows: Bos d 4 for cow's milk (62.0% and 87.5%), Gal d 1 for hen's egg (84.2% and 89.8% for heated egg, and 60.6% and 97.1% for raw egg), Ara h 6 for peanut (94.9% and 95.1%), Cor a 14 for hazelnut (100% and 93.8%), and Lit v 1 for shrimp (82.8% and 56.3%) allergy.
Conclusion
Selected components of cow's milk, hen's egg, peanut, hazelnut, and shrimp allergen showed high specificity, but lower sensitivity. However, few studies exist for each component, and studies vary widely regarding the cutoff values used, making it challenging to synthesize findings across studies. Further research is needed to determine clinically appropriate cutoff values, risk assessment abilities, and cost‐effectiveness of CRD approaches.
The past decade has seen a rapid increase of numerical simulation studies on photobioreactors (PBRs). Developments in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and the availability of more powerful ...computers have paved the way for the modeling and designing PRBs, a strategy that was abandoned from the late 1970s until the 1980s because of its complexity. This paper reviews the present status of numerical modeling for PBRs as well the application of CFD in the design of PBR for the mass production of microalgae. Emphasis is on the major breakthroughs in PBR design that may lead to scaling-up. Most simulations have been conducted in bubble column PBRs, which offer many advantages. Their geometry is simple in design with no moving parts, and they are easy to construct and operate. A majority of published simulation studies used two-phase models (air and water) and employed the Eulerian-Eulerian mixture model. CFD models have been vigorously validated by experimental and laboratory studies, with most claiming to have achieved good results. However, current PBR scale-up projects still need to resolve hydrodynamic issues within the PBR, in order to optimize factors for microalgal growth. To create ideal conditions inside the PBR, the main factors that influence microalgal growth such as light intensity and distribution, gas injection and mixing, and hydrodynamics/flow pattern which are the key for design and scale up must be thoroughly understood. The present practice of PBR design using CFD can be considered both an art and a science because of some numerical simulation issues which are yet to be resolved and the complexity of fluid mechanics inside the PBRs. Nonetheless, CFD has proven to be an effective tool in predicting the complex inherent phenomena in the PBRs. The CFD technique has shown to be very promising to successfully design and develop PBRs which can be commercially available for scale-up.
The most recent version of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) consensus guidelines for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) was published in 2016, ...identifying both a more strategic approach to the administration of the available systemic therapy choices, and a greater emphasis on the use of ablative techniques, including surgery. At the 2016 ESMO Asia Meeting, in December 2016, it was decided by both ESMO and the Japanese Society of Medical Oncology (JSMO) to convene a special guidelines meeting, endorsed by both ESMO and JSMO, immediately after the JSMO 2017 Annual Meeting. The aim was to adapt the ESMO consensus guidelines to take into account the ethnic differences relating to the toxicity as well as other aspects of certain systemic treatments in patients of Asian ethnicity. These guidelines represent the consensus opinions reached by experts in the treatment of patients with mCRC identified by the Presidents of the oncological societies of Japan (JSMO), China (Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology), Korea (Korean Association for Clinical Oncology), Malaysia (Malaysian Oncological Society), Singapore (Singapore Society of Oncology) and Taiwan (Taiwan Oncology Society). The voting was based on scientific evidence and was independent of both the current treatment practices and the drug availability and reimbursement situations in the individual participating Asian countries.
Abstract
Large studies comparing the surgical outcome of primary versus patch repair in congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) patients are rare. This study aims to evaluate the incidence of surgical ...complications in both types of CDH repair. PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane and Web of Science were searched for peer-reviewed articles. Studies on CDH between 1991 and August 2020 were systematically screened and meta-analyses were performed. Primary outcomes of this review were: haemorrhage, chylothorax, recurrences and small bowel obstruction (SBO). A total of 6436 abstracts were screened, after which 25 publications were included (2910 patients). Patch repaired patients have a 2.8 times higher risk on developing a recurrence (20 studies) and a 2.5 times higher risk on developing a chylothorax (five studies). Moreover, they have a two times higher risk on developing a SBO. No studies could be included that evaluated the incidence of surgical haemorrhage between these patients. Although the quality of the studies was relatively low, patch repaired patients have a higher risk on developing a recurrence, chylothorax and small bowel obstruction. Large prospective studies are required to adjust for severity of disease, to reveal the true causative factors in order to minimize the risk on these surgical complications in both types of patients.
This study compared the efficacy and safety of tramadol/acetaminophen (T/A) and gabapentin in the management of painful diabetic neuropathy.
An open, randomized, comparative study was conducted. ...Subjects with painful symmetric neuropathy in the lower limbs and mean pain-intensity score > or = 4 on a numeric rating scale were eligible. Subjects were randomized to receive either tramadol (37.5 mg)/acetaminophen (325 mg) or gabapentin (300 mg) for 6 weeks. After 2 weeks of the titration period (1200 mg/day for gabapentin and three tablets/day for T/A), the doses were maintained if the pain was relieved. The primary efficacy outcome was a reduction in pain intensity. Secondary measures evaluated a pain relief scale, a Brief Pain Inventory, a 36-item Short Form Health Survey, average pain intensity and sleep disturbance.
One hundred and sixty-three subjects (T/A 79; gabapentin 84) were included. At the final visit, the mean doses were 1575 mg/day for gabapentin and 4.22 tablets/day for T/A. Both groups were similar in terms of baseline pain intensity (mean intensity: T/A 6.7 +/- 1.6; gabapentin 6.3 +/- 1.6, P = 0.168). At the final visit, the mean reductions in pain intensity were similar in both groups (T/A -3.1 +/- 2.0; gabapentin -2.7 +/- 2.1, P = 0.744). Both groups had similar improvements in every Short Form Health Survey category and Brief Pain Inventory subcategory, and in the mean pain relief scores.
This study suggests that the T/A combination treatment is as effective as gabapentin in the treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy in patients with Type 2 diabetes.
We have systematically investigated substrate-strain effects on the electronic structures of two representative Sr-iridates, a correlated-insulator Sr2IrO4 and a metal SrIrO3. Optical conductivities ...obtained by the ab initio electronic structure calculations reveal that the tensile strain shifts the optical peak positions to higher energy side with altered intensities, suggesting the enhancement of the electronic correlation and spin-orbit coupling (SOC) strength in Sr-iridates. The response of the electronic structure upon tensile strain is found to be highly correlated with the direction of magnetic moment, the octahedral connectivity, and the SOC strength, which cooperatively determine the robustness of Jeff = 1/2 ground states. Optical responses are analyzed also with microscopic model calculation and compared with corresponding experiments. In the case of SrIrO3, the evolution of the electronic structure near the Fermi level shows high tunability of hole bands, as suggested by previous experiments.
Summary
Background
There are increasing reports of paradoxical psoriasiform diseases secondary to anti‐tumour necrosis factor (TNF) agents.
Aims
To determine the risks of paradoxical psoriasiform ...diseases secondary to anti‐TNF agents in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Methods
A nationwide population study was performed using the Korea National Health Insurance Claim Data. A total of 50 502 patients with IBD were identified between 2007 and 2016. We compared 5428 patients who were treated with any anti‐TNF agent for more than 6 months (anti‐TNF group) and 10 856 matched controls who had never taken anti‐TNF agents (control group).
Results
Incidence of psoriasis was significantly higher in the anti‐TNF group (36.8 per 10 000 person‐years) compared to the control group (14.5 per 10 000 person‐years) (hazard ratio HR 2.357, 95% confidence interval CI 1.668‐3.331). Palmoplantar pustulosis (HR 9.355, 95% CI 2.754‐31.780) and psoriatic arthritis (HR 2.926, 95% CI 1.640‐5.218) also showed higher risks in the anti‐TNF group. In subgroup analyses, HRs for psoriasis by IBD subtype were 2.549 (95% CI 1.658‐3.920) in Crohn's disease and 2.105 (95% CI 1.155‐3.836) in ulcerative colitis. Interestingly, men and younger (10‐39 years) patients have significantly higher risks of palmoplantar pustulosis (HR 19.682 95% CI 3.867‐100.169 and HR 14.318 95% CI 2.915‐70.315, respectively), whereas women and older (≥40 years) patients showed similar rates between the two groups.
Conclusions
The risks of psoriasiform diseases are increased by anti‐TNF agents in patients with IBD. Among psoriasiform diseases, the risk of palmoplantar pustulosis shows the biggest increase particularly in male and younger patients.
Linked ContentThis article is linked to Pariente and Blondeaux, and Lee et al papers. To view these articles visit https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.14903 and https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.14917.
Nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)-mediated signaling is associated with different tumors including renal cell carcinoma. NF-κB- and IGF-1-mediated signaling is found ...to be inhibited in the presence of wild-type von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) tumor suppresser gene. Therefore, negative regulator of VHL may be a good target for regulating NF-κB and IGF-1R. In this study, we found that VHL, a tumor suppressor protein that downregulates the NF-κB activity and the stability of IGF-1R was depleted by TGase 2 through polymerization via crosslinking and proteasomal degradation in kidney, breast and ovary cancer cell lines. We also found that TGase 2 knockdown promotes hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) degradation, and thereby decrease HIF-1α transcriptional activity. Importantly, VHL expression was decreased in vivo in TGase-2-transgenic mice, and this was associated with increased NF-κB activity and the levels of expression of IGF-1R, HIF-1α and erythropoietin in kidney tissue. These results suggest a novel mechanism of regulation of the VHL tumor suppressor by TGase 2 that appears to be independent of the known cancer regulatory mechanisms.
The electronic structure of a charge density wave (CDW) system PrTe3 and its modulated structure in the CDW phase have been investigated by employing ARPES, XAS, Pr 4 f RPES, and first-principles ...band structure calculation. Pr ions are found to be nearly trivalent, supporting the CDW instability in the metallic Te sheets through partial filling. Finite Pr 4 f spectral weight is observed near the Fermi level, suggesting the non-negligible Pr 4 f contribution to the CDW formation through the Pr 4 f -Te 5p hybridization. The two-fold symmetric features in the measured Fermi surface (FS) of PrTe3 are explained by the calculated FS for the assumed 7 × 1 CDW supercell formation in Te sheets. The shadow bands and the corresponding very weak FSs are observed, which originate from both the band folding due to the 3D interaction of Te sheets with neighboring Pr-Te layers and that due to the CDW-induced FS reconstruction. The straight vertical FSs are observed along kz, demonstrating the nearly 2D character for the near-EF states. The observed linear dichroism reveals the in-plane orbital character of the near-EF Te 5p states.
Limited measurement points and unpredictable airflows, as well as uncontrollable weather conditions, make conducting field experiments to study ventilation in broiler houses very difficult. ...Simulations using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are often used to overcome the above mentioned limitation. In this study, airflow, internal air temperature distribution and ventilation efficiency of a conventional ventilation system and several modified ventilation systems were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively using a previously developed CFD model. These analyses were conducted in order to enhance the rearing condition of the conventional, natural ventilated broiler houses. A tracer gas decay method was adapted to the CFD main solver utilising a user-defined function to calculate the ventilation efficiency and building energy simulation (BES) method was used to compute the heating load. In order to replicate the ventilation problems encountered during the field experiment, the various ventilation systems were studied in the cold season with four different types of vent openings: a chimney, a side vent, a pipe under the roof and a side-up vent at the eaves. From the CFD results, the optimum results were obtained with a model that used a diffuser beneath the chimney inlet which mixed the incoming cold air with the warm air that had accumulated in the upper portion of the broiler house. An additional curtain installed close to the internal side wall effectively guided exhaust gas to the outlet vents and introduced the incoming fresh air to the broiler zone. The curtain also enhanced the thermal insulation at the side wall. Because of its high ventilation efficiency in the broiler zone, compared with a conventional broiler house there was a 32% increase in the thermal uniformity and a 14% increase in the thermal suitability. The BES results indicated that the model could save 47% of the energy input at the broiler zone compared to the conventional ventilation system. An additional field experiment demonstrated that an upgraded broiler house adapted to the model saved 30% of energy costs.
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