Diagnosis,Classification and Management of Mast Cell Activation Syndromes (MCAS) in the Era of Personalized Medicine

Mast cell activation (MCA) is seen in a variety of clinical contexts and pathologies, including IgE-dependent allergic inflammation, other immunologic and inflammatory reactions, primary mast cell (MC) disorders, and hereditary alpha tryptasemia (HAT). MCA-related symptoms range from mild to severe to life-threatening. The severity of MCA-related symptoms depends on a number of factors, including genetic predisposition, the number and releasability of MCs, organs affected, and the type and consequences of comorbid conditions. In severe systemic reactions, MCA is demonstrable by a substantial increase of basal serum tryptase levels above the individual’s baseline. When, in addition, the symptoms are recurrent, involve more than one organ system, and are responsive to therapy with MC-stabilizing or mediator-targeting drugs, the consensus criteria for the diagnosis of MCA syndrome (MCAS) are met. Based on the etiology of MCA, patients can further be classified as having i) primary MCAS where KIT-mutated, clonal, MCs are detected; ii) secondary MCAS where an underlying IgE-dependent allergy or other reactive MCA-triggering pathology is found; or iii) idiopathic MCAS, where neither a triggering reactive state nor KIT-mutated MCs are identified. Most severe MCA events occur in combined forms of MCAS, where KIT-mutated MCs, IgE-dependent allergies and sometimes HAT are detected. These patients may suffer from life-threatening anaphylaxis and are candidates for combined treatment with various types of drugs, including IgE-blocking antibodies, anti-mediator-type drugs and MC-targeting therapy. In conclusion, detailed knowledge about the etiology, underlying pathologies and co-morbidities is important to establish the diagnosis and develop an optimal management plan for MCAS, following the principles of personalized medicine.     

A modular micromachined high-density connector system for biomedical applications

This paper presents a high-density, modular, low-profile, small, and removable connector system developed using micromachining technologies for biomedical applications. This system consists of a silicon or polyimide electrode with one end in contact with the biological tissue and its back-end supported in a titanium base (12.5 mm in diameter and 2.5 mm in height) that is fixed on the test subject. An external glass substrate (6 x 6 x 0.75 mm3), which supports a flexible polyimide diaphragm and CMOS buffers, is attached to the titanium base whenever electrical contact is required. The polyimide flexible diaphragm contains high-density gold electroplated pads (32 pads, each having an area of 100 x 100 micron 2 and separated by 150 microns) which match similar pads on the electrode back-end. When vacuum is applied between the two, the polyimide diaphragm deflects and the corresponding gold pads touch, therefore, establishing electrical connection. In vitro electrical tests in saline solution have been performed on a 32-site connector system demonstrating < 5 omega contact resistance, which remained stable after 70 connections, and -55 dB crosstalk at 1 kHz between adjacent channels. In vivo experiments have also confirmed the establishment of multiple contacts and have produced simultaneous biopotential recordings from the guinea pig occipital cortex.     

Low‐Cost and Highly Efficient Carbon‐Based Perovskite Solar Cells Exhibiting Excellent Long‐Term Operational and UV Stability

Today's perovskite solar cells (PSCs) mostly use components, such as organic hole conductors or noble metal back contacts, that are very expensive or cause degradation of their photovoltaic performance. For future large‐scale deployment of PSCs, these components need to be replaced with cost‐effective and robust ones that maintain high efficiency while ascertaining long‐term operational stability. Here, a simple and low‐cost PSC architecture employing dopant‐free TiO₂ and CuSCN as the electron and hole conductor, respectively, is introduced while a graphitic carbon layer deposited at room temperature serves as the back electrical contact. The resulting PSCs show efficiencies exceeding 18% under standard AM 1.5 solar illumination and retain ≈95% of their initial efficiencies for >2000 h at the maximum power point under full‐sun illumination at 60 °C. In addition, the CuSCN/carbon‐based PSCs exhibit remarkable stability under ultraviolet irradiance for >1000 h while under similar conditions, the standard spiro‐MeOTAD/Au based devices degrade severely.     

Social self-efficacy,academic locus of control,and internet addiction

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship of internet addiction, social self-efficacy, and academic locus of control. Participants were 311 university students who completed a questionnaire package that included the Online Cognition Scale, the Academic Locus of Control Scale, and the Perceived Social Self-efficacy Scale. The hypothesis model was tested through structural equation modeling. According to results internal academic locus of control was predicted positively by social self-efficacy. Also internet addiction was explained negatively by social self-efficacy and internal academic locus of control and positively by external academic locus of control. Results were discussed in the light of literature.     

Advanced Operator Interface Design for Complex Space Telerobots

With technology advancements in computers and displays, computer interfaces can be used to alleviate the operator workload while controlling a complex robot. A graphical simulation of the robotic system can be used to improve development, train operators, and enhance their performance during actual operations. This paper summarizes the advantages realized using a graphical simulation to visually display telemetry from a multiple arm space telerobot. By displaying the commanded position of a manipulator graphically along with the actual position, the operator becomes more effective in diagnosing anomalies in the system. The negative impact of communication time delay can also be alleviated using this commanded display. The above advantages coupled with the simulation's ability to display multiple synthetic views, to move each view to any virtual location, and to highlight functions to emphasize important information, can ease the operator's workload, making him or her more effective in controlling a complex system.     

Estimating vigilance level by using EEG and EMG signals

We developed a new method for estimation of vigilance level by using both EEG and EMG signals recorded during transition from wakefulness to sleep. Previous studies used only EEG signals for estimating the vigilance levels. In this study, it was aimed to estimate vigilance level by using both EEG and EMG signals for increasing the accuracy of the estimation rate. In our work, EEG and EMG signals were obtained from 30 subjects. In data preparation stage, EEG signals were separated to its subbands using wavelet transform for efficient discrimination, and chin EMG was used to verify and eliminate the movement artifacts. The changes in EEG and EMG were diagnosed while transition from wakefulness to sleep by using developed artificial neural network (ANN). Training and testing data sets consist of the subbanded components of EEG and power density of EMG signals were applied to the ANN for training and testing the system which gives three situations for the vigilance level of the subject: awake, drowsy, and sleep. The accuracy of estimation was about 98–99% while the accuracy of the previous study, which uses only EEG, was 95–96%.     

Effect of forage cell wall phenolic acids and derivatives on rumen microflora

The trans isomers of methyl and t-butyl esters of p-coumaric acid and 4,4′- dihydroxy-α-truxillic acid were compared with trans-p-coumaric acid in relation to their toxicity against rumen microorganisms. Toxicity was evaluated by the effect on growth of pure cultures of Bacteroides ruminicola and Ruminococcus flavefaciens and by the effect on dry matter loss in in-vitro digestion studies using rumen fluid. Growth of the pure cultures of rumen bacteria was reduced by the methyl and t-butyl esters as much as or more than by p-coumaric acid. In contrast, 4,4′-dihydroxy-α-truxillic acid, a photodimer of p-coumaric acid, was only marginally inhibitory to growth of these bacteria. At 5 mM concentration in rumen fluid, the esters inhibited dry matter digestion of bermudagrass by rumen bacteria and by fungi, but results for 4,4′-dihydroxy-α-truxillic acid were similar to the control treatment in which no phenolic compound was added.     

Relation between mechanical stiffness and vibration transmission of fracture callus: an experimental study on rabbit tibia

The inhibitory effect of ethanol absorption by zinc cysteine (Cys-Zn) and zinc acetylcysteine (ACys-Zn) were studied in mice. This mice orally received Cys-Zn, ACys-Zn, Cys or Zn acetate, and after 1 hr, 14C-ethanol was given orally or intraperitoneally (i.p.). At various times, blood was drawn from the tail vein and 14C-radioactivities determined. Cys-Zn and ACys-Zn inhibited the appearance of 14C-radioactivities in blood following oral 14C-ethanol loading, but Cys and Zn acetate caused no changes as compared to the control. Cys-Zn pretreatment did not induce any change in the blood 14C-radioactivity when ethanol was given i.p. The levels of 14C-radioactivity and zinc in the gastrointestinal tract after oral administration (adm) of Cys-Zn and 14C-ethanol were significantly higher than those of the control for 7 hr. At 72 hr after adm, the urinary and fectal excretions of 14C-radioactivity were low when Cys-Zn was given at the dose of 5.0% or 0.5%. The excretion of 14C-radioactivity through expiration in both cys-Zn and control mice was about 28% of the dose at 5 hr after adm. Distributions of 14C-radioactivities in other organs of Cys-Zn treated mice were lower then those of the control. In the vitro study, Cys-Zn stimulated the metabolism of ethanol to acetaldehyde and acetic acid in the 9,000 g supernatant of the small intestine. The results suggest that zinc complex shows a long-term adhesive and permeable action on the gastrointestinal tract in mice, and this inhibited ethanol absorption.