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Biomedical subjects

A Roll

Publications and source records attributed to A Roll.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Coated textiles in the treatment of atopic dermatitis.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease with increasing prevalence over the last few decades. Various factors are known to aggravate the disease. In particular, wool and synthetic fabrics with harsh textile fibres, aggressive detergents and climatic factors may exacerbate AD. Cutaneous superinfection, particularly with Staphylococcus aureus, is also recognized as an important factor in the elicitation and maintenance of skin inflammation and acute exacerbations of AD. The severity of AD correlates with S. aureus colonization of the skin. Beside the treatment of AD patients with creams and emollients, new developments in the textile industry may have therapeutic implications. Silk or silvercoated textiles show antimicrobial properties that can significantly reduce the burden of S. aureus, leading to a positive effect on AD. Silver products have been used as wound dressing, whereby silver has antiseptic properties, and drug resistance is hardly found. Padycare textiles consist of micromesh material containing woven silver filaments with a total silver content of 20%. In vitro studies of these silver-coated textiles demonstrated a significant decrease in S. aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa as well as Candida albicans. Silk has been increasingly implemented in medical treatment of AD thanks to its unique smoothness that reduces irritation. Silk can be coated with antimicrobials (Dermasilk). The combination of the smoothness of silk with an antimicrobial finish appears to make an ideal textile for patients suffering from AD.

Dermatitis, Atopic↗
PubMed2006

Safety of specific immunotherapy using a four-hour ultra-rush induction scheme in bee and wasp allergy.

BACKGROUND: Ultra-rush induction of immunotherapy with Hymenoptera venom is a reliable and efficacious alternative to the rush induction protocol, though not widely used in European countries yet. Its safety, however, has been intensively discussed over the last few years. The aim of this retrospective case study was to examine the rate of allergic side-effects during our four-hour ultra-rush hymenoptera venom induction regimen. We evaluated risk factors for observed side-effects such as age, gender, severity of previous insect sting reactions according to the H.L. Mueller classification, concentration of venom inducing positive skin tests, level of specific IgE, serum tryptase concentration, and hymenoptera venom used for treatment. METHODS: 67 outpatients with Hymenoptera venom allergy received 80 courses of ultra-rush immunotherapy. Diagnosis and selection of patients for venom immunotherapy were carried out according to the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology. We applied a four-hour regimen, and local or systemic reactions were documented. RESULTS: In 78 courses (97.5%) the maintenance dose of 111.1 microg was reached within 4 hours and it was tolerated in 82.5% without any hypersensitivity reaction. Allergic side-effects were observed in only 17.5% (n=14): four severe local reactions (5%), eight grade I (10%) and two grade II (2.5%) systemic reactions. There was no significant difference in the number of systemic reactions comparing patients receiving wasp or honeybee venom extract. The number of systemic reactions was neither higher in patients with a severe prior insect sting reaction (grade III or IV) nor dependent on age, gender, skin test reaction, level of specific IgE or tryptase. Epinephrine as rescue medication was never needed. Interestingly, patients with a severe prior wasp sting reaction showed a significantly lower incidence of allergic side-effects during ultra-rush immunotheraphy with wasp venom extract as compared to grade III or IV honeybee venom allergic patients. CONCLUSION: Our ultra-rush immunotherapy induction regimen shows a low incidence of systemic reactions. It proved to be safe and convenient for the patient, as it could be applied in a four-hour outpatient regimen.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Ultrarush immunotherapy in a patient with occupational allergy to bumblebee venom (Bombus terrestris).

Bumblebee venom allergies, though uncommon among the broad public, pose a significant risk in plant industry and scientific occupation. Since a significant IgE cross-reactivity between bumblebee and honeybee venom has been described in several cases and bumblebee venom for immunotherapy has been available only from a few suppliers, SIT with honeybee venom was frequently used for bumblebee venom allergic patients in the past. We present the case of occupational bumblebee allergy in a biologist who developed anaphylactic reactions with subsequent stings. He was lacking cross-reactivity to honeybee venom, therefore we initiated immunotherapy with bumblebee venom extract. Two months after reaching the maintenance dose of 80 microg, the efficacy of the treatment was demonstrated by sting challenge.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

The "gap paradigm" leads to express-like saccadic reaction times in Parkinson's disease.

Application of the "gap paradigm" reduces mean saccadic reaction time (SRT). It enhances oculomotor response, sometimes showing express-like reactions within about 100-140 ms from target onset, which are called "express saccades." Despite some controversy, there is evidence that express and regular saccades may be controlled by different pathways, but it is still not clear which pathways are involved in the generation of express saccades. It was suggested that the substantia nigra (SN) could take part in the control of these saccades. We compared saccadic reaction times of 14 patients with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease (PD), which commonly affects the SN, with those of nine elderly normal subjects. The results show a clear gap effect and no significant difference between mean saccadic reaction times and reaction time distributions of the PD and the control group. In the gap condition, express saccades are present in several subjects of both groups. Therefore, it is concluded that the deficits in the SN pars compacta due to PD, which affect directly and indirectly the activity of the SN pars reticulata that projects to SC, do not dominantly influence the process of preparing and executing express and regular saccades in patients with mild to moderate PD.

Aged↗
PubMed1996

Disparity-evoked vergence is driven by interocular correlation.

Disparity-evoked vergence is studied in stereograms showing one or two depth planes which are defined by isolated dots of varying density and contrast. Vergence position immediately after stimulus presentation was measured using dichoptic nonius lines. Since the stimulus was not visible after the onset of the vergence movement, the experiment accesses the initiation of vergence rather than its eventual result. In the unequivocal stimuli (one depth plane), elicited vergence tends to reduce disparity. Disparities of 0.5-1 deg are most effective which is in accordance with earlier findings. If two depth planes are presented, elicited vergence lies between the two planes, approaching the plane with higher dot density and/or dot contrast. In quantitative measurements, we show that the depth-averaging mechanism uses signal power per depth plane as a weight. Therefore, the relative pulling strength of dot density compared with dot contrast follows a power law with exponent 2. We propose a population code for vergence control based on disparity-tuned pools of units.

Adult↗