Total IgE and eotaxin (CCL11) contents in tears of patients suffering from seasonal allergic conjunctivitis.

BACKGROUND: To prospectively investigate patients with seasonal allergic conjunctivitis (SAC) during the pollen season and test associations between tears total IgE, eotaxin concentrations, and SAC severity. METHODS: Enrolled patients presented ocular symptoms and clinical signs of SAC at the time of presentation. Ocular itching, hyperaemia, chemosis, eyelid swelling, and tearing were scored, and the sum of these scores was defined as the clinical score. Conjunctival papillae were separately graded. We measured eotaxin concentration in tears by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and total tear IgE by Lacrytest strip. RESULTS: Among thirty patients (30 eyes), 11 showed neither tear IgE nor tear eotaxin, while 15 out of 19 patients with positive IgE values presented a positive amount of eotaxin in their tears (Fisher's test: p < 0.001). The mean eotaxin concentration was 641 ± 154 (SEM) pg/ml. In patients with no amount of tear IgE, we observed a lower conjunctival papilla grade than in patients whose tears contained some amount of IgE (trend test: p = 0.032). In the 15 patients whose tear eotaxin concentration was null, tear IgE concentration was 5.3 ± 3.5 arbitrary units; in the other 15 patients whose eotaxin was positive, IgE reached 21 ± 4.3 arbitrary U (Mann-Whitney: p < 0.001). We measured 127 ± 47 pg/ml eotaxin in patients with no history of SAC but newly diagnosed as suffering from SAC, and 852 ± 218 pg/ml eotaxin in patients with a known SAC (p = 0.008). In contrast, tear IgE concentrations of both groups did not differ statistically significantly (p = 0.947). CONCLUSIONS: If IgE and eotaxin secreted in tears are major contributors in SAC pathogenesis, they however act at different steps of the process.

Intra-articular osteoid osteoma of the knee: clinical and therapeutical particularities

The intra-articular osteoid osteoma (10-13% of the cases) is often difficult to identify. They present frequent atypical clinical signs and radiological images that eventually lead to inadequate treatment. For example, it has been observed that this pathology leads to inappropriate arthroscopies (up to 40%). Meniscal tear and then osteochondritis were initially suspected on a patient with an intra-articular osteoid osteoma at the tibia level. For the treatment, any damage of the cartilage has to be avoided. Thermoablation with radiofrequency is the treatment of choice

Bucket-handle tear of the triangular fibrocartilage complex : case report of a complex peripheral injury with separation of the distal radioulnar ligaments from the articular disc.

Palmer previously proposed a classification system of triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) injuries that proved to be useful in directing clinical management. However, dorsal peripheral tears (variants of class 1C) were not described and have rarely been reported in the literature since. We herewith present a rare case of bucket-handle tear of the TFCC. To our knowledge, this is the first case demonstrating partial separation of both the palmar and dorsal distal radioulnar ligaments (DRULs) from the articular disc. The particular wrist magnetic resonance (MR) arthrographic findings of this unusual complex peripheral TFCC tear (a variant of both class 1B and 1C) were nicely appreciated upon sagittal reformatted images.

Comparability of clinical wear measurements by optical 3D laser scanning in two different centers.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the use of different variables to measure the clinical wear of two denture tooth materials in two analysis centers. METHODS: Twelve edentulous patients were provided with full dentures. Two different denture tooth materials (experimental material and control) were placed randomly in accordance with the split-mouth design. For wear measurements, impressions were made after an adjustment phase of 1-2 weeks and after 6, 12, 18, and 24 months. The occlusal wear of the posterior denture teeth of 11 subjects was assessed in two study centers by use of plaster replicas and 3D laser-scanning methods. In both centers sequential scans of the occlusal surfaces were digitized and superimposed. Wear was described by use of four different variables. Statistical analysis was performed after log-transformation of the wear data by use of the Pearson and Lin correlation and by use of a mixed linear model. RESULTS: Mean occlusal vertical wear of the denture teeth after 24 months was between 120μm and 212μm, depending on wear variable and material. For three of the four variables, wear of the experimental material was statistically significantly less than that of the control. Comparison of the two study centers, however, revealed correlation of the wear variables was only moderate whereas strong correlation was observed among the different wear variables evaluated by each center. SIGNIFICANCE: Moderate correlation was observed for clinical wear measurements by optical 3D laser scanning in two different study centers. For the two denture tooth materials, wear measurements limited to the attrition zones led to the same qualitative assessment.

Does unemployment hurt less if there is more of it around? A panel analysis of life satisfaction in Germany and Switzerland

This article examines the existence of a habituation effect to unemployment: Does the subjective well-being of unemployed people decline less if unemployment is more widespread? The underlying idea is that unemployment hysteresis may operate through a sociological channel: if many people in the community lose their job and remain unemployed over an extended period, the psychological cost of being unemployed diminishes and the pressure to accept a new job declines. We analyze this question with individual-level data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (1984-2010) and the Swiss Household Panel (2000-2010). Our fixed-effects estimates show no evidence for a mitigating effect of high surrounding unemployment on the subjective well-being of the unemployed. Becoming unemployed hurts as much when regional unemployment is high as when it is low. Likewise, the strongly harmful impact of being unemployed on well-being does not wear off over time, nor do repeated episodes of unemployment make it any better. It thus appears doubtful that an unemployment shock becomes persistent because the unemployed become used to, and hence reasonably content with, being without a job.

Being Recognizable in Order to Overcome the Crisis: The Ambivalence of Islamis Actor's Struggle for Visibility in France and Switzerland

Since the 1990s, and especially since the early 2000s, passionate controversies (Göle 2014) have emerged around the new visibility of Islam in the public sphere across Europe. These controversies, which crystallized in the headscarf debate, seem even more disturbing given that women who wear it are often young, urban and educated: that is to say, "modern" (Göle 1997, 2011). Indeed, these young women wearing the hijab seem to disrupt the narrative of Western modernity, including the decline in religious practice (Hervieu-Léger 2006) or the narration of the process of secularization in Europe. It is in the context of these controversies that Islam is built imaginatively as a "public problem" that has to be "solved" (Behloul 2012). Thus, this social construction of the Muslim other has nurtured an assessment of the failure of multiculturalism in some European countries and a process of convergence around a single model of civic integration in Europe (Behloul 2012, Joppke 2004, 2010).

Ocular toxoplasmosis: evaluation of lacrimal - specific secretory IgA levels in both patients with active and inactive phases of the disease

Ocular toxoplasmosis can result in recurrent uveitis. Studies have shown that a correlation between active ocular toxoplasmosis and the presence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii secretory IgA (SIgA) in tears. This study compares anti-T. gondii SIgA levels in patients' tears during the acute and inactive phases of toxoplasmic uveitis. Twenty-nine positive tear specific SIgA for T. gondii patients with acute toxoplasmic uveitis were selected and were followed-up for at least two years, when the anti-T. gondii SIgA tears levels were determined. Specific SIgA for T. gondii was negative in 22 patients (75.86%) and positive in seven patients (24.13%) of whom six (85.7%) were followed over three years. Average SIgA levels during the acute phase are 1.54 and decrease significantly to 0.72 (p = 0.0001) during the inactive phase of disease. Because anti-T. gondii SIgA in the tear is negative in 75.86% of patients after the acute phase of infection, T. gondii SIgA levels may be used as a complementary diagnostic marker for active ocular toxoplasmosis.

A system to test the toxicity of brake wear particles

Fine particulate matter from traffic increases mortality and morbidity. An important source of traffic particles is brake wear. American studies reported cars to emit break wear particles at a rate of about 11mg/km to 20mg/km of driven distance. A German study estimated that break wear contributes about 12.5% to 21% of the total traffic particle emissions. The goal of this study was to build a system that allows the study of brake wear particle emissions during different braking behaviours of different car and brake types. The particles should be characterize in terms of size, number, metal, and elemental and organic carbon composition. In addition, the influence of different deceleration schemes on the particle composition and size distribution should be studied. Finally, this system should allow exposing human cell cultures to these particles. An exposure-box (0.25 cubic-m volume) was built that can be mounted around a car's braking system. This allows exposing cells to fresh brake wear particles. Concentrations of particle numbers, mass and surface, metals, and carbon compounds were quantified. Tests were conducted with A549 lung epithelial cells. Five different cars and two typical braking behaviours (full stop and normal deceleration) were tested. Particle number and size distribution was analysed for the first six minutes. In this time, two braking events occurred. Full stop produced significantly higher particle concentrations than normal deceleration (average of 23'000 vs. 10'400 #/cm3, p= 0.016). The particle number distribution was bi-modal with one peak at 60 to 100 nm (depending on the tested car and braking behaviour) and a second peak at 200 to 400 nm. Metal concentrations varied depending on the tested car type. Iron (range of 163 to 15'600 μg/m3) and Manganese (range of 0.9 to 135 μg/m3) were present in all samples, while Copper was absent in some samples (<6 to 1220 μg/m3). The overall "fleet" metal ratio was Fe:Cu:Mn = 128:14:1. Temperature and humidity varied little. A549-cells were successfully exposed in the various experimental settings and retained their viability. Culture supernatant was stored and cell culture samples were fixated to test for inflammatory response. Analysis of these samples is ongoing. The established system allowed testing brake wear particle emissions from real-world cars. The large variability of chemical composition and emitted amounts of brake wear particles between car models seems to be related to differences between brake pad compositions of different producers. Initial results suggest that the conditions inside the exposure box allow exposing human lung epithelial cells to freshly produced brake wear particles.

Characteristics of the cornea and ocular surface in patients with congenital aniridia

We performed complete eye exams on 50 eyes in 25 patients with congenital aniridia. Factors such as age, history of ocular surgery, dry eye score and aesthesiometry results correlated with the degree of aniridia-related keratopathy. Schirmer’s test I in 86.8%, Schirmer’s test II in 94.4% and TFBUT in 83.3% of cases were all normal. Corneal staining was altered in 54.2%, and conjunctival staining was altered in 45.7%. The tear ferning pattern was abnormal in 80%. Conjunctival metaplasia was present in 76.9%.Corneal endothelial cell density was normal. Ultrasonic pachymetry was higher than average in all eyes examined.

Rôle des cellules souches épithéliales de la cornée et de leur micro-environnement dans le traitement des destructions de la surface oculaire [Darwin or Lamarck? Understanding the ocular surface and its normal or abnormal differentiation in order to cure ocular surface destruction with corneal opacification].

According to the World Health Organization, 5.1% of blindnesses or visual impairments are related to corneal opacification. Cornea is a transparent tissue placed in front of the color of the eye. Its transparency is mandatory for vision. The ocular surface is a functional unit including the cornea and all the elements involved in maintaining its transparency i.e., the eyelids, the conjunctiva, the lymphoid tissue of the conjunctiva, the limbus, the lacrymal glands and the tear film. The destruction of the ocular surface is a disease caused by : traumatisms, infections, chronic inflammations, cancers, toxics, unknown causes or congenital abnormalities. The treatment of the ocular surface destruction requires a global strategy including all the elements that are involved in its physiology. The microenvironnement of the ocular surface must first be restored, i.e., the lids, the conjunctiva, the limbus and the structures that secrete the different layers of the tear film. In a second step, the transparency of the cornea can be reconstructed. A corneal graft performed in a healthy ocular surface microenvironnement will have a better survival rate. To achieve these goals, a thorough understanding of the renewal of the epitheliums and the role of the epithelial stem cells are mandatory.

Moderate to vigorous physical activity and sedentary time and cardiometabolic risk factors in children and adolescents.

CONTEXT: Sparse data exist on the combined associations between physical activity and sedentary time with cardiometabolic risk factors in healthy children. OBJECTIVE: To examine the independent and combined associations between objectively measured time in moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary time with cardiometabolic risk factors. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Pooled data from 14 studies between 1998 and 2009 comprising 20 871 children (aged 4-18 years) from the International Children's Accelerometry Database. Time spent in MVPA and sedentary time were measured using accelerometry after reanalyzing raw data. The independent associations between time in MVPA and sedentary time, with outcomes, were examined using meta-analysis. Participants were stratified by tertiles of MVPA and sedentary time. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, fasting triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and insulin. RESULTS: Times (mean [SD] min/d) accumulated by children in MVPA and being sedentary were 30 (21) and 354 (96), respectively. Time in MVPA was significantly associated with all cardiometabolic outcomes independent of sex, age, monitor wear time, time spent sedentary, and waist circumference (when not the outcome). Sedentary time was not associated with any outcome independent of time in MVPA. In the combined analyses, higher levels of MVPA were associated with better cardiometabolic risk factors across tertiles of sedentary time. The differences in outcomes between higher and lower MVPA were greater with lower sedentary time. Mean differences in waist circumference between the bottom and top tertiles of MVPA were 5.6 cm (95% CI, 4.8-6.4 cm) for high sedentary time and 3.6 cm (95% CI, 2.8-4.3 cm) for low sedentary time. Mean differences in systolic blood pressure for high and low sedentary time were 0.7 mm Hg (95% CI, -0.07 to 1.6) and 2.5 mm Hg (95% CI, 1.7-3.3), and for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, differences were -2.6 mg/dL (95% CI, -1.4 to -3.9) and -4.5 mg/dL (95% CI, -3.3 to -5.6), respectively. Geometric mean differences for insulin and triglycerides showed similar variation. Those in the top tertile of MVPA accumulated more than 35 minutes per day in this intensity level compared with fewer than 18 minutes per day for those in the bottom tertile. In prospective analyses (N = 6413 at 2.1 years' follow-up), MVPA and sedentary time were not associated with waist circumference at follow-up, but a higher waist circumference at baseline was associated with higher amounts of sedentary time at follow-up. CONCLUSION: Higher MVPA time by children and adolescents was associated with better cardiometabolic risk factors regardless of the amount of sedentary time.

Wear of two artificial tooth materials in vivo: a 12-month pilot study.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Wear of methacrylate artificial teeth resulting in vertical loss is a problem for both dentists and patients. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to quantify wear of artificial teeth in vivo and to relate it to subject and tooth variables. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-eight subjects treated with complete dentures received 2 artificial tooth materials (polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)/double-cross linked PMMA fillers; 35%/59% (SR Antaris DCL, SR Postaris DCL); experimental 48%/46%). At baseline and after 12 months, impressions of the dentures were poured with improved stone. After laser scanning, the casts were superimposed and matched. Maximal vertical loss (mm) and volumetric loss (mm(3)) were calculated for each tooth and log-transformed to reduce variability. Volumetric loss was related to the occlusally active surface area. Linear mixed models were used to study the influence of the factors jaw, tooth, and material on adjusted (residual) wear values (alpha=.05). RESULTS: Due to drop outs (n=5) and unmatchable casts (n=3), 69% of all teeth were analyzed. Volumetric loss had a strong linear relationship to surface area (P<.001); this was less pronounced for vertical loss (P=.004). The factor showing the highest influence was the subject. Wear was tooth dependent (increasing from incisors to molars). However, these differences diminished once the wear rates were adjusted for occlusal area, and only a few remained significant (anterior versus posterior maxillary teeth). Another influencing factor was the age of the subject. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical wear of artificial teeth is higher than previously measured or expected. The presented method of analyzing wear of artificial teeth using a laser-scanning device seemed suitable.

Complications of shoulder arthroplasty for osteoarthritis with posterior glenoid wear.

BACKGROUND: Anatomical total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) for glenohumeral osteoarthritis (OA) and severe posterior glenoid wear may entail early postoperative complications (recurrence of posterior subluxation, glenoid loosening). To avoid these mechanical problems, reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RSA) has recently been proposed, mainly for its intrinsic stability. Our purpose was to present the results of TSA and RSA in glenohumeral OA with posterior glenoid wear of at least 20°. HYPOTHESIS: By virtue of its constrained design, RSA could prevent recurrence of posterior subluxation and limit the occurrence of mechanical complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A consecutive series of 23 patients (27 shoulders) were treated for glenohumeral OA with total shoulder prostheses: 19 TSAs and 8 RSAs. Mean age was 70years (range, 47-85years), mean retroversion angle 28° (20°-50°) and mean subluxation index 74% (57-89%). Constant Score, Subjective Shoulder Value (SSV), QuickDASH and Simple Shoulder Test (SST) were measured, and radiological examinations were performed at a mean follow-up of 52months (24-95months). RESULTS: TSA and RSA patients respectively displayed Constant Scores of 65 and 65, SSV of 79% and 74%, QuickDASH of 16 and 27, and SST of 88 and 78. Two patients underwent surgical revision of TSA because of glenoid loosening; 52% of TSA patients presented complete radiolucent lines and 11% recurrence of posterior subluxation. CONCLUSION: Complications are frequently observed after shoulder arthroplasty for OA with severe glenoid retroversion. RSA could be an alternative to TSA for selected patients, independently of rotator cuff status. Studies on RSA in this specific indication with longer follow-up are now needed. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV; retrospective case series.

Toxic effects of brake wear particles on epithelial lung cells in vitro

Background: Fine particulate matter originating from traffic correlates with increased morbidity and mortality. An important source of traffic particles is brake wear of cars which contributes up to 20% of the total traffic emissions. The aim of this study was to evaluate potential toxicological effects of human epithelial lung cells exposed to freshly generated brake wear particles. Results: An exposure box was mounted around a car's braking system. Lung cells cultured at the air-liquid interface were then exposed to particles emitted from two typical braking behaviours ("full stop" and "normal deceleration"). The particle size distribution as well as the brake emission components like metals and carbons was measured on-line, and the particles deposited on grids for transmission electron microscopy were counted. The tight junction arrangement was observed by laser scanning microscopy. Cellular responses were assessed by measurement of lactate dehydrogenase (cytotoxicity), by investigating the production of reactive oxidative species and the release of the pro-inflammatory mediator interleukin-8. The tight junction protein occludin density decreased significantly (p < 0.05) with increasing concentrations of metals on the particles (iron, copper and manganese, which were all strongly correlated with each other). Occludin was also negatively correlated with the intensity of reactive oxidative species. The concentrations of interleukin-8 were significantly correlated with increasing organic carbon concentrations. No correlation was observed between occludin and interleukin-8, nor between reactive oxidative species and interleukin-8. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the metals on brake wear particles damage tight junctions with a mechanism involving oxidative stress. Brake wear particles also increase pro-inflammatory responses. However, this might be due to another mechanism than via oxidative stress. [Authors]