Effect of Lactobacillus paracasei ST11 on a nasal provocation test with grass pollen in allergic rhinitis.

Cite this as: J. Wassenberg, S. Nutten, R. Audran, N. Barbier, V. Aubert, J. Moulin, A. Mercenier and F. Spertini, Clinical & Experimental Allergy, 2011 (41) 565-573. SUMMARY: Background Probiotics have been associated with prevention and improvement of symptoms in atopic diseases such as atopic dermatitis. However, few studies exist that document their efficacy for upper airways allergies such as allergic rhinitis. Objective To investigate the effect of short-term oral administration of Lactobacillus paracasei ST11 on a nasal provocation test (NPT) with grass pollen. Methods Thirty-one adult volunteers with allergic rhinitis were enrolled in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, based on two 4-week cross-over periods of product consumption (ST11-fermented milk vs. placebo), separated by a wash-out period of 6-8 weeks. Objective and subjective clinical parameters of NPT as well as systemic and nasal immunological parameters were compared between the two treatment periods (registration number: NCT 011 50 253). Results Subjects that received ST11-fermented milk had lower nasal congestion than subjects under placebo (visual analogical scale; P<0.05). Nasal pruritus followed the same trend. However, no significant change in combined nasal reaction threshold was observed between the two periods. IL-5 secretion by peripheral blood mononuclear cells and serum allergen-specific IgG4 were significantly lower in ST11-fermented milk group compared to placebo group. IL-8 and IL-10 secretion followed the same trend. Conclusion and Clinical Relevance Short-term treatment with ST11-fermented milk before NPT significantly improved a clinical marker of NPT (subjective nasal congestion) and down-regulated systemic immune markers (IL-5 from peripheral blood mononuclear cells and serum IgG4). These data strongly suggest that probiotics may down modulate key parameters of allergic rhinitis and warrant future evaluation in seasonal trials.

How to prevent overdiagnosis

Overdiagnosis is the diagnosis of an abnormality that is not associated with a substantial health hazard and that patients have no benefit to be aware of. It is neither a misdiagnosis (diagnostic error), nor a false positive result (positive test in the absence of a real abnormality). It mainly results from screening, use of increasingly sensitive diagnostic tests, incidental findings on routine examinations, and widening diagnostic criteria to define a condition requiring an intervention. The blurring boundaries between risk and disease, physicians' fear of missing a diagnosis and patients' need for reassurance are further causes of overdiagnosis. Overdiagnosis often implies procedures to confirm or exclude the presence of the condition and is by definition associated with useless treatments and interventions, generating harm and costs without any benefit. Overdiagnosis also diverts healthcare professionals from caring about other health issues. Preventing overdiagnosis requires increasing awareness of healthcare professionals and patients about its occurrence, the avoidance of unnecessary and untargeted diagnostic tests, and the avoidance of screening without demonstrated benefits. Furthermore, accounting systematically for the harms and benefits of screening and diagnostic tests and determining risk factor thresholds based on the expected absolute risk reduction would also help prevent overdiagnosis.

Evalution of Hot Mix Asphalt Moisture Sensitivity Using the Nottingham Asphalt Test Equipment, July 2005

Moisture sensitivity of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) mixtures, generally called stripping, is a major form of distress in asphalt concrete pavement. It is characterized by the loss of adhesive bond between the asphalt binder and the aggregate (a failure of the bonding of the binder to the aggregate) or by a softening of the cohesive bonds within the asphalt binder (a failure within the binder itself), both of which are due to the action of loading under traffic in the presence of moisture. The evaluation of HMA moisture sensitivity has been divided into two categories: visual inspection test and mechanical test. However, most of them have been developed in pre-Superpave mix design. This research was undertaken to develop a protocol for evaluating the moisture sensitivity potential of HMA mixtures using the Nottingham Asphalt Tester (NAT). The mechanisms of HMA moisture sensitivity were reviewed and the test protocols using the NAT were developed. Different types of blends as moisture-sensitive groups and non-moisture-sensitive groups were used to evaluate the potential of the proposed test. The test results were analyzed with three parameters based on performance character: the retained flow number depending on critical permanent deformation failure (RFNP), the retained flow number depending on cohesion failure (RFNC), and energy ratio (ER). Analysis based on energy ratio of elastic strain (EREE ) at flow number of cohesion failure (FNC) has higher potential to evaluate the HMA moisture sensitivity than other parameters. If the measurement error in data-acquisition process is removed, analyses based on RFNP and RFNC would also have high potential to evaluate the HMA moisture sensitivity. The vacuum pressure saturation used in AASHTO T 283 and proposed test has a risk to damage specimen before the load applying.

VIDEO TEST

VIDEO TEST

Absence of progression as assessed by response evaluation criteria in solid tumors predicts survival in advanced GI stromal tumors treated with imatinib mesylate: the intergroup EORTC-ISG-AGITG phase III trial.

PURPOSE: From February 2001 to February 2002, 946 patients with advanced GI stromal tumors (GISTs) treated with imatinib were included in a controlled EORTC/ISG/AGITG (European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer/Italian Sarcoma Group/Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group) trial. This analysis investigates whether the response classification assessed by RECIST (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors), predicts for time to progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Per protocol, the first three disease assessments were done at 2, 4, and 6 months. For the purpose of the analysis (landmark method), disease response was subclassified in six categories: partial response (PR; > 30% size reduction), minor response (MR; 10% to 30% reduction), no change (NC) as either NC- (0% to 10% reduction) or NC+ (0% to 20% size increase), progressive disease (PD; > 20% increase/new lesions), and subjective PD (clinical progression). RESULTS: A total of 906 patients had measurable disease at entry. At all measurement time points, complete response (CR), PR, and MR resulted in similar TTP and OS; this was also true for NC- and NC+, and for PD and subjective PD. Patients were subsequently classified as responders (CR/PR/MR), NC (NC+/NC-), or PD. This three-class response categorization was found to be highly predictive of further progression or survival for the first two measurement points. After 6 months of imatinib, responders (CR/PR/MR) had the same survival prognosis as patients classified as NC. CONCLUSION: RECIST perfectly enables early discrimination between patients who benefited long term from imatinib and those who did not. After 6 months of imatinib, if the patient is not experiencing PD, the pattern of radiologic response by tumor size criteria has no prognostic value for further outcome. Imatinib needs to be continued as long as there is no progression according to RECIST.

Blood pressure and cognitive function: a prospective analysis among adolescents in Seychelles

Objective: An inverse relationship between blood pressure and cognitive function has been found in adults, but limited data are available in adolescents and young adults. We prospectively examined the relation between blood pressure and cognitive function in adolescence. Methods: We examined the association between BP measured at the ages of 12-15 years in school surveys and cognitive endpoints measured in the Seychelles Child Development Study at ages 17 (n=407) and 19 (n=429) years respectively. We evaluated multiple domains of cognition based on subtests of the Cambridge Neurological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), the Woodcock Johnson Test of Scholastic Achievement (WJTA), the Finger Tapping test (FT) and the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT). We used age-, sex- and height-specific z-scores of systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP). Results: Six out of the 21 cognitive endpoints tested were associated with BP. However, none of these associations were found to hold for both males and females or for different subtests within the same neurodevelopmental domain or for both SBP and DBP. Most of these associations disappeared when analyses were adjusted for selected potential confounding factors such as socio-economic status, birth weight, gestational age, body mass index, alcohol consumption, blood glucose, and total n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fats. Conclusions: Our findings do not support a consistent association between BP and subsequent performance on tests assessing various cognitive domains in adolescents.

Motivation, Test Scores, and Economic Success

This paper argues that low-stakes test scores, available in surveys, may be partially determined by test-taking motivation, which is associated with personality traits but not with cognitive ability. Therefore, such test score distributions may not be informative regarding cognitive ability distributions. Moreover, correlations, found in survey data, between high test scores and economic success may be partially caused by favorable personality traits. To demonstrate these points, I use the coding speed test that was administered without incentives to National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY) participants. I suggest that due to its simplicity its scores may especially depend on individuals' test-taking motivation. I show that controlling for conventional measures of cognitive skills, the coding speed scores are correlated with future earnings of male NLSY participants. Moreover, the coding speed scores of highly motivated, though less educated, population (potential enlists to the armed forces) are higher than NLSY participants' scores. I then use controlled experiments to show that when no performance-based incentives are provided, participants' characteristics, but not their cognitive skills, affect effort invested in the coding speed test. Thus, participants with the same ability (measured by their scores on an incentivized test) have significantly different scores on tests without performance- based incentives.

Obésite, troubles alimentaires et groupe de parole à l'adolescence [Obesity, eating disorders and the group approach for adolescents].

About a third of obese adolescents also suffer from some kind of eating disorders which have to be recognized and included in the therapeutic frame. Besides this co-morbidity, most of these patients also require a psychological support. The group approach represents an adequate response to these problems, in providing a space for exchanges and an opportunity for mutual support. The group approach may even prove more beneficial than an individual treatment. Involving the parents too reinforces the improvement that adolescents can get from their participation in such groups.

Long-term, multilineage hematopoiesis occurs in the combined absence of beta-catenin and gamma-catenin

The canonical Wnt signaling pathway plays key roles in stem-cell maintenance, progenitor cell expansion, and lineage decisions. Transcriptional responses induced by Wnt depend on the association of either beta-catenin or gamma-catenin with lymphoid enhancer factor/T cell factor transcription factors. Here we show that hematopoiesis, including thymopoiesis, is normal in the combined absence of beta- and gamma-catenin. Double-deficient hematopoietic stem cells maintain long-term repopulation capacity and multilineage differentiation potential. Unexpectedly, 2 independent ex vivo reporter gene assays show that Wnt signal transmission is maintained in double-deficient hematopoietic stem cells, thymocytes, or peripheral T cells. In contrast, Wnt signaling is strongly reduced in thymocytes lacking TCF-1 or in nonhematopoietic cells devoid of beta-catenin. These data provide the first evidence that hematopoietic cells can transduce canonical Wnt signals in the combined absence of beta- and gamma-catenin

Behavioral Assumptions and Management Ability: A Tentative Test

The paper explores the consequences that relying on different behavioral assumptions in training managers may have on their future performance. We argue that training with an emphasis on the standard assumptions used in economics (rationality and self-interest) leads future managers to rely excessively on rational and explicit safeguarding, crowding out instinctive contractual heuristics and signaling a 'bad' type to potential partners. In contrast, human assumptions used in management theories, because of their diverse, implicit and even contradictory nature, do not conflict with the innate set of cooperative tools and may provide a good training ground for such tools. We present tentative confirmatory evidence by examining how the weight given to behavioral assumptions in the core courses of the top 100 business schools influences the average salaries of their MBA graduates. Controlling for the average quality of their students and some other schools' characteristics, average salaries are significantly greater for those schools whose core MBA courses contain a higher proportion of management courses as opposed to courses based on economics or technical disciplines.

Evaluation of neuromotor development by means of the Harris Infant Neuromotor Test

Objective: To investigate the neuromotor development of at-risk children between three and 12 months of life, administering the Brazilian version of the Harris Infant Neuromotor Test (HINT).Method: A longitudinal study, with 78 children and 76 parents/guardians discharged from a neonatal intensive care unit in Fortaleza-CE/Brazil. Two instruments were administered: HINT and a socioeconomic questionnaire, between July/2009 to August/2010. Data from 55 preterm and 23 term children were analyzed. Results: The final mean scores ranged from 14.6 to 25.2 and from 11.2 to 24.7, for preterm and term, respectively, showing that 91% of children demonstrated good neuromotor performance; seven premature infants showed alterations which led to the referral of three children to a specialized clinic for examination and diagnostics.Conclusion: The test allowed nurses to assess infant development, identify deviations early, and plan interventions.