scholarly journals Cytokines as Biomarkers and Their Respective Clinical Cutoff Levels

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca N. Monastero ◽  
Srinivas Pentyala
Keyword(s):  
Tumor Necrosis ◽  
Inflammatory Diseases ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
The Body ◽  
Tumor Necrosis Factors ◽  
Biochemical Pathways ◽  
Downstream Effects ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Receiver Operator Characteristics ◽  
Cutoff Levels

Cytokines, including interleukins, interferons, tumor necrosis factors, and chemokines, have a variety of pro- and anti-inflammatory effects in the body through a number of biochemical pathways and interactions. Stimuli, actions, interactions, and downstream effects of cytokines have been investigated in more depth in recent years, and clinical research has also been conducted to implicate cytokines in causal patterns in certain diseases. However, particular cutoffs of cytokines as biomarkers for disease processes have not been well studied, and this warrants future work to potentially improve diagnoses for diseases with inflammatory markers. A limited number of studies in this area are reviewed, considering diseases correlated with abnormal cytokine profiles, as well as specific cutoffs at which cytokines have been deemed clinically useful for diagnosing those diseases through Receiver Operator Characteristics modeling. In light of studies such as those discussed in this review, cytokine testing has the potential to support diagnosis due to its lack of invasiveness and low cost, compared to other common types of testing for infections and inflammatory diseases.

scholarly journals Interleukin-22 Influences the Th1/Th17 Axis

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannes Lindahl ◽  
Tomas Olsson
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Immune Cells ◽  
Inflammatory Diseases ◽  
Adaptive Immune System ◽  
Cell Polarization ◽  
The Body ◽  
Innate Immune ◽  
Interleukin 22 ◽  
Downstream Effects ◽  
Wide Range

Interleukin-22 (IL-22) is secreted by a wide range of immune cells and its downstream effects are mediated by the IL-22 receptor, which is present on non-immune cells in many organs throughout the body. IL-22 is an inflammatory mediator that conditions the tissue compartment by upregulating innate immune responses and is also a homeostatic factor that promotes tissue integrity and regeneration. Interestingly, the IL-22 system has also been linked to many T cell driven inflammatory diseases. Despite this, the downstream effects of IL-22 on the adaptive immune system has received little attention. We have reviewed the literature for experimental data that suggest IL-22 mediated effects on T cells, either transduced directly or via mediators expressed by innate immune cells or non-immune cells in response to IL-22. Collectively, the reviewed data indicate that IL-22 has a hitherto unappreciated influence on T helper cell polarization, or the secretion of signature cytokines, that is context dependent but in many cases results in a reduction of the Th1 type response and to some extent promotion of regulatory T cells. Further studies are needed that specifically address these aspects of IL-22 signaling, which can benefit the understanding and treatment of a wide range of diseases.

Mechanisms and practical use of the bactericidal effects of ozone and ozonated oils

2020 ◽  
pp. 45-52
Author(s):  
S. Schetinin
Keyword(s):  
Inflammatory Diseases ◽  
Aerobic Metabolism ◽  
Active Oxygen ◽  
The Body ◽  
Bactericidal Action ◽  
Ozone Therapy ◽  
Energy Substrates ◽  
Bactericidal Effects ◽  
Viral Nature

The analysis of the clinical and immunological effectiveness of ozone therapy is carried out. The mechanism of the bactericidal action of ozone in the treatment of infectious and inflammatory diseases of a bacterial and viral nature is analyzed. Ozonation of oils leads to the formation of a complex and heterogeneous cascade of components. Ozonides provide the body with some prolonged supply of active oxygen to maintain aerobic metabolism and the required level of energy substrates.

scholarly journals Glucocorticoid Receptor β (GRβ): Beyond Its Dominant-Negative Function

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 3649
Author(s):  
Patricia Ramos-Ramírez ◽  
Omar Tliba
Keyword(s):  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Inflammatory Diseases ◽  
Cell Communication ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
The Body ◽  
Dominant Negative ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Independent Manner ◽  
Distinct Cell ◽  
Induced Apoptosis

Glucocorticoids (GCs) act via the GC receptor (GR), a receptor ubiquitously expressed in the body where it drives a broad spectrum of responses within distinct cell types and tissues, which vary in strength and specificity. The variability of GR-mediated cell responses is further extended by the existence of GR isoforms, such as GRα and GRβ, generated through alternative splicing mechanisms. While GRα is the classic receptor responsible for GC actions, GRβ has been implicated in the impairment of GRα-mediated activities. Interestingly, in contrast to the popular belief that GRβ actions are restricted to its dominant-negative effects on GRα-mediated responses, GRβ has been shown to have intrinsic activities and “directly” regulates a plethora of genes related to inflammatory process, cell communication, migration, and malignancy, each in a GRα-independent manner. Furthermore, GRβ has been associated with increased cell migration, growth, and reduced sensitivity to GC-induced apoptosis. We will summarize the current knowledge of GRβ-mediated responses, with a focus on the GRα-independent/intrinsic effects of GRβ and the associated non-canonical signaling pathways. Where appropriate, potential links to airway inflammatory diseases will be highlighted.

scholarly journals Robot-Assisted Autism Therapy (RAAT). Criteria and Types of Experiments Using Anthropomorphic and Zoomorphic Robots. Review of the Research

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 3720
Author(s):  
Barbara Szymona ◽  
Marcin Maciejewski ◽  
Robert Karpiński ◽  
Kamil Jonak ◽  
Elżbieta Radzikowska-Büchner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Schema ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
The Body ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Robot Assisted ◽  
Social Contacts ◽  
Joint Activities ◽  
Autism Therapy ◽  
Real Person ◽  
Future Work

Supporting the development of a child with autism is a multi-profile therapeutic work on disturbed areas, especially understanding and linguistic expression used in social communication and development of social contacts. Previous studies show that it is possible to perform some therapy using a robot. This article is a synthesis review of the literature on research with the use of robots in the therapy of children with the diagnosis of early childhood autism. The review includes scientific journals from 2005–2021. Using descriptors: ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders), Social robots, and Robot-based interventions, an analysis of available research in PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science was done. The results showed that a robot seems to be a great tool that encourages contact and involvement in joint activities. The review of the literature indicates the potential value of the use of robots in the therapy of people with autism as a facilitator in social contacts. Robot-Assisted Autism Therapy (RAAT) can encourage child to talk or do exercises. In the second aspect (prompting during a conversation), a robot encourages eye contact and suggests possible answers, e.g., during free conversation with a peer. In the third aspect (teaching, entertainment), the robot could play with autistic children in games supporting the development of joint attention. These types of games stimulate the development of motor skills and orientation in the body schema. In future work, a validation test would be desirable to check whether children with ASD are able to do the same with a real person by learning distrust and cheating the robot.

scholarly journals Experiments on Energy-Efficient Evaporative Cooling Systems for Poultry Farm Application in Multan (Pakistan)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2836
Author(s):  
Khawar Shahzad ◽  
Muhammad Sultan ◽  
Muhammad Bilal ◽  
Hadeed Ashraf ◽  
Muhammad Farooq ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Stress ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Evaporative Cooling ◽  
Thermal Exposure ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
The Body ◽  
Dew Point ◽  
Sweat Glands ◽  
Cooling Systems ◽  
Humidity Index

Poultry are one of the most vulnerable species of its kind once the temperature-humidity nexus is explored. This is so because the broilers lack sweat glands as compared to humans and undergo panting process to mitigate their latent heat (moisture produced in the body) in the air. As a result, moisture production inside poultry house needs to be maintained to avoid any serious health and welfare complications. Several strategies such as compressor-based air-conditioning systems have been implemented worldwide to attenuate the heat stress in poultry, but these are not economical. Therefore, this study focuses on the development of low-cost and environmentally friendly improved evaporative cooling systems (DEC, IEC, MEC) from the viewpoint of heat stress in poultry houses. Thermodynamic analysis of these systems was carried out for the climatic conditions of Multan, Pakistan. The results appreciably controlled the environmental conditions which showed that for the months of April, May, and June, the decrease in temperature by direct evaporative cooling (DEC), indirect evaporative cooling (IEC), and Maisotsenko-Cycle evaporative cooling (MEC) systems is 7–10 °C, 5–6.5 °C, and 9.5–12 °C, respectively. In case of July, August, and September, the decrease in temperature by DEC, IEC, and MEC systems is 5.5–7 °C, 3.5–4.5 °C, and 7–7.5 °C, respectively. In addition, drop in temperature-humidity index (THI) values by DEC, IEC, and MEC is 3.5–9 °C, 3–7 °C, and 5.5–10 °C, respectively for all months. Optimum temperature and relative humidity conditions are determined for poultry birds and thereby, systems’ performance is thermodynamically evaluated for poultry farms from the viewpoint of THI, temperature-humidity-velocity index (THVI), and thermal exposure time (ET). From the analysis, it is concluded that MEC system performed relatively better than others due to its ability of dew-point cooling and achieved THI threshold limit with reasonable temperature and humidity indexes.

scholarly journals Reduced differentiation of emotion-associated bodily sensations in autism

Autism ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 136236132098795
Author(s):  
Eleanor R Palser ◽  
Alejandro Galvez-Pol ◽  
Clare E Palmer ◽  
Ricci Hannah ◽  
Aikaterini Fotopoulou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
The Body ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Autistic Children ◽  
Autistic People ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Future Work

Differences in understanding emotion in autism are well-documented, although far more research has considered how being autistic impacts an understanding of other people’s emotions, compared to their own. In neurotypical adults and children, many emotions are associated with distinct bodily maps of experienced sensation, and the ability to report these maps is significantly related to the awareness of interoceptive signals. Here, in 100 children who either carry a clinical diagnosis of autism ( n = 45) or who have no history of autism ( n = 55), we investigated potential differences in differentiation across autistic children’s bodily maps of emotion, as well as how such differentiation relates to the processing of interoceptive signals. As such, we measured objective interoceptive performance using the heartbeat-counting task, and participants’ subjective experience of interoceptive signals using the child version of the Body Perception Questionnaire. We found less differentiation in the bodily maps of emotion in autistic children, but no association with either objective or subjective interoceptive processing. These findings suggest that, in addition to previously reported differences in detecting others’ emotional states, autistic children have a less differentiated bodily experience of emotion. This does not, however, relate to differences in interoceptive perception as measured here. Lay abstract More research has been conducted on how autistic people understand and interpret other people’s emotions, than on how autistic people experience their own emotions. The experience of emotion is important however, because it can relate to difficulties like anxiety and depression, which are common in autism. In neurotypical adults and children, different emotions have been associated with unique maps of activity patterns in the body. Whether these maps of emotion are comparable in autism is currently unknown. Here, we asked 100 children and adolescents, 45 of whom were autistic, to color in outlines of the body to indicate how they experienced seven emotions. Autistic adults and children sometimes report differences in how they experience their internal bodily states, termed interoception, and so we also investigated how this related to the bodily maps of emotion. In this study, the autistic children and adolescents had comparable interoception to the non-autistic children and adolescents, but there was less variability in their maps of emotion. In other words, they showed more similar patterns of activity across the different emotions. This was not related to interoception, however. This work suggests that there are differences in how autistic people experience emotion that are not explained by differences in interoception. In neurotypical people, less variability in emotional experiences is linked to anxiety and depression, and future work should seek to understand if this is a contributing factor to the increased prevalence of these difficulties in autism.

Voice In Ear

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Yang Gao ◽  
Yincheng Jin ◽  
Jagmohan Chauhan ◽  
Seokmin Choi ◽  
Jiyang Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
User Authentication ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
The Body ◽  
Ear Canal ◽  
Replay Attacks ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
The Right ◽  
Sound Conduction ◽  
Enrollment Data ◽  
Secure Authentication

With the rapid growth of wearable computing and increasing demand for mobile authentication scenarios, voiceprint-based authentication has become one of the prevalent technologies and has already presented tremendous potentials to the public. However, it is vulnerable to voice spoofing attacks (e.g., replay attacks and synthetic voice attacks). To address this threat, we propose a new biometric authentication approach, named EarPrint, which aims to extend voiceprint and build a hidden and secure user authentication scheme on earphones. EarPrint builds on the speaking-induced body sound transmission from the throat to the ear canal, i.e., different users will have different body sound conduction patterns on both sides of ears. As the first exploratory study, extensive experiments on 23 subjects show the EarPrint is robust against ambient noises and body motions. EarPrint achieves an Equal Error Rate (EER) of 3.64% with 75 seconds enrollment data. We also evaluate the resilience of EarPrint against replay attacks. A major contribution of EarPrint is that it leverages two-level uniqueness, including the body sound conduction from the throat to the ear canal and the body asymmetry between the left and the right ears, taking advantage of earphones' paring form-factor. Compared with other mobile and wearable biometric modalities, EarPrint is a low-cost, accurate, and secure authentication solution for earphone users.

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