scholarly journals Impact of Tree Pollen Distribution on Allergic Diseases in Serbia: Evidence of Implementation of Allergen Immunotherapy to Betula verrucosa

Medicina ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajna Minić ◽  
Mirjana Josipović ◽  
Vesna Tomić Spirić ◽  
Marija Gavrović-Jankulović ◽  
Aleksandra Perić Popadić ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Allergen Immunotherapy ◽  
Practical Importance ◽  
Allergic Diseases ◽  
Pollen Concentration ◽  
Tree Pollen ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Pollen Species ◽  
Allergenic Plants ◽  
Betula Verrucosa ◽  
The Relationship

Background and objectives: The relationship between air pollen quantity and the sensitization of allergic patients is crucial for both the diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases. Weather conditions influence the distribution of allergenic pollen and increases in pollen concentration may negatively affect the health of allergic patients. The aim of this study was to analyze the implementation of allergen immunotherapy with regard to air pollen concentration. Material and Methods: Here we examined the relationship between Betula air pollen concentration and the usage of Betula verrucosa allergen immunotherapy in Serbia. Examination covered the period from 2015 to 2018. Measurement of airborne pollen concentration was performed with Lanzoni volumetric pollen traps. The evidence of the usage of sublingual allergen immunotherapy (SLIT) was gathered from patients with documented sensitization to specific pollen. Results: During this period tree pollens were represented with 58% ± 21% of all measured air pollen species, while Betula pollen represented 15% ± 8% of all tree pollens. Betula pollination peaked in April. Allergen immunotherapy to Betula verrucosa in Serbia is entirely conducted as sublingual immunotherapy and represents 47.1% ± 1.4% of issued tree pollen SLIT. The use of pollen SLIT increased by 68% from 2015 to 2018, with an even greater increase in usage recorded for Betula SLIT—80%. Conclusions: This analysis shows a clear causative relationship between pollination and the type/prevalence of applied allergen immunotherapy. Information about the flowering seasons of allergenic plants is very important for people who suffer from allergy, for clinical allergologists, as well as for governing authorities. The presented data is of practical importance to the proper timing of immunotherapy initiation and of importance for urban landscaping. The obtained data can be the starting point for the instatement of a thorough epidemiological study and the inclusion of Serbia on the pollen map of Europe.

AEROPALINOLOGICAL STUDY OF ALLERGENIC PLANTS: POLLINOSIS PREDICTION AND PREVENTION IN ULYANOVSK

2021 ◽  
pp. 143-156
Author(s):  
D.A. Golodnova ◽  
N.V. Blagoveshchenskaya ◽  
M.P. Markevich
Keyword(s):  
Preventive Measures ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Allergic Diseases ◽  
Industrial Area ◽  
Pollen Concentration ◽  
The Third ◽  
Prediction And Prevention ◽  
Allergenic Plants ◽  
Ulyanovsk Region ◽  
First Time

Pollinosis occupies a leading place among allergic diseases. However, allergenic plants and their palynological complexes are insufficiently studied not only in Russia, but worldwide. No one has ever carried out aeropalinological studies on the territory of the Ulyanovsk region. The aim of the study is to identify allergenic plants in the Ulyanovsk region, and to study air pollen concentration in order to prevent pollinosis. Materials and Methods. The objects of research were allergenic plants and their pollen complexes, which were examined for the first time in our region. The authors conducted floristic and phenological studies, calculated the pollen concentration of allergenic plants in the air (April-September). They used Post’s method while working with pollen, examined it under the microscope (15×40 magnification), and determined allergenicity index. Results. As a result of floristic and phenological observations, the authors identified 138 species of allergenic plants, including 68 high and medium allergenic plants. The allergenicity index was 259. Thus, Ulyanovsk can be considered as one of the most allergic regions. It was found that the largest amount of pollen grains during the entire flowering period of allergenic plants was observed in the industrial area. Moreover, June and July are the most dangerous months for people allergic to Poaceae, Chenopodiaceae, and Asteraceae. The dynamics of pollen concentration during three pollen waves was presented. The most dangerous waves were the second and the third, while the first wave was the least dangerous one. Results. The results obtained can help in planning preventive measures and treating pollinosis. Keywords: allergenic plants, hay fever, pollination, pollen concentration, pollen wave. Поллинозы занимают ведущее место среди аллергопатологии. Однако аллергенные растения и их палинокомплексы остаются недостаточно изученными во многих странах мира, в т.ч. и в России. На территории Ульяновской области аэропалинологические исследования также не проводились. Цель исследования − выявить аллергенные растения ульяновского региона, изучить динамику концентрации их пыльцы в воздушной среде для профилактики поллинозов. Материалы и методы. Объектами исследований были аллергенные растения и их пыльцевые комплексы, которые в нашем регионе были обследованы впервые. Проведены флористические и фенологические исследования, выполнено определение концентрации пыльцы аллергенных растений в воздушной среде с апреля по сентябрь, проведена обработка пыльцы методом Поста и определение ее под микроскопом с увеличением 15×40, рассчитан индекс аллергенности. Результаты. В результате флористических и фенологических наблюдений выявлено 138 видов аллергенных растений, среди них высоко- и среднеаллергенных − 68 видов. Индекс аллергенности составил 259, что позволяет отнести г. Ульяновск к одному из самых аллергоопасных регионов. Установлено, что наибольшее количество пыльцевых зерен за весь период цветения аллергенных растений наблюдается в промышленной зоне. При этом июнь и июль являются наиболее опасными месяцами для людей, страдающих аллергией на семейства Poaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Asteraceae. Представлена динамика концентрации пыльцы в трех пыльцевых волнах. Наиболее опасными волнами можно считать вторую и третью, наименее опасной – первую. Выводы. Результаты исследований необходимо учитывать при планировании профилактических мер и лечении поллинозов. Ключевые слова: аллергенные растения, поллиноз, поллинация, концентрация пыльцы, пыльцевая волна.

CYBERCHONDRIA INFORMATION CLINIC: Internet's Impact on your Health (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Escotet Espinoza
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Physical Symptoms ◽  
Digital Design ◽  
Somatization Disorder ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Relationship

UNSTRUCTURED Over half of Americans report looking up health-related questions on the internet, including questions regarding their own ailments. The internet, in its vastness of information, provides a platform for patients to understand how to seek help and understand their condition. In most cases, this search for knowledge serves as a starting point to gather evidence that leads to a doctor’s appointment. However, in some cases, the person looking for information ends up tangled in an information web that perpetuates anxiety and further searches, without leading to a doctor’s appointment. The Internet can provide helpful and useful information; however, it can also be a tool for self-misdiagnosis. Said person craves the instant gratification the Internet provides when ‘googling’ – something one does not receive when having to wait for a doctor’s appointment or test results. Nevertheless, the Internet gives that instant response we demand in those moments of desperation. Cyberchondria, a term that has entered the medical lexicon in the 21st century after the advent of the internet, refers to the unfounded escalation of people’s concerns about their symptomatology based on search results and literature online. ‘Cyberchondriacs’ experience mistrust of medical experts, compulsion, reassurance seeking, and excessiveness. Their excessive online research about health can also be associated with unnecessary medical expenses, which primarily arise from anxiety, increased psychological distress, and worry. This vicious cycle of searching information and trying to explain current ailments derives into a quest for associating symptoms to diseases and further experiencing the other symptoms of said disease. This psychiatric disorder, known as somatization, was first introduced to the DSM-III in the 1980s. Somatization is a psycho-biological disorder where physical symptoms occur without any palpable organic cause. It is a disorder that has been renamed, discounted, and misdiagnosed from the beginning of the DSMs. Somatization triggers span many mental, emotional, and cultural aspects of human life. Our environment and social experiences can lay the blueprint for disorders to develop over time; an idea that is widely accepted for underlying psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety. The research is going in the right direction by exploring brain regions but needs to be expanded on from a sociocultural perspective. In this work, we explore the relationship between somatization disorder and the condition known as cyberchondria. First, we provide a background on each of the disorders, including their history and psychological perspective. Second, we proceed to explain the relationship between the two disorders, followed by a discussion on how this relationship has been studied in the scientific literature. Thirdly, we explain the problem that the relationship between these two disorders creates in society. Lastly, we propose a set of intervention aids and helpful resource prototypes that aim at resolving the problem. The proposed solutions ranged from a site-specific clinic teaching about cyberchondria to a digital design-coded chrome extension available to the public.

On Shaky Ground? Exploring the Contingent Fundamentality Thesis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Wildman
Keyword(s):  
Possible World ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shaky Ground

The relationship between fundamentality and modality remains criminally underexplored. In particular, there are several significant questions about fundamentality’s modal strength that remain unanswered. For example, if something is fundamental is it necessarily so? That is, could something be fundamental in one possible world and derivative in another? And how would the acceptance of contingent fundamentality square with commitments to contingentism (or, for that matter, necessitism) about the existence of the fundamentalia? Chapter 14 makes some headway towards addressing these questions. It does so by exploring the contingent fundamentality thesis, according to which it is possible that something is possibly fundamental and possibly derivative. In this way, the chapter represents a starting point for examining broader issues about the relationship between fundamentality and modality.

scholarly journals Influence of Selected Model Parameters on the Electromagnetic Levitation Melting Efficiency

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 3827
Author(s):  
Blazej Nycz ◽  
Lukasz Malinski ◽  
Roman Przylucki
Keyword(s):  
Electromagnetic Levitation ◽  
Optimization Methods ◽  
Calculation Model ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Low Efficiency ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Reactive Metals ◽  
Electromagnetic Levitation Melting ◽  
Metal Melting

The article presents the results of multivariate calculations for the levitation metal melting system. The research had two main goals. The first goal of the multivariate calculations was to find the relationship between the basic electrical and geometric parameters of the selected calculation model and the maximum electromagnetic buoyancy force and the maximum power dissipated in the charge. The second goal was to find quasi-optimal conditions for levitation. The choice of the model with the highest melting efficiency is very important because electromagnetic levitation is essentially a low-efficiency process. Despite the low efficiency of this method, it is worth dealing with it because is one of the few methods that allow melting and obtaining alloys of refractory reactive metals. The research was limited to the analysis of the electromagnetic field modeled three-dimensionally. From among of 245 variants considered in the article, the most promising one was selected characterized by the highest efficiency. This variant will be a starting point for further work with the use of optimization methods.

Ontology and Perception

2004 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-58
Author(s):  
Jeffrey S. Galko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Common Sense ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cognitive Capacity ◽  
Complex Environment ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Ontological Question ◽  
The One ◽  
Bodies Of Water ◽  
The Relationship

The ontological question of what there is, from the perspective of common sense, is intricately bound to what can be perceived. The above observation, when combined with the fact that nouns within language can be divided between nouns that admit counting, such as ‘pen’ or ‘human’, and those that do not, such as ‘water’ or ‘gold’, provides the starting point for the following investigation into the foundations of our linguistic and conceptual phenomena. The purpose of this paper is to claim that such phenomena are facilitated by, on the one hand, an intricate cognitive capacity, and on the other by the complex environment within which we live. We are, in a sense, cognitively equipped to perceive discrete instances of matter such as bodies of water. This equipment is related to, but also differs from, that devoted to the perception of objects such as this computer. Behind this difference in cognitive equipment underlies a rich ontology, the beginnings of which lies in the distinction between matter and objects. The following paper is an attempt to make explicit the relationship between matter and objects and also provide a window to our cognition of such entities.

scholarly journals Power, Agency, Relationality and Welfare Practice

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 687-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
RACHAEL DOBSON
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Practice Research ◽  
Social Worlds ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Working Through ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThis article argues that constructions of social phenomena in social policy and welfare scholarship think about the subjects and objects of welfare practice in essentialising ways, with negativistic effects for practitioners working in ‘regulatory’ contexts such as housing and homelessness practice. It builds into debates about power, agency, social policy and welfare by bringing psychosocial and feminist theorisations of relationality to practice research. It claims that relational approaches provide a starting point for the analysis of empirical practice data, by working through the relationship between the individual and the social via an ontological unpicking and revisioning of practitioners' social worlds.

scholarly journals The relationship between autoimmunity and specific immunotherapy for allergic diseases

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 2764-2768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrzej Bozek ◽  
Krzysztof Kołodziejczyk ◽  
Piotr Bednarski
Keyword(s):  
Specific Immunotherapy ◽  
Allergic Diseases ◽  
The Relationship

Is Jesus my Superhero?

2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-76
Author(s):  
Andy Stirrup
Keyword(s):  
Youth Ministry ◽  
Near East ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Christian Apologetics ◽  
The Relationship

This paper considers an implicit trend in youth ministry to present Jesus as the archetypal superhero and asks if this is a valid and a helpful approach. The paper examines the relationship between the biblical category of hero and the contemporary notion of superhero and a broader appreciation of the use of myth for communicating Christian apologetics as seen in Lewis and Tolkien. The starting point for the paper is that an arguable starting point for the creation of Superman is in the epic character of Hercules and the biblical hero Samson. Through an examination of biblical and other Near East material the paper calls for a deeper and more nuanced appreciation of the relevance of modern western myth in the task of communicating theological narratives and concepts.

On the Very Idea of Civilisation

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-321
Author(s):  
Luke O’Sullivan ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Technological Development ◽  
Thomas Hobbes ◽  
Alternative Definition ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Western Imperialism ◽  
Clash Of Civilisations ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Contemporary Liberalism ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

The concept of civilisation is a controversial one because it is unavoidably normative in its implications. Its historical associations with the effort of Western imperialism to impose substantive conditions of life have made it difficult for contemporary liberalism to find a definition of “civilization” that can be reconciled with progressive discourse that seeks to avoid exclusions of various kinds. But because we lack a way of identifying what is peculiar to the relationship of civilisation that avoids the problem of domination, it has tended to be conflated with other ideas. Taking Samuel Huntington's idea of a “Clash of Civilisations” as a starting point, this article argues that we suffer from a widespread confusion of civilisation with “culture,” and that we also confuse it with other ideas including modernity and technological development. Drawing on Thomas Hobbes, the essay proposes an alternative definition of civilisation as the existence of limits on how we may treat others.

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