1,720,959 research outputs found
Diagnostic tools for allergic rhinitis and asthma
No full textThe diagnosis of allergic airway diseases is based on symptoms, and the laboratory tests help us to classify the types. A correct diagnose is important, since the treatment will change in different types of diseases. For example, untreated rhinitis may result in other diseases like asthma, and deteriorate the quality of life. Therefore, early diagnosis of allergic airway diseases is important before the disease progresses. This review summarizes the currently known diagnostic tools which can be useful in daily practical life and researches, including assessment of symptoms, physical examination, allergy skin tests, total and specific IgE, nasal provocation test and assessment parameters (symptoms, nasal flow and secretions), nasal mucosal sampling, and pulmonary function test
Characteristics of nonallergic rhinitis
No full textNonallergic rhinitis (NAR) is a type of rhinitis with perennial symptoms, unknown aetiology, and no clear treatment suggestions. Even though NAR has similarities with allergic rhinitis with regards to its prevalence, symptoms and impairment on quality of life, its importance is underestimated in clinical practice. There is no single valid test for the diagnosis of NAR as typical rhinitis symptoms, negativity in allergy skin tests and/or specific IgE, and exclusion of nonallergic rhinitis types with known aetiology are required. Pathophysiology of NAR is poorly understood, but a key component involves activation of neurogenic or allergic pathways. The aim of this review was to describe the characteristics, diagnostic methods, prevalence, pathophysiology, and treatment of NAR in the light of recent publications
Comparison of azelastine versus triamcinolone nasal spray in allergic and nonallergic rhinitis
No full text65th Annual Meeting of the American-Academy-of-Allergy-Asthma-and-Immunology -- MAR 13-17, 2009 -- Washington, DCBackground: Intranasal antihistamine has not been thoroughly studied in the treatment of rhinitis of different etiologies. This study was designed to show the comparative efficacy of nasal antihistamine and nasal corticosteroid in patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) and nonallergic rhinitis (NAR). Methods: A comparison of the efficacy of azelastine nasal spray (AZENS) versus triamcinolone acetonide nasal spray (TANS) on total nasal symptom scores (TNSS), nasal peak inspiratory flow rate (nPIFR), and nasal cytology was studied in a 2-week randomized parallel-group trial. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) were also analyzed. Results: The study group consisted of 132 patients (100 women and 32 men) with a mean age of 33.14 +/- 12.52 years, Sixty-nine patients had AR and 63 had NAR. Although TNSS including sneezing, itching, rhinorrhea, congestion-but not anosmia-significantly improved in both groups, intranasal azelastine reduced ocular symptoms greatly compared with intranasal triamcinolone (p = 0.05). Patients with NAR seemed to respond more to TANS, whereas AZENS was more useful in AR. The nPIFR improved in AR and NAR, with no significant difference between the treatment groups. Neither intranasal azelastine nor intranasal triamcinolone changed cytology in nasal lavage. Both medications were well tolerated, but AZENS led to more adverse events than TANS (56.9 and 19%, respectively; p = 0.001), mainly because of bitter taste. Scores on each domain of generic HRQoL (36-Item Short-Form Health Survey) and mini-rhinitis QoL questionnaires, as well as ESS score, significantly improved in both groups, irrespective of rhinitis etiology. Conclusion: In this first comparative demonstration, AZENS appears to be as effective as triamcinolone in symptom scores, nPIFR, ESS, and HRQoL, equally in AR and NAR. (Am J Rhinol Allergy 24, 29-33, 2010; doi: 10.2500/ajra.2010.24.3423)Amer Acad Allergy Asthma & Immunol (AAAAI
Contribution of Neurogenic and Allergic Ways to the Pathophysiology of Nonallergic Rhinitis
No full textBackground: A neuroallergic interaction was reported in the pathogenesis of allergic rhinitis (AR), but the pathophysiology of nonallergic rhinitis (NAR) is poorly understood. We aimed to explore the contribution of neuroallergic mechanisms to the pathogenesis of NAR. Methods: Subjects were divided into three groups - NAR patients (n = 25), AR patients (n = 16) and the control group (n = 10) - and were assessed using the nasal provocation test (NPT) with house dust mite. Total symptom scores, nasal inspiratory peak flow and nasal lavage were performed before and after NPT. Nasal brushing and scraping was done after NPT. Results: NPT was positive in NAR (52%) and AR (100%) patients and negative in all controls. After NPT, total symptom scores increased in both rhinitis groups. Post-NPT values of nasal inspiratory peak flow decreased only in AR patients. NAR patients showed a similar inflammatory cell profile in the nasal smears to AR patients which was different in controls. There were more tryptase- and immunoglobulin E (IgE)-positive cells in the nasal mucosa of AR patients, and more substance-p-positive cells were observed in NAR patients compared with controls. However, IgE- and tryptase-positive cells in NAR patients and substance-p-positive cells in AR patients were detectable in nasal mucosa, but rarely in the controls. Comparing the values before and after NPT, tryptase significantly increased in the nasal lavages of AR and NAR patients, while house dust mite-specific IgE did not change. Conclusions: We showed the existence of a common pathophysiological mechanism with different contributions in AR and NAR. We conclude that the difference in dominance of neuroallergic ways may determine the major phenotype of rhinitis. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, BaselKirikkale University Projects of Scientific ResearchesKirikkale University [2007/4]This work was supported by a grant from Kirikkale University Projects of Scientific Researches (grant No. 2007/4) which was received by Baccioglu Kavut and Fusun Kalpaklioglu
Desensitization in Interferon-beta 1a Allergy: A Case Report
No full textWe report a 41-year-old patient with multiple sclerosis (MS) who was successfully desensitized after she developed non-injection-site urticaria and angioedema due to interferon (IFN)-beta 1a. Although a few cases of urticaria and anaphylaxis have been reported in the literature, to our knowledge this is the first report of a successful desensitization with IFN-beta 1a. Desensitization with IFN-beta 1a allowed us to continue with the administration of interferon-beta, which is a mainstay in treatment for MS. Copyright (C) 2009 S. Karger AG, Base
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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