Evaluation of respiratory allergies burden and management in primary care and comparative analysis of health care data from Romania, Poland, Czech Republic and Bulgaria - preliminary study.

Background: Respiratory allergies mostly allergic rhinitis and asthma represent an important and increasing public health problem and one of the priorities for the European health systems. There is an increasing public concern regarding the persistence and severity of allergic diseases and many difficulties of health systems in providing prompt specialized medical assistance. Our study aims to highlight the main results of the Alliance 4Life project focused on the evaluation of the burden and management of respiratory allergies in primary care from Romania and comparative health-related data from four Central and Eastern European countries.

COVID-19-Associated Rhino-Orbital Mucormycosis: Histological and Electron Microscopy Characteristics.

COVID-19-associated rhino-orbital mucormycosis has become a new clinical entity. This study's aim was to evaluate the histopathological and ultramicroscopic morphological aspects of this fungal infection. This was an observational retrospective study on eight patients from three tertiary centers in Romania.

Supraequatorial displacement with lateral rectus myopexy for treatment of myopic sagging/heavy eye.

Purpose: To describe the outcome of the patients diagnosed of sagging/heavy eye associated to myopia, that were operated on with the supra-equatorial displacement with LR myopexy.

Methods: A retrospective study of 9 cases between 2017-2023. The following data were analyzed: horizontal and vertical deviation, diplopia, amblyopia, ductions, ocular torsion, sensorial test, macular pathology, and the orbital magnetic resonance.

E4 ubiquitin ligase promotes mitofusin turnover and mitochondrial stress response.

Ubiquitin-dependent control of mitochondrial dynamics is important for protein quality and neuronal integrity. Mitofusins, mitochondrial fusion factors, can integrate cellular stress through their ubiquitylation, which is carried out by multiple E3 enzymes in response to many different stimuli. However, the molecular mechanisms that enable coordinated responses are largely unknown.

Docking and stability defects in mitofusin highlight the proteasome as a potential therapeutic target.

Defects in mitochondrial fusion are at the base of many diseases. Mitofusins power membrane-remodeling events via self-interaction and GTP hydrolysis. However, how exactly mitofusins mediate fusion of the outer membrane is still unclear.

Histopathological Lung Findings in COVID-19 B.1.617.2 SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant.

Background: The Delta variant (Pango lineage B.1.617.

An experimental approach to training interoceptive sensitivity: study protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Background: Eating in absence of hunger is quite common and often associated with an increased energy intake co-existent with a poorer food choice. Intuitive eating (IE), i.e.

Fatal Form of COVID-19 in a Young Male Bodybuilder Anabolic Steroid Using: The First Autopsied Case.

We report the case of a 34-year-old male patient, a bodybuilding trainer and user of anabolic androgenic steroids (AASs) for 16 years. He was found in cardio-respiratory arrest in his home. By performing a medico-legal autopsy, a severe form of COVID-19, aortic atherosclerotic plaques, and an old myocardial infarction was found.

Biologic Pollution Due to (Ragweed) Pollen in Urban Environment of Bucharest.

Ragweed pollen is an important component of biological pollution in the urban environment, responsible for increasing respiratory allergies and significant contribution to the health impact of air pollution in the Bucharest area. The aim of this paper is to present the eight-year ragweed pollen monitoring data from Bucharest, to place them in the context of local air pollution, public health regulations and available data on the health impact of ragweed pollen in the urban environment. Our pollen data were correlated with major air pollutant concentrations and with meteorological factors in a recently published local paper and the clinical data of patients with ragweed-induced respiratory symptoms were collected and published in 2019.

Follow-Up of a Rare Case of Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis Associated with Persistent Blood Eosinophilia and Multiple Food Allergies.

Eosinophilic gastroenteritis (EGE) is a subgroup of the eosinophilic gastro-intestinal disorders (EGIDs), characterized by eosinophilic infiltration and chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. These are rare diseases with still incompletely elucidated causes and mechanisms, with frequently delayed diagnosis and variable outcome. Despite increased interest in eosinophilic diseases in recent years, fewer data have been published on EGE and no standardized diagnostic and therapeutic approach exists.

Dietary concepts in the dyad: Results from a qualitative study of middle-aged and older couples.

The positive effects of a healthy diet on older adults' health status are well established. Yet, inadequate health outcomes prevail. Insufficient healthy dietary styles may be related to the complexity of lay concepts regarding what constitutes a healthy diet.

Role of Allergist Advice in Determining Personal Decisions for COVID-19 Vaccination of People With a History of Allergies.

Introduction Vaccination is the most important confirmed tool that can stop the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, but the vaccination rate remains low in some countries, including Romania, despite consistent and undoubtedly scientific proof of this disease-prevention method. The risk of allergic reactions after COVID-19 vaccines may be a reasonable cause for the antivaccination attitude of people with a history of allergies or who consider themselves at risk for having severe allergic reactions after vaccination. Objective Our paper aims to analyze the role of allergist advice in getting people with a history of allergies to trust and accept COVID-19 vaccines and to evaluate the real risk of allergic reactions to these vaccines in this population.

Real-Life Benefit of Omalizumab in Improving Control of Bronchial Asthma During COVID-19 Pandemic.

Biologic therapy is recommended by Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines in asthma patients not controlled with maximal inhaled therapy corresponding to GINA step 4. Omalizumab is an anti- immunoglobulin E (IgE) monoclonal antibody and the first biological available for the add-on treatment of severe allergic asthma, approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2003. Diagnosing and managing asthma patients during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic since early 2020 has been challenging, mainly due to the risk of contracting COVID-19 disease and to the limited access to hospital care and pulmonary function tests.

Dietary preferences in the context of intra-couple dynamics: Relationship types within the German NutriAct family cohort.

To promote healthy diets in older age, a comprehensive understanding of factors influencing dietary behaviour and underlying preferences is essential. Romantic relationships are focal socialisation contexts, in which diet-related preferences and practices are dynamically negotiated. Our aim was to reconstruct intra-couple dynamics shaping dietary preferences and comparatively analyse relationship types among older couples.

An open-source, citizen science and machine learning approach to analyse subsea movies.

Background: The increasing access to autonomously-operated technologies offer vast opportunities to sample large volumes of biological data. However, these technologies also impose novel demands on ecologists who need to apply tools for data management and processing that are efficient, publicly available and easy to use. Such tools are starting to be developed for a wider community and here we present an approach to combine essential analytical functions for analysing large volumes of image data in marine ecological research.

Mitochondrial Surveillance by Cdc48/p97: MAD vs. Membrane Fusion.

Cdc48/p97 is a ring-shaped, ATP-driven hexameric motor, essential for cellular viability. It specifically unfolds and extracts ubiquitylated proteins from membranes or protein complexes, mostly targeting them for proteolytic degradation by the proteasome. Cdc48/p97 is involved in a multitude of cellular processes, reaching from cell cycle regulation to signal transduction, also participating in growth or death decisions.

Mast cell activation syndromes - evaluation of current diagnostic criteria and laboratory tools in clinical practice (Review).

Mast cell activation syndromes (MCAS) represent a heterogeneous clinical entity caused by episodic and severe mast cell activation, including primary and secondary mast cell disorders (MCDs). The group of primary or clonal MCDs refers to systemic mastocytosis, other clonal MCAS and hereditary hypertryptasemia, while the secondary MCAS is characterized by normal mast cells (MCs) which are activated by external triggers, such as allergens or physical stimuli. Another category of MCAS is the idiopathic form, when no trigger or genetic mutation can be identified.

Is there an association between social determinants and care dependency risk? A multi-state model analysis of a longitudinal study.

Despite a growing body of knowledge about the morbidities and functional impairment that frequently lead to care dependency, the role of social determinants is not yet well understood. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of social determinants on care dependency onset and progression. We used data from the Berlin Initiative Study, a prospective, population-based cohort study including 2,069 older participants living in Berlin.

Continuous intraocular pressure monitoring in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome using a contact lens sensor.

Purpose: To analyse nocturnal intraocular pressure (IOP) fluctuations in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) using a contact lens sensor (CLS) and to identify associations between the OSAS parameters determined by polysomnographic study (PSG) and IOP changes.

Method: Prospective, observational study. Twenty participants suspected of having OSAS were recruited.

Dual role of a GTPase conformational switch for membrane fusion by mitofusin ubiquitylation.

Mitochondria are essential organelles whose function is upheld by their dynamic nature. This plasticity is mediated by large dynamin-related GTPases, called mitofusins in the case of fusion between two mitochondrial outer membranes. Fusion requires ubiquitylation, attached to K398 in the yeast mitofusin Fzo1, occurring in atypical and conserved forms.

Plasticity in salt bridge allows fusion-competent ubiquitylation of mitofusins and Cdc48 recognition.

Mitofusins are dynamin-related GTPases that drive mitochondrial fusion by sequential events of oligomerization and GTP hydrolysis, followed by their ubiquitylation. Here, we show that fusion requires a trilateral salt bridge at a hinge point of the yeast mitofusin Fzo1, alternatingly forming before and after GTP hydrolysis. Mutations causative of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease massively map to this hinge point site, underlining the disease relevance of the trilateral salt bridge.

Five-Year Data on Pollen Monitoring, Distribution and Health Impact of Allergenic Plants in Bucharest and the Southeastern Region of Romania.

Respiratory allergies induced by allergenic pollen represent an important public health problem with increasing prevalence and severity in Europe. Romania has no aerobiology network and pollen measurements have been done for about ten years in the west region only. We established the first pollen monitoring center in the capital of Bucharest in 2013, based on collaboration with the Réseau National de Surveillance Aérobiologique (RNSA) from France.

Nine year follow-up of a rare case of angioedema due to acquired C1-inhibitor deficiency with late onset and good response to attenuated androgen.

Background: Angioedema due to acquired deficiency of C1-inhibitor (C1-INH-AAE) is a rare disease sharing some clinical and laboratory similarities with hereditary angioedema, but with late onset and no positive family history. The underlining cause may be malignant or due to autoimmune diseases, but some cases remain idiopathic.

Case Presentation: We report a case of a 75 year old woman suffering from recurrent episodes of angioedema since the age of 66, considered first induced by treatment with angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors (ACEI).