Allergen Immunotherapy for the Prevention and Treatment of Asthma.

Allergic asthma is the predominant phenotype among asthmatics. Although conventional pharmacotherapy is a central component in the management of asthma, it does not enable control of asthma symptoms in all patients. In recent decades, some uncontrolled asthmatic patients, especially those with allergic asthma, have benefited from biological therapies.

Gambling and Aging: An Overview of a Risky Behavior.

Gambling is a field of study that has grown since the 2000s. Much research has focused on adolescents and youth as a vulnerable population. The rate of aging gamblers is increasing; however, evidence-based knowledge of this population is still too sparse.

Coworking spaces vs. home: Does employees' experience of the negative aspects of working from home predict their intention to telework in a coworking space?

In this study, we investigated the determinants of employees' intention to telework in a coworking space, with the assumption that employees' experience with the negative aspects of teleworking from home would impact their intention to telework in a coworking space in the future. A sample of 268 French teleworkers answered an online questionnaire measuring their experience of several negative aspects of teleworking from home (e.g.

Cognitive Characteristics of Strategic and Non-strategic Gamblers.

Participation in strategic and non-strategic games is mostly explained in the literature by gender: men gamble on strategic games, while women gamble on non-strategic games. However, little is known about the underlying cognitive factors that could also distinguish strategic and non-strategic gamblers. We suggest that cognitive style and need for cognition also explain participation in gambling subtypes.

Allergen immunotherapy for birch pollen-allergic patients: recent advances.

As of today, allergen immunotherapy is performed with aqueous natural allergen extracts. Recombinant allergen vaccines are not yet commercially available, although they could provide patients with well-defined and highly consistent drug substances. As Bet v 1 is the major allergen involved in birch pollen allergy, with more than 95% of patients sensitized to this allergen, pharmaceutical-grade recombinant Bet v 1-based vaccines were produced and clinically tested.

Effect of a road safety training program on drivers' comparative optimism.

Reducing comparative optimism regarding risk perceptions in traffic accidents has been proven to be particularly difficult (Delhomme, 2000). This is unfortunate because comparative optimism is assumed to impede preventive action. The present study tested whether a road safety training course could reduce drivers' comparative optimism in high control situations.

Reports of wins and risk taking: an investigation of the mediating effect of the illusion of control.

Two experiments examined the relationships between the knowledge that another person has won in a gamble, the illusion of control and risk taking. Participants played a computer-simulated French roulette game individually. Before playing, some participants learnt that another person won a large amount of money.

Ultrasonic assessment of the radius in vitro.

The overall objective of this research is to develop an ultrasonic system for noninvasive assessment of the distal radius. The specific objective of this study was to examine the relationship between geometrical features of cortical bone and ultrasound measurements in vitro. Nineteen radii were measured in through transmission in a water bath.

Ultrasound simulation in the distal radius using clinical high-resolution peripheral-CT images.

The overall objective of this research is to develop an ultrasonic method for noninvasive assessment of the distal radius. The specific objective of this study was to examine the propagation of ultrasound through the distal radius and determine the relationships between bone mass and architecture and ultrasound parameters. Twenty-six high-resolution peripheral-CT clinical images were obtained from a set of subjects that were part of a larger study on secondary osteoporosis.

In situ diagnostics of the crystalline nature of single organic nanocrystals by nonlinear microscopy.

We elucidate the crystalline nature and the three-dimensional orientation of isolated organic nanocrystals embedded in a sol-gel matrix, using a polarized nonlinear microscopy technique that combines two-photon fluorescence and second harmonic generation. This technique allows the distinction between monocrystalline structures and nanoscale polycrystalline aggregates responsible for incoherent second harmonic signals.

Direct measurement of the photon statistics of a triggered single photon source.

We studied intensity fluctuations of a single photon source relying on the pulsed excitation of the fluorescence of a single molecule at room temperature. We directly measured the Mandel parameter Q(T) over 4 orders of magnitude of observation time scale T by recording every photocount. On time scale of a few excitation periods, sub-Poissonian statistics is clearly observed and the probablility of two-photons events is 10 times smaller than Poissonian pulses.

Contribution of plasmid DNA to hepatotoxicity after systemic administration of lipoplexes.

Several studies have demonstrated that intravenous administration of DNA complexed with cationic lipid vectors induces the production of large quantities of proinflammatory cytokines. In this study we confirm these observations, using cationic lipid DOTAP and cationic phospholipid compounds. Moreover, we demonstrate that although intravenous administration of lipid-DNA complexes does not induce toxic effects in the lung, high transgene expression in lung correlates with histopathological lesions in liver, this fact being documented by high transaminase levels in serum of treated mice.

Factors influencing the efficiency of lipoplexes mediated gene transfer in lung after intravenous administration 1 *.

The objectives of this study were to test the influence of different parameters on the in vivo cationic lipid mediated gene transfer in lung after intravenous administration. Luciferase activity was evaluated in lung tissue 24 hours after intravenous administration of different types of lipoplexes. These included lipoplexes prepared using cationic phosphonolipids or DOTAP and various amounts of plasmid DNA.

Cation substitution in cationic phosphonolipids: a new concept to improve transfection activity and decrease cellular toxicity.

Cationic lipids have been shown to be an interesting alternative to viral vector-mediated gene delivery into in vitro and in vivo model applications. Prior studies have demonstrated that even minor structural modifications of the lipid hydrophobic domain or of the lipid polar domain result in significant changes in gene delivery efficiency. Previously, we developed a novel class of cationic lipids called cationic phosphonolipids and described the ability of these vectors to transfer DNA into different cell lines and in vivo.

Cationic phosphonolipids as nonviral vectors: in vitro and in vivo applications.

Since the development of the concept of gene therapy using cationic lipids as nonviral vectors by Felgner's group in 1987, numerous molecules have been synthesized. Such vectors were first proposed to avoid viral vector-induced drawbacks. But, it quickly became clear that a thorough knowledge of their physical and chemical characteristics was fundamental to use them under optima conditions.

Systemic administration of cationic phosphonolipids/DNA complexes and the relationship between formulation and lung transfection efficiency.

Performances of cationic lipid formulations for intravenous gene delivery to mouse lungs have been previously reported. We report in this study that cationic phosphonolipids, when appropriately formulated, can be good synthetic vectors for gene delivery to lung after intravenous administration. One of our reagents, GLB43, was capable of mediating a 500-fold higher expression in the lungs of mice than could be obtained with free pDNA alone (P=0.

Cationic Phosphonolipids Containing Quaternary Phosphonium and Arsonium Groups for DNA Transfection with Good Efficiency and Low Cellular Toxicity**.

Replacing the ammonium polar head in cationic lipids 1 (A=N) by a phosphonium or an arsonium group (A=P, As) improves their properties as synthetic vectors for DNA transfection. The increased volume of the cationic head is supposed to modify the interactions of the vector with the solvent and DNA.

Cationic phosphonolipids as nonviral gene transfer agents in the lungs of mice.

With the aim of developing new gene transfer tools for treating CF with gene therapy, we have synthesized a novel family of molecules named cationic phosphonolipids. The most efficient among them were selected by in vitro screening to compare their activities in vivo in mouse lungs. We used a reporter gene whose activity was measured cytofluorimetrically (FACS-Gal assay) and by means of a chemiluminescence technique.

New biocompatible cationic amphiphiles derivative from glycine betaine: a novel family of efficient nonviral gene transfer agents.

With the aim of developing new efficient agents for transfecting of eukaryotic cells we have designed and synthesized a novel family of cationic lipid vectors derived from glycine betaine. In this study we present three novel molecules differing by the length of their aliphatic chains (R=12,R=14,R=16). The lyotropic properties of these cationic lipids have been determined, and their transfection efficiency on different cell lines evaluated, using a luminescent assay.

Transgene expression kinetics after transfection with cationic phosphonolipids in hematopoietic non adherent cells.

Cationic lipids are considered to be capable of efficiently and safely mediating DNA transfer into cells, although expression is transient. A new family of cationic lipids, called phosphonolipids, has been developed, with the relationship between the hydrophobic domain of the lipid molecules and the significant enhancement of transduction efficiency in a non-adherent cell line characterised in the present study. The kinetics of transfection efficiency were also investigated.

Cationic phosphonolipids as non viral vectors for DNA transfection in hematopoietic cell lines and CD34+ cells.

The ability to transfer genes into a hematopoietic stem cell and to achieve regulation of their expression in lymphoid or myeloid lineages should open many new therapeutic opportunities. Besides gene transfer mediated by virus vectors like retrovirus or adenovirus, non viral systems have the theoretical advantage of being safe and easy to manage. We developed a new family of cationic lipids called phosphonolipids, synthesized 24 new molecules, and then in a first step we tested their potential to transfer genes in human hematopoietic cell lines (K562 and TF1).

Enhanced glomerular procoagulant activity and fibrin deposition in rats with mercuric chloride-induced autoimmune nephritis.

The mechanism involved in glomerular fibrin deposition was investigated during mercuric chloride (HgCl2)-induced autoimmune glomerulonephritis in the Brown Norway rat. To ascertain whether the local hemostatic system was activated secondarily to the immunological conflict, the ability of glomerular lysates to induce coagulation in vitro was assessed in treated and control rats. Glomerular procoagulant activity (PCA) of HgCl2-injected rats was measured on day 12 (latent phase of the disease), day 20 (acme), and days 32 and 42 (recovery phase) after the first mercury injection.