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In Taiwan, the incidence and prevalence of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) have risen significantly in recent years. Moreover, data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) show that more than 85% of PsA patients are treated with just non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and/or conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (csDMARDs). Taiwanese clinicians have also expressed concerns regarding uncertainties in the diagnosis of PsA and the delayed, interrupted, and/or tapered use of biologics, as well as differences in therapeutic preferences between and within dermatologists and rheumatologists. To address these issues, the Taiwan Rheumatology Association and the Taiwanese Association for Psoriasis and Skin Immunology jointly convened a committee of 28 clinicians from the fields of rheumatology, dermatology, orthopedics, and rehabilitation, to develop evidence-based consensus recommendations for the practical management of PsA in Taiwan. A total of six overarching principles and 13 recommendations were developed and approved, as well as a treatment algorithm with four separate tracks for axial PsA, peripheral PsA, enthesitis, and dactylitis. Psoriasis (PsO) management was not discussed here, as the Taiwanese Dermatological Association has recently published a comprehensive consensus statement on the management of PsO. Together, these recommendations provide an up-to-date, evidence-based framework for PsA care in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the World Health Organizations (WHO) evidence and recommendations for the use of yellow fever (YF) vaccination from “Vaccines and vaccination against yellow fever: WHO Position Paper – June 2013” published in the Weekly Epidemiological Record [1] . This position paper summarizes the WHO position on the use of YF vaccination, in particular that a single dose of YF vaccine is sufficient to confer sustained life-long protective immunity against YF disease. A booster dose is not necessary. The current document replaces the position paper on the use of yellow fever vaccines and vaccination published in 2003 [2] . Footnotes to this paper provide a number of core references. In accordance with its mandate to provide guidance to Member States on health policy matters, WHO issues a series of regularly updated position papers on vaccines and combinations of vaccines against diseases that have an international public health impact. These papers are concerned primarily with the use of vaccines in large-scale immunization programmes; they summarize essential background information on diseases and vaccines, and conclude with WHO's current position on the use of vaccines in the global context. This paper reflects the recommendations of WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization. These recommendations were discussed by SAGE at its April 2013 meeting. Evidence presented at the meeting can be accessed at http://www.who.int/immunization/sage/previous/en/index.html . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Compliance and acceptance for the finger-prick method of blood collection is generally better than for venipuncture. A finger-prick method of blood collection with quantitative antibody recovery is even more important for seroepidemiological surveys. Finger-prick blood collected and dried onto filter paper has been used; but, unfortunately, this method has several disadvantages, including loss of antibody activity, possible contact contamination from blood spots on adjacent filter papers, and difficulties in extracting antibodies, justifying the search for other methods of collecting and transporting blood samples. We report on a simple method of collecting a measured amount of finger-prick blood onto a sample pad, which is immediately transferred to storage/extraction buffer. The diluted blood sample is never dried, and because of the storage buffer, can be transported and stored without refrigeration. Furthermore, the diluted blood samples can then be tested directly without further preparation. We systematically compared several storage/extraction buffers and commercially available filter papers. We showed that antibody recovery was not significantly affected by the type of filter papers used but was significantly affected by the storage/extraction buffer used. The best such buffer is StabilZyme Select™. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

[Display omitted] • Distinct invasion patterns of blood immune cells correlate with the cancerous stage of breast tumor disease. • Convolutional neural network (CNN) enables reliable detection of invasion patterns with approximately 86% accuracy. • Aggressive breast cancer tumors are associated with weaker immune cells for invading cancer cells. • Simple blood-based method provides complementary insights into tumor nature without pre-processing. Interaction of immune system and cancer cells plays a crucial role in defining the physical and chemical characteristics of the tumor microenvironment. Consequently, monitoring and analyzing these interactions may prove essential for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. While standard techniques assessing cellular interaction are technically complicated and usually expensive, engineering solutions can be employed to introduce novel methods and effective techniques. In this paper, we presented a new blood-based breast cancer hallmark for people suspected of breast tumor disease (BTD) by time-lapse microscopy imaging from the interaction between the patient's blood and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines. The detection protocol is based on the quantifying invasion of the WBCs to the breast cancer cell line. Many cytological, molecular, and immunofluorescent assays were carried out to approve the hypothesis. Blood immune cells showed meaningful invasion patterns to breast cancer cell lines in reverse correlation by the cancerous stage of the patients. Hence, we believe that the immune system is cognizant of the neoplastic nature of breast tumor disease. To eliminate all the human-related limitations, a convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture was used for invasion recognition. The proposed CNN architecture showed an accuracy of approximately 86%, making it a reliable, fast, and easy way for intelligent detection of invasion patterns to decide on the tumor stage. Results made us present the hypothesis that people with more aggressive breast cancer tumors have less strong immune cells to invade cancer cells which could be a start in the clinical use of the cellular-based immune system for cancer investigation. As WBCs were isolated from the blood with no pre-processing, this method would shed new light as a simple complementary method for better clarification of tumor nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Fish skin mucus serves as the first line of defence against pathogens and external stressors. The mudskipper Boleophthalmus pectinirostris inhabits intertidal mudflats containing abundant and diverse microbial populations; thus, the skin and mucus of B. pectinirostris are very important for immune defence. However, the molecules involved in the immune response and mucus secretion in the skin of this fish are poorly understood. To explore the proteomic profile of the skin mucus and understand the molecular mechanisms underlying B. pectinirostris adaption to amphibious environments, the microstructure of B. pectinirostris skin was analysed, and a series of histochemical procedures were employed for mucous glycoprotein localization and characterization. In addition, the antibacterial activity of B. pectinirostris skin mucus was studied, and the transcriptome of the skin and in-depth proteome of the mucus were determined. These studies revealed the hierarchical structure of B. pectinirostris skin and different types of glycoproteins (GPs) in the dermal bulge (DB) of the B. pectinirostris skin epidermis. The mucus has a broad antimicrobial spectrum and significant effects on the bacterial morphology. Furthermore, 93,914 unigenes were sequenced from B. pectinirostris skin tissue, and a total of 559 proteins were identified from B. pectinirostris skin mucus. Significance i) In this paper, the microstructure of B. pectinirostris skin was analysed and a series of histochemical procedures were employed for mucous glycoprotein localization and characterization. The results revealed the presence of glycoproteins with acidic oligosaccharides in the dermal bulges, indicating the important roles of this structure in mucus secretion and storage. ii) The antibacterial molecules of B. pectinirostris skin mucus had significant effects on the morphology of E. coli and M. luteus , as observed with TEM. iii) This paper establishes the first proteome map of mudskipper (B. pectinirostris) skin mucus, and a total of 559 proteins were identified, of which, many were not previously described in fish skin mucus. iv) Metabolic and structural proteins are predominant in B. pectinirostris skin mucus, and proteins involved in the immunologic defence, molecular transport, stress response, and signal transduction are also represented. v) This study would be useful for understanding the role of mucus associated with various function in mudskipper skin. The identified mucosal protein set from B. pectinirostris skin mucus could provide a clue for exploring the mechanism of immune function and screening for novel immune markers. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Different types of glycoproteins were characterized by Alcian Blue staining in Boleophthalmus pectinirostris skin epidermis. • B. pectinirostris skin mucus had significant effects on bacterial morphology. • Sequencing of 93,914 unigenes from B. pectinirostris skin was performed. • A total of 559 proteins were identified from the skin mucus of B. pectinirostris. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been unprecedented advances in the identification of new treatment targets for chronic hepatitis B that are being developed with the goal of achieving functional cure in patients who would otherwise require lifelong nucleoside analogue treatment. Many of the new investigational therapies either directly target the immune system or are anticipated to impact immunity indirectly through modulation of the viral lifecycle and antigen production. While new viral biomarkers (HBV RNA, HBcAg, small, middle, large HBs isoforms) are proceeding through validation steps in clinical studies, immunological biomarkers are non-existent outside of clinical assays for antibodies to HBs, HBc and HBe. To develop clinically applicable immunological biomarkers to measure mechanisms of action, inform logical combination strategies, and guide clinical management for use and discontinuation of immune-targeting drugs, immune assays must be incorporated into phase I/II clinical trials. This paper will discuss the importance of sample collection, the assays available for immunological analyses, their advantages/disadvantages and suggestions for their implementation in clinical trials. Careful consideration must be given to ensure appropriate immunological studies are included as a primary component of the trial with deeper immunological analysis provided by ancillary studies. Standardising immunological assays and data obtained from clinical trials will identify biomarkers that can be deployed in the clinic, independently of specialised immunology laboratories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Childhood maltreatment confers higher risk of adulthood mental disease. However, the biological mechanism mediating this association remains largely unknown, with evidence suggesting dysregulation of the immune system as a possible biological mediator. The present paper conducted a case-control study to establish whether early-life adversity contributes to potentially pathogenic pro-inflammatory phenotypes in adult Panic Disorder (PD) individuals.Methods: Eighty-four PD patients and seventy-eight matched healthy controls were assessed for peripheral serum levels of interleukin (IL)-2R, IL-1β, IL-10, and for specific trauma types through child trauma questionnaire evaluation.Results: Analyses for specific types of trauma (sexual, physical or emotional abuse or neglect) revealed that these impact differentially the single inflammatory markers, and a significant association between physical abuse and the inflammatory marker IL-2R in PD patients was observed (β = 0.40, p = 0.013). The analysis demonstrates that childhood trauma contributes to a proinflammatory state in adulthood, with specific inflammatory profiles counting on the specific type of traumatic event.Conclusion: This study is unique in providing inflammatory biomarkers evidence of distinct biological modifications in PD in the presence or absence of exposure to childhood abuse. These results contribute to a better understanding of the extent of influence of differences in trauma exposure on pathophysiological processes in PD and may have implications for personalized medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is the thirty-eighth consecutive installment of the annual review of research concerning the endogenous opioid system. It summarizes papers published during 2015 that studied the behavioral effects of molecular, pharmacological and genetic manipulation of opioid peptides, opioid receptors, opioid agonists and opioid antagonists. The particular topics that continue to be covered include the molecular-biochemical effects and neurochemical localization studies of endogenous opioids and their receptors related to behavior, and the roles of these opioid peptides and receptors in pain and analgesia, stress and social status, tolerance and dependence, learning and memory, eating and drinking, drug abuse and alcohol, sexual activity and hormones, pregnancy, development and endocrinology, mental illness and mood, seizures and neurologic disorders, electrical-related activity and neurophysiology, general activity and locomotion, gastrointestinal, renal and hepatic functions, cardiovascular responses, respiration and thermoregulation, and immunological responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eccentric exercise training is effective for increasing muscle mass and strength, and improving insulin sensitivity and blood lipid profiles. However, potential muscle damage symptoms such as prolonged loss of muscle function and delayed onset of muscle soreness may restrict the use of eccentric exercise, especially in clinical populations. Therefore, strategies to reduce eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) are necessary, and an extensive number of scientific studies have tried to identify potential intervention modalities to perform eccentric exercises without adverse effects. The present paper is based on a narrative review of current literature, and provides a novel hypothesis by which an ischemic preconditioning (IPC) of the extremities may reduce EIMD. IPC consists of an intermittent application of short-time non-lethal ischemia to an extremity (e.g. using a tourniquet) followed by reperfusion and was discovered in clinical settings in an attempt to minimize inflammatory responses induced by ischemia and ischemia-reperfusion-injury (I/R-Injury) during surgery. The present hypothesis is based on morphological and biochemical similarities in the pathophysiology of skeletal muscle damage during clinical surgery and EIMD. Even though the primary origin of stress differs between I/R-Injury and EIMD, subsequent cellular alterations characterized by an intracellular accumulation of Ca2+, an increased production of reactive oxygen species or increased apoptotic signaling are essential elements for both. Moreover, the incipient immune response appears to be similar in I/R-Injury and EIMD, which is indicated by an infiltration of leukocytes into the damaged soft-tissue. Thus far, IPC is considered as a potential intervention strategy in the area of cardiovascular or orthopedic surgery and provides significant impact on soft-tissue protection and downregulation of undesired excessive inflammation induced by I/R-Injury. Based on the known major impact of IPC on skeletal muscle physiology and immunology, the present paper aims to illustrate the potential protective effects of IPC on EIMD by discussing possible underlying mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Vitamin D serum levels above 35 ng/mL seem to correlate with the mortality rate of COVID-19 patients. • The majority of the Western population is deficient in Vitamin D. • Vitamin D3 supplementation also requires additional vitamin K2 intake. • The immunoregulating function of vitamin D is promising and might decrease the global epidemic mortality. The world is desperately seeking for a sustainable solution to combat the coronavirus strain SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). Recent research indicated that optimizing Vitamin D blood levels could offer a solution approach that promises a heavily reduced fatality rate as well as solving the public health problem of counteracting the general vitamin D deficiency. This paper dived into the immunoregulatory effects of supplementing Vitamin D 3 by elaborating a causal loop diagram. Together with D 3 , vitamin K 2 and magnesium should be supplemented to prevent long-term health risks. Follow up clinical randomized trials are required to verify the current circumstantial evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlling Salmonella in poultry is an ongoing food safety measure and while significant progress has been made, there is a need to continue to evaluate different strategies that include understanding Salmonella -poultry interaction, Salmonella -microbiota interactions, Salmonella genetics and response to adverse conditions, and preharvest and postharvest parameters that enable persistence. The purpose of this symposium is to discuss different strategies to consider from feed milling to the farm to the processing environment. This Poultry Science Association symposium paper is divided into 5 different sections that covers 1) immunological aspects of Salmonella control, 2) application of Salmonella genetics for targeted control strategies in poultry production, 3) improving poultry feed hygienics: utilizing feed manufacture techniques and equipment to improve feed hygienics, 4) practical on farm interventions for controlling Salmonella —what works and what may not work, and 5) monitoring and mitigating Salmonella in poultry. These topics elucidate the critical need to establish control strategies that will improve poultry gut health and limit conditions that exposes Salmonella to stress causing alterations to virulence and pathogenicity both at preharvest and postharvest poultry production. This information is relevant to the poultry industry's continued efforts to ensure food safety poultry production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper depicts an overview of debates that have taken place during the 14 years of the International Workshops on Reproductive Immunology/Immunological Tolerance and Immunology of Preeclampsia. This 8th event in 2012 (Reunion island, overseas department of France in the Indian Ocean) witnessed a consensus among immunologists on the key role of regulatory T-cells in the orchestration of trophoblastic invasion at the maternal–fetal interface, while they represent some 10% of the immunological cellular repertoire at the site of implantation (NK cells representing 70%). On the vascular side, the upregulation of carbon monoxide CO, metabolite of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1; by inhibiting soluble Flt-1, SFlt-1, and soluble endoglin, SEng, release), explains the very promising protective and potentially therapeutic effect of pravastatin in preeclampsia and the paradoxical strong protective effect of cigarette smoking on preeclampsia. Finally, there was, through a study performed on Mauritius island a great interest in the inositol phosphoglycans P-type (IPG-P) as a reliable, cheap, and predictive urinary test in preeclamptic women (a few weeks before the clinical onset of the disease). Besides the interest of a specific test, IPG-P may also partially explain the global endothelial cell disease encountered in preeclampsia. Furthermore, the Appendix of this paper lists the programs of all the workshops that have taken place since 1998. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] The manuscript describes our view on hemocyte subsets, lineages and compartments. [•] The paper details the plasticity of plasmatocyte/macrophage lineages. [•] One of the main points of the paper is the regulation of the cell mediated immunity. [•] Phenotypic and functional changes upon effector cell differentiation are described. [•] The ontogenesis of the hematopoietic compartments is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is a bacterium responsible for a wide spectrum of illnesses. The surface of the bacterium consists of three distinctive membranes: plasmatic, cellular and the polysaccharide (PS) capsule. PS capsules may mediate several biological processes, particularly invasive infections of human beings. Prevention against pneumococcal related illnesses can be provided by vaccines. There is a sound investment worldwide in the investigation of a proteic antigen as a possible alternative to pneumococcal vaccines based exclusively on PS. A few proteins which are part of the membrane of the pneumococcus seem to have antigen potential to be part of a vaccine, particularly the PspA. A vital aspect in the production of the intended conjugate pneumococcal vaccine is the efficient production (in industrial scale) of both, the chosen PS serotypes as well as the PspA protein. Growing recombinant Escherichia coli (rE. coli) in high-cell density cultures (HCDC) under a fed-batch regime requires a refined continuous control over various process variables where the on-line prediction of the feeding phase is of particular relevance and one of the focuses of this paper. The viability of an on-line monitoring software system, based on constructive neural networks (CoNN), for automatically detecting the time to start the fed-phase of a HCDC of rE. coli that contains a plasmid used for PspA expression is investigated. The paper describes the data and methodology used for training five different types of CoNNs, four of them suitable for classification tasks and one suitable for regression tasks, aiming at comparatively investigate both approaches. Results of software simulations implementing five CoNN algorithms as well as conventional neural networks (FFNN), decision trees (DT) and support vector machines (SVM) are also presented and discussed. A modified CasCor algorithm, implementing a data softening process, has shown to be an efficient candidate to be part of an on-line HCDC monitoring system for detecting the feeding phase of the HCDC process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The recent abnormal emergencies, such as A/H1N1 flu and 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake, require a new emergency management system. This paper presents a multi-agent system of risk identifier of emergency management, on the basis of employing such theories as immunology, multi-agent model construction and simulation, and emergency management system engineering, etc. This paper has done a research on the construction and formation of the new active defense system of emergency management system engineering, formation and optimization of risk identifier, optimistic algorithm of evolution and likewise key issues, which will definitely have important theoretical and practical significance in the establishment of a new defense system and the enrichment and development of emergency management system engineering. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The JID is a major resource for publishing dermatologic research. Here we document bibliometric systems that permit detailed analysis of JID's relative scientific quality. We provide an overview of metrics employed by ISI Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge and Elsevier's open-access Scopus to measure JID's comparative performance. We list JID's 50 most cited articles between 1986 and 2010 and summarize the six most cited papers published during this period. We conclude by showing how selected cited papers have influenced research in the JID subcategories of immunology/infection and photobiology during this period. JID has thrived as the strength of its editorial leadership and the quality of dermatologic science have grown apace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Early-onset preeclampsia with poor placentation fitted well with the original two-stage model. • A revised model suggests a late form of placental malperfusion fitting with late-onset disease. • Major immunological preeclampsia findings are summarized and fit with the updated model. • "Maternal" preeclampsia does not exist, as all preeclampsia requires a placenta. Early-onset preeclampsia has been linked to poor placentation and fetal growth restriction, whereas late-onset preeclampsia was suggested to result from maternal factors. We have proposed an alternative model, suggesting that both early- and late-onset preeclampsia result from placental syncytiotrophoblast stress. This stress represents a common endpoint of several Stage 1 processes, promoting the clinical stage 2 of preeclampsia (new-onset hypertension and proteinuria or other signs of end-organ dysfunction), but the causes and timing of placental malperfusion differ. We have suggested that late-onset preeclampsia, without evidence of poor spiral artery remodelling, may be secondary to intraplacental (intervillous) malperfusion due to mechanical restrictions. As the growing placenta reaches its size limit, malperfusion and hypoxia occurs. This latter pathway reflects what is observed in postmature or multiple pregnancies. Our revised two-stage model accommodates most risk factors for preeclampsia including primiparity, chronic pre-pregnancy disease (e.g. obesity, diabetic-, chronic hypertensive-, and some autoimmune diseases), and pregnancy risk factors (e.g. multiple or molar pregnancies, gestational diabetes or hypertension, and low circulating Placental Growth Factor). These factors may increase the risk of progressing to the second stage of preeclampsia (both early- and late-onset) by affecting one of or both pathways leading to Stage 1, as well as potentially accelerating the steps towards Stage 2, including priming the maternal cardiovascular susceptibility to inflammatory factors shed by the placenta. This paper reviews previous preeclampsia findings and concepts, which fit with the revised two-stage model, and argues that "maternal" preeclampsia does not exist, as all preeclampsia requires a placenta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 11th workshop on Immunology of preeclampsia in Reunion 2018 celebrated its 20th candle In this paper we try to summarize the main tracks of reflections during these two decades. First, of course, the advances in immunology of reproduction in the field of preeclampsia, which was poorly developed 2 decades ago when we first started in 1998. But, this workshop has not been dedicated only to immunology. Second, one of the main reflections has always been, workshop after workshop: "why does preeclampsia exists in humans?" in an evolutionary view, as we have no established natural animal models in the other some 4500 other mammal species. Third, besides the reflections on the biological plausibility of preeclampsia-disease-of-first-pregnancies-at-a-level-of-a-couple (primipaternity rather than primigravidity), i.e. immunology, paternal-maternal conflict, we had to face an apparent conundrum: the human species should have disappeared (almost 40–50% incidence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in couples conceiving within the first 4 months of sexual cohabitation). We report then the dialogues we were obliged to have with zoologists who themselves had no clues on our apparent "extravagant sexuality" and strange reproduction (ridiculous low fertility rate of the human female: 25%). Fourth, debates on the main difference between early onset ("rather immunological") and late onset PE ("rather maternal vascular predispositions"). Further, the debate of why high income countries report 90% of their PE being LOP, while other countries describe epidemiologically very high incidences of EOP. Finally, and always present at all workshops, the physiopathology of the reversible systemic maternal vascular inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Acute exercise is an immune system adjuvant that improves defense activity and metabolic health. • Data support a clear inverse relationship between moderate exercise training and illness risk. • Exercise training has an anti-inflammatory influence mediated through multiple pathways. • Illness risk is increased in athletes during periods of intensified training and competition. • Increased carbohydrate and polyphenol intake is an effective nutritional strategy for immune support. • Habitual exercise improves immune regulation, delaying the onset of age-related dysfunction. • Advances in mass spectrometry technology will provide new insights on exercise–immune responses. This review summarizes research discoveries within 4 areas of exercise immunology that have received the most attention from investigators: (1) acute and chronic effects of exercise on the immune system, (2) clinical benefits of the exercise–immune relationship, (3) nutritional influences on the immune response to exercise, and (4) the effect of exercise on immunosenescence. These scientific discoveries can be organized into distinctive time periods: 1900–1979, which focused on exercise-induced changes in basic immune cell counts and function; 1980–1989, during which seminal papers were published with evidence that heavy exertion was associated with transient immune dysfunction, elevated inflammatory biomarkers, and increased risk of upper respiratory tract infections; 1990–2009, when additional focus areas were added to the field of exercise immunology including the interactive effect of nutrition, effects on the aging immune system, and inflammatory cytokines; and 2010 to the present, when technological advances in mass spectrometry allowed system biology approaches (i.e., metabolomics, proteomics, lipidomics, and microbiome characterization) to be applied to exercise immunology studies. The future of exercise immunology will take advantage of these technologies to provide new insights on the interactions between exercise, nutrition, and immune function, with application down to the personalized level. Additionally, these methodologies will improve mechanistic understanding of how exercise-induced immune perturbations reduce the risk of common chronic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Saliva is a complex matrix that reflects hormonal, immunological, metabolic and nutritional state of a person. Moreover, it is considered the most appropriate biological fluid for scientific investigations regarding ethics. Saliva chemistry is an emerging field and mostly employed in toxicology and forensic medicine for analysing and detecting user drug addiction and alcohol abuse by mapping the blood and saliva data. The advantages of salivary testing include helping in the diagnosis, prognosis and surveillance of disease, alongside with the non-invasive and ease of collection properties. The need for fast, cost-effective and reliable methods for saliva investigation has led to high technological advances in developing sensing tools. Hence, increasing number of papers are reporting diseases signalling salivary biomarkers for local or systemic pathologies like oral cancer, endocrine and immunologic pathologies, infectious and neurological diseases etc. This review focuses on the recent advances and main challenges employed in the detection and quantification of salivary biomarkers by separation, immunological and electrochemical techniques and highlight the future perspectives of the point-of-care devices in diagnosing local or systemic pathologies. Highlights • Saliva is a complex matrix that reflects hormonal, emotional, immunological, metabolic and nutritional state of a person. • The employment of analytical techniques for the salivary biomarkers detection in local/ systemic pathologies are summarized. • Wearable biosensors were developed for real-time non-invasive saliva monitoring of biomarkers to diagnose several diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Résumé Objectifs La notion de soi reste difficile à définir. L'objectif de cet article est de chercher à mieux comprendre ce qu'est le soi en retraçant son évolution depuis les origines, et en se focalisant sur la distinction soi/non-soi. L'idée étant que la distinction soi/non-soi est une constante primaire et fondamentale dans la construction des organismes. Méthodes On retrace rapidement l'évolution de la distinction soi/non-soi depuis les bactéries jusqu'à l'être humain dans les deux grands systèmes où l'existence d'un soi apparaît essentielle, le système immunitaire et le cerveau. Résultats L'organisation du soi immunitaire est encore largement incomprise. Il apparaît que le soi doit être appréhendé à différents niveaux, celui du stockage des mémoires et celui de leur supervision. Dans le cerveau, il est aussi nécessaire de distinguer un soi préconscient et un soi en action que l'on appelle le soi/être. Pour illustrer la notion de soi/être , on analyse ce qu'il pourrait être dans la compulsion à boire chez les personnes dépendantes à l'alcool. Discussion La construction du soi paraît se faire en utilisant des mécanismes sensoriels de transformation du non-soi en soi, et des mécanismes exécutifs d'exclusion du non-soi. Le premier mécanisme construit un système de représentations du non-soi qui permet d'être en permanence prêt à être confronté à l'environnement. Le second mécanisme repose sur la capacité à faire des choix, sur le modèle « ceci c'est moi, cela ce n'est pas moi » ; dans le cerveau, il pourrait consister en un processus exécutif utilisant le soi/être , qui est cet instant où un objet est choisi et occupe seul l'espace du soi en acte ; on propose que le support biologique de ce choix en acte – le soi/être – est le salience network. Conclusion L'étude de l'évolution du soi depuis les origines, en se focalisant sur la distinction soi/non-soi, pourrait être un moyen de mieux comprendre la nature du soi. Abstract Objectives The notion of self remains difficult to define. The objective of the present paper is to try to more fully understand what the self is, by tracing its evolution from the origins, and by focusing on the distinction between self and non-self, the guiding idea being that the self/non-self distinction is a primary and fundamental constant in the construction of organisms. Methods We rapidly describe the evolution of the self/non-self distinction, from bacteria to humans, in the two main systems where the self is essential, namely the immune system and the brain. Results The organization of the immune self is still poorly understood. It seems that the self needs to be considered on two levels, that of memory storage and that of memory supervision. In the brain, we also need to distinguish a preconscious self from an acting self that can be called the self-being. To illustrate the notion de self-being , we analyze what it could be in the case of the compulsion to dink in alcoholics. Discussion It seems that the self builds itself using sensory mechanisms that convert non-self into self, and executive mechanisms that exclude the non-self. The conversion of the non-self into self builds a system of representations of non-self that prepares the subject to confront the environment; the executive mechanisms rest on the ability to make choices, on a "this is me, that is not me" model; in the brain, this could be achieved by an executive process using the self-being , which is the moment when an object is chosen occupies the whole space of the acting self; it is suggested that the biological underpinning of this enacted choice – the self-being – is the salience network. Conclusion The study of the evolution of the self from the origins, focusing on the self/non-self distinction, could be a useful tool to more fully understand the nature of the self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Immunology, medical anthropology and epidemiology are integrated and imported to GWAS, EWAS and LEWAS. Using evidence-based medicine, the results will be used in personalized medicine. Abstract Medical anthropology is a multi-disciplinary approach to the medical sciences and humanities. Immunology is of the basic medical sciences dealing with anthropology as a science which involves in recognition of self and non-self. We performed this review paper to introduce the role of immunology in medical anthropology and molecular epidemiology. This narrative review was based on the authors' original experience and current literature. We discussed about human leukocyte antigens (HLA) and killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) and their disease associations. Bioinformatics and biostatistics help us to use this topic in evidence-based medicine. Immunogenetics is an important part of the molecular anthropology being a part of medical anthropology in turn. There were different notions of the integration of immunology and medical anthropology including environmental, ecological and cultural effects, historical and philosophical approaches, immunological biomarkers in different patients, and immunogenetics. Such studies can be used in pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine especially for immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A recent paper, , has proposed a methodology for taking into account uncertainties in the load evolution within the design of electric distribution networks. That paper has presented an immunological algorithm that is used for finding a set of solutions which are sub-optimal under the viewpoint of the “mean scenario” load conditions, and which are submitted to a sensitivity analysis for the load uncertainty. This paper presents a further development of the algorithm presented in , employing now a memetic algorithm (an algorithm endowed with local search operators) instead of the original immunological algorithm. The new algorithm is shown to present a better behavior, achieving a better set of candidate solutions, which dominate the solution set of the former algorithm. The solution set of the proposed algorithm is also stable, in the senses that: (i) the same set of solutions is found systematically; and (ii) the merit function values associated to those solutions vary smoothly from one solution to another one. It can be concluded that the design procedure proposed in should be performed preferentially with the algorithm proposed here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An allergy is commonly understood to be an overreaction of the immune system to harmless substances that are misrecognised as foreign. This concept of allergy as an abnormal, misdirected immune response—a biological fault—stems from the idea that the immune system is an inherently defensive operation designed to protect the individual through an innate capacity to discriminate between the benign and toxic, or self and nonself. However, this definition of allergy represents a radical departure from its original formulation. Literally meaning ‘altered reactivity’, the term was coined in 1906 by Austrian paediatrician Clemens von Pirquet, to describe the fundamentally mutable nature of the immune response. This paper argues that the conventional interpretation of allergy-as-pathology derives from specific concepts of ‘organism’, ‘response’, and ‘normal’ immune function that have—for over a century—governed the perception and study of immune phenomena within immunology. Through an examination of Louis Pasteur’s conceptualisation of the host body/microorganism relationship, I argue that immunology is founded on a view of the organism as a discrete, autonomous entity, and on a concomitant notion of the immune response as essentially reactive. Revisiting the concept of ‘altered reactivity’, this paper points to the fact that allergy was initially posited as a general theory of immune responsiveness and, importantly, one that poses a significant challenge to orthodox notions of immunopathology. It suggests that Pirquet’s unique view of immune responsiveness presents an account of organismic or biological identity that encapsulates, rather than reduces, its ecological complexity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Australian scientist Frank Macfarlane Burnet—winner of the Nobel Prize in 1960 for his contributions to the understanding of immunological tolerance—is perhaps best recognized as one of the formulators of the clonal selection theory of antibody production, widely regarded as the ‘central dogma’ of modern immunology. His work in studies in animal virology, particularly the influenza virus, and rickettsial diseases is also well known. Somewhat less known and publicized is Burnet’s research on bacteriophages, which he conducted in the first decade of his research career, immediately after completing medical school. For his part, Burnet made valuable contributions to the understanding of the nature of bacteriophages, a matter of considerable debate at the time he began his work. Reciprocally, it was while working on the phages that Burnet developed the scientific styles, the habits of mind and laboratory techniques and practices that characterized him for the rest of his career. Using evidence from Burnet’s published work, as well as personal papers from the period he worked on the phages, this paper demonstrates the direct impact that his experiments with phages had on the development of his characteristic scientific style and approaches, which manifested themselves in his later career and theories, and especially in his thinking regarding various immunological problems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper is the 32nd consecutive installment of the annual review of research concerning the endogenous opioid system. It summarizes papers published during 2009 that studied the behavioral effects of molecular, pharmacological and genetic manipulation of opioid peptides, opioid receptors, opioid agonists and opioid antagonists. The particular topics that continue to be covered include the molecular–biochemical effects and neurochemical localization studies of endogenous opioids and their receptors related to behavior (Section ), and the roles of these opioid peptides and receptors in pain and analgesia (Section ); stress and social status (Section ); tolerance and dependence (Section ); learning and memory (Section ); eating and drinking (Section ); alcohol and drugs of abuse (Section ); sexual activity and hormones, pregnancy, development and endocrinology (Section ); mental illness and mood (Section ); seizures and neurologic disorders (Section ); electrical-related activity and neurophysiology (Section ); general activity and locomotion (Section ); gastrointestinal, renal and hepatic functions (Section ); cardiovascular responses (Section ); respiration and thermoregulation (Section ); and immunological responses (Section ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The electrical penetration graph (EPG) technique is a powerful tool for studying feeding behavior of pierce-sucking insects, because it allows quantification of complex insect–plant interactions occurring inside the plant. However, this technique has an important limitation related to the time-consuming analysis of the acquired data, mainly due to the length of the EPG recordings and the complexity of the parameters used to explore insect behavior. This paper presents a Microsoft Excel Workbook that simplifies the analyses of EPG data and automatically calculates a large number of EPG parameters that characterize insect probing and ingestion behavior. These parameters arise from a wide review of EPG papers related to different aspects of insect–plant and virus–insect vector interactions. Another advantage of this application is that data input can be entered from both AC- and DC-based amplifiers and from different software packages used to acquire EPG data (e.g. MacStylet, WINDAQ and PROBE). The workbook summarizes the results and generates an output sheet for further statistical analysis. In this report, we explain how the workbook can be used to analyze the probing and ingestion behavior of two hemipteran species, demonstrating its flexibility and potentiality for efficient and rapid analysis of EPG data. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Horizontal gene transfers, where a significant proportion of the coding DNA is contributed by external sources, might give rise to extremely dynamic genomes, which brings impact on the ecological and pathogenic characters of the recipient organisms. Therefore it is important to computationally discriminate between horizontal transferred genes and normal genes. In this paper, we introduce a novel method for identifying horizontal transferred genes. This method, which relies on a gene''s nucleotide composition and hence obviates the need for knowledge of codon boundaries, is able to detect the horizontal transferred genes with an accuracy of higher than 90% within a reasonable length of time by using just a common PC. With this method, 141 putative transferred genes in mammalian herpesvirus were identified. Among them, 16 genes had been predicted or reported to have cellular homologues in previous papers, including those involved in immune systems and apoptosis such as GCR in EHV-2, BCL-2 (Bcelllymphoma/leukemia-2) homologue in MuHV-4, etc., and had been suggested being acquired from other organisms. Other 125 genes were identified for the first time. Twelve of the newly identified putative transferred genes had also been reported to participate in immune response, apoptosis, cell proliferation control or virulence determinant. Moreover, 42 of the 141 putative transferred genes were found to have non-virus homologues and so were convincingly revealed as transferred genes. Nine of the 42 transferred genes were phylogenetically analyzed, the origin and the relative origin time of which were discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The paper deals with the analysis of some of G.I. Marchuk''s and R.V. Petrov''s models of immune response of organism [Mathematical Models in Immunology, Nauka Publ, Moscow, 1985 (in Russian)]. The models are described by using the systems of functional-differential equations. In addition to the problems of stability the statement of problems of control for a simplest immunological model with temperature reaction of organism is also presented in the paper. Besides, the condition of asymptotic stability as a whole for the Marchuk–Petrov''s model of immunophysiological reaction of defense and the properties of controllability and stabilization are analyzed as well. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Genetic algorithms (GAs) are a heuristic search and optimisation technique inspired by natural evolution. They have been successfully applied to a wide range of real-world problems of significant complexity. This paper is intended as an introduction to GAs aimed at immunologists and mathematicians interested in immunology. We describe how to construct a GA and the main strands of GA theory before speculatively identifying possible applications of GAs to the study of immunology. An illustrative example of using a GA for a medical optimal control problem is provided. The paper also includes a brief account of the related area of artificial immune systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper extends the stochastic frontier production theory to the case of multiple outputs and calculate the measurement of efficiency using the Production theory. We further apply this method to construct the stochastic frontier production model with undesirable outputs. Finally, the model is used in an HIV immunology model and the efficient drug treatment strategies are then explored. All the models are estimated using the Maximum Likelihood Estimation method. Stochastic errors are considered in this model, which is an advantage over other deterministic efficiency models. Some of our conclusions agree with those published in related papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, autoimmune disease has been considered to be a case of false recognition; the immune system mistakenly identifies ‘self’ tissues as foreign, attacking them thus causing damage and malady. Accordingly, the history of autoimmunity is usually told as part ot the history of immunology, that is, of theories and experiments relating to the ability of the immune system to discriminate between self and nonself. This paper challenges this view, claiming that the emergence of the notion of autoimmunity in the 1950s must be considered as part of a long develolpment in thought about pathology throughout the twentieth century, namely the conceptualisaiton of disease as a reactive and self-destructive process. During the first part of the twentieth century this notion became one of the cornerstones of pathology and was increasingly employed for the explanation of the non-infections, slow-burning diseases. Thus, the category of chronic disease had been defined anew, now encompassing all those diseases characterised by a persistent inflammatory process. Inflammation, in turn, was conceived as double-eged physiological mechanism, which was usually the direct mediator of damage, of the essence of disease. The paper also shows how this kind of analysis could emable a unified historical discussion of autoimmunity and allergy, hitherto considered to have distinct conceptual origins. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This manuscript summarizes the papers presented at the 19th International Papillomavirus Conference, held in Florianopolis, Brazil, September 1–7, 2001, divided in four main areas: Clinical diagnosis and screening, Epidemiology, Biology and Immunology. It provides an overview of what we know about the biology and life cycle of these viruses, their interaction with human and animal hosts, and the diseases that they cause. Highlights derive from the analysis of more than 500 papers presented at the Conference. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract Modeling aspects of the human condition in animals has provided invaluable information on the physiology of all organ systems and has assisted in the development of virtually all new therapeutics. Research in cardiovascular disease, cancer, immunology, and other disciplines has benefited substantially from the availability of animal models that capture aspects of specific human diseases and that have been used effectively to advance new treatments. By comparison, animal models for neurological and psychiatric disorders have faced several unique obstacles. This paper highlights topics covered in a recent Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory meeting charged with examining the status of animal models for mental illness. The consensus of the conference is that despite the difficulties inherent with modeling brain disorders in animals, when used judiciously—fully cognizant that models of specific behavioral or biological aspects cannot completely recapitulate the human disorder—animal research is crucial for advancing our understanding of neuropsychiatric disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Paraneoplastic syndromes are remote effects of cancer caused by an autoimmune response triggered by tumor cells. Paraneoplastic Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorders (NMOSD) has been previously described, but the underlying mechanism for these rare cases is not well characterized. This paper presents a newly described case series of paraneoplastic NMOSD, including 2 new histological types of cancer and histological validation. Methods The UBC NMO clinic database was surveyed and identified 6 patients with paraneoplastic NMOSD. In 2 cases, aquaporin-4 (AQP4) immunoreactivity was assessed on patients’ tumor specimens. Results The mean age at NMOSD diagnosis was 56 years old and 5/6 patients were older than 50 years old. 4/6 patients with paraneoplastic NMOSD have positive AQP4 antibodies. The median time between NMOSD and cancer was 12 months. Two new cancer types- serous ovarian carcinoma and adrenocortical carcinoma - were found in paraneoplastic NMOSD cases. A serous ovarian carcinoma and a thymoma, found in patients with AQP4 serological evidence, showed a positive reactivity to AQP4 immunostaining. Conclusions Our findings will increase the recognition of NMOSD as a paraneoplastic syndrome. Cancer cells can express AQP4, increasing the likelihood of a direct mechanism between cancer cells and the development of NMOSD in paraneoplastic cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid-cycling bipolar disorder represents a frequent severe subtype of illness which has been associated with poor response to pharmacological treatment. Aim of the present article is to provide an updated review of biological markers associated with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder. A research in the main database sources has been conducted to identify relevant papers about the topic. Rapid-cycling bipolar disorder patients seem to have a more frequent family history for bipolar spectrum disorders (d range: 0.44–0.74) as well as an increased susceptibility to DNA damage or mRNA hypo-transcription (d range: 0.78–1.67) than non rapid-cycling ones. A susceptibility to hypothyroidism, which is exacerbated by treatment with lithium, is possible in rapid-cycling bipolar disorder, but further studies are needed to draw definitive conclusions. Rapid-cycling bipolar patients might have more insuline resistance as well as more severe brain changes in frontal areas (d range: 0.82–0.94) than non rapid-cycling ones. Many questions are still open about this topic. The first is whether the rapid-cycling is inheritable or is more generally the manifestation of a severe form of bipolar disorder. The second is whether some endocrine dysfunctions (diabetes and hypothyroidism) predispose to rapid-cycling or rapid-cycling is the consequence of drug treatment or medical comorbidities (e.g. obesity). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured here are a list of abstracts of several research papers presented at the international symposium titled "Mast Cells in the Cytokine Network," in Berlin, Germany during October 21-22, 1994. Stem cell factor is a recently identified fibroblast-derived mast cell growth factor, according to the abstract of the paper "Effects of Fibroblast and Keratinocyte Culture Supernatants and of Stem Cell Factor on Mast Cell Characteristics of Cultured Human Monocytic and Immature Mast Cells," presented by J. Grabbe et al., of Free University Berlin. Neuropeptides like Substance P have been suggested as important factors of inflammation. This implicates interactions between neuropeptides and mast cells as one of the mechanisms of neurogenic inflammation.

Holobionts are symbiotic assemblages composed by a macrobe host (animal or plant) plus its symbiotic microbiota. In recent years, the ontological status of holobionts has created a great amount of controversy among philosophers and biologists: are holobionts biological individuals or are they rather ecological communities of independent individuals that interact together? Chiu and Eberl have recently developed an eco-immunity account of the holobiont wherein holobionts are neither biological individuals nor ecological communities, but hybrids between a host and its microbiota. According to their account, the microbiota is not a proper part of the holobiont. Yet, it should be regarded as a set of scaffolds that support the individuality of the host. In this paper, we approach Chiu and Eberl's account from a metaphysical perspective and argue that, contrary to what the authors claim, the eco-immunity account entails that the microorganisms that compose the host's microbiota are proper parts of the holobiont. Second, we argue that by claiming that holobionts are hybrids, and therefore, not biological individuals, the authors seem to be assuming a controversial position about the ontology of hybrids, which are conventionally characterized as a type of biological individual. In doing so, our paper aligns with the contemporary tendency to incorporate metaphysical resources to shed light on current biological debates and builds on that to provide additional support to the consideration of holobionts as biological individuals from an eco-immunity perspective. • The eco-immunity account of the holobiont asserts that holobionts are hybrids and not biological individuals on the basis that the microbiota is not a proper part of the holobiont. • We use the tools of contemporary analytical metaphysics to show that the notion of parthood assumed under the eco-immunity account does not exclude the resident microbiota as being a proper part of the holobiont. • We argue that the eco-immunity account entails that the holobiont is a biological individual. • Contemporary debates about biological individuality should be assisted with the tools of analytical metaphysics to investigate their assumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infection of cereal grains by fungi is a serious problem worldwide. Depending on the environmental conditions, cereal grains may be colonised by different species of fungi. These fungi cause reduction in yield, quality and nutritional value of the grain; and of major concern is their production of mycotoxins which are harmful to both humans and animals. Early detection of fungal contamination is an essential control measure for ensuring storage longevity and food safety. Conventional methods for detection of fungal infection, such as culture and colony techniques or immunological methods are either slow, labour intensive or difficult to automate. In recent years, there has been an increasing need to develop simple, rapid, non-destructive methods for early detection of fungal infection and mycotoxins contamination in cereal grains. Methods such as near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, NIR hyperspectral imaging, and electronic nose were evaluated for these purposes. This paper reviews the different non-destructive techniques that have been considered thus far for detection of fungal infection and mycotoxins in cereal grains, including their principles, application and limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the complement proteins in circulation are, by and large, synthesized in the liver. However data accumulated over the past several decades provide incontrovertible evidence that some if not most of the individual complement proteins are also synthesized extrahepatically by activated as well as non-activated cells. The question that is finally being addressed by various investigators is: are the locally synthesized proteins solely responsible for the myriad of biological functions in situ without the contribution of systemic complement? The answer is probably “yes”. Among the proteins that are synthesized locally, C1q takes center stage for several reasons. First, it is synthesized predominantly by potent antigen presenting cells such as monocytes, macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs), which by itself is a clue that it plays an important role in antigen presentation and/or DC maturation. Second, it is transiently anchored on the cell surface via a transmembrane domain located in its A chain before it is cleaved off and released into the pericellular milieu. The membrane-associated C1q in turn, is able to sense danger patterns via its versatile antigen-capturing globular head domains. More importantly, locally synthesized C1q has been shown to induce a plethora of biological functions through the induction of immunomodulatory molecules by an autocrine- or paracrine- mediated signaling in a manner that mimics those of TNFα. These include recognition of pathogen- and danger- associated molecular patterns, phagocytosis, angiogenesis, apoptosis and induction of cytokines or chemokines that are important in modulating the inflammatory response. The functional convergence between C1q and TNFα in turn is attributed to their shared genetic ancestry. In this paper, we will infer to the aforementioned “local-synthesis-for-local function” paradigm using as an example, the role played by locally synthesized C1q in autoimmunity in general and in systemic lupus erythematosus in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the primary goals of applied proteomics is the development of new computational methods for modeling the properties of the proteins from the primary structure. In this work, we used the concept of semi-supervised learning, which is relatively new machine learning philosophy that combines labeled and unlabeled instances simultaneously, to perform classification of protein mutants according to their physical properties. Unlike more traditional methods, it does not demand the specification of the class labels of every sample. This is particularly useful when many exemplars are available but the actual class membership is only available for only a marginal subset. In spite of its desirable properties, semi-supervised learning has been seldom applied in molecular biology. In the recent years, a novel algorithm capable of performing semi-supervised learning has been proposed. This algorithm, namely the TTOSOM, is a tree-based neural network inspired in the well-known Self-Organizing Maps. In this paper, we use the TTOSOM to predict the stability of human lysozyme mutants. Since it plays a central role in the immunologic system, prediction of its structural stability is of primary importance for molecular biology. Our experimental results show that it is possible to predict the stability with accuracy above 64%, outperforming two well-known classifiers. This prediction is only based on historical data, i.e., without the necessity of expensive chemical substances and human resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]