Chitotriosidase inhibits allergic asthmatic airways via regulation of TGF-β expression and Foxp3⁺ Treg cells

Hong, J. Y.,Kim, M.,Sol, I. S.,Kim, K. W.,Lee, C.-M.,Elias, J. A.,Sohn, M. H.,Lee, C. G. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2018 Allergy Vol.73 No.8

Basement membrane thickening and clinical features of children with asthma

Kim, E. S.,Kim, S. H.,Kim, K. W.,Park, J. W.,Kim, Y. S.,Sohn, M. H.,Kim, K.-E. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2007 Allergy Vol.62 No.6

<P>BACKGROUND: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease, characterized by airway inflammation, bronchial hyper-responsiveness, and airway obstruction. Although asthma induces partially reversible airway obstruction, obstruction can sometimes become irreversible. This may be a consequence of airway remodeling, which includes a number of structural changes, such as epithelial detachment, basement membrane (BM) thickening, smooth muscle hypertrophy, and new vessel formation. This study evaluated children with asthma for the presence of BM thickening. METHODS: Eighteen children with asthma and 24 control subjects underwent flexible bronchoscopy with endobronchial biopsy. Light microscopy was used to measure BM thickness in paraffin-embedded biopsy sections. The association between BM thickening and age, sex, duration of asthma, asthma severity, FEV(1), FEV(1)/FVC, FEF(25-75%), methacholine PC(20), eosinophil count, and presence of atopy was examined. RESULTS: Basement membrane thickness was greater in subjects with asthma (8.3 +/- 1.4 microM) than in control subjects (6.8 +/- 1.3 microM, P = 0.0008). Multiple regression analysis revealed that sex, FEV(1)/FVC, total IgE, and atopy (IgE for Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus >0.34 kUA/l) were significant predictive factors for BM thickness. There was no significant association between BM thickness and age, duration of asthma, FEV(1), FEF(25-75%), methacholine PC(20), eosinophil count, or asthma severity. CONCLUSIONS: Basement membrane thickening has been known to be present in children with asthma. In addition, we report an association between BM thickness and sex, FEV(1)/FVC, total IgE, and the presence of IgE specific to D. pteronyssinus.</P>

Bronchial hyperresponsiveness in young children with allergic rhinitis and its risk factors

Choi, S. H.,Yoo, Y.,Yu, J.,Rhee, C.-S.,Min, Y.-G.,Koh, Y. Y. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2007 Allergy Vol.62 No.9

<P>BACKGROUND: Subjects with allergic rhinitis but no clinical evidence of asthma have greater bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR), and several factors have been implicated as its determinants. However, studies in young children are lacking. The aims of this study were to evaluate the prevalence of BHR in young children with allergic rhinitis and to investigate its risk factors. METHODS: Methacholine bronchial challenges were performed in 4- to 6-year-old nonasthmatic children with allergic rhinitis (n = 83) and in healthy nonatopic controls (n = 32), using a modified auscultation method. The end-point was defined as the appearance of wheezing and/or oxygen desaturation. Subjects were considered to have BHR when they had end-point concentrations of methacholine <or=8 mg/mL. Clinical and laboratory data in allergic rhinitis patients and a history of allergic diseases in their parents were collected. RESULTS: BHR was observed in 27 subjects with allergic rhinitis (32.5%) and three controls (9.4%). Among subjects with allergic rhinitis, serum total IgE, the number and pattern of skin-prick test responses, blood eosinophil markers, and parental history of allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis were not different between the BHR(+) and BHR(-) groups, whereas the persistent type of rhinitis and parental history of asthma were more frequent in the BHR(+) group than in the BHR(-) group. These associations remained significant in a multivariable logistic regression. CONCLUSIONS: Young children with allergic rhinitis alone showed an increased prevalence of BHR. Both persistent type of rhinitis and parental history of asthma were significant and independent risk factors for BHR in these children.</P>

Sweep-based Freeform Deformations

Yoon, Seung-Hyun,Kim, Myung-Soo Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2006 Computer Graphics Forum Vol.25 No.3

<P>Abstract</P><P><I>We propose a sweep-based approach to the freeform deformation of three-dimensional objects. Instead of using a volume enclosing the whole object, we approximate only its deformable parts using sweep surfaces. The vertices on the object boundary are bound to the sweep surfaces and follow their deformation. Several sweep surfaces can be organized into a hierarchy so that they interact with each other in a controlled manner. Thus we can support intuitively plausible shape deformation of objects of arbitrary topology with multiple control handles. A sweep-based approach also provides important advantages such as volume preservation. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our technique in several examples.</I></P><P>Categories and Subject Descriptors (according to ACM CCS): I.3.5 [Computational Geometry and Object Modeling]: Curve, surface, solid, and object representations</P>

Evaluation of a first‐flush capture and detention tank receiving runoff from an asphalt‐paved road

Cheng, Jing,Yuan, Qingke,Youngchul, Kim Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2017 Water and Environment Journal Vol. No.

Real-Time Simulation of Thin Shells

Choi, Min Gyu,Yong Woo, Seung,Ko, Hyeong-Seok Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2007 Computer Graphics Forum Vol.26 No.3

<P>Abstract</P><P><I>This paper proposes a real-time simulation technique for thin shells undergoing large deformation. Shells are thin objects such as leaves and papers that can be abstracted as 2D structures. Development of a satisfactory physical model that runs in real-time but produces visually convincing animation of thin shells has been remaining a challenge in computer graphics. Rather than resorting to shell theory which involves the most complex formulations in continuum mechanics, we adopt the energy functions from the discrete shells proposed by Grinspun et al. [GHDS03]. For real-time integration of the governing equation, we develop a modal warping technique for shells. This new simulation framework results from making extensions to the original modal warping technique [CK05] which was developed for the simulation of 3D solids. We report experimental results, which show that the proposed method runs in real-time even for large meshes, and that it can simulate large bending and/or twisting deformations with acceptable realism.</I></P>

Two cases of occupational rhinitis caused by biodiastase in hospital and pharmaceutical workers

Hur, G.-Y.,Shin, S.-Y.,Ye, Y.-M.,Nahm, D.-H.,Park, H.-S. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2007 Allergy Vol.62 No.9

Bronchial responsiveness to methacholine and adenosine 5'-monophosphate in young children with asthma: their relationship with blood eosinophils and serum eosinophil cationic protein

Choi, S. H.,Kim, D. K.,Yu, J.,Yoo, Y.,Koh, Y. Y. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2007 Allergy Vol.62 No.10

<P>BACKGROUND: Bronchial hyperresponsiveness is a characteristic feature of asthma, and is usually measured by bronchial challenges using direct or indirect stimuli. Blood eosinophil numbers and serum levels of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) are considered as indirect measures of airway inflammation in asthma. The aim of this study was to investigate whether bronchial responsiveness to adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP) is more closely associated with blood eosinophil markers, compared with that to methacholine, in young children with asthma. METHODS: Methacholine and AMP bronchial challenges were performed in 4- to 6-year-old children with asthma (n = 77) and in healthy controls (n = 32), using a modified auscultation method. The end-point was defined as the appearance of wheezing and/or oxygen desaturation. The peripheral blood eosinophil counts and serum ECP concentrations were determined in each subject. RESULTS: A positive response to methacholine (end-point concentration < or =8mg/ml) and to AMP (end-point concentration < or =200 mg/ml) was observed in 74 (96.1%) and 66 asthmatic children (85.7%), respectively. A majority of controls was unresponsive to both challenges. In the asthma group, there was no significant correlation between methacholine end-point concentration and the eosinophil counts (r = -0.111, P = 0.337) or serum ECP levels (r = -0.126, P = 0.274). In contrast, AMP end-point concentration correlated significantly with the eosinophil counts (r = -0.372, P = 0.001) and with serum ECP levels (r = -0.371, P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that bronchial responsiveness to AMP is more closely related to airway inflammation, compared with that to methacholine, and support the potential usefulness of AMP challenges in detecting inflammatory changes in young children with asthma.</P>

Normal C1 inhibitor mRNA expression level in type I hereditary angioedema patients: newly found C1 inhibitor gene mutations

Kang, H. R.,Yim, E. Y.,Oh, S. Y.,Chang, Y. S.,Kim, Y. K.,Cho, S. H.,Min, K. U.,Kim, Y. Y. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2006 Allergy Vol.61 No.2

<P>BACKGROUND: C1 esterase inhibitor (C1INH) plays a key role in the classical pathway of the complement cascade. Mutations in this gene cause a decreased level of antigenic (type I hereditary angioedema, HAE) or functional (type II HAE) C1INH. OBJECTIVE: To find novel mutations in C1INH and evaluate the expression of C1INH gene in HAE patients. METHODS: Direct sequencing mutation analysis was performed for genomic DNA from three unrelated families (14 HAE patients and 18 family members). Genomic DNA from one family was also analyzed for larger genomic rearrangements, using Southern blotting analysis. We used real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to evaluate C1INH mRNA expression level. RESULTS: Four mutations in exons (2,311 T-->C, 14,034 G-->A, 16,830 G-->A, and 16,979-16,980 G insertion) and four in introns (738 G-->A, 8,531 A-->G, 14,254 A-->G, and 14,337-14,378 TT deletion) were found. Interestingly, all of the nine patients in one family share the same mutation of Gly345Arg (14,034 G-->A) in the seventh exon. In another family, a single base mutation near the splice site (14,254 A-->G) was found in all of the three patients. In the last family, although a significant mutation was not found by direct sequencing, patients showed an abnormal 16 kb fragment in addition to the normal allele (21 kb Bcl I fragment). The C1INH mRNA expression of HAE patients in two families was not significantly different compared with that of normal controls. CONCLUSION: The two novel exonal mutations (G-->A and A-->G) and one large gene deletion were associated with the clinical phenotypes of HAE. Considering the normal C1INH mRNA levels but below normal protein levels in two families, their phenotypes would be associated with the post-translational defect.</P>

A case of urticaria induced by both hydroxyzine and cetirizine but not by levocetirizine : ALLERGY Net

Chang, Y.-S.,Kwon, H.-S.,Cho, S.-H.,Kim, Y.-Y.,Min, K.-U. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2007 Allergy Vol.62 No.7