Type I hypersensitivity is driven by allergen specific immunoglobulin E (sIgE) and thus sIgE represents a marker for modern allergy diagnosis. Recently, a rapid assay for the detection of sIgE, termed as (Allergy Lateral Flow Assay) ALFA, has been developed. The objective of our study is the evaluation of a scanner-based system for the semiquantitative interpretation of ALFA results. Agreement ...

In bacteria, some plasmids are partitioned to daughter cells by assembly of actin-like proteins (ALPs). The best understood ALP, ParM, has a core set of biochemical properties that contributes to its function, including dynamic instability, spontaneous nucleation, and bidirectional elongation. AlfA, an ALP that pushes plasmids apart in Bacillus, relies on a different set of underlying propertie...

Advances in recombinant technology and knowledge about coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) are building a platform for new therapeutic options in patients with hemophilia A. The development of turoctocog alfa, a novel, high-purity, third-generation, B-domain truncated recombinant FVIII, has been produced and formulated without the use of animal-derived or human serum-derived components, in the wake...

The ALFA framework supports the software development of major High Energy Physics experiments. As part of our research effort to optimize the transport layer of ALFA, we focus on profiling its data transfer performance for inter-node communication on the Intel Xeon Phi Coprocessor. In this article we present the collected performance measurements with the related analysis of the results. The op...

P soriasis is a Th1/Th17 chronic immunemediated disease, characterized by increased levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alfa. TNF-alfa blockers including adalimumab have been widely used to treat immune-mediated diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis. TNF-alfa plays a central role in the inflammation and cellular immune response a...

Recently, multiple C1 inhibitor (C1-INH) replacement products have been approved for the treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE). This review summarizes HAE and its current treatment modalities and focuses on findings from bench to bedside trials of a new C1-INH replacement, conestat alfa. Conestat alfa is unique among the other C1-INH replacement products because it is produced from transgeni...

OBJECTIVE In this article, we describe a successful low-dose, off-label usage of drotrecogin alfa (Xigris), given at 18 mcg/kg per hour, in a patient with severe sepsis who had an Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score of 26 and multiorgan failure. PATIENT A 64-year-old man was admitted to the surgical intensive-care unit of Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola...

Comparison of the efficacies of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) between different clinical trials is becoming increasingly common, although differences in study design and populations evaluated can have a considerable effect on results. A comparison of two seemingly similar trials of ESAs, one of epoetin alfa and the other of epoetin beta, showed that only 27% of the 115 patients with ...

Computerization of general practice is an international phenomenon. Many of the Electronic Patient Record (EPR) systems have developed organically with considerable variation in their interface and functionality. Consequently they have differing impact on the clinical consultation. There is a dearth of tools available to study their impact on the consultation. The objective is to use ALFA to fi...

BACKGROUND No previous randomized controlled studies have been reported examining de novo, once every 4 weeks (Q4W) administration of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. We report results from a randomized multinational study that compared continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (C.E.R.A.) Q4W with darbepoetin alfa once weekly (QW) or every 2 weeks (...