J.C. García

Allergy to penicillin with good tolerance to other penicillins; study of the incidence in subjects allergic to betalactams

Two hundred and eighty‐eight subjects with a history of allergy to penicillin were studied for objective proof of their allergy. On the basis of skin tests, specific IgE antibody measurements and direct challenge tests, 64 patients (22%) were shown objectively to be allergic to one or more penicillins. The following tests were carried out: skin tests to benzyl‐penicilloyl poly‐L‐lysine (BPO‐PLL), minor determinant mixture (MDM), amoxycillin (AX) and ampicillin (AMP), in‐vitro IgE antibody measurement to benzyl‐penicilloyl (BPO) and AX and challenge with benzylpenicillin (BP), phenoxymethyl‐penicillin (PV) and amoxycillin. Forty‐four cases were found to respond to benzyl or phenoxymethyl‐penicillin, however, 20 were shown to be sensitive to amoxycillin and unresponsive to tests with other penicillins. The contribution that any individual test gave for establishing the diagnosis was 21·8% for skin testing with BPO‐PLL, 9·3% with MDM and 12·5% with AX, Nine point three per cent were RAST positive to BPO and 1·5% to AX; 7·8% developed a positive response after challenge to BP, 7·8% to PV and 14% to AX. In 16% of the 64 positive cases more than one test was found to be positive. The challenge tests suggested that not all the penicillin‐sensitive subjects had IgE‐mediated reactions implying other immunological mechanisms. These results clearly demonstrate the importance of side chain‐specific diagnostic reagents and challenge tests. Thirty‐one per cent of the positive group or 6·9% of the total group would have been missed in this study using benzyl or phenoxymethyl‐penicillin diagnostic reagents alone.

New aspects of allergic reactions to betalactams: crossreactions and unique specificities

Allergic reactions to betalactams, although not common, constitute the most frequent cause of adverse drug reactions induced by a specific itnniunological mechanism. Both cellular and humoral responses are involved in eliciting the reactions [1,2]. Although the incidence has decreased in recent years, perhaps as a result of improved manufacturing processes [3,4], some patients still suffer allergic reactions from these beneficial antibiotics [5-8]. These days the betalactam family consists of two major classes, penicillins and cephalosporins. and four minor, monobactams, carbapenems., oxacephems and clavams (Fig. 1). The major clavam, clavulanic acid, is included in this survey, although it is a betalactamase inhibitor and not an antibiotic. A list of different antibiotics belonging to these groups is presented in Table 1. Early studies with benzyl penicillin in man and animals [9 11] demonstrated that it was immunogenic and most of the antibody induced was directed against a structure formed by a reaction between the betalactam carbonyl and amino groups from lysines in proteins. This grouping, known as benzyl penicilloyl, was termed the major determinant accordingly. Initially it was believed that the side chain of the penicillin (Fig. 1, R group) played a minor role in the specificity of the antibody produced [11,12] and that the nuclear portion (common to all penicillins, see Fig. I, A and B rings) was the most important part of the determinant structure. This led to the assutnption that all penicillins would crossreact and patients allergic to one would react to all [13,14-16]. Whilst crossreaction between penicillins may be extensive for some patients the situation is much more complex because of the increased number of new betalactam antibiotics available and their frequency of use. So on the one hand there arc studies which show that crossreactivity can be extended across classes of betalaetam antibiotics, for example, penicillins with cephalosporins [17-20]. penicillins with carbapenems [21]. and cephalosporins with monobactams [22], whilst other studies highlight that some patients are

Anaphylaxis to penicillins after non-therapeutic exposure: an immunological investigation

Background There are instances where individuals may come into contact with penicillins without being aware of it. This non‐therapeutic exposure from different sources may cause sensitization and even clinical manifestations in subjects allergic to penicillins.

Grasping for the Seabed: Developing a New Underwater Robot Arm for Shallow-Water Intervention

A new underwater robot arm was developed through intensive cooperation between different academic institutions and an industrial company. The manipulator, which was initially designed to be teleoperated, was adapted for our autonomy needs. Its dimensions and weight were reduced, and its kinematic model was developed so that autonomous control can be performed with it. We compare several commercially available underwater manipulators and describe the development of the new one, from its initial configuration to its mechanical adaptation, modeling, control, and final assembly on an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). The feasibility and reliability of this arm is demonstrated in water tank conditions, where various innovative autonomous object-recovery operations are successfully performed, both in stand-alone operation and integrated in an AUV prototype.

Allergic reactions to ampicillin. Studies on the specificity and selectivity in subjects with immediate reactions

Background and Objective Ainpicillin (AMP) is a drug that has been prescribed extensively. Reactions that have been reported include exanthema. desquamative contact eczema, urticaria and anaphylaxis. Experimental evidence indicates that the side chain of AMP is a structure that may induce a selective immune response either at the humoral or lymphocyte T‐cell level. With regard to IgE reactions, the selectivity and specificity of the response needs to be studied in humans.

Multipurpose autonomous underwater intervention: A systems integration perspective

Nowadays, autonomous intervention is getting more attention in the underwater robotics community. Few research projects on this matter are currently under development. In this context, and after a first successful experience in the RAUVI Spanish project (2009-2011), the authors are currently involved in the TRIDENT project (2010-2013), funded by the European Commission. To succeed in autonomous intervention, an AUV endowed with a manipulator and with a high degree of autonomy is essential. The complexity of the required robotic system is very high and the system integration process becomes critical. This paper presents the problems being solved in TRIDENT, from a systems integration perspective. As a case study, some results, achieved during the last experiments carried out in the Roses harbor (Girona) in October 2011 will be presented, to demonstrate the capabilities exhibited by the AUV for Intervention under development. The experiments were focused on the problem of autonomously searching and recovering a black-box mock-up that was previously thrown to an unknown position. This paper presents the hardware and software integration aspects that were necessary in order to address such a challenging problem.

Comparison of Vespula germanica Venoms Obtained from Different Sources

This study was carried out to compare the allergenic potency of Vespula germanica (VG) venoms extracted by different methods and commercially available venoms from Vespula species currently used for in vivo and in vitro studies including immunotherapy. Pure VG venom was used as the reference material. Protein content and enzymatic and allergenic properties of all venoms studied were determined by dye stain reagent, hyaluronidase and phospholipase A1B enzyme activities, and radioallergosorbent test inhibition studies, respectively. Radioallergosorbent test discs sensitized with commercial and pure VG venom were compared using specific IgE antibodies from subjects allergic to VG venom. The data obtained indicate that there were important differences in the allergenic potency between the Vespula species venoms employed for in vivo and/or in vitro assays, VG venom obtained by sac dissection, and pure VG venom. These results indicate that venoms from Vespula species used for in vitro and in vivo tests have a lower concentration of allergens and contain nonvenom proteins. These data should be taken into account when these vespid venoms are used for diagnostic purposes and also when evaluating immunotherapy studies.

A distributed architecture for enabling autonomous underwater Intervention Missions

This work introduces the main aspects related with a new architecture defined for an ongoing research project named RAUVI (i.e. Reconfigurable AUV for Intervention Missions). Two initially independent architectures for the underwater vehicle and the robotic arm have been combined into a new schema that allows for reactive and deliberative behaviours on both subsystems. Reactive actions are performed through a low-level control layer in communication with the robot hardware via an abstraction interface. On the other hand, the intervention mission is supervised at a high-level by a Mission Control System (MCS), implemented using the Petri net formalism. Both, the arm and vehicle perception and control modules communicate with the MCS by means of actions and events. They also share a centralized database where some sensor data is stored. The proposed architecture allows for the supervised execution of intervention missions requiring a tight coordination between the vehicle and the manipulator.

A new approach for a Reconfigurable Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Intervention

This shows an on-going project named RAUVI (i.e., Reconfigurable AUV for Intervention). This project aims to design and develop an Underwater Autonomous Robot, able to perceive the environment by means of acoustic and optic sensors, and equipped with a robotic arm in order to autonomously perform simple intervention tasks. A complete simulation environment, including this new concept of robot, has been developed and is presented as a preliminary result.

Increasing autonomy within underwater intervention scenarios: The user interface approach

The present work represents working progress for designing a Graphical User Interface (GUI) within an ongoing research project named RAUVI (e.g. Reconfigurable AUV for Intervention Missions). This GUI should help the user to identify the target using images compiled by the I-AUV through a previous survey stage. After that, the user is able to specify the most suitable intervention task selected among a set of predefined ones. Thus, a very intuitive and user-friendly interface has been designed, enabling a non qualified user to succeed in the specification of an intervention mission. Furthermore, some implementation details and their performance about different facilities integrated within this GUI to assist the user in the required specification of underwater intervention missions will be addressed.