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The article presents a study investigating the use of the geometric morphometrics in differentiating wild from mass-reared Bactrocera tryoni, a species Queensland fruit fly common to all horticultural crops in eastern Australia. Sterile flies coming out in supervising traps after release are described by the presence of fluorescent dust in the ptilinum. The result indicates that wing size variation is not sufficient to reliably differentiate wild and sterile flies.

The knee is one of the joints most vulnerable to disease and injury, particularly in athletes and older adults. Surface temperature monitoring provides insights into the health of the analysed area, supporting early diagnosis and monitoring of conditions such as osteoarthritis and tendon injuries. This study presents an innovative approach that combines infrared thermography techniques with a Resnet 152 (DeepLabCut based) to detect and monitor temperature variations across specific knee regions during repeated sit-to-stand exercises. Thermal profiles are then analysed in relation to weight distribution data collected using a Wii Balance Board during the exercise. DeepLabCut was used to automate the selection of the region of interest (ROI) for temperature assessments, improving data accuracy compared to traditional time-consuming semi-automatic methods. This integrative approach enables precise and marker-free measurements, offering clinically relevant data that can aid in the diagnosis of knee pathologies, evaluation of the rehabilitation progress, and assessment of treatment effectiveness. The results emphasize the potential of combining thermography with DeepLabCut-driven data analysis to develop accessible, non-invasive tools for joint health monitoring or preventive diagnostics of pathologies.

Ammonium ion/carboxylate ion pairing is a key interaction ubiquitous in biological systems, but amine recognition by ionizable molecular receptors, mediated by host-to-guest proton transfer, has too often been overlooked as a design element for molecular recognition. This survey will show that proton transfer mediated recognition is a powerful and versatile tool that can be made to work with different amines and diverse macrocyclic scaffolds, such as crown ethers, calixarenes or pillararenes. We will trace the history of this recognition motif since Cram's first report half a century ago down to the latest applications in supramolecular sensing, drug-delivery and materials science, highlighting along the way the impact of host-to-guest proton transfer on self-assembly and molecular recognition.

Much of what is known about the seasonality of human rhinovirus (hRV) infections has been learned from the study of acute asthma exacerbations presenting to emergency care, including those among children at the start of the school term. Much less is known about the patterns of hRVs in the community. In this study, viruses and day-to-day symptoms of asthma and colds were monitored twice weekly in 67 children with asthma aged 5-12 years, over a 15 month period in Sydney, Australia. Overall hRV was detected in 314/1232 (25.5%) of nasal wash samples and 142/1231 (11.5%) of exhaled breath samples; of these, 231 and 24 respectively were genotyped. HRVs were detected with similar prevalence rate throughout the year, including no peak in hRV prevalence following return to school. No peaks were seen in asthma and cold symptoms using twice-weekly diary records. However, over the same period in the community, there were peaks in asthma emergency visits both at a large local hospital and in state-wide hospitalizations, following both return to school (February) and in late autumn (May) in children of the same age. This study suggests that hRV infections are common throughout the year among children, and differences in virus prevalence alone may not account for peaks in asthma symptoms., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: The pattern of development of allergen-specific T cell cytokine responses in early childhood and their relation to later disease is poorly understood. Here we describe longitudinal changes in allergen-stimulated T cell cytokine responses and their relation to asthma and allergic disease during the first 8 years of life., Methods: Subjects with a family history of asthma, who were enrolled antenatally in the Childhood Asthma Prevention Study (public trials registration number ACTRN12605000042640), had skin prick tests, clinical evaluation for asthma and eczema, and in vitro assessment of T cell cytokine responses to HDM extract performed at ages 18 months (n = 281), 3 years (n = 349), 5 years (n = 370) and 8 years (n = 275). We measured interleukin (IL-) 13 at 3, 5 and 8 years, and IL-5, IL-10, and interferon-γ (IFN-γ), at 18 months, 3, 5 and 8 years by ELISA. A cohort analysis was undertaken. Independent effects of cytokine responses at each age on the risk of asthma and allergic outcomes at age 8 years were estimated by multivariable logistic regression., Results: HDM-specific IL-5 responses increased with age. HDM-specific IL-13 and IL-10 responses peaked at age 5 years. HDM-specific IL-5 responses at 3 years, 5 years and 8 years were significantly associated with the presence of asthma and atopy at 8 years. IL-13 responses at 3 years, 5 years and 8 years were significantly associated with atopy at 8 years, but this association was not independent of the effect of IL-5. Other HDM-specific cytokine responses were not independently related to asthma or eczema at 8 years., Conclusion: HDM-specific IL-5 responses at age 3 years or later are the best measure of T cell function for predicting asthma at age 8 years.

Variation in the observed association between pet ownership and allergic disease may be attributable to selection bias and confounding. The aim of this study was to suggest a method to assess disease-related modification of exposure and second to examine how cat acquisition or dog ownership in early life affects atopy and asthma at 5 years. Information on sociodemographic factors and cat and dog ownership was collected longitudinally in an initially cat-free Australian birth cohort based on children with a family history of asthma. At age 5 years, 516 children were assessed for wheezing, and 488 for sensitisation. Data showed that by age 5 years, 82 children had acquired a cat. Early manifestations of allergic disease did not foreshadow a reduced rate of subsequent acquisition of a cat. Independent risk factors for acquiring a cat were exposure to tobacco smoke at home odds ratio (OR) 1.92 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13, 3.26], maternal education < or =12 years OR 1.95 [1.08, 3.51] and dog ownership OR 2.23 [1.23, 4.05]. Cat or dog exposure in the first 5 years was associated with a decreased risk of any allergen sensitisation, OR 0.50 [0.28, 0.88] but no association with wheeze OR 0.96 [0.57, 1.61]. This risk was not affected by age at which the cat was acquired or whether the pet was kept in- or outdoors. In conclusion, cat or dog ownership reduced the risk of subsequent atopy in this high-risk birth cohort. This cannot be explained by disease-related modification of exposure. Public health recommendations on the effect of cat and dog ownership should be based on birth cohort studies where possible selection bias has been taken into account.

Background: There is uncertainty about the nature of the relationship between mite allergen exposure during infancy and the expression of allergic diseases in childhood., Objective: We sought to explore the relationships between repeated measurements of mite allergen exposure during the first 5 years of life and clinical allergic disease outcomes at age 5 years., Methods: In a birth cohort of 516 at-risk children, 13 bed dust samples were collected between birth and 5 years of age and analyzed for mite allergen. At age 5 years, the presence of mite atopy was assessed based on skin prick test results, and clinical assessments for asthma, eczema, and wheeze were conducted. The association of allergen exposure with each clinical outcome was examined by means of logistic regression, with adjustments for potential confounders., Results: The lowest and highest mite exposure quintiles, expressed as mean allergen concentration averaged over 0 to 5 years, were associated with a lower prevalence of mite atopy and of asthma compared with intermediate levels of exposure. These relationships, when determined by using average allergen concentration over 0 to 18 months, were weaker., Conclusions: This study demonstrates a nonlinear relationship between mite allergen exposure and clinical outcomes in this generally high mite allergen environment.

Background: Allergen-specific T(H)2-like cytokine responses are considered to be important in sensitization and allergic diseases., Objective: To examine the profile of house dust mite (HDM) stimulated T-cell cytokines and their relationship to allergic disease in children over the period of the first 5 years of life., Methods: Subjects with a family history of asthma who were enrolled antenatally in the Childhood Asthma Prevention Study and had skin prick tests, clinical evaluation for asthma and eczema, and in vitro assessment of lymphocyte cytokine responses to HDM extract performed at ages 18 months (n = 281), 3 years (n = 349), and 5 years (n = 370). IL-13 at 3 and 5 years and IL-5, IL-10, and IFN- gamma at 18 months, 3 years, and 5 years were measured by ELISA., Results: House dust mite-specific cytokine responses increased with age for all cytokines except IFN-gamma. HDM-specific IL-5 responses at 3 years and 5 years were significantly positively related to skin prick test positivity at 5 years. IL-5 responses at 5 years were also significantly related to asthma at 5 years. Other HDM-specific cytokine responses were not related to asthma or eczema at 5 years. Responses were not altered by a HDM avoidance intervention., Conclusion: IL-5 responses to HDM, the dominant local inhalant allergen, are related to the expression of clinical illness at age 5 years., Clinical Implications: The T-cell response to HDM, as reflected in IL-5 production, is acquired over the first years of life and may play a role in the expression of allergic airways disease.

Background: Early life exposures may be important in the development of asthma and allergic disease., Objective: To test house dust mite (HDM) avoidance and dietary fatty acid modification, implemented throughout the first 5 years of life, as interventions to prevent asthma and allergic disease., Methods: We recruited newborns with a family history of asthma antenatally and randomized them, separately, to HDM avoidance or control and to dietary modification or control. At age 5 years, they were assessed for asthma and eczema and had skin prick tests for atopy., Results: Of 616 children randomized, 516 (84%) were evaluated at age 5 years. The HDM avoidance intervention resulted in a 61% reduction in HDM allergen concentrations (microg/g dust) in the child's bed but no difference in the prevalence of asthma, wheeze, or atopy (P > .1). The prevalence of eczema was higher in the active HDM avoidance group (26% vs 19%; P = .06). The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids in plasma was lower in the active diet group (5.8 vs 7.4; P < .0001). However, the prevalence of asthma, wheezing, eczema, or atopy did not differ between the diet groups (P > .1)., Conclusion: Further research is required to establish whether other interventions can be recommended for the prevention of asthma and allergic disease., Clinical Implications: House dust mite avoidance measures and dietary fatty acid modification, as implemented in this trial during infancy and early childhood, did not prevent the onset of asthma, eczema, or atopy in high-risk children.