AXO Science (France)

Understanding patterns of IgE sensitization in Dermatophagoides-allergic patients living in various geographical areas is necessary to design a product suitable for worldwide allergen immunotherapy (AIT). Using a HIFI Allergy customized microarray assay, IgEs specific for 12 purified allergens from Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus or D. farinae were assessed in sera from 1302 house dust mite (HDM)-allergic patients living in various areas. Comprehensive mass spectrometric (MS) analyses were conducted to characterize HDM extracts, as well as purified bodies and feces. Patterns of IgE reactivity to HDM allergens are comparable in all cohorts of patients analyzed, encompassing adults and 5- to 17-year-old children, as well as American, Canadian, European, and Japanese patients. Overall, >70% and >80% of HDM-allergic patients are sensitized to group 1 and group 2 allergens, respectively, from D. pteronyssinus and/or D. farinae species. Furthermore, 20-47% of patients also have IgEs to allergens from groups 4, 5, 7, 13, 15, 21, and 23. All patients have IgEs to allergens present in mite bodies and feces. MS-based analyses confirmed the presence of mite allergens recorded by IUIS in D. pteronyssinus and D. farinae extracts, with groups 2, 8, 10, 11, 14, and 20 prominent in bodies and groups 1, 6, 18, and 23 well represented in feces. Mite-specific AIT should rely upon a mixture of D. pteronyssinus and D. farinae extracts, manufactured from both feces and bodies. Such a combination is appropriate to treat children and adult Dermatophagoides-allergic patients from Asia, Europe, and North America.

The present review reports on the lastest developments in multiplex immunoassays. The selected examples are classified through their detection strategy (fluorescence, chemiluminescence, colorimetry or labeless) and their assay format (standard microtiter plate, polymeric membranes and glass slides). Finally, the degree of integration in a complete system, incorporating fluid handling and detection was also taken into account.

The JAVA CARD transaction mechanism allows to protect sensitive operations on smart cards against problems due to card tears or power losses. Statements within a transaction are viewed as a single atomic operation so that either they are all performed or none of them is. KRAKATOA is a tool for static verification of Java programs annotated in JML (Java Modeling Language), a behavioral specification language tailored to Java and based on first order predicate logic. In a first step, we show how we modeled the transactions within KRAKATOA, by generating on-the-fly (i.e. on each applet) specifications of the API methods for transactions. In a second step, we consider security problems that can be caused by a card tear. We propose new JML constructs allowing to express properties to satisfy when a method is interrupted by a card tear, also taking non-atomic methods into account. We present a modeling of these constructs in KRAKATOA, and show it is practicable for the detection of potential security holes, or to prove the absence of risk.