bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Food Allergy in childhood: phenotypes, prevention and treatment
Authors: Sánchez‐García Silvia , Cipriani Francesca , Ricci Giampaolo 
Published: November 2015

AbstractThe prevalence of food allergy in childhood increased in the last decades, especially in Westernized countries where this phenomenon has been indicated as a second wave of the allergic epidemic. In parallel, scientific interest also increased with the effort to explain the reasons of this sudden rise and to identify potential protective and risk factors. A great attention has been focused on early exposures to allergenic foods, as well as on other nutritional factors or supplements that may influence the immune system in a positive direction. Both interventions on maternal diet before birth or during breastfeeding and then directly on infant nutrition have been investigated. Furthermore, the natural history of food allergy also seems to be changing over time; IgE‐mediated cow's milk allergy and egg allergy seem to be more frequently a persistent rather than a transient disease in childhood, as described in the last years. Food avoidance and the emergency drugs in case of an adverse event, such as epinephrine self‐injector, are currently the first‐line treatment in patients with food allergies, with a resulting impairment in the quality of life and social behaviour. During the last decade, oral immunotherapy emerged as an optional treatment with remarkable results, offering a novel perspective in the treatment for and management of food allergy.
Topic shift impairs pronoun resolution during sentence comprehension: Evidence from event‐related potentials
Authors: Xu Xiaodong , Zhou Xiaolin 
Published: November 2015

AbstractThis study investigated how topic shift and topic continuation influence pronoun interpretation in Chinese. ERPs recorded on pronouns in topic structure showed stronger and earlier late positive responses (P600) for the topic‐shift than for the topic‐continuation conditions. However, in nontopic structure where the subject (denoting only subjecthood), rather than the topic (denoting both topichood and subjecthood), acted as the antecedent of the pronoun, almost indistinguishable P600 responses were obtained on the pronoun regardless of whether it was referring to the subject (i.e., subject continuation) or the object (i.e., subject shift). Moreover, stronger and earlier P600 responses were elicited by pronouns in the topic‐shift than in the subject‐shift conditions, although there was no difference between the topic‐continuation and the subject‐continuation conditions. These findings suggest that topic shift results in greater difficulty in the resolution stage of referential processing, although the bonding process is not sensitive to the manipulation of topic status, and that topic has a privileged cognitive status relative to other nontopic entities (e.g., subject) in real‐time language processing.
Flow Cytometric Chromosomal Sex Sorting of Stallion Spermatozoa Induces Oxidative Stress on Mitochondria and Genomic DNA
Authors: Balao da Silva CM , Ortega‐Ferrusola C , Morrell JM , Rodriguez Martínez H , Peña FJ 
Published: November 2015

ContentsTo date, the only repeatable method to select spermatozoa for chromosomal sex is the Beltsville sorting technology using flow cytometry. Improvement of this technology in the equine species requires increasing awareness of the modifications that the sorting procedure induces on sperm intactness. Oxidative stress is regarded as the major damaging phenomenon, and increasing evidence regards handling of spermatozoa – including sex sorting – as basic ground for oxidative damage. The aim of this study was to disclose whether the flow cytometric sorting procedure increases the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and to identify if ROS production relates to DNA damage in sorted spermatozoa using specific flow cytometry‐based assays. After sorting, oxidative stress increased from 26% to 33% in pre‐ and post‐incubation controls, to 46% after sex sorting (p < 0.05). Proportions of DNA fragmentation index post‐sorting were approximately 10% higher (31.3%); an effect apparently conduced via oxidative DNA damage as revealed by the oxyDNA assay. The probable origin of this increased oxidative stress owes the removal of enough seminal plasma due to the unphysiological sperm extension, alongside a deleterious effect of high pressure on mitochondria during the sorting procedure.
The Healing Power of the Gift Healing Services and Remuneration in Rakhine (Western Myanmar)
Authors: Coderey Céline 
Published: November 2015

AbstractBased on data that have been collected during several field trips to Rakhine State, this article describes the way the movements of services and goods in the healing sector take place and are interpreted by local people and outlines the factors underlying these performances and interpretations and their meaning with regard the healing process itself. Although from an etic point of view, most transfers that take place in the healing sector represent an exchange—provision of service vs. remuneration—from a local point of view, this interpretation is valid only for a restricted number of transfers—mainly those that occur in the modern medical sector. Otherwise, in traditional sectors, people generally recognize this exchange dimension as having only a secondary role when they are not hiding or denying it. Here, the prevailing concept is a succession of gifts that are provided out of loving‐kindness and generosity. Healing is sometimes perceived simply as an act of loving‐kindness sometimes even as a dana, while remuneration is understood as an expression of gratitude and respect (kadaw) for the healer and their knowledge but also as an act of loving‐kindness and generosity performed as a spontaneous reflection to the healer's act of loving‐kindness and generosity. However, since Buddhism is predominant in Rakhine society and culture, even though healing in the modern therapeutic sector is mainly performed as a (remunerable) service, it is nevertheless apprehended through the Buddhist logic. Indeed, in resisting changes and the complexification of the health sector and the emergence of modern biomedicine, the concept of a donation ideally performed out of generosity and loving‐kindness is the reference in relation to which all healing interactions are evaluated and judged.The dana and kadaw practices and the virtues of loving‐kindness and generosity represent the cornerstone of the system and reinforce the harmonious articulation between Buddhist, social, economic, and therapeutic logics: by helping to increase the patient's karma as well as the healer's respectability and efficacy while at the same time contributing to the latter's subsistence, they ensure the perpetuation of social, spiritual, and therapeutic relations between healers and patients. And yet, despite the pivotal roles played by Buddhist concepts and values and, more generally, the dominant position of the Buddhist logic, the others' logics at play maintain a certain degree of independence and do sometimes dominate. This goes towards explaining that sometimes the act of healing is performed (or is considered to be performed) with no loving‐kindness and there is therefore no remuneration at all.
Gifts and the Selfless Work Ethic in Tibetan Buddhist Centres in France
Authors: Campergue Cecile 
Published: November 2015

AbstractTibetan Buddhism has gained ground in France since it arrived there in the 1970s. As the most publicized form and the one most practised by Westerners, Tibetan Buddhism is embodied in France in many places of worship—some of which are of monumental proportions—run by Tibetan and Western masters (lamas). In France, ‘dharma centres’, as places of worship, cannot be subsidized by the State like other faiths (with some exceptions): their main source of income comes from the donations (in various forms) from disciples and other sympathizers. The Buddhist meritorious gift takes very different forms here, depending on French cultural, institutional and legal constraints. Moreover, donation practices have adapted to the masters' new public: a Western audience from a Christian background, which is unfamiliar with Buddhism and the meritorious gift, and which on the whole has to pay for Buddhist teachings. Dharma centres also offer a wide variety of religious services in exchange for payments—in effect, market exchanges that are dissimulated behind a euphemized discourse of the ‘gift’. Bourdieu's analysis therefore proves relevant to our understanding of the giving practices recorded during our fieldwork.
On Local Power Properties of Frequency Domain‐based Tests for Stationarity
Authors: Paparoditis Efstathios , Preuß Philip 
Published: November 2015

AbstractA framework for the asymptotic analysis of local power properties of tests of stationarity in time series analysis is developed. Appropriate sequences of locally stationary processes are defined that converge at a controlled rate to a limiting stationary process as the length of the time series increases. Different interesting classes of local alternatives to the null hypothesis of stationarity are then considered, and the local power properties of some recently proposed, frequency domain‐based tests for stationarity are investigated. Some simulations illustrate our theoretical findings.
Political Conflict and Direct Democracy: Explaining Initiative Use 1920‐2011
Authors: Leemann Lucas 
Published: November 2015

AbstractPolitical competition is the engine for representative democracy. Within the representation mechanics I look at the political space, the dimensionality of political conflict, and how parties try to affect the relative salience of different dimensions by using direct democratic institutions. The leading question is how we can explain initiative use. The paper asks how the costs and benefits of using initiatives affect parties when they decide whether to use this instrument or not. The major argument is that when party competition increases, we will see higher initiative frequencies because parties try to affect the saliency of specific issues to increase their electoral bases. I analyze annual submission rates, the content of proposed initiatives, and the changing share of partisan actors behind initiatives. The findings highlight that the consequences of direct democratic institutions go beyond changing policy outcomes. For the specific case at hand, Switzerland from 1920 to 2011, it is shown that despite numerous opposite claims, there has been no underlying change in strategy or equilibrium but just a slow evolution of underlying factors such as institutional requirements and partisan competition.
Genotype frequency of human neutrophil antigen‐3 polymorphisms in the Yi, Han, and Tibetan populations of China
Authors: Chen Qing , Srivastava Kshitij , Liu Zhong , Xiao Jianyu , Huang Chengyin , Sun Jun , Li Min , Flegel Willy Albert 
Published: November 2015

BACKGROUNDHuman neutrophil antigen‐3 (HNA‐3) alloantibodies can cause fatal transfusion‐related acute lung injury (TRALI). Most frequencies of SLC44A2 alleles encoding the HNA‐3a/b antigens have been established in Han individuals by polymerase chain reaction with sequence‐specific priming (PCR‐SSP). We sequenced SLC44A2 gene fragments and determined allele frequencies in three ethnicities of China.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODSGenomic DNA was extracted from 448 samples of 100 blood donors of Yi ethnicity in Xichang, Liangshan; 248 Han in Nanjing, Jiangsu; and 100 Tibetan in Lhasa, Tibet. A PCR‐SSP was applied to determine the phase of two single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs); SLC44A2 haplotypes were constructed.RESULTSIn the 567 nucleotides of the SLC44A2 gene covered by our sequencing approach in Han individuals, we detected the known 331‐44G>A (rs12972963) and 461G>A (rs2288904) polymorphisms. In the 243 nucleotides sequenced in Yi and Tibetan populations, we detected the known 461G>A and 503‐15T>C (rs1560711) polymorphisms. A PCR‐SSP for the common HNA‐3a/b SNP was 100% concordant. The frequencies of the HNA‐3a allele were 0.58, 0.66, and 0.69 in Yi, Han (Nanjing), and Tibetan, respectively (0.42, 0.34, and 0.31 for HNA‐3b).CONCLUSIONSThe Yi population of China had the highest frequency of blood donors at risk of harboring anti‐HNA‐3a compared to any population studied so far. We confirmed that the underlying SLC44A2*2 allele is more common in China than in any European or African populations.
Risk of Osteosarcoma in Dogs After Open Fracture Fixation
Authors: Arthur Elizabeth G. , Arthur Gerald L. , Keeler Matthew R. , Bryan Jeffrey N. 
Published: November 2015

ObjectiveTo critically evaluate whether open fracture fixation is a significant risk factor for latent osteosarcoma development.Study DesignCase–control study.Sample PopulationDogs undergoing open fracture repair and dogs diagnosed with osteosarcoma.MethodsRecords were retrieved from the Veterinary Medical Database VMDB (1970–2000) for dogs undergoing surgical repair of a fracture and dogs diagnosed with osteosarcoma. Dogs with open reduction of joint luxation, dogs diagnosed with bacterial cystitis, and dogs diagnosed with urinary bladder transitional cell carcinoma (UBTCC) were queried as comparison populations. Relative risk for osteosarcoma development was determined.ResultsFrom a population of 19,041 fractures treated surgically, 15 of those dogs subsequently appeared in the VMDB with osteosarcoma affecting the same bone. The relative risk of a fracture repair and associated orthopedic implants and osteosarcoma occurrence was equivalent to the relative risk of open joint reduction and osteosarcoma occurrence (95% confidence interval; 0.998–1.00). The relative risk of having bacterial cystitis and appearing again in the VMDB with UBTCC was higher than the risk of open fracture repair and a subsequent diagnosis of osteosarcoma (P < .02).ConclusionThe incidence of fracture‐related osteosarcoma may be significantly less than previously estimated based on cases queried from the VMDB. Although possible cases of implant‐associated osteosarcoma were identified, their occurrence was rare. Elective implant removal for the purpose of reducing the risk of osteosarcoma after fracture repair may not be warranted and merits further investigation.
Ageing and gastrointestinal sensory function: altered colonic mechanosensory and chemosensory function in the aged mouse
Authors: Keating Christopher , Nocchi Linda , Yu Yang , Donovan Jemma , Grundy David 
Published: November 2015

Key points
Remarkably little is known about how age affects the sensory signalling pathways in the gastrointestinal tract despite age‐related gastrointestinal dysfunction being a prime cause of morbidity amongst the elderly population
High‐threshold gastrointestinal sensory nerves play a key role in signalling distressing information from the gut to the brain.
We found that ageing is associated with attenuated high‐threshold afferent mechanosensitivity in the murine colon, and associated loss of TRPV1 channel function.
These units have the capacity to sensitise in response to injurious events, and their loss in ageing may predispose the elderly to lower awareness of GI injury or disease.
AbstractAgeing has a profound effect upon gastrointestinal function through mechanisms that are poorly understood. Here we investigated the effect of age upon gastrointestinal sensory signalling pathways in order to address the mechanisms underlying these changes. In vitro mouse colonic and jejunal preparations with attached splanchnic and mesenteric nerves were used to study mechanosensory and chemosensory afferent function in 3‐, 12‐ and 24‐month‐old C57BL/6 animals. Quantitative RT‐PCR was used to investigate mRNA expression in colonic tissue and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) cells isolated from 3‐ and 24‐month animals, and immunohistochemistry was used to quantify the number of 5‐HT‐expressing enterochromaffin (EC) cells. Colonic and jejunal afferent mechanosensory function was attenuated with age and these effects appeared earlier in the colon compared to the jejunum. Colonic age‐related loss of mechanosensory function was more pronounced in high‐threshold afferents compared to low‐threshold afferents. Chemosensory function was attenuated in the 24‐month colon, affecting TRPV1 and serotonergic signalling pathways. High‐threshold mechanosensory afferent fibres and small‐diameter DRG neurons possessed lower functional TRPV1 receptor responses, which occurred without a change in TRPV1 mRNA expression. Serotonergic signalling was attenuated at 24 months, but TPH1 and TPH2 mRNA expression was elevated in colonic tissue. In conclusion, we saw an age‐associated decrease in afferent mechanosensitivity in the mouse colon affecting HT units. These units have the capacity to sensitise in response to injurious events, and their loss in ageing may predispose the elderly to lower awareness of GI injury or disease.
Evaluación de tres métodos para la inactivación de coliformes y Escherichia coli presentes en agua residual doméstica, empleada para riego
Authors: Rojas-Higuera Naydú , Sánchez-Garibello Andrea , Matiz-Villamil Adriana , Salcedo-Reyes Juan , Carrascal-Camacho Ana K. , Pedroza-Rodríguez Aura M. 
Published: November 2015

<p><strong> </strong><strong>Objective.</strong> To describe a standardized flow cytometry protocol for the relative and absolute quantification of hematopoietic cell subpopulations from normal bone marrow, and to evaluate the expression of different lineage-specific cell markers with a reactivity associated to cell differentiation to be used as part of the routine quality control in cytometry laboratories. <strong>Materials and methods. </strong>The immunophenotypical analysis of different cell subpopulations was done with samples from normal bone marrow using a panel of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies useful in the characterization of acute leukemias with four different fluorescences, by means of a protocol that combines cell labeling of membrane and cytoplasm antigens. Expression analysis was done in terms of mean fluorescence intensity (MFI). Fluorescent beads at a known concentration were added for calculating the absolute count of cells. <strong>Results.</strong> The antibody panel used allowed the identification and quantification of different normal leukocyte subpopulations of lymphatic and myeloid origin, including CD34+ stem cells and more differentiated cell populations in the granulocytic, monocytic, and erythroid cell lines. We established reference values for cell populations and cell marker expression ranges as part of routine quality control of cytometry laboratories. <strong>Conclusion.</strong> Immunophenotypic patterns identified as well as absolute and relative reference values for the different normal leukocyte populations from bone marrow can be used by cytometry laboratories as a basis for establishing reference parameters in phenotypic analyses of hematologic neoplasia.<strong> </strong></p> <p><strong>Key words: </strong>multiparametric flow cytometry, immunophenotype, hematologic neoplasia, normal bone marrow, reference values, quality control.</p><br />
Staphylococcus aureus resistentes a meticilina (SARM) positivos para PVL aislados en individuos sanos de Montería-Córdoba
Authors: Lozano Dayan , Díaz Loly , Echeverry Marcela , Pineda Sara , Mattar Salim 
Published: November 2015

<p><strong></strong><em></em><strong>Objective.</strong> To study SARM and PVL producing strains in healthy individuals of Montería city. <strong>Materials and methods.</strong> This was a descriptive, prospective and transversal study. A total of 253 samples from pharyngeal swabs in three communities were studied: 91 prisoners of the jail of Montería (19-58 years old), 100 young adult students of the University of Cordoba (17-30 years old) and 62 children in school age (4-9 years old) of the primary school of the University of Cordoba. Individuals analyzed had not been hospitalized, had not received any antimicrobial treatment and did not show any clinical signs or symptoms in the last months. The isolates were identified by conventional microbiological tests and the antimicrobial susceptibility was determined for different antibiotics with MicroScan™ kit 1A (SIMENS). For the detection of the <em>nuc</em>, <em>mecA</em> and PVL genes, we followed the protocols of Brakstad <em>et al.</em>, Oliveira <em>et al. </em>and Gerard <em>et al.</em> respectively. <strong>Results</strong>. Of the 253 analyzed samples, 62 (24.5%) were positive for <em>S. aureus</em>, out of those 4 (6.45%) were resistant to methicillin and 2 (25%) of them were PVL positive; 58 (93.54%) were sensitive to methicillin and 6 (75%) positive for PVL. <strong>Conclusions</strong>. Results obtained in this study show the colonization by SARM-AC of healthy individuals. Colonization was higher in young adults and children in school-age.</p> <p><strong>Key words. </strong><em>Staphylococcus aureus</em>, resistance, methicillin, PVL, community, Colombia.</p><br />
Aislamiento y caracterización de células “stem” mesenquimales de médula ósea humana según criterios de la Sociedad Internacional de Terapia Celular
Authors: Rodríguez-Pardo Viviana Marcela , Fuentes-Lacouture María Fernanda , Aristizabal-Castellanos José Alejandro , Vernot Hernandez Jean Paul 
Published: November 2015

<p><strong> </strong>Bone marrow (BM) is an important source for isolating mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) useful in immunomodulation and tissue regeneration therapies. <strong>Objective. </strong>To isolate and characterize mesenchymal stem cells obtained from BM meeting the requirements of the International Society for Cellular Therapy. <strong>Materials and methods.</strong> BM samples were collected from volunteer donors attending the Orthopedics Service of the San Ignacio University Hospital (Bogotá, Colombia). Morphological characteristics were evaluated by inverted microscopy and the immunophenotype was determined by flow cytometry. Protocols were developed for adipogenic, osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation using the Oil Red O, alkaline phosphatase and safranin stains, respectively. <strong>Results</strong>. We collected 24 samples of BM from patients with total hip replacement (volume of BM sample: 5-45 ml). Cells with a fibroblastoid morphology were isolated from 21 BM samples (isolation efficiency: 87.5%). No statistical significant differences were found between the hematopoyetic antigens (CD34 and CD45, p&gt;0.05) in the immunophenotypic evaluation (of MSC from BM); on the contrary, there were differences (p=0.006) between the hematopoyetic antigen CD45 and the mesenchymal antigens (CD13, CD44, CD73, CD90, CD105, HLA-I, and HLA-DR). Oil Red O stain revealed the presence of multilocular adipocytes, in the osteogenic induction we observed localized mineralization nodules, and chondrogenesis was positive as revealed by the safranin stain. <strong>Conclusion</strong>. MSC were satisfactorily isolated from BM and characterized according to the international standards.</p> <p><strong>Key words:</strong> stem cells, mesenchymal cells, flow cytometry, bone marrow, cell differentiation</p><br />