bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The very limited usefulness of skin testing with penicilloyl‐polylysine and the minor determinant mixture in evaluating nonimmediate reactions to penicillins
Authors: Romano A. , Gaeta F. , Valluzzi R. L. , Caruso C. , Rumi G. , Bousquet P. J. 
Published: January 2010

To cite this article: Romano A, Gaeta F, Valluzzi RL, Caruso C, Rumi G, Bousquet PJ. The very limited usefulness of skin testing with penicilloyl‐polylysine and the minor determinant mixture in evaluating nonimmediate reactions to penicillins. Allergy 2010; 65: 1104–1107.AbstractBackground:  The contribution of skin testing with penicilloyl‐polylysine (PPL) and the minor determinant mixture (MDM) to the diagnosis of hypersensitivity reactions to penicillins differs greatly according to the type of reaction: immediate (occurring within 1 h after the last drug administration) or nonimmediate (occurring more than 1 h after the last drug administration).Objective:  To assess the contribution of skin testing with PPL and MDM to the diagnosis of nonimmediate reactions to penicillins.Methods:  We evaluated 162 adults who had had 232 nonimmediate reactions to penicillins, mostly aminopenicillins, and presented positive skin and/or patch tests to one or more penicillin reagents: PPL, MDM, benzylpenicillin, ampicillin, and amoxicillin, as well as any responsible penicillins.Results:  A total of 157 subjects (96.9%) displayed patch‐test and/or delayed‐reading intradermal‐test positivity to penicillin reagents, which indicates a cell‐mediated hypersensitivity; six of them also presented immediate‐reading skin‐test positivities. All 157 patients with a cell‐mediated hypersensitivity were positive to the responsible penicillins (parent drugs); 16 of them also displayed delayed‐reading intradermal‐test positivity to MDM. Five (3.1%) of the 162 patients displayed only immediate‐reading skin‐test positivity (four to PPL and one to amoxicillin). Overall, 158 subjects (97.5%) presented positive responses to the responsible penicillins, while only 9 (5.5%) and 17 (10.5%) were positive to PPL and MDM, respectively.Conclusions:  The contribution of skin testing with PPL and MDM in diagnosing nonimmediate hypersensitivity reactions to penicillins, especially cell‐mediated ones, is very limited. This finding could be useful at a time when PPL and MDM are not available in all countries.
Dynamics in cytokine responses during the development of occupational sensitization to rats
Authors: Krop E. J. M. , Van De Pol M. A. , Lutter R. , Heederik D. J. J. , Aalberse R. C. , Van Der Zee J. S. 
Published: January 2010

To cite this article: Krop EJM, van de Pol MA, Lutter R, Heederik DJJ, Aalberse RC, van der Zee JS. Dynamics in cytokine responses during the development of occupational sensitization to rats. Allergy 2010; 65: 1227–1233.AbstractBackground:  Occupational allergy forms an attractive model to study the development of allergic responses, as in some occupations it has a high incidence and develops quickly. In a cohort of starting laboratory animal workers, we previously found 20% sensitization to animal allergens within 2 years.Methods:  We compared cellular responses of incident laboratory animal workers who developed rat‐specific sensitization (cases, n = 18) during 2 years of follow‐up to control animal workers matched for atopic status but without sensitization after follow‐up (controls, n = 18). Practically, this is a case–control study, nested within the cohort. Rat‐specific IgE antibodies were measured in sera, and allergen‐specific and nonspecific cytokine responses were measured in whole blood and in isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells.Results:  Self‐reported allergic symptoms were related to the presence of rat‐specific IgE (P ≤ 0.01). Cases developed a rat allergen–specific interleukin (IL)‐4 response during sensitization, while controls did not show an increased IL‐4 response (at visit D: 33 vs 5 IL‐4 producing cells/106 cells, P < 0.001). The IL‐4 response was related to the levels of rat‐specific IgE in cases (visit D: rho = 0.706, P < 0.001). By contrast, allergen‐specific IL‐10 and interferon γ (IFNγ) responses as well as nonspecific cytokine responses were comparable between cases and controls.Conclusion:  This study is the first to show the development of an allergen‐specific IL‐4 response in adult human subjects during allergen‐specific sensitization. This IL‐4 response was quantitatively associated with the development of the specific IgE antibodies. Allergen‐specific or nonspecific IL‐10 and IFNγ responses showed no protective effect on the development of allergic sensitization.
Long‐term remission of recurrent severe anemia as a result of parvovirus B19 infection in a pediatric renal transplant recipient
Authors: Shen Qian , Xu Hong , Cao Qi , Zhou Li‐Jun , Xu Jin , Fang Xiao‐Yan , Ge Jie 
Published: January 2010

Shen Q, Xu H, Cao Q, Zhou L‐J, Xu J, Fang X‐Y, Ge J. Long‐term remission of recurrent severe anemia as a result of parvovirus B19 infection in a pediatric renal transplant recipient. Pediatr Transplantation 2011: 15: E76–E79. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S.Abstract:  We studied a case of recurrent PV‐B19‐associated anemia in a renal transplant child with long‐term remission induced by baseline immunosuppression adjusted and intensive IVIG therapy. This was a 15‐yr‐old boy. Seven wk after transplantation, he experienced acute rejection, which was treated with high‐dose steroids, ATG, and plasmapheresis. Ten wk after transplantation (three wk after rejection), his hemoglobin dropped to 54 g/L and serum PV‐B19 PCR was positive. After therapy with IVIG and conversion from mycophenolate mofetil to rapamycin, anemia resolved. But the patient had fever on the fourth day of IVIG with mild pulmonary edema and rise in serum creatinine. Two months after the first course of IVIG, anemia recurred and a second course of IVIG (preadministration methylprednisolone) was given, which was followed by the resolution of anemia without side effect and recurrence two months later again. Baseline immunosuppression was adjusted with dual immunosuppression and low doses including prednisolone and tacrolimus. At the same time, monthly course of IVIG was repeated four times. Within the next 23 months, anemia did not recur and renal function remained stable. In conclusion, PV‐B19‐associated anemia can be recurrent in immunocompromised children and baseline immunosuppression should be carefully adjusted to control PV‐B19 infection.
Consumer participation: Ensuring suicide postvention research counts for end users
Authors: Wilson Anne 
Published: January 2010

Wilson A. International Journal of Nursing Practice 2010; 16: 7–13 Consumer participation: Ensuring suicide postvention research counts for end usersPrimary health‐care research is about working with those who have a vested interest in the outcomes of that research, including consumers, service providers and service organizations. This article describes how consumers were included in the research processes of a South Australian study into suicide postvention services, and illustrates important principles to consider when including consumers in research. A concurrent mixed‐method approach facilitated the collection of mixed data through the application of questionnaires. The study was conducted in an Australian metropolitan area. Because of media releases, a large number of people rang to enquire and volunteer their participation. From over 200 expressions of interest, 161 individuals participated. The participation of consumers in the research process ensured the findings were relevant for end users. A number of recommendations for the care and support of those bereaved through suicide were developed as a result.
What is the matter with crushing pills and opening capsules?
Authors: Kirkevold Øyvind , Engedal Knut 
Published: January 2010

Kirkevold Ø, Engedal K. International Journal of Nursing Practice 2010; 16: 81–85 What is the matter with crushing pills and opening capsules?This study aims to map out to what degree medication is being crushed and mixed into the patients' food and beverages and how often this practice included medication, which has a statement in the Norwegian pharmaceutical compendium that this should not be done (inappropriately altered medication (IAM)). Data from a total of 2108 patients in 151 wards in 65 nursing homes were collected. The data contained information about the kind of drugs the patient received, in which form it was given and how it was given. Patient characteristics and ward characteristics were also recorded. Twenty‐three per cent were given at least one drug mixed into their food or beverages and 10% were given at least one IAM. This study shows a malpractice regarding one aspect of medication in nursing homes. Even though we need more knowledge, we know enough to take action to raise the quality of the administration of medicines in nursing homes.
Efficacy and safety of sitagliptin and metformin as initial combination therapy and as monotherapy over 2 years in patients with type 2 diabetes
Authors: Williams‐Herman D. , Johnson J. , Teng R. , Golm G. , Kaufman K. D. , Goldstein B. J. , Amatruda J. M. 
Published: January 2010

Aim: To assess the 104‐week efficacy and safety of sitagliptin and metformin as initial combination therapy and as monotherapy in patients with type 2 diabetes and inadequate glycaemic control (HbA1c 7.5–11%) on diet and exercise. Methods: This study was a 50‐week, double‐blind extension of a 54‐week, randomized, double‐blind, factorial study of the initial combination of sitagliptin and metformin, metformin monotherapy and sitagliptin monotherapy (104 weeks total duration). Patients assigned to active therapy in the 54‐week base study remained on those treatments in the extension study: sitagliptin 50 mg b.i.d. + metformin 1000 mg b.i.d. (higher dose combination), sitagliptin 50 mg b.i.d. + metformin 500 mg b.i.d. (lower dose combination), metformin 1000 mg b.i.d. (higher dose), metformin 500 mg b.i.d. (lower dose) and sitagliptin 100 mg q.d. Patients randomized to receive the sequence of placebo/metformin were switched, in a blinded manner, from placebo to metformin monotherapy uptitrated to 1000 mg b.i.d. beginning at week 24 and remained on higher dose metformin through the extension. Results: Amongst patients who entered the extension study without having initiated glycaemic rescue therapy, least‐squares mean changes in HbA1c from baseline at week 104 were −1.7% (higher dose combination), −1.4% (lower dose combination), −1.3% (higher dose), −1.1% (lower dose) and −1.2% (sitagliptin). The proportions of patients with an HbA1c <7% at week 104 were 60% (higher dose combination), 45% (lower dose combination), 45% (higher dose), 28% (lower dose) and 32% (sitagliptin). Fasting and postmeal measures of glycaemic control and β‐cell function improved in all groups, with glycaemic responses generally maintained over the 104‐week treatment period. The incidence of hypoglycaemia was low across all groups. The incidences of gastrointestinal adverse experiences were generally lower in the sitagliptin group and similar between the metformin monotherapy and combination groups. Conclusions: Initial combination therapy with sitagliptin and metformin and monotherapy with either drug alone provided substantial and sustained glycaemic improvements and were well tolerated over 104 weeks in patients with type 2 diabetes.
SOME QUALMS ABOUT THE TEST OF THE INSTITUTIONALIST HYPOTHESIS OF THE LONG‐RUN BEHAVIOR OF VELOCITY
Authors: Raj Baldev , Siklos Pierre L. 
Published: January 2010

This paper expresses econometric qualms about Bordo and Jonung's [1981] analysis of long‐run velocity. They did not recognize that, for U.S. and Canadian data, the log of velocity has a unit root. Hence, estimation of a log level regression may produce spurious regressions.When Bordo and Jonung's velocity equation is reestimated in rate of change form, permanent income is significant, contrary to their earlier conclusion. Moreover, using this approach gives a stronger result for one of the institutional variables in the velocity function, in the sense that the remaining variables become more significant.
ESTIMATING THE FISHER EFFECT AND THE STOCHASTIC MONEY GROWTH PROCESS
Authors: HUTCHISON MICHAEL M. , KEELEY MICHAEL C. 
Published: January 2010

This paper demonstrates that a change in the stochastic process generating money can alter the relationships between money and inflation and between inflation and interest rates. The extent to which inflation is forecastable is shown to depend significantly on the extent to which money is forecastable. Thus, the greater the persistence and forecastability of money, the greater the likelihood of observing a statistically significant Fisher effect.US. data over the 1953–86 period are used to demonstrate that instability in the Fisher effect coincides with changes in the stochastic process generating money. There is a significantly stronger Fisher effect during a subsample in which money—and hence inflation—are more predictable.
COACHING TEAM PRODUCTION
Authors: CLEMENT ROBERT C. , MCCORMICK ROBERT E. 
Published: January 2010

The actual function of managers is the subject of much debate. Using data on more than 3000 male college basketball players, their coaches, and their skill levels, we find a positive and significant relation between our ability to replicate an individual coach's allocation of playing time across players and his winning percentage. Although this result does not answer the central question of just what it is that managers contribute, the results do support the property rights paradigm: managers are the employees of workers; and more generally, sports data can be used to help understand related economic processes where quantifiable measures of inputs and outputs are more costly to obtain.“What is meant by performance? Input energy, initiative, work attitude, perspiration, rate of exhaustion? Or output?…sometimes by inspecting a team member's input activity we can better judge his output effect…It is not always the case that watching input activity is the only or best means of detecting, measuring, or monitoring output effects of each team member, but in some cases it is a useful way.”
COMPUTER APPLICATIONS ECONOMICS: ON‐LINE AND INTERACTIVE
Authors: WYKOFF FRANK C. 
Published: January 2010

Utilizing modern computer languages, economic researchers and students can obtain maximum flexibility, portability, intellectual satisfaction, and sound research techniques by employing the computer on‐line and interactively without relying on canned programs like SPSS, TSP and other “black boxes”. The author exploits this method in research as well as in classes from principles to econometrics.The power of new languages is illustrated with APL for two economic applications: (1) construction of GNP indexes from price and quantity data, and (2) a multiple regression model. The latter, including coefficient estimates, predicted and actual dependent variables, individual errors, and the sum of squared residuals, takes one short line of code.
TAKEOVERS: MANAGERIAL INCOMPETENCE OR MANAGERIAL SHIRKING?
Authors: GRIFFIN JAMES M. , WIGGINS STEVEN N. 
Published: January 2010

Agency theory identifies managerial shirking as the cause for takeovers, while other explanations focus on low ability managers. This paper formalizes Jensen's free cash flow variant of agency theory by constructing a simple two‐period game which captures the distinctive empirical implications of the two theories.Using data for petroleum firms following the oil price shock of 1979‐80, we find that firms undergoing financial restructuring exhibited higher values of Tobin's q. Additionally, evidence of management turnover and workforce cuts emphasizes that takeovers appear primarily designed to address agency concerns.
CORPORATE TAX INCIDENCE AND INEFFICIENCY WHEN CORPORATE AND NONCORPORATE GOODS ARE CLOSE SUBSTITUTES
Authors: GRAVELLE JANE G. , KOTLIKOFF LAURENCE J. 
Published: January 2010

An important deficiency in Harberger's [1962] model of corporate income taxation is its inability to consider both corporate and noncorporate production of the same good. Within‐industry substitution has potentially major implications for both the excess burden and incidence of the corporate tax.We analyze this within‐industry substitution using a model in which each industry/sector contains corporate and noncorporate firms (with identical production functions) which produce goods that are close substitutes. The scope for considerable within‐industry substitution of noncorporate for corporate capital leads to a very much larger excess burden than that in the Harberger model.
The economic burden of obesity worldwide: a systematic review of the direct costs of obesity
Authors: Withrow D. , Alter D. A. 
Published: January 2010

SummaryIn the last decade, the prevalence of obesity has increased significantly in populations worldwide. A less dramatic, but equally important increase has been seen in our knowledge of its effects on health and the burden it places on healthcare systems. This systematic review aims to assess the current published literature on the direct costs associated with obesity. A computerized search of English language articles published between 1990 and June 2009 yielded 32 articles suitable for review. Based on these articles, obesity was estimated to account for between 0.7% and 2.8% of a country's total healthcare expenditures. Furthermore, obese individuals were found to have medical costs that were approximately 30% greater than their normal weight peers. Although variations in inclusion/exclusion criteria, reporting methods and included costs varied widely between the studies, a lack of examination of how and why the excess costs were being accrued appeared to be a commonality between most studies. Accordingly, future studies must better explore how costs accrue among obese populations, in order to best facilitate health and social policy interventions.
Anxiety disorders in 8–11‐year‐old children: Motor skill performance and self‐perception of competence
Authors: EKORNÅS BELINDA , LUNDERVOLD ASTRI J. , TJUS TOMAS , HEIMANN MIKAEL 
Published: January 2010

Ekornås, B., Lundervold, A. J., Tjus, T. & Heimann, M. (2010). Anxiety disorders in 8–11‐year‐old children: Motor skill performance and self‐perception of competence. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 271–277.This study investigates motor skill performance and self‐perceived competence in children with anxiety disorders compared with children without psychiatric disorders. Motor skills and self‐perception were assessed in 329 children aged 8 to 11 years, from the Bergen Child Study. The Kiddie‐SADS PL diagnostic interview was employed to define a group of children with an anxiety disorder without comorbid diagnosis, and a control group (no diagnosis) matched according to gender, age, and full‐scale IQ. Children in the anxiety disorder group displayed impaired motor skills and poor self‐perceived peer acceptance and physical competence compared with the control group. Two‐thirds of the anxious boys scored on the Motor Assessment Battery for Children (MABC) as having motor problems. The present study demonstrated impaired motor skills in boys with “pure” anxiety disorders. Anxious children also perceived themselves as being less accepted by peers and less competent in physical activities compared with children in the control group.
On the use of Non-Local Prior Densities in Bayesian Hypothesis Tests
Authors: Johnson Valen E. , Rossell David 
Published: January 2010

SummaryWe examine philosophical problems and sampling deficiencies that are associated with current Bayesian hypothesis testing methodology, paying particular attention to objective Bayes methodology. Because the prior densities that are used to define alternative hypotheses in many Bayesian tests assign non-negligible probability to regions of the parameter space that are consistent with null hypotheses, resulting tests provide exponential accumulation of evidence in favour of true alternative hypotheses, but only sublinear accumulation of evidence in favour of true null hypotheses. Thus, it is often impossible for such tests to provide strong evidence in favour of a true null hypothesis, even when moderately large sample sizes have been obtained. We review asymptotic convergence rates of Bayes factors in testing precise null hypotheses and propose two new classes of prior densities that ameliorate the imbalance in convergence rates that is inherited by most Bayesian tests. Using members of these classes, we obtain analytic expressions for Bayes factors in linear models and derive approximations to Bayes factors in large sample settings.
Likelihood for Statistically Equivalent Models
Authors: Copas John , Eguchi Shinto 
Published: January 2010

SummaryIn likelihood inference we usually assume that the model is fixed and then base inference on the corresponding likelihood function. Often, however, the choice of model is rather arbitrary, and there may be other models which fit the data equally well. We study robustness of likelihood inference over such ‘statistically equivalent’ models and suggest a simple ‘envelope likelihood’ to capture this aspect of model uncertainty. Robustness depends critically on how we specify the parameter of interest. Some asymptotic theory is presented, illustrated by three examples.
Simultaneous Estimation and Reduction of Nonconformity in Interlaboratory Studies
Authors: Strawderman William E. , Rukhin Andrew L. 
Published: January 2010

SummarySeveral procedures that are designed to reduce nonconformity in interlaboratory studies by shrinking data towards a consensus weighted mean are suggested. Some of them are shown to have a smaller quadratic risk than the vector sample means. Shrinkage towards a weighted mean in a random-effects model and a statistic appearing in models which allow for systematic errors are also considered. The results are illustrated by two examples of collaborative studies.
Minimally Informative Prior Distributions for Non-Parametric Bayesian Analysis
Authors: Bush Christopher A. , Lee Juhee , MacEachern Steven N. 
Published: January 2010

SummaryWe address the problem of how to conduct a minimally informative, non-parametric Bayesian analysis. The central question is how to devise a model so that the posterior distribution satisfies a few basic properties. The concept of ‘local mass’ provides the key to the development of the limiting Dirichlet process model. This model is then used to provide an engine for inference in the compound decision problem and for multiple-comparisons inference in a one-way analysis-of-variance setting. Our analysis in this setting may be viewed as a limit of the analyses that were developed by Escobar and by Gopalan and Berry. Computations for the analysis are described, and the predictive performance of the model is compared with that of mixture of Dirichlet processes models.