bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Prevention of oral food allergy sensitization via skin application of food allergen in a mouse model
Authors: Li W. , Zhang Z. , Saxon A. , Zhang K. 
Published: February 2012

AbstractBackgroundTreatment options for food allergy remain limited. Development of novel approaches for the prevention and/or treatment of severe peanut allergy and other food allergies is urgently needed. The objective of this study was to test whether skin application of food allergen can be used as a prophylactic and/or therapeutic intervention for food allergy.MethodsBalb/C mice were given 5 weekly cutaneous application of complete peanut extract (CPE) or ovalbumin (OVA) ranging from 10 to 1000 μg on the shaved back skin, followed by 5 weekly treatments with oral CPE or OVA plus cholera toxin to induce allergic reactivity to the food. At various time points, the immunologic responses and allergic clinical manifestations to allergens were examined.ResultsSkin application of a 10–1000 μg dose of CPE or OVA to structurally intact skin did not lead to allergic sensitization to peanut or OVA. Rather, cutaneous allergen application blocked, in a dose‐dependent fashion, the subsequent induction of the oral sensitization including inhibiting oral sensitization‐induced CPE‐specific IgE, IgG1, and IgG2a production, suppressing the peanut anaphylaxis, and modulating the oral sensitization‐promoted cytokine production. The cutaneous OVA application also resulted in similar results as seen with CPE application.ConclusionCutaneous application of intact skin with peanut or OVA can block the development of orally induced corresponding food allergies, suggesting that allergic tolerance to peanuts and OVA might be achieved via allergen cutaneous application.
Development of self‐care educational material for patients with heart failure in Japan: a pilot study
Authors: Kato Naoko , Kinugawa Koichiro , Sano Miho , Seki Satomi , Kogure Asuka , Kobukata Kihoko , Ochiai Ryota , Wakita Sanae , Kazuma Keiko 
Published: February 2012

AbstractThis study assessed the need for information regarding heart failure and self‐care, developed self‐care educational material, and investigated the feasibility of the material. A total of 22 hospitalized heart failure patients (mean age: 63 years) completed a self‐administered questionnaire. We found that more than 90% of patients desired information, particularly about heart failure symptoms, time to notify healthcare providers, prognosis, and exercise/physical activity. After examining the eight existing brochures for Japanese heart failure patients, we developed self‐care educational material. This was based on heart failure guidelines and on the results of our inquiry regarding information needs. Finally, a pilot study was conducted in nine hospitalized heart failure patients (mean age: 57 years). None of the patients had difficulty reading or understanding the educational material. The self‐administrated questionnaire survey revealed that comprehension of the following improved after the educational sessions with the material: heart failure symptoms, medication, weighing, sodium intake, and fluid intake (P < 0.05). In conclusion, heart failure patients have a great need for information about heart failure. Our pilot study suggests that the material was readable and had a beneficial effect on heart failure comprehension.
Relationship among asthma knowledge, behavior management and social adaptation in school‐age children with asthma in Taiwan
Authors: Yang Bao‐Huan , Mu Pei‐Fan , Huang Chiu‐Mieh , Lou Hsiao‐Ling , Wu Keh‐Gong 
Published: February 2012

AbstractThis study examined the relationships between asthma knowledge, behavior management, and social adaptation among school‐age children with asthma. A total of 210 school‐age asthmatic children and their parents were recruited from a medical hospital in Taiwan. The children completed asthma knowledge and behavior management questionnaires, and their parents completed the Child and Adolescent Adjustment Profile. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between behavior management and social adaptation among asthmatic children. Asthma knowledge and behavior management were positively associated but did not correlate with children's social adaptation. The behavior management of the children acted as a predictor of their social adaptation. These findings suggest that efforts to raise children's asthma knowledge will benefit these individuals in terms of behavior management. The introduction of asthma behavior management plans could facilitate the social adaptation of asthmatic children and, in particular, increase their independence and reduce their withdrawal as well as enhance their self‐confidence and self‐esteem.
Glaucoma and obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome
Authors: Faridi Omar , Park Sung Chul , Liebmann Jeffrey M , Ritch Robert 
Published: February 2012

AbstractGlaucoma is increasingly recognized as a manifestation of both ocular and systemic risk factors. A number of disorders associated with reduced blood flow and ischaemia, collectively termed vascular risk factors, such as migraine, Raynaud's phenomenon, atrial fibrillation and reduced nocturnal blood pressure, lead to decreased ocular perfusion pressure. During sleep, alterations occur in cardiovascular physiology that are balanced by autoregulation to maintain homeostasis. However, in obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), the normal physiological balance is upset. A potentially modifiable risk factor, OSA has been increasingly associated with glaucoma independent of intraocular pressure. OSA may alter blood flow to the optic nerve head and, in combination with other predisposing factors, lead to decreased ocular perfusion pressure. This in turn may directly affect the optic nerve or it may indirectly increase its susceptibility to other insults. The purpose of this review is to shed light on the association between OSA and glaucoma.
Surgical management of glaucoma: a review
Authors: Morgan William H , Yu Dao‐Yi 
Published: February 2012

AbstractThis review will briefly describe the history of surgical glaucoma treatment and concentrate on the current surgical strategies for managing glaucoma. A discussion of treatments for angle closure, open‐angle glaucoma and paediatric glaucoma with an emphasis on drainage surgery are included. The role of cataract surgery is also briefly described. Drainage surgery evolved from peripheral iridectomy and sclerotomy with an increasing understanding of aqueous flow within the eye and the production of a functioning bleb. The current mainstays include trabeculectomy, glaucoma drainage devices as well as goniotomy and trabeculotomy, which have all been in existence for more than 40 years. Their various advantages as well as methods used to minimize their disadvantages, including the antimitotics and case selection are discussed. We finish by discussing the preliminary results of some newer forms of drainage surgery illustrating the energetic search for methods to minimize the problems of hypotony and bleb failure.
Assembly rules operate only in equilibrium communities: Is it true?
Authors: CASH FLORENCE B. J. , CONN ARRON , COUTTS SEAN , STEPHEN MELANIE , MASON NORMAN W. H. , ANDERSON BARBARA J. , WILSON J. BASTOW 
Published: February 2012

AbstractVery little is known of how disturbance affects community assembly rules. We examine this in three disturbance states in each of two ski areas on southern New Zealand mountains. Theory suggests that a community will become progressively more spatially organized during recovery from disturbance. Firstly, different patches of the community should become more similar through time, but this was seen in only one of the two areas and even then only examining species presence/absence. Secondly, it has been suggested that spatial autocorrelation will be stronger in less‐disturbed conditions, that is, there will be a stronger pattern of more distant patches being more dissimilar in species composition. This was generally borne out. However, the method indicated more point randomness in less‐disturbed sites. Assembly rules might be seen in species abundances. Previous work has found maximum evenness of abundances in later successional communities, but the pattern here was the opposite: high evenness in the most disturbed communities. The literature suggests that in undisturbed communities the distribution of species abundances (relative abundance distribution) will be general lognormal, and we further argue that the identity of the species across occupying rank positions in that distribution should be more consistent (rank consistency). Both predictions were borne out in one area, but neither in the other. Many workers suggest that niche‐based assembly rules will be stronger in undisturbed communities. However, there was only weak evidence of constancy in species richness. Local species assemblages tended to contain a relatively constant representation from different morphological/taxonomic guilds (guild proportionality) and this was significant in some tests, but contrary to theory this effect occurred mainly in the most disturbed sites. It is concluded that there is only limited truth in the frequent assumption that community structure is stronger in undisturbed, equilibrium communities.
Responses of house mice to the removal of mammalian predators and competitors
Authors: GOLDWATER NICK , PERRY GEORGE L. W. , CLOUT MICK N. 
Published: February 2012

AbstractEfforts to eradicate multiple mammal pests from offshore islands and fenced mainland ‘habitat islands’ often fail to remove mice, and such failures can result in a dramatic change in the food‐web whereby the removal of larger mammal pests facilitates a population explosion of mice through predator and competitor release. We investigated the ecological responses of house mice to the removal of mammalian predators from a 500‐ha fenced sanctuary at Tawharanui, northern New Zealand. Data on population structure and body condition of mice trapped in 2007, in four habitat types within the sanctuary, were compared with baseline data collected in 2001, before mammal control operations commenced. We hypothesized that: (i) in the absence of mammalian predators mouse densities would increase in all habitat types that provide vegetation cover, and (ii) in the absence of mammalian competitors mice would become heavier due to greater access to food resources. Mouse densities were significantly higher in 2007 than in 2001 in three habitat types. The high density of mice in forest – where none were trapped prior to control – suggests a competitive release, in which mice profited from the removal of ship rats. No mice were caught in the presence of ship rats on a forest trap‐line at a control site outside the sanctuary. Mice trapped in 2007 were significantly heavier than those trapped in 2001, and significantly heavier than mice trapped at the control site. Greater access to food in the absence of competing and predatory mammals probably explains the heavier body weight of Tawharanui mice. There has been a significant change in the mammalian food‐web at Tawharanui, such that the house mouse is now the primary pest. A rapid and dramatic increase in mouse numbers is likely to adversely impact invertebrates and seedling recruitment, which in turn could affect ecosystem functions.
Dopamine modulates memory consolidation of discrimination learning in the auditory cortex
Authors: Schicknick Horst , Reichenbach Nicole , Smalla Karl‐Heinz , Scheich Henning , Gundelfinger Eckart D. , Tischmeyer Wolfgang 
Published: February 2012

AbstractIn Mongolian gerbils, the auditory cortex is critical for discriminating rising vs. falling frequency‐modulated tones. Based on our previous studies, we hypothesized that dopaminergic inputs to the auditory cortex during and shortly after acquisition of the discrimination strategy control long‐term memory formation. To test this hypothesis, we studied frequency‐modulated tone discrimination learning of gerbils in a shuttle box GO/NO‐GO procedure following differential treatments. (i) Pre‐exposure of gerbils to the frequency‐modulated tones at 1 day before the first discrimination training session severely impaired the accuracy of the discrimination acquired in that session during the initial trials of a second training session, performed 1 day later. (ii) Local injection of the D1/D5 dopamine receptor antagonist SCH‐23390 into the auditory cortex after task acquisition caused a discrimination deficit of similar extent and time course as with pre‐exposure. This effect was dependent on the dose and time point of injection. (iii) Injection of the D1/D5 dopamine receptor agonist SKF‐38393 into the auditory cortex after retraining caused a further discrimination improvement at the beginning of subsequent sessions. All three treatments, which supposedly interfered with dopamine signalling during conditioning and/or retraining, had a substantial impact on the dynamics of the discrimination performance particularly at the beginning of subsequent training sessions. These findings suggest that auditory‐cortical dopamine activity after acquisition of a discrimination of complex sounds and after retrieval of weak frequency‐modulated tone discrimination memory further improves memory consolidation, i.e. the correct association of two sounds with their respective GO/NO‐GO meaning, in support of future memory recall.
Posterior urethral complications of the treatment of prostate cancer
Authors: Mundy Anthony R. , Andrich Daniela E. 
Published: February 2012

What's known on the subject? and What does the study add?Urethral strictures, bladder neck and posterior urethral contractures, and urorectal fistulation are three well‐recognised complications of the treatment of prostate cancer, whether by surgery or non‐surgical treatment. Because these are relatively rare problems the treatment is uncertain. There is a heavy reliance on endoscopic or instrumental management of urethral strictures and of bladder neck and posterior urethral contractures, and there is little discrimination in any of these conditions between those that are the result of surgery and those that are the result of radiotherapy and other treatment methods using external energy sources.This review aims to clarify out current understanding of these three clinical problems and draws attention to the role of reconstructive surgery, particularly when dealing with bladder neck contractures, prostatic urethral stenoses and urorectal fistula. This also shows that the nature of the problem, the recovery time after treatment and the degree of functional recovery is radically different in the surgical as against the non‐surgical group, to a degree that the authors believe is not sufficiently stressed when patients are counselled and consented before their primary treatment.
To review the less common and not widely discussed, but much more serious complications of prostate cancer treatment of: urethral stricture, bladder neck contracture and urorectal fistula.
The treatment options for patients with organ‐confirmed prostate cancer include: radical prostatectomy (RP), brachytherapy (BT), external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), high‐intensity focussed ultrasound (HIFU) and cryotherapy; with each method or combination of methods having associated complications.
Complications resulting from RP are relatively easy to manage, with rapid recovery and return to normal activities, and usually a return to normal bodily functions.
However, after non‐surgical treatments, i.e. BT, EBRT, HIFU and cryotherapy, these same problems are more difficult to treat with a much slower return to a much lower level of function.
When counselling patients about the primary treatment of prostate cancer they should be advised that although the same type of complication may occur after surgical or non‐surgical treatment, the scope and scale of that complication, the ease with which it is treated and the degree of restoration of normality after treatment, is altogether in favour of surgery in those for whom surgery is appropriate and who are fit for surgery.
Parental supply of alcohol and adolescent risky drinking
Authors: GILLIGAN CONOR , KYPRI KYPROS , JOHNSON NATALIE , LYNAGH MARITA , LOVE STEPHANIE 
Published: February 2012

AbstractIntroduction and Aims. In Australia, 20% of 14‐ to 19‐year‐olds drink at least weekly. Some parents supply alcohol to their adolescent children with the intention of limiting the quantity consumed, but it is possible that such supply facilitates risky drinking. We sought to determine whether there is an association between parental supply and risky drinking.Design and Methods. A cross‐sectional survey was conducted in seven high schools in New South Wales, Australia. Five hundred and thirty students (mean age 16.0 years, SD 1.3) completed survey items relating to their alcohol consumption, sources of alcohol, circumstances of parental supply, and peers' consumption.Results. Among respondents (response rate 43%), 93% of participants had tried alcohol, 66% had consumed at least a full glass, and 40% had consumed more than four drinks on a single occasion in the preceding month (risky drinking). Risky drinkers obtained alcohol mainly from friends (48%) and parents (19%). After controlling for school year and gender, and adjusting for clustering, parental supply for drinking under ‘other’ supervision (P = 0.004) and with no supervision (P = 0.007), the number of close friends believed to have consumed alcohol in the past month (P < 0.001), and Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status (P = 0.02) were all significantly associated with risky drinking.Discussion and Conclusions. Parental supply of alcohol for unsupervised drinking is associated with risky drinking among 13‐ to 17‐year‐olds. Longitudinal studies would assist in studying the temporal sequence and controlling for confounding.[Gilligan C, Kypri K, Johnson N, Lynagh M, Love S. Parental supply of alcohol and adolescent risky drinking. Drug Alcohol Rev 2012;31:754–762]
A review of emergency room studies on alcohol and injuries conducted in Latin America and the Caribbean region
Authors: ANDREUCCETTI GABRIEL , CARVALHO HERACLITO B. , KORCHA RACHAEL , YE YU , BOND JASON , CHERPITEL CHERYL J. 
Published: February 2012

AbstractIssues. Alcohol‐attributable burden of injury is one of the most serious public health problems in Latin America and the Caribbean region (LAC). Although knowledge on alcohol's involvement in injuries has progressed along with the implementation of evidenced‐based alcohol policies in developed countries, this was not true for the most part of LAC countries for which reducing alcohol‐related injuries is an urgent necessity.Approach. A systematic review was performed in order to identify the most up‐to‐date information on alcohol and injuries derived from emergency room (ER) studies conducted in LAC.Key Findings. Findings corroborate that alcohol has a high prevalence among injured patients in the ER setting in LAC, with violence‐related injuries showing an increased association with alcohol use compared to unintentional injuries. However, a large number of studies did not include all types of injury and the measurement of injury risk associated with alcohol consumption. The amount of alcohol consumed in the event and hazardous drinking patterns seem to be strongly associated with injury occurrence, as well as drinking in public spaces, but a paucity of data relating to social‐contextual factors limits the interpretation of the heterogeneity in the magnitude of the association of alcohol and injuries found across studies.Conclusions. There is a lack of ER studies able to support strategies to reduce alcohol‐related injuries in a region where effective alcohol policies are scant. Future research should focus on understanding how drinking influenced by local contexts and drinking behaviours may affect the risk of injury within each LAC country.[Andreuccetti G, Carvalho HB, Korcha R, Ye Y, Bond J, Cherpitel CJ. A review of emergency room studies on alcohol and injuries conducted in Latin America and the Caribbean region. Drug Alcohol Rev 2012;31:737–746]
Using avatar species to model the potential distribution of emerging invaders
Authors: Larson Eric R. , Olden Julian D. 
Published: February 2012

ABSTRACTAim  Anticipating the potential distributions of emerging invasive species is complicated by the tendency for species distribution models to perform better when both native and invasive range data are available for model development. If invasive range data are lacking, species models are liable to under‐estimate distributions for emerging invaders, particularly for species that are not at equilibrium with their native range environment due to historical factors, dispersal limitation and/or ecological interactions. We demonstrate the potential to use well‐quantified niche shifts from established ‘avatar’ (i.e. the remote or virtual manifestation of an entity) invaders to develop plausible distributions for data‐poor emerging invaders contingent on niche shifts of similar magnitude or character.Location  Global.Methods  Using the globally invasive crayfishes Pacifastacus leniusculus and Procambarus clarkii as our avatar invaders, we quantify how niche position, size and structure differs between native and total ranges using Mahalanobis distance (a measure of multivariate similarity) and the climate predictors of annual minimum and maximum air temperature. We then generalize patterns of niche shift from these species to the emerging crayfish invader Cherax quadricarinatus.Results  Some patterns of niche shifts were similar for Pacifastacus leniusculus and Procambarus clarkii, but niche shifts were of considerably greater magnitude for P. clarkii. When a native range model for C. quadricarinatus was modified with generalized niche shifts similar to Pacifastacus leniusculus and Procambarus clarkii, the potential global distribution for this species increased considerably, including many areas not identified by the native range model.Main conclusions  We illustrate the potential to use avatar invaders to provide cautionary, niche shift‐assuming species distribution models for emerging invaders. Many theoretical and applied implications of the avatar species concept require additional investigation, including the development of frameworks to select appropriate avatar species and evaluate the performance of avatar‐derived models for emerging invaders. Despite these research needs, we believe this concept will have considerable utility for predicting vulnerability to invasion by data‐poor species; this is a critical management need because shifting pathways of introduction and climate change will produce many novel, emerging invasive species in the future.