bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cytokine response and outcome of infection depends on the infective dose of parasites in experimental infection by Echinococcus granulosus
Authors: Dematteis Sylvia , Rottenberg Martin , Baz Adriana 
Published: August 2003

SUMMARY We here analysed whether the cytokine responses in early and late experimental infection with Echinococcus granulosus depend on the dose of parasites to which the host is exposed. To this purpose Balb/c mice were inoculated intraperitoneally (ip) with either 500 or 2000 protoscoleces. Splenocytes of mice were obtained at days 3, 7, 14 and 21 and also on week 37 post‐infection and cultured in vitro with protoscolex antigens. Type‐1 and type‐2 cytokines were analysed in supernatants by ELISA. Results showed that the inoculation of 500 protoscoleces induced an early type‐0 and a late type‐2 cytokine response, whereas the inoculation of 2000 protoscoleces induced an early type‐2 and a late type‐0 cytokine response. Parasite growth was lower in the group inoculated with the low infective dose. These results indicate that the cytokine response during the infection by the helminth E. granulosus depends on the dose of parasites to which the host has been exposed.
The innate immune response in calves to Boophilus microplus tick transmitted Babesia bovis involves type‐1 cytokine induction and NK‐like cells in the spleen
Authors: Goff W. L. , Johnson W. C. , Horn R. H. , Barrington G. M. , Knowles D. P. 
Published: August 2003

SUMMARY The innate immune response to Babesia bovis infection in cattle is age‐related, spleen‐dependent and, in stabilate inoculated calves, has type‐1 characteristics, including the early induction of IL‐12 and IFN‐γ. In this study with three calves, parameters of innate immunity were followed for 2 weeks after tick transmission of B. bovis. Each calf survived the acute disease episode without drug intervention, and responded with increased levels of plasma interferon‐γ and type‐1 cytokine expression, monocyte/macrophage activation, and CD8+cellular proliferation in the spleen. The proliferating CD8+population consisted primarily of NK‐like cells, and the expansion occurred in parallel with an increase in IL‐15 mRNA expression in the spleen.
Characterizing cellular immune response to kinetoplastid membrane protein‐11 (KMP‐11) during Leishmania (Viannia) panamensis infection using dendritic cells (DCs) as antigen presenting cells (APCs)
Authors: Delgado Gabriela , Parra‐López Carlos A. , Vargas Luis Eduardo , Hoya Rubén , Estupiñán Mónica , Guzmán Fanny , Torres Angela , Alonso Carlos , Velez Iván Dario , Spinel Clara , Patarroyo Manuel E. 
Published: August 2003

SUMMARY In vitro peptide binding assays and DCs pulsed with recombinant KMP‐11 (rKMP‐11) plus six 20‐mer overlapping peptides covering the entire protein of Leishmania (Viannia) panamensis (L(V)p) promastigotes were used to identify T‐cell epitopes in this protein. Such in vitro binding assays, using HLA DRB1* 0101, ‐0401, ‐0701 and ‐1101 alleles, demonstrated that two peptide sequences (

DEEFNKKMQEQNAKFFADKP and FKHKFAELLEQQKAAQYPSK) exhibited high HLA DRB1* 0401 allele binding capacity. rKMP‐11 specific T‐cell proliferation and cytokine production, derived from 13 volunteers exposed to the parasite, suggested that using autologous DCs as APCs becomes advantageous in uncovering T‐cell epitopes promoting proliferation and differences in IFN‐γ and IL‐4 production in T‐cells from volunteers with ACTIVE and CURED undetectable disease when other APCs were used. The two peptides which bound in vitro to the HLA DRB1* 0401 allele were immunogenic in HLA DRB1* 04 volunteers, thus validating the use of in vitro binding assays for predicting epitopes in this protein. The experimental approach used here may prove useful for characterizing T‐cell epitopes in a protein useful in designing peptide‐based vaccine candidates for Leishmania and other intracellular pathogens.
Cytokine profile of Plasmodium falciparum‐specific T cells in non‐immune malaria patients
Authors: Ramharter Michael , Willheim Martin , Winkler Heidi , Wahl Katharina , Lagler Heimo , Graninger Wolfgang , Winkler Stefan 
Published: August 2003

ABSTRACT CD3+ T cells are important sources of both pro‐ and anti‐inflammatory cytokines during Plasmodium falciparum malaria. We studied the frequency of interleukin‐2 (IL‐2), gamma interferon (IFN‐γ), tumour necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α) and IL‐10 expressing CD3+ cells in 10 non‐immune malaria patients with uncomplicated malaria and in one patient with cerebral malaria after P. falciparum‐specific and non‐specific mitogenic stimulation. Analysis by fluorescence‐activated cell sorting was performed after drug‐induced clearance of parasites to allow previously sequestered T cells to be detected in peripheral blood. CD3+ cells of patients responded to P. falciparum infected erythrocytes with significant increases in the percentage of IL‐2, IFN‐γ, and TNF‐α, but also IL‐10, positive cells. CD3+ cells from malaria‐naïve donors were also responsive to specific stimulation albeit to a much lesser extent. Mitogenic stimulation of PBMC revealed no significant differences between cells of patients and controls. CD3+ cells of the patient with cerebral malaria were hyporesponsive both to the infecting parasite isolate as well as to our laboratory‐adapted P. falciparum isolate, whereas two patients with uncomplicated disease were more responsive to their infecting parasites than to the laboratory‐adapted isolate. The results indicate that the increased responsiveness of in vivo primed compared to malaria‐naïve CD3+ cells is Plasmodium‐specific and biased towards production of IFN‐γ and TNF‐α.
Evolving the multiple roles of ‘patients’ in health‐care research: reflections after involvement in a trial of shared decision‐making
Authors: Thornton Hazel , Edwards Adrian , Elwyn Glyn 
Published: August 2003

AbstractObjective This paper offers ‘consumer‐led’ reflections by steering group members of a patient‐centred research study involving consumer advocates, patients’ associations and patients, throughout the whole study, from pre‐ to post‐study phases.Original Study Design The study: ‘Shared decision making and risk communication in general practice’ incorporated systematic reviews, psychometric evaluation of outcome measures, and quantitative, qualitative and health economic analyses of a cluster randomized trial of professional skill development, all informed by consumer and patient engagement.Setting and participants The work was produced by a wide collaboration led by researchers from the Department of General Practice, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff, including a consumers’ advisory group and a patients’ association. The study participants were 20 general practitioners from Gwent, their practice staff, and almost 800 patients at these practices.Discussion Consumers and patients contributed to several stages of the research from inception and design, securing of funding, implementation of the protocol, and interpretation and dissemination of the findings. ‘Patient involvement’ research initiatives that include an equally wide variety of ‘user’ participants as ‘health‐professional’ participants, accountable to a ‘Health in Partnership’ funded project, require a user‐led viewpoint to be presented and disseminated. This paper presents reflections on the processes of the research, the interpretations of study findings by the involved parties, and notes how this model is fundamental to effective research in the field of patient‐centred health care if future practice, policy and research are to change.
Exploring doctor and patient views about risk communication and shared decision‐making in the consultation
Authors: Davis Ruth E , Dolan Gina , Thomas Sue , Atwell Christine , Mead Donna , Nehammer Sarah , Moseley Laurie , Edwards Adrian , Elwyn Glyn 
Published: August 2003

AbstractBackground  There have been significant conceptual developments regarding shared decision‐making (SDM) and assessments of people's hypothetical preferences for involvement in treatment or care decisions. There are few data on the perceptions of patients and professionals about SDM in actual practice.Objective To explore, from paired doctor–patient interviews, participants’ perceptions of SDM in the consultation and the level of consensus between the participants in the consultation process.Design Qualitative analysis of semi‐structured interview data.Setting and participants Twenty general practitioners received training packages in ‘risk communication’ (RC) and ‘SDM’ to use as tools within the consultation. Forty patients with one of four conditions, for which a range of treatment options is available, were selected. Patient/doctor pairs were interviewed separately following consultations at four stages –‘baseline’ [general practitioner's (GP) usual consultation style], SDM training, RC alone, and both RC and SDM training. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo software.Results Risk communication interventions by doctors appeared to result in a greater perception of decisions being made in the consultation. High levels of satisfaction with consultations were evident before application of the interventions and did not change after the interventions. Doctors’ and patients’ perceptions of the consultations were highly congruent at all phases of the study.Conclusion Shared decision‐making and RC approaches were helpful in selected consultations and showed no detrimental effects to patients. However, the use of RC and SDM made only small differences to decision‐making in consultations within the population studied. Increasing patient participation may be seen as more ethically justifiable than the traditional paternalistic approach but this needs to be set against the additional training costs incurred.
Clinical issues in shared decision‐making applied to breast cancer
Authors: Moumjid Nora , Carrère Marie‐Odile , Charavel Marie , Brémond Alain 
Published: August 2003

AbstractObjectives To assess (1) the clinical issues addressed during the medical encounter; (2) the feasibility of the process of shared decision‐making in clinical practice and (3) patients’ desires concerning the question of ‘who should take the decision in breast cancer treatments?’Design Qualitative pilot study based on clinical encounters using decision boards and information booklets.Setting Centre Léon Bérard, a comprehensive cancer centre in the Rhône‐Alpes region of France.Participants One breast cancer surgeon and 22 breast cancer patients.Main outcome measures Analysis of patients’ reactions to a shared decision‐making process concerning surgery and chemotherapy, and analysis of its practical feasibility (i.e. duration of the consultations).Results (1) Twenty‐one patients participated in the decision regarding surgery; all chose conservative treatment; 15 patients had their own say about chemotherapy (nine chose no chemotherapy, six chose chemotherapy). (2) Participating in treatment choice generated anxiety for a majority of patients. Some were dissatisfied because they had to make a choice and consequently to give up the other option. Finally, some were uncertain about making the right choice. Nevertheless, most were satisfied with the information given and the possibility of participating to the treatment decision‐making process. (3) The total duration of the entire process of shared decision‐making is consistent with the time spent with patients with such a severe disease.Discussion/conclusion Most of the patients expressed their satisfaction regarding the possibility to participate in treatment decision‐making, knowing that offering treatment choice is very unusual in France. From this pilot study it appears that shared decision‐making is feasible in clinical practice. Nevertheless, a quantitative study based on a large sample of patients is necessary to: (1) confirm this hypothesis, (2) ensure that patients are willing to participate in their treatment decision‐making, and (3) measure the potential benefits related to this participation.
How is medical decision‐making shared? The case of haemophilia patients and doctors: the aftermath of the infected blood affair in France
Authors: Fillion Emmanuelle 
Published: August 2003

AbstractObjective  This article looks at how users and doctors in France have rethought the question of shared decision‐making in the clinical field of haemophilia following a major crisis – that of the infected blood affair.Design  We did a qualitative survey based on semi‐structured interviews in three regions of France.Setting and participants  The interviews covered 31 clinical doctors of haemophilia and 31 users: 21 adult males with severe haemophilia (21/31), infected (14/21) or not (7/21) with HIV, the infected wife of one of the latter (1/31) and nine parents of young patients with severe haemophilia (9/31), either HIV positive (6/9) or negative (3/9).Results and conclusions  The results show the infected blood affair to be a major individual and collective ordeal. It has caused users and doctors to rethink their roles within clinical relationships and to develop new ways of sharing medical decision‐making. Prior to the crisis, the dominant model was based upon a distinction between the medical aspect, governed by the doctors, and the psychosocial aspect, which involved the patients and their families. Since the crisis, medicoscientific knowledge has been shared between users and doctors. This general trend nevertheless permits the existence of different patient, family and doctor profiles which in turn correspond to different notions of what a clinical decision should be. Some users remain attached to the idea of complementarity between doctors and patients (new partnership model), whilst others put doctors and patients on an equal footing (negotiation model). On the doctors’ side, whilst some still prefer the initial model for therapeutic decision‐making, the majority have reassessed their perceptions and viewpoints. A certain number believe that decisions should be made by both doctor and patient in accordance with scientific procedures (decision‐making controlled by scientific standards) or regulatory procedures (decision‐making controlled by legal standards). Yet others feel that multiple points of view are acceptable within the decision‐making process (decision‐making model as interactivity).
The problematic of decision‐sharing: deconstructing ‘cholesterol’ in a clinical encounter
Authors: Gwyn Richard , Elwyn Glyn , Edwards Adrian , Mooney Annabelle 
Published: August 2003

AbstractShared decision‐making is increasingly advocated as a means of interacting with patients but there is also a widely accepted view that many factors will militate against this ideal. While some patients may not wish to take on the responsibility of decision‐making, it is also evident that many find it difficult to assimilate probabilities about future events and overestimate the likelihood of some outcomes, especially when terms such as ‘stroke’, ‘bleeding’ and ‘heart attack’ are used in consultation and bring with them emotional connotations and reactions. Under such circumstances, should clinicians portray risks as best they can, in the hope that even a marginally improved understanding will be an improvement on unilateral professional decision‐making? Or, conversely, should they ‘guide’ the decision process, acting in a way that is known as ‘professional agency'? Developing some perspectives put forward in recent work by the authors and applying it to a distinct clinical context, this paper will provide (i) a discourse analytic exploration of a single extended example from clinical practice employing aspects of Bakhtin's theory of dialogism, and (ii) a discussion and summary of what we can learn from this analysis in the context of shared decision‐making and risk communication.
Effects of Thermotherapy Treatments on Systemic Agrobacterium vitis in Dormant Grape Cuttings
Authors: Mahmoodzadeh H. , Nazemieh A. , Majidi I. , Paygami I. , Khalighi A. 
Published: August 2003

Abstract Agrobacterium tumefaciens biovar 3 (A. vitis) was eradicated or reduced below the level of detection in dormant cuttings of grape [Vitis vinifera cultivar (cv.) Thompson seedless] and rootstock NAZ3 (V. vinifera × V. rupestris) by hot‐water treatment (exposure to 50°C for 30 min). Strains of A. vitis varied in their sensitivity to heat, but were generally more sensitive than strains of A. tumefaciens biovar 1 or biovar 2. Populations of about 103 CFU/ml in broth were killed by a 30‐min treatment. Biovar 1 strains were apparently unaffected by 50°C, even when exposed for 30 min. Non‐tumorigenic biovar 1 strains were recovered from hot‐water‐treated cuttings. An assessment was also made of the effect of treatment on growth parameters of cuttings in a field nursery after 9 months. The effect of hot‐water treatment on the vitality and growth of vines varied with different cultivars or rootstocks. The number and length of canes, root dry weight and length and diameter of trunks, increased in most instances. Treatment and time usually did affect bud survival and, in most cases, increased the level of callus formation at the base of the cuttings. Hot‐water treatment may offer a simple, effective, economical and environmentally safe means of eradicating A. vitis from dormant grape cuttings.
Inhibited Long‐Distance Movement of Potato Leafroll Virus to Tubers in Potato Genotypes Expressing Combined Resistance to Infection, Virus Multiplication and Accumulation
Authors: Syller J. 
Published: August 2003

AbstractPlants of two potato clones which, in preliminary greenhouse assessments, showed resistance to multiplication and accumulation of potato leafroll virus (PLRV) were graft or aphid inoculated with the virus and grown in the greenhouse; plants of a moderately susceptible cultivar were used for comparison in all experiments. A high concentration of aphid‐borne inoculum was used to ensure strong infection pressure. Clone M62759 appeared to be highly resistant to PLRV infection, whereas clone PS1706 was more susceptible. Both clones expressed a high level of resistance to virus multiplication, when primary or secondary infection was assayed by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Moreover, PLRV was detected in only few or none of the progeny plants of clone M62759, which thus strongly inhibited virus transport to tubers. The study on PLRV translocation from aphid‐inoculated shoots to uninoculated shoots sprouted from the same tubers showed that no specific mechanisms are likely to impair PLRV movement through the tubers of the resistant genotypes. These results indicate that three valuable components of the resistance to PLRV are probably closely linked in the genotype, a combination that seems to occur rather rarely in potato clones. Nevertheless, selecting potato genotypes for the complex resistance to PLRV may prove to be a worthwhile part of breeding programmes, provided that the genetic mechanisms governing particular types of resistance are better recognized.
Interaction of Xylella fastidiosa with Different Cultivars of Nicotiana tabacum: a Comparison of Colonization Patterns
Authors: Alves E. , Kitajima E. W. , Leite B. 
Published: August 2003

AbstractThe number of colony forming units (CFU) inside xylem vessels of leaf petioles were evaluated in tobacco by scanning electron microscopy followed by an image analysis. Symptom expression of Nicotiana tabacum, cultivars TNN, Havana and RP1, were correlated with the presence of bacteria inside leaf petiole vessels. The symptom expression were evaluated in terms of colony forming units per gram of colonized tissue and percentage of colonized vessels. No statistical differences were found among the varieties tested. Havana expressed the most intense symptoms, best indicating a better experimental host. We also observed that leaf symptoms could be reversed with the application of ammonium sulphate along with pruning. This routine was effective in delaying symptom development. In summary, colonization efficiency was similar in tobacco varieties. Fertilization may affect Xylella fastidiosa symptom expression and pruning may be used as an aid to diminish X. fastidiosa advance within the plant.
In vitro and In vivo Effects of Some Fungicides against the Chickpea Blight Pathogen, Ascochyta rabiei
Authors: Demirci F. , Bayraktar H. , Babalioǧullu I. , Dolar F. S. , Maden S. 
Published: August 2003

AbstractThe effects of various fungicides on mycelial growth and spore germination of Ascochyta rabiei were determined by incorporating them into potato dextrose agar and measuring colony diameter and observing colony growth and spore germination at 20 ± 2°C. Eight fungicides prevented spore germination of the pathogen at concentrations of 0.125–2 μg/ml, three hindered mycelial growth at 2–4 μg/ml and seven failed to inhibit mycelial growth even at 128 μg/ml. The reference fungicide for the pathogen, chlorothalonil, stopped conidial germination at low rates but did not prevent mycelial growth at 128 μg/ml. Thirteen fungicides were tested against seed infections of the pathogen, and benomyl + thiram, carbendazim and carbendazim + chlorothalonil seed treatments gave more than 85% inhibition on both vacuum‐infiltrated and naturally infected seeds. Coating the seeds with polymers did not increase the effectiveness of fungicides. Three fungicides; (azoxystrobin, chlorothalonil and mancozeb), gave the highest protection in the field but protection decreased with increased inoculum pressure. Addition of humic acid to fungicide suspensions did not affect their performance.
PCR‐based Specific Detection of Ustilaginoidea virens and Ephelis japonica
Authors: Zhou Y.‐L. , Izumitsu K. , Sonoda R. , Nakazaki T. , Tanaka E. , Tsuda M. , Tanaka C. 
Published: August 2003

AbstractA PCR‐based technique for detection of clavicipitaceous pathogens in rice and related grasses was developed. The target pathogens were Ustilaginoidea virens, which causes rice false smut, and Ephelis japonica, which causes rice udbatta disease and black choke in grasses. To design specific primers, a comparison was made on genetic diversity on the rDNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS1 and ITS2) and the 5.8S rRNA gene of U. virens, Ephelis japonica, as well as some other clavicipitaceous fungi. Each fungus was successfully detected by using a specific primer set with high sensitivity. Species‐specific primers designed here were capable of detecting these pathogens in plant tissues. The PCR detection was consistent with conventional histological observation. This nested PCR assay was sensitive and reliable for the detection of U. virens and E. japonica, and thus can be a used to study disease cycles and early prediction of false smut and udbatta‐disease incidence in fields.