305,366 research outputs found
Contact urticaria to giraffe hair
No full textBackground: Immediate-type hypersensitivity to animal proteins is a common problem in people occupationally exposed to animals. Methods: A 19-year-old female working as a voluntary zookeeper in her off-time suffered from hives on her forearms following contact to the fur of a giraffe. For diagnostic evaluation, skin prick tests, assessment of specific serum IgE antibodies, and basophil activation tests were performed. Results: Skin prick tests with a standard series of common aeroallergens were positive for various pollens. Prick testing with native materials was positive for extracts of hair from two different giraffe subspecies in the patient, but not in control subjects. By CAP-FEIA, no specific serum IgE antibodies to dander of a large variety of animals were found in the patient. In the basophil activation test, expression of the activation marker CD63 was induced by extract of giraffe hair on the cells from the patient, but not on those from unaffected controls. Conclusions: This patient suffers from an `exotic' immediate-type contact allergy to giraffe hair. Copyright (C) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel
Development of a Sandwich ELISA to Measure Exposure to Occupational Cow Hair Allergens
No full textBackground: Cow hair and dander are important inducers of occupational allergies in cattle-exposed farmers. To estimate allergen exposure in farming environments, a sensitive enzyme immunoassay was developed to measure cow hair allergens. Methods: A sandwich ELISA was developed using polyclonal rabbit antibodies against a mixture of hair extracts from different cattle breeds. To assess the specificity of the assay, extracts from other mammalian epithelia, mites, molds and grains were tested. To validate the new assay, cow hair allergens were measured in passive airborne dust samples from the stables and homes of farmers. Dust was collected with electrostatic dust fall collectors (EDCs). Results: The sandwich ELISA was found to be very sensitive (detection limit: 0.1 ng/ml) and highly reproducible, demonstrating intra-and interassay coefficients of variation of 4 and 10%, respectively. The assay showed no reactivity with mites, molds and grains, but some cross-reactivity with other mammalian epithelia, with the strongest reaction with goat. Using EDCs for dust sampling, high concentrations of bovine allergens were measured in cow stables (4,760-559,400 mu g/m(2)). In addition, bovine allergens were detected in all areas of cattle farmer dwellings. A large variation was found between individual samples (0.3-900 mu g/m(2)) and significantly higher values were discovered in changing rooms. Conclusion: The ELISA developed for the detection of cow hair proteins is a useful tool for allergen quantification in occupational and home environments. Based on its low detection limit, this test is sensitive enough to detect allergens in passive airborne dust. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base
Implementasi Kebijakan Program Petani Mandiri Terhadap Kebermanfaatan dalam Peningkatan Kesejahteraan Ekonomi Petani di Desa Dander Kecamatan Dander Kabupaten Bojonegoro
No full textProgram Petani Mandiri (PPM) adalah bantan hibah berupa barang kepada petani untuk memberikan kesejahteraan dan kemandirian petan. Penelitian ini mengkaji tentang implementasi kebijakan Program Petani Mandiri terhadap kebermanfaatan dalam penngkatan kesejahteraan petani di Desa Dander, Kecamatan Dander, Kabupaten Bojonegoro. Teknik pengumpulan data yang digunakan adalah observasi, wawancara, dan dokumentasi. Melalui wawancara dengan 2 ornag penyuluh pertanian dan 6 orang pengurus kelompok tani di Desa Dander ditemukan beberapa permasalahan dalam implementasi bantuan hibah uang Program Petani Mandiri, yaitu komunikasi antara implementor dengan kelompok sasaran dan kurangnya kompetensi pengurus kelompok tani sehingga menghambat implementasi bantuan hibah uang Program Petani Mandiri. Selain itu baik sebelum maupun setelah Program Petani Mandiri dilaksanakan, tidak ada perubahan perilaku petani di Desa Dander yang menunjukkan ciri petani mandiri. Pemberian bantuan berupa benih dan pupuk dapat dikatakan kurang bermanfaat apabila tidak ada perubahan perilaku yang mengarah pada kemandirian petani
Ricerca, documentazione, salvaguardia, valorizzazione e gestione nell'ambito del costituendo parco paleolitico di Isernia La Pineta (Molise, Italia)
No full textGoing Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Author, publisher and bookseller : a tripartite synergy in Nigerian book industry
No full textThis work is about the roles of Author, Publisher and Bookseller in Book development in
Nigeria. The paper started by delving into the history of Book Publishing in Nigeria after
which it proceeded by defining who an author, a publisher, and a bookseller is and
expatiated on the indispensable roles of these key actors in Nigerian Book Industry and in
the emerging Information Society. Furthermore, the various constraints to book
development were identified while the paper advised on how the Book Industry can be
further promoted in Nigeria. However, the paper concluded and made recommendations
on how the Book sector can help in enhancing scholarship in the country
T cells stimulated by CD40L positive leukemic blasts-pulsed dendritic cells meet optimal functional requirements for adoptive T-cell therapy.
No full textAdoptive T-cell immunotherapy may provide complementary therapy for childhood B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL). In this study, we have analyzed the functional characteristics of anti-BCP-ALL effector T cells generated by co-culturing T lymphocytes and dendritic cells (DC) from allogeneic human stem cell transplantation (HSCT) donors. After 21-day co-culture with DC pulsed with CD40L+ apoptotic BCP-ALL blasts, T cells presented with both effector and central memory phenotype, and showed high and specific cytotoxic activity against leukemic cells (average lysis=77%), mostly mediated by CD8+ T cells. Noticeably, growth of CD4 T cells was maintained (45% of total cells), which actively produced Th1 cytokines (IFN-, TNF-, IL-2), but not IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10. Anti-BCP-ALL T cells expressed CD49d and CXCR4 (implicated in the recruitment to bone marrow), and CD62L and CCR7 (involved in the migration to lymphoid organs). In accordance with this profile, T cells significantly migrated in response to the chemokines CXCL12 and CCL19. In conclusion, stimulation of T cells with CD40L+BCP-ALL cells-loaded DC not only elicited the generation of potent and specific anti-leukemic cytotoxic effectors, but also the differentiation of specific and functional Th-1 CD4 lymphocytes. These effectors are fully equipped to reach leukemia-infiltrated tissues and have characteristics to support and orchestrate the anti-tumor immune-response
Occurrence and Antimicrobial Profile of Bacterial Pathogens in Former Foodstuff Meat Products Used for Pet Diets
No full textEuropean legislation stipulates that food no longer intended for human consumption, due to commercial reasons,
manufacturing problems, or some defect, can be used in pet feed. However, the presence of former foodstuffs in pet diets could
constitute a public health issue because pets can act as reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance genes. In this study, for the first
time, biological hazards due to the presence of Escherichia coli and Salmonella in former foodstuff meat products were
evaluated. Among the 112 samples of packaged fresh meat (poultry, pork, and beef) collected from cold storage warehouses of a
mass market retailer, the overall prevalence of E. coli and Salmonella, the prevalence of strains with multidrug resistance, the
phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of strains that produce extended-spectrum β-lactamase, and the presence of biofilm
producers were assessed. A high prevalence of E. coli was observed in former foodstuffs of poultry (100%), pork (100%), and
beef (93.3%). Salmonella Derby and Salmonella Typhimurium were found in 11.5% of the poultry samples, and Salmonella
Typhimurium was found in 13.3% of the pork samples. Salmonella was not recovered from the beef samples. Multidrug
resistance was found in E. coli and Salmonella isolates from poultry, pork, and beef. Overall, 18.2% of E. coli isolates and 20%
of Salmonella isolates were resistant to various types of antibiotics with various mechanisms of action. Salmonella isolates from
pork are an important source of extended-spectrum β-lactamase production. Both E. coli and Salmonella were carriers of
antibiotic resistance marker genes (blaTEM, blaSHV, and blaCTX-M) associated with β-lactamase production in poultry and pork.
Approximately 30% of the E. coli isolates from the various types of meat were phenotypically biofilm producers, and all carried
the fimH gene. These findings indicate that the use of former foodstuff meat products in pet diets can represent a risk for public
health
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