1,720,959 research outputs found
Prevalence of contact urticaria in health care workers.
No full textAbstract. Latex allergy is a major cause of IgE-mediated urticaria in occupational dermatology. Urticaria may be complicated by other pathological conditions, affecting the respiratory system: asthma and rhinitis. A cohort of 735 health workers examined at the Allergy Surgery of the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public health has been studied. All people (295 subjects, 40,1%) who experienced symptoms were examined. Latex exposure data were recorded, dividing the cases into three risk categories, high, medium and low, together with allergic symptoms and previous story of allergic diseases. In the group of 295 symptomatic patients, 130 workers (44.0%) reported symptoms of urticaria associated with occupational exposure. About half (46.1%) of these subjects were sensitized to natural latex. No correlation between risk exposure category and the latency to onset of symptoms was found, the prevalence of latex sensitization was similar in all groups. The likelihood of developing latex sensitization or allergy correlated only with the variable atopy
Environmental effects on immune system and allergy.
No full textIncidence and severity of allergic diseases of the upper and lower airwys has been increasing throughout this century. The hallmark of these disorders is increased IgE production. Many epoidemiological studies have provided indirect evidence for an increased incidence of asthma and atopy linked to airborne pollution in developed countries. In order to better understand the complex interaction(s) between pollution and allergic diseases, we suggest to consider four fundamentl mechanisms. 1. Increased concentration of airborne allergens in urban areas and workplaces. 2) Adjuvant effect. 3) Xenobiotic interaction(s) with immune system. 4) Effects of pollutants on target organs. In conclusion, although epidemiological and laboratory studies show contrasting results, there is evidence that xenobiotics are involved in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases through specific and non-specific mechanisms
Latex allergy
No full textNatural rubber latex (NRL) is a product derived from the cytosol of the commercial rubber tree, Heve brasiliensi. The essential functional unit in latex is a rubber particle, a spherical droplet of cis-1,4-polyisoprene that is coated by a layer of protein, lipid and phospholipid. Durin processing and production more than 200 different chemicals are added in order to improve product properties. About 90% of harvested rubber is processed by acid coagulation and the formed rubber products contain few latex proteins. The remaining 10% of harvested rubber is non coagulated and ammoniated, and it is used in manufacturing "dipped" rubber products such as gloves, condoms, and balloons. Currently, more than 40,000 articles on the market ar NRL made. Sice the beginning of the eighties there has been an increased number of reports about IgE-mediated allergy. Clinical symptoms of latex allergy range from urticaria, conjunctivitis and rhinitis to asthma and anaphylactic shock. Health care workers (HCW) children with spina bifida (SB), workers in industries that manifacture latex , are known to be the highest risk populations. A better knowledge of allergenic proteins and the productions of purified NRL allergens will be useful o develop more specific extracts for skin test and in vitro studies, improving diagnostic procedures. Measurement of natural rubber latex allergens in medical gloves and airborne disoered latex allergens in the workplace would be helpful for preventive purposes
The effects of air pollution on children
No full textAir pollutants have been associated with a wide variety of adverse health effects in children. A description of the impact of air pollutants on children's health is complicated by the presence of many types of air pollution and by the variety of indicators of adverse health effects. Over the period April-September 1994, the frequency of emergency room visits for asthma, bronchitis, laryngitis and bronchiolitis in the Paediatrics Department in Padua (Italy) has been documented and compared to outdoor concentrations of airborne particulate, sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) and ozone in a case-control study. Two control groups of children affected by air pollution not related diseases (acute gastro-enteritis or cranial trauma) have been considered. Atmospheric airborne particulate, SO2, NO(x) and ozone concentrations were obtained from the Air Quality Monitoring Network of Padua. Statistical analysis was performed by multiple logistic step-wise regression. A total of 468 emergency room visits were noted; 139 children suffering from respiratory symptoms and 339 controls. The highest pollution levels were observed for ozone, with average 24 hr - concentrations, ranging from 30 to 160 mcg per cubic meter, still lower than permitted limits. No significant relationships could be found between any of the pollution indices and the incidence of emergency room visits for respiratory symptoms. No difference related to air pollutants was found between daily frequency of visits between cases and controls. Only bronchiolitis in the age < 2 years was related to the concentrations of NO2 (p < 0.05). In conclusion, short-term exposure to moderately high levels of photochemical air pollution did not result in clear acute respiratory adverse effects in children
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe 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
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe 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
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