1,753 research outputs found
Staley, Roberta
No full textcurrentAcademic Biography
BA (University of Calgary)
Diploma Journalism (Grant MacEwan)
MA Liberal Studies (Simon Fraser University)
Roberta Staley is an author, a magazine editor and writer, and a documentary filmmaker who has reported from such places as Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, El Salvador, Haiti, Colombia, Cambodia, South Africa, Israel, and New Zealand. She currently edits Enterprise magazine, and is a contributor to BC Business, the South China Morning Post Magazine, Ms. Magazine, Trek, the Canadian Chemical News, Corporate Knights, and Sculpture, among others. She is also a columnist for Just for Canadian Doctors/Dentists magazines. Roberta has published her first book, titled Voice of rebellion : how Mozhdah Jamalzadah brought hope to Afghanistan. It is a biography of Afghan-Canadian human rights activist Mozhdah Jamalzadah
Prevalence of adverse reactions following a passed oral food challenge and factors affecting successful re-introduction of foods. A retrospective study of a cohort of 199 children
No full textAfter a passed oral food challenge (OFC), regular and normal food consumption is attended. The main objective of this study is to assess the safety of tested food dietary re-introduction after a passed OFC
Montelukast versus inhaled corticosteroids as monotherapy for prevention of asthma: which one is best?
No full textThe GINA guidelines (GL)1, the BTS-SIGN GL2, and the paediatric PRACTALL GL3, indicate inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) as the frst choice for controller therapy of paediatric asthma. The authors of BTS-SIGN GL recommended a leukotriene receptor antagonist, if ICS cannot be administered. Montelukast (MLK) is the most commonly used in children. If ICS remain the frst choice, they can be considered the Gold Standard for pharmacological asthma prevention and the value of any alternative treatment must be measured against them, not only against a placebo. Here we will try to shed some light as to which of those two drugs is better according to the present evidence
A multicentre retrospective study of 66 Italian children with food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome: different management for different phenotypes.
No full textBACKGROUND: Food Protein-Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome (FPIES) is a non-IgE-mediated paediatric disorder triggered by the ingestion of specific food proteins. Many features of this syndrome are not yet well defined.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to describe demographic features, causative agents, clinical features, treatments and outcomes of children suffering from acute FPIES at three Italian of Pediatric Allergology Centers.
METHODS: A retrospective study was performed over a 7-year period (2004-2010). Hospital medical record databases and hospital outpatient electronic charts were screened for the diagnosis of FPIES. Information on the first and subsequent FPIES' episodes was collected.
RESULTS: We diagnosed 66 children with FPIES. The number of diagnoses significantly increased between 2008 and 2010 (P < 0.001). We collected a total of 165 FPIES episodes (median per child 2, range 1-10). Cow's milk was the most common trigger food (65%), followed by fish, egg, rice, soy, corn, poultry and goat's milk. Fifty-six (85%) children reacted to a single food. Mean documented time from ingestion to symptom onset was 2.4 h (SD 0.7 h). Vomiting was the most common symptom (98%). Among patients diagnosed with OFC, 78% reacted after eating a whole serving size of the trigger food per age. Skin prick tests (SPT) for trigger foods were negative in 97% of cases. Thirty-two/66 children (48%) achieved tolerance at a mean age of 29 months (SD 17 months). Age of achieved tolerance for cow's milk was significantly lower compared to that of other foods (24 ± 8 vs. 53 ± 17 months, P < 0.0006).
CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This article provides new insights on FPIES in Italy by describing its largest series, and shows how a significant increase in the FPIES diagnosis has been observed in the last few years. We also discussed selected management aspects of this syndrome where different phenotypes can be found
Specific oral tolerance induction (SOTI) in pediatric age: clinical research or just routine practice?
No full textSpecific Oral Tolerance (SOTI) is a promising therapy of food allergy, specially for IgE-mediated cow milk allergy (CMA) in pediatric age. Randomized controlled trials have reported that about 35% of children, at least 5 years of age, became full tolerant to cow milk proteins after SOTI. Regard to the safety, literature describes about 200 children who underwent SOTI, with no fatal events. Nevertheless, a considerable percentage of those children (15%-20%) had to stop SOTI, because of important adverse effects. Numerous protocols have been described, some audacious and other prudent, however all demand an intense commitment either of the doctors and of the families. The information about the follow up of the children who underwent SOTI are still insufficient. For these reasons, we think that SOTI is still an experimental therapy
Can food protein induced enterocolitis syndrome shift to immediate gastrointestinal hypersensitivity? A report of two cases
No full textFood protein induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES) is a food-related non-IgE-mediated gastrointestinal hypersensitivity disorder. Atypical FPIES is characterized by the presence of specific IgE for the causative food. The guidelines suggested for diagnostic oral food challenge in pediatric patients affected by suspected FPIES are different from the ones for children with IgE-mediated food allergy. We describe two cases of atypical FPIES that turned into IgE-mediated gastrointestinal anaphylaxis. Our experience suggests to adapt OFC according to the outcome of specific IgE for the causative food When causative food-related IgE werepositive, we suggest to follow the guidelines for IgE mediated food allergy
Intravenous Immunoglobulin therapy for anti-E hemolytic disease in the newborn.
No full textAnti-E alloimmunisation is a less common cause of haemolytic disease in the newborn (HDN) and is usually associated with mild to moderate clinical manifestations, that are often less severe than anti-D immunisation. Conventional treatments for HDN are phototherapy and exchange transfusion, the latter still representing a high-risk procedure. Currently, intravenous immunoglobulin has been used as alternative treatment for HDN to reduce the need for exchange transfusion, as well as the length of phototherapy and hospitalisation. We report a case of anti-E HDN treated successfully with intravenous immunoglobulin, as adjuvant treatment to phototherapy
Isolated contact urticaria caused by immunoglobulin E-mediated fish allergy.
No full textFish is a common cause of food allergy. The reactions usually occur after its ingestion. In most immunoglobulin E-mediated reactions, the allergens are gastroresistant and heat-stable proteins of low molecularweight (parvalbumin). On the other hand, isolated contact urticaria following the handling of raw fish but without symptoms after its ingestion was found among cooks and professional fish handlers. In these cases, the fish allergens are gastrosensitive and thermolabile, as demonstrated by the decrease in the diameter of the wheal in the skin-prick test using cooked fish. To the best of our knowledge isolated fish contact urticaria in children has not been previously reported. We analyze the features of three pediatric cases of contact urticaria from cod (one of them was sensitized to parvalbumin), with tolerance after ingestion of this fish on oral food challenge
Artificial Intelligence Procedure for the Screening of Genetic Syndromes Based on Voice Characteristics
No full text: Perceptual and statistical evidence has highlighted voice characteristics of individuals affected by genetic syndromes that differ from those of normophonic subjects. In this paper, we propose a procedure for systematically collecting such pathological voices and developing AI-based automated tools to support differential diagnosis. Guidelines on the most appropriate recording devices, vocal tasks, and acoustical parameters are provided to simplify, speed up, and make the whole procedure homogeneous and reproducible. The proposed procedure was applied to a group of 56 subjects affected by Costello syndrome (CS), Down syndrome (DS), Noonan syndrome (NS), and Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS). The entire database was divided into three groups: pediatric subjects (PS; individuals < 12 years of age), female adults (FA), and male adults (MA). In line with the literature results, the Kruskal-Wallis test and post hoc analysis with Dunn-Bonferroni test revealed several significant differences in the acoustical features not only between healthy subjects and patients but also between syndromes within the PS, FA, and MA groups. Machine learning provided a k-nearest-neighbor classifier with 86% accuracy for the PS group, a support vector machine (SVM) model with 77% accuracy for the FA group, and an SVM model with 84% accuracy for the MA group. These preliminary results suggest that the proposed method based on acoustical analysis and AI could be useful for an effective, non-invasive automatic characterization of genetic syndromes. In addition, clinicians could benefit in the case of genetic syndromes that are extremely rare or present multiple variants and facial phenotypes
Is heel prick as safe as we think?
No full textPurulent lymphadenitis is rare in newborn and is associated with prematurity and invasive procedure. Neonatal staphylococcal infections due to skin interruption during intramuscular vitamin K administration and national metabolic screening programme (heel prick or Guthrie card test) have been already previously described. This is a report of a premature infant who developed an inguinal adenitis as a result of late complications from heel pricks. The diagnosis was made on clinical grounds and confirmed by ultrasound scans. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated. Bacteremia did not occur and the lymphadenitis had a complete resolution with antimicrobial therapy. The heel prick is a well-established procedure in neonatal practice, nevertheless it is not risk-free. The attention to signs of infections is important to avoid complications such as purulent lymphadenitis, abscess formation and septicemia. Best practice prevention and control in minimising the risk of infections are the most important intervention to prevent this complication
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