Bordetella bronchiseptica aislada en paciente con Fibrosis Quística

Presentamos el caso de una paciente de 15 años con Fibrosis Quística (FQ) en la cual, en dos oportunidades y con un intervalo de 2 años, se aisló Bordetella bronchiseptica con idéntico perfil genético estudiado por electroforesis de campo pulsado. El mecanismo lesional de B. bronchiseptica en el árbol bronquial de pacientes con FQ no está claramente establecido, pero la habilidad de esta bacteria para inhibir la función de los leucocitos y su capacidad de adherirse a las células del epitelio bronquial explicaría su capacidad infectiva y su persistencia en el tracto respiratorio.We are reporting the case of a 15 year-old girl with Cystic Fibrosis in whom Bordetella bronchiseptica was isolated twice, two years apart. The germ showed identical genetic profile when studied by pulsed-field gene electrophoresis. The ways Bordetella bronchiseptica causes damage to the lower respiratory tract remains unsettled. The capacity of this germ to inhibit leukocyte function and its adherence to bronchial epithelial cells could explain its pathogenicity and persistence

Narratives of ethnic identity among practitioners in community settings in the northeast of England

The increasing ethnic diversity of the UK has been mirrored by growing public awareness of multicultural issues, alongside developments in academic and government thinking. This paper explores the contested meanings around ethnic identity/ies in community settings, drawing on semi-structured interviews with staff from Children’s Centres and allied agencies conducted for a research project that examined the relationship between identity and the participation of parents/carers in services in northeast England. The research found that respondents were unclear about, especially, white ethnic identities, and commonly referred to other social categorizations, such as age, nationality, and circumstances such as mobility, when discussing service users. While in some cases this may have reflected legitimate attempts to resist overethnicizing non-ethnic phenomena, such constructions coexisted with assumptions about ethnic difference and how it might translate into service needs. These findings raise important considerations for policy and practice

Environmental assessment of the behavior of a BOF steel slag used in road construction : the PRECODD-ECLAIR research program

International audienceSteel production generate great amounts of by-products as steel slags. The use of Basic Oxygen Furnace slags (BOF slags) has been restrained due to insufficient volume stability, and due to the lack of environmental regulations. The purpose of the PRECODD-ECLAIR research program is to develop a behavior model based on a multi-scale physico-chemical, mechanical, hydrodynamic and ecotoxicological characterizations of a BOF slag used in a public works scenario. This paper aims at presenting the overall ECLAIR research program, the equipped experimental platform constructed using a BOF steel slag, and the first results of the slag characterization

Observations of current rings in the Antarctic Zone at Drake Passage

Time series of current velocity and temperature from several depths at a site near the center of Drake Passage show features that can plausibly be interpreted as current rings. Between June 1975 and January 1976, five cyclonic rings from the Continental Water Boundary and one anticyclonic ring from the Polar Front passed over the site. The diameters of the rings varied from 30 km to 130 km, and all of them extended vertically to a depth of at least 2500 m. The rings exhibited maximum spin velocities of about 20 cm sec−1 at 1000 m depth and 10 cm sec−1 at 2500 m. Their translatory motion, which was toward the north at about 4 cm sec−1, contained a westward component relative to the ambient flow. The magnitude of the westward component suggests that it may have resulted from an interaction between rings and the sea floor, which slopes downward to the northeast at the mooring site. The total available mechanical energy of the rings (kinetic plus potential) varied from 6.2 × 1013 j in the smallest ring to 9.9 × 1014 in the largest. The available heat, relative to the Antarctic Zone, was several orders of magnitude larger: −3.0 × 1017 j for the smallest ring and −3.6 × 1018 j for the largest. The numbers indicate that current rings may play an important role in dissipating the kinetic energy of the circumpolar fronts and that they may be responsible for a significant poleward flux of heat in the Southern Ocean

Challenging the field: Bourdieu and men's health

©2014 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. This article considers how understandings of health promotion with men may be assisted by engagement with Bourdieu's theoretical work. The article outlines leading concepts within Bourdieu's work on 'field', 'habitus' and 'capital'; considers subsequent critical debates among gender, feminist and sociological theorists around structure and agency; and links these to discussions within men's health. A particular focus concerns structural disruption of, and movement of social actors between, 'fields' such as family, work and leisure settings. The article examines, through Bourdieu's critical legacy, whether such disruption establishes conditions for transformative reflexivity among men in relation to previously held dispositions (habitus), including those inflected by masculinities, that affect men's health practices. Recent work within Bourdieu's heritage potentially facilitates a re-framing of understandings of men's health practices. The article specifically explores masculine ambivalence within accounts of reflexivity, identities and practice, and considers how social and symbolic (masculine) capital are in play. Implications of Bourdieu's leading concepts for theorising settings-focused approaches to men's health promotion are exemplified with reference to a men's health project in a football stadium leisure setting. The article considers the benefits and challenges of applying gendered critical insights drawing on Bourdieu's work to men's health promotion, and discusses emerging theoretical dilemmas

Reliabiliy and clinical validity of the italian reflux symptom index

Currently, there is no Italian version of the Reflux Symptom Index (RSI). The aim of this study was to develop an Italian RSI and to evaluate its internal consistency, reliability, and clinical validity. The study design used was a cross-sectional survey study. Eighty patients with a Reflux Finding Score (RFS) >7, and 193 asymptomatic subjects were included in the study. For the RSI reliability analysis, the appositely developed Italian RSI was filled twice, with a week interval, by the 80 patients and 80 control subjects. The test-retest reliability was assessed through the Pearson correlation test, whereas the Cronbach's \u3b1 coefficient was used for internal consistency analysis. For the clinical validity assessment, the scores obtained in the pathological group were compared with the data from the asymptomatic individuals through the Student's t test. Finally, the correlation between RSI and RFS in the 80 patients was assessed. All of the patients filled in the entire questionnaire autonomously. The test-retest reliability in the patients, as well as in the control group, was very high (r > 0.90); the internal consistency also showed very high values (\u3b1 = 0.99). The mean RSI score in the patients was 21.1 \ub1 6.6, whereas in the control group it was 6.3 \ub1 5.6; the difference was statistically significant (P = 0.0001). The mean RFS score in the 80 patients was 9.2 \ub1 2.7 and the correlation between RFS score and RSI score was rather high (r = 0.89). The Italian RSI is easily administered, highly reproducible, and exhibits excellent clinical validity

AP2α controls the dynamic balance between miR-126&126∗ and miR-221&222 during melanoma progression

Accumulating evidences have shown the association between aberrantly expressed microRNAs (miRs) and cancer, where these small regulatory RNAs appear to dictate the cell fate by regulating all the main biological processes. We demonstrated the responsibility of the circuitry connecting the oncomiR-221&222 with the tumor suppressors miR-126&126∗ in melanoma development and progression. According to the inverse correlation between endogenous miR-221&222 and miR-126&126∗, respectively increasing or decreasing with malignancy, their enforced expression or silencing was sufficient for a reciprocal regulation. In line with the opposite roles of these miRs, protein analyses confirmed the reverse expression pattern of miR-126&126∗-targeted genes that were induced by miR-221&222. Looking for a central player in this complex network, we revealed the dual regulation of AP2α, on one side directly targeted by miR-221&222 and on the other a transcriptional activator of miR-126&126∗. We showed the chance of restoring miR-126&126∗ expression in metastatic melanoma to reduce the amount of mature intracellular heparin-binding EGF like growth factor, thus preventing promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger delocalization and maintaining its repression on miR-221&222 promoter. Thus, the low-residual quantity of these two miRs assures the release of AP2α expression, which in turn binds to and induces miR-126&126∗ transcription. All together these results point to an unbalanced ratio functional to melanoma malignancy between these two couples of miRs. During progression this balance gradually moves from miR-126&126∗ toward miR-221&222. This circuitry, besides confirming the central role of AP2α in orchestrating melanoma development and/or progression, further displays the significance of these miRs in cancer and the option of utilizing them for novel therapeutics

A Fibre- vs. cereal grain-based diet: Which is better for horse welfare? Effects on intestinal permeability, muscle characteristics and oxidative status in horses reared for meat production

Horses reared for meat production are fed high amounts of cereal grains in comparison with horses raised for other purposes. Such feeding practice may lead to risk of poor welfare consequences. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of two feeding practices on selected metabolic parameters and production aspects. Nineteen Bardigiano horses, 14.3 ± 0.7 months of age, were randomly assigned to two groups—one fed with high amounts of cereal grains (HCG; n = 9; 43% hay plus 57% cereal grain-based pelleted feed) vs. one fed with high amounts of fibre (HFG; n = 10; 70% hay plus 30% pelleted fibrous feed)—for 129 days. At slaught on abattoir, biological and tissue samples were collected to evaluate the microbiological contamination of mesenteric lymph nodes and liver; selected meat quality traits (chemical composition and fatty acid profile of the Longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle); and the oxidative status of the horse. A linear mixed model was used: dietary treatment and sex were fixed effects and their interaction analysed on production and metabolic parameters as dependent variables. Results showed an increased intestinal permeability in the horses fed HCG compared to HFG, according to the significant increased total mesophilic aerobic bacteria counts in mesenteric lymph nodes (p = 0.04) and liver samples (p = 0.05). Horses in HCG showed increased muscle pH (p = 0.02), lighter muscle colour (L) (p = 0.01), increased intramuscular fat concentrations (p = 0.03), increased muscle glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activities (p = 0.01 and p = 0.03, respectively). Moreover, horses in HCG had lower muscle water holding capacity at interaction with sex (p = 0.03, lower in female), lower muscle protein content (p = 0.01), lower concentration of muscle PUFAs (p = 0.05) and lower plasma catalase activities (p = 0.05). Our results showed that feeding a high cereal grains diet can have global effects on horse physiology, and thus represents a threat for their welfare