333 research outputs found
Medication Use Patterns among Urban Youth Participating in School-Based Asthma Education
Although pharmaceutical management is an integral part of asthma control, few community-based analyses have focused on this aspect of disease management. The primary goal of this analysis was to assess whether participation in the school-based Kickinâ Asthma program improved appropriate asthma medication use among middle school students. A secondary goal was to determine whether improvements in medication use were associated with subsequent improvements in asthma-related symptoms among participating students. Students completed an in-class case-identification questionnaire to determine asthma status. Eligible students were invited to enroll in a school-based asthma curriculum delivered over four sessions by an asthma health educator. Students completed a pre-survey and a 3-month follow-up post-survey that compared symptom frequency and medication use. From 2004 to 2007, 579 participating students completed pre- and post-surveys. Program participation resulted in improvements in appropriate use across all three medication use categories: 20.0% of students initiated appropriate reliever use when âfeeling symptomsâ (pâ<â0.001), 41.6% of students reporting inappropriate medication use âbefore exerciseâ initiated reliever use (pâ<â0.001), and 26.5% of students reporting inappropriate medication use when âfeeling fineâ initiated controller use (pâ<â0.02). More than half (61.6%) of participants reported fewer symptoms at post-survey. Symptom reduction was not positively associated with improvements in medication use in unadjusted and adjusted analysis, controlling for sex, asthma symptom classification, class attendance, season, and length of follow-up. Participation in a school-based asthma education program significantly improved reliever medication use for symptom relief and prior-to-exercise and controller medication use for maintenance. However, given that symptom reduction was not positively associated with improvement in medication use, pharmaceutical education must be just one part of a comprehensive asthma management agenda that addresses the multifactorial nature of asthma-related morbidity
Study of decays to the final state and evidence for the decay
A study of decays is performed for the first time
using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0
collected by the LHCb experiment in collisions at centre-of-mass energies
of and TeV. Evidence for the decay
is reported with a significance of 4.0 standard deviations, resulting in the
measurement of
to
be .
Here denotes a branching fraction while and
are the production cross-sections for and mesons.
An indication of weak annihilation is found for the region
, with a significance of
2.4 standard deviations.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and
additional information, are available at
https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2016-022.html,
link to supplemental material inserted in the reference
Gene expression of NMDA receptor subunits in the cerebellum of elderly patients with schizophrenia
To determine if NMDA receptor alterations are present in the cerebellum in schizophrenia, we measured NMDA receptor binding and gene expression of the NMDA receptor subunits in a post-mortem study of elderly patients with schizophrenia and non-affected subjects. Furthermore, we assessed influence of genetic variation in the candidate gene neuregulin-1 (NRG1) on the expression of the NMDA receptor in an exploratory study. Post-mortem samples from the cerebellar cortex of ten schizophrenic patients were compared with nine normal subjects. We investigated NMDA receptor binding by receptor autoradiography and gene expression of the NMDA receptor subunits NR1, NR2A, NR2B, NR2C and NR2D by in situ hybridization. For the genetic study, we genotyped the NRG1 polymorphism rs35753505 (SNP8NRG221533). Additionally, we treated rats with the antipsychotics haloperidol or clozapine and assessed cerebellar NMDA receptor binding and gene expression of subunits to examine the effects of antipsychotic treatment. Gene expression of the NR2D subunit was increased in the right cerebellum of schizophrenic patients compared to controls. Individuals carrying at least one C allele of rs35753505 (SNP8NRG221533) showed decreased expression of the NR2C subunit in the right cerebellum, compared to individuals homozygous for the T allele. Correlation with medication parameters and the animal model revealed no treatment effects. In conclusion, increased NR2D expression results in a hyperexcitable NMDA receptor suggesting an adaptive effect due to receptor hypofunction. The decreased NR2C expression in NRG1 risk variant may cause a deficit in NMDA receptor function. This supports the hypothesis of an abnormal glutamatergic neurotransmission in the right cerebellum in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia
Increased Memory Conversion of NaĂŻve CD8 T Cells Activated during Late Phases of Acute Virus Infection Due to Decreased Cumulative Antigen Exposure
Background: Memory CD8 T cells form an essential part of protective immunity against viral infections. Antigenic load, costimulation, CD4-help, cytokines and chemokines fluctuate during the course of an antiviral immune response thus affecting CD8 T cell activation and memory conversion. Methodology/Principal Findings: In the present study, naĂŻve TCR transgenic LCMV-specific P14 CD8 T cells engaged at a late stage during the acute antiviral LCMV response showed reduced expansion kinetics but greater memory conversion in the spleen. Such late activated cells displayed a memory precursor effector phenotype already at the peak of the systemic antiviral response, suggesting that the environment determined their fate during antigen encounter. In the spleen, the majority of late transferred cells exhibited a central memory phenotype compared to the effector memory displayed by the early transferred cells. Increasing the inflammatory response by exogenous administration of IFNc, PolyI:C or CpG did not affect memory conversion in the late transferred group, suggesting that the diverging antigen load early versus later during acute infection had determined their fate. In agreement, reduction in the LCMV antigenic load after ribavirin treatment enhanced the contribution of early transferred cells to the long lasting memory pool. Conclusions/Significance: Our results show that naĂŻve CD8 cells, exposed to reduced duration or concentration of antigen during viral infection convert into memory more efficiently, an observation that could have significant implications fo
The role of power in financial statement fraud schemes
In this paper, we investigate a large-scale financial statement fraud to better understand the process by which individuals are recruited to participate in financial statement fraud schemes. The case reveals that perpetrators often use power to recruit others to participate in fraudulent acts. To illustrate how power is used, we propose a model, based upon the classical French and Raven taxonomy of power, that explains how one individual influences another individual to participate in financial statement fraud. We also provide propositions for future research
Immigrant fertility in West Germany: is there a socialization effect in transitions to second and third births?
In this paper on immigrant fertility in West Germany, we estimate the transition rates to second and third births, using intensity-regression models. The data come from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study. We distinguish women of the first and the second immigrant generations originating from Turkey, the former Yugoslavia, Greece, Italy, and Spain, and compare their fertility levels to those of West German women. In the theoretical framework, we discuss competing hypotheses on migrant fertility. The findings support mainly the socialization hypothesis: the transition rates of first-generation immigrants vary by country of origin, and the fertility patterns of migrant descendants resemble more closely those of West Germans than those of the first immigrant generation. In addition, the analyses show that fertility differentials between immigrants and women of the indigenous population can largely, though not in full, be explained by compositional differences.Dans cet article relatif Ă la fĂ©conditĂ© des immigrĂ©es en Allemagne, le passage du premier au deuxieme enfant et dans celui du deuxieme au troisieme enfant est estimĂ© Ă partir de modĂšles de rĂ©gression Ă risques instantanĂ©s. Les donnĂ©es utilisĂ©es proviennent de lâĂ©tude de Panel socio-Ă©conomique allemand. On distingue les femmes immigrĂ©es de premiĂšre ou de seconde gĂ©nĂ©ration originaires de Turquie, dâex-Yougoslavie, de GrĂšce, dâItalie et dâEspagne, et leurs niveaux de fĂ©conditĂ© sont comparĂ©s Ă ceux des femmes ouest-allemandes dâorigine. Des hypothĂšses concurrentes sur la fĂ©conditĂ© des immigrĂ©s sont discutĂ©es dans le cadre thĂ©orique. Les rĂ©sultats vĂ©rifient principalement lâhypothĂšse de la socialisation : le passage au deuxieme et au troisieme enfant de la premiĂšre gĂ©nĂ©ration dâimmigrĂ©s varie selon le pays dâorigine, et le profil de fĂ©conditĂ© par Ăąge des descendantes dâimmigrĂ©es se rapproche plus de celui des femmes ouest-allemandes que de celui des immigrĂ©es de premiĂšre gĂ©nĂ©ration. De plus, les analyses montrent que les diffĂ©rences de fĂ©conditĂ© entre les immigrĂ©es et les femmes ouest-allemandes peuvent ĂȘtre en grande partie, mais pas totalement, expliquĂ©es par des diffĂ©rences de structure
Pre-Existing Adenovirus Immunity Modifies a Complex Mixed Th1 and Th2 Cytokine Response to an Ad5/HIV-1 Vaccine Candidate in Humans
The results of the recent Step Study highlight a need to clarify the effects of pre-existing natural immunity to a vaccine vector on vaccine-induced T-cell responses. To investigate this interaction, we examined the relationship between pre-existing Ad5 immunity and T-cell cytokine response profiles in healthy, HIV-uninfected recipients of MRKAd5 HIV-1 gag vaccine (HVTN 050, ClinicalTrials.gov #NCT00849732). Participants were grouped by baseline Ad5 neutralizing antibody titer as either Ad5-seronegative (titer â€18; nâ=â36) or Ad5-seropositive (titer >200; nâ=â34). Samples from vaccine recipients were analyzed for immune responses to either HIV-1 Gag peptide pools or Ad5 empty vector using an ex vivo assay that measures thirty cytokines in the absence of long-term culture. The overall profiles of cytokine responses to Gag and Ad5 had similar combinations of induced Th1- and Th2-type cytokines, including IFN-Îł, IL-2, TNF-α, IP-10, IL-13, and IL-10, although the Ad5-specific responses were uniformly higher than the Gag-specific responses (p<0.0001 for 9 out of 11 significantly expressed analytes). At the peak response time point, PBMC from Ad5-seronegative vaccinees secreted significantly more IP-10 in response to Gag (pâ=â0.008), and significantly more IP-10 (pâ=â0.0009), IL-2 (pâ=â0.006) and IL-10 (pâ=â0.05) in response to Ad5 empty vector than PBMC from Ad5-seropositive vaccinees. Additionally, similar responses to the Ad5 vector prior to vaccination were observed in almost all subjects, regardless of Ad5 neutralizing antibody status, and the levels of secreted IFN-Îł, IL-10, IL-1Ra and GM-CSF were blunted following vaccination. The cytokine response profile of Gag-specific T cells mirrored the Ad5-specific response present in all subjects before vaccination, and included a number of Th1- and Th2-associated cytokines not routinely assessed in current vaccine trials, such as IP-10, IL-10, IL-13, and GM-CSF. Together, these results suggest that vector-specific humoral responses may reduce vaccine-induced T-cell responses by previously undetected mechanisms
Changing circumpolar distributions and isoscapes of Antarctic krill: IndoâPacific habitat refuges counter longâterm degradation of the Atlantic sector
The Southern Ocean provides strong contrasts in rates and directions of change in temperature and sea ice
between its sectors, but it is unknown how these affect plankton species that are distributed right around Antarctica. Here, we quantify the changing circumpolar distributions of Antarctic krill, based on the CHINARE
2013/14 circum-Antarctic expedition, plus independent analyses of compiled abundance data (KRILLBASE:1926â2016). In the 1920sâ1930s, average krill densities in the Atlantic-Bellingshausen sector were eight times
those in the other sectors. More recently, however, the concentration factor has dropped to only about twofold.
This reflects a rebalancing broadly commensurate with climatic forcing: krill densities declined in the Atlantic Bellingshausen sector which has warmed and lost sea ice, densities may have increased in the Ross-Pacific sector
which showed the opposite climatic trend, while densities showed no significant changes in the more stable
Lazarev-Indian sectors. Such changes would impact circumpolar food webs, so to better define these we examined circumpolar trends of isotopic values in krill and other zooplankton based on the CHINARE cruise and a
literature meta-analysis. Krill ÎŽ15N values ranged significantly between sectors from 2.21â° (Indian) to 3.59â°
(Ross-Pacific), about half a trophic level lower than another key euphausiid, Thysanoessa macrura. These isoscapes form a baseline for interpreting the reliance of predators on euphausiids, within the varying food webs
around the continent. Overall, we suggest that the Indo-Pacific sector has acted as a refuge for the circumpolar
krill stock while conditions for them deteriorated rapidly in the Atlantic sector
Managerial Views of Corporate Impacts and Dependencies on Ecosystem Services : A Case of International and Domestic Forestry Companies in China
A line of research is emerging investigating the private sector impacts and dependencies on critical biodiversity and ecosystem services, and related business risks and opportunities. While the ecosystem services narrative is being forwarded globally as a key paradigm for promoting business sustainability, there is scarce knowledge of how these issues are considered at managerial level. This study thus investigates managerial views of corporate sustainability after the ecosystem services concept. We analyse interviews conducted with 20 managers from domestic and international forestry companies operating with a plantation-based business model in China. Content analysis was employed to analyse the data, with a focus on four key areas: (1) interviewee familiarity with the ecosystem services concept; (2) their views of corporate dependencies and impacts on ecosystem services; (3) related business risks and opportunities; and (4) viability of existing instruments and practices that can be employed in detecting and addressing business impacts and dependencies on ecosystem services. Through an inductive approach to the empirical findings, we refined a framework that holds operational value for developing company response strategies to ecosystem services impact/dependence assessment, ensuring that all issues are addressed comprehensively, and that related risks and opportunities are properly acknowledged.Peer reviewe
Social Perceptions of Forest Ecosystem Services in the Democratic Republic of Congo
The forests of the Albertine Rift are known for their high biodiversity and the important ecosystem services they provide to millions of inhabitants. However, their conservation and the maintenance of ecosystem service delivery is a challenge, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Our research investigates how livelihood strategy and ethnicity affects local perceptions of forest ecosystem services. We collected data through 25 focus-group discussions in villages from distinct ethnic groups, including farmers (Tembo, Shi, and Nyindu) and hunter-gatherers (Twa). Twa identify more food-provisioning services and rank bush meat and honey as the most important. They also show stronger place attachment to the forest than the farmers, who value other ecosystem services, but all rank microclimate regulation as the most important. Our findings help assess ecosystem services trade-offs, highlight the important impacts of restricted access to forests resources for Twa, and point to the need for developing alternative livelihood strategies for these communities
- âŠ