Asthma heterogeneity among Asian American children: The California Health Interview Survey.

Background: The Asian American (AsA) population is heterogenous and rapidly growing; however, little is known regarding childhood asthma burden among AsA ethnic groups. The relation between obesity and asthma in AsA ethnic groups also remains unclear.

Objective: To evaluate asthma prevalence and the relation of obesity to asthma risk among children in 7 AsA ethnic groups.

Carbonyl Yields in Cigars under Three Smoking Regimens Using a Linear Smoking Machine.

This study used standard linear smoking machines and puffing protocols to generate data on carbonyl yields in mainstream smoke from 11 unfiltered sheet-wrapped cigars (SWC), seven leaf-wrapped cigars (LWC), and two Kentucky reference cigarettes (3R4F, 1R6F). Carbonyl yields in cigar and cigarette products were determined using three different smoking regimens: International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Canadian Intense (CI), and Cooperation Centre for Scientific Research Relative to Tobacco (CORESTA) Recommended Method (CRM) No. 64 (CRM64, Routine Analytical Cigar-Smoking Machine─Specifications, Definitions and Standard Conditions).

Bridging of a Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Method for Oxytetracycline, Chlortetracycline, and Tetracycline in Bovine Kidney with the Official Microbial Growth Inhibition Assay.

Background: Oxytetracycline (OTC), chlortetracycline (CTC), and tetracycline (TC) are approved antibiotics used to treat bacterial infections in cattle. To ensure human food safety, a tolerance has been established for the sum of these three TC residues as 12 parts per million in bovine kidney in the United States The current official regulatory method for quantifying these antibiotics in the target organ is a labor-intensive microbiological assay.

Objective: Our laboratory developed and validated a fast, selective, and less laborious method utilizing LC-tandem mass spectrometry for the determination and confirmation of the three tetracyclines (TET) in bovine kidney.

Development and Validation Of A Discriminatory Dissolution Method for Portioned Moist Snuff and Snus.

Portioned moist snuff and snus, two subcategories of smokeless tobacco products (STP) were dissolution tested as a quality control test. A USP Apparatus 4 was employed to develop and validate the method. The method was assessed based on time to reach nicotine dissolution plateau, percentage difference between two profiles at each time point, relative standard deviation (RSD), and f1 (similarity) and f2 (dissimilarity) values.

Beyond Avoidance: the Psychosocial Impact of Food Allergies.

Over the past few years, the rates of food allergies have dramatically increased. As a result, the lives of patients and their caregivers have been dramatically altered. While most attention surrounding food allergies has focused on treatment, less consideration has been given to the mental health ramifications of living with this condition, among them depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, being bullied, and an overall poorer quality of life.

Histamine (Scombroid) Fish Poisoning: a Comprehensive Review.

Histamine fish poisoning, also known as scombroid poisoning, is the most common cause of ichythyotoxicosis worldwide and results from the ingestion of histamine-contaminated fish in the Scombroidae and Scomberesocidae families, including mackerel, bonito, albacore, and skipjack. This disease was first described in 1799 in Britain and re-emerged in the medical literature in the 1950s when outbreaks were reported in Japan. The symptoms associated with histamine fish poisoning are similar to that of an allergic reaction.

Characterization of the fatty acyl elongase (elovl) gene family, and hepatic elovl and delta-6 fatty acyl desaturase transcript expression and fatty acid responses to diets containing camelina oil in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua).

For aquaculture to become sustainable, there is a need to substitute fish oil [FO, rich in ω3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) such as 20:5ω3 (EPA) and 22:6ω3 (DHA)] in aquafeed with plant oils such as camelina oil [CO, rich in C18 PUFA such as 18:3ω3 (ALA) and 18:2ω6 (LNA)]. The LC-PUFA are essential components in fish diets for maintaining optimal health, physiology and growth. However, most marine fish including Atlantic cod are inefficient at producing LC-PUFA from shorter chain precursors.

Family-specific differences in growth rate and hepatic gene expression in juvenile triploid growth hormone (GH) transgenic Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar).

Growth hormone transgenic (GHTg) Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) have enhanced growth when compared to their non-transgenic counterparts, and this trait can be beneficial for aquaculture production. Biological confinement of GHTg Atlantic salmon may be achieved through the induction of triploidy (3N). The growth rates of triploid GH transgenic (3NGHTg) Atlantic salmon juveniles were found to significantly vary between families in the AquaBounty breeding program.

Characterization of aspirin allergies in patients with coronary artery disease.

Background: Aspirin prevents coronary thrombosis and is used extensively in cardiovascular prophylaxis. However, patients with a prior history of an aspirin "reaction" are routinely denied this medication.

Objective: To characterize the clinical presentation of a cohort of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and aspirin reactions.

The united allergic airway: connections between allergic rhinitis, asthma, and chronic sinusitis.

Background: The united allergic airway is a theory that connects allergic rhinitis (AR), chronic rhinosinusitis, and asthma, in which seemingly disparate diseases, instead of being thought of separately, are instead viewed as arising from a common atopic entity.

Objective: This article describes patients with such diseases; explores ideas suggesting a unified pathogenesis; elucidates the various treatment modalities available, emphasizing nasal corticosteroids and antihistamines; and provides an update of the literature.

Methods: A literature review was conducted.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus pelvic abscesses in a female after gynecologic pelvic surgery.

Pelvic abscesses occurring after gynecologic pelvic surgery are uncommon. We describe the case of a woman who, after undergoing such a procedure, was found to have pelvic abscesses infected with methicillin-resistant Staphyloccocus aureus. The purpose of this report is to raise awareness of a life-threatening complication of gynecologic pelvic surgery.

Identification and molecular cloning of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) transcript and its induction in spleen following intraperitoneal polyriboinosinic polyribocytidylic acid injection.

Activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) participates in cellular processes to adapt to various extra- and intra-cellular changes including the modulation of immunity to prevent uncontrolled immune responses to pathogens. In teleost fishes, the involvement of ATF3 in immune response has not been documented. In this study, the putative Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) ATF3 transcript was identified by performing rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) based on unknown expressed sequence tags (ESTs) that are potentially inducible by polyriboinosinic polyribocytidylic acid (pIC, a synthetic double-stranded RNA viral mimic) in Atlantic cod.

Development and experimental validation of a 20K Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) oligonucleotide microarray based on a collection of over 150,000 ESTs.

The collapse of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) wild populations strongly impacted the Atlantic cod fishery and led to the development of cod aquaculture. In order to improve aquaculture and broodstock quality, we need to gain knowledge of genes and pathways involved in Atlantic cod responses to pathogens and other stressors. The Atlantic Cod Genomics and Broodstock Development Project has generated over 150,000 expressed sequence tags from 42 cDNA libraries representing various tissues, developmental stages, and stimuli.

Characterization and expression studies of Gaduscidin-1 and Gaduscidin-2; paralogous antimicrobial peptide-like transcripts from Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua).

Piscidins are a family of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) from fish that constitute an important component of their innate immune system. Based on previously generated Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) expressed sequence tags (ESTs), we identified sequences representing two paralogous AMP-like transcripts. These Atlantic cod paralogues were termed gaduscidins (GAD-1 and GAD-2), derived from the genus name Gadus.

An integrated approach to gene discovery and marker development in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua).

Atlantic cod is a species that has been overexploited by the capture fishery. Programs to domesticate this species are underway in several countries, including Canada, to provide an alternative route for production. Selective breeding programs have been successfully applied in the domestication of other species, with genomics-based approaches used to augment conventional methods of animal production in recent years.

Characterization and expression analyses of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2-like genes NR-13, Mcl-1, Bcl-X1, and Bcl-X2 in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua).

NR-13, Mcl-1, and BCL-X(L), are conserved anti-apoptotic proteins that belong to the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 sub-family, which inhibits cell death by preventing mitochondrial membrane permeabilization (MMP). Given the anti-apoptotic functions of these proteins in vertebrates (e.g.

Identification and analysis of differentially expressed genes in immune tissues of Atlantic cod stimulated with formalin-killed, atypical Aeromonas salmonicida.

Physiological changes, elicited in animal immune tissues by exposure to pathogens, may be studied using functional genomics approaches. We created and characterized reciprocal suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) cDNA libraries to identify differentially expressed genes in spleen and head kidney tissues of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) challenged with intraperitoneal injections of formalin-killed, atypical Aeromonas salmonicida. Of 4,154 ESTs from four cDNA libraries, 10 genes with immune-relevant functional annotations were selected for QPCR studies using individual fish templates to assess biological variability.

Patterns of dispersal and dynamics among habitat patches varying in quality.

Both source-sink theory and extensions of optimal foraging theory ("balanced dispersal" theory) address dispersal and population dynamics in landscapes where habitat patches vary in quality. However, studying dispersal mechanisms empirically has proven difficult, and dispersal is rarely tied back to long-term spatial dynamics. We used a manipulable laboratory system consisting of bacteria and protozoa to investigate the ability of source-sink and optimal foraging theories to explain both dispersal and emergent spatial dynamics.