Blessed art thou among women: male nursing students and gender inequalities in Chile.

Background: The evolution of nursing education into an academic curriculum and the growing interest of men in nursing have been significant landmarks in the development of a 'female' occupation. Chilean nursing is considered as the leading example of nursing education in Latin America, demanding a five-year training on a full-time university programme. The consequences of education, however, are assumed as more egalitarian opportunities, disregarding the latent replication of structures that perpetuate inequalities.

A novel low-cost method for Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis DNA extraction from an automated broth culture system for real-time PCR analysis.

PCR is a highly accurate technique for confirming the presence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map) in broth culture. In this study, a simple, efficient, and low-cost method of harvesting DNA from Map cultured in liquid medium was developed.

Mite allergen exposure, sensitisation and clinical symptoms in Valdivia, Chile.

One hundred consecutive asthmatic paediatric patients were evaluated and skin tested with a battery of skin prick test reagents, including 8 different standardized house dust mite extracts. Asthma severity was graded according to the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) document in mild persistent (52 patients), moderate persistent (39) and severe persistent (9). Sixty patients had asthma and allergic rhinitis, 12 asthma and eczema, and 8 asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema.

Influence of the timing of blastomere isolation after the removal of nocodazole in bovine nuclear transfer.

This study was conducted to investigate the influence of the timing of blastomere isolation after the removal of nocodazole on the subsequent division of blastomeres and developmental ability of reconstituted bovine embryos. The division rate of isolated blastomeres was examined at 3, 5 and 24 h of culture after nocodazole removal. Furthermore, isolated blastomeres and those of whole embryos were used as donors in nuclear transfer to determine the development of reconstituted embryos.

Is it useful to add an anticholinergic treatment to beta 2-adrenergic medication in acute asthma attack?

The aim of our study was to determine whether the combination of an anticholinergic treatment with a beta 2-adrenergic medication is a more effective treatment for acute asthma attack than the two treatments individually. The association of salbutamol-ipratropium was compared to treatment with salbutamol and ipratropium alone. It was a prospective double-blind study in children with acute asthma attack, participating as outpatients.

Influence of combined activation treatments on the success of bovine nuclear transfer using young or aged oocytes.

This study was determined if the combined activation of young or aged oocytes influence their development. The 16-cell stage in vitro maturation/fertilization embryos were exposed to 10 microL nocodazole for 18-20 h, blastomeres that divided within 3 h after the release from nocodazole were used as synchronized donor blastomeres. Metaphase II oocytes were enucleated at 20-22 h post onset of maturation.