International survey on skin patch test procedures, attitudes and interpretation.

BACKGROUND Skin patch test is the gold standard method in diagnosing contact allergy. Although used for more than 100��years, the patch test procedure is performed with variability around the world. A number of factors can influence the test results, namely the quality of reagents used, the timing of the application, the patch test series (allergens/haptens) that have been used for testing, the appropriate interpretation of the skin reactions or the evaluation of the patient's benefit. METHODS We performed an Internet -based survey with 38 questions covering the educational background of respondents, patch test methods and interpretation. The questionnaire was distributed among all representatives of national member societies of the World Allergy Organization (WAO), and the WAO Junior Members��Group. RESULTS One hundred sixty-nine completed surveys were received from 47 countries. The majority of participants had more than 5��years of clinical practice (61��%) and routinely carried out patch tests (70��%). Both allergists and dermatologists were responsible for carrying out the patch tests. We could observe the use of many different guidelines regardless the geographical distribution. The use of home-made preparations was indicated by 47��% of participants and 73��% of the respondents performed 2 or 3 readings. Most of the responders indicated having patients with adverse reactions, including erythroderma (12��%); however, only 30��% of members completed a consent form before conducting the patch test. DISCUSSION The heterogeneity of patch test practices may be influenced by the level of awareness of clinical guidelines, different training backgrounds, accessibility to various types of devices, the patch test series (allergens/haptens) used for testing, type of clinical practice (public or private practice, clinical or research-based institution), infrastructure availability, financial/commercial implications and regulations among others. CONCLUSION There is a lack of a worldwide homogeneity of patch test procedures, and this raises concerns about the need for standardization and harmonization of this important diagnostic procedure.

Beautiful victims : childhood and the holocaust in the work of Gottfried Helnwein

"For the past three decades, contemporary artist Gottfried Helnwein has shocked viewers with his Holocaust-related paintings, drawings and installations. Born in Austria in 1948, Helnwein witnessed the immediate aftermath of World War II in Europe from a child���s perspective. Consequently, the horrifying images summoned from Helnwein���s imagination are inspired by the memories and repercussions of this tragedy. His work addresses his parents��� unwillingness to speak of the atrocities as well as the exploitation of the Holocaust in contemporary popular media. His work questions not only how such a tragedy could have taken place, but also how contemporary perception of this event has been affected by total media saturation and the passage of time. To shock viewers, Helnwein portrays strikingly realistic images of distressed, wounded and morally ambiguous children in works that have been regarded as controversial and outspoken"

The modern study of literature; an introduction to literary theory and interpretation by Richard Green Moulton ...

Introduction: Dominant ideas of modern study: unity, induction, evolution.--book I. Literary morphology: varieties of literature and their underlying principles.--book II. The field and scope of literary study.--book III. Literary evolution as reflected in the history of world literature.--book IV. Literary criticism: the traditional confusion and the modern reconstruction.--book V. Literature as a mode of philosophy.--book VI. Literature as a mode of art. Conclusion: the traditional and the modern study of literature. Syllabus. Works of the author. General index. Seventh impression, June, 1928

The authority of criticism, and other essays,

The authority of criticism.--Apropos of Shelley.--Literature and morals.--The nature of literature.--On translating Horace.--The Byron revival. --Teaching the spirit of literature.--Mr. Howells and romanticism.--Tennyson and Musset once more.

Revised criteria for the assessment and interpretation of occlusal deviations in the deciduous dentition: a public health perspective

Dados secund��rios de uma amostra aleat��ria de pr��-escolares brasileiros foram analisados com o objetivo de avaliar a preval��ncia de desvios oclusais na denti����o dec��dua, que podem adversamente afetar a denti����o permanente, com base em crit��rios revisados. Overjet e overbite apresentaram pontos de corte descritos na literatura para a remo����o dos casos de m�� oclus��o leve. Overjet > 3mm e overbite > 3mm afetaram 16% e 7% das crian��as, respectivamente. No plano sagital foram consideradas apenas as taxas de desvios bilaterais: rela����o molar em degrau distal (9,7%) e mesial (6,0%); rela����o dos caninos Classe 2 (11,0%) e Classe 3 (2,9%). Para os demais desvios n��o foram relatados na literatura crit��rios de severidade. Valores brutos de mordida aberta anterior (27,9%); mordida cruzada posterior (11,3%); apinhamento dent��rio maxilar (7,0%) e mandibular (11,3%) foram registrados. A avalia����o da m�� oclus��o na denti����o dec��dua deve considerar a severidade dos desvios para a identifica����o de casos e n��o-casos de relev��ncia em sa��de p��blica. Enfatiza-se a necessidade de maior consenso e melhora na interpreta����o de dados epidemiol��gicos sobre a m�� oclus��o nesse est��gio de desenvolvimento

The gambin model provides a superior fit to species abundance distributions with a single free parameter : evidence, implementation and interpretation

The species abundance distribution (SAD) has been a central focus of community ecology for over fifty years, and is currently the subject of widespread renewed interest. The gambin model has recently been proposed as a model that provides a superior fit to commonly preferred SAD models. It has also been argued that the model's single parameter (��) presents a potentially informative ecological diversity metric, because it summarises the shape of the SAD in a single number. Despite this potential, few empirical tests of the model have been undertaken, perhaps because the necessary methods and software for fitting the model have not existed. Here, we derive a maximum likelihood method to fit the model, and use it to undertake a comprehensive comparative analysis of the fit of the gambin model. The functions and computational code to fit the model are incorporated in a newly developed free-to-download R package (gambin). We test the gambin model using a variety of datasets and compare the fit of the gambin model to fits obtained using the Poisson lognormal, logseries and zero-sum multinomial distributions. We found that gambin almost universally provided a better fit to the data and that the fit was consistent for a variety of sample grain sizes. We demonstrate how �� can be used to differentiate intelligibly between community structures of Azorean arthropods sampled in different land use types. We conclude that gambin presents a flexible model capable of fitting a wide variety of observed SAD data, while providing a useful index of SAD form in its single fitted parameter. As such, gambin has wide potential applicability in the study of SADs, and ecology more generally.

Recens��o: George Baker, ���Late Criticism��� in Canvases and Careers Today. Criticism and its Markets

Recens��o de: George Baker, "'Late Criticism' in Canvases and Careers Today. Criticism and its Markets", Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2008

A conspiracy theory for clefts : the syntax and interpretation of cleft constructions

O objetivo final deste estudo �� contribuir para a discuss��o sobre qual a medida em que conceitos sem��nticos e discursivos est��o sintaticamente codificados. Mais especificamente, investiga-se se existe alguma correla����o consistente entre alguns aspetos interpretativos e sint��ticos de quatro constru����es clivadas do Portugu��s Europeu, e como se deve dar conta teoricamente destas potenciais correla����es. As clivadas consideradas s��o as clivadas can��nicas, as pseudoclivadas, as clivadas de �� que e as clivadas de SER. Sintaticamente podemos distinguir dois tipos: clivadas bioracionais (can��nicas e pseudoclivadas) e clivadas mono-oracionais (clivadas de �� que e de SER). Todas as estruturas t��m um constituinte clivado focalizado que pode constituir tanto um foco informacional como um foco contrastivo, e uma ora����o clivada que introduz uma pressuposi����o existencial. Adicionalmente, o constituinte clivado identifica exaustivamente uma posi����o vazia na ora����o clivada. Adota-se a sem��ntica alternativa para o foco (Rooth 1985), segundo a qual o foco entoacional contribui uniformemente um conjunto de alternativas na Forma L��gica. Regras pragm��ticas operando neste conjunto d��o origem a duas implicaturas que podem ser suspensas: pressuposi����o existencial e exaustividade. Dado que as clivadas de �� que e as de SER t��m a mesma interpreta����o que ora����es n��o-clivadas, conclui-se que a sua estrutura sint��tica particular n��o contribui para estas propriedades interpretativas. Em contrapartida, as clivadas bioracionais, que s��o ora����es copulativas especificacionais, t��m uma presuposi����o existencial e uma interpreta����o exaustiva que n��o pode ser suspensa, tal como as ora����es especificacionais n��o-clivadas. Argumenta-se que isto se deve ao facto de o constituinte clivado identificar uma vari��vel introduzida por uma descri����o definida. Demonstra-se que a ora����o clivada, uma relativa em posi����o de complemento de um determinador definido nas clivadas can��nicas e uma relativa livre nas pseudoclivadas, tem a mesma denota����o que um DP definido, e portanto tem uma pressuposi����o existencial inerente. A interpreta����o exaustiva deve-se �� rela����o identificacional entre o constituinte clivado e a descri����o definida. Al��m disso, defende-se que em Portugu��s Europeu um tra��o de foco n��o desencadeia movimento-A��� para um FocP especializado. Os constituintes focalizados movem-se antes por raz��es independentes do foco. Isto �� confirmado pelo facto de apenas o constituinte clivado das clivadas de �� que ter propriedades de movimento A���, os outros parecem estar in situ. Prop��e-se que o constituinte clivado das clivadas de �� que �� um t��pico com um tra��o de foco que se move para um TopP. Esta an��lise d�� conta da exist��ncia de restri����es discursivas semelhantes para t��picos n��o focalizados e para o constituinte clivado das clivadas de �� que. O tra��o quantificacional de foco arrastado pela topicaliza����o d�� origem a efeitos de interven����o, causando a n��o-recursividade do foco na periferia esquerda e a sua incompatibilidade com movimento de outros constituintes com tra��os quantificacionais. A an��lise prediz as restri����es de encaixe observadas para as clivadas de �� que. Finalmente, desenvolve-se uma an��lise sint��tica das clivadas de SER que aproxima estas estruturas das estruturas com part��culas de foco. Prop��e-se que a c��pula �� um operador sens��vel ao foco que �� merged juntamente com o constituinte clivado. As restri����es distribucionais da c��pula devem-se a requisitos selecionais de n��cleos.

P��diatrie. 4. La calprotectine f��cale en p��diatrie: utilisation et interpr��tation [Pediatrics. Fecal calprotectin in children: use and interpretation].

Fecal calprotectin is a small protein released mainly by neutrophils. It is recognized as a reliable, easy and non-invasive biomarker of gastro-intestinal inflammation. Normal values vary with age, with higher cut-off values during the first year of life (<350 microg/g) than in children (<275 microg/g) or adults (<50 microg/g). Fecal calprotectin can be a useful tool in initial evaluation of recurrent abdominal pain, helping to distinguish between functional gastro-intestinal disorders, where it is normal, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It is not a specific marker of IBD but is increased in other situations of gastro-intestinal inflammation. In patients with IBD, fecal calprotectin is used to monitor treatment response.