Search

Copyright of Revista Alergia de Mexico is the property of Coleg. Mexicano de Inmunologia Clinica y Alergia A.C.; Soc. Lat. de Alergia, Asma e Inmunologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A new green method has been developed for the extraction of the pseudo-total content of the heavy metals Ni, Cu, Cr, Pb, and Cd from marine sediments using a mixture of biodegradable micellar media (SDS, Triton X-100) as extractants and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) for their determination. This work is the first one that uses only surfactants as extractants, without the addition of chelating agents to increase the extraction efficiency of the method, proving to be effective in the extraction of metals from these types of matrices. The proposed method has shown high recovery percentages for all the metals considered (＞68%), good linearity and reproducibility (RSD ＜ 5.9%), as well as detection limits ranging from 0.06 to 2.78 μg g−1. The method was applied to the determination of the heavy metals under study in samples with different physicochemical properties. Finally, our results were compared with those obtained using microwave assisted extraction – graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (MAE/GFAAS) described in ISO 11047:1998 obtaining comparable results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. The Pediatric Asthma Health Outcome Measure (PAHOM) was designed to measure quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) in children with asthma. Our objective was to compare parent- and child-reported PAHOM scores to each other, to parent-reported scores on the Juniper Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ), and to physician-rated asthma control. Methods. A convenience sample of primarily African-American parent-child dyads (N = 261) was recruited from asthma clinics between May 2008 and May 2010. Correlations and differences in scores between the instruments and respondents were compared across variables of interest. The sensitivity and specificity of each, relative to physician-rated asthma control, were estimated. Results. Mean (SD) parent- and child-reported PAHOM scores were significantly different, 0.91 (0.13) and 0.95 (0.08), respectively, (p < .01) and were weakly correlated (0.24). Parent-reported PAHOM and parent-reported ACQ, 5-item version (ACQ5) scores were moderately correlated (-0.69). Both the parent- and child-reported PAHOM scores distinguished between physician-rated well-controlled and not well-controlled asthma (p < .01 and p < .01, respectively). When compared with physician-rated asthma control, the areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for the parent-reported PAHOM and the ACQ5 were similar (p = .11), but both performed better than the child-reported PAHOM (both p < .01). Discussion. The validity of the PAHOM is supported by its moderate correlation with the ACQ and its association with physician-rated asthma control. Although intended to be administered to children, parent-reported scores were better predictors of physician-rated asthma control. Conclusions. A validation study in a more economically and ethnically diverse population is needed. Until then, we recommend the PAHOM to be administered to both parents and children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of an older male patient who was diagnosed with primary cerebral amyloidoma after suffering complex partial seizures. Topics mentioned include the presence of nodular, confluent amyloid masses in the stereotactic brain biopsy of the left parietal white matter, impairment of executive function and ideomotor apraxia, and evidence of strong radioligand binding in the pathological areas by positron emission tomography-Florbetapir.