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Showing papers by "Ghent University published in 2003"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The current review of 129 references describes the biological activity of several chitosan derivatives and the modes of action that have been postulated in the literature.

2,615 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is of great importance that guidelines and recommendations are presented in formats that are easily interpreted, and their implementation programmes must also be well conducted.
Abstract: Guidelines aim to present all the relevant evidence on a particular issue in order to help physicians to weigh the benefits and risks of a particular diagnostic or therapeutic procedure. They should be helpful in everyday clinical decision-making. A great number of guidelines have been issued in recent years by different organizations-European Society of Cardiology (ESC), American Heart Association (AHA), American College of Cardiology (ACC), and other related societies. By means of links to web sites of National Societies several hundred guidelines are available. This profusion can put at stake the authority and validity of guidelines, which can only be guaranteed if they have been developed by an unquestionable decision-making process. This is one of the reasons why the ESC and others have issued recommendations for formulating and issuing guidelines. In spite of the fact that standards for issuing good quality guidelines are well defined, recent surveys of guidelines published in peer-reviewed journals between 1985 and 1998 have shown that methodological standards were not complied with in the vast majority of cases. It is therefore of great importance that guidelines and recommendations are presented in formats that are easily interpreted. Subsequently, their implementation programmes must also be well conducted. Attempts have been made to determine whether guidelines improve the quality of clinical practice and the utilization of health resources. In addition, the legal implications of medical guidelines have been discussed and examined, resulting in position documents, which have been published by a specific Task Force. The ESC Committee for Practice Guidelines (CPG) supervises and coordinates the preparation of new Guidelines and Expert Consensus Documents produced by Task Forces, expert groups or consensus panels. The Committee is also responsible for the endorsement of these guidelines or statements. The rationale for an active approach to the prevention of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is …

2,119 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Authors/Task Force Members: Massimo F. Piepoli (Chairperson), Arno W. Hoes (Co-Chairperson) (The Netherlands), Stefan Agewall (Norway) 1, Christian Albus (Germany)9, Carlos Brotons (Spain)10, Alberico L. Catapano (Italy)3, Marie-Therese Cooney (Ireland)1, Ugo Corrà (Italy).

1,895 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The sparsity of the discretized systems for the computation of limit cycles and their bifurcation points is exploited by using the standard Matlab sparse matrix methods.
Abstract: MATCONT is a graphical MATLAB software package for the interactive numerical study of dynamical systems. It allows one to compute curves of equilibria, limit points, Hopf points, limit cycles, period doubling bifurcation points of limit cycles, and fold bifurcation points of limit cycles. All curves are computed by the same function that implements a prediction-correction continuation algorithm based on the Moore-Penrose matrix pseudo-inverse. The continuation of bifurcation points of equilibria and limit cycles is based on bordering methods and minimally extended systems. Hence no additional unknowns such as singular vectors and eigenvectors are used and no artificial sparsity in the systems is created. The sparsity of the discretized systems for the computation of limit cycles and their bifurcation points is exploited by using the standard Matlab sparse matrix methods. The MATLAB environment makes the standard MATLAB Ordinary Differential Equations (ODE) Suite interactively available and provides computational and visualization tools; it also eliminates the compilation stage and so makes installation straightforward. Compared to other packages such as AUTO and CONTENT, adding a new type of curves is easy in the MATLAB environment. We illustrate this by a detailed description of the limit point curve type.

1,320 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a model is developed to describe the endpoint of carbon partitioning between quenched martensite and retained austenite, in the absence of carbide formation.

1,240 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In patients with treated hypertension, a higher ambulatory systolic or diastolic blood pressure predicts cardiovascular events even after adjustment for classic risk factors including office measurements of blood pressure.
Abstract: background It is uncertain whether ambulatory blood-pressure measurements recorded for 24 hours in patients with treated hypertension predict cardiovascular events independently of blood-pressure measurements obtained in the physician’s office and other cardiovascular risk factors. methods We assessed the association between base-line ambulatory blood pressures in treated patients and subsequent cardiovascular events among 1963 patients with a median follow-up of 5 years (range, 1 to 66 months). results We documented new cardiovascular events in 157 patients. In a Cox proportional-hazards model with adjustment for age, sex, smoking status, presence or absence of diabetes mellitus, serum cholesterol concentration, body-mass index, use or nonuse of lipidlowering drugs, and presence or absence of a history of cardiovascular events, as well as blood pressure measured at the physician’s office, higher mean values for 24-hour ambulatory systolic and diastolic blood pressure were independent risk factors for new cardiovascular events. The adjusted relative risk of cardiovascular events associated with a 1-SD increment in blood pressure was 1.34 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.11 to 1.62) for 24-hour ambulatory systolic blood pressure, 1.30 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.08 to 1.58) for ambulatory systolic blood pressure during the daytime, and 1.27 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.07 to 1.57) for ambulatory systolic blood pressure during the nighttime. For ambulatory diastolic blood pressure, the corresponding relative risks of cardiovascular events associated with a 1-SD increment were 1.21 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.01 to 1.46), 1.24 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.03 to 1.49), and 1.18 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.98 to 1.40). conclusions In patients with treated hypertension, a higher ambulatory systolic or diastolic blood pressure predicts cardiovascular events even after adjustment for classic risk factors including office measurements of blood pressure.

1,046 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
09 Jul 2003-JAMA
TL;DR: Treatment with tifacogin had no effect on all-cause mortality in patients with severe sepsis and high INR and tifACogin administration was associated with an increase in risk of bleeding, irrespective of baseline INR.
Abstract: Context The expression and release of tissue factor is a major trigger for the activation of coagulation in patients with sepsis. Tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) forms a complex with tissue factor and blood protease factors leading to inhibition of thrombin generation and fibrin formation. Objectives To determine if administration of tifacogin (recombinant TFPI) provides mortality benefit in patients with severe sepsis and elevated international normalized ratio (INR) and to assess tifacogin safety in severe sepsis, including patients with low INR. Design and Setting A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter, phase 3 clinical trial conducted from March 21, 2000, through September 27, 2001, in 245 hospitals in 17 countries in North America, Europe, and Israel. Patients The primary efficacy population consisted of 1754 patients (≥18 years) with severe sepsis and a high INR (≥1.2) randomly assigned to intravenous infusion of either tifacogin (0.025 mg/kg per hour for 96 hours, n = 880) or placebo (arginine citrate buffer, n = 874), and 201 patients with a low INR ( Main Outcome Measure All-cause 28-day mortality. Results Overall mortality at 28 days in the tifacogin-treated group (n = 880) vs the placebo group (n = 874) for high INR was 34.2% vs 33.9%, respectively ( P = .88, Pearson χ 2 test; P = .75, logistic regression model). None of the protocol-specified secondary end points differed between the tifacogin vs placebo groups. An analysis on the first 722 patients demonstrated a mortality rate of 38.9% for placebo vs 29.1% for tifacogin ( P = .006, Pearson χ 2 test). Tifacogin significantly attenuated prothrombin fragment 1.2 and thrombin:antithrombin complex levels ( P t test) in patients with high and low INR. Overall mortality was lower in the tifacogin response in patients with low INR (12%; n = 83) vs placebo (22.9%; n = 118) ( P =.051, Pearson χ 2 test; P = .03, logistic regression model). There was an increase in serious adverse events with bleeding in the tifacogin group in both cohorts (6.5% tifacogin and 4.8% placebo for high INR; 6.0% tifacogin and 3.3% placebo for low INR). Conclusions Treatment with tifacogin had no effect on all-cause mortality in patients with severe sepsis and high INR. Tifacogin administration was associated with an increase in risk of bleeding, irrespective of baseline INR.

916 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The cellular signaling pathways identified as important regulators of inflammation are the signal transduction cascades mediated by the nuclear factor-kappaB and the activator protein-1, which can both be modulated by glucocorticoids.
Abstract: The inflammatory response is a highly regulated physiological process that is critically important for homeostasis. A precise physiological control of inflammation allows a timely reaction to invading pathogens or to other insults without causing overreaction liable to damage the host. The cellular signaling pathways identified as important regulators of inflammation are the signal transduction cascades mediated by the nuclear factor-kappaB and the activator protein-1, which can both be modulated by glucocorticoids. Their use in the clinic includes treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, allograft rejection, and allergic skin diseases. Although glucocorticoids have been widely used since the late 1940s, the molecular mechanisms responsible for their antiinflammatory activity are still under investigation. The various molecular pathways proposed so far are discussed in more detail.

884 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The phylogeny and synteny data suggest that the common ancestor of zebrafish and pufferfish, a fish that gave rise to approximately 22000 species, experienced a large-scale gene or complete genome duplication event and that the puffer fish has lost many duplicates that the zebra fish has retained.
Abstract: Through phylogeny reconstruction we identified 49 genes with a single copy in man, mouse, and chicken, one or two copies in the tetraploid frog Xenopus laevis, and two copies in zebrafish (Danio rerio). For 22 of these genes, both zebrafish duplicates had orthologs in the pufferfish (Takifugu rubripes). For another 20 of these genes, we found only one pufferfish ortholog but in each case it was more closely related to one of the zebrafish duplicates than to the other. Forty-three pairs of duplicated genes map to 24 of the 25 zebrafish linkage groups but they are not randomly distributed; we identified 10 duplicated regions of the zebrafish genome that each contain between two and five sets of paralogous genes. These phylogeny and synteny data suggest that the common ancestor of zebrafish and pufferfish, a fish that gave rise to approximately 22000 species, experienced a large-scale gene or complete genome duplication event and that the pufferfish has lost many duplicates that the zebrafish has retained.

859 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An overview of the taxonomic and ecological diversity of the Burkholderia genus with particular emphasis on strains belonging to the Burk holderia cepacia complex is given and the important question whether 'good' and 'bad' strains are actually the same is addressed.
Abstract: Summary Members of the genus Burkholderia are versatile organisms that occupy a surprisingly wide range of ecological niches. These bacteria are exploited for biocontrol, bioremediation and plant growth promotion purposes, but safety issues regarding human infections, especially in cystic fibrosis patients, have not been solved. This minireview gives an overview of the taxonomic and ecological diversity of the genus with particular emphasis on strains belonging to the Burkholderia cepacia complex and addresses the important question whether ‘good’ and ‘bad’ strains are actually the same. The genus Burkholderia contains over 30 species, which occupy remarkably diverse ecological niches, ranging from contaminated soils to the respiratory tract of humans. The Burkholderia cepacia complex is ubiquitous in nature and can be found in soil, water (including sea water), the rhizosphere of plants, in humans and various animal species and in the hospital environment. Burkholderia cepacia complex isolates have been exploited for various purposes, including biological control of plant pathogens, bioremediation of recalcitrant xenobiotics and plant growth promotion. Unfortunately, some Burkholderia species have been involved in human infections, and safety issues regarding these human infections are hampering the wide-spread biotechnological applications. The purpose of this minireview is to give an overview of the remarkable diversity of the genus Burkholderia and to shed some light on the important question whether or not clinical and environmental B. cepacia complex isolates are the same. A phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, showing the positions of all of the Burkholderia species and representatives of related genera, is shown in Fig. 1.

811 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This research indicates that microbial electricity generation offers perspectives for optimization in relation to glucose dosage and five fold higher power output than reported thus far.
Abstract: A microbial fuel cell containing a mixed bacterial culture utilizing glucose as carbon source was enriched to investigate power output in relation to glucose dosage. Electron recovery in terms of electricity up to 89% occurred for glucose feeding rates in the range 0.5–3 g l−1 d−1, at powers up to 3.6 W m−2 of electrode surface, a five fold higher power output than reported thus far. This research indicates that microbial electricity generation offers perspectives for optimization.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is shown that the mitogen‐activated protein kinase inhibitors SB203580 and PD98059 or U0126, as well as a potentMitogen‐ and stress‐ activatedprotein kinase‐1 (MSK1) inhibitor H89, counteract tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐mediated stimulation of p65 transactivation capacity.
Abstract: Nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) is one of the key regulators of transcription of a variety of genes involved in immune and inflammatory responses. NF-κB activity has long been thought to be regulated mainly by IκB family members, which keep the transcription factor complex in an inactive form in the cytoplasm by masking the nuclear localization signal. Nowadays, the importance of additional mechanisms controlling the nuclear transcription potential of NF-κB is generally accepted. We show that the mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitors SB203580 and PD98059 or U0126, as well as a potent mitogen- and stress- activated protein kinase-1 (MSK1) inhibitor H89, counteract tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-mediated stimulation of p65 transactivation capacity. Muta tional analysis of p65 revealed Ser276 as a target for phosphorylation and transactivation in response to TNF. Moreover, we identified MSK1 as a nuclear kinase for p65, since MSK1 associates with p65 in a stimulus-dependent way and phosphorylates p65 at Ser276. This effect represents, together with phosphorylation of nucleosome components such as histone H3, an essential step leading to selective transcriptional activation of NF-κB-dependent gene expression.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a new marketing-based angle was added to the study of the attractiveness of organizations in the early stages of the recruitment process, drawing on the instrumental-symbolic framework from the marketing literature, and the meanings (in terms of inferred traits) that prospective applicants associate with employing organizations would play an important role in applicants' attractiveness to these organizations.
Abstract: This study adds a new marketing-based angle to the study of the attractiveness of organizations in the early stages of the recruitment process. Drawing on the instrumental-symbolic framework from the marketing literature, we expected that the meanings (in terms of inferred traits) that prospective applicants associate with employing organizations would play an important role in applicants' attractiveness to these organizations. Two groups of prospective applicants (275 final-year students and 124 bank employees) were drawn from the applicant population targeted by the bank industry. These applicants were asked to rate a randomly assigned bank in terms of job/organizational factors and to ascribe traits to this bank. In both samples, trait inferences about organizations accounted for incremental variance over job and organizational attributes in predicting an organization's perceived attractiveness as an employer. Moreover, it was easier to differentiate among organizations on the basis of trait inferences versus traditional job and organizational attributes. Practical implications for image audit and image management are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The findings indicate that the minimal IN molecule in human cells is a homotetramer, suggesting that at least an octamer of IN is required to accomplish coordinated integration of both retroviral long terminal repeats and that LEDGF is a cellular factor involved in this process.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The relationships between intuitionistic fuzzy sets are established and interval-valued fuzzy sets, an extension of fuzzy set theory, are established.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Together, these data describe the full complement of monolignol biosynthesis genes in Arabidopsis, provide a unified nomenclature, and serve as a basis for further functional studies.
Abstract: Lignin, one of the most abundant terrestrial biopolymers, is indispensable for plant structure and defense. With the availability of the full genome sequence, large collections of insertion mutants, and functional genomics tools, Arabidopsis constitutes an excellent model system to profoundly unravel the monolignol biosynthetic pathway. In a genome-wide bioinformatics survey of the Arabidopsis genome, 34 candidate genes were annotated that encode genes homologous to the 10 presently known enzymes of the monolignol biosynthesis pathway, nine of which have not been described before. By combining evolutionary analysis of these 10 gene families with in silico promoter analysis and expression data (from a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis on an extensive tissue panel, mining of expressed sequence tags from publicly available resources, and assembling expression data from literature), 12 genes could be pinpointed as the most likely candidates for a role in vascular lignification. Furthermore, a possible novel link was detected between the presence of the AC regulatory promoter element and the biosynthesis of G lignin during vascular development. Together, these data describe the full complement of monolignol biosynthesis genes in Arabidopsis, provide a unified nomenclature, and serve as a basis for further functional studies.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Key components of the cell cycle and signal-transduction pathway(s) that promote and attenuate auxin-dependent LR initiation have recently been identified and additional signals also regulate LR emergence, raising intriguing questions about the cross-talk between their transduction pathways.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Since no susceptibility breakpoints are available for most of the antibiotics discussed, an alternative approach to the interpretation of MICs is presented and some pharmacokinetic data and information on the influence of these products on the intestinal flora are presented.
Abstract: There are not many data available on antibiotics used solely in animals and almost exclusively for growth promotion. These products include bambermycin, avilamycin, efrotomycin, and the ionophore antibiotics (monensin, salinomycin, narasin, and lasalocid). Information is also scarce for bacitracin used only marginally in human and veterinary medicine and for streptogramin antibiotics. The mechanisms of action of and resistance mechanisms against these antibiotics are described. Special emphasis is given to the prevalence of resistance among gram-positive bacteria isolated from animals and humans. Since no susceptibility breakpoints are available for most of the antibiotics discussed, an alternative approach to the interpretation of MICs is presented. Also, some pharmacokinetic data and information on the influence of these products on the intestinal flora are presented.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify three components of organizational attraction: attractiveness, prestige, and behavioral intentions, and model their effects on organizational pursuit using Fishbein and Ajzen's theory of reasoned action.
Abstract: Organizational attractionmeasures are commonly used as surrogate assessments of organizational pursuit. Despite the range in content often encompassed by such instruments, no research has systematically examined the assumptions underlying their use. The authors address this issue by empirically distinguishing items assessing attractiveness, prestige, and behavioral intentions and by modeling their effects on organization pursuit. Undergraduates (N= 305) were randomly assigned to recruitment literature from one of five wellknown companies and were asked to respond to a series of items commonly used in past research. Analyses of the itemresponses suggested that three components of organizational attraction can be reliably distinguished and that their relation to organization-pursuit behavior corresponds to Fishbein and Ajzen’s theory of reasoned action.

Journal Article
TL;DR: Squamous cell carcinoma lines engineered to express constitutively active Akt underwent EMT, characterized by down-regulation of the epithelial markers desmoplakin, E-cadherin, and beta-catenin and up- regulation of the mesenchymal marker vimentin.
Abstract: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an important process during development and oncogenesis by which epithelial cells acquire fibroblast-like properties and show reduced intercellular adhesion and increased motility. Squamous cell carcinoma lines engineered to express constitutively active Akt underwent EMT, characterized by down-regulation of the epithelial markers desmoplakin, E-cadherin, and β-catenin and up-regulation of the mesenchymal marker vimentin. The cells lost epithelial cell morphology and acquired fibroblast-like properties. Additionally, E-cadherin was down-regulated transcriptionally. The cells expressing constitutively active Akt exhibited reduced cell-cell adhesion, increased motility on fibronectin-coated surfaces, and increased invasiveness in animals. AKT is activated in many human carcinomas, and the AKT-driven EMT may confer the motility required for tissue invasion and metastasis. These findings suggest that future therapies based on AKT inhibition may complement conventional treatments by controlling tumor cell invasion and metastasis.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A diagonal method to isolate N-terminal peptides from in vivo blocked proteins based on diagonal electrophoresis and diagonal chromatography is described.
Abstract: Current non-gel techniques for analyzing proteomes rely heavily on mass spectrometric analysis of enzymatically digested protein mixtures. Prior to analysis, a highly complex peptide mixture is either separated on a multidimensional chromatographic system or it is first reduced in complexity by isolating sets of representative peptides. Recently, we developed a peptide isolation procedure based on diagonal electrophoresis and diagonal chromatography. We call it combined fractional diagonal chromatography (COFRADIC). In previous experiments, we used COFRADIC to identify more than 800 Escherichia coli proteins by tandem mass spectrometric (MS/MS) analysis of isolated methionine-containing peptides. Here, we describe a diagonal method to isolate N-terminal peptides. This reduces the complexity of the peptide sample, because each protein has one N terminus and is thus represented by only one peptide. In this new procedure, free amino groups in proteins are first blocked by acetylation and then digested with trypsin. After reverse-phase (RP) chromatographic fractionation of the generated peptide mixture, internal peptides are blocked using 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS); they display a strong hydrophobic shift and therefore segregate from the unaltered N-terminal peptides during a second identical separation step. N-terminal peptides can thereby be specifically collected for further liquid chromatography (LC)-MS/MS analysis. Omitting the acetylation step results in the isolation of non-lysine-containing N-terminal peptides from in vivo blocked proteins.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This research presents a novel and scalable approach to understanding and treating atherothrombotic disease through a probabilistic approach called “informed consent” that combines natural selection, informed consent, and data collection and analysis.
Abstract: Jill J. F. Belch, MD; Eric J. Topol, MD; Giancarlo Agnelli, MD; Michel Bertrand, MD; Robert M. Califf, MD; Denis L. Clement, MD; Mark A. Creager, MD; J. Donald Easton, MD; James R. Gavin III, MD, PhD; Philip Greenland, MD; Graeme Hankey, MD; Peter Hanrath, MD; Alan T. Hirsch, MD; Jurgen Meyer, MD; Sidney C. Smith, MD; Frank Sullivan, PhD; Michael A. Weber, MD; for the Prevention of Atherothrombotic Disease Network

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results indicated that both ionization types showed matrix effect, but ESI was more susceptible than APCI, while SPE was necessary for extensive clean up of plasma prior to LC-APCI-MS/MS.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Toll-like receptors are a recently discovered family of pattern recognition receptors which show homology with the Drosophila Toll protein and the human interleukin-1 receptor family, and evidence for some endogenous ligands that might signal other danger conditions has been obtained.
Abstract: The innate immune system relies on a vast array of non-clonally expressed pattern recognition receptors for the detection of pathogens. Pattern recognition receptors bind conserved molecular structures shared by large groups of pathogens, termed pathogen-associated molecular patterns. The Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a recently discovered family of pattern recognition receptors which show homology with the Drosophila Toll protein and the human interleukin-1 receptor family. Engagement of different TLRs can induce overlapping yet distinct patterns of gene expression that contribute to an inflammatory response. The TLR family is characterized by the presence of leucine-rich repeats and a Toll/interleukin-1 receptor-like domain, which mediate ligand binding and interaction with intracellular signaling proteins, respectively. Most TLR ligands identified so far are conserved microbial products which signal the presence of an infection, but evidence for some endogenous ligands that might signal other danger conditions has also been obtained. Molecular mechanisms for pathogen-associated molecular pattern recognition still remain elusive but seem to be more complicated than initially anticipated. In most cases, direct binding of microbial ligands to TLRs still has to be demonstrated. Moreover, Drosophila TLRs bind endogenous ligands, generated through a proteolytic cascade in response to an infection. In the case of endotoxin, recognition involves a complex of TLR4 and a number of other proteins. Moreover, TLR heterodimerization further extends the spectrum of ligands and modulates the response towards specific ligands. The fact that TLR expression is regulated in both a cell type- and stimulus-dependent fashion further contributes to the complexity.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review is a compilation of some major findings over the last 15 years concerning mainly host factors that modulate and influence neutrophil function and the mammary inflammatory reaction.
Abstract: Intramammary infections of dairy cows with Gram-positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus (major cause of mastitis) have received a lot of attention because of their major economic impact on the dairy farm through production losses induced by an increase in somatic cell count. Management strategies, including greater awareness for efficient milking and hygienic measures, have limited the spread of Gram-positive bacteria and resulted in a significant decrease of proportion of S. aureus isolates and subclinical mastitis worldwide. Other organisms such as coliform subspecies and Streptococcus uberis, both environmental bacteria that cause clinical mastitis, have received less attention. Escherichia coli causes inflammation of the mammary gland in dairy cows around parturition and during early lactation with striking local and sometimes severe systemic clinical symptoms. This disease affects many high producing cows in dairy herds and may cause several cases of death per year in the most severe cases. It is well known that bacterial, cow and environmental factors are interdependent and influence mastitis susceptibility. Many studies, executed during the last decade, indicate that the severity of E. coli mastitis is mainly determined by cow factors rather than by E. coli pathogenicity. During E. coli mastitis, the host defense status is a cardinal factor determining the outcome of the disease. Today, we know that the neutrophil is a key factor in the cows' defense against intramammary infection with E. coli. Effective elimination of the pathogen by neutrophils is important for the resolution of infection and the outcome of E. coli mastitis. This review is a compilation of some major findings over the last 15 years concerning mainly host factors that modulate and influence neutrophil function and the mammary inflammatory reaction. The individual chapters address: virulence factors of E. coli strains, how neutrophils kill E. coli, connection between endotoxins, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and nitric oxide, severity classification of E. coli mastitis, lifespan of neutrophils, host factors that influence severity, tissue damage and production loss.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Aug 2003-Pain
TL;DR: The Pain Catastrophizing Scale for Children was adapted for use in children, and its construct and predictive validity was investigated in two studies, revealing that catastrophizing about pain had a unique contribution in predicting pain intensity beyond gender and age.
Abstract: Catastrophizing about pain has emerged as a critical variable in how we understand adjustment to pain in both adults and children. In children, however, current methods of measuring catastrophizing about pain rely on brief subscales of larger coping inventories. Therefore, we adapted the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (Sullivan et al., 1995) for use in children, and investigated its construct and predictive validity in two studies. Study 1 revealed that in a community sample (400 boys, 414 girls; age range between 8 years 9 months and 16 years 5 months) the Pain Catastrophizing Scale for Children (PCS-C) assesses the independent but strongly related dimensions of rumination, magnification and helplessness that are subsumed under the higher-order construct of pain catastrophizing. This three factor structure is invariant across age groups and gender. Study 2 revealed in a clinical sample of children with chronic or recurrent pain (23 girls, 20 boys; age range between 8 years 3 months and 16 years 6 months) that catastrophizing about pain had a unique contribution in predicting pain intensity beyond gender and age, and in predicting disability, beyond gender, age and pain intensity. The function of pain catastrophizing is discussed in terms of the facilitation of escape from pain, and of the communication of distress to significant others.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A robust wavelet domain method for noise filtering in medical images that adapts itself to various types of image noise as well as to the preference of the medical expert; a single parameter can be used to balance the preservation of (expert-dependent) relevant details against the degree of noise reduction.
Abstract: We propose a robust wavelet domain method for noise filtering in medical images. The proposed method adapts itself to various types of image noise as well as to the preference of the medical expert; a single parameter can be used to balance the preservation of (expert-dependent) relevant details against the degree of noise reduction. The algorithm exploits generally valid knowledge about the correlation of significant image features across the resolution scales to perform a preliminary coefficient classification. This preliminary coefficient classification is used to empirically estimate the statistical distributions of the coefficients that represent useful image features on the one hand and mainly noise on the other. The adaptation to the spatial context in the image is achieved by using a wavelet domain indicator of the local spatial activity. The proposed method is of low complexity, both in its implementation and execution time. The results demonstrate its usefulness for noise suppression in medical ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging. In these applications, the proposed method clearly outperforms single-resolution spatially adaptive algorithms, in terms of quantitative performance measures as well as in terms of visual quality of the images.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Although earlier observations suggested that IRAKs have redundant functions, this hypothesis is now challenged by knockout studies and recent data imply a role for IRAK-1 in tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) superfamily-induced signaling pathways as well.

Posted Content
Lieven Baele1
TL;DR: In this article, the authors quantified the magnitude and time-varying nature of volatility spillovers from the aggregate European (EU) and US market to 13 local European equity markets.
Abstract: This paper quantifies the magnitude and time-varying nature of volatility spillovers from the aggregate European (EU) and US market to 13 local European equity markets. I develop a shock spillover model that decomposes local unexpected returns into a country specific shock, a regional European shock, and a global shock from the US. The innovation of the model is that regime switches in the shock spillover parameters are accounted for. I find that these regime switches are both statistically and economically important. While both the EU and US shock spillover intensity has increased over the 1980s and 1990s, the rise is more pronounced for EU spillovers. For most countries, the largest increases in shock spillover intensity are situated in the second half of 1980s and the first half of the 1990s. Increased trade integration, equity market development, and low inflation are shown to have contributed to the increase in EU shock spillover intensity. Finally, I find some evidence for contagion from the US market to a number of local European equity markets during periods of high world market volatility.

Journal ArticleDOI
Jan De Houwer1
TL;DR: A modified version of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) is described in this paper, which is based on a comparison of perfor- mance on trials within a single task.
Abstract: A modified version of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) is described that is based on a comparison of perfor- mance on trials within a single task rather than on a comparison of performance on different tasks. In two experiments, participants saw white words that needed to be classified on the basis of stimulus valence and colored words that were to be classified on the basis of color. On trials where the colored word referred to a positive target concept (e.g., "flowers," "self "), performance was superior when the correct response was the response that was also assigned to positive white words. The reverse was true on trials where the colored word represented a negative target concept (e.g., "insect"). This variant of the IAT is less susceptible to nonassociative effects of task recoding and can be used to assess single and multiple attitudes.