The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ) and Asthma Control Test (ACT) in patients with poor asthma control. Children between 7-17 years of age with diagnosis of persistent asthma who are not on daily inhaler corticosteroid therapy were involved. At enrollment, sociodemographic and asthmatic characteristics were investi...

The phase field theory (PFT) has been applied to predict equilibrium interfacial properties and nucleation barrier in the binary eutectic system Ag-Cu using double well and interpolation functions deduced from a Ginzburg-Landau expansion that considers fcc (face centered cubic) crystal symmetries. The temperature and composition dependent free energies of the liquid and solid phases are taken f...

Chagas disease and leishmaniasis are tropical diseases caused by the protozoan parasites, Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania species, respectively. Protein farnesyltransferase (PFT) is being investigated as a target for anti-trypanosomatid agents because inhibitors of this enzyme are highly toxic to these parasites compared to mammalian cells. Here, we report the cloning of the alpha- and beta-su...

Xylella fastidiosa, the causal agent of almond leaf scorch disease (ALSD), is currently re-emerging as a serious concern in California. Efficient pathogen detection is critical for ALSD epidemiological studies, particularly when a large sample size is involved. We here report a PCR procedure to detect X. fastidiosa directly from infected almond tissue without the laborious DNA extraction. Plant...

All pulmonologists, including those recently completing training, should be competent in critically evaluating and interpreting pulmonary function tests (PFTs). In addition, some authorities recommend that respiratory therapists learn to provide preliminary PFT interpretations for the medical directors of PFT labs. The 2005 American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society guidelines for ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We aimed to investigate the safety and efficacy of the Push and Fluff technique (PFT) as compared with the standard unsheathing technique for closed-cell stent retrievers in acute ischemic stroke. METHODS Acute ischemic stroke thrombectomy database was analyzed (September 2010 to January 2015) with the Trevo Retriever as a primary strategy. The PFT was compared with our...

BACKGROUND The increase in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) effected by a bronchodilator is routinely assessed when patients undertake pulmonary function testing (PFT). Several drug classes can theoretically affect the magnitude of the increase in FEV1. Withholding periods are advised for many but not all such drugs. Anecdotally, many subjects presenting for PFT are found to have t...

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), a debilitating major side effect of cancer treatment, is characterized by pain and sensory loss in hand and feet. Platinum-based chemotherapeutics like cisplatin frequently induce CIPN. The molecular mechanism underlying these neurotoxic symptoms is incompletely understood and there are no preventive or curative interventions. We hypothesized t...

Puff field theories (PFT) arise as the decoupling limits of D3 branes in a Melvin universe and exhibit spatially non-local dynamics. Unlike other realizations of nonlocality in string theory, PFTs have full SO(3) rotational symmetry. In this work, we analyze the strongly coupled regime of a PFT through gravitational holography. We find a novel mechanism at the heart of the phenomenon of non-loc...

Platelet function testing (PFT), usually performed by techniques such as light transmission aggregometry (LTA), has traditionally been used to diagnose inherited qualitative and quantitative defects in platelet function, such as von Willebrand disease or Glanzmann thrombasthenia. With the increased use of antiplatelet agents to prevent arterial thrombosis and the interest in identifying patient...