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14 results on '"Sara Downs"'

1. Prediction for 2-Year Vision Outcomes Using Early Morphologic and Functional Responses in the Comparison of Age-related Macular Degeneration Treatments Trials

Author

Katie Xue, Peiying Hua, Maureen G. Maguire, Ebenezer Daniel, Glenn J. Jaffe, Juan E. Grunwald, Gui-shuang Ying, David F. Williams, Sara Beardsley, Steven Bennett, Herbert Cantrill, Carmen Chan-Tram, Holly Cheshier, Kathyrn Damato, John Davies, Sundeep Dev, Julianne Enloe, Gennaro Follano, Peggy Gilbert, Jill Johnson, Tori Jones, Lisa Mayleben, Robert Mittra, Martha Moos, Ryan Neist, Neal Oestreich, Polly Quiram, Robert Ramsay, Edwin Ryan, Stephanie Schindeldecker, John Snater, Trenise Steele, Dwight Selders, Jessica Tonsfeldt, Shelly Valardi, Gary Edd Fish, Hank A. Aguado, Sally Arceneaux, Jean Arnwine, Kim Bell, Tina Bell, Bob Boleman, Patricia Bradley, David Callanan, Lori Coors, Jodi Creighton, Timothy Crew, Kimberly Cummings, Christopher Dock, Karen Duignan, Dwain Fuller, Keith Gray, Betsy Hendrix, Nicholas Hesse, Diana Jaramillo, Bradley Jost, Sandy Lash, Laura Lonsdale, Michael Mackens, Karin Mutz, Michael Potts, Brenda Sanchez, William Snyder, Wayne Solley, Carrie Tarter, Robert Wang, Patrick Williams, Stephen L. Perkins, Nicholas Anderson, Ann Arnold, Paul Blais, Joseph Googe, Tina T. Higdon, Cecile Hunt, Mary Johnson, James Miller, Misty Moore, Charity K. Morris, Christopher Morris, Sarah Oelrich, Kristina Oliver, Vicky Seitz, Jerry Whetstone, Bernard H. Doft, Jay Bedel, Robert Bergren, Ann Borthwick, Paul Conrad, Amanda Fec, Christina Fulwylie, Willia Ingram, Shawnique Latham, Gina Lester, Judy Liu, Louis Lobes, Nicole M. Lucko, Holly Mechling, Lori Merlotti, Keith McBroom, Karl Olsen, Danielle Puskas, Pamela Rath, Maria Schmucker, Lynn Schueckler, Christina Schultz, Heather Shultz, David Steinberg, Avni Vyas, Kim Whale, Kimberly Yeckel, David H. Orth, Linda S. Arredondo, Susan Brown, Barbara J. Ciscato, Joseph M. Civantos, Celeste Figliulo, Sohail Hasan, Belinda Kosinski, Dan Muir, Kiersten Nelson, Kirk Packo, John S. Pollack, Kourous Rezaei, Gina Shelton, Shannya Townsend-Patrick, Marian Walsh, H. Richard McDonald, Nina Ansari, Amanda Bye, Arthur D. Fu, Sean Grout, Chad Indermill, Robert N. Johnson, J. Michael Jumper, Silvia Linares, Brandon J. Lujan, Ames Munden, Meredith Persons, Rosa Rodriguez, Jennifer M. Rose, Brandi Teske, Yesmin Urias, Stephen Young, Richard F. Dreyer, Howard Daniel, Michele Connaughton, Irvin Handelman, Stephen Hobbs, Christine Hoerner, Dawn Hudson, Marcia Kopfer, Michael Lee, Craig Lemley, Joe Logan, Colin Ma, Christophe Mallet, Amanda Milliron, Mark Peters, Harry Wohlsein, Joel A. Pearlman, Margo Andrews, Melissa Bartlett, Nanette Carlson, Emily Cox, Robert Equi, Marta Gonzalez, Sophia Griffin, Fran Hogue, Lance Kennedy, Lana Kryuchkov, Carmen Lopez, Danny Lopez, Bertha Luevano, Erin McKenna, Arun Patel, Brian Reed, Nyla Secor, Iris R. Sison, Tony Tsai, Nina Varghis, Brooke Waller, Robert Wendel, Reina Yebra, Daniel B. Roth, Jane Deinzer, Howard Fine, Flory Green, Stuart Green, Bruce Keyser, Steven Leff, Amy Leviton, Amy Martir, Kristin Mosenthine, Starr Muscle, Linda Okoren, Sandy Parker, Jonathan Prenner, Nancy Price, Deana Rogers, Linda Rosas, Alex Schlosser, Loretta Studenko, Thea Tantum, Harold Wheatley, Michael T. Trese, Thomas Aaberg, Denis Bezaire, Craig Bridges, Doug Bryant, Antonio Capone, Michelle Coleman, Christina Consolo, Cindy Cook, Candice DuLong, Bruce Garretson, Tracy Grooten, Julie Hammersley, Tarek Hassan, Heather Jessick, Nanette Jones, Crystal Kinsman, Jennifer Krumlauf, Sandy Lewis, Heather Locke, Alan Margherio, Debra Markus, Tanya Marsh, Serena Neal, Amy Noffke, Kean Oh, Clarence Pence, Lisa Preston, Paul Raphaelian, Virginia R. Regan, Peter Roberts, Alan Ruby, Ramin Sarrafizadeh, Marissa Scherf, Sarita Scott, Scott Sneed, Lisa Staples, Brad Terry, Matthew T. Trese, Joan Videtich, George Williams, Mary Zajechowski, Daniel P. Joseph, Kevin Blinder, Lynda Boyd, Sarah Buckley, Meaghan Crow, Amanda Dinatale, Nicholas Engelbrecht, Bridget Forke, Dana Gabel, Gilbert Grand, Jennifer Grillion-Cerone, Nancy Holekamp, Charlotte Kelly, Ginny Nobel, Kelly Pepple, Matt Raeber, P. Kumar Rao, Tammy Ressel, Steven Schremp, Merrilee Sgorlon, Shantia Shears, Matthew Thomas, Cathy Timma, Annette Vaughn, Carolyn Walters, Rhonda Weeks, Jarrod Wehmeier, Tim Wright, Daniel M. Berinstein, Aida Ayyad, Mohammed K. Barazi, Erica Bickhart, Tracey Brady, Lisa Byank, Alysia Cronise, Vanessa Denny, Courtney Dunn, Michael Flory, Robert Frantz, Richard A. Garfinkel, William Gilbert, Michael M. Lai, Alexander Melamud, Janine Newgen, Shamekia Newton, Debbie Oliver, Michael Osman, Reginald Sanders, Manfred von Fricken, Pravin Dugel, Sandra Arenas, Gabe Balea, Dayna Bartoli, John Bucci, Jennifer A. Cornelius, Scheleen Dickens, Don Doherty, Heather Dunlap, David Goldenberg, Karim Jamal, Norma Jimenez, Nicole Kavanagh, Derek Kunimoto, John Martin, Jessica Miner, Sarah Mobley, Donald Park, Edward Quinlan, Jack Sipperley, Carol Slagle, Danielle Smith, Miguelina Yafchak, Rohana Yager, Christina J. Flaxel, Steven Bailey, Peter Francis, Chris Howell, Thomas Hwang, Shirley Ira, Michael Klein, Andreas Lauer, Teresa Liesegang, Ann Lundquist, Sarah Nolte, Susan K. Nolte, Scott Pickell, Susan Pope, Joseph Rossi, Mitchell Schain, Peter Steinkamp, Maureen D. Toomey, Debora Vahrenwald, Kelly West, Baker Hubbard, Stacey Andelman, Chris Bergstrom, Judy Brower, Blaine Cribbs, Linda Curtis, Jannah Dobbs, Lindreth DuBois, Jessica Gaultney, Deborah Gibbs, Debora Jordan, Donna Leef, Daniel F. Martin, Robert Myles, Timothy Olsen, Bryan Schwent, Sunil Srivastava, Rhonda Waldron, Andrew N. Antoszyk, Uma Balasubramaniam, Danielle Brooks, Justin Brown, David Browning, Loraine Clark, Sarah Ennis, Susannah Held, Jennifer V. Helms, Jenna Herby, Angie Karow, Pearl Leotaud, Caterina Massimino, Donna McClain, Michael McOwen, Jennifer Mindel, Candace Pereira, Rachel Pierce, Michele Powers, Angela Price, Jason Rohrer, Jason Sanders, Robert L. Avery, Kelly Avery, Jessica Basefsky, Liz Beckner, Alessandro Castellarin, Stephen Couvillion, Jack Giust, Matthew Giust, Maan Nasir, Dante Pieramici, Melvin Rabena, Sarah Risard, Robert See, Jerry Smith, Lisha Wan, Sophie J. Bakri, Nakhleh Abu-Yaghi, Andrew Barkmeier, Karin Berg, Jean Burrington, Albert Edwards, Shannon Goddard, Shannon Howard, Raymond Iezzi, Denise Lewison, Thomas Link, Colin A. McCannel, Joan Overend, John Pach, Margaret Ruszczyk, Ryan Shultz, Cindy Stephan, Diane Vogen, Reagan H. Bradford, Vanessa Bergman, Russ Burris, Amanda Butt, Beth Daniels, Connie Dwiggins, Stephen Fransen, Tiffany Guerrero, Darin Haivala, Amy Harris, Sonny Icks, Ronald Kingsley, Lena Redden, Rob Richmond, Brittany Ross, Kammerin White, Misty Youngberg, Trexler M. Topping, Steve Bennett, Sandy Chong, Mary Ciotti, Tina Cleary, Emily Corey, Dennis Donovan, Albert Frederick, Lesley Freese, Margaret Graham, Natalya Gud, Taneika Howard, Mike Jones, Michael Morley, Katie Moses, Jen Stone, Robin Ty, Torsten Wiegand, Lindsey Williams, Beth Winder, Carl C. Awh, Michelle Amonette, Everton Arrindell, Dena Beck, Brandon Busbee, Amy Dilback, Sara Downs, Allison Guidry, Gary Gutow, Jackey Hardin, Sarah Hines, Emily Hutchins, Kim LaCivita, Ashley Lester, Larry Malott, MaryAnn McCain, Jayme Miracle, Kenneth Moffat, Lacy Palazzotta, Kelly Robinson, Peter Sonkin, Alecia Travis, Roy Trent Wallace, Kelly J. Winters, Julia Wray, April E. Harris, Mari Bunnell, Katrina Crooks, Rebecca Fitzgerald, Cameron Javid, Corin Kew, Erica Kill, Patricia Kline, Janet Kreienkamp, Maricruz Martinez, Roy Ann Moore, Egbert Saavedra, LuAnne Taylor, Mark Walsh, Larry Wilson, Thomas A. Ciulla, Ellen Coyle, Tonya Harrington, Charlotte Harris, Cindi Hood, Ingrid Kerr, Raj Maturi, Dawn Moore, Stephanie Morrow, Jennifer Savage, Bethany Sink, Tom Steele, Neelam Thukral, Janet Wilburn, Joseph P. Walker, Jennifer Banks, Debbie Ciampaglia, Danielle Dyshanowitz, Jennifer Frederick, A. Tom Ghuman, Richard Grodin, Cheryl Kiesel, Eileen Knips, Jonathan McCue, Maria Ortiz, Crystal Peters, Paul Raskauskas, Etienne Schoeman, Ashish Sharma, Glenn Wing, Rebecca Youngblood, Suresh R. Chandra, Michael Altaweel, Barbara Blodi, Kathryn Burke, Kristine A. Dietzman, Justin Gottlieb, Gene Knutson, Denise Krolnik, T. Michael Nork, Shelly Olson, John Peterson, Sandra Reed, Barbara Soderling, Guy Somers, Thomas Stevens, Angela Wealti, Srilaxmi Bearelly, Brenda Branchaud, Joyce W. Bryant, Sara Crowell, Sharon Fekrat, Merritt Gammage, Cheala Harrison, Sarah Jones, Noreen McClain, Brooks McCuen, Prithvi Mruthyunjaya, Jeanne Queen, Neeru Sarin, Cindy Skalak, Marriner Skelly, Ivan Suner, Ronnie Tomany, Lauren Welch, Susanna S. Park, Allison Cassidy, Karishma Chandra, Idalew Good, Katrina Imson, null Sashi, null Kaur, Helen Metzler, Lawrence Morse, Ellen Redenbo, Marisa Salvador, David Telander, Mark Thomas, Cindy Wallace, Charles C. Barr, Amanda Battcher, Michelle Bottorff, Mary Chasteen, Kelly Clark, Diane Denning, Debra Schoen, Amy Schultz, Evie Tempel, Lisa Wheeler, Greg K. Whittington, Thomas W. Stone, Todd Blevins, Michelle Buck, Lynn Cruz, Wanda Heath, Diana Holcomb, Rick Isernhagen, Terri Kidd, John Kitchens, Cathy Sears, Ed Slade, Jeanne Van Arsdall, Brenda VanHoose, Jenny Wolfe, William Wood, John Zilis, Carol Crooks, Larry Disney, Mimi Liu, Stephen Petty, Sandra Sall, James C. Folk, Tracy Aly, Abby Brotherton, Douglas Critser, Connie J. Hinz, Stefani Karakas, Valerie Kirschner, Cheyanne Lester, Cindy Montague, Stephen Russell, Heather Stockman, Barbara Taylor, Randy Verdick, Jean Walshire, John T. Thompson, Barbara Connell, Maryanth Constantine, John L. Davis, null Gwen Holsapple, Lisa Hunter, C. Nicki Lenane, Robin Mitchell, Leslie Russel, Raymond Sjaarda, David M. Brown, Matthew Benz, Llewellyn Burns, JoLene G. Carranza, Richard Fish, Debra Goates, Shayla Hay, Theresa Jeffers, Eric Kegley, Dallas Kubecka, Stacy McGilvra, Beau Richter, Veronica Sneed, Cary Stoever, Isabell Tellez, Tien Wong, Ivana Kim, Christopher Andreoli, Leslie Barresi, Sarah Brett, Charlene Callahan, Karen Capaccioli, William Carli, Matthew Coppola, Nicholas Emmanuel, Claudia Evans, Anna Fagan, Marcia Grillo, John Head, Troy Kieser, Elaine Lee, Ursula Lord, Edward Miretsky, Kate Palitsch, Todd Petrin, Liz Reader, Svetlana Reznichenko, Mary Robertson, Justin Smith, Demetrios Vavvas, John Wells, Cassie Cahill, W. Lloyd Clark, Kayla Henry, David Johnson, Peggy Miller, LaDetrick Oliver, Robbin Spivey, Tiffany Swinford, Mallie Taylor, Michael Lambert, Kris Chase, Debbie Fredrickson, Joseph Khawly, Valerie Lazarte, Donald Lowd, Pam Miller, Arthur Willis, Philip J. Ferrone, Miguel Almonte, Rachel Arnott, Ingrid Aviles, Sheri Carbon, Michael Chitjian, Kristen DAmore, Christin Elliott, David Fastenberg, Barry Golub, Kenneth Graham, AnnMarie Lavorna, Laura Murphy, Amanda Palomo, Christina Puglisi, David Rhee, Juan Romero, Brett Rosenblatt, Glenda Salcedo, Marianne Schlameuss, Eric Shakin, Vasanti Sookhai, Richard Kaiser, Elizabeth Affel, Gary Brown, Christina Centinaro, Deborah Fine, Mitchell Fineman, Michele Formoso, Sunir Garg, Lisa Grande, Carolyn Herbert, Allen Ho, Jason Hsu, Maryann Jay, Lisa Lavetsky, Elaine Liebenbaum, Joseph Maguire, Julia Monsonego, Lucia O’Connor, Lisa Pierce, Carl Regillo, Maria Rosario, Marc Spirn, James Vander, Jennifer Walsh, Frederick H. Davidorf, Amanda Barnett, Susie Chang, John Christoforidis, Joy Elliott, Heather Justice, Alan Letson, Kathryne McKinney, Jeri Perry, Jill A. Salerno, Scott Savage, Stephen Shelley, Lawrence J. Singerman, Joseph Coney, John DuBois, Kimberly DuBois, Gregg Greanoff, Dianne Himmelman, Mary Ilc, Elizabeth McNamara, Michael Novak, Scott Pendergast, Susan Rath, Sheila Smith-Brewer, Vivian Tanner, Diane E. Weiss, Hernando Zegarra, Lawrence Halperin, Patricia Aramayo, Mandeep Dhalla, Brian Fernandez, Cindy Fernandez, Jaclyn Lopez, Monica Lopez, Jamie Mariano, Kellie Murphy, Clifford Sherley, Rita Veksler, Firas Rahhal, Razmig Babikian, David Boyer, Sepideh Hami, Jeff Kessinger, Janet Kurokouchi, Saba Mukarram, Sarah Pachman, Eric Protacio, Julio Sierra, Homayoun Tabandeh, Adam Zamboni, Michael Elman, Jennifer Belz, Tammy Butcher, Theresa Cain, Teresa Coffey, Dena Firestone, Nancy Gore, Pamela Singletary, Peter Sotirakos, JoAnn Starr, Travis A. Meredith, Cassandra J. Barnhart, Debra Cantrell, RonaLyn Esquejo-Leon, Odette Houghton, Harpreet Kaur, Fatoumatta NDure, Ronald Glatzer, Leonard Joffe, and Reid Schindler

Subjects
Ophthalmology
Published
2023

2. Oral Portfolio in Spanish as a Third Language: Harnessing the Potential of Self- and Peer-Assessment

Author

Sara Downs and Pierre-Luc Paquet

Subjects
Linguistics and Language, Reflection (computer programming), education, Distance education, Second-language acquisition, Language and Linguistics, Education, Formative assessment, Peer assessment, Online course, Mathematics education, Portfolio, Production (economics), Psychology
Abstract

Even though research in second language acquisition has demonstrated the importance of oral production and interaction, there is a growing tendency toward distance learning. Therefore, in order to include oral practice and evaluation in an online course, a new pedagogical tool was designed, namely the oral portfolio. This article describes and analyzes an oral portfolio which included learner production and self- and peer-assessment. Combining these aspects provided data on both linguistic and metalinguistic abilities. The results revealed a relationship between oral competency and self- and peer-assessment abilities, suggesting a beneficial role of metalinguistic reflection in the development of oral communication skills. Moreover, this study explored how self- and peer-assessment could be better implemented in a language course. Based on the observations gathered throughout the study, we believe that learners need to be trained and to develop the formative assessment competency, in order to maximize the benefits, for assessment to be as sustainable as possible.

Published
2018

3. Subretinal Hyperreflective Material in the Comparison of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Treatments Trials

Author

Alex S. Willoughby, Gui-shuang Ying, Cynthia A. Toth, Maureen G. Maguire, Russell E. Burns, Juan E. Grunwald, Ebenezer Daniel, Glenn J. Jaffe, David F. Williams, Sara Beardsley, Steven Bennett, Herbert Cantrill, Carmen Chan-Tram, Holly Cheshier, Kathyrn Damato, John Davies, Sundeep Dev, Julianne Enloe, Gennaro Follano, Peggy Gilbert, Jill Johnson, Tori Jones, Lisa Mayleben, Robert Mittra, Martha Moos, Ryan Neist, Neal Oestreich, Polly Quiram, Robert Ramsay, Edwin Ryan, Stephanie Schindeldecker, John Snater, Trenise Steele, Dwight Selders, Jessica Tonsfeldt, Shelly Valardi, Gary Edd Fish, Hank A. Aguado, Sally Arceneaux, Jean Arnwine, Kim Bell, Tina Bell, Bob Boleman, Patricia Bradley, David Callanan, Lori Coors, Jodi Creighton, Timothy Crew, Kimberly Cummings, Christopher Dock, Karen Duignan, Dwain Fuller, Keith Gray, Betsy Hendrix, Nicholas Hesse, Diana Jaramillo, Bradley Jost, Sandy Lash, Laura Lonsdale, Michael Mackens, Karin Mutz, Michael Potts, Brenda Sanchez, William Snyder, Wayne Solley, Carrie Tarter, Robert Wang, Patrick Williams, Stephen L. Perkins, Nicholas Anderson, Ann Arnold, Paul Blais, Joseph Googe, Tina T. Higdon, Cecile Hunt, Mary Johnson, James Miller, Misty Moore, Charity K. Morris, Christopher Morris, Sarah Oelrich, Kristina Oliver, Vicky Seitz, Jerry Whetstone, Bernard H. Doft, Jay Bedel, Robert Bergren, Ann Borthwick, Paul Conrad, Amanda Fec, Christina Fulwylie, Willia Ingram, Shawnique Latham, Gina Lester, Judy Liu, Louis Lobes, Nicole M. Lucko, Holly Mechling, Lori Merlotti, Keith McBroom, Karl Olsen, Danielle Puskas, Pamela Rath, Maria Schmucker, Lynn Schueckler, Christina Schultz, Heather Shultz, David Steinberg, Avni Vyas, Kim Whale, Kimberly Yeckel, David H. Orth, Linda S. Arredondo, Susan Brown, Barbara J. Ciscato, Joseph M. Civantos, Celeste Figliulo, Sohail Hasan, Belinda Kosinski, Dan Muir, Kiersten Nelson, Kirk Packo, John S. Pollack, Kourous Rezaei, Gina Shelton, Shannya Townsend-Patrick, Marian Walsh, H. Richard McDonald, Nina Ansari, Amanda Bye, Arthur D. Fu, Sean Grout, Chad Indermill, Robert N. Johnson, J. Michael Jumper, Silvia Linares, Brandon J. Lujan, Ames Munden, Meredith Persons, Rosa Rodriguez, Jennifer M. Rose, Brandi Teske, Yesmin Urias, Stephen Young, Richard F. Dreyer, Howard Daniel, Michele Connaughton, Irvin Handelman, Stephen Hobbs, Christine Hoerner, Dawn Hudson, Marcia Kopfer, Michael Lee, Craig Lemley, Joe Logan, Colin Ma, Christophe Mallet, Amanda Milliron, Mark Peters, Harry Wohlsein, Joel A. Pearlman, Margo Andrews, Melissa Bartlett, Nanette Carlson, Emily Cox, Robert Equi, Marta Gonzalez, Sophia Griffin, Fran Hogue, Lance Kennedy, Lana Kryuchkov, Carmen Lopez, Danny Lopez, Bertha Luevano, Erin McKenna, Arun Patel, Brian Reed, Nyla Secor, Iris R. Sison, Tony Tsai, Nina Varghis, Brooke Waller, Robert Wendel, Reina Yebra, Daniel B. Roth, Jane Deinzer, Howard Fine, Flory Green, Stuart Green, Bruce Keyser, Steven Leff, Amy Leviton, Amy Martir, Kristin Mosenthine, Starr Muscle, Linda Okoren, Sandy Parker, Jonathan Prenner, Nancy Price, Deana Rogers, Linda Rosas, Alex Schlosser, Loretta Studenko, Thea Tantum, Harold Wheatley, Michael T. Trese, Thomas Aaberg, Denis Bezaire, Craig Bridges, Doug Bryant, Antonio Capone, Michelle Coleman, Christina Consolo, Cindy Cook, Candice DuLong, Bruce Garretson, Tracy Grooten, Julie Hammersley, Tarek Hassan, Heather Jessick, Nanette Jones, Crystal Kinsman, Jennifer Krumlauf, Sandy Lewis, Heather Locke, Alan Margherio, Debra Markus, Tanya Marsh, Serena Neal, Amy Noffke, Kean Oh, Clarence Pence, Lisa Preston, Paul Raphaelian, Virginia R. Regan, Peter Roberts, Alan Ruby, Ramin Sarrafizadeh, Marissa Scherf, Sarita Scott, Scott Sneed, Lisa Staples, Brad Terry, Matthew T. Trese, Joan Videtich, George Williams, Mary Zajechowski, Daniel P. Joseph, Kevin Blinder, Lynda Boyd, Sarah Buckley, Meaghan Crow, Amanda Dinatale, Nicholas Engelbrecht, Bridget Forke, Dana Gabel, Gilbert Grand, Jennifer Grillion-Cerone, Nancy Holekamp, Charlotte Kelly, Ginny Nobel, Kelly Pepple, Matt Raeber, P. Kumar Rao, Tammy Ressel, Steven Schremp, Merrilee Sgorlon, Shantia Shears, Matthew Thomas, Cathy Timma, Annette Vaughn, Carolyn Walters, Rhonda Weeks, Jarrod Wehmeier, Tim Wright, Daniel M. Berinstein, Aida Ayyad, Mohammed K. Barazi, Erica Bickhart, Tracey Brady, Lisa Byank, Alysia Cronise, Vanessa Denny, Courtney Dunn, Michael Flory, Robert Frantz, Richard A. Garfinkel, William Gilbert, Michael M. Lai, Alexander Melamud, Janine Newgen, Shamekia Newton, Debbie Oliver, Michael Osman, Reginald Sanders, Manfred von Fricken, Pravin Dugel, Sandra Arenas, Gabe Balea, Dayna Bartoli, John Bucci, Jennifer A. Cornelius, Scheleen Dickens, Don Doherty, Heather Dunlap, David Goldenberg, Karim Jamal, Norma Jimenez, Nicole Kavanagh, Derek Kunimoto, John Martin, Jessica Miner, Sarah Mobley, Donald Park, Edward Quinlan, Jack Sipperley, Carol Slagle, Danielle Smith, Miguelina Yafchak, Rohana Yager, Christina J. Flaxel, Steven Bailey, Peter Francis, Chris Howell, Thomas Hwang, Shirley Ira, Michael Klein, Andreas Lauer, Teresa Liesegang, Ann Lundquist, Sarah Nolte, Susan K. Nolte, Scott Pickell, Susan Pope, Joseph Rossi, Mitchell Schain, Peter Steinkamp, Maureen D. Toomey, Debora Vahrenwald, Kelly West, Baker Hubbard, Stacey Andelman, Chris Bergstrom, Judy Brower, Blaine Cribbs, Linda Curtis, Jannah Dobbs, Lindreth DuBois, Jessica Gaultney, Deborah Gibbs, Debora Jordan, Donna Leef, Daniel F. Martin, Robert Myles, Timothy Olsen, Bryan Schwent, Sunil Srivastava, Rhonda Waldron, Andrew N. Antoszyk, Uma Balasubramaniam, Danielle Brooks, Justin Brown, David Browning, Loraine Clark, Sarah Ennis, Susannah Held, Jennifer V. Helms, Jenna Herby, Angie Karow, Pearl Leotaud, Caterina Massimino, Donna McClain, Michael McOwen, Jennifer Mindel, Candace Pereira, Rachel Pierce, Michele Powers, Angela Price, Jason Rohrer, Jason Sanders, Robert L. Avery, Kelly Avery, Jessica Basefsky, Liz Beckner, Alessandro Castellarin, Stephen Couvillion, Jack Giust, Matthew Giust, Maan Nasir, Dante Pieramici, Melvin Rabena, Sarah Risard, Robert See, Jerry Smith, Lisha Wan, Sophie J. Bakri, Nakhleh Abu-Yaghi, Andrew Barkmeier, Karin Berg, Jean Burrington, Albert Edwards, Shannon Goddard, Shannon Howard, Raymond Iezzi, Denise Lewison, Thomas Link, Colin A. McCannel, Joan Overend, John Pach, Margaret Ruszczyk, Ryan Shultz, Cindy Stephan, Diane Vogen, Reagan H. Bradford, Vanessa Bergman, Russ Burris, Amanda Butt, Beth Daniels, Connie Dwiggins, Stephen Fransen, Tiffany Guerrero, Darin Haivala, Amy Harris, Sonny Icks, Ronald Kingsley, Lena Redden, Rob Richmond, Brittany Ross, Kammerin White, Misty Youngberg, Trexler M. Topping, Steve Bennett, Sandy Chong, Mary Ciotti, Tina Cleary, Emily Corey, Dennis Donovan, Albert Frederick, Lesley Freese, Margaret Graham, Natalya Gud, Taneika Howard, Mike Jones, Michael Morley, Katie Moses, Jen Stone, Robin Ty, Torsten Wiegand, Lindsey Williams, Beth Winder, Carl C. Awh, Michelle Amonette, Everton Arrindell, Dena Beck, Brandon Busbee, Amy Dilback, Sara Downs, Allison Guidry, Gary Gutow, Jackey Hardin, Sarah Hines, Emily Hutchins, Kim LaCivita, Ashley Lester, Larry Malott, MaryAnn McCain, Jayme Miracle, Kenneth Moffat, Lacy Palazzotta, Kelly Robinson, Peter Sonkin, Alecia Travis, Roy Trent Wallace, Kelly J. Winters, Julia Wray, April E. Harris, Mari Bunnell, Katrina Crooks, Rebecca Fitzgerald, Cameron Javid, Corin Kew, Erica Kill, Patricia Kline, Janet Kreienkamp, Maricruz Martinez, Roy Ann Moore, Egbert Saavedra, LuAnne Taylor, Mark Walsh, Larry Wilson, Thomas A. Ciulla, Ellen Coyle, Tonya Harrington, Charlotte Harris, Cindi Hood, Ingrid Kerr, Raj Maturi, Dawn Moore, Stephanie Morrow, Jennifer Savage, Bethany Sink, Tom Steele, Neelam Thukral, Janet Wilburn, Joseph P. Walker, Jennifer Banks, Debbie Ciampaglia, Danielle Dyshanowitz, Jennifer Frederick, A. Tom Ghuman, Richard Grodin, Cheryl Kiesel, Eileen Knips, Jonathan McCue, Maria Ortiz, Crystal Peters, Paul Raskauskas, Etienne Schoeman, Ashish Sharma, Glenn Wing, Rebecca Youngblood, Suresh R. Chandra, Michael Altaweel, Barbara Blodi, Kathryn Burke, Kristine A. Dietzman, Justin Gottlieb, Gene Knutson, Denise Krolnik, T. Michael Nork, Shelly Olson, John Peterson, Sandra Reed, Barbara Soderling, Guy Somers, Thomas Stevens, Angela Wealti, Srilaxmi Bearelly, Brenda Branchaud, Joyce W. Bryant, Sara Crowell, Sharon Fekrat, Merritt Gammage, Cheala Harrison, Sarah Jones, Noreen McClain, Brooks McCuen, Prithvi Mruthyunjaya, Jeanne Queen, Neeru Sarin, Cindy Skalak, Marriner Skelly, Ivan Suner, Ronnie Tomany, Lauren Welch, Susanna S. Park, Allison Cassidy, Karishma Chandra, Idalew Good, Katrina Imson, Sashi Kaur, Helen Metzler, Lawrence Morse, Ellen Redenbo, Marisa Salvador, David Telander, Mark Thomas, Cindy Wallace, Charles C. Barr, Amanda Battcher, Michelle Bottorff, Mary Chasteen, Kelly Clark, Diane Denning, Debra Schoen, Amy Schultz, Evie Tempel, Lisa Wheeler, Greg K. Whittington, Thomas W. Stone, Todd Blevins, Michelle Buck, Lynn Cruz, Wanda Heath, Diana Holcomb, Rick Isernhagen, Terri Kidd, John Kitchens, Cathy Sears, Ed Slade, Jeanne Van Arsdall, Brenda VanHoose, Jenny Wolfe, William Wood, John Zilis, Carol Crooks, Larry Disney, Mimi Liu, Stephen Petty, Sandra Sall, James C. Folk, Tracy Aly, Abby Brotherton, Douglas Critser, Connie J. Hinz, Stefani Karakas, Valerie Kirschner, Cheyanne Lester, Cindy Montague, Stephen Russell, Heather Stockman, Barbara Taylor, Randy Verdick, Jean Walshire, John T. Thompson, Barbara Connell, Maryanth Constantine, John L. Davis, Gwen Holsapple, Lisa Hunter, C. Nicki Lenane, Robin Mitchell, Leslie Russel, Raymond Sjaarda, David M. Brown, Matthew Benz, Llewellyn Burns, JoLene G. Carranza, Richard Fish, Debra Goates, Shayla Hay, Theresa Jeffers, Eric Kegley, Dallas Kubecka, Stacy McGilvra, Beau Richter, Veronica Sneed, Cary Stoever, Isabell Tellez, Tien Wong, Ivana Kim, Christopher Andreoli, Leslie Barresi, Sarah Brett, Charlene Callahan, Karen Capaccioli, William Carli, Matthew Coppola, Nicholas Emmanuel, Claudia Evans, Anna Fagan, Marcia Grillo, John Head, Troy Kieser, Elaine Lee, Ursula Lord, Edward Miretsky, Kate Palitsch, Todd Petrin, Liz Reader, Svetlana Reznichenko, Mary Robertson, Justin Smith, Demetrios Vavvas, John Wells, Cassie Cahill, W. Lloyd Clark, Kayla Henry, David Johnson, Peggy Miller, LaDetrick Oliver, Robbin Spivey, Tiffany Swinford, Mallie Taylor, Michael Lambert, Kris Chase, Debbie Fredrickson, Joseph Khawly, Valerie Lazarte, Donald Lowd, Pam Miller, Arthur Willis, Philip J. Ferrone, Miguel Almonte, Rachel Arnott, Ingrid Aviles, Sheri Carbon, Michael Chitjian, Kristen DAmore, Christin Elliott, David Fastenberg, Barry Golub, Kenneth Graham, AnnMarie Lavorna, Laura Murphy, Amanda Palomo, Christina Puglisi, David Rhee, Juan Romero, Brett Rosenblatt, Glenda Salcedo, Marianne Schlameuss, Eric Shakin, Vasanti Sookhai, Richard Kaiser, Elizabeth Affel, Gary Brown, Christina Centinaro, Deborah Fine, Mitchell Fineman, Michele Formoso, Sunir Garg, Lisa Grande, Carolyn Herbert, Allen Ho, Jason Hsu, Maryann Jay, Lisa Lavetsky, Elaine Liebenbaum, Joseph Maguire, Julia Monsonego, Lucia O'Connor, Lisa Pierce, Carl Regillo, Maria Rosario, Marc Spirn, James Vander, Jennifer Walsh, Frederick H. Davidorf, Amanda Barnett, Susie Chang, John Christoforidis, Joy Elliott, Heather Justice, Alan Letson, Kathryne McKinney, Jeri Perry, Jill A. Salerno, Scott Savage, Stephen Shelley, Lawrence J. Singerman, Joseph Coney, John DuBois, Kimberly DuBois, Gregg Greanoff, Dianne Himmelman, Mary Ilc, Elizabeth Mcnamara, Michael Novak, Scott Pendergast, Susan Rath, Sheila Smith-Brewer, Vivian Tanner, Diane E. Weiss, Hernando Zegarra, Lawrence Halperin, Patricia Aramayo, Mandeep Dhalla, Brian Fernandez, Cindy Fernandez, Jaclyn Lopez, Monica Lopez, Jamie Mariano, Kellie Murphy, Clifford Sherley, Rita Veksler, Firas Rahhal, Razmig Babikian, David Boyer, Sepideh Hami, Jeff Kessinger, Janet Kurokouchi, Saba Mukarram, Sarah Pachman, Eric Protacio, Julio Sierra, Homayoun Tabandeh, Adam Zamboni, Michael Elman, Jennifer Belz, Tammy Butcher, Theresa Cain, Teresa Coffey, Dena Firestone, Nancy Gore, Pamela Singletary, Peter Sotirakos, JoAnn Starr, Travis A. Meredith, Cassandra J. Barnhart, Debra Cantrell, RonaLyn Esquejo-Leon, Odette Houghton, Harpreet Kaur, Fatoumatta NDure, Ronald Glatzer, Leonard Joffe, Reid Schindler, Stuart L. Fine, Marilyn Katz, Mary Brightwell-Arnold, Ruchira Glaser, Judith Hall, Sandra Harkins, Jiayan Huang, Alexander Khvatov, Kathy McWilliams, Ellen Peskin, Maxwell Pistilli, Susan Ryan, Allison Schnader, Gui-Shuang Ying, Glenn Jaffe, Jennifer Afrani-Sakyi, Brannon Balsley, Linda S. Bennett, Adam Brooks, Adrienne Brower-Lingsch, Lori Bruce, Russell Burns, Dee Busian, John Choong, Lindsey Cloaninger, Francis Char DeCroos, Emily DuBois, Mays El-Dairi, Sarah Gach, Katelyn Hall, Terry Hawks, ChengChenh Huang, Cindy Heydary, Alexander Ho, Shashi Kini, Michelle McCall, Daaimah Muhammad, Jayne Nicholson, Pamela Rieves, Kelly Shields, Adam Specker, Sandra Stinnett, Sujatha Subramaniam, Patrick Tenbrink, Cynthia Toth, Aaron Towe, Kimberly Welch, Natasha Williams, Katrina Winter, Ellen Young, Judith Alexander, Elisabeth Flannagan, E. Revell Martin, Candace Parker, Krista Sepielli, Tom Shannon, Claressa Whearry, Maryann Redford, Marcia R. Kopfer, Frederick L. Ferris, Joan DuPont, Lawrence M. Friedman, Susan B. Bressler, David L. DeMets, Martin Friedlander, Mark W. Johnson, Anne Lindblad, Douglas W. Losordo, and Franklin G. Miller

Subjects
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A, medicine.medical_specialty, Visual acuity, genetic structures, Visual Acuity, Angiogenesis Inhibitors, Retinal Pigment Epithelium, Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized, Retina, Article, Cicatrix, Ophthalmology, Geographic Atrophy, Ranibizumab, Medicine, Humans, Prospective Studies, Fluorescein Angiography, External limiting membrane, Prospective cohort study, medicine.diagnostic_test, business.industry, Fundus photography, Macular degeneration, Middle Aged, medicine.disease, Fluorescein angiography, eye diseases, Bevacizumab, Choroidal neovascularization, medicine.anatomical_structure, Intravitreal Injections, Wet Macular Degeneration, sense organs, medicine.symptom, business, Tomography, Optical Coherence, medicine.drug
Abstract

To evaluate the association of subretinal hyperreflective material (SHRM) with visual acuity (VA), geographic atrophy (GA), and scar in the Comparison of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Treatments Trials (CATT).Prospective cohort study within a randomized clinical trial.The 1185 CATT participants.Masked readers graded scar and GA on fundus photography and fluorescein angiography and graded SHRM on time-domain and spectral-domain (SD) optical coherence tomography (OCT) throughout 104 weeks. Measurements of SHRM height and width in the fovea, within the center 1 mm(2), or outside the center 1mm(2) were obtained on SD OCT images at 56 (n = 76) and 104 (n = 66) weeks.Presence of SHRM, as well as location and size, and associations with VA, scar, and GA.Among CATT participants, the percentage with SHRM at enrollment was 77%, decreasing to 68% at 4 weeks after treatment and to 54% at 104 weeks. At 104 weeks, scar was present more often in eyes with persistent SHRM than in eyes with SHRM that resolved (64% vs. 31%; P0.0001). Among eyes with detailed evaluation of SHRM at weeks 56 (n = 76) and 104 (n = 66), mean VA letter score was 73.5 (standard error [SE], 2.8), 73.1 (SE, 3.4), 65.3 (SE, 3.5), and 63.9 (SE, 3.7) when SHRM was absent, present outside the central 1 mm(2), present within the central 1 mm(2) but not the foveal center, or present at the foveal center (P = 0.02), respectively. When SHRM was present, the median maximum height under the fovea, within the central 1 mm(2) including the fovea and anywhere within the scan, was 86 μm, 120 μm, and 122 μm, respectively. Visual acuity was decreased with greater SHRM height and width (P0.05).In eyes with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), SHRM is common and often persists after anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatment. At 2 years, eyes with scar were more likely to have SHRM than other eyes. Greater SHRM dimensions were associated with worse VA. In eyes with neovascular AMD, SHRM is an important morphologic biomarker.

Published
2015

4. Increased Prevalence of Perennial Allergic Rhinitis in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Author

Andreas Knoblauch, Michael Tamm, Jörg D. Leuppi, Morgan Andersson, C R Canova, and Sara Downs

Subjects
Adult, Male, Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine, Allergy, medicine.medical_specialty, Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial, medicine.medical_treatment, Comorbidity, Risk Factors, Forced Expiratory Volume, Internal medicine, Prevalence, medicine, Humans, Continuous positive airway pressure, Risk factor, Administration, Intranasal, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Sleep Apnea, Obstructive, COPD, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, business.industry, Respiratory disease, Sleep apnea, Middle Aged, medicine.disease, respiratory tract diseases, body regions, Obstructive sleep apnea, Case-Control Studies, Anesthesia, Female, Steroids, Nasal Obstruction, business, Switzerland
Abstract

Background: Impaired nasal breathing is a risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether atopy to perennial allergens and existence of perennial allergic rhinitis was a risk factor for OSAS. Methods: In a case-control study, we compared the proportions of OSAS patients with atopy to perennial allergens and perennial allergic rhinitis to the proportions in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Seventy-two OSAS patients (mean age 60.7 years; 79.4% male) and 44 COPD patients (mean age 63.6 years; 88.6% male) were selected from a hospital outpatients’ clinic in Switzerland. All patients completed a respiratory symptom questionnaire, performed spirometry and had a skin prick test for atopy. Results: OSAS patients were significantly heavier than COPD patients (BMI 32.4 ± (SD) 6.6 vs. 29.2 ± 6.6 kg/m2, p = 0.04) and had a better lung function than COPD patients (FEV1% predicted 91.3 ± 19.2 vs. 51.6 ± 18.9%, p < 0.001). Patients with OSAS were more likely to be sensitized to perennial allergens such as house dust mite (23.6 vs. 4.5%, p = 0.009) and dog (18 vs. 4.5%, p = 0.04) than the COPD patients. Perennial allergic rhinitis (having nose problems [nasal obstruction and/or runny nose and/or sneezing] all year and being atopic to at least one perennial allergen) was reported in 11% of OSAS patients but in only 2.3% of COPD patients (p = 0.15). Conclusion: We conclude that subjects with OSAS may have an increased risk of being allergic to perennial allergens and suffer from perennial rhinitis. Awareness of this risk may have important consideration in the clinical situation.

Published
2004

5. Natural exposure to Alternaria spores induces allergic rhinitis symptoms in sensitized children

Author

Teresa Mitakakis, Guy B. Marks, Morgan Andersson, Jörg D. Leuppi, and Sara Downs

Subjects
Allergy, biology, business.industry, Immunology, medicine.disease, Alternaria, biology.organism_classification, Spore, Allergic sensitization, medicine.anatomical_structure, El Niño, Grass pollen, Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health, otorhinolaryngologic diseases, medicine, Immunology and Allergy, business, Nose, Sensitization
Abstract

Allergic rhinitis is associated with exposure to inhaled allergens. Allergic sensitization to the fungus Alternaria is common, especially in warm climates, but the relevance of sensitization to Alternaria in the generation of rhinitis has not been elucidated. The aim of this study was to determine whether natural exposure to Alternaria induces rhinoconjuctivitis symptoms in Alternaria-sensitized children. Symptoms of rhinoconjuctivitis in 132 atopic (measured by skin prick tests) children (aged 7-12 years) in inland New South Wales Australia were measured using parent-completed questionnaires in summer and winter 1998. Airborne concentrations of Alternaria spores and grass pollen were measured throughout the study period using a Burkard volumetric trap. The relation between airborne concentrations of Alternaria spores and symptoms of rhinoconjunctivitis was examined using Wilcoxon's matched pairs signed ranked test and generalized estimating equations. The proportion of children atopic to Alternaria reporting symptoms of rhinitis was significantly higher in the summer, when airborne concentrations of Alternaria were high, than in the winter, when airborne concentrations were low (66.2% vs. 38.2% for nasal symptoms at night, p = 0.0001, 70.6% vs. 51.52% for nasal symptoms during the day, p = 0.02). The proportion of children using anti-allergic treatment was also higher in summer than in winter (anti-allergic medication for the nose 39.7% vs. 17.7%, p = 0.0003). A strong correlation between airborne concentrations of grass pollen and Alternaria was found (R = 0.94, p < 0.001). However, when all children atopic to ryegrass were excluded from the analyses, significant associations between symptoms and season remained. We conclude that exposure to Alternaria spores may be an important cause of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis.

Published
2003

6. Predictors of house-dust-mite allergen concentrations in dry regions in Australia

Author

Teresa Mitakakis, Carl Vanlaar, Nicholas Car, Jörg D. Leuppi, Jennifer K. Peat, Guy B. Marks, and Sara Downs

Subjects
Allergy, Veterinary medicine, integumentary system, House dust mite allergen, Immunology, Microclimate, Aeroallergen, Elisa assay, Mite allergen, Biology, medicine.disease, medicine.disease_cause, biology.organism_classification, respiratory tract diseases, Allergen, immune system diseases, parasitic diseases, medicine, Mite, Immunology and Allergy
Abstract

Background: House-dust-mite allergen content differs between houses and is thought to be a function of the housing characteristics and furnishing choices that affect indoor microclimate and mite proliferation. The importance of these features may differ with regional climates. Methods: Concentrations of mite allergen were analysed as a function of housing features. Information on housing features was collected by questionnaire in 50 houses in two towns in a dry inland region of Australia. Mite allergen (Der p 1) was measured by ELISA in dust samples collected on five occasions over 2 years from beds and floors. Results: Der p 1 was detected in all houses. Many housing features did not influence mite allergen concentrations. However, the presence of evaporative cooling increased mite allergen by 3.34-fold in beds (P=0.007) and 3.94-fold in floors (P=0.003). Mite allergen was threefold higher in mattresses >5 years old, and synthetic and feather duvets tended to have higher and lower levels of mite allergen, respectively. Conclusions: In houses in dry, inland regions of Australia, evaporative cooling and older mattresses are associated with higher concentrations of mite allergen. Alternative forms of air conditioning to evaporative cooling may be useful for control of mite allergen in dry regions.

Published
2001

7. Clinical Importance of Alternaria Exposure in Children

Author

Aurelio Tobias, Teresa Mitakakis, Jörg D. Leuppi, Sue R. Downie, Jennifer K. Peat, Sara Downs, Guy B. Marks, Wei Xuan, N. George Car, and Elena G. Belousova

Subjects
Male, Spores, Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine, Allergy, medicine.drug_class, Critical Care and Intensive Care Medicine, medicine.disease_cause, Severity of Illness Index, Cohort Studies, chemistry.chemical_compound, Allergen, Forced Expiratory Volume, Wheeze, Bronchodilator, Hypersensitivity, medicine, Humans, Child, Prospective cohort study, Asthma, biology, business.industry, Alternaria, Environmental Exposure, Allergens, biology.organism_classification, medicine.disease, chemistry, Immunology, Female, medicine.symptom, business, Histamine
Abstract

The fungus Alternaria is known to be allergenic and is one of the most common fungi worldwide. We investigated the extent to which exposure to Alternaria increases the severity of asthma. We undertook a prospective cohort study in Australia of 399 school children who had positive skin tests to one or more aeroallergens. Airway responsiveness to histamine, wheeze, and bronchodilator use in 1 mo was measured five times between 1997 and 1999. Airway hyperresponsiveness was defined as PD(20)FEV(1) = 3.9 micromol histamine. Airborne concentrations of Alternaria spores were measured throughout the study, and mean daily concentrations over 1 mo ranged from 2.2 to 307.7 spores/m(3) of ambient air. Using generalized estimating equations, we found that airway responsiveness, wheeze, and bronchodilator use increased significantly in association with increased spore concentrations and that the increase in airway responsiveness was greater in children sensitized to Alternaria than in other children (p = 0.01). The odds ratio for airway hyperresponsiveness in children sensitized to Alternaria was 1.26 (95% CI, 1.14 to 1.39) after an increase in mean exposure of 100 spore/m(3)/d over 1 mo. These results suggest that Alternaria allergens contribute to severe asthma in regions where exposure to the fungus is high.

Published
2001

8. Asthma and hayfever in Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal children living in non‐remote rural towns

Author

Sara Downs, Guy B. Marks, Elena G Belosouva, and Jennifer K. Peat

Subjects
Male, medicine.medical_specialty, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, Rural Health, Atopy, Risk Factors, Surveys and Questionnaires, Wheeze, Epidemiology, Prevalence, medicine, Humans, Risk factor, Child, Asthma, business.industry, Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal, General Medicine, Odds ratio, Allergens, medicine.disease, Cross-Sectional Studies, El Niño, Immunology, Bronchitis, Female, New South Wales, medicine.symptom, business, Demography
Abstract

Objective: To compare the prevalence and risk factors for wheeze, asthma diagnosis and hayfever in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children living in rural towns in Australia. Design and setting: Cross-sectional study in two towns in rural NSW, Australia, 1997. Participants: Primary school children (aged 7-12 years) classified by their parents as being of Aboriginal (n = 158) or of non-Aboriginal (n = 1282) origin. Main outcome measures: Atopy measured by skinprick tests and respiratory symptoms measured by parent-completed questionnaire. Results: Aboriginal children were less likely to be atopic (36.2% v 45.6%; 95% Cl for the difference, -17.6 to -1.3) and to have hayfever (23.3% v 35.2%; 95% Cl for the difference, -19.1 to -4.6) than non-Aboriginal children, but were equally likely to have had wheeze (31.0% v 27.3%) and asthma (39.4% v 39.3%). Among Aboriginal children, having had bronchitis before age two was a strong risk factor for wheeze (adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 9.3; 95% Cl, 2.8-30.2) and asthma (aOR, 19.3; 95% Cl, 4.7-79.3) and having a parent with hayfever was a strong risk factor for hayfever (aOR, 17.9; 95% Cl, 3.5-90.8), but these risk factors were weaker among non-Aboriginal children. Conclusions: Asthma and wheeze are equally prevalent in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children living in the same towns, but appear to have a different aetiology.

Published
2001

9. Thunderstorm outflows preceding epidemics of asthma during spring and summer

Author

Peter S. Hansen, Nicholas Car, Hjelmroos Koski, Andrew Treloar, Guy B. Marks, Seaham Girgis, Sara Downs, and John Colquhoun

Subjects
Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine, business.industry, Australia, Original Articles, Allergens, medicine.disease_cause, medicine.disease, Asthma, Confidence interval, Disease Outbreaks, Ground level, Cold front, Case-Control Studies, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Pollen, Thunderstorm, medicine, Humans, Outflow, business, Weather, South eastern, Demography
Abstract

BACKGROUNDA study was undertaken to assess the importance of thunderstorms as a cause of epidemics of asthma exacerbations and to investigate the underlying mechanism.METHODSA case control study was performed in six towns in south eastern Australia. Epidemic case days (n = 48) and a random sample of control days (n = 191) were identified by reference to the difference between the observed and expected number of emergency department attendances for asthma. The occurrence of thunderstorms, their associated outflows and cold fronts were ascertained, blind to case status, for each of these days. In addition, the relation of hourly pollen counts to automatic weather station data was examined in detail for the period around one severe epidemic of asthma exacerbations. The main outcome measure was the number of epidemics of asthma exacerbations.RESULTSThunderstorm outflows were detected on 33% of epidemic days and only 3% of control days (odds ratio 15.0, 95% confidence interval 6.0 to 37.6). The association was strongest in late spring and summer. Detailed examination of one severe epidemic showed that its onset coincided with the arrival of the thunderstorm outflow and a 4–12 fold increase in the ambient concentration of grass pollen grains.CONCLUSIONSThese findings are consistent with the hypothesis that some epidemics of exacerbations of asthma are caused by high concentrations of allergenic particles produced by an outflow of colder air, associated with the downdraught from a thunderstorm, sweeping up pollen grains and particles and then concentrating them in a shallow band of air at ground level. This is a common cause of exacerbations of asthma during the pollen season.

Published
2001

10. Having lived on a farm and protection against allergic diseases in Australia

Author

Sara Downs, Jörg D. Leuppi, Nicholas Car, Jennifer K. Peat, Guy B. Marks, and Teresa Mitakakis

Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty, Pediatrics, Allergy, business.industry, Cross-sectional study, animal diseases, Rural health, Immunology, medicine.disease, Atopy, Agriculture, Environmental health, Epidemiology, medicine, Immunology and Allergy, Hay fever, Mixed farming, business
Abstract

Background Farmers' children in northern Europe have a lower prevalence of atopy, hay fever and asthma than other children. Farms in Australia differ in scale and operation from those in Europe and the prevalence of allergic diseases in children is higher. Objective To investigate whether having lived on a farm as a child in Australia is associated with a lower risk of allergic diseases. Methods Cross-sectional study of children (n = 1500) aged 7-12 years from two rural towns: Wagga Wagga in a mixed farming region, and Moree in a crop farming region. Parents answered a questionnaire and children had a skin prick test for atopy. Results Twenty percent of children had lived on a farm for at least 1 year. The effect of having lived on a farm differed between the towns (P Conclusion Having lived on a farm in Australia can confer protection against atopy in children. Further studies are needed to identify possible protective mechanisms associated with farm animals or to establish whether the protective effect is explained by other related exposures.

Published
2001

11. Continued increase in the prevalence of asthma and atopy

Author

Sara Downs, Guy B. Marks, Nicholas Car, J K Peat, E G Belosouva, and R Sporik

Subjects
Hypersensitivity, Immediate, Male, medicine.medical_specialty, Allergy, Cross-sectional study, Atopy, Wheeze, Internal medicine, Epidemiology, Prevalence, Humans, Medicine, Respiratory sounds, Child, Respiratory Sounds, Skin Tests, Asthma, medicine.diagnostic_test, business.industry, Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal, Original Articles, medicine.disease, Cross-Sectional Studies, El Niño, Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health, Immunology, Female, New South Wales, medicine.symptom, business
Abstract

AIMS To describe the change in the prevalence of wheeze, diagnosed asthma, and atopy in Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia, between 1992 and 1997, and to compare this to the increase in prevalence reported between 1982 and 1992. METHODS A cross sectional study of the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and atopy in schoolchildren aged 8–11 years (n = 1016, response rate 71%) in 1997 compared with studies of similar design in 1992 (response rate 83%, n = 850) and 1982 (response rate 88%, n = 769). Main outcome measures were respiratory symptoms measured by parent completed questionnaire and atopy measured by skin prick tests. RESULTS Between 1992 and 1997, the prevalence of wheeze increased by 5.1% (95% CI 1.2 to 9.0), asthma diagnosis by 8.1% (95% CI 3.8 to 12.4), and atopy by 6.7% (95% CI 2.2 to 11.2). Similar increases in prevalence had been found between 1982 and 1992. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of wheeze, asthma diagnosis, and atopy in Wagga Wagga has continued to increase.

Published
2001

12. Outcomes of Eyes with Lesions Composed of >50% Blood in the Comparison of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Treatments Trials (CATT)

Author

Michael M. Altaweel, Ebenezer Daniel, Daniel F. Martin, Robert A. Mittra, Juan E. Grunwald, Michael M. Lai, Alexander Melamud, Lawrence S. Morse, Jiayan Huang, Frederick L. Ferris, Stuart L. Fine, Maureen G. Maguire, David F. Williams, Sara Beardsley, Steven Bennett, Herbert Cantrill, Carmen Chan- Tram, Holly Cheshier, Kathyrn Damato, John Davies, Sundeep Dev, Julianne Enloe, Gennaro Follano, Peggy Gilbert, Jill Johnson, Tori Jones, Lisa Mayleben, Robert Mittra, Martha Moos, Ryan Neist, Neal Oestreich, Polly Quiram, Robert Ramsay, Edwin Ryan, Stephanie Schindeldecker, John Snater, Trenise Steele, Dwight Selders, Jessica Tonsfeldt, Shelly Valardi, Gary Edd Fish, Hank A. Aguado, Sally Arceneaux, Jean Arnwine, Kim Bell, Tina Bell, Bob Boleman, Patricia Bradley, David Callanan, Lori Coors, Jodi Creighton, Timothy Crew, Kimberly Cummings, Christopher Dock, Karen Duignan, Dwain Fuller, Keith Gray, Betsy Hendrix, Nicholas Hesse, Diana Jaramillo, Bradley Jost, Sandy Lash, Laura Lonsdale, Michael Mackens, Karin Mutz, Michael Potts, Brenda Sanchez, William Snyder, Wayne Solley, Carrie Tarter, Robert Wang, Patrick Williams, Stephen L. Perkins, Nicholas Anderson, Ann Arnold, Paul Blais, Joseph Googe, Tina T. Higdon, Cecile Hunt, Mary Johnson, James Miller, Misty Moore, Charity K. Morris, Christopher Morris, Sarah Oelrich, Kristina Oliver, Vicky Seitz, Jerry Whetstone, Bernard H. Doft, Jay Bedel, Robert Bergren, Ann Borthwick, Paul Conrad, Amanda Fec, Christina Fulwylie, Willia Ingram, Shawnique Latham, Gina Lester, Judy Liu, Louis Lobes, Nicole M. Lucko, Holly Mechling, Lori Merlotti, Keith McBroom, Karl Olsen, Danielle Puskas, Pamela Rath, Maria Schmucker, Lynn Schueckler, Christina Schultz, Heather Shultz, David Steinberg, Avni Vyas, Kim Whale, Kimberly Yeckel, David H. Orth, Linda S. Arredondo, Susan Brown, Barbara J. Ciscato, Joseph M. Civantos, Celeste Figliulo, Sohail Hasan, Belinda Kosinski, Dan Muir, Kiersten Nelson, Kirk Packo, John S. Pollack, Kourous Rezaei, Gina Shelton, Shannya Townsend-Patrick, Marian Walsh, H. Richard McDonald, Nina Ansari, Amanda Bye, Arthur D. Fu, Sean Grout, Chad Indermill, Robert N. Johnson, J. Michael Jumper, Silvia Linares, Brandon J. Lujan, Ames Munden, Meredith Persons, Rosa Rodriguez, Jennifer M. Rose, Brandi Teske, Yesmin Urias, Stephen Young, Richard F. Dreyer, Howard Daniel, Michele Connaughton, Irvin Handelman, Stephen Hobbs, Christine Hoerner, Dawn Hudson, Marcia Kopfer, Michael Lee, Craig Lemley, Joe Logan, Colin Ma, Christophe Mallet, Amanda Milliron, Mark Peters, Harry Wohlsein, Joel A. Pearlman, Margo Andrews, Melissa Bartlett, Nanette Carlson, Emily Cox, Robert Equi, Marta Gonzalez, Sophia Griffin, Fran Hogue, Lance Kennedy, Lana Kryuchkov, Carmen Lopez, Danny Lopez, Bertha Luevano, Erin McKenna, Arun Patel, Brian Reed, Nyla Secor, Iris R. Sison, Tony Tsai, Nina Varghis, Brooke Waller, Robert Wendel, Reina Yebra, Daniel B. Roth, Jane Deinzer, Howard Fine, Flory Green, Stuart Green, Bruce Keyser, Steven Leff, Amy Leviton, Amy Martir, Kristin Mosenthine, Starr Muscle, Linda Okoren, Sandy Parker, Jonathan Prenner, Nancy Price, Deana Rogers, Linda Rosas, Alex Schlosser, Loretta Studenko, Thea Tantum, Harold Wheatley, Michael T. Trese, Thomas Aaberg, Denis Bezaire, Craig Bridges, Doug Bryant, Antonio Capone, Michelle Coleman, Christina Consolo, Cindy Cook, Candice DuLong, Bruce Garretson, Tracy Grooten, Julie Hammersley, Tarek Hassan, Heather Jessick, Nanette Jones, Crystal Kinsman, Jennifer Krumlauf, Sandy Lewis, Heather Locke, Alan Margherio, Debra Markus, Tanya Marsh, Serena Neal, Amy Noffke, Kean Oh, Clarence Pence, Lisa Preston, Paul Raphaelian, Virginia R. Regan, Peter Roberts, Alan Ruby, Ramin Sarrafizadeh, Marissa Scherf, Sarita Scott, Scott Sneed, Lisa Staples, Brad Terry, Matthew T. Trese, Joan Videtich, George Williams, Mary Zajechowski, Daniel P. Joseph, Kevin Blinder, Lynda Boyd, Sarah Buckley, Meaghan Crow, Amanda Dinatale, Nicholas Engelbrecht, Bridget Forke, Dana Gabel, Gilbert Grand, Jennifer Grillion-Cerone, Nancy Holekamp, Charlotte Kelly, Ginny Nobel, Kelly Pepple, Matt Raeber, P. Kumar Rao, Tammy Ressel, Steven Schremp, Merrilee Sgorlon, Shantia Shears, Matthew Thomas, Cathy Timma, Annette Vaughn, Carolyn Walters, Rhonda Weeks, Jarrod Wehmeier, Tim Wright, Daniel M. Berinstein, Aida Ayyad, Mohammed K. Barazi, Erica Bickhart, Tracey Brady, Lisa Byank, Alysia Cronise, Vanessa Denny, Courtney Dunn, Michael Flory, Robert Frantz, Richard A. Garfinkel, William Gilbert, Janine Newgen, Shamekia Newton, Debbie Oliver, Michael Osman, Reginald Sanders, Manfred von Fricken, Pravin Dugel, Sandra Arenas, Gabe Balea, Dayna Bartoli, John Bucci, Jennifer A. Cornelius, Scheleen Dickens, Don Doherty, Heather Dunlap, David Goldenberg, Karim Jamal, Norma Jimenez, Nicole Kavanagh, Derek Kunimoto, John Martin, Jessica Miner, Sarah Mobley, Donald Park, Edward Quinlan, Jack Sipperley, Carol Slagle, Danielle Smith, Miguelina Yafchak, Rohana Yager, Christina J. Flaxel, Steven Bailey, Peter Francis, Chris Howell, Thomas Hwang, Shirley Ira, Michael Klein, Andreas Lauer, Teresa Liesegang, Ann Lundquist, Sarah Nolte, Susan K. Nolte, Scott Pickell, Susan Pope, Joseph Rossi, Mitchell Schain, Peter Steinkamp, Maureen D. Toomey, Debora Vahrenwald, Kelly West, Baker Hubbard, Stacey Andelman, Chris Bergstrom, Judy Brower, Blaine Cribbs, Linda Curtis, Jannah Dobbs, Lindreth DuBois, Jessica Gaultney, Deborah Gibbs, Debora Jordan, Donna Leef, Robert Myles, Timothy Olsen, Bryan Schwent, Sunil Srivastava, Rhonda Waldron, Andrew N. Antoszyk, Uma Balasubramaniam, Danielle Brooks, Justin Brown, David Browning, Loraine Clark, Sarah Ennis, Susannah Held, Jennifer V. Helms, Jenna Herby, Angie Karow, Pearl Leotaud, Caterina Massimino, Donna McClain, Michael McOwen, Jennifer Mindel, Candace Pereira, Rachel Pierce, Michele Powers, Angela Price, Jason Rohrer, Jason Sanders, Robert L. Avery, Kelly Avery, Jessica Basefsky, Liz Beckner, Alessandro Castellarin, Stephen Couvillion, Jack Giust, Matthew Giust, Maan Nasir, Dante Pieramici, Melvin Rabena, Sarah Risard, Robert See, Jerry Smith, Lisha Wan, Sophie J. Bakri, Nakhleh Abu-Yaghi, Andrew Barkmeier, Karin Berg, Jean Burrington, Albert Edwards, Shannon Goddard, Shannon Howard, Raymond Iezzi, Denise Lewison, Thomas Link, Colin A. McCannel, Joan Overend, John Pach, Margaret Ruszczyk, Ryan Shultz, Cindy Stephan, Diane Vogen, Reagan H. Bradford, Vanessa Bergman, Russ Burris, Amanda Butt, Beth Daniels, Connie Dwiggins, Stephen Fransen, Tiffany Guerrero, Darin Haivala, Amy Harris, Sonny Icks, Ronald Kingsley, Lena Redden, Rob Richmond, Brittany Ross, Kammerin White, Misty Youngberg, Trexler M. Topping, Steve Bennett, Sandy Chong, Mary Ciotti, Tina Cleary, Emily Corey, Dennis Donovan, Albert Frederick, Lesley Freese, Margaret Graham, Natalya Gud, Taneika Howard, Mike Jones, Michael Morley, Katie Moses, Jen Stone, Robin Ty, Torsten Wiegand, Lindsey Williams, Beth Winder, Carl C. Awh, Michelle Amonette, Everton Arrindell, Dena Beck, Brandon Busbee, Amy Dilback, Sara Downs, Allison Guidry, Gary Gutow, Jackey Hardin, Sarah Hines, Emily Hutchins, Kim LaCivita, Ashley Lester, Larry Malott, MaryAnn McCain, Jayme Miracle, Kenneth Moffat, Lacy Palazzotta, Kelly Robinson, Peter Sonkin, Alecia Travis, Roy Trent Wallace, Kelly J. Winters, Julia Wray, April E. Harris, Mari Bunnell, Katrina Crooks, Rebecca Fitzgerald, Cameron Javid, Corin Kew, Erica Kill, Patricia Kline, Janet Kreienkamp, Maricruz Martinez, Roy Ann Moore, Egbert Saavedra, LuAnne Taylor, Mark Walsh, Larry Wilson, Thomas A. Ciulla, Ellen Coyle, Tonya Harrington, Charlotte Harris, Cindi Hood, Ingrid Kerr, Raj Maturi, Dawn Moore, Stephanie Morrow, Jennifer Savage, Bethany Sink, Tom Steele, Neelam Thukral, Janet Wilburn, Joseph P. Walker, Jennifer Banks, Debbie Ciampaglia, Danielle Dyshanowitz, Jennifer Frederick, A. Tom Ghuman, Richard Grodin, Cheryl Kiesel, Eileen Knips, Jonathan McCue, Maria Ortiz, Crystal Peters, Paul Raskauskas, Etienne Schoeman, Ashish Sharma, Glenn Wing, Rebecca Youngblood, Suresh R. Chandra, Michael Altaweel, Barbara Blodi, Kathryn Burke, Kristine A. Dietzman, Justin Gottlieb, Gene Knutson, Denise Krolnik, T. Michael Nork, Shelly Olson, John Peterson, Sandra Reed, Barbara Soderling, Guy Somers, Thomas Stevens, Angela Wealti, Srilaxmi Bearelly, Brenda Branchaud, Joyce W. Bryant, Sara Crowell, Sharon Fekrat, Merritt Gammage, Cheala Harrison, Sarah Jones, Noreen McClain, Brooks McCuen, Prithvi Mruthyunjaya, Jeanne Queen, Neeru Sarin, Cindy Skalak, Marriner Skelly, Ivan Suner, Ronnie Tomany, Lauren Welch, Susanna S. Park, Allison Cassidy, Karishma Chandra, Idalew Good, Katrina Imson, Sashi Kaur, Helen Metzler, Lawrence Morse, Ellen Redenbo, Marisa Salvador, David Telander, Mark Thomas, Cindy Wallace, Charles C. Barr, Amanda Battcher, Michelle Bottorff, Mary Chasteen, Kelly Clark, Diane Denning, Debra Schoen, Amy Schultz, Evie Tempel, Lisa Wheeler, Greg K. Whittington, Thomas W. Stone, Todd Blevins, Michelle Buck, Lynn Cruz, Wanda Heath, Diana Holcomb, Rick Isernhagen, Terri Kidd, John Kitchens, Cathy Sears, Ed Slade, Jeanne Van Arsdall, Brenda VanHoose, Jenny Wolfe, William Wood, John Zilis, Carol Crooks, Larry Disney, Mimi Liu, Stephen Petty, Sandra Sall, James C. Folk, Tracy Aly, Abby Brotherton, Douglas Critser, Connie J. Hinz, Stefani Karakas, Valerie Kirschner, Cheyanne Lester, Cindy Montague, Stephen Russell, Heather Stockman, Barbara Taylor, Randy Verdick, Jean Walshire, John T. Thompson, Barbara Connell, Maryanth Constantine, John L. Davis, Gwen Holsapple, Lisa Hunter, C. Nicki Lenane, Robin Mitchell, Leslie Russel, Raymond Sjaarda, David M. Brown, Matthew Benz, Llewellyn Burns, JoLene G. Carranza, Richard Fish, Debra Goates, Shayla Hay, Theresa Jeffers, Eric Kegley, Dallas Kubecka, Stacy McGilvra, Beau Richter, Veronica Sneed, Cary Stoever, Isabell Tellez, Tien Wong, Ivana Kim, Christopher Andreoli, Leslie Barresi, Sarah Brett, Charlene Callahan, Karen Capaccioli, William Carli, Matthew Coppola, Nicholas Emmanuel, Claudia Evans, Anna Fagan, Marcia Grillo, John Head, Troy Kieser, Elaine Lee, Ursula Lord, Edward Miretsky, Kate Palitsch, Todd Petrin, Liz Reader, Svetlana Reznichenko, Mary Robertson, Justin Smith, Demetrios Vavvas, John Wells, Cassie Cahill, W. Lloyd Clark, Kayla Henry, David Johnson, Peggy Miller, LaDetrick Oliver, Robbin Spivey, Tiffany Swinford, Mallie Taylor, Michael Lambert, Kris Chase, Debbie Fredrickson, Joseph Khawly, Valerie Lazarte, Donald Lowd, Pam Miller, Arthur Willis, Philip J. Ferrone, Miguel Almonte, Rachel Arnott, Ingrid Aviles, Sheri Carbon, Michael Chitjian, Kristen D’Amore, Christin Elliott, David Fastenberg, Barry Golub, Kenneth Graham, AnnMarie Lavorna, Laura Murphy, Amanda Palomo, Christina Puglisi, David Rhee, Juan Romero, Brett Rosenblatt, Glenda Salcedo, Marianne Schlameuss, Eric Shakin, Vasanti Sookhai, Richard Kaiser, Elizabeth Affel, Gary Brown, Christina Centinaro, Deborah Fine, Mitchell Fineman, Michele Formoso, Sunir Garg, Lisa Grande, Carolyn Herbert, Allen Ho, Jason Hsu, Maryann Jay, Lisa Lavetsky, Elaine Liebenbaum, Joseph Maguire, Julia Monsonego, Lucia O’Connor, Lisa Pierce, Carl Regillo, Maria Rosario, Marc Spirn, James Vander, Jennifer Walsh, Frederick H. Davidorf, Amanda Barnett, Susie Chang, John Christoforidis, Joy Elliott, Heather Justice, Alan Letson, Kathryne McKinney, Jeri Perry, Jill A. Salerno, Scott Savage, Stephen Shelley, Lawrence J. Singerman, Joseph Coney, John DuBois, Kimberly DuBois, Gregg Greanoff, Dianne Himmelman, Mary Ilc, Elizabeth McNamara, Michael Novak, Scott Pendergast, Susan Rath, Sheila Smith-Brewer, Vivian Tanner, Diane E. Weiss, Hernando Zegarra, null Lawrence Halperin, Patricia Aramayo, Mandeep Dhalla, Brian Fernandez, Cindy Fernandez, Jaclyn Lopez, Monica Lopez, Jamie Mariano, Kellie Murphy, Clifford Sherley, Rita Veksler, Firas Rahhal, Razmig Babikian, David Boyer, Sepideh Hami, Jeff Kessinger, Janet Kurokouchi, Saba Mukarram, Sarah Pachman, Eric Protacio, Julio Sierra, Homayoun Tabandeh, Adam Zamboni, Michael Elman, Jennifer Belz, Tammy Butcher, Theresa Cain, Teresa Coffey, Dena Firestone, Nancy Gore, Pamela Singletary, Peter Sotirakos, JoAnn Starr, Travis A. Meredith, Cassandra J. Barnhart, Debra Cantrell, RonaLyn Esquejo-Leon, Odette Houghton, Harpreet Kaur, Fatoumatta N’Dure, Ronald Glatzer, Leonard Joffe, Reid Schindler, Marilyn Katz, Mary Brightwell-Arnold, Ruchira Glaser, Judith Hall, Sandra Harkins, Alexander Khvatov, Kathy McWilliams, Ellen Peskin, Maxwell Pistilli, Susan Ryan, Allison Schnader, Gui-Shuang Ying, Glenn Jaffe, Jennifer Afrani-Sakyi, Brannon Balsley, Linda S. Bennett, Adam Brooks, Adrienne Brower-Lingsch, Lori Bruce, Russell Burns, Dee Busian, John Choong, Lindsey Cloaninger, Francis Char DeCroos, Emily DuBois, Mays El-Dairi, Sarah Gach, Katelyn Hall, Terry Hawks, ChengChenh Huang, Cindy Heydary, Alexander Ho, Shashi Kini, Michelle McCall, Daaimah Muhammad, Jayne Nicholson, Pamela Rieves, Kelly Shields, Adam Specker, Sandra Stinnett, Sujatha Subramaniam, Patrick Tenbrink, Cynthia Toth, Aaron Towe, Kimberly Welch, Natasha Williams, Katrina Winter, Ellen Young, Judith Alexander, Elisabeth Flannagan, E. Revell Martin, Candace Parker, Krista Sepielli, Tom Shannon, Claressa Whearry, Maryann Redford, Marcia R. Kopfer, Joan DuPont, Lawrence M. Friedman, Susan B. Bressler, David L. DeMets, Martin Friedlander, Mark W. Johnson, Anne Lindblad, Douglas W. Losordo, and Franklin G. Miller

Subjects
Male, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A, medicine.medical_specialty, Visual acuity, genetic structures, Visual Acuity, Angiogenesis Inhibitors, Fundus (eye), Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized, Article, Cohort Studies, Lesion, Pro re nata, Ranibizumab, Ophthalmology, medicine, Humans, Prospective Studies, Fluorescein Angiography, Prospective cohort study, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, business.industry, Retinal Hemorrhage, Macular degeneration, medicine.disease, Choroidal Neovascularization, eye diseases, Bevacizumab, Treatment Outcome, Choroidal neovascularization, Intravitreal Injections, Wet Macular Degeneration, Female, sense organs, medicine.symptom, business, Tomography, Optical Coherence, Follow-Up Studies, medicine.drug
Abstract

To compare baseline characteristics, treatment frequency, visual acuity (VA), and morphologic outcomes of eyes with50% of the lesion composed of blood (B50 group) versus all other eyes (Other group) enrolled in the Comparison of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Treatments Trials (CATT).Prospective cohort study within a multicenter randomized clinical trial.CATT patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD).Treatment for the study eye was assigned randomly to either ranibizumab or bevacizumab and to 3 different dosing regimens over a 2-year period. Reading center graders evaluated baseline and follow-up morphology in color fundus photographs, fluorescein angiography (FA), and optical coherence tomography (OCT). Masked examiners tested VA.Morphologic features and VA at 1 and 2 years.The B50 group consisted of 84 of 1185 (7.1%) patients enrolled in CATT. Baseline lesion characteristics differed between groups. In the B50 group, choroidal neovascularization size was smaller (0.73 vs 1.83 disc areas [DA]; P0.001), total lesion size was greater (4.55 vs 2.31 DA; P0.001), total retinal thickness was greater (524 vs 455 μm; P = 0.02), and mean VA was worse (56.0 vs 60.9 letters; P = 0.002). Increases in mean VA were similar in the B50 and Other groups at 1 year (+9.3 vs +7.2 letters; P = 0.22) and at 2 years (9.0 vs 6.1 letters; P = 0.17). Eyes treated PRN received a similar number of injections in the 2 groups (12.2 vs 13.4; P = 0.27). Mean lesion size in the B50 group decreased by 1.2 DA at both 1 and 2 years (primarily owing to resolution of hemorrhage) and increased in the Other group by 0.33 DA at 1 year and 0.91 DA at 2 years (P 0.001). Leakage on FA and fluid on OCT were similar between groups at 1 and 2 years.In CATT, the B50 group had a visual prognosis similar to the Other group. Lesion size decreased markedly through 2 years. Eyes like those enrolled in CATT with neovascular AMD lesions composed of50% blood can be managed similarly to those with less or no blood.

Published
2015

13. Natural exposure to Alternaria spores induces allergic rhinitis symptoms in sensitized children

Author

Morgan, Andersson, Sara, Downs, Teresa, Mitakakis, Jörg, Leuppi, and Guy, Marks

Subjects
Rural Population, Inhalation Exposure, Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial, Australia, Alternaria, Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal, Allergens, Spores, Fungal, Cohort Studies, Hypersensitivity, Humans, Prospective Studies, Child, Conjunctivitis, Allergic
Abstract

Allergic rhinitis is associated with exposure to inhaled allergens. Allergic sensitization to the fungus Alternaria is common, especially in warm climates, but the relevance of sensitization to Alternaria in the generation of rhinitis has not been elucidated. The aim of this study was to determine whether natural exposure to Alternaria induces rhinoconjuctivitis symptoms in Alternaria-sensitized children. Symptoms of rhinoconjuctivitis in 132 atopic (measured by skin prick tests) children (aged 7-12 years) in inland New South Wales Australia were measured using parent-completed questionnaires in summer and winter 1998. Airborne concentrations of Alternaria spores and grass pollen were measured throughout the study period using a Burkard volumetric trap. The relation between airborne concentrations of Alternaria spores and symptoms of rhinoconjunctivitis was examined using Wilcoxon's matched pairs signed ranked test and generalized estimating equations. The proportion of children atopic to Alternaria reporting symptoms of rhinitis was significantly higher in the summer, when airborne concentrations of Alternaria were high, than in the winter, when airborne concentrations were low (66.2% vs. 38.2% for nasal symptoms at night, p = 0.0001, 70.6% vs. 51.52% for nasal symptoms during the day, p = 0.02). The proportion of children using anti-allergic treatment was also higher in summer than in winter (anti-allergic medication for the nose 39.7% vs. 17.7%, p = 0.0003). A strong correlation between airborne concentrations of grass pollen and Alternaria was found (R = 0.94, p0.001). However, when all children atopic to ryegrass were excluded from the analyses, significant associations between symptoms and season remained. We conclude that exposure to Alternaria spores may be an important cause of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis.

Published
2003

14. Exhaled nitric oxide levels in atopic children: relation to specific allergic sensitisation, AHR, and respiratory symptoms

Author

Guy B. Marks, Cheryl M. Salome, Jörg D. Leuppi, Sue R. Downie, and Sara Downs

Subjects
Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine, Hypersensitivity, Immediate, Allergy, Adolescent, Population, Vital Capacity, Nitric Oxide, Atopy, Wheeze, Forced Expiratory Volume, Medicine, Humans, Expiration, Prospective Studies, education, Child, Asthma, Respiratory Sounds, House dust mite, education.field_of_study, biology, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, business.industry, respiratory system, medicine.disease, biology.organism_classification, respiratory tract diseases, body regions, Cross-Sectional Studies, Breath Tests, Cough, Exhaled nitric oxide, Immunology, Original Article, medicine.symptom, Bronchial Hyperreactivity, business, Histamine
Abstract

Exhaled nitric oxide (eNO), which has been proposed as a measure of airway inflammation, is increased in atopic subjects. This raises the question of whether eNO provides any additional information about airway inflammation in asthmatic subjects, other than as a marker for atopy. A study was undertaken to determine whether eNO levels in a population of atopic children are associated with sensitisation or natural exposure to specific allergens, and to examine the relationship between eNO, airway responsiveness, and current respiratory symptoms.Exhaled NO and airway responsiveness to histamine were measured in winter and in summer in 235 children aged 8-14 years who had been classified as atopic by skin prick testing. Current respiratory symptoms, defined as wheeze or cough during the month preceding the test, were measured by a parent completed questionnaire. Airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) was defined as a dose response ratio (DRR) of8.1 (% fall in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1))/micromol + 3).Sensitisation to house dust mite was associated with raised eNO levels in winter while sensitisation to Cladosporium was associated with raised eNO levels in both winter and summer. Grass pollen sensitisation was not associated with raised eNO levels in either season. Exhaled NO correlated significantly with DRR histamine (r=0.43, p0.001) independently of whether the children had current symptoms or not. In children with current wheeze, those with AHR had eNO levels 1.53 (95% CI 1.41 to 1.66) times higher than those without AHR (p=0.006). Neither DRR (p=1.0) nor eNO levels (p=0.92) differed significantly between children with or without persistent dry cough in the absence of wheeze.In atopic children, raised eNO levels are associated with sensitisation to perennial allergens, but not to seasonal allergens such as grass pollen. In this population, an increase in eNO is associated with AHR and current wheezing, suggesting that eNO is more than just a marker for atopy.

Published
2002

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