DEFINITIONS OF SEVERE ASTHMA Nomenclature is important in severe asthma. One of the first definitions of ‘difficult asthma’ was made by the European Respiratory Society (ERS) task force.5 This definition was based on the number of exacerbations, severity of symptoms, doses of ICS, add-on medication and SABA. Following this, an American Thoracic Society (ATS) workshop established the term ‘refra...

chronization therapy. Cardiol Res Pract 2010;22:568918. 32. Porapakkham P, Porapakkham P, Zimmet H, Billah B, Krum H. B-type natriuretic peptide-guided heart failure therapy: a meta-analysis. Arch Intern Med 2010;170: 507–14. 33. Felker GM, Thompson RE, Hare JM, Hruban RH, Clemetson DE, Howard DL et al. Underlying causes and long-term survival in patients with initially unexplained cardiomyopat...

Organisms belonging to the genus Streptomyces produce numerous important secondary metabolites and undergo a sophisticated morphological differentiation program. In many instances these processes are under the control of gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) autoregulatory systems. Streptomyces acidiscabies strain 84.104 produces the secondary metabolite aromatic angucyclinone polyketide WS5995B. In order ...

Meta✶ is a generic process calculus that can be instantiated by supplying rewriting rules defining an operational semantics to make numerous process calculi such as the π-calculus, the system of Mobile Ambients, and many of their variants. Poly✶ is a generic type system that makes a sound type system with principal types and a type inference algorithm for any instantiation of Meta✶. This paper ...

Helicobacter pylori can cause peptic ulcer disease and/or gastric cancer. Adhesion of bacteria to the stomach mucosa is an important contributor to the vigour of infection and resulting virulence. H. pylori adheres primarily via binding of BabA adhesins to ABO/Lewis b (Leb) blood group antigens and the binding of SabA adhesins to sialyl-Lewis x/a (sLex/a) antigens. Similar to most Gram-negative...

Inefficient metered-dose inhaler (MDI) technique results in poor drug delivery, suboptimal disease control a possibility of inhaled medication overuse. The MDI technique of 134 government hospital and clinic followed-up adult asthmatic patients followed-up in a government hospital and a heath clinic was pragmatically assessed based on the 3 obligatory steps of adequate lip seal, appropriate han...

The ability of coral reefs to recover from natural and anthropogenic disturbance is difficult to predict, in part due to uncertainty regarding the dispersal capabilities and connectivity of their reef inhabitants. We developed microsatellite markers for the broadcast spawning gorgonian octocoral Eunicea (Plexaura) flexuosa (four markers) and its dinoflagellate symbiont, Symbiodinium B1 (five ma...

u in a a n in li h r la d c ta H T SUMMARY A self-answered, anonymously completed questionnaire survey was performed between June 2002 and May 2003 where doctors from government and private sectors in Malaysia were invited to participate by post or during medical meetings. One hundred and sixteen government doctors and 110 private doctors provided satisfactorily completed questionnaires (effect...