The Effect of Passive Smoking on Asthma Symptoms, Atopy, and Airway Hyperresponsiveness in Schoolchildren

Passive smoking is a major cause of respiratory morbidity, and is associated with increased bronchial responsiveness in children. To evaluate the effect of smoking by a parent on asthma symptoms, atopy, and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), we conducted a cross-sectional survey of 503 schoolchildren that involved questionnaires, spirometry, allergy testing, and a bronchial challenge test. If the PC20 methacholine was less than 16 mg/mL, the subject was considered to have AHR. The prevalence of a parent who smoked was 68.7%. The prevalence of AHR was 45.0%. The sensitization rate to common inhalant allergens was 32.6%. Nasal symptoms such as rhinorrhea, sneezing, nasal itching, and nasal obstruction were present in 42.7%. Asthma symptoms such as cough and wheezing were present in 55.4%. The asthma symptoms were significantly more prevalent in children who had a parent who smoked than in those whose parents did not. The nasal symptoms, atopy, and AHR did not differ according to whether a parent smoked. In a multiple logistic regression model, the asthma symptoms and atopy were independently associated with AHR, when adjusted for confounding variables. Passive smoking contributed to asthma symptoms in schoolchildren and was not an independent risk factor of airway hyperresponsiveness in an epidemiological survey

A vessel management expert system

A unified collision avoidance system is proposed to improve the efficiency and safety of marine transport, namely maritime avoidance navigation, totally integrated system (MANTIS). The principle behind its operation is to remove the difficulties and uncertainties involved in marine navigation through a system structure that makes marine transport deterministic rather than uncertain. Fundamental to its operation is a strategic interactive expert system that can determine safe and efficient navigation routes for all vessels as part of journey planning and en route collision avoidance. An important requirement is to take account of non-navigable areas, collision regulations, ship characteristics, sea state and sensor accuracy during evaluation. An outline of the MANTIS infrastructure is given, followed by a description of the vessel management system (VMES). Simulation results exemplify the significance of the system for future exploitation