Bronchoalveolar lavage in occupational lung diseases

Occupational lung diseases (OLDs) are related to the exposure and inhalation of organic, inorganic, and synthetic particles, fumes, gases, or infectious agents. From the long list of OLDs this article focuses the discussion on bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in parenchymal immunoinflammatory conditions, such as hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) and pneumoconiosis. Several antigens may cause HP, including products of plant or animal origin, aerosolized microorganisms, and organic chemicals. BAL is used not only to assess the pathogenesis of these diseases but also to identify the typical pattern of intense lymphocytic alveolitis, usually with a CD4:CD8 ratio below normal and frequently with the presence of mast cells, plasma cells, and foamy macrophages. Pneumoconioses are chronic interstitial lung diseases caused by the inhalation of mineral and metallic inorganic particles/dusts in an occupational setting, showing a decreasing prevalence in recent years. BAL is a useful tool not only to express the complex pathogenic mechanisms of these entities but also in excluding other diagnoses and causes of alveolitis, and to document specific exposures, such as the identification of asbestos bodies (ABs) in asbestosis or the proliferative response of BAL lymphocytes to beryllium in chronic beryllium disease (CBD)

Challenges facing management and development of tourism in the Eden District, South Africa

The importance of a tourism policy and the extent of delivery cannot be underscored if tourism is considered as a driver of economic development. Its linkage to mainstream activities as listed under the Eden Integrated Development Plan as mandated by the national Constitution sets out the focus on tourism policy. How it is conceptualised by decision-makers has a significant effect on management and ultimately policy development and delivery. The low status of understanding tourism is reflected in the level of engagement which refers to the manner in which decisions are taken. Tourism, because of the low budget allocation and the lack of clarity about its nature and interests, is currently labelled as the Cinderella of service delivery. This study is significant to establish the challenges facing developmental local government in the Eden District in South Africa with a comparative analysis of their engagement in tourism development. It identifies areas of excellence as well as these areas requiring further consideration. It also provides a clearer understanding of where the issues, priorities and opportunities are located for Local Government in relation to tourism. The study followed a quantitative research technique and questionnaires were used to gather primary data from the selected leader town municipalities in the Eden District Municipality. The results of the study showed that there is a general absence of proper management of tourism within the selected local municipalities

A comparison between body weight-supported treadmill training and conventional over-ground training in dogs with incomplete spinal cord injury

Research Areas: Veterinary SciencesIn human medicine there was no evidence registered of a significant difference in recovery between body weight-supported treadmill training (BWSTT) and conventional over-ground (COGI). There isn’t any similar study in veterinary medicine. Thus, this study aimed to compare the locomotor recovery obtained in incomplete SCI (T11–L3 Hansen type I) post-surgical dogs following BWSTT or COGI protocols, describing their evolution during 7 weeks in regard to OFS classifications. At admission, dogs were blindly randomized in two groups but all were subjected to the same protocol (underwater treadmill training) for the first 2 weeks. After, they were divided in the BWSTT group (n = 10) and the COGI group (n = 10) for the next 2 weeks, where they performed different training. In both groups locomotor training was accompanied by functional electrical stimulation (FES) protocols. Results reported statistically significant differences between all OFS evaluations time-points (p < 0.001) and between the two groups (p < 0.001). In particular with focus on T1 to T3 a two-way repeated measures ANOVA was performed and similar results were obtained (p = 0.007). Functional recovery was achieved in 90% (17/19) of all dogs and 100% recovered bladder function. The BWSTT group showed 100% (10/10) recovery within a mean time of 4.6 weeks, while the COGI group had 78% (7/9) within 6.1 weeks. Therefore, BWSTT leads to a faster recovery with a better outcome in general.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Treatable Traits in COPD - A Proposed Approach

The well-recognized individual heterogeneity within COPD patients has led to a growing interest in greater personalization in the approach of these patients. Thus, the treatable traits strategy has been proposed as a further step towards precision medicine in the management of chronic airway disease, both in stable phase and acute exacerbations. The aim of this paper is to perform a critical review on the treatable traits strategy and propose a guide to approach COPD patients in the light of this new concept. An innovative stepwise approach is proposed - a multidisciplinary model based on two distinct phases, with the potential to be implemented in both primary care and hospital settings. The first phase is the initial and focused assessment of a selected subset of treatable traits, which should be addressed in all COPD patients in both settings (primary care and hospital). As some patients may present with advanced disease at diagnosis or may progress despite this initial treatment requiring a more specialized assessment, they should progress to a second phase, in which a broader approach is recommended. Beyond stable COPD, we explore how the treatable traits strategy may be applied to reduce the risk of future exacerbations and improve the management of COPD exacerbations. Since many treatable traits have already been related to exacerbation risk, the strategy proposed here represents an opportunity to be proactive. Although it still lacks prospective validation, we believe this is the way forward for the future of the COPD approach.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effect of the dog positioning on X-ray table on hip dysplasia parameter evaluation

Research Areas: Veterinary Sciences; ZoologyABSTRACT - Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of pelvic tilting along the long axis and femoral rotation on Norberg angle (NA), subluxation index (SI) and subluxation category (SC) in the standard ventrodorsal hip extended (VDHE) radiographical view on live animals. Study Type This was a retrospective clinical study. Materials and Methods Pairs of VDHE views, one adequately positioned and the other with pelvic tilting or femoral internal or external rotation, were compared for the NA, SI and SC. Results On the malpositioned pelvis set, on the underside the mean +/- SD NA was 98.7 +/- 6.1 degrees, the SI was 0.27 +/- 0.12 and the SC was 2.8 +/- 0.8 versus, on the acceptable set, the NA was 99.2 +/- 6.4 degrees ( p > 0.05), the SI was 0.25 +/- 0.12 ( p 0.05). Conclusions In clinical practice, pelvic tilting along the long axis in VDHE view results in non-favourable hip changes in the NA, SI and SC on the underside and favourable on the upperside, and the internal or external femoral rotation did not affect these variables.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Constraining General Two Higgs Doublet Models by the Evolution of Yukawa Couplings

We study how general two Higgs doublet models can be constrained by considering their properties under renormalization group evolution of the Yukawa couplings. We take into account both the appearance of a Landau pole as well as off-diagonal Yukawa couplings leading to flavour changing neutral currents in violation with experimental constraints at the electroweak scale. We find that the latter condition can be used to limit the amount of Z2 symmetry breaking allowed in a given model.Comment: 28 pages, 10 figures, added discussion of evolution from high to low scales, to be published in JHE

GABA deficiency in NF1: a multimodal [11C]-Flumazenil and spectroscopy study

Objective: To provide a comprehensive investigation of the GABA system in patients with Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) that allows understanding the nature of the GABA imbalance in humans at pre- and post-synaptic levels. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we employed multimodal imaging and spectroscopy measures to investigate GABAA receptor binding, using [11C]- Flumazenil positron emission tomography (PET), and GABA concentration, using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). 14 adult patients with NF1 and 13 matched controls were included in the study. MRS was performed in the occipital cortex and in a frontal region centered in the functionally localized frontal-eye fields. PET and MRS acquisitions were performed in the same day. Results: Patients with NF1 have reduced concentration of GABA+ in the occipital cortex (P = 0.004) and frontal-eye fields (P = 0.026). PET results showed decreased binding of GABAA receptors in patients in the parietooccipital cortex, midbrain and thalamus, which are not explained by decreased grey matter levels. Conclusions: Abnormalities in the GABA system in NF1 involve both GABA concentration and GABAA receptor density suggestive of neurodevelopmental synaptopathy with both pre- and post-synaptic involvement

Higgs-mediated FCNCs: Natural Flavour Conservation vs. Minimal Flavour Violation

We compare the effectiveness of two hypotheses, Natural Flavour Conservation (NFC) and Minimal Flavour Violation (MFV), in suppressing the strength of flavour-changing neutral-currents (FCNCs) in models with more than one Higgs doublet. We show that the MFV hypothesis, in its general formulation, is more stable in suppressing FCNCs than the hypothesis of NFC alone when quantum corrections are taken into account. The phenomenological implications of the two scenarios are discussed analysing meson-antimeson mixing observables and the rare decays B -> mu+ mu-. We demonstrate that, introducing flavour-blind CP phases, two-Higgs doublet models respecting the MFV hypothesis can accommodate a large CP-violating phase in Bs mixing, as hinted by CDF and D0 data and, without extra free parameters, soften significantly in a correlated manner the observed anomaly in the relation between epsilon_K and S_psi_K.Comment: 27 pages, 4 figures. v3: minor modifications (typos corrected and few refs. added), conclusions unchanged; journal versio

The influence of muscles activation on the dynamical behaviour of the tympano-ossicular system of the middle ear

The human ear is a complex biomechanical system and is divided into three parts: outer, middle and inner ear. The middle ear is formed by ossicles (malleus, incus and stapes), ligaments, muscles and tendons, which transfers sound vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear, linking with mastoid and Eustachian tube. In this work, a finite element modelling of the tympano-ossicular system of the middle ear was developed. A dynamic study based on a structural response to harmonic vibrations, for a sound pressure level (SPL) of 110, 120 and 130 dB SPL applied in the eardrum, is presented. The connection between the ossicles is made using a contact formulation. The model includes the different ligaments considering its hyperelastic behaviour. The activation of the muscles is based on the constitutive model proposed by previous work. The harmonic responses of displacement and pressure obtained on the stapes footplate, for a frequency range between 100 Hz and 10 kHz, are obtained simulating the muscle activation. The results are compared considering the passive and active states. The results are discussed and they are in accordance with audiological data published with reference to the effects of the middle ear muscles contraction