Effectiveness of Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Patients with COPD

Background: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is beneficial for patients with COPD, with improvement in exercise capacity and health-related quality of life. Despite these overall benefits, the responses to PR vary significantly among different individuals. It is not clear if PR is beneficial for patients with COPD and normal exercise capacity. Although it is believed that longer pulmonary rehabilitation programs can provide better results, most of the evidence comes from short-term programs. Objective: The objective of this analysis was to determine the effectiveness of respiratory services provided in the hospital or community by respiratory therapists (RTs) in reducing health care utilization and improving patient outcomes. The aim was to evaluate the outcomes of a comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Methodology: All 65 Pakistani patients who met the inclusion criteria with ages between 40 to 65 years, including both male and female, with mild to severe COPD were enrolled in the study on the basis of convenient sampling. Informed consent was taken from each patient starting about the study and their rights to withdraw from study. A demographics detail (name, age, sex) was noted along with the necessary medical history. A questionnaire was made to see the effects of pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with COPD. All necessary tests were performed to evaluate the patient betterment completely. Results: The mean FEV1 in the subjects was 1.29 ± 0.47 L/min, 64.8 ± 23.0% of predicted. Clinically there is a little effect on CXR pattern, FEV1 and FEV1/FVC after pulmonary rehabilitation. But overall quality of life improved after pulmonary rehabilitation. Mainly improvement occurs in peak expiratory flow rate, BORG dyspnea scale, 6 mint walk test distance (meters) and Oxygen saturation after rehabilitation. Conclusion: These results showed that patients with COPD had benefited from a comprehensive PR program in an out-patient setting regardless of disease severity. Exercise training can result in significant improvement in health-related quality of life, exercise capacity, respiratory muscle strength, and exertional dyspnea in subjects with COPD and normal exercise capacity

The dark side of phubbing in the workplace: Investigating the role of intrinsic motivation and the use of enterprise social media (ESM) in a cross-cultural setting

Despite the increasing phenomena of supervisor phubbing (a counterproductive workplace behaviour of managers), very few studies have explored its outcomes in organisations. This study aims to bridge this gap by investigating the relationships between supervisor phubbing and key employee outcomes. We conducted two studies in cross-cultural settings. In Study 1, which was conducted in Pakistan (a collectivistic culture), we collected 370 useable responses through an online survey from the employees working in the service sector organisations. Study 2, which was conducted in the United States of America (an individualistic culture), utilised the Prolific data collection service to gather 352 responses. Our results from both studies reveal that supervisor phubbing is negatively related to employee job performance and work engagement via intrinsic motivation. Further, enterprise social media (ESM) usage in organisations moderates the relationships between supervisor phubbing and its outcomes such that these relationships are weaker for employees whose ESM usage is higher. Our work offers significant contributions to the literature on technology use at workplace as it discusses a counterproductive workplace behaviour of managers (phubbing) and that behaviour’s association with key employee outcomes in organisations while also considering the moderating role of ESM usage in organisations

Isoflavones-Based Liposome Formulations as Anti-Aging for Skincare

Isoflavones commonly found in plants such as soya and red clover express many health benefits including skin healing and anti-aging properties. The capacity to counteract aging is due to isoflavones being both anti-oxidants as well as phytoestrogens, hence preventing both extrinsic as well as intrinsic aging processes. In skincare formulations their effects could be enhanced with the aid of advanced delivery systems. Isoflavones from soya bean source has successfully been incorporated into liposomes and further used in commercially available anti-aging creams. However different plants vary in isoflavone composition. Red clover isoflavones express less affinity for the estrogen receptor whilst simultaneously containing isoflavone structures that should be easier to encapsulate in liposome vehicles compared to soya bean derived isoflavones. If liposome entrapped isoflavones could successfully be obtained, the novel liposome could have a visible effect on the skin and reduce the visible adverse outcomes of aging and moreover be advantageous in terms of endocrinological safety and/or have a higher efficiency of delivering active when compared to the currently available products on the market

Deeper Chandra Follow-up of Cygnus TeV Source Perpetuates Mystery

A 50 ksec Chandra observation of the unidentified TeV source in Cygnus reported by the HEGRA collaboration reveals no obvious diffuse X-ray counterpart. However, 240 Pointlike X-ray sources are detected within or nearby the extended TeV J2032+4130 source region, of which at least 36 are massive stars and 2 may be radio emitters. That the HEGRA source is a composite, having as counterpart the multiple point-like X-ray sources we observe, cannot be ruled out. Indeed, the distribution of point-like X-ray sources appears non-uniform and concentrated broadly within the extent of the TeV source region. We offer a hypothesis for the origin of the very high energy gamma-ray emission in Cyg OB2 based on the local acceleration of TeV range cosmic rays and the differential distribution of OB vs. less massive stars in this association.Comment: Substantially revised version; incorporates referee suggestions & expanded discussio

Chandra X-ray Observatory Arcsecond Imaging of the Young, Oxygen-rich Supernova Remnant 1E0102.2-7219

We present observations of the young, Oxygen-rich supernova remnant 1E0102.2-7219 taken by the Chandra X-ray Observatory during Chandra's Orbital Activation and Checkout phase. The boundary of the blast wave shock is clearly seen for the first time, allowing the diameter of the remnant and the mean blast wave velocity to be determined accurately. The prominent X-ray bright ring of material may be the result of the reverse shock encountering ejecta; the radial variation of O VII vs. O VIII emission indicates an ionizing shock propagating inwards, possibly through a strong density gradient in the ejecta. We compare the X-ray emission to Australia Telescope Compact Array 6 cm radio observations (Amy and Ball) and to archival Hubble Space Telescope [O III] observations. The ring of radio emission is predominantly inward of the outer blast wave, consistent with an interpretation as synchrotron radiation originating behind the blast wave, but outward of the bright X-ray ring of emission. Many (but not all) of the prominent optical filaments are seen to correspond to X-ray bright regions. We obtain an upper limit of ~9e33 erg/s (3 sigma) on any potential pulsar X-ray emission from the central region.Comment: Accepted for pulication in Ap. J. Letters. 4 pages, 6 figures (one color figure). Formatted with emulateapj5. Revised to incorporate copyediting changes. High-resolution postscript (3.02MB) and tiff versions of the color figure are available from http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cycle1/0015multi/index.htm

Influence of Bilayer Thickness on Mechanical and Tribological Properties of (Ti-Al)N/MoN Nanostructured Hard Coatings Deposited by Cathodic Arc Ion Plating

Funding Information: This scientific work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant Nos. 12305328 and 12375285 and by the Shenzhen Municipal Committee on Science and Technology Innovation under grant No. JCYJ20220530140605011. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.Deposition of (Ti-Al)N/MoN multilayered coatings was carried out through a cathodic ion-plating system in an argon and then nitrogen atmosphere. Bilayer thickness (Λ) of all the samples were achieved, from 22 to 104 nm, by organizing substrate holder rotational speed (SRS). To obtain the optimum properties of the (Ti-Al)N/MoN coatings, the Ti and Al ratio was maintained at a level of 1:1. X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Raman spectroscopy were utilized to analyze the crystal structure and morphology of the coatings. Mechanical and tribological properties were examined by nanohardness and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The preferred orientation of the (Ti-Al)N/MoN nanoscale multilayer films was TiAlN (200) and MoN (200), which had face centered cubic (fcc) and hexagonal structures, respectively. The hardness increased with the decrease in Λ (104 nm to 26 nm), and then it increased. The highest hardness of 37 GPa was revealed at Λ = 26 nm, whereas the least wear rate of 8.09 × 10−7 mm3/N.m was attained at Λ = 22 nm. Wear rate, roughness, and coefficient of friction were decreased with decreasing bilayer period. EDS results showed that Al and Ti contents were almost the same in all samples, as per design of the experiment.publishersversionpublishe

Autonomous/controlled travel motivations and their effect on travel intentions of Indian Millennials: a mixed method approach

With the self-determination theory (SDT) as grounding, the current study uses qualitative investigation with twenty-five respondents and a two-stage quantitative validation with 782 respondents, to propose seven travel motivations for Indian millennials. These motivations are knowledge-seeking, escape, sense of accomplishment, experience stimulation, social relationships, destination rewards, and social media compulsion. These motivations are mapped to specific regulations in the SDT and organized into autonomous and controlled motivations. Both autonomous and controlled motivations have a significant impact on travel intentions. A judgemental sample of Indian millennials is drawn from the eligible client-list of a prominent tourism agency used as the sampling frame. The study guides destination managers to position their destinations aligned with the motivations that drive Indian millennials to travel

COMPARATIVE EFFICACY OF HYPERTONIC SALINE AND NORMAL SALINE SOLUTIONS IN EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCED ENDOTOXIC SHOCK IN DOGS

This study was contemplated to determine the comparative beneficial effects of hypertonic saline solution and sterile saline solution in induced endotoxic shock in dogs. For this purpose, 12 healthy Mongrel dogs were randomly divided into two equal groups (A and B). All the animals were induced endotoxaemia by slow intravenous administration of Escherichia coli endotoxins 0111:B4. Group A was treated with normal saline solution @ 90 ml/kg BW, while group B was given hypertonic saline solution @ 4 ml/kg BW, followed by normal saline solution @ 10 ml/kg BW. Different parameters were observed for evaluation of these fluids including clinical and haematological parameters, serum electrolytes, mean arterial pressure, and blood gases at different time intervals up to 24 hours post treatments. After infusion of respective fluids, all parameters returned to baseline values in both the groups but group B showed better results than group A except bicarbonates, which better recovered in group A. Thus, it was concluded that a small-volume of hypertonic saline solution could be effectively used in reversing the endotoxaemia. Moreover, it provides a rapid and inexpensive resuscitation from endotoxic shock

Supplemental chromium-loaded chitosan nanoparticles affect growth, serum metabolites and intestinal histology in broilers

The goal of the present research was to evaluate the effects of chromium-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (Cr-CNPs) on production performance, viscera development, serum metabolites and intestinal histology in broilers. Two hundred (200) day-old broilers were randomly divided into five groups with five replicates (n = 8). Birds in the first group served as control and were fed a corn soybean-based diet, while the remaining four supplemented groups were offered 200, 400, 800, and 1200 μg Cr-CNPs/kg of feed, respectively, for 35 days. Weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio (FCR) remained unaffected with Cr-CNP supplementation. No changes were observed in the relative weights of viscera. The relative length of the small intestine was decreased in birds supplemented with 200 and 800 μg Cr-CNPs/kg compared with the 1200 μg Cr-CNP-supplemented group and control. Serum metabolites remained unaffected with Cr-CNP supplementation except for serum HDL, which was increased. Cr-CNPs decreased the retention of chromium in the bone at higher concentrations. Jejunal villus height, villus surface area, and villus height to crypt depth ratio were increased in the 800 μg Cr-CNP-supplemented group. In conclusion, Cr-CNPs did not affect growth performance, viscera development, and most of the serum metabolites, but enhanced jejunal morphological attributes at 800 μg Cr-CNPs/kg of feed. Keywords: blood biochemistry, health, nano-biotechnology, prebiotics, poultry, trace minera