Effects of Pollen Allergy on Pulmonary Function Tests

Background: To investigate the effect of high air-borne pollen count on respiratory system.Methods: This cross sectional (descriptive) study included sixty known asthmatics, of either sex and of all ages. Pollen count as per cubic meter was recorded daily during February to May as reported by meteorological department. History, clinical examination and lung function tests were recorded in each case. The Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) with pollen count of asthmatic patients was correlated.Results: The PFT of asthmatic patients were adversely affected significantly during pollen season. There was negative correlation of moderate strength with FEV1 in asthmatic patients with high air borne pollen count during the pollen season.Conclusion: Spirometry was shown to be an effective technique to study the pollen allergy problem in already asthmatic patient

The association between air travel and deep vein thrombosis: Systematic review & meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Air travel has been linked with the development of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) since the 1950s with a number of plausible explanations put forward for causation. No systematic review of the literature exploring this association has previously been published. METHODS: A comprehensive search was undertaken (Data bases searched were: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library) for studies that estimated both the incidence and the risk of DVT in air travellers relative to non-air travellers. RESULTS: In total 254 studies were identified but only six incidence studies and four risk studies met inclusion criteria justifying their use in a systematic review. Incidence of symptomatic DVT ranged from (0%) in one study to (0.28%) which was reported in pilots over ten years. The incidence of asymptomatic DVT ranged from (0%) to (10.34%). Pooled odds ratios for the two case control studies examining the risk of DVT following air travel were 1.11 (95% CI: 0.64–1.94). Pooled odds ratios for all models of travel including two studies of prolonged air travel (more than three hours) were 1.70 (95% CI: 0.89–3.22). CONCLUSION: We found no definitive evidence that prolonged (more than 3-hours) travel including air travel, increases the risk of DVT. There is evidence to suggest that flights of eight hours or more increase the risk of DVT if additional risk factors exist

A method for status determination and risk assessment of energy measures in historic buildings

Implementing energy efficiency measures in historic buildings is a challenging task and require knowledge in a number of different disciplines. The measures to reduce energy use must create a good indoor environment without jeopardizing the loss of important cultural historical values or entailing damages to building materials or load-bearing structures. Building antiquarian-, building biological- and building physical aspects are central, and must be taken into account in the entire process, from planning to implementation of energy update measures in historic buildings. This paper presents a methodology for status determination and risk assessment of energy measures in historic buildings. The method (KuReRA) has been developed in collaboration between curators, building biologists and building physicists

Combining three main modeling methodologies for building physics

An overall objective of energy efficiency in the built environment is to improve building and systems performances in terms of durability, comfort and economics. In order to predict, improve and meet a certain set of performance requirements related to the indoor climate of buildings and the associated energy demand, numerical simulation tools are indispensable. In the paper we consider three types of numerical simulation tools: Finite Element Method (FEM), Building Energy Simulation (BES) and State-Space (SS) together. Commonly used within these tools are zonal approaches of the volumes, assuming uniform temperatures in each zone, and 1D modeling of the walls. Due to the rapid development of Finite Element Method (FEM) software and Multiphysics approaches, it should possible to build and simulate full 3D models of buildings regarding the energy demand. Another application consists of Building Energy Simulation using State space models identified from free floating data. It is concluded that the main benefits of FEM-SS-BES modeling exchange is the possibility to simulate building energy performances with high spatial resolution and low computational duration times