Does treatment guided by fractional exhaled nitric oxide improve outcomes in subgroups of children with asthma?

Introduction: Exhaled nitric oxide fraction (FENO), a biomarker of eosinophilic airway inflammation, may be useful to guide asthma treatment. FENO-guided treatment may be more effective in certain subgroups for improving asthma outcomes compared to standard treatment. Methods: An individual patient data analysis was performed using data from seven randomised clinical trials (RCTs) which used FENO to guide asthma treatment. The incidence of an asthma exacerbation and loss of control, and the time to first exacerbation and loss of control were described between five subgroups of RCT participants. Results: Data were available in 1112 RCT participants. Among those not treated with leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRA), but not among those who were treated with LTRA, FENO-guided treatment was associated with reduced exacerbation risk (OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.49–0.94), longer time to first exacerbation (hazard ratio (HR) 0.76, 95% CI 0.57–0.99) and borderline reduced risk for loss of control (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.49–1.00). Nonobese children, compared to obese children, were less likely to lose asthma control when treatment was guided by FENO (OR 0.69, 95% CI 0.48–0.99) and time to loss of control was longer (HR 0.77, 95% CI 0.61–0.99). Conclusions: Asthma treatment guided by FENO may be more effective in achieving better asthma outcomes for patients who are not treated with LTRA and who are not obese, compared to standard practice

Fast, Preisach-like characterization of hysteretic systems

Proposed is a substantially simplified, Preisach-like model for characterization of hysteretic systems, in particular magnetic systems. The main idea is to replace a two-dimensional Preisach density with just two real functions, describing in a {\em unique way} the reversible and irreversible processes. As a byproduct of our model we prove, that the major hysteresis loop alone is insufficient to produce the unique Preisach map. Keywords: magnetic hysteresis; magnetization processes; materials testing; modeling.Comment: 7 double spaced pages, 4 figures. Presented at 5th International Symposium on Hysteresis and Micromagnetic Modeling, Budapest, Hungary, May 30th - June 1st, 200

Transport and ageing: Extending quality of life for older people via public and private transport

Accessible public transport and the independence that comes with car driving are generally thought to be linked to quality of life in old age. However, there has been almost no research on this topic in the UK. This study by researchers from the University of Paisley and the University of East London used a multi-method approach to explore the relationship between quality of life and access to public and private transport. The study also examined the extent to which the transport needs of older people are taken into account by transport professionals

How Much Longer Will it Take? A Ten-year Review of the Implementation of United Nations General Assembly Resolutions 61/105, 64/72 and 66/68 on the Management of Bottom Fisheries in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2002 adopted the first in a series of resolutions regarding the conservation of biodiversity in the deep sea. Prompted by seriousconcerns raised by scientists, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and numerous States,these resolutions progressively committed States to act both individually and through regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs) to either manage bottom fisheries in areas beyond national jurisdiction to prevent significant adverse impacts on deep-sea species, ecosystems and biodiversity or else prohibit bottom fishing from taking place.Ten years have passed since the adoption of resolution 61/105 in 2006, calling on States to take a set of specific actions to manage bottom fisheries in areas beyond national jurisdiction to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) from the adverse impacts of bottom fishing and ensure the sustainability of deep-sea fish stocks. Despite the considerable progress by some RFMOs, there remain significant gaps in the implementation of key elements and commitments in the resolutions. The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC) has prepared this report to assist the UNGA in its review in 2016 and to address the following question: How effectively have the resolutions been implemented

Reversal-field memory in magnetic hysteresis

We report results demonstrating a singularity in the hysteresis of magnetic materials, the reversal-field memory effect. This effect creates a nonanalyticity in the magnetization curves at a particular point related to the history of the sample. The microscopic origin of the effect is associated with a local spin-reversal symmetry of the underlying Hamiltonian. We show that the presence or absence of reversal-field memory distinguishes two widely studied models of spin glasses (random magnets).Comment: 3 pages, 5 figures. Proceedings of "2002 MMM Conferece", Tampa, F

The bronchodilator response in preschool children: A systematic review

BACKGROUND: The bronchodilator response (BDR) is frequently used to support diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making for children who wheeze. However, there is little evidence-based guidance describing the role of BDR testing in preschool children and it is unclear whether published cut-off values, which are derived from adult data, can be applied to this population. METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases (inception-September 2015) for studies reporting response to a bronchodilator in healthy preschool children, response following placebo inhalation, and the diagnostic efficacy of BDR compared with a clinical diagnosis of asthma/recurrent wheezing. FINDINGS: We included 14 studies. Thirteen studies provided BDR data from healthy preschool children. Two studies reported response to placebo in preschool children with asthma/recurrent wheezing. Twelve studies compared BDR measurements from preschool children with asthma/recurrent wheeze to those from healthy children and seven of these studies reported diagnostic efficacy. Significant differences between the BDR measured in healthy preschool children compared with that in children with asthma/recurrent wheeze were demonstrated in some, but not all studies. Techniques such as interrupter resistance, oscillometry, and plethysmography were more consistently successfully completed than spirometry. Between study heterogeneity precluded determination of an optimum technique. INTERPRETATION: There is little evidence to suggest spirometry-based BDR can be used in the clinical assessment of preschool children who wheeze. Further evaluation of simple alternative techniques is required. Future studies should recruit children in whom airways disease is suspected and should evaluate the ability of BDR testing to predict treatment response

Solid State Physics

Contains reports on two research projects