Extrathoracic airway hyperresponsiveness as a mechanism of post infectious cough: case report

Post-infectious cough is a common diagnosis in people with chronic cough. However, the specific infectious aetiology and cough mechanisms are seldom identified

Revisiting and Confronting the Federal Judiciary Capacity “Crisis”: Charting a Path for Federal Judiciary Reform

[excerpt] This Article revisits and confronts the growing caseload and congestion problems plaguing the federal judiciary. It begins by tracing the history and political economy surrounding judiciary reform. It then updates data on caseloads, processing times, certiorari petitions, en banc review, and other measures of judicial performance, revealing expanding caseloads and growing complexity and fragmentation of federal law. Part III explores the political, institutional, and human causes of the logjam over judiciary reform and offers an antidote: a commission tasked with developing a judiciary reform act that would not go into effect until 2030. The “2030 Commission” members would not know the identity or party of the President or who controls the Senate. Furthermore, any federal judges involved in the process likely would have taken senior status or be retired by the time any reforms went into effect and thus presumably would be less concerned about how reform proposals might affect them personally. By delaying implementation, the 2030 Commission members would effectively work behind a veil of ignorance that would enable them to focus on the best interests of future generations of citizens (and judges and practitioners) while at the same time drawing upon their own experiences. The article concludes by outlining a judiciary reform agenda for the 2030 Commission

3D Printing and U.S. Copyright Law

This article explores how 3D printing fits within US copyright law. US copyright law provides a well-developed general framework for the protection of creative designs, whether fixed in CAD files or 3D objects. Enforcement of copyright protection in this industry faces some of the same challenges encountered by other content industries whose works were disrupted by the digital revolution. Nonetheless, 3D printing brings distinctive issues. Although grounded in statute, US copyright law has a rich common law tradition that affords courts significant leeway in adapting doctrines to new and unforeseen technological developments. This capacity is reinforced by the range of business strategies available for confronting appropriability challenges. Thus, this article surveys the 3D printing terrain on three levels: (I) copyrightability of CAD files and 3D objects; (II) enforcement challenges; and (III) business strategies. The ultimate governance regime will depend upon the business strategies that copyright owners and disruptive businesses pursue, the extent to which courts adapt copyright doctrines to new and unforeseen challenges, and the Copyright Office’s exemptions under the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions

Ineffectiveness in Teacher Bargaining: The Anatomy of a First Strike

Dans l'étude et la pratique de la négociation collective, on se heurte toujours à la possibilité d'une grève qui peut être potentiellement néfaste. Lorsque, de plus, les parties sont des novices dans l'art de négocier et qu'elles font face à un état de grève pour la première fois, il est probable qu'elles auront un comportement qui laisse à désirer et qui peut conduire à des résultats désastreux.Cette étude traite spécifiquement d'une « première grève » et propose une série de faits qui caractérisent de pareilles situations. Ces facteurs sont ensuite utilisés dans l'analyse des événements qui entourent une grève dans le secteur de l'enseignement où les deux parties, le syndicat et la commission scolaire, en étaient à leur première expérience.Lorsqu'il s'agit d'une première grève, on peut s'attendre à ce que, comparés à des négociateurs plus expérimentés, les responsables de la négociation soient (1) moins bien informés et plus hésitants, ce qui conduit à une perception moins nette des événements et à un comportement irrationnel; (2) qu'ils se montrent méfiants à l'endroit des autres parties; (3) qu'ils s'appuient sur des raisons émotives; (4) qu'ils adoptent une attitude défensive et agressive; (5) qu'ils optent pour des modes de communication inadéquats; (6) qu'ils aient recours à des aides professionnels moins compétents, ce qui a pour effet d'accroître les autres difficultés.L'examen de ce qui s'est passé au cours de cette grève d'enseignants a révélé que, d'une façon générale, le syndicat a subi des préjudices graves et inutiles comme résultat de sa décision de faire la grève, en obtenant qu'un petit peu plus que ce que lui avait offert la commission scolaire immédiatement avant la grève. Des communications réticentes et sélectives, alors que l'une et l'autre parties jouaient à cache-cache, le manque de conseils à la section locale de la part du siège social du syndicat, la négligence des dirigeants syndicaux à renseigner les membres sur des faits importants qui se rapportaient directement au conflit comme les offres salariales, des erreurs dans la stratégie de négociation qui ont placé le syndicat dans une situation désavantageuse, des attitudes de plus en plus émotives et agressives entre les parties au fur et à mesure que les négociations se poursuivaient, autant de faits qui ont caractérisé ces négociations. Le syndicat laissa passer la période la plus propice à la grève au commencement de l'automne au moment de l'ouverture des classes alors que la commission scolaire était moins prête à affronter la grève.La grève elle-même fut assez violente; elle a laissé de profonds ressentiments et une méfiance prolongée entre les parties. Les dirigeants syndicaux ont été emprisonnés une semaine pendant la grève. Les cours furent perturbés et les policiers furent forcés de maîtriser les grévistes. Les membres en général furent surpris par la dureté de la grève et par la fermeté de la commission scolaire à maintenir sa position. Le président de la commission scolaire remet peu après sa démission à cause d'animosité et de pressions sous forme d'appels téléphoniques outranciers, de lettres haineuses et d'altercation publique avec les membres du syndicat.Les événements et les expériences qui ont marqué cette grève diffèrent de la plupart des grèves d'enseignants qui ont été analysées jusqu'ici, ce qui indique que les premières grèves méritent une étude spéciale en tant que forme originale de conflits qui possèdent leurs caractéristiques et leurs dynamisme propres.On peut donc conclure que les parties à une première grève devraient se rendre compte de la probabilité plus forte des dangers dont il vient d'être question et qu'elles devraient mieux se préparer aux réalités de la négociation collective, se doter d'une aide professionnelle compétente, être prêtes à faire des compromis et être conscientes des effets prolongés de comportements néfastes pour les négociations futures.The objective of this paper is to identify characteristics which distinguish first strike situations from other strike actions. It is based on both collective bargaining and conflict resolution literature as well as the detailed analysis of a recent walkout by a public school teachers' union

Human Sprint Running Mechanics: Do Right and Left Legs Apply Equal Ground Forces?

Introduction: A growing body of research has focused on between-leg asymmetry as a critical factor for athletic performance and dysfunction. Specifically, various measures of between-leg asymmetry during running have been investigated in both healthy and injured populations. However, while the most important factor for running performance is the magnitude and rate of ground force application, it is not known whether the right and left legs typically apply equal ground forces at faster running speeds. Objective: In a healthy population of athletic female participants, we aimed to: 1) compare the mechanics of ground force application between right and left legs during moderate and top speed running, and 2) evaluate if the right vs. left leg asymmetries observed at intermediate speeds are more pronounced at faster speeds. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that the forces applied by the right and left legs of healthy athletes would agree to within 10% or less at both moderate and top speed. Participants: Nine female intercollegiate soccer players volunteered for the study (age: 19.4 ± 1.0 years, height: 1.72 ± 0.04 m, mass: 69.0 ± 7.2 kg). Data Collection: Ground force data was acquired at 1,000 Hz using a custom high-speed, three-axis force treadmill (AMTI, Watertown, MA). Data was analyzed for trials at 5.0 m•s-1 and each individual’s top speed. Top speed was defined as the fastest speed where the participant could complete eight consecutive steps on the treadmill without drifting backward more than 0.2 m. Outcome Measures: Ground contact time, vertical force, and vertical impulse were analyzed. Vertical force was normalized to body weight (Wb) and vertical impulse was calculated in body weight • seconds (Wb•s). For all trials, these variables were averaged for right vs. left footfalls, and percentage difference was calculated to quantify between-leg asymmetry. Results: Top speeds ranged from 7.21 to 8.26 m•s-1 (7.83 ± 0.38 m•s-1). At 5.0 m•s-1, the mean between-leg asymmetry was 2.3 ± 1.2 % for ground contact time, 1.9 ± 1.3 % for vertical force, and 2.3 ± 1.9 % for vertical impulse. At top speed, the mean between-leg asymmetry was 3.5 ± 2.8 % for ground contact time, 5.5 ± 3.0 % for vertical force, and 8.3 ± 4.8 % for vertical impulse. Conclusions: We conclude that the right and left legs apply ground force similarly during moderate and top-speed sprint running in healthy female athletes

Radiative cooling in collisionally and photo ionized plasmas

We discuss recent improvements in the calculation of the radiative cooling in both collisionally and photo ionized plasmas. We are extending the spectral simulation code Cloudy so that as much as possible of the underlying atomic data is taken from external databases, some created by others, some developed by the Cloudy team. This paper focuses on recent changes in the treatment of many stages of ionization of iron, and discusses its extensions to other elements. The H-like and He-like ions are treated in the iso-electronic approach described previously. Fe II is a special case treated with a large model atom. Here we focus on Fe III through Fe XXIV, ions which are important contributors to the radiative cooling of hot, 1e5 to 1e7 K, plasmas and for X-ray spectroscopy. We use the Chianti atomic database to greatly expand the number of transitions in the cooling function. Chianti only includes lines that have atomic data computed by sophisticated methods. This limits the line list to lower excitation, longer wavelength, transitions. We had previously included lines from the Opacity Project database, which tends to include higher energy, shorter wavelength, transitions. These were combined with various forms of the g-bar approximation, a highly approximate method of estimating collision rates. For several iron ions the two databases are almost entirely complementary. We adopt a hybrid approach in which we use Chianti where possible, supplemented by lines from the Opacity Project for shorter wavelength transitions. The total cooling including the lightest thirty elements differs significantly from some previous calculations

The incidence and effects of ingested plastic in seabirds

This thesis comprises two major sections: an assessment of the incidence of plastic particles at sea and in seabirds {Chapters 1-3), and an investigation of the postulated effects of plastic ingestion on seabirds (Chapters 4-7). The incidence of plastic at sea was recorded from neuston trawls performed monthly at 120 sampling stations off the southwestern Cape, South Africa, during 1977-78. The types of plastic particles collected are described, and the temporal and spatial distribution patterns of plastic pollution are discussed. Ingested plastic was recorded from 36 of 60 seabird species sampled. The effect of different sampling techniques on the incidence of plastic is discussed. The frequencies of occurrence of plastic colour-types in birds are compared with those of particles collected at sea in neuston trawls. Pale particles were under-represented in all species, but the disparity was less for small than for large species, which may account for the higher incidence of ingested plastic in small than in large species

A general relationship links gait mechanics and running ground reaction forces

The relationship between gait mechanics and running ground reaction forces is widely regarded as complex. This viewpoint has evolved primarily via efforts to explain the rising edge of vertical force– time waveforms observed during slow human running. Existing theoretical models do provide good rising-edge fits, but require more than a dozen input variables to sum the force contributions of four or more vague components of the body’s total mass (mb). Here, we hypothesized that the force contributions of two discrete body mass components are sufficient to account for vertical ground reaction force– time waveform patterns in full (stance foot and shank, m1=0.08mb; remaining mass, m2=0.92mb). We tested this hypothesis directly by acquiring simultaneous limb motion and ground reaction force data across a broad range of running speeds (3.0–11.1 m s−1 ) from 42 subjects who differed in body mass (range: 43–105 kg) and foot-strike mechanics. Predicted waveforms were generated from our two-mass model using body mass and three stride-specific measures: contact time, aerial time and lower limb vertical acceleration during impact. Measured waveforms (N=500) differed in shape and varied by more than twofold in amplitude and duration. Nonetheless, the overall agreement between the 500 measured waveforms and those generated independently by the model approached unity (R2 =0.95 ±0.04, mean±s.d.), with minimal variation across the slow, medium and fast running speeds tested (ΔR2 ≤0.04), and between rear-foot (R2 =0.94±0.04, N=177) versus fore-foot (R2 =0.95±0.04, N=323) strike mechanics. We conclude that the motion of two anatomically discrete components of the body’s mass is sufficient to explain the vertical ground reaction force–time waveform patterns observed during human running

Chronic cough and laryngeal dysfunction improve with specific treatment of cough and paradoxical vocal fold movement

Rationale: Chronic persistent cough can be associated with laryngeal dysfunction that leads to symptoms such as dysphonia, sensory hyperresponsiveness to capsaicin, and motor dysfunction with paradoxical vocal fold movement and variable extrathoracic airflow obstruction (reduced inspiratory airflow). Successful therapy of chronic persistent cough improves symptoms and sensory hyperresponsiveness. The effects of treatment for chronic cough on laryngeal dysfunction are not known. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate effects of therapy for chronic cough and paradoxical vocal fold movement. Methods: Adults with chronic cough (n = 24) were assessed before and after treatment for chronic persistent cough by measuring quality of life, extrathoracic airway hyperresponsiveness to hypertonic saline provocation, capsaicin cough reflex hypersensitivity and fibreoptic laryngoscopy to observe paradoxical vocal fold movement. Subjects with chronic cough were classified into those with (n = 14) or without (n = 10) paradoxical vocal fold movement based on direct observation at laryngoscopy. Results: Following treatment there was a significant improvement in cough related quality of life and cough reflex sensitivity in both groups. Subjects with chronic cough and paradoxical vocal fold movement also had additional improvements in extrathoracic airway hyperresponsiveness and paradoxical vocal fold movement. The degree of improvement in cough reflex sensitivity correlated with the improvement in extrathoracic airway hyperresponsiveness. Conclusion: Laryngeal dysfunction is common in chronic persistent cough, where it is manifest as paradoxical vocal fold movement and extrathoracic airway hyperresponsiveness. Successful treatment for chronic persistent cough leads to improvements in these features of laryngeal dysfunction

Strategies for improving mental health and wellbeing used by adults ageing with HIV from the Kenyan coast: a qualitative exploration

Background: Physical and mental health problems are common among older adults living with HIV (OALWH). Adaptive coping strategies play a vital role in improving these adults\u27 mental health and well-being despite the deleterious effects of HIV and ageing. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, limited evidence exists on the commonly utilized coping strategies in this population. We explore the coping strategies used by Kenyan OALWH to improve their mental health and wellbeing. Methods: Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted between October and December 2019 with 56 participants: 34 OALWH (53% female), 11 healthcare providers (63% female) and 11 primary caregivers (73% female) in Kilifi County. All interviews were audiorecorded and transcribed verbatim. We used the framework approach to synthesize the qualitative data. Results: Five major themes emerged from the analysis of participants’ narratives, including self-care practices, religion and spirituality, relational living (social connectedness), generativity, identity, and mastery. Our study further revealed maladaptive coping strategies, including reliance on over-the-counter medications, self-isolation, waiting to see if symptoms would subside despite doing nothing, and HIV treatment interruptions during prolonged periods of prayer and fasting. Conclusions: Our findings provide an initial understanding of the coping strategies used by OALWH to confront HIV and ageing challenges in a low-literacy, low socio-economic Kenyan setting. Our results suggest that interventions designed to enhance personal capacity, social support, positive religiosity and spirituality, and intergenerational connections may be beneficial in improving the mental health and well-being of OALWH