160 research outputs found
Acute viral bronchiolitis in South Africa : diagnostic flow
Bronchiolitis may be diagnosed on the basis of clinical signs and symptoms. In a young child, the diagnosis can be made on the clinical
pattern of wheezing and hyperinflation.
Clinical symptoms and signs typically start with an upper respiratory prodrome, including rhinorrhoea, low-grade fever, cough and poor
feeding, followed 1 - 2 days later by tachypnoea, hyperinflation and wheeze as a consequence of airway inflammation and air trapping.
The illness is generally self limiting, but may become more severe and include signs such as grunting, nasal flaring, subcostal chest wall
retractions and hypoxaemia. The most reliable clinical feature of bronchiolitis is hyperinflation of the chest, evident by loss of cardiac
dullness on percussion, an upper border of the liver pushed down to below the 6th intercostal space, and the presence of a Hoover sign
(subcostal recession, which occurs when a flattened diaphragm pulls laterally against the lower chest wall).
Measurement of peripheral arterial oxygen saturation is useful to indicate the need for supplemental oxygen. A saturation of <92% at
sea level and 90% inland indicates that the child has to be admitted to hospital for supplemental oxygen. Chest radiographs are generally
unhelpful and not required in children with a clear clinical diagnosis of bronchiolitis.
Blood tests are not needed routinely. Complete blood count tests have not been shown to be useful in diagnosing bronchiolitis or guiding
its therapy. Routine measurement of C-reactive protein does not aid in management and nasopharyngeal aspirates are not usually done.
Viral testing adds little to routine management.
Risk factors in patients with severe bronchiolitis that require hospitalisation and may even cause death, include prematurity, congenital
heart disease and congenital lung malformations.http://www.samj.org.zaam2016Paediatrics and Child Healt
Acute viral bronchiolitis in South Africa : viral aetiology and clinical epidemiology
Bronchiolitis is a viral-induced lower respiratory tract infection that occurs predominantly in children <2 years of age, particularly infants.
Many viruses have been proven or attributed to cause bronchiolitis, including and most commonly the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
and rhinovirus. RSV is responsible for more severe disease and complications (including hospitalisation) in bronchiolitis patients. Whereas
bronchiolitis is exclusively due to respiratory viral infections, with little evidence of bacterial co-infection, the former could nevertheless
predispose to superimposed bacterial infections. Although data support an interaction between RSV and pneumococcal superimposed
infections, it should be noted that this specifically refers to children who are hospitalised with RSV-associated pneumonia, and not to
children with bronchiolitis or milder outpatient RSV-associated illness. As such, empiric antibiotic treatment against pneumococcus in
children with RSV-associated pneumonia is only warranted in cases of hospitalisation and when the clinical syndrome is more in keeping
with pneumonia than uncomplicated bronchiolitis. In South Africa, the peak in the RSV season varies only slightly by province, with onset
in February, and lasting until June. The important implication of these new seasonality findings is that where prophylaxis is possible, as in
the case of RSV, it should be commenced in January of each year.http://www.samj.org.zaam2016Paediatrics and Child Healt
Acute viral bronchiolitis in South Africa : strategies for management and prevention
Management of acute viral bronchiolitis is largely supportive. There is currently no proven effective therapy other than oxygen for hypoxic
children. The evidence indicates that there is no routine benefit from inhaled, rapid short-acting bronchodilators, adrenaline or ipratropium
bromide for children with acute viral bronchiolitis. Likewise, there is no demonstrated benefit from routine use of inhaled or oral corticosteroids,
inhaled hypertonic saline nebulisation, montelukast or antibiotics. The last should be reserved for children with severe disease, when bacterial
co-infection is suspected.
Prevention of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease remains a challenge. A specific RSV monoclonal antibody, palivizumab,
administered as an intramuscular injection, is available for children at risk of severe bronchiolitis, including premature infants, young
children with chronic lung disease, immunodeficiency, or haemodynamically significant congenital heart disease. Prophylaxis should be
commenced at the start of the RSV season and given monthly during the season. The development of an RSV vaccine may offer a more
effective alternative to prevent disease, for which the results of clinical trials are awaited.
Education of parents or caregivers and healthcare workers about diagnostic and management strategies should include the following:
bronchiolitis
is caused by a virus; it is seasonal; it may start as an upper respiratory tract infection with low-grade fever; symptoms are cough
and wheeze, often with fast breathing; antibiotics are generally not needed; and the condition is usually self limiting, although symptoms
may occur for up to 4 weeks in some children.http://www.samj.org.zaam2016Paediatrics and Child Healt
The dual parametrization for gluon GPDs
We consider the application of the dual parametrization for the case of gluon
GPDs in the nucleon. This provides opportunities for the more flexible modeling
unpolarized gluon GPDs in a nucleon which in particular contain the invaluable
information on the fraction of nucleon spin carried by gluons. We perform the
generalization of Abel transform tomography approach for the case of gluons. We
also discuss the skewness effect in the framework of the dual parametrization.
We strongly suggest to employ the fitting strategies based on the dual
parametrization to extract the information on GPDs from the experimental data.Comment: 37 pages, 2 figure
An attempt to understand exclusive pi+ electroproduction
Hard exclusive pi+ electroproduction is investigated within the handbag
approach. The prominent role of the pion-pole contribution is demonstrated. It
is also shown that the experimental data require a twist-3 effect which ensues
from the helicity-flip generalized parton distribution H_T and the twist-3 pion
wave function. The results calculated from this handbag approach are compared
in detail with the experimental data on cross sections and spin asymmetries
measured with a polarized target. It is also commented on consequences of this
approach for exclusive \pi^0 and vector-meson electroproduction.Comment: 35 pages, 12 figures, using Latex, a number of additional comments
have been included in the text, e.g. in paragraph above (3) or at end of
sect.
Complete measurement of three-body photodisintegration of 3He for photon energies between 0.35 and 1.55 GeV
The three-body photodisintegration of 3He has been measured with the CLAS
detector at Jefferson Lab, using tagged photons of energies between 0.35 GeV
and 1.55 GeV. The large acceptance of the spectrometer allowed us for the first
time to cover a wide momentum and angular range for the two outgoing protons.
Three kinematic regions dominated by either two- or three-body contributions
have been distinguished and analyzed. The measured cross sections have been
compared with results of a theoretical model, which, in certain kinematic
ranges, have been found to be in reasonable agreement with the data.Comment: 22 pages, 25 eps figures, 2 tables, submitted to PRC. Modifications:
removed 2 figures, improvements on others, a few minor modifications to the
tex
eta-prime photoproduction on the proton for photon energies from 1.527 to 2.227 GeV
Differential cross sections for the reaction gamma p -> eta-prime p have been
measured with the CLAS spectrometer and a tagged photon beam with energies from
1.527 to 2.227 GeV. The results reported here possess much greater accuracy
than previous measurements. Analyses of these data indicate for the first time
the coupling of the etaprime N channel to both the S_11(1535) and P_11(1710)
resonances, known to couple strongly to the eta N channel in photoproduction on
the proton, and the importance of j=3/2 resonances in the process.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
A Kinematically Complete Measurement of the Proton Structure Function F2 in the Resonance Region and Evaluation of Its Moments
We measured the inclusive electron-proton cross section in the nucleon
resonance region (W < 2.5 GeV) at momentum transfers Q**2 below 4.5 (GeV/c)**2
with the CLAS detector. The large acceptance of CLAS allowed for the first time
the measurement of the cross section in a large, contiguous two-dimensional
range of Q**2 and x, making it possible to perform an integration of the data
at fixed Q**2 over the whole significant x-interval. From these data we
extracted the structure function F2 and, by including other world data, we
studied the Q**2 evolution of its moments, Mn(Q**2), in order to estimate
higher twist contributions. The small statistical and systematic uncertainties
of the CLAS data allow a precise extraction of the higher twists and demand
significant improvements in theoretical predictions for a meaningful comparison
with new experimental results.Comment: revtex4 18 pp., 12 figure
Measurement of the Deuteron Structure Function F2 in the Resonance Region and Evaluation of Its Moments
Inclusive electron scattering off the deuteron has been measured to extract
the deuteron structure function F2 with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer
(CLAS) at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The measurement
covers the entire resonance region from the quasi-elastic peak up to the
invariant mass of the final-state hadronic system W~2.7 GeV with four-momentum
transfers Q2 from 0.4 to 6 (GeV/c)^2. These data are complementary to previous
measurements of the proton structure function F2 and cover a similar
two-dimensional region of Q2 and Bjorken variable x. Determination of the
deuteron F2 over a large x interval including the quasi-elastic peak as a
function of Q2, together with the other world data, permit a direct evaluation
of the structure function moments for the first time. By fitting the Q2
evolution of these moments with an OPE-based twist expansion we have obtained a
separation of the leading twist and higher twist terms. The observed Q2
behaviour of the higher twist contribution suggests a partial cancellation of
different higher twists entering into the expansion with opposite signs. This
cancellation, found also in the proton moments, is a manifestation of the
"duality" phenomenon in the F2 structure function
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