Pulmonary effects of passive smoking: the Indian experience

There are only a few studies done on pulmonary effects of passive smoking from India, which are summarized in this paper. Several vernacular tobacco products are used in India, bidis (beedis) being the commonest form of these. Bidis contain a higher concentration of nicotine and other tobacco alkaloids compared to the standard cigarettes (e.g., the sum of total nicotine and minor tobacco alkaloids was 37.5 mg in bidi compared to 14–16 mg in Indian or American cigarettes in one study). A large study performed on 9090 adolescent school children demonstrated environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure to be associated with an increased risk of asthma. The odds ratio for being asthmatic in ETS-exposed as compared to ETS-unexposed children was 1.78 (95% CI: 1.33–2.31). Nearly one third of the children in this study reported non-specific respiratory symptoms and the ETS exposure was found to be positively associated with the prevalence of each symptom. Passive smoking was also shown to increase morbidity and to worsen the control of asthma among adults. Another study demonstrated exposure to ETS was a significant trigger for acute exacerbation of asthma. Increased bronchial hyper-responsiveness was also demonstrated among the healthy nonsmoking adult women exposed to ETS. Passive smoking leads to subtle changes in airflow mechanics. In a study among 50 healthy nonsmoking women passively exposed to tobacco smoke and matched for age with 50 unexposed women, forced expiratory volume in first second (FEV1) and peak expiratory flow (PEF) were marginally lower among the passive smokers (mean difference 0.13 L and 0.20 L-1, respectively), but maximal mid expiratory flow (FEF25–75%), airway resistance (Raw) and specific conductance (sGaw) were significantly impaired. An association between passive smoking and lung cancer has also been described. In a study conducted in association with the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the exposure to ETS during childhood was strongly associated with an enhanced incidence of lung cancer (OR = 3.9, 95% CI 1.9–8.2). In conclusions several adverse pulmonary effects of passive smoking, similar to those described from the western and developed countries, have been described from India

Direct Measurements of Oxygen Gradients in Spheroid Culture System Using Electron Parametric Resonance Oximetry.

Advanced in vitro culture from tissues of different origin includes three-dimensional (3D) organoid micro structures that may mimic conditions in vivo. One example of simple 3D culture is spheroids; ball shaped structures typically used as liver and tumour models. Oxygen is critically important in physiological processes, but is difficult to quantify in 3D culture: and the question arises, how small does a spheroid have to be to have minimal micro-environment formation? This question is of particular importance in the growing field of 3D based models for toxicological assessment. Here, we describe a simple non-invasive approach modified for the quantitative measurement and subsequent evaluation of oxygen gradients in spheroids developed from a non-malignant fish cell line (i.e. RTG-2 cells) using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) oximetry. Sonication of the paramagnetic probe Lithium phthalocyanine (LiPc) allows for incorporation of probe particulates into spheroid during its formation. Spectra signal strength after incorporation of probe into spheroid indicated that a volume of 20 μl of probe (stock solution: 0.10 mg/mL) is sufficient to provide a strong spectra across a range of spheroid sizes. The addition of non-toxic probes (that do not produce or consume oxygen) report on oxygen diffusion throughout the spheroid as a function of size. We provide evidence supporting the use of this model over a range of initial cell seeding densities and spheroid sizes with the production of oxygen distribution as a function of these parameters. In our spheroid model, lower cell seeding densities (∼2,500 cells/spheroid) and absolute size (118±32 μm) allow control of factors such as pre-existing stresses (e.g. ∼ 2% normoxic/hypoxic interface) for more accurate measurement of treatment response. The applied methodology provides an elegant, widely applicable approach to directly characterize spheroid (and other organoid) cultures in biomedical and toxicological research

Rough paths in idealized financial markets

This paper considers possible price paths of a financial security in an idealized market. Its main result is that the variation index of typical price paths is at most 2, in this sense, typical price paths are not rougher than typical paths of Brownian motion. We do not make any stochastic assumptions and only assume that the price path is positive and right-continuous. The qualification "typical" means that there is a trading strategy (constructed explicitly in the proof) that risks only one monetary unit but brings infinite capital when the variation index of the realized price path exceeds 2. The paper also reviews some known results for continuous price paths and lists several open problems.Comment: 21 pages, this version adds (in Appendix C) a reference to new results in the foundations of game-theoretic probability based on Hardin and Taylor's work on hat puzzle

Correction: Direct Measurements of Oxygen Gradients in Spheroid Culture System Using Electron Parametric Resonance Oximetry.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0149492.]

Qualitative characterization of healthcare wastes

The biological hazard inherent in the clinical wastes should be considered during the management and treatment process as well as the disposal into the environment. In this chapter, the risks associated with the clinical wastes as well as the management of these wastes are discussed. The chapter focused on reviewing the types of healthcare wastes generated from hospitals and clinics as well as the regulations and management practices used for these wastes. Moreover, the health risk associated with the infectious agents which have the potential to be transmitted into the environment. It has appeared that the clinical wastes represent real hazards for the human health and the environment if they were not managed properly

Women's sleep position during pregnancy in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review.

Background Approximately 2.6 million babies are stillborn each year globally, of which 98% occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). A 2019 individual participant data meta-analysis of 6 studies from high-income countries found that maternal supine going-to-sleep position increased the risk of stillbirth. It is not clear whether this impact would be the same in LMICs, and the normal sleep behaviour of pregnant women in LMICs is not well understood. Objective Determine the prevalence of different sleeping positions among pregnant women in LMICs, and what (if any) positions were associated with stillbirth using a systematic review. Search strategy We systematically searched the databases Medline, Embase, Emcare, CINAHL and Global Index Medicus for relevant studies, with no date or language restrictions on 4 April 2020. Reference lists of included studies were also screened. Selection criteria Observational studies of maternal sleep position during pregnancy in LMICs Data collection and analysis Recovered citations were screened and eligible studies were included for extraction. These steps were performed by two independent reviewers. Risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Main results A total of 3480 citations were screened but only two studies met the inclusion criteria. The studies were conducted in Ghana and India and reported on different maternal sleep positions: supine and left lateral. In Ghana, a prevalence of 9.7% for supine sleeping position amongst 220 women was found. The primary outcome could not be extracted from the Indian study as sleep position information was only reported for women who had a stillbirth (100 of the 300 participants). Conclusion There is limited information on maternal sleeping position in LMICs. Since sleep position may be a modifiable risk factor for stillbirth, there is a need for further research to understand the sleep practices and behaviours of pregnant women in LMICs

Changes in the prevalence of atrial fibrillation in the Russian population over a 13-year follow-up

AIM: To study the prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in the Russian urban population cohort aged 45-69 years and its changes over 13-year follow-up during aging. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This cross-sectional long-term prospective study included random population sample of men and women 45-69 years (n=9360, HAPIEE project, Novosibirsk), which was examined in 2003-2005 and was re-examined twice and followed up for about 13±1,00 years in men and 13,1±2,17 years in women. The incidence of AF was assessed for individuals without AF or cardiovascular disease (CVD) at the baseline examination. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS software package (v.13.0). RESULTS: In a population sample over a 13-year follow-up, AF prevalence increased from 1,6% (1,1% among women and 2,1% among men) at the age of 45-69 years to 4,2% (3,0% among women and 6,1% among men) aged 55-84 years according to screening rest ECG examinations. The prevalence of new AF cases over a 13-year followup in the cohort of 45-69 years old without previous CVD and AF was 5,6%, of which 40% were paroxysmal. The mean age at the time of first registered AF was 69±6,93 years, and was 2 years higher in women (70,0±6,83) than in men (68±6,93). The average period before the AF onset among people aged 45-69 years without baseline CVD and AF was 7,5±3,83 years for men and 8,1±4,02 years for women. The total prevalence of AF in the population sample was 8,3%. The highest AF prevalence was registered at the age of 65-69 years (11,4%) for men and 5 years later for women (12,0%) (p80 years decreased and amounted to 4,1% among men and 5,7% among women. CONCLUSION: In the Russian population sample (Novosibirsk) aged 45-69, the AF prevalence increased from 1,6 to 8,3% over 13 years of follow-up. In addition, 473 new AF cases were identified, ~40% of which were paroxysmal AF. The prevalence of AF in the Siberian population sample for the 45-60 years age group is comparable with the large Russian and North American studies, but higher for persons aged 60-74 years and lower for older age group, for both men and women

Some Curvature Problems in Semi-Riemannian Geometry

In this survey article we review several results on the curvature of semi-Riemannian metrics which are motivated by the positive mass theorem. The main themes are estimates of the Riemann tensor of an asymptotically flat manifold and the construction of Lorentzian metrics which satisfy the dominant energy condition.Comment: 25 pages, LaTeX, 4 figure

T1 Mapping Detects Pharmacological Retardation of Diffuse Cardiac Fibrosis in Mouse Pressure-Overload Hypertrophy

Background: Diffuse interstitial fibrosis is present in diverse cardiomyopathies and associated with poor prognosis. We investigated whether magnetic resonance imaging-based T1 mapping could quantify the induction and pharmacological suppression of diffuse cardiac fibrosis in murine pressure-overload hypertrophy. / Methods and Results: Mice were subjected to transverse aortic constriction or sham surgery. The angiotensin receptor blocker losartan was given to half the animals. Cine-magnetic resonance imaging performed at 7 and 28 days showed hypertrophy and remodeling and systolic and diastolic dysfunction in transverse aortic constriction groups as expected. Late gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging revealed focal signal enhancement at the inferior right ventricular insertion point of transverse aortic constriction mice concordant with the foci of fibrosis in histology. The extracellular volume fraction, calculated from pre- and postcontrast T1 measurements, was elevated by transverse aortic constriction and showed direct linear correlation with picrosirius red collagen volume fraction, thus confirming the suitability of extracellular volume fraction as an in vivo measure of diffuse fibrosis. Treatment with losartan reduced left ventricular dysfunction and prevented increased extracellular volume fraction, indicating that T1 mapping is sensitive to pharmacological prevention of fibrosis. / Conclusions: Magnetic resonance imaging can detect diffuse and focal cardiac fibrosis in a clinically relevant animal model of pressure overload and is sensitive to pharmacological reduction of fibrosis by angiotensin receptor blockade. Thus, T1 mapping can be used to assess antifibrotic therapeutic strategies