3,575 research outputs found
Respiratory symptoms and cross-shift lung function in relation to cotton dust and endotoxin exposure in textile workers in Nepal: a cross-sectional study
Objectives: Inhalation of a cotton-based particulates has previously been associated with respiratory symptoms and impaired lung function. This study investigates the respiratory health of Nepalese textile workers in relation to dust and endotoxin exposure. Methods: A total of 938 individuals from four sectors (garment, carpet, weaving and recycling) of the textile industry in Kathmandu, Nepal completed a health questionnaire and performed spirometry. A subset (n=384) performed cross-shift spirometry. Personal exposure to inhalable dust and airborne endotoxin was measured during a full shift for 114 workers. Results: The overall prevalence of persistent cough, persistent phlegm, wheeze ever, breathlessness ever and chest tightness ever was 8.5%, 12.5%, 3.2%, 6.5% and 12.3%, respectively. Symptoms were most common among recyclers and least common among garment workers. Exposure to inhalable dust significantly predicted persistent cough and chest tightness. Exposure to endotoxin did not have any independent predictive effect. Significant cross-shift reduction in forced expiratory volume in 1â
s (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) were found (p<0.001 for both) being largest for FEV1 in the recyclers (â143â
mL), and least in the garment workers (â38â
mL; p=0.012). Exposure to inhalable dust predicted a cross-shift reduction in FEV1. Conclusions: This study is the first to investigate the respiratory health of Nepalese cotton workers. The measured association between inhalable dust exposure and reporting of respiratory symptoms and across-shift decrement in FEV1 and FVC indicates that improved dust control measures should be instituted, particularly in the recycling and carpet sectors. The possible role of other biologically active agents of cotton dust beyond endotoxin should be further explored
Addition of the apical oblique projection increases the detection of acute traumatic shoulder abnormalities in adults
Purpose Plain radiographic evaluation of acute shoulder trauma in adults requires a minimum of two projections, commonly the anteroposterior (AP) and lateral scapular projections, with additional projections taken for diagnosis. The aim of this retrospective study was to determine whether the addition of the apical oblique (AO) projection to the AP and lateral scapular projections increases the number and/or alters the types of abnormalities detected in the examination of acute shoulder trauma. Methods Examinations of 56 adults who had undergone three-projection (AP, lateral scapular, AO) radiographic shoulder examination for acute trauma were allocated into two-projection (AP, lateral scapular) and three-projection cases and assessed by a radiologist. The differences in number and types of abnormalities between the two-projection and three-projection cases were quantified using the one-tailed t test and chi-square goodness-of-fit test, respectively. Results Test-retest reliability was moderate (intra-class correlation coefficient [95%CI], 0.56 [0.15 to 0.80]) for number, and almost perfect (kappa [95%CI], 0.94 [0.85 to 1.00]) for types, of abnormalities detected. There was a significant increase in the number of abnormalities detected across all three-projection versus two-projection cases (difference in means [95%CI], 0.20 [0.01 to 0.39]) and for fractures (difference in means [95%CI], 0.30 [0.11 to 0.49]), but no difference in the types of abnormalities detected (Ï 2 = 4.7, p = 0.19). Conclusion This study suggests that adding the AO projection to two-projection examination of acute shoulder trauma increases the number of abnormalities detected; this has potential implications for patient management. Further research investigating differences in types of abnormalities detected between two-projection and three-projection cases is warranted
Effect of the inoculum dose of three grapevine trunk pathogens on the infection of artificially inoculated pruning wounds
This study assessed the infection rates of different spore inoculum doses of the grapevine trunk pathogens Diplodia seriata, Phaeomoniella chlamydospora and Eutypa lata following artificial inoculation of pruning wounds. Potted vines of cv. Tempranillo were inoculated with doses ranging from 10 to 4000 conidia per wound of D. seriata and P. chlamydospora and led to recovery percentages of 10â100% for D. seriata and 16â94% for P. chlamydospora. Eutypa lata, when inoculated onto wounds of vines in a mature vineyard (cv. Shiraz) and on detached canes (cv. Cabernet Sauvignon) with a dose range of 10 to 1000 ascospores per wound, led to recovery percentages of 17â95%. In the field assay, there was no difference in recovery from wounds that were exposed to single or double inoculations with the same total spore dose, or between canes that were harvested 7 or 11 months after inoculation. The results obtained in this study showed significant variability in pathogen recovery between trials, comparable with that reported previously, which suggests that factors such as pathogen virulence, environmental parameters and experimental conditions may influence the infection process. According to this study, in order to obtain optimal recovery percentages of 50â70% for robust evaluation of pruning wound treatments, dose ranges of 100-1000 conidia of D. seriata, 100â2000 conidia of P. chlamydospora, and 100â500 ascospores of E. lata per wound would be required.Georgina Elena, Mark R. Sosnowski, Matthew R. Ayres, Pascal Lecomte, Celine Benetreau, Francesc Garcia-Figueres, Jordi Luqu
ArgoNeuT and the Neutrino-Argon Charged Current Quasi-Elastic Cross Section
ArgoNeuT, a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber in the NuMI beamline at
Fermilab, has recently collected thousands of neutrino and anti-neutrino events
between 0.1 and 10 GeV. The experiment will, among other things, measure the
cross section of the neutrino and anti-neutrino Charged Current Quasi-Elastic
interaction and analyze the vertex activity associated with such events. These
topics are discussed along with ArgoNeuT's automated reconstruction software,
currently capable of fully reconstructing the muon and finding the event vertex
in neutrino interactions.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, presented at the International Nuclear Physics
Conference, Vancouver, Canada, July 4-9, 2010, to be published in Journal of
Physics: Conference Series (JPCS
Collapse of Amphibian Communities Due to an Introduced Ranavirus
This work was supported by Natural Environment Research Council grant NE/G011885/1, the Systematics and Taxonomy (SynTax) research scheme administered by the Linnean Society of London, the FundaciĂłn General CSIC, Banco Santander, and European Research Council grant 260801-BIG-IDE
Phenomenology of Mirror Fermions in the Littlest Higgs Model with T-Parity
Little Higgs models are an interesting alternative to explain electroweak
symmetry breaking without fine-tuning. Supplemented with a discrete symmetry
(T-parity) constraints from electroweak precision data are naturally evaded and
also a viable dark matter candidate is obtained. T-parity implies the existence
of new (mirror) fermions in addition to the heavy gauge bosons of the little
Higgs models. In this paper we consider the effects of the mirror fermions on
the phenomenology of the littlest Higgs model with T-parity at the LHC. We
study the most promising production channels and decay chains for the new
particles. We find that the mirror fermions have a large impact on the
magnitude of signal rates and on the new physics signatures. Realistic
background estimates are given.Comment: 13 p
Charge density waves and Fermi surface reconstruction in the clean overdoped cuprate superconductor Tl2Ba2CuO6+ÎŽ
Hall effect and quantum oscillation measurements on high temperature cuprate superconductors show that underdoped compositions have small Fermi surface pockets whereas when heavily overdoped, a single much larger pocket is found. The origin of this change in electronic structure has been unclear, but may be related to the high temperature superconductivity. Here we show that the clean overdoped single-layer cuprate Tl(2)Ba(2)CuO(6+ÎŽ) (Tl2201) displays CDW order with a remarkably long correlation length Οâââ200 Ă
which disappears above a hole doping of p(CDW)âââ0.265. We show that the evolution of the electronic properties of Tl2201 as the doping is lowered may be explained by a Fermi surface reconstruction which accompanies the emergence of the CDW below p(CDW). Our results demonstrate importance of CDW correlations in understanding the electronic properties of overdoped cuprates
PadrĂŁo de emergĂȘncia de ondas foliculares em protocolos longos (com ou sem troca de cidr) e efeito da estacionalidade em ovelhas Santa InĂȘs.
Future Precision Neutrino Oscillation Experiments and Theoretical Implications
Future neutrino oscillation experiments will lead to precision measurements
of neutrino mass splittings and mixings. The flavour structure of the lepton
sector will therefore at some point become better known than that of the quark
sector. This article discusses the potential of future oscillation experiments
on the basis of detailed simulations with an emphasis on experiments which can
be done in about ten years. In addition, some theoretical implications for
neutrino mass models will be briefly discussed.Comment: Talk given at Nobel Symposium 2004: Neutrino Physics, Haga Slott,
Enkoping, Sweden, 19-24 Aug 200
Cyprus' imageâa sun and sea destinationâas a detrimental factor to seasonal fluctuations. Exploration into motivational factors for holidaying in Cyprus
Cyprus is established as a summer destination. To aid the destination in developing its winter season as well, this research uses a qualitative inductive approach to explore the touristsâ current image of the island and their motivations of visiting it. The research indicates that the current image, which essentially portrays Cyprus as a sun-and-sea destination is thought to dissuade tourists from perceiving the island as a year-round destination. Nonetheless, increasing the pull factors of the destination through the development of unique special interest products can help in extending the tourism season as well as broaden its narrow image
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