Occupational rhinitis Moscato, G; Vandenplas, O; Gerth Van Wijk, R ...
Allergy (Copenhagen),
August 2008, Letnik:
63, Številka:
8
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The present document is the result of a consensus reached by a panel of experts from European and nonEuropean countries on Occupational Rhinitis (OR), a disease of emerging relevance, which has ...received little attention in comparison to occupational asthma. The document covers the main items of OR including epidemiology, diagnosis, management, socio-economic impact, preventive strategies and medicolegal issues. An operational definition and classification of OR tailored to that of occupational asthma, as well as a diagnostic algorithm based on steps allowing different levels of diagnostic evidence, are proposed. The needs for future research are pointed out. Key messages are issued for each item.
The lungs are the primary target of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, with severe hypoxia being the cause of death in the most critical cases. Coronavirus ...disease 2019 (COVID-19) is extremely heterogeneous in terms of severity, clinical phenotype and, importantly, global distribution. Although the majority of affected patients recover from the acute infection, many continue to suffer from late sequelae affecting various organs, including the lungs. The role of the pulmonary vascular system during the acute and chronic stages of COVID-19 has not been adequately studied. A thorough understanding of the origins and dynamic behaviour of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the potential causes of heterogeneity in COVID-19 is essential for anticipating and treating the disease, in both the acute and the chronic stages, including the development of chronic pulmonary hypertension. Both COVID-19 and chronic pulmonary hypertension have assumed global dimensions, with potential complex interactions. In this Review, we present an update on the origins and behaviour of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and discuss the potential causes of the heterogeneity of COVID-19. In addition, we summarize the pathobiology of COVID-19, with an emphasis on the role of the pulmonary vasculature, both in the acute stage and in terms of the potential for developing chronic pulmonary hypertension. We hope that the information presented in this Review will help in the development of strategies for the prevention and treatment of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
The aim of this correspondence is two-fold: (i) to assess the performance of a conventional wireless system jointly subject to short-term fading (<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">\bm ...{\alpha }</tex-math></inline-formula>-<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">\bm {\mu }</tex-math></inline-formula> model), long-term fading (Gamma model), path loss (power-law decay), and mobility (random waypoint model) through analytical formulations; and (ii) to assess the performance of a non-conventional wireless system subject to the same conditions as before but with the transmission-medium-receiving chain replaced by an autoencoder using deep neural networks. The paper derives novel closed-form expressions for the probability density function, cumulative distribution function, and moment-generating function of the received signal. The performance analysis under investigation concerns outage probability, symbol error probability, asymptotic analyses, and channel capacity, all in closed-form formulations. In addition to showing that mobility has a beneficial effect on the overall mean performance, this work also illustrates that the said unconventional system may achieve as good a performance of the conventional one.
Subjects with occupational asthma (OA) are often left with permanent sequelae after removal from exposure, and assessing their impairment/disability should utilise various tools. The aim of the ...present study was to examine whether: 1) assessment of inflammation in induced sputum is relevant to impairment; and 2) use of questionnaires on quality of life and psychological factors can be useful for the evaluation of disability. In total, 40 subjects were prospectively assessed for permanent impairment/disability due to OA 2 yrs after cessation of exposure. Impairment was assessed as follows: 1) need for asthma medication; 2) asthma severity; 3) airway calibre and responsiveness; and 4) degree of inflammation in induced sputum. Disability was assessed according to quality of life and psychological distress. There was a significant improvement in airway responsiveness and inflammation from diagnosis to the present assessment. Sputum eosinophils > or =2% and neutrophils >60% were present in eight (20%) and 12 (30%) out of all subjects, respectively, one or the other feature being the only abnormalities in 15% of subjects. Quality of life was moderately affected and there was a prevalence of depression and anxiety close to 50%. In the assessment of subjects with occupational asthma, information on airway inflammation and psychological impacts are relevant to the assessment of impairment/disability, although these findings need further investigation.
Several new therapeutic strategies have been introduced for the management of adult traumatic brain injury (TBI) over the last decade, such as the development of management pathways and specialized ...TBI units and improved treatment of cerebral perfusion. The purpose of this study is to compare TBI-related hospitalization outcomes in the United States between two time periods, 1993-1994 and 2006-2007. We determined the rates of occurrence, in-hospital outcomes, and mean hospital charges for patients hospitalized with adult TBI in 1993-1994 using the nationally representative all-payer Nationwide Inpatient Survey (NIS) database, and compared these outcomes with homologous data from 2006-2007. The incidence of TBI admissions was reduced by 35% in 2006-2007 compared with 1993-1994; (22/100,000 versus 34/100,000 population; p<0.0001). The mean length of hospitalization (mean±SD, in days) was significantly lower in 2006-2007 than in 1993-1994 (2.5±2.4 days versus 2.7±2.6 days; p<0.0001). In-hospital mortality increased significantly in 2006-2007 compared with 1993-1994 (0.8% versus 0.4%, p<0.0001). Average hospitalization charges were significantly higher in 2006-2007 compared with 19993-1994 ($21,460±$21,212 versus $5,142±$4,625; p<0.0001), even after adjusting for inflation. In both time periods, most hospitalized adult TBI patients were graded as mild (98.2% in 1993-1994 versus 98.0% in 2006-2007; p=0.20). There was a significant increase in average hospitalization charges and death rates in all TBI severity subgroups in 2006-2007 compared with 1993-1994. The decline in rate of hospitalization between the two time periods was predominantly related to the decline in the number of admissions of patients with mild TBI. Although the number of TBI admissions was reduced, a significant increase in average hospitalization charges and in-hospital mortality rate was observed in 2006-2007 compared with 1993-1994.
The clinical and laboratory features of patients enrolled in the Severe Asthma Network in Italy (SANI) registry, a web-based observatory collecting demographic, clinical, functional and inflammatory ...data of patients with severe asthma were evaluated, with a special emphasis to chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP).
For each eligible patients the following information has been collected: demographic data, clinical features, asthma control in the previous month according to the GINA (Global INitiative for Asthma) Guidelines and standardized questionnaires, concomitant regular and on demand treatments and inflammatory markers.
695 patients with severe asthma enrolled in 66 SANI centers were analyzed. The prevalence of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis was 40.6%. Atopic dermatitis and bronchiectasis was significantly more frequent in patients with CRSwNP than in subjects without nasal polyposis; similarly, FeNO values are significantly higher in subject with CRSwNP than in patients without nasal polyposis. Finally, patients with CRSwNP had a significantly higher number of asthma exacerbations per year, more days on oral corticosteroids and were more likely to be OCS long term users.
OCS sparing is needed in patients with severe asthma, mainly in subjects with CRSwNP, adopting adequate strategies such as a better adherence to the treatment with inhaled therapy according to the GINA recommendations, the use of biologic agents and a multidisciplinary approach of the patient.
•Nasal polyposis (CRSwNP) is frequent in patients with severe asthma (SA).•Severe asthmatics with associated CRSwNP had higher annual exacerbations rate.•Patients with SA and CRSwNP received more frequently oral corticosteroids (OCS).•CRSwNP in SA patients expose them to high risk of OCS related adverse events.
Bivariate Complex \alpha- \mu Statistics de Bairros, Thiago; Pereira, Pedro; de Souza, Rausley ...
IEEE transactions on vehicular technology,
2022-March, 2022-3-00, Letnik:
71, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
In this correspondence, new fundamental statistics for the <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">\alpha</tex-math></inline-formula>-<inline-formula><tex-math ...notation="LaTeX">\mu</tex-math></inline-formula> fading model are derived. Broadly speaking, these involve two correlated complex <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">\alpha</tex-math></inline-formula>-<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">\mu</tex-math></inline-formula> variates with identical clustering parameters, but arbitrary nonlinearity and power parameters and nonuniform phase distribution. More specifically, the following statistics are derived: (i) exact joint bivariate probability density function (PDF) of quadrature processes; (ii) exact joint bivariate phase-envelope PDF; (iii) approximate bivariate phase PDF; (iv) exact phase correlation coefficient; (v) exact phase autocorrelation coefficient as a function of the fading environment parameters; (vi) phase power spectrum density; (vii) exact phase difference PDF; and (viii) approximate phase difference PDF. As a by-product, a useful mathematical identity is obtained. Strikingly, the approximate phase difference PDF encompasses, as a particular case, the von Mises or Tikhonov PDF. An application example considers a signal transmission over a slow-flat <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">\alpha</tex-math></inline-formula>-<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">\mu</tex-math></inline-formula> fading channel, and the pilot symbol assisted modulation as the channel estimation technique, assuming imperfect channel estimation. It is clearly seen that a uniform phase assumption depicts a pessimistic scenario.
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