Bronchoalveolar lavage is used to evaluate parenchymal inflammation in patients with diffuse lung disease. Normal values for lavage cell counts and proteins are derived primarily from young subjects ...who are free from lung disease; however, older patients who undergo bronchoalveolar lavage often have used cigarettes for long periods of time and have developed variable degrees of chronic bronchitis and/or chronic air-flow obstruction. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of cigarette use, chronic bronchitis, and chronic air-flow obstruction on lavage cell populations by performing bronchoalveolar lavage in 48 male patients who were undergoing diagnostic fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Sixteen patients (33%) had elevated percentages of neutrophils (greater than or equal to 10%) in lavage fluid. Fourteen of these (87.5%) had chronic cough and/or phlegm production, but only 9 (64.3%) met criteria for definite chronic bronchitis. Patients with moderate or severe air-flow obstruction, defined spirometrically, had significantly greater percentages of lavage neutrophils and lower percentages of macrophages than did patients with mild or no air-flow obstruction. The first lavage aliquot contained the greatest proportion of neutrophils and the smallest proportion of macrophages. The percentage of neutrophils declined and the percentage of macrophages increased in sequential aliquots. The data indicate that patients with chronic cough and/or phlegm production and chronic air-flow obstruction may have increased proportions of neutrophils in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in the absence of diffuse parenchymal lung disease or infections. These variables must be taken into account when interpreting lavage cellular analyses.
Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) usually occurs in patients with hematologic malignancies and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Patients with solid tumors represent a very small fraction of the ...reported cases of PCP. Over an 18-month period, PCP was diagnosed in three patients who had received radiation and chemotherapy for breast cancer. In all three patients, there was no serologic or clinical evidence of AIDS. Direct staining of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) revealed Pneumocystis carinii, and cellular analysis of BAL revealed an increased percentage of lymphocytes with reversed helper/inducer:suppressor/cytotoxic T-cell (CD4:CD8) ratio. Because decreased CD4:CD8 ratio in BAL is commonly accepted as findings consistent with hypersensitivity pneumonitis and AIDS, we conclude that similar findings in patients without AIDS are not specific for hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and P. carinii should be ruled out in the appropriate clinical setting.
Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and other oxygen metabolites have been implicated in the pathogenesis of cell and tissue injury. The nature of the injury occurring in cells exposed to oxygen metabolites is ...unknown. A549 cells, derived from human lung carcinoma, were exposed to glucose-glucose oxidase or hydrogen peroxide in vitro. The distribution of actin and cytokeratin filaments, as well as 51chromium (51Cr) release and trypan blue dye exclusion were assessed. Both glucose-glucose oxidase and H2O2 resulted in changes which were time- and dose-dependent. Alterations in the cytoskeleton were detected by immunofluorescence microscopy at two hours, at which time the cells excluded trypan blue dye, while 51Cr release and trypan blue uptake first occurred at 8 h and required a five-fold greater concentration of glucose oxidase. The addition of catalase to glucose-glucose oxidase or H2O2, or inactivation of glucose oxidase by boiling, abrogated the injury. Therefore, one of the early targets of H2O2-induced cell injury may be the cytoskeleton.
Lipopolysaccharide induced a dose-dependent detachment of human glomerular cells in vitro. The detachment occurred 24 hr after exposure to endotoxin. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells were not ...affected by more prolonged exposure or higher concentrations of lipopolysaccharide in the medium. The lipopolysaccharide effect was independent of complement components or leukocytes.
Barium titanate nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesised using a modified sol–gel technique. The structure and morphology of NPs were described using various techniques. The photocatalytic activities of ...the NPs were evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation of Eriochrome black T and potassium dichromate in the presence of UV light irradiation. The barium titanate NP catalyst exhibited higher photocatalytic activity for the degradation of pollutants effectively at room temperature. The different parameters effects such as pollutant initial concentration, loading of photocatalyst, initial pH values of the solution were also examined on the decolourization efficiency of the pollutants. The highest degradation efficiency was achieved for Eriochrome dark T (93%) and potassium dichromate (92%) pollutants. The prepared NPs showed 26 μmol g
−1
hydrogen generation within 5 h.
The physical and chemical properties of Gamma ray irradiated polymer electrolyte (PEO-CdCl2) films have been investigated. The FT-IR result evidenced the degradation due to chain scission/cross ...linking in the irradiated films. The DSC and TGA results show that thermal stability and crystallinity are significantly decreased in irradiated films. The optical micrograph image shows the size of spherulite structure and surface roughness found to be decreased with increasing the irradiation dose. The increase in the optical absorption and shifts toward higher wavelength side was observed in the irradiated film. Also optical band gaps (Eg), Urbach energy is estimated and found to be decreased, meanwhile the number of carbon atoms in cluster increased with the dose. The changes of dielectric permittivity, AC conductivity and optical band gap after irradiation were attributed due to degradation. The high conductivity of 1.156×10−4Scm−1 observed in the 150kGy irradiated film; it was about to order magnitudes higher than that of non-irradiated film. The electric modulus results were depicts the relaxation time (τ) found decreased and broadening of peaks signifies it is the Non-Debye relaxation behavior. These obtained results reveal that there is a possibility of improving physical properties polymer electrolyte and it may open up various opportunities to use these materials in different applications.
•Films were irradiated with Gamma ray with varying doses of 50, 100 and 150kGy.•Gamma ray induced changes in physical & chemical properties of polymer electrolyte.•Change in crystallinity of the films has been confirmed from the DSC/TGA analysis.•Well improvement in dielectric permittivity and conductivity after irradiation•γ-Irradiation is simple & effective route to obtain highly conductive polymer films.
Highly conductive and stable solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) will make a dramatic impact on electrochemical applications. This paper reports the electron beam (EB) induced modifications of ...structural, electrical and electrochemical properties of poly (ethylene oxide)-based SPEs. FT-IR and SEM characterizations confirm the structural rearrangements and crystallinity reduction in irradiated films due to degradation effects. The electrical and dielectric studies imply that dielectric permittivity (ε), and conductivity values increased after irradiation. The intensity of the well-defined relaxation peaks (tanδ) increased and also, the peak position is shifted toward the higher frequency with dose is attributed to increase in mobile charge carriers density or dipolar molecules formed in the irradiated films. The amorphocity of the films increases with radiation dose due to scissoring and cross-linking of polymer chains. At room temperature, the ionic conductivity of the non-irradiated sample is ~ 1.55310
−5
Scm
−1
and increases with dose, reaching a maximum value of ~ 3.4 × 10
−4
Scm
−1
for 100 kGy. The Cyclic Voltammetry study confirms that the modified polymer electrolyte film shows the ideal capacitive behavior and specific capacitance values significantly improved after EB irradiation due to a high-surface-area and increase in the charge carrier concentration. Hence, these modified polymer electrolyte films are a promising material for battery, supercapacitor, and fuel cell applications.
