1,721,117 research outputs found
Field study on thermal comfort in naturally ventilated and air-conditioned university classrooms
Full text linkMaintaining a satisfactory thermal environment is of primary importance, especially when the goal is to maximize learning such as in schools or universities. This paper presents a field study conducted in Milan during summer 2017 in 16 classrooms of Politecnico di Milano, including both naturally ventilated (NV) and air-conditioned (AC) environments. This study asked 985 students to report their thermal perception and their responses were evaluated according to the measured thermal comfort parameters to assess the prediction as given by Fanger and adaptive models, according to ANSI/ASHRAE 55-2017 and EN 15251:2007 standards. Furthermore, an analysis regarding potential effects of gender in comfort perception was performed. The results confirmed the fitness of Fanger’s model for the prediction of occupants’ thermal sensations in AC classrooms with a reasonable accuracy. In NV classrooms, the Adaptive model was proven to be suitable for predicting students’ comfort zone according to ASHRAE 55 Standard, while the adaptive comfort temperatures recommended by EN 15251 were not acceptable for a large number of students. No significant differences in thermal comfort perception between genders have been observed, except for two NV classrooms in which females’ thermal sensation votes had resulted closer to neutrality in comparison to males, who expressed a warmer thermal sensation
Are physicians aware of the side effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors?: a questionnaire survey in different medical categories.
No full textChest. 2005 Aug;128(2):976-9.
Are physicians aware of the side effects of
angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors?: a
questionnaire survey in different medical
categories.
Lombardi C, Crivellaro M, Dama A, Senna G, Gargioni S, Passalacqua G.
Source
Allergy-Pulmonology Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, S. Orsola FBF Hospital, Brescia.
Abstract
STUDY OBJECTIVE:
Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I) are considered safe, but they are associated with characteristic side
effects, namely cough and angioedema, usually requiring discontinuation. We perceived that referrals for these side
effects have become more and more frequent; therefore, we evaluated the degree of knowledge on the safety of ACE-I
in different medical categories.
DESIGN:
A questionnaire (13 questions) on side effects of ACE-I was posted to physicians.
SETTING:
Everyday clinical practice.
PARTICIPANTS:
Cardiologists, allergists, and general practitioners (GPs) from the National Healthcare System.
MEASUREMENT AND RESULTS:
Three hundred twelve physicians were contacted, and 154 returned questionnaires that could be analyzed. Of the 154
physicians (mean age, 45 years) 48 were cardiologists, 52 were GPs, and 54 were allergists. The percentage of correct
answers was low: 31.9% for cardiologists, 40% for GPs, and 33% for allergists. Thus, GPs provided a significantly
higher percentage of correct answers with respect to the remaining categories (p = 0.05). The lower rate of correct
answers (0 to 15.9%) concerned the time of onset of cough and the action to take. Cardiologists seemed to be less aware
of the fact that angiotensin receptor blockers (sartans) can cross-react with ACE-I.
CONCLUSION:
Overall, there was a poor knowledge of the side effects of ACE-I. This may account for the increased referrals for
chronic cough and angioedema
Estrogen receptor functions and pathways at the vascular immune interface
Full text linkEstrogen receptor (ER) activity mediates multiple physiological processes in the cardiovascular system. ERα and ERβ are ligand-activated transcription factors of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily, while the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) mediates estrogenic signals by modulating non-nuclear second messengers, including activation of the MAP kinase signaling cascade. Membrane localizations of ERs are generally associated with rapid, non-genomic effects while nuclear localizations are associated with nuclear activities/transcriptional modulation of target genes. Gender dependence of endothelial biology, either through the action of sex hormones or sex chromosome-related factors, is becoming increasingly evident. Accordingly, cardiometabolic risk increases as women transition to menopause. Estrogen pathways control angiogenesis progression through complex mechanisms. The classic ERs have been acknowledged to function in mediat-ing estrogen effects on glucose metabolism, but 17β-estradiol also rapidly promotes endothelial glycolysis by increasing glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) and 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-biphosphatase 3 (PFKFB3) levels through GPER-dependent mechanisms. Estrogens alter monocyte and macrophage phenotype(s), and induce effects on other estrogen-responsive cell lineages (e.g., secretion of cytokines/chemokines/growth factors) that impact macrophage function. The pharmacological modulation of ERs for therapeutic purposes, however, is particularly challenging due to the lack of ER subtype selectivity of currently used agents. Identifying the determinants of biological responses to estrogenic agents at the vascular immune interface and developing targeted pharmacological interventions may result in novel improved therapeutic solutions
Validazione sperimentale di un modello per facciate a “doppia pelle” in ventilazione meccanica
No full text
Regulation of human endothelial cell migration by oral contraceptive estrogen receptor ligands
Full text link: Ethinylestradiol (EE) and estetrol (E4) are the two main estrogenic agents used in combined oral contraceptives. These compounds have different binding affinity to and efficacy on estrogen receptors (ER) subtypes. We previously reported that treatment with estrogenic agents enhances angiogenesis via nongenomic, G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER)-dependent mechanisms. However, the impact of EE and E4 on human endothelial function has been little investigated. EE and E4 (10-9- 10-7 M) significantly enhanced migration of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) using scratch and Boyden chamber assays. Mechanistically, both agents increased accumulation of phosphorylated protein tyrosine kinase 2 on tyrosine 397 (FAK Y397), a key player in endothelial cell motility, after 30-min treatment. Treatment with increasing concentrations of EE, but not E4, enhanced accumulation of the glycolysis activator PFKFB3. Of note, effects of EE and E4 on endothelial migration and signalling proteins were abolished by addition of the GPER antagonist G36 (10-6 M). Thus, EE and E4 induced comparable endothelial responses in vitro, suggesting no apparent alterations of vascular remodelling and regeneration capacity by oral contraceptives containing these agents
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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