322,886 research outputs found
Inhaled nitric oxide for acute asthma
No full text[No abstract available]Chipps BE, 2005, J PEDIATR, V147, P288, DOI 10.1016-j.jpeds.2005.04.052; DUPUY PM, 1992, J CLIN INVEST, V90, P421, DOI 10.1172-JCI115877; Nakagawa TA, 2000, J PEDIATR, V137, P119, DOI 10.1067-mpd.2000.106232; Rishani R, 1999, PEDIATR PULM, V28, P451, DOI 10.1002-(SICI)1099-0496(199912)28:6451::AID-PPUL123.0.CO;2-022
Effect of a diesel engine ban on asthma-related morbidity in Beirut
No full textBackground: Diesel emissions contain smaller amounts of CO, CO2 and hydrocarbons than gasoline, but their content in nitrogen oxides and particulate matter is significantly higher. Some of this particulate matter is of the respirable size and penetrates deep into the tracheobronchial tree. Exposure to diesel emissions is associated with respiratory disease.In Lebanon, a rapid expansion in the transportation sector allowed a gradual introduction of diesel fuel-operated vehicles, which had been banned till 1977. Fuel was being imported with little control over its quality. A ban was imposed on light and medium-duty diesel engine on the Lebanese territory as of July 1, 2002.Objective: To determine the effect of the diesel ban on the air concentration of particulate matter and on asthma-related morbidity in children admitted to the emergency room (ER) of the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC).Methods: Air samples were collected at multiple large intersections of Beirut before and after the ban. Each sample was collected over a period of 30 minutes and analyzed for particulate matter. Air sampling was done during summer, at which time the concentration of particulate matter is at its peak. The average of all the concentrations was computed.The records of all visits to AUBMC-ER were reviewed over a two-year period: Period 1 (Pre-ban: July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2002) and Period 2 (Post-ban: July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003). All patients 0-15 years of age presenting with acute asthma were identified.Results: The average concentration of particulate matter was 181.3 µg/m3 and 97.1 µg/m3 before and after the ban respectively. The total numbers of ER visits for pediatric patients were 6453 and 6865 in period 1 and period 2, respectively. Of those, 313 were due to asthma in period 1 and 223 in period 2. The number of asthma-related visits was significantly reduced during period 2. Asthma-related visits were significantly reduced during October, November and December of period 2 compared to the same months of period 1, while it was significantly increased during the month of June.Discussion: This study shows that a ban on diesel engine resulted in a decrease in the air concentration of particulate matter and was associated with a reduction in the number of emergency room visits for acute asthma. This reduction was most marked during the season of viral respiratory infections. We postulate that a reduction in the concentration of air pollutants was protective against viral-induced asthma exacerbations
Effect of a diesel engine ban on asthma-related morbidity in Beirut
No full textDiesel engine exhaust emissions are a mixture of gases, vapors, liquid aerosols and particulate matter that are known to increase cardiorespiratory morbidity.On July 1, 2002, a ban was imposed on the use of diesel-operated vehicles on the Lebanese territory as a public health measure. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of this ban on the air concentration of particulate matter and on asthma-related morbidity in the Beirut area.Methods: Air sampling was done at multiple large intersections of Beirut before and after the ban using a portable high-volume air sampler equipped with glass fiber filters that capture particles of diameter greater than 0.01 microns. Each sample was collected over a period of 30 minutes. The filter was then weighed for particulate matter determination.The records of all visits to the Emergency Room (ER) of the American University of Beirut Medical Center, a major tertiary care center in Beirut, Lebanon were reviewed over a two-year period. The first year (July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2002 , period 1) preceded the ban while the second year (July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003, period 2) followed it immediately. All patients 0-15 years of age presenting with acute asthma were identified. Results: The average concentration of particulate matter was 181.3 µg/m3 and 97.1 µg/m3 before and after the ban respectively.The total numbers of ER visits for pediatric patients were 6453 and 6865 in period 1 and period 2 respectively. Of those, 313 were due to asthma in period 1 and 223 in period 2. The number of asthma-related visits was significantly reduced during period 2. When we looked at the monthly distribution of visits, asthma-related visits were significantly reduced during October, November and December of period 2 compared to the same months of period 1, while it was significantly increased during the month of June. Discussion: This study shows that a ban on diesel engine resulted in a decrease in the air concentration of particulate matter and was associated with a reduction in the number of emergency room visits for acute asthma. This reduction was most marked during the season of viral respiratory infections. We postulate that a reduction in the concentration of air pollutants was protective against viral-induced asthma exacerbations.<br/
The effect of the recent diesel-fuel ban in Beirut on children respiratory health: an analysis of emergency admissions
No full textDiffusive author(s), cohesive author: Analysis of S/N (1994)
No full textThis study indicates the ways in which various aspects of the author(s) are brought forth in Dumb type’s performance art, the S/N production. Previous research has suggested a non-hierarchical organization of Dumb type and the absence of a “privileged author” in Dumb type’s collaborative work, S/N. However, the results that I have investigated from member’s interviews on the creative process of S/N along with my analysis of the recorded images of S/N, indicate a different aspect of the author(s). First, S/N was created through, so to speak, the collective ideas of the members of Dumb type. Further, S/N has at least nine quotations from previous performances, installations, and printed writings, besides the work-in-progress technique. Explicating one of the “author functions” as given by Michel Foucault, each text has plural subjects of the author. However, it has been revealed from members’ interviews that Teiji Furuhashi had a decision-making role in selecting the members’ ideas within the performance. Since then, S/N has had plural subjects of creation; however, Furuhashi is one of the subjects of creation along with the “privileged author.” S/N has plural authors (diffusive authors) yet at the same time, it has a “privileged author,” Teiji Furuhashi (cohesive author)
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe 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
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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No full textCan archives of audiovisual TV interviews be used to make authors more visible to students, and thereby reduce the learning gap between native and non-native language speakers in college classes? We examined students in a college course who learned about one scholar's ideas through watching an audiovisual TV interview (i.e., visible author format) and about another scholar's ideas through reading a formal text description (i.e., invisible author format). For the invisible author, native language speakers scored significantly higher than the non-native language speakers on a corresponding exam question (i.e., a cognitive measure), generated more words on the exam question (i.e., a motivational measure), and mentioned the author's name more often in answering the exam question (i.e., an affective measure). For the visible author, the groups did not differ on any of these measures. These findings provide evidence for the idea that making the author visible through audiovisual TV interviews can eliminate the learning gap between native and non-native language speakers. 3 Universities around the world serve students who are non-native speakers of th
The vanishing author in computer-generated works: a critical analysis of recent Australian case law
No full textAbstract
The use of software is ubiquitous in the creation of many copyright works, yet the requirement in copyright law that every work have a human author who engages in independent intellectual effort means that its use may prevent copyright subsistence. Several recent Australian cases have refocused attention on authorship as an essential criterion of copyright subsistence, and these cases suggest that much computer-produced output may be authorless and thus lack copyright protection. This article, the first in a two-part series, analyses how each case deals with the question of authorship of computer-produced works and why the use of software diminishes copyright protection for a significant number of computer-generated works. The article critiques the application of conventional notions of human authorship developed in the pre-computer age to modern productions and suggests alternative approaches to authorship that satisfy both the major objectives of copyright policy and the need to adapt to the computer age. The article argues that, without a broader judicial approach to authorship of computer-generated works, Parliament must remedy the lacuna in protection for these ‘authorless’ works. Possible solutions for reform are suggested. In a forthcoming article, the author comprehensively examines those reform proposals
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