11,547 research outputs found
Comparison of two methods of processing induced sputum: Selected versus entire sputum - From the authors.
No full textSelected sputum is a better method for analysing induced sputum,
providing more viable cells, more eosinophilis, and higher
concentration of ECP in asthmatics, but in our hands, the entire
sputum method was also effective at distinguishing asthmatics
from healthy subjects
Comparison of two methods of processing induced sputum: selected versus entire sputum.
No full textSputum analysis is increasingly used to assess airway inflammation in asthma. The analysis of sputum is currently performed with two techniques, i.e., analysis of selected sputum (plugs) and analysis of entire sputum. To investigate the diagnostic value of these two methods, we compared total and differential cell counts and supernatant eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) in selected and entire sputum collected on two occasions in a group of healthy and asthmatic subjects. We induced sputum with hypertonic saline in 18 asthmatics and in eight healthy subjects. On one occasion we analyzed selected sputum, and on another occasion we analyzed entire sputum. In each sample we measured total and differential cell counts and ECP concentration in supernatant. We found a higher percentage of eosinophils (15.3 versus 8.3\%; p < 0.01), more viable nonsquamous cells (80.6 versus 71.8\%; p < 0.01), and higher levels of ECP (548 versus 105 microg/L; p < 0.001) in selected sputum as compared with entire sputum, whereas the percentage of neutrophils was higher in the entire sputum (42.7 versus 33.3\%; p < 0.05). The percentage of eosinophils and ECP concentration were significantly and similarly increased in both selected and entire sputum of asthmatic subjects, i.e., independent of the method of sputum analysis. In conclusion, the selected sputum method may indeed provide more viable cells, more eosinophils, and a higher concentration of ECP. However, both the selected sputum and the entire sputum method have the same diagnostic value in distinguishing asthmatics from healthy subjects
Effects of intradermal injection of atrial natriuretic peptide.
No full textAtrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) causes mast cell degranulation in rats in vivo and in vitro but is bronchodilator in humans. The aim of this study was to investigate the wheal and flare dose-response to intradermal injection of alpha-human ANP in normal humans. Eight normal subjects received five 30 microliters injections containing 1, 10, 39, 78, 117 pmol ANP and one each of normal saline, histamine 675 pmol and substance P 30 pmol. Maximum ANP flare response was greater but not significantly than that to saline at 1.55 +/- 0.6 (mean +/- s.e. mean) compared with 0.42 +/- 0.17 cm2, but much less than to histamine 9.86 +/- 0.97 or to substance P 12.5 +/- 1.2. Maximum ANP wheal response was significantly greater than that to saline at 0.38 +/- 0.08 compared with 0.18 +/- 0.05 cm2 (difference between means 0.20, 95% CI 0.05, 0.35), but much less than to histamine 0.75 +/- 0.06 or to substance P 1.05 +/- 0.08 cm2. No dose-response to ANP was demonstrated, though responses to the highest dose differed significantly from those to the lowest dose studied. We conclude that human cutaneous responses to ANP differ from those of animals and that the skin is less responsive than other tissues in humans
Charakterystyka wieloszczeta (Pygospio elegans Claparede) (Spionidae) i jego rola w polskiej strefie przybrzeżnej Morza Bałtyckiego
No full textQuantitative aspects of the spionid polychaete Pygospio elegans population in the Polish coastal zone of the Baltic Sea, in estuarine areas of Pomeranian river mouths were investigated. The fre-quency of occurrence (F) of P. elegans in the Polish coastal zone averaged 54% (permanent spe-cies) and ranged from 20 to 80%. The polychaete abundance along the Central Pomeranian coast peaked at 1 837 ind. m-2, the mean abundance being 175.7 ind. m-2. The density of the spionid worm in the Middle Pomerania was low and rarely exceeded 1 000 ind. m-2. The mean wet weight biomass of P. elegans in different areas was low (max. 0.29 gww m-2). The abundance of P. elegans in the river mouth areas (estuaries) was basically higher west of the mouth, in areas less exposed to polluted and freshened riverine water; water in those areas, however, carried lower bioseston loads, which affected trophic conditions.Badania dotyczyły ilościowych aspektów populacji Polychaeta – Pygospio elegans (Claparede) w polskiej strefie przybrzeżnej Morza Bałtyckiego oraz w obszarach przybrzeżnych ujść pomorskich rzek. Częstość występowania (F) P. elegans w polskiej strefie przybrzeżnej wyniosła 54% i wahała się od 20 do 80%. Zagęszczenie tego Polychaete wzdłuż wybrzeża środkowego osiągnęło maksymalnie 1837 osobn. m-2 (x = 175,7 osobn. m-2) i w miejscach występowania rzadko przekraczało 1000 osobn. m-2. Średnia biomasa mokra P. elegans w badanym obszarze była niska (maksimum 0,29 gmm m-2). Zagęszczenie P. elegans w strefie estuariowej (ujścia rzek) było zasadniczo wyższe na zachód od ujść, w obszarach mniej narażonych na zanieczyszczanie i wpływ wód rzecznych niosących znaczne ilości biosestonu odpowiedzialnego za wzrost warunków troficznych
Mixed network former effect in ion-conducting Alkali borophosphate glasses: structure/property correlations in the system '['M IND. 2'O] IND. 1/3''['('B IND. 2''O IND. 3') IND. x''('P IND. 2''O IND. 5') IND. 1-x'] IND. 2/3' (M = 'LI', K, 'CS')
No full textGlasses in the system '['M IND. 2'O] IND. 1/3''['('B IND. 2''O IND. 3') IND. x''('P IND. 2''O IND. 5') IND. 1-x'] IND. 2/3' (M = 'LI', K, 'CS') (0.0 'MENOR OU IGUAL' x 'MENOR OU IGUAL' 1.0) were prepared by standard melt-quenching procedures, and their physical properties were characterized by thermal analysis, density measurements, and impedance spectroscopy. Their atomic level structures were comprehensively characterized by Raman spectroscopy, by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and by ' ANTPOT. 11 B', 'ANTPOT. 31 P', and 'ANTPOT. 7 LI' as well as 'ANTPOT. 133 CS' high resolution solid state magic-angle-spinning (MAS) NMR techniques. 'ANTPOT. 31 P' MAS NMR peak assignments were aided by the presence or absence of homonuclear indirect 'ANTPOT. 31 P'-'ANTPOT. 31 P' spin–spin interactions, "J-coupling", as detected via refocused INADEQUATE techniques. Consistent speciations of the phosphate and borate network former components in terms of the various 'P POT. n IND. mB' and 'B POT.n IND. mP' units, where n is the number of bridging oxygens (BOs) and m is the number of B or P units bonded to P or B, respectively, present in these glasses were derived from 'ANTPOT. 11 B' MAS NMR, combined with both 'ANTPOT. 31 P' MAS NMR and XPS line shape analyses, constrained by charge and mass balance considerations. The speciation of the BO species in the glassy network was quantified both by O 1s XPS and 'ANTPOT. 11 B'{'ANTPOT. 31 P'} rotational echo double resonance spectroscopy. Both experiments indicate a strong preference of heteroatomic B-O-P over homoatomic P-O-P and B-O-B linkages to the extent that close to the maximum number of possible 'B POT. 4'-O-P linkages is formed. Further, the structural speciations of the borate and phosphate species, together with bond valence (BV) analyses of the charge redistribution on the various structural units, indicate that the alkali network modifier oxide is not proportionally shared between the two network former components B and P in these systems. Rather, the amounts and types of the various borate and phosphate species are found to be consistent with the negative charge brought in by the alkali modifier 'M IND. 2'O being distributed more toward the phosphate structural units which are suggested to attract a larger concentration of network modifier species than predicted by the bulk composition. The experimental results obtained from these studies help in understanding the strongly nonlinear compositional dependence of the glass transition temperature and the ionic conductivity in terms of detailed atomic-level structural information. The emerging structural principles appear to be general to all of the alkali borophosphate glass systems, with the type of alkali ion network modifier producing only minor variations.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 458; Ionic Motion in Disordered Materials)National Science Foundation (DMR, Materials World Network NSFDMR 0701564
Design and testing of a thick-film dual-modality sensor for composition measurements in heterogeneous mixtures
No full textThe current paper focuses on design and laboratory evaluation of a dual-modality sensor, developed for the needs of oil and gas extraction industry to measure the composition of heterogeneous mixtures in harsh conditions. The sensor combines ultrasonic and electrical measurement techniques, which are non-destructive, rapid and can potentially provide an on-line industrial measurement. Such a ‘dual-modality’ measurement could potentially be reliable in a wider range of process conditions. A distinct feature of the sensors presented here is their construction, which makes use of the thick-film technology, enabling the construction of multi-layered structures of both conductive and non-conductive layers, some of which may exhibit piezoelectric properties for ultrasonic measurement purposes. These are later fired on a ceramic substrate to provide rugged sensors, capable of working in aggressive industrial environments. Laboratory experiments to investigate the feasibility of the dual-modality sensors were conducted and some comparisons with the theoretical predictions are presented
Bluff bodies in deep turbulent boundary layers: Reynolds-number issues
No full textIt is generally assumed that flows around wall-mounted sharp-edged bluff bodies
submerged in thick turbulent boundary layers are essentially independent of the
Reynolds number Re, provided that this exceeds some (2–3) × 104. (Re is based on
the body height and upstream velocity at that height.) This is a particularization of
the general principle of Reynolds-number similarity and it has important implications,
most notably that it allows model scale testing in wind tunnels of, for example,
atmospheric flows around buildings. A significant part of the literature on wind
engineering thus describes work which implicitly rests on the validity of this
assumption. This paper presents new wind-tunnel data obtained in the ‘classical’ case
of thick fully turbulent boundary-layer flow over a surface-mounted cube, covering an
Re range of well over an order of magnitude (that is, a factor of 22). The results are
also compared with new field data, providing a further order of magnitude increase in
Re. It is demonstrated that if on the one hand the flow around the obstacle does not
contain strong concentrated-vortex motions (like the delta-wing-type motions present
for a cube oriented at 45? to the oncoming flow), Re effects only appear on fluctuating
quantities such as the r.m.s. fluctuating surface pressures. If, on the other hand, the
flow is characterized by the presence of such vortex motions, Re effects are significant
even on mean-flow quantities such as the mean surface pressures or the mean velocities
near the surfaces. It is thus concluded that although, in certain circumstances and for
some quantities, the Reynolds-number-independency assumption is valid, there are
other important quantities and circumstances for which it is not
Comparison of two methods of processing induced sputum: Selected versus entire sputum (multiple letters)
No full textDissociation between airway inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness in allergic asthma
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