1,721,166 research outputs found
Assessing the effect of deep inhalation on airway calibre: a novel approach to lung function in bronchial asthma and COPD.
No full textAsthma severity in childhood and metabolomic profiling of breath condensate.
No full textBACKGROUND:
Asthma is a heterogeneous disease and its different phenotypes need to be better characterized from a biochemical-inflammatory standpoint. This study aimed to apply the metabolomic approach to exhaled breath condensate (breathomics) to discriminate different asthma phenotypes, with a particular focus on severe asthma in children.
METHODS:
In this cross-sectional study, we recruited 42 asthmatic children (age, 8-17 years): 31 with nonsevere asthma (treated with inhaled steroids or not) and 11 with severe asthma. Fifteen healthy children were enrolled as controls. Children performed exhaled nitric oxide measurement, spirometry, exhaled breath condensate (EBC) collection. Condensate samples were analyzed using a metabolomic approach based on mass spectrometry.
RESULTS:
A robust Bidirectional-Orthogonal Projections to Latent Structures-Discriminant Analysis (O2PLS-DA) model was found for discriminating both between severe asthma cases and healthy controls (R(2) = 0.93; Q(2) = 0.75) and between severe asthma and nonsevere asthma (R(2) = 0.84; Q(2) = 0.47). The metabolomic data analysis leads to a robust model also when the 3 groups of children were considered altogether (K = 0.80), indicating that each group is characterized by a specific metabolomic profile. Compounds related to retinoic acid, adenosine and vitamin D (Human Metabolome Database) were relevant for the discrimination between groups.
CONCLUSION:
The metabolomic profiling of EBC could clearly distinguish different biochemical-metabolic profiles in asthmatic children and enabled the severe asthma phenotype to be fully discriminated. The breathomics approach may therefore be suitable for discriminating between different asthma metabolic phenotypes
An electronic nose discriminates exhaled breath of patients with untreated Pulmonary Sarcoidosis from controls
No full textBackground: Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous disease of unknown cause that affects the lungs in over 90% of cases. Breath analysis by electronic nose technology provides exhaled molecular profiles that have potential in the diagnosis of several respiratory diseases. Objectives: We hypothesized that exhaled molecular profiling may distinguish well-characterized patients with sarcoidosis from controls. To that end we performed electronic nose measurements in untreated and treated sarcoidosis patients and in healthy controls. Methods: 31 sarcoidosis patients (11 patients with untreated pulmonary sarcoidosis [age: 48.4 +/- 9.0], 20 patients with treated pulmonary sarcoidosis [age: 49.7 +/- 7.9]) and 25 healthy controls (age: 39.6 +/- 14.1) participated in a cross-sectional study. Exhaled breath was collected twice using a Tedlar bag by a standardized method. Both bags were then sampled by an electronic nose (Cyranose C320), resulting in duplicate data. Statistical analysis on sensor responses was performed off-line by principal components (PC) analyses, discriminant analysis and ROC curves. Results: Breathprints from patients with untreated pulmonary sarcoidosis were discriminated from healthy controls (CVA: 83.3%; AUC 0.825). Repeated measurements confirmed those results. Patients with untreated and treated sarcoidosis could be less well discriminated (CVA 74.2%), whereas the treated sarcoidosis group was undistinguishable from controls (CVA 66.7%) Conclusion: Untreated patients with active sarcoidosis can be discriminated from healthy controls. This suggests that exhaled breath analysis has potential for diagnosis and/or monitoring of sarcoidosis. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Differential distribution of inflammatory cells in large and small airways in smokers
No full textBACKGROUND: Smoking induces structural changes in the airways, and is considered a major factor in the development of airflow obstruction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, differences in inflammatory cell distribution between large airways (LA) and small airways (SA) have not been systematically explored in smokers. Hypothesis: The content of cells infiltrating the airway wall differs between LA and SA. AIMS: To compare the content of neutrophils, macrophages, lymphocytes and mast cells infiltrating LA and SA in smokers who underwent surgery for lung cancer. METHODS: Lung tissue from 15 smokers was analysed. Inflammatory cells in the lamina propria were identified by immunohistochemical analysis, quantified by digital image analysis and expressed as number of cells per surface area. RESULTS: The number of neutrophils infiltrating the lamina propria of SA (median 225.3 cells/mm(2)) was higher than that in the lamina propria of LA (median 60.2 cells/mm(2); p<0.001). Similar results were observed for mast cells: 313.3 and 133.7 cells/mm(2) in the SA and LA, respectively (p<0.001). In contrast, the number of CD4 cells was higher in LA compared with SA (median 217.8 vs 80.5 cells/mm(2); p = 0.042). CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate a non-uniform distribution of neutrophils and mast cells throughout the bronchial tree, and suggest that these cells may be involved in the development of smoking-related peripheral lung injury
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
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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