scholarly journals Fungal Lung: The Risk of Fungal Exposure to Nail Care Professionals

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aditya K. Gupta ◽  
Emma M Quinlan
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory Tract ◽  
Water Spray ◽  
Air Filtration ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Immune Systems ◽  
Fungal Exposure ◽  
Drilling Technique ◽  
Lung Tissue Damage ◽  
Suppression System ◽  
Great Portion

Foot and nail care specialists spend a great portion of their day using nail drills to reduce nail thickness and smooth foot callouses. This process generates a large amount of dust, some of which is small enough to breathe in and deposit into the deepest regions of the respiratory tract, potentially causing health problems. Foot and nail dust often contain fungi, from both fungally-infected and healthy-looking nails. While the majority of healthy individuals can tolerate inhaled fungi, the immune systems of older, immunocompromised, and allergy-prone individuals often react using the inflammatory TH2 pathway, leading to mucus overproduction, bronchoconstriction, and, in severe cases, lung tissue damage. To protect vulnerable podiatry professionals, wearing a surgical mask, using a water spray suppression system on nail drills, installing air filtration systems, and considering drilling technique can help reduce the exposure to nail dust.

scholarly journals Absence of Mycoplasma spp. in nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos) and blue (Cyanistes caeruleus) and great tits (Parus major) in Germany and its potential implication for evolutionary studies in birds

2021 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luisa Fischer ◽  
Franca Möller Palau-Ribes ◽  
Silke Kipper ◽  
Michael Weiss ◽  
Conny Landgraf ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory Tract ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Respiratory Pathogen ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Upper Respiratory Tract ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Cyanistes Caeruleus ◽  
Potential Implication ◽  
Free Ranging

AbstractMycoplasma spp. are important pathogens in poultry and cause high economic losses for poultry industry worldwide. In other bird species (e.g. white storks, birds of prey, and several waterfowl species), Mycoplasma spp. are regularly found in healthy individuals, hence, considered apathogenic or part of the microbiota of the upper respiratory tract. However, as Mycoplasma spp. are absent in healthy individuals of some wild bird species, they might play a role as respiratory pathogen in these bird species, e.g. Mycoplasma gallisepticum in house finches. The knowledge on the occurrence of Mycoplasma spp. in wild birds is limited. To evaluate the relevance of Mycoplasma spp. in free-ranging nightingales and tits, 172 wild caught birds were screened for the presence of mycoplasmas. The birds were sampled via choanal swabs and examined via molecular methods (n = 172) and, when possible, via culture (n = 142). The Mycoplasma sp. was determined by sequencing the 16S rRNA gene and 16S-23S Intergenic Transcribed Spacer Region. All birds were tested negative for mycoplasmas via PCR and/or mycoplasmal culture. Hence, free-ranging nightingales and tits do not show any mycoplasma in their microbial flora of the respiratory tract. Therefore, these songbird species may suffer from clinical mycoplasmosis when being infected. We hypothesize that birds relying on their vocal ability for reproduction have excluded mycoplasmas from their respiratory flora compared to other bird species.

Real-Time Classification of Water Spray and Leaks for Robotic Firefighting

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua G. McNeil ◽  
Brian Y. Lattimer
Keyword(s):  
Vision System ◽  
Training Dataset ◽  
Water Spray ◽  
Bayes Classifier ◽  
Test Dataset ◽  
Hazardous Environments ◽  
Water Classification ◽  
Probabilistic Classification ◽  
Suppression System

Robotic firefighting is an area of increased focus as a way of limiting the exposure of firefighters to hazardous environments. A suppression system must incorporate multiple functionalities to allow for closed-loop firefighting control. One area of development is classifying water spray as a way of correcting errors between suppressant placement and fire location. An IR vision system is presented which is capable of identifying water. Image segmentation is performed, followed by a process that classifies regions of interest as water or non-water objects. A probabilistic classification method, using Naïve Bayes classifier, was applied on a varied dataset of differing water temperatures and sprays. Objects were segmented using frame differencing with image intensity and difference thresholds. Segments were manually labeled to create a training dataset. Precision, recall, F-measure, and G-measure results of the classifier on a separate test dataset ranged from 86.1-97.4% for classifying water objects using the test dataset with water classification alone having 94.2-97.4% accuracy.

scholarly journals Management of Cough

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 85
Author(s):  
Arief Bakhtiar ◽  
Putri Mega Juwita
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Respiratory Tract ◽  
Defense Mechanism ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Afferent Pathway ◽  
Symptomatic Management ◽  
Proven Efficacy ◽  
Reflex Arc ◽  
Foreign Materials

Cough is the most frequent symptom for which patients consult with their health care provider throughout the world. This symptom could be happened not only in sick individuals but also healthy individuals. At some stage, it is distressing, inhibits normal social activities, and reduces quality of life. Besides these detrimental effects, cough is the most effective defense mechanism to eliminate foreign materials, including various pathogens, from the respiratory tract. It begins with a series of breathing maneuvers which triggers sudden expulsion of air which is divided into three phases, i.e. inspiration, compression, and expiration phase. Cough occurs due to activation of mechanical or chemical sensory receptors in the larynx and lower respiratory tract which stimulates reflex arc complex. This stimulus is then transmitted to the afferent pathway to the cough center in the medulla through the vagus nerve to trigger expiration muscles to produce cough. It is important to know the cause of cough because cough is an indicator for patients and doctors for early diagnosis and therapy of disease. Therefore, cough is classified into acute, subacute, and chronic according to its duration. Available medications for symptomatic management of cough are inadequate due to lack of proven efficacy and/or their undesirable or intolerable side effects. This article aims to provide information on cough management to improve therapeutic effectiveness and patient quality of life.

scholarly journals Update on Infections in Primary Antibody Deficiencies

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yesim Yilmaz Demirdag ◽  
Sudhir Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory Tract ◽  
Respiratory Tract Infections ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Primary Antibody ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Careful Evaluation ◽  
Primary Antibody Deficiencies ◽  
Tract Infections ◽  
Common Infections

Bacterial respiratory tract infections are the hallmark of primary antibody deficiencies (PADs). Because they are also among the most common infections in healthy individuals, PADs are usually overlooked in these patients. Careful evaluation of the history, including frequency, chronicity, and presence of other infections, would help suspect PADs. This review will focus on infections in relatively common PADs, discussing diagnostic challenges, and some management strategies to prevent infections.

scholarly journals Upper/Lower Respiratory Tract Microbiome Changes in AECOPD and COPD

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanyan Xu ◽  
Nailiang Liu ◽  
Dailing Yan ◽  
Shiyi Zhou ◽  
Kun Tian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory Tract ◽  
Lower Respiratory Tract ◽  
Stable State ◽  
Alpha Diversity ◽  
Disease Status ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Upper Respiratory Tract ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Important Player

Abstract Background: Microbiome residing in the respiratory tract has emerged as an important player in the etiology and progression of COPD, but results are conflicting regarding the features of respiratory tract microbiome in COPD and at exacerbations and it is unknown whether these features differ by ethnicity and geography. Method: To address these questions, we enrolled healthy individuals and patients with COPD, including healthy-COPD pairs from same households, from four geographical regions of Yunan province, representative of different ethnicities and/or environmental exposures. Sputum and oropharyngeal swabs were collected from these healthy individuals and from COPD patients at stable state (COPD) or exacerbations (AECOPD) and subjected to 16S microbiome profiling. Results: Both COPD disease status and region had an impact on alpha-diversity of sputum and oropharyngeal microbiomes, with AECOPD having the lowest microbiome diversity. Shifts in the relative abundance (≥ 1.5 fold, adj. p < 0.05) of microbes at healthy, exacerbation and stable COPD. Microbes enriched at exacerbation COPD were primarily Proteobacteria and Firmicutes phylum in upper respiratory tract. In the lower respiratory tract, population-based study did not find any statistical differential abundance of microbe, however, paired-based study showed phylum of Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Bacteroidota, Acidobacteriota, Desulfobacterota, Firmicutes and Verrucomicrobiota enriched in exacerbation COPD. Conclusions: COPD is associated with specific changes in upper and lower respiratory tract microbiomes, whereas exacerbation events confer additional alterations in respiratory tract microbiome compositions. These specific microbiome changes may inform future study on the pathogenesis or management of COPD.

scholarly journals Comparison of Zinc,Vitamin A &D Serum Levels Between Children With Respiratory Tract Infection And Healthy Individuals in two Iranian Referral Hospitals

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (09) ◽  
pp. 64-69
Author(s):  
Mohammad Reza Shokrollahi ◽  
Zahra Movahedi ◽  
Shima Javadi Nia ◽  
Hosein Masoumi Asl ◽  
Hosein Heydari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tract Infection ◽  
Vitamin A ◽  
Respiratory Tract ◽  
Respiratory Tract Infection ◽  
Serum Levels ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Referral Hospitals

The respiratory system, the microbiome and nutrition – new frontiers

Medic ro ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-48
Author(s):  
Mirela Pribac Cingolani ◽  
Ioan Lazăr Pribac
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory Tract ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Lower Respiratory Tract ◽  
Respiratory Health ◽  
Therapeutic Strategies ◽  
Intestinal Microbiome ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Lung Microbiome ◽  
New Frontier ◽  
Microbial Dna

In comparison to the vastly studied intestinal microbiome, studies regarding the lung microbiome are still in an inci­pient stage. The lower respiratory tract has historically been con­si­dered „sterile”, mainly due to the dificulties to grow lung microorganisms în routine microbiological cultures from healthy subjects. This dogma has progresively been con­tes­ted once advanced sequencing techniques were able to detect microbial DNA at a pulmonary level even in the lungs of healthy individuals. An analysis of the possible in­terac­tions between the respiratory tract and the intestinal one through microbiota represents a new frontier in re­search. The generally accepted fact that diet is the main in­flu­en­cing factor of the intestinal microbiome extends the under­stan­ding of the effects of the intestinal microbiota on respiratory health via diet, and offers a promising pers­pec­tive for developing nutritional therapeutic strategies as com­plement to pneumological therapy.  

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