Wheezing Characteristics and Predicting Reactivity to Inhaled β2-Agonist in Children for Home Medical Care

Background: Given that wheezing is treated with inhaled β2-agonists, their effect should be reviewed before the condition becomes severe; however, few methods can currently predict reactivity to inhaled β2-agonists. We investigated whether preinhalation wheezing characteristics identified by lung sound analysis can predict reactivity to inhaled β2-agonists.Methods: In 202 children aged 10–153 months, wheezing was identified by auscultation. Lung sounds were recorded for 30 s in the chest region on the chest wall during tidal breathing. We analyzed the wheezing before and after β2-agonist inhalation. Wheezing was displayed as horizontal bars of intensity defined as a wheeze power band, and the wheezing characteristics (number, frequency, and maximum intensity frequency) were evaluated by lung sound analysis. The participants were divided into two groups: non-disappears (wheezing did not disappear after inhalation) and disappears (wheezing disappeared after inhalation). Wheezing characteristics before β2-agonist inhalation were compared between the two groups.The characteristics of wheezing were not affected by body size. The number of wheeze power bands of the non-responder group was significantly higher than those of the responder group (P < 0.001). The number of wheeze power bands was a predictor of reactivity to inhaled β2-agonists, with a cutoff of 11.1. The 95% confidence intervals of sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 88.8, 42, 44, and 81.1% (P < 0.001), respectively.Conclusions: The number of preinhalation wheeze power bands shown by lung sound analysis was a useful indicator before treatment. This indicator could be a beneficial index for managing wheezing in young children.

Temperature and Concentration Effects on Oscillatory Flow for Variable Viscosity Carreau Fluid through an Inclined Porous Channel

The aim of this paper is to study the combined effects of the concentration and the thermo-diffusion on the unsteady oscillation flow of an incompressible Carreau fluid through an inclined porous channel. The temperature is assumed to affect exponentially the fluid's viscosity. We studied fluid flow in an inclined channel under the non-slip condition at the wall. We used the perturbation series method to solve the nonlinear partial differential equations. Numerical results were obtained for velocity distribution, and through the graphs, it was found that the velocity of fluid has a direct relation with Soret number, Peclet number, and Grashof number, while it has a reverse variation with chemical reaction, Schmidt number, frequency of oscillation, and Froude number.

Hotter, Longer and More Frequent Heatwaves: An Observational Study for the Brazilian City of Campinas, SP

Worldwide there is accumulated evidence of heatwave intensification due to climate change. Regional differences in the effects of heatwaves require local studies to implement public mitigation and adaptation strategies. This work analyzes and characterizes heatwaves’ occurrence for the city of Campinas, Brazil, through an observational study from 1956 to 2018. The definition of heatwaves adopted requires that the maximum and minimum daily temperatures be above the daily limits derived from climate normal 1961-1990. The annual and seasonal metrics of the number, frequency, and heatwaves’ duration showed significant and positive trends, except in winter. We found that the longest, the more intense, and the most frequent events occurred in the last 20 years and that a significant change in trend occurred at the beginning of the 1980s. Lastly, we performed an exploratory study of intra-urban variability, comparing heatwave metrics between two different weather stations that are 30 km apart in the city of Campinas. We found similar metrics patterns for the two weather stations, with more prolonged and more frequent heatwave events for the region's station with a higher rate of urban land occupation.

The Growth of Press Freedoms in the United States since 9/11

The number, frequency, and seriousness of leaks of classified information have grown sharply in the last two decades. The government has reacted to these leaks with several initiatives to stop or deter them. Journalists and their allies, in turn, have complained that these initiatives have narrowed press freedoms and damaged the First Amendment. This essay argues that the journalists are wrong. The last two decades have witnessed an unprecedented growth in press freedoms in the national security context and greater protection for journalists in their reporting of national security secrets. The recent indictment of Julian Assange is no violation of this norm and in many ways confirms it.

Does grandparental child-care provision affect number, satisfaction and with whom leisure activities are done?

This study investigates the impact of non-intensive and intensive supplementary grandparental child care on grandparents’ involvement in leisure activities. Three aspects of leisure activities are investigated: the number/frequency of activities, with whom they are carried out and the subjective satisfaction with them. Beside the possibility of a cumulation effect, the literature suggests that providing grandparental child care might compete with other activities, especially for women. Thus, we consider role enhancement and role strain theories to derive our hypotheses. We use longitudinal data from the German Ageing Survey (DEAS) which contains rich information on the leisure activities of people aged 40 and older. To account for selection into the provision of grandparental child care, we use a within-unit estimation approach (fixed-effects panel models). Our results show that both grandfathers and grandmothers tend to engage in more leisure activities when they provide grandparental child care. While care-giving grandfathers become more likely to engage in activities with family members without changing their engagement outside the family, we found no effect for women in this respect. Nevertheless, grandparental child-care provision modifies satisfaction with leisure activities only for women, reducing it, independently from with whom leisure activities are carried out. These findings suggest that a higher quantity of leisure activities does not necessarily imply higher quality.

The Effectiveness of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Program in Reducing Tics (motor & vocal) in a Sample of Children with Tourette Syndrome

The current study aims verifying a behavior modification program (BMP) effectiveness, based on cognitive behavior modification strategies, in reducing (motor and vocal) tic levels among individuals with Tourette syndrome .The study sample comprised (10) children with Tourette syndrome aging between (9-17 years old).To achieve the study goals, the experimental approach was followed. Research tool were developed by Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS). The BMP consists of (12) sessions, one session per week and (60) minutes for each session. The study results indicated that there are significant statistical differences at (α = 0.05) of performance level of the sample on the pre and post tests on the YGTSS motor, vocal, damage assessment, and on the overall totals in favor of the post test. No Statistically significant differences at (α = 0.05) were found based on gender, age variables on tic levels (motor/vocal) of the sample in the post test. The results also indicated that there were no statistically significant differences (α = 0.05) between performance means levels of the sample on the post and sequential tests which can be attributed to the behavior modification program effect on both (Motor/vocal) dimensions, on all sub-dimensions of each dimension including(number, frequency, intensity, complexity, overlap of tics), as well as damage assessment and the total score of the scale.

Effects of an experimental online education support on lectures fruition and teaching effectiveness

In this paper, we describe and discuss the implementation, the effects, and the consequences of an experimental service designed to capture, record, edit and stream video lectures. This service, named ONELab, is operating since September 2017 at the Department of Communication and Economics of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia to support the courses offered by the six degree programs available at the Department. Before the pandemic emergency, traditional face-to-face classes were regularly held, but ONELab was intended to provide flexibility to the educational contents (i.e., no time and geographical constraints) and to improve the students' learning process. The usage analyses show that, when given the opportunity, students tend to customise the learning process to their needs and life-style, with a large quote of usage in the late afternoon/night hours and during the week-ends. Video lectures are watched mostly during the teaching semester, but a significant part of students resort to watch them when the semester is over. The number, frequency and variety of accesses allow to describe different styles of usage, and students who use ONELab show better achievements, both in terms of acquired credits and in terms of grades, than those who never accessed the system. Moreover, some usage styles can help predicting the risk of dropout, signaling students who should be furtherly supported in order to prevent them from abandoning their studies.

A detailed examination protocol for evaluating the efficacy of myopia control methods

To ensure a reliable assessment of the efficacy of myopia control methods and their comparison, it is important that the studies are carried out according to identical protocols. Purpose. To analyze patient examination protocols used by different authors for assessing the efficacy of myopia control methods, and to evaluate the principles of forming the main (treatment) and control groups. Materials and methods. Domestic and foreign authors research works devoted to the assessment of myopia control methods were analyzed, most of which were randomized controlled studies. Results and Discussion. The authors propose their own protocol for evaluation of the efficacy of myopia control methods that includes methods for evaluating the results, recommended number (frequency) and duration of follow-up, represented as a checklist. Conclusion. The proposed protocol can be used for planning and executing a clinical research.Conflict of interest: the authors are members of the editorial board of the journal and recused themselves from review process and from making decision regarding acceptance of this article.

Turbulence in the Sun is suppressed on large scales and confined to equatorial regions

Convection in the Sun’s outer envelope generates turbulence and drives differential rotation, meridional circulation, and the global magnetic cycle. We develop a greater understanding of these processes by contrasting observations with simulations of global convection. These comparisons also enhance our comprehension of the physics of distant Sun-like stars. Here, we infer toroidal flow power as a function of wave number, frequency, and depth in the solar interior through helioseismic analyses of space-based observations. The inferred flows grow with spatial wave number and temporal frequency and are confined to low latitudes, supporting the argument that rotation induces systematic differences between the poles and equator. In contrast, the simulations used here show the opposite trends—power diminishing with increasing wave number and frequency while flow amplitudes become weakest at low latitudes. These differences highlight gaps in our understanding of solar convection and point to challenges ahead.

Parametric Study of a Plunging NACA0012 Airfoil

Natural flight has always been the source of imagination for the Human being, but reproducing the propulsive systems used by animals is indeed complex. New challenges in today’s society have made biomimetics gain a lot of momentum because of the high performance and versatility these systems possess when subjected to the low Reynolds numbers effects. The main objective of the present work is the computational study of the influence of the Reynolds number, frequency and amplitude of the oscillatory movement of a NACA0012 airfoil in the aerodynamic performance for a constant angle of attack over time. The thrust and power coefficients are obtained which together are used to calculate the propulsive efficiency. The simulations were performed using ANSYS Fluent with a RANS approach for Reynolds numbers between 8,500 and 34,000, reduced frequencies between 1 and 5, and Strouhal numbers from 0.1 to 0.4. The aerodynamic parameters were widely explored as well as their interaction, obtaining optimal operational condition zones for the different Reynolds numbers studied. Keywords: Plunging, Airfoil, CFD, Aerodynamic coefficients, Biomimicry