To determine whether frontline health care workers (HCWs) are at greater risk for contracting pandemic (H1N1) 2009 than nonclinical staff, we conducted a study of 231 HCWs and 215 controls. Overall, 79 (17.7%) of 446 had a positive antibody titer by hemagglutination inhibition, with 46 (19.9%) of 231 HCWs and 33 (15.3%) of 215 controls positive (OR 1.37, 95% confidence interval 0.84-2.22). Of 8...

This paper presents a smart sensing strip for noninvasively monitoring respiratory flow in real time. The monitoring system comprises a monolithically-integrated flexible hot-film flow sensor adhered on a molded flexible silicone case, where a miniaturized conditioning circuit with a Bluetooth4.0 LE module are packaged, and a personal mobile device that wirelessly acquires respiratory data tran...

The protective effects of Mucuna pruriens seed extract (MPE) against the cardio-respiratory depressant and neuromuscular paralytic effects induced by injection of Calloselasma rhodostoma (Malayan pit viper) venom in anaesthetized rats were investigated. While MPE pretreatment did not reverse the inhibitory effect of the venom on the gastrocnemius muscle excitability, it significantly attenuated...

OBJECTIVE Breathing rate (BR) can be estimated by extracting respiratory signals from the electrocardiogram (ECG) or photoplethysmogram (PPG). The extracted respiratory signals may be influenced by several technical and physiological factors. In this study, our aim was to determine how technical and physiological factors influence the quality of respiratory signals. APPROACH Using a variety o...

background hearing capability plays a principal role on human's communication. noise-induced hearing loss (nihl) caused by exposure to high noise levels is a serious socio-economic problem in modern societies. nihl can either be reversible, resulting in a temporary threshold shifts (tts) or irreversible, resulting in a permanent threshold shifts (pts). pts is often confirmed in the time span of...

Fit testing of tight-fitting respiratory protective facepieces has been in use for some years, but there are still widespread misconceptions and misunderstandings about what a fit test pass actually signifies. Various aspects frequently generate research papers, and there are three relevant ones in this issue (Han and Lee, 2005; Kuo et al., 2005; Vaughan and RajanSithamparanadarajah, 2005). In ...

Acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome are clinical entities of multi-factorial origin frequently seen in traumatically injured patients requiring intensive care. We performed an unsystematic search using PubMed and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews up to January 2012. The purpose of this article is to review recent evidence for the pathophysiology and the managemen...

The purpose of this study was to obtain a respiratory signal with the use of an add-on device to a specific stereotactic body frame and evaluate precision and accuracy of the method, with the use of a dynamic phantom. The authors designed and constructed a simple add-on device which, attached to a stereotactic body frame, provides information of the patient's respiratory signal in every CT axia...