Upper and lower bounds of 180 degrees unit element of a ridge waveguide: Calculations and measurements

The upper and lower bounds on the actual solution of any microwave structure is of general interest. The purpose of this letter is to compare some calculations using the mode-matching and finite-element methods, with some measurements on a 180 degrees ridge waveguide insert between standard WR62 rectangular waveguides. The work suggests that the MMM produces an upper bound, while the FEM places a lower bound on the measurement. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Job strain and leisure-time physical activity in female and male public sector employees

Background. High work stress could decrease physical activity but the evidence of the relationship has remained equivocal, The present study examined the association between job strain and leisure-time physical activity in a large sample of employees.

Relative Respiratory Syncytial Virus Cytopathogenesis in Upper and Lower Respiratory Tract Epithelium

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major pathogen that primarily infects airway epithelium. Most infants suffer mild upper respiratory tract (URT) symptoms, while approximately one third progress to lower respiratory tract (LRT) involvement. Despite the ubiquity of URT infection, little is known about the relative cytopathogenesis of RSV infection in infant URT and LRT.

Built environment interventions for increasing physical activity in adults and children

Primary objective: Assess the effects of interventions targeting increased use of the built environment for overall PA in both adults and children.
Secondary objectives

Compare the effects of interventions encouraging the use of existing built environments with interventions that, with or without involving informational approaches, involve building or regenerating environments.
Describe other health benefits (e.g. mental health, risk factors for cardiovascular and other diseases) where outcomes are available.
Explore whether the effects of interventions differ between adults and children and between advantaged and disadvantaged populations.
Identify gaps in the evidence and highlight future research needs in the area.

Comparison of Microbiomes from Different Niches of Upper and Lower Airways in Children and Adolescents with Cystic Fibrosis

Changes in the airway microbiome may be important in the pathophysiology of chronic lung disease in patients with cystic fibrosis. However, little is known about the microbiome in early cystic fibrosis lung disease and the relationship between the microbiomes from different niches in the upper and lower airways. Therefore, in this cross-sectional study, we examined the relationship between the microbiome in the upper (nose and throat) and lower (sputum) airways from children with cystic fibrosis using next generation sequencing. Our results demonstrate a significant difference in both α and β-diversity between the nose and the two other sampling sites. The nasal microbiome was characterized by a polymicrobial community while the throat and sputum communities were less diverse and dominated by a few operational taxonomic units. Moreover, sputum and throat microbiomes were closely related especially in patients with clinically stable lung disease. There was a high inter-individual variability in sputum samples primarily due to a decrease in evenness linked to increased abundance of potential respiratory pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Patients with chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection exhibited a less diverse sputum microbiome. A high concordance was found between pediatric and adult sputum microbiomes except that Burkholderia was only observed in the adult cohort. These results indicate that an adult-like lower airways microbiome is established early in life and that throat swabs may be a good surrogate in clinically stable children with cystic fibrosis without chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in whom sputum sampling is often not feasible.

Relative Contribution of P5 and Hap Surface Proteins to Nontypable Haemophilus influenzae Interplay with the Host Upper and Lower Airways

Nontypable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is a major cause of opportunistic respiratory tract disease, and initiates infection by colonizing the nasopharynx. Bacterial surface proteins play determining roles in the NTHi-airways interplay, but their specific and relative contribution to colonization and infection of the respiratory tract has not been addressed comprehensively. In this study, we focused on the ompP5 and hap genes, present in all H. influenzae genome sequenced isolates, and encoding the P5 and Hap surface proteins, respectively. We employed isogenic single and double mutants of the ompP5 and hap genes generated in the pathogenic strain NTHi375 to evaluate P5 and Hap contribution to biofilm growth under continuous flow, to NTHi adhesion, and invasion/phagocytosis on nasal, pharyngeal, bronchial, alveolar cultured epithelial cells and alveolar macrophages, and to NTHi murine pulmonary infection. We show that P5 is not required for bacterial biofilm growth, but it is involved in NTHi interplay with respiratory cells and in mouse lung infection. Mechanistically, P5NTHi375 is not a ligand for CEACAM1 or α5 integrin receptors. Hap involvement in NTHi375-host interaction was shown to be limited, despite promoting bacterial cell adhesion when expressed in H. influenzae RdKW20. We also show that Hap does not contribute to bacterial biofilm growth, and that its absence partially restores the deficiency in lung infection observed for the ΔompP5 mutant. Altogether, this work frames the relative importance of the P5 and Hap surface proteins in NTHi virulence.

Physical Activity, Obesity Status, and Blood Pressure in Preschool Children

Objective To examine the combined effects of physical activity and weight status on blood pressure (BP) in preschool-aged children. Study design The sample included 733 preschool-aged children (49% female). Physical activity was objectively assessed on 7 consecutive days by accelerometry. Children were categorized as sufficiently active if they met the recommendation of at least 60 minutes daily of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Body mass index was used to categorize children as nonoverweight or overweight/obese, according to the International Obesity Task Force benchmarks. BP was measured using an automated BP monitor and categorized as elevated or normal using BP percentile-based cut-points for age, sex, and height. Results The prevalence of elevated systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP was 7.7% and 3.0%, respectively. The prevalence of overweight/obese was 32%, and about 15% of children did not accomplish the recommended 60 minutes of daily MVPA. After controlling for age and sex, overweight/obese children who did not meet the daily MVPA recommendation were 3 times more likely (OR 3.8; CI 1.6-8.6) to have elevated SBP than nonoverweight children who met the daily MVPA recommendation. Conclusions Overweight or obese preschool-aged children with insufficient levels of MVPA are at significantly greater risk for elevated SBP than their non overweight and sufficiently active counterparts. (J Pediatr 2015;167:98-102).