Stephen Waite | PubMed Health

PubMed2006

Nontraumatic thoracic emergencies.

Acute chest pain is one of the most common complaints of patients who present to an emergency department, and accounts for up to 5% of all visits. It also is one of the most complex issues in an emergency setting because, although clinical signs and symptoms often are nonspecific, rapid diagnosis and therapy are of great importance. The chest radiograph remains an important component of the evaluation of chest pain, and usually is the first examination to be obtained. Nevertheless, cross-sectional imaging has added greatly to the ability to characterize the wide constellation of clinical findings into a distinct etiology. This article reviews how the various entities that can present as nontraumatic chest pain can manifest radiographically.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed2006

Acute lung infections in normal and immunocompromised hosts.

Pulmonary infections are among the most common causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and contribute substantially to annual medical expenditures in the United States. Despite the availability of antimicrobial agents, pneumonia constitutes the sixth most common cause of death and the number one cause of death from infection. Pneumonia can be particularly life-threatening in the elderly, in individuals who have pre-existing heart and lung conditions, in patients who have suppressed or weakened immunity, and in pregnant women. This article discusses some of the important causes of acute lung infections in normal and immunocompromised hosts. Because there often is considerable overlap, infections are categorized by the host immune status that is most likely to be associated with a particular pathogen.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

PubMed2004

Deploying a metal adsorbent in situ: a technique for indicating bioavailable Cd(II) in marine waters.

This paper reports a study into the deployment of a metal adsorbent in situ to estimate bioavailable Cd(II) in marine waters. Eight adsorbents were screened in the laboratory to test their ability to accumulate Cd(II) from deionised water and artificial seawater, and an oxidised activated carbon was selected for further investigation. The adsorption isotherm at Cd(II) concentrations 0.16-38 microgl(-1) and at salinity 15 followed the Freundlich equation. The adsorbent was contained in nylon bags (pore size 35 microm) and dialysis tubes (membrane pore size 2 nm) to produce deployable devices and to investigate the effect of housing material on Cd(II) accumulation. The devices were tested in the laboratory and deployed at four field sites for up to 3 weeks. The adsorbent in the nylon bags reached equilibrium towards the end of this period and the measured contents were in good agreement with expected contents predicted from known seawater Cd(II) concentrations and the adsorption isotherm. The dialysis tubes accumulated significantly lower amounts of Cd(II) than the nylon bags, probably due to an initial lag as Cd(II) diffused into the dialysis bag and due to biofouling which reduced diffusion. The relationship between concentrations of Cd(II) accumulated by the mussels (indicating the bioavailable Cd(II) fraction) and the devices at different field sites could be described by the Freundlich model. The goodness of fit of this relationship was better for the dialysis tubes than the nylon bags. The adsorbent in the nylon bags may have collected small particles from seawater which affected the Cd(II) analysis. Both devices demonstrate potential as indicators of the relative bioavailable fraction of Cd(II) to Mytilus edulis in marine waters.

Adsorption↗