Air Quality, Allergic Rhinitis, and Asthma.

This review article highlights air pollution as a critical global health concern with emphasis on its effects and role in the development and exacerbation of upper airway and lower airway disease with a focus on allergic rhinitis and asthma. This review underscores the World Health Organization's recognition of air pollution as the biggest environmental threat to human health. It discusses the various components and categories of air pollutants and the evidence-based effects they have on asthma and allergic rhinitis, ranging from pathogenesis to exacerbation of these conditions across various age groups in different geographic locations.

Global Advancement in Pharmacy Services for Mental Health: A Review for Evidence-Based Practices.

The symptoms of psychiatric infirmities have variability, and selected drug regimens for mental illness are comparatively complex and individualized; therefore, pharmacy services vary with respect to patients, diseases, healthcare settings, community structures, and countries. Clinical pharmacy services for mental health (MH) are continuously being upgraded. A structured search of the literature was performed in the Cochrane, PubMed (Medline), PsycINFO, Google scholar, Scopus, Science Direct, and Springer Links databases. The title and abstract of each retrieved article were evaluated for relevance. To remove uncertainty and ambiguity, the full-text articles were retrieved and examined for relevance. The articles were further assessed on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Narrative synthesis was performed, creating new categories and relevant subcategories and further subsections. The articles and the results were assessed for quality and bias. Pharmacists have a range of expertise in psychiatric care. The services can be classified as conventional, extended, and advanced pharmacy services. Conventional services include the quality use of medicines in healthcare settings and medication support services in communities that ensure medication adherence. Pharmacists perform extended roles in collaborative medication therapy management, multidisciplinary community mental health teams, collaborative care, patient education, home medication review, hospital-to-home transit, and screening services. In the USA, the role of pharmacists was advanced by prescribing as collaborative and interim prescribers. Australia launched an accredited program for psychiatric first-aid pharmacists. Pharmacists can provide mental care to rural populations using health technology. The role of pharmacists in MH is appreciated either independently or as a team member. Patients and healthcare providers rank the services of pharmacists in MH highly. Still, there is a margin for improvement in the training of pharmacists. Pharmacists cannot provide sufficient time to their patients. Public awareness about the role of pharmacists in MH needs more attention. Moreover, the training of psychiatric pharmacists should be standardized around the world.

Impact of Surface Roughness on Flow Physics and Entropy Generation in Jet Impingement Applications.

In this paper, a numerical investigation was performed of an air jet incident that normally occurs on a horizontal heated plane. Analysis of flow physics and entropy generation due to heat and friction is included using a simple easy-to-manufacture, surface roughening element: a circular rib concentric with the air jet. This study shows how varying the locations and dimensions of the rib can deliver a favorable trade-off between entropy generation and flow parameters, such as vortex generation and heat transfer. The performance of the roughness element was tested at three different radii; R/D = 1, 1.5 and 2, where D was the jet hydraulic diameter and R was the radial distance from the geometric center. At each location, the normalized rib height (e/D) was increased from 0.019 to 0.074 based on an increment of (e/D) = 0.019. The jet-to-target distance was H/D = 6 and the jet Reynolds number (Re) ranged from 10,000 to 50,000 Re, which was obtained from the jet hydraulic diameter (D), and the jet exit velocity (U). All results are presented in the form of entropy generation due to friction and heat exchange, as well as the total entropy generated. A detailed comparison of flow physics is presented for all ribs and compared with the baseline case of a smooth surface. The results show that at higher Reynolds numbers, adding a rib of a suitable height reduced the total entropy (St) by 31% compared to the no rib case. In addition, with ribs of heights 0.019, 0.037 and 0.054, respectively, the entropy generated by friction (Sf) was greater than that due to heat exchange (Sh) by about 42%, 26% and 4%, respectively. The rib of height e/D = 0.074 produced the minimum St at R/D = 1. As for varying R/D, varying rib location and Re values had a noticeable impact on Sh, Sf and (St). Placing the rib at R/D = 1 gave the highest total entropy generation (St) followed by R/D = 1.5 for all Re. Finally, the Bejan number increased as both rib height and rib location increased.

Secondary Reconstruction of the Zygomaticomaxillary Complex.

Zygomaticomaxillary (ZMC) fractures are the second most common facial fractures after nasal bone fractures. The zygoma, with its location and multiple points of articulations, lends itself to both facial structure and esthetics. Secondary ZMC deformities are complications of inadequate primary correction, delayed repair, or lack of repair. Secondary revisions of ZMC aim to correct ZMC displacement and projection and to address orbital discrepancies. Extensive correction involving significant orbital and malar defects requires zygomatic repositioning osteotomies and would greatly benefit from the utilization of virtual surgical planning, intraoperative navigation, and imaging. Minor corrections in malar projection can be corrected by onlay grafting and soft tissue augmentation and resuspension. Isolated or minor orbital corrections can be managed by autogenous or alloplastic material to restore lost orbital volume and anatomy.

Brain-derived nerve growth factor in the cochlea - a reproducibility study.

OBJECTIVE: Brain-derived nerve growth factor (BDNF) plays an important role in cochlear development so it is plausible that it could restore hearing loss if delivered directly into the cochlea. We wished to confirm our previous report that a single intracochlear injection of brain-derived nerve growth factor (BDNF) was beneficial for hearing in guinea pigs. We wished to assess the reproducibility of our results and assess possible improved methods with a view to developing a clinical treatment for sensorineural hearing loss. METHODS: CDDP was used to create partial hearing loss in 25 guinea pigs. After 30 days the animals underwent ABR testing and unilateral BDNF injection through the round window in one ear and saline injection into the other ear. After allowing possible effects to stabilize, thirty days later, ABR threshold testing was repeated to assess change in threshold. RESULTS: Final ABR thresholds were 60-70 dB and were about 11 dB better in the ears treated with BDNF. CONCLUSION: Our original finding that Intracochlear BDNF can improve hearing in guinea pigs was confirmed, but the improvement demonstrated by the methods in this paper is too small for clinical application.