American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Mar 2015
Letter Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyAir contamination with bacteria in cystic fibrosis clinics: implications for prevention strategies.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Mar 2015
The Dynamics of QuantiFERON®-TB Gold In-Tube Conversion and Reversion in a Cohort of South African Adolescents.
Interferon-γ release assays are used to diagnose tuberculosis infection. In developed countries, high rates of reversion following conversion have been described. ⋯ In this tuberculosis-endemic setting, annual risk of infection was extremely high, whereas QFT and TST conversion concordance was higher and QFT reversion rates were lower than reported in low-burden settings.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Mar 2015
Occupational Exposures are Associated with Worse Morbidity in Patients with COPD.
Links between occupational exposures and morbidity in individuals with established chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remain unclear. ⋯ Accounting for smoking, occupational exposure was associated with COPD risk and, for those with established disease, shorter walk distance, greater breathlessness, worse quality of life, and increased exacerbation risk. Clinicians should obtain occupational histories from patients with COPD because work-related exposures may influence disease burden.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Mar 2015
Proteomic Profiling Reveals Autoimmune Targets in Sarcoidosis.
There is a need to further characterize the antibody repertoire in relation to sarcoidosis and potentially related autoantigens. ⋯ Autoantigen reactivity was present in most BAL and serum samples analyzed, and the results revealed high interindividual heterogeneity, with most of the reactivities observed in single individuals only. Four proteins are here proposed as sarcoidosis-associated autoimmune targets and of interest for further validation in independent cohorts.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Mar 2015
Novel Genes for Airway Wall Thickness Identified with Combined Genome Wide Association and Expression Analyses.
Airway wall thickness (AWT) is affected by both environmental and genetic factors and is strongly associated with airflow limitation in smaller airways. ⋯ Genetic variants contribute to AWT. Among others, the identified genes are also involved in emphysema, airway obstruction, and bronchial inflammation.