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Background Many insect-borne pathogens appear to manipulate the odors of their hosts in ways that influence vector behaviors. In our prior work, we identified characteristic changes in volatile emissions of cultured Plasmodium falciparum parasites in vitro and during natural human falciparum malaria. In the current study, we prospectively evaluate the reproducibility of these findings in an independent cohort of children in Blantyre, Malawi. Methods We enrolled febrile children under evaluation for malaria and collected breath from children with and without malaria, as well as healthy controls. Using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, we characterized breath volatiles associated with malaria. By repeated sampling of children with malaria before and after antimalarial use, we determined how breath profiles respond to treatment. In addition, we investigated the stage-specificity of biomarkers through correlation with asexual and sexual-stage parasitemia. Results Our data provide robust evidence that P. falciparum infection leads to specific, reproducible changes in breath compounds. While no individual compound served as an adequate classifier in isolation, selected volatiles together yielded high sensitivity for diagnosis of malaria. Overall, the results of our predictive models suggest the presence of volatile signatures that reproducibly predict malaria infection status and determine response to therapy, even in cases of low parasitemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pneumonia is a common lower respiratory tract infection, and early diagnosis is crucial for timely treatment and improved prognosis. Traditional diagnostic methods for pneumonia, such as chest imaging and microbiological examinations, have certain limitations. Exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs) detection, as an emerging non-invasive diagnostic technique, has shown potential application value in pneumonia screening. Method: A systematic search was conducted on PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science, with the retrieval time up to March 2024. The inclusion criteria were diagnostic studies evaluating exhaled VOCs detection for the diagnosis of pneumonia, regardless of the trial design type. A meta-analysis was performed using a bivariate model for sensitivity and specificity. Results: A total of 14 diagnostic studies were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled results demonstrated that exhaled VOCs detection had a combined sensitivity of 0.94 (95% CI: 0.92–0.95) and a combined specificity of 0.83 (95% CI: 0.81–0.84) in pneumonia screening, with an area under the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve (AUC) of 0.96. The pooled diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) was 104.37 (95% CI: 27.93–390.03), and the pooled positive and negative likelihood ratios (LR) were 8.98 (95% CI: 3.88–20.80) and 0.11 (95% CI: 0.05–0.22), indicating a high diagnostic performance. Conclusion: This study highlights the potential of exhaled VOCs detection as an effective, non-invasive screening method for pneumonia, which could facilitate future diagnosis in pneumonia. Further high-quality, large-scale studies are required to confirm the clinical utility of exhaled VOCs detection in pneumonia screening. Study registration: PROSPERO, Review no. CRD42024520498. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Thailand, the volatile period from 2019 to 2023 was marked by changing material and political atmospheres. Air pollution, the COVID‐19 pandemic, and government restrictions on speech transformed how Thai citizens breathed and how they related to the monarchy. Understanding this period as a history of breath reconceptualizes the citizen‐body as volumetric, recasting politics as an intermaterial practice. Breath, its vibrations, and its constraints, as it moves across the topologies of the respiratory system, generate densely material, richly symbolic political relations that bind citizens to one another, to the polity, and to the world. Small particles, dust, viruses, speech restrictions, and tear gas constrained the breath of Thai citizens while shaping the conditions in which dissenting vibrations could shake the country's cosmologies. Attention to the citizen‐body as volumetric thus recasts the lungs as relational chambers of political capacity, resituating political analysis within the material world and suggesting that all politics are, in some sense, environmental. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This technical note reviews the plethora of concentration units used to report blood‐alcohol concentration (BAC) and breath‐alcohol concentrations (BrAC) for legal purposes in different countries. The choice of units sometimes causes confusion when scientific papers originating from a certain country might be introduced into evidence via expert testimony, such as when alcohol‐related crimes are prosecuted. The concentration units are also important to consider when blood/breath ratios (BBRs) of alcohol are calculated and compared between countries. Statutory BAC limits for driving in most nations are reported in mass/volume (m/v) units, such as g/100 mL (g%) in the United States, mg/100 mL (mg%) in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, or g/L (mg/mL) in many EU nations. By contrast, Germany and the Nordic countries report BAC as mass/mass (m/m) units, hence g/kg or mg/g, which are ~5.5% lower than m/v units, because whole blood has an average density of 1.055 g/mL. There are historical reasons for reporting BAC in mass/mass units because the aliquots of blood analyzed were measured by weight rather than volume. The difference between m/m and m/v is also important in postmortem toxicology, such as when distribution ratios of ethanol between blood and other biological specimens, such as urine, vitreous humor, and cerebrospinal fluid, are reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the inter-subjective touch in Ildikó Enyedi's film On Body and Soul (2017), employing a phenomenological approach by analyzing the aspects of horror, pleasure, dreaming, and breath. This film recontextualizes horror and reaffirms pleasure through the inter-subjective touch. The binary setting between the dreaming world and the waking world, through the perception of touch, is used not to disdain the cruel reality but to arouse inter-subjectivity. The representation of breath illuminates another tactility regarding spatiality and inter-subjectivity. I argue that On Body and Soul constructs layers of tactility and inter-subjectivity between the film and the spectator; the two protagonists (Mária and Endre); human and non-human; dreaming and waking; and mind and body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precarity of breath as well as premature and unlawful cessation of breath remain distressing markers of many Black and African-descended communities. Using the biological processes of pregnancy as an example of radical hospitality in which the mother breathes for the yet-to-be-born child as a point of departure, "ga(s)p" explores the possibility of this act being a model for community through epigenetic memory. Against the backdrop of the poetics of the fragment—fragments of history, fragments of memory, and of breath even, "ga(s)p" centers the often unobserved work of women, beginning with that initial period of breathing for the Other in utero; it also and reveals the poem cycle Zong! to be an activated space in which a breathing-for occurs, where fragments of word, silence and breath, allow the reader—the one who breathes now for then and for them—to reenact reparative possibilities for the formerly enslaved, the formerly excluded and the formerly extinguished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Certain biomarkers in exhaled breath are indicators of diseases in the human body. The non-invasive detection of such biomarkers in human breath increases the demand for simple and cost-effective gas sensors to replace state-of-the-art gas chromatography (GC) machines. The use of metal oxide (MOX) gas sensors based on thin-film structures solves the current limitations of breath detectors. However, the response at high humidity levels, i.e., in the case of exhaled human breath, significantly decreases the sensitivity of MOX sensors, making it difficult to detect small traces of biomarkers. We have introduced, in previous work, the concept of a hybrid gas sensor, in which thin-film-based MOX gas sensors are combined with an ultra-thin (20–30 nm) polymer top layer deposited by solvent-free initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD). The hydrophobic top layer enables sensor measurement in high-humidity conditions as well as the precise tuning of selectivity and sensitivity. In this paper, we present a way to increase the hydrogen (H2) sensitivity of hybrid sensors through chemical modification of the polymer top layer. A poly(1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-tetravinylcyclotetrasiloxane) (PV4D4) thin film, already applied in one of our previous studies, is transformed into a silsesquioxane-containing top layer by a simple heating step. The transformation results in a significant increase in the gas response for H2 ~709% at an operating temperature of 350 °C, which we investigate based on the underlying sensing mechanism. These results reveal new pathways in the biomedical application field for the analysis of exhaled breath, where H2 indicates gastrointestinal diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Previous research has shown numerous health benefits of yoga, a multicomponent physical and mental activity. The three important aspects of both traditional and modern yoga are breath work, postures, and meditation. However, the neural mechanisms associated with these three aspects of yoga remain largely unknown. The present study investigated the neural underpinnings associated with each of these three yoga components in long- and short-term yoga practitioners to clarify the neural advantages of yoga experience, aiming to provide a more comprehensive understanding of yoga's health-promoting effects. Methods: Participants were 40 Chinese women, 20 with a long-term yoga practice and 20 with a short-term yoga practice. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy was conducted while participants performed abdominal breathing, mental imagery of yoga postures, and mindfulness meditation. The oxygenated hemoglobin concentrations activated in the brain during these three tasks were used to assess the neural responses to the different aspects of yoga practice. The self-reported mastery of each yoga posture was used to assess the advantages of practicing yoga postures. Results: Blood oxygen levels in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during breath work were significantly higher in long-term yoga practitioners than in short-term yoga practitioners. In the mental imagery of yoga postures task, self-reported data showed that long-term yoga practitioners had better mastery than short-term practitioners. Long-term yoga practitioners demonstrated lower activation in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, with lower blood oxygen levels associated with performing this task, than short-term yoga practitioners. In the mindfulness meditation task, blood oxygen levels in the orbitofrontal cortex and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex were significantly higher in long-term yoga practitioners than in short-term yoga practitioners. Conclusion: The three core yoga components, namely, yogic breathing, postures, and meditation, showed differences and similarities in the activation levels of the prefrontal cortex. Long-term practice of each component led to the neural benefits of efficient activation in the prefrontal cortex, especially in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Arte, Individuo y Sociedad is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The presence of an elevated amount of methane (CH4) in exhaled breath can be used as a non-invasive tool to monitor certain health conditions. A compact, inexpensive and transportable CH4 sensor is thus very interesting for this purpose. In addition, if the sensor is also able to simultaneously measure carbon dioxide (CO2), one can extract the end-tidal concentration of exhaled CH4. Here, we report on such a sensor based on a commercial detection module using tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy. It was found that the measured CH4/CO2 values exhibit a strong interference with water vapor. Therefore, correction functions were experimentally identified and validated for both CO2 and CH4. A custom-built breath sampler was developed and tested with the sensor for real-time measurements of CH4 and CO2 in exhaled breath. As a result, the breath sensor demonstrated the capability of accurately measuring the exhaled CH4 and CO2 profiles in real-time. We obtained minimum detection limits of ~80 ppbv for CH4 and ~700 ppmv for CO2 in 1.5 s measurement time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Persistent dyspnoea is a public health issue for which the therapeutic arsenal is limited. This study tested high‐flow nasal cannula therapy (HFNT) as a means to alleviate experimental dyspnoea. Methods: Thirty‐two healthy subjects underwent an experimental dyspnoea induced by thoracoabdominal elastic loading. HFNT was administered with alternately FiO2 of 100% (HFNT100) or 21% (HFNT21). The sensory (S‐VAS) and affective (A‐VAS) components of dyspnoea, transcutaneous CO2 pressure (PtcCO2), pulse‐oximetry oxygen saturation (SpO2), heart rate, respiratory rate and skin galvanometry were monitored continuously. Three experimental sessions of 8 min were conducted: the first session consisted in familiarization with the experimental dyspnoea and the next two sessions tested the effects of HFNT100 and HFNT21 alternatively in a randomized order. Results: HFNT21 and HFNT100 significantly reduced dyspnoea, respectively of ∆A‐VAS = 0.80 cm [−0.02–1.5]; p = 0.007 and ∆A‐VAS = 1.00 cm [0.08–1.75]; p < 0.0001; ∆S‐VAS = 0.70 cm [−0.15–1.98]), p < 0.0001 and ∆S‐VAS = 0.70 cm [0.08–1.95]), p = 0.0002) with no significant difference between HFNT21 and HFNT100. HFNT did not significantly alter the respiratory rate or the heart rate, reduced PtcCO2 only on room air and GSR under both experimental conditions. Conclusion: HFNT was associated with a statistically significant reduction in the intensity of the sensory and affective components of dyspnoea, independent of oxygen addition. This relief of laboratory dyspnoea could result from a reduction of afferent‐reafferent mismatch. High‐flow nasal cannula therapy relieves acute experimental breathlessness induced by thoracoabdominal elastic loading in healthy subjects, independent of oxygen addition. Modulation of the central integration of respiratory afferences may be involved in the dyspnoea alleviation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Babylon Center for Humanities Studies is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Historical events leading to the development of the first handheld instrument for breath alcohol analysis using an electrochemical sensor are reviewed. The first prototype instrument, known as the Alcolmeter Pocket Model, became available in 1972 and weighed only 180 g and was about the size of a cellphone. By the mid-1970s, the Alcolmeter instrument was used by police forces in several countries as a preliminary roadside test of driver sobriety. Positive results in a roadside breath test were considered sufficient evidence to arrest a suspect for further evaluation and testing. This might entail an evidential-quality breath alcohol test or taking a sample of the driver's blood for analysis at a forensic laboratory. The main advantages of breath testing over blood testing are the non-invasive nature of the sampling procedure compared with sticking a needle in a vein to draw blood, and obtaining immediate information whether or not a person is in breach of the drunk driving legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate and fast breath monitoring is of great importance for various healthcare applications, for example, medical diagnoses, studying sleep apnea, and early detection of physiological disorders. Devices meant for such applications tend to be uncomfortable for the subject (patient) and pricey. Therefore, there is a need for a cost-effective, lightweight, small-dimensional, and non-invasive device whose presence does not interfere with the observed signals. This paper reports on the fabrication of a highly sensitive human respiratory sensor based on silicon nanowires (SiNWs) fabricated by a top-down method of metal-assisted chemical-etching (MACE). Besides other important factors, reducing the final cost of the sensor is of paramount importance. One of the factors that increases the final price of the sensors is using gold (Au) electrodes. Herein, we investigate the sensor's response using aluminum (Al) electrodes as a cost-effective alternative, considering the fact that the electrode's work function is crucial in electronic device design, impacting device electronic properties and electron transport efficiency at the electrode–semiconductor interface. Therefore a comparison is made between SiNWs breath sensors made from both p-type and n-type silicon to investigate the effect of the dopant and electrode type on the SiNWs respiratory sensing functionality. A distinct directional variation was observed in the sample's response with Au and Al electrodes. Finally, performing a qualitative study revealed that the electrical resistance across the SiNWs renders greater sensitivity to breath than to dry air pressure. No definitive research demonstrating the mechanism behind these effects exists, thus prompting our study to investigate the underlying process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay develops the concept of the 'coronasphere' to grapple with how breath shifts the perceptible extent of the body during a pandemic, and the implications of such a radically altered sense of proximity for the choreography of public movement. Coming into being through an act of perception that is entangled with responsibility to others, the coronasphere is offered as a sensory alternative to fixed-distance models of social distancing approaches to risk, one that overrides the false dichotomy between the seeming stasis of shelter-in-place on the one side, versus 'freedom' of movement on the other. Redefining the extent of bodies relationally by the range of their breath has implications for understanding the uneven impacts of COVID-19 in terms of tactile entanglements and the vulnerability to uninvited touch that may violate bodies as individual and impermeable, in particular when the capacity for movement is limited. Ultimately turning to the coherence of such expanded bodies in terms of individual versus communal mobilization through a series of protests, the essay shows how the pandemic can not only reify but challenge the conflation of freedom and mobility, and the sensory ramifications of this in terms of finding new ways to rebuild public life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an infectious disease with significant impact on animal health, public health and international trade. Standard bTB screening in live cattle consists in injecting tuberculin and measuring the swelling at the place of injection few days later. This procedure is expensive, time-consuming, logistically challenging, and is not conclusive before performing confirmatory tests and additional analysis. The analysis of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by non-invasive biological samples can provide an alternative diagnostic approach suitable for bTB screening. In the present study, we analyzed VOC samples emitted through the breath, feces and skin of 18 cows diagnosed with bTB from three farms from Romania, as well as of 27 negative cows for bTB from the same farms. Analytical studies employing gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry revealed 80 VOCs emitted through the breath, 200 VOCs released by feces, and 80 VOCs emitted through the skin. Statistical analysis of these compounds allowed the identification of 3 tentative breath VOC biomarkers (acetone; 4-methyldecane; D-limonene), 9 tentative feces VOC biomarkers (toluene; [(1,1-dimethylethyl)thio]acetic acid; alpha-thujene; camphene; phenol; o-cymene; 3-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-3-pentanol; 2,5-dimethylhexane-2,5-dihydroperoxide; 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol), and 3 tentative skin VOC biomarkers (ammonia; 1-methoxy-2-propanol; toluene). The possible pathway of these volatile biomarkers is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 1950s and 1960s influenza was a recurring theme in the Cruiskeen Lawn, a satirical column by Myles na Copaleen (Flann O'Brien) in The Irish Times. The columns' engagement arose from Ireland's experience of brutal influenza seasons and, in particular, the 1957-58 pandemic, known at the time as the Asian Flu. The pandemic's virus killed approximately over a million people worldwide, but until our recent, COVID-inspired interest in historical outbreaks, has received very limited critical engagement. In this article I take Flann O'Brien's The Dalkey Archive as a case study through which to explore literary studies' amnesia regarding medical history, specifically the 1957-58 pandemic, subsequent influenza outbreaks, and associated bacterial complications. Weaving together O'Brien's correspondence, journalism and final completed novel, I propose a new way of understanding The Dalkey Archive, one that deprioritises its connections to politics and presents it instead as a response to the symptoms and strains of pandemics and outbreaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, an attempt is made to propose an intelligent and automatic system to recognize COVID-19 related illnesses from mere speech samples by using automatic speech processing techniques. We used a standard crowd-sourced dataset which was collected by the University of Cambridge through a web based application and an android/iPhone app. We worked on cough and breath datasets individually, and also with a combination of both the datasets. We trained the datasets on two sets of features, one consisting of only standard audio features such as spectral and prosodic features and one combining excitation source features with standard audio features extracted, and trained our model on shallow classifiers such as ensemble classifiers and SVM classification methods. Our model has shown better performance on both breath and cough datasets, but the best results in each of the cases was obtained through different combinations of features and classifiers. We got our best result when we used only standard audio features, and combined both cough and breath data. In this case, we achieved an accuracy of 84% and an Area Under Curve (AUC) score of 84%. Intelligent systems have already started to make a mark in medical diagnosis, and this type of study can help better the health system by providing much needed assistance to the health workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the enigmatic figure of the 'Man with No Breath' in the Visayan Labaw Donggon and the Sugidanon epics of Panay is not just a random flair in literary imagery, but works as a cultural pointer to a coherent and durable schema relating to personhood (of a self composed of 'detachable' or 'partible' parts) as it intersects with a particular ontology (of basic reality from a construal of 'breathing'). Our ethnographic-comparative approach to this character takes it as an elaborated expression of indigenous reasoning centring on 'breathing' and its figurations in socio-symbolic fields. Taking relevant data coming from our Pantaron Manobo ethnography and epics to bear on Visayan epic data, we outline a logical schema – relating 'breathing', 'cutting' and 'marking' ('breathing is cutting and linking' and 'cutting is marking with breath') – objectified in the figure of the 'Man with No Breath'. This breathing-cutting-marking thema has broader regional heuristic use: opening possibilities in understanding other than the usual 'metaphorical' or 'animistic' glossings of South East Asian/Austronesian 'soul', 'spirit', 'life force' or 'breath'. The anthropological value of this figure is apt since 'breath' in this region (with its linguistic and cultural particularities) has long assumed a specific ritual/religious valence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The future belongs to those who will never stop learning - this is a very modern mindset. Learning is a lifelong habit. It is a process, a work in progress for a lifetime. This process can have many stages and I want to explore them in this article, because becoming aware of them we can improve our knowledge and our benefits from learning. This information can be useful in pedagogy but also in the self-control of professionals, because this article is regarding the professional singer’s development, focusing on the breathing technique in singing. The society we live in is an extremely dynamic one, changes are happening faster and faster, and knowledge is a must, a continuous process that does not stop with the completion of studies. Discovering one’s own ignorance can be the start of progress. The most modern learning process admits and embraces the dynamic between learning, unlearning, and relearning - at whatever professional stage we are. The present article is not intended to be a new breathing technique proposal, nor an exposition or a debate of the multiple existing breathing techniques... but to state the main objectives of the optimal breathing of a professional singer and the possible defects that must be corrected. The focus of this article is the availability of learning, experimentation and permanent discovery of one’s own body and mind - corelating them with the functionality of the technique, under the guidance of a teacher or in the individual study of each singer - in short, an invitation to make the rehearsals much more flexibles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annals of the American Association of Geographers is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Summary: Ventilator‐associated pneumonia commonly occurs in critically ill patients. Clinical suspicion results in overuse of antibiotics, which in turn promotes antimicrobial resistance. Detection of volatile organic compounds in the exhaled breath of critically ill patients might allow earlier detection of pneumonia and avoid unnecessary antibiotic prescription. We report a proof of concept study for non‐invasive diagnosis of ventilator‐associated pneumonia in intensive care (the BRAVo study). Mechanically ventilated critically ill patients commenced on antibiotics for clinical suspicion of ventilator‐associated pneumonia were recruited within the first 24 h of treatment. Paired exhaled breath and respiratory tract samples were collected. Exhaled breath was captured on sorbent tubes and then analysed using thermal desorption gas chromatography–mass spectrometry to detect volatile organic compounds. Microbiological culture of a pathogenic bacteria in respiratory tract samples provided confirmation of ventilator‐associated pneumonia. Univariable and multivariable analyses of volatile organic compounds were performed to identify potential biomarkers for a 'rule‐out' test. Ninety‐six participants were enrolled in the trial, with exhaled breath available from 92. Of all compounds tested, the four highest performing candidate biomarkers were benzene, cyclohexanone, pentanol and undecanal with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve ranging from 0.67 to 0.77 and negative predictive values from 85% to 88%. Identified volatile organic compounds in the exhaled breath of mechanically ventilated critically ill patients show promise as a useful non‐invasive 'rule‐out' test for ventilator‐associated pneumonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Halitosis is a term that refers to an unpleasant or foul odour originating from the oral cavity that can be caused by either intra‐oral or extra‐oral factors. Despite the fact that halitosis has multifactorial aetiology, intra‐oral factors play a significant role in the majority of cases. This systematic review assesses halitosis's intra‐oral and extra‐oral associations. An electronic search through MEDLINE (PubMed), Google Scholar and the Wiley Online Library was conducted to identify relevant manuscripts. A keywords‐based search was performed, using the terms 'halitosis', 'bad‐breath', and 'oral malodour causes and aetiology'. Articles published from January 2014 to December 2020 were included. We selected studies evaluating the intra‐oral and extra‐oral factors that induce oral malodour, as well as the factors associated with systemic diseases. Eighty to ninety percent of halitosis is caused by intra‐oral factors, with coated tongue, periodontal diseases and poor oral hygiene practices being the principal factors. Ten to twenty percent of halitosis is induced by extra‐oral factors associated with systemic diseases. Multiple factors can cause halitosis, but most of the aetiology is intra‐oral. Increased medical awareness is needed to determine the actual pathophysiological process of oral malodour in otherwise healthy individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Circuit: Musiques Contemporaines is the property of Circuit: Musiques Contemporaines and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article examines Japanese novelist Natsume Sōseki's (1867–1916) memoir Recollecting and Such (Omoidasu koto nado; 1910). I argue that Sōseki invites the reader to imagine breath through his literary representation of both physiological and metaphysical experience and the rhythm of the narrative's experimental poetic form. In concert with the theme of this special issue, I show how Recollecting and Such self-reflexively restores and evokes the corporeal experience of sensation beyond just visual perception: the narrative reveals itself as a poetic form of measurement and its first-person narrator a "rhythmanalyst", someone who listens to the internal rhythms of his own body and then to that of the external world (Henri Lefebvre). The narrator's awareness of the duration, frequency, and intensity of sensation as well as his regular compositions of metered verse—haiku and kanshi (traditional Chinese poetry as practiced in Japan; Sinitic verse)—are ways that the narrative measures the limits of life, memory, and sensory experience. The oscillation between prose and poetry in the narrative generates an organic rhythm, simulating the long and short breaths of a convalescing body, which invites the reader to breathe together—"to conspire" in the literal sense—with the text as a form of sympathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the ecological consequences of supplemental feeding to both hummingbirds and the plants they pollinate is complicated by logistical challenges associated with assessing relative dietary resource use with commonly applied observational methods. Here, we describe the results of research conducted to assess the relative use of feeder and flower nectar by Broad‐tailed (Selasphorus platycercus) and Rufous hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus) using two distinct methodological variations to measure the δ13C values of exhaled CO2. Because of the relatively quick time in which both species switch from exogenous to endogenous resources to fuel metabolism, our experiment allowed us to assess resource use at two timescales. Our results suggest variability in the relative contributions of the two dietary sources within and among species and timescales, with most birds employing a mixture of feeder and flower sugars as fuel sources. This diversity in relative resource use may mitigate potential negative effects of supplemental feeding on hummingbirds and their plant symbionts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks to the form of the puppet, both an oral and aural entity, as a receptacle or instrument which allows for a ventriloquism to take place in partnership with the puppeteer. In the work of South African Handspring Puppet Company, the puppet is a receptacle for sound, but also for the human body itself – a chamber within a chamber – highlighting the instrumentalisation of the body. In this regard, the article looks to Handspring’s I Love You When You’re Breathing, particularly in reference to a comment once made by an audience member at a performance of the show that I watched in relation to the title; ‘If you love me when I’m breathing; you don’t love me when I’m dead?’ In the practice of puppetry there is a focus on the ways the puppeteer conveys life in the puppet. Here, breath is significant as a sound, but more so as a movement, passed from puppeteer to puppet, a kind of bellows or organ. The ‘life’ of the puppet is discerned through the rhythmic breathing motions of the puppeteer. Here the aural is conveyed through movement, rather than through sound itself, which is further a reminder that sound is at its core a movement anyway, a vibration. What can be opened up if we are to think the oral/aural through the puppet in its relation to movement and stillness, life and death? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the struggle for breathable air amid pollution and climate change, both resistance and inspiration can be found in "atmospheric care practices" (Vine 2019). In this article, I embed these practices in a more than human political approach (Puig de la Bellacasa 2017). More than human atmospheric care practices work to undo toxic harm both on a material and social level while intimately involving human beings with more than human worlds. In so doing, they are demonstrative of different kinds of agency and political activity that open up alternative ways of relating and responding to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the potential of exhaled breath (EB) to provide valuable information and insight into the health status of a person has been revisited. Mass spectrometry (MS) has gained increasing attention as a powerful analytical tool for clinical diagnostics of exhaled breath aerosols (EBA) and exhaled breath condensates (EBC) due to its high sensitivity and specificity. Although MS will continue to play an important role in biomarker discovery in EB, its use in clinical setting is rather limited. EB analysis is moving toward online sampling with portable, room temperature operable, and inexpensive point-of-care devices capable of real-time measurements. This transition is happening due to the availability of highly performing biosensors and the use of wearable EB collection tools, mostly in the form of face masks. This feature article will outline the last developments in the field, notably the novel ways of EBA and EBC collection and the analytical aspects of the collected samples. The inherit non-invasive character of the sample collection approach might open new doors for efficient ways for a fast, non-invasive, and better diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is a lack of early and precise biomarkers for personalized respiratory medicine. Breath contains an aerosol of droplet particles, which are formed from the epithelial lining fluid when the small airways close and re-open during inhalation succeeding a full expiration. These particles can be collected by impaction using the PExA® method (Particles in Exhaled Air), and are derived from an area of high clinical interest previously difficult to access, making them a potential source of biomarkers reflecting pathological processes in the small airways. Research question: Our aim was to investigate if PExA method is useful for discovery of biomarkers that reflect pathology of small airways. Methods and analysis: Ten healthy controls and 20 subjects with asthma, of whom 10 with small airway involvement as indicated by a high lung clearance index (LCI ≥ 2.9 z-score), were examined in a cross-sectional design, using the PExA instrument. The samples were analysed with the SOMAscan proteomics platform (SomaLogic Inc.). Results: Two hundred-seven proteins were detected in up to 80% of the samples. Nine proteins showed differential abundance in subjects with asthma and high LCI as compared to healthy controls. Two of these were less abundant (ALDOA4, C4), and seven more abundant (FIGF, SERPINA1, CD93, CCL18, F10, IgM, IL1RAP). sRAGE levels were lower in ex-smokers (n = 14) than in never smokers (n = 16). Gene Ontology (GO) annotation database analyses revealed that the PEx proteome is enriched in extracellular proteins associated with extracellular exosome-vesicles and innate immunity. Conclusion: The applied analytical method was reproducible and allowed identification of pathologically interesting proteins in PEx samples from asthmatic subjects with high LCI. The results suggest that PEx based proteomics is a novel and promising approach to study respiratory diseases with small airway involvement. Key messages: Key question: Can the PExA method identify individual protein profiles that reflect pathology of small airways, using the SOMAscan platform? What is the bottom line?: Two hundred-seven proteins were detected in up to 80% of the PEx samples, with a strong overrepresentation of proteins related to innate immune responses, including nine proteins that that discriminated subjects with asthma and high LCI as compared to healthy controls. Why read on: The results support that PEx based proteomics is a novel and promising approach to study respiratory diseases with small airway involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is concerned with the emotional economy of the events that unfold in Lucrece's bedroom overnight as represented by the breath and captured in the text's pneumatic vocabulary. It demonstrates how, at crucial moments in the poem, the protagonists experience unsettling breathlessness registered in sighs, disrupted speech, and loss of voice altogether. The domestic site of the rape itself, the bedroom, conjures a lingering asphyxiating atmosphere that permeates bodies and space in the poem. The first and middle sections of this article centre around the disturbed circulation of breath in the poem, presenting a model of embodiment structured on the specificities (gender, spatial, physiological, and rhetorical) of the inhaled and exhaled air: how does Tarquin's breath differ from Lucrece's? How does Collatine's breath compare to his wife's? How are gender boundaries loosened or affirmed by the breath? The final section of the article draws on recent scholarship on voice and reading aloud in the early modern period to make the case for an alternative, embodied, reading of Lucrece. It proposes a reading in which the reader's breath is affectively involved in the events, and charts, via reference to Levinas, the ethical challenges that this involvement presents them with. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lung cancer is one of the deadliest form of cancer in Europe, characterized by a lack of obvious symptoms until the terminal stages of the illness. Electronic noses are a rising screening technology to detect early-stage lung cancer directly in the homes of people at risk. Electronic noses need to be tested using samples from patients. However, obtaining numerous samples from cancer patient turns out to be a difficult task in practice. Therefore, the development of a sensor benchmark able to evaluate the performance of sensors without direct breath sampling is of high interest. This paper focuses on the methodology for developing such a benchmark, in the case of a breath sampling electronic nose. The setup used is introduced and general recommendations based on literature and undergoing experiments is detailed. The benchmark can be used for a variety of sensors and a variety of target illnesses. It is also possible to apply it to other types of medical gaseous samples or environmental VOC monitoring. The benchmark is currently still undergoing tests, and results will be published in a following article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We reviewed the toxicokinetics of styrene to introduce reliable surrogates for the biological monitoring of styrene workers. We have also discussed the extraction techniques and analytical methods of styrene and its metabolites. Sample preparation is the main bottleneck of the analytical techniques for styrene and its metabolites. Although some microextraction methods have been developed to overcome such disadvantages, some still have limitations such as long extraction time, fiber swelling and breakage, and the cost and the limited lifetime of the fiber. Among all, microextraction by packed sorbents, coupled with HPLC with ultraviolet detection (MEPS‐HPLC‐UV), can be the method of choice for determining styrene metabolites. Few studies investigated unchanged styrene in breath samples. Chemical determination of styrene in exhaled breath provides new insights into organ toxicity in workers with inhalation exposures and can be considered a fascinating tool in risk assessment strategies. Taking blood samples is invasive and less accepted by workers. In contrast, breath analysis is the most attractive method for workers because breath samples are easy to collect and non‐invasive, and sample collection does not require the transfer of workers to health facilities. Therefore, developing selective and sensitive methods for determining styrene in breath samples is recommended for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Alcohol induced intoxication is responsible for altered behavior in individuals. Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) has been the key toxicology test, which is considered as the gold standard in medico-legal evidence. BAC can be assessed by determining blood ethanol or methanol concentration. It is expensive and timeconsuming procedure and so, it cannot be considered as primary choice for screening of alcohol consumption. At present breath analysis is the most common and accepted screening procedure but there are certain limitations to this procedure and hence assessment of other procedures for screening is also important. Aim and Objective: The primary aim of the study is to assess efficiency of salivary strip test vs breath alcohol analyzer in screening for alcohol consumption among the individuals who are suspected for drunken driving by the city traffic police of Kannur district. Setting and Design: It's a Prospective case control study were samples are collected from Traffic aid post in Kannur district of Kerala for screening of suspected drunken driving. Materials and Method: Individuals suspected of drunken driving by the city traffic police of Kannur district were included in the study. Subjects were screened by using alcohol breath alcohol analyzer and Alcohol salivary strip. Statistical Analysis: It was performed using SPSS 20.0. Chi square test was used for association between variables. Results: The result shows that both salivary alcohol strip test is as effective as breath alcohol analysis. Conclusion: Salivary alcohol test strip is rapid, economically feasible and can easily be performed. The result given by strip is easy to interpret and can easily indicate different BAC level as it is very much sensitive even at a BAC value of 0.02%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) is a powerful analytical technique for the detection of small analytes with great potential for medical diagnostic applications. Its high sensitivity and excellent molecular specificity, which stems from the unique fingerprint of molecular species, have been applied toward the detection of different types of cancer. The noninvasive and rapid detection offered by SERS highlights its applicability for point-of-care (PoC) deployment for cancer diagnosis, screening, and staging, as well as for predicting tumor recurrence and treatment monitoring. This review provides an overview of the progress in label-free (direct) SERS-based chemical detection for cancer diagnosis with the main focus on the advances in the design and preparation of SERS substrates on the basis of metal nanoparticle structures formed via bottom-up strategies. It begins by introducing a synopsis of the working principles of SERS, including key chemometric approaches for spectroscopic data analysis. Then it introduces the advances of label-free sensing with SERS in cancer diagnosis using biofluids (blood, urine, saliva, sweat) and breath as the detection media. In the end, an outlook of the advances and challenges in cancer diagnosis via SERS is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Paul Celan’s most important self-commentary on his work, Meridian, he describes writing poems as liberation from his own narrow perspective. For Celan, this narrow perspective stems from his choice of German as the language of his poems, even though he was sentenced in the very language. His process of liberating from Muttersprache happens mostly by means of syntactic maneuvers, which always turn to the Jewish theological tradition. However, Judaic thought in Celan’s poetry does not reveal itself in content but as pneuma. This article traces the syntactic mechanisms that allow Celan to go beyond normative German language and encode in poetry a particle of Jewish identity. Since the volume Sprachgitter, the eponymous “speechgrille” befalls Celan’s phrasing, permeating sentences and arranging phrases in syntactically non-normative positions. When reading aloud, the places of these maneuvers are determined by breaks in breathing and the speaker’s Moses-like stammer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diving into the politics of radical hospitality, the acceptance of alterity, and the erasure of black women's bodies in "The Ga(s)p" (2018), m. NourbeSe Philip demonstrates reciprocal breath as a thread of connection that is central to human existence. Throughout this essay, Philip counters prominent, male-centric theories on receptive bodies through the emphasis on the ubiquity of contingent respiration. Philip contends that this "process of shared breath ... and dependency becomes useful as a model of community and connectedness in a more female-centred, embodied symbolic universe" (36). Philip enacts this theory on the page in her book-length poem Zong! (2008). Using the court report of Gregson v. Gilbert as a source text, Zong! grapples with the November 1781 massacre of 150 Africans aboard the slave ship Zong on its passage from Ghana to England. Zong! is an erasure poem of 173 pages with movements that Philip describes as "the bones" and "the flesh." The linguistic material of the poem and its arrangement reflect corporeality and respiration; the textual fragments are physically separated on the page--leaving room for breath. The body and breath of Zong! extends beyond the page to performance. In theory and praxis, Philip uses challenging linguistic material and arrangement to inscribe the body on the page; consequently, she causes the reader to interrogate their positionality and their relationship to the body, to language, and to performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COVID-19 is a highly contagious respiratory disease that can be transmitted through human exhaled breath. It has caused immense loss and has challenged the healthcare sector. It has affected the economy of countries and thereby affected numerous sectors. Analysis of human breath samples is an attractive strategy for rapid diagnosis of COVID-19 by monitoring breath biomarkers. Content: Breath collection is a noninvasive process. Various technologies are employed for detection of breath biomarkers like mass spectrometry, biosensors, artificial learning, and machine learning. These tools have low turnaround time, robustness, and provide onsite results. Also, MS-based approaches are promising tools with high speed, specificity, sensitivity, reproducibility, and broader coverage, as well as its coupling with various chromatographic separation techniques providing better clinical and biochemical understanding of COVID-19 using breath samples. Summary: Herein, we have tried to review the MS-based approaches as well as other techniques used for the analysis of breath samples for COVID-19 diagnosis. We have also highlighted the different breath analyzers being developed for COVID-19 detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research work describes the development of a novel bioanalytical method for the assessment of food impact on selected exhaled breath volatile organic compounds (VOCs) using a fast and portable screening VOC prototype sensor based on membrane inlet mass spectrometry (MIMS). Method and sensor prototype functionality was verified by obtaining good response times, linearity in the examined concentration ranges, and sensitivity and repeatability for several breath VOCs—acetone, ethanol, n-pentane, and isoprene. A new VOC sensor prototype was also proven to be sensitive enough for selected breath VOC quantification with limits of detection at low part per billion (ppb) levels—5 ppb for n-pentane, 10 ppb for acetone and ethanol, and 25 ppb for isoprene. Food impact assessment was accomplished by tracking the levels of acetone, ethanol, n-pentane, and isoprene in exhaled breath samples collected from 50 healthy participants before the meal and 60 min and 120 min after the meal. For acetone, isoprene, and n-pentane, a larger impact was noticed 120 min after the meal, while for ethanol, it was after 60 min. Obtained VOC levels were in the expected concentration ranges. Mean values at all time points were ~ 500–900 ppb for acetone and ~ 400–600 ppb for ethanol. Most of the results for n-pentane were below 5 ppb, but the mean value for those which were detected was ~ 30 ppb. Along with samples, data about participants' lifestyle were collected via a short questionnaire, which were compared against obtained VOC levels in order to reveal some significant correlations between habits of participants and their breath VOC levels. Portable MS: monitoring of food impact on the levels of selected VOCs from exhaled breath [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human breath offers several benefits for diagnostic applications, including simple, noninvasive collection. Breath is a rich source of clinically-relevant biological information; this includes a volatile fraction, where greater than 1,000 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been described so far, and breath aerosols that carry nucleic acids, proteins, signaling molecules, and pathogens. Many of these factors, especially VOCs, are delivered to the lung by the systemic circulation, and diffusion of candidate biomarkers from blood into breath allows systematic profiling of organismal health. Biomarkers on breath offer the capability to advance early detection and precision medicine in areas of global clinical need. Breath tests are noninvasive and can be performed at home or in a primary care setting, which makes them well-suited for the kind of public screening program that could dramatically improve the early detection of conditions such as lung cancer. Since measurements of VOCs on breath largely report on metabolic changes, this too aids in the early detection of a broader range of illnesses and can be used to detect metabolic shifts that could be targeted through precision medicine. Furthermore, the ability to perform frequent sampling has envisioned applications in monitoring treatment responses. Breath has been investigated in respiratory, liver, gut, and neurological diseases and in contexts as diverse as infectious diseases and cancer. Preclinical research studies using breath have been ongoing for some time, yet only a few breath-based diagnostics tests are currently available and in widespread clinical use. Most recently, tests assessing the gut microbiome using hydrogen and methane on breath, in addition to tests using urea to detect Helicobacter pylori infections have been released, yet there are many more applications of breath tests still to be realized. Here, we discuss the strengths of breath as a clinical sampling matrix and the technical challenges to be addressed in developing it for clinical use. Historically, a lack of standardized methodologies has delayed the discovery and validation of biomarker candidates, resulting in a proliferation of early-stage pilot studies. We will explore how advancements in breath collection and analysis are in the process of driving renewed progress in the field, particularly in the context of gastrointestinal and chronic liver disease. Finally, we will provide a forward-looking outlook for developing the next generation of clinically relevant breath tests and how they may emerge into clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I offer a solution to the meaning of the word triṣaptā́ḥ found at the beginning of the Atharvaveda (Śaunaka-Saṁhitā 1.1.1 ~ Paippalāda-Saṁhitā 1.6.1). After a discussion of the many previous attempts to understand the meaning of this term in this particular verse, I propose that triṣaptā́ḥ refers here to 'three times seven' breaths, that the speaker of the verse in question is a Brahmacārin, and that the sūkta as a whole is intended to be recited by this figure at his initiation. With these pieces of the puzzle in place, I argue, the remainder of the sūkta, including for instance the role of Vācaspati, is also much better understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study proposes a near-infrared (NIR) imaging method for two-dimensional distributions of water vapour (WV) in the open air. A wavelength of 1872 nm, at which the dependence of the absorption coefficient on the WV concentration is the largest in the v 2 + v 3 band of water molecules, was employed for imaging. The measurement system was a star imaging system, comprising a laser light source and an NIR camera. A measurement space with 0.08 m diameter and 0.30 m length was ensured to obtain the 2D absorbance images of moist air emitted from a gas nozzle and the breath air exhaled from a human subject with and without a mask. The images clearly showed the distributions of WV that flowed around a pipe and impinged on a plate. The exhaled air was clearly visualised, and the difference in air permeability between the masks was demonstrated. These results indicate the potential of the NIR imaging method for various applications that require WV flow visualisation, WV source identification, and evaporation process observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay develops a tense relation between Samuel Beckett and Roland Barthes over their treatment of breath. If Barthes's lovers come together through a shared breath, breaths pull Beckett's couples apart. How then might breath bring Beckett and Barthes together, so they might be close but not too close? The essay first discards the idea of using a single understanding of breath by showing how the localized instances of breath in Beckett and Barthes do not scale up to a coherent, synthetic concept. Then, by turning to works that play with the problems of metanarrative, Beckett's How It Is (1961–4) and Barthes's A Lover's Discourse (1977–8), it shows how breath becomes a possible means of reading these two texts together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cannabis is used globally for both recreational and medical purposes. The use of cannabis can impair driving ability and increase the risk of fatal accidents. Therefore, operating motor vehicles and machinery under the influence of cannabis is illegal in most jurisdictions. With many governments easing legal restrictions on the use of cannabis, the demand for cannabis intoxication testing is increasing globally. Identification of prior cannabis use is currently accomplished using a variety of biological matrices, including urine, blood, sweat, hair, and oral fluid. Despite the ability to identify prior exposure to or intake of cannabis, each of these matrices has limitations in assessing the current intoxication state of an individual, an essential aspect of many current legislations. Exhaled breath represents a potentially useful matrix for measuring recent use, however, current uncertainty in breath levels indicative of impairment and the technical limitations associated with rapid, on‐site analysis of breath matrices have restricted the widespread deployment of cannabis breath analyzers. These challenges are compounded by the relatively short intoxication window of cannabis relative to its lifetime in the body, reinforcing the need for rapid toxicological screening. This review summarizes the state of cannabis intoxication testing, highlighting the challenges associated with the current forensic testing techniques, and the potential for breath analysis, which has gained interest recently from both academic researchers and commercial entities. This article is categorized under:Toxicology > Drug AnalysisToxicology > Cannabis [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volatile compounds, abundant in breath, can be used to accurately diagnose and monitor a range of medical conditions. This offers a noninvasive, low-cost approach with screening applications; however, the uptake of this diagnostic approach has been limited by conflicting published outcomes. Most published reports rely on large scale screening of the public, at single time points and without reference to ambient air. Here, we present a novel approach to volatile sampling from cellular headspace and mouse breath that incorporates multi-time-point analysis and ambient air subtraction revealing compound flux as an effective proxy of active metabolism. This approach to investigating breath volatiles offers a new avenue for disease biomarker discovery and diagnosis. Using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS), we focus on low molecular weight, metabolic substrate/by-product compounds and demonstrate that this noninvasive technique is sensitive (reproducible at ~1 µg cellular protein, or ~500,000 cells) and capable of precisely determining cell type, status and treatment. Isolated cellular models represent components of larger mammalian systems, and we show that stress- and pathology-indicative compounds are detectable in mice, supporting further investigation using this methodology as a tool to identify volatile targets in human patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is a lack of early and precise biomarkers for personalized respiratory medicine. Breath contains an aerosol of droplet particles, which are formed from the epithelial lining fluid when the small airways close and re-open during inhalation succeeding a full expiration. These particles can be collected by impaction using the PExA method (Particles in Exhaled Air), and are derived from an area of high clinical interest previously difficult to access, making them a potential source of biomarkers reflecting pathological processes in the small airways. Research question: Our aim was to investigate if PExA method is useful for discovery of biomarkers that reflect pathology of small airways. Methods and analysis: Ten healthy controls and 20 subjects with asthma, of whom 10 with small airway involvement as indicated by a high lung clearance index (LCI ≥ 2.9 z-score), were examined in a cross-sectional design, using the PExA instrument. The samples were analysed with the SOMAscan proteomics platform (SomaLogic Inc.). Results: Two hundred-seven proteins were detected in up to 80% of the samples. Nine proteins showed differential abundance in subjects with asthma and high LCI as compared to healthy controls. Two of these were less abundant (ALDOA4, C4), and seven more abundant (FIGF, SERPINA1, CD93, CCL18, F10, IgM, IL1RAP). sRAGE levels were lower in ex-smokers (n = 14) than in never smokers (n = 16). Gene Ontology (GO) annotation database analyses revealed that the PEx proteome is enriched in extracellular proteins associated with extracellular exosome-vesicles and innate immunity. Conclusion: The applied analytical method was reproducible and allowed identification of pathologically interesting proteins in PEx samples from asthmatic subjects with high LCI. The results suggest that PEx based proteomics is a novel and promising approach to study respiratory diseases with small airway involvement. Key messages: Key question: Can the PExA method identify individual protein profiles that reflect pathology of small airways, using the SOMAscan platform? What is the bottom line?: Two hundred-seven proteins were detected in up to 80% of the PEx samples, with a strong overrepresentation of proteins related to innate immune responses, including nine proteins that that discriminated subjects with asthma and high LCI as compared to healthy controls. Why read on: The results support that PEx based proteomics is a novel and promising approach to study respiratory diseases with small airway involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In the early twentieth century, with tuberculosis taking hold in many European cities, sanatoriums in South Africa's semi‐arid Karoo region were emerging as prime healing destinations for "consumptive immigrants." Today, the Karoo continues to be marketed as a reprieve from the pathogens of city life, most recently as a "low‐viral escape" amid the COVID‐19 pandemic. Inspired by ethnographic and archival research, this dystopian fiction imagines the contemporary re‐opening of a Karoo sanatorium and the everyday politics in which such a project might be enmeshed. The story is followed by an ethnographic statement that explains some of the research on which the story is based. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: An early diagnosis is crucial in reducing mortality among people who have breast cancer (BC). There is a shortfall of characteristic early clinical symptoms in BC patients, highlighting the importance of investigating new methods for its early detection. A promising novel approach is the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced and emitted through the metabolism of cancer cells. Methods: The purpose of this systematic review is to outline the published research regarding BC-associated VOCs. For this, headspace analysis of VOCs was explored in patient-derived body fluids, animal model-derived fluids, and BC cell lines to identify BC-specific VOCs. A systematic search in PubMed and Web of Science databases was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines. Results: Thirty-two studies met the criteria for inclusion in this review. Results highlight that VOC analysis can be promising as a potential novel screening tool. However, results of in vivo, in vitro and case-control studies have delivered inconsistent results leading to a lack of inter-matrix consensus between different VOC sampling methods. Discussion: Discrepant VOC results among BC studies have been obtained, highly due to methodological discrepancies. Therefore, methodological issues leading to disparities have been reviewed and recommendations have been made on the standardisation of VOC collection and analysis methods for BC screening, thereby improving future VOC clinical validation studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]