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Cough is a forced expulsive manoeuvre, usually against a closed glottis and is associated with a characteristic sound that is easily recognised. It is a protective reflex against aspiration and to clear airway secretions. In children cough is extremely common and when prolonged it is often a cause for concern for parents, resulting in a high proportion of attendances to primary and secondary care. There are many causes of cough which may be divided into productive or non-productive in character. As there are many guidelines for the management of productive or 'wet' cough the focus of this paper will be to discuss some of the main causes, investigations and management options for 'dry' cough. Dry coughing suggests airway irritation and or inflammation (without excessive extra secretion formation) and is predominantly the result of an acute viral respiratory infection that may last up to 3-4 weeks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The removal and reconstruction of urban villages can improve the residential environment in the vicinity and promote the willingness of buyers to pay. A detailed investigation of the price effects on nearby housing generated by urban village redevelopment helps to capture the added value of public investment. Previous studies often ignore the temporal variation of the price effects. Furthermore, they confuse the price effects from the removal of dilapidated housing and the construction of new buildings. Based on the listing prices in 2017–2018 and transaction data in 2015 of secondhand residential housing in Hangzhou, China, this paper built a multi-period difference-in-differences model to examine the multi-period price effects from urban village redevelopment on nearby housing and to isolate the removal effects of old buildings and the amenity effects of reconstruction. The results show that (1) An anticipatory effect of up to 13% occurs before the urban village redevelopment; removal and reconstruction will bring a total premium of 20% to nearby housing prices; and the total price effects gradually increase in time and slightly fall back after four years. (2) Less than 15% of the added value comes from the removal of dilapidated housing in an urban village, while more than 85% comes from the reconstruction of new buildings. (3) The price effects of large-scale urban village redevelopment are much more obvious. • A multi-period difference-in-differences is used to investigate the temporal variation of the price effects. • An anticipatory effect up to 13% occurs before the redevelopment and an average price effect of 20% exists after the redevelopment. • Nearly 85% of the average price enhancement comes from reconstruction of new buildings and only 15% from the urban village removal. • Large-scale urban village redevelopment invites greater price premium while small-scale generates no significant effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Cigarette smoking still is quite common in many parts of the world. In parallel, exposure to second-hand smoke continues to be common despite declines in smoking in developed countries and despite evidence of serious health effects in infants and children. This paper focuses on the effects of second-hand and direct exposure (personal smoking) on the respiratory health of adolescents, in particular effects on the occurrence of asthma and on lung function. Published data indicate that, in addition to whatever effects direct and postnatal second-hand tobacco smoke exposure have on the occurrence of asthma and impaired levels and growth of lung function in adolescents, there is an underlying alteration in the prenatal and early postnatal development of the structural and mechanical characteristics of the lung that contribute substantially to these deficits. These developmental effects may be important contributors to the future risks for impaired pulmonary function. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• We utilized unique historical datasets on the per capita consumption of tobacco and the heights of twenty-year old conscripts in the second half of the 19th century Italy. • Linear models for longitudinal data for Italian provinces are used. • We find a strong negative effect of smoking in the period immediately before and after birth on the height at age 20. This paper studies the effect of passive smoking on child development. We use data from a time when the adverse effects of smoking on health were not known and when tobacco was not an inferior good. This allows us to disentangle the effect on foetuses and infants of smoking from that of other indicators of social and economic conditions. We exploit a set of unique longitudinal historical datasets defined at a detailed level of geographical disaggregation, namely the 69 Italian provinces. The datasets record precise information on the per capita consumption of tobacco products, the heights of twenty-year old conscripts in the second half of the 19th century Italy, and other relevant controls. We find a strong negative effect of smoking in the period immediately before and after birth on the height at age 20. Results are robust to changes in specification and consistent across the height distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study on the link between passive smoking and increased risk of mental illness. It references the research paper "Objectively Assessed Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Mental Health in Adults," by M. Hamer et al. published in the periodical "Archives of General Psychiatry" in 2010. The study, which was conducted in Scotland, found that extreme exposure to secondhand smoke was significantly linked with psychological distress. Additional information on the relationship between smoking and depression are provided.

Secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) is an environmental toxin and an established cause of cardiovascular disease in nonsmokers. Smoke-free laws reduce SHS and its downstream cardiovascular disease, but until recently, evidence to support smoke-free law implementation in low- and middle-income country settings was limited. In 14 low- and middle-income nations surveyed by the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, active smoking prevalence in adults (⩾15years old) was universally higher in men (range 21.6–60.2%) than in women (0.5–24.4%), and the highest burden of SHS exposure was in women (strong positive association between male/female active smoking ratio and female SHS exposure prevalence). A systematic review was conducted of MEDLINE-indexed studies of self-reported SHS exposure and cardiovascular harms in low- or middle-income nations. Eight papers reported the association of SHS with ischemic heart disease, and four reported the association of SHS with stroke. For all the studies, and almost all sources of SHS surveyed, a strong positive association between SHS and ischemic heart disease (main relative odds ratio range 1.17–2.36) and SHS and stroke (odds ratio or hazard ratio: 1.41–1.49). Prevalence of SHS exposure is high in low- and middle-income nations, especially among women. Epidemiologic evidence supports the conclusion that SHS harms are the same across low-, middle-, and high-income nations. Governments have an obligation to protect citizens from SHS exposure, enforcing smoke-free legislation and providing public education about SHS harms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]