Impact of Heated Humidified High Flow Air via Nasal Cannula on Respiratory Effort in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

High flow nasal cannula therapy (HFNC) has been widely adopted for respiratory distress, and evidence suggests that purging dead space of the upper airway improves gas fractions in the lung. This study tests the hypothesis that HFNC with room air could be as effective as low flow oxygen in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Thirty-two COPD patients prescribed 1 - 2 L/min of oxygen were studied.

Before the loss: neuronal dysfunction in Niemann-Pick Type C disease.

Niemann-Pick Type C (NPC) disease is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in either the NPC1 or HE1 genes. Hallmarks of this presently incurable disease include abnormal intracellular accumulation of cholesterol and glycosphingolipids, progressive neuropathology and neurodegeneration, and premature death. There have been increased efforts to understand the effects of NPC disease on neurons of the brain, in part due to the recent development of improved research tools and reagents, and in part due to the rapidly growing appreciation of the importance of cholesterol and lipoproteins in the brain during neuronal development, function, and degeneration.