Effectiveness of FeNO-guided treatment in adult asthma patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: Asthma control is generally monitored by assessing symptoms and lung function. However, optimal treatment is also dependent on the type and extent of airway inflammation. Fraction of exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) is a noninvasive biomarker of type 2 airway inflammation, but its effectiveness in guiding asthma treatment remains disputed.

Turning green: the impact of changing to more eco-friendly respiratory healthcare - a carbon and cost analysis of Dutch prescription data.

Objectives: Dry powder inhalers (DPIs) and soft mist inhalers have a substantially lower global warming potential than pressurised metered-dose inhalers (pMDIs). To help mitigate climate change, we assessed the potential emission reduction in CO equivalents when replacing pMDIs by non-propellant inhalers (NPIs) in Dutch respiratory healthcare and estimated the associated cost.

Design: We performed a descriptive analysis of prescription data from two national databases of two independent governmental bodies.

Personalized Pollen Monitoring and Symptom Scores: A Feasibility Study in Grass Pollen Allergic Patients.

Pollen is a major trigger for allergic symptoms in sensitized individuals. Airborne pollen is usually monitored by Hirst type pollen samplers located at rooftop level, providing a general overview of the pollen distribution in the larger surroundings. In this feasibility study, grass pollen-sensitized subjects monitored the pollen in their direct environment using a portable pollen sampler (Pollensniffer) and scored their symptoms, to study the relation between symptom severity and personal grass pollen exposure.

[A rare form of obstructive pulmonary disease].

Background: Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is characterised by progressive dyspnoea, spontaneous pneumothorax and cystic pulmonary destruction. The disease may show similarities with emphysema clinically, radiologically and on lung function tests.

Case Description: A 44-year-old woman was referred for lung transplantation because of a 6-year history of dyspnoea and severe obstructive pulmonary function disorder with decreased diffusion capacity.

Herpes zoster after lung transplantation boosts varicella zoster virus-specific adaptive immune responses.

Background: Varicella zoster virus (VZV)-specific memory T cells are significantly lower in transplant recipients than in controls. In addition, VZV-specific immunoglobulin G titers are significantly lower after than before transplantation. Data on the incidence and timing of herpes zoster (HZ) after lung transplantation are limited.

Lung Transplantation in Gaucher Disease: A Learning Lesson in Trying to Avoid Both Scylla and Charybdis.

Gaucher disease (GD), a lysosomal storage disorder, may result in end-stage lung disease. We report successful bilateral lung transplantation in a 49-year-old woman with GD complicated by severe pulmonary hypertension and fibrotic changes in the lungs. Before receiving the lung transplant, the patient was undergoing both enzyme replacement therapy (imiglucerase) and triple pulmonary hypertension treatment (epoprostenol, bosentan, and sildenafil).

Ten-Year Survival in Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis After Lung Transplantation.

Introduction: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and lethal fibrosing lung disease with a median survival of approximately 3 years after diagnosis. The only medical option to improve survival in IPF is lung transplantation (LTX). The purpose of this study was to evaluate trajectory data of IPF patients listed for LTX and to investigate the survival after LTX.

Fracture prevention in COPD patients; a clinical 5-step approach.

Although osteoporosis and its related fractures are common in patients with COPD, patients at high risk of fracture are poorly identified, and consequently, undertreated. Since there are no fracture prevention guidelines available that focus on COPD patients, we developed a clinical approach to improve the identification and treatment of COPD patients at high risk of fracture. We organised a round-table discussion with 8 clinical experts in the field of COPD and fracture prevention in the Netherlands in December 2013.

Leflunomide as part of the treatment for multidrug-resistant cytomegalovirus disease after lung transplantation: case report and review of the literature.

Treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease in transplant patients is challenging and, with antiviral resistance to first-line drugs, it remains uncertain which treatment algorithm to follow. Some data suggest that leflunomide, a pyrimidine synthesis inhibitor, can be used to treat resistant CMV infections. We report a 57-year-old CMV immunoglobulin-G (IgG)-seronegative woman, who received a bilateral lung transplant (LuTx) from a CMV IgG-positive donor with CMV primary disease.

Identification and characterization of α1 -antitrypsin in fibrin clots.

Background And Objectives: Preliminary studies indicated that α1 -antitrypsin (A1AT) is the most abundant protein that is non-covalently bound to fibrin clots prepared from plasma. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize fibrin(ogen)-bound A1AT.

Methods And Results: Plasma clots were prepared and extensively washed with saline.

Hepatitis E virus infection among solid organ transplant recipients, the Netherlands.

We screened 1,200 living heart, lung, liver, and kidney transplant recipients for hepatitis E virus infection by reverse transcription PCR. In 12 (1%) patients, hepatitis E virus infection was identified; in 11 patients, chronic infection developed. This immunocompromised population is at risk for hepatitis E virus infection.

Chest computed tomography scores are predictive of survival in patients with cystic fibrosis awaiting lung transplantation.

Rationale: Up to one-third of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) awaiting lung transplantation (LTX) die while waiting. Inclusion of computed tomography (CT) scores may improve survival prediction models such as the lung allocation score (LAS).

Objectives: This study investigated the association between CT and survival in patients with CF screened for LTX.

[High mortality in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis on Dutch lung transplant waiting list].

Objective: To describe patients diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) registered for lung transplantation and to evaluate the current referral guidelines for lung transplantation in the Netherlands.

Design: Retrospective study.

Method: All patients diagnosed with interstitial lung disease and registered for lung transplantation from September 1989-June 2010 were included in this study.

Universal scaling of the charge transport in large-area molecular junctions.

Charge transport through alkanes and para-phenylene oligomers is investigated in large-area molecular junctions. The molecules are self-assembled in a monolayer and contacted with a top electrode consisting of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(4-styrenesulfonic acid) (PEDOT:PSS). The complete set of J(V,T) characteristics of both saturated and π-conjugated molecules can be described quantitatively by a single equation with only two fit parameters.

Formation of high-quality self-assembled monolayers of conjugated dithiols on gold: base matters.

This Article reports a systematic study on the formation of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of conjugated molecules for molecular electronic (ME) devices. We monitored the deprotection reaction of acetyl protected dithiols of oligophenylene ethynylenes (OPEs) in solution using two different bases and studied the quality of the resulting SAMs on gold. We found that the optimal conditions to reproducibly form dense, high-quality monolayers are 9-15% triethylamine (Et(3)N) in THF.

Universal scaling in highly doped conducting polymer films.

Electrical transport of a highly doped disordered conducting polymer, viz. poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene stabilized with poly-4-styrenesulphonic acid, is investigated as a function of bias and temperature. The transport shows universal power-law scaling with both bias and temperature.

Ordered semiconducting self-assembled monolayers on polymeric surfaces utilized in organic integrated circuits.

We report on a two-dimensional highly ordered self-assembled monolayer (SAM) directly grown on a bare polymer surface. Semiconducting SAMs are utilized in field-effect transistors and combined into integrated circuits as 4-bit code generators. The driving force to form highly ordered SAMs is packing of the liquid crystalline molecules caused by the interactions between the linear alkane moieties and the pi-pi stacking of the conjugated thiophene units.

Monolayer coverage and channel length set the mobility in self-assembled monolayer field-effect transistors.

The mobility of self-assembled monolayer field-effect transistors (SAMFETs) traditionally decreases dramatically with increasing channel length. Recently, however, SAMFETs using liquid-crystalline molecules have been shown to have bulk-like mobilities that are virtually independent of channel length. Here, we reconcile these scaling relations by showing that the mobility in liquid crystalline SAMFETs depends exponentially on the channel length only when the monolayer is incomplete.

The spectrum of structural abnormalities on CT scans from patients with CF with severe advanced lung disease.

Rationale: In cystic fibrosis (CF), lung disease is the predominant cause of morbidity and mortality. Little is known about the spectrum of structural abnormalities on CT scans from patients with CF with severe advanced lung disease (SALD). No specific CT scoring system for SALD is available.

Upscaling, integration and electrical characterization of molecular junctions.

The ultimate target of molecular electronics is to combine different types of functional molecules into integrated circuits, preferably through an autonomous self-assembly process. Charge transport through self-assembled monolayers has been investigated previously, but problems remain with reliability, stability and yield, preventing further progress in the integration of discrete molecular junctions. Here we present a technology to simultaneously fabricate over 20,000 molecular junctions-each consisting of a gold bottom electrode, a self-assembled alkanethiol monolayer, a conducting polymer layer and a gold top electrode-on a single 150-mm wafer.