Objective: This study set out to investigate the relationship between molecular-genetic mechanisms that modulate cytokine in infants whose parents expose them to cigarette smoke and those that do not expose their infants to cigarette smoke with the possible effects on the severity of pneumonia at presentation to hospital. Methods: This cross sectional study recruited infants and parents from a ...

BACKGROUND Cigarette smoke has both pro-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects. Both active and passive cigarette smoke exposure are linked to an increased incidence and severity of respiratory virus infections, but underlying mechanisms are not well defined. We hypothesized, based on prior gene expression profiling studies, that upregulation of pro-inflammatory mediators by short term smok...

It is very challenging to accurately detect smoke from images because of large variances of smoke colour, textures, shapes and occlusions. To improve performance, the authors combine dual threshold AdaBoost with staircase searching technique to propose and implement an image smoke detection method. First, extended Haar-like features and statistical features are efficiently extracted from integr...

A mathematical model has been developed to investigate the effect of a sprinkler spray on adjacent horizontal smoke venting and in particular the water droplet drag component. The pressure difference across a roof vent and the volumetric flow of smoke vented are determined by considering the interaction between the drag force of the sprinkler spray and the buoyancy of the smoke layer in the spr...

BACKGROUND Secondhand smoke, which is also referred to as environmental tobacco smoke and passive smoke, is a known human carcinogen. Secondhand smoke also causes disease and premature death in nonsmoking adults and children. METHODS We summarize studies of secondhand smoke in public places before and after smoking bans, as well as studies of cardiovascular and respiratory disease before and ...

Latin America is at the forefront of global progress in smoke free workplaces. Comprehensive smoke free laws have been implemented in four countries, and in many cities, states and provinces. More than 130 million people in Latin America are now protected from secondhand tobacco smoke. Nevertheless, a survey of tobacco control advocates and governments in Latin America found several challenges ...

INTRODUCTION The home can represent a significant source of secondhand smoke (SHS), especially for individuals who live in close proximity to one another in multiunit housing (MUH). The objective of this study was to quantify real-time SHS transfer between smoke-permitted and smoke-free living units within the same MUH structure. METHODS Air monitors were used to assess PM₂.₅, an environmenta...

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), which is largely composed of the sidestream cigarette smoke, has been implicated in increased incidence of cancer among nonsmokers. The present study was conducted to compare the potential of mainstream and sidestream cigarette smoke to induce DNA adducts in mice. Groups of female C57Bl and DBA mice were exposed twice daily for 65-70 weeks to mains...

OBJECTIVES To determine the effects of aging on the toxicity of sidestream tobacco smoke, the complex chemical mixture that enters the air from the lit end of burning cigarettes and constitutes the vast bulk of secondhand smoke. DESIGN Statistical analysis of data from controlled experimental exposures of Sprague Dawley rats to fresh and aged (for more than 30 minutes) sidestream smoke for up...

The present study demonstrates the existence of tissue transglutaminase in rabbit alveolar macrophages and measures the effects of cigarette smoke extracts on the activity of enzyme partially purified from these cells. The effects of smoke on transglutaminase purified from guinea pig liver are also measured. A water soluble component of gas-phase cigarette smoke inhibits both enzymes in a dose-...