Background:Tissues such as the lung, liver, and pancreas that have a low steady-state cell turnover yet can respond robustly after injury to replace damaged cells. The airway epithelium is exposed to inhaled particles and pathogens that may lead to the development of a many infectious and inflammatory respiratory diseases. Lung transplantation is an accepted modality of treatment for end-stage lung diseases. Since the early 1990 s, more than 26,000 lung transplants have been performed at centers worldwide. However, the availability of donor tissues and organs is limited, which presents a serious limitation for widespread transplantation surgery. The appearance of bioengineered lung and tracheal tissue transplants is considered a promising alternative to the classical transplantation of donor organ/tissue. Stem cells therapy arises as a new therapeutic approach, with a wide application potential.

OBJECTIVE: Interstitial lung disease is the most frequent lung symptom of rheumatoid arthritis and is a significant contributor to morbidity. As a result, the target of this research was to measure the frequency of radiological and functional abnormalities in rheumatoid arthritis patients who did not have any respiratory symptoms. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study consists of 30 patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. All involved cases were exposed to entire history taking and clinical examination. All patients were examined by high-resolution computed tomography and pulmonary function tests. Results: According to the computed tomography visual score, 73.3% showed interstitial lung disease. The most common abnormalities were reticular patterns (46.7%) followed by nodular patterns (40%) and septal lines (23.3%). However, 36% of the patients had a normal pulmonary function, while 32% had a small airway affection, 20% had restrictive lung disease, and 12% had obstructive lung disease. A significant association was found between supine expiratory volume and computed tomography visual score. Results showed no association between interstitial lung disease and all lung function test parameters. Conclusion: Subclinical interstitial lung disease is frequent among rheumatoid arthritis patents. A combination of pulmonary function tests with computed tomography is essential to enhance the recognition of subclinical interstitial lung disease as normal pulmonary function alone cannot exclude its presence.

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Context Tuberculosis (TB) represents a high burden in workplaces. Aims Therefore, the aim of this study was to detect pulmonary TB cases in the workplace and assess the associated risk factors. Settings and design This cross section study was carried out from January 2011 to December 2013. This study included 253 participants recruited from Mansoura City and neighborhood villages Dakahlia Governorate. The catchment areas and occupational categories were determined according to a 1-year retrospective study reviewing hospital records. Participants and methods All participants were subjected to the following: (a) assessment of sociodemographic data, occupational data, and risk factors for TB. (b) Clinical examination. (c) Screening by chest radiography, the tuberculin skin test, and sputum Ziehl–Neelsen stain. (d) Assessment of knowledge of TB. Data were analyzed using statistical package for the social sciences, version 15. Qualitative data were presented as number and percentage. Comparison between groups was carried out using the χ2-test. Results Most participants were younger than 35 years of age, men, smokers, married, and with low educational and monthly income. Silica-related occupations were the most common. History of Bacillus Calmette–Guérin vaccination was not found among TB participants and was found in only 8.9% of non-TB participants. The majority of participants reported 8 working hours with no use of protective tools. The TB participants had significantly lower knowledge scores than nontuberculous participants. A total of 136 out of 148 participants had a positive tuberculin skin test. Chest radiography indicated an abnormality in six out of 253 participants and five of these were positive for sputum Ziehl–Neelsen. Conclusion TB screening in workplaces is mandatory because it can identify asymptomatic cases with active TB. A poor knowledge score may be considered a risk factor for TB infection in the workplace.

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