Silicosis | EPFL Graph Search

Silicosis is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust. It is marked by inflammation and scarring in the form of nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs. It is a type of pneumoconiosis. Silicosis (particularly the acute form) is characterized by shortness of breath, cough, fever, and cyanosis (bluish skin). It may often be misdiagnosed as pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs), pneumonia, or tuberculosis. Using workplace controls, silicosis is almost always a preventable disease. Silicosis resulted in at least 43,000 deaths globally in 2013, down from at least 50,000 deaths in 1990. The name silicosis (from the Latin silex, or flint) was originally used in 1870 by Achille Visconti (1836–1911), prosector in the Ospedale Maggiore of Milan. The recognition of respiratory problems from breathing in dust dates to ancient Greeks and Romans. Agricola, in the mid-16th century, wrote about lung problems from dust inhalation in miners. In 1713, Bernardino Ramazzini noted asthmatic symptoms and sand-like substances in the lungs of stone cutters. Less than 10 years after its introduction, in 1720, as a raw material to the British ceramics industry the negative effects of milled calcined flint on the lungs of workers had been noted. With industrialization, as opposed to hand tools, came increased production of dust. The pneumatic hammer drill was introduced in 1897 and sandblasting was introduced in about 1904, both significantly contributing to the increased prevalence of silicosis. In 1938, the United States Department of Labor, led by then Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins, produced a video titled 'Stop Silicosis' to discuss the results of a year-long study done concerning a rise in the number of silicosis cases across the United States. Because chronic silicosis is slow to develop, signs and symptoms may not appear until years after exposure.

Point-of-care lung ultrasonography for early identification of mild COVID-19: a prospective cohort of outpatients in a Swiss screening center

Mary-Anne Hartley, Jean-Baptiste Francis Marie Juliette Cordonnier, Jean-Yves Meuwly, Luca Bosso, Tanguy Espejo, Siméon Schaad

Objectives Early identification of SARS-CoV-2 infection is important to guide quarantine and reduce transmission. This study evaluates the diagnostic performance of lung ultrasound (LUS), an affordable, consumable-free point-of-care tool, for COVID-19 scre ...

BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP2022

Impact of temperature on expansive behavior of concrete with a highly reactive andesite due to the alkali-silica reaction

Karen Scrivener, Cyrille Dunant

The influence of temperature on the expansive behavior and microstructural damage of concrete due to the alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is studied experimentally by applying a new testing protocol, the Alkali-Wrapped Concrete Prism Test (AW-CPT). Early-stage ...

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2019