Second Data Release from the European Pulsar Timing Array: Challenging the Ultralight Dark Matter Paradigm.

Pulsar Timing Array experiments probe the presence of possible scalar or pseudoscalar ultralight dark matter particles through decade-long timing of an ensemble of galactic millisecond radio pulsars. With the second data release of the European Pulsar Timing Array, we focus on the most robust scenario, in which dark matter interacts only gravitationally with ordinary baryonic matter. Our results show that ultralight particles with masses 10^{-24.0} eV≲m≲10^{-23.3} eV cannot constitute 100% of the measured local dark matter density, but can have at most local density ρ≲0.3 GeV/cm^{3}.

Polyamine sensitization in offshore workers handling drilling muds.

Oil-based mud, a complex mixture containing amines in emulsifiers, is used in offshore drilling operations. It is a skin irritant that occasionally gives rise to allergic contact sensitivity. In patch testing patients with allergy to drilling mud, we have identified polyamine (diethylenetriamine and triethylenetetramine) sensitivity in 5 patients. All 5 patients were also allergic to emulsifiers. These emulsifiers are cross-linked fatty acid amido-amines, in which unreacted amine groups are thought to cross-sensitize with these constituent polyamines. Cross-reactivity between ethylenediamine, diethylenetetramine and triethylenetetramine was found in 9 subjects.

Penicillin in milk--its importance in urticaria.

Fifty patients with recurrent urticaria were tested by means of the RAST test for penicillin allergy. Fifteen patients had positive reactions and of these, thirteen received provocation tests with 0.1 U/ml of penicillin in milk. Four had definite positive reactions, three doubtful reactions and six had no reaction. Although there has been improvement in the purity of milk, penicillin residues remain a potential cause of urticaria even in very low amounts and could have contributed to the urticaria in at least 8% of our patients. Veterinary use of antibiotics and food quality should be strictly regulated to prevent contamination of our diet.

A family with diffuse partial woolly hair.

We report a family of six individuals with an abnormality of scalp hair characterized by shorter, finer, kinky hairs interspersed with normal hair, throughout the scalp. The abnormality had gone unnoticed in four of the six individuals. Two complained of thinning of the scalp hair.

Dyes and preservatives in oral antihistamines.

Antihistamines are commonly used in the treatment of urticaria. Some antihistamines contain dyes and preservatives which have themselves been shown to produce or exacerbate urticaria; the presence of these substances is not indicated in the usual formularies and a list of commonly prescribed antihistamines is presented, detailing the azo dyes, other dyes and preservatives contained therein.

Treatment of acne vulgaris comparing two similar lotion formulations, one with ('Actinac') and one without chloramphenicol.

A double-blind, randomized study was carried out in 37 patients with acne vulgaris to compare the efficacy of two similar lotion formulations, one with ('Actinac') and the other without chloramphenicol (4%). Patients used one or other of the two formulations twice daily for the first 4 days and then at night only for the remainder of the 3-month trial period. At the end of the first month's treatment, the group treated with the full formulation showed a statistically significant greater reduction in lesion count score than in the group receiving the formulation without chloramphenicol. Both treatments produced statistically significant reductions in lesion counts at all monthly follow-up visits. After 3-months' treatment, the mean lesion count score was reduced from 28.8 to 9.3 in the full formulation-treated group and from 39.5 to 14.3 in the formulation minus chloramphenicol group, but this difference did not reach statistical significance.

Effect on adrenal function of topically applied clobetasol propionate (Dermovate).

Thirty-nine patients (15 outpatients and 24 inpatients) with a variety of skin diseases affecting variable areas of the body surface were treated with clobetasol propionate ointment (Dermovate). Before and after treatment the adrenal response to an intramuscular injection of tetracosactrin was rested and additional 9 am plasma cortisol levels were measured at intervals during treatment. A satisfactory initial therapeutic response was achieved in almost all cases during the trial period. When more than 50 g of ointment a week was used a significant number of patients developed adrenal suppression. WHen less than 50 g per week was used any suppression tended to be transtion. These cysts may be the cause of this condition, producing abnormal amounts of ovarian steroids which modify the pituitary response. Futher studies are needed, however, to determine this possibility.

Smooth muscle antibodies and alopecia areata.

In seventy-eight patients with alopecia areata, the incidence of auto-antibodies to smooth muscle was greater than that in an age and sex matched control population.