Spatiotemporal analysis of lake chlorophyll-a with combined in situ and satellite data.

We estimated chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentration using various combinations of routine sampling, automatic station measurements, and MERIS satellite images. Our study site was the northern part of the large, shallow, mesotrophic Lake Pyhäjärvi located in southwestern Finland. Various combinations of measurements were interpolated spatiotemporally using a data fusion system (DFS) based on an ensemble Kalman filter and smoother algorithms. The estimated concentrations together with corresponding 68% confidence intervals are presented as time series at routine sampling and automated stations, as maps and as mean values over the EU Water Framework Directive monitoring period, to evaluate the efficiency of various monitoring methods. The mean Chl-a calculated with DFS in June-September was 6.5-7.5 µg/l, depending on the observations used as input. At the routine monitoring station where grab samples were used, the average uncertainty (standard deviation, SD) decreased from 2.7 to 1.6 µg/l when EO data were also included in the estimation. At the automatic station, located 0.9 km from the routine monitoring site, the SD was 0.7 µg/l. The SD of spatial mean concentration decreased from 6.7 to 2.9 µg/l when satellite observations were included in June-September, in addition to in situ monitoring data. This demonstrates the high value of the information derived from satellite observations. The conclusion is that the confidence of Chl-a monitoring could be increased by deploying spatially extensive measurements in the form of satellite imaging or transects conducted with flow-through sensors installed on a boat and spatiotemporal interpolation of the multisource data.

Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO).

TEMPO was selected in 2012 by NASA as the first Earth Venture Instrument, for launch between 2018 and 2021. It will measure atmospheric pollution for greater North America from space using ultraviolet and visible spectroscopy. TEMPO observes from Mexico City, Cuba, and the Bahamas to the Canadian oil sands, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, hourly and at high spatial resolution (~2.1 km N/S×4.4 km E/W at 36.5°N, 100°W). TEMPO provides a tropospheric measurement suite that includes the key elements of tropospheric air pollution chemistry, as well as contributing to carbon cycle knowledge. Measurements are made hourly from geostationary (GEO) orbit, to capture the high variability present in the diurnal cycle of emissions and chemistry that are unobservable from current low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites that measure once per day. The small product spatial footprint resolves pollution sources at sub-urban scale. Together, this temporal and spatial resolution improves emission inventories, monitors population exposure, and enables effective emission-control strategies. TEMPO takes advantage of a commercial GEO host spacecraft to provide a modest cost mission that measures the spectra required to retrieve ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), formaldehyde (H2CO), glyoxal (C2H2O2), bromine monoxide (BrO), IO (iodine monoxide),water vapor, aerosols, cloud parameters, ultraviolet radiation, and foliage properties. TEMPO thus measures the major elements, directly or by proxy, in the tropospheric O3 chemistry cycle. Multi-spectral observations provide sensitivity to O3 in the lowermost troposphere, substantially reducing uncertainty in air quality predictions. TEMPO quantifies and tracks the evolution of aerosol loading. It provides these near-real-time air quality products that will be made publicly available. TEMPO will launch at a prime time to be the North American component of the global geostationary constellation of pollution monitoring together with the European Sentinel-4 (S4) and Korean Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) instruments.

Long-term functional outcome after restorative proctocolectomy in patients with ulcerative colitis.

AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term functional outcome of ileal pouch-anal anastomosis for ulcerative colitis and to compare symptoms over time. METHODS: In all, 188 patients were operated with an ileal pouch-anal anastomosis. Short-term functional outcome has previously been evaluated with a symptom questionnaire. The same questionnaire was sent to the 162 patients who were alive and had an intact pouch. A symptom index was studied over time and in relation to early complications and pouchitis. RESULTS: The response rate of the questionnaire was 139/162 at a median of 12.5 (9.5-21) years postoperatively. Overall, the symptom index remained unchanged over time but both the frequency of night-time defaecation and episodes of night-time incontinence increased. Patients' global assessment was unchanged with approximately 80% stating an excellent or a good result. Frequency of pouchitis doubled in 10 years. Symptom index for patients with episodic pouchitis [median 40 (8-89), P = 0.018] and recurrent/chronic pouchitis [71 (8-136), P < 0.001] was higher than in patients without pouchitis [29 (0-105)]. Early complications did not affect the symptom index. CONCLUSION: The overall functional outcome of ileal pouch-anal surgery for ulcerative colitis is stable over time. Patients' satisfaction with outcome remains high. Pouchitis is a determinant of functional outcome.

Development of atopic disease after early administration of cow milk formula.

We prospectively studied the incidence of atopic disease in healthy term infants with a birth weight between -1 and -2 SD who were fed a cow milk formula during the first few days of life. A total of 216 infants were randomized to receive either early feeding with formula before normal breastfeeding was started (n = 112) or "normal feeding" with breastmilk (n = 104). Symptoms of allergy developed in 18% of the infants before 18 months of age in the formula fed group, as compared to 33% in the breastfed group (P less than 0.05). The difference was confined to the group of infants with a history of allergy in two family members. Thus, 11% of the formula-fed infants developed allergy symptoms, as compared to 61% of the control infants (P less than 0.01). Our study implies that early feeding during the first days of life with a cow milk formula, before the introduction of breastmilk, may reduce the incidence of allergy symptoms before 18 months of age in infants with a family history of allergy.

Free amino acids in rat ocular tissues during postnatal development.

Amino acid changes in the retina, vitreous, lens, iris-ciliary body and cornea of the rat eye were determined during postnatal growth. The amino acid concentrations of the ocular tissues showed varying profiles at various developmental stages. These results suggest a different timetable for development of each ocular tissue or indicate a synthesis of specific proteins in the postnatal period. Adult amino acid levels appeared to be fully reached on the 30th day after birth at the latest. Quantitatively the greatest changes were observed in taurine concentrations, which increased in all five ocular tissues during maturation. GABA changes paralleled those of taurine in the retina, whereas in the other ocular tissues GABA changes were very low. The greatest decrease in glutamic acid and aspartic acid concentration during postnatal development was in the lens, where these amino acids probably are needed for the synthesis of the lenticular proteins, the alpha-, beta-, and gamma-crystallines.

Glucose polymers in diarrhoea--risk of hypernatraemia.

An infant girl with congenital heart disease was fed glucose polymers as dietary supplements. During an attack of gastroenteritis with severe diarrhoea she developed hypernatraemic dehydration, probably due to the high osmotic load of the glucose polymers. This case illustrates the importance of giving adequate amounts of free water to a child on glucose polymers, especially during excessive fluid loss.

Liquid chromatographic determination of mitomycin C in human plasma and urine.

A method is given for the determination of the antineoplastic drug mitomycin C in plasma and urine samples. Mitomycin is isolated from the biological matrix with the aid of a Sep-Pak C18 extraction column and eluted with methanol. The methanol is evaporated and the residue is redissolved in the chromatographic mobile phase (methanolic phosphate buffer). Mitomycin C is separated from coextracted compounds by reversed-phase liquid chromatography on a LiChrosorb RP-8 column. A high detection sensitivity and selectivity was obtained by photometric measurements at 365 nm. The precision of the determinations was better than 6% relative standard deviation for plasma samples within the range 2-1000 ng/ml, and for urine samples within the range 0.5-4.4 micrograms/ml. The pH-dependent stability of mitomycin in buffer solutions has been studied.

Cytokine production in mononuclear cells of human milk studied at the single-cell level.

In this study, we demonstrate that mononuclear cells of human milk have a potential for production of many different cytokines. We applied a technique for cytokine detection at the single-cell level using cytokine specific MAb and immunofluorescence. The characteristic staining pattern obtained represents intracellular cytokine production, which allows for the assessment of the cellular origin of production. Milk mononuclear cells were mitogen-stimulated in vitro and cultured for 4 h and then stained for 13 cytokines. Lipopolysaccharide stimulation induced extensive production of the following monokines: IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-1ra, IL-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. IL-10 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor were smaller products, although detectable in most samples. The abundant monokine production correlated with the high number of macrophages in milk. Spontaneous monokine production in unstimulated cells could be detected in six out of 11 samples. The highest incidence was evident for IL-8. No spontaneous lymphokine production was detected. Considering the low proportion of lymphocytes, stimulation with phorbol myristate acetate in combination with ionomycin resulted in considerable production of the following lymphokines: IL-2, IL-3, IL-4, IL-10, interferon-gamma, tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Macrophages contributed to the high production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and GM-CSF. IL-5 synthesis was detectable in only one sample. This work reveals that human milk mononuclear cells are potent producers of cytokines when mitogen stimulated in vitro. The in vivo implications of these findings remain to be investigated further.

Penicillin allergy--a rare paediatric condition?

A total of 298 children with a history of adverse reactions in connection with oral penicillin treatment were investigated with a radioallergosorbent test for penicillin metabolites, the skin prick test, and oral challenge with penicillin V. No severe reactions were seen. In 30 (10%) of the subjects slight to moderate skin reactions were observed on the seventh to 10th day of the challenge period. Between one to four years after the oral challenge 222 children were reinvestigated by interview. One hundred and ten had been given treatment by penicillin and 103 (94%) of these children tolerated the new treatment well and without any adverse reactions. We conclude that the term 'penicillin allergy' is often misused. Such a diagnosis should be established by clinical investigation.

Serologic diagnosis of whooping cough by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using fimbrial hemagglutinin as antigen.

Diagnosis of whooping cough by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that measures serum IgG, IgM, and IgA antibody to the fimbrial hemagglutinin of Bordetella pertussis was compared to isolation from nasopharyngeal swabs in a prospective study. Of 77 patients with upper respiratory tract infections of unknown etiology in which B. pertussis infection could not be excluded on clinical grounds, 26 were culture-positive, including one for Bordetella parapertussis. All 26 patients were positive by ELISA except one asymptomatic erythromycin-treated patient (ELISA sensitivity, 96%). Among culture-negative patients, 24 additional patients were positive by ELISA. Thus, only about one half of the patients with whooping cough were identified by culture under optimal conditions. Positive titers of IgM antibody and/or high titers of IgG antibody in the first serum sample, allowing for a rapid diagnosis, were found only in 26 (53%) of 49 serologically positive patients. By combining culture testing with serology, rapid diagnosis was obtained in 41 (82%) of 50 patients.

Plasma pharmacokinetics of adriamycin after intrapleural administration.

The plasma pharmacokinetics of adriamycin after intrapleural administration have been studied. The maximum plasma concentration found after intrapleural instillation of 50 mg was 100 ng ml-1, the adriamycin half-life being about 2.5 h. Large amounts of the drug are adsorbed from the pleura. Hence risks for cardiomyopathy, previously associated with the repeated intravenous administration of adriamycin, must also be considered after intrapleural administration.

Allergic symptoms up to 4-6 years of age in children given cow milk neonatally. A prospective study.

In a previously published prospective study, we followed the development of allergic symptoms in term infants with a slightly reduced birthweight (-1 SD to -2 SD). These children received, according to local routine, early feeding with cow milk formula in order to diminish such neonatal problems as hypoglycemia and hyperbilirubinemia. Of 216 infants 207 were observed for allergic symptoms up to 18 months of age. One group (F) received cow milk formula during the first days of life before the mother's breastmilk production started and was then breastfed; the other (B) was not given any formula before normal breastfeeding started. Unexpectedly, we found fewer allergic symptoms, in particular allergic skin problems, in the group fed cow milk, the difference being concentrated to children with a family history of allergic symptoms. At 5 years of age 183 of the 207 children have been reinvestigated. Mild symptoms of allergy (suspected and obvious) were found in 22% (F) and 27% (B) respectively (NS). Moderate and severe symptoms of allergy (obvious) were found in 4.2% (F) and 4.5% (B). In the subgroup with a double family history of allergic symptoms, 28% (7/25, F) and 59% (10/17, B) had symptoms of allergy (p less than 0.05). This difference was even more pronounced when laboratory tests in favour of atopic diagnosis were included, 14% (F) and 53% (B) respectively (p less than 0.05). Thus at 5 years we still find a significantly lower frequency of allergic symptoms in the subgroup fed cow milk formula early with a family history of allergic symptoms.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Rat acid phosphatase: overexpression of active, secreted enzyme by recombinant baculovirus-infected insect cells, molecular properties, and crystallization.

Rat prostatic acid phosphatase (rPAP; orthophosphoric-monoester phosphohydrolase (acid optimum), EC 3.1.3.2) was expressed in the baculovirus expression vector system. Recombinant protein was secreted into the medium at a high yield by infected insect cells, which were cultured at high density in a 30-liter bioreactor allowing high oxygen content for rapidly growing cells. About 20% of the cell protein produced was rPAP. Partial sequence determination of the N terminus of the purified recombinant secreted protein revealed identity to the native secreted protein, showing that the signal peptide is recognized and properly cleaved in insect cells. The enzyme was purified by using L-(+)-tartrate affinity chromatography. The purified protein had a high specific activity of 2620 mumol.min-1.mg-1 with p-nitrophenyl phosphate at the substrate, and it also showed phosphotyrosine phosphatase activity. The molecular mass of the recombinant rPAP was 155 kDa. Two subunits of 46 kDa and 48 kDa could be detected in SDS/PAGE, but only one subunit of 41 kDa was present after digestion with N-glycosidase. The active enzyme is a trimer of subunits differing only in glycosylation. When recombinant rPAP was crystallized with polyethylene glycol 6000 as the precipitant, the crystals were trigonal (space group P3(1)21) with cell dimensions a = 89.4 A and c = 152.0 A. The observed diffraction pattern extends to a resolution of at least 3 A.

Oral melphalan pharmacokinetics--relation to dose in patients with multiple myeloma.

The pharmacokinetics of melphalan have been studied after oral doses of 5, 10 and 20 mg, and 10 mg i.v. Seven patients with multiple myeloma received the drug on 4 consecutive days and the concentration of melphalan was determined by liquid chromatography. Melphalan was rapidly absorbed after p.o. administration. Absorption lag-time was less than 1 h. The median time for attaining the peak concentration was 1.12 h (97% confidence interval: 0.68-1.55), 1.21 h (0.85-1.43) and 1.08 h (0.84-1.29) after doses of 5, 10 and 20 mg. The bioavailability showed large interindividual variations, and was not significantly affected by the dose given. There was a significant decrease in bioavailability during the treatment course (P less than 0.05). Absorption of melphalan obeys first-order kinetics in the dose interval studied. The results indicate that it might be of benefit to administrate oral melphalan for fewer days than the usually used 4 day regimen, in an attempt to achieve a higher bioavailability.