Effect of topical steroids on nasal nitric oxide production in children with perennial allergic rhinitis: a pilot study

It has been hypothesized that concentrations of exhaled nitric oxide (NO) may be related to the extent of cytokine-mediated airway inflammation. Recent findings indicate the nasal airways as an important site of NO production. Our objective was to evaluate whether children with allergic rhinitis show different nasal NO levels when compared with normal healthy subjects and the effect of topical steroids and anti-histamine therapy. We have measured the concentration of NO drawn from the nose of 21 children (5-17 years old) affected by perennial allergic rhinitis (house dust mite) out of therapy for at least 3 weeks. Thirteen children were then treated with nasal beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) (400 micrograms daily) and eight subjects with nasal anti-histamine levocabastine (200 micrograms daily). Measurements were performed before and after 10 days of treatment. As a control group we evaluated 21 healthy children aged 5-15 years. To measure NO we used a chemiluminescence analyser. Before treatment the whole group of children with allergic rhinitis showed a mean (+/- SEM) nasal NO concentration of 267 +/- 18 ppb, significantly higher (P < 0.01) than the control group (186 +/- 15 ppb). The group of children treated with BDP showed, after 10 days of therapy, a significant (P < 0.05) decrease of nasal NO concentration (271 +/- 21 ppb vs. 212 +/- 20 ppb). Indeed, in the group treated with levocabastine, nasal NO concentrations did not present a significant difference (P not significant) compared with baseline (261 +/- 33 ppb and 252 +/- 31 ppb, respectively). These data suggest that (1) children with allergic rhinitis have higher levels of nasal NO than non-atopic controls and (2) intranasal steroid therapy significantly reduces nasal NO production in children with allergic rhinitis. We speculate that the allergic inflammatory response may influence the nasal NO levels and that NO measurements may be a useful marker of nasal inflammation.     

Liquefaction of coal by SRC-II process: Part V: Dynamic thermal behavior of the reactor

Criteria for identification of the unstable or stable nature of the steady state based on the reactor temperature response to step changes in feed temperature, and a dynamic thermal simulation of SRC-II reactors are developed. These are used in the analysis of a dynamic SRC-II reactor experiment to confirm its unstable operation under normal process conditions. The simulation is used further to study the sensitivity of reactor temperature to changes in feed temperature and to variations in the total heat capacity of the reactor vessel and insulation materials. It is shown that, under normal SRC-II process conditions, it would take about an hour for the reactor temperature to change by ± 10°C, if no controls were used. With quench gas manipulation, the reactor temperature could be maintained within ± 1°C even for a sustained small perturbation in the process conditions. Therefore, in spite of its unstable character, the SRC-II reactors can be readily operated with quench gas manipulation without incurring any major temperature control problems.     

Gravimetric determination of soil carbon using the LECO induction furnace

A gravimetric method of determining soil carbon using a LECO high-frequency induction furnace is described. The results obtained using this method were compared with those obtained using two other gravimetric procedures: a wetoxidation method and a dry-combustion (680 °C) method which was taken as the standard. The results showed that the induction furnace method is satisfactory for the determination of soil carbon within the range covered by the 22 soils studied. The method is relatively simple and an operator can perform about 12 determinations/hour.     

Studies of epoxy resin systems: Part B: Effect of crosslinking on the physical properties of an epoxy resin

An epoxy system consisting of diglycidyl ether of butanediol, DGEB, cured with 4-4′ diaminodiphenyl sulfone, DDS, has been used for a study of the effect of crosslinking density on the properties of the epoxy resin. Because of the low curing rate at room temperature and the low glass-transition temperature, this system was amenable to a wide range of controlled cross-linking density. The crosslinking density was monitored by FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), which followed the change in concentration of the epoxy groups during the curing reaction. The bulk density was found to increase linearly with the crosslinking density. The modulus, the upper yield point, the lower yield point, and the degree of retraction of a deformed sample all increased with the degree of crosslinking. The thermally stimulated depolarization (TSD) β-peak was found to vary with crosslinking density, but the γ-peak was not changed. The TSD a peak was found to decrease in strength, but increased in temperature as the crosslinking density increased. This observation suggests that TSD measurements arc a good monitor of crosslinking density of epoxy resins, particularly near the final stage of the crosslinking reaction.     

A submersible autonomous sensor for spectrophotometric pH measurements of natural waters

An autonomous sensor for long-term in situ measurements of the pH of natural waters is described. The system is based upon spectrophotometric measurements of a mixture of sample and sulfonephthalein indicator. A simple plumbing design, using a small, low-power solenoid pump and valve, avoids the need for quantitative addition of indicator. A approximately 50-microL slug of indicator is pulled into the sample stream by the pump, and subsequent pumping and mixing results in a section of indicator and sample where absorbance measurements can be made. The design also permits direct determination of the indicator pH perturbation. Absorbances are recorded at three wavelengths (439, 579, and 735 nm) using a custom-built 1.7-cm path length fiber-optic flow cell. Solution blanks are obtained by periodically flushing the cell with sample. Field tests were performed in a local river over an 8-day period. The in situ accuracy, based on comparison with laboratory spectrophotometric pH measurements, was -0.003 pH unit (n = 16), similar to the measurement precision. No drift was observed during the 8-day period. The absorbance ratio used to calculate pH, in combination with a simple and robust optical design, imparts an inherent stability not achievable with conventional potentiometric methods, making the design feasible for long-term autonomous pH measurements.     

Phosphopeptide/phosphoprotein mapping by electron capture dissociation mass spectrometry

Of methods for dissociation of multiply charged peptide and protein ions, electron capture dissociation (ECD) has the advantages of cleaving between a high proportion of amino acids, without loss of such posttranslational modifications as glycosylation and carboxylation. Here this capability is successfully extended to phosphorylation, for which collisionally activated dissociation (CAD) can cause extensive loss of H3PO4 and HPO3. As shown here, these losses are minimal in ECD spectra, an advantage for measuring the degree of phosphorylation. For phosphorylated peptides, ECD and CAD spectra give complementary backbone cleavages for identifying modification sites. For a 24-kDa heterogeneous phosphoprotein, bovine beta-casein, activated ion ECD cleaved 87 of 208 backbone bonds that identified a phosphorylation site at Ser-15, and localized three more among Ser-17,-18, -19, and -22 and Thr-24, and the last among four other sites. This is the first direct site-specific characterization of this key post-translational modification on a protein without its prior degradation, such as proteolysis.     

Weathering wikis: Net-based learning meets political science in a South African university

Wikis represent flexible tools functioning as open-ended environments for collaboration while also offering process and group writing support. Here we focus on a project to innovate the use of wikis for collaborative writing within student groups in a final-year undergraduate political science course. The primary questions guiding our research were in what ways could wikis assist collaborative learning in an undergraduate course in political science and how we could support educators’ in the effective use of wikis? Curiously, wikis may serve as a mediating artifact for collaborative writing even among students who are reluctant to post online drafts. The paper raises questions concerning the nature and limits of lecturer and tutor power to deliver transformative educational innovations in relation to the capacity of students to embrace, comply with, or resist such innovation. In analysing the negotiation of the use of wikis in the course by and among the lecturer, tutors, and students, we draw on two principles in activity theory, which Yrjö Engeström argued are central to his model of expansive learning: multi-voicedness and contradictions [Engeström, Yrjö. (1987). Learning by expanding: An activity-theoretical approach to developmental research. Helsinki: Orienta-Konsultit; Engeström, Yrjö. (2001). Expansive learning at work: Toward an activity theoretical reconceptualization. Journal of Education and Work14(1), 133-156.]. We add a third principle, transparency, to more fully capture what we observed.     

River acid mine drainage: sediment and water mapping through hyperspectral Hymap data

The Odiel River (Huelva, southwest Spain) carries acidic water originating from mine waste contamination, including massive sulphide ore deposits. As the river approaches the coastal estuary, tidal factors influence both sediment and water dynamics. As water velocity decreases, sediment load transport capacity also decreases, building river bars consisting of boulders upstream and sands downstream. Salt water near the estuary affects river water chemistry by neutralizing acidity derived from mine wastes. The occurrence of pyrite mud and hydrated iron sulphate efflorescence, precipitated from acidic waters, is plugged by marine water with chloride, which precipitates from the salt water. Hymap airborne hyperspectral data were used to evaluate tidal influence using spectral features. Grain size variations on river pebble bars, localized crusts of variably hydrated iron sulphate and oxides and cation exchange with chloride salts in the lower river segment as it enters the estuary were spectrally described and mapped. The presence of vegetation proved particularly problematic for the spectral identification of contamination products as well as the precise delineation of inundated areas along the river. The transition from dry to wet zones is the crucial challenge in using spectral imagery to identify and track contaminants in the river and along its flood plain. The use of a reference mineralogical spectral library, developed in the laboratory, requires a careful geological context evaluation to provide efficient environmental information on contamination parameters. Based on hyperspectral analyses of critical spectral features, river locations that may be a key for tracing significant, future contaminant fluctuations were identified.     

Predictors of long-term smoking cessation in head and neck cancer patients

Cigarette smoking is a major risk factor for head and neck cancer, and individuals who continue to smoke past diagnosis and treatment are at elevated risk for further disease. In a randomized controlled trial, a state of the art provider-delivered smoking cessation intervention was compared to a usual care advice control condition. The intervention consisted of surgeon- or dentist-delivered advice to stop smoking, a contracted quit date, tailored written materials, and booster advice sessions. Subjects were 186 patients with newly diagnosed first primary squamous cell carcinomas of the upper aerodigestive tract who had smoked cigarettes within the past year. At randomization, 88.2% of subjects were current smokers. At 12-month follow-up, 70.2% of subjects completing the trial (n = 114) were continuous abstainers; among baseline smokers alone the continuous abstinence (CA) rate was 64.6%. The cotinine validation rate at 12 months was 89.6%. Modeling techniques were utilized in order to derive expected CA rates, which included noncompleter subjects (n = 72). The CA rate expected at 1 year for the entire patient population was 64.2%, and for smokers alone the expected CA rate was 59.4%. Logistic regression analysis carried out on baseline smokers identified predictors of 12-month CA status. These included medical treatment, stage of change, age, nicotine dependence, and race. The intervention effect was not significant, although the sign of the effect was positive. Based on these findings, we recommend systematic brief advice to stop smoking for head and neck cancer patients, with a stepped care approach for patients less able to quit.     

A Linear Variational System for Modelling From Curves

We present a linear system for modelling 3D surfaces from curves. Our system offers better performance, stability and precision in control than previous non‐linear systems. By exploring the direct relationship between a standard higher‐order Laplacian editing framework and Hermite spline curves, we introduce a new form of Cauchy constraint that makes our system easy to both implement and control. We introduce novel workflows that simplify the construction of 3D models from sketches. We show how to convert existing 3D meshes into our curve‐based representation for subsequent editing and modelling, allowing our technique to be applied to a wide range of existing 3D content.