Conventional drug therapy in inflammatory bowel disease

The conventional treatment of inflammatory bowel disease should center around the liberal use of one of the many available forms of 5-ASA. Sulfasalazine should be used initially with the newer mesalamine-only containing drugs being reserved for sulfasalazine-intolerant patients or for those patients who require larger doses of medication. The choice of the delivery method should be made with the knowledge of the extent of disease and the potential coverage areas of the individual delivery methods. Systemic and topical glucocorticoids are an invaluable adjunct to 5-ASA therapy, but their use must be directed with the goal of remission induction. The tapering of glucocorticoids should be as prompt as the maintenance of remission allows, with a useful general guideline of decreasing the dose by 1 mg per day. Immunosuppressive therapy, including azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine, holds promise for refractory cases of inflammatory bowel disease and for their potential steroid sparing properties; antibiotic therapy with metronidazole and ciprofloxacin in the absence of documented infectious disease offers additional routes to control disease. The majority of patients require a combination of drugs to attain remission. Only further study will reveal the ideal regimen for each of the different subsets of inflammatory bowel disease.     

Selection of rainbow trout resistant to viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus and transmission of resistance by gynogenesis

In 1984 a programme of selection for resistance to viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV) in rainbow trout was initiated. The progenies of 14 males were submitted to a VHSV waterborne challenge. The mortality ranged from 30 to 95% and the heritability of resistance was estimated to be 0.63 +/- 0.26. One male consistently provided the most resistant offspring, and the second generation was produced from sires and dams selected among these families. The mean resistance improved and several females giving birth to resistant offspring were identified (0-10% mortality while the mortality in the controls was from 70 to 90%). The meiotic gynogenetic progeny of these females also demonstrated high resistance (mortality less than 10%). The role of superficial tissues in the resistance was confirmed and there was a striking difference in the growth of VHSV in fins excised and infected in vitro. The fins from resistant fish replicated the virus poorly as compared with the fins of susceptible fish.     

Butyltin Species and Inorganic Tin in Water and Sediment of the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers

Water and sediment samples from 29 locations in the Detroit and St. Clair rivers were analyzed for the highly toxic tri-n-butyltin (Bu₃Sn⁺) species and for the less toxic di-n-butyltin (Bu₂Sn²⁺) and n-butyltin (BuSn³⁺) species and inorganic tin. In general, locations sampled in the St. Clair River were less contaminated with butyltin species than those in the Detroit River. Inorganic tin and BuSn³⁺ were detected in over 90% of all subsurface water samples, while Bu₂Sn²⁺ and Bu₃Sn⁺ were detected in 45 and 28% of the same samples, respectively. The highest concentration ofBu₃Sn⁺ in subsurface water, 5.9 × 10^?10 mol Sn/L, was at the mouth of the Ecorse River, a tributary of the Detroit River. The three butyltin species and inorganic tin were also detected in 23–46% of all sediment samples. The highest concentrations of Bu₃Sn⁺ in sediment were found close to the mouths of the River Rouge, another tributary of the Detroit River, and the Ecorse River, and were 6.2 × I0^–7 and 1.7 × I0^–7 mol Sn/kg dry weight, respectively, for the top 2 cm of sediment.     

Further studies on polyamides from bisacid a2

Earlier work on the low temperature solution polyamidation of bisacid A2 has raised a number of structural problems. Work carried out more recently showed that the problem of apparent nonisostoichiometry could be reasonably satisfactorily explained. The present paper reports the synthesis and investigates the properties of a further series of polyamides based upon Bisacid A2. More importantly, however, a detailed characterization and evaluation of the new polymers with respect to their structures is presented. This enabled us to compare the various structures in the light of the experimental evidence provided by a number of analytical and spectroscopic techniques, solution behavior, molecular weight, and thermal, morphological, and mechanical properties. Some work was also done on the effect of incorporating a small amount of a trifunctional monomer into the polyamide system.     

Induced magnetic fields as evidence for subsurface oceans in Europa and Callisto

The Galileo spacecraft has been orbiting Jupiter since 7 December 1995, and encounters one of the four galilean satellites-Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto-on each orbit. Initial results from the spacecraft's magnetometer have indicated that neither Europa nor Callisto have an appreciable internal magnetic field, in contrast to Ganymede and possibly Io. Here we report perturbations of the external magnetic fields (associated with Jupiter's inner magnetosphere) in the vicinity of both Europa and Callisto. We interpret these perturbations as arising from induced magnetic fields, generated by the moons in response to the periodically varying plasma environment. Electromagnetic induction requires eddy currents to flow within the moons, and our calculations show that the most probable explanation is that there are layers of significant electrical conductivity just beneath the surfaces of both moons. We argue that these conducting layers may best be explained by the presence of salty liquid-water oceans, for which there is already indirect geological evidence in the case of Europa.     

Multiple-mode acoustic transducer calculations

Approximate equations are derived that allow calculation of the component values for a multiple-mode Mason equivalent circuit for acoustic transducers. The experimental approach required to obtain the data from which to derive the equivalent circuit is also described. The equations have been tested for accuracy, and the approach described here yields useful information for the system designer. Iterative procedures can be applied to further refine the calculated values.     

An analysis of specialist and non-specialist user requirements for geographic climate change information

The EU EuroClim project developed a system to monitor and record climate change indicator data based on satellite observations of snow cover, sea ice and glaciers in Northern Europe and the Arctic. It also contained projection data for temperature, rainfall and average wind speed for Europe. These were all stored as data sets in a GIS database for users to download. The process of gathering requirements for a user population including scientists, researchers, policy makers, educationalists and the general public is described. Using an iterative design methodology, a user survey was administered to obtain initial feedback on the system concept followed by panel sessions where users were presented with the system concept and a demonstrator to interact with it. The requirements of both specialist and non-specialist users is summarised together with strategies for the effective communication of geographic climate change information.