Atopic dermatitis and respiratory symptoms in Russian and northern Norwegian school children: a comparison study in two arctic areas and the impact of environmental factors

Background The increase in atopic diseases during recent decades has been related to environmental factors such as indoor and outdoor pollution and the ingestion of certain foods. On the other hand, studies from Eastern Europe (with heavy air pollution) have reported a lower prevalence of atopic diseases and sensitization in their schoolchildren than in children living in Western Europe. Objectives This study compares the frequency of atopic diseases and respiratory symptoms in two geographically close arctic areas and points to possible risk factors for development of the diseases. Methods A total of 1734 schoolchildren (1183 in Nikel and 551 in Sør‐Varanger) were studied using identical, four‐page, self‐administered questionnaires. Results Atopic diseases were reported in 38.7% of Norwegian and in 24.2% of Russian children (P < 0.001). Atopic dermatitis (AD) (23.6% vs 7.9%; P < 0.001) and allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (AR) (20.6% vs 14.7%; P < 0.001) occurred more frequently in Sør‐Varanger, whereas ‘self‐reported’ asthma (12.3% vs 13.1%) was similar in both areas. However, respiratory symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, breathlessness and bronchitis were 3–4 times more frequent in Nikel (P < 0.001). Conclusion This study disproves a previous hypothesis, i.e. that air pollution must be a major risk factor for the development of atopic diseases. Nevertheless, respiratory tract symptoms may be provoked by environmental pollution. Possible explanations for the higher frequency of atopic diseases in Sør‐Varanger may be found in socio‐economic and lifestyle differences between the two populations.     

Dynamic cortical networks of verbal and spatial working memory: effects of memory load and task practice

Working memory (WM), the ability to briefly retain and manipulate information in mind, is central to intelligent behavior. Here we take advantage of the high temporal resolution of electrophysiological measures to obtain a millisecond timescale view of the activity induced in distributed cortical networks by tasks that impose significant WM demands. We examined how these networks are affected by the type and amount of information to be remembered, and by the amount of task practice. Evoked potentials (EPs) were obtained from eight subjects performing spatial and verbal versions of a visual n-back WM task (n = 1, 2, 3) on each of three testing days. In well-trained subjects, WM tasks elicited transient responses reflecting different subcomponents of task processing, including transient (lasting 0.02-0.3 s) task- sensitive and load-sensitive EPs, as well as sustained responses (lasting 1-1.5 s), including the prestimulus Contingent Negative Variation (CNV), and post-stimulus frontal and parietal Slow Waves. The transient responses, with the exception of the P300, differed between the verbal and spatial task versions, and between trials with different response requirements. The P300 and the Slow Waves were not affected by task version but were affected by increased WM load. These results suggest that WM emerges from the formation of a dynamic cortical network linking task-specific processes with non-specific, capacity- limited, higher-order attentional processes. Practice effects on the EPs suggested that practice led to the development of a more effective cognitive strategy for dealing with lower-order aspects of task processing, but did not diminish demands made on higher order processes. Thus a simple WM task is shown to be composed of numerous elementary subsecond neural processes whose characteristics vary with type and amount of information being remembered, and amount of practice.      

Comparative antimicrobial susceptibility of aerobic and facultative bacteria from community-acquired bacteremia to ertapenem in Taiwan

Background  

Ertapenem is a once-a-day carbapenem and has excellent activity against many gram-positive and gram-negative aerobic, facultative, and anaerobic bacteria. The susceptibility of isolates of community-acquired bacteremia to ertapenem has not been reported yet. The present study assesses the in vitro activity of ertapenem against aerobic and facultative bacterial pathogens isolated from patients with community-acquired bacteremia by determining and comparing the MICs of cefepime, cefoxitin, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, ertapenem, piperacillin, piperacillin-tazobactam, ciprofloxacin, amikacin and gentamicin. The prevalence of extended broad spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL) producing strains of community-acquired bacteremia and their susceptibility to these antibiotics are investigated.     

分光光度法测定血浆中硝普钠的代谢物硫氰酸盐的含量(英文)

采用乙腈为蛋白沉淀剂对血浆进行预处理,用均匀设计法安排实验,考察了血浆中硝普钠的代谢物硫氰酸盐与硝酸铁试液的反应条件。确定在456 nm测定其吸收度,测得SCN^-在1.68～13.4μg/ml的范围内与吸收度成线性关系(r=0.9999)。人体血浆中硫氰酸盐的相对平均回收率为94.0%,日内相对标准偏差在3.2%以下(n=10),日间相对标准偏差在4.0%以下(n=8)。最低检测限为0.3μg/ml。利多卡因等药物对测定无影响。     

TOTAL OCCLUSION OF THE LEFT MAIN CORONARY ARTERY IN A HONG KONG CHINESE

Total occlusion of the left main coronary artery (LMCA) is a rare finding in patients with stable angina pectoris. To the best of our knowledge, it has not been described in Hong Kong Chinese before. In this paper, we report the clinical and angiographic findings of a Hong Kong Chinese with this condition treated in our unit.