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Fatal anaphylaxis from IgE-mediated food allergy without direct consumption is exceedingly rare. Risk factors for fatal food-induced anaphylaxis include delayed use of epinephrine, uncontrolled asthma, and recreational drug use.

Isoniazid and rifampin are both indicated therapies for treatment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections. While DRESS-associated reactions are reported in the literature, adverse cutaneous reactions with hypereosinophilia without end-organ dysfunction are rare.

Angioedema accounts for approximately 100,000 emergency department visits annually. It is clinically diagnosed by history of acute-onset localized subcutaneous or submucosal swelling of commonly the face, lips, larynx, genitalia, or extremities. Post-surgical periorbital edema is a common complication following forehead and eyelid surgeries and can be challenging to distinguish from angioedema.

Perflutren, a PEGylated liposome-encapsulated fluorocarbon microsphere, serves as a contrast agent during transthoracic echocardiography, enhancing left ventricular opacification. Anaphylaxis to perflutren has been reported but is rare.

Presents several letters to the editor, on various socio-political issues. Reasons, due to which Governor of South Carolina, Daniel H. Chamberlain, is against the nomination of politician R.B. Elliott, as State Attorney-General; Need for the scientific training of clergymen; Influence of scientific education on religious processions of clergymen.

Until recently, solvent-based forms of monomeric alkyl (isobutyl) trialkoxy silane, produced under various trade names, were exclusively used in the United Kingdom for concrete protection of transportation structures and other structures subject to surface salt contamination. Reflecting the move toward more sustainable construction and with increasing demand for less-hazardous materials, alternative protective treatments that are based on various aqueous formulations have emerged. These treatments include dual-purpose materials for protection and concrete coloration. At the same time, developments in nanomaterials have resulted in the availability of a low-hazard pure silane that is neither water nor solvent based. This investigation evaluated the performance of this material and three water-based materials with respect to their resistance to water and salt solution absorption and chloride ion penetration. A comparative investigation assessed the possibility of using convenient concrete cubes rather than larger-scale slabs for chloride contamination testing by the salt-ponding method. The results of the study are particularly relevant to older reinforced concrete structures, which frequently suffer low concrete cover to their steel-reinforcing bars.

The decline and subsequent re-colonisation of the Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisusin the UK has allowed an examination of its potential impacts on passerine abundance through analysis of long-term garden bird monitoring data. Weekly counts in gardens in winter have been collected annually since the early 1970s, a period when Sparrowhawks were initially rare but recolonised to a point in the 1990s when they were recorded in the majority of gardens. Change in bird count from year-to-year for 10 common prey species from up to 483 survey sites were analysed in relation to Sparrowhawk re-colonisation, the number of feeding units per site (e.g. bird tables, hanging bird feeders) and, for a subset of the data, minimum temperature. Year-to-year change increased with Sparrowhawk re-colonisation in Great Tit Parus major, Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleusand Collared Dove Stretopelia decaocto, but decreased in Starling Sturnus vulgaris, Chaffinch Fringilla coelebsand Greenfinch Carduelis chloris. Positive associations may suggest a behavioural response to predators, or an attraction of predators to increased prey caused by confounding effects of improvement in site quality. The significant negative effects detected suggest that there is a temporal matching between increased predation pressure and decreases in bird abundance for certain species. However, there was no strong evidence that Sparrowhawk re-colonisation was linked to long-term declines in population size.

Background: The utility of purified coagulation factor (F)VIII for treatment of hemophilia A is limited in part by its instability following activation by thrombin, which is caused by spontaneous dissociation of the A2 domain from the activated FVIII (FVIIIa) heterotrimer. To prevent this A2 domain dissociation in FVIIIa, we previously engineered a cysteine pair (C664–C1826) in recombinant FVIII that formed a disulfide bond cross‐linking the A2 domain in the heavy chain to the A3 domain in the light chain. This engineered disulfide bond resulted in a more stable FVIIIa. Aims: Here, we characterize the functional parameters of C664–C1828 FVIII and of a new disulfide bond‐stabilized FVIII (C662–C1828 FVIII). Methods: In order to assess whether these FVIII variants might be good candidates for a new therapeutic agent to treat hemophilia A, we investigated a variety of functional parameters that might affect the in vivoproperties of the variants, including half‐life of disulfide bond‐stabilized FVIII and FVIIIa and the potency of these FVIIIa molecules in the FXase complex. Results: Both disulfide bond‐stabilized variants had improved affinity for von Willebrand factor (VWF). In studies of FX activation by purified FIXa and FVIIIa, C662–C1828 FVIIIa had normal activity while C664–C1826 FVIIIa had reduced activity. Both C664–C1826 FVIIIa and C662–C1828 FVIIIa were inactivated by activated protein C (APC) but the rates of inactivation were different. Conclusion: Overall, the specific location of the disulfide bridge between the A2 and A3 domains appears to affect functional properties of FVIIIa. In summary, introduction of engineered interdomain disulfides results in FVIIIa variants that resist spontaneous loss of activity while retaining susceptibility to APC proteolytic inactivation and maintaining VWF binding.

The legume podborer, Maruca vitrata(syn. M. testulalis) (F.) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) is a pantropical pest of legume crops. Sex pheromone was collected by gland extraction or trapping of volatiles from virgin female moths originating in India, West Africa, or Taiwan. Analysis by GC-EAG and GC-MS confirmed previously published findings that (E,E)-10,12- hexadecadienal is the most abundant EAG-active component with 2–5% of (E,E)-10,12-hexadecadienol also present. At least one other EAG response was detected at retention times typical of monounsaturated hexadecenals or tetradecenyl acetates, but neither could be detected by GC-MS. Laboratory wind-tunnel bioassays and a field bioassay of blends of (E,E)-10,12-hexadecadienal with (E,E)-10,12-hexadecadienol and a range of monounsaturated hexadecenal and tetradecenyl acetate isomers indicated greatest attraction of males was to those including (E,E)-10,12-hexadecadienol and (E)-10-hexadecenal as minor components. In subsequent trapping experiments in cowpea fields in Benin, traps baited with a three-component blend of (E,E)-10,12-hexadecadienal and these two minor components in a 100:5:5 ratio caught significantly more males than traps baited with the major component alone, either two-component blend, or virgin female moths. Further blend optimization experiments did not produce a more attractive blend. No significant differences in catches were found between traps baited with polyethylene vials or rubber septa, or between lures containing 0.01 and 0.1 mg of synthetic pheromone. Significant numbers of female M. vitratamoths, up to 50% of total catches, were trapped with synthetic blends but not with virgin females. At present there is no clear explanation for this almost unprecedented finding, but the phenomenon may improve the predictive power of traps for population monitoring.

In this study, the pollen-active LAT59 promoter from tomato was used to express a green fluorescent protein (GFP) encoding gene in Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco) pollen. This promoter is preferentially expressed in anthers and pollen. Pollen in transgenic plants segregated in a 1 : 1 Mendelian ratio, and the plants were polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-positive. GFP-tagged pollen was developed as a tool for tracking the movement of transgenic plant pollen in the environment. Specifically, it should be a useful tool for characterizing the spatial distribution patterns of transgenic pollen, to determine pollination mechanisms, to monitor the effects on nontarget organisms, and to monitor gene flow in field conditions.

The purpose of this study was to determine the chest radiographic findings of acute rejection and the accuracy of chest radiography in making this diagnosis in patients undergoing lung transplantation. For each of 100 transbronchial biopsies performed on 25 lung transplant recipients (single lung in three, double lung in 22), chest radiographs obtained within 24 hours before the biopsy were reviewed retrospectively without knowledge of clinical or biopsy information. Transbronchial biopsy revealed 42 instances of acute rejection in 17 patients and 58 instances of no acute rejection (normal, n = 43; other processes, n = 15). All pulmonary parenchymal radiographic abnormalities were assessed. Acute rejection was associated with the presence of middle or lower lung reticular interstitial or airspace disease in 21 lungs (sensitivity = 0.50 [21/42]). This pattern was seen in 18 lungs without acute rejection (specificity = 0.69 [40/58]). There was no difference in the appearance of the lungs between grades 1 and 2 acute rejection. Normal lungs were noted in 20 instances of acute rejection (48). The authors conclude that chest radiograph findings are abnormal in about 50 of instances of biopsy-proven acute rejection. Because the appearance of acute rejection is similar to that of other conditions, the diagnosis cannot be made accurately by chest radiography.

Three castrated male sheep fitted with rumen and duodenal re‐entrant cannulae were used in a 3×3 Latin Square experiment to investigate the digestion of three diets of red clover silage with supplementary concentrates containing barley or barley and groundnut meal or barley and urea. The supplements were designed to be isocaloric and the groundnut meal and barley‐urea mixtures to be isonitrogenous.

Semidwarfism and daylength insensitivity have advantages for winter increase in southern latitudes and to allow wider potential use in breeding programs around the world. To determine if these traits have adverse effects in the upper Midwest, the progenies from a cross of ‘Justin,’ a tall daylength‐sensitive spring wheat (Triticum aestivumL.), by ‘Ciano 67,’ a semidwarf daylength‐insensitive cultivar, were separated into four phenotypic classes: tall‐insensitive (TI), tallsensitive (TS), semidwarf‐insensitive (DI), and semidwarf‐sensitive (DS). Each phenotypic class was represented by 28 F6 lines, randomly derived with the exceptions of their response to daylength and plant height. The lines were grown in three environments after normal time of seeding and one environment after late seeding to obtain information on the effects of semidwarfism and daylength‐insensitivity on various traits in different environmental conditions. As expected, the insensitive classes headed earlier than the sensitive classes, while the tall classes and semidwarf classes headed similarly. The sensitive classes were slightly taller than the insensitive classes. The tall classes yielded more than the semidwarf classes in the two environments where yields were highest but did not differ over all locations. The sensitive classes were superior to the insensitive classes in three of the four environments, but they did not differ following late‐seeding. Individual high‐yielding lines were observed in each phenotypic class, except in the TI class. The DS class had considerably lower test weight than all other classes. However, reduced test weight did not appear to be closely associated with semidwarfism since the DI class had test weight equal to the mean of the two tall classes. The DS class was lowest in protein percentage, but the DI class was equal to the TS class. Thus lower protein percentage did not appear closely related to the semidwarf trait. Late seeding did not reduce the performance of the semidwarf or the insensitive classes relative to the other classes. The TS and DI classes represented parental types and apparently had higher frequencies of favorable gene combinations for yield. Consequently, for future studies, intercrossing may be beneficial to help distribute favorable gene combinations. Using these genetic materials, no severe deleterious effects were observed to be tightly associated with semidwarfism or daylength‐insensitivity.

[Utstein Style Writing Group: Recommended guidelines for reviewing, reporting, and conducting research on in-hospital resuscitation: The in-hospital ''Utstein style.'' Ann Emerg Med May 1997;29:650-679.]

The control of gonadotropin secretion in female rats was evaluated during the transition period between cyclic and acyclic reproductive function. Mid-aged irregularly cycling (IRC), mid-aged constant estrus (CE) and old CE rats showed an attenuated LH, but normal FSH, response to ovariectomy when compared with young rats. Old CE rats did not respond to the positive feedback action of estrogen (E) or progesterone (P) on LH release, while mid-aged IRC and CE rats showed a reduced LH response when compared with young rats. A similar FSH surge was induced by E or P in all groups. The data suggest that mid-aged rats are in a transition period during which alterations in the neuroendocrine system occur that eventually lead to an acyclic reproductive state.

The aims of treatment in acute myocardial infarction are to limit evolving muscle necrosis, prevent heart failure, maintain electrical stability, and preserve the coronary circulation to avoid progressive or recurrent infarction. No single treatment achieves all these objectives. The rationale for the use of adrenoceptor blocking drugs is that they will oppose the effects of the increased sympathomimetic activity which follows acute infarction and which may adversely affect outcome. More is known of the clinical use of pure β-blockade than of combined α- and β-blockade with labetalol but in theory combined receptor blockade will produce additional beneficial effects over β-blockade alone. β-Adrenoceptor antagonists have a theoretical role in limiting infarct size. They may reduce the oxygen deficit of jeopardised though potentially viable tissue, limiting infarct size by their favourable effect on heart rate, systolic pressure, contractility, and metabolic pathways. That β-blockade reduces myocardial damage has been confirmed in animal studies. Studies in man using enzyme release or R wave scoring as indicators of infarct size also suggest that oral or intravenous β-blockers after infarction encourage myocardial salvage. Few studies have been reported in which the effects of combined α- and β-blockade on infarct size have been determined. The actions of a dual blocking agent are more complex and the outcome less predictable than from β-blockade alone: the advantages of the β-blocking component will be retained while the α-blocking component may conceivably further diminish oxygen demand by reducing systolic pressure and heart size. Less favourably, coronary perfusion pressure may also fall. It is apparent that further clinical studies are needed. Adrenergic blockade may be used to prevent or treat ventricular arrhythmias which develop after infarction in the face of heightened sympathetic tone and continued ischaemia. Clinical and experimental evidence points to the efficacy of β-blockade in ischaemia-related arrhythmias, but β-blockade alone is probably ineffective against arrhythmias arising during reperfusion. In experimental studies, α-blockers are effective against both forms of arrhythmia although the doses required for reperfusion effects may produce unacceptable hypotension in clinical use. It is possible that combined α- and β-blockade may have broader antiarrhythmic activity than β-blockers alone but present clinical data on the value of labetalol in controlling postinfarction arrhythmias are sparse. The effect of β-blockers on prevention of reinfarction demonstrated in recent studies may depend on changes in platelet aggregation, renin production, blood pressure, or mechanisms at present undefined. It is yet to be determined whether labetalol has similar potential. Studies of the use of labetalol in acute myocardial infarction are few. In patients with myocardial infarction and hypertension its haemodynamic effects have generally been favourable but induced hypotension limits its value in normotensive patients. In myocardial infarction associated with heart failure, labetalol is safer than β-blockade alone although special care is needed for patients with evidence of low cardiac output. Whether the use of labetalol in myocardial infarction influences overall mortality has yet to be demonstrated.

A series of comparative physiological and morphological analyses are described for eighteen Dendryphiella isolates. Conidial characteristics of ten isolates showed relatively little variation as a result of different incubation conditions. Isolates were markedly tolerant to NaCl and KCl, although some variation between isolates was noted. A variety of nitrogen compounds could be utilized by most isolates although some grew poorly with certain nitrogen sources. Most isolates showed a wide pH growth range, particularly at alkaline values, and broad temperature growth profiles. The relevance of these physiological characteristics to the survival and fitness of Dendryphiella species in the marine environment is discussed.

Rabbit fetuses were injected intramuscularly with 0.5 mg. of isoxsuprine on the twenty-eighth day of gestation. They were killed in utero four hours after the injection, and fetal pulmonary fluid (FPF) was collected through a tracheal catheter. The quantity of FPF and the lung weight/body weight ratio were both significantly less in the isoxsuprine-treated fetuses than in control fetuses. Surface activity, evaluated with pulsating bubble, and the lecithin/sphingomyelin (L/S) ratio were greater in FPF from isoxsuprine-treated animals than in control samples. We concluded that isoxsuprine is able to dehydrate the fetal lung and cause a release of surfactant stored in type II pneumocytes. This latter conclusion was supported by a significant decrease in the number of lamellar inclusions observed in these cells.

Astrans-2-nonenal (T2N) acts as an insect repellent, an insecticide, and a flavor compound, it would be desirable to manipulate its concentration in plants. Simple, rapid, and accurate trapping on cartridges of activated charcoal detected T2N in headspace over carrot roots and regenerants. Concentrations ranged from 0.07 to 0.43 ppm total volatiles over the homogenized roots of a range of European carrot cultivars with the following statistically significant differences: Long Chantenay > Sytan > Vertou > Touchon Prima. This suggests that the expression of T2N is determined genetically. Given the potential for genetic manipulation byin vitro techniques, the release of T2N and other terpenoids was monitored in carrot cell suspensions and in “hairy” root cultures of cv. Gelbe Rheinische. T2N concentrations were 6.23 ppm and 0.005 ppm, respectively, as compared with 0.15 ppm over the homogenized root of the same cultivar. Two terpenoids additional to T2N were detected from cell suspension cultures as compared with 14 from “hairy” root cultures. The ready detection in regenerants of this significant aldehyde indicates that its presence could be monitored in derivatives of otherin vitro manipulations.

Ovipositor washings from virgin femaleEarias vittella (F.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) moths were examined by gas chromatography (GC) linked to electroantennography (EAG). Six components were detected by the male moth. These were identified by comparison of their retention times with those of a range of synthetic standards on fused silica capillary GC columns as hexadecanal, (Z)-11-hexadecenal, (E,E)-10,12-hexadecadienal, octadecanal, (Z)-11-octadecenal, and (E,E)-10,12-hexadecadien-1-ol in 1:2:10:2:4:1 ratio. Field testing in Pakistan showed that a 2:10:2 mixture of (Z)-11-hexadecenal, (E,E)-10,12-hexadecadienal, and (Z)-11-octadecenal was as attractive to maleE. vittella moths as the six-component mixture and equal in attractiveness to a virgin female moth. Omitting (Z)-11-hexadecenal or (Z)-11-octadecenal greatly reduced this attractiveness. It was found that synthetic lures must be protected from sunlight to prevent loss of attractiveness caused by isomerization of the conjugated diene aldehyde, and addition of (E,Z)-10,12-hexadecadienal, one of the products of isomerization, was shown to reduce attractiveness significantly. During this work, a 10:1 mixture of (E,E)-10, 12-hexadecadienal and (Z)-11-hexadecenal was shown to be as attractive toE. insulana (Boisd.) male moths as a virgin female moth, and the attractiveness of this mixture was further increased by addition of (E,Z)-10,12-hexadecadienal.

A new model is proposed for analyzing solvent extraction processes carried out in any type of column. Each column is treated as a series of well-defined equilibrium stages where the backmixing (other-phase carryover) between stages can be large. It is assumed that mass transfer effects can be modeled by a proper choice for stage height and backmixing. With this model, the same number of stages can be used for all extracted chemical components no matter what their distribution coefficients. Thus, this model greatly simplifies the calculations required when evaluating multicomponent solvent extraction processes and so, is more appropriate than either the Height of an Equivalent Theoretical Stage (HETS) or the Height of a Transfer Unit (HTU). Initial evaluation shows that the new model works as well as the HTU method and better than the HETS method when correlating actual pulse column data.

The effects of hydrolysable tannin and condensed tannin on the feeding of Schistocerca gregaria and Locusta migratoria are described. An attempt is made to explain the different effects of tannins in the presence of different nutrients. The ecological significance of these findings is discussed.

Factor I is a five-domain plasma serine protease which is essential for the regulation of the complement system. In order to express this, the factor I coding sequence was cloned into a recombinant baculovirus system, which was used to infect Trichoplusia nicells. Using the native factor I leader sequence, recombinant factor I (rFI) was secreted into the culture medium. Purified rFI was recognised by polyclonal antisera and by the factor I-specific monoclonal antibody MRC-OX21. SDS–PAGE showed that rFI was processed into two chains with molecular weights of 48,000 and 36,000. Amino acid sequence analysis showed that the N-terminal sequences of the rFI chains were the same as those of serum-derived factor I (sFI), confirming that processing was correct. Since both molecular weights were less than those observed for sFI, this is attributed to the replacement of complex-type oligosaccharides by high mannose ones in rFI. C3(NH3) cleavage assays showed that rFI had 55% the activity of sFI. Circular dichroism and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that the protein folding of rFI and sFI were very similar. Both had a secondary structure low in α-helix and high in β-sheet, as expected from crystal structure and multiple sequence alignment analyses. It is inferred that the reduced activity of rFI is attributable to its changed glycosylation. The availability of rFI and structures for the domains in factor I makes possible new approaches to determine the molecular basis of its interactions with factor H and C3b.

A recombinant promoter, pEmu, has been constructed to give a high level of gene expression in monocots. It is based on a truncated maize Adh1 promoter, with multiple copies of the Anaerobic Responsive Element from the maize Adh1 gene and ocs-elements from the octopine synthase gene of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The pEmu promoter was one of 12 different promoter constructs that were linked to the ß-glucuronidase (GUS) marker gene. Promoter activity was measured 48 h after introduction of the constructs into protoplasts of five different monocot species [wheat, maize, rice, einkorn (Triticum monococcum), and Lolium multiflorum] and one dicot (Nicotiana plumbaginifolia). In suspension cell protoplasts, the most highly expressing construct (pEmuGN) gave 10- to 50-fold higher expression than the CaMV 35S promoter in all the monocot species. The pEmu promoter should be valuable where a high level of gene expression is required in monocots. The pEmu promoter showed instability in several widely used Escherichia coli strains but was stable in a recA, recD strain AC001, which is described. Another construct, p4OCS?35SIGN, gave a tenfold increase in expression over the CaMV 35S promoter in dicot (Nicotiana plumbaginifolia) protoplasts.

Four species of Acridoidea were fed on wheat leaves with and without the condensed tannin, quebracho. In no case was it deleterious to survival and growth at levels below about 10% dry weight on the food. Similarly, consumption, digestibility, and utilization of food were unaffected at up to 10% dry weight. At higher concentrations, however, the consumption and the efficiency of conversion of digestion were reduced, although digestibility was little affected. The possible mechanisms for such tolerance are discussed, and contrast made with insects which are very sensitive to ingested condensed tannin.