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A new methodological approach to the fluorescence microscopical visualization of biogenic monoamines, based on condensation with gaseous glyoxylic acid, is presented. Glyoxylic acid treatment seems both to be more sensitive for the well-known biogenic catecholamines and indolamines, and to allow the detection of other biogenic amines—such as melatonin—which are not demonstrable with available techniques.

Glyoxylic acid vapour is a most powerful reagent for the fluorescence histochemical visualization of biogenic monoamines. In the present investigation the mechanisms of fluorophore formation in the glyoxylic acid reaction has been studied in detail for tryptamine in histochemical models and in freeze-dried tissue, utilizing microspectrofluorometric, Chromatographic, and mass spectrometric techniques in combination with isotope measurements.

Bacterial gastrointestinal infections are associated with short- and long-term complications from several organ systems., During 1997–2004, microbiologically confirmed gastrointestinal infections were reported for 101,855 patients in Sweden. Among patients who had Salmonella infection (n = 34,664), we found an increased risk for aortic aneurysm (standardized incidence ratio [SIR] 6.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.1–11.8) within 3 months after infection and an elevated risk for ulcerative colitis (SIR 3.2, 95% CI 2.2–4.6) within 1 year after infection. We also found this elevated risk for ulcerative colitis among Campylobacter infections (n = 57,425; SIR 2.8, 95% CI 2.0–3.8). Within 1 year, we found an increased risk for reactive arthritis among patients with Yersinia enteritis (n = 5,133; SIR 47.0, 95% CI 21.5–89.2), Salmonella infection (SIR 18.2, 95% CI 12.0–26.5), and Campylobacter infection (SIR 6.3, 95% CI 3.5–10.4). Acute gastroenteritis is sometimes associated with disease manifestations from several organ systems that may require hospitalization of patients.

Background Hand eczema is common in the general population and affects women twice as often as men. It is also the most frequent occupational skin disease. The economic consequences are considerable for society and for the affected individuals. Methods To investigate the prevalence and incidence of hand eczema and to evaluate risk factors for development of hand eczema in young adults. Subjects and methods; This is a prospective follow-up study of 2,403 young adults, 16 – 19 years old in 1995 and aged 29 – 32 years, 13 years later, in 2008. They completed a postal questionnaire that included questions regarding one-year prevalence of hand eczema, childhood eczema, asthma, rhino-conjunctivitis and factors considered to affect hand eczema such as hand-washing, washing and cleaning, cooking, taking care of small children and usage of moisturisers. These factors were evaluated with the multinominal logistic regression analysis. Results The one-year prevalence of hand eczema was 15.8% (females 20.3% and males 10.0%, p

Atopic eczema (AE) is a major risk factor for hand eczema. In Scandinavian population-based studies, the occurrence of AE in childhood has often been assessed by the question 'Have you had childhood eczema?' In the present study, this question was validated. A questionnaire was sent to 600 cases with AE and 600 controls without eczema or allergic disease, identified in school medical records from the 1960s. The response rate was 70.5%, and the mean age of the respondents was 36.7 years. The specificity of the question was 70.7% and the sensitivity 89.9%. The sensitivity was higher and the specificity lower in a subgroup with current hand eczema compared with a group without hand eczema. The results showed that the question overestimated the prevalence of AE in childhood by a factor of 1.6. When used for risk assessment, the question provided a better estimate of the risk of current hand eczema as compared with the lifetime risk of hand eczema. In conclusion, the validated question overestimated prevalence of childhood AE and may overestimate AE as a risk factor for hand eczema in adult population surveys.

SummaryBackground Hand eczema is a common skin disease that affects about 10% of the general population of working age in Sweden. The resulting long sick-leave periods and need for changes of work and re-training put an economic burden on society, and there is an interest indeveloping cost-effective epidemiological surveillance instruments such as a screening questionnaire. Objectives In a search for a simple screening questionnaire for hand eczema we compared the validity of a question about the presence of hand eczema with hand eczema diagnosis based on self-reported signs. Methods Consecutive patients (n = 95) referred for hand eczema and people in an ongoing epidemiological survey (n = 113) participated in the study. Before seeing an experienced dermatologist they had to: (1) answer a short questionnaire about current signs and symptoms from the hands; and (2) state whether they had hand eczema on the day of examination. The minimum criteria for hand eczema diagnosed by the dermatologist (‘gold standard’) were erythema and papules or vesicles, or erythema and scaling and fissures/lichenification. Results Of the 208 persons examined 93 fulfilled the criteria for hand eczema according to the ‘gold standard’. Hand eczema diagnosis based on clinical signs reported in the questionnaire by the participants gave a sensitivity of 0·62 and a specificity of 0·87 in comparison with the dermatologists' diagnoses. Regarding the question about current hand eczema, agreement was good between the participants' and the dermatologists' judgements, giving a sensitivity of 0·87 and a specificity of 0·79. Comparing clinical signs reported by the participants and the findings by the dermatologists, the best agreement was for fissures, with a κ-value of 0·65 (95% CI 0·55–0·75), and the poorest was for papules with 0·47 (95% CI 0·32–0·62). Conclusions It was difficult for the individual to identify skin signs compatible with the clinical diagnosis of hand eczema. Asking ‘Do you have hand eczema?’ had high sensitivity and specificity compared to the suggested gold standard for hand eczema. However, the validity of a screening questionnaire depends on the type of population investigated.

Background Campylobacteriosis is one of the most commonly identified causes of bacterial diarrheal disease and a common cause of gastroenteritis in travellers from developed nations. Despite the widespread occurrence, there is little information on Campylobacter mortality. Methods Mortality among a cohort of Campylobacter cases were compared with the general population 0–1, 1–3, 3–12 and more than 12 month after the onset of the illness. The cases were sub-grouped according to if they had been infected domestically or abroad. Results The standardized mortality ratio for cases infected domestically was 2.9 (95% CI: 1.9–4.0) within the first month following the illness. The risk then gradually diminished and approached 1.0 after one year or more have passed since the illness. This initial excess risk was not attributable to any particular age group (such as the oldest). In contrast, for those infected abroad, a lower standardized mortality ratio 0.3 (95% CI: 0.04–0.8) was shown for the first month after diagnosis compared to what would be expected in the general population. Conclusion Infection with Campylobacter is associated with an increased short-term risk of death among those who were infected domestically. On the contrary, for those infected abroad a lower than expected risk of death was evident. We suggest that the explanation behind this is a "healthy traveler effect" among imported cases, and effects of a more frail than average population among domestic cases.

The transitions 3s23pk-3s3pk+1 have been measured in Ti VI (k = 5) and Ti VII (k = 4). In Ti VI the observed ground-term interval is found to be 5 829.3±1.1 cm-1. A four-parameter formula, expressing the Z-dependence of this interval, has been derived from the best observed values through the sequence from Cl I to Ni XII. It reproduces the observed intervals within their error limits. In Ti VII the ground-configuration intervals are measured and compared to previous measurements and calculations.

A new three-electrode light source, the hollow spark, has been developed by combining an open vacuum spark and a sliding spark. Its design and qualities are described and compared to other spark sources.

Twelve lines in the region 20-100 Å, belonging to the resonance series of Be III, B IV, C V and O VII, have been remeasured by using plates taken by Tyrén. Wavelengths are given to four decimal places.