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Effective ocean management requires integrated and sustainable ocean observing systems enabling us to map and understand ecosystem properties and the effects of human activities. Autonomous subsurface and surface vehicles, here collectively referred to as "gliders", are part of such ocean observing systems providing high spatiotemporal resolution. In this paper, we present some of the results achieved through the project "Unmanned ocean vehicles, a flexible and cost-efficient offshore monitoring and data management approach-GLIDER". In this project, three autonomous surface and underwater vehicles were deployed along the Lofoten-Vesterålen (LoVe) shelf-slope-oceanic system, in Arctic Norway. The aim of this effort was to test whether gliders equipped with novel sensors could effectively perform ecosystem surveys by recording physical, biogeochemical, and biological data simultaneously. From March to September 2018, a period of high biological activity in the area, the gliders were able to record a set of environmental parameters, including temperature, salinity, and oxygen, map the spatiotemporal distribution of zooplankton, and record cetacean vocalizations and anthropogenic noise. A subset of these parameters was effectively employed in near-real-time data assimilative ocean circulation models, improving their local predictive skills. The results presented here demonstrate that autonomous gliders can be effective long-term, remote, noninvasive ecosystem monitoring and research platforms capable of operating in high-latitude marine ecosystems. Accordingly, these platforms can record high-quality baseline environmental data in areas where extractive activities are planned and provide much-needed information for operational and management purposes.

Although cyclosporin is effective for the treatment of severe atopic dermatitis, phototherapy is the standard second-line treatment for this disease. An open, randomized, controlled, parallel-group study was conducted to compare the efficacy, influence on quality of life and safety of cyclosporin and UVAB phototherapy during 1 year of intermittent treatment of atopic dermatitis in adult patients. The main endpoints of the study were the number of days in remission and the influence on quality of life. Seventy-two patients were treated, 36 in each group. Cyclosporin produced significantly more days in remission than UVAB phototherapy during the 1-year study period. At the end of the study no difference between the 2 groups was noted in terms of quality of life. A significant increase in serum creatinine occurred in 2 patients and 7 patients developed mild or moderate hypertension during cyclosporin treatment. It can be concluded that intermittent cyclosporin seems to be more effective than UVAB and is reasonably safe for the treatment of atopic dermatitis over a 1-year treatment period.

All Norweigian heart transplant recipients with more than one year's survival (n = 140) were investigated for dermatological disorders. Observation time after transplantation was 1-10 years (mean 5.0 years). Patients alive at the end of 1993 (n = 122) were examined clinically, and medical records for all patients were reviewed. The histopathological diagnoses of excised skin specimens were reevaluated. Malignant skin tumours (i.e. basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma) and/or premalignant skin tumours (i.e. morbus Bowen (carcinoma in situ), solar keratosis and keratoacanthoma) were found in 34 patients (24.3%), of which 18 patients (12.9%) had malignant skin tumours. Seventeen lesions diagnosed as keratoacanthoma and two lesions diagnosed as morbus Bowen had primarily been diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma. Five patients (3.6%) had multiple keratoacanthomas. Other frequent dermatological diagnoses included hypertrichosis (86.9%), steroid-induced skin features (59.8%), common warts (42.6%) and seborrheic skin disorders (20.5%). This study demonstrates the importance of dermatological surveillance in the follow-up of heart transplant recipients.

A 60-year-old male patient developed progressive wound ulcerations, simulating wound sepsis after coronary bypass operation. The condition did not respond to intensive antibiotic therapy. Based on clinical signs and biopsy, the diagnosis of pyoderma gangrenosum was made and successfully treated with cyclosporin A. Pyoderma gangrenosum, although extremely rare, must be considered as a possible diagnosis in wound complications unresponsive to traditional therapy.

Recombinant human interferon-alpha has been used in the treatment of several cancers, but there have been several reports that it may exacerbate psoriasis or trigger off its onset. We report four patients, three of whom first developed psoriasis and one who had an aggravation of the condition during treatment with interferon-alpha. Three of the patients had the carcinoid syndrome and one a renal carcinoma, and all were treated with interferon-alpha 2b or 2a (IFN-alpha 2b, 2a) with doses ranging from 1.5 x 10(6) U daily to 18 x 10(6) U three times weekly. In two of the patients there appeared to be a correlation between the severity of the psoriasis and the dosage of interferon.

The usefulness of skin prick tests in the management of atopic dermatitis is discussed on the basis of results from testing 100 patients, mean age 23 years. Skin prick tests may be useful when allergies to food are suspected, and also when it is suspected that the dermatitis is aggravated due to reactions to airborne allergens. Testing with a series of common inhalant allergens may provide information about the tendency to respond with IgE-synthesis. From a practical and economical point of view, a skin prick test may be a good alternative to other techniques for allergy testing.

Clinical parameters of 84 egg-allergic children were recorded. The individual allergens in hen's egg white were studied by means of crossed radio-immunoelectrophoresis (CRIE). Thirteen of the proteins in the egg white were found to have given rise to IgE-antibody production in the egg-allergic children. The major allergens were identified as ovalbumin, ovomucoid and ovotransferrin. Pruritus and exacerbation of atopic dermatitis were the symptoms of egg allergy most frequently recorded. A clear association was found between egg allergy and atopic dermatitis and can be explained on basis of the relationship that seems to exist between atopic dermatitis and high levels of total IgE in serum. This relationship is discussed.

The occurrence of proteins cross-reacting with allergens in hen's egg white was studied in turkey, duck, goose and seagull egg whites, in hen egg yolk, and in hen and chicken sera and flesh. The study was based upon quantitative immunoelectrophoretic techniques. The different egg whites were all found to contain proteins cross-reacting with most of the allergens in hen's egg white, but the degree of cross-reactivity varied considerably among the various egg whites. All egg whites contained proteins able to bind human IgE-antibody in the sera of patients with allergy to hen's egg white. Several proteins cross-reacting with allergens in hen's egg white were also detected in egg yolk and in hen and chicken sera and flesh. Clinical implications of the results are discussed.

Antigen 22 (ag-22) in hen's egg white, previously shown to be one of the major allergens in the egg white, was partially purified by combining biochemical separation techniques and quantitative immunoelectrophoretic methods. The molecular weight of ag-22 was found to be approximately 78,000 using analytical ultracentrifugation and pI was determined to be 6.1, which is appropriate with the values of ovotransferrin. It was concluded that ag-22 is identical with ovotransferrin. The ability of ovotransferrin to react in the human IgE-system was demonstrated in vivo and in vitro, by means of skin prick tests and crossed radioimmunoelectrophoresis.

Different subgroups of egg-allergic patients were established according to differences in allergic symptoms provoked by hen's egg white, total IgE-level, RAST (radioallergosorbent test) results to egg white, and age. In each group the pattern of specific IgE-antibodies to individual allergens in the egg white, determined by means of crossed radioimmunoelectrophoresis (CRIE), was compared with the pattern in a control group. The RAST value to egg white was found to exert the strongest influence on the CRIE results. A few statistically significant differences in CRIE results to certain allergens were also observed in other pairs of subgroups of egg-allergic patients. Possible explanations for this are discussed. It was concluded that CRIE studies of allergens in mixed protein solutions, using a series of sera from allergic patients, will most probably give the same results and the same classification of the allergens independent of the characteristics of the patients from which the sera were collected. However, it should be emphasized that the CRIE series must include a sufficient number of patients with high RAST values to the allergen in question. Otherwise some allergens may be missed and the classification of the allergens may be different.

Allergens in hen's egg white were studied in crossed radio-immunoelectrophoresis (CRIE). Specific IgE-antibodies against different proteins in the egg white were examined in sera from 70 atopic patients with clinical hypersensitivity, and RAST greater than or equal to 2 to egg white. Ovalbumin, ovomucoid and an unidentified protein, antigen 22, were classified as major allergens. Specific IgE-antibodies against 10 more proteins in hen's egg white were detected. IgE-antibodies against lysozyme could not be detected.

A simple system for baseline grading the severity of atopic dermatitis in clinical work, is presented. The grading, which may be carried out on the basis of one single consultation, permits distinction between mild, moderate and severe atopic dermatitis by means of a score summation using the following parameters: 1) extent (by "rule of nine"), 2) course (via history) and 3) intensity (disturbance of night's sleep by itching).

35 patients were patch-tested for 72 h with house dust mite, timothy- and birch-pollen, Cladosporium herbarum and hen's egg white allergens, prepared in a cream in concentrations up to 1,000 times the concentration used for skin prick testing. 6 patients developed a total of 10 positive reactions. All the strong positive patch-test reactions occurred in patients with a strong positive skin prick test to the same allergen. Immunohistochemical studies of biopsied positive patch-test reactions demonstrated a mononuclear cell-infiltrate in the upper part of dermis, consisting mainly of T-cells, with a slight predominance of T-helper-cells as compared to T-suppressor cells, and about 10% CD1 positive cells. No significant responses were obtained in peripheral blood mononuclear cell-cultures stimulated with the various allergens. A positive patch-test reaction to birch-pollen was successfully transferred passively to a non-allergic-recipient, suggesting that the positive reaction may depend upon sensitizing factor(s) in the serum.