In vitro activation of complement and contact system by lactic acidosis.

The activation of complement and contact systems occurs in reperfusion injuries with initial tissue hypoxia, and lactic acidosis such as mycardial infarction and birth asphyxia. The aim of our experiment was the formal proof of activation by sole lactic acidosis. Lactic acid was added to blood and plasma samples from 10 healthy volunteers. C5a and factor XIIa were measured by EIA after incubation at 37 degrees C for 1 h. Both concentrations increased (P < 0.0001 by Friedman analysis) in blood and plasma samples with increasing amount of added lactic acid. Lactic acidosis can activate C5 from the complement system and factor XII from the contact system directly, even in the absence of cellular components

Upper ocean climate of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea during the Holocene Insolation Maximum – a model study

ine thousand years ago (9 ka BP), the Northern Hemisphere experienced enhanced seasonality caused by an orbital configuration close to the minimum of the precession index. To assess the impact of this "Holocene Insolation Maximum" (HIM) on the Mediterranean Sea, we use a regional ocean general circulation model forced by atmospheric input derived from global simulations. A stronger seasonal cycle is simulated by the model, which shows a relatively homogeneous winter cooling and a summer warming with well-defined spatial patterns, in particular, a subsurface warming in the Cretan and western Levantine areas. The comparison between the SST simulated for the HIM and a reconstruction from planktonic foraminifera transfer functions shows a poor agreement, especially for summer, when the vertical temperature gradient is strong. As a novel approach, we propose a reinterpretation of the reconstruction, to consider the conditions throughout the upper water column rather than at a single depth. We claim that such a depth-integrated approach is more adequate for surface temperature comparison purposes in a situation where the upper ocean structure in the past was different from the present-day. In this case, the depth-integrated interpretation of the proxy data strongly improves the agreement between modelled and reconstructed temperature signal with the subsurface summer warming being recorded by both model and proxies, with a small shift to the south in the model results. The mechanisms responsible for the peculiar subsurface pattern are found to be a combination of enhanced downwelling and wind mixing due to strengthened Etesian winds, and enhanced thermal forcing due to the stronger summer insolation in the Northern Hemisphere. Together, these processes induce a stronger heat transfer from the surface to the subsurface during late summer in the western Levantine; this leads to an enhanced heat piracy in this region, a process never identified before, but potentially characteristic of time slices with enhanced insolation

Acidosis activates complement system in vitro.

We investigated the in vitro effect of different forms of acidosis (pH 7.0) on the formation of anaphylatoxins C3a and C5a. Metabolic acidosis due to addition of hydrochloric acid (10 micromol/ml blood) or lactic acid (5.5 micromol/ml) to heparin blood (N=12) caused significant activation of C3a and C5a compared to control (both p=0.002). Respiratory acidosis activated C3a (p=0.007) and C5a (p=0.003) compared to normocapnic controls. Making blood samples with lactic acidosis hypocapnic resulted in a median pH of 7.37. In this respiratory compensated metabolic acidosis, C3a and C5a were not increased. These experiments show that acidosis itself and not lactate trigger for activation of complement components C3 and C5

A retrospective comparison of waterbirth outcomes in two United States hospital settings

BackgroundWater immersion during labor is an effective comfort measure; however, outcomes for waterbirth in the hospital setting have not been well documented. Our objective was to report the outcomes from two nurse‐midwifery services that provide waterbirth within a tertiary care hospital setting in the United States.MethodsThis study is a retrospective, observational, matched comparison design. Data were collected from two large midwifery practices in tertiary care centers using information recorded at the time of birth for quality assurance purposes. Land birth cases were excluded if events would have precluded them from waterbirth (epidural, meconium stained fluid, chorioamnionitis, estimated gestational age  40). Neonatal outcomes included Apgar score and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. Maternal outcomes included perineal lacerations and postpartum hemorrhage.ResultsA total of 397 waterbirths and 2025 land births were included in the analysis. There were no differences in outcomes between waterbirth and land birth for Apgar scores or neonatal intensive care admissions (1.8% vs 2.5%). Women in the waterbirth group were less likely to sustain a first‐ or second‐degree laceration. Postpartum hemorrhage rates were similar for both groups. Similar results were obtained using a land birth subset matched on insurance, hospital location, and parity using propensity scores.DiscussionIn this study, waterbirth was not associated with increased risk to neonates, extensive perineal lacerations, or postpartum hemorrhage. Fewer women in the waterbirth group sustained first‐ or second‐degree lacerations requiring sutures.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154290/1/birt12473.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154290/2/birt12473_am.pd

Detection of pollution transport events southeast of Mexico City using ground-based visible spectroscopy measurements of nitrogen dioxide

This work presents ground based differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) measurements of nitrogen dioxide (NO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;) during the MILAGRO field campaign in March 2006 at the Tenango del Aire research site located to the southeast of Mexico City. The DOAS NO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; column density measurements are used in conjunction with ceilometer, meteorological and surface nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen oxides (NO&lt;sub&gt;x&lt;/sub&gt;) and total reactive nitrogen (NO&lt;sub&gt;y&lt;/sub&gt;) measurements to analyze pollution transport events to the southeast of Mexico City during the MILARGO field campaign. The study divides the data set into three case study pollution transport events that occurred at the Tenango del Aire research site. The unique data set is then used to provide an in depth analysis of example days of each of the pollution transport events. An in depth analysis of 13 March 2006, a Case One day, shows the transport of several air pollution plumes during the morning through the Tenango del Aire research site when southerly winds are present and demonstrates how DOAS tropospheric NO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; vertical column densities (VCD), surface NO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; mixing ratios and ceilometer data are used to determine the vertical homogeneity of the pollution layer. The analysis of 18 March 2006, a Case Two day, shows that when northerly winds are present for the entire day, the air at the Tenango del Aire research site is relatively clean and no major pollution plumes are detected. Case 3 days are characterized by relatively clean air throughout the morning with large DOAS NO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; enhancements detected in the afternoon. The analysis of 28 March 2006 show the DOAS NO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; enhancements are likely due to lightning activity and demonstrate how suitable ground-based DOAS measruements are for monitoring anthropogenic and natural pollution sources that reside above the mixing layer