In vivo and in vitro diagnosis of latex allergy at Groote Schuur Hospital

No Abstract

The effect of Telfast® 180 on driver behaviour, decision-making and reaction time.

The principal objective of the study was to examine the effect of Telfast® 180, an antihistamine, on driver behaviour, decision-making, and reaction time. A sample of 255 volunteers participated in the study. The sample was randomly divided into two groups, viz. a placebo and a Telfast group. One of the groups received Telfast and the other a placebo. Initially all the participants were given a standardised driving test, as well as a psychomotor test. Immediately thereafter the placebo group received their placebo tablets and the Telfast group their Telfast tablets. Exactly 2,6 hours later every participant was tested again, using the same tests as before. No statistically significant differences were found between the Placebo group and the Telfast group. No sedative effects due to Telfast® 180 were thus evident

Ultracold Rb-OH Collisions and Prospects for Sympathetic Cooling

We compute ab initio cross sections for cold collisions of Rb atoms with OH radicals. We predict collision rate constants of order 10-11 cm3/s at temperatures in the range 10–100 mK at which molecules have already been produced. However, we also find that in these collisions the molecules have a strong propensity for changing their internal state, which could make sympathetic cooling of OH in a Rb buffer gas problematic in magnetostatic or electrostatic traps

Cholinergic cells in the nucleus basalis of mice express the N-methyl-D-aspartate-receptor subunit NR2C and its replacement by the NR2B subunit enhances frontal and amygdaloid acetylcholine levels

It is known that glutamatergic and cholinergic systems interact functionally at the level of the cholinergic basal forebrain. The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDA-R) is a multiprotein complex composed of NR1, NR2 and/or NR3 subunits. The subunit composition of NMDA-R of cholinergic cells in the nucleus basalis has not yet been investigated. Here, by means of choline acetyl transferase and NR2B or NR2C double staining, we demonstrate that mice express both the NR2C and NR2B subunits in nucleus basalis cholinergic cells.We generated NR2C-2B mutant mice in which an insertion of NR2B cDNA into the gene locus of the NR2C gene replaced NR2C by NR2B expression throughout the brain. This NR2C-2B mutant was used to examine whether a subunit exchange in cholinergic neurons would affect acetylcholine (ACh) content in several brain structures. We found increased ACh levels in the frontal cortex and amygdala in the brains of NR2C-2B mutant mice. Brain ACh has been implicated in neuroplasticity, novelty-induced arousal and encoding of novel stimuli. We therefore assessed behavioral habituation to novel environments and objects as well as object recognition in NR2C-2B subunit exchange mice. The behavioral analysis did not indicate any gross behavioral alteration in the mutant mice compared with the wildtype mice. Our results show that the NR2C by NR2B subunit exchange in mice affects ACh content in two target areas of the nucleus basalis.

'Diverse mobilities': second-generation Greek-Germans engage with the homeland as children and as adults

This paper is about the children of Greek labour migrants in Germany. We focus on two life-stages of ‘return’ for this second generation: as young children brought to Greece on holidays or sent back for longer periods, and as young adults exercising an independent ‘return’ migration. We draw both on literature and on our own field interviews with 50 first- and second-generation Greek-Germans. We find the practise of sending young children back to Greece to have been surprisingly widespread yet little documented. Adult relocation to the parental homeland takes place for five reasons: (i) a ‘search for self’; (ii) attraction of the Greek way of life; (iii) the actualisation of the ‘family narrative of return’ by the second, rather than the first, generation; (iv) life-stage events such as going to university or marrying a Greek; (v) escape from a traumatic event or oppressive family situation. Yet the return often brings difficulties, disillusionment, identity reappraisal, and a re-evaluation of the German context

Small-polaron hopping conductivity in bilayer manganite La1.2_{1.2}Sr1.8_{1.8}Mn2_{2}O7_{7}

We report anisotropic resistivity measurements on a La$_{1.2}$Sr$_{1.8}$Mn$_{2}$O$_{7}$ single crystal over a temperature $T$ range from 2 to 400 K and in magnetic fields $H$ up to 14 T. For $T\geq 218$ K, the temperature dependence of the zero-field in-plane $\rho_{ab}(T)$ resistivity obeys the adiabatic small polaron hopping mechanism, while the out-of-plane $\rho_{c}(T)$ resistivity can be ascribed by an Arrhenius law with the same activation energy. Considering the magnetic character of the polarons and the close correlation between the resistivity and magnetization, we developed a model which allows the determination of $\rho_{ab,c}(H,T)$. The excellent agreement of the calculations with the measurements indicates that small polarons play an essential role in the electrical transport properties in the paramagnetic phase of bilayer manganites.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Physical Review

An exploration of concepts of community through a case study of UK university web production

The paper explores the inter-relation and differences between the concepts of occupational community, community of practice, online community and social network. It uses as a case study illustration the domain of UK university web site production and specifically a listserv for those involved in it. Different latent occupational communities are explored, and the potential for the listserv to help realize these as an active sense of community is considered. The listserv is not (for most participants) a tight knit community of practice, indeed it fails many criteria for an online community. It is perhaps best conceived as a loose knit network of practice, valued for information, implicit support and for the maintenance of weak ties. Through the analysis the case for using strict definitions of the theoretical concepts is made

Conservative management of mallet injuries:A national survey of current practice in the UK

Introduction Mallet injuries are common, and usually treated conservatively. Various systematic reviews have found a lack of evidence regarding best management and it is unclear whether this uncertainty is reflected in current UK practice. Methods An online survey was developed to determine current practice for the conservative treatment of mallet injury amongst specialist hand clinicians in the UK, including physiotherapists, occupational therapists and surgeons. Clinician’s views of study outcome selection were also explored to improve future trials. Results 336 professionals completed the survey. Inconsistency in overall practice was observed in splint type choice, time to discharge to GP, and the assessment of adherence. Greater consistency was observed for recommended duration of continuous immobilisation. Bony injuries were most commonly splinted for six weeks (n=228, 78%) and soft tissue injuries for either eight weeks (n=172, 56%) or six weeks (n=119, 39%). Postimmobilisation splinting was frequently recommended, but duration varied between two and 10 weeks. The outcome rated as most important by all clinicians was patient satisfaction. Discussion There is overall variation in the current UK conservative management of mallet injuries, and the development of a standardised, evidence based protocol is required. Clinicians’ opinions may be used to develop a core set of outcome measures, which will improve standardisation and comparability of future trials.</p