Specifying enough light to feel reassured on pedestrian footpaths

This article discusses lighting for pedestrians and how investigation of reassurance might lead toward an understanding of the right amount of light. A conventional approach is to evaluate reassurance after dark under road lighting of different illuminance: this tends to show the trivial result that higher illuminances enhance reassurance, and that alone does not enable an optimum light level to be identified. One reason is that the category rating procedure widely used is prone to stimulus range bias; experimental results are presented that demonstrate stimulus range bias in reassurance evaluations. This article also recommends alternative methods for future research. One such method is the day–dark rating approach, which does not tend toward ever higher illuminances, and results are presented of two studies using this method

A non-traumatic, blue-purple auricle: case report

Objective: We report a typical case of earlobe lymphocytoma. Method: A case report and literature review are presented. Results: A 10-year-old girl presented with a blue-coloured earlobe. A diagnosis of Lyme disease was confirmed by serological tests. Lyme borreliosis is the most common tick-borne disease in the northern hemisphere. It is caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. The patient was successfully treated with antibiotics. Conclusion: The diagnostic process and ENT symptomatology of Lyme disease and borrelial lymphocytoma are summarised and discussed

Intranasal capsaicin is efficacious in non-allergic, non-infectious perennial rhinitis. A placebo-controlled study

Background Several authors described capsaicin, the pungent substance in red pepper, as an efficacious therapy for non-allergic non-infectious perennial rhinitis (NANIPER). Repeated capsaicin application induces peptide depletion and specific degeneration of the unmyelinated sensory C-fibres in the nasal mucosa.Methods We performed a placebo-controlled (NaCl 0.9%) study with 25 NANIPER patients. Daily record charts and visual analogue scales (VAS) were used for clinical evaluation. Nasal lavages were obtained before, during, and after treatment.Results There was a significant and long-term reduction in the VAS scores in the capsaicin group. No significant difference was found between the placebo and capsaicin treated groups for the mean group concentrations of leukotriene (LT) C4/D4/E4, prostaglandin D2 (PGD2). and tryptase. The levels of mast cell mediators, tryptase and PGD2. and leukotrienes, mediators derived from a variety of inflammatory cells, were low at baseline and comparable with levels observed in nasal lavages obtained from normals.Conclusion As involvement of inflammation could not be demonstrated, it is not surprising that capsaicin has no effect on inflammatory mediators. This suggests that inflammatory cells do not play a major part in the pathogenesis of NANIPER.<br/