Neurodevelopmental and respiratory follow-up results at 7 years for children from the United Kingdom and Ireland enrolled in a randomized trial of early and late postnatal corticosteroid treatment, systemic and inhaled (the Open Study of Early Corticosteroid Treatment)

The goals were to compare early school-age neurodevelopmental and respiratory outcomes for children who were treated with either early (15 days) postnatal corticosteroid therapy and to compare systemic dexamethasone treatment with inhaled budesonide treatment.

Land-use patterns and cultural change in the Middle to Late Bronze Age in Ireland: inferences from pollen records

In Ireland, the Middle to Late Bronze Age (1500-600 cal. B.C.) is characterised by alternating phases of prolific metalwork production (the Bishopsland and Dowris Phases) and apparent recessions (the Roscommon Phase and the Late Bronze Age-Iron Age transition). In this paper, these changes in material culture are placed in a socio-economic context by examining contemporary settlement and land-use patterns interpreted from the pollen record. The vegetation histories of six tephrochronologically-linked sites are presented that provide high-resolution and chronologically well-resolved insights into changes in landscape use over the Middle to Late Bronze Age. The records are compared with published pollen records in an attempt to discern if there are any trends of woodland clearance and abandonment from which changes in settlement patterns can be inferred. The results suggest that prolific metalworking industries correlate chronologically with expansive farming activity, which indicates that they were supported by a productive subsistence economy. Conversely, declines in metalwork production occur during periods when farming activity is generally less extensive and perhaps more centralised, and it is proposed that disparate socio-economic or –political factors, rather than a collapse of the subsistence economy, lies behind the demise of metalworking industries.

WASP-10b: a 3M(J), gas-giant planet transiting a late-type K star

We report the discovery of WASP-10b, a new transiting extrasolar planet (ESP) discovered by the Wide Angle Search for Planets ( WASP) Consortium and confirmed using Nordic Optical Telescope FIbre-fed Echelle Spectrograph and SOPHIE radial velocity data. A 3.09-d period, 29 mmag transit depth and 2.36 h duration are derived for WASP-10b using WASP and high-precision photometric observations. Simultaneous fitting to the photometric and radial velocity data using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo procedure leads to a planet radius of 1.28R(J), a mass of 2.96M(J) and eccentricity of approximate to 0.06. WASP-10b is one of the more massive transiting ESPs, and we compare its characteristics to the current sample of transiting ESP, where there is currently little information for masses greater than approximate to 2M(J) and non-zero eccentricities. WASP-10's host star, GSC 2752-00114 (USNO-B1.0 1214-0586164) is among the fainter stars in the WASP sample, with V = 12.7 and a spectral type of K5. This result shows promise for future late-type dwarf star surveys.

The distribution of late-Quaternary woody taxa in northern Eurasia: evidence from a new macrofossil database

We present a database of late-Quaternary plant macrofossil records for northern Eurasia (from 23 degrees to 180 degrees E and 46 degrees to 76 degrees N) comprising 281 localities, over 2300 samples and over 13,000 individual records. Samples are individually radiocarbon dated or are assigned ages via age models fitted to sequences of calibrated radiocarbon dates within a section. Tree species characteristic of modern northern forests (e.g. Picea, Larix, tree-Betula) are recorded at least intermittently from prior to the last glacial maximum (LGM), through the LGM and Lateglacial, to the Holocene, and some records locate trees close to the limits of the Scandinavian ice sheet, supporting the hypothesis that some taxa persisted in northern refugia during the last glacial cycle. Northern trees show differing spatio-temporal patterns across Siberia: deciduous trees were widespread in the Lateglacial, with individuals occurring across much of their contemporary ranges, while evergreen conifers expanded northwards to their range limits in the Holocene. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Peat multi-proxy data from Mannikjarve bog as indicators of late Holocene climate changes in Estonia

As part of a wider project on European climate change over the past 4500 years, a 4.5-m peat core was taken from a lawn microform on Mannikjarve bog, Estonia. Several methods were used to yield proxy-climate data: (i) a quadrat and leaf-count method for plant macrofossil data, (ii) testate amoebae analysis, and (iii) colorimetric determination of peat humification. These data are provided with an exceptionally high resolution and precise chronology. Changes in bog surface wetness were inferred using Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) and zonation of macrofossil data, particularly concerning the occurrence of Sphagnum balticum, and a transfer function for water-table depth for testate amoebae data. Based on the results, periods of high bog surface wetness appear to have occurred at c. 3100, 3010-2990, 2300, 1750-1610, 1510, 14 10, 1110, 540 and 3 10 cal. yr BP, during four longer periods between c. 3170 and 2850 cal. yr BP, 2450 and 2000 cal. yr BP, 1770 and 1530 cal. yr BP and in the period from 880 cal. yr BP until the present. In the period between 1770 and 1530 cal. yr BP. the extension or initiation of a hollow microtope occurred, which corresponds with other research results from Mannikjarve bog. This and other changes towards increasing bog surface wetness may be the responses to colder temperatures and the predominance of a more continental climate in the region, which favoured the development of bog microdepressions and a complex bog microtopography. Located in the border zone of oceanic and continental climatic sectors, in an area almost without land uplift, this study site may provide valuable information about changes in palaeohydrological and palaeoclimatological conditions in the northern parts of the eastern Baltic Sea region.

Histamine release from bronchoalveolar lavage cells from asthmatic subjects after allergen challenge and relationship to the late asthmatic response

Background


Metachromatic cells obtained from asthmatic subjects demonstrate increased spontaneous and stimulated histamine release in vitro. Their ability to synthesize and store proinflammatory cytokines has focused renewed interest on their role in asthma.


Objective: The late asthmatic response provides a useful model of clinical asthma. The aim of the study was to examine metachromatic cell derived mediators and histamine releasability in vitro after in vivo allergen exposure in atopic subjects with and without asthma and relate them to the type of physiological response observed.

Methods: Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells were obtained 4 h after challenge from asthmatics exhibiting a single early response (EAR, n = 5), a dual response (LAR, n = 7), unchallenged (basal, n = 5), atopic non-asthmatic (ANA, n = 6) and non-atopic non-asthmatics (normal, n = 5). BAL histamine and tryptase concentrations and in vitro histamine release (HR) after stimulation with anti-IgE, allergen, A23187, conconavalin A and substance P were compared.

Results:Metachromatic cell numbers were lower in normal controls compared with all asthmatic groups and in LAR compared with EAR. Metachromatic cell derived mediators were higher in asthmatic compared with normal subjects. Spontaneous HR in LAR (20.5 ± 5.0%) was lower than EAR (29.5 ± 3.9%) and ANA (30.2 ± 1.4%) (P < 0.05). No differences were seen in stimulated HR between EAR and LAR. HR in ANA stimulated with anti-IgE was greater than LAR (P < 0.05). HR in ANA stimulated with anti-IgE was greater than LAR (P < 0.05). After stimulation with ionophore A23187 (1 μM), release was greater in LAR compared with basal (P < 0.05) and no different at 5 μM. All subject groups responded to substance P (SP) but was significantly more in the asthmatic subjects compared to normal controls (P < 0.05). Allergen challenge did not modify the response of asthmatic subjects to SP.

Conclusion: Functional differences in metachromatic cell reactivity are present in atopic subjects 4 h after in vivo allergen exposure which relate to the physiological response observed after this time and suggest that there is ongoing metachromatic cell degranulation subjects who subsequently develop LAR.