The anatomy of past abrupt warmings recorded in Greenland ice.

Data availability and temporal resolution make it challenging to unravel the anatomy (duration and temporal phasing) of the Last Glacial abrupt climate changes. Here, we address these limitations by investigating the anatomy of abrupt changes using sub-decadal-scale records from Greenland ice cores. We highlight the absence of a systematic pattern in the anatomy of abrupt changes as recorded in different ice parameters. This diversity in the sequence of changes seen in ice-core data is also observed in climate parameters derived from numerical simulations which exhibit self-sustained abrupt variability arising from internal atmosphere-ice-ocean interactions. Our analysis of two ice cores shows that the diversity of abrupt warming transitions represents variability inherent to the climate system and not archive-specific noise. Our results hint that during these abrupt events, it may not be possible to infer statistically-robust leads and lags between the different components of the climate system because of their tight coupling.

Greenland records of aerosol source and atmospheric lifetime changes from the Eemian to the Holocene.

The Northern Hemisphere experienced dramatic changes during the last glacial, featuring vast ice sheets and abrupt climate events, while high northern latitudes during the last interglacial (Eemian) were warmer than today. Here we use high-resolution aerosol records from the Greenland NEEM ice core to reconstruct the environmental alterations in aerosol source regions accompanying these changes. Separating source and transport effects, we find strongly reduced terrestrial biogenic emissions during glacial times reflecting net loss of vegetated area in North America. Rapid climate changes during the glacial have little effect on terrestrial biogenic aerosol emissions. A strong increase in terrestrial dust emissions during the coldest intervals indicates higher aridity and dust storm activity in East Asian deserts. Glacial sea salt aerosol emissions in the North Atlantic region increase only moderately (50%), likely due to sea ice expansion. Lower aerosol concentrations in Eemian ice compared to the Holocene are mainly due to shortened atmospheric residence time, while emissions changed little.

[Modified hyoid suspension for therapy of sleep related breathing disorders. operative technique and complications]. / Eine modifizierte Hyoidsuspension zur Therapie schlafbezogener Atmungsstörungen: Technik und Komplikationen1.

BACKGROUND: : Concerning the therapy of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) the discrimination between either retropalatal or retrolingual site of obstruction seems to be an oversimplification. Thus modern surgical concepts address both anatomical areas. Minimal invasive surgical techniques treating the soft palate have recently been developed while there is still an ongoing development concerning the base of tongue. METHODS: A less invasive modification of the hyoid suspension to the thyroid cartilage, originally described by Riley, is presented as treatment modality for sleep related breathing disorders. Between October 2000 and March 2001, 14 patients underwent modified hyoid suspension within a multi-level surgery concept. The operative technique manages with only one wire-suture and does not include myotomies and intersection of the ligamenta stylohyoidea. RESULTS: All together 10 male and 4 female subjects with a mean age of 50.9 years were included in the analysis. Preoperatively the mean apnea hypopnea index (AHI) was 18.4. The procedure was well tolerated. Neither increased postoperative pain nor increased requirement of analgetics was observed. Substantial side-effects were one case of seroma and 9 cases of transitory dysphagia. The retrolingual airway space increased significantly after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary results are promising. The presented modified hyoid suspension is time-effective and shows less postoperative morbidity. Therefore it might become a suitable treatment modality within the multi-level surgery concept for sleep related breathing disorders.

[Modified uvula flap in therapy of sleep-related breathing disorders]. / Der modifizierte Uvulalappen zur Therapie schlafbezogener Atmungsstörungen.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Velopharyngeal incompetence is a well described complication of uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) for snoring or obstructive sleep apnea. A new uvulopalatal flap technique (UPF), first presented by Powell in 1996 was now modified by our team. The new technique intends to lateralize the posterior faucial pillars as the UPPP, entirely sparing uvulopalatal muscles. RESULTS: No statistical difference existed in change of AHI before and after surgery in all patients even though 14 patients had a statistically significant decrease in AHI (pre 19.2 +/- 19.6; after 8.2 +/- 9.8; p < 0.05). Snoring decreased clearly (p < 0.05) from 49.4% to 25.9%.

[Serum concentrations of soluble adhesion molecules sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 in patients with malignant ENT tumors]. / Serumkonzentrationen der löslichen Adhäsionsmoleküle sICAM-1 und sVCAM-1 bei Patienten mit malignen HNO-Tumoren.

BACKGROUND: Adhesion molecules are implicated in various stages of tumor progression and metastasis. Soluble forms of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) were recently described. The aim of this study was to determine a differences in concentration of these molecules in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) compared to healthy controls. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We investigated the circulating levels of sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 in sera from patients with various head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (n = 52) as well as from normal, healthy controls (n = 35). Serum concentrations were determined as serum immunoreactivity by using a quantitative sandwich enzyme immunoassay technique. For statistical analysis, the Student's t-test was performed. RESULTS: The majority of the patients with HNSCC were found to have high concentrations of sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1. The mean level of sICAM-1 in patients was 313 ng/ml and in the control group 237 ng/ml (p = 0.0005). The mean level of sVCAM-1 in patients was 624 ng/ml and in the control group 435 ng/ml (p = 0.009). The concentrations of sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 were significantly higher in HNSCC patients. CONCLUSIONS: These results show the difference in expression of these adhesion molecules in patients with HNSCC compared to healthy controls. Endothelial adhesion molecule determination may find clinical applications in the follow-up of cancer therapy. For this reason, studies incorporating the longitudinal follow-up of patients are required.