Patients with rheumatoid arthritis adapt differently to repetitive painful stimuli compared to healthy controls.

The aim of the study was to investigate whether there are changes of the nociceptive system in patients with chronic inflammatory joint pain. A pain model was used which is based on the recording of cortical chemo-somatosensory event-related potentials (CSSERP) after nociceptive stimulation of the nasal mucosa with gaseous carbon dioxide (CO(2)). Twenty-five patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were compared to healthy controls matched for age and gender. Responses to both different intensities of painful stimuli and constant intensities of series of 4 stimuli were analysed. When testing increasing CO(2) concentrations ratings and CSSERP amplitudes increased for both patients and controls. However, when repetitive stimulation was performed with an interval of 2s CSSERP amplitudes N1 were significantly greater in RA patients. It is hypothesized that chronic inflammatory joint pain changes nociceptive processing in terms of generalized changes of the nociceptive system which may amplify chronic pain.

A study of the influence of sewage sludge fertilization on the concentrations of PCDD/F and PCB in soil and milk.

The influence of the agricultural use of sewage sludge on the concentrations of PCBs and PCDD/Fs in soil, feed and milk was investigated on four dairy farms. Evidence of contaminant accumulation in the soil was found on both farms that fertilized with sewage sludge. The concentrations in feed and milk from one of these farms were similar to the concentrations in the matched control, while the concentrations in the samples from the second sludge user were elevated. The study demonstrates that the agricultural use of sewage sludge does under some conditions lead to higher levels of PCBs and PCDD/Fs in food products.

Deposition of semivolatile organic compounds to spruce needles : II. Experimental evaluation of the relative importance of different pathways.

The accumulation of atmospheric HCB, Lindane, DDT, DDE and the PCB congeners 52, 101, 138, 153 and 180 in spruce needles (Picea abies) was investigated at outdoor locations and in greenhouses supplied with ambient air. The air supply of the greenhouses was modified to dinstinguish between gaseous and particle-associated deposition of the compounds. Accumulation of the compounds occurred in all spruce except those grown in the greenhouse where the gaseous concentration of the compounds was reduced. Spruce grown in the greenhouse supplied with particle-free ambient air behaved similarity to those grown outdoors. Protecting the spruce located outdoors from rain did not affect the accumulation. The results show that under spring and summer conditions at a typical central European rural environment dry gaseous deposition is the dominant pathway of these compounds to needles.

Accumulation of organic air constituents by plant surfaces. Spruce needles for monitoring airborne chlorinated hydrocarbons.

The needles of the spruce (Picea abies) were used to monitor ambient air for organic trace substances. Analyses of spruce needles in an industrialized area demonstrated that the concentrations of these substances were much higher than those in a nonindustrialized area.