Open Air Laboratories (OPAL): a community-driven research programme.

OPAL is an English national programme that takes scientists into the community to investigate environmental issues. Biological monitoring plays a pivotal role covering topics of: i) soil and earthworms; ii) air, lichens and tar spot on sycamore; iii) water and aquatic invertebrates; iv) biodiversity and hedgerows; v) climate, clouds and thermal comfort. Each survey has been developed by an inter-disciplinary team and tested by voluntary, statutory and community sectors. Data are submitted via the web and instantly mapped. Preliminary results are presented, together with a discussion on data quality and uncertainty. Communities also investigate local pollution issues, ranging from nitrogen deposition on heathlands to traffic emissions on roadside vegetation. Over 200,000 people have participated so far, including over 1000 schools and 1000 voluntary groups. Benefits include a substantial, growing database on biodiversity and habitat condition, much from previously unsampled sites particularly in urban areas, and a more engaged public.

Comparison of median and posterior tibial nerve somatosensory evoked potentials in ambulatory patients with definite multiple sclerosis.

Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) were recorded for stimulation of both median nerves and both posterior tibial nerves in control subjects and in subjects with multiple sclerosis (MS) of several years' duration, who were ambulatory and not experiencing exacerbation. Documentation of peripheral nerve conduction revealed no abnormalities in any of the subjects. Centrally, abnormal responses to median and posterior tibial nerve stimulation were found at the spinal level and/or the scalp in nearly all MS patients. Using the latency of the initial negativity of scalp SEPs, posterior tibial SEPs were abnormal significantly more often than median SEPs. Calculations suggested a significant increase in spinal conduction time. The high incidence of abnormal SEPs does not support any substantial physiological recovery in this group of MS patients.

Effects of humid air breathing during arm or treadmill exercise on exercise-induced bronchoconstriction and refractoriness.

Although it has been reported that inhibitory prostaglandins may be a causal factor in exercise refractoriness, it is still unclear whether exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) and/or other specific "exercise factors" are necessary to trigger their release and render a subject refractory to subsequent exercise. The purpose of this study was to determine whether non-EIB-producing exercise with the legs or arms could produce refractoriness to a standard treadmill challenge. Eight asthmatic subjects with EIB completed three sessions consisting of two exercise challenges separated by a 30-min rest. In all sessions, the second challenge was done on a treadmill while breathing dry air. Conditions for Challenge 1 were the following: Session A = treadmill, dry air; Session B = treadmill, humid air; Session C = arm cranking, humid air. All three conditions produced a significant degree of refractoriness. There was a tendency for the percent protection index to be greater for Session A; however, no significant differences were found among the three sessions. Therefore, it can be concluded that although both exercise and bronchoconstriction may play a role in producing the refractory period, neither severe bronchoconstriction nor intense exercise with the same muscle groups are required to produce refractoriness.

Non-pulmonary Rhodococcus equi infections in patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Rhodococcus equi, formerly known as Corynebacterium equi, was isolated repeatedly from the blood of two patients with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Neither of the patients had pneumonia while they were bacteraemic, whereas pneumonia has been present in all previously reported cases of human infection with R equi. One of our patients had diarrhoea and the organism was isolated from a stool culture; the other patient had a large granulomatous soft tissue mass in his pelvis caused by R equi. Both isolates were resistant to penicillin and one produced a beta-lactamase. Both patients were treated with vancomycin but only one recovered.