Potential interferences in photolytic nitrogen dioxide converters for ambient air monitoring: Evaluation of a prototype.

Unlabelled: Mixing ratios of the criteria air contaminant nitrogen dioxide (NO) are commonly quantified by reduction to nitric oxide (NO) using a photolytic converter followed by NO-O chemiluminescence (CL). In this work, the performance of a photolytic NO converter prototype originally designed for continuous emission monitoring and emitting light at 395 nm was evaluated. Mixing ratios of NO and NO (= NO + NO) entering and exiting the converter were monitored by blue diode laser cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS).

Establishing data-intensive healthcare: the case of Hospital Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration systems in Scotland.

Background: Creating learning health systems, characterised by the use and repeated reuse of demographic, process and clinical data to improve the safety, quality and efficiency of care, is a key aim in realising the potential benefits and efficiency savings associated with the implementation of health information technology.

Objectives: We sought to investigate stakeholder perspectives on and experiences of the implementation of hospital electronic prescribing and medicines administration (HEPMA) systems in Scotland and use these to inform political decisions on approaches to promoting the use and reuse of digitised prescribing and medication administration data in order to improve care processes and outcomes.Methods We identified and recruited key national stakeholders involved in implementing and/or using HEPMA data from generic and specialty systems.

Qualitative analysis of multi-disciplinary round-table discussions on the acceleration of benefits and data analytics through hospital electronic prescribing (ePrescribing) systems.

Background: Electronic systems that facilitate prescribing, administration and dispensing of medicines (ePrescribing systems) are at the heart of international efforts to improve the safety, quality and efficiency of medicine management. Considering the initial costs of procuring and maintaining ePrescribing systems, there is a need to better understand how to accelerate and maximise the financial benefits associated with these systems.

Objectives: We sought to investigate how different sectors are approaching the realisation of returns on investment from ePrescribing systems in U.

The appearance of cartilage used in deep inferior epigastric perforator breast reconstruction surgery as a calcified mass on CT scan.

This paper describes an unusual radiological appearance of implanted cartilage on CT scan in a patient who had recently undergone deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) breast reconstruction surgery following a mastectomy for ductal carcinoma The purpose of this paper is to alert medical practitioners involved with DIEP breast reconstruction surgery, as well as general radiologists, to the possibility of surgically implanted costal cartilage undergoing calcification and then appearing on imaging studies as a malignant process. Information on the patient was gathered from clinical records, imaging reports and pathological samples. A literature search was performed to identify similar cases and the results showed that this occurrence has never before been described and therefore represents an advancement of knowledge about the imaging characteristics of reconstructed breast tissue.

Is the emergency readmission rate a valid outcome indicator?

Objectives: The principal aim was to determine whether the emergency readmission rate varies between medical specialties, and to identify whether differences in emergency readmission rates between hospital trusts can be reduced by standardising for specialty. Possible factors influencing emergency readmission were also investigated, including frequency of previous admission and cause of readmission.

Design: Emergency readmission rates were obtained from the Scottish Morbidity Record scheme (SMR1) using record linkage, standardised for age and sex.

Paradoxical pulmonary embolism secondary to aortocaval fistula: diagnosis by helical CT.

Spontaneous aortocaval fistula is an unusual but well recognized complication of abdominal aortic aneurysm. Reports of aortocaval fistula as the source of pulmonary embolism are rare. We report a case of paradoxical pulmonary embolism secondary to an aortocaval fistula.

Twin zygosity testing for medical purposes.

After being poisoned by eating the mushroom species Cortinarius speciosissimus, a twin developed interstitial nephritis with acute renal failure. He received a renal transplant from his living twin brother, who was presumed dizygotic on phenotypic grounds. Fifteen years later, the twins were zygosity tested by DNA "fingerprint analysis" and found to be monozygotic, despite important phenotypic discordances.

A comparison of 2-D and 3-D FSE imaging in MR of the cervical spine.

The aim of the study was to assess whether a 3-D FSE sequence with real-time multiplanar reconstruction could replace our standard 2-D imaging of the cervical spine. MRI was performed on a GE Vectra 0.5 T system using a quadrature surface neck coil.

Persistent microcytosis and its association to the recovery of anaemia after kidney transplantation.

Persistent microcytosis was noted among a number of post renal transplant patients attending the transplant clinic at the Western General Hospital Edinburgh. We retrospectively looked at the pattern of recovery of the anaemia of chronic renal failure following successful renal transplantation with good graft function (Creatinine less than 250 (mol/l). Comparisons were made between those patients with persistent microcytosis and those with normal mean cell volume (MCV).

Changes in atrial natriuretic peptide and plasma renin activity following changes in right atrial pressure in patients with chronic renal failure.

Since it was first discovered in the early 1980s, the role of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in the control of fluid and electrolyte balance and blood pressure has been extensively studied in both health and disease. We report here a study of ANP and its relationship to corresponding changes in right atrial pressure (RAP) in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) on haemodialysis compared to healthy controls. Although there was a positive correlation between RAP and ANP in both groups, the changes in ANP following changes in RAP between the two groups were not statistically significant.

Renal tubular responses to low-dose infusion of angiotensin II in type 1 diabetes mellitus; relation to chronic glycaemic control.

Renal responses to low-dose infusion of angiotensin II (ANGII, 1.25 and 2.5 ng.

Supraventricular tachycardia, right atrial pressure, atrial natriuretic peptide and polyuria--a necessary sequence?

The release of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) may be stimulated by tachycardia and the evidence from human studies suggests that this is mediated by a rise in atrial pressure. However, animal experiments suggest that tachycardia can by itself increase ANP levels without increasing right atrial pressure (RAP). We report here the case of a healthy volunteer who had supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) whilst participating in a study evaluating the relationship between changes in RAP and changes in ANP.

Urinary dopamine response to angiotensin II is not abnormal in type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus.

To examine the interaction between angiotensin II (ANGII) and dopamine in type 1 diabetes mellitus, urinary dopamine excretion was examined during ANGII infusion in 15 diabetic patients and 10 control subjects after pretreatment with lithium 750 mg and placebo. The antinatriuretic response and the urinary dopamine response to ANGII did not differ within or between the two groups on each study day. No correlation was observed between the decrements in urinary sodium excretion and urinary dopamine output during ANGII infusion in either group.

Antinatriuretic action of insulin is preserved after angiotensin I converting enzyme inhibition in normal man.

To examine the potential role for intrarenal angiotensin II in mediating the antinatriuretic action of insulin, seven normal males were studied on three occasions, twice during euglycaemic hyperinsulinaemia (40 mU.m-2.min-1) after double-blind treatment for 1 week with placebo and the converting enzyme inhibitor perindopril, and on a time control day.

Oral herpes simplex virus type 1 infection following cadaveric renal transplantation in a young type 1 diabetic female. The role of acyclovir: a case report.

Oral infection with Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) is a frequent and well documented complication in immunosuppressed individuals including patients on immunosuppressive medication. We report the development of severe oral infection with HSV type 1 in a 34 year old woman with type 1 diabetes mellitus and end stage renal disease (ESRD) following cadaveric renal transplantation at the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh. The role of acyclovir in therapy and chemoprophylaxis is discussed.

Lithium pretreatment affects renal and systemic responses to angiotensin II infusion in normal man.

1. Renal and systemic responses to infusion of angiotensin II (1.25 and 2.

Changes in renal function during acute insulin-induced hypoglycaemia in patients with type 1 diabetes.

The effect of acute hypoglycaemia on renal function was examined in eight male patients with Type 1 diabetes who had normal urinary albumin excretion. Insulin was given as a bolus intravenous injection (0.125 U kg-1) and plasma glucose fell to a nadir of 1.

Renal responses to angiotensin II infusion in early type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes.

The renal response to infusion of sub-pressor doses of angiotension II was examined in nine euglycaemic Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients with diabetes of short duration and nine non-diabetic control subjects. Plasma concentrations of angiotensin II and of free insulin were similar in both groups at baseline and during angiotensin II infusion. Glomerular filtration rate (Inutest clearance) fell to a similar extent during angiotensin II infusion in both groups (diabetic 116(SE 5) to 102(5) ml min-1 1.

Successful treatment of Prototheca peritonitis complicating continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

We describe the second reported case of peritonitis caused by the alga Prototheca wickerhamii in a patient on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). This organism, which grows slowly on agar media, is recognised as a race cause of other infections. The condition is clinically similar to cases of fungal peritonitis, but there are important differences, particularly when choosing the best treatment.

Oral carbidopa has no effect on the renal response to angiotensin II in normal man.

1. The effect of inhibition of intrarenal dopamine synthesis by carbidopa on the renal response to angiotensin II infusion was studied in six healthy salt-loaded volunteers. 2.

Effects of atrial natriuretic peptide (99-126) in chronic renal disease in man.

Plasma concentrations of human atrial natriuretic peptide (99-126) are elevated in patients with end-stage chronic renal failure and on haemodialysis. Plasma atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) concentrations change with extracellular fluid volume, suggesting that ANP continues to have a role in chronic renal failure. We have studied the effects of an infusion (5 pmol/kg per min) in subjects with chronic renal failure (CCr) less than 30 ml/min per 1.