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Notizen: Sixty-nine patients who presented with threatened abortion had a number of investigations aimed at providing information with which to predict pregnancy outcome. Ultrasound examination, and measurement of plasma oestradiol and progesterone levels were all significantly more accurate in predicting the pregnancy outcome than clinical examination. Measurements of plasma levels of β1-glycoprotein, alpha fetoprotein (AFP), beta subunit human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), cystyl aminopeptidase, and human placental lactogen (hPL) also appeared better than clinical examination but the differences did not reach statistical significance while measurement of hCG levels in early morning urine were less accurate than clinical examination.

Notizen: Objective  To show the increased risk of adverse outcomes in labour and fetomaternal morbidity in obese women (BMI 〉 30).Design  A population-based observational study.Setting  University Hospital of Wales. The study sample was drawn from the Cardiff Births Survey, a population-based database comprising of a total of 60,167 deliveries in the South Glamorgan area between 1990 and 1999.Population  Primigravid women with a singleton uncomplicated pregnancy with cephalic presentation of 37 or more weeks of gestation with accurate information regarding height and weight recorded at the booking visit (measured by the midwives) were included in the study.Methods  Comparisons were made between women with a body mass index of 20–30 and those with more than 30. SPSS version 10 was used for statistical analysis. Student's t test, χ2 and Fisher's exact tests were used wherever appropriate.Main outcome measures  Labour outcomes assessed were risk of postdates, induction of labour, mode of delivery, failed instrumental delivery, macrosomia and shoulder dystocia. Maternal adverse outcomes assessed were postpartum haemorrhage, blood transfusion, uterine and wound infection, urinary tract infection, evacuation of uterus, thromboembolism and third- or fourth-degree perineal tears. Fetal wellbeing was assessed using Apgar 〈7 at 5 minutes, trauma and asphyxia, cord pH 〈 7.2, babies requiring neonatal ward admissions, tube feeding and incubator.Results  We report an increased risk [quoted as odds ratio (OR) and confidence intervals CI)] of postdates, 1.4 (1.2–1.7); induction of labour, 1.6 (1.3–1.9); caesarean section, 1.6 (1.4–2); macrosomia, 2.1 (1.6–2.6); shoulder dystocia, 2.9 (1.4–5.8); failed instrumental delivery, 1.75 (1.1–2.9); increased maternal complications such as blood loss of more than 500 mL, 1.5 (1.2–1.8); urinary tract infections, 1.9 (1.1–3.4); and increased neonatal admissions with complications such as neonatal trauma, feeding difficulties and incubator requirement.Conclusion  Obese women appear to be at risk of intrapartum and postpartum complications. Induction of labour appears to be the starting point in the cascade of events. They should be considered as high risk and counselled accordingly.

Notizen: Sixteen women provided saliva samples throughout a menstrual cycle and the concentration of oestradiol was measured. Blood samples were taken around mid-cycle and the luteinizing hormone peak was used to diagnose the timing of ovulation. The levels of oestradiol in saliva followed the same pattern as in blood. The peak of oestradiol in saliva could be used to predict accurately the time of onset of the next menstrual period. The analysis of saliva could be useful in the investigation of women in whom serial venepunctures are not possible.

Notizen: Summary. Urine and plasma oestriol, plasma progesterone, human placental lactogen, α-glycoprotein and serum cystyl aminopeptidase were measured at intervals during 608 pregnancies. The predictive accuracy of low values for identification of pregnancies with low birthweight outcomes was assessed for each test at various gestations. Data were analysed to obtain 10th–90th centile values for each test from 28 weeks to delivery.Groups with values under different centile levels were compared: those under the lower centiles had higher proportions but smaller absolute numbers of low birthweight infants than those under higher centiles. No test was superior to the others at all centiles and gestations. Biochemical screening of pregnant populations to identify high-risk groups for intensive fetal monitoring has limited potential. If screening is used, the definition of high-risk groups is best achieved by practical rather than statistical criteria. If monitoring facilities are available and well accepted by patients then higher centile‘cut-offs’to define fetal risk may be used than when they are not. Combining any pair of tests with values below the 10th centile did not reduce false positive and negative predictions any more than could be achieved by movement of centiles up or down for a single test.

Notizen: SUMMARY. The ecology of the phytoplankton of Heywood Lake, Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica was investigated during 1969–72. The lake, which is ice-covered for 8–10 months per year, is moderately eutrophic due to enrichment by seal excreta.The annual cycle of the phytoplankton is described. During the winter (approximately May-September), very few algal cells could be detected in the water column and 14C fixation was below measurable limits. In spring (October-November), a rapidly-growing population of algae caused a large increase in the chlorophyll-a concentration (maximum value 170 mg m−2) but carbon fixation remained low, with values 〈500 mg C m−2 day−1. The algae contributing to this peak were mainly small chlorophytes and chrysophytes. The summer open-water period (December-March) was characterized by a different phytoplankton population dominated by cryptophytes. Chlorophyll levels were lower (c. 40 mg m−2) but 14C fixation rates 〉3 g C m−2 day−1 were measured on bright days. Values for Assimilation Number were very high (maximum value 10.5 mg C h−1 mg−1 (chlorophyll-a) in January (1971) though temperatures never exceeded 8°C. In autumn, the phytoplankton regressed to winter levels. Both spring and summer algal populations probably overwinter as resting stages.

Notizen: Abstract: Octopamine, a biogenic amine, is synthesized and stored within centrifugal (efferent) fibers that project from the brain to the lateral and ventral eyes of the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus. The experiments described here show that depolarization of Limulus lateral and ventral eyes, produced by elevating the concentration of extracellular K+, causes the selective release of newly synthesized octopamine from centrifugal fibers in a manner that requires the influx of extracellular Ca2+. Conjugates of octopamine and tyramine that are also stored within centrifugal fibers are not released in response to K+-induced depolarization. These findings add further support to the hypothesis that octopamine is a neurotransmitter synthesized by and released from centrifugal fibers in Limulus eyes. This amine may be responsible for many of the alterations in lateral eye structure and function that are mediated by centrifugal inner-vation.

Notizen: Multiply mated female guppies Poecilia reticulata descended from the Tacarigua population in Trinidad produced individually larger offspring than their singly mated counterparts.