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Offshore wind farms have started to contribute important supplies of renewable energy. The energy production of a wind farm depends upon the local wind climate and so may be predicted in advance. Usually, the prediction is based on at least one year of accurate wind measurements. Satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) wind mapping can be a useful tool in selecting optimal sites and may therefore increase the cost-effectiveness of planning wind farms, e.g., in feasibility studies. In the WEMSAR project1wind fields from SAR, in situ measurements and model output from three test-sites have been analysed [1]. Subsequently, a WEMSAR tool for effectively retrieving wind data from SAR images and utilising them in the WAsP micrositing model, has been developed. Testing of the WEMSAR tool at Horns Rev offshore wind farm in Denmark is ongoing.

The incidence of Crohn's disease in western Norway was estimated in a prospective epidemiologic study during the years 1984 and 1985. The total population in the area was 807,000. Both inpatients and outpatients were included. Five hundred and fifty general practitioners and 12 hospitals participated in the study. A total of 86 patients were diagnosed, giving a mean annual incidence of 5.3 per 100,000. For patients between 15 and 19 years of age the age-specific incidence rate was 16.0. The M/F sex ratio was 0.9. In the same period 240 patients with ulcerative colitis were diagnosed (mean annual incidence, 14.8 per 100,000), giving a ratio of 2.8 between ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease and an annual incidence of 20.1 per 100,000 for inflammatory bowel disease. Familial occurrence of IBD was found for 12% of the patients.

Two patients had many acute episodes of biliary pain with elevated liver function tests 12–48 h after the last ingestion of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (including paracetamol) alone or in combination with codeine. One had known intolerance to NSAIDs, but paracetamol had not been previously incriminated in the pathogenesis of the attacks. In this patient the combined use of paracetamol and codeine probably also increased the severity of the episodes. We conclude that in some patients in whom endoscopic cholangiography is normal, biliary pain and abnormal liver function tests could be the result of NSAIDs. A thorough drug history is required in such cases.