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An observational, exploratory, cross-sectional study was performed to assess whether the presence of atypical naevi (AN) in adolescents is associated with psychological and psychovegetative stress parameters. Fifty-one students of a secondary school in Graz, Austria, completed a defined test procedure consisting of an initial period of rest, a standardised mental stress task, another period rest and a questionnaire, the change-sensitive symptom list (ASS-SYM). Electrocardiogram and blood pressure were recorded continuously. The study population was divided in two groups: probands without AN (NAN, n = 33), and probands with at least one AN (n = 18). We found higher values for the AN group in all scales of ASS-SYM, reaching statistical significance in the dimensions "nervousness and mental tension" (p = 0.025), "psychophysiological dysregulation" (p = 0.020), burden of pain" (p = 0.023) and "general symptoms and problems" (p = 0.031). Regarding physiological parameters, the AN group showed higher vegetative strain reflected in heart rate and heart rate varibility during the periods of rest as well as a reduced baroreceptor sensitivity. On the basis of our results, the presence of AN in adolescents seems to be associated with a higher vegetative arousal. Additionally, participants with AN complained significantly more often about stress-associated general psychological symptoms and problems.

Among its several identities, the Strand Lane ‘Roman Bath’ is the last Central London survivor of the city's Georgian and Regency cold plunge baths. Using a combination of documentary and archaeological evidence, this paper traces the story of its conversion to this function in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, identifies the probable author of the conversion, reconstructs its eighteenth-century form and layout, and discusses the context in which the conversion took place.

In the history of garden design in England, a prominent place is occupied by the gardens laid out for James I's Queen, Anne of Denmark, as part of the extension and remodelling of the original Some...

Large quantities of African dust are carried across the North Atlantic by Trade Winds every summer. The deposition of this dust has an impact on biogeochemical processes in the Tropical and Western Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean and it contributes to the formation of soils on Caribbean islands, the Bahamas, and the southeastern US. Here we report on a study of the temporal and spatial variability of the elemental composition of aerosol samples collected in the Trade Winds at Barbados and Miami over the summers of 2003 and 2004. Our objective is to identify characteristics that might serve as a useful tool to identify natural and anthropogenic sources of specific elements or element classes placing a special focus on dust-linked species. To this end we measured a large suite of elements: Al, As, Ba, Be, Cd, Ce, Co, Cr Cs, Cu, Dy, Er, Eu, Fe, Ga, Gd, Ho, La, Li, Lu, Nd, Ni, Pb, Pr, Rb, Sc, Sm, Sr, Th, Tl, Tm, U, V, Y, Yb and Zn. Most elements exhibited a surprising uniformity that is highly correlated with dust concentration as determined by aerosol filter ash residues and by Mn concentration, shown to be an excellent proxy for dust. The concentrations of most elements are very close to average upper crustal abundances. We measured the greatest enrichments and the largest variability for As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn, elements known to have major anthropogenic sources. For some elements, most notably the Lanthanides, we found statistically significant differences between high-dust-load samples and low-load samples and also between individual dust peaks. However, the absolute differences were generally quite small. Consequently we feel that on a sample-by-sample basis the elemental composition of dust is unlikely to serve as useful indicator of source regions with the possible exception of the Lanthanides. The uniformity of dust composition suggests that a major fraction of the dust is either derived from regions having similar composition or from multiple different sources followed by mixing during transport.

The oxidation of nanomolar levels of iron(II) with oxygen has been studied in NaCl solutions as a function of temperature (0 to 50 °C), ionic strength (0.7 to 5.6 mol⋅kg−1), pH (6 to 8) and concentration of added NaHCO3 (0 to 10 mmol⋅kg−1). The results have been fitted to the overall rate equation: $$\mathrm{d}\mbox{[Fe(II)]}/\mathrm{d}t=-k_{\mathrm{app}}\mbox{[Fe(II)]}[\mbox{O}_{2}]$$ The values of kapp have been examined in terms of the Fe(II) complexes with OH− and CO32−. The overall rate constants are given by: $$k_{\mathrm{app}}=\alpha_{\mathrm{Fe}2+}k_{\mathrm{Fe}}+\alpha_{\mathrm{Fe(OH)}+}k_{\mathrm{Fe(OH)}+}+\alpha_{\mathrm{Fe(OH)}2}k_{\mathrm{Fe(OH)}2}+\alpha_{\mathrm{Fe(CO3)}2}k_{\mathrm{Fe(CO3)}2}$$ where αi is the molar fraction and ki is the rate constant of species i. The individual rate constants for the species of Fe(II) interacting with OH− and CO32− have been fitted by equations of the form: $$\begin{array}{l}\ln k_{\mathrm{Fe}2+}=21.0+0.4I^{0.5}-5562/T\\[6pt]\ln k_{\mathrm{FeOH}}=17.1+1.5I^{0.5}-2608/T\\[6pt]\ln k_{\mathrm{Fe(OH)}2}=-6.3-0.6I^{0.5}+6211/T\\[6pt]\ln k_{\mathrm{Fe(CO3)}2}=31.4+5.6I^{0.5}-6698/T\end{array}$$ These individual rate constants can be used to estimate the rates of oxidation of Fe(II) over a large range of temperatures (0 to 50 °C) in NaCl brines (I=0 to 6 mol⋅kg−1) with different levels of OH− and CO32−.

An observational, questionnaire-based, cross-sectional study was performed to assess whether differences in coping behaviour (positive and negative strategies) between patients with either a recent diagnosis of malignant melanoma (MM) or with benign dermatological disease, were predictive of the diagnosis. Coping strategies were assessed with the German version of the stress-coping questionnaire (SVF 120) in 46 inpatients for whom surgery was planned at the Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Graz, Austria. Subjects were divided into two groups: patients with non-metastatic MM, and patients with benign dermatological diseases (controls). The risk for the diagnosis "melanoma" decreased with higher values of "situation control" (p = 0.007) and increased with higher values of resignation (p = 0.035) and trivialisation (p = 0.039). More-over, the risk for having a MM with thickness > 1 mm decreased in patients with higher values in positive coping strategies (p

Background/Objectives: Understanding the public’s perception of nevi and sunburn is crucial to melanoma prevention efforts. Methods: We investigated the knowledge and perception of melanocytic nevi and sunburns in 77 children 6 to 10 years old (mean 8.2) in two elementary schools in Styria, Austria. The children were interviewed by specially trained psychologists about the number of their moles and how they felt having them. Additionally questions about sunburn history and sunburn perception were asked. The spontaneous answers of the children were recorded, there were no pregiven answers. Afterwards the children were examined by dermatologists clinically and with dermatoscopes. Results: The 96% of the children could describe a nevus (the term “mole” was translated to “nevus”) and 91% did not feel bothered about theirs. Only 26% had noted the appearance of new nevi within the last year. The 67% of all children had at least one sunburn and remembered the clinical features. The 20% of the children knew that sunburns could provoke skin cancer. All children felt comfortable during the clinical and dermatoscopic examination. Conclusion: Children aged from 6 to 10 years know exactly why they had suffered from sunburn, can describe the sunburn and how to avoid it. They do not feel bothered by their nevi and are alert to the appearance of new nevi.

One-hundred and fourteen patients who underwent IVF treatment were asked about their smoking habits. Their rhodanide (SCN) concentrations were then estimated in serum and follicular fluid. SCN has been identified as an indicator for the amount of cigarettes smoked. The IVF outcome of non-smokers was compared with that of the smokers and no significant differences of fertilization rate and pregnancy rate between the two groups were found, but the SCN concentrations in serum and follicular fluid were increased in smokers (P less than 0.05). The effect of cigarette smoke toxins was perhaps not observable because other factors influencing the IVF treatment could possibly overlap with the influence of these particular toxins.