Unveiling its science spending plan for the next 3 years, the U.K. government last week announced major new investments in three key areas: tracking disease genes, leveraging the Internet for data analysis, and supporting emerging industries such as nanotechnology and bioengineering. Although these programs cut across a range of disciplines funded by the U.K.'s science councils, the government also bestowed a long-anticipated gift on astronomers: membership in the European Southern Observatory, which will give U.K. researchers access to the world's largest optical telescope.

Budgets↗

PubMed1991

Hazards in confinement housing--gases and dusts in confined animal houses for swine, poultry, horses and humans.

Indoor atmospheres in swine or poultry confinement buildings, horse stalls or human dwellings contain gases, dusts and endotoxin in concentrations significantly in excess of those in outdoor environments. Although concentrations of such constituents differ appreciably between species, many of such differences may be related to differences in indoor mass loading and ventilation, or to the homogeneity of such ventilation. The high protein content of these indoor dust particles suggest they are of animal origin. Their ability to form bacterial colonies and to form or bind endotoxin suggest that the smallest and most respirable particles were manure particles containing enteric bacteria and endotoxin. Respiratory disease in swine, poultry and horses and in the workers who care for them may be caused by increased levels of carbon monoxide, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, or indoor dust particles from feed and manure. The stagnant air of a well-insulated building causes the most active individual to attract these stagnant pockets, while the tendency of young animals to seek warmth may lead to the formation of additional pockets. Increased ventilation is an expensive solution to the problems associated with indoor air pollution. However, more thorough mixing of indoor air may reduce the effects of these clouds of pollutants.

Air Pollutants↗

PubMed1990

Three cases of fatal cardiac tamponade following ventricular endocardial biopsy.

Three patients had perforation of the ventricular free wall and fatal cardiac tamponade following endocardial biopsy to evaluate congestive heart failure. The number of endocardial biopsies at this institution at the time of the third death was 2372, resulting in an overall mortality rate of 0.13%. Of the 2372 biopsies, 2136 (90%) were performed to evaluate cardiac graft rejection and 236 (10%) were performed for other reasons. All the patients who died belonged to the latter group. None of the cardiac transplant patients have had fatal ventricular perforation--a significant difference. At our institution, the frequency of mortality following endocardial biopsy in the noncardiac transplant patients is 1.3%. Patients who have ventricular endocardial biopsy of native hearts rather than transplanted hearts may be at increased risk for fatal perforation.

Adult↗