The assessment of IgE production in cultures of T- and B-cells from peripheral blood is proving a useful tool to probe IgE immunoregulation in human atopies. The present study contrasts secretion and synthesis as indices of IgE production, and demonstrates that these measures yield comparable data upon the magnitude and direction of regulatory T-cell effects (help vs. suppression) in severe atopies. The majority of peripheral blood B-cell samples from the atopies in this study exhibited spontaneous IgE synthesis and secretion, and in vitro T-cell help and suppression were observed with equal frequency within the sample population. Repeated testing of individual atopies indicated that the direction of T-cell effects remained stable in some (but not all) atopies over periods as long as 3 years.

Summary: The daily incidence of asthma as measured by the attendance of children with asthma in the season of low pollen numbers (April to September) is compared with total casualty attendance figures, the atmospheric pollen and fungal spore counts, and with climatic conditions including atmospheric ionization.A multiple regression computer programme with up to three days lag for the effect of climate factors on asthma attendance and fungal and pollen counts was used to demonstrate association between these factors. Statistical analysis of this data shows that there is a significant association between reduction in asthma attendance (p < 0.05) and increased atmospheric ionization three days before, increased barometric pressure two days before, and increased temperature one day before. This association accounts for 16.18% of the daily variation in asthma attendance. There is also a significant association between increased fungal spore counts and increased asthma (p < 0.05). In this April to September period there is no association between pollen grain counts and asthma. Climate factors, as might be expected, are significantly associated with variation in pollen (26.44%) and fungal spore numbers (21.74%). With the exception of atmospheric ionization three days before (being associated with both a reduction in fungal spore count and a reduction in asthma attendance), there is no coincidence between the climate factors associated with variation in air spora numbers and those associated with variation in attendance with asthma. It would appear that, in the Perth area between April and September, variation in climate factors and fungal spore counts are associated with variation in the asthma attendance rate.

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SYNOPSIS The admissions of children with asthma to hospital in Perth, W. Australia during 2 years has been analysed and seasonal trends with associated factors demonstrated: also the usual distribution of patients by year of age is shown. The findings are of a biannual fluctuation in the admission rate of asthmatic children to hospital not associated with significant changes in the clinical infection rate.

Summary A patient with congenital agammaglobulinaemia received I.M. commercial gammaglobulin for therapeutic purposes which produced cyanosis, unconsciousness and a momentarily impalpable pulse. There was no evidence of humoral antibody against IgG or IgA. There was no evidence of detectable IgE in this patient. Lymphocyte transformation suggests that delayed type hypersensitivity to exogenous gammaglobulin did not exist. Abnormal histamine release on exposure of washed leucocytes to IgG aggregates was demonstrated. It is likely that this anaphylactoid reaction and other evidences of hypersensitivity to exogenous gamma globulin was mediated through interaction between complement and gamma globulin aggregates and that an active immune response to the gamma globulin was not involved.

SYNOPSIS A double blind study using disodium chromoglycate and a placebo was undertaken during the pollen season in Perth. 7 children with severe asthma were investigated and most showed improvement in symptoms, by day and night 5 of the 7 showed improvement in respiratory function studies at the end of the period on disodium cromoglycate. It is concluded that this compound is of value in the treatment of the asthmatic child.

We review various image processing algorithms for micro-UAV EO/IR sub-pixel jitter restoration. Since the micro-UAV, Silver Fox, cannot afford isolation coupling mounting from the turbulent aerodynamics of the airframe, we explore smart real-time software to mitigate the sub-pixel jitter effect. We define jitter to be subpixel or small-amplitude vibrations up to one pixel, as opposed to motion blur over several pixels for which there already exists real time correction algorithms used on other platforms. We divide the set of jitter correction algorithms into several categories: They are real time, pseudo-real time, or non-real-time, but they are all standalone, i.e. without relying on a library storage or flight data basis on-board the UAV. The top of the list is demonstrated and reported here using real-world data and a truly unsupervised, real-time algorithm.