The Greenland Sea is one of a few sites in the world ocean where convection to great depths occurs-a process that forms some of the densest waters in the ocean. But the role of deep convective eddies, which result from surface cooling and mixing across density surfaces followed by geostrophic adjustment, has not been fully taken into account in the description of the initiation and growth of convection. Here we present tracer, float and hydrographic observations of long-lived ( approximately 1 year) and compact ( approximately 5 km core diameter) vortices that reach down to depths of 2 km. The eddies form in winter, near the rim of the Greenland Sea central gyre, and rotate clockwise with periods of a few days. The cores of the observed eddies are constituted from a mixture of modified Atlantic water that is warm and salty with polar water that is cold and fresh. We infer that these submesoscale coherent eddies contribute substantially to the input of Atlantic and polar waters to depths greater than 500 m in the central Greenland Sea.

The nicotine skin patch proved to be safe and effective, as demonstrated by a higher rate of abstinence than with placebo. However, the absolute rate of abstinence after one year was only 17 percent, which is lower than the rate in studies that have combined the use of nicotine chewing gum with behavioral therapy.

A review is given of volume and heat budgets for the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas based on oceanic transport observations. The present preferred estimates indicate a northward transport of about 300 TW through the Greenland‐Scotland passage of which 50–80 TW continues into the Arctic Ocean. The net budgets for the Nordic Seas are about 220–250 TW. Regional surface heat budgets are computed based on climatological data from the Comprehensive Ocean Atmosphere Data Set and European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts in addition to monthly mean weather station temperature data from the Carbon Dioxide Information Center database. Each of the terms in the sea surface heat budget is computed with several parameterizations, which are frequently applied in heat budget calculations and in ocean and sea ice modeling. Combining all parameterizations for each term provides 90 different parameterizations of the sea surface heat budget. On the basis of identical climatological data, the surface heat budgets for the Nordic Seas vary from a heat loss of 304 TW to a heat gain of 52 TW. The heat loss from the Barents Sea is in the range from 42 to 162 TW. Twelve combinations of the parameterizations provide a heat budget for the Nordic Seas which is within the advective estimates. One is selected for use in ocean modeling of this region. The same parameterizations provide a heat loss of 129–147 TW (or 98–112 Wm−2) from the Barents Sea. Published volume transports and temperatures indicate that the heat loss from the Barents Sea is only within 28–80 TW. Our results suggest that the heat transport from the Norwegian Sea to the Barents Sea is larger than recent advective estimates, and, thus, that the Barents Sea plays a major role in renewal of the deep water and the thermohaline circulation of the Arctic Mediterranean.

In this review, we report on relevant current topics in allergen immunotherapy (AIT) which were broadly discussed during the first Aarhus Immunotherapy Symposium (Aarhus, Denmark) in December 2015 by leading clinicians, scientists and industry representatives in the field. The aim of this symposium was to highlight AIT-related aspects of public health, clinical efficacy evaluation, mechanisms, development of new biomarkers and an overview of novel therapeutic approaches. Allergy is a public health issue of high socioeconomic relevance, and development of evidence-based action plans to address allergy as a public health issue ought to be on national and regional agendas. The underlying mechanisms are in the focus of current research that lays the ground for innovative therapies. Standardization and harmonization of clinical endpoints in AIT trials as well as current knowledge about potential biomarkers have substantiated proof of effectiveness of this disease-modifying therapeutic option. Novel treatments such as peptide immunotherapy, intralymphatic immunotherapy and use of recombinant allergens herald a new age in which AIT may address treatment of allergy as a public health issue by reaching a large fraction of patients.Allergies have become a public health concern of pandemic proportions that affect >150 million Europeans. More alarming, their prevalence and impact are on the rise. It has been predicted that within the next few decades, up to half of the European population may at some point in their lives experience some type of allergy (1). Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) is the only Abbreviations AEC, allergen exposure

The Future of the Allergists and Specific Immunotherapy (FASIT) workshop provides a regular platform for global experts from academia, allergy clinics, regulatory authorities and industry to review developments in the field of allergen immunotherapy (AIT). The most recent meeting, held in February 2017, had two main themes: advances in AIT and hot topics in AIT from the regulatory point of view. The first theme covered opportunities for personalized AIT, advances in adjuvants and delivery systems, and the development of new molecules and future vaccines for AIT. Key topics in the second part of the meeting were the effects of the enactment of European Directive 2001/83 on the availability of allergens for therapy and diagnosis across the EU, the challenges of conducting Phase 3 studies in the field, the future role of allergen exposure chambers in AIT studies and specific considerations in performing AIT studies in the paediatric population. Finally, the group highlighted the forthcoming EAACI guidelines and their particular importance for the standardization of practice in the treatment of allergies. This review presents a comprehensive insight into those panel discussions and highlights unmet needs and also possible solutions to them for the future.

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The aim was to evaluate if recycling of failures from a smoking cessation study may be of value. The study comprised 126 smokers (50%) of 252 failures, from a double-blind smoking cessation trial with nicotine patch, who accepted recycling after 1 year. Subjects were allocated nicotine patches delivering 15, 20 or 25 mg of nicotine (over 16 hours) according to their base-line saliva cotinine concentrations in an open trial. The treatment period was 12 weeks followed by tapering over 6 weeks. The percentage of quitters after 3, 12, 26, and 52 weeks was 44, 20, 7 and 6%, respectively. After 26 weeks, all subjects had relapsed in the group previously treated with active nicotine patch compared with 12% abstainers in the previous placebo subjects. The sustained abstinence rate without slips after one year was 2%. Recycling does not seem to be of long-term clinical relevance in our set-up for subjects initially treated with nicotine, but of some value in subjects quitting without nicotine therapy initially.