Diclofenac is an anti-inflammatory drug used as an analgesic. It is often detected in various environmental sources around the world and is considered as one of the emerging contaminants (ECs). This paper reviews the distribution of diclofenac at high concentrations in diverse environments and its adverse ecological impact.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiclofenac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug has turned into a contaminant of emerging concern; hence, it was included in the previous Watch List of the EU Water Framework Directive. This review paper aims to highlight the metabolism of diclofenac at different trophic levels, its occurrence, ecological risks, and interactive effects in the water cycle and biota over the past two decades. Increased exposure to diclofenac not only raises health concerns for vultures, aquatic organisms, and higher plants but also causes serious threats to mammals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWith growing population and urbanization, there is an increasing exploitation of natural resources, and this often results to environmental pollution. In this review, the levels of heavy metal in lentic compartments (water, sediment, fishes, and aquatic plants) over the past two decades (1997-2017) have been summarized to evaluate the current pollution status of this ecosystem. In all the compartments, the heavy metals dominated are zinc followed by iron.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn international consultation was convened in March 2012 to provide feedback on the Case for Carriage, a summary statement by the Pneumococcal Carriage Consortium (PneumoCarr) proposing nasopharyngeal (NP) colonization as a supplementary or alternative endpoint in vaccine licensure. PneumoCarr members provided information to vaccine manufacturers, regulators and the WHO on the evidence for NP carriage as a precursor to pneumococcal disease, standardization of laboratory methods for the detection of multiple serotype carriage, definition and estimation of pneumococcal vaccine efficacy against carriage (VE-col), and the direct and indirect impact of vaccination on carriage. Manufacturers and regulators had the opportunity to respond to the information compiled by PneumoCarr and share their perspectives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany primary care physicians are not providing care that is consistent with recommendations to prevent, to identify, and to manage childhood obesity. This report presents modifications made to the electronic medical record system of a large pediatric health care system, using a quality improvement approach, to support these recommendations and office system changes. Although it is possible to make practice changes secondary to electronic medical record system enhancements, challenges to development and implementation exist.
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