Trend of soil salinization in Africa and implications for agro-chemical use in semi-arid croplands.

Soil salinization is a gradual degradation process that begins as a minor problem and grows to become a significant economic loss if no control action is taken. It progressively alters the soil environment which eventually negatively affects plants and organism that were not originally adapted for saline conditions. Soil salinization arises from diverse sources such as side-effects of long-term use of agro-chemicals, saline parent rocks, periodic inundation of soil with saline water, etc.

Rhizobacteria Communities of Phytoremediation Plant Species in Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contaminated Soil of the Sudd Ecosystem, South Sudan.

The Sudd wetland is one of the oil-rich regions of South Sudan where environmental pollution resulting from oil extraction activities has been unprecedented. Although phytoremediation is the most feasible technique, its efficacy reduces at high TPH concentration in soil. This has made rhizoremediation the most preferred approach.

"Guidewire Intravenous Catheter Systems Do Not Improve First-Pass Success Rates for Peripheral Access When Placed By Army Combat Medics (68W) in a Pre-hospital Setting." A Prospective, Randomized Controlled Trial with Crossover Study Design.

Introduction: This study was completed to determine if guidewire catheters improve first-pass success and time of placement for peripheral intravenous access. In the military, 21% of casualties from the battlefield arrive to a medical facility in hemorrhagic shock. The importance of successful and timely intravenous placement is crucial in the initial steps of preventing this condition.

Effect of bike lane infrastructure improvements on ridership in one New Orleans neighborhood.

Background: Incorporating cycling into daily life is one way to increase physical activity.

Purpose: This study examined the impact of building new bike lanes in New Orleans to determine whether more people were cycling on the street and with the flow of traffic after bike lanes were built.

Methods: Through direct observation of one intervention and two adjacent streets, observers counted cyclists riding on the street and sidewalk, with and against traffic, before and after installation of the lanes.

The Uromodulin C744G mutation causes MCKD2 and FJHN in children and adults and may be due to a possible founder effect.

Autosomal dominant medullary cystic kidney disease type 2 (MCKD2) is a tubulo-in terstitial nephropathy that causes renal salt wasting, hyperuricemia, gout, and end-stage renal failure in the fifth decade of life. This disorder was described to have an age of onset between the age of 20-30 years or even later. Mutations in the Uromodulin (UMOD) gene were published in patients with familial juvenile hyperuricemic nephropathy (FJHN) and MCKD2.

Oral versus initial intravenous therapy for urinary tract infections in young febrile children.

Background: The standard recommendation for treatment of young, febrile children with urinary tract infection has been hospitalization for intravenous antimicrobials. The availability of potent, oral, third-generation cephalosporins as well as interest in cost containment and avoidance of nosocomial risks prompted evaluation of the safety and efficacy of outpatient therapy.

Methods: In a multicenter, randomized clinical trial, we evaluated the efficacy of oral versus initial intravenous therapy in 306 children 1 to 24 months old with fever and urinary tract infection, in terms of short-term clinical outcomes (sterilization of the urine and defervescence) and long-term morbidity (incidence of reinfection and incidence and extent of renal scarring documented at 6 months by 99mTc-dimercaptosuccinic acid renal scans).

Current status of pediatric home peritoneal dialysis training in the United States.

There are little aggregate data that examine attributes of peritoneal dialysis (PD) training programs for children. We determined characteristics of pediatric home PD training programs in a sample of 54 centers in the NAPRTCS PD registry by telephone interview. Sixty-seven percent of the programs trained pediatric patients only (P-only); 33% were combined pediatric/adult (P/A) programs; 33 programs had dedicated training rooms.

The effects of systemic glucose concentration on brain metabolism following repeated brain ischemia.

Since systemic glucose concentration is an important determinant of ischemic brain metabolism in neonates, we sought to determine if the systemic glucose concentration influences brain metabolic alterations following repeated partial ischemia. A group of hyperglycemic piglets (n = 12) were compared to a group of modestly hypoglycemic piglets (n = 12) using in vivo 2H and 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy to simultaneously measure cerebral blood flow and phosphorylated metabolites before, during and 30 min after two 10-min episodes of ischemia (i.e.

Serum and urine soluble interleukin-2 receptor in idiopathic nephrotic syndrome.

Although a cellular immune pathogenesis is suspected in idiopathic nephrotic syndrome of childhood (INS), there is scant direct evidence of in vivo immune activation. In order to investigate cytokine cascade activation in INS, soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) in plasma and urine was characterized and its levels measured in INS patients during relapse. Immunochemically detectable sIL-2R had a molecular mass of 35-46 kDa in both serum and urine and the molecule appears to be excreted intact; the pI was 5.

Energy reserves and utilization rates in developing brain measured in vivo by 31P and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Age-related changes in cerebral energy utilization were examined in swine, a species whose maximal rate of development is known to occur in the perinatal period. Interleaved in vivo 31P and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to measure the rates of change in cerebral concentrations of phosphocreatine (PCr), nucleoside triphosphates, and lactate following complete ischemia, induced via cardiac arrest, in a total of 19 newborn, 10-day-old, and 1-month-old piglets. Preischemic concentrations of these three metabolites plus glucose and glycogen were determined in a separate experiment on 12 piglets whose brains were funnel-frozen in situ.

Glucose-associated alterations in ischemic brain metabolism of neonatal piglets.

Background And Purpose: During global brain ischemia or hypoxia-ischemia in adults, hyperglycemia is deleterious to the brain. In contrast, similar adverse effects have not been found in neonatal animals. This investigation examined neonatal piglets to determine if there were specific alterations of ischemic brain metabolism associated with different systemic glucose concentrations and to potentially clarify the effects of hyperglycemia during ischemia in neonates.

Cerebral acid buffering capacity at different ages measured in vivo by 31P and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Cerebral acidosis occurring during ischemia has been proposed as one determinant of tissue damage. Newborn animals appear to be less susceptible to ischemic tissue damage than adults. One possible component of ischemic tolerance could derive from maturational differences in the extent of acid production and buffering in newborns compared to adults.

Blood flow and metabolism during and after repeated partial brain ischemia in neonatal piglets.

Background And Purpose: Our investigation sought to determine whether neonatal brain ischemic vascular and metabolic effects were altered by repeated episodes of ischemia.

Methods: We studied twelve piglets using in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy to obtain multiple, simultaneous measurements of cerebral blood flow and phosphorylated metabolites from the same tissue volume. The relationship between cerebral blood flow and energy metabolism was examined over a range of reduced cerebral blood flow (90-10% of control).

The effect of age on glucose-modulated cerebral agonal glycolytic rates measured in vivo by 1H NMR spectroscopy.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of plasma glucose concentration on cerebral agonal glycolytic rates in piglets of different ages. Twenty-four piglets were divided into four different age groups corresponding to 113, 121, 128, and 145 d postconception (normal gestation = 115 d). For each group the agonal glycolytic rate was measured by monitoring the rate of cerebral lactate accumulation after total ischemia.

Disturbances of brain maturation and neurodevelopment during chronic renal failure in infancy.

Fifteen infants with moderate to severe congenital renal disease were prospectively studied by serial renal, neurodevelopmental, neurophysiologic, and anthropometric assessments. The observation period ranged from 3 to 25 months (mean = 10.9).