Hyperbaric treatment for children with autism: a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several uncontrolled studies of hyperbaric treatment in children with autism have reported clinical improvements; however, this treatment has not been evaluated to date with a controlled study. We performed a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial to assess the efficacy of hyperbaric treatment in children with autism.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>62 children with autism recruited from 6 centers, ages 2–7 years (mean 4.92 ± 1.21), were randomly assigned to 40 hourly treatments of either hyperbaric treatment at 1.3 atmosphere (atm) and 24% oxygen ("treatment group", n = 33) or slightly pressurized room air at 1.03 atm and 21% oxygen ("control group", n = 29). Outcome measures included Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale, Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC), and Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After 40 sessions, mean physician CGI scores significantly improved in the treatment group compared to controls in overall functioning (p = 0.0008), receptive language (p < 0.0001), social interaction (p = 0.0473), and eye contact (p = 0.0102); 9/30 children (30%) in the treatment group were rated as "very much improved" or "much improved" compared to 2/26 (8%) of controls (p = 0.0471); 24/30 (80%) in the treatment group improved compared to 10/26 (38%) of controls (p = 0.0024). Mean parental CGI scores significantly improved in the treatment group compared to controls in overall functioning (p = 0.0336), receptive language (p = 0.0168), and eye contact (p = 0.0322). On the ABC, significant improvements were observed in the treatment group in total score, irritability, stereotypy, hyperactivity, and speech (p < 0.03 for each), but not in the control group. In the treatment group compared to the control group, mean changes on the ABC total score and subscales were similar except a greater number of children improved in irritability (p = 0.0311). On the ATEC, sensory/cognitive awareness significantly improved (p = 0.0367) in the treatment group compared to the control group. Post-hoc analysis indicated that children over age 5 and children with lower initial autism severity had the most robust improvements. Hyperbaric treatment was safe and well-tolerated.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Children with autism who received hyperbaric treatment at 1.3 atm and 24% oxygen for 40 hourly sessions had significant improvements in overall functioning, receptive language, social interaction, eye contact, and sensory/cognitive awareness compared to children who received slightly pressurized room air.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>clinicaltrials.gov NCT00335790</p

Use of nanomaterials in the pretreatment of water samples for environmental analysis

The challenge of providing clean drinking water is of enormous relevance in today’s human civilization, being essential for human consumption, but also for agriculture, livestock and several industrial applications. In addition to remediation strategies, the accurate monitoring of pollutants in water sup-plies, which most of the times are present at low concentrations, is a critical challenge. The usual low concentration of target analytes, the presence of in-terferents and the incompatibility of the sample matrix with instrumental techniques and detectors are the main reasons that renders sample preparation a relevant part of environmental monitoring strategies. The discovery and ap-plication of new nanomaterials allowed improvements on the pretreatment of water samples, with benefits in terms of speed, reliability and sensitivity in analysis. In this chapter, the use of nanomaterials in solid-phase extraction (SPE) protocols for water samples pretreatment for environmental monitoring is addressed. The most used nanomaterials, including metallic nanoparticles, metal organic frameworks, molecularly imprinted polymers, carbon-based nanomaterials, silica-based nanoparticles and nanocomposites are described, and their applications and advantages overviewed. Main gaps are identified and new directions on the field are suggested.publishe

Indicators of the environmental state of the Bilećko Jezero Lake

The research refers to the physical, chemical and microbiological parameters of the Bilećko Jezero Lake water quality. The monitoring of physical and chemical parameters and their interaction with other parameters helps estimate the water quality and any possible changes. Some parameter values and their alteration directly affect the water life. The research was performed at three sites: the Grančarevo watergate, the Trebisnjica River fountain and Orah in the period 2006-2009, and the results of conducted physical and chemical analyses indicate that the water quality was satisfactory, albeit with certain deviations. Bacteriological analyses showed that the water of Bileća accumulation, especially at the Izvor site, was burdened with fecal material

Grapevine yellows in Bosnia and Herzegovina: surveys to identify phytoplasmas in grapevine, weeds and insect vectors

Presence and diffusion of grapevine yellows phytoplasmas was investigated in 2008 and 2010 in twelve vineyards located in two viticultural areas of Srpska region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. From the same vineyards, grapevine samples from different culti-vars and weeds were collected for molecular analyses. In addition, some potential insect vectors were collected in the vineyards of these regions. \u2018Bois noir\u2019 phytoplasma presence was confirmed to be associated with grapevine yellows, while in one Clematis vitalba sample phytoplasma from 16SrV-C subgroup was identified. RFLP analysis of the tuf gene indicated the presence of the tuf type-b of stolbur phytoplasma in the \u2018bois noir\u2019-infected samples. From collected hemipteran insects Dictyophara europaea and Reptalus cuspidatus were identified. Molecular analyses didn't show phytoplasma presence in the tested insect samples of these species

Normobaric oxygen therapy in acute ischemic stroke: A pilot study in Indian patients

<b>Purpose:</b> Clinical and radiological assessment of effects of normobaric high-flow oxygen therapy in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). <b>Materials and Methods:</b> Patients with anterior circulation ischemic strokes presenting within 12 h of onset, ineligible for intravenous thrombolysis, an National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score of &gt;4, a mean transit time (MTT) lesion larger than diffusion-weighted image (DWI) (perfusiondiffusion mismatch), and an evidence of cortical hypoperfusion on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were included into the trial. Active chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), requirement of &gt;3/L min oxygen delivery to maintain SaO2 &gt; 95&#x0025;, rapidly improving neurological deficits, pregnancy, contraindications to MRI, or unstable medical conditions were excluded. The experimental group received humidified oxygen at flow rates of 10 L/min for 12 h. The NIHSS, modified Rankin Score (mRS), Barthel Index (BI) were measured at 0, 1, 7 day of admission and at 3 months follow-up. MRI with DWI/PWI was performed at admission, 24 h later and at 3 months follow-up. <b>Results:</b> Of 40 patients (mean age = 55.8 years &#177; 13.2) (range, 26-82), 20 patients were randomized to normobaric oxygen (NBO). The mean NIHSS in NBO and control groups were 14.25 and 12.7 at admission which decreased to 11.6 and 9.5 on the seventh day, and 9.4 and 9.05 at 3 months, respectively. The mean mRS (3.7/3.7) and BI (58.2/53.9) in NBO and control groups improved to 2/2.2 and 73.05/73.8 at the end of 3 months, respectively. <b>Conclusions:</b> NBO did not improve the clinical scores of stroke outcome in Indian patients with AIS