Disaturated-phosphatidylcholine and Surfactant protein-B turnover in human acute lung injury and in control patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Patients with Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and Acute Lung Injury (ALI) have low concentrations of disaturated-phosphatidylcholine and surfactant protein-B in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. No information is available on their turnover.</p> <p>Objectives</p> <p>To analyze disaturated-phosphatidylcholine and surfactant protein-B turnover in patients with ARDS/ALI and in human adults with normal lungs (controls).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>²H₂O as precursor of disaturated-phosphatidylcholine-palmitate and 1¹³C-Leucine as precursor of surfactant protein-B were administered intravenously to 12 patients with ARDS/ALI and to 8 controls. Disaturated-phosphatidylcholine and surfactant protein-B were isolated from serial tracheal aspirates, and their fractional synthetic rate was derived from the ²H and ¹³C enrichment curves, obtained by gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Disaturated-phosphatidylcholine, surfactant protein-B, and protein concentrations in tracheal aspirates were also measured.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>1) Surfactant protein-B turned over at faster rate than disaturated-phosphatidylcholine both in ARDS/ALI patients and in controls. 2) In patients with ARDS/ALI the fractional synthesis rate of disaturated-phosphatidylcholine was 3.1 times higher than in controls (p < 0.01), while the fractional synthesis rate of surfactant protein-B was not different. 3) In ARDS/ALI patients the concentrations of disaturated-phosphatidylcholine and surfactant protein-B in tracheal aspirates were markedly and significantly reduced (17% and 40% of the control values respectively).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>1) Disaturated-phosphatidylcholine and surfactant protein-B have a different turnover both in healthy and diseased lungs. 2) In ARDS/ALI the synthesis of these two surfactant components may be differently regulated.</p

Micorrizas arbusculares em cafeeiro Coffea arabica L.: revisão e meta-análise.

Coffee, a plant of global economic importance, presents a high degree of micotrophy for nutrients absorption, especially phosphorus, whose sources are scarce, and extremely required in tropical soils. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and coffee crop (Coffea arabica) have been studied for more than three decades, and therefore, analyzing and gathering these studies in a quantitative and qualitative way by means of meta-analysis and critical review of advances and trends is of great relevance. In this review, aspects such as geographic distribution, ecology, effects on plant growth, mineral nutrition, myotrophism, and symbiotic efficiency and its applications were discussed, with special emphasis on the researches carried out in Brazil. By applying the electronic databases Cab Abstracts, Springerlink, Science Direct, Scielo, Scopus, ISI, Lilascs, Woldcat, 73 studies were analyzed, including papers, dissertations and theses. The meta-analysis showed the importance of AMF for growth, plant nutrition and grain yield. Nevertheless, a gap is still evident in the evaluation of the different management strategies adopted in coffee crop and their effects on AMF. The need to extend the research under field conditions was also detected, in order to confer the real contribution of AMF in coffee biocontrol, and their action as biofertilizers and biostimulants

Tracing exogenous surfactant in vivo in rabbits by the natural variation of 13C

BACKGROUND: Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS) is a prematurity-related breathing disorder caused by a quantitative deficiency of pulmonary surfactant. Surfactant replacement therapy is effective for RDS newborns, although treatment failure has been reported. The aim of this study is to trace exogenous surfactant by 13C variation and estimate the amount reaching the lungs at different doses of the drug. METHODS: Forty-four surfactant-depleted rabbits were obtained by serial bronchoalveolar lavages (BALs), that were merged into a pool (BAL pool) for each animal. Rabbits were in nasal continuous positive airway pressure and treated with 0, 25, 50, 100 or 200 mg/kg of poractant alfa by InSurE. After 90 min, rabbits were depleted again and a new pool (BAL end experiment) was collected. Disaturated-phosphatidylcholine (DSPC) was measured by gas chromatography. DSPC-Palmitic acid (PA) 13C/12C was analyzed by isotope ratio mass spectrometry. One-way non-parametric ANOVA and post-hoc Dunn's multiple comparison were used to assess differences among experimental groups. RESULTS: Based on DSPC-PA 13C/12C in BAL pool and BAL end experiment, the estimated amount of exogenous surfactant ranged from 61 to 87% in dose-dependent way (p < 0.0001) in animals treated with 25 up to 200 mg/kg. Surfactant administration stimulated endogenous surfactant secretion. The percentage of drug recovered from lungs did not depend on the administered dose and accounted for 31% [24-40] of dose. CONCLUSIONS: We reported a risk-free method to trace exogenous surfactant in vivo. It could be a valuable tool for assessing, alongside the physiological response, the delivery efficiency of surfactant administration techniques

Energy, forest, and indoor air pollution models for Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone, Nepal

This paper presents the results of management-oriented research on energy, forest, and human health issues in a remote mountain area, the Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone (SNPBZ), Nepal. The research was based on a broader, integrated participatory framework ultimately intended for use in adaptive management. The present study focused on the application of a participatory modeling framework to address problems related to energy demand and consumption, forest condition, and indoor air pollution, which were defined by the stakeholders as important issues to be addressed. The models were developed using a generalizing design that allows for user-friendly adaptation to other contexts (free download at http://hkkhpartnership.org). Moreover, we simulated management scenarios in collaboration with all modeling actors with the aim of building consensus on the understanding of the system as well as supporting decision-makers' capacity not only to respond to changes, but also to anticipate them. Importantly, the system dynamics assessment found that the SNPBZ forests are affected by an increasing demand for fuelwood (occurring due to tourism growth), as one of the main sources of energy. Selected forests show an average reduction of 38 in forest biomass from 1992 to 2008. This shows that the business-as-usual scenario is unlikely to result in the preservation of the current forest status; in fact, such preservation would require 75 of fuelwood to be replaced with alternative energy sources. At the same time, a 75 reduction of fuelwood use (and an 80 reduction of dung use) would reduce indoor carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations to the standard limits for CO exposure set by the World Health Organization

Increased use of high-flow nasal cannulas after the pandemic in bronchiolitis: a more severe disease or a changed physician’s attitude?

After the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, we noticed a marked increase in high-flow nasal cannula use for bronchiolitis. This study aims to report the percentage of children treated with high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) in various seasons. The secondary outcomes were admissions for bronchiolitis, virological results, hospital burden, and NICU/PICU need. We conducted a retrospective study in four Italian hospitals, examining the medical records of all infants (< 12 months) hospitalized for bronchiolitis in the last four winter seasons (1 September–31 March 2018–2022). In the 2021–2022 winter season, 66% of admitted children received HFNC versus 23%, 38%, and 35% in the previous 3 years. A total of 876 patients were hospitalized in the study periods. In 2021–2022, 300 infants were hospitalized for bronchiolitis, 22 in 2020–2021, 259 in 2019–2020, and 295 in 2018–2019. The percentage of patients needing intensive care varied from 28.7% to 18%, 22%, and 15% in each of the four considered periods (p < 0.05). Seventy-seven percent of children received oxygen in the 2021–2022 winter; vs 50%, 63%, and 55% (p < 0.01) in the previous 3 years. NIV/CPAP was used in 23%, 9%, 16%, and 12%, respectively. In 2021–2020, 2% of patients were intubated; 0 in 2020–2021, 3% in 2019–2020, and 1% in 2018–2019. Conclusion: This study shows a marked increase in respiratory support and intensive care admissions this last winter. While these severity indexes were all driven by medical choices, more reliable indexes such as intubation rate and length of stay did not change. Therefore, we suggest that there is a more aggressive treatment attitude rather than a more severe disease.What is Known:• COVID-19 pandemic deeply impacted bronchiolitis epidemiology, reducing hospitalizations to onetenth. In the 2021-2022 winter, bronchiolitis resurged to pre-pandemic numbers in Europe.What is New:• Bronchiolitis hospitalization rose much faster in the 2021-2022 winter period, peaking at a higher level. Respiratory supports and high-flow nasal cannula increased significantly compared to the pre-pandemic era

High rates of agricultural gypsum affect the arbuscular mycorrhiza fungal community and coffee yield

High rates of agricultural gypsum, above the recommended levels, have been used on a regular basis to deepen plant roots and to alleviate recurrent water stress in Cerrado areas. However, very little is known about the consequences of this practice to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate whether or not applying high rates of agricultural gypsum affects the mycorrhizal fungi community, glomalin content and coffee yield. The study rates were: 0; 3.5; 7.0; 14 and 56 t·ha-1 of agricultural gypsum applied in the planting row of the coffee plantation on top of the previous recommended gypsum application. Samples were collected for analysis at the depths of 0-20, 20-40 and 40-60 cm at the end of dry and rainy seasons of the year. In the coffee plantation, 16 AMF species were identified. Gigaspora sp. and Glomus macrocarpum were dominant in all situations. The rate of 7 t·ha-1 favored greater diversity of AMF species and the rate of 56 t·ha-1 reduced AMF diversity and mycorrhizal colonization in deeper layers. In the rainy season, there was a linear decrease of easily extractable glomalin-related soil protein (EE-GRSP) levels as the agricultural gypsum rate was increased. Coffee yield was reduced with the highest gypsum rate (56 t·ha-1), even though the coffee plantation had higher phosphorus contents in beans and leaves. This may have resulted from a number of reasons, including a negative effect on the AMF community

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit admission criteria for haemato-oncological patients: a basis for clinical guidelines implementation

Recent advances in supportive care and progress in the development and use of chemotherapy have considerably improved the prognosis of many children with malignancy, thus the need for intensive care admission and management is increasing, reaching about 40% of patients throughout the disease course. Cancer remains a major death cause in children, though outcomes have considerably improved over the past decades. Prediction of outcome for children with cancer in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) obviously requires clinical guidelines, and these are not well defined, as well as admission criteria. Major determinants of negative outcomes remain severe sepsis/septic shock association and respiratory failure, deserving specific approach in children with cancer, particularly those receiving a bone marrow transplantation. A nationwide consensus should be achieved among pediatric intensivists and oncologists regarding the threshold clinical conditions requiring Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission as well as specific critical care protocols. As demonstrated for the critically ill non-oncologic child, it appears unreasonable that pediatric patients with malignancy can be admitted to an adult Intensive Care Unit ICU. On a national basis a pool of refecence institutions should be identified and early referral to an oncologic PICU is warranted

Fortalecimiento de gestiones a través del Centro de Información de Actividades Porcinas (CIAP) para el desarrollo sustentable de pequeños y medianos productores porcinos familiares de la zona de influencia de la Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias de la Universidad Nacional de Rosario

Fortalecimiento de gestiones a través del Centro de Información de Actividades Porcinas (CIAP) para el desarrollo sustentable de pequeños y medianos productores porcinos familiares de la zona de influencia de la Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias de la Universidad Nacional de RosarioFil: Silva, Patricia. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentin