Refeeding hypophosphatemia: a potentially fatal danger in the intensive care unit

Aim: To determine the overall and comparative incidence of refeeding hypophosphatemia (RH) between enteral and parenteral nutrition in general adult intensive care unit (ICU) patients

Pulmonary Radiological Findings in Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Their Relationship to Chemotherapy and Prognosis: A Single-Center Retrospective Study

Objective: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common acute leukemia in adults. Pulmonary are among the most common causes of mortality in AML. This single-center retrospective study aimed to evaluate the relationship between radiological findings of pulmonary at presentation and post chemotherapy on prognosis and clinical outcome in a group of AML patients

Land based sources of pollution along the black sea coast of Turkey Concentrations and annual loads to the black sea

Concentrations of inorganic pollutants, pesticides and PCBs were measured in 42 sources including rivers, streams, and industrial and domestic discharge points along the Turkish Black Sea coast in three seasons of the year 1993, The measured concentrations were compared with water quality standards currently effective in Turkey in order to determine the levels of pollution in the rivers and streams, Concentrations were also combined with the water discharge data to determine annual loads of pollutants discharged from each source into the Black Sea, Concentrations of measured parameters were much higher in domestic and industrial discharges, as expected, Most of the rivers and streams were polluted with organic material, nitrogen and phosphorous species due to discharges of untreated domestic wastes into these streams. Metal concentrations measured in the rivers and streams were fairly low due to the lack of extensive industrialization in the drainage areas of the streams, Some of the small streams, including the Neyren, Kilimli, Zafir and Tabakhane streams, are heavily polluted and were identified as sources having the potential to generate hot spots along the coast. annually, a total of 39.700 tons of nitrogen, 3.700 tons of phosphorous, 15 tons of Cd, 340 tons of Cu, 60 tons of Ph, 1.200 tons of Zn, 12 tons of heptachlor, 11 tons of aldrin, 31 tons of dieldrin, 180 tons of endrin and 500 tons of DDT are discharged from Turkish sources into the Black Sea. Except for trace metals, rivers and streams dominate the flux of pollutants, Large industries along the coast that discharge their wastes directly to the Black Sea account for a significant fraction of the annual metal discharges. Pesticides and PCBs were detected in most of the sources included in the study indicating their illegal use in agriculture. The Sakarya river was the most important source of pesticides. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Risk factors for brain metastasis as a first site of disease recurrence in patients with HER2 positive early stage breast cancer treated with adjuvant trastuzumab

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine risk factors for brain metastasis as the first site of disease recurrence in patients with HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer (EBC) who received adjuvant trastuzumab

Preferences of inflammatory arthritis patients for biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in the first 100 days of covid-19 pandemic

To evaluate treatment adherence and predictors of drug discontinuation among patients with inflammatory arthritis receiving bDMARDs within the first 100 days after the announcement of COVID-19 pandemic. Method: A total of 1871 patients recorded in TReasure registry for whom advanced therapy was prescribed for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or spondyloarthritis (SpA) within the 3 months (6-9 months for rituximab) before the declaration of COVID-19 pandemic were evaluated and 1394 (74.5%) responded the survey performed by phone call. Patients? data regarding demographic, clinical characteristics and disease activity before the pandemic were recorded. The patients were inquired for the diagnosis of COVID-19, the rate of continuation on bDMARDs, the reasons for treatment discontinuation, if any, and the current general disease activity (visual analog scale, [VAS]). Results: A total of 1,394 patients (493 RA [47.3% on anti-TNF] patients and 901 SpA [90.0% on anti-TNF] patients) were included. Overall, 2.8% of the patients had symptoms suggesting COVID-19, and 2 (0.15%) patients had polymerase chain reaction (PCR) confirmed COVID-19. Overall, 18.1% of all patients (13.8% of the RA and 20.5% of the SpA; p=0.003) discontinued their bDMARDs. In the SpA group, the patients who discontinued bDMARDs were younger (40 [21-73] vs. 44 years [20-79]; p=0.005) and had higher general disease activity; however, no difference was relevant for RA patients. Conclusion: Although the COVID-19 was quite uncommon in the first 100 days of the pandemic, nearly one-fifth of the patients discontinued bDMARDs within this period. Long-term effects of the pandemic should be monitored.PubMe

CCQM-K125 Elements in infant formula : Final report

The Key Comparison CCQM-K125 “Elements in Infant Formula” was undertaken to demonstrate the capability of participating national metrology institutes (NMIs) and designated institutes (DIs) in measuring the mass fraction the analytes at mg/kg levels in a test sample of infant formula by various analytical techniques. According to the Inorganic Analysis Working Group’s (IAWG’s) five-year plan, it was recommended to have a key comparison under the measurement service category of food for the year 2015. In this regards, the Government Laboratory, Hong Kong (GLHK) proposed to coordinate a new key comparison and a parallel-run pilot study (CCQM-K125 and CCQM-P159) for the determination of elements in infant formula. At the CCQM IAWG Meeting held in October 2014, the proposed study was agreed by IAWG members to be organised as the fifth benchmarking exercise. It was important for benchmarking to select two exemplary elements which were reasonably easy for many IAWG members to measure. Having further discussed with concerned IAWG members, potassium and copper were selected as the exemplary elements for examination, whereas iodine was an optional element for analysis. This key comparison facilitates claims by participants on the Calibration and Measurement Capabilities (CMCs) as listed in Appendix C of the Key Comparison Database (KCDB) under the Mutual Recognition Arrangement of the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM MRA). Participants are requested to complete the pertinent Inorganic Core Capabilities Tables as a means of providing evidence for their CMC claims. For registration of CCQM-K125, total 25 institutes registered for the examination of the exemplary analytes of potassium and copper, while 12 institutes registered for the optional analyte of iodine. For submission of results, 25 institutes submitted the results for potassium, 24 institutes submitted the results for copper and 8 institutes submitted the results for iodine. The information about registration and submission of participants’ results is summarised in Table A. For examination of potassium and copper, most of the participants used microwave-assisted acid digestion methods for sample dissolution. A variety of instrumental techniques including inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ID-ICP-MS), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), flame atomic emission spectrometry (FAES) and microwave plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (MP-AES) were employed by the participants for determination. For analysis of iodine, most of the participants used alkaline extraction methods for sample preparation. ICP-MS and ID-ICP-MS were used by the participants for the determination. For this key comparison, inorganic core capabilities were demonstrated by the concerned participants with respect to the methods including ICP-MS (without isotope dilution), ID-ICP-MS, ICP-OES, AAS, FAES and MP-AES on the determination of elements (potassium, copper and iodine) in a food matrix of infant formula