Admission to NICU in air is more likely if nasal High Flow is used for stabilisation in preterm babies compared to face mask CPAP

Objective. To examine the success of stabilisation and the short term outcomes from the routine use of nasal high flow (nHF) on an unselected cohort of babies in the delivery room (DR). Design. Retrospective single-centre study Setting. Single-centre neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) Patients. Infants born at < 32 weeks gestation Interventions. Stabilisation and transfer to NICU of an unselected cohort of babies using nHF Main outcome measures. Success of stabilisation defined by successful transfer on nHF and clinical measures of stability at admission to NICU, including oxygen requirement, admission temperature, surfactant requirement, short term outcomes and whether infants were sustained on nHF by 72 hours of age. Results. There were 133 eligible babies. 54 were commenced on nHF in the DR (Group A), 47 were stabilised by face mask CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) (Group B), 26 were intubated (Group C); 6 required only minimal respiratory support (Group D). Median maturity varied between the groups (Group A 27+5 weeks, Group B 30 weeks, Group C 26+2 weeks, Group D 31+5). 72% of Group A and 75% of Group B remained on nHF for 72 hours (P=0.82). Fewer babies received surfactant in Group A versus Group B (29% vs 35%; P=0.67), however groups were not matched for maturity differences and Group A were significantly less mature and of lower birthweight (both P<0.001). Group A were significantly more likely to be in air at admission than Group B (P=0.03). Conclusion. Preterm babies can be successfully stabilised and sustained on nHF. The use of nHF for immediate stabilisation appears to be effective and, in this study, led to significantly more babies being in air on admission to the NICU compared to face mask CPAP stabilisation

Model requirements for Biobank Software Systems

Biobanks are essential tools in diagnostics and therapeutics research and development related to personalized medicine. Several international recommendations, standards and guidelines exist that discuss the legal, ethical, technological, and management requirements of biobanks. Today's biobanks are much more than just collections of biospecimens. They also store a huge amount of data related to biological samples which can be either clinical data or data coming from biochemical experiments. A well-designed biobank software system also provides the possibility of finding associations between stored elements. Modern research biobanks are able to manage multicenter sample collections while fulfilling all requirements of data protection and security. While developing several biobanks and analyzing the data stored in them, our research group recognized the need for a well-organized, easy-to-check requirements guideline that can be used to develop biobank software systems. International best practices along with relevant ICT standards were integrated into a comprehensive guideline: The Model Requirements for the Management of Biological Repositories (BioReq), which covers the full range of activities related to biobank development. The guideline is freely available on the Internet for the research community

Dose escalation study of intravenous and intra-arterial N-acetylcysteine for the prevention of oto- and nephrotoxicity of cisplatin with a contrast-induced nephropathy model in patients with renal insufficiency.

BACKGROUND: Cisplatin neuro-, oto-, and nephrotoxicity are major problems in children with malignant tumors, including medulloblastoma, negatively impacting educational achievement, socioemotional development, and overall quality of life. The blood-labyrinth barrier is somewhat permeable to cisplatin, and sensory hair cells and cochlear supporting cells are highly sensitive to this toxic drug. Several chemoprotective agents such as N-acetylcysteine (NAC) were utilized experimentally to avoid these potentially serious and life-long side effects, although no clinical phase I trial was performed before. The purpose of this study was to establish the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and pharmacokinetics of both intravenous (IV) and intra-arterial (IA) NAC in adults with chronic kidney disease to be used in further trials on oto- and nephroprotection in pediatric patients receiving platinum therapy. METHODS: Due to ethical considerations in pediatric tumor patients, we used a clinical population of adults with non-neoplastic disease. Subjects with stage three or worse renal failure who had any endovascular procedure were enrolled in a prospective, non-randomized, single center trial to determine the MTD for NAC. We initially aimed to evaluate three patients each at 150, 300, 600, 900, and 1200 mg/kg NAC. The MTD was defined as one dose level below the dose producing grade 3 or 4 toxicity. Serum NAC levels were assessed before, 5 and 15 min post NAC. Twenty-eight subjects (15 men; mean age 72.2 +/- 6.8 years) received NAC IV (N = 13) or IA (N = 15). RESULTS: The first participant to experience grade 4 toxicity was at the 600 mg/kg IV dose, at which time the protocol was modified to add an additional dose level of 450 mg/kg NAC. Subsequently, no severe NAC-related toxicity arose and 450 mg/kg NAC was found to be the MTD in both IV and IA groups. Blood levels of NAC showed a linear dose response (p < 0.01). Five min after either IV or IA NAC MTD dose administration, serum NAC levels reached the 2-3 mM concentration which seemed to be nephroprotective in previous preclinical studies. CONCLUSIONS: In adults with kidney impairment, NAC can be safely given both IV and IA at a dose of 450 mg/kg. Additional studies are needed to confirm oto- and nephroprotective properties in the setting of cisplatin treatment. Clinical Trial Registration URL: https://eudract.ema.europa.eu . Unique identifier: 2011-000887-92

The Roots of language learning : infant language acquisition/ Edit.: Monika Molnar; Nuria Sebastian-Galles

v, 212 p.: tab.; 21 cm

The Roots of language learning : infant language acquisition/ Edit.: Monika Molnar; Nuria Sebastian-Galles

v, 212 p.: tab.; 21 cm

Mycorrhizal symbiosis effects on growth of chalk false-brome (Brachypodium pinnatum) are dependent on the environmental light regime

AMF(arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi) colonization of the grass chalk false-brome (Brachypodium pinnatum (L.) P. B.) was studied in selected habitats under spatially different light regimes: (a) shade condition under oak trees, (b) half shade in a shrubby area and (c) full-sun conditions on unshaded grassland. This study assessed the variations in AMF colonization of the grass dependent on the light supply in field habitats. Soil, root and shoot samples were collected four times during the vegetation period (in June, July, September and October). Root colonization, root and shoot biomass as well as soil water content were determined. The highest rate of AMF colonization was detected in June under half-sun and full-sun conditions, where about 50% of the roots were colonized. The average amount of arbuscules was less than 20% in the roots at the three sites, with the highest number of arbuscules in June, under half-sun and full-sun conditions, however, not under the trees. Overall, best mycorrhizal colonization occurred during summer, and its rate decreased in autumn. This tendency inversely correlated with the amount of precipitation, and thus with the water content of soils. The high colonization rate of the examined root samples, and also its seasonal fluctuation, might reflect the importance of the symbiosis where inorganic nutrients and water are the growth-limiting factors. The marginal AMF colonization of chalk false-brome under shade conditions indicates that plants do not use AMF under all stress conditions. When low light limits photosynthesis and thus growth of the plants, they dispense with the colonization of AMF in order to save the expenditure of organic carbon. (C) 2013 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved

Personal RF exposimetry : measurement method and first results for university students

Personal exposimetry in the radiofrequency range is one of the most topical problems of public health, however, instrumentation and methods of this research are still under development. In our project, 47 university students were examined with three different type of personal exposimeters between September 2007 and June 2009, which generated 87 measurement files. The aim of the presentation is to show the procedure of collecting and evaluating data, to point out difficulties and pitfalls, and to present the first results. This project could be a promising start for working out international protocols and a likely basis for systematic epidemiological studie

Histamine deficiency induces tissue-specific down-regulation of histamine H2 receptor expression in histidine decarboxylase knockout mice

AbstractHistidine decarboxylase (HDC) is the single enzyme responsible for histamine synthesis. HDC-deficient mice (HDC−/−) have no histamine in their tissues when kept on a histamine-free diet. Therefore, the HDC−/− mice provide a suitable model to investigate the involvement of histamine in the regulation of histamine receptor expression. Gene expression of H1 and H2 histamine receptors was studied in several organs of HDC−/− mice and compared to standard (HDC+/+) mice. In many tissues, prolonged absence of histamine induced down-regulation of the H2 receptor subtype. The expression of the H1 receptor was less sensitive to histamine deficiency. Exogenous histamine present in the diet abolished the differences observed in H2 receptor expression. These results suggest that the expression of mouse H2 receptor is under the control of histamine in a tissue-specific manner