Point-of-care measurement of blood lactate in children admitted with febrile illness to an African District Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Lactic acidosis is a consistent predictor of mortality owing to severe infectious disease, but its detection in low-income settings is limited to the clinical sign of "deep breathing" because of the lack of accessible technology for its measurement. We evaluated the use of a point-of-care (POC) diagnostic device for blood lactate measurement to assess the severity of illness in children admitted to a district hospital in Tanzania. METHODS: Children between the ages of 2 months and 13 years with a history of fever were enrolled in the study during a period of 1 year. A full clinical history and examination were undertaken, and blood was collected for culture, microscopy, complete blood cell count, and POC measurement of blood lactate and glucose. RESULTS: The study included 3248 children, of whom 164 (5.0%) died; 45 (27.4%) of these had raised levels of blood lactate (>5 mmol/L) but no deep breathing. Compared with mortality in children with lactate levels of ≤ 3 mmol/L, the unadjusted odds of dying were 1.6 (95% confidence interval [CI].8-3.0), 3.4 (95% CI, 1.5-7.5), and 8.9 (95% CI, 4.7-16.8) in children with blood lactate levels of 3.1-5.0, 5.1-8.0, or >8.0 mmol/L, respectively. The prevalence of raised lactate levels (>5 mmol/L) was greater in children with malaria than in children with nonmalarial febrile illness (P < .001) although the associated mortality was greater in slide-negative children. CONCLUSIONS: POC lactate measurement can contribute to the assessment of children admitted to hospital with febrile illness and can also create an opportunity for more hospitals in resource-poor settings to participate in clinical trials of interventions to reduce mortality associated with hyperlactatemia

More Aeschynomene Pasture Legumes for the Tropics and Sub-Tropics

Two cultivars of Aeschynomene villosa were released in Queensland in 1995. Cultivars ‘Reid’ (previously CPI 91209) and ‘Kretschmer’ (previously CPI 93621) are both native to Mexico and are the first cultivars of A. villosa to be released as pasture legumes. They will complement the three Aeschynomene cultivars already in use in tropical and sub-tropical northern and eastern Australia, namely cultivars ‘Glenn’ and ‘Lee’ (A. americana) and ‘Bargoo’ (A. falcata). Characteristics of Reid and Kretschmer jointvetch include, early seeding perennials within high seed yields, prostrate to semi-erect growth habit, adaptation to a wide range of soil types in medium rainfall areas, tolerance of temporary waterlogging, palatability of high quality forage, responsive to added phosphorus, and tolerance of light frosts. Commercial seed will be available for sale about October, 1997. Reid and Kretschmer villose jointvetch are widely adapted high quality pasture legumes which will complement current legume cultivars and will broaden the scope for sown pasture development in sub-tropical and tropical northern Australia

Rapamycin Augments the NMDA-Mediated TNF Suppression of MRSA-Stimulated RAW264.7 Murine Macrophages

Background. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can stimulate massive cytokine release. Ketamine suppresses tumor necrosis factor (TNF) secretion by MRSA-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages, and the mechanism likely involves N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor antagonism. The downstream effects of NMDA-mediated TNF suppression, specifically the PI3K/Akt and mTOR modulation, have not been described. Methods. RAW264.7 cells were stimulated for 18 hrs with 10(5) to 10(7) CFU/mL inocula of either of two prototypical community-acquired- (CA-) MRSA isolates, USA300 strain LAC and USA400 strain MW2. Then we added the NMDA inhibitors ketamine or 2R-amino-5-phosphonopentanoate (AP5), NMDA substrate, LY294002, and rapamycin in various combinations. Results. NMDA inhibition suppressed TNF secretion by almost a third compared to the no-ketamine control. When NMDA substrate was added, the TNF secretion increased by 10%. Addition of LY294002 suppressed TNF production by macrophages by 20%. Rapamycin exhibited a concentration-dependent TNF induction-suppression response: induction at doses of 0.1 and 1 ng/mL and suppression at 10 and 100 ng/mL. Induction of TNF was abolished when LY294002 was added and the suppression became uniform. Ketamine-induced suppression of TNF secretion was intensified 10–15% when rapamycin was added, but not when LY294002 was added. Conclusion. These findings suggest that NMDA-induced TNF suppression can be augmented by concurrent mTOR inhibition

Unusually large polarizabilities and "new" atomic states in Ba

Electric polarizabilities of four low-J even-parity states and three low-J odd-parity states of atomic barium in the range $35,600$ to $36,000\ $cm$^{-1}$are investigated. The states of interest are excited (in an atomic beam) via an intermediate odd-parity state with a sequence of two laser pulses. The odd-parity states can be excited due to the Stark-induced mixing with even-parity states. The polarizabilities are measured via direct spectroscopy on the second-stage transition. Several states have tensor and scalar polarizabilities that exceed the values that might be expected from the known energy levels of barium by more than two orders of magnitude. Two of the Stark-induced transitions cannot be identified from the known energy spectrum of barium. The observations suggest the existence of as yet unidentified odd-parity energy states, whose energies and angular momenta are determined in the present experiment. A tentative identification of these states as [Xe]$6s8p ^3P_{0,2}$ is suggested.Comment: 29 pages, 12 figure

Pasture-fed beef from tropical pasture systems

Since beef cattle were introduced to Australia, most slaughter cattle have been produced off pasture. Even today, of the 8 M head slaughtered each year, approximately 5.5 M head (68%) are wholly pasture-fed. The ability to produce beef/carcases with consistent eating quality off pasture has been enhanced following the introduction of the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) grading system (Anon 2003). Meat Standards Australia (MSA) provides the technology to predict the eating quality of beef at the carcase stage. Management at all points along the supply chain can be modified to guarantee a high-quality, pasture-fed product. A major requirement in meeting MSA grades is annual liveweight gain per head of at least 180 kg. This eliminates most grazing systems across northern Australia. For example, native pasture systems in Queensland can achieve these weight gains only in exceptional years and then only on the best land types. Only introduced improved pasture species in endowed land zones are able to achieve these required growth rates. This paper identifies regions capable of producing MSA-certified pasture-fed beef and gives examples of pastures used in each region to provide the required liveweight gains. It also identifies possible market specifications for a pasture-fed product, which could take advantage of this emerging, valuable market

09_05_01_Hopkinson_English.indd

Abstract To fi nd ways of improving the sowing value of seed of tropical pasture grasses through attention to the storage environment used commercially, fresh seed lots of Panicum maximum, Brachiaria decumbens, Brachiaria humidicola, Setaria sphacelata and Chloris gayana were stored under different conditions and sampled periodically for laboratory, greenhouse and fi eld testing. Comparisons were made between seed lots stored in bags of open weave in a cool-room at 10°C and 50% RH and in an open store-room at ambient temperature. Seed lots of P. maximum in moisture-proof packets at 5 different moisture contents between 7.3 and 12.9% were compared. One seed lot was also freezer-stored at -12°C. Part 1 reports their viability and dormancy loss. Viability loss of seed in woven bags in open storage was complete within 3 years while barely detectable in similar cool-stored seed. Rates of loss in sealed packets increased with moisture content at ambient temperatures. They were much higher in seed in woven bags at comparable average moisture contents, an effect attributed largely to spatial moisture content gradients. Cool storage temperatures and low seed moisture contents appeared to prolong dormancy, while freezer storage retained and even intensifi ed it. Introduction By the early 1990s, our need to improve the storage environment of seeds of tropical pasture grasses had become urgent. A developing responsibility for maintenance of pedigree seed stocks required a sound strategy for medium-term storage. Increasing pressure on the seed industry to improve the quality of its products for a competitive export market translated into demands upon us for information on storage that could not be adequately satisfi ed. Progress in understanding pre-storage infl uences on quality (e.g. Hopkinson and English 2004) emphasised our ignorance of subsequent seed history. While general principles of deterioration of orthodox seeds in storage were well established The construction of a cool-room at Walkamin Research Station in 1992 allowed us to compare the performance of seed stored in a single set of constant, defi ned conditions with that of seed of the same origin kept in conventional open storage. Comparisons were later extended to seed stored at a range of constant moisture contents. From these, we sketched the fi rst bare outline of the effects of storage environment on subsequent seed characteristics. This paper describes the experiments done, and reports the changes in viability and dormancy measured by laboratory tests under various storage conditions. Impacts on seedling emergence from soil, dormancy in soil, vigour and fi eld sowing value will be covered in a second paper (Hopkinson and English 2005)

A new Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) experiment designed for climate and chemistry models

A new Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) experiment "G4 specified stratospheric aerosols" (short name: G4SSA) is proposed to investigate the impact of stratospheric aerosol geoengineering on atmosphere, chemistry, dynamics, climate, and the environment. In contrast to the earlier G4 GeoMIP experiment, which requires an emission of sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the model, a prescribed aerosol forcing file is provided to the community, to be consistently applied to future model experiments between 2020 and 2100. This stratospheric aerosol distribution, with a total burden of about 2 Tg S has been derived using the ECHAM5-HAM microphysical model, based on a continuous annual tropical emission of 8 Tg SO2 yr−1. A ramp-up of geoengineering in 2020 and a ramp-down in 2070 over a period of 2 years are included in the distribution, while a background aerosol burden should be used for the last 3 decades of the experiment. The performance of this experiment using climate and chemistry models in a multi-model comparison framework will allow us to better understand the impact of geoengineering and its abrupt termination after 50 years in a changing environment. The zonal and monthly mean stratospheric aerosol input data set is available at https://www2.acd.ucar.edu/gcm/geomip-g4-specified-stratospheric-aerosol-data-set

Target mass number dependence of subthreshold antiproton production in proton-, deuteron- and alpha-particle-induced reactions

Data from KEK on subthreshold \bar{\mrm{p}} as well as on $\pi^\pm$ and \mrm{K}^\pm production in proton-, deuteron- and $\alpha$-induced reactions at energies between 2.0 and 12.0 A GeV for C, Cu and Pb targets are described within a unified approach. We use a model which considers a nuclear reaction as an incoherent sum over collisions of varying numbers of projectile and target nucleons. It samples complete events and thus allows for the simultaneous consideration of all final particles including the decay products of the nuclear residues. The enormous enhancement of the \bar{\mrm{p}} cross section, as well as the moderate increase of meson production in deuteron and $\alpha$ induced compared to proton-induced reactions, is well reproduced for all target nuclei. In our approach, the observed enhancement near the production threshold is mainly due to the contributions from the interactions of few-nucleon clusters by simultaneously considering fragmentation processes of the nuclear residues. The ability of the model to reproduce the target mass dependence may be considered as a further proof of the validity of the cluster concept.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure