A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

Meeting abstrac

International nosocomial infection control consortium (INICC) report, data summary of 36 countries, for 2004-2009

The results of a surveillance study conducted by the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) from January 2004 through December 2009 in 422 intensive care units (ICUs) of 36 countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe are reported. During the 6-year study period, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN; formerly the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance system [NNIS]) definitions for device-associated health care-associated infections, we gathered prospective data from 313,008 patients hospitalized in the consortium's ICUs for an aggregate of 2,194,897 ICU bed-days. Despite the fact that the use of devices in the developing countries' ICUs was remarkably similar to that reported in US ICUs in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were significantly higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals; the pooled rate of central line-associated bloodstream infection in the INICC ICUs of 6.8 per 1,000 central line-days was more than 3-fold higher than the 2.0 per 1,000 central line-days reported in comparable US ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia also was far higher (15.8 vs 3.3 per 1,000 ventilator-days), as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (6.3 vs. 3.3 per 1,000 catheter-days). Notably, the frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates to imipenem (47.2% vs 23.0%), Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (76.3% vs 27.1%), Escherichia coli isolates to ceftazidime (66.7% vs 8.1%), Staphylococcus aureus isolates to methicillin (84.4% vs 56.8%), were also higher in the consortium's ICUs, and the crude unadjusted excess mortalities of device-related infections ranged from 7.3% (for catheter-associated urinary tract infection) to 15.2% (for ventilator-associated pneumonia). Copyright © 2012 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Nurses' perceptions of aids and obstacles to the provision of optimal end of life care in ICU

Contains fulltext : 172380.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

A Minor Role for Environmental Adaptation in Local–Scale Maize Landrace Distribution: Results from a Common Garden Experiment in Oaxaca, Mexico1

A Minor Role for Environmental Adaptation in Local–Scale Maize Landrace Distribution: Results from a Common Garden Experiment in Oaxaca, Mexico. Agronomists usually assume that yield is a primary selection trait for farmers practicing traditional agriculture. They hypothesize that the landraces grown in farmers’ fields produce higher yields than other local landraces would, if grown in the same fields. We test this hypothesis in experimental gardens using maize landraces grown by indigenous farmers in a low– to mid–elevation region in Oaxaca, Mexico. We selected four villages, two Chatino and two Mixtec, two in low and two in middle elevations. We planted reciprocal common gardens in each village, in order to test whether or not local maize landraces were higher yielding in their respective villages—a finding that would suggest they are selected because they are better adapted to local conditions than landraces from other villages. We also tested resistance to a fungal disease (ear rot caused by Fusarium) that is cited by farmers in the region as a major problem for maize production. We found that maize samples planted in their villages of origin did not in general have higher yields than samples from other villages. There are significant interactions among common garden site, fertilizer use, and seed source. We found that landraces from the Chatino lowlands village perform well in most sites, with and without fertilizer. Regarding ear rot, there is some evidence that landraces are less susceptible when grown away from their villages of origin. These results suggest that social factors, such as seed networks and ethno–linguistic membership, may be more important than local environmental adaptation in determining the distribution of landraces in this region

History of agroecology in Mexico

A mediados del siglo pasado, existían dos tipos de científicos de la agronomía en México. Unos, que veían una agricultura atrasada y que había, ciegamente, que llevar hacia los avances tecnológicos más modernos. Otros, que salían al campo y exploraban intensivamente los sistemas indígenas y campesinos. El estudiar y dar a conocer la riqueza tanto biológica como humana que albergaban estos sistemas, dio pie a la agroecología en este país. Sobra decir que varios de los pioneros de esa ciencia a nivel mundial, fueron aprendices de sistemas indígenas mexicanos. En este trabajo se hace el esfuerzo por narrar los hitos históricos más importantes en la investigación y la enseñanza de la agroecología en el pasado y en la actualidad; además, hacemos también una reflexión sobre los desafíos que enfrenta esa disciplina.Summary History of agroecology in Mexico Inthemid of thelastcentury, thereweretwotypes of agronomyscientists in Mexico. A groupthatperceivedtraditionalagriculture as backwards and in need of modernizationwithadvancedtechnologies. Othersthatworking in thefields, observed and admiredpeasant and indigenoussystems. Theseresearcherswhostudied and describedthe biocultural richness of thesesystemsprovidedthefoundationsforthedevelopment of agroecology in Mexico. Many of thepioners of agroecology at the global levelwereinspiredbyMexicanindigenoussystems. In thisworkwestriveto describe thehistoricallandmarks of thedevelopment of agroecologicaleducation and research in thepast and today, whileelaboratingonthechallengesfacingagroecologytoday and in thefuture