Transcatheter aortic valve implantation in patients with pre-existing chronic kidney disease

AbstractBackgroundWe investigated the effect of chronic kidney disease (CKD) on morbidity and mortality following transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) including patients on haemodialysis, often excluded from randomised trials.Methods and resultsWe performed a retrospective post hoc analysis of all patients undergoing TAVI at our centre between 2008 and 2012. 118 consecutive patients underwent TAVI; 63 were considered as having (CKD) and 55 not having (No-CKD) significant pre-existing CKD, (defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)<60mL/min/1.73m2). Chronic haemodialysis patients (n=4) were excluded from acute kidney injury (AKI) analysis. Following TAVI, in CKD and No-CKD patients respectively, AKI occurred in 23.7% and 14.5% (p=0.455) and renal replacement therapy (RRT) was necessary in 8.5% and 3.6% (relative risk (RR) [95% CI]=2.33 [0.47–11.5], p=0.440); 30-day mortality rates were 6.3% and 1.8% (p=0.370); and 1-year mortality rates were 17.5% and 18.2% (p=0.919). Patients who developed AKI had a significantly increased risk of 30-day (12.5% vs. 1.1%, p=0.029) mortality. We found the presence of diabetes (odds ratio (OR) [95% CI]=4.58 [1.58–13.3], p=0.005) and elevated baseline serum creatinine (OR [95% CI]=1.02 [1.00–1.03], p=0.026) to independently predict AKI to statistical significance by multivariate analysis.ConclusionTAVI is a safe, acceptable treatment for patients with pre-existing CKD, however caution must be exercised, particularly in patients with pre-existing diabetes mellitus and elevated pre-operative serum creatinine levels as this confers a greater risk of AKI development, which is associated with increased short-term post-operative mortality

Energy productivity and efficiency of maize accounting for the choice of growing season and environmental factors: An empirical analysis from Bangladesh

The paper evaluates sustainability of maize cultivation in Bangladesh in terms of energy use while taking into account factors affecting choice of the growing season and farmers' production environment using a sample selection framework applied to stochastic frontier models. Results reveal that the probability of growing winter maize is influenced positively by gross return, irrigation, subsistence pressure, soil suitability and temperature variability whereas extension contact influences choice negatively. Significant differences exist between winter and summer maize regarding yield, specific energy, net energy balance, energy use efficiency and technical energy efficiency although both systems are highly sustainable and efficient. The energy output from winter maize is 199,585 MJ/ha which is 53.9% higher than the summer maize output of 129,701 MJ/ha. Also, energy input use of winter maize is 110.6% higher than the summer maize. Energy inputs from mechanical power, seeds, fertilizers and organic manures significantly increase energy productivity of winter maize whereas only mechanical power influences summer maize productivity. However, temperature variation and rainfall significantly reduce energy productivity of summer maize. Policy implications include investments in soil conservation and irrigation, development of weather resistant varieties and raising maize price will boost maize cultivation in Bangladesh, a highly sustainable production technology. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd

Adoption Of Selected Wheat Production Technologies In Two Northern Districts Of Bangladesh

The study was conducted in two major wheat growing areas of Bangladesh to determine the adoption level and factors affecting the adoption of wheat production practices in the study areas during 2011. Descriptive statistics along with multiple regression technique was used to achieve the objectives. The results revealed that most of the farmers (60.91%) in the study areas were cultivating Shatabdi variety of wheat. Adoption level of seed rate, TSP and MoP application were found to be very low. On the other hand, production practices like time of wheat sowing and number of irrigation were highly adopted by the farmers. Most of the farmers (69.09%) applied TSP below the recommended dose while 81.82% of the farmers applied MoP over the recommended dose. The study also revealed a positive and significant relationship between adoption and the variables like education, experience and extension contact. Lack of proper information and technical knowledge were the major problems that hinder the adoption of wheat production technologies in the study areas. Adoption gaps are needed to be eliminated to enhance the productivity as well as net return of wheat cultivation. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. &amp; Tech. 3 (1): 5-11, June, 2013 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/ijarit.v3i1.1604

Genetic variability, correlation and path coefficients of yield and its components analysis in pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Duch Ex Poir)

Genetic variability, correlation and path coefficient were studied for yield and yield component traits in twenty one diverse genotypes of pumpkin. Highest genotypic coefficient of variation was recorded for fruit length (cm), single fruit weight (kg), Brix (%) and yield per plant (kg). Heritability estimates in broad sense were higher for almost all the characters. The characters namely, fruit length, single fruit weight, yield per plant and brix% had high genotypic coefficient of variation coupled with heritability gave high genetic advance expressed as percentage of mean ranged from 76.84 to 96.06 which indicated that these characters were less influenced by environment confirming additive gene action, and therefore, selection of these characters would be more effective for yield improvement of pumpkins. Total six traits likely fruit length, fruit diameter, flesh thickness, single fruit weight and number of fruits per plant were positively and significantly associated with yield per plant. Path coefficient analysis also revealed maximum contribution of single fruit weight (0.869) to yield and this was followed by the contribution of number of fruit per plant (0.527) at genotypic level.Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. &amp; Tech. 7 (1): 8-13, June, 201

Study on abundance of benthic macroinvertebrates in relation to soil texture types of sediment in three ponds

The present research was conducted to evaluate the monthly variations of macrozoobenthos of three ponds (pond 1, bottom soil is loam; pond 2, bottom soil is sandy loam; pond 3, bottom soil is silty clay loam) in relation to soil texture types of sediment. The major groups of macro-zoobenthos recorded were Chironomidae, Oligochaeta, Mollusca and Ceratopogonidae. The values of all water quality parameters such as temperature, water depth, rainfall, transparency, dissolved oxygen, pH, free CO2, NO3-N and PO4-P were found to have positive correlations in most cases, in some cases negative correlations and in few cases significant correlations. The abundance of Chironomidae was to be dominant in the pond no. 3 during the whole study period. The highest number of Oligochaeta (400 per m2) was found in pond no. 3 at depth of 150 cm and the lowest number of Oligochaeta (0 per m2) was found in pond nos. 1, 2 and 3 at both depths. The highest number of Chironomidae (1332 per m2) was found in pond no. 3 at depth of 150 cm and the lowest number of Chironomidae (444 per m2) was found in pond no. 2 at depth of 100 cm. The highest number of Ceratopogonidae (977 per m2) was found in pond no. 3 at the depth of 150 cm and the lowest number of Ceratopogonidae (178 per m2) was found in pond no. 2 at both depths. The highest number of Mollusca (1288 per m2) was found in pond no. 3 at the depth of 150 cm and the lowest number of Mollusca (222 per m2) was found in pond no. 2 at the depth of 100 cm. Satisfactory quantity of macrobenthos in the pond no. 3 at the depth of 150 cm than those of other two ponds. Between 2 depths (100 and 150 cm), the depth of 150 cm was to have highest quantity of macro-zoobenthos in all the three ponds because this depth was most favourable for macro-zoobenthos production. In pond no. 1, 2 and 3 relation of macro-benthos (no. per m2) with chemical parameters of pond bottom-soil conditions vary pond to pond which influence primary production and also influence macro-zoobenthos production (secondary production). The highest macro-zoobenthos population density was found in pond no. 3 followed by pond no. 1 and the lowest production in pond no. 2 but macro-zoobenthos production in pond no. 2 and pond no. 1 are more or less similar and macro-zoobenthos production in pond no. 3 is different and higher than those of pond nos. 1 and 2 which indicates that silty clay loam of bottom-soil is more suitable for macrozoobenthos than other soil textural classes of bottom-soil loam and sandy loam.Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. &amp; Tech. 7 (2): 27-35, December, 201