Exploratory laparotomy in the management of confirmed necrotizing enterocolitis

Introduction: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a serious gastrointestinal emergency in newborn infants. Surgical management includes primary peritoneal drainage and/or exploratory laparotomy with bowel resection. This study describes obstetric complications, postnatal comorbidities, surgical care and intermediate postoperative outcomes in all infants with surgically and/or histologically proven NEC, who underwent exploratory laparotomy at our tertiary referral centre.Materials and methods: We conducted a retrospective review between January 2005 and December 2010. Results are reported as median (range). Fisher’s exact test (two tailed) was used for statistical analysis. A P-value of 0.05 or less was considered statistically significant.Results: A total of 71 infants had suspected (Bell’s stageZ1) NEC. Of them, 32 infants underwent laparotomy for stage 2–3 NEC. We excluded 11 infants with surgically and/or histologically proven spontaneous intestinal perforation. In the remaining 21 infants with confirmed NEC, median gestational age was 27 weeks (23–39 weeks) and median birth weight was 720 g (440–3510 g). NEC was suspected after a median 14 days of life (1–49 days of life). Fifteen patients (71%) were initially managed medically for a median total of 8 days (1–25 days). Laparotomy was performed after a median of 7 days (<1–35 days) from the suspicion of NEC. Eleven infants (52%) underwent bowel resection and enterostomy, four infants (19%) underwent  bowel resection with primary anastomosis and one infant (5%) underwent proximal diverting jejunostomy. Bowel perforation was seen in seven patients (33%). Necrosis totalis was evident in five patients (24%). There were 12 postoperative deaths (57% mortality), and seven deaths (58%) occurred during the first 30 days. Infants who died were more likely to have had absent/reversed enddiastolic flow (n=5, P= 0.64), intrauterine growth retardation (n=5, P = 0.18) or a gestational birth weight between 501 and 750 g (n=9, P = 0.08). In the surviving children (n= 9), the median length of hospital stay was 134 days (87–190 days) and postoperative sequelae were frequently seen.Conclusion: The morbidity and mortality for infants with confirmed NEC who undergo laparotomy remain high in infants despite optimal medical and surgical care. Keywords: exploratory laparotomy, necrotizing enterocolitis, surger

Detection of Novel QTLs for Late Blight Resistance Derived from the Wild Potato Species Solanum microdontum and Solanum pampasense

peer-reviewedWild potato species continue to be a rich source of genes for resistance to late blight in potato breeding. Whilst many dominant resistance genes from such sources have been characterised and used in breeding, quantitative resistance also offers potential for breeding when the loci underlying the resistance can be identified and tagged using molecular markers. In this study, F1 populations were created from crosses between blight susceptible parents and lines exhibiting strong partial resistance to late blight derived from the South American wild species Solanum microdontum and Solanum pampasense. Both populations exhibited continuous variation for resistance to late blight over multiple field-testing seasons. High density genetic maps were created using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, enabling mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for late blight resistance that were consistently expressed over multiple years in both populations. In the population created with the S. microdontum source, QTLs for resistance consistently expressed over three years and explaining a large portion (21–47%) of the phenotypic variation were found on chromosomes 5 and 6, and a further resistance QTL on chromosome 10, apparently related to foliar development, was discovered in 2016 only. In the population created with the S. pampasense source, QTLs for resistance were found in over two years on chromosomes 11 and 12. For all loci detected consistently across years, the QTLs span known R gene clusters and so they likely represent novel late blight resistance genes. Simple genetic models following the effect of the presence or absence of SNPs associated with consistently effective loci in both populations demonstrated that marker assisted selection (MAS) strategies to introgress and pyramid these loci have potential in resistance breeding strategies.Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Irelan

Mobilisierung und Immobilisierung von Stickstoff im Boden im Jahresverlauf

Stickstoff bestimmt maßgeblich das Wachstum der Pflanzen. Aber nur ein geringerTeil, der als Nitrat vorliegende Stickstoff, ist für die Pflanze leicht verfügbar.Die Verbindungsformen des Stickstoffs im Boden befinden sich in einemständigen Kreislauf, der über die Prozesse der Mobilisierung und Immobilisierunggesteuert wird.In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden Ergebnisse eines zweijährigen Versucheszur Stickstoffdynamik unter einer unbewachsenen Fläche vorgestellt und diskutiert.Es war die Frage zu klären, ob es auch ohne den Einfluss des Menschenund des Bewuchses eine Stickstoffdynamik im Boden gibt.Der Versuch wurde auf einer Fläche des Lehr- und Versuchsbetriebs Tachenhausender Fachhochschule Nürtingen durchgeführt. Es wurden in regelmäßigenZeitabständen Bodenproben gezogen und hinsichtlich der Nitratgehalteuntersucht. Die Untersuchungen fanden während der Monate April bis Septemberstatt und erfassten die Bodenschichten 0-30 cm, 30-60, cm und 60-90 cm.In beiden Jahren lässt sich über den gesamten Untersuchungszeitraum tendenziellein Anstieg der Nitratvorräte im Boden erkennen, mit den niedrigsten Wertenim Frühjahr und den höchsten Werten im Spätsommer. Die Verläufe derNitratgehalte weisen Schwankungen auf, die man auf StickstoffmobilisierungsundStickstoffimmobilisierungsprozesse zurückführen kann.Die höchsten Nitratwerte wurden im Oberboden gemessen. Die Konzentrationnahm von oben nach unten hin ab.Abschließend ist festzustellen, dass die natürliche Stickstoffdynamik häufigeinen typischen Jahresgang aufweist, der noch durch Einflussfaktoren wieWitterung und Bodeneigenschaften modifiziert wird