Impact of intensive horticulture practices on groundwater content of nitrates, sodium, potassium, and pesticides

A monitoring program of nitrate, nitrite, potassium, sodium, and pesticides was carried out in water samples from an intensive horticulture area in a vulnerable zone from north of Portugal. Eight collecting points were selected and water-analyzed in five sampling campaigns, during 1 year. Chemometric techniques, such as cluster analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), and discriminant analysis, were used in order to understand the impact of intensive horticulture practices on dug and drilled wells groundwater and to study variations in the hydrochemistry of groundwater. PCA performed on pesticide data matrix yielded seven significant PCs explaining 77.67% of the data variance. Although PCA rendered considerable data reduction, it could not clearly group and distinguish the sample types. However, a visible differentiation between the water samples was obtained. Cluster and discriminant analysis grouped the eight collecting points into three clusters of similar characteristics pertaining to water contamination, indicating that it is necessary to improve the use of water, fertilizers, and pesticides. Inorganic fertilizers such as potassium nitrate were suspected to be the most important factors for nitrate contamination since highly significant Pearson correlation (r = 0.691, P < 0.01) was obtained between groundwater nitrate and potassium contents. Water from dug wells is especially prone to contamination from the grower and their closer neighbor's practices. Water from drilled wells is also contaminated from distant practices.

Monitoring pesticide residues in greenhouse tomato by combining acetonitrile-based extraction with dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction followed by gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry

A multiclass and multiresidue method for pesticide analysis in tomato was validated. Extraction and pre-concentration of the pesticide residues from acetonitrile extracts was performed by using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) technique, followed by gas chromatography-mass detection. DLLME was performed using carbon tetrachloride as extractive solvent and acetonitrile extract as dispersive solvent, in order to increase enrichment factor of the extraction procedure. Validation parameters indicated the suitability of the method for routine analyses of thirty pesticides in a large number of samples. In general, pesticide recoveries ranged between 70% and 110% and repeatability ranged between 1% and 20%. The proposed method was applied to the monitoring of pesticides in tomatoes grown during winter in greenhouses. Among the compounds considered in this work, cyprodinil was found in tomato at concentrations of 0.33mg/kg, other pesticides like azoxystrobin, fenhexanid, tolyfluanid, λ-cyhalothrin and trifloxystrobin were also detected, but, not quantified.

[Surgical treatment of vesicourethral reflux in paediatric population]

BACKGROUND

Early diagnosis and adequate follow-up are fundamental principals for the treatment of vesicourethral reflux in children. The treatment options in these cases remain an individual choice based on multiple factors.

OBJECTIVE

To determine and compare the effectiveness of two different surgical techniques (endoscopic and conventional) used on vesicourethral reflux treatment.

METHODOLOGY

Cohort study, based on the clinical files of children and adolescents submitted to surgical treatment of vesicourethral reflux, between the 1st January of 2000 and 30th April 2006. The study included one year period of follow-up. Multiple variables with a presumable influence on the therapeutic option were analysed. In cases of surgical treatment, effectiveness and safety of the surgical technique where determined.

RESULTS

Included 46 children and adolescents, in a total of 68 refluxive units. Thirty seven of all renal units, where submitted to endoscopic treatment: the success rate with one injection of Deflux® was 62% (IC 95% [0.46; 0.78]), increasing for 78% (IC 95% [0.65; 0.91]) when the second injection was performed. Thirty seven renal units were submitted to open surgery: Cohen procedure in 21 patients and nefrourethrectomy in two cases. Excluding the nefrourethrectomy, the classical surgery had a success rate of 97% (IC 95% [0.91; 1]). The reason between probabilities of success, considering endoscopic surgery vs. conventional surgery was 0,8 (IC 95% [0.68; 0.97]). Registered thirteen complications, most of them (85%) after conventional surgery.

DISCUSSION

The high complication rates determined for conventional surgery could justify the frequent option for endoscopic surgery in small centres, despite its lower success rates.

CONCLUSION

This study confirms that this therapeutic option establishes a good commitment between prophylaxis safety and classical surgery effectiveness.

[Eosinophilia in a newborn: a case of giardiasis and milk allergy]

BACKGROUND

Helminths induced eosinophilia is well known. Recent studies have been demonstrating that Giardia Lamblia is also able to cause eosinophilia and suggest that children with giardiasis have a higher risk of food allergy.

CASE REPORT

Newborn premature male patient, admitted to neonatology unit since birth, who presented persistent eosinophilia, associated with vomiting and abdominal distention when he ingested a not hydrolyzed milk formula. The subsequent study revealed milk allergy (grade II/III) but also of Giardia on stool. The child was treated with metronidazol with clinical improvement.

CONCLUSION

This case pretends to underline the importance of person-to-person transmission as far as Giardia infection is concerned and especially among young children. We also would like to emphasize a possible relation between giardiasis and food allergy, which has occasionally been described in recent literature.

[BK virus nephropathy after renal transplantation. Diagnosis and prognosis by real time PCR]

BK virus nephropathy may lead to kidney transplant failure. BK infection and acute rejection are clinically undistinguishable, therefore diagnosis of these entities is critical to establish the correct treatment. The new molecular methods using PCR and real time PCR have significantly contributed to the rapid and sensitive diagnosis of BK virus. Furthermore, viral load determination in-plasma has significantly been associated with BK virus nephropathy. Definite diagnosis of nephropathy requires renal biopsy, although due to the multifocal nature of the disease sensitivity may be less than 100%. BK detection in blood and urine by PCR has contributed to the diagnosis of nephropathy in a more standardized and less invasive way. Recently, quantification of BK virus in plasma has been used for the diagnosis and monitoring of this disease. In the present study, we describe the validation of a real time PCR method for BK virus detection in plasma and urine and its application for diagnosis and monitoring in a renal transplant patient with nephropathy.

Metal-chelating compounds produced by ectomycorrhizal fungi collected from pine plantations

AIMS

To investigate the in vitro production of metal-chelating compounds by ectomycorrhizal fungi collected from pine plantations in southern Chile.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Scleroderma verrucosum, Suillus luteus and two isolates of Rhizopogon luteolus were grown in solid and liquid modified Melin-Norkans (MMN) media with and without iron addition and the production of iron-chelating compounds was determined by Chrome Azurol S (CAS) assay. The presence of hydroxamate and catecholate-type compounds and organic acids was also investigated in liquid medium. All isolates produced iron-chelating compounds as detected by CAS assay, and catecholates, hydroxamates as well as oxalic, citric and succinic acids were also detected in all fungal cultures. Scleroderma verrucosum produced the greatest amounts of catecholates and hydroxamates whereas the highest amounts of organic acids were detected in S. luteus. Nevertheless, the highest catecholate, hydroxamate and organic acid concentrations did not correlate with the highest CAS reaction which was observed in R. luteolus (Yum isolate).

CONCLUSIONS

Ectomycorrhizal fungi produced a variety of metal-chelating compounds when grown in liquid MMN medium. However, the addition of iron to all fungi cultures reduced the CAS reaction, hydroxamate and organic acid concentrations. Catecholate production was affected differently by iron, depending on the fungal isolate.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

The ectomycorrhizal fungi described in this study have never been reported to produce metal-chelating compound production. Moreover, apart from some wood-rotting fungi, this is the first evidence of the presence of catecholates in R. luteolus, S. luteus and S. verrucosum cultures.

Dilated cardiomyopathy due to endocrine dysfunction

Dilated cardiomyopathy can be idiopathic or be caused by many potentially treatable conditions. We report a complex case of peripartum heart failure associated with hypothyroidism and hypoparathyroidism. Myocardial biopsy suggested that hypothyroidism was the main cause for the dilated pattern, but hypocalcemia played a critical role in acute decompensation of heart failure during hospitalization. After a long and clinically complicated hospital stay, correction of hypothyroidism and hypocalcemia resulted in near-normal cardiac function.

Microstructured Polyacrylamide Hydrogels Prepared Via Inverse Microemulsion Polymerization

The synthesis by a two-stage polymerization process of microstructured polyacrylamide hydrogels with large swelling capacity and improved mechanical properties is reported. First, crosslinked polyacrylamide particles of nanosize scale are made by inverse microemulsion polymerization. These particles are then dried and redispersed in an aqueous solution of acrylamide and polymerized in the presence of a crosslinking agent. The microstructured hydrogels, in contrast to transparent conventional polyacrylamide hydrogels, are translucid due to the presence of the dispersed particles. The swelling capacity of these hydrogels increases as the particle content increases and their Young and elastic moduli (at equilibrium swelling) diminish only slightly. Mechanical tests disclose that the microstructured hydrogels have larger Young moduli than conventional hydrogels with an identical degree of swelling. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

2.5-month-old infants' reasoning about when objects should and should not be occluded

The present research examined 2.5-month-old infants' reasoning about occlusion events. Three experiments investigated infants' ability to predict whether an object should remain continuously hidden or become temporarily visible when passing behind an occluder with an opening in its midsection. In Experiment 1, the infants were habituated to a short toy mouse that moved back and forth behind a screen. Next, the infants saw two test events that were identical to the habituation event except that a portion of the screen's midsection was removed to create a large window. In one event (high-window event), the window extended from the screen's upper edge; the mouse was shorter than the bottom of the window and thus did not become visible when passing behind the screen. In the other event (low-window event), the window extended from the screen's lower edge; although the mouse was shorter than the top of the window and hence should have become fully visible when passing behind the screen, it never appeared in the window. The infants tended to look equally at the high- and low-window events, suggesting that they were not surprised when the mouse failed to appear in the low window. However, positive results were obtained in Experiment 2 when the low-window event was modified: a portion of the screen above the window was removed so that the left and right sections of the screen were no longer connected (two-screens event). The infants looked reliably longer at the two-screens than at the high-window event. Together, the results of Experiments 1 and 2 suggested that, at 2.5 months of age, infants possess only very limited expectations about when objects should and should not be occluded. Specifically, infants expect objects (1) to become visible when passing between occluders and (2) to remain hidden when passing behind occluders, irrespective of whether these have openings extending from their upper or lower edges. Experiment 3 provided support for this interpretation. The implications of these findings for models of the origins and development of infants' knowledge about occlusion events are discussed.

[CHARGE association]

Posterior choanal atresia is a congenital malformation which can occur isolated or in combination to additional malformations. In CHARGE association the other anomalies are: coloboma, heart disease, retarded development/growth or central nervous system abnormalities, genital hypoplasia or hypogonadism and ear abnormalities or deafness. The authors present three cases of CHARGE association and they also review the clinical findings required for the diagnosis.

Eight-and-a-half-month-old infants' reasoning about containment events

The present research examined whether 8.5-month-old infants take into account the width and compressibility of an object when determining whether it can be inserted into a container. The infants in Experiment 1 saw 2 test events. At the start of each event, a tall container rested on the apparatus floor. Next, the container was hidden by a screen, and a large ball attached to the lower end of a rod was introduced into the apparatus and lowered behind the screen into the container. Finally, the screen was removed to reveal the ball's rod protruding above the container's rim. The only difference between the 2 test events had to do with the width of the containers: in 1 event (large-container event), the container was slightly wider than the ball; in the other event (small-container event), the container was only half as wide as the ball, so that it should have been impossible for the ball to be lowered into it. Infants in a control condition saw identical test events except that a small ball was used that could fit into either the large or the small container. The infants in the experimental condition looked reliably longer at the small- than at the large-container event, whereas those in the control condition tended to look equally at the 2 events. These results suggested that, although the infants never saw the ball and the container simultaneously, they realized that the large ball could fit into the large but not the small container, whereas the small ball could fit into both containers. In Experiment 2, the large ball used in Experiment 1 was replaced with an equally large but compressible ball. The results were negative, suggesting that the infants understood that the large compressible ball could be inserted into either the small or the large container. Finally, Experiment 3 confirmed the results of the experimental condition in Experiment 1, with a slightly different procedure. Together, the present results indicate that, by 8.5 months of age, infants are already capable of sophisticated reasoning about containment events.

Analysis of the allelic diversity of a (CA)n repeat polymorphism among alpha 1-antitrypsin gene products from northern Portugal

The level of molecular heterogeneity associated with alpha 1-antitrypsin gene products was assessed in the population of northern Portugal using three restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) corresponding to specific amino acid substitutions and a highly variable (CA)n repeat polymorphism located at the 5' end of the PI gene. The allelic affinities inferred from the analysis of the DNA polymorphisms essentially agree with the evolutionary pattern proposed for the PI gene products on the basis of their amino acid sequences. PI*Z can be considered the most recent common PI allele and was found to be associated with the same predominant haplotype previously reported in northern European populations, thus confirming the hypothesis that most European Z alleles are derived from a single mutation. However, a rare deficient variant that is the likely result of a recurrent Z mutation on an M2 or M4 background was additionally observed. PIS was also found to be associated with a strongly predominant haplotype and seems to be the second most recent PI common allele, while M2 and M3 show weaker associations, suggesting more ancient origins of their corresponding mutations. M1Ala213 and M1Vat213 display more homogeneous (CA)n allele frequency distributions, M1Ala213 representing the most ancient PI allele as inferred from its highest variance in (CA)n allele length.