The influence of some environmental factors on cytological and biometric parameters and chlorophyll content of Deschampsia antarctica Desv. in the maritime Antarctic.

Under the environmental conditions of the Point Thomas Oasis (King George Island, the South Shetland Islands), we studied the influence of month-long artificial treatment with fresh water, salt water, and guano solution on the biometric characteristics, chlorophyll content, as well as the nuclear area of leaf parenchymal cells and nuclear DNA content, in a maritime Antarctic aboriginal plant Deschampsia antarctica. The modeled factors induced an increase in the generative shoot height and the length of the largest leaf, but did not influence the number of flowers. Treatment with guano caused an increase in the chlorophyll a and b contents, while fresh water treatment only led to some increase in chlorophyll a. Fluctuations of physiologically significant traits, such as the nuclear area and DNA content in the leaf parenchyma cells of D. antarctica, have been traced under the influence of the studied factors. Understanding of the hierarchy of influence of these factors as well as and sensitivity of plants of this species to external agents require further investigation.

Plan de cuidados específicos en pacientes ingresados en programa de hemodiálisis / Specific care plan for patients in the hemodialysis program

Con este trabajo a modo de informe, pretendemos disminuir o subsanar en lo posible, las alteraciones surgidas en el trabajo diario, en lo que se refiere al manejo de pacientes renales en tratamiento mediante hemodiálisis, que por cualquier motivo permanezcan ingresados en este hospital.Se trata de facilitar la labor de los profesionales que intervienen en su cuidado, intentando dar a conocer esas peculiaridades que hacen del enfermo renal alguien "distinto" a otros pacientes, estableciendo un contacto más estrecho con las distintas unidades de hospitalización, para facilitar la coordinación y en definitiva aumentar la calidad de los cuidados.Intentamos presentar al enfermo renal tratando los aspectos generales de estos pacientes, su dieta y control de líquidos, accesos vasculares, tratamientos y pruebas complementarias. (AU)

Chemical disinfection of non-porous inanimate surfaces experimentally contaminated with four human pathogenic viruses.

The chemical disinfection of virus-contaminated non-porous inanimate surfaces was investigated using coxsackievirus B3, adenovirus type 5, parainfluenza virus type 3 and coronavirus 229E as representatives of important nosocomial viral pathogens. A 10 microliter amount of the test virus, suspended in either faeces or mucin, was placed onto each stainless steel disk (about 1 cm in diameter) and the inoculum allowed to dry for 1 h under ambient conditions. Sixteen disinfectant formulations were selected for this study based on the findings of an earlier investigation with a human rotavirus. After 1 min exposure to 20 microliters of the disinfectant, the virus from the disks was immediately eluted into tryptose phosphate broth and plaque assayed. Using an efficacy criterion of a 3 log10 or greater reduction in virus infectivity titre and irrespective of the virus suspending medium, only the following five disinfectants proved to be effective against all the four viruses tested: (1) 2% glutaraldehyde normally used as an instrument soak, (2) a strongly alkaline mixture of 0.5% sodium o-benzyl-p-chlorophenate and 0.6% sodium lauryl sulphate, generally used as a domestic disinfectant cleaner for hard surfaces, (3) a 0.04% solution of a quaternary ammonium compound containing 7% hydrochloric acid, which is the basis of many toilet bowl cleaners, (4) chloramine T at a minimum free chlorine level of 3000 p.p.m. and (5) sodium hypochlorite at a minimum free chlorine concentration of 5000 p.p.m. Of those chemicals suitable for use as topical antiseptics, 70% ethanol alone or products containing at least 70% ethanol were ineffective only against coxsackievirus B3. These results emphasize the care needed in selecting chemical disinfectants for routine use in infection control.