ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common clinical syndrome in hospitalized children and it imposes heavy burden of mortality and morbidity. In resource-constraint settings, management of AKI is very challenging and associated with adverse outcomes. The aim of this study was to determine the clinico-etiological profile and outcome of AKI. METHODOLOGY: This prospective observational study was done at the department of pediatric nephrology and pediatric intensive care unit, National Institute of Child Health, Karachi, Pakistan from December 2020 to May 2021. A total of 130 children aged 1 month to 15 years, diagnosed with AKI irrespective of the underlying cause were included. Detailed medical information of each child including medical history, examination, and baseline investigations were obtained. Clinical and etiological profile of patients was noted. The patients were followed up to three months and the outcome was noted. RESULTS: In a total of 130 children, 82 (63.1%) were male. The mean age was 5.5±4.4 years (ranging between 1 month and 15 years). There were 117 (90.0%) children who were referred from other centers for either dialysis or surgical treatment. Prerenal cause of AKI was found in 66 (50.8%) children, followed by renal 53 (40.8%) and postrenal in 11 (8.5%) cases. Fever and shortness of breath were the most common clinical presenting symptoms in 102 (78.5%) and 100 (76%) cases, respectively. There were 45 (34.6%) cases who were managed conservatively, 80 (61.5%) needed dialysis, while three children were managed with plasmapheresis and two required surgical intervention in the emergency department. At three-month follow-up period, 64 (49.2%) children recovered (including nine with partial recovery), 46 (36.1%) expired, 9 (6.9%) developed end-stage renal disease, while 11 (8.5%) had chronic kidney disease. CONCLUSION: Sepsis, nephrotoxic drugs, and acute glomerulonephritis were the major causes of AKI at our center. Mortality was high among children presenting with AKI. A relatively high proportion of children with younger age, septic AKI, and presentation in critical condition could be the reasons for this high mortality.
ABSTRACT
Natural wildlife habitats are regularly subjected to anthropogenic pressures for different purposes, which are heading the biodiversity towards drastic decline. Several endangered wild species are raised in captivity with the aim of re-introduction. In some instances, mixed herds' rearing approach in captivity is adopted for providing social enrichment to captive stocks; however, the impacts of species on each other are least documented. We tested our prediction that keeping mixed herds of captive wild sheep and antelopes provides adequate social enrichment to the captive stocks: if interspecific interactions are balanced. In the current study, we studied the interspecific competition between mixed herds of captive Punjab urial (Ovis vignei punjabiensis) and Indian gazelle (Gazella bennettii) at Manglot Wildlife Park, Nowshera District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. We documented the negative effects of behavioural interference by Punjab urial on the feeding behaviour of Indian gazelle. The outcome of the current study revealed that Punjab urial are highly intolerant towards Indian gazelle, with high interference during feeding. Out of the total aggressive events, 77% (N = 1259) of events ended up with win/loss, in which Punjab urial dominated the Indian gazelle 3.5 times. Moreover, lopsided dominance by Punjab urial resulted in increased intraspecific competition among Indian gazelle (p < 0.001). Current study divulged Indian gazelle to be the subordinate species, with less intake of food. Instead of providing social enrichment by heterospecifics, the Punjab urial is negatively affecting the Indian gazelle, therefore, the results of our study discourage the practice of admix captive breeding for wild sheep and antelopes.
ABSTRACT
A mass spectrometric method has been proposed for the determination of the isotopic composition of lithium. It is based upon thermal ionization of LiOH loaded onto a single SiO2-coated Re filament. By this method, stable emissions of Li+ ion have been achieved for an extended period of time. The proposed method is capable of analyzing trace quantities (approximately 40 ng) of Li in the presence of sodium with an uncertainty of +/-0.000 25 (two standard deviations of the mean).
