Metal biomonitoring with mosses in the surroundings of an oil-fired power plant in Italy.

Levels of 12 trace elements were measured in samples of the bryophyte Hypnum cupressiforme Hedw. and in soil collected in the surroundings of an oil-fired power plant in Northern Italy. Metal bioaccumulation in moss was estimated after soil correction in order to obtain deposition patterns and individuate potentially toxic metals emitted from the plant. V and Ni, occurring together in fuel oil, showed highest bioaccumulation values near the stacks. Mean contamination of the study area for these elements is 5.5 (V) and 3.3 (Ni) times the background levels of the reference site. Other elements showed only limited alterations of bioaccumulation values, in relation to agricultural and industrial activity in the study area.

[A sulfadiazine-tetroxoprim combination (co-tetroxazine) in the treatment of the acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis]. / L'associazione sulfadiazina-tetroxoprim (co-tetroxazina) nel trattamento delle riacutizzazioni delle broncopatie croniche.

After considering the bacterial flora which is most common in relapses in patients with bronchitis, 40 patients with chronic bronchitis have been treated with tetroxoprim a recently synthetized benzyl pyrimidine associated with sulfadiazine. One 350 mg tablet was administered every 12 hours for different periods, from 7 to 14 days. This study has shown how tetroxoprim has a wide antibacterial range, how it is well tolerated and extremely powerful in treating relapses of chronic infections in bronchi.