Silver nanoparticles enter the tree stem faster through leaves than through roots.

A major environmental pollution problem is the release into the atmosphere of particulate matter, including nanoparticles (NPs), which causes serious hazards to human and ecosystem health, particularly in urban areas. However, knowledge about the uptake, translocation and accumulation of NPs in plant tissues is almost completely lacking. The uptake of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) and their transport and accumulation in the leaves, stems and roots of three different tree species, downy oak (Quercus pubescens Willd.), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and black poplar (Populus nigra L.), were assessed. In the experiment, Ag-NPs were supplied separately to the leaves (via spraying, the foliar treatment) and roots (via watering, the root treatment) of the three species. Uptake, transport and accumulation of Ag were investigated through spectroscopy. The concentration of Ag in the stem was higher in the foliar than in the root treatment, and in poplar more than in oak and pine. Foliar treatment with Ag-NPs reduced aboveground biomass and stem length in poplars, but not in oaks or pines. Species-specific signals of oxidative stress were observed; foliar treatment of oak caused the accumulation of H2O2 in leaves, and both foliar and root treatments of poplar led to increased O2- in leaves. Ag-NPs affected leaf and root bacteria and fungi; in the case of leaves, foliar treatment reduced bacterial populations in oak and poplar and fungi populations in pine, and in the case of roots, root treatment reduced bacteria and increased fungi in poplar. Species-specific mechanisms of interaction, transport, allocation and storage of NPs in trees were found. We demonstrated definitively that NPs enter into the tree stem through leaves faster than through roots in all of the investigated tree species.

MID TERM RESULTS AFTER OPEN HEART SURGERY IN HEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS AWAITING KIDNEY TRANSPLANT: DOES CARDIOVASCULAR SURGICAL INTERVENTION PRIOR TO TRANSPLANTATION PROLONG SURVIVAL?

The aim of this study was to compare the mid and long term postoperative outcomes between the hemodialysis-dependent patients awaiting kidney transplantat who underwent open heart surgery in our department during the last five years, and those who did not receive a renal transplant, to determine the predictors of mortality, and assess the possible contribution of post heart surgery kidney transplantation to survival. The patients were separated into two groups: those who underwent a transplantation after open heart surgery were included in the Tp+ group, and those who did not in the Tp- group Between June 2008 and December 2012, 127 dialysis dependent patients awaiting kidney transplant and who underwent open heart surgery were separated into two groups. Those who underwent transplantation after open heart surgery were determined as Tp+ (n=33), and those who did not as Tp- (n=94). Both groups were compared with respect to preoperative paramaters including age, sex, diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HT), hyperlipidemia (HL), obesity, smoking, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), peripheral vascular disease (PVD), left ventricle ejection fraction (EF), Euroscore; operative parameters including cross clamp time, perfusion time, number of grafts, use of internal mammary artery (IMA); postoperative parameters including revision, blood transfusion, ventilation time, use of inotropic agents, length of stay in the intensive care unit and hospital, and follow up findings. Problems encountered during follow up were recorded. Predictors of mortality were determined and the survival was calculated. Among the preoperative parameters, when compared with the Tp- group, the Tp+ group had significantly lower values in mean age, presence of DM, obesity, PVD, and Euroscore levels, and higher EF values. Assessment of postoperative values showed that blood transfusion requirement and length of hospital stay were significantly lower in the Tp+ group compared to the Tp- group, whereas the length of follow up was significantly higher in the Tp+ group. The use of inotropic agents was significantly higher in the Tp- group. A logistic regression analysis was made to determine the factors affecting mortality. Revision (p=0.013), blood transfusion (p=0.017), ventilation time (p=0.019), and length of stay in the intensive care unit (p=0.009) were found as predictors of mortality. Survival rates at years 1, 2 and 3 were 86.1%, 81%, 77.5% in the Tp- group, and 96.0%, 96.3%, 90.4% in the Tp+ group. Median survival rate was 41.35±2.02 in the Tp- group, and 49.64±1.59 in the Tp+ group which was significantly higher compared to the Tp- group (p=0.048). Chronic renal failure is among the perioperative risk factors for patients undergoing open heart surgery. Transplantation is still an important health issue due to insufficiency of available transplant organs. Patients with chronic renal failure are well known to have higher risks for coronary artery disease. A radical solution of the cardiovascular system problems prior to kidney transplantation seems to have a significant contribution to the post transplant survival.

Determining quantitative road safety targets by applying statistical prediction techniques and a multi-stage adjustment procedure.

Due to substantial progress made in road safety in the last ten years, the European Union (EU) renewed the ambitious agreement of halving the number of persons killed on the roads within the next decade. In this paper we develop a method that aims at finding an optimal target for each nation, in terms of being as achievable as possible, and with the cumulative EU target being reached. Targets as an important component in road safety policy are given as reduction rate or as absolute number of road traffic deaths. Determination of these quantitative road safety targets (QRST) is done by a top-down approach, formalized in a multi-stage adjustment procedure. Different QRST are derived under consideration of recent research. The paper presents a method to break the national target further down to regional targets in case of the German Federal States. Generalized linear models are fitted to data in the period 1991-2010. Our model selection procedure chooses various models for the EU and solely log-linear models for the German Federal States. If the proposed targets for the EU Member States are attained, the sum of fatalities should not exceed the total value of 15,465 per year by 2020. Both, the mean level and the range of mortality rates within the EU could be lowered from 28-113 in 2010 to 17-41 per million inhabitants in 2020. This study provides an alternative to the determination of safety targets by political commitments only, taking the history of road fatalities trends and population into consideration.

Interrupted aortic arch in adulthood.

Interrupted aortic arch is one of the rarest anomalies among the congenital cardiac defects. Patients must be treated early in life, otherwise death is inevitable. Reports on adult patients with aortic interruption are very rare in the literature. In this report, we present a 21-year-old patient with type A interrupted aortic arch. The patient underwent successful anatomical reconstruction of the descending aorta.

[The vascular manifestations of Behçet's disease: a case report]. / Les manifestations vasculaires de la Maladie de Behçet: a propos d'un cas.

Behçet's disease is an inflammatory vasculitis which affects the arteries and veins. The vascular pathologies are the rare complications of this disease. We present here a patient with Behçet's disease who has been hospitalized several times because of plurifocal vascular manifestations.

The surgical treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms in patients with light to moderate renal dysfunction.

OBJECTIVE: The incremental surgical risk caused by mild or moderate renal dysfunction in patients undergoing surgery for an abdominal aortic aneurysm is not well defined. The aim of this study is to analyze the prognostic significance of mild or moderate renal dysfunction in 79 patients who have undergone repair of an infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm at our institution. METHODS: The postoperative results of 35 non-dialysis-dependent patients (Group I) with renal dysfunction were included and compared with a group of 44 patients (Group II) with similar characteristics of age, gender and pre-operative risk factors. All operations were performed through a standard transperitoneal median laparotomy. RESULTS: The mean operation and aortic cross-clamp times did not differ significantly between the two groups (234+/-15 min vs. 189+/-17min ; p = 0.25 and 57+/-12 min. vs. 52+/-9 min. ; p = 0.52). Early operative mortality was 5.71% in patients with renal dysfunction and did not differ significantly when compared with the other group of patients 4.5%; p = 0.083). Blood requirement was higher (p < 0.01) and the hospital stay was longer (p < 0.001) in group I. There were 18 patients in group I (51.4%) and three patients in group II (6.8%) in whom the pre-operative serum creatinine level increased above 2.5 mg/dl during the postoperative period. The postoperative increase of creatinine level differed significantly in patients with pre-operative renal dysfunction (p < 0.001). There were nine patients (25.7%) in group I and four patients (9.1%) in group II who required mechanical ventilation for more than 24 hours (p = 0.025). There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of cardiac morbidity p = 0.234). CONCLUSION: Patients with even a mild or moderate degree of renal dysfunction require close monitoring and prolonged hospital care during the postoperative period. Although satisfactory early surgical outcomes may be expected in this particular group of patients, pulmonary and renal morbidity rates are higher than in patients with normal renal function.