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Major Outcome (major + outcome)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Breastfeeding protects against infectious diseases during infancy in industrialized countries.

MATERNAL & CHILD NUTRITION, Issue 3 2009
A systematic review
Abstract Firstly, this review was performed to assess the effect of breastfeeding on infections during infancy in industrialized countries. Secondly, the effect of duration and exclusiveness of breastfeeding were explored. Studies were identified using Medline, Cochrane Library, Science Citation Index and by a manual search from bibliographies of articles from August 1986 to January 2008. Follow-up, case,control and randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies performed in an industrialized country, published in English, with breastfeeding as a determinant, with overall infections, gastrointestinal or respiratory tract infections as a major outcome, and at least 40 participants in the study were included. Using Bauchner's criteria published in a review in 1986, two reviewers and a peer reviewer assessed the internal validity of those studies. Twenty-one studies that met the inclusion and internal validity criteria were included. These included 16 follow-up and four case,control studies and one RCT. Four out of five studies observed decreased effects on overall infections in breastfed infants. With regard to gastrointestinal infections, six out of eight studies suggested that breastfeeding had a protective effect. Thirteen out of 16 studies concluded that breastfeeding protects infants against respiratory tract infections. Five studies combined duration and exclusiveness of breastfeeding. All studies observed a protective dose/duration-response effect on gastrointestinal or respiratory tract infections. These studies strongly suggest that breastfeeding protects infants against overall infections, gastrointestinal and respiratory tract infections in industrialized countries. The optimal duration of exclusive breastfeeding for protection against infectious diseases needs to be studied in more detail. [source]

Incidence, management and mortality of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome from a prospective study of Chinese paediatric intensive care network

ACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 5 2010
X Hu
Abstract Aim:, To investigate the incidence, clinical management, mortality and its risk factors, major outcome and costs of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in a Chinese network of 26 paediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Methods: In a consecutive 12-month period, AHRF and ARDS were identified and followed up for 90 days or until death or discharge. Results:, From a total of 11 521 critically ill patients, 461 AHRF were identified in which 306 developed ARDS (66.4%), resulting in incidences of 4% and 2.7%, respectively, with pneumonia (75.1%) and sepsis (14.7%) as main underlying diseases and 83% were 5 years and 1 month-old. In-hospital mortality of AHRF was 41.6% (44.8% for ARDS), accounted for 15.5% of all PICU deaths. For those of pneumonia or sepsis with AHRF and ARDS, mortality and its relative risk were significantly higher than those without. Relatively lower tidal volume and total fluid balance, adequate upper limit of PaCO2 in the early PICU days, and family affordability, tended to result in better outcome. Conclusion:, In this prospective study, AHRF had high possibilities to develop ARDS and death risk, as impacted by ventilation settings and fluid intake in the early treatment, as well as socioeconomic factors, which should be considered for implementation of standard of care in respiratory therapy. [source]

Using GIS and a digital elevation model to assess the effectiveness of variable grade flow diversion terraces in reducing soil erosion in northwestern New Brunswick, Canada

HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 23 2009
Qi Yang
Abstract Flow diversion terraces (FDT) are commonly used beneficial management practice (BMP) for soil conservation on sloped terrain susceptible to water erosion. A simple GIS-based soil erosion model was designed to assess the effectiveness of the FDT system under different climatic, topographic, and soil conditions at a sub-basin level. The model was used to estimate the soil conservation support practice factor (P -factor), which inherently considered two major outcomes with its implementation, namely (1) reduced slope length, and (2) sediment deposition in terraced channels. A benchmark site, the agriculture-dominated watershed in northwestern New Brunswick (NB), was selected to test the performance of the model and estimated P -factors. The estimated P -factors ranged from 0·38,1·0 for soil conservation planning objectives and ranged from 0·001 to 0·45 in sediment yield calculations for water-quality assessment. The model estimated that the average annual sediment yield was 773 kg ha,1 yr ,1 compared with a measured value of 641 kg ha,1 yr,1. The P -factors estimated in this study were comparable with predicted values obtained with the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE2). The P -factors from this study have the potential to be directly used as input in hydrological models, such as the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT), or in soil conservation planning where only conventional digital elevation models (DEMs) are available. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Baculovirus P35 protein: An overview of its applications across multiple therapeutic and biotechnological arenas

BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 2 2010
Sudhir Sahdev
Abstract Baculovirus immediate early P35 protein is well known for its anti-apoptotic as well as anti-oxidant properties. Mechanism of action of P35 involves inhibition of a vast range of initiator to executioner class of caspases. In addition, P35's role in inhibiting oxidant-induced mitochondrial damage, primarily in the apoptotic pathway, has also been extensively investigated. Elucidation of P35's functions during regulation of programmed cell death (PCD) has led to a renewed focus on exploiting this basic knowledge for clinical and other related applications. This review outlines specific biochemical and genetic pathways where P35 intervenes and regulates rate-limiting steps in the apoptotic signaling cascade. Research efforts are underway to utilize P35 as an agent in regulating apoptosis and under certain circumstances, also explore the therapeutic potential of its anti-oxidant features. One of the major outcomes of recent studies include significantly improved effectiveness of cytochrome P450 directed enzyme pro-drug delivery tools when used in conjunction with P35, which may help in alleviating drug resistance in tumor cells and simultaneously prolonging the cytotoxic effects of anti-cancer drugs. Moreover, applied research carried out recently in the fields of diabetes, ischemia-induced neuronal cell death, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), multiple sclerosis (MS), inflammatory arthritis, cardiovascular and ocular disorders illustrate P35's utilization across diverse therapeutic areas and will certainly make it an attractive biomolecule for the discovery research. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2010 [source]