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To assess the ethanol-lock technique as a means of treating central venous line infections. Bloodstream infections in patients with tunneled central venous catheters can lead to removal of the lines.Twenty-eight children and adolescents aged 2 to 18 years, with different types of cancer, had Broviac catheters and presented with positive blood culture and clinical signs of infection between January 2000 and December 2001. The ethanol-lock technique was performed 24 times in 18 patients in addition to empiric (initially) and specific (after antibiogram) intravenous antibiotic treatment. In another 15 cases, 13 children were treated with systemic antibiotics alone.Sixty-seven percent of the patients treated with ethanol locks had no infectious relapse of any kind within 4 weeks of treatment or during subsequent aplasia, compared with 47% treated with systemic antibiotics alone. In one boy the catheter infection could not be cleared with systemic antibiotics alone, but after one course of ethanol locks no more blood culture-positive infectious episodes were observed. No severe clinical side effects of ethanol flush were observed. Mild symptoms that occurred were tiredness, headaches, dizziness, nausea, and light-headedness.The ethanol-lock technique appears to be a safe, well tolerated, and effective way to treat central venous line infections, even in small children. A prospective randomized study should be designed to compare antibiotic-lock, ethanol-lock technique, and systemic antibiotics alone in the treatment of device-associated bloodstream infection.

As a consequence of globalization, the world’s economies are merging; nonetheless, concerns about how globalization trends may harm the environment locally and worldwide are growing. The globalization-environment nexus has now become a contentious issue among policymakers. As a result, several empirical research studies on the globalization-environment nexus have been conducted. In the context of the environmental Kuznets curve theory, this study explores the influence of globalization on environmental deterioration in Kazakhstan (EKC). Furthermore, energy is a control variable in this research. Unit roots and structural break are used to solve the issue of non-stationarity in time series. The autoregressive distributed lagged (ARDL) model is used in this research for long run relationships between variables as well as to estimate long run and short run coefficients. Income, energy, and globalization are discovered to have a long-term link. Furthermore, the findings revealed that long-term environmental deterioration was exacerbated by economic, political, and social globalization, since these factors were shown to have a positive impact on carbon emissions in Kazakhstan. Energy is to blame for environmental damage both in the short and long term. Furthermore, this research reveals that the EKC theory exists in Kazakhstan. On the basis of the findings, policy suggestions are made.

Nepal is 100% dependent on imported petroleum products as it has no as yet viable proven reserve. The import of petroleum is increasing at an alarming rate (15.2% annually) which is creating not only a burden on the national economy but also raising the issue of energy supply security and environmental degradation. In this study, eleven distinct significant indicators have been used to evaluate the energy security status of the country. Since there is no such detailed quantification of indicators carried out in previous research, this study can be a significant input to policymakers and planners. It also explores the policy intervention measures to improve energy security status in the context of a developing country that is increasingly dependent on imported commercial fuels. Five different scenarios have been developed considering 2017 as a base year and 2040 as an end year with different economic growth rates 4.5%, 7.2% and 9.2% as main driving parameter. Two additional policy intervention scenarios (Policy-I and Policy-II), prioritizing electrification to enhance energy security, have been analyzed. The energy demands have been projected using the Model for Analysis of Energy Demand (MAED), while the Low Emission Analysis Platform (LEAP) tool has been used to analyze the supply, the energy supply requirement, fuel import dependence, cost, as well as the size of power plant requirement under different scenarios. The results manifest that there would be a reduction in Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) requirement by 1.14% and 8.7% under policy-I and Policy-II scenarios respectively in the year 2040, compared to the reference scenario (7.2%) resulting in improved energy security, economic vulnerability, and GHG mitigation. It indicates that the use of indigenous renewable energy resources mainly hydro is indispensable for ensuring the energy security of Nepal.

We make use of a bootstrap panel analysis of causality between energy use and economic growth for a sample of sixteen African countries over the period 1988-2010. Our results show that growth and energy use are strongly linked in Africa. However, African countries are heterogeneous and there is no "one way" recommendation about energy-growth relationship that may work for all countries in Africa.

Abstract The durability of a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) water electrolysis single cell, assembled with regular porous transport layers (PTLs) is investigated for just over 1000 h. We observe a significant degradation rate of 194 μV h−1 and conclude that 78% of the detectable degradation can be explained by an increase in ohmic resistance, arising from the anodic Ti-PTL. Analysis of the polarization curves also indicates a decrease in the anodic exchange current density, j0, that results from the over-time contamination of the anode with Ti species. Furthermore, the average Pt-cathode particle size increases during the test, but we do not believe this phenomenon makes a significant contribution to increased cell voltages. To validate the anode Ti-PTL as a crucial source of increasing resistance, a second cell is assembled using Pt-coated Ti-PTLs. This yields a substantially reduced degradation rate of only 12 μV h−1, indicating that a non-corroding anode PTL is vital for PEM electrolyzers. It is our hope that forthcoming tailored PTLs will not only contribute to fast progress on cost-efficient stacks, but also to its long-term application of PEM electrolyzers involved in industrial processes.

Experiments of outbred albino rats showed that chronic ethanol intoxication (20 days, summary dose 5 LD(50)) inhibited immune reactions mainly mediated by Th1-cells, increased blood corticosterone concentration, reduced T-lymphocyte acetylcholinesterase activity, blood concentrations of IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, and increased IL-6 level.

Abstract China will continue to be one of the largest coal producers and users in the world. The high volume of coal use in China has focused attention on the amounts of toxic trace elements released from coal combustions and also the valuable trace elements extracted or potentially utilized from coal ash. Compared to world coals, Chinese coals have normal background values for most trace elements, with the exception of higher Li (31.8 μg/g), Zr (89.5 μg/g), Nb (9.44 μg/g), Ta (0.62 μg/g), Hf (3.71 μg/g), Th (5.84 μg/g), and rare earth elements (∑ La-Lu + Y, 136 μg/g). This is not only due to the higher ash yields of Chinese coals but also to alkali volcanic ashes found in some southwestern coals. The background values of toxic elements of Hg (0.163 μg/g), As (3.79 μg/g), and F (130 μg/g) in Chinese coals are comparable to coals from most other countries. The genetic types for trace-element enrichment of Chinese coals include source-rock- controlled, marine-environment-controlled, hydrothermal-fluid-controlled (including magmatic-, low-temperature-hydrothermal-fluid-, and submarine-exhalation-controlled subtypes), groundwater-controlled, and volcanic-ash-controlled. The background values of trace elements were dominated by sediment source regions. Low-temperature hydrothermal fluid was one of the major factors for the local enrichment of trace elements in southwestern China. Serious human health problems caused by indoor combustion of coal in China include endemic fluorosis, arsenosis, selenosis, and lung cancer. Endemic fluorosis, mainly occurring in western Guizhou, was mostly attributed to the high fluorine in clay that was used as a briquette binder for fine coals, in addition to a small quantity of fluorine from coal. Fluorine in the coal from endemic-fluorosis areas of western Guizhou is within the usual range found in China and the world. Endemic arsenosis in southwestern Guizhou is attributed to indoor combustion of high-As coal. Endemic selenosis in Enshi of Hubei was due to high Se in carbonaceous siliceous rocks and carbonaceous shales. Fine particles of quartz, released into air during coal combustion, are hypothesized as a possible cause for the lung cancer epidemic in Xuanwei, Yunnan, China. Valuable elements, including Ge, Ga, U, REE (rare earth element), Nb, Zr, and Re are concentrated to levels comparable to conventional economic deposits in several coals or coal-bearing strata in China. The Ge deposits at Lincang, Yunnan province and Wulantuga, Inner Mongolia have been exploited and industrially utilized. The enrichment of Ge in the two deposits was caused by hydrothermal fluids associated with adjacent granitoids. The Ga (Al) ore deposit in the Jungar Coalfield, Inner Mongolia, was derived from the neighboring weathered and oxidized bauxite of the Benxi Formation (Pennsylvanian). The Nb(Ta)–Zr(Hf)–REE–Ga deposits in the Late Permian coal-bearing strata of eastern Yunnan and Chongqing of southwestern China were attributed to ashes of the alkali volcanic eruptions.

The urinary ratio of 5-hydroxytryptophol to 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid was reported to be elevated for a period of up to 22 h following acute alcohol ingestion. Therefore, the ratio could detect continuous alcohol consumption, in what was considered to be a high-risk surgical group, on the evening prior to surgery. The aim of this study was to determine the preoperative ratio of 5-hydroxytryptophol to 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid in patients with continuous preoperative alcohol misuse. Forty-two patients participated in this institutionally approved study, once their written informed consent had been obtained. Chronic alcoholics were defined by meeting the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria and an ethanol consumption > or =60 g/day. The urine samples were taken preoperatively and determined by means of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and high performance liquid chromatography. The urinary ratio of 5-hydroxytryptophol to 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid was significantly increased in chronic alcoholics. The ICU stay of these patients was significantly prolonged due to an increased incidence of pneumonia and sepsis. Five chronic alcoholics died, whereas no deaths occurred in the nonalcoholic group (p = 0.05). As the measurement of the urinary ratio of 5-hydroxy-tryptophol to 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid could detect alcohol consumption immediately prior to operation, this marker could assist the carbohydrate-deficient transferrin in screening for patients with high-level dependency; these patients were considered to be at a high risk of developing intercurrent complications.