Association of gastro esophageal reflex with chronic asthma and its significance: a prospective study

Background: Many studies have reported that gastro esophageal reflux is significantly more common in asthmatics than in control populations and this appears to apply particularly in childhood. To study the incidence of gastro esophageal refluxes in children which chronic asthma. To identity the clinical characteristic in children with chronic asthma and GER, which would predict reflux, related asthma?Methods: It is a prospective study of association of GER and chronic asthma using Radio nuclide scintigraphy carried at General pediatric in-patient wards of Niloufer hospital, Hyderabad. A Total of 50 patients with chronic asthma and 15 healthy children were evaluated.Results: Our study showed an incidence of Gastro Esophageal Reflux (GER) in 42% of chronic asthmatic children. High incidence of reflux (47.6%) under 4 years of age. No significance difference in the incidence of GER in children with seasonal verus Non-Seasonal asthma. About 50% of children with GER had no symptoms i.e. they had silent reflux. Nocturnal symptoms were significantly higher in asthmatic children with Ger (54.8%) than asthmatic children without GER (21%). Children with reflux related asthma suffered more morbidity in terms of recurrence of attacks, severity of chronic asthma (moderate persistent) and sleep disturbance as compared to children with no reflux. Presence of atopic signs was significantly higher in patients with asthma without GER.Conclusions: GER should be considered as a potentially important contributing factor in any patient with poorly controlled asthma. The asthmatic patient most likely to experience measurable benefit from anti-reflux therapy is the patients with significant nocturnal asthma and who have symptoms of both asthma and of reflux.

Application of Granulated Glauconite and a Sorbent Modified on its Basis in the Processes of Water Systems Purification from Cesium Radio Nuclides

High effectiveness of the granulated glauconite and nickel-cadmium sorbent modified with mixed ferrocyanide on its basis application as a filter bed for water solution purification from cesium radio nuclides has been demonstrated. Meeting of the developed sorbents mechanical strength of the GOST requirements to filtering grained materials has been stated. Results of the investigation of the sorption concentration of 137Cs radio nuclide from water solutions with experimental samples in static and dynamic conditions have been presented. The modified sorbent has shown an increased specificity in respect of 137Cs. The developed sorbents’obtained static exchange capacity in terms of 137Cs is estimated by the value >30 mg/g. Cesium sorption with the sorbents under study time dependencies have been obtained. It has been stated that the sorbent modification causes the process speed constant increase at the starting section of the kinetic curve. Output curves of the cesium sorption with the developed sorbents in dynamic regime are presented. Distribution coefficients for 137Cs obtained in dynamic conditions for the modified sorbent are one order of magnitude higher than that for granulated glauconite. During filtration of 34500 ml of water solution (≈ 8600 unit’s volumes) the fault did not exceeded 6 %. The obtained experimental data enable to recommend both granulated glauconite and its modified analog as a filter bed. For the first time it has been shown that the use of the modified sorbent allows to increase the treatment facilities filtering cycle. The sorbents developed on the basis of local natural materials can be applied in the water system treatment techniques for purification from cesium radio nuclide.

Sediment geochronology and spatio-temporal and vertical distributions of radionuclides in the Upper Bonny Estuary (South Nigeria)

Surface deposits and sediment cores were collected from the Upper Bonny Estuary, located in Southwest Nigeria, and analyzed to determine spatio-temporal and vertical distributions of radio-nuclide activities expressed in Bq·kg−1 dry weight. The results of activities of naturally occurring radionuclides of 226Ra (15 ± 2–34 ± 3 Bq·kg−1), 228Ra (32 ± 5–48 ± 6 Bq·kg−1), 40K (264 ± 29–462 ± 36 Bq·kg−1) were found to be all within the range of typical values reported for coastal regions. Ratios of 226Ra to 228Ra suggested accretion for all samples with low sediment accumulation registered during rainy months. In addition, vertical distributions at the three sampling sites were also studied with the initial aim of establishing chronologies from the decay of excess 210Pb. In two cores, excess 210Pb, estimated by subtracting 226Ra from total 210Pb on a layer-by-layer basis, exhibit relatively constant activity with discrete minima and maxima. Therefore, these cores were excluded from radiometric dating. Only the third core could be dated by the constant rate of supply model, and 137Cs was utilized to validate the 210Pb chronology.