Survival and pleurodesis outcome in patients with malignant pleural effusion – a systematic review

Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a common condition that presents with progressive breathlessness. Long term solutions are often required due to recurrence of effusion after simple drainage. Pleurodesis is one of the main options resorted to for long term control of MPE. There is data to suggest there may be a survival benefit for patients with MPE who achieve successful pleurodesis. A systematic review was carried out to explore this correlation and results suggest that there could be a survival difference according to pleurodesis outcome in patients with MPE. Fifteen studies (reported in 13 papers) were included; 13 (86.6%) of the studies showed survival difference in favour of pleurodesis success. The median [interquartile range] difference in survival between the two groups among the different studies was five [3.5–5.8] months. Most of the included studies suffered moderate to severe risk of bias and, thus, large prospective studies of patients undergoing pleurodesis are required to ascertain this effect.

Survival and pleurodesis outcome in patients with malignant pleural effusion – a systematic review

Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a common condition that presents with progressive breathlessness. Long term solutions are often required due to recurrence of effusion after simple drainage. Pleurodesis is one of the main options resorted to for long term control of MPE. There is data to suggest there may be a survival benefit for patients with MPE who achieve successful pleurodesis. A systematic review was carried out to explore this correlation and results suggest that there could be a survival difference according to pleurodesis outcome in patients with MPE. Fifteen studies (reported in 13 papers) were included; 13 (86.6%) of the studies showed survival difference in favour of pleurodesis success. The median [interquartile range] difference in survival between the two groups among the different studies was five [3.5–5.8] months. Most of the included studies suffered moderate to severe risk of bias and, thus, large prospective studies of patients undergoing pleurodesis are required to ascertain this effect.

Parameters Predicting Poor Prognosis in Patients with Malignant Ascites in Yangon General Hospital

Prognosis for patients with malignant ascites is poor and median survival is only a few months. Treatment of malignant ascites ranges from simple drainage procedures to chemotherapy and debulking surgery. Careful selection of treatment modality by using clinicpathological parameters could improve not only the survival but also the quality of life of the patients. So this hospital-based prospective study aimed to find out the parameters predicting poor prognosis among patients with confirmed malignant ascites admitted to Oncology Department, Yangon General Hospital. This study included 102 patients with malignant ascites. Among them, 19(18.6%) were male patients and 83(81.4%) were female with age ranging from 15 to 73 years (mean age 46.35±12.9 years). Common cancers associated with malignant ascites were ovarian cancer (32.35%), stomach cancer (19.61%) and breast cancer (9.80%). Sixty-four percent of patients presented with stage IV. Common metastatic sites were liver (37.27%), peritoneum (16.67%) and lungs (11.76%) and 28 patients (27.45%) had more than one site of metastasis. Eight patients (7.8%) were in Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) per-formance status score 1 and 23 patients (22.5%) were in ECOG score 4. The time interval between first diagnosis and development of malignant ascites ranged from 0 to 120 months. Only 33 patients (32.4%) were still alive after 6-month follow- up. High serum urea level was associated with better prognosis (OR =0.19, 95% CI 0.04-0.99), however, primary advanced stage (OR=3.30, 95% CI 1.26-258.62), and high serum creatinine level (OR=9.15, 95% CI 1.71-71.21) significantly worsened the prognosis in patients with malignant ascites.

Rekayasa Sistem Tata Air Lokasi Transmigrasi Palingkau Asri Lahan Usaha Satu SP-2 Di Wilayah Kabupaten Kapuas Propinsi Kalimantan Tengah

Agriculture land in the transmigration location of Palingkau Asri is one of the development locations for tidal land development in Kalimantan. In its development this location has been divided into three settlement areas (SP), one of them is the SP-2. The focus of this research is Lahan Usaha Satu at SP-2. There are already irrigation networks consisting of irrigation channels (a simple drainage system) in the form of primary pilot channels, primary auxiliary channels, and tertiary channels. The main problems of this location include the excess of water that occurs in rainy seasons and a water system that does not function properly. To overcome these problems research was carried out in the following steps. Firstly, primary and secondary data were taken. Secondly, the water system optimization was examined using a mathematical model that was solved by using the HEC-RAS software package. Lastly, the problem of the excess water (floods) was solved by determining a dike height for a period of 25 years and optimizing the water system with water management structures such as watergates. The results indicated that the existing water management system still can handle the excess of water although the tertiary channels were overflowed (channel of T2, T4, T6, T12) especially at T6, where the overflow reached a maximum value of 1.1 m. The simulation with HEC-RAS

Investigation of the possibility of green bean production under unfavourable agro-ecological conditions in lysimeters

There are extended agricultural areas in the world that can be utilized only with irrigation for crop production. Improper irrigation may induce unfavourable processes in the soil (e.g. secondary salinization). To investigate this problem existing in Hungary as well, 12 simple drainage lysimeters – which are useful equipment for the investigation of the water and salt balance of the soil – were used in an irrigation experiment in the Research Institute of Karcag. The basic goal was to investigate the possibility of the production of a salt-sensitive crop (green bean) in areas with unfavourable agro-ecological conditions. 6 lysimeters were irrigated with deionized water, while the other 6 with saline water of 1,600 mg/l salt content. We also used a soil conditioner (Neosol) during the experiment. Analysing the effect of the irrigation quality on the plant height of green beans, it can be established that the plants irrigated with deionized water were averagely 5.3 cm taller than the plants irrigated with saline water. Similar tendencies were characteristic of the average biomass (deionized: 93.5, saline: 62.5 g), the average root mass (deionized: 9.5 g, saline: 8.2 g), the number of pods (deionized: 17.1, saline: 11.9), and the pod yield (deionized: 137.9 g, saline: 85.9 g) values. However, all these values can be improved by soil conditioning combined with the optimization of irrigation.

Strategy to determine the existence of small-scale wetlands in tropical Andean zones (Colombia)

The Flandes community, in Tolima, Colombia, has proposed the protection of an ephemeral wetland that has been an object of interest for developers, who, by means of a simple drainage and using the dry season to their advantage, may convert a seasonal wetland into an urban area. The object of this investigation was to demonstrate that said water body may be recovered, as a protection zone, at request of the Flandes community. This matter was approached from multiple biophysical points of view. The results indicate that it is a seasonal wetland, geological examination reveals the presence of clay lenses, historical reconstruction of aerial photos indicate the existence of the wetlands, and the presence of phytoplankton and diatoms is evident. These factors indicate the existence, in past ages, of aquatic and ground-based organisms. The result of this study was the creation of a successful methodology for the determination of the existence of wetlands in small-scale Andean tropical areas, for their possible recovery and use by urban planners.

Effect of Soil Conditioning on the Moisture Content and the Salt Profile of the Soil Under Irrigation with Saline Water

The research work was started on the preliminary knowledge that the risk of secondary salinization is high in the hobby gardens around Karcag as the water of the aquifers used for irrigation is saline, nevertheless irrigation in the drought periods is essential for vegetable production. A complex experiment was set up in 12 simple drainage lysimeters at the lysimeter station of the Research Institute of Karcag in 2012 in order to simulate the conditions of irrigation characteristic in the region with the goal of finding a solution to mitigate the harmful effects by means of optimization of irrigation. In 2017–2018 three approaches were applied for the scientific establishment of the problem studying the effect of different irrigation frequencies, different irrigation water qualities, and soil conditioning on the moisture content and the salt profile of the soil. The soil conditioner (Neosol) applied was found to have a positive effect on the water and salt regime of the soil, partly by creating a more favourable vertical distribution of the soil water, and partly preserving more moisture in the soil.