Ammonia volatilisation from pig slurry and ANS with DMPP applied to Westerwold ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam., cv. Trinova) under Mediterranean conditions.

Ammonia volatilisation from agriculture represents an important nitrogen (N) loss which has both environmental and economic impacts. In regions where large amounts of manures are available, there is a need to find appropriate management strategies that help to reuse them without increasing ammonia volatilisation. A study was made of the effect on ammonia volatilisation and yield of fertilising ryegrass with pig slurry (PS) and ammonium nitrosulphate (ANS-26) alone and with the 3,4-dimethylpyrazol phosphate (DMPP) nitrification inhibitor added to them. The study was conducted under Mediterranean conditions at two different sites. The treatments (control, PS, PS + DMPP, ANS-26 and ENTEC®) were established in a randomised block design with three replicates. Ammonia was sampled daily after each fertilisation using semi-static volatilisation chambers. We hypothesised that PS could replace mineral fertiliser without substantially increasing ammonia volatilisation in the studied systems. Temperature positively correlated with ammonia emissions. On the whole, during the two years of the study, the PS treatments presented higher average cumulative ammonia volatilisation (25% of total ammonium nitrogen (TAN) applied at Site 1; 21% of TAN applied at Site 2) than the mineral ones (11% of TAN applied at Site 1; 10% of TAN applied at Site 2). At pre-sowing, ammonia volatilisation was significantly (p < .05) lower (51% at Site 1; 55% at Site 2) than after ryegrass cuts due to burying PS immediately after application. Overall, applying DMPP had no effect on ammonia volatilisation. There were no significant differences in average yield (from 13.7 to 15.8 kg ha-1 at Site 1; from 11.6 to 13.5 kg ha-1 at Site 2) between the fertilised treatments, though ENTEC® tended to increase it. Applying PS (pre-sowing fertilisation) in combination with mineral N or processed PS fractions after ryegrass cuts could be an interesting option for the recycling of this livestock by-product without increasing ammonia volatilisation while maintaining yields.

Effect of N dose, fertilisation duration and application of a nitrification inhibitor on GHG emissions from a peach orchard.

Despite only occupying 5% of the worldwide arable area, fruit tree crops are of vital economic importance in many regions. Intensive cropping practices can lead to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In order to reduce these emissions, numerous studies have been made on lowering N inputs or applying nitrification inhibitors (NIs) which tend to maintain or even increase yield while reducing N leaching and nitrogenous emissions to the atmosphere. However, very few studies have been conducted on potential GHG emissions from the peach crop. In this work, a three-year study was carried out in a commercial peach orchard with a split-plot design with three replicates, in which the main factor was N dose (25, 50 and 100 kg N ha-1 year-1, and 50 kg N ha-1 year-1 applied during a shorter period of time in 2015 and 2016; and only 70 kg N ha-1 year-1 in 2017). Subplots in the study were used to analyse the effect of the application of a NI (3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate; DMPP). The aim was to qualitatively compare the effect of these factors on N2O, N2O + N2, CH4 and CO2 emissions from a peach orchard soil in order to recommend agricultural practices that minimise emissions without concurrent yield reductions. We show that N2O and N2O + N2 emissions were linked to fertilisation and increased with N dose. The N2O emissions were mitigated (up to 49%) by DMPP up to the 50 kg N ha-1 dose (not significantly). It seems that between 70 and 100 kg N ha-1 the application of DMPP loses effectiveness. Methane oxidation increased with N dose and decreased with DMPP application; CO2 emissions increased with DMPP and were unaffected by N dose. The intermediate N dose (50 kg N ha-1) applied during a shorter period of time increased yield (not significantly) and NUE without increasing GHG emissions.

Effect of N dose on soil GHG emissions from a drip-fertigated olive (Olea europaea L.) orchard.

Agronomic practices may mitigate greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from crops. Appropriate nitrogen (N) and irrigation management provide the potential to reduce nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) emissions. However, there is little information about the combination of both practices on the GHG emissions from olive orchards. This four-year study was conducted to qualitatively compare the effect of N doses applied through two drip irrigation strategies on N2O and CH4 emissions in a super-intensive (1010 trees ha-1) olive orchard. The design (randomised blocks) was asymmetric: 0, 50 and 100 kg N ha-1 yr-1 were tested with full irrigation (FI; 2013 to 2016), but only 0 and 50 kg N ha-1 yr-1 were tested with regulated deficit irrigation (RDI; 2014 to 2016). The study shows that the soil acted as a main sink of N2O and CH4, regardless of the soil water content. Methane oxidation increased with N dose in the FI strategy (significant in 2013 and 2015). Overall, there was a tendency of yield to increase with the N dose without increasing emissions and without depending of the irrigation strategy. However, these results were not significant. Further confirmation of this tendency is necessary; particularly comparing FI + N100 (most promising treatment in terms of profitability) with the RDI + N100 (not available in this study) water-saving strategy.

[Austrian syndrome: A rare manifestation of invasive pneumococcal disease. A case report and bibliographic review]. / Síndrome de Austrian: Una rara manifestación de la enfermedad neumocócica invasiva. Presentación de un caso y revisión bibliográfica.

The Austrian syndrome is a pathology caused by disseminated Streptococcus pneumoniae infection and characterized for the triad of pneumonia, endocarditis and meningitis. It has an estimated incidence of 0.9-7.8 cases per ten millions people each year, and a mortality of 32%. Alcohol abuse, as the main risk factor, appears only in four out of ten patients. Moreover, 14% of patientes do not have any risk factor. Two out of three patients are males and it occurs in the middle aged of life. It is more frequently on native valve, aortic valve is injured in the half of the cases. Severe regurgitation occurs in two per three patients. Appropriate antimicrobial treatment and early endocarditis surgery decrease mortality. It is possible that Austrian syndrome epidemiology is changing by the introduction of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugated vaccine in the children´s calendar.

Orina pigmentada, hemólisis, hemoglobinuria / Pigmented urines with benign prognosis

Se presenta el caso de un hombre joven que refiere orinaspigmentadas de origen incierto y que tras un interrogatoriodirigido y del estudio pertinente se obtiene en las consultasde Atención Primaria un diagnóstico de benignidad (AU)

We discuss the case of a young man presenting pigmentedurine of uncertain origin which, following targeted questioingand the relevant study, was diagnosed as benign in PrimaryCare (AU)

Weekly administration of docetaxel in combination with estramustine and celecoxib in patients with advanced hormone-refractory prostate cancer: final results from a phase II study.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety profile of weekly docetaxel, estramustine and celecoxib in patients with advanced hormone-refractory prostate cancer. Forty-eight patients received 35 mg m(-2) of weekly docetaxel for 3 out of every 4 weeks, 280 mg of estramustine twice daily on days 1-3, 8-10, 15-17 and 400 mg of celecoxib twice daily until progression or toxicity. Cycles were repeated every 28 days for at least six cycles. Patients were evaluated for response and toxicity. Patients received a median of four cycles (range: 1-9). On an intention-to-treat analysis, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was decreased greater than 50% in 28 out of 48 patients (overall response rate: 58%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 44-72) and median duration of PSA response was 8.0 months (95% CI: 6.9-9.0). After a median follow-up of 11.3 months, the median time to progression was 7.1 months and the median overall survival was 19.2 months. The most frequent severe toxicity was asthenia (15% of patients), diarrhoea and stomatitis (8% of patients, each). Grade 3/4 neutropenia was reported in two patients. There was a toxic death during the study due to a gastric perforation. Celecoxib with weekly docetaxel and estramustine is an effective and safe treatment for patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer, but it does not seem to add any benefit to docetaxel.

Feasiblity study of gemcitabine and cisplatin administered every two weeks in patients with advanced urothelial tumors and impaired renal function

OBJECTIVES: Cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy is the mainstay of treatment for advanced bladder cancer. However, full doses of cisplatin cannot be delivered in patients with impaired renal function. Our aim was to prove the feasibility of a gemcitabine and low-dose cisplatin regimen, delivered every two weeks in patients with impaired renal function. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients with locally advanced or metastatic bladder cancer with creatinine clearance between 35-60 ml/min received gemcitabine 2500 mg/m2 and cisplatin 35 mg/m2 on day 1, every 14 days. RESULTS: Between January 2004 and March 2005, 17 patients were treated. Mean creatinine clearance was 47.8 ml/min (range: 37-59 ml/min). Four patients had previously received chemotherapy with gemcitabine and/ or platinum. Median number of cycles per patient was 5 (1-13). No patient developed renal toxicity or worsening of renal function. Main toxicities were (grade 3/4): Anemia 2/1; leucopenia: 1/2; trombopenia 1/1. There was one toxic death related to metabolic acidosis, secondary to vomiting. Among 16 patients evaluable for response, we observed one complete response, 7 partial responses (ORR: 53.3%; IC 95%: 28.1-78.5%), 6 stabilizations (37.5%) and 2 progressions (12.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Gemcitabine and low-dose cisplatin is a safe and feasible combination in patients with poor renal function. Response rates seem similar to those previously described with standard schedules of this combination (AU)

Second-line chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: The role of second-line chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have relapsed or failed to respond to first-line treatment was unclear. OBJECTIVES: To determine the effectiveness of any second-line chemotherapy in patients with NSCLC. SEARCH STRATEGY: Medline (1966-July 2001), Embase (1974-July 2001), Cancerlit (1993-July) and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (CENTRAL, issue 2 2001) were searched. In addition a handsearch was performed and experts in the field contacted to identify any further studies that had not been found by the electronic searches. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled clinical trials in which any second-line chemotherapy was compared with placebo or best supportive care in patients with NSCLC who had previously failed to any previous chemotherapy regimen. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data were extracted by 2 independent reviewers and revised by a third author. MAIN RESULTS: Only one study was included. This study included a total of 204 patients who were randomised to receive either doxetaxel or best supportive care. Following an unacceptably high toxic death rate the dose of doxetaxel was reduced from 100 mg/m(2) to 75 mg/m(2). Docetaxel gave an extra 2.4 months survival - an average of 7.0 months vs 4.6 months on best supportive care. At 1 year after diagnosis 29% of doxetaxel treated patients were alive compared with 19% of the best supportive care group. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: Definitive recommendations cannot be made since evidence is only available from one randomised controlled trial which, though of reasonable quality had a number of limitations. There is currently no evidence to support second-line treatment of patients with poor performance status. Larger, well-designed controlled trials are needed to further evaluate whether the benefits of second-line chemotherapy to patients with non-small cell lung cancer outweigh its risks and costs.

Second-line chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: The role of second-line chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have relapsed or failed to respond to first-line treatment was unclear. OBJECTIVES: To determine the effectiveness of any second-line chemotherapy in patients with NSCLC. SEARCH STRATEGY: Bibliographic databases were searched. Handsearching and contact with experts was also performed. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled clinical trials in which any second-line chemotherapy was compared with BSC in patients with NSCLC who had previously failed to any previous chemotherapy regimen. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data was extracted by 2 independent reviewers and revised by all authors. MAIN RESULTS: Only one study was included. It randomised 204 patients to receive either doxetaxel or BSC. Following an unacceptably high toxic death rate the dose of doxetaxel was reduced from 100 mg/m(2) to 75 mg/m(2). Doxetaxel gave an extra 2.4 months of survival - an average of 7.0 months vs 4.6 months on BSC. At 1 year after diagnosis 29% of doxetaxel treated patients were alive compared with 19% of the BSC group. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: Definitive recommendations cannot be made since evidence is only available from one randomised controlled trial which, though of reasonable quality, had a number of limitations. There is currently no evidence to support second-line treatment of patients with poor performance status. Larger, well-designed controlled trials are needed to further evaluate whether the benefits of second-line chemotherapy to patients with NSCLC outweigh its risks and costs.

Gemcitabine/carboplatin in advanced urothelial cancer.

Transitional cell carcinoma of the urothelium is a highly chemosensitive tumor. Combination chemotherapy can provide both palliation and a modest survival advantage in patients with advanced disease. As shown in a recent phase III trial, the new gold standard should be considered gemcitabine/cisplatin, although toxicity remains important. Bladder cancer is a common tumor in our population (Spain), usually affecting elderly patients with comorbid diseases and renal impairment. Thus, most of these patients may not benefit from cisplatin-based regimens. The development of new combinations for treating such patients is, therefore, of vital importance. The identification of new active agents against transitional cell carcinoma, such as taxanes and gemcitabine, is promising. We believe that the combination of gemcitabine plus carboplatin could also be useful in this subset of patients. On this basis, we treated bladder cancer patients in two trials using gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m(2) on days 1 and 8, and carboplatin (area under the curve 5) on day 1, every 21 days. The overall response rate for evaluable patients with and without renal impairment was 60%, with a 95% confidence interval of 40% to 72%. The potential clinical benefit of this new doublet in the treatment of transitional cell carcinoma warrants testing in future phase III studies. Semin Oncol 28 (suppl 10):19-24.