Modelling farmer choices for water security measures in the Litani river basin in Lebanon.

Lebanon is facing an increasing water supply deficit due to the increasing demand for freshwater, decreasing surface and groundwater resources and malfunctioning water governance structures. Technological and policy changes are needed to alleviate the impact of water scarcity and secure water in the future. This paper investigates farmers' preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) in a choice experiment for a series of water saving measures at plot and irrigation district level, including more timely information of water delivery. These measures are expected to strengthen water security and use water more efficiently. Farmers are willing to pay higher water prices of $0.32/m3 and $0.22/m3 to support the implementation of water saving measures at plot level and the installation of water metering devices across the irrigation district, respectively. They are not willing to pay extra for obtaining information related to their water delivery earlier in time if this means that they will also have to pay earlier in the year for the water. Farmers with higher income and education levels who decide on their cropping pattern based on expected rainfall data are more interested in taking action than farmers whose cropping decisions are primarily based on last year's sales prices. The study shows that when aiming to design more effective sustainable water management strategies, accounting for farmers' needs and preferences, their age also has to be considered: younger farmers (<40 years) are on average more interested in and willing to pay more for new water saving measures than older farmers (>40 years).

[Effects of hypotherapy on the motor function of persons with Down's syndrome: a systematic review]. / Efectos de la hipoterapia sobre la funcion motora en personas con sindrome de Down: revision sistematica.

INTRODUCTION: Down's syndrome is the main cause of intellectual disability and the most common human genetic alteration. Motor impairments are among the most important alterations presented by Down's syndrome subjects. Hippotherapy is a treatment on and with a horse, and it is currently being used as a therapy to correct those dysfunctions. AIM: To review published research literature on the effect exerted by hippotherapy on the gross motor function of people with Down's syndrome. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The bibliography in the following databases has been widely searched: CINAHL, Medline, The Cochrane Library, PEDro, Scopus, and Web of Science. The journals Fisioterapia and Cuestiones de Fisioterapia have also been consulted. The electronic literature search strategy was addressed in two thematic fields: Down's syndrome and hippotherapy. Studies selection was carried out following inclusion and exclusion criteria and rejecting duplicate papers. That search included articles published between 2000 and 2016. RESULTS: For this work, 23 articles were found, 15 of which were discarded for different reasons, leaving 8 valid ones. CONCLUSIONS: There is no strong evidence on the improvement of gross motor function in people with Down's syndrome after treatment with hippotherapy. More studies with higher methodological quality, are needed to verify the effectiveness of hippotherapy in the treatment of gross motor function in subjects with Down's syndrome.

TITLE: Efectos de la hipoterapia sobre la funcion motora en personas con sindrome de Down: revision sistematica.Introduccion. El sindrome de Down es la principal causa de discapacidad intelectual y la alteracion genetica humana mas comun. Entre las alteraciones mas importantes que se presentan se encuentran las deficiencias motoras. La hipoterapia es un tratamiento sobre el caballo y con el caballo, y se usa en la actualidad como terapia en la correccion de dichas disfunciones. Objetivo. Analizar las evidencias cientificas existentes sobre el efecto que la hipoterapia ejerce en la funcion motora de personas con sindrome de Down. Sujetos y metodos. Se efectuo una amplia busqueda de la bibliografia en las siguientes bases de datos: CINAHL, Medline, The Cochrane Library, PEDro, Scopus y Web of Science. Ademas, se consultaron las revistas Fisioterapia y Cuestiones de Fisioterapia. Las busquedas se realizaron incluyendo los articulos publicados entre los años 2000 y 2016. La estrategia de busqueda electronica se planteo en dos bloques tematicos: sindrome de Down e hipoterapia. La seleccion de articulos se llevo a cabo siguiendo unos criterios de inclusion y exclusion, y se eliminaron los articulos duplicados. Resultados. En la busqueda realizada para esta investigacion se encontraron 23 articulos, y quedaron como validos ocho despues de excluir el resto por diferentes motivos. Conclusiones. No existen evidencias solidas sobre la mejora o no de la funcion motora en personas con sindrome de Down tras el tratamiento con hipoterapia. Son necesarios mas estudios, y de mayor calidad metodologica, para poder constatar la efectividad de la hipoterapia en el tratamiento de la funcion motora gruesa en sujetos con sindrome de Down.

Beta-2-microglobulin in the assessment of renal function in full term newborns following perinatal asphyxia.

In order to evaluate the clinical usefulness of serum and urinary beta 2 microglobulin (beta 2-m) determination as a marker of renal damage following perinatal asphyxia, twenty asphyxiated and twenty healthy full term newborns were studied. Renal function was monitored on the first and third day after birth by traditional tests such as creatinine (Cr), endogenous creatinine clearance (Ccr), and fractional Na excretion (FeNa), as well as by serum and urinary beta 2 microglobulin. The value of different tests for the diagnosis of oliguria and of acute renal failure was determined. Eleven asphyxiated neonates developed oliguria and five ARF in contrast to none of the controls. Both traditional tests of renal function, and determinations of beta 2-m with the exception of serum beta 2-m, were significantly different (p less than 0.01) between controls and asphyxiated neonates. When stratified analysis was performed, only serum cr, urinary beta 2-m/cr ratio, and Fe beta 2-m were able to discriminate oliguria from preserved diuresis on the first day of life. For ARF, only Ccr and Fe beta 2-m were different, again on the first day of life. Urinary beta 2-m/creatinine ratio and Fe beta 2-m appear to be more sensitive and specific for the early detection of proximal tubular renal dysfunction following perinatal asphyxia than usual tests of renal function.

Beta-2-microglobulin as an index of renal function after cardiopulmonary bypass surgery in children.

In order to evaluate the clinical usefulness of serum and urinary beta-2-microglobulin (beta 2-m) determination as a marker of renal damage following cardiopulmonary bypass surgery (CPB), 37 children, with an age range of 6 months to 13 years undergoing CPB under hypothermia and cardioplegia for congenital malformations, were studied. Renal function was monitored at baseline and on the first and third day after CPB by traditional tests such as creatinine (Cr), endogenous creatinine clearance (Ccr), and fractional sodium excretion (FeNa), as well as by serum and urinary beta 2-m measured by radioimmunosorbent assay. Data were analyzed for the group as a whole and after stratification for the presence of acute renal failure (ARF) defined by an increase in Cr greater than 0.5 mg/dl and/or FeNa greater than 2% and of renal hypoperfusion which was considered in case of hypotension resistant to volume repletion and/or dopamine infusion and of oliguria (less than 1.0 ml/kg/h). The incidence of ARF was 18.9%, mortality 21.7% and among those who developed ARF, 71.4%. Although Cr and FeNa increased significantly on the first postoperative day, values returned to baseline thereafter, probably because of the high mortality rate observed among those who developed ARF and were therefore lost to follow-up. In contrast, Ccr was significantly decreased during the whole study. Even though serum beta 2-m displayed a similar profile to Cr and FeNa returning to baseline by the third day, urinary and fractional excretion of beta 2-m were significantly increased at any time of the study.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)