Prague, 18 March: Czech Environment Minister Jan Dusik (for the Greens, SZ) told journalists today he is leaving the government because he cannot make a decision on the assessment of the ...environmental impact of upgrading the coal-fired power plant Prunerov II, north Bohemia. "The Prime Minister did not accept my decision and asked me to immediately issue an EIA stand. I am not internally convinced that it is possible to issue a positive or a negative stand with a clear conscience in the situation in which the environment impact assessment (EIA) process now is," Dusik said. "It is a courageous move," Jan Rovensky, from Greenpeace, commented on Dusik's decision.
Prague, 22 March: Czech President Vaclav Klaus has entrusted Agriculture Minister Jakub Sebesta with heading the Environment Ministry after Jan Dusik, Klaus's spokesman Radim Ochvat told journalists ...today. Sebesta was nominated to Prime Minister Jan Fischer's interim government by the Social Democrats (CSSD). Dusik's departure will therefore strengthen the Social Democrats' influence in the government.
Juraj Chmiel, who was ambassador to Australia until now, confirmed today that he left the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) to be able to join Jan Fischer's non-partisan cabinet. Stefan Fuele was ...nominated to the government by the Social Democrats (CSSD). The two major parties, the CSSD and the ODS, agreed that the head of the Government Legislative Council will again be a member of the cabinet and that the post will go to the Social Democrats who nominated Pavel Zarecky to it. Fischer's cabinet in May replaced the centre-right government of Mirek Topolanek (ODS) that was toppled in a no-confidence vote earlier this spring. The Fischer cabinet was originally to lead the country to early elections in October. As the election idea fell through, the cabinet is expected to govern until the regular polls in May 2010.
Background Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is common in very premature infants. Pharmacological closure of PDA with indomethacin, a prostaglandin inhibitor, has remained the mainstay of treatment in ...premature infants over the last three decades. Intravenous ibuprofen was recently shown to be as effective and to have fewer adverse reaction in preterm infants. If equally effective, then oral ibuprofen for PDA closure would have several important advantages over the intravenous route. This study was designed to assess the efficacy and safety of oral ibuprofen and intravenous ibuprofen for the early pharmacological treatment of PDA in LBW preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome. Methods A randomized, single-blinded, controlled study was performed on premature neonates at the neonatal care unit of the University Hospital for Obstetrics and Gynecology”Koco Gliozheni”, Tirana, Albania, from January 2010 to December 2012. The study enrolled 68 preterm infants with gestational age between 28-32 weeks, birth weight ≤ 2000 g, postnatal age 48-96 h, and had echocardiographically confirmed significant PDA. The preterm infants received either intravenous or oral ibuprofen randomly as an initial dose of 10 mg/kg, followed by 5 mg/kg at 24 and 48 h. After the first dose of treatment in both groups, echocardiographic evaluation was performed, to determine the need for a second or third dose. The rate of ductal closure, adverse effects, complications, and the patient’s clinical course were recorded. Results All patients were born after 28 until 32 weeks’ gestation. 36 patients were treated with oral ibuprofen and 32 with intravenous ibuprofen in this period. After the first course of the treatment, the PDA closed in 30 (83.3%) of the patients assigned to the oral ibuprofen group versus 23 (71.8%) of those enrolled in the intravenous ibuprofen group (p = 0.355). There was no difference between treatment groups in demographics or baseline renal function. In the evaluation of renal tolerance, none of the patients had oliguria. There were no significant differences with respect to complications during the stay. Conclusions In low birth weight infants, the rate of early ductal closure with oral ibuprofen is at least as good as with the intravenous route. Oral ibuprofen is associated with fewer adverse effects
Alketa Hoxha, Ermira Kola, Numila Kuneshka, Eduard Tushe
Literatura
Chuck Bergman, an assistant Fulton County prosecutor, said he authorized felony charges against Jimmy Dennis, 17, and John Engelhardt, James Elliott, and Ryan Krise, all 14. He was found unresponsive ...about 8:30 a.m. in an unlocked van at a home about a quarter-mile south of the Dennis home. Neighbors found John when they went to their vehicles to go to work and called authorities. John initially was treated at the Fulton County Health Center, Wauseon, and then transferred to St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center, Toledo. So deputies, trying to determine why John was found unresponsive, went to Jimmy's. There they were met by Jimmy's grandfather, who said he had been unable to awaken the boys in Jimmy's bedroom that morning but did not call for help.
M. Ye, S. B. Peng and Y. Li.
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To explore the natural variation in leaf photosynthesis and investigate its relations with leaf nitrogen (N) status, 121 rice cultivars were ...pot-grown and their leaf photosynthetic rate (PN) and N content were measured on the flag leaves at heading stage before anthesis. The results showed that there were substantial natural variations in PN, leaf N content based on leaf area and leaf mass, and photosynthetic N-use efficiency (PNUE). PN ranged between 15.4 and 32.6 μmol m-2 s-1; PN and PNUE of four widely grown cultivars in China were significantly lower than PN and PNUE of the cultivar Nancay PA, which possessed the highest values for PN and PNUE. Moreover, PNUE was positively related to PN across cultivars, the high PNUE was related to high stomatal conductance, high transpiration, and low leaf mass per area. We concluded that intraspecific variation in PNUE is positively related to PN in rice plants.
I. Ahmad, S. Ahmad, M. Kamran, X. N. Yang, F. J. Hou, B. P. Yang, R. X. Ding, T. Liu, Q. F. Han.
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Reducing the leaf senescence rate could improve the grain yield in ...maize. In the present study, maize seeds were treated with uniconazole at concentrations of 0 and 25 mg kg-1, and nitrogen was applied at 0, 150, and 225 kg ha-1 to maize crop planted at a density of 105,000 plants ha-1. Applying uniconazole and nitrogen reduced the leaf senescence rate by increasing the leaf area per plant, chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate. Uniconazole and nitrogen increased the electron transport rate, photochemical quenching coefficient, variable fluorescence, maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry, and effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry. Uniconazole and nitrogen reduced the intercellular carbon dioxide concentration, nonphotochemical quenching coefficient, and malondialdehyde content but increased the soluble protein content and antioxidant enzyme activities. Applying uniconazole at a concentration of 25 mg kg-1 and nitrogen at a rate of 150 kg ha-1 obtained the maximum grain yield in maize.
L. Begović, V. Galić, I. Abičić, Z. Lončarić, A. Lalić, and S. Mlinarić.
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This study aimed to explore how ten selected winter barley genotypes responded to variations in ...environmental conditions during the growth season by using fast chlorophyll a fluorescence and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) at the booting, anthesis and early grain-filling stage. Lower amount of rainfall during the anthesis induced instability in the function of PSII, observed as the positive K-band in six and the positive L-band in seven genotypes. At grain filling, all genotypes displayed negative K- and L-bands, suggesting an increase of stability within PSII. The performance index increased from booting to grain filling in most genotypes. Chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters were incorporated into the partial least squares model as explanatory variables of NDVI. After a cross-validation, the model with four latent variables was chosen explaining 75.8% variance (r = 0.870) for NDVI. The principal component analyses showed two distinct types of the reaction of the barley genotypes to the mild drought stress at anthesis.
G. Cerqueira, M. C. Santos, P. E. R. Marchiori, N. M. Silveira, E. C. Machado and R. V. Ribeiro.
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This study aimed to test the hypothesis that increases in leaf nitrogen ...concentration would reduce the sensitivity of sugarcane photosynthesis to low temperature. IACSP95-5000 plants were grown inside a growth chamber at 30/20oC (day/night) and we evaluated the effects of leaf nitrogen spraying (2.5% urea) on plants facing low temperature (22/12°C) for eight days. The leaf nitrogen supply increased leaf nitrogen concentration and plants exhibited higher leaf gas exchange as compared to nonsprayed ones. We also found higher activity of the carboxylation enzymes, Rubisco and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, as well as a higher chlorophyll content in plants sprayed with nitrogen. Such enhancement of photosynthetic performance was associated with an increase in number of leaves and in total leaf area. Our results suggest that the effects of low temperature on photosynthesis of field-grown sugarcane plants could be alleviated by leaf nitrogen supply, with likely consequences for biomass production and crop yield.
Hydrogenics Corporation (TSX: HYG) (NASDAQ: HYGS), a globally recognized developer and provider of hydrogen generation and fuel cell products and services, announced earlier today that it received ...notice on February 19, 2008 from The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. indicating that Hydrogenics is not in compliance with The Nasdaq Stock Market's requirements for continued listing because, for the previous 30 consecutive business days, the bid price of Hydrogenics' common stock has closed below the minimum $1.00 per share requirement for continued inclusion under Nasdaq Marketplace Rule 4450(a)(5) (the "Minimum Bid Price Rule"). Hydrogenics has until August 18, 2008 (180 calendar days from February 19, 2008) to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Rule. Hydrogenics can regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Rule if the bid price of Hydrogenics' common stock closes at $1.00 per share or more for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days before August 18, 2008. If compliance is not achieved by August 18, 2008, Nasdaq staff will notify Hydrogenics that its common stock will be delisted from The Nasdaq Stock Market. Bayswater Uranium Corporation is a rapidly growing international uranium exploration and development company. As the only uranium company to have major landholdings in each of Canada's most important producing and exploration regions -- the Athabasca Basin, the Central Mineral Belt, and the Thelon Basin -- Bayswater is a leader in uranium exploration in Canada, the world's largest producer of uranium. The Company also owns several advanced uranium properties in the United States that are being fast tracked to feasibility and production. Bayswater combines a balanced portfolio of exploration and development projects with the uranium expertise of its technical and managerial teams. The result is a Super Junior Uranium Company with the share liquidity and market capitalization to provide value to both the retail and institutional investor. To capitalize on the strong growth of the nuclear industry and to continue to add shareholder value, Bayswater plans to focus on the development of its resource properties and to evaluate early stage projects for further discoveries. Other acquisition opportunities will continue to be assessed all with a corporate vision of building a major international uranium company. Bayswater is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "BAY." The Company's website is www.bayswateruranium.com. The "Bounty" well is located approximately two miles from the recently announced "Victory" natural gas discovery well on the "Intrepid" Block 5(c). Reservoir objectives for the "Bounty" well are sandstone reservoirs similar to the productive zones at "Victory"; and, the nearby Dolphin and Dolphin Deep fields. "Bounty" is planned to be drilled to a total vertical depth of approximately 18,000 feet; water depth at the location is approximately 1,000 feet.
