The hydrogel amendments may improve seedling growth and establishment by increasing water retention capacity of soils and regulating the plants available water supplies, particularly under arid environments. The effects of different levels of a locally prepared hydrogel were studied on the moisture properties of sandy loam and loam soils (fine-loamy, mixed, hyperthermic Typic Haplargids, USDA, Luvic Yermosol, FAO) and on growth response of three plant species, viz. barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Water absorption by gel was rapid and highest in distilled water and was inhibited by an increase in water salinity. The addition of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3% hydrogel increased the moisture retention (θr) at field capacity linearly (r = 0.988) and thus the amount of plant available water significantly in both sandy loam and loam soils compared to the untreated soils. Seed germination of wheat and barley was not affected but seedling growth of both species was improved by the gel amendment. In loam soil, seed germination of chickpea was higher with 0.2% gel and seedling growth increased with increase in gel level compared with control conditions. The hydrogel amendment caused a delay by 4-5 days in wilting of seedlings grown in both soils compared with control conditions. The hydrogel amendment was effective in improving soil moisture availability and thus increased plant establishment. However, the varied responses of plant species in sandy loam and loam soils warrant further studies on the behaviour of different soil types with gel amendments.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Patients in the ICU have encountered an increasing emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. We examined patterns of antimicrobial susceptibility in gram-negative isolates to commonly used drugs in an adult ICU at a tertiary care hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.METHODS:A retrospective study was carried out of gram-negative isolates from the adult ICU of King Fahad National Guard Hospital (KFNGH) between 2004 and 2009. Organisms were identified and tested by an automated identification and susceptibility system, and the antibiotic susceptibility testing was confirmed by the disk diffusion method.RESULTS:The most frequently isolated organism was Acinetobacter baumannii, followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pnemoniae, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, and Enterobacter. Antibiotic susceptibility patterns significantly declined in many organisms, especially A baumannii, E coli, S marcescens, and Enterobacter. A baumannii susceptibility was significantly decreased to imipenem (55% to 10%), meropenem (33% to 10%), ciprofloxacin (22% to 10%), and amikacin (12% to 6%). E coli susceptibility was markedly decreased (from 75% to 50% or less) to cefuroxime, ceftazidime, cefotaxime, and cefepime. S marcescens susceptibility was markedly decreased to cefotaxime (100% to 32%), ceftazidime (100% to 35%), and cefepime (100% to 66%). Enterobacter susceptibility was markedly decreased to ceftazidime (34% to 5%), cefotaxime (34% to 6%), and pipracillin-tazobactam (51% to 35%). Respiratory samples were the most frequently indicative of multidrug-resistant pathogens (63%), followed by urinary samples (57%).CONCLUSION:Antimicrobial resistance is an emerging problem in the KFNGH ICU, justifying new more stringent antibiotic prescription guidelines. Continuous monitoring of antimicrobial susceptibility and strict adherence to infection prevention guidelines are essential to eliminate major outbreaks in the future.

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The peritoneal surface remains an important failure site for patients with colorectal cancer. We have recently shown that albendazole (ABZ), a safe and effective anthelmintic drug, has profound antitumor activity in hepatocellular cancer. Furthermore, albendazole also possesses unique physiochemical and pharmacokinetic properties probably making it a potential drug for use in the regional treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC). The current study was therefore designed to investigate this concept under both in vitro and in vivo conditions using human colorectal cancer cells HT-29. In cell culture, studies were conducted to investigate the effect of ABZ and its major metabolites, albendazole sulfoxide (ABZ-SO) and albendazole sulfone (ABZ-SO2) on the growth of human colorectal cell line HT-29. We also investigated the effects of ABZ on the cell cycle and the possible induction of apoptosis in these cells. Male nude mice inoculated intraperitoneally (i.p.) with HT-29 cells were treated with various schedules of ABZ given i.p. or orally for 6 weeks. Response was evaluated as the number of peritoneal tumor nodules present in animals at the end of the treatment period. In vitro, ABZ treatment of cells for 5 days led to profound inhibition of growth. (3)H-Thymidine assay and trypan blue viable cell counts confirmed the dose- and time-dependency of the ABZ effect, while recovery experiments revealed the reversible nature of this inhibition. ABZ-SO and ABZ-SO2 were also evaluated in cell culture studies and compared with the parent drug. In HT-29 cells, the IC(50) values were calculated to be 0.12 microM for ABZ and 2.35 microM for ABZ-SO. The other metabolite, ABZ-SO2, was completely inactive. Studies on the mechanism of ABZ action, revealed arrest of HT-29 cells at the G(2)/M phase of the cell cycle, while TUNEL, DNA laddering and caspase-3 activity all confirmed ABZ induced apoptosis. In nude mice with peritoneal HT-29 xenografts, ABZ profoundly inhibited peritoneal tumor growth. While alternate i.p. dosing (ABZ, 150 mg/kg) led to the highest degree of tumor growth suppression (P<0.001), schedules such as once-weekly dosing and even a single dose for the entire course of treatment (6 weeks) were also effective in reducing peritoneal tumor growth. However, no such activity was observed when ABZ was administered orally. This study shows for the first time the potent effect of regionally administered ABZ in suppressing the growth of peritoneal tumors of human colorectal origin. The effect is thought to be brought about by arresting tumor cells at the G(2)/M phase of the cycle and apoptosis. These findings provide evidence for potential value of ABZ in the treatment of regional PC arising from colorectal cell lines.

The western Himalayan region (WHR) was subject to a significant negative trend in the annual and monsoon rainfall during 1902–2005. Annual and seasonal rainfall change over the WHR of India was estimated using 22 rain gauge station rainfall data from the India Meteorological Department. The performance of 13 global climate models (GCMs) from phase 3 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP3) and 42 GCMs from CMIP5 was evaluated through multiple analysis: the evaluation of the mean annual cycle, annual cycles of interannual variability, spatial patterns, trends, and signal-to-noise ratio. In general, CMIP5 GCMs were more skillful in terms of simulating the annual cycle of interannual variability compared to CMIP3 GCMs. The CMIP3 GCMs failed to reproduce the observed trend, whereas approximately 50% of the CMIP5 GCMs reproduced the statistical distribution of short-term (30 yr) trend estimates than for the longer-term (99 yr) trends from CMIP5 GCMs. GCMs from both CMIP3 and CMIP5 were able to simulate the spatial distribution of observed rainfall in premonsoon and winter months. Based on performance, each model of CMIP3 and CMIP5 was given an overall rank, which puts the high-resolution version of the MIROC3.2 model [MIROC3.2 (hires)] and MIROC5 at the top in CMIP3 and CMIP5, respectively. Robustness of the ranking was judged through a sensitivity analysis, which indicated that ranks were independent during the process of adding or removing any individual method. It also revealed that trend analysis was not a robust method of judging performances of the models as compared to other methods.

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