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Nano P fertilization and nano Fe foliar spray were assessed for their effect on productivity of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) grown on a light clay soil in Meet-Halfa, Qalubiya governorate, Egypt in a factorial randomized complete block field experiment involving two factors : 1-P application with 5 treatments: P 0 ,P 1 ,P 2 ,P 3 and P 4 i.e. none, 20 kg P ha -1 (as triple super phosphate TSP), 40 kg P ha -1 (as TSP), 20 kg P ha -1 (as nano-hydroxyapatite HANP) and 40 kg P ha -1 (as HANP) respectively; 2-Fe foliar spray with 4 treatments: Fe 0 , Fe 1 , Fe 2 and Fe 3 i.e. none, 150 mg Fe L -1 (as nano iron oxide Fe 3 O 4 ), 300 mg Fe L -1 (as nano Fe 3 O 4 ) and 300 mg Fe L -1 (as Fe-EDTA) respectively. Rate of spray was 1200 L ha -1 . At either low or high rate, nano P, was more effective than non-nano P in increasing plant height and number of pods. For seed yield and N, P and Fe uptake by seeds at the same rate of P, the high rate of nano-P gave higher values than the high rate of TSP-P. Though the low rate of nano-P ranked third next to the high rate of TSP-P, the difference between the low rate of nano-P and the high rate of TSP-P was slight. Nano iron in both rates (the high and the low) was the most effective iron treatment. It increased the values of different parameters at low and high doses as follows: 11.8 and 20.1% for seed yield respectively. Respective increases for other traits are 25.6 and 35.5% for plant height; 21.8 and 36.9% for number of pods, 16.2 and 32.4%for N uptake ;15.7 and 31.0% for P uptake and 45.4 and 70.13% for Fe uptake.

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Background Untreated wastewater carries substantial amount of heavy metals and causes potential ecological risks to the environment, food quality, soil health and sustainable agriculture. Methodology In order to reduce the incidence of nickel (Ni2+) contamination in soils, two separate experiments (incubation and greenhouse) were conducted to investigate the potentials of rice straw biochar and elemental sulfur in remediating Ni2+ polluted soil due to the irrigation with wastewater. Five incubation periods (1, 7, 14, 28 and 56 days), three biochar doses (0, 10 and 20 g kg−1 of soil) and two doses of sulfur (0 and 5 g kg−1 of soil) were used in the incubation experiment then the Ni2+ was extracted from the soil and analyzed, while ryegrass seeds Lolium perenne L. (Poales: Poaceae) and the same doses of biochar and sulfur were used in the greenhouse experiment then the plants Ni2+-uptake was determined. Results The results of the incubation experiment revealed a dose-dependent reduction of DTPA-extractable Ni2+ in soils treated with biochar. Increasing the biochar dose from 0 g kg−1 (control) to 10 or 20 g kg−1 (treatments) decreased the DTPA-extractable Ni2+ from the soil by 24.6% and 39.4%, respectively. The application of sulfur increased the Ni2+-uptake by ryegrass plant which was used as hyper-accumulator of heavy metals in the green house experiment. However, the biochar decreased the Ni2+-uptake by the plant therefore it can be used as animal feed. Conclusions These results indicate that the biochar and sulfur could be applied separately to remediate the Ni2+-contaminated soils either through adsorbing the Ni2+ by biochar or increasing the Ni2+ availability by sulfur to be easily uptaken by the hyper-accumulator plant, and hence promote a sustainable agriculture.

Background Cardiac catheterization after congenital heart surgery may play an important role in the diagnosis and management of patients with a complicated or unusual post-operative course. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the safety, efficacy, and outcome of cardiac catheterization performed in the early post-operative period following congenital heart surgery. All patients who underwent cardiac catheterization after congenital heart surgery during the same admission of cardiac surgery from November 2015 to May 2018 were included in the study. Results Thirty procedures were performed for 27 patients (20 interventional and 10 diagnostic). The median age of the patients was 15 months (15 days to 20 years), median weight was 8.2 kg (3.4 to 53 kg), and median time from surgery was 3 days (0–32 days). Eleven procedures were performed for 11 patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support. The main indications for catheterization included the inability to wean from ECMO (10 procedures) and cyanosis (10 procedures). Interventional procedures included angioplasty using stents (10 procedures, success rate of 90%), angioplasty using only balloons (2 procedures, success rate of 50%), and occlusion for residual shunts (8 procedures, success rate of 100%). No mortality was recorded during any procedure. Vasoactive–inotropic score had significantly decreased 48 h after catheterization when compared to pre-catheterization scores (p = 0.0001). Moreover, 72% of patients connected to ECMO support were successfully weaned from ECMO after catheterization. Procedural complications were recorded in 3 interventional procedures. Survival to hospital discharge was 55.5% and overall survival was 52%. Patients on ECMO support had a higher mortality than other patients. Conclusion Cardiac catheterization can be performed safely in the early post-operative period, and it could improve the outcome of the patient (depending on the complexity of the cardiac lesions involved).