IntroductionThere are no empiric data to support guidelines for duration of therapy with antidementia drugs. This study examined whether persistent use of antidementia drugs slows clinical progression of Alzheimer disease (AD) assessed by repeated measures on serial tests of cognition and function.MethodsSix hundred forty-one probable AD patients were followed prospectively at an academic center over 20 years. Cumulative drug exposure was expressed as a persistency index (PI) reflecting total years of drug use divided by total years of disease symptoms. Baseline and annual testing consisted of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale (ADAS-Cog), Baylor Profound Mental Status Examination (BPMSE), Clinical Dementia Rating-Sum of Boxes (CDR-SB), Physical Self-Maintenance Scale (PSMS), and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL). Annual change in slope of neuropsychological and functional tests as predicted by follow-up time, PI, and the interaction of these two variables was evaluated.ResultsPI was associated with significantly slower rates of decline (with, without adjustment for covariates) on MMSE (P < 0.0001), PSMS (P < 0.05), IADL (P < 0.0001), and CDR-SB (P < 0.001). There was an insignificant trend (P = 0.053) for the PI to be associated with slower rate of decline on BPMSE. The association of PI with ADAS-Cog followed a quadratic trend (P < 0.01). Analysis including both linear and quadratic terms suggests that PI slowed ADAS-Cog decline temporarily. The magnitude of the favorable effect of a rate change in PI was: MMSE 1 point per year, PSMS 0.4 points per year, IADL 1.4 points per year, and CDR-SB 0.6 points per year. The change in mean test scores is additive over the follow-up period (3 ± 1.94 years).ConclusionsPersistent drug treatment had a positive impact on AD progression assessed by multiple cognitive, functional, and global outcome measures. The magnitude of the treatment effect was clinically significant. Positive treatment effects were even found in those with advanced disease.

Hydrocarbon contamination in soils may be toxic to plants and soil microorganisms and act as a source of groundwater contamination. The objective of this study was to evaluate the fate of diesel in soils with or without added nutrients. The soils examined either had or had not a previous history of hydrocarbon contamination. Particular aspects examined were soil respiration, changes in microbial population, breakdown of diesel hydrocarbons, and phytotoxicity to the germination of perennial ryegrass. Soil respiration was measured as evolved CO2. Bacterial population was determined as colony forming units in dilution plates and fungal activity was measured as hyphal length. The fate of individual hydrocarbons was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry after extraction with dichloromethane. When diesel was added to soil with no previous history of hydrocarbon contamination at rates up to 50 mg/g, the respiration response showed a lag phase of 6 days and maximum respiration occurred at day 11. The lag phase was 2 days and maximum respiration occurred at day 3 in soil with a previous history of hydrocarbon contamination. After the peak, respiration decreased up to about 20 days in both soils. Thereafter, respiration become more or less constant but substantially greater than the control. N and P addition along with diesel did not reduce the lag phase but increased the respiration over the first 20 days of incubation. Diesel addition with or without N and P increased the bacterial population 10- to 100-fold but fungal hyphal length did not increase. Diesel addition at a rate of 136 mg/g did not increase the microbial population. Removal of inhibition to germination of perennial ryegrass was linked to the decomposition of nC10 and nC11 hydrocarbons and took from 11 to 30 days at diesel additions up to 50 mg/g depending on the soil. Inhibition to germination of perennial ryegrass persisted to more than 24 weeks at the 136 mg/g of diesel addition.

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The antioxidant potential of methanolic extract of rice husk and sawdust in mineral base oil is investigated by FT-IR spectroscopy during oxidation at 100 and 200 °C. The Rice husk extract is found to be more efficient than saw dust extract.

The transfer of organophosphate and pyrethroid pesticides in dairy cattle's milk when fed on agroindustrial by-product diet was assessed in this study. The transfer and accumulation of such pesticide in cattle fat tissue and milk was also assessed and the adverse effect on cattle's and human health was also studied. For that purpose, about 80 milk and 30 diet samples were collected from various dairy farms. All samples were extracted with acids using "quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe" (QuEChERS) method and analyzed through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results show that about 40 and 20% of milk samples had greater content of cypermethrin+chloropyrifos and porfenofos than their maximum residue limits as suggested by World Health Organisation (WHO). Cypermethrin, chloropyrifos and profenofos were present at concentration greater than their maximum residue limits in mixed diet whereas profenofos was completely absent in sugarcane khal and was present in traces in cotton khal but remained within the maximum residue limit. Nonetheless, transfer of residue of parent cypermethrin, chloropyrifos and profenofos to milk was not consistent with diet in all dairy milk samples. This revealed the contention that some other sources such as drinking or inhaling contaminated water or dust are also contributing to pesticide contamination in milk. Cancer potency factor for cypermethrine in children and adults remained within the recommended value. Generally, although pesticides residue in milk was not high enough to cause cancer risk in human, they might cause adverse health effect and delayed toxicity due to their long term accumulation and persistence within cattle's body. Therefore, there was an urgent need to estimate their contents in dairy cattle milk in order to provide a baseline for the health ministry to make safety regulations.

Information about metals concentrations in soil profiles of Peshawar-Pakistan in relation to their parent material is in scarcity. The study was aimed to identify the source of metals in soils and to determine the level of depletion and enrichment. Twenty two soil profiles derived from alluvium, piedmont alluvium, loess and re-deposits loess underlain by quaternary sediments with their respective parent materials were sampled and analyzed for metals by AAS. The average value of Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na was significantly greater (p<0.05) in piedmont soils than red Murree shales. Cadmium was found to be high in all soils than the parent material. There was no significant difference in total content of Cu in all soils. Total content of Cd, Cr, Mn and Zn was found to be significantly greater (p<0.05) in piedmont soils than alluvium and loess soils, similarly Ni and Pb were significantly greater (p<0.05) in loess soils than piedmont and alluvium soils. The concentrations of Cr, Pb and Zn were significantly greater (p<0.05) in the A horizon of piedmont and alluvium soils than B horizon. The total content of all trace elements except for Cd and Ni was found to be significantly greater (p<0.05) than the reported mean for world soils. There was no significant difference between total trace elements content except for Cd and Ni between soils and parent materials. Data suggested no depletion or enrichment in all metals. All metals were evenly distributed and derived from similar parent material of sedimentary origin. These values could be considered as baseline levels for comparison with soils contaminated due to anthropogenic activities.