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Background Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has been challenging for patients and medical staff. Radical changes have been needed to prevent disruptions in patient care and medical education. Methods A web-based survey was sent to European Society for Pediatric Nephrology (ESPN) members via the ESPN mailing list to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on delivery of pediatric nephrology (PN) care and educational activities. There were ten questions with subheadings. Results Seventy-six centers from 24 countries completed the survey. The time period was between the beginning of the pandemic and May 30, 2020. The number of patients admitted in PN wards and outpatient clinics were significantly decreased (2.2 and 4.5 times, respectively). Telemedicine tools, electronic prescriptions, online applications for off-label drugs, and remote access to laboratory/imaging results were used in almost half of the centers. Despite staff training and protective measures, 33% of centers reported COVID-19 infected staff, and 29% infected patients. Difficulties in receiving pharmaceuticals were reported in 25% of centers. Sixty percent of centers suspended living-related kidney transplantation, and one-third deceased-donor kidney transplantation. Hands-on education was suspended in 91% of medical schools, and face-to-face teaching was replaced by online systems in 85%. Multidisciplinary training in PN was affected in 54% of the centers. Conclusions This survey showed a sharp decline in patient admissions and a significant decrease in kidney transplantation. Telemedicine and online teaching became essential tools, requiring integration into the current system. The prolonged and fluctuating course of the pandemic may pose additional challenges necessitating urgent and rational solutions. Graphical abstract, Author(s): Burcu Yazicioglu [sup.1] , Sevcan A. Bakkaloglu [sup.1] , M. Abranches, S. Akman, H. Alpay, G. Ariceta, B. Atmis, A. Bael, S. A. Bakkaloglu, U. S. Bayrakçi, R. Bhimma, [...]

Author(s): Burcu Yazicioglu [sup.1] , Sevcan A. Bakkaloglu [sup.1] , M. Abranches, S. Akman, H. Alpay, G. Ariceta, B. Atmis, A. Bael, S. A. Bakkaloglu, U. S. Bayrakçi, R. Bhimma, [...]

Background: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has been challenging for patients and medical staff. Radical changes have been needed to prevent disruptions in patient care and medical education. Methods: A web-based survey was sent to European Society for Pediatric Nephrology (ESPN) members via the ESPN mailing list to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on delivery of pediatric nephrology (PN) care and educational activities. There were ten questions with subheadings. Results: Seventy-six centers from 24 countries completed the survey. The time period was between the beginning of the pandemic and May 30, 2020. The number of patients admitted in PN wards and outpatient clinics were significantly decreased (2.2 and 4.5 times, respectively). Telemedicine tools, electronic prescriptions, online applications for off-label drugs, and remote access to laboratory/imaging results were used in almost half of the centers. Despite staff training and protective measures, 33% of centers reported COVID-19 infected staff, and 29% infected patients. Difficulties in receiving pharmaceuticals were reported in 25% of centers. Sixty percent of centers suspended living-related kidney transplantation, and one-third deceased-donor kidney transplantation. Hands-on education was suspended in 91% of medical schools, and face-to-face teaching was replaced by online systems in 85%. Multidisciplinary training in PN was affected in 54% of the centers. Conclusions: This survey showed a sharp decline in patient admissions and a significant decrease in kidney transplantation. Telemedicine and online teaching became essential tools, requiring integration into the current system. The prolonged and fluctuating course of the pandemic may pose additional challenges necessitating urgent and rational solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anode-cathode distance in a direct current glow discharge is reduced manually to values smaller than the Child-Langmuir extent, while the discharge current, the discharge voltage and the Langmuir probe current are monitored continuously. The discharge current is observed to develop a large peak as soon as the sheath edge contacts with the anode, then decays to negligible values for a certain time interval, after which, this cycle starts repeating itself periodically.

In this work, sampling collection strategies were compared for the determination of some heavy metals (Pb, Cr, Ni) and investigate their effects on the marine pollution. The sampling area is a natural bay using as a shipbuilding industries for three decades especially. To determine the permanent heavy metal pollution in this area, the sediment samples were taken different strategies; i) the bay were divided square pieces which is 200 m length, and the samples were taken this distance (total 71 point), ii) the samples were taken along the shore, then 200 m away the shore and 400 m away the shore (total 58 point). After the sample collection using ISO 5667-12 and EPA sampling procedure, the samples were prepared for the metal analysis. Acid treated samples were analyze by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. As a results both strategies were (are) compared for investigation of some heavy metals pollution in marine sediment. The preliminary results were found between below LOD and 401.0 mg/kg for lead, and between 0.10 and 1005.0 mg/kg for chromium. Finally, the permanent heavy metal pollution is investigated in this bay.

In this work, a method has been developed and monitoring for the determination of mercury in PM2.5 airborne particulates by solid sampling high-resolution continuum source electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. The PM2.5 airborne particulates were collected on quartz filters using high volume samplers (500 L/min) in Istanbul (Turkey) for 96 hours every month in one year. At first, experimental conditions as well as the validation tests were optimized using collected filter. For this purpose, the effects of atomization temperature, amount of sample intoduced in to the furnace, addition of acids and/or KMnO4 on the sample, covering of graphite tube and platform or using of Ag nanoparticulates, Au nanoparticulates, and Pd solutions on the accuracy and precision were investigated. After optimization of the experimental conditions, the mercury concentrations were determined in the collected filter. The filters with PM2.5 airborne particulates were dried, divided into small fine particles and then Hg concentrations were determined directly. In order to eliminate any error due to the sensitivity difference between aqueous standards and solid samples, the quantification was performed using solid calibrants. The limit of detection, based on three times the standard deviations for ten atomizations of an unused filter, was 30 ng/g. The Hg content was dependent on the sampling site, season etc, ranging from

In this study, determination of fluorine in water samples was established via the rotational fine structured molecular absorption of calcium mono-fluoride (CaF) at 606.440 nm using a high-resolution continuum source electrothermal atomic absorption spectrophotometer. To generate CaF in the gas phase of graphite furnace, samples were pipetted together with calcium as its nitrate form. The effect of amount of calcium, graphite furnace program, coating the graphite tube and platform with Zr and Ir and the use of modifier (Pd, Mg and Pd+Mg) on the sensitivity and linearity were investigated. In the presence of 40 μg of Ca, a perfect linearity up to 0.1 μg of F was maintained applying a pyrolysis temperature of 700°C and a molecule forming temperature of 2250°C in pyrolytically coated platforms. The limit of detection and characteristic mass of the method were 0.21 ng and 0.13 ng of F, respectively.