An-Najah Staff

Several factors affecting the growth and the metal uptake of pepper plants treated with cadmium solutions have been studied. These include concentration of cadmium, type of treatment, type of soil, plant species, and some properties of solutions used for treatment such as acidity, degree of salinity and temperature.
Cadmium had an obvious effect on the growth of pepper plants. Foliar‐treated plants were affected more than root‐treated plants. The least degree of growth‐inhibition and of cadmium uptake was found in plants grown in soils with high organic matter content. Various species of pepper plants acted very differently towards cadmium treatment. Both growth‐inhibition and cadmium uptake was increased in plants treated with acidic, saline and hot solutions.

Several factors affecting the growth and the uptake of cadmium by okra plants were studied using both root ‐ treatment and foliar ‐ treatment. These factors were the concentration of cadmium , type of treatment, soil composition, presence of foreign ions, salinity, acidity and temperature.
Both growth of plant and cadmium uptake by plant were affected highly by the concentration of cadmium, type of treatment, soil composition, salinity and temperature. Acidity of solutions has only a little and irregular effect. A synergistic combined effect of lead, copper and zinc with cadmium was observed on the growth of plant but not regular on the uptake of cadmium.

Background Fever is an extremely common occurrence in paediatric patients and the most common cause for a child to be taken to the doctor. The literature indicates that parents have too many misconceptions and conflicting information about fever management. The aim of this study was to identify parents’ beliefs and practices regarding childhood fever management.
Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey among parents whose children were enrolled and presented for health care at primary health care clinics in the Nablus region of Palestine. Data were collected using structured questionnaire interviews with parents. The questionnaire consisted of ‘yes/no’ responses and multiple-response questions. Descriptive statistics were used.
Results Overall, 402 parents were interviewed. All parents believed that fever could cause at least one harmful effect if left untreated. The harmful effects most frequently reported by parents were brain damage (38.1%), dehydration (15.7%), and other organs damage such as liver and kidney damage (14.2%). The study showed that 65.4% of parents would recognise fever by only touching the child, 31.6% would measure the temperature and 3.0% would assess temperature by touching and measuring the child. Antipyretic was preferred to be used by 34.8% of parents, while 49.8% stated that they preferred cold sponges, and 3.2% stated that they preferred homeopathic methods to treat fever. The most common factors influencing frequency of medication administration included physician’s instruction (61.7%), the degree of elevated temperature (14.9%) and instructions on the medication leaflet (13.7%). Of the participant parents, 53.2% believed antipyretics used to reduce fever were harmful. Parents reported the most harmful outcomes from these antipyretics to be allergic reactions (20.9%), effects on the stomach (16.9%), kidney damage (16.2%) and overdose (11.4%).
Conclusions Parents were anxious when dealing with a feverish child, which resulted in incorrect or inappropriate practices. Parents require reliable evidence-based information about the care of feverish children. These results indicate a need to develop and evaluate educational programs in our setting that will provide parents with education on fever and fever management.