An-Najah Staff

PURPOSE
Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) were the most common agents associated with a significant morbidity and mortality rate. The main objective of this study was to examine the publication pattern related to CCBs poisoning at the global level using bibliometric analysis of articles published in SciVerse Scopus online database.
METHODS
Data were searched for documents that contained specific words regarding CCB poisoning as keywords in the title. No time period limitations were specified in the search regarding the starting year. The ending date of the search was 31 December 2012.
RESULTS
The criteria were met by 713 publications from 53 countries. The largest number of articles associated with CCBs was from the United States (30%), followed by the United Kingdom (7.4%), Japan (6%), and Germany (5.6%). No data related to CCBs were published from 159 (75%) of 212 countries registered in World Bank online database. There was no correlation between the number of published articles in the country and its population size (r = 0.03, p > 0.926). United Kingdom and Australia were the leading countries in terms of number of CCBs publications per million inhabitants (0.83 and 0.82 articles per million inhabitants, respectively), followed by the United States (0.68). Countries with a large population, such as India, tended to rank relatively low (0.01 articles per million inhabitants). The total number of citations at the time of data analysis (23 October 2014) was 6462, with an average of 9.1 citations per document. The highest median (interquartile range) number of citations was 8 (8-18) for the United States, followed by 6 (1-21) for Australia, 5 (1-15) for the United Kingdom, and 5 (1-24) for Canada. The h-index of the retrieved documents was 37.
CONCLUSIONS
Scientific production on CCBs poisoning is increasing; nonetheless, the international collaboration is still rare. The amount of CCBs-based research activity was low or not available in most countries. More regional epidemiological studies are required to bridge the gap in CCBs-based research and to promote better evaluation of CCBs poisoning worldwide.

PURPOSE
Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) were the most common agents associated with a significant morbidity and mortality rate. The main objective of this study was to examine the publication pattern related to CCBs poisoning at the global level using bibliometric analysis of articles published in SciVerse Scopus online database.
METHODS
Data were searched for documents that contained specific words regarding CCB poisoning as keywords in the title. No time period limitations were specified in the search regarding the starting year. The ending date of the search was 31 December 2012.
RESULTS
The criteria were met by 713 publications from 53 countries. The largest number of articles associated with CCBs was from the United States (30%), followed by the United Kingdom (7.4%), Japan (6%), and Germany (5.6%). No data related to CCBs were published from 159 (75%) of 212 countries registered in World Bank online database. There was no correlation between the number of published articles in the country and its population size (r = 0.03, p > 0.926). United Kingdom and Australia were the leading countries in terms of number of CCBs publications per million inhabitants (0.83 and 0.82 articles per million inhabitants, respectively), followed by the United States (0.68). Countries with a large population, such as India, tended to rank relatively low (0.01 articles per million inhabitants). The total number of citations at the time of data analysis (23 October 2014) was 6462, with an average of 9.1 citations per document. The highest median (interquartile range) number of citations was 8 (8-18) for the United States, followed by 6 (1-21) for Australia, 5 (1-15) for the United Kingdom, and 5 (1-24) for Canada. The h-index of the retrieved documents was 37.
CONCLUSIONS
Scientific production on CCBs poisoning is increasing; nonetheless, the international collaboration is still rare. The amount of CCBs-based research activity was low or not available in most countries. More regional epidemiological studies are required to bridge the gap in CCBs-based research and to promote better evaluation of CCBs poisoning worldwide.

Uptake of toxic metals by plants has been of great interest to environmental scientists because this might harm the growth of plant and cause health hazard to man and animal.

In this study, the effects of two elements (lead and cadmium) which cause high concern because of their cummulative nature have been studied on broad beans. Both elements have been found to affect the growth of broad beans and this effect increased with the increase of concentration of metal in solutions used for root‐treatment or for foliar‐treatment of plant. The effect of foliar‐treatment was very much higher than the effect of root‐treatment by lead or cadmium.

Cadmium was found more toxic to plant growth than lead. The effect of cadmium treatment was more on the growth of fruits while the effect of lead treatment was more on the roots of broad beans. The least affected part by lead or cadmium was the stem of plant.

Both the concentration and the whole content of metal in plants and its varoius parts (roots, stem, leaves and fruits) increased steadily with the increase of cadmium or lead concentration in solutions used for either root‐treatment or foliar‐treatment. Concentration of metal ions was higher in roots and leaves than in fruits and stems of treated plants.

The uptake of metal to plant was calculated to be a very small part of the total amount of metal added during treatment.

Some explanations have been suggested in this study to explain the results obtained.

Toxicity of cadmium and lead on the growth of carrot plants has been studied. Cadmium has been found to be more toxic than lead especially on the shoots of carrot plants.
Foliar treatment has been compared with root‐treatment for the two elements on carrots and on their roots and shoots.
Concentrations and total contents of lead and cadmium in whole plant in roots and in shoots have been determined for treated carrot plants and compared in root‐treatment with foliar‐treatment. Explanations have been suggested whenever possible to illucidate the results obtained.
Percentages of the metals taken by plants from the whole amounts of metal added during treatment have been calculated and related to type of metal used, concentration of metal in solutions used for treatment and the way of treatment.

Uptake of toxic metals by plants has been of great interest to environmental scientists because this might harm the growth of plant and cause health hazard to man and animal.
In this study, the effects of two elements (lead and cadmium) which cause high concern because of their cummulative nature have been studied on broad beans. Both elements have been found to affect the growth of broad beans and this effect increased with the increase of concentration of metal in solutions used for root‐treatment or for foliar‐treatment of plant. The effect of foliar‐treatment was very much higher than the effect of root‐treatment by lead or cadmium. Cadmium was found more toxic to plant growth than lead. The effect of cadmium treatment was more on the growth of fruits while the effect of lead treatment was more on the roots of broad beans. The least affected part by lead or cadmium was the stem of plant.
Both the concentration and the whole content of metal in plants and its varoius parts (roots, stem, leaves and fruits) increased steadily with the increase of cadmium or lead concentration in solutions used for either root‐treatment or foliar‐treatment. Concentration of metal ions was higher in roots and leaves than in fruits and stems of treated plants.
The uptake of metal to plant was calculated to be a very small part of the total amount of metal added during treatment.
Some explanations have been suggested in this study to explain the results obtained.

In this study the effects of root and foliar treatments of marrow plants with cadmium and lead solutions on the growth of the various parts of plant (roots, stem, leaves and fruits) have been studied. Growth inhibition of the various parts of treated plants has been compared with each other and for the two types of treatment. The toxicity of cadmium on the growth of plant has been compared with the toxicity of lead on the various parts of plants treated by root or by foliar‐treatment with metal ions.
Cadmium and lead uptake by plants and the distribution of this uptake between the various parts of treated plants have been determined and commented on.
Percentages of cadmium or lead taken by plant from the total amount of cadmium or lead added during treatment have been calculated and found to be very small. This percentage has been found to be higher in foliar‐treated plants and from dilute solutions than in root‐treated plants and from more concentrated cadmium or lead solutions.