Manure amendments for mitigation of dairy ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions: preliminary screening

 Amendments can be practical and cost-effective for reducing ammonia [NH3] and greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions from dairy manure.  In this study, the effect of 22 amendments on NH3 and GHG carbon dioxide [CO2], methane [CH4] and nitrous oxide [N2O] emissions from dairy manure were simultaneous investigated at room temperature (20℃).  Dairy manure slurry (2 kg; 1:1.7 urine: feces; 12% total solids) was treated with various amendments, representing different classes of product, following the suppliers’ recommended rates.  In this screening of products, one sample of each amendment was evaluated along with untreated manure slurry with repeated measurements over 24 h.  Gas emissions were measured after short (3 d) and medium (30 d) storage duration using a photoacoustic multi-gas analyzer.  Six amendment products that acted as microbial digest, oxidizing agent, masking agent or adsorbent significantly reduced NH3 by >10% (P = 0.04 to <0.001) after both 3 and 30 d.  Microbial digest/enzymes with nitrogen substrate appeared effective in reducing CH4 fluxes for both storage times.  Most of the masking agents and disinfectants significantly increased CH4 in both storage periods (P = 0.04 to <0.001).  For both CH4 and CO2 fluxes, aging the manure slurry for 30 d significantly reduced gas production by 11 to 100% (P<0.001).  While some products reduced emissions at one or both storage times, results showed that the ability of amendments to mitigate emissions from dairy manure is finite and re-application may be required even for a static amount of manure.  Simultaneous measurement of gases identified glycerol as a successful NH3 reduction agent while increasing CH4 in contrast to a digestive-microbial product that significantly reduced CH4 while enhancing NH3 release.Keywords: methane, greenhouse gas, emission, amendment, additive, dairy manure, ammonia, mitigatio

Evaluation of odor emissions from amended dairy manure: preliminary screening

Manure amendments have shown variable effectiveness in reducing odor.  Twenty-two amendments were applied to dairy manure then evaluated for odor reduction efficacy after storage at 20℃ for 3 d and 30 d.  Amendments represented differing primary modes of action including: microbial digestive, oxidizing, disinfecting, masking, and adsorbent.  Each amendment was added to 2 kg dairy manure (1:1.7 urine:feces; 12% total solids) following recommended rates.  In this preliminary screening, one sample (n=1) of each amendment was evaluated along with untreated manure (Control).  Odor emission from each treated manure and Control was estimated twice by five or six qualified odor assessors (n=10 or 12) after each storage duration, using an international standard for triangular forced-choice olfactometry.  Odor quality was defined using hedonic tone, Labeled Magnitude Scale and ASTM methods for supra-threshold odor intensity, and an odor character wheel for descriptors.  For selected treatments, odor emissions were significantly reduced relative to Control at 30 d versus 3 d incubation (P<0.0001).  However, no amendment was significantly effective for both incubation times.  Likewise, for all amendments tested, aging the manure slurry for 30 d significantly reduced odor emission and odor intensity (P<0.0001).  A proprietary microbial amendment (Alken Enz-Odor + Clear Flo: aerobic/ facultative microbes with growth factors), disinfectant (hydrogen peroxide), and masking agent (Hyssopus officinalis essential oil) provided significant short-term control of odor (P <0.06).  However, after 30 d seven amendments significantly increased odor emission (P<0.02) while only two amendments offered a significant efficacy (P<0.0001): a proprietary microbial aerobic/facultative product (Bio-Regen) and a proprietary mix of chemicals (Greaseater), both with weekly re-application.  Hedonic tone observations suggested an improvement to “slightly to moderately unpleasant” smell versus untreated manure for all amendments except clinoptilolite zeolite adsorbent.  Hedonic tone improvement was correlated with reduced manure odor supra-threshold intensity.Keywords: odor, hedonic tone, odor strength, amendments, additives, dairy manure, United States of Americ

The effectiveness of public health interventions to reduce the health impact of climate change:a systematic review of systematic reviews

Climate change is likely to be one of the most important threats to public health in the coming years. Yet despite the large number of papers considering the health impact of climate change, few have considered what public health interventions may be of most value in reducing the disease burden. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of public health interventions to reduce the disease burden of high priority climate sensitive diseases

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of asthma in ethnically diverse North American populations.

Asthma is a common disease with a complex risk architecture including both genetic and environmental factors. We performed a meta-analysis of North American genome-wide association studies of asthma in 5,416 individuals with asthma (cases) including individuals of European American, African American or African Caribbean, and Latino ancestry, with replication in an additional 12,649 individuals from the same ethnic groups. We identified five susceptibility loci. Four were at previously reported loci on 17q21, near IL1RL1, TSLP and IL33, but we report for the first time, to our knowledge, that these loci are associated with asthma risk in three ethnic groups. In addition, we identified a new asthma susceptibility locus at PYHIN1, with the association being specific to individuals of African descent (P = 3.9 × 10(-9)). These results suggest that some asthma susceptibility loci are robust to differences in ancestry when sufficiently large samples sizes are investigated, and that ancestry-specific associations also contribute to the complex genetic architecture of asthma

Multilab Direct Replication of Flavell, Beach, and Chinsky (1966): Spontaneous Verbal Rehearsal in a Memory Task as a Function of Age

Work by Flavell, Beach, and Chinsky indicated a change in the spontaneous production of overt verbalization behaviors when comparing young children (age 5) with older children (age 10). Despite the critical role that this evidence of a change in verbalization behaviors plays in modern theories of cognitive development and working memory, there has been only one other published near replication of this work. In this Registered Replication Report, we relied on researchers from 17 labs who contributed their results to a larger and more comprehensive sample of children. We assessed memory performance and the presence or absence of verbalization behaviors of young children at different ages and determined that the original pattern of findings was largely upheld: Older children were more likely to verbalize, and their memory spans improved. We confirmed that 5- and 6-year-old children who verbalized recalled more than children who did not verbalize. However, unlike Flavell et al., substantial proportions of our 5- and 6-year-old samples overtly verbalized at least sometimes during the picture memory task. In addition, continuous increase in overt verbalization from 7 to 10 years old was not consistently evident in our samples. These robust findings should be weighed when considering theories of cognitive development, particularly theories concerning when verbal rehearsal emerges and relations between speech and memory

A high-resolution map of human evolutionary constraint using 29 mammals.

The comparison of related genomes has emerged as a powerful lens for genome interpretation. Here we report the sequencing and comparative analysis of 29 eutherian genomes. We confirm that at least 5.5% of the human genome has undergone purifying selection, and locate constrained elements covering ∼4.2% of the genome. We use evolutionary signatures and comparisons with experimental data sets to suggest candidate functions for ∼60% of constrained bases. These elements reveal a small number of new coding exons, candidate stop codon readthrough events and over 10,000 regions of overlapping synonymous constraint within protein-coding exons. We find 220 candidate RNA structural families, and nearly a million elements overlapping potential promoter, enhancer and insulator regions. We report specific amino acid residues that have undergone positive selection, 280,000 non-coding elements exapted from mobile elements and more than 1,000 primate- and human-accelerated elements. Overlap with disease-associated variants indicates that our findings will be relevant for studies of human biology, health and disease

General practitioners knowledge and management of whiplash associated disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder: Implications for patient care

© 2016 The Author(s). Background: In Australia, general practitioners (GPs) see around two-thirds of people injured in road traffic crashes. Road traffic crash injuries are commonly associated with diverse physical and psychological symptoms that may be difficult to diagnose and manage. Clinical guidelines have been developed to assist in delivering quality, consistent care, however the extent to which GPs knowledge and practice in diagnosing and managing road traffic crash injuries concords with the guidelines is unknown. This study aimed to explore Australian GPs knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the diagnosis and management of road traffic crash injuries, specifically whiplash associated disorders (WAD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Method: A cross-sectional survey of 423 GPs across Australia conducted between July and December 2014. We developed a questionnaire to assess their knowledge of WAD and PTSD, confidence in diagnosing and managing WAD and PTSD, frequency of referral to health providers, barriers to referral, and attitudes towards further education and training. Factor analysis, Spearman's correlation, and multiple ordered logistic regressions were performed. Results: Overall, GPs have good level knowledge of WAD and PTSD; only 9.6 % (95 % CI: 7.1 %, 12.8 %) and 23.9 % (95 % CI: 20.8 %, 28.2 %) of them were deemed to have lower level knowledge of WAD and PTSD respectively. Key knowledge gaps included imaging indicators for WAD and indicators for psychological referral for PTSD. GPs who were male, with more years of experience, working in the urban area and with higher knowledge level of WAD were more confident in diagnosing and managing WAD. Only GPs PTSD knowledge level predicted confidence in diagnosing and managing PTSD. GPs most commonly referred to physiotherapists and least commonly to vocational rehabilitation providers. Barriers to referral included out-of-pocket costs incurred by patients and long waiting times. Most GPs felt positive towards further education on road traffic crash injury management. Conclusion: This study has enhanced understanding of the knowledge skills and attitudes of GPs towards road traffic crash injury care in Australia, and has identified areas for further education and training. If delivered, this training has the potential to reduce unnecessary imaging for WAD and optimise the early referral of patients at risk of delayed recovery following a road traffic crash

Perioperative mortality after hemiarthroplasty related to fixation method: A study based on the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry

Background and purpose: The appropriate fixation method for hemiarthroplasty of the hip as it relates to implant survivorship and patient mortality is a matter of ongoing debate. We examined the influence of fixation method on revision rate and mortality.----- ----- Methods: We analyzed approximately 25,000 hemiarthroplasty cases from the AOA National Joint Replacement Registry. Deaths at 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, and 1 year were compared for all patients and among subgroups based on implant type.----- ----- Results: Patients treated with cemented monoblock hemiarthroplasty had a 1.7-times higher day-1 mortality compared to uncemented monoblock components (p < 0.001). This finding was reversed by 1 week, 1 month, and 1 year after surgery (p < 0.001). Modular hemiarthroplasties did not reveal a difference in mortality between fixation methods at any time point.----- ----- Interpretation: This study shows lower (or similar) overall mortality with cemented hemiarthroplasty of the hip

P2X7 receptor: Death or life?

The P2X7 plasma membrane receptor is an intriguing molecule that is endowed with the ability to kill cells, as well as to activate many responses and even stimulate proliferation. Here, the authors give an overview on the multiplicity and complexity of P2X7-mediated responses, discussing recent information on this receptor. Particular attention has been paid to early and late signs of apoptosis and necrosis linked to activation of the receptor and to the emerging field of P2X7 function in carcinogenesis