Effect of Olive Mill Compost on Native Soil Characteristics and Tall Fescue Turfgrass Development

Research was conducted to evaluate the effects of olive mill compost (OMC) soil amendment on the establishment and growth of tall fescue {Festuca arundinacea Schreb. [currently Schedonorus phoenix (Scop.) Holub]} turf. Treatments included the use of four substrates with increasing proportions of OMC in a sandy loam soil. Supplementation treatments ranged from 0% [soil only], which served as the control, to 12.5% [low], 25% [medium], and 50% v/v [high]. Measurements included visual quality ratings, clipping yield, root growth, as well as vertical detachment force in conjunction with root growth and substrate moisture content during the establishment phase. Substrate bulk density, pH, and EC were also monitored. Olive mill compost supplementation decreased pH, and bulk density (32.6, 21.1, and 19.4% for high, medium, and low OMC, respectively) and increased water holding capacity (57.0, 32.7, and 13.3% at 100 cm suction for high, medium, and low OMC, respectively). High OMC exhibited beneficial effects on visual quality and shoot growth, especially during the establishment of the sward presumably due to its increased water holding capacity and nutrient availability. Root growth was not influenced by OMC supplementation; it was actually reduced compared to the non-amended control on a single sampling date. Detachment force gave nonconclusive results, both between the 2 yr of study and within the same year. It is our conclusion that OMC can be used as a soil amendment to improve soil water-holding capacity, and tall fescue quality and clipping yield, with no reduction in detachment force and minimal detriment to root developmen

Perception of selected occupational therapists on telerehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross- sectional study

The purpose of this study was to describe the perception of OT practitioners and to identify the most influential factor/s that affect their perception towards telerehabilitation. An adapted self-administered questionnaire validated by local experts in telerehabilitation was disseminated from April 20- May 7 in different occupational therapy group and organizations. Licensed OTs working in NCR and/or in CALABARZON (N=33) were sampled. The main outcome of the study was to identify the perception of occupational therapists towards telerehabilitation in terms of human, technical and organizational factors. The respondents have a mean age of 22-28 years old were mostly female (78.8%) with at least 1 year of telerehabilitation practice and mostly practicing in private clinics (84.8%). Majority of the participants have positive perception in terms of their overall knowledge, skills and confidence in using telerehabilitation and its continuity during the pandemic. Under human factors, the “limited manual examination in virtual consultation” had the yielded the highest mean under this factor. Meanwhile, “no standardized professional schemes and payment schemes” under the organizational factor obtained the highest mean. Lastly, majority of the participants identified that “unreliable internet” was considered to be “very influential” as this obtained the highest mean under this factor. Overall, human, organizational factors were concluded to be influential in the perception of occupational therapist towards telerehabilitation. Technical factor was determined to be the most influential to the perception of OTs towards telerehabilitation. Their perceptions could be used in formulating local guidelines and strategies to improve the conduct of telerehabilitation in the country

Rivaroxaban with or without aspirin in stable cardiovascular disease

BACKGROUND: We evaluated whether rivaroxaban alone or in combination with aspirin would be more effective than aspirin alone for secondary cardiovascular prevention. METHODS: In this double-blind trial, we randomly assigned 27,395 participants with stable atherosclerotic vascular disease to receive rivaroxaban (2.5 mg twice daily) plus aspirin (100 mg once daily), rivaroxaban (5 mg twice daily), or aspirin (100 mg once daily). The primary outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, stroke, or myocardial infarction. The study was stopped for superiority of the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group after a mean follow-up of 23 months. RESULTS: The primary outcome occurred in fewer patients in the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group than in the aspirin-alone group (379 patients [4.1%] vs. 496 patients [5.4%]; hazard ratio, 0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66 to 0.86; P<0.001; z=−4.126), but major bleeding events occurred in more patients in the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group (288 patients [3.1%] vs. 170 patients [1.9%]; hazard ratio, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.40 to 2.05; P<0.001). There was no significant difference in intracranial or fatal bleeding between these two groups. There were 313 deaths (3.4%) in the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group as compared with 378 (4.1%) in the aspirin-alone group (hazard ratio, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.71 to 0.96; P=0.01; threshold P value for significance, 0.0025). The primary outcome did not occur in significantly fewer patients in the rivaroxaban-alone group than in the aspirin-alone group, but major bleeding events occurred in more patients in the rivaroxaban-alone group. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with stable atherosclerotic vascular disease, those assigned to rivaroxaban (2.5 mg twice daily) plus aspirin had better cardiovascular outcomes and more major bleeding events than those assigned to aspirin alone. Rivaroxaban (5 mg twice daily) alone did not result in better cardiovascular outcomes than aspirin alone and resulted in more major bleeding events