A GIS-based multi-criteria analysis on cropland suitability in Bornuur Soum, Mongolia

Agriculture is one of the most critical sectors of the Mongolian economy. In Mongolia, land degradation is increasing in the cropland region, especially in a cultivated area. The country has challenges to identify new croplands with sufficient capacity for cultivation, especially for local decision-makers. GIS applications tremendously help science in making land assessments. This study was carried out in Bornuur soum, Mongolia. The goal of this study to estimate that best suitable area for supporting crop production in Bornuur soum, using a GIS-based multi-criteria analysis (MCA) and remote sensing. GIS-based multi-criteria analysis (MCA) has been widely used in land suitability analyses in many countries. In this research, the GIS-based spatial MCA among the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method has employed. The approach was enhanced for each criterion which as soil, topography and vegetation. The opinions of agronomist experts and a literature review helped in identifying criteria (soil data, topography, water and vegetation data) that are necessary to determine areas suitable for crops. The detailed cropland suitability maps indicate that 46.12 % is highly suitable for cropland, 34.68 % is moderate suitable, 13.64 % is marginal suitable and 5.56 % is not suitable. The MCA and AHP tools play an essential role in the multi-criteria analysis. Therefore, the results of these methods allow us to estimate an appropriate area for cultivation in Bornuur soum, Tuv province. The crop suitability method implies significant decisions on different levels and the result will be used for cropland management plan to make a decision. It is an integral role in agricultural management and land evaluation. Future research should further develop this method by including socio-economic (potential citizens for agriculture, current crop growth, water resource, etc.) and environmental variables (rainfall, vegetation types, permafrost distribution, etc.) to obtain specific results. However, it could be also be applied for a single crop type (mainly barley, wheat and potato) in Mongolia

Improving the mechanical stability of zirconium-based metal-organic frameworks by incorporation of acidic modulators

Acidic modulating ligands have been shown to stabilize UiO metal-organic frameworks against structural collapse under ball-milling.T.D.B. would like to thank Trinity Hall for funding, along with Professor Anthony K. Cheetham for use of lab facilities. D.D.V. is grateful to IWT (MOF Shape), KU Leuven for support in the Metusalem grant CASAS and IAP 7/05 Functional Supramolecular Systems. I.S. and B.B. thank Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) for Ph.D. fellowships.This is the accepted manuscript. The final published version is available from RSC at http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2015/TA/c4ta06396a#!divAbstract

Connecting defects and amorphization in UiO-66 and MIL-140 metal-organic frameworks: a combined experimental and computational study.

The mechanism and products of the structural collapse of the metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) , and upon ball-milling are investigated through solid state (13)C NMR and pair distribution function (PDF) studies, finding amorphization to proceed by the breaking of a fraction of metal-ligand bonding in each case. The amorphous products contain inorganic-organic bonding motifs reminiscent of the crystalline phases. Whilst the inorganic Zr6O4(OH)4 clusters of remain intact upon structural collapse, the ZrO backbone of the frameworks undergoes substantial distortion. Density functional theory calculations have been performed to investigate defective models of and show, through comparison of calculated and experimental (13)C NMR spectra, that amorphization and defects in the materials are linked.The manuscript was written through contributions of all authors. TDB conceived the initial project. T.D.B. acknowledges Trinity Hall (University of Cambridge) and Professor Anthony K. Cheetham for use of lab facilities. D.G.R. acknowledges the UK MRC for financial support. The authors acknowledge Diamond Light Source for the provision of synchrotron access to Beamline I15 (ex p. EE9691) and Philip A. Chater and Andrew Cairns for assistance with data collection. T.K.T. and C.M.D. thank the French National Research Agency (ANR project: HOPFAME ANR-13-BS07-0002-01) and the Foundation de l'Orangerie for funding. The calculations have been performed using the HPC resources from GENCI (CINES/TGCC/IDRIS) through Grant (2015-097343 and -091461). B.B., B.V.d.V. and D.D.V . gratefully acknowledge the FWO for funding (aspirant grant).This is the final version of the article. It was first available from the Royal Society of Chemistry via http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C5CP06798

Ferulic acid-4-O-sulfate rather than ferulic acid relaxes arteries and lowers blood pressure in mice

Consumption of foods rich in ferulic acid (FA) such as wholegrain cereals, or FA precursors such as chlorogenic acids in coffee, is inversely correlated with risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. As a result of digestion and phase II metabolism in the gut and liver, FA is converted predominantly into ferulic acid-4-O-sulfate (FA-sul), an abundant plasma metabolite. Although FA-sul may be the main metabolite, very little has been reported regarding its bioactivities. We have therefore compared the ex vivo vasorelaxing effect of FA and FA-sul (10−7 - 3.10−5 M) on isolated mouse arteries mounted in tissue myographs. FA-sul, but not FA, elicited a concentration-dependent vasorelaxation of saphenous and femoral arteries and aortae. The FA-sul mediated vasorelaxation was blunted by 1H- [1, 2, 4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ), a soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) inhibitor. The role of sGC was confirmed in femoral arteries isolated from sGCα1(−/−) knockout mice. Furthermore, 4-aminopyridine, a specific inhibitor of voltage-dependent potassium channels, significantly decreased FA-sul mediated effects. In anesthetized mice, intravenous injection of FA-sul decreased mean arterial pressure, whereas FA had no effect, confirming the results obtained ex vivo. FA-sul is probably one of the major metabolites accounting for the blood pressure-lowering effects associated with FA consumption

The breadth of primary care: a systematic literature review of its core dimensions

Background: Even though there is general agreement that primary care is the linchpin of effective health care delivery, to date no efforts have been made to systematically review the scientific evidence supporting this supposition. The aim of this study was to examine the breadth of primary care by identifying its core dimensions and to assess the evidence for their interrelations and their relevance to outcomes at (primary) health system level. Methods: A systematic review of the primary care literature was carried out, restricted to English language journals reporting original research or systematic reviews. Studies published between 2003 and July 2008 were searched in MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, King's Fund Database, IDEAS Database, and EconLit. Results: Eighty-five studies were identified. This review was able to provide insight in the complexity of primary care as a multidimensional system, by identifying ten core dimensions that constitute a primary care system. The structure of a primary care system consists of three dimensions: 1. governance; 2. economic conditions; and 3. workforce development. The primary care process is determined by four dimensions: 4. access; 5. continuity of care; 6. coordination of care; and 7. comprehensiveness of care. The outcome of a primary care system includes three dimensions: 8. quality of care; 9. efficiency care; and 10. equity in health. There is a considerable evidence base showing that primary care contributes through its dimensions to overall health system performance and health. Conclusions: A primary care system can be defined and approached as a multidimensional system contributing to overall health system performance and health

2019 international consensus on cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency cardiovascular care science with treatment recommendations : summary from the basic life support; advanced life support; pediatric life support; neonatal life support; education, implementation, and teams; and first aid task forces

The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation has initiated a continuous review of new, peer-reviewed, published cardiopulmonary resuscitation science. This is the third annual summary of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations. It addresses the most recent published resuscitation evidence reviewed by International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation Task Force science experts. This summary addresses the role of cardiac arrest centers and dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the role of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation in adults and children, vasopressors in adults, advanced airway interventions in adults and children, targeted temperature management in children after cardiac arrest, initial oxygen concentration during resuscitation of newborns, and interventions for presyncope by first aid providers. Members from 6 International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation task forces have assessed, discussed, and debated the certainty of the evidence on the basis of the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation criteria, and their statements include consensus treatment recommendations. Insights into the deliberations of the task forces are provided in the Justification and Evidence to Decision Framework Highlights sections. The task forces also listed priority knowledge gaps for further research