Prediction of the long-term groundwater recharge by hydropedotransfer functions

A method is outlined to predict actual evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge considering climate, soil and depth to groundwater

Evaluierung potentieller Torfersatzstoffe für den Erwerbsgartenbau mit bodenkundlichen Methoden

Mit dem Torfabbau für gartenbauliche Zwecke sind vielfältige negative Auswirkungen verknüpft: Veränderung des Landschaftswasserhaushalts, Treibhausgas-Emissionen, Landschaftswandel, Verlust der biologischen Vielfalt. Der Einsatz von Torfersatzstoffen im Erwerbsgartenbau wie z.B. Rindenhumus, Komposte oder Kokosfasern findet bisher nur in einem geringen Umfang statt, da sie andere Eigenschaften als Torf aufweisen und daher ein potentielles Kulturrisiko darstellen. Zudem können diese Stoffe auch zu ökologischen Problemen führen, z.B. durch lange Transportwege bei der Beschaffung von Kokosfasern. Daher ist es wichtig systematische Untersuchungsverfahren für die Analyse von Torfersatzstoffen mit hoher Kultursicherheit zu entwickeln. Um den Untersuchungsaufwand zu minimieren, soll ein Entscheidungsbaum entwickelt werden, anhand dessen verschiedene Parameter systematisch untersucht werden. Dieser soll schon in frühen Stadien indizieren, ob sich ein Rohstoff als Substratausgangsstoff eignet, bedingt eignet oder verworfen werden muss. Hierzu werden klassische Untersuchungsverfahren (VDLUFA, DIN EN) zur Untersuchung der chemischen, physikalischen und biologischen Eigenschaften der Substratausgangsstoffe eingesetzt wie z.B. zur N-Immobilisierung und zum Wasser- und Lufthaushalt. Diese werden mit bodenkundlichen Methoden wie z.B. Inkubations- und Stabilisotopenversuche kombiniert und weiter entwickelt. Die weiter entwickelten Methoden sollen zu einer verbesserten Aussagefähigkeit bezüglich der Kultursicherheit beitragen. Im Rahmen dieser Studie werden auf diese Weise mehrere potentielle Substratausgangsstoffe (Erle, Schilf, Rohrkolben, Heide) getestet. Es werden erste Ergebnisse der Labor- und Gewächshausversuche dieser potentiellen Substratausgangsstoffe präsentiert

Germination of phagocytosed E. cuniculi spores does not significantly contribute to parasitophorous vacuole formation in J774 cells

The obligate intracellular microsporidia have developed a unique invasion mechanism to infect their host cells. Spores explosively evert a tube-like structure and extrude the infectious spore content through this organelle into the host cell. Spores from species of the genus Encephalitozoon were also shown to be efficiently internalized by phagocytosis, which led to the hypothesis that spore germination from inside a phagosome might contribute to the infection process. Here, we challenge this hypothesis by quantifying Encephalitozoon cuniculi infection rates of J774 cells that were incubated with the phagocytosis inhibitor cytochalasin D. We demonstrate that the invasion rate in cytochalasin D-treated cells is identical to untreated controls, although phagocytic uptake of E. cuniculi spores was less than 10% of control samples. This study suggests that germination of phagocytosed spores is not a significant infection mode for E. cuniculi

Health facility assessment of small and sick newborn care in low- and middle-income countries: systematic tool development and operationalisation with NEST360 and UNICEF

Background: Each year an estimated 2.3 million newborns die in the frst 28 days of life. Most of these deaths are pre‑ ventable, and high-quality neonatal care is fundamental for surviving and thriving. Service readiness is used to assess the capacity of hospitals to provide care, but current health facility assessment (HFA) tools do not fully evaluate inpa‑ tient small and sick newborn care (SSNC). Methods: Health systems ingredients for SSNC were identifed from international guidelines, notably World Health Organization (WHO), and other standards for SSNC. Existing global and national service readiness tools were identifed and mapped against this ingredients list. A novel HFA tool was co-designed according to a priori considerations deter‑ mined by policymakers from four African governments, including that the HFA be completed in one day and assess readiness across the health system. The tool was reviewed by\u3e150 global experts, and refned and operationalised in 64 hospitals in Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania between September 2019 and March 2021. Results: Eight hundred and sixty-six key health systems ingredients for service readiness for inpatient SSNC were identifed and mapped against four global and eight national tools measuring SSNC service readiness. Tools revealed major content gaps particularly for devices and consumables, care guidelines, and facility infrastructure, with a mean of 13.2% (n=866, range 2.2–34.4%) of ingredients included. Two tools covered 32.7% and 34.4% (n=866) of ingredi‑ ents and were used as inputs for the new HFA tool, which included ten modules organised by adapted WHO health system building blocks, including: infrastructure, pharmacy and laboratory, medical devices and supplies, biomedi‑ cal technician workshop, human resources, information systems, leadership and governance, family-centred care, and infection prevention and control. This HFA tool can be conducted at a hospital by seven assessors in one day and has been used in 64 hospitals in Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania. Conclusion: This HFA tool is available open-access to adapt for use to comprehensively measure service readiness for level-2 SSNC, including respiratory support. The resulting facility-level data enable comparable tracking for Every Newborn Action Plan coverage target four within and between countries, identifying facility and national-level health systems gaps for action

Quantifying health facility service readiness for small and sick newborn care: comparing standards-based and WHO level-2 + scoring for 64 hospitals implementing with NEST360 in Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania

Background: Service readiness tools are important for assessing hospital capacity to provide quality small and sick newborn care (SSNC). Lack of summary scoring approaches for SSNC service readiness means we are unable to track national targets such as the Every Newborn Action Plan targets. Methods: A health facility assessment (HFA) tool was co-designed by Newborn Essential Solutions and Technologies (NEST360) and UNICEF with four African governments. Data were collected in 68 NEST360-implementing neonatal units in Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania (September 2019-March 2021). Two summary scoring approaches were developed: a) standards-based, including items for SSNC service readiness by health system building block (HSBB), and scored on availability and functionality, and b) level-2+, scoring items on readiness to provide WHO level-2+clin‑ ical interventions. For each scoring approach, scores were aggregated and summarised as a percentage and equally weighted to obtain an overall score by hospital, HSBB, and clinical intervention. Results: Of 1508 HFA items, 1043 (69%) were included in standards-based and 309 (20%) in level-2+scoring. Sixtyeight neonatal units across four countries had median standards-based scores of 51% [IQR 48–57%] at baseline, with variation by country: 62% [IQR 59–66%] in Kenya, 49% [IQR 46–51%] in Malawi, 50% [IQR 42–58%] in Nigeria, and 55% [IQR 53–62%] in Tanzania. The lowest scoring was family-centred care [27%, IQR 18–40%] with governance highest scoring [76%, IQR 71–82%]. For level-2+scores, the overall median score was 41% [IQR 35–51%] with vari‑ ation by country: 50% [IQR 44–53%] in Kenya, 41% [IQR 35–50%] in Malawi, 33% [IQR 27–37%] in Nigeria, and 41% [IQR 32–52%] in Tanzania. Readiness to provide antibiotics by culture report was the highest-scoring interven‑ tion [58%, IQR 50–75%] and neonatal encephalopathy management was the lowest-scoring [21%, IQR 8–42%]. In both methods, overall scores were low (\u3c50%) for 27 neonatal units in standards-based scoring and 48 neonatal units in level-2+scoring. No neonatal unit achieved high scores of\u3e75%. Discussion: Two scoring approaches reveal gaps in SSNC readiness with no neonatal units achieving high scores (\u3e75%). Government-led quality improvement teams can use these summary scores to identify areas for health sys‑ tems change. Future analyses could determine which items are most directly linked with quality SSNC and newborn outcomes

Quasi-fission reactions as a probe of nuclear viscosity

Fission fragment mass and angular distributions were measured from the ^{64}Ni+^{197}Au reaction at 418 MeV and 383 MeV incident energy. A detailed data analysis was performed, using the one-body dissipation theory implemented in the code HICOL. The effect of the window and the wall friction on the experimental observables was investigated. Friction stronger than one-body was also considered. The mass and angular distributions were consistent with one-body dissipation. An evaporation code DIFHEAT coupled to HICOL was developed in order to predict reaction time scales required to describe available data on pre-scission neutron multiplicities. The multiplicity data were again consistent with one-body dissipation. The cross-sections for touch, capture and quasi-fission were also obtained.Comment: 25 pages REVTeX, 3 tables, 13 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev