Characterization of Soil-Water Retention with Coarse Fragments in the Densu Basin of Ghana

The presence of coarse fragments can have profound impact on soil moisture retention characteristics. The study was conducted to assess the effects of coarse fragments on the moisture retention characteristics of 16 soil series, developed over five different parent materials in the Densu basin. Soil profiles were excavated at five locations, to depths within 1.5 m in the field. Undisturbed soil core samples and disturbed samples were taken in triplicates from the major genetic horizons of each soil type within the effective root depth of 1 m. Coarse fragments content of soil more than 2 mm was measured on mass basis by sieving through a 2-mm mesh. Soil moisture retention was determined using the pressure plate apparatus at suctions of pF 1 (1.0 kPa), pF 2 (10.0 kPa), pF 2.5 (33.0 kPa) and pF 3 (100.0 kPa) for the undisturbed and pF 4.2 (1500 kPa) for the disturbed samples.The volumetric moisture content between field capacity (FC) pF 2.5 (33.0 kPa) and permanent wilting pointing (PWP) pF 4.2 (1500.0 kPa) was used to evaluate the available water content (AWC) by volume and then converted to root zone available water capacity (RZAWC) in millimetres (mm) assuming an effective root depth of 1 m within the basin. Results showed that soils formed over granite and its associations have high percentage of coarse fragments while soils developed over phyllites and its associations have high clay percentage. Soil organic matter was high in the topsoil of all profiles, ranging from 0.81 to 4.44% compared with the horizons below, and the bulk density of the topsoils were less than the limiting value of 1.6 Mg m-3. Site-specific moisture retention characteristics of the various soil series have been delineated. It was evident from the analyses that soils containing high clay content gave high RZAWC values compared with soils with high coarse fragments. Most of the topsoils of the profiles gave high RZAWC values compared with sub-layers with high amounts of coarse fragments. Critical water for plants establishment within the basin in the surface layer was quite favourable

2009 ESC/ERS Pulmonary Hypertension Guidelines and Connective Tissue Disease

ABSTRACTPulmonary hypertension was defined as mean pulmonary artery pressure ≥25 mmHg at the 4th World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension. In 2009, the European Society of Cardiology and European Respiratory Society jointly created guidelines for practical pulmonary hypertension classifications and treatments based on the discussions at the 4th World Symposium. This classification is characterized by division into five groups: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH); Pulmonary hypertension due to left heart disease; Pulmonary hypertension due to lung disease and/or hypoxia; Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension; and Pulmonary hypertension with unclear and/or multifactorial mechanisms.PAH is a common and fatal complication of connective tissue disease (CTD), but pulmonary hypertension in CTD consists of PAH, pulmonary hypertension caused by myocardial involvement, pulmonary veno-occlusive disorder, pulmonary hypertension due to interstitial lung disease. PAH has been studied widely in SSc and the estimated prevalence of 7-12%. Treatment of CTD associated PAH (CTD-PAH) consists of general therapeutic options and specific treatment. Specific treatment of CTD-PAH patients is targeted to produce vasodilatation. Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) are indicated in cases where a sufficient decrease in pulmonary arterial pressure is seen in vasoreactivity testing. If vasoreactivity is absent in CTD-PAH patients, the treatment consists of the endothelin receptor antagonists, the prostacyclin analogues and phosphodiesterase-type 5 inhibitors. Few data are available to support the use of immunosuppression in CTD-PAH. However, some case reports suggested that a minority of CTD-PAH patients could benefit from immunosuppressive therapy. The treatment of CTD-PAH patients may differ from the treatment of idiopathic PAH

On the non-abelian Brumer-Stark conjecture and the equivariant Iwasawa main conjecture

We show that for an odd prime p, the p-primary parts of refinements of the (imprimitive) non-abelian Brumer and Brumer-Stark conjectures are implied by the equivariant Iwasawa main conjecture (EIMC) for totally real fields. Crucially, this result does not depend on the vanishing of the relevant Iwasawa mu-invariant. In combination with the authors' previous work on the EIMC, this leads to unconditional proofs of the non-abelian Brumer and Brumer-Stark conjectures in many new cases.Comment: 33 pages; to appear in Mathematische Zeitschrift; v3 many minor updates including new title; v2 some cohomological arguments simplified; v1 is a revised version of the second half of arXiv:1408.4934v

The Listening Network and Cochlear Implant Benefits in Hearing-Impaired Adults

Older adults with mild or no hearing loss make more errors and expend more effort listening to speech. Cochlear implants (CI) restore hearing to deaf patients but with limited fidelity. We hypothesized that patient-reported hearing and health-related quality of life in CI patients may similarly vary according to age. Speech Spatial Qualities (SSQ) of hearing scale and Health Utilities Index Mark III (HUI) questionnaires were administered to 543 unilaterally implanted adults across Europe, South Africa, and South America. Data were acquired before surgery and at 1, 2, and 3 years post-surgery. Data were analyzed using linear mixed models with visit, age group (18–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55–64, and 65+), and side of implant as main factors and adjusted for other covariates. Tinnitus and dizziness prevalence did not vary with age, but older groups had more preoperative hearing. Preoperatively and postoperatively, SSQ scores were significantly higher (¿0.75–0.82) for those aged <45 compared with those 55+. However, gains in SSQ scores were equivalent across age groups, although postoperative SSQ scores were higher in right-ear implanted subjects. All age groups benefited equally in terms of HUI gain (0.18), with no decrease in scores with age. Overall, younger adults appeared to cope better with a degraded hearing before and after CI, leading to better subjective hearing performance.