Prospective longitudinal evaluation of treatment-related toxicity and health-related quality of life during the first year of treatment for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Background Pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) therapy is accompanied by treatment-related toxicities (TRTs) and impaired quality of life. In Australia and New Zealand, children with ALL are treated with either Children's Oncology Group (COG) or international Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster (iBFM) Study Group-based therapy. We conducted a prospective registry study to document symptomatic TRTs (venous thrombosis, neurotoxicity, pancreatitis and bone toxicity), compare TRT outcomes to retrospective TRT data, and measure the impact of TRTs on children's general and cancer-related health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and parents' emotional well-being. Methods Parents of children with newly diagnosed ALL were invited to participate in the ASSET (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia Subtypes and Side Effects from Treatment) study and a prospective, longitudinal HRQoL study. TRTs were reported prospectively and families completed questionnaires for general (Healthy Utility Index Mark 3) and cancer specific (Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL)-Cancer Module) health related quality of life as well the Emotion Thermometer to assess emotional well-being. Results Beginning in 2016, 260 pediatric patients with ALL were enrolled on the TRT registry with a median age at diagnosis of 59 months (range 1-213 months), 144 males (55.4%), majority with Pre-B cell immunophenotype, n = 226 (86.9%), 173 patients (66.5%) treated according to COG platform with relatively equal distribution across risk classification sub-groups. From 2018, 79 families participated in the HRQoL study through the first year of treatment. There were 74 TRT recorded, reflecting a 28.5% risk of developing a TRT. Individual TRT incidence was consistent with previous studies, being 7.7% for symptomatic VTE, 11.9% neurotoxicity, 5.4% bone toxicity and 5.0% pancreatitis. Children's HRQoL was significantly lower than population norms throughout the first year of treatment. An improvement in general HRQoL, measured by the HUI3, contrasted with the lack of improvement in cancer-related HRQoL measured by the PedsQL Cancer Module over the first 12 months. There were no persisting differences in the HRQoL impact of COG compared to iBFM therapy. Conclusions It is feasible to prospectively monitor TRT incidence and longitudinal HRQoL impacts during ALL therapy. Early phases of ALL therapy, regardless of treatment platform, result in prolonged reductions in cancer-related HRQoL.Clarissa E. Schilstra, Karen McCleary, Joanna E. Fardell, Mark W. Donoghoe, Emma McCormack, Rishi S. Kotecha, Richard De Abreu Lourenco, Shanti Ramachandran, Ruelleyn Cockcroft, Rachel Conyers, Siobhan Cross, Luciano Dalla, Pozza, Peter Downie, Tamas Revesz, Michael Osborn, Frank Alvaro, Claire E. Wakefield, Glenn M. Marshall, Marion K. Mateos, and Toby N. Trahai

The ionic composition of the streams of the mid-Murrumbidgee River: Implications for the management of downstream salinity

The Murrumbidgee River catchment is a major region of both dryland and irrigated agricultural production in eastern Australia. The salinity of water in the lower reaches of the river is the subject of concern; changing land management upstream is one option to minimise accessions of salt to the river but this must be done in a way that provides an adequate quantity of water for downstream users and the environment. We examined 30 years of sporadic data on the ionic composition of water for 7 subcatchments contributing to the mid-Murrumbidgee River and for 2 gauging stations on the river itself. Despite the common local presumption that salinity, measured as electrical conductivity (EC), is primarily due to NaCl from cyclic marine salt, we found that NaCl was the dominant salt in only some streams. The presence of HCO3-'s of Ca2+ and Mg2+ in all streams, and their dominance in 2 streams, indicates that mineral weathering is also a major contributor to the salt load of water in the catchment. However, Ca2+ and Mg2+ bicarbonates have limited solubility and so their concentrations will not become a cause of osmotic stress when the water is used for drinking or irrigation. Therefore, in our efforts to prioritise lower order catchments of the Murrumbidgee River for changed land management, it will be necessary to examine the nature of the salts they discharge, not just EC. By distinguishing between Cl-/Na+ dominated streams and Ca2+, Mg2+/HCO3- dominated streams we can refine our search for sources of osmotic stress which might potentially worsen with time. This will enable us to target particular land management units so as to obtain the maximum reduction in downstream salinity with a minimal decrease in flow volume and minimal area of land undergoing changed landuse.

Corrigendum to “Soil with high organic carbon concentration continues to sequester carbon with increasing carbon inputs” [Geoderma 285 (2017) 151–163]

The authors regret there is a critical error in Eq. 1; this should read: C stock (Mg C/ha) = (total OC (mg/g)/10) × BD (g/cm3) × depth (cm) × (1 − proportion gravel). The calculations performed in the study are correct and this is only a typographical error. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused

Soil with high organic carbon concentration continues to sequester carbon with increasing carbon inputs

Identifying soil with a large potential to accumulate organic carbon (OC) could maximise the mitigation benefits of carbon (C) sequestration and help prioritise resources to achieve increases in soil OC. The purpose of this laboratory incubation experiment was to determine if an upper limit to OC accumulation in soil was approached with increasing C input in basalt- and granite-derived soil. For each parent material, two soil layers were compared to observe OC accumulation in soil with a high OC concentration (0 to 0.10 m, A1 horizon) and soil with a low OC concentration (0.40 to 0.50 m, B2 horizon). Soil samples were incubated for up to 146 days. The experiment consisted of three soil incubation cycles, with four treatments applied at the start of each cycle: soil only (control), soil and nutrients only (nutrients), high organic matter (OM) and nutrients (approximating a field equivalent of 12.4 Mg DM/ha; HOMN) and very high OM and nutrients (31.1 Mg DM/ha; VHOMN). At the beginning of cycle one 13C labelled OM was applied. There was no asymptotic behaviour between C inputs and OC accumulation in soil observed in this study. Thus, OC accumulation was not approaching an upper limit for either parent material at OM application rates ranging from field equivalents of 12.4 to 93.3 Mg DM/ha (equivalent to 5.4 to 40.6 Mg C/ha). There was no significant increase in OC concentration between cycle 2 and 3 for the VHOMN treatment in the granite-derived 0.40 to 0.50 m soil. While this is not conclusive, this may indicate the soil is approaching an upper limit to OC accumulation at a lower OC concentration due to the dominance of 1:1 clays, compared to the 2:1 clay dominated basalt-derived soil. This suggests that mineralogy rather than texture may influence OC accumulation and any potential C saturation behaviour of soil. Despite increasing microbial activity, evidenced by increasing soil respiration (P < 0.001) and microbial biomass C (P < 0.05), as well as a significant (P < 0.05) narrowing of the C:N ratio of soil, there was substantial 13C recovery (mean between 19.8 and 25.9 (1.1 se) % for both parent material) at the end of the soil incubation. This supports the hypothesis that the increases in OC accumulation were at least partly due to the conversion of plant residues into microbial detritus which is a major component of the relatively stable pool of OC in soil.Funding for this research was provided by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (National Soil Carbon Program) and NSW Department of Primary Industries. This research is part of a PhD through the Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, Charles Sturt University and was supported by the Future Farm Industries CRC and the Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University

Surface application of lime ameliorates subsoil acidity and improves root growth and yield of wheat in an acid soil under no-till system Calagem superficial em solo ácido no sistema plantio direto melhora a acidez do subsolo e beneficia o crescimento radicular e a produção de trigo

Crop root growth and grain yield can be affected by chemical modifications in the soil profile due to surface lime application. A field trial was carried out on a loamy dystrophic Typic Hapludox at Ponta Grossa, State of Paraná, Brazil, to evaluate root growth and grain yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. CD 104, moderately susceptible to Al), about 10 years after surface liming (0, 2, 4, and 6 Mg ha-1) and three years after surface re-liming (0 and 3 Mg ha-1), in a long-term no-till cultivation system. Soil acidity limited wheat root growth and yield severely, probably as a result of extended water deficits during the vegetative stage. Surface liming caused increases up to 66% in the root growth (0-60 cm) and up to 140% in the grain yield. Root density and grain yield were correlated positively with soil pH and exchangeable Ca2+, and negatively with exchangeable Al3+ and Al3+ saturation, in the surface and subsurface layers.<br>A calagem na superfície do solo em plantio direto ocasiona modificações químicas no perfil que podem influenciar o crescimento do sistema radicular e a produção de grãos das culturas. O crescimento de raízes e a produção de trigo (Triticum aestivum L. cv. CD 104, moderadamente sensível ao Al), foram estudados cerca de 10 anos após a aplicação superficial de calcário (0, 2, 4 e 6 Mg ha-1) e três anos da reaplicação de calcário na superfície (0 e 3 Mg ha-1), em um Latossolo Vermelho distrófico textura média, manejado durante longo período no sistema plantio direto, em Ponta Grossa (PR). A acidez do solo limitou drasticamente o crescimento radicular e a produção de trigo, provavelmente por causa de prolongada falta de água ocorrida durante a fase de desenvolvimento vegetativo da cultura. A calagem na superfície ocasionou aumento de até 66% no crescimento radicular (0-60 cm) e de até 140% na produção de trigo. A densidade de raízes e a produção de trigo correlacionaram-se positivamente com o pH e o teor de Ca2+ trocável, e negativamente com o teor de Al3+ trocável e a saturação por Al3+, nas camadas superficiais e do subsolo