Influence of soil on the efficacy of entomopathogenic nematodes in reducing Diabrotica virgifera virgifera in maize

The use of entomopathogenic nematodes is one potential non-chemical approach to control the larvae of the invasive western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in Europe. This study investigated the efficacy of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora Poinar (Rhabditida: Heterorhabditidae), Heterorhabditis megidis Poinar, Jackson and Klein (Rh., Heterorhabditidae) and Steinernema feltiae Filipjev (Rh., Steinernematidae) in reducing D. v. virgifera as a function of soil characteristics. A field experiment was repeated four times in southern Hungary using artificially infested maize plants potted into three different soils. Sleeve gauze cages were used to assess the number of emerging adult D. v. virgifera from the treatments and untreated controls. Results indicate that nematodes have the potential to reduce D. v. virgifera larvae in most soils; however, their efficacy can be higher in maize fields with heavy clay or silty clay soils than in sandy soils, which is in contrast to the common assumption that nematodes perform better in sandy soils than in heavy soils

Costs and Effects of Abdominal versus Laparoscopic Hysterectomy: Systematic Review of Controlled Trials

Objective: Comparative evaluation of costs and effects of laparoscopic hysterectomy (LH) and abdominal hysterectomy (AH). Data sources: Controlled trials from Cochrane Central register of controlled trials, Medline, Embase and prospective trial registers. Selection of studies: Twelve (randomized) controlled studies including the search terms costs, laparoscopy, laparotomy and hysterectomy were identified. Methods: The type of cost analysis, perspective of cost analyses and separate cost components were assessed. The direct and indirect costs were extracted from the original studies. For the cost estimation, hospital stay and procedure costs were selected as most important cost drivers. As main outcome the major complication rate was taken. Findings: Analysis was performed on 2226 patients, of which 1013 (45.5%) in the LH group and 1213 (54.5%) in the AH group. Five studies scored >= 10 points (out of 19) for methodological quality. The reported total direct costs in the LH group ($63,997) were 6.1$60,114). The reported total indirect costs of the LH group ($1,609) were half of the total indirect in the AH group ($3,139). The estimated mean major complication rate in the LH group (14.3%) was lower than in the AH group (15.9%). The estimated total costs in the LH group were $3,884 versus$3,312 in the AH group. The incremental costs for reducing one patient with major complication(s) in the LH group compared to the AH group was $35,750. Conclusions: The shorter hospital stay in the LH group compensates for the increased procedure costs, with less morbidity. LH points in the direction of cost effectiveness, however further research is warranted with a broader costs perspective including long term effects as societal benefit, quality of life and survival

Knowledge and attitudes about vitamin D, and behaviors related to vitamin D in adults with and without coronary heart disease in Saudi Arabia

Abstract Background Vitamin D deficiency is prevailing in Saudi Arabia. Recent national data indicated an inverse association between vitamin D status and coronary heart disease (CHD), which increases concerns about vitamin D deficiency as a serious public health problem. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate whether knowledge, attitudes and behaviors related to vitamin D contribute to the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among adults with and without CHD in Saudi Arabia. Methods This case-control study consisted of 130 CHD cases and 195 matched controls. The study subjects were recruited from three hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Structured interviews were completed to collect data on participants’ socio-demographics, knowledge about vitamin D, attitudes toward sun exposure, and behaviors related to vitamin D. Also, serum vitamin D levels were measured. Results Severe vitamin D deficiency [serum 25(OH)D < 10 ng/mL] was more prevalent in the CHD cases than in the controls (46% and 3%, respectively). The total knowledge score was higher in the controls than in the cases [2.5 (±1.8) and 1.6 (±2.2), respectively]. The cases had better attitudes toward sun exposure compared to the controls (p = 0.001); however, the controls had better attitudes toward vitamin D compared to the cases (p = 0.001). The controls had a higher consumption of multivitamin supplements than the cases (6.7% and 0.8%, respectively; p = 0.010). Similarly, the controls had a higher consumption of butter (p = 0.001), oily fish (p = 0.004), and liver (p = 0.003) than the cases; however, the cases had a significantly higher intake of milk (p = 0.001). A multivariate logistic regression showed that vitamin D deficiency [25(OH)D < 20 ng/mL] was associated with low levels of knowledge about vitamin D, with an odds ratio of 1.82 (95% CI: 1.08–3.06, P = 0.024). Vitamin D deficiency was also associated with low intake of vitamin supplements, with an odds ratio of 4.35 (95% CI: 2.12–8.92, P < 0.001). Conclusion The present study revealed that low levels of knowledge about vitamin D and low consumption of vitamin supplementation, including vitamin D, calcium, multivitamin, and calcium supplements with vitamin D, may have contributed to the higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among the CHD cases than among the controls. Further studies using a qualitative approach are crucial to explore the underlying reasons for low knowledge about vitamin D and behaviors related to vitamin D including the intake of vitamin supplementation  that may contribute to the high burden of vitamin D deficiency in the country