Soil quality indices as affected by long-term burning, irrigation, tillage, and fertility management

Understanding the impacts of long-term agricultural practices on soil quality (SQ) is key for sustaining agroecosystem productivity. This study investigated conventional and no-tillage (NT), residue burning and no burning, residue level (high and low), and irrigation (irrigated and dryland) effects on soil properties, SQ, and crop yields following 16 yr of a wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)–soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] double-crop system via the Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF). A field experiment was conducted in the Lower Mississippi River Delta region on a silt-loam soil. Bulk density, soil organic C (SOC), total N (TN), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and soil P and K from the 0- to 10-cm soil depth were used as SQ indicators investigated individually and as an overall soil quality index (SQI). Following 16 yr, residue burning reduced SOC (1.1%) compared with no burning (1.24%). Irrigation resulted in greater soil TN than dryland management systems (p \u3c 0.05). Reduced soil pH and extractable soil P and K occurred under NT, high residue, and irrigated treatments. Irrigation increased soybean yields, regardless of the tillage system. Burned, NT–high residue management increased wheat yields (3.45 Mg ha−1). Irrigation reduced SQ because of low EC and K scores. High residue reduced SQ compared with the low residue treatment within NT systems, owing to low pH scores. The SMAF indices identified the impacts of irrigation, NT, and optimal N fertilization on SQ. Monitoring of soil pH, P, and K may be needed to maintain SQ in long-term wheat–soybean systems

Single-crystal Ih Ice Surfaces Unveil Connection between Macroscopic and Molecular Structure

Physics and chemistry of ice surfaces are not only of fundamental interest but also have important impacts on biological and environmental processes. As ice surfaces—particularly the two prism faces—come under greater scrutiny, it is increasingly important to connect the macroscopic faces with the molecular-level structure. The microscopic structure of the ubiquitous ice Ih crystal is well-known. It consists of stacked layers of chair-form hexagonal rings referred to as molecular hexagons. Crystallographic unit cells can be assembled into a regular right hexagonal prism. The bases are labeled crystallographic hexagons. The two hexagons are rotated 30° with respect to each other. The linkage between the familiar macroscopic shape of hexagonal snowflakes and either hexagon is not obvious per se. This report presents experimental data directly connecting the macroscopic shape of ice crystals and the microscopic hexagons. Large ice single crystals were used to fabricate samples with the basal, primary prism, or secondary prism faces exposed at the surface. In each case, the same sample was used to capture both a macroscopic etch pit image and an electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) orientation density function (ODF) plot. Direct comparison of the etch pit image and the ODF plot compellingly connects the macroscopic etch pit hexagonal profile to the crystallographic hexagon. The most stable face at the ice–water interface is the smallest area face at the ice–vapor interface. A model based on the molecular structure of the prism faces accounts for this switch

Study protocol for the multicentre cohorts of Zika virus infection in pregnant women, infants, and acute clinical cases in Latin America and the Caribbean: The ZIKAlliance consortium

Background: The European Commission (EC) Horizon 2020 (H2020)-funded ZIKAlliance Consortium designed a multicentre study including pregnant women (PW), children (CH) and natural history (NH) cohorts. Clinical sites were selected over a wide geographic range within Latin America and the Caribbean, taking into account the dynamic course of the ZIKV epidemic. Methods: Recruitment to the PW cohort will take place in antenatal care clinics. PW will be enrolled regardless of symptoms and followed over the course of pregnancy, approximately every 4 weeks. PW will be revisited at delivery (or after miscarriage/abortion) to assess birth outcomes, including microcephaly and other congenital abnormalities according to the evolving definition of congenital Zika syndrome (CZS). After birth, children will be followed for 2 years in the CH cohort. Follow-up visits are scheduled at ages 1-3, 4-6, 12, and 24 months to assess neurocognitive and developmental milestones. In addition, a NH cohort for the characterization of symptomatic rash/fever illness was designed, including follow-up to capture persisting health problems. Blood, urine, and other biological materials will be collected, and tested for ZIKV and other relevant arboviral diseases (dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever) using RT-PCR or serological methods. A virtual, decentralized biobank will be created. Reciprocal clinical monitoring has been established between partner sites. Substudies of ZIKV seroprevalence, transmissio

Endophthalmitis after strabismus surgery: incidence and outcome in relation to age, operated eye muscle, surgical technique, scleral perforation and immune state

Purpose: Identify risk factors for endophthalmitis after strabismus surgery (EASS) and relate these to incidence and outcome. Methods: Ophthalmologists, who had operated, diagnosed or treated EASS, completed a case record form with 71 questions in six domains: Preoperative, Surgery, Perforation, Postoperative, Outcome and Experts’ opinion. To estimate the age-specific incidence per number of strabismus operations in the Netherlands during 1994-2013, the age distribution of Dutch cases was compared with the age-specific rates of strabismus surgery in the Dutch Registry of Strabismus Operations and with population data. Exploratory data analysis was performed. The immune state was evaluated in six patients. Five enucleated eyes were studied histopathologically. Results: None of the 26 patients (27 eyes with EASS) were between 9 and 65 years old, except for one patient with retinal haemorrhage followed by endophthalmitis. In the Netherlands during 1994-2013, the rate of EASS was approximately one per 11 000 strabismus operations, but one per 4300 for children aged 0–3 and one per 1000 for patients 65 and older. Endophthalmitis was diagnosed on postoperative day 1–4 in children aged 0–3. In all 15 children aged 0–5, the 16 affected eyes were phthisical, eviscerated or enucleated. The involved eye muscle had been recessed in 25 of 27 cases. It was a medial rectus in 15 of 16 children aged 0–6. It was a lateral (6), inferior (2) or medial (1) rectus in elderly. Scleral perforation went unnoticed in all children (no record in three) and in two of seven elderly (no record in two). Histopathology showed transscleral scarring compatible with scleral perforation in four patients but, in a two-year-old girl who had EASS together with a transient medial rectus palsy, the sclera underneath the former suture tract was not perforated but did contain the long posterior ciliary artery. Conclusions: Endophthalmitis after strabismus surgery (EASS) affects children and elderly, with a grave outcome in young children. It occurs after recession of the medial rectus muscle in children, and it may occur without scleral perforation. Age and perforation influence many other parameters that determine the occurrence and fulminance of EASS

Effect of working memory training on cognitive communicative abilities among young- and middle-aged adults

Objective: Cognitive training gains have been reported to be larger among young adults in comparison to older adults. However, differences in the magnitude of improvements between the earlier ages of adulthood have been less explored. In this attempt, the aim of the present study was to investigate the working memory training effects on cognitive communicative abilities among young- and middle-aged adults. Method: An interventional research design was incorporated. Thirty young- (19–40 years) and middle-aged (40–65 years) adults each, were recruited from the community and randomly assigned into the experimental and control groups. The experimental groups received 10 sessions of working memory training. Pre- and post-training assessments were performed and data was statistically analyzed. Results: The data analysis revealed no statistically significant difference in the training effects between young- and middle-aged adults, though young adults showed higher trends of improvement with training. Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of initiating working memory training at an early age to enhance or restore one’s cognitive abilities as age progresses