201 research outputs found

    Nitrogen and carbon isotope composition of organic Fertilizers.

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    Synthetic (e.g. urea) and organic fertilizers (e.g. compost) differed markedly in N isotope composition and the greater the difference between organic and synthetic fertilizer the more robust will be the differentiation of crops and vegetable grown under different farming systems. The objective of this study was to compare nitrogen and carbon isotope composition of organic fertilizers and manures available for conventional and organic farming in Brazil. Seven samples of organic fertilizer, two of organo-mineral fertilizers and two of different animal manures were analyzed for nitrogen and carbon isotope composition (15N, 13C). Organic fertilizers and manure samples were enriched in 15N as expected. Using synthetic fertilizers as the primary material of organo-mineral fertilizer can imprint a low 15N value to the final product. Organic fertilizers, organo-mineral fertilizers and manures can have their organic feedstock differentiated using 13C. These are preliminary data of the isotopic composition of organic fertilizer in Brazil. Therefore, a wider survey of fertilizers and an experimental approach for organic- and organo-mineral fertilizer production is needed to elucidate the natural isotope variation of the array of available products

    Risk factors for persistent and new chronic opioid use in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty: a retrospective cohort study

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    Objectives: To determine chronic opioid use pre-THA (total hip arthroplasty) and post-THA, and risk factors for persistent or new chronic opioid use post-THA. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs health claims database. Participants: 9525 patients who had an elective unilateral THA between 1/01/2001 and 12/31/2012. Primary outcome measure: Chronic opioid use. Defined as 90 days of continuous opioid use or 120 days of non-continuous use. Results: Pre-THA, 6.2% (n=593) of patients were chronic users, while 5.2% (n=492) were post-THA. Among the 492 postoperative chronic users, 302 (61%) were chronic users pre-THA and post-THA and 190 (39%) became new chronic users after surgery. Risk factors for persistent chronic use were younger age (OR=0.96, 95% CI 0.93 to 0.99/1-year increment), back pain (OR=1.99, 95% CI 1.20 to 3.23), diabetes (OR=3.52, 95% CI 1.05 to 11.8), hypnotics use (OR=2.52, 95% CI 1.48 to 4.30) and higher pre-THA opioid exposure (compared with opioid use for 94–157 days, 157–224 days (OR=3.75, 95% CI 2.28 to 6.18), 225+ days (OR=5.18, 95% CI 2.92 to 9.19). Risk factors for new chronic opioid use post-THA were being a woman (OR=1.40, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.96), back pain (OR=3.90, 95% CI 2.85 to 5.33), depression (OR=1.70, 95% CI 1.20 to 2.41), gastric acid disease (OR=1.62, 95% CI 1.16 to 2.25), migraine (OR=5.11, 95% CI 1.08 to 24.18), liver disease (OR=4.33, 95% CI 1.08 to 17.35), weight loss (OR=2.60, 95% CI 1.06 to 6.39), dementia (OR=2.19, 95% CI 1.04 to 4.61), hyperlipidaemia (OR=1.38, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.91), hypnotics (OR=1.56, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.16) and antineuropathic pain medication use (OR=3.11, 95% CI 2.05 to 4.72). Conclusions: Patients undergoing THA are exposed to opioids for long periods of time, putting them at high risk of harm related to opioid use. We identified groups at risk of chronic opioid use, including younger patients and women, as well as modifiable risk factors of chronic opioid use, including level of opioid exposure presurgery and hypnotic use. These indicators of chronic opioid use can be used by clinicians to target patient groups for suitable pain management interventions.Maria C S Inacio, Craig Hansen, Nicole L Pratt, Stephen E Graves, Elizabeth E Roughea

    Nitrogen loss (NH3, N2O) patterns in bench-scale composting.

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    Nitrogen (N) losses during composting reduce the value of the end product as a fertilizer. Nitrogen is lost during composting mainly by ammonia (NH3) volatilization in the thermophilic phase. We used three bench-scale aerobic bioreactors with a controlled temperature difference (CDT) system as an experimental approach to investigate the pattern of N losses during composting. N2O peak emission occurred much earlier (7h) than NH3 volatilization (48-60h) during the thermophilic phase (~55°C) of bench-scale composting. The NH3 volatilization peak rate occurred following the greater biological activity (O2 consumed/CO2 evolved) at 40°C which could coincide with greater ammonification, but immobilization of NH4+/NH3 also occurs at this point affecting NH3 volatilization. Differences in temperature curves and accumulated NH3-N were related to the biological activity in each vessel. Therefore, O2 consumed/CO2 evolved measurements must be part of the evaluation of composting in further studies for comparisons of techniques to reduce NH3 volatilizatio

    Dinâmica de O2, CO2 e CH4 em leiras estáticas de compostagem.

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    bitstream/item/98028/1/Dinamica-O2-leiras-compostagem-1.pd

    Does bariatric surgery prior to total hip or knee arthroplasty reduce post-operative complications and improve clinical outcomes for obese patients? Systematic review and meta-analysis.

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    AIMS: Our aim was to determine whether, based on the current literature, bariatric surgery prior to total hip (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA) reduces the complication rates and improves the outcome following arthroplasty in obese patients. METHODS: A systematic literature search was undertaken of published and unpublished databases on the 5 November 2015. All papers reporting studies comparing obese patients who had undergone bariatric surgery prior to arthroplasty, or not, were included. Each study was assessed using the Downs and Black appraisal tool. A meta-analysis of risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) was performed to determine the incidence of complications including wound infection, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE), revision surgery and mortality. RESULTS: From 156 potential studies, five were considered to be eligible for inclusion in the study. A total of 23 348 patients (657 who had undergone bariatric surgery, 22 691 who had not) were analysed. The evidence-base was moderate in quality. There was no statistically significant difference in outcomes such as superficial wound infection (relative risk (RR) 1.88; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.95 to 0.37), deep wound infection (RR 1.04; 95% CI 0.65 to 1.66), DVT (RR 0.57; 95% CI 0.13 to 2.44), PE (RR 0.51; 95% CI 0.03 to 8.26), revision surgery (RR 1.24; 95% CI 0.75 to 2.05) or mortality (RR 1.25; 95% CI 0.16 to 9.89) between the two groups. CONCLUSION: For most peri-operative outcomes, bariatric surgery prior to THA or TKA does not significantly reduce the complication rates or improve the clinical outcome. This study questions the previous belief that bariatric surgery prior to arthroplasty may improve the clinical outcomes for patients who are obese or morbidly obese. This finding is based on moderate quality evidence. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2016;98-B:1160-6

    The risk of fall-related hospitalisations at entry into permanent residential aged care

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    Background: Entering permanent residential aged care (PRAC) is a vulnerable time for individuals. While falls risk assessment tools exist, these have not leveraged routinely collected and integrated information from the Australian aged and health care sectors. Our study examined individual, system, medication, and health care related factors at PRAC entry that are predictors of fall-related hospitalisations and developed a risk assessment tool using integrated aged and health care data. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on N=32,316 individuals ≥65 years old who entered a PRAC facility (01/01/2009-31/12/2016). Fall-related hospitalisations within 90 or 365days were the outcomes of interest. Individual, system, medication, and health care-related factors were examined as predictors. Risk prediction models were developed using elastic nets penalised regression and Fine and Gray models. Area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) assessed model discrimination. Results: 64.2% (N =20,757) of the cohort were women and the median age was 85 years old (interquartile range 80-89). After PRAC entry, 3.7% (N =1209) had a fall-related hospitalisation within 90days and 9.8% (N =3156) within 365days. Twenty variables contributed to fall-related hospitalisation prediction within 90days and the strongest predictors included fracture history (sub-distribution hazard ratio (sHR)=1.87, 95% confdence interval (CI) 1.63-2.15), falls history (sHR=1.41, 95%CI 1.21-2.15), and dementia (sHR=1.39, 95%CI 1.22-1.57). Twenty-seven predictors of fallrelated hospitalisation within 365days were identifed, the strongest predictors included dementia (sHR=1.36, 95%CI 1.24-1.50), history of falls (sHR=1.30, 95%CI 1.20-1.42) and fractures (sHR=1.28, 95%CI 1.15-1.41). The risk prediction models had an AUC of 0.71 (95%CI 0.68-0.74) for fall-related hospitalisations within 90days and 0.64 (95%CI 0.62-0.67) for within 365days. Conclusion: Routinely collected aged and health care data, when integrated at a clear point of action such as entry into PRAC, can identify residents at risk of fall-related hospitalisations, providing an opportunity for better targeting risk mitigation strategies.Maria C. Inacio, Max Moldovan, Craig Whitehead, Janet K. Sluggett, Maria Crotty, Megan Corlis, Renuka Visvanathan, Steve Wesselingh, and Gillian E. Caughe
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