Maize root growth and P uptake dependency on spatial distribution of sewage sludge, sewage sludge ash, and TSP

Shoot P uptake from TSP was largely increased by the localized placement. For the ASH, the localized placement clearly decreased shoot P uptake from the ash. For Sewage Sludge, localized placement decreased P uptake from the soil whereas P uptake from the sludge was almost unaffected. • Overall, total shoot P uptake was significantly affected by the treatment (p<0.005)

Pain tolerance in chronic pain patients seems to be more associated with physical activity than with depression and anxiety

OBJECTIVE: To explore the associations between habitual self-reported physical activity, pain sensitivity and patient-reported outcomes (including pain intensity) in patients with chronic pain. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, experimental study. SUBJECTS: Patients (n = 78), age range 18–65 years, with different chronic pain conditions (> 3 months) were compared with age- and sex-matched healthy controls (n = 98). METHODS: Multivariate correlations between self-reported physical activity, pressure pain sensitivity, and patient-reported outcome measures were assessed. RESULTS: Lower perceived health status (p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 2.34), higher levels of depression (p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 1.77), and lower pain tolerance threshold (p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 1.66) were the most prominent variables discriminating patients from controls. In patients, bivariate and multivariate analyses showed that higher pressure pain tolerance was associated with male sex, lower pain intensity and fewer painful regions, higher self-efficacy and more self-reported physical activity, but not with lower levels of anxiety and depression. CONCLUSION: Pain tolerance thresholds, as well as degree of depression and perceived health status discriminated between patients and controls, and there was an association between pain tolerance thresholds and level of self-reported physical activity in patients. This study highlights the importance of further research into how increased physical activity may improve pain sensitivity in patients with chronic pain

Temporal Changes, Patient Characteristics, and Mortality, According to Microbiological Cause of Infective Endocarditis:A Nationwide Study

BACKGROUND: Monitoring of microbiological cause of infective endocarditis (IE) remains key in the understanding of IE; however, data from large, unselected cohorts are sparse. We aimed to examine temporal changes, patient characteristics, and in‐hospital and long‐term mortality, according to microbiological cause in patients with IE from 2010 to 2017. METHODS AND RESULTS: Linking Danish nationwide registries, we identified all patients with first‐time IE. In‐hospital and long‐term mortality rates were assessed according to microbiological cause and compared using multivariable adjusted logistic regression analysis and Cox proportional hazard analysis, respectively. A total of 4123 patients were included. Staphylococcus aureus was the most frequent cause (28.1%), followed by Streptococcus species (26.0%), Enterococcus species (15.5%), coagulase‐negative staphylococci (6.2%), and “other microbiological causes” (5.3%). Blood culture–negative IE was registered in 18.9%. The proportion of blood culture–negative IE declined during the study period, whereas no significant changes were seen for any microbiological cause. Patients with Enterococcus species were older and more often had a prosthetic heart valve compared with other causes. For Streptococcus species IE, in‐hospital and long‐term mortality (median follow‐up, 2.3 years) were 11.1% and 58.5%, respectively. Compared with Streptococcus species IE, the following causes were associated with a higher in‐hospital mortality: S aureus IE (odds ratio [OR], 3.48 [95% CI, 2.74–4.42]), Enterococcus species IE (OR, 1.48 [95% CI, 1.11–1.97]), coagulase‐negative staphylococci IE (OR, 1.79 [95% CI, 1.21–2.65]), “other microbiological cause” (OR, 1.47 [95% CI, 0.95–2.27]), and blood culture–negative IE (OR, 1.99 [95% CI, 1.52–2.61]); and the following causes were associated with higher mortality following discharge (median follow‐up, 2.9 years): S aureus IE (hazard ratio [HR], 1.39 [95% CI, 1.19–1.62]), Enterococcus species IE (HR, 1.31 [95% CI, 1.11–1.54]), coagulase‐negative staphylococci IE (HR, 1.07 [95% CI, 0.85–1.36]), “other microbiological cause” (HR, 1.45 [95% CI, 1.13–1.85]), and blood culture–negative IE (HR, 1.05 [95% CI, 0.89–1.25]). CONCLUSIONS: This nationwide study showed that S aureus was the most frequent microbiological cause of IE, followed by Streptococcus species and Enterococcus species. Patients with S aureus IE had the highest in‐hospital mortality

Prevalence and Mortality of Infective Endocarditis in Community-Acquired and Healthcare-Associated Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia::A Danish Nationwide Registry-Based Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) can be community-acquired or healthcare-associated, and prior small studies have suggested that this mode of acquisition impacts the subsequent prevalence of infective endocarditis (IE) and patient outcomes. METHODS: First-time SAB was identified from 2010 to 2018 using Danish nationwide registries and categorized into community-acquired (no healthcare contact within 30 days) or healthcare-associated (SAB >48 hours of hospital admission, hospitalization within 30 days, or outpatient hemodialysis). Prevalence of IE (defined from hospital codes) was compared between groups using multivariable adjusted logistic regression analysis. One-year mortality of S aureus IE (SAIE) was compared between groups using multivariable adjusted Cox proportional hazard analysis. RESULTS: We identified 5549 patients with community-acquired SAB and 7491 with healthcare-associated SAB. The prevalence of IE was 12.1% for community-acquired and 6.6% for healthcare-associated SAB. Community-acquired SAB was associated with a higher odds of IE as compared with healthcare-associated SAB (odds ratio, 2.12 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 1.86–2.41]). No difference in mortality was observed with 0–40 days of follow-up for community-acquired SAIE as compared with healthcare-associated SAIE (HR, 1.07 [95% CI, .83–1.37]), while with 41–365 days of follow-up, community-acquired SAIE was associated with a lower mortality (HR, 0.71 [95% CI, .53–.95]). CONCLUSIONS: Community-acquired SAB was associated with twice the odds for IE, as compared with healthcare-associated SAB. We identified no significant difference in short-term mortality between community-acquired and healthcare-associated SAIE. Beyond 40 days of survival, community-acquired SAIE was associated with a lower mortality

Sentinel surveillance and epidemiology of Clostridioides difficile in Denmark, 2016 to 2019

BACKGROUND: Since 2008, Danish national surveillance of Clostridioides difficile has focused on binary toxin-positive strains in order to monitor epidemic types such as PCR ribotype (RT) 027 and 078. Additional surveillance is needed to provide a more unbiased representation of all strains from the clinical reservoir. AIM: Setting up a new sentinel surveillance scheme for an improved understanding of type distribution relative to time, geography and epidemiology, here presenting data from 2016 to 2019. METHODS: For 2─4 weeks in spring and autumn each year between 2016 and 2019, all 10 Danish Departments of Clinical Microbiology collected faecal samples containing toxigenic C. difficile. Isolates were typed at the national reference laboratory at Statens Serum Institut. The typing method in 2016–17 used tandem-repeat-sequence typing, while the typing method in 2018–19 was whole genome sequencing. RESULTS: During the study period, the sentinel surveillance scheme included ca 14–15% of all Danish cases of C. difficile infections. Binary toxin-negative strains accounted for 75% and 16 of the 20 most prevalent types. The most common sequence types (ST) were ST2/13 (RT014/020) (19.5%), ST1 (RT027) (10.8%), ST11 (RT078) (6.7%), ST8 (RT002) (6.6%) and ST6 (RT005/117) (5.1%). The data also highlighted geographical differences, mostly related to ST1 and temporal decline of ST1 (p = 0.0008) and the increase of ST103 (p = 0.002), ST17 (p = 0.004) and ST37 (p = 0.003), the latter three binary toxin-negative. CONCLUSION: Sentinel surveillance allowed nationwide monitoring of geographical differences and temporal changes in C. difficile infections in Denmark, including emerging types, regardless of binary toxin status

Children’s and adolescents’ rising animal-source food intakes in 1990–2018 were impacted by age, region, parental education and urbanicity

Animal-source foods (ASF) provide nutrition for children and adolescents’ physical and cognitive development. Here, we use data from the Global Dietary Database and Bayesian hierarchical models to quantify global, regional and national ASF intakes between 1990 and 2018 by age group across 185 countries, representing 93% of the world’s child population. Mean ASF intake was 1.9 servings per day, representing 16% of children consuming at least three daily servings. Intake was similar between boys and girls, but higher among urban children with educated parents. Consumption varied by age from 0.6 at <1 year to 2.5 servings per day at 15–19 years. Between 1990 and 2018, mean ASF intake increased by 0.5 servings per week, with increases in all regions except sub-Saharan Africa. In 2018, total ASF consumption was highest in Russia, Brazil, Mexico and Turkey, and lowest in Uganda, India, Kenya and Bangladesh. These findings can inform policy to address malnutrition through targeted ASF consumption programmes.publishedVersio