The Sewage Sludge Biochar and Its Composts Influence the Phosphate Sorption in an Alkaline–Calcareous Soil

This study evaluates the potential of sewage sludge, farm manure, rock phosphate, and their composts or biochar as useful materials for phosphorous (P) recovery. An alkaline–calcareous soil was incubated with different compost-based amendments to discern their impact on the P sorption characteristics. The treatments examined consisted of sewage sludge (SS), SS biochar (SS-BC), or composts of SS with rock phosphate (RP) and farm manure (FM) in different ratios, i.e., (i) control, (ii) SS, (iii) SS-BC, (iv) SS50:FM50, (v) SS75:FM25, (vi) SS25:FM25:RP50, (vii) SS50:FM25:RP25, (viii) SS75:FM0:RP25, and (ix) SS50:FM0:RP50. Prior to incubation for 45 days, the composts and biochar treatments combinations were characterized for elemental composition using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy. The treated soils were analyzed for soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), Olsen’s P, and P adsorption isotherms, at day 5 and 45 of the incubation. Langmuir and Freundlich’s equations were used to calculate P adsorption. Results showed that there was no significant influence on soil pH for any treatment throughout the experiment. However, soil EC decreased significantly for all treatments after 5 days of incubation; however, this effect was diminished after 45 days of incubation. All the treatments significantly decreased P sorption capacity both at the start (day 5) and end of the incubation (day 45) period compared to control. The treatment combination SS25:FM25:RP50 recovered the highest Olsen-P (79.41 mg kg−1). The other treatment combinations including SS and FM also recovered a greater Olsen’s P compared to the control. However, the sole application of only SS showed lower P recovery than the control soil, which further decreased with increase in incubation time. These findings improve our understanding that the stable pool of bioavailable P within an alkaline calcareous soil can be mobilized by using different organic treatment combinations instead of only SS. However, further in situ investigations may help to valorize the potential of sewage sludge, farm manure, rock phosphate, and their composts or biochar to improve P recovery in alkaline–calcareous.</jats:p

A Meta-Analysis and Genome-Wide Association Study of Platelet Count and Mean Platelet Volume in African Americans

Several genetic variants associated with platelet count and mean platelet volume (MPV) were recently reported in people of European ancestry. In this meta-analysis of 7 genome-wide association studies (GWAS) enrolling African Americans, our aim was to identify novel genetic variants associated with platelet count and MPV. For all cohorts, GWAS analysis was performed using additive models after adjusting for age, sex, and population stratification. For both platelet phenotypes, meta-analyses were conducted using inverse-variance weighted fixed-effect models. Platelet aggregation assays in whole blood were performed in the participants of the GeneSTAR cohort. Genetic variants in ten independent regions were associated with platelet count (N = 16,388) with p<5×10−8 of which 5 have not been associated with platelet count in previous GWAS. The novel genetic variants associated with platelet count were in the following regions (the most significant SNP, closest gene, and p-value): 6p22 (rs12526480, LRRC16A, p = 9.1×10−9), 7q11 (rs13236689, CD36, p = 2.8×10−9), 10q21 (rs7896518, JMJD1C, p = 2.3×10−12), 11q13 (rs477895, BAD, p = 4.9×10−8), and 20q13 (rs151361, SLMO2, p = 9.4×10−9). Three of these loci (10q21, 11q13, and 20q13) were replicated in European Americans (N = 14,909) and one (11q13) in Hispanic Americans (N = 3,462). For MPV (N = 4,531), genetic variants in 3 regions were significant at p<5×10−8, two of which were also associated with platelet count. Previously reported regions that were also significant in this study were 6p21, 6q23, 7q22, 12q24, and 19p13 for platelet count and 7q22, 17q11, and 19p13 for MPV. The most significant SNP in 1 region was also associated with ADP-induced maximal platelet aggregation in whole blood (12q24). Thus through a meta-analysis of GWAS enrolling African Americans, we have identified 5 novel regions associated with platelet count of which 3 were replicated in other ethnic groups. In addition, we also found one region associated with platelet aggregation that may play a potential role in atherothrombosis

MRI compared to conventional diagnostic work-up in the detection and evaluation of invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast: a review of existing literature

Item does not contain fulltextPURPOSE: The clinical diagnosis and management of invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) of the breast presents difficulties. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been proposed as the imaging modality of choice for the evaluation of ILC. Small studies addressing different aspects of MRI in ILC have been presented but no large series to date. To address the usefulness of MRI in the work-up of ILC, we performed a review of the currently published literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a literature search using the query "lobular AND (MRI OR MR OR MRT OR magnetic)" in the Cochrane library, PubMed and scholar.google.com, to retrieve all articles that dealt with the use of MRI in patients with ILC. We addressed sensitivity, morphologic appearance, correlation with pathology, detection of additional lesions, and impact of MRI on surgery as different endpoints. Whenever possible we performed meta-analysis of the pooled data. RESULTS: Sensitivity is 93.3% and equal to overall sensitivity of MRI for malignancy in the breast. Morphologic appearance is highly heterogeneous and probably heavily influenced by interreader variability. Correlation with pathology ranges from 0.81 to 0.97; overestimation of lesion size occurs but is rare. In 32% of patients, additional ipsilateral lesions are detected and in 7% contralateral lesions are only detected by MRI. Consequently, MRI induces change in surgical management in 28.3% of cases. CONCLUSION: This analysis indicates MRI to be valuable in the work-up of ILC. It provides additional knowledge that cannot be obtained by conventional imaging modalities which can be helpful in patient treatment

Genome-Wide Association Study of White Blood Cell Count in 16,388 African Americans: the Continental Origins and Genetic Epidemiology Network (COGENT)

Total white blood cell (WBC) and neutrophil counts are lower among individuals of African descent due to the common African-derived “null” variant of the Duffy Antigen Receptor for Chemokines (DARC) gene. Additional common genetic polymorphisms were recently associated with total WBC and WBC sub-type levels in European and Japanese populations. No additional loci that account for WBC variability have been identified in African Americans. In order to address this, we performed a large genome-wide association study (GWAS) of total WBC and cell subtype counts in 16,388 African-American participants from 7 population-based cohorts available in the Continental Origins and Genetic Epidemiology Network. In addition to the DARC locus on chromosome 1q23, we identified two other regions (chromosomes 4q13 and 16q22) associated with WBC in African Americans (P<2.5×10−8). The lead SNP (rs9131) on chromosome 4q13 is located in the CXCL2 gene, which encodes a chemotactic cytokine for polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Independent evidence of the novel CXCL2 association with WBC was present in 3,551 Hispanic Americans, 14,767 Japanese, and 19,509 European Americans. The index SNP (rs12149261) on chromosome 16q22 associated with WBC count is located in a large inter-chromosomal segmental duplication encompassing part of the hydrocephalus inducing homolog (HYDIN) gene. We demonstrate that the chromosome 16q22 association finding is most likely due to a genotyping artifact as a consequence of sequence similarity between duplicated regions on chromosomes 16q22 and 1q21. Among the WBC loci recently identified in European or Japanese populations, replication was observed in our African-American meta-analysis for rs445 of CDK6 on chromosome 7q21 and rs4065321 of PSMD3-CSF3 region on chromosome 17q21. In summary, the CXCL2, CDK6, and PSMD3-CSF3 regions are associated with WBC count in African American and other populations. We also demonstrate that large inter-chromosomal duplications can result in false positive associations in GWAS

A Novel Keyword Ontology Generator Method Tested on “Digital Transformation in Higher Education” Topic

Ponencia de la conferencia "1st International Workshop on Higher Education Learning Methodologies and Technologies Online, HELMeTO 2019; Novedrate; Italy; 6 June 2019 through 7 June 2019"The practice of using ontology to understand a field of study through the analysis of keywords was not found to have been documented, and a five-step method is therefore presented to generate ontologies of keywords: data selection and extraction, data unification strategy, keyword processing, weight and connection standardisation and final representation. Using the proposed method, an experimental evaluation was undertaken using as the field of study the digital transformation in universities and university institutions, generating a knowledge graph that enables the clear visualisation of the various connections among different topics in a chosen field of study. Finally, the effectiveness and the observed limitations are discussed while stressing that each researcher should perform a thorough analysis of those relationships, enabling to obtain useful information for teaching and learning processes, especially in higher education environments