Evaluation of soil properties of the Sudan Savannah ecological zone of Ghana for crop production

Low soil fertility and limited ability of farmers to purchase fertilizers in the Sudan savannah zone of Ghana has resulted in the decline in the yield of cereals over the years. There is, therefore, the need to identify soil parameters that are critical to crop production, to manage them effectively and improve fertilizer use efficiency to increase crop yield. To achieve this, an area of about 1.5 km2 was divided into grid cells (100m2) and characterised for their soil properties (organic carbon, pH, and soil texture). Data collected was used in a pedo-transfer function to estimate additional soil parameters that were not measured (i.e. wilting point, field capacity, available water and saturation). These were used as input to the crop simulation model (APSIM- Agriculture Productions Systems sIMulator) to simulate sorghum grain yield for each grid cell. Linear regression and factor analysis were also employed in explaining the data. Grain yield ranged from 402 to 1092 kg ha-1 with a mean of 673 kg ha-1 using 2005 weather data and 228 to 907 kg ha-1 with a mean of 427 kg ha-1 using 2000 weather data without fertilizer application. The model was sensitive to all input parameters. Soil texture and organic carbon were identified to have significant effect on crop yield. Soil organic carbon is, therefore, to be managed for the development of a good tilth and hence sustainable yields of sorghum at the study site

Digital supply chain surveillance using artificial intelligence: definitions, opportunities and risks

Digital Supply Chain Surveillance (DSCS) is the proactive monitoring and analysis of digital data that allows firms to extract information related to a supply network, without the explicit consent of firms involved in the supply chain. AI has made DSCS to become easier and larger-scale, posing significant opportunities for automated detection of actors and dependencies involved in a supply chain, which in turn, can help firms to detect risky, unethical and environmentally unsustainable practices. Here, we define DSCS, review priority areas using a survey conducted in the UK. Visibility, sustainability, resilience are significant areas that DSCS can support, through a number of machine-learning approaches and predictive algorithms. Despite anecdotal narrative on the importance of explainability of algorithmic results, practitioners often prefer accuracy over explainability; however, there are significant differences between industrial sectors and application areas. Using a case study, we highlight a number of concerns on the unchecked use of AI in DSCS, such as bias or misinterpretation resulting in erroneous conclusions, which may lead to suboptimal decisions or relationship damage. Building on this, we develop and discuss a number of illustrative cases to highlight risks that practitioners should be aware of, proposing key areas of further research

Transesophageal Echocardiographically-Confirmed Pulmonary Vein Thrombosis in Association with Posterior Circulation Infarction

Pulmonary venous thromboembolism has only been identified as a cause of stroke with pulmonary arteriovenous malformations/fistulae, pulmonary neoplasia, transplantation or lobectomy, and following percutaneous radiofrequency ablation of pulmonary vein ostia in patients with atrial fibrillation. A 59-year-old man presented with a posterior circulation ischemic stroke. ‘Unheralded’ pulmonary vein thrombosis was identified on transesophageal echocardiography as the likely etiology. He had no further cerebrovascular events after intensifying antithrombotic therapy. Twenty-eight months after initial presentation, he was diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma and died 3 months later. This report illustrates the importance of doing transesophageal echocardiography in presumed ‘cardioembolic’ stroke, and that potential ‘pulmonary venous thromboembolic’ stroke may occur in patients without traditional risk factors for venous thromboembolism. Consideration should be given to screening such patients for occult malignancy

Nature’s role in supporting health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a geospatial and socioecological study

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented changes to human lifestyles across the world. The virus and associated social restriction measures have been linked to an increase in mental health conditions. A considerable body of evidence shows that spending time in and engaging with nature can improve human health and wellbeing. Our study explores nature’s role in supporting health during the COVID-19 pandemic. We created web-based questionnaires with validated health instruments and conducted spatial analyses in a geographic information system (GIS). We collected data (n = 1184) on people’s patterns of nature exposure, associated health and wellbeing responses, and potential socioecological drivers such as relative deprivation, access to greenspaces, and land-cover greenness. The majority of responses came from England, UK (n = 993). We applied a range of statistical analyses including bootstrap-resampled correlations and binomial regression models, adjusting for several potential confounding factors. We found that respondents significantly changed their patterns of visiting nature as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. People spent more time in nature and visited nature more often during the pandemic. People generally visited nature for a health and wellbeing benefit and felt that nature helped them cope during the pandemic. Greater land-cover greenness within a 250 m radius around a respondent’s postcode was important in predicting higher levels of mental wellbeing. There were significantly more food-growing allotments within 100 and 250 m around respondents with high mental wellbeing scores. The need for a mutually-advantageous relationship between humans and the wider biotic community has never been more important. We must conserve, restore and design nature-centric environments to maintain resilient societies and promote planetary health

Modeling nutrient and water productivity of sorghum in smallholder farming systems in a semi-arid region of Ghana

The CERES-sorghum module of the Decision Support System for Agro-Technological Transfer (DSSAT) model was calibrated for sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) using data from sorghum grown with adequate waterand nitrogen and evaluated with data from several N rates trials in Navrongo, Ghana with an overall modified internal efficiency of 0.63. The use of mineral N fertilizer was found to be profitable with economically optimal rates of 40 and 80 kg N ha−1 for more intensively managed homestead fields and less intensively managed bush fields respectively. Agronomic N use efficiency varied from 21 to 37 kg grain kg−1 N for the homestead fields and from 15 to 49 kg grain kg−1 N in the bush fields. Simulated grain yield for homestead fields at 40 kg N ha−1 application was equal to yield for bush fields at 80 kg N ha−1. Water use efficiency generally increased with increased mineral N rate and was greater for the homestead fields compared with the bush fields. Grain yield per unit of cumulative evapo-transpiration (simulated) was consistently higher compared with yield per unit of cumulative precipitation for the season, probably because of runoff and deep percolation. In the simulation experiment, grain yield variability was less with mineral N application and under higher soil fertility (organic matter) condition. Application of mineral N reduced variability in yield from a CV of 37 to 11% in the bush farm and from 17 to 7% in the homestead fields. The use of mineral fertilizer and encouraging practices that retain organic matter to the soil provide a more sustainable system for ensuring crop production and hence food securit

Prior Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery and Outcome After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: An Observational Study From the Pan-London Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Registry.

Background Limited information exists regarding procedural success and clinical outcomes in patients with previous coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We sought to compare outcomes in patients undergoing PCI with or without CABG. Methods and Results This was an observational cohort study of 123 780 consecutive PCI procedures from the Pan-London (UK) PCI registry from 2005 to 2015. The primary end point was all-cause mortality at a median follow-up of 3.0 years (interquartile range, 1.2-4.6 years). A total of 12 641(10.2%) patients had a history of previous CABG, of whom 29.3% (n=3703) underwent PCI to native vessels and 70.7% (n=8938) to bypass grafts. There were significant differences in the demographic, clinical, and procedural characteristics of these groups. The risk of mortality during follow-up was significantly higher in patients with prior CABG (23.2%; P=0.0005) compared with patients with no prior CABG (12.1%) and was seen for patients who underwent either native vessel (20.1%) or bypass graft PCI (24.2%; P<0.0001). However, after adjustment for baseline characteristics, there was no significant difference in outcomes seen between the groups when PCI was performed in native vessels in patients with previous CABG (hazard ratio [HR],1.02; 95%CI, 0.77-1.34; P=0.89), but a significantly higher mortality was seen among patients with PCI to bypass grafts (HR,1.33; 95% CI, 1.03-1.71; P=0.026). This was seen after multivariate adjustment and propensity matching. Conclusions Patients with prior CABG were older with greater comorbidities and more complex procedural characteristics, but after adjustment for these differences, the clinical outcomes were similar to the patients undergoing PCI without prior CABG. In these patients, native-vessel PCI was associated with better outcomes compared with the treatment of vein grafts

UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990 to 2021: annual report for submission under the Framework Convention on Climate Change

This is the United Kingdom’s National Inventory Report (NIR) submitted in 2023 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It contains national greenhouse gas emission estimates for the period 1990-2021, and descriptions of the methods used to produce the estimates. The greenhouse gas inventory (GHGI) is based on the same datasets used by the UK in the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) for reporting atmospheric emissions under other international agreements. The GHGI is therefore consistent with these other air emissions inventories where they overlap. The greenhouse gas inventory is compiled on behalf of the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) for the Science and Innovation for Climate and Energy (SICE) Directorate, by Ricardo Energy & Environment. We acknowledge the positive support and advice from DESNZ throughout the work, and we are grateful for the help of all those who have contributed to this NIR. A list of the contributors can be found in Chapter 18. The GHGI is compiled according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2006 Guidelines (IPCC, 2006). Each year the inventory is updated to include the latest data available. Improvements to the methodology are backdated as necessary to ensure a consistent time series. Methodological changes are made to take account of new data sources, or new guidance from IPCC, and new research, sponsored by DESNZ or otherwise