Effects of organic substrates on growth and yield of ginger cultivated using soilless culture

The effects of organic soilless substrates on growth and yield of ginger were studied. In soilless production system, many types of growing media or substrates such as rockwool, perlite, vermiculite and peat have been used to grow many kinds of crops. Alternative substrates that are cheaper and locally available such as coconut fibres and burnt paddy husks should be used as alternative media. The main objective of the study was to determine the most suitable organic growth substrate for cultivation of ginger using fertigation technique. The study was conducted under the side-netted rain shelter equipped with an irrigation system to supply fertiliser solution at a regulated time schedule. Five combinations of growth substrates were evaluated: 100% coir dust; 100% burnt paddy husks; 70% coir dust + 30% burnt paddy husks; 30% coir dust + 70% burnt paddy husks; and 50% coir dust + 50% burnt paddy husks. The ginger plants were selected randomly and the rhizomes were harvested 3 – 9 months after sowing. Plants grown in 100% coir dust gave the best growth performance and yield compared to the other treatments. They produced the highest shoot height (123 ± 23 cm), shoot fresh weight (1,340 ± 235 g) and rhizome yield (5,480 ± 325 g per plant). The lowest rhizome yield (2,570 ± 135 g) was obtained from plants planted in 30% coir dust + 70% burnt paddy husks. Hence, it can be concluded that the ginger plants cultivated in 100% coir dust substrate using fertigation technique gave the best plant growth and yields

Scrutinizing the rigorousness of government interventions in addressing homelessness in Malaysia / Noor Amira Syazwani Abd Rahman...[et. al.]

Homelessness remains a world problem, although a majority of homeless groups survive only in modernized cultures. The occurrence of homelessness is becoming a social problem in Malaysia, especially in city areas such as Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor Baharu. It is believed that this group of people has less received much concentration since the current social policies have no direct bearing to the homeless. Hence, this paper analyzes the rigorousness of government interventions in addressing the homelessness in Malaysia. This paper reviews relevant literatures pertaining to programs carried out by the government in helping homeless via preliminary reports, observation and interviews that have been written in previous research. It is hoped that the study will grant to the existing body of knowledge related to homelessness study

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P < 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortiu (INICC) report, data summary of 43 countries for 2007-2012. Device-associated module

We report the results of an International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) surveillance study from January 2007-December 2012 in 503 intensive care units (ICUs) in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. During the 6-year study using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) U.S. National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care–associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 605,310 patients hospitalized in the INICC's ICUs for an aggregate of 3,338,396 days. Although device utilization in the INICC's ICUs was similar to that reported from ICUs in the U.S. in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals: the pooled rate of central line–associated bloodstream infection in the INICC's ICUs, 4.9 per 1,000 central line days, is nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.9 per 1,000 central line days reported from comparable U.S. ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher (16.8 vs 1.1 per 1,000 ventilator days) as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (5.5 vs 1.3 per 1,000 catheter days). Frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (42.8% vs 10%) and imipenem (42.4% vs 26.1%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (71.2% vs 28.8%) and imipenem (19.6% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC's ICUs compared with the ICUs of the CDC's NHSN