Agro- forestry system to protect both the Sinharaja forest and the peripheral villages (a case study of the southern part of Sin haraja)

Kandyan homcgardens are the most predominant upland cropping system which supposed tobe highly adapted, diversified, economically and environmental viable land use system. Objectives ofthis study were to identify problems and improvement potentials to this important system of landmanagement. Data were collected from randomly selected (n=65) homegardens in Yatinuwara DistrictSecretariat division during 2006. A vegetation survey was conducted to evaluate the structure andcomposition of homegardens. A household survey was conducted by interviewing the members toidentify tree use practices by family members, constraints and improvement potentials. Secondarydata were also collected from Agrarian Service Centres, maps and reports.Hornegardens in the study area have maintained diverse on farm trees. They cultivating andusing at least 138 species of which 36, 34, 24 and 6% comprised timber, medicinal plant, fruit tree andexport agricultural crop species. There are 73, 193,300 and 147, individuals of timber, fruit medicinaland export agricultural crops plants/ha indicating high plant density per unit area. These speciesgrown on homegardens have substantially contributed to meet the dai ly need of household, supplyingmainly fruit, green vegetable, timber and fuelwood. Some of these species have medicinal value andalso play an important role in soil conservation. This suggests that homegardens are important as asource of conserving agro-biodiversity, species, habitat and landscape protection. However, morethan half of the homegardens of Yatinuwara area are 20-80 perches category which indicate landfragmentation. Thus, each land unit has to playa vital role with limited land availability. Therefore,sustainable management practices are very important to increase production to reach increasing demanddue to increasing human population while maintaining the resource base. In satisfying necessarychanges to hornegardens, availability of quality planting material (only 22% had access to recommendedplanting material), height offruit trees, poor soil management and labour scarcity were identified asmajor problems in Yatinuwara area. There are improvement potentials to homegardens by increasingthe productivity of the existing system. It is possible even to increase the number of trees perhomegardens by introducing new varieties. It is also possible to replace existing less productiveindividuals by certified planting material. In addition, management of soil can also be improved byintroducing new techniques such as compost preparations with garbages and fallen leaves whichrequire attitudinal changes of households. Implications of these are discussed with respect to food,nutritional and health security and income generation.

Prediction models for childhood asthma: a systematic review

Background The inability to objectively diagnose childhood asthma before age five often results in both under‐treatment and over‐treatment of asthma in preschool children. Prediction tools for estimating a child's risk of developing asthma by school‐age could assist physicians in early asthma care for preschool children. This review aimed to systematically identify and critically appraise studies which either developed novel or updated existing prediction models for predicting school‐age asthma. Methods Three databases (MEDLINE, Embase and Web of Science Core Collection) were searched up to July 2019 to identify studies utilizing information from children ≤5 years of age to predict asthma in school‐age children (6‐13 years). Validation studies were evaluated as a secondary objective. Results Twenty‐four studies describing the development of 26 predictive models published between 2000 and 2019 were identified. Models were either regression‐based (n = 21) or utilized machine learning approaches (n = 5). Nine studies conducted validations of six regression‐based models. Fifteen (out of 21) models required additional clinical tests. Overall model performance, assessed by area under the receiver operating curve (AUC), ranged between 0.66 and 0.87. Models demonstrated moderate ability to either rule in or rule out asthma development, but not both. Where external validation was performed, models demonstrated modest generalizability (AUC range: 0.62‐0.83). Conclusion Existing prediction models demonstrated moderate predictive performance, often with modest generalizability when independently validated. Limitations of traditional methods have shown to impair predictive accuracy and resolution. Exploration of novel methods such as machine learning approaches may address these limitations for future school‐age asthma predictio

European and multi-ancestry genome-wide association meta-analysis of atopic dermatitis highlights importance of systemic immune regulation.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common inflammatory skin condition and prior genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified 71 associated loci. In the current study we conducted the largest AD GWAS to date (discovery N = 1,086,394, replication N = 3,604,027), combining previously reported cohorts with additional available data. We identified 81 loci (29 novel) in the European-only analysis (which all replicated in a separate European analysis) and 10 additional loci in the multi-ancestry analysis (3 novel). Eight variants from the multi-ancestry analysis replicated in at least one of the populations tested (European, Latino or African), while two may be specific to individuals of Japanese ancestry. AD loci showed enrichment for DNAse I hypersensitivity and eQTL associations in blood. At each locus we prioritised candidate genes by integrating multi-omic data. The implicated genes are predominantly in immune pathways of relevance to atopic inflammation and some offer drug repurposing opportunities

First principles calculations of the optical response of LiNiO₂

Abstract We discuss optical properties of layered Lithium Nickel oxide (LiNiO₂), which is an attractive cathode material for realizing cobalt-free lithium-ion batteries, within the first-principles density functional theory (DFT) framework. Exchange correlation effects are treated using the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and the strongly-constrained-and-appropriately-normed (SCAN) meta-GGA schemes. A Hubbard parameter (U) is used to model Coulomb correlation effects on Ni 3d electrons. The GGA+U is shown to correctly predict an indirect (system wide) band gap of 0.46 eV in LiNiO₂, while the GGA yields a bandgap of only 0.08 eV. The calculated refractive index and its energy dependence is found to be in good agreement with the corresponding experimental results. Finally, our computed optical energy loss function yields insight into the results of recent RIXS experiments on LiNiO₂

Correction: The phylogenetic analysis of VP1 genomic region in foot-and-mouth disease virus serotype O isolates in Sri Lanka reveals the existence of 'Srl-97', a newly named endemic lineage.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194077.]