Long term development of soil organic carbon influenced by different agricultural practices

Studien analyserer de langsiktige trendene i nedbrytning og oppbygging av karbon i jordbruksland. Her utforskes hvordan ulike dyrkningspraksiser påvirker resultatet med fokus på bruk av fangvekster, ulike jordbearbeidingssystem og bruk av organisk gjødsling. Studien gir en direkte evaluering av effektiviteten til disse praksisene uttrykt over antall år og jorddybde. Data ble hentet fra publiserte forskningsartikler som inkluderer god jordbrukspraksis som har vart i minst 5 år og som oppgir tall for jordkarbon i form av gram per kg jord eller tilsvarende omregnbare enheter. Fra de ulike artiklene ble den initielle og avsluttende verdien for jordkarbon anvendt og med jordprøvedybder fra 0-15 og 0-30 cm. En meta-regresjonsanalyse, og med hjelp av en blandet modell, ble kjørt på datamateriale, dette ved hjelp av R pakken "lme4", versjon 1.1-29, hvor antall år ble brukt som en fast variabel og tre dyrkningspraksisene som tilfeldige variabler, og med et 95 % konfidensintervall for prediksjonen. Kontinuerlig dyrking uten jordarbeiding øker oppbyggingen av jordkarbon og med en rate som er betydelig høyere enn organisk gjødsel og dekkvekster. Økningen i jordkarbon opprettholdes år etter år og med små variasjoner. Ser vi på bruk av organisk gjødsel, viser den en konstant økning av jordkarbon ettersom årene går. Fangvekster gir også til økt jordkarbon med årene, men raten i oppbyggingen avtar med årene. For alle tre praksiser viste analyse at økningen i jordkarbon hovedsakelig ble observert i det øverste laget av jordprofilen (0-15 cm), men det tilsvarende ikke ble observert samme effekt i det nederste laget. Men alle tre praksisene gir en positiv effekt på mengden karbon i jorda. Å implemente en landbruksforvaltnings med fokus på disse praksises vil ha en positiv effekt på jordens organiske karbonreserver, og i gjennomsnitt. For å oppnå et bærekraftig landbrukssystem, må bøndene ta i bruk praksiser som er rettet mot å bevare jordkarbon. Dette kan gjøres gjennom bruk av dekkvekster, organisk gjødsel og redusert jordarbeiding. Dette kan bidra til å kutte ned på klimagassutslipp og dempe klimaendringer. Bærekraftig og klimasmart landbruksproduksjon er nødvendig for å beskytte jordsmonnet og møte fremtidig matsikkerhet.Abstract: The study analyses the long-term trends in the soil carbon breakdowns and builds up in agricultural land. Various farming practices are examined here, focusing on cover crops, tillage systems, and organic amendments. The study provides a direct evaluation of the effectiveness of these practices on soil organic carbon (SOC) as affected by the number of years and soil depth. Data were taken from a published research paper that includes best management practices that have continued for more than five years and provide values in gram SOC per kg of soil or equivalent transferable units. The initial and final SOC were taken from the various articles with soil sampling depths from 0-15 and 0-30cm. A mixed model meta-regression was done to analyse the data, using the package “lme4” version 1.1-29 in R, where the number of managed years was set as a fixed variable and the three management practices as random variables, and with a 95% confidence interval for the prediction. Continuous farming with zero tillage increases SOC at a significantly higher rate than that of organic manures and cover crops. The increase in SOC is maintained year after year, with slight variations. Organic manure also increases SOC, but the rate of the increase is lower. Cover crops increase SOC over time, but the pace of the increase is lower as the years pass. Analysis revealed that the increase in SOC was mainly observed in the top layer of the soil profile (0-15cm) but not in the bottom layer. All three practices show significant positive relation with SOC. Implementing a focal agriculture management practice had a positive effect on the soil’s organic carbon concentration. To achieve a sustainable agriculture system, farmers need to adopt practices geared toward conserving organic carbon. This can be done by using cover crops, organic manures and reduced soil tillages, which can help increase the soil carbon. This can also help cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change. A sustainable and eco friendly climate-smart agriculture production system is necessary for protecting soil and meeting future food security

Laboratory-confirmed influenza infection and acute myocardial infarction among United States senior Veterans

BackgroundPrevious studies established an association between laboratory-confirmed influenza infection (LCI) and hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) but not causality. We aimed to explore the underlying mechanisms by adding biological mediators to an established study design used by earlier studies.MethodsWith data on biomarkers, we used a self-controlled case-series design to evaluate the effect of LCI on hospitalization for AMI among Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients. We included senior Veterans (age 65 years and older) with LCI between 2010 through 2015. Patient-level data from VHA electronic medical records were used to capture laboratory results, hospitalizations, and baseline patient characteristics. We defined the "risk interval" as the first 7 days after specimen collection and the "control interval" as 1 year before and 1 year after the risk interval. More importantly, using mediation analysis, we examined the role of abnormal white blood cell (WBC) and platelet count in the relationship between LCI and AMI to explore the thrombogenic nature of this association, thus potential causality.ResultsWe identified 391 hospitalizations for AMI that occurred within +/-1 year of a positive influenza test, of which 31 (31.1 admissions/week) occurred during the risk interval and 360 (3.5/per week) during the control interval, resulting in an incidence ratio (IR) for AMI admission of 8.89 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.16-12.84). In stratified analyses, AMI risk was significantly elevated among patients with high WBC count (IR, 12.43; 95% CI: 6.99-22.10) and high platelet count (IR, 15.89; 95% CI: 3.59-70.41).ConclusionWe confirmed a significant association between LCI and AMI. The risk was elevated among those with high WBC or platelet count, suggesting a potential role for inflammation and platelet activation in the underlying mechanism

Comparing the impact of high-dose versus standard dose influenza vaccines on hospitalization cost for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases:Economic assessment in the US Veteran population during 5 respiratory seasons using an instrumental variable method

OBJECTIVES: Cost savings associated with high-dose (HD) as compared to standard-dose (SD) influenza vaccination in the United States (US) Veteran's Health Administration (VHA) population have been attributed to better protection against hospitalization for cardiac and respiratory diseases. The relative contribution of each of these disease categories to the reported savings remains to be explored. METHODS: During a recently completed study of HD versus SD vaccine effectiveness (conducted in the VHA over five respiratory seasons from 2010/11 through 2014/15), we collected cost data for all healthcare services provided at both VHA and Medicare-funded facilities. In that analysis, we compared the costs of vaccination and hospital care for patients admitted with either cardiovascular or respiratory disease. Treatment selection bias and other confounding factors were adjusted using an instrumental variable (IV) method. In this brief report we use the same study cohort and methods to stratify the results by patients admitted for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and those admitted for respiratory disease. RESULTS: We analyzed 3.5 million SD and 0.16 million HD person-seasons. The IV-adjusted rVEs were 14% (7-20%) against hospitalizations for CVD and 15% (5-25%) against respiratory hospitalizations. Net cost savings per HD recipient were $138 ($66-$200) for CVD related hospitalizations and$62 ($10-$107) for respiratory disease related hospitalizations. CONCLUSIONS: In the US VHA population, the reduction in hospitalizations for CVD over five respiratory seasons contributed twice the cost savings (per HD recipient) of the reduction in hospitalizations for respiratory disease

Influenza vaccine in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among elderly male veterans

BACKGROUND: Prior studies have established those elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at elevated risk for developing influenza-associated complications such as hospitalization, intensive-care admission, and death. This study sought to determine whether influenza vaccination could improve survival among elderly patients with COPD. MATERIALS/METHODS: This study included Veterans (age ≥ 65 years) diagnosed with COPD that received care at the United States Veterans Health Administration (VHA) during four influenza seasons, from 2012–2013 to 2015–2016. We linked VHA electronic medical records and Medicare administrative files to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Death Index cause of death records as well as influenza surveillance data. A multivariable time-dependent Cox proportional hazards model was used to compare rates of mortality of recipients of influenza vaccination to those who did not have records of influenza vaccination. We estimated hazard ratios (HRs) adjusted for age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, comorbidities, and healthcare utilization. RESULTS: Over a span of four influenza seasons, we included 1,856,970 person-seasons of observation where 1,199,275 (65%) had a record of influenza vaccination and 657,695 (35%) did not have a record of influenza vaccination. After adjusting for comorbidities, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, influenza vaccination was associated with reduced risk of death during the most severe periods of influenza seasons: 75% all-cause (HR = 0.25; 95% CI: 0.24–0.26), 76% respiratory causes (HR = 0.24; 95% CI: 0.21–0.26), and 82% pneumonia/influenza cause (HR = 0.18; 95% CI: 0.13–0.26). A significant part of the effect could be attributed to “healthy vaccinee” bias as reduced risk of mortality was also found during the periods when there was no influenza activity and before patients received vaccination: 30% all-cause (HR = 0.70; 95% CI: 0.65–0.75), 32% respiratory causes (HR = 0.68; 95% CI: 0.60–0.78), and 51% pneumonia/influenza cause (HR = 0.49; 95% CI: 0.31–0.78). However, as a falsification study, we found that influenza vaccination had no impact on hospitalization due to urinary tract infection (HR = 0.97; 95% CI: 0.80–1.18). CONCLUSIONS: Among elderly patients with COPD, influenza vaccination was associated with reduced risk for all-cause and cause-specific mortality

Distribution of Microplastic Contamination in Sapta-Gandaki River System, Nepal

Microplastic (MP) contamination has been reported in many Rivers worldwide. However, there is an increasing concern regarding data quality, particularly in the studies that do not account for positive and negative controls. Additionally, spatiotemporal distribution of MP in transboundary Himalayan River is underexplored. Here, we report spatiotemporal distribution of MP in the second largest river of Nepal; Sapta-Gandaki River system which is 810 km long starting from Himalayan headstream to the Ganges with a catchment area of 46,300 km^2. A total of 120 integrated water samples were collected in pre and post monsoons from 30 sites (2850-140 masl) along three tributaries of Saptagandaki River. The MP data were corrected for procedural blanks (n=23) and positive controls (n=18). We found that the MPs count (cut off size ≥30μm) in pre (dry) monsoon time was significantly higher (61.2±27.8 MP/L, p<0.01) than in post monsoon (winter) time (24.7±10.8 MP/L). High count was observed in the sites near major cities and highways. A gradual increase in MPs count was observed as the River stretches up to downstream (r=-0.6). The shape, size, and color dominance were fragments>pellets>fibers, 30-100>100-250>250-500>500-5000µm, blue>black>transparent; respectively. Most MP particles consisted of polyethylene terephthalate, cellophane, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride type material. Annual flux discharge calculation showed that Saptagandaki River discharges 0.7×10^8 MP/s. The findings of this study provide baseline data for MPs contamination in one of the major Himalayan River water systems of Nepal and the data could be useful to identify potential control measures

Determination of level of self‐reported adherence of antihypertensive drug(s) and its associated factors among patient with hypertension at a tertiary care center

Abstract The study aimed to determine the level of self‐reported adherence to antihypertensive drug(s) and its associated factors among patient with hypertension at a tertiary care center. The authors performed hospital based observational cross‐sectional study using semi‐structured questionnaires, WHO STEP tool and Hill and Bone high blood pressure compliance scale from December 1, 2021 to February 28, 2022. Descriptive statistics, Chi‐square/Fisher's exact test and non‐parametric tests were used for statistical analysis. Among 150 cases included in the study, majority (94, 62.67%) had good adherence based on Hill and Bone high blood pressure compliance scale with adherence level labelled as “good adherence” (score 3) and “not good adherence” (score < 3). The adherence to drug therapy was significantly better in females compared to males (50 [71.43%] vs. 44 [55.00%], p = .038). Among the factors related to hypertension and anti‐hypertensive therapy, people with higher body mass index (ρ = ‐.324, n = 56, p = .015) and taking three or more pills (6, 1.71%, p = .017) had lower adherence to therapy. Likewise, forgetfulness (30, 53.57%), ineffective counseling (7, 12.50%), and missed follow‐up (13, 23.21%) were the factors associated with lower adherence to anti‐hypertensive therapy. This study finds good adherence among the patients taking anti‐hypertensive medications. However, with the improved education, lesser number of pills and physical fitness help to adhere with the anti‐hypertensive therapy

Trace level monitoring of Cu(II) ion using CuS particles based membrane electrochemical sensor

Cu(II) monitoring is a matter of great interest to researchers due to its toxicity and adverse environmental effects. Among different methods for detecting Cu(II), ion-selective electrode (ISE) is more advantageous as they are low-cost, easy to fabricate, and highly selective. Here, we report a simple, inexpensive, and reproducible procedure for the fabrication of Cu(II) ion-selective electrodes using CuS particles and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) as a matrix. CuS particles, obtained by chemical precipitation, were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy (EDX). Optimization of the membrane compositions was done to get a well-behaved sensor by varying amounts of CuS, PVC, and acetophenone (AP). A membrane composition of 0.4 g CuS, 0.5 g PVC, and 1.0 mL AP in 5.0 mL tetrahydrofuran (THF) gave a Nernstian slope of 27.31 mV per decade change of Cu(II) ion over a wide range of concentration down to 64 ppb (1 × 10−6 M). The sensor gave a fast response time of 25 s, and it indicated the endpoint in a potentiometric titration of Cu(II) with standard EDTA solution. A pH-independent potential response was obtained in the pH 4.0–6.0