Estimating cation exchange capacity and clay content from agricultural soil testing data

Clay content and the ability to reversibly retain cations affect many essential chemical and physical properties of soil, such as pH buffering and carbon sequestration. Cation exchange capacity (CEC) and base saturation are also commonly used as criteria in soil classification. However, determination of CEC and particle-size distribution is laborious and not included in routine soil testing. In this study, pedotransfer functions including soil test cations (STCat; Ca2+ + Mg2+ + K+), pH and soil organic carbon (SOC) as explanatory variables were developed for estimating CEC, titratable acidity (TA; H+ + Al3+) and clay content. In addition, reference values for potential CEC and its components were determined for Finnish mineral and organic soils. The mean of potential CEC extracted by 1 M ammonium acetate at pH 7.0 ranged from 14 (range 6.4−25) in coarse soils to 33 (21−45) cmol(+) kg-1 in heavy clay soils, and from 42 (24−82) in mull soils to 77 (25−138) cmol(+) kg-1 in peat soils. The average CEC of clay and SOC were 27 and 160 cmol(+) kg-1, respectively. Titratable acidity occupied 53% and around 40% of the CEC sites in organic and mineral soils, respectively, evidencing that it is a prominent component of the potential CEC in these predominantly acidic soils. STCat, pH and SOC explained 96% of the variation in potential CEC. STCat and pH can be used in estimating the clay content especially for soils containing over 30% clay. In coarse textured soils, in contrast, SOC hampers the STCat based estimation of clay content.Peer reviewe

Lietteiden happokäsittely vähentää ammoniakkipäästöjä

Lehtiartikkeli (rinnakkaistallennusluvan asianumero: 2908/12 05 01 02/2020)202

Slow pyrolysis liquid in reducing NH3 emissions from cattle slurry-Impacts on plant growth and soil organisms

A substantial percentage of manure nitrogen (N) can be lost as gaseous ammonia (NH3) during storage and field spreading. Lowering slurry pH is a simple and accepted method for preserving its N. Efficiency of slow pyrolysis liquid (PL) produced from birch (Betula sp.) as an acidifying agent, and its ability to reduce NH3 emissions following surface application of cattle slurry, was studied in a field experiment. Untreated slurry (US) and slurries acidified with PL and sulfuric acid (SA) were applied to the second harvest of a grass ley. Immediate NH3 emissions, grass biomass, N-yield and possible toxic impacts on soil nematodes and enchytraeids were examined. Furthermore, the effects on soil respiration, nitrogen dynamics and seed germination were studied in subsequent laboratory experiments. In the field, over one third of the water-extractable ammonium-N (NH4-N) applied was lost through NH3 volatilization from US. SA and PL acidified slurries reduced NH3-N emission rate equally from 3.4 to (c) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewe

Gemtuzumab-Ozogamicin-Related Impaired Hemoglobin-Haptoglobin Scavenging as On-Target/Off-Tumor Toxicity of Anti-CD33 AML Therapy : A Report of Two Cases

Gemtuzumab-ozogamicin (GO) is a humanized anti-CD33 antibody, which is conjugated to a cytotoxic calicheamicin. It is used to treat acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in combination with chemotherapy. We describe here two GO-treated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cases: both patients suffered from a toxic syndrome, which manifested as impaired hemoglobin-haptoglobin scavenging and accumulation of hemolysis-related products. Our observations and earlier reports indicated that the reaction was caused by GO-targeted destruction of CD33 + CD163+ monocytes/macrophages, which are responsible for the clearance of hemoglobin-haptoglobin complexes. The rise of plasma lactate dehydrogenase was an early sign of the reaction, and both patients had high levels of free plasma hemoglobin, but plasma haptoglobin and bilirubin levels were paradoxically normal. Symptoms included septic fever and abnormalities in cardiac tests and in the case of the first patient, severe neurological symptoms which required intensive care unit admittance. Therapeutic plasma exchanges supported the patients until the recovery of normal hematopoiesis. The symptoms may be easily confounded with infectious complications-related organ damage. Regarding the increasing use of gemtuzumab-ozogamicin and other emerging CD33-targeted cell therapies, we want to highlight this mostly unknown and probably underdiagnosed toxicity.Peer reviewe

Soil organic carbon and clay content as deciding factors for net nitrogen mineralization and cereal yields in boreal mineral soils

To achieve appropriate yield levels, inherent nitrogen (N) supply and biological N fixation are often complemented by fertilization. To avoid economic losses and negative environmental impacts due to over-application of N fertilizer, estimation of the inherent N supply is critical. We aimed to identify the roles of soil texture and organic matter in N mineralization and yield levels attained in cereal cultivation with or without N fertilization in boreal mineral soils. First, the net N mineralization and soil respiration were measured by laboratory incubation with soil samples varying in clay and organic carbon (C) contents. Secondly, to estimate the inherent soil N supply under field conditions, both unfertilized and fertilized cereal yields were measured in fields on clay soils (clay 30-78%) and coarse-textured soils (clay 0-28%). In clay soils (C 2.5-9.0%), both the net N mineralization and the cereal yields (without and with fertilization) decreased with increasing clay/C ratio. Moreover, in soils with high clay/C ratio, the agronomic N use efficiency (additional yield per kg of fertilizer N) varied considerably, indicating the presence of growth limitations other than N. In coarse-textured soils, the yield increase attained by fertilization increased with increasing organic C. Our results indicate that for clay soils in a cool and humid climate, the higher the clay content, the more organic C is needed to produce reasonable yields and to ensure efficient use of added nutrients without high N losses to the environment. For coarse soils having a rather high mean organic C of 2.3%, the organic C appeared to improve agronomic N use efficiency. For farmers, simple indicators such as the clay/C ratio or the use of non-N-fertilized control plots may be useful for site-specific adjustment of the rates of N fertilization. Highlights We aimed to identify simple indicators of inherent soil N supply applicable at the farm level. In clay soils, the net N mineralization was found to correlate negatively with the clay/C ratio. In coarse-textured soils, agronomic N use efficiency improved with increasing soil organic C. Clay soils with high clay/C ratio are at risk of low yield levels.Peer reviewe

Pre-treatment health-related quality of life parameters have prognostic impact in patients >65 years with newly diagnosed mantle cell lymphoma : The Nordic Lymphoma Group MCL4 (LENA-BERIT) experience

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a rare, often aggressive type of B-cell lymphoma with poor survival and no cure. Cancer and cancer treatment has a negative impact on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) both during active disease and in the long term, and improvement of HRQOL is a crucial objective of cancer therapy in older patients and no curative intent. Baseline HRQOL has in other lymphoma populations been shown to be predictive of outcome. Here, we explored HRQOL, and its association with survival, by the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire, before, during and after chemotherapy in a patient cohort with MCL, treated within the NLG-MCL4 trial, designed to evaluate the addition of lenalidomide (LEN) to rituximab-bendamustine (R-B) as first-line treatment. Fifty-one patients were enrolled, median age was 71 years (range 62-84), 37 were men (73%). Pre-treatment HRQOL was similar to scores from the reference population with healthy individuals. During treatment, HRQOL deteriorated, but reverted to the same level as the reference population after treatment. There was a correlation between physical function (p = 0.001) and role function (p = 0.006) at baseline and WHO performance status, but not with other clinical or genetic prognostic factors. None of the baseline factors were predictive for treatment related to HRQOL in this cohort. Pre-treatment physical (p = 0.011) and role function (p = 0.032) were independent factors associated with overall survival, and physical function (p = 0.002) was also associated with progression free survival. These findings may possibly be used to design support during treatment and improve rehabilitation. Further investigations are needed for assessment of long-term HRQOL.Peer reviewe

Serum proteome modulations upon treatment provides biological insight on response to treatment in relapsed mantle cell lymphoma

Background The possibility to monitor patient's serum proteome during treatment can provide deepened understanding of the biology associated with response to specific drugs. Non-invasive serum sampling provides an opportunity for sustainable repetitive sampling of patients, which allows for more frequent evaluation of the biological response and enhanced flexibility in treatment selection in contrast to tissue biopsies. Aim To pin-point biologically relevant changes in pre- and on-treatment serum proteome samples in relapsed mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) patients, leading to insight into mechanisms behind response to treatment in sub-groups of patients. Methods Pre- and on-treatment serum samples from relapsed MCL patients treated with a triple combination therapy of rituximab, ibrutinib and lenalidomide were available for the study, together with detailed clinicopathological information. A microarray technology targeting 158 serum proteins using 371 antibody-fragments was used to compare the serum proteome at the two time-points. Results Proteins modulated by the treatment were shown to be associated to a MCL sub-group with ATM/TP53 alterations, which emphasizes the importance of treatment stratification. Absolute values of serum protein levels in on-treatment samples were highly variable and showed no correlation to outcome. To circumvent the challenge of variability in absolute serum protein levels, the velocity of change of individual serum proteins was used to identify proteins associated with clinical response. Increased values of TGF-beta 1, CD40 and complement component 4 comparing pre- and on-treatment samples were associated with remaining minimal residual disease (MRD) and increased BTK was associated with short progression-free survival (PFS). Conclusion We show that the genetic sub-type of MCL affects the biological response to treatment in serum and that the change in defined serum proteins reveals the biology associated with clinical response.Peer reviewe

Infiltration of CD163-, PD-L1-and FoxP3-positive cells adversely affects outcome in patients with mantle cell lymphoma independent of established risk factors

We characterised patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) with poor prognosis based on differences in immune infiltration. Different expressions of the tumour cell markers Cyclin D1 and sex-determining region Y-box transcription factor 11 (SOX11), and the immune markers cluster of differentiation 3 (CD3), CD4, CD8, CD25, forkhead box protein P3 (FoxP3), T-box transcription factor TBX21 (T-bet), programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), programmed-death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and CD163 were investigated for all-cause mortality in 282 patients with MCL and time-to-progression (TTP) in 106 clinical trial patients. With increasing age, a significantly lower infiltration of CD3(+) T lymphocytes was seen. T-cell infiltration was independent of cellular tumour antigen p53 (p53) expression, Ki-67, morphology and frequency of tumour cells. The all-cause mortality was higher in patients with PD-L1-expression above cut-off [hazard ratio (HR) 1 center dot 97, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1 center dot 18-3 center dot 25, adjusted for sex and MCL International Prognostic Index (MIPI)] and a higher frequency of CD163(+) cells (continuously, HR 1 center dot 51, 95% CI 1 center dot 03-2 center dot 23, adjusting for age, sex, morphology, Ki-67 and p53). In patients treated within the Nordic Lymphoma Group MCL2/3 trials, TTP was shorter in patients with a higher frequency of FoxP3(+) cells (HR 3 center dot 22, 95% CI 1 center dot 40-7 center dot 43) and CD163(+) cells (HR 6 center dot 09, 95% CI 1 center dot 84-20 center dot 21), independent of sex and MIPI. When combined a higher frequency of CD163(+) macrophages and PD-L1(+) cells or high CD163(+) macrophages and FoxP3(+) regulatory T cells indicated worse outcome independent of established risk factors. The T-cell infiltrate was in turn independent of molecular characteristics of the malignant cells and decreased with age.Peer reviewe