Deliverable 5.7.Technical report on alternative fertilisers (arable farming and vegetables)

This Deliverable D5.7 is a ‘Technical report on alternative fertiliser’. It is a shorter version, containing key facts and characteristics about the material investigated and described in the much longer ‘Summary paper of alternative fertilisers’ (Deliverable D5.6), from the Horizon2020 project "Organic-PLUS" (2018-2022). In organic farming, a considerable amount of nutrients and organic matter are derived from conventional farming as fertilisers from organic sources are not available in sufficient quantities, in particular for stockless organic farms or intensive vegetable and fruit production. Furthermore, the EU Regulation on Organic Food and Farming restricts the use of recycling fertilisers from urban sources. Relying on fertilisers from conventional production is a challenge for the integrity of organic production. The ‘contentious fertilisers’ include animal manure and other animal-derived products such as hydrolysed proteins or keratins from non-organic, conventional, animal husbandry, but also plant-derived products such as vinasse from conventional sugar-beet production. Furthermore, there may be issues with veterinary drugs and pesticide residues in such fertilisers, as shown for liquid vinasse-based fertiliser which contained residues of pyralid, a herbicide used frequently in conventional sugar beet farming (e.g. McKinnon et al. 2021). In addition, the rapidly increasing demand for vegan products and the reduced consumption of meat for environmental reasons contributes to the importance of finding alternatives to animal-derived fertilisers in general. We also addressed other soil-related contentious inputs in Work Package 5 in Organic-PLUS: Within Deliverable 5.1 the current use of peat in growing media, plastic for mulch films and fertilisers in organic agriculture was assessed, followed by a report discussing possible alternatives to these contentious inputs (Deliverable 5.2). The topics of peat in growing media and biodegradable plastic for mulching made from renewable materials have been described in separate deliverables (D5.8; D5.9; D5.10; D5.11). For alternative fertilisers, several trials have been conducted with funding from Organic-PLUS in five countries: Norway (NORSØK), UK (CU), Denmark (ICOEL), Poland (CUT) and Germany (UHOH). In work package SOIL, Task 5.4 “Examination of promising alternatives, fertilisers” the trials investigated the use of the alternative fertilisers in the open field, protected cropping and in pot trials in organic vegetable production and in arable farming. For some trials, fertiliser effects were assessed for the main crop and the residual effects were tested in subsequent crops. In Task 5.4, we have collaborated to produce two deliverables, D5.6 and 5.7, where D5.6 is a summary paper describing the output of the fertiliser trials. As outlined this deliverable (D5.7) is a technical report describing some essential characteristics of the fertiliser materials which were tested at different locations in Europe and reported in deliverable (5.6). To structure a scientific discussion about the future fertilisation inorganic agriculture, we have developed three categories to classify the fertilisers applied in Organic-PLUS: URBAN, VEGAN, and RESID: URBAN fertilisers are defined as materials which contribute to close the rural-urban nutrient and organic matter cycles by recycling resources derived from agricultural land, via urban food systems and back to the land. A relevant example which has been intensively studied in Organic-PLUS is digestate from source-separated organic household waste, which is used for biogas production by anaerobic digestion. These fertilisers are available in several European countries at the level of a municipality

The impact of immediate breast reconstruction on the time to delivery of adjuvant therapy: the iBRA-2 study

Background: Immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) is routinely offered to improve quality-of-life for women requiring mastectomy, but there are concerns that more complex surgery may delay adjuvant oncological treatments and compromise long-term outcomes. High-quality evidence is lacking. The iBRA-2 study aimed to investigate the impact of IBR on time to adjuvant therapy. Methods: Consecutive women undergoing mastectomy ± IBR for breast cancer July–December, 2016 were included. Patient demographics, operative, oncological and complication data were collected. Time from last definitive cancer surgery to first adjuvant treatment for patients undergoing mastectomy ± IBR were compared and risk factors associated with delays explored. Results: A total of 2540 patients were recruited from 76 centres; 1008 (39.7%) underwent IBR (implant-only [n = 675, 26.6%]; pedicled flaps [n = 105,4.1%] and free-flaps [n = 228, 8.9%]). Complications requiring re-admission or re-operation were significantly more common in patients undergoing IBR than those receiving mastectomy. Adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy was required by 1235 (48.6%) patients. No clinically significant differences were seen in time to adjuvant therapy between patient groups but major complications irrespective of surgery received were significantly associated with treatment delays. Conclusions: IBR does not result in clinically significant delays to adjuvant therapy, but post-operative complications are associated with treatment delays. Strategies to minimise complications, including careful patient selection, are required to improve outcomes for patients

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

An understanding of intervertebral disc development, maturation and cell phenotype provides clues to direct cell-based tissue regeneration therapies for disc degeneration

Cell-based regenerative medicine therapies have been proposed for repairing the degenerated intervertebral disc (a major cause of back pain). However, for this approach to be successful, it is essential to characterise the phenotype of its native cells to guarantee that implanted cells differentiate and maintain the correct phenotype to ensure appropriate cell and tissue function. While recent studies have increased our knowledge of the human nucleus pulposus (NP) cell phenotype, their ontogeny is still unclear. The expression of notochordal markers by a subpopulation of adult NP cells suggests that, contrary to previous reports, notochord-derived cells are retained in the adult NP, possibly coexisting with a second population of cells originating from the annulus fibrosus or endplate. It is not known, however, how these two cell populations interact and their specific role(s) in disc homeostasis and disease. In particular, notochordal cells are proposed to display both anabolic and protective roles; therefore, they may be the ideal cells to repair the degenerate disc. Thus, understanding the ontogeny of the adult NP cells is paramount, as it will inform the medical and scientific communities as to the ideal phenotype to implant into the degenerate disc and the specific pathways involved in stem cell differentiation towards such a phenotype. © 2014 The Author(s)

Summary paper on alternative fertilisers

Fertilisation in organic agriculture is today highly dependent on the import of external nutrients and organic matter by fertilisers derived from conventional farming and conventional food industries. Within Deliverable (D) 5.1 of the project Organic-PLUS the current use of peat in growing media, plastic for mulching and fertiliser inputs in organic agriculture was already addressed, followed by a report discussing possible alternatives to these contentious inputs (D5.2). The current D5.6 develops the topic further and shows in more detail the results of research on the use of alternative non-contentious fertilisers conducted in Task 5.4, ‘Alternatives to contentious sources of fertility’, of Work package 5 SOIL in Organic-PLUS. The objectives of Task 5.4 were a) to characterise relevant alternatives for contentious inputs for physio-chemical and other characteristics (e.g. availability), and study how well they function compared with existing contentious inputs (manure from conventional farming, commercial fertilisers from conventional sources) and b) to develop system approaches to integrate the alternatives in existing organic cropping systems/ sequences. The characteristics of the individual fertilisers as well as short recommendations for their application in practice are presented in D5.7 (a technical report) along an overview of nutrient concentrations and other essential characteristics of the fertilisers tested

Impact of Vitamin D Deficiency on COVID-19—A Prospective Analysis from the CovILD Registry

The novel Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a global health concern. Vitamin D (VITD) deficiency has been suggested to alter SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and the course of disease. Thus, we aimed to investigate associations of VITD status to disease presentation within the CovILD registry. This prospective, multicenter, observational study on long-term sequelae includes patients with COVID-19 after hospitalization or outpatients with persistent symptoms. Eight weeks after PCR confirmed diagnosis, a detailed questionnaire, a clinical examination, and laboratory testing, including VITD status, were evaluated. Furthermore, available laboratory specimens close to hospital admission were used to retrospectively analyze 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels at disease onset. A total of 109 patients were included in the analysis (60% males, 40% females), aged 58 ± 14 years. Eight weeks after the onset of COVID-19, a high proportion of patients presented with impaired VITD metabolism and elevated parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels. PTH concentrations were increased in patients who needed intensive care unit (ICU) treatment, while VITD levels were not significantly different between disease severity groups. Low VITD levels at disease onset or at eight-week follow-up were not related to persistent symptom burden, lung function impairment, ongoing inflammation, or more severe CT abnormalities. VITD deficiency is frequent among COVID-19 patients but not associated with disease outcomes. However, individuals with severe disease display a disturbed parathyroid-vitamin-D axis within their recovery phase. The proposed significance of VITD supplementation in the clinical management of COVID-19 remains elusive