Balancing fertilization strategy with crop requirements in organic greenhouse cultivation of sweet pepper

An on-farm field trial was set up in an organic greenhouse in order to balance the N-uptake by a sweet pepper crop and the mineralization of the organic fertilizers was applied. The effects of six fertilizer treatments were compared regarding yield, nutrient availability and mineral balance. Application of high levels of compost turned out to be favourable in order to reduce surplusses of available-N on the short term. On the long term, such high levels of compost are unfavourable as a high pool of mineralizable-N in the soil organic matter restricts the possiblities for precise fertilization adapted to plant uptake. Application of lower levels of farm yard manure in combination with additional fertilization with feathermeal turned out to be a good fertilization strategy both on the short and the long term unless there is a need for minimizing salt levels in the applied fertilizers

Nitrogen balances in Dutch organic greenhouse production

The organic greenhouse production in the Netherlands is limited with regard to the number of growers, but plays an important role in EU organic greenhouse production. In the high-technology greenhouses a high production level is realized but nitrogen balances of this production system have been questioned. In order to document and improve the nitrogen balance, the production of seven greenhouses was monitored and soils were repeatedly analysed. The model “Bemestingsrichtlijn biologische kasteelten” (Fertilization Guide Organic Greenhouse Production) has been developed to simulate nitrogen availability and to fine-tune manure applications to crop demand. In the course of four years the overall nitrogen surpluses decreased sharply, but due to the observational character of the research no statistical analyses can be made. Part of the high surpluses in the first years can be explained by initial investments in soil organic matter. Calculation of the dynamic balance gives more possibilities to fine-tune farmers’ fertilization strategies. Growers that followed the model-based advise for manure application, realized a substantial reduction of nitrogen surpluses

Psychological treatment of depression: A meta-analytic database of randomized studies

Abstract Background A large number of randomized controlled studies have clearly demonstrated that psychological interventions are effective in the treatment of depression. The number of studies in this area is increasing rapidly. In this paper, we present a database of controlled and comparative outcome studies on psychological treatments of depression, based on a series of meta-analyses published by our group. The database can be accessed freely through the Internet. Description We conducted a comprehensive literature search of the major bibliographical databases (Pubmed; Psycinfo; Embase; Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) and we examined the references of 22 earlier meta-analyses of psychological treatment of depression. We included randomized studies in which the effects of a psychological therapy on adults with depression were compared to a control condition, another psychological intervention, or a combined treatment (psychological plus pharmacological). We conducted nine meta-analyses of subgroups of studies taken from this dataset. The 149 studies included in these 9 meta-analyses are included in the current database. In the 149 included studies, a total of 11,369 patients participated. In the database, we present selected characteristics of each study, including characteristics of the patients (the study population, recruitment method, definition of depression); characteristics of the experimental conditions and interventions (the experimental conditions, N per condition, format, number of sessions); and study characteristics (measurement times, measures used, attrition, type of analysis and country). Conclusion The data on the 149 included studies are presented in order to give other researchers access to the studies we collected, and to give background information about the meta-analyses we have published using this dataset. The number of studies examining the effects of psychological treatments of depression has increased considerably in the past decades, and this will continue in the future. The database we have presented in this paper can help to integrate the results of these studies in future meta-analyses and systematic reviews on psychological treatments for depression

Aanspreken op kracht

‘Toen de verpleeghuisarts zei dat het nog het nog hoogstens tien maanden duurde, besloot ik om mijn baan op te zeggen en haar naar huis te halen. We zijn gelukkig geweest, we waren saampjes. Het was een bizarre, mooie en moeilijke tijd.’ (mantelzorger) Aandacht voor positieve aspecten van mantelzorg doet recht aan hoe vele mantelzorgers hun situatie beleven. Het sluit aan bij de ontwikkeling dat zorg dient bij te dragen aan een zo goed mogelijke kwaliteit van leven van mensen in plaats van zich vooral te richten op ziekte

Goals and means in action observation : a computational approach

Many of our daily activities are supported by behavioural goals that guide the selection of actions, which allow us to reach these goals effectively. Goals are considered to be important for action observation since they allow the observer to copy the goal of the action without the need to use the exact same means. The importance of being able to use different action means becomes evident when the observer and observed actor have different bodies (robots and humans) or bodily measurements (parents and children), or when the environments of actor and observer differ substantially (when an obstacle is present or absent in either environment). A selective focus on the action goals instead of the action means furthermore circumvents the need to consider the vantage point of the actor, which is consistent with recent findings that people prefer to represent the actions of others from their own individual perspective. In this paper, we use a computational approach to investigate how knowledge about action goals and means are used in action observation. We hypothesise that in action observation human agents are primarily interested in identifying the goals of the observed actor’s behaviour. Behavioural cues (e.g. the way an object is grasped) may help to disambiguate the goal of the actor (e.g. whether a cup is grasped for drinking or handing it over). Recent advances in cognitive neuroscience are cited in support of the model’s architecture

Prevention of late-life Depression in Primary Care: Do we know where to begin?

OBJECTIVE: This study attempted to compare two models for selective (people at elevated risk) and indicated (those with subsyndromal depressive symptoms) prevention and to determine the optimal strategy for prevention of late-life depression. METHOD: Onset was assessed at 3 years with the Geriatric Mental State AGECAT in a randomly selected cohort of 1,940 nondepressed and nondemented older people in Amsterdam. Risk factors that can easily be identified in primary care were used. RESULTS: The association of risk factors with depression incidence was expressed in absolute and relative risk estimates, number needed to treat, and population-attributable fractions. Prevention models were identified with classification and regression tree analyses. In the indicated prevention model, subsyndromal symptoms of depression were associated with a risk of almost 40% of developing depression and a number needed to treat of 5.8, accounting for 24.6% of new cases. Adding more risk factors raised the absolute risk to 49.3%, with a lower number needed to treat but also lower attributable fraction values. In the selective prevention model, spousal death showed the highest risk, becoming even higher if the subjects also had a chronic illness. Overall, the attributable fraction values in the indicated model were higher, identifying more people at risk. CONCLUSIONS: Consideration of the costs and benefits of both models in the context of the availability of evidence-based preventative interventions indicated that prevention aimed at elderly people with depressive symptoms is preferred. The focus on treatment should be readdressed; a new approach is needed, with a stronger emphasis on prevention

Clinical relevance of findings in trials of CBT for depression

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is beneficial in depression. Symptom scores can be translated into Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale scores to indicate clinical relevance. We aimed to assess the clinical relevance of findings of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of CBT in depression. We identified RCTs of CBT that used the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD). HAMD scores were translated into Clinical Global Impression – Change scale (CGI-I) scores to measure clinical relevance. One hundred and seventy datasets from 82 studies were included. The mean percentage HAMD change for treatment arms was 53.66%, and 29.81% for control arms, a statistically significant difference. Combined active therapies showed the biggest improvement on CGI-I score, followed by CBT alone. All active treatments had better than expected HAMD percentage reduction and CGI-I scores. CBT has a clinically relevant effect in depression, with a notional CGI-I score of 2.2, indicating a significant clinical response. The non-specific or placebo effect of being in a psychotherapy trial was a 29% reduction of HAMD

Does publication bias inflate the apparent efficacy of psychological treatment for major depressive disorder? A systematic review and meta-analysis of US national institutes of health-funded trials

Background The efficacy of antidepressant medication has been shown empirically to be overestimated due to publication bias, but this has only been inferred statistically with regard to psychological treatment for depression. We assessed directly the extent of study publication bias in trials examining the efficacy of psychological treatment for depression. Methods and Findings We identified US National Institutes of Health grants awarded to fund randomized clinical trials comparing psychological treatment to control conditions or other treatments in patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder for the period 1972–2008, and we determined whether those grants led to publications. For studies that were not published, data were requested from investigators and included in the meta-analyses. Thirteen (23.6%) of the 55 funded grants that began trials did not result in publications, and two others never started. Among comparisons to control conditions, adding unpublished studies (Hedges’ g = 0.20; CI95% -0.11~0.51; k = 6) to published studies (g = 0.52; 0.37~0.68; k = 20) reduced the psychotherapy effect size point estimate (g = 0.39; 0.08~0.70) by 25%. Moreover, these findings may overestimate the "true" effect of psychological treatment for depression as outcome reporting bias could not be examined quantitatively. Conclusion The efficacy of psychological interventions for depression has been overestimated in the published literature, just as it has been for pharmacotherapy. Both are efficacious but not to the extent that the published literature would suggest. Funding agencies and journals should archive both original protocols and raw data from treatment trials to allow the detection and correction of outcome reporting bias. Clinicians, guidelines developers, and decision makers should be aware that the published literature overestimates the effects of the predominant treatments for depression