Agronomic Weights of Ammonia Emission from Staple Crops in China as Response to Mitigation Strategies under Various Agronomic Conditions: A Meta-Analysis Study

Economic losses and environmental hazards are meaningful problems of emitted ammonia induced by extensive use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. The concept presented as yield scaled fertilizer productivity (YSFP) in our meta-analysis in addition to nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), nitrogen agronomic efficiency (NAE), and productivity of applied nitrogen (PAN) were used to weight ammonia emission (AV)-induced reductions in wheat, maize, and rice production. The comprehensive meta-analysis was used to weight the reductions in these parameters by AV as the difference between observed means of the collected studies and their adjusted means using AV factor. There were higher reductions in agronomic production induced by AV in rice than maize and wheat. AV-induced reductions in PAN of rice, maize, and wheat were decreased by 4.99, 3.71, and 2.42 (kg grains kg−1 N), respectively. YSFP and PAN recorded the highest sensitivity to AV in wheat (R2 = 0.88 for both) and rice (R2 = 0.92 and 0.89, respectively), while NUE was the most efficient parameter in weighting AV agronomic effects (R2 = 0.81). Slow-released N fertilizers resulted in the lowest reductions in AV agronomic parameters followed by organic amendments and then urea while using other synthetic fertilizers recorded the highest reductions by 3.90, 6.40, 1.41, and 4.70 in YSFP, NUE, NAE, and PAN, respectively. Inhibitors had the highest effect on mitigating AV agronomic losses compared with biochar and mulching and affected the parameters following that order as percentages of no amendments, YSFP (52.63%) > PAN (47.18%) > NUE (40.83%) > NAE (38.75%). This study outlines the reductions in agronomic production induced by AV and weights the efficiency of various mitigation strategies under various agronomic conditions. The results proved the efficiency of YSFP with NUE parameters to weight the effect of AV on crop yield, while suggesting to find out more applicable parameters in further studies.

Retrospective analysis of cohort risk-factors and feeding phase timing associated with non-infectious heart disease deaths in US fed cattle

Heart disease, specifically, congestive heart failure has become of increased interest to geneticists and cattle feeders. Data on cohort associations of risk factors related to heart disease and when heart disease deaths occur in US feedlot cattle are limited. The study objectives were to 1) determine potential associations between feedlot cohort demographics and the risk of at least one non-infectious heart disease (NIHD) death occurrence and 2) determine potential association between feedlot cohort demographics and the timing of NIHD deaths during the feeding phase. Data were downloaded from commercial feedyard software and analyzed by constructing a generalized linear mixed model for both analyses. A binomial and Gaussian distribution for risk of NIHD death and timing of NIHD were utilized as link functions for their respective models. Our study population consisted of 28,950 cohorts (representing 4,596,205 cattle) that were placed in 22 US commercial feedlots from January 01, 2016, to January 01, 2019. There were 3,282 cases of NIHD deaths from a population of 75,963 cattle that died during the three-year study period. Average cohort arrival weight’s effect on NIHD probability was influenced by arrival quarter and arrival year of placement (P < 0.01). Cohorts with steers were associated with a greater probability of at least one NIHD death (2.38%) compared to heifers (1.95%; P < 0.01). Increasing cohort size was associated with an increased probability of a cohort having at least one NIHD death (P < 0.01). The probability of at least one NIHD death in a cohort increased from 1.51%, to 2.12%, and 2.87% in d on feed categories 100-175, 176-250, and 251-326 respectively. Cattle > 326 d on feed were no different in the probability of a NIHD death compared to the other feeding categories. Timing of a NIHD death had a mean and median occurrence of 110 d on feed with an interquartile range of 64 to 153 d on feed. The effect of arrival weight on d at death was influenced by year placed with heavier cattle generally decreasing the model adjusted means of d on feed at NIHD death. Arrival quarter was influenced by year placed on model adjusted means on the timing of a NIHD death. Steers with NIHD died later compared to heifers (P < 0.01) diagnosed with NIHD. In conclusion, multiple factors are associated with probability and timing of a NIHD death. Probability of having at least one NIHD death within a cohort was low and half of the deaths occurred before 110 d on feed.

Association Between Parental Divorce and Anger, Aggression, and Hostility in Adolescents: Results of a National Lebanese Study

To evaluate the association between divorce and aggression patterns (physical and verbal aggression and hostility) in Lebanese adolescents. This cross-sectional study enrolled 1810 (90.5%) students (January–May 2019) using a proportionate random sample of participants aged 12–17 years, drawn from private schools of all Lebanese districts. Parental divorce was significantly associated with more physical and verbal aggression and anger and hostility in adolescents. Significantly higher adjusted means of physical aggression (32.53 vs. 31.32; p = .013), verbal aggression (19.00 vs. 17.73; p < .001), anger (26.10 vs. 23.43; p < .001), and hostility (29.68 vs. 26.73; p < .001) were found among adolescents whose parents are divorced. Verbal and physical aggression, anger, and hostility were more shown in adolescents whose parents were divorced compared to adolescents whose parents are non-separated. Therefore, divorced parents must be motivated to provide their children with social, economic, and psychological needs to overcome these negative behaviors.

Genetic Variability, Correlation among Agronomic Traits, and Genetic Progress in a Sugarcane Diversity Panel

Sugarcane breeding programs require 15 years of experimentation to create more productive cultivars, and estimates of genetic progress can indicate the efficiency of breeding programs. In this study, we used a diversity panel, the Brazilian Panel of Sugarcane Genotypes (BPSG), with the following objectives: (i) to estimate, through a mixed model, the adjusted means and genetic parameters of ten traits evaluated over three harvest years; (ii) to estimate genotypic correlation among those traits; and (iii) to estimate genetic progress over six decades of breeding. The heritabilities ranged from 0.43 to 0.88, and we detected 42 significant correlations, 9 negative and 33 positive. Over six decades, the sucrose-related traits BRIX, POL%C, and POL%J showed an average increase per decade of 0.27 °Brix (0.26% and 0.31%, respectively). Stalk number, height, and weight of the plot, and cane and sucrose yields revealed average increases per decade of 3.27 stalks, 0.06 m, 9.42 kg, 11.22 t/ha, and 2.08 t/ha, respectively. The genetic progress of the main agronomic traits is discussed through a historical series of sugarcane genotypes present in the BPSG. The findings of this study could contribute to the management of new breeding strategies and allow for future studies of associative mapping.

Depression, anxiety, and daily activity among adolescents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a two-group cross-sectional study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has resulted in significant changes to adolescents’ daily lives and, potentially, to their mental health. The pandemic has also disproportionately affected historically marginalized and at-risk communities, including people of color, socioeconomically disadvantaged people, and youth. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to understand differences in depression and anxiety among two groups of US adolescents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to examine demographic and daily activity variables associated with depression and anxiety. METHODS Online surveys were distributed in 2019 and 2020. Analyses of covariance compared depression and anxiety between pre-pandemic and pandemic groups. Demographic and lifestyle variables were included as covariates. RESULTS Within the pandemic group, 94% of adolescents reported being out of school due to the pandemic, and another 86% and 57% were prevented from extracurricular activities or exercise, respectively. The pandemic group trended towards higher depression, with least squares adjusted means 7.62 ±1.36, compared to 6.28 ±1.42 (p=.08) in the pre-pandemic group. There was no significant difference in anxiety scores between pandemic and pre-pandemic groups, with least squares adjusted means 5.52 ±1.30 vs. 5.01 ±1.36 (p=.48). Within the pandemic group, lower socioeconomic status was predictive of anxiety, such that those in the pandemic group of lower SES were more anxious than their higher SES peers, with least squares adjusted means 11.17 ±2.34 vs. 8.66 ±2.16 (p=.02). Within the pandemic group, being out of work, school, extracurricular activities, or exercise due to the pandemic was not associated with higher depression or anxiety scores. CONCLUSIONS In the present study, neither being in the pandemic group, nor experiencing changes in daily activity due to the pandemic, were associated with higher depression or anxiety. However, we found that adolescents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds experienced significantly more anxiety during the pandemic than their more privileged peers. Both instrumental and mental health interventions for less privileged adolescents are imperative. CLINICALTRIAL Not applicable

Effectiveness of solution-focused counseling therapy on pregnancy anxiety and fear of childbirth: A randomized clinical trial

Background & Aim: Fear of childbirth and pregnancy anxiety may affect the desire for normal delivery. No study has investigated the effectiveness of solution-focused counseling on either pregnancy anxiety or all factors comprising fear of childbirth. We aimed to investigate the effects of solution-focused counseling in reducing pregnancy anxiety and fear of childbirth. Methods & Materials: This randomized clinical trial study was conducted on 132 nulliparous women in 2019. Participants with moderate to a severe fear of childbirth were randomly divided into the intervention and control groups. The intervention group participated in five solution-focused counseling sessions. Before and after the intervention, women filled the anxiety scale for pregnancy and the Wijma Delivery Expectancy Questionnaire (W-DEQ). Data were analyzed using t-test, paired t-test, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Results: The two groups did not differ in terms of demographic and obstetric variables and pregnancy anxiety pre-test scores (P>0.05). The means of the post-test total scores and the means of scores for all five factors of the ASP were significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group (p<0.001). The adjusted means of total scores and the adjusted means of scores for all six factors of the WDE-Q were significantly lower in the intervention group than the control group (p<0.001). Conclusion: The solution-focused counseling reduced pregnancy anxiety and fear of childbirth in women participating in counseling sessions compared to the controls. Solution-focused counseling therapy sessions should be held for women with pregnancy anxiety and fear of childbirth.

A holistic approach to promoting early child development: a cluster randomised trial of a group-based, multicomponent intervention in rural Bangladesh

IntroductionIn low- and middle-income countries, children experience multiple risks for delayed development. We evaluated a multicomponent, group-based early child development intervention including behavioural recommendations on responsive stimulation, nutrition, water, sanitation, hygiene, mental health and lead exposure prevention.MethodsWe conducted a 9-month, parallel, multiarm, cluster-randomised controlled trial in 31 rural villages in Kishoreganj District, Bangladesh. Villages were randomly allocated to: group sessions (‘group’); alternating groups and home visits (‘combined’); or a passive control arm. Sessions were delivered fortnightly by trained community members. The primary outcome was child stimulation (Family Care Indicators); the secondary outcome was child development (Ages and Stages Questionnaire Inventory, ASQi). Other outcomes included dietary diversity, latrine status, use of a child potty, handwashing infrastructure, caregiver mental health and knowledge of lead. Analyses were intention to treat. Data collectors were independent from implementers.ResultsIn July–August 2017, 621 pregnant women and primary caregivers of children<15 months were enrolled (group n=160, combined n=160, control n=301). At endline, immediately following intervention completion (July–August 2018), 574 participants were assessed (group n=144, combined n=149, control n=281). Primary caregivers in both intervention arms participated in more play activities than control caregivers (age-adjusted means: group 4.22, 95% CI 3.97 to 4.47; combined 4.77, 4.60 to 4.96; control 3.24, 3.05 to 3.39), and provided a larger variety of play materials (age-adjusted means: group 3.63, 3.31 to 3.96; combined 3.81, 3.62 to 3.99; control 2.48, 2.34 to 2.59). Compared with the control arm, children in the group arm had higher total ASQi scores (adjusted mean difference in standardised scores: 0.39, 0.15 to 0.64), while in the combined arm scores were not significantly different from the control (0.25, –0.07 to 0.54).ConclusionOur findings suggest that group-based, multicomponent interventions can be effective at improving child development outcomes in rural Bangladesh, and that they have the potential to be delivered at scale.Trial registration numberThe trial is registered in ISRCTN (ISRCTN16001234).

Plasticity in thermal hardening of the invasive Asian house gecko

The Asian house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) is a tropical invasive species that has established and spread throughout several temperate regions around the world. In some invasive species, rapid thermal acclimation (thermal hardening) may contribute to their success in occupying a wide range of climates. In this study, we investigated whether invasive house geckos from southeastern Australia show differing thermal hardening responses than individuals from the native range in Thailand. In the laboratory, we measured the basal heat tolerance (CTmax) of the geckos and their heat hardening response after being subjected to the second thermal stress after 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, or 11 hours. When geckos had recovered, we measured their basal cold tolerance (CTmin) and cold hardening response over the same time intervals. We then explored whether hardening responses differed between populations or among time intervals. We found that basal heat tolerances did not differ between populations, but geckos from Australia had lower cold tolerance than geckos from Thailand. The magnitude of the heat hardening was similar between populations, but the introduced geckos had a higher magnitude of cold hardening. The native geckos could maximize their cold tolerance capacity for only 0.6 °C, comparing to 0.9 °C of the introduced geckos. Also, geckos from Australia exhibited faster responses to thermal stress than did geckos from Thailand. Maximum thermal tolerances as a result of hardening responses peaked within three hours after thermal stress in Australian geckos (adjusted means = 44.0 °C for CTmax and 9.9 °C for CTmin) and at five hours after thermal stress in Thai geckos (adjusted means = 44.2 °C and 10.2 °C, respectively). The plasticity in the thermal hardening of the invasive gecko should enable it to survive rapid temperature fluctuations, especially cold snap, that occasionally occur in temperate regions.

Contour mapping of civilization

The article, which is a reaction to the report of A.V. Rubtsov “Russian project of civiliza­tional development: thematic structure and framework of categories”, contour mapping of structures, ways to identify the content, meaning and objectives of civilizations is dis­cussed as having theoretical and methodological significance. At the same time, the prob­lem of understanding the terms “state”, “nation”, “civilization”, “law”, and above all “history” is posed, with which the very appearance of the idea of civilization is closely connected, which can have different meanings not only in different civilizations, but also within different regions of one civilization, depriving the sense of trying to achieve con­sensus in controversial situations. The analysis of these concepts, which make up the framework of civilizations, entailed the need to identify the difference between the con­cept of New history as a designation of the border of time and Modernity as the content of the new, to show the ways of temporal shifts. Contour mapping of civilization reveals both the difference between them and their commonality, and the historicity mode, which establishes relationships and strategies of relationships between different times, allows you to create a variety of network connections: political with physical, historical, social maps that fit in the pockets of each person, etc., revealing and the similarities and unique­ness of the time in each separate region. This kind of ability to identify differentials of civilization, history or culture with the help of technically adjusted means makes it possi­ble to predict crisis moments during which any time (past, present and future) begins to lose its shape. The crisis and the awareness of the crisis make it possible to overcome his­tory as an expression of Modernity, because one cannot raise the question of the future while being inside history. The task is to correctly form the composition of the project, which should exclude attempts to create a future theory from the past. Trying to build only on the basis of a supposedly known and settled past is to doom your attempts to fail­ure: the purpose of the project is to overcome the past, the departure from which indicates that the expected changes should not be similar to the events of the past. The project is an attempt to find a language in which the future can speak.

102 Pooled analysis of six large-pen feedlot studies: Non-coated initial and a non-coated terminal implant compared with a single initial and delayed release implant at arrival in feedlot heifers

Randomized complete block design experiments (n = 6 experiments) were conducted in large-pen feedlot research facilities between 2015 and 2018 comparing an 80 mg trenbolone acetate (TBA) and 8 mg estradiol-17β (E2) initial implant and re-implant with 200 mg TBA and 20 mg E2 protocol (IH/200) to a single 80 mg TBA and 8 mg E2 uncoated; 120 mg TBA and 12 mg E2 coated implant at arrival (XH) on growth and carcass responses in finishing heifers. Experiments occurred in Nebraska, Oklahoma, Washington, and Texas. Similar arrival processing was used across experiments where 17,675 heifers [initial BW = 333 kg SEM (4.1)] were enrolled into 180 pens (90 pens/treatment with 65 to 240 heifers/pen) and fed for 152 to 214 d. Only IH/200 heifers were removed from their pen at re-implant. Diets contained monensin and tylosin, consisted of ingredients common to each region, and contained greater than 90% concentrate. Ractopamine hydrochloride was fed for a minimum of 28 d prior to harvest. Linear mixed-models were used for all analyses; model-adjusted means for each implant group and the corresponding SEM were generated. Distributions of USDA quality (QG) and yield grade (YG) were analyzed for ordinal outcomes. No differences (P ≥ 0.11) were detected for any performance parameters except DMI, where XH had greater (P = 0.02) DMI (9.48 vs. 9.38 ± 0.127 kg) compared with IH/200. Heifers implanted with IH/200 had greater (P ≤ 0.02) HCW by 1.3%, caused by greater dressing percentage, and ribeye area; lesser (P ≤ 0.01) back fat by and calculated YG, while marbling scores were similar (P = 0.74) compared with XH heifers. Distributions of USDA YG and QG were impacted (P ≤ 0.03) by treatment, IH/200 had fewer USDA Prime and YG 4 and 5 carcasses. These data indicate that heifer growth performance did not differ between implants, but HCW and muscling did; IH/200 is suited for grid marketing and XH is suited for heifers sold on a live basis.