Balancing economic and ecological functions in smallholder and industrial oil palm plantations.

The expansion of the oil palm industry in Indonesia has improved livelihoods in rural communities, but comes at the cost of biodiversity and ecosystem degradation. Here, we investigated ways to balance ecological and economic outcomes of oil palm cultivation. We compared a wide range of production systems, including smallholder plantations, industrialized company estates, estates with improved agronomic management, and estates with native tree enrichment. Across all management types, we assessed multiple indicators of biodiversity, ecosystem functions, management, and landscape structure to identify factors that facilitate economic-ecological win-wins, using palm yields as measure of economic performance. Although, we found that yields in industrialized estates were, on average, twice as high as those in smallholder plantations, ecological indicators displayed substantial variability across systems, regardless of yield variations, highlighting potential for economic-ecological win-wins. Reducing management intensity (e.g., mechanical weeding instead of herbicide application) did not lower yields but improved ecological outcomes at moderate costs, making it a potential measure for balancing economic and ecological demands. Additionally, maintaining forest cover in the landscape generally enhanced local biodiversity and ecosystem functioning within plantations. Enriching plantations with native trees is also a promising strategy to increase ecological value without reducing productivity. Overall, we recommend closing yield gaps in smallholder cultivation through careful intensification, whereas conventional plantations could reduce management intensity without sacrificing yield. Our study highlights various pathways to reconcile the economics and ecology of palm oil production and identifies management practices for a more sustainable future of oil palm cultivation.

Tree islands enhance biodiversity and functioning in oil palm landscapes.

In the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration1, large knowledge gaps persist on how to increase biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in cash crop-dominated tropical landscapes2. Here, we present findings from a large-scale, 5-year ecosystem restoration experiment in an oil palm landscape enriched with 52 tree islands, encompassing assessments of ten indicators of biodiversity and 19 indicators of ecosystem functioning. Overall, indicators of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, as well as multidiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality, were higher in tree islands compared to conventionally managed oil palm. Larger tree islands led to larger gains in multidiversity through changes in vegetation structure. Furthermore, tree enrichment did not decrease landscape-scale oil palm yield. Our results demonstrate that enriching oil palm-dominated landscapes with tree islands is a promising ecological restoration strategy, yet should not replace the protection of remaining forests.

The Role of Chest Radiograph, Procalcitonin and Moxifloxacin in Diagnosis and Management of Breast Cancer Patients with COVID-19.

Global widespread of current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has emerged huge predicament to healthcare systems globally. This disease caused by a new beta-type coronavirus, known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), may lead to systemic multiorgan dysfunction syndrome and subsequently cause death due to abundant angiotensin converting enzyme 2 as its functional receptors throughout body. Oncology patients even have a worse prognosis with greater infection susceptibility because they are in a state of suppression of the systemic immune system due to malignancy and anticancer therapy. This problem makes adequate and appropriate treatment urgently needed. Through randomized clinical trials, various drugs were known to have good responses in COVID-19 patients. Here, we reported a-49-year-old-woman that was confirmed for COVID-19 by clinical manifestation, radiology profile, high procalcitonin concentration, and positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. The patient also had breast and thyroid cancers history and had undergone various therapeutic modalities such as chemotherapy, thyroid surgery, and breast surgery. She was undergoing hormone therapy but experiencing disease progression after achieving complete remission based on PET-CT scan 4 months before. The patient was treated with various antibiotics but showed a significant clinical improvement by administering moxifloxacin.

Different Molarities and Dissolution-Precipitation Duration Affect the Formation of Carbonate-Apatite Blocks for Bone Graft Material

Abstract Objective: To determine diametral tensile strength and water absorption ability of Carbonate-apatite blocks fabricated from gypsum precursors (CaSO4) through a dissolution-precipitation method, with different solution molarities and immersion times. Material and Methods: Thirty-six CaSO4 gypsum specimens with 6 mm diameter; 3 mm height (Group A for diametral tensile strength) and 36 specimens of 6 mm diameter; 3 mm thickness (Group B for water absorption ability) were used. Each group was divided into 4 group treatments of: 1) dissolution-precipitation in solution of 0.5mol / L Na2CO3 + 0.5mol / L Na3PO4 for 48 hours and 72 hours; 1mol / L Na2CO3 + 1mol / L Na3PO4 for 48 hours and 72 hours. The C-Ap blocks were then tested using ATR-FTIR spectrometer to identify the formation of C-Ap functional groups. Furthermore, Group A specimens were tested for diametral tensile strength using Universal Testing Machine, and Group B specimens were tested for water adsorption ability using an analytical balance by measuring initial and final weight after immersion in saline solution at 37oC for 24 hours. Results: The formation of carbonate-apatite (C-Ap) in groups with solution molarity of 1 mol/L for 48 hours and 72 hours resulted in a lower diametral tensile strength and water absorption ability than the groups with a 0.5 mol/L solution. Conclusion: Solution with different molarities and dissolution-precipitation duration affect the formation of carbonate-apatite blocks.