Practical Guide to Measuring Wetland Carbon Pools and Fluxes.

Wetlands cover a small portion of the world, but have disproportionate influence on global carbon (C) sequestration, carbon dioxide and methane emissions, and aquatic C fluxes. However, the underlying biogeochemical processes that affect wetland C pools and fluxes are complex and dynamic, making measurements of wetland C challenging. Over decades of research, many observational, experimental, and analytical approaches have been developed to understand and quantify pools and fluxes of wetland C. Sampling approaches range in their representation of wetland C from short to long timeframes and local to landscape spatial scales. This review summarizes common and cutting-edge methodological approaches for quantifying wetland C pools and fluxes. We first define each of the major C pools and fluxes and provide rationale for their importance to wetland C dynamics. For each approach, we clarify what component of wetland C is measured and its spatial and temporal representativeness and constraints. We describe practical considerations for each approach, such as where and when an approach is typically used, who can conduct the measurements (expertise, training requirements), and how approaches are conducted, including considerations on equipment complexity and costs. Finally, we review key covariates and ancillary measurements that enhance the interpretation of findings and facilitate model development. The protocols that we describe to measure soil, water, vegetation, and gases are also relevant for related disciplines such as ecology. Improved quality and consistency of data collection and reporting across studies will help reduce global uncertainties and develop management strategies to use wetlands as nature-based climate solutions. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13157-023-01722-2.

Conservation agriculture's impact on total and labile organic carbon pools in calcareous and non-calcareous floodplain soils under a sub-tropical rice-based system.

To evaluate the effects of conservation agriculture (CA) on SOC pools and their lability, field experiments (2015-2020) were conducted on contrasting soils under subtropical climates. The experiment on non-calcareous soils, was comprised of tillage (minimum [MT] vs. conventional [CT]) in main plots, cropping systems (Wheat [Triticum aestivum]-Aus and Aman rice [Oryza sativa L.], WRR; Lentil [Lens culinaris]-Aus and Aman rice, LRR; and Mustard [Brassica nigra]- Boro and Aman rice, MRR) in the sub-plots, and crop residue (with or without 20% residue) in the sub-sub plots. The experiment on calcareous soils, was comprised of tillage (strip-till, ST; no-till, NT; and CT) and crop residue (high residue, HR at 50% by height vs. low residue, LR at 15%). Results showed that the MT had higher SOC contents by 18.8% than the CT in non-calcareous soils. Likewise, SOC was 12.5% and 6.7% higher in the NT and ST, respectively, than in the CT in calcareous soils. Significantly higher particulate organic (POC), permanganate oxidizable (POXC), and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) were observed in the MT, NT, and ST than in the CT at both locations. Reduced tillage with residue retention under LRR had a higher SOC, including labile C pools compared to WRR and MRR systems. Similarly, carbon management index (1.2-1.5 and 1.0-1.2) in both soils had significant positive correlations with SOC lability via POXC, POC, and MBC pools, indicating a SOC sequestration potential. In conclusion, our results showed positive effects of CA on SOC and its lability across soils.

Effect of Nitrogen in Combination with Different Levels of Sulfur on Wheat Growth and Yield.

As macronutrients, management of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) is prime in importance when wheat is cultivated. Both have a significant impact on the improvement of growth and yield attributes. In addition, S and N also play an imperative role in the enhancement of seed protein contents. However, the need of the time is the selection of their optimum application rate for the achievement of maximum wheat productivity. That is why the current study was planned to examine the impact of variable application rates of S and N on wheat. There are 12 treatments, i.e., control (no nitrogen (0N) + no sulfur (0S)), 40 kg/ha N (40N + 0S), 80 kg/ha N (80N + 0S), 120 kg/ha N (120N + 0S), 30 kg/ha sulfur (30S), 40N + 30S, 80N + 30S, 120N + 30S, 60 kg/ha sulfur (60S), 40N + 60S, 80N + 60S, and 120N + 60S, applied in three replications. The results showed that plant height, grains/spike, spike/m2, and 1000 grain weight were significantly improved by the addition of 120N + 60S. A significant enhancement of grain N contents, N uptake, and protein contents of wheat validated the efficient role of 120N + 60S over 0N and 0S. In conclusion, 120N + 60S is a better treatment for the achievement of maximum wheat yield. More investigations under variable soil textures and climatic conditions are suggested under different climates to declare 120N + 60S as the best amendment for wheat growth and yield improvement.

Current state of poultry waste management practices in Bangladesh, environmental concerns, and future recommendations.

This review paper focuses on the current state of poultry waste generation, composition, and management techniques in commercial poultry farms and trading in Bangladesh, to reduce pollution and generate economic benefits from poultry waste. It also underlines the negative impact of poultry waste disposal on the environment. In Bangladesh, collection of poultry waste into bags and, subsequently, direct use as fertilizer in agricultural fields and aquaculture is common, while alternative disposal methods such as composting and biogas generation are now attracting commercial poultry producers. Direct use of poultry manure results in poor air and soil quality, environmental deterioration, detrimental effects on global health, climate change due to high levels of atmospheric ammonia, and the creation of significant amounts of greenhouse gases. Lack of knowledge and investment, as well as high demand for free land for composting, are important obstacles. Future research on precise waste characterization, improved understanding of poultry waste management, and increased efforts on developed waste disposal for a safe environment are therefore recommended. So, poultry waste, which is currently a burden for the environment, could be turned into a useful agricultural resource, which would be useful for the poultry industry.

Determining the most appropriate probability distribution function for meteorological drought indices in Urmia Lake Basin, Iran.

Normalization is believed to be one of the most important parts of numerical computation in discrete mathematics. This process aims to transform a wide numerical range into a narrower one. Hence, in a number of fields of study, numerous distribution functions (DF) have been extended based on their applications, one of which is drought calculation. In this research, annual drought was calculated via standard precipitation index (SPI) and China Z Index (CZI) through seven three-parametric DFs (Pearson 5, Weibull, Pearson 3 (gamma), log Pearson, Fréchet, log-logistic, and fatigue life) in order to determine the most appropriate one for each index in Urmia Lake Basin. To this end, the results of both SPI and CZI, with DFs and without them, were compared with statistical analyzers (RMSE, ME, R2, and pearson correlation). The results indicated that Weibull-CZI and Pearson 5-SPI had the highest correlation with the normal ones. Therefore, they could be used as the best DFs for these drought indices in this basin. Moreover, among the studied years, Gelazchay and Daryanchay stations experienced the most severe drought in 2008 and 1999 based on the CZI and SPI, respectively. It should be noted that in another section of the current study, the correlation between the two indices was analyzed and the results showed high correlations between them.

Integrated Nutrient Management Enhances Productivity and Nitrogen Use Efficiency of Crops in Acidic and Charland Soils.

Integrated Plant Nutrient System (IPNS) is practiced worldwide to maintain soil quality. Two field experiments were conducted in 2019 and 2020 in acidic and charland soils to assess the impact of different manures, viz., poultry manure (PM), vermicompost (VC), compost (OF), rice husk biochar (RHB), poultry manure biochar (PMB)-based IPNS, and dolomite over control on productivity and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of the Mustard-Boro-Transplanted Aman and Maize-Jute-Transplanted Aman cropping patterns, and on soil properties. The experiments were laid out in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The results showed that IPNS treatments significantly improved soil aggregate properties and total nitrogen in acidic soil, and bulk density in charland soil. In both years, IPNS treatments increased system productivity from 55.4 to 82.8% in acidic soil and from 43.3 to 115.4% in charland soil over that of control. IPNS and dolomite treatments increased nitrogen uptake from 35.5 to 105.7% over that of control and NUE in both soils in 2019 and 2020. PMB- and OF-based INPS treatments exhibited superior performances in both soils, and the impact was more prominent in 2020. Therefore, PMB- and OF-based IPNS can be recommended for maximizing system productivity and NUE with concurrent improvement of physicochemical properties of acidic and charland soils.

Nitrogen fertilization impact on soil carbon pools and their stratification and lability in subtropical wheat-mungbean-rice agroecosystems.

Nitrogen (N) is the prime nutrient for crop production and carbon-based functions associated with soil quality. The objective of our study (2012 to 2019) was to evaluate the impact of variable rates of N fertilization on soil organic carbon (C) pools and their stocks, stratification, and lability in subtropical wheat (Triticum aestivum)-mungbean (Vigna radiata)-rice (Oryza sativa L) agroecosystems. The field experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design (RCB) with N fertilization at 60, 80, 100, 120, and 140% of the recommended rates of wheat (100 kg/ha), mungbean (20 kg/ha), and rice (80 kg/ha), respectively. Composite soils were collected at 0-15 and 15-30 cm depths from each replicated plot and analyzed for microbial biomass (MBC), basal respiration (BR), total organic C (TOC), particulate organic C (POC), permanganate oxidizable C (POXC), carbon lability indices, and stratification. N fertilization (120 and 140%) significantly increased the POC at both depths; however, the effect was more pronounced in the surface layer. Moreover, N fertilization (at 120% and 140%) significantly increased the TOC and labile C pools when compared to the control (100%) and the lower rates (60 and 80%). N fertilization significantly increased MBC, C pool (CPI), lability (CLI), and management indices (CMI), indicating improved and efficient soil biological activities in such systems. The MBC and POC stocks were significantly higher with higher rates of N fertilization (120% and 140%) than the control. Likewise, higher rates of N fertilization significantly increased the stocks of labile C pools. Equally, the stratification values for POC, MBC, and POXC show evidence of improved soil quality because of optimum N fertilization (120-140%) to maintain and/or improve soil quality under rice-based systems in subtropical climates.

The effect of occupant distribution on energy consumption and COVID-19 infection in buildings: A case study of university building.

The occupant density in buildings is one of the major and overlooked parameters affecting the energy consumption and virus transmission risk in buildings. HVAC systems energy consumption is highly dependent on the number of occupants. Studies on the transmission of COVID-19 virus have indicated a direct relationship between occupant density and COVID-19 infection risk. This study aims to seek the optimum occupant distribution patterns that account for the lowest number of infected people and minimum energy consumption. A university building located in Tehran has been chosen as a case study, due to its flexibility in performing various occupant distribution patterns. This multi-objective optimization problem, with the objective functions of energy consumption and COVID-19 infected people, is solved by NSGA-II algorithm. Energy consumption is evaluated by EnergyPlus, then it is supplied to the algorithm through a co-simulation communication between EnergyPlus and MATLAB. Results of this optimization algorithm for 5 consequent winter and summer days, represent optimum occupant distribution patterns, associated with minimum energy consumption and COVID-19 infected people for winter and summer. Building air exchange rate, class duration, and working hours of the university, as the COVID-19 controlling approaches were studied, and promising results have been obtained. It was concluded that an optimal population distribution can reduce the number of infected people by up to 56% and energy consumption by 32%. Furthermore, it was concluded that virtual learning is an excellent approach in universities to control the number of infections and energy consumption.

Influence of aquifer heterogeneity on sea level rise-induced seawater intrusion: A probabilistic approach.

Seawater intrusion (SWI) is influenced by a variety of coastal phenomena, such as sea level rise (SLR), inundation of low-lying coastal regions, coastal storms, recharge rate variations, and pumping-induced saltwater upconing. Quantification of the influence of heterogeneity in the hydraulic conductivity field on SWI combined with SLR, land-surface inundation, and recharge rate variations in an unconfined aquifer is the main objective of the present study. The principal SWI indicators used in this study are length of the SWI wedge, seawater volume, and weighted average transition zone width. Characterized by the hydraulic conductivity field variance (σlnk2), the longitudinal correlation length (λx), the type of SLR (gradual or instantaneous SLR), the land-surface inundation consideration, and the recharge rate variations, 72 scenarios have been introduced, and for each of them, 50 sets of heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity fields have been generated. Based on two approaches, namely ensemble Monte-Carlo and a Bayesian framework, it is demonstrated that: (1) the land-surface inundation consideration increases the SWI wedge length and the seawater volume regardless of the type of SLR, while it decreases the weighted average transition zone width in gradual SLR scenarios; (2) λx has a more significant impact on SWI characteristics compared to σlnk2; (3) increasing the degree of aquifer heterogeneity results in larger effective dispersion values; (4) Numerical bootstrapping suggests that the introduced Bayesian framework could be adopted as an alternative to computationally demanding methods such as bootstrapping for stochastic analysis of SWI; (5) Reliability analysis indicates the general belief that considering the heterogeneity decreases the SWI wedge length and the seawater volume, while increases the transition zone width compared to the homogeneous modeling is associated with huge amounts of uncertainty proportional to the aquifer heterogeneity itself; and (6) the results show that the impact of heterogeneity on the SWI indicators is similar under different recharge rates.

A review on the strategies for oral delivery of proteins and peptides and their clinical perspectives.

In the modern world, a number of therapeutic proteins such as vaccines, antigens, and hormones are being developed utilizing different sophisticated biotechnological techniques like recombinant DNA technology and protein purification. However, the major glitches in the optimal utilization of therapeutic proteins and peptides by the oral route are their extensive hepatic first-pass metabolism, degradation in the gastrointestinal tract (presence of enzymes and pH-dependent factors), large molecular size and poor permeation. These problems can be overcome by adopting techniques such as chemical transformation of protein structures, enzyme inhibitors, mucoadhesive polymers and permeation enhancers. Being invasive, parenteral route is inconvenient for the administration of protein and peptides, several research endeavors have been undertaken to formulate a better delivery system for proteins and peptides with major emphasis on non-invasive routes such as oral, transdermal, vaginal, rectal, pulmonary and intrauterine. This review article emphasizes on the recent advancements made in the delivery of protein and peptides by a non-invasive (peroral) route into the body.

Prevalence of Hepatitis G Virus Among Hemodialysis and Kidney Transplant Patients in Khuzestan Province, Iran.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis G virus (HGV) is a member of Flaviviridae. Prevalence of HGV in healthy people is very low, but this virus is more prevalent in patients with hepatitis. Besides, relative frequency of HGV in patients undergoing hemodialysis, and kidney recipients is very high. The role of HGV in pathogenesis is not clear. Since this virus cannot be cultivated, molecular techniques such as Revers Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) is applied to detect HGV. OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to investigate the prevalence of HGV using determination of E2, viral envelope antigen, antibodies and the RNA by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and RT-PCR techniques. The rational of the study was to determine the prevalence of HGV in patients undergoing hemodialysis and kidney transplantation in Khuzestan province, Iran. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Five hundred and sixteen serum samples of the patients undergoing hemodialysis and kidney transplantation from various cities of Khuzestan province were collected. Anti-hepatitis G E2 antibodies were investigated by ELISA method. RNAs were extracted from serums and Hepatitis G RNA was detected by RT-PCR. RESULTS: Of the 516 samples, 38 (7.36%) specimens were positive for anti-HGV by ELISA. All of these ELISA positive samples were negative for HGV genome by RT-PCR. Of the remaining 478 ELISA negative samples, 16 (3.14%) samples were positive by RT-PCR. CONCLUSIONS: Hepatitis G Virus was not prevalent in the patients undergoing hemodialysis and kidney transplantation in Khuzestan province. Although reports indicated high frequency of co-infection of HGV with hepatitis B and C viruses, in the current research, co-infection of HGV with B and C was not considerable. Since different groups and subtypes of HGV are reported, periodic epidemiologic evaluation of HGV and its co-infection with other hepatitis viruses is suggested in other populations such as the patients with thalassemia; however, periodic epidemiologic monitoring of HGV may be helpful to control future potential variations of the virus.

Abundance of denitrification genes under different peizometer depths in four Irish agricultural groundwater sites.

This study examined the relationship between the abundance of bacterial denitrifiers in groundwater at four sites, differing with respect to overlaying land management and peizometer depth. Groundwater was sourced from 36 multilevel piezometers, which were installed to target different groundwater zones: (1) subsoil, (2) subsoil to bedrock interface, and (3) bedrock. The gene copy concentrations (GCCs), as gene copies per liter, for bacterial 16S rRNA genes and the denitrifying functional genes, nirK, nirS, and nosZ, were determined using quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays. The results were related to gaseous nitrogen emissions and to the physicochemical properties of the four sites. Overall, nirK and nirS abundance appeared to show no significant correlation to N2O production (P = 0.9989; P = 0.3188); and no significant correlation was observed between nosZ and excess N2 concentrations (P = 0.0793). In the majority of piezometers investigated, the variation of nirK and nirS gene copy concentrations was considered significant (P < 0.0001). Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) decreased with aquifer depth and ranged from 1.0-4.0 mg l(-1), 0.9-2.4 mg l(-1), and 0.8-2.4 mg l(-1) within piezometers located in the subsoil, subsoil/bedrock interface, and bedrock depths, respectively. The availability of increasing DOC and the depth of the water table were positively correlated with increasing nir and nosZ GCCs (P = 0.0012). A significant temporal correlation was noted between nirS and piezometer depth (P < 0.001). Interestingly, the nirK, nirS, and nosZ GCCs varied between piezometer depths within specific sites, while GCCs remained relatively constant from site to site, thus indicating no direct impact of agricultural land management strategies investigated on denitrifier abundance.

Itraconazole pulse therapy in the treatment of disto-lateral subungual onychomycosis.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of itraconazole pulse therapy in disto-lateral subungual onychomycosis. DESIGN: Quasi interventional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: The study was conducted at the Department of Dermatology, KEMC/Mayo Hospital, Lahore, during the period from 1996-1998. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Sixty-seven patients, ages ranging from 19 to 55 years, with disto-lateral subungual onychomycosis were enrolled in the study period. Therapy was started with short pulse doses of itraconazole 200 mg twice daily for one week followed by a medicine-free interval of three weeks. Pulses were administered for two consecutive months in fingernail and three months for toenail onychomycosis. Patients were followed up to six months for fingernail onychomycosis and nine months for toenail onychomycosis. RESULTS: Out of 67 cases, there were 62 evaluable patients. Trichophyton rubrum was the most common pathogen, isolated in 42 (67.8%) followed by Candida in 11 (17.8%), T. violaceum in 5 (8%), T. interdigitale in 3 (4.8%) and Epidermophyton floccosum in one (1.6%). Fingernails were affected in 46 cases whereas 16 had toenail infection. Clinical cure in finger and toenail onychomycosis was seen in 41 (89%) and 13 (81.2%) patients, respectively while mycological cure in 43 (93.5%) and 14 (87.5%) patients, respectively with itraconazole pulse therapy. CONCLUSION: Itraconazole was found to be effective, well-tolerated and safe therapy for disto-lateral subungual onychomycosis.