Relationship between drought and soil erosion based on the normalized differential water index(NDWI)and revised universal soil loss equation(RUSLE)model

The Langat River Basin in Malaysia is vulnerable to soil erosion risks because of its exposure to intensive land use activities and its topography,which primarily consists of steep slopes and mountainous areas.Furthermore,climate change frequently exposes this basin to drought,which negatively affects soil and water conservation.However,recent studies have rarely shown how soil reacts to drought,such as soil erosion.Therefore,the purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between drought and soil erosion in the Langat River Basin.We analyzed drought indices using Landsat 8 satellite images in November 2021,and created the normalized differential water index(NDWI)via Landsat 8 data to produce a drought map.We used the revised universal soil loss equation(RUSLE)model to predict soil erosion.We verified an association between the NDWI and soil erosion data using a correlation analysis.The results revealed that the southern and northern regions of the study area experienced drought events.We predicted an average annual soil erosion of approximately 58.11 t/(hm^(2)·a).Analysis of the association between the NDWI and soil erosion revealed a strong positive correlation,with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.86.We assumed that the slope length and steepness factor was the primary contributor to soil erosion in the study area.As a result,these findings can help authorities plan effective measures to reduce the impacts of drought and soil erosion in the future.

Chronic complications risk among type 2 diabetes patients with a family history of diabetes

Family history of diabetes(FH+)has been associated with early metabolic alteration including insulin resistance,lipid metabolism,and ectopic fat accumulation even in healthy individuals.1-3 Furthermore,normoglycemic firstdegree relatives of type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)have been documented having increased carotid intimamedia thickness_and pro-inflammatory cytokines.4.s Taken together,individuals with FH+,who were otherwise healthy,have shown to possess susceptibility for diabetes mellitus(DM)chronic complication.Hence,this study aimed to investigate whether FH+increased the risk of chronic complications in patients with overt T2DM.

Modification of colorimetric method based digital soil test kit for determination of macronutrients in oil palm plantation

It is the need of time that oil palm farmers must perform the spatially planned soil analysis to know about the fertilizer sufficient and deficient zones of land.Colorimetric method is a suitable and fast solution of soil analysis for NPK determination using the digital soil test kit.NPK determination procedure with a digital soil test kit was undefined for oil palm.Furthermore,the digital soil test kit determines the passage of light through an opaque medium of soil solution with a specified reagent.Therefore,environmental light may interfere leading to wrong results of NPK measurement.Likewise,this equipment was non-incorporable with the controller of any VRT fertilizer applicator.In this research,these issues were addressed and the NPK measurement procedure was defined for oil palm plantation by modifying the‘soil to water’ratio in sample soil solution with an optimum environmental light range of 18-23 W/m^(2).‘Soil to water’ratios were found for nitrogen,phosphorus and potassium as 0.31 to 5.00,1.00 to 5.00 and 4.50 to 5.00,respectively to fit the requirement of NPK for oil palm in the prescribed range of the equipment.Validation study of modified digital soil test kit showed that 91.7%N,89.6%P and 93.8%K results of modified digital soil test kit were matched with analytical laboratory method.Thus,the reliability of NPK results using digital soil test kit was enhanced,making the kit incorporable with the controller of variable rate fertilizer applicator through remote monitoring based data acquisition system.The outcome of this research can be used in the development of an IoT network data fusion for dynamic assessment of the NPK variation in the soil and nutrient management in oil palm plantations.