National Soil Organic Carbon Stocks Inventories under Different Mangrove Forest Types in Gabon

Gabonese’s estuary is an important coastal mangrove setting and soil plays a key role in mangrove carbon storage in mangrove forests. However, the spatial variation in soil organic carbon (SOC) storage remain unclear. To address this gap, determining the SOC spatial variation in Gabonese’s estuarine is essential for better understanding the global carbon cycle. The present study compared soil organic carbon between northern and southern sites in different mangrove forest, Rhizophora racemosa and Avicennia germinans. The results showed that the mean SOC stocks at 1 m depth were 256.28 ± 127.29 MgC ha−1. Among the different regions, SOC in northern zone was significantly (p p < 0.001). The deeper layers contained higher SOC stocks (254.62 ± 128.09 MgC ha−1) than upper layers (55.42 ± 25.37 MgC ha−1). The study highlights that low deforestation rate have led to less CO2 (705.3 Mg CO2e ha−1 - 922.62 Mg CO2e ha−1) emissions than most sediment carbon-rich mangroves in the world. These results highlight the influence of soil texture and mangrove forest types on the mangrove SOC stocks. The first national comparison of soil organic carbon stocks between mangroves and upland tropical forests indicated SOC stocks were two times more in mangroves soils (51.21 ± 45.00 MgC ha−1) than primary (20.33 ± 12.7 MgC ha−1), savanna and cropland (21.71 ± 15.10 MgC ha−1). We find that mangroves in this study emit lower dioxide-carbon equivalent emissions. This study highlights the importance of national inventories of soil organic carbon and can be used as a baseline on the role of mangroves in carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation but the variation in SOC stocks indicates the need for further national data.

FOLFIRI3-aflibercept in previously treated patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

AIM To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the modified FOLFIRI3-aflibercept as second-line therapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.METHODS This is a retrospective multicenter cohort, evaluating the efficacy and safety of the association of aflibercept with FOLFIRI3(day 1: aflibercept 4 mg/kg, folinic acid 400 mg/m^2, irinotecan 90 mg/m^2, 5-fluorouracil infusion 2400 mg/m^2 per 46 h; day 3: irinotecan 90 mg/m^2) in patients with previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer. The primary endpoint was overall response rate(ORR). Secondary endpoints were disease control rate(DCR), progression-free survival(PFS), overall survival(OS), and safety.RESULTS Among 74 patients treated in four French centers, nine were excluded due to prior use of aflibercept(n = 3), more than one prior treatment line in irinotecanna?ve patients(n = 3), and inadequate liver function(n = 3). In the "irinotecan-na?ve" patients(n = 30), ORR was 43.3% and DCR was 76.7%. Median PFS and OS were 11.3 mo(95%CI: 6.1-29.0) and 17.0 mo(95%CI: 13.0-17.3), respectively. The most common(> 5%) grade 3-4 adverse events were diarrhea(37.9%), neutropenia(14.3%), stomatitis and anemia(10.4%), and hypertension(6.7%). In the "pre-exposed irinotecan" patients(n = 35), 20(57.1%) received ≥ 2 prior lines of treatment. ORR was 34.3% and DCR was 60.0%. Median PFS and OS were 5.7 mo(95%CI: 3.9-10.4) and 14.3 mo(95%CI: 12.8-19.5), respectively.CONCLUSION Minimally modified FOLFIRI has improvement dramatically the FOLFIRI3-aflibercept efficacy, whatever prior use of irinotecan. A prospective randomized trial is warranted to compare FOLFIRI-aflibercept to FOLFIRI3-aflibercept.

An Interrupted Time Series Analysis of COVID-19 Positivity before, during and after Lockdown in Four States of India

Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the impact of large scale non-pharmaceutical interventions on COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We used interrupted time series analysis (ITS), a quasi-experimental model to evaluate the effect of interventions in four states of India by comparing the COVID-19 positivity before lockdown, during lockdown and opening-up period. Results: The positivity in all the four states declined during lockdown and the trends reversed soon after the lockdown measures were relaxed as the states opened-up. The rate of reduction of positivity was significantly different between states. Between the lockdown and opening-up period, an increase in positivity was recorded in all the states with significant variation between states. Conclusion: The analysis provides conclusive evidence that the lockdown measures had a positive effect in reducing the burden of COVID-19 and establishes a causal relationship.

Association of obesity with hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus in India:A meta-analysis of observational studies

AIM To perform a meta-analysis of the association of obesity with hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM) in India among adults. METHODS To conduct meta-analysis, we performed comprehensive, electronic literature search in the PubM ed, CINAHL Plus, and Google Scholar. We restricted the analysis to studies with documentation of some measure of obesity namely; body mass index, waist-hip ratio, waist circumference and diagnosis of hypertension or diagnosis of T2DM. By obtaining summary estimates of all included studies, the meta-analysis was performed using both RevM an version 5 and "metan" command STATA version 11. Heterogeneity was measured by I^2 statistic. Funnel plot analysis has been done to assess the study publication bias.RESULTS Of the 956 studies screened, 18 met the eligibility criteria. The pooled odds ratio between obesity and hypertension was 3.82(95%CI: 3.39 to 4.25). The heterogeneity around this estimate(I^2 statistic) was 0%, indicating low variability. The pooled odds ratio from the included studies showed a statistically significant association between obesity and T2DM(OR = 1.14, 95%CI: 1.04 to 1.24) with a high degree of variability.CONCLUSION Despite methodological differences, obesity showed significant, potentially plausible association with hypertension and T2DM in studies conducted in India. Being a modifiable risk factor, our study informs setting policy priority and intervention efforts to prevent debilitating complications.

Curling of New Concrete Pavement and Long-Term Performance

Curling results from the temperature differential across the concrete slab thickness and may induce undue stresses in newly placed slab. This study deals with the finite element （FE） analysis of curling, curling stresses, field measurement of curling on a newly built jointed plain concrete pavement, and comparison of its long-term performance using both Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide （MEPDG） and HIPERPAVII software. The FE analysis was performed with a software program, ANSYS. The test section was modeled as a three-layer system with 300 mm concrete slab, 100 mm treated drainable base, and 150 mm lime-treated subgrade. All layers were assumed to be linear elastic. Temperature data was collected at five different depth locations across the concrete slab with digital data loggers. Curling was measured on five different days with a simple setup. The effect of temperature nonlinearities across the slab thickness was also examined. The results show that both upward and downward curling increase as the temperature differential increases. The maximum stress resulting from the combined effect of curling and traffic loading due to positive temperature differential is higher than that due to the negative temperature differential of the same magnitude. Since temperature differential has a significant influence on curling, both curling and curling stresses can be mitigated at an early age with temperature control, namely via enhanced curing. Both MEPDG and HIPERPAVII showed approximately the same performance for the PCC thickness ranging from 215 mm to 300 mm for this project. Performance prediction from HIPERPAVII is very sensitive to the change in PCC thickness less than 230 mm whereas MEPDG prediction is not as sensitive to the thickness change as with HIPERPAV 1I.