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Complementarity in mixed farming systems enhances the smallholders income: Evidence from Punjab, Pakistan
Mixed cropping and livestock production is a widespread farming system in less developed countries. The literature has mainly highlighted the synergistic effects between crop and livestock systems from an agronomic and environmental point of view, but has never investigated the (economic) complementarity that may exist between the two activities. Complementarity exists when mixed farming allows smallholders to earn higher incomes than in specialized systems, i.e., crop-only or livestock-only. Our paper is the first to test for complementarity in mixed farming by deriving empirical predictions from the theory of supermodularity, which are tested econometrically using a database of 360 farming households in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Our estimation results confirm the existence of a significant and positive complementary effect between crop and livestock activities, and also provide a direct measure of this effect. The smallholder can earn an average additional income of 791 rupees (out of an average total income of 12,010 rupees) by choosing mixed farming. This implies that smallholders adopt mixed farming not only for its agronomic and environmental benefits, but also because it can generate higher incomes than specialized farming systems to alleviate smallholder poverty. Apart from the choice of activity, our estimation results show that the other variables that significantly increase smallholder incomes are the education level of the household head, as well as access to urban markets, herd size, and land size. We also find that the positive impact of land expansion does not depend on the property rights regime, i.e., the additional land can be owned or rented (sharecropping). A specific public policy aimed at reducing smallholder poverty must prioritize the improvement of these key factors, especially access to urban markets and sharecropping.
Bacteriophage Indie resensitizes multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii to antibiotics in vitro
Validity and reliability of the Dietary Sodium Restriction Questionnaire in peritoneal dialysis patients
Objective The Chinese version of Dietary Sodium Restriction Questionnaire (DSRQ) was adapted to evaluate its reliability and validity for measuring adherence to a sodium-restricted diet in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. Methods Specific items related to peritoneal dialysis were added to create a PD version of the DSRQ (PD-DSRQ), which was administered to 135 patients undergoing PD. Item analysis was performed using the critical ratio and homogeneity tests. The reliability of the questionnaire was determined by assessing the internal consistency. Content validity was evaluated using the expert evaluation method, and construct validity was assessed via exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Results The item analysis revealed correlation coefficients (R-values) ranging from 0.311 to 0.745 for each item, with statistically significant differences between the high and low subgroups for all items. The Cronbach’s α coefficients for the overall PD-DSRQ and the attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control subscales were 0.805, 0.892, 0.794, and 0.889, respectively. The item-level content validity index ranged from 0.83 to 1.00, and the scale-level content validity index/universal agreement was 0.9894. Exploratory factor analysis identified a three-factor structure consistent with the original DSRQ, except for Question 18. The three factors had eigenvalues of 5.302, 4.179, and 1.290, which explained 64.32% of the variance. The average variance extracted for each dimension was 0.5777, 0.5654, and 0.5259, and the composite reliability values were 0.8864, 0.7956, and 0.8802, respectively, demonstrating good convergent and discriminant validity. Conclusion The PD-DSRQ encompasses general information and three dimensions: attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. The questionnaire demonstrated strong reliability and validity, making it a reliable tool for assessing adherence to sodium-restricted diets in patients undergoing PD.
Trans pixelate substitution scheme for denoising computed tomography images towards high diagnosis accuracy
Correction: The impact of climatic factors on tick-related hospital visits and borreliosis incidence rates in European Russia
Changes in the immune index before and after surgery in urinary malignancy patients with AIDS
Urinary tract infections and antimicrobial susceptibility: A retrospective trend analysis of uropathogens in women in Accra, Ghana (2019–2022)
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) remain a significant public health concern, with evolving patterns in prevalence and antimicrobial resistance. This retrospective study, conducted at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital in Accra, Ghana, analyzed 11,280 urine cultures obtained exclusively from female patients from 2019 to 2022 to assess trends in UTI burden, prevalence stratified by age and month, and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. In all, urine pathogens were isolated in 4475 (39.67%) of the samples tested. Of the total number of uropathogens isolated, majority of them were bacterial pathogens (94.21%), with an increasing proportion of fungal infections, specifically candida species (5.79%). Irrespective of the year, the highest prevalence of uropathogens were consistently recorded in the month of May, while individuals aged ≥ 90 years exhibited the greatest odds of infection in 2020 (aOR: 1.88, p = 0.039). Escherichia coli (30.51%) and Staphylococcus aureus (15.16%) were the most prevalent Gram-negative and Gram-positive pathogens, respectively. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed declining antibiotic effectiveness over time, with notable exceptions for gentamicin (97.4% effectiveness against Enterococcus spp.) and ofloxacin (82.9% against Enterococcus spp.). Alarmingly, most antibiotics exhibited effectiveness rates below 20% by 2022, underscoring the growing resistance challenge. These findings, drawn from a key healthcare facility in Ghana’s capital, highlight the dynamic nature of UTIs and the urgent need for targeted interventions, optimized antimicrobial stewardship, and continuous monitoring of resistance patterns to improve patient outcomes.
Clinical and polysomnographic characteristics of Asian patients with comorbid insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea
Non-parametric spatiotemporal trends in fire: An approach to identify fire regimes variations and predict seasonal effects of fire in Iran
Analyzing wildfire complexity provides valuable insights into fire regimes and occurrence patterns within landscapes, enabling targeted land management efforts for sensitive and vulnerable areas. Fire density is a key component of wildfire regimes. In recent years, Iran has experienced significant changes in wildfire activity. This study aims to assess trends in fire density and the probability of wildfire occurrence during summer and autumn using active fire data. Seasonal fire point density (per km2) from 2001 to 2023 was calculated using a kernel function. The Mann-Kendall (MK) test identified areas with significant fire density trends (at the 90% confidence level) for prediction analysis. Environmental variables and points with significant trends were entered into a MaxEnt model to predict fire risk in summer and autumn. Environmental variables included average temperature, human modification of terrestrial systems, annual precipitation, precipitation of the driest month, elevation, land use/land cover (LULC), land surface temperature (LST), soil organic carbon (SOC), and wind exposure index (WEI). Spatial variations in significant fire density trends for summer and autumn were analyzed using gap analysis and the Kappa index. Influence zone analysis identified zones impacted by increasing wildfire trends within the landscape. Results showed that areas with significant increasing fire density trends covered 326,739.56 km2 in summer and 102,668.85 km2 in autumn. There was minimal overlap between increasing and decreasing fire density trends across seasons, indicating wildfires disproportionately affect natural and agricultural areas in Iran. Influence zone analysis identified 15 fire-prone zones in summer and 3 in autumn, with a significant portion located in the Zagros Mountain forest steppes. The MaxEnt model, based on the area under the curve (AUC) metric, successfully identified high-risk wildfire areas in both seasons. Jackknife analysis indicated that human modification and SOC were crucial indicators of human activities and available fuel for wildfires in both seasons. Predictions showed diverging wildfire risk patterns in summer and autumn. In summer, wildfire risk is high across all regions except deserts and Hyrcanian forests, while in autumn, Hyrcanian mixed forests are also classified as high-risk zones. These findings can help land managers identify influence zones and understand the land uses and vegetation types associated with wildfires, enabling more informed and effective management decisions based on the spatial extent and distribution of fire trends.
Artificial intelligence-based non-invasive bilirubin prediction for neonatal jaundice using 1D convolutional neural network
Towards a quantum synapse for quantum sensing
Modelling solute transport and deformation of clay soil under the chemo-hydro-mechanical coupling actions based on fractal theory
RETRACTED ARTICLE: BMP2 expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma and its effects on SCC9 cell biological behavior
Abstract This study examined bone morphogenetic protein 2 ( BMP2 ) expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and its effects on the biological behavior of OSCC cells, along with potential underlying mechanisms. BMP2 expression in OSCC was analyzed using mRNA data from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Genomics Expression Omnibus Database (GEO). SCC9 cells were transfected in vitro with small interfering RNA targeting BMP2 (si-BMP2), a negative control sequence (si-NC), BMP2 plasmid, or empty plasmid (vector). After transfection, Cell Counting Kit-8 assays, colony formation, scratch wound healing, Transwell, flow cytometry, quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, and Western blot analyses were conducted to assess changes in SCC9 cell behavior in response to altered BMP2 expression and to explore relevant signaling pathways. BMP2 upregulation promoted SCC9 cell proliferation, migration, and invasion; inhibited apoptosis; and activated the Smad1/5 and p38 signaling pathways. Conversely, BMP2 downregulation inhibited SCC9 cell proliferation, migration, and invasion; promoted apoptosis; and suppressed the Smad1/5 and p38 pathways. BMP2 is highly expressed in OSCC and may drive its progression through the BMP/Smad and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways, indicating potential prognostic value and promise as a therapeutic target for small-molecule OSCC treatments.