Paulo Foundation

The role of agricultural soils in supporting entomopathogenic organisms for pest control is a significant yet understudied aspect of insect population regulation. Pest insects that enter the soil during specific life stages, or reside in it as larvae, often experience substantial mortality primarily attributed to entomopathogens and other factors. However, the extent of this mortality remains largely unknown, and the soil component has been frequently regarded as a ‘black box’ in the context of pest population dynamics. Currently, most agricultural fields lack this important component of insect population regulation, presenting an opportunity to utilize it for enhanced pest control in the ecostacking approach. By exploiting the potential of insect pest suppressive soils, enhanced biocontrol in the soil can complement the pest insect mortality caused by predators, parasitoids and various other factors that limit population size, such as competitors, plant secondary metabolites and induced resistance. Strategies such as supporting the recycling of entomopathogens, minimizing or abolishing the use of harmful agrochemicals, and adopting minimum tillage practices can play a pivotal role in ensuring their persistence. Growers can further support the survival and build-up of entomopathogens by establishing suitable intercrops or cover crops, particularly legumes, for crops that are unfavourable to soil-dwelling insects. Incorporating appropriate soil amendments, such as organic materials (composts, biochar or chitinous products), stimulating the activity and persistence of beneficial antagonistic organisms, along with the use of organic fertilizers, can contribute to promoting entomopathogen survival in the soil. However, further research is warranted to evaluate the long-term impacts of these techniques on soil suppressiveness towards specific pest problems across diverse crops and cropping systems. Additionally, it is essential to assess their effects on other potential pest and beneficial organisms, as well as determine the optimal combination of ecostacking tools for different ecological contexts.

The burden of recurrent respiratory infections is unclear. We identified young children with recurrent respiratory infections in order to characterize the clinical manifestations, risk factors and short-term consequences. In this prospective cohort study, 1089 children were followed from birth to 2 years of age for respiratory infections by a daily symptom diary. Nasal swabs taken during respiratory infections were analyzed for viruses from 714 children. Nasopharyngeal swabs collected at 2 months of age were cultured for bacteria. The 10% of children with the highest number of annual respiratory illness days were defined to have recurrent respiratory tract infections. The 90th percentile in the number of annual respiratory illness days was 98. Children above this limit (n = 109) had a median of 9.6 acute respiratory infections per year. Rhinovirus was detected in 58% of their infections. Of the children with recurrent infections, 60% were diagnosed with at least 3 episodes of acute otitis media, 73% received at least 3 antibiotic treatments and 21% were hospitalized for an acute respiratory infection. Tympanostomy was performed for 35% and adenoidectomy for 13% of the children. Asthma was diagnosed in 12% by 24 months of age. Older siblings increased the risk of recurrent respiratory infections. Early nasopharyngeal colonization with Streptococcus pneumoniae was common in children who later developed recurrent infections. Children with recurrent respiratory infections frequently use health care services and antibiotics, undergo surgical procedures and are at risk for asthma in early life. Having older siblings increases the risk of recurrent infections.

SYNOPSIS This paper examines the association between accruals quality and the gender of the firm's audit engagement partner. In particular, given the documented gender-based differences in diligence, conservatism, and risk tolerance, we postulate that female auditors may improve accruals quality. Using a sample of Finnish and Swedish NASDAQ OMX-listed firms, we run several alternative panel regressions of abnormal accruals on female auditor variables and firm-specific controls. The results suggest that firms with female audit engagement partners are associated with smaller abnormal accruals, thereby implying that female auditors may have a constraining effect on earnings management. In general, our findings indicate that the behavioral differences between women and men may have important implications for the quality of auditing and financial reporting. Data Availability: The data used in this paper are derived from public sources.

We examined a new technique of applying topical anesthetic with cotton tip sticks to the conjunctiva before needle insertion in regional anesthesia of the eye.Oxybuprocaine 0.4% and lidocaine 4% were compared with balanced salt solution (BSS) as topical anesthetics of the conjunctiva in Study 1. Ninety patients were randomly assigned into three groups (n = 30) to receive one of the three topical anesthetics in a double-blind manner. Pain of the needle insertions was measured with visual analog scale score (VAS) and quantitative surface electromyography (qEMG). Both oxybuprocaine and lidocaine reduced pain significantly when compared to BSS. In Study 2, with healthy volunteers, we compared our previous practice of merely applying three consecutive drops of oxybuprocaine on the conjunctiva before needle insertions to the new technique of placing additional cotton tip sticks soaked in oxybuprocaine on the conjunctiva. We found the needle insertion virtually pain free when the cotton tip sticks were added to the topical anesthesia. The use of this simple method of topical anesthesia before the eye block increases patient comfort significantly. (Anesth Analg 1995;80:678-81)

The safety and efficacy of buprenorphine and morphine as postoperative analgesicsfor children were compared in 60 boys and girls 4 to 14 years old having elective orthopedic operations on upper or lower extremities. The drugs were given in a double-blind manner initially intravenously and thereafter by sublingual buprenorphine or intramuscular morphine administered as required to relieve pain until the third postoperative morning. The IV dose needed to achieve complete initial analgesia was 5.2 ± 2.8 μg/kg buprenorphine and 166 ± 100 μg/kg morphine. The duration of effect was significantly longer with buprenorphine than with morphine, 248 ± 314 and 114 ± 109 minutes, respectively (P = 0.03). The most common side effects were nausea and vomiting (28 and 16%) and urinary retention (21 and 19%) in the buprenorphine and morphine groups, respectively. Analgesia with sublingual buprenorphine was as effective and reliable as with intramuscular morphine but a longer duration of action could not be demonstrated.

Five patients with severe acute pancreatitis had a low contrast enhancement (CE) of the pancreas in computed tomography (CT) and underwent subtotal pancreatectomy. Microangiography and histologic studies were performed on the resected pancreases, and the findings were related to those of CE. All patients had histologically documented hemorrhagic/necrotizing pancreatitis. The more disturbed the vascular anatomy in microangiography, the more hemorrhages and necroses were found in histology. The microangiographic and histologic findings corresponded closely to the low contrast-enhanced CT of the diseased pancreas in each patient. Thus, in the early phase of severe acute pancreatitis, one can detect by noninvasive means which areas of the gland are necrotic and which edematous by a dynamic study of contrast-enhanced CT of the pancreas.