. In this forum paper we discuss how soil scientists can help to reach the recently adopted UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the most effective manner. Soil science, as a land-related discipline, has important links to several of the SDGs, which are demonstrated through the functions of soils and the ecosystem services that are linked to those functions (see graphical abstract in the Supplement). We explore and discuss how soil scientists can rise to the challenge both internally, in terms of our procedures and practices, and externally, in terms of our relations with colleague scientists in other disciplines, diverse groups of stakeholders and the policy arena. To meet these goals we recommend the following steps to be taken by the soil science community as a whole: (i) embrace the UN SDGs, as they provide a platform that allows soil science to demonstrate its relevance for realizing a sustainable society by 2030; (ii) show the specific value of soil science: research should explicitly show how using modern soil information can improve the results of inter- and transdisciplinary studies on SDGs related to food security, water scarcity, climate change, biodiversity loss and health threats; (iii) take leadership in overarching system analysis of ecosystems, as soils and soil scientists have an integrated nature and this places soil scientists in a unique position; (iii) raise awareness of soil organic matter as a key attribute of soils to illustrate its importance for soil functions and ecosystem services; (iv) improve the transfer of knowledge through knowledge brokers with a soil background; (v) start at the basis: educational programmes are needed at all levels, starting in primary schools, and emphasizing practical, down-to-earth examples; (vi) facilitate communication with the policy arena by framing research in terms that resonate with politicians in terms of the policy cycle or by considering drivers, pressures and responses affecting impacts of land use change; and finally (vii) all this is only possible if researchers, with soil scientists in the front lines, look over the hedge towards other disciplines, to the world at large and to the policy arena, reaching over to listen first, as a basis for genuine collaboration.

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The significance of soils and soil science towards realization of the United Nations sustainable development goals

The significance of soils and soil science towards realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

We have developed a new global food emissions database (EDGAR-FOOD) estimating greenhouse gas (GHG; CO2, CH4, N2O, fluorinated gases) emissions for the years 1990–2015, building on the Emissions Database of Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR), complemented with land use/land-use change emissions from the FAOSTAT emissions database. EDGAR-FOOD provides a complete and consistent database in time and space of GHG emissions from the global food system, from production to consumption, including processing, transport and packaging. It responds to the lack of detailed data for many countries by providing sectoral contributions to food-system emissions that are essential for the design of effective mitigation actions. In 2015, food-system emissions amounted to 18 Gt CO2 equivalent per year globally, representing 34% of total GHG emissions. The largest contribution came from agriculture and land use/land-use change activities (71%), with the remaining were from supply chain activities: retail, transport, consumption, fuel production, waste management, industrial processes and packaging. Temporal trends and regional contributions of GHG emissions from the food system are also discussed. Data on GHG emissions from the food system are mostly scattered across sectors and remain unavailable in many countries. EDGAR-FOOD, a globally consistent food emission database, brings together emissions from food-related land use and land-use change, production, processing, distribution, consumption and residues over 1990–2015 at country level.

Food systems are responsible for a third of global anthropogenic GHG emissions

It is estimated that the world population will reach a record 7.3 billion in 2015, and the high burden of chronic conditions associated with ageing and smoking will increase further. Respiratory diseases in general receive little attention and funding in comparison with other major causes of global morbidity and mortality. In particular, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been a major public health problem and will remain a challenge for clinicians within the 21st century. Worldwide, COPD is in the spotlight, since its high prevalence, morbidity and mortality create formidable challenges for health-care systems. This review emphasizes the magnitude of the COPD problem from a clinician's standpoint by drawing extensively from the new findings of the Global Burden of Disease study. Updated, distilled information on the population distribution of COPD is useful for the clinician to help provide an appreciation of the relative impact of COPD in daily practice compared with other chronic conditions, and to allocate minimum resources in anticipation of future needs in care. Despite recent trends in reduction of COPD standardized mortality rates and some recent successes in anti-smoking efforts in a number of Western countries, the overarching demographic impact of ageing in an ever-expanding world population, joined with other factors such as high rates of smoking and air pollution in Asia, will ensure that COPD will continue to pose an ever-increasing problem well into the 21st century.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/resp.12660

Global burden of COPD.

Statistical methods in medical research , Statistical methods in medical research , کتابخانه دیجیتال جندی شاپور اهواز

Statistical methods in medical research

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/langlo/PIIS2214-109X(14)70337-7.pdf

Prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and associated risk factors in Uganda (FRESH AIR Uganda): a prospective cross-sectional observational study

Maize Response to Fertilizer and Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Uganda

Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is important for smallholder production in semiarid parts of Uganda. Grain yields are low because of low soil fertility. Little fertilizer is used. Yield response to N, P, and K application, economically optimal rates for N, P, and K (EONR, EOPR, and EOKR, respectively), and N use efficiency (NUE) were evaluated at 11 site-seasons. Mean sorghum yield with no N applied (N0) was 0.69 Mg ha−1 and was consistently increased by a mean of 230% with N application. Mean EONRs were 34 to 18 kg ha−1 N with fertilizer use cost to grain price ratios (CPs) of 10 to 30, respectively. Mean EOPRs were 11 to 2 kg ha−1 P with CPs of 10 to 50, respectively. Sorghum did not respond to K application. Net economic returns were greater for N than P application. Mean aboveground biomass N with 0 and 90 kg ha−1 N applied was 31.3 and 75.9 kg ha−1, respectively. Grain N concentration, N harvest index, and internal NUE at the EONR were 1.67%, 53.2%, and 31.8 kg kg−1, respectively, and higher than for N0. Mean recovery efficiency, partial factor productivity, and agronomic efficiency declined with increased N rate and were 135%, 79 kg kg−1, and 52 kg kg−1, respectively, at the EONR. The profit potential of fertilizer N use is high for smallholder sorghum production in Uganda. Policy interventions to reduce fertilizer cost and improve grain marketing efficiency will enable smallholders to increase fertilizer use for substantial increases in sorghum production

Sorghum Response to Fertilizer and Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Uganda

Optimizing Smallholder Returns to Fertilizer Use: Bean, Soybean and Groundnut

. Simple and affordable soil fertility ratings are essential, particularly for the resource-constrained farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), in planning and implementing prudent interventions. A study was conducted on Ferralsols in Uganda to evaluate farmer-based soil fertility assessment techniques, hereafter referred to as farmers' field experiences (FFE), for ease of use and precision, against more formal scientific quantitative ratings using soil organic carbon (SQR-SOC). A total of 30 fields were investigated and rated using both techniques, as low, medium and high in terms of soil fertility – with maize as the test crop. Both soil fertility rating techniques were fairly precise in delineating soil fertility classes, though the FFE was inefficient in distinguishing fields > 1.2 % SOC with medium and high fertility. Soil organic carbon, silt and clay were exceptionally influential, accounting for the highest percentage in grain yield of 50 % in the topsoil (0–15 cm) and 67 % for the mean concentrations from 0 to 15 and 15 to 30 cm. Each unit increase in SOC concentration resulted in 966 to 1223 kg ha−1 yield gain. The FFE technique was effective in identifying low-fertility fields, and this was coherent with the fields categorized as low (SOC

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Patrick Musinguzi

Papers

Prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and associated risk factors in Uganda (FRESH AIR Uganda): a prospective cross-sectional observational study

Maize Response to Fertilizer and Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Uganda

Sorghum Response to Fertilizer and Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Uganda

Optimizing Smallholder Returns to Fertilizer Use: Bean, Soybean and Groundnut

Precision of farmer-based fertility ratings and soil organic carbon for crop production on a Ferralsol