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Portable medical equipment (PME) can be an important reservoir of pathogens causing health care-associated infections. To address this, a novel, portable ultraviolet disinfection pod (UVDP) that allows for full 360-degree disinfection was developed. This investigation examined efficacy of the UVDP against microorganisms on clean, patient-ready PME. We found that the UVDP significantly reduced the number of recoverable bacteria on PME., (Copyright © 2019 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Smallholder farming systems are vulnerable to a number of challenges, including continued population growth, urbanization, income disparities, land degradation, decreasing farm size and productivity, all of which are compounded by uncertainty of climatic patterns. Understanding determinants of smallholder farming practices is critical for designing and implementing successful interventions, including climate change adaptation programs. We examine two dimensions wherein smallholder farmers may adapt agricultural practices; through intensification (i.e., adopt more practices) or diversification (i.e. adopt different practices). We use data on 5314 randomly sampled households located in 38 sites in 15 countries across four regions (East and West Africa, South Asia, and Central America). We estimate empirical models designed to assess determinants of both intensification and diversification of adaptation activities at global scales. Aspects of adaptive capacity that are found to increase intensification of adaptation globally include variables associated with access to information and human capital, financial considerations, assets, household infrastructure and experience. In contrast, there are few global drivers of adaptive diversification, with a notable exception being access to weather information, which also increases adaptive intensification. Investigating reasons for adaptation indicate that conditions present in underdeveloped markets provide the primary impetus for adaptation, even in the context of climate change. We also compare determinants across spatial scales, which reveals a variety of local avenues through which policy interventions can relax economic constraints and boost agricultural adaptation for both intensification and diversification. For example, access to weather information does not affect intensification adaptation in Africa, but is significant at several sites in Bangladesh and India. Moreover, this information leads to diversification of adaptive activities on some sites in South Asia and Central America, but increases specialization in West and East Africa.

The development of effective agricultural monitoring networks is essential to track, anticipate and manage changes in the social, economic and environmental aspects of agriculture. We welcome the perspective of Lindenmayer and Likens (J. Environ. Monit., 2011, 13, 1559) as published in the Journal of Environmental Monitoring on our earlier paper, "Monitoring the World's Agriculture" (Sachs et al., Nature, 2010, 466, 558-560). In this response, we address their three main critiques labeled as 'the passive approach', 'the problem with uniform metrics' and 'the problem with composite metrics'. We expand on specific research questions at the core of the network design, on the distinction between key universal and site-specific metrics to detect change over time and across scales, and on the need for composite metrics in decision-making. We believe that simultaneously measuring indicators of the three pillars of sustainability (environmentally sound, social responsible and economically viable) in an effectively integrated monitoring system will ultimately allow scientists and land managers alike to find solutions to the most pressing problems facing global food security., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012)

To feed the world without further damaging the planet, Jeffrey Sachs and 24 foodsystem experts call for a global data collection and dissemination network to track the myriad impacts of different farming practices.

Arsenic-containing minerals mobilized during mining activities and deposited to Lake Coeur d'Alene (CDA), Idaho sediments represent a potential source of soluble As to the overlying water. Our objective was to delineate the processes controlling porewater As concentrations within Lake CDA sediments. Sediment and porewater As concentrations were determined, and solid-phase As associations were probed using X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy. Although maximum As in the sediment porewaters varied from 8.4 to 16.2 microM, As sorption on iron oxyhydroxides at the oxic sediment-water interface prevented flux to overlying water. Floods deposit sediment containing variable amounts of arsenopyrite (FeAsS), with majorfloods depositing large amounts of sediment that bury and preserve reduced minerals. Periods of lower deposition increase sediment residence times in the oxic zone, promoting oxidation of reduced minerals, SO4(2-) efflux, and formation of oxide precipitates. Depositional events bury oxides containing sorbed As, transitioning them into anoxic environments where they undergo dissolution, releasing As to the porewater. High Fe:S ratios limit the formation of arsenic sulfides in the anoxic zone. As a result of As sequestration at the sediment-water interface and its release upon burial, decreased concentrations of porewater As will not occur unless As-bearing erosional inputs are eliminated.