The acreage planted in corn and soybean crops is vast, and these crops contribute substantially to the world economy. The agricultural practices employed for farming these crops have major effects on ecosystem health at a worldwide scale. The microbial communities living in agricultural soils significantly contribute to nutrient uptake and cycling and can have both positive and negative impacts on the crops growing with them. In this study, we examined the impact of the crop planted and soil tillage on nutrient levels, microbial communities, and the biochemical pathways present in the soil. We found that farming practice, that is conventional tillage versus no‐till, had a much greater impact on nearly everything measured compared to the crop planted. No‐till fields tended to have higher nutrient levels and distinct microbial communities. Moreover, no‐till fields had more DNA sequences associated with key nitrogen cycle processes, suggesting that the microbial communities were more active in cycling nitrogen. Our results indicate that tilling of agricultural soil may magnify the degree of nutrient waste and runoff by altering nutrient cycles through changes to microbial communities. Currently, a minority of acreage is maintained without tillage despite clear benefits to soil nutrient levels, and a decrease in nutrient runoff—both of which have ecosystem‐level effects and both direct and indirect effects on humans and other organisms.

PurposeTo analyze intraocular lens (IOL) orientation data from an online toric back-calculator (astigmatismfix.com) for determining if differences were apparent by lens type.MethodsA retrospective review of astigmatismfix.com toric back-calculations that included IOL identification and intended orientation axis.ResultsOf 12,812 total validated calculation records, 8,229 included intended orientation and lens identification data. Of the latter, 5,674 calculations (69%) involved lenses oriented 5° or more from their intended position. Using estimated toric lens usage data, the percentage of lenses with orientation ≥5° from intended was 0.89% overall, but the percentage varied significantly between specific toric lens brands (P<0.05). The percentage of back-calculations related to lenses that were not oriented as intended was also statistically significantly different by lens brand (P<0.05). When IOLs were misoriented, they were significantly more likely to be misoriented in a counterclockwise direction (P<0.05). This was found to be due to a bias toward counterclockwise orientation observed with one specific brand, a bias that was not observed with the other three brands analyzed here.ConclusionThe percentage of eyes with lens orientation ≥5° from intended in the Toric Results Analyzer data set was <1% of toric IOLs in general, with the relative percentage of Tecnis® Toric IOLs significantly higher than AcrySof® Toric IOLs. Both of these had higher rates than the Staar® Toric and Trulign® Toric lenses, with the availability of higher Tecnis and AcrySof cylinder powers a likely contributing factor. The AcrySof Toric IOL appears to be less likely than the Tecnis Toric IOL to cause residual astigmatism as a result of misorientation. The Tecnis Toric IOL appears more likely to be misoriented in a counterclockwise direction; no such bias was observed with the AcrySof Toric, the Trulign® Toric, or the Staar Toric IOLs.

When present after cataract surgery, higher levels of residual refractive astigmatism were most associated with large differences in measured preoperative to postoperative keratometry. To a lesser degree, intraoperative aberrometry was associated with lower levels. [J Refract Surg. 2018;34(6):366-371.].

Residual astigmatism after toric IOL implantation impacts visual acuity similarly in patients who had multifocal and monofocal toric IOL implantation.