Granular measures of agricultural land use influence lake nitrogen and phosphorus differently at macroscales

Agricultural land use is typically associated with high stream nutrient concentrations and increased nutrient loading to lakes. For lakes, evidence for these associations mostly comes from studies on individual lakes or watersheds that relate concentrations of nitrogen (N) or phosphorus (P) to aggregate measures of agricultural land use, such as the proportion of land used for agriculture in a lake's watershed. However, at macroscales (i.e., in hundreds to thousands of lakes across large spatial extents), there is high variability around such relationships and it is unclear whether considering more granular (or detailed) agricultural data, such as fertilizer application, planting of specific crops, or the extent of near-stream cropping, would improve prediction and inform understanding of lake nutrient drivers. Furthermore, it is unclear whether lake N and P would have different relationships to such measures and whether these relationships would vary by region, since regional variation has been observed in prior studies using aggregate measures of agriculture. To address these knowledge gaps, we examined relationships between granular measures of agricultural activity and lake total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) concentrations in 928 lakes and their watersheds in the Northeastern and Midwest U.S. using a Bayesian hierarchical modeling approach. We found that both lake TN and TP concentrations were related to these measures of agriculture, especially near-stream agriculture. The relationships between measures of agriculture and lake TN concentrations were more regionally variable than those for TP. Conversely, TP concentrations were more strongly related to lake-specific measures like depth and watershed hydrology relative to TN. Our finding that lake TN and TP concentrations have different relationships with granular measures of agricultural activity has implications for the design of effective and efficient policy approaches to maintain and improve water quality.

TranSPHIRE: automated and feedback-optimized on-the-fly processing for cryo-EM

Single particle cryo-EM requires full automation to allow high-throughput structure determination. Although software packages exist where parts of the cryo-EM pipeline are automated, a complete solution that offers reliable on-the-fly processing, resulting in high-resolution structures, does not exist. Here we present TranSPHIRE: A software package for fully-automated processing of cryo-EM datasets during data acquisition. TranSPHIRE transfers data from the microscope, automatically applies the common pre-processing steps, picks particles, performs 2D clustering, and 3D refinement parallel to image recording. Importantly, TranSPHIRE introduces a machine learning-based feedback loop to re-train its picking model to adapt to any given data set live during processing. This elegant approach enables TranSPHIRE to process data more effectively, producing high-quality particle stacks. TranSPHIRE collects and displays all metrics and microscope settings to allow users to quickly evaluate data during acquisition. TranSPHIRE can run on a single work station and also includes the automated processing of filaments.

The effects of a training program using a phantom to accustom heifers to the automatic milking system

The introduction of heifers into the automatic milking system (AMS) can be associated with considerable stress for both animals and farm employees, as completely inexperienced heifers initially do not independently enter the unknown milking robot. This study investigated whether training heifers on an AMS phantom provides the possibility of preparing heifers for the following lactation at the AMS. For this purpose, 77 Holstein-Friesian heifers were randomly assigned to one of 2 experimental groups: control (CON) or phantom (PHAN). Four weeks before calving, the PHAN group was given free access to the phantom, which was similar to the actual milking robot, so that they could explore it and be positively conditioned by feeding concentrate in the phantom. The heifers of the CON group had no contact with the phantom or the AMS before the first milking at the AMS. The milking frequency per animal per day was recorded, and the proportion of animals that had to be fetched for milking was determined, to evaluate how the animals accepted the AMS after calving. To assess the stress level of the animals before and after introduction into the AMS, fecal cortisol concentrations and rumination times of the animals were measured. Additionally, lactation performance characteristics (milk yield, milk flow, electrical conductivity of milk, and milk composition) were recorded for 77 animals. The animals trained on the phantom showed a higher milking frequency (DIM 7: 2.70 ± 0.14 visits/d) than the control animals (DIM 7: 2.41 ± 0.14 visits/d) between the 4th and 10th day of lactation. In addition, between d 1 and d 5, the proportion of animals that had to be fetched for milking was lower in PHAN (DIM 1: 35.18 ± 4.16%) than in CON (DIM 1: 48.03 ± 4.46%). The PHAN heifers had unexpectedly high fecal cortisol levels (1 wk prepartum: 43.50 ± 0.93 ng/g of feces), although not considerably elevated compared with CON (1 wk prepartum: 40.76 ± 1.05 ng/g of feces). Training on the phantom had no appreciable influence on rumination time and lactation performance parameters. The increased number of milking visits and the reduced proportion of animals that had to be fetched into the AMS for milking indicate that training on the phantom prepares the animals well for being milked in the AMS. Therefore, training heifers on the phantom offers the possibility to facilitate the start into early lactation for the animals, providing a valuable contribution to improvement of animal welfare.

A cavity optomechanical locking scheme based on the optical spring effect

We present a novel locking scheme for active length-stabilization and frequency detuning of a cavity optomechanical device based on the optical spring effect. The error signal is generated by utilizing the position measurement of a thermally driven intra-cavity nanomechanical device and employing its detuning-dependent frequency shift caused by the dispersive coupling to the cavity field. The scheme neither requires external modulation of the laser or the cavity nor does it demand for additional error signal readout, rendering its technical implementation rather simple for a large variety of existing optomechanical devices. Specifically, for large-linewidth microcavities or in situations where other locking schemes appear unfavorable conceptually or are hard to realize technically, the optical spring lock represents a potential alternative for stabilizing the cavity length. We explain the functional principle of the lock and characterize its performance in terms of bandwidth and gain profile.

Behind the hedges: how to convey uncertainty in imaging reports

The imaging report is a summary document of findings and the primary form of communication of such to referring clinicians. Expressing uncertainty in the summary report is clearly difficult and the literature is unanimous that there is no agreement between imaging consultants and clinicians, and even between imaging consultants themselves, as to the meaning of uncertainty phrases. It is important for the imaging consultants to express uncertainty in the imaging report, but it is equally important that the referring clinician understands the degree of that uncertainty. Individual terminology does not bridge that gap. The present study reviews the literature in order to differentiate between uncertainty phrasing and hedging, and to find best practice examples to inform practice. We suggest three approaches that may be applied.

Outcomes of extended radical resections for locally advanced and recurrent pelvic malignancy involving the aortoiliac axis

AIM

Currently, there is no clear consensus on the role of extended pelvic resections for locally advanced or recurrent disease involving major vascular structures. The aims of this study were to report the outcomes of consecutive patients undergoing extended resections for pelvic malignancy involving the aortoiliac axis.

METHODS

Prospective data were collected on patients having extended radical resections for locally advanced or recurrent pelvic malignancies, with aortoiliac axis involvement, requiring en bloc vascular resection and reconstruction, at a single institution between 2014 and 2018.

RESULTS

Eleven patients were included (median age 60 years; range 31-69 years; seven women). The majority required resection of both arterial and venous systems (n = 8), and the technique for vascular reconstruction was either interposition grafts or femoral-femoral crossover grafts. The median operative time was 510 min (range 330-960 min). Clear resection margins (R0) were achieved in nine patients. The median length of stay was 25 days (range 7-83 days). Seven patients did not suffer an early complication. There was one serious complication (Clavien-Dindo ≥ 3), an arterial graft occlusion secondary to thrombus in the immediate postoperative period, requiring a return to theatre and thrombectomy. The median length of follow-up in this study was 22 months (range 4-58 months).

CONCLUSION

This series demonstrates that en bloc major vascular resection and reconstruction can be performed safely and can achieve clear resection margins in selected patients with locally advanced or recurrent pelvic malignancy at specialist surgery centres.

Two particle-picking procedures for filamentous proteins: SPHIRE-crYOLO filament mode and SPHIRE-STRIPER

Two approaches for the selection of filaments from cryo-EM micrographs are described.

Structure determination of filamentous molecular complexes involves the selection of filaments from cryo-EM micrographs. The automatic selection of helical specimens is particularly difficult, and thus many challenging samples with issues such as contamination or aggregation are still manually picked. Here, two approaches for selecting filamentous complexes are presented: one uses a trained deep neural network to identify the filaments and is integrated in SPHIRE-crYOLO, while the other, called SPHIRE-STRIPER, is based on a classical line-detection approach. The advantage of the crYOLO-based procedure is that it performs accurately on very challenging data sets and selects filaments with high accuracy. Although STRIPER is less precise, the user benefits from less intervention, since in contrast to crYOLO, STRIPER does not require training. The performance of both procedures on Tobacco mosaic virus and filamentous F-actin data sets is described to demonstrate the robustness of each method.

Improved algorithm with adaptive regularization for tomographic reconstruction of gas distributions using DOAS measurements

Differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) is notably well suited for the retrieval of UV-absorbing trace gases present in the atmosphere. We combine multi-axis DOAS observations to perform a tomographic reconstruction of the distribution of gases emitted from different sources. We use a new algorithm based on a regularized minimization approach embedding key physical aspects of the solution to constrain the inversion. In this work, we take into account that the spatial sampling of the plume being scanned by the instruments is not homogeneous. Therefore, we introduce an adaptive approach with a locally tuned regularization weight according to the uncertainty levels introduced by the sampling scheme. We tested our approach on reconstructions of simulated gas distributions and different configurations applicable to multi-axis DOAS. Finally, our approach is applied to experimental data for the retrieval of the distribution of ${\rm NO}_2$NO₂ within a plume cross section emitted from a group of stacks.

A prospective, observational study of the safety and effectiveness of intramuscular psychotropic treatment in acutely agitated patients with schizophrenia and bipolar mania

This naturalistic, observational pan-European study assessed the safety and early effectiveness of intramuscular (IM) psychotropic treatments in patients with acute agitation suffering from schizophrenia or bipolar mania. One thousand nine hundred and forty of 1945 patients completed the 24-hour observation period after initial IM treatment. Patients from 12 European countries were included (mean age 39 years; 58% male, 66% schizophrenia). IM treatment was at the physician's discretion. The primary objective was to describe the acute tolerability of IM psychotropic therapies in clinical practice, with particular emphasis on EPS. At baseline, 68% of the patients received IM monotherapy, with IM olanzapine most commonly prescribed (36%). During the first 24hours, 190 (9.8%) patients experienced EPS. The occurrence of EPS was statistically significantly lower in patients treated with IM olanzapine compared to those treated with other IM psychotropic medications (mainly typical antipsychotics and benzodiazepines): acute dystonia: 1.1%, 95% CI 0.5–2.3 and 2.9%, CI 2.0–4.0; akathisia: 2.3%, CI 1.3–3.7 and 5.5%, CI 4.3–6.9; Parkinsonism: 2.9%, CI 1.8–4.4 and 7.8%, CI 6.4–9.4, respectively. Anticholinergic treatment was given to 12% IM olanzapine versus 31% non-olanzapine treated patients. Acute agitation after 24hours was reduced by 1.68 (95% CI 1.46–1.91) points on the Clinical Global Impression of Severity (CGI-S) in IM olanzapine patients and 1.51 (95% CI 1.30–1.73) points in non-olanzapine patients. Additional psychotropic medication was required for 90% of the patients during the first 24hours of treatment. Results provide naturalistic evidence for low EPS rates and improvement of agitation with IM psychotropic medications during acute states of patients suffering from acute mania or schizophrenia.

Proton Conduction in a Single Crystal of a Phosphonato-Sulfonate-Based Coordination Polymer: Mechanistic Insight

The proton conduction properties of a phosphonato‐sulfonate‐based coordination polymer are studied by impedance spectroscopy using a single crystal specimen. Two distinct conduction mechanisms are identified. Water‐mediated conductance along the crystal surface occurs by mass transport, as evidenced by a high activation energy (0.54 eV). In addition, intrinsic conduction by proton ′hopping′ through the interior of the crystal with a low activation energy (0.31 eV) is observed. This latter conduction is anisotropic with respect to the crystal structure and seems to occur through a channel along the c axis of the orthorhombic crystal. Proton conduction is assumed to be mediated by sulfonate groups and non‐coordinating water molecules that are part of the crystal structure.

Cellulose Nanocrystal-Templated Tin Dioxide Thin Films for Gas Sensing

Porous tin dioxide is an important low-cost semiconductor applied in electronics, gas sensors, and biosensors. Here, we present a versatile template-assisted synthesis of nanostructured tin dioxide thin films using cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). We demonstrate that the structural features of CNC-templated tin dioxide films strongly depend on the precursor composition. The precursor properties were studied by using low-temperature nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of tin tetrachloride in solution. We demonstrate that it is possible to optimize the precursor conditions to obtain homogeneous precursor mixtures and therefore highly porous thin films with pore dimensions in the range of 10-20 nm (A_BET = 46-64 m² g^-1, measured on powder). Finally, by exploiting the high surface area of the material, we developed a resistive gas sensor based on CNC-templated tin dioxide. The sensor shows high sensitivity to carbon monoxide (CO) in ppm concentrations and low cross-sensitivity to humidity. Most importantly, the sensing kinetics are remarkably fast; both the response to the analyte gas and the signal decay after gas exposure occur within a few seconds, faster than in standard SnO₂-based CO sensors. This is attributed to the high gas accessibility of the very thin porous film.

Treating a subtotal degloving ring avulsion with leeches: an unusual case report with review of the literature

Subtotal deglovement injuries with delayed presentation give rise to the question: how to treat the mangled soft tissue to best keep the digit alive and functioning. We hereby present a case of a 59-year-old woman who was referred to our clinic 7 h after initial trauma from a peripheral hospital where an instant repositioning of a subtotal degloved skin envelop of her left middle finger had taken place with only minimal adhesion and circulation at the top of the finger left intact. On X-ray, a small avulsion fracture of her distal interphalangeal joint was visible but flexion and extension was intact at proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint level on examination. On arrival, we saw a finger with minimal reconstituted blood circulation and livid skin. Further treatment consisted of onsite debridement and primary suturing of the involved skin, followed by leech therapy the next week, and consecutive split-skin grafting 6 weeks later to cover minor residual defects. Further clinical course was uneventful and showed good clinical and esthetic results. We hereby present the patient’s clinical outcome and review of the literature for further evidence of our treatment regime.

Level of evidence: Level V, therapeutic study.

AutoMicrobic System for Biochemical Identification of Listeria Species Isolated From Foods: Collaborative Study

A collaborative study was conducted to evaluate the performance of the AutoMicrobic System Gram- Positive Identification (GPI) and Gram-Negative Identification (GNI) test kits to biochemically characterize Listeria spp. Thirteen laboratories each tested 97 food and environmental isolates, representing the 7 species of Listeria, as well as 11 additional genera of Gram-positive rods. Each collaborator inoculated both a GPI and a GNI card with a pure culture of each organism. The AutoMicrobic System identified the isolates and printed out the biochemical results. The GPI card is used to obtain a species identification and a mannitol reaction result, and the GNI card is used to obtain rhamnose and xylose reaction results. Organisms are classified into species groups and can be further distinguished on the basis of hemolysis or nitrate reduction tests. The AutoMicrobic System method correctly classified 90.8% of the Listeria spp. isolates and 100% of the non-Listeria isolates. The AutoMicrobic System method was adopted first action by AOAC International for the biochemical characterization of Listeria spp. isolated from food and environmental sources.

Recombination mechanisms of luminescence type gas sensors

The impact of the recombination mechanisms in luminescent materials is discussed with regard to luminescence based gas-sensing applications and the use of semiconducting materials, as an alternative to organic–metal complexes, is outlined.

Aggregation of Au(i)-complexes on amorphous substrates governed by aurophilicity

In single crystals of 2-naphthylisonitrile-gold(i)-halide (halide = Cl, Br, I) complexes, AuAu distances are found to be significantly shorter than twice the van der Waals radius, indicating attractive interactions between gold atoms in adjacent molecules. In the particular case of the studied 2-naphthylisonitrile-gold(i) complexes, homodimers are the common structural motifs, in which the linearly coordinated gold exhibits a crossed swords arrangement with the Au atoms of two molecules being at the intersection point. The crossed swords motif is preserved upon physical vapour deposition of both the chlorine and bromine derivatives on amorphous substrates like glass and glassy carbon. The determined activation energies of desorption for the chlorine (0.9 eV) and the bromine (1.2 eV) derivative are comparable to that of unsubstituted naphthalene. Using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and ion scattering (RBS), we confirmed the chemical integrity of the molecules in thin films and revealed the orientation of the crossed swords dimers with respect to the substrate surface.

P08.02 Israeli experience with Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) in the field of neuro oncology - Quality of Life Assessment Metrics (QAM)

BACKGROUND

With the development of personalized medicine, it is necessary to take into consideration PROs, including quality of life (QOL) to adjust the treatment and follow up. Trends of QOL outcomes are of special interest for neuro oncologic patients in the setting of chemo-radiotherapy due to the high incidence of pseudo progression (worse MRI with no tumor progression). There are several QAM in the field of neuro oncology. We used the quality of life questionnaire (QLQ-30) for brain cancer with the QLQ-BN20 supplement, and Functional assessment of chronic illness therapy (FACIT) with the FACT-Br supplement (version 4). We looked at the level of agreement between the two assessment tools for QAM for Israeli patients with different brain tumors.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Forty patients were recruited between September 2017 to May 2018 at Sheba Medical Center after local IRB approval. Patients fulfilled the two types of questionnaires at 4 time points: before radiotherapy, with radiotherapy completion, at three months follow up and before another intervention. The difference between the two metrics was measured by t-test and performed by Bland-Altman plot. The association between QAM and MRI after radiotherapy and doctor assessment was measured by Linear regression.

RESULTS

Forty patients completed 162 questionnaires overall (QLQ-30 and FACIT): 8 patients completed questionnaires at all 4 time points, 7 patients completed questionnaires - 3 times, 6 patients- twice, and 19 patients- once. Three patients didn’t answer FACIT questionnaires and 3 other patients didn’t answer QLQ questionnaires. Patients population included 40% (16/40) with astrocytoma [25% (4/16), 31.2% (5/16), 43.8% (7/16) of them with WHO Grade 2,3,4 respectively], 25% (10/40) with meningioma [60% (6/10), 20% (2/10), and 20% (2/10) of them with WHO Grade 1,2 and 3 respectively], 20% (8/40) with brain metastasis, and other tumors (6/40) consisted 15% of the patient population. We found a significant difference between QAM means of agreement of the two metrics used (p<0.001). There was a significant correlation between QAM and MRI after radiotherapy (p=0.013; R2=0.369 and p=0.025; R2=0.292 for QLQ and FACIT questionnaire, respectively). There was no significant correlation between physician examination and QAM metrics (p=0.880; R2=0.002 and p=0.724; R2=0.009 for QLQ and FACIT questionnaires respectively).

CONCLUSION

Patients’ evaluation success depends on the appropriate assessment metrics. QLQ questionnaires were a more appropriate tool in our patient population confirmed by MRI assessment compared to physicians’ evaluation. Our study shows a significant difference between two well validated tools. Further research is needed to establish the source of this difference and adjust QAM for neuro oncologic patients accordingly.

Evaluation of a TEM based Approach for Size Measurement of Particulate (Nano)materials

An approach for the size measurement of particulate (nano)materials by transmission electron microscopy was evaluated. The approach combines standard operating procedures for specimen preparation, imaging, and image analysis, and it was evaluated on a series of certified reference materials and representative test materials with varying physical properties, including particle size, shape, and agglomeration state. The measurement of the median value of the minimal external particle diameter distribution was intra-laboratory validated. The validation study included an assessment of the limit of detection, working range, selectivity, precision, trueness, robustness, and ruggedness. An uncertainty that was associated to intermediate precision in the range of 1-7% and an expanded measurement uncertainty in the range of 7-20% were obtained, depending on the material and image analysis mode. No bias was observed when assessing the trueness of the approach on the certified reference materials ERM-FD100 and ERM-FD304. The image analysis method was validated in an inter-laboratory study by 19 laboratories, which resulted in a within-laboratory precision in the range of 2-8% and a between-laboratory precision of between 2% and 14%. The automation and standardization of the proposed approach significantly improves labour and cost efficiency for the accurate and precise size measurement of the particulate materials. The approach is shown to be implementable in many other electron microscopy laboratories.

SPHIRE-crYOLO is a fast and accurate fully automated particle picker for cryo-EM

Selecting particles from digital micrographs is an essential step in single-particle electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM). As manual selection of complete datasets-typically comprising thousands of particles-is a tedious and time-consuming process, numerous automatic particle pickers have been developed. However, non-ideal datasets pose a challenge to particle picking. Here we present the particle picking software crYOLO which is based on the deep-learning object detection system You Only Look Once (YOLO). After training the network with 200-2500 particles per dataset it automatically recognizes particles with high recall and precision while reaching a speed of up to five micrographs per second. Further, we present a general crYOLO network able to pick from previously unseen datasets, allowing for completely automated on-the-fly cryo-EM data preprocessing during data acquisition. crYOLO is available as a standalone program under http://sphire.mpg.de/ and is distributed as part of the image processing workflow in SPHIRE.