Soil organic carbon mapping utilizing convolutional neural networks and Earth observation data, a case study in Bavaria state Germany

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 multispectral imagery data may be aggregated to extract large-scale, bare soil, reflectance composites, which enable soil mapping applications. In this paper, this approach was tested in the German federal state of Bavaria, to provide estimations for soil organic carbon (SOC). Different temporal ranges were considered for the generation of the composites, including multi-annual and seasonal ranges. A novel multi-channel convolutional neural network (CNN) is proposed. By leveraging the advantages of deep learning techniques, it utilizes complementary information from different spectral pre-treatment techniques. The SOC predictions indicated little dissimilarity amongst the different composites, with the best performance attained for the six-year composite containing only spring months (RMSE = 12.03 g C · kg−1, R2 = 0.64, RPIQ = 0.89). It has been demonstrated that these outcomes outperform other well-known machine learning techniques. An ablation analysis was accordingly performed to evaluate the interplay of the CNN’s different components to disentangle the advantages of each aspect of the proposed framework. Finally, a DUal inPut deep LearnIng architecture, named DUPLICITE, is proposed, which concatenates deep spectral features derived from the CNN mentioned earlier, as well as topographical and environmental covariates through an artificial neural network (ANN) to exploit their complementarity. The proposed approach was demonstrated to provide an improvement in the overall prediction performance (RMSE = 11.60 gC · kg−1, R2 = 0.67, RPIQ = 0.92)

A European soil organic carbon monitoring system leveraging Sentinel 2 imagery and the LUCAS soil data base

The Worldsoils project has developed a pre-operational Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) monitoring system in a cloud environment. The system predicts topsoil organic carbon content at regional and continental scales from Earth Observation (EO) satellite data with a continuous cover over Europe. The system utilizes spectral models for croplands and a digital soil mapping approach for permanently vegetated areas such as grasslands and forests. Models strongly rely on soil reflectance composites from the Sentinel 2 multispectral instrument providing the median reflectance for all valid pixels over a period of three years. The bare soil frequency, a proxy for the degree of crop cover, is clearly lower in a Mediterranean pilot region compared to croplands in temperate regions. This is due to the extensive crop cover in the Mediterranean with winter cereals and fodder crops. The graphical user interface provides SOC content and the prediction interval ratio (i.e. 90 % uncertainty interval divided by the median) for 50 m pixels in three pilot regions and 100 m pixels for the rest of Europe. The SOC prediction algorithms are reasonable compared to others at the continental scale (R2: 0.41 for croplands and 0.28 for permanently vegetated areas). Apart from tree crops in Macedonia (Greece) the soil reflectance composite attributes the correct model to validation sets of cropland and grassland in the pilot regions. The SOC prediction is satisfactory in Wallonia (Belgium; R2 0.51) but is less accurate in Greece and the Czech Republic. In particular in Greece, the poor performance is linked to the low bare soil frequency due to the abundance of tree crops, cereals and fodder crops. The monitoring system can reproduce spatial patterns in SOC content similar to the ones obtained from a detailed regional algorithm using the new generation of hyperspectral satellites. However, the very high values in kettle holes in a morainic landscape of Northern Germany are underestimated

Endometrial scratching during hysteroscopy in women undergoing in vitro fertilization: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveEndometrial scratching (ES) during hysteroscopy before embryotransfer (ET) remains doubtable on whether it benefits the reproductive outcomes. The optimal technique is not clear and repeated implantation failure as a challenging field in in vitro fertilization (IVF) seems to be the springboard for clinicians to test its effectiveness.MethodsMedline, PMC, ScienceDirect, Scopus, CENTRAL, Google Scholar were searched from their inception up to April 2023 for studies to evaluate the effectiveness of adding endometrial scratching during hysteroscopy before ET.ResultsThe initial search yielded 959 references, while 12 eligible studies were included in the analyses, involving 2,213 patients. We found that hysteroscopy and concurrent ES before ET resulted in a statistically significant improvement in clinical pregnancy rate (CPR) [RR = 1.50, (95% CI 1.30–1.74), p < 0.0001] and live birth rate (LBR) [RR = 1.67, (95% CI 1.30–2.15), p < 0.0001] with no statistically significant difference on miscarriage rate [RR = 0.80 (95% CI 0.52–1.22), p = 0.30]ConclusionOur meta-analysis suggests that hysteroscopy with concurrent ES may be offered in IVF before ET as a potentially improving manipulation. Future randomized trials comparing different patient groups would also provide more precise data on that issue, to clarify specific criteria in the selection of patients.Systematic Review RegistrationPROSPERO (CRD42023414117

Drug Eluding Stents for Malignant Airway Obstruction: A Critical Review of the Literature

Lung cancer being the most prevalent malignancy in men and the 3rd most frequent in women is still associated with dismal prognosis due to advanced disease at the time of diagnosis. Novel targeted therapies are already on the market and several others are under investigation. However non-specific cytotoxic agents still remain the cornerstone of treatment for many patients. Central airways stenosis or obstruction may often complicate and decrease quality of life and survival of these patients. Interventional pulmonology modalities (mainly debulking and stent placement) can alleviate symptoms related to airways stenosis and improve the quality of life of patients. Mitomycin C and sirolimus have been observed to assist a successful stent placement by reducing granuloma tissue formation. Additionally, these drugs enhance the normal tissue ability against cancer cell infiltration. In this mini review we will concentrate on mitomycin C and sirolimus and their use in stent placement

Coexistence of squamous cell tracheal papilloma and carcinoma treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy: a case report

BACKGROUND: Papillomatosis presents, most frequently, as multiple lesions of the respiratory tract, which are usually considered benign. Malignant degeneration into squamous cell carcinoma is quite common, although curative approaches vary a lot in modern literature. CASE REPORT: We report a case of a 66-year-old male patient with the coexistence of multiple squamous cell papilloma and carcinoma in the upper trachea with severe airway obstruction that was diagnosed through bronchoscopy and treated by performing an urgent tracheostomy, followed by concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy. There was no evidence of recurrence after a 12-month follow-up period. CONCLUSION: This study underlines the diagnostic and therapeutic value of bronchoscopy as well as multimodality palliative treatment in such cases. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to describe an immediate treatment protocol with tracheostomy and concurrent chemotherapy/radiotherapy in a patient with squamous cell tracheal papilloma and carcinoma

A European Soil Organic Carbon Monitoring System Leveraging Sentinel 2 Imagery and the Lucas Soil Data Base

Worldsoils has developed a pre-operational Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) monitoring system in a cloud environment capable of: (i) predicting topsoil organic carbon content at regional and continental scales from Earth Observation (EO) satellite data with a continuous cover over Europe, (ii) leveraging upon multitemporal soil-spectral data archives and modelling techniques and, (iii) joining end users and EO experts for developing soil indices, relevant for monitoring topsoil at regional and continental scales. The system utilized spectral models for croplands and a digital soil mapping approach for permanently vegetated areas such as grasslands and forests. Models strongly rely on soil reflectance composites from the Sentinel 2 multispectral instrument. The composites provide the median reflectance for all valid pixels over a period of three years (from March to October). The bare soil frequency, a proxy for the degree of crop cover during the growing season, is clearly lower in a Mediterranean pilot region with winter cereals and fodder crops providing an extensive cover during the growing season. The graphical user interface provides SOC content and the 90% uncertainty ratio for 50 m pixels in three pilot regions and 100 m pixels for the rest of Europe. The system has been tested for three years and SOC prediction remain stable as to be expected for such a short period. The SOC prediction algorithms are reasonable compared to others at the continental scale (R²: 0.41 for croplands and 0.28 for permanently vegetated areas). Apart from tree crops in Macedonia (Greece) the soil reflectance composite attributes the correct model to validation sets of cropland and grassland in the pilot regions. The evaluation of the SOC prediction is satisfactory in Wallonia (Belgium; R² 0.51), but is hindered by the limited range of this attributes in croplands in Greece and the Czech Republic. Moreover, the bare soil frequency is lower in Greece as a result of abundant tree crops, cereals and fodder crops. The monitoring system is able to reproduce spatial patterns in SOC content similar to the ones obtained from a detailed regional algorithm using the new generation of hyperspectral satellites. Although the very high values in kettle holes in a morainic landscape of Northern Germany are underestimated

Single sternal metastasis due to malignant melanoma with unexpected long-term survival: a case report

Metastases from melanoma have a very poor prognosis for the patient. Single metastatic lesions in the sternum due to melanoma are extremely rare. A rare case of a presternal mass in a 56-year-old patient who had undergone excision for malignant melanoma is presented. Review of the patient’s history and surgical resection of a single metastatic soft tissue lesion offer the best chance of long-term survival

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely