Prrx1b restricts fibrosis and promotes Nrg1-dependent cardiomyocyte proliferation during zebrafish heart regeneration

Therapeutic cell differentiatio

Exploring urban metabolism—Towards an interdisciplinary perspective

© 2017 The Author(s) The discussion on urban metabolism has been long dominated by natural scientists focussing on natural forces shaping the energy and material flows in urban systems. However, in the anthropocene human forces such as industrialization and urbanization are mobilizing people, goods and information at an increasing pace and as such have a large impact on urban energy and material flows. In this white paper, we develop a combined natural and social science perspective on urban metabolism. More specifically, innovative conceptual and methodological interdisciplinary approaches are identified and discussed to enhance the understanding of the forces that shape urban metabolism, and how these forces affect urban living and the environment. A challenging research agenda on urban metabolism is also presented

Team dynamics in emergency surgery teams: results from a first international survey

Background: Emergency surgery represents a unique context. Trauma teams are often multidisciplinary and need to operate under extreme stress and time constraints, sometimes with no awareness of the trauma\u2019s causes or the patient\u2019s personal and clinical information. In this perspective, the dynamics of how trauma teams function is fundamental to ensuring the best performance and outcomes. Methods: An online survey was conducted among the World Society of Emergency Surgery members in early 2021. 402 fully filled questionnaires on the topics of knowledge translation dynamics and tools, non-technical skills, and difficulties in teamwork were collected. Data were analyzed using the software R, and reported following the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys (CHERRIES). Results: Findings highlight how several surgeons are still unsure about the meaning and potential of knowledge translation and its mechanisms. Tools like training, clinical guidelines, and non-technical skills are recognized and used in clinical practice. Others, like patients\u2019 and stakeholders\u2019 engagement, are hardly implemented, despite their increasing importance in the modern healthcare scenario. Several difficulties in working as a team are described, including the lack of time, communication, training, trust, and ego. Discussion: Scientific societies should take the lead in offering training and support about the abovementioned topics. Dedicated educational initiatives, practical cases and experiences, workshops and symposia may allow mitigating the difficulties highlighted by the survey\u2019s participants, boosting the performance of emergency teams. Additional investigation of the survey results and its characteristics may lead to more further specific suggestions and potential solutions

SARS-CoV-2 vaccination modelling for safe surgery to save lives: data from an international prospective cohort study

Background Preoperative SARS-CoV-2 vaccination could support safer elective surgery. Vaccine numbers are limited so this study aimed to inform their prioritization by modelling. Methods The primary outcome was the number needed to vaccinate (NNV) to prevent one COVID-19-related death in 1 year. NNVs were based on postoperative SARS-CoV-2 rates and mortality in an international cohort study (surgical patients), and community SARS-CoV-2 incidence and case fatality data (general population). NNV estimates were stratified by age (18–49, 50–69, 70 or more years) and type of surgery. Best- and worst-case scenarios were used to describe uncertainty. Results NNVs were more favourable in surgical patients than the general population. The most favourable NNVs were in patients aged 70 years or more needing cancer surgery (351; best case 196, worst case 816) or non-cancer surgery (733; best case 407, worst case 1664). Both exceeded the NNV in the general population (1840; best case 1196, worst case 3066). NNVs for surgical patients remained favourable at a range of SARS-CoV-2 incidence rates in sensitivity analysis modelling. Globally, prioritizing preoperative vaccination of patients needing elective surgery ahead of the general population could prevent an additional 58 687 (best case 115 007, worst case 20 177) COVID-19-related deaths in 1 year. Conclusion As global roll out of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination proceeds, patients needing elective surgery should be prioritized ahead of the general population

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

A Generic and Automatic Test Strategy for Compiler Testing

Domain-specific Languages (DSLs) are languages specifically tailored for an application or expert domain. These can be implemented as compilers, which check the correctness of an input program and translates it to a target language. Manual testing of compilers is a time consuming and labor intensive task. This motivates the development of approaches to facilitate the quality assurance process. In this thesis we present an automatic and generic test strategy for the generation of test cases for Spoofax developed compilers. We use a program generator to generate large syntactically correct programs from Syntax Definition Formalism (SDF) grammars. Additionally, we improve the program generator with an expansion of our generation algorithm to use Name Binding Language (NaBL) modules to generate partial name correct programs. We also provide a DSL to define error fixes that are used to attempt the repair of static semantic errors reported after compilation. After program generation we use a partial oracle to automatically detect failures during the invocation of the compiler. Finally, we provide a heuristic to reduce the size of generated programs, whilst preserving their failure inducing behavior. This test strategy was used to generate test cases forWebDSL, a DSL targeting the domain of developing dynamic web applications with a rich data model. The generated test cases unveiled eleven unique faults in the analysis phase of compilation. These were reported together with the programs reduced by our program shrinking heuristic and they were positively received by the WebDSL development team.Computer ScienceSERGElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc

Development and yields of the tachinid Exorista larvarum in three common Noctuidae of Azores Archipelago and in a laboratory host

The development of the tachinid larval parasitoid Exorista larvarum (L.) was studied upon Peridroma saucia (H\ufcbner), Pseudaletia unipuncta (Haworth) and Xestia c-nigrum (L.) (Lepidoptera Noctuidae), all of them being common pests of pastures and horticultural crops in the Azores Archipelago, and in the laboratory host Galleria mellonella L. The study occurred under laboratory conditions, but relied on noctuids samples collected on Terceira island. The experiments were conducted at 15, 20 and 25 \ub0C to determine the effect of temperatures commonly recorded in the Azores throughout the year on the tachinid development. All host species were accepted by E. larvarum females, but more eggs were laid on the noctuids than on G. mellonella both at 20 and 25 \ub0C. The effect of temperature on the number of eggs laid was significant only for G. mellonella and X. c-nigrum, although on all species fewer eggs were laid at 15 \ub0C (the mean winter temperature in the Azores). At 15 \ub0C, no puparia were obtained from any host species. At 20 \ub0C no puparia formed in G. mellonella and parasitoid pupation percentages were extremely low also in the noctuids. At 25 \ub0C the puparial yields obtained in the latter were considerably lower than those found in G. mellonella (=13%). In all moth species, including noctuids, host larval mortality was however very high despite the low percentages of puparia obtained. The efficiency of E. larvarum as a biocontrol agent could be enhanced by host mortality due to incomplete parasitoid development

A Critical Survey Of The Literature In Periodontia

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