Survey strategies to quantify and optimize detecting probability of a CO2 seep in a varying marine environment

AbstractDesigning a marine monitoring program that detects CO2 leaks from subsea geological storage projects is challenging. The high variability of the environment may camouflage the anticipated anisotropic signal from a leak and there are a number of leak scenarios. Marine operations are also costly constraining the availability of measurements. A method based on heterogeneous leak scenarios and anisotropic predictions of chemical footprint under varying current conditions is presented. Through a cost function optimal placement of sensors can be given both for fixed installations and series of measurements during surveys. Ten fixed installations with an optimal layout is better than twenty placed successively at the locations with highest leakage probability. Hence, optimal localizations of installations offers cost reduction without compromising precision of a monitoring program, e.g. quantifying and reduce probabilities of false alarm under control. An optimal cruise plan for surveys, minimizing transit time and operational costs, can be achieved

Musawwarat es-Sufra, Sudan. Developing a Collaborative Archaeology of Pastoralism in the Hinterland of the Nile. Research between 2021 and 2023

The valley of Musawwarat es-Sufra, with its numerous temples and other built structures, was one of the primary ceremonial centres of the Kingdom of Kush. Today, it is a major national heritage site in Sudan and part of the »Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe« UNESCO World Heritage site. While research and preservation efforts have long focused on the monumental built structures as part of the (Early) Meroitic state’s symbolic landscape, a new collaborative archaeology project aims to complement and counter this perspective by focusing on the lifeways of past and present pastoralist populations in the drylands of the Musawwarat region. Based on a research partnership with members of the local pastoralist communities, who have long been involved in the study and preservation of Musawwarat as workmen and guards, we explore materialities of pastoralism between archaeology, heritage and development.The valley of Musawwarat es-Sufra, with its numerous temples and other built structures, was one of the primary ceremonial centres of the Kingdom of Kush. Today, it is a major national heritage site in Sudan and part of the »Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe« UNESCO World Heritage site. While research and preservation efforts have long focused on the monumental built structures as part of the (Early) Meroitic state’s symbolic landscape, a new collaborative archaeology project aims to complement and counter this perspective by focusing on the lifeways of past and present pastoralist populations in the drylands of the Musawwarat region. Based on a research partnership with members of the local pastoralist communities, who have long been involved in the study and preservation of Musawwarat as workmen and guards, we explore materialities of pastoralism between archaeology, heritage and development

Laboratory manifestations of COVID-19 associated with hemostatic abnormalities

Hemostatic abnormalities had been reported in COVID-19 patients, which may include disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), hypercoagulability, and alterations in platelets parameters. Articles that investigate the alterations of hemostatic abnormalities during the COVID-19 disease (2020-2021) and their predictive value of disease outcome have been thoroughly reviewed. Among the reviewed articles, thrombocytopenia is observed in 5.0-41.7% of COVID-19 patients, which is related to disease severity. Moreover, other platelets parameters, including Platelets/lymphocytes ratio (PLR), Mean platelets volume (MPV), and aggregation, may also be affected. On the other hand, findings of coagulation tests such as D dimer; fibrinogen, Antithrombin (AT), and Fibrin degradation products (FDP) are significantly elevated in COVID-19 patients, while in a single study, most of the patients had positive Lupus anticoagulants (LA) and normal protein C (PC). In the same perspective, these alterations showed significant correlations with disease severity. Overall, hemostatic laboratory markers are significant predictors of COVID-19 disease outcome as indicated by the increased risk of venous and arterial thrombotic events, especially in ICU patients. &nbsp

To which extent a convalescent plasma therapy could be a benefit for COVID-19 patients?

The emergence of an unprecedented pandemic SARS-COV-2 caused perplexed in the medical community because of a high infection rate and rising mortality among COVID-19 patients. Till now, there is no particular treatment for the disease; nevertheless, there is an extensive effort from scientists to find out an immediate therapeutic plan to show how to deal with the current situation. One of the solutions currently presented is Convalescence plasma (CP). Through this narrative review, we will shed light on CP's efficiency as a therapeutic agent for COVID-19, especially there is no proven vaccine or antiviral available up to date. CP could be considered one of the therapeutic approaches, but some limitations are still considered before it is established as a therapeutic agent. Along with evaluating CP from blood donors, the plasma companies could take future steps by manufacturing a target dose of globulins that contain standardized antibody, to reach the terms of health setting administering therapy

Layout of CCS monitoring infrastructure with highest probability of detecting a footprint of a CO2 leak in a varying marine environment

Monitoring of the marine environment for indications of a leak, or precursors of a leak, will be an intrinsic part of any subsea CO2 storage projects. A real challenge will be quantification of the probability of a given monitoring program to detect a leak and to design the program accordingly. The task complicates by the number of pathways to the surface, difficulties to estimate probabilities of leaks and fluxes, and predicting the fluctuating footprint of a leak. The objective is to present a procedure for optimizing the layout of a fixed array of chemical sensors on the seafloor, using the probability of detecting a leak as metric. A synthetic map from the North Sea is used as a basis for probable leakage points, while the spatial footprint is based on results from a General Circulation Model. Compared to an equally spaced array the probability of detecting a leak can be nearly doubled by an optimal placement of the available sensors. It is not necessarily best to place the first in the location of the highest probable leakage point, one sensor can monitor several potential leakage points. The need for a thorough baseline in order to reduce the detection threshold is shown.publishedVersio

Next generation sequencing-data analysis for cellulose- and xylan-degrading enzymes from POME metagenome

Metagenomic DNA library from palm oil mill effluent (POME) was constructed and subjected to high-throughput screening to find genes encoding cellulose- and xylan-degrading enzymes. DNA of 30 positive fosmid clones were sequenced with next generation sequencing technology and the raw data (short insert-paired) was analyzed with bioinformatic tools. First, the quality of 64,821,599 reverse and forward sequences of 101 bp length raw data was tested using Fastqc and SOLEXA. Then, raw data filtering was carried out by trimming low quality values and short reads and the vector sequences were removed and again the output was checked and the trimming was repeated until a high quality read sets was obtained. The second step was the de novo assembly of sequences to reconstruct 2900 contigs following de Bruijn graph algorithm. Pre-assembled contigs were arranged in order, the distances between contigs were identified and oriented with SSPACE, where 2139 scaffolds have been reconstructed. 16,386 genes have been identified after gene prediction using Prodigal and putative ID assignment with Blastp vs NR protein. The acceptable strategy to handle metagenomic NGS-data in order to detect known and potentially unknown genes is presented and we showed the computational efficiency of de Bruijn graph algorithm of de novo assembly to 21 bioprospect genes encoding cellulose-degrading enzymes and 6 genes encoding xylan-degrading enzymes of 30.3% to 100% identity percentage

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