Diaphragmatic Endometriosis-A Single-Center Retrospective Analysis of the Patients' Demographics, Symptomatology, and Long-Term Treatment Outcomes

Diaphragmatic endometriosis is rare and forms 0.67-4.7% of all endometriosis cases. Evidence regarding its optimal management is lacking. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the patient characteristics and long-term treatment outcomes of diaphragmatic endometriosis patients. Over a 4-year period, 23 patients were diagnosed with diaphragmatic endometriosis. The majority of patients had coexisting deep pelvic endometriosis. Cyclic upper abdominal pain was reported by 60.9% of patients, while cyclic chest and shoulder pain were reported by 43.5% and 34.8% of patients, respectively. Most patients were treated with laparoscopic lesion ablation, while 21.1% were treated with minimally invasive excision. The mean follow-up time was 23.7 months. Long-lasting resolution of the chest, abdominal, and shoulder pain occurred in 50%, 35.7%, and 25% of patients, respectively. Nonetheless, 78.9% of patients reported major improvement in their symptoms postoperatively. Significantly higher rates of postoperative shoulder, abdominal, and chest pain were observed in patients who received postoperative hormonal therapy compared with those who did not. All patients treated expectantly remained stable. Therefore, we recommend treating diaphragmatic endometriosis only in symptomatic patients. The risk of incomplete surgery should be minimized by a multidisciplinary diagnostic and therapeutic approach with a careful assessment of the diaphragm and the thoracic cavity

Current Use and Future Perspectives of Spatial Audio Technologies in Electronic Travel Aids

Electronic travel aids (ETAs) have been in focus since technology allowed designing relatively small, light, and mobile devices for assisting the visually impaired. Since visually impaired persons rely on spatial audio cues as their primary sense of orientation, providing an accurate virtual auditory representation of the environment is essential. This paper gives an overview of the current state of spatial audio technologies that can be incorporated in ETAs, with a focus on user requirements. Most currently available ETAs either fail to address user requirements or underestimate the potential of spatial sound itself, which may explain, among other reasons, why no single ETA has gained a widespread acceptance in the blind community. We believe there is ample space for applying the technologies presented in this paper, with the aim of progressively bridging the gap between accessibility and accuracy of spatial audio in ETAs.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement no. 643636.Peer Reviewe

Patterns and variability in ocean acidification conditions in Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca

The Washington Ocean Acidification Center is working with NOAA and other partners to increase understanding of ocean acidification dynamics and spatial variability in the Salish Sea, and how these correlate with planktonic responses. These data are critical for assessing water quality, areas with higher or lower OA stress, and to understand effects on the food web. Two main strategies are employed; seasonal ship cruises provide spatial coverage and the ability to collect plankton, while mooring buoys provide information on mechanisms and the range of variation due to the high-resolution and constant coverage they provide. Results show a strong degree of depth, seasonal, and spatial variation in pH and aragonite saturation state. In general, the lowest pH and aragonite saturation state values are at depth, particularly in stratified areas, though this can shift during seasonal localized upwelling, e.g., Southern Hood Canal, and in mixed water columns, e.g., the Main Basin. Seasonal patterns are spatially diverse, with stratified areas exhibiting strong vertical gradients with depth during summer and more homogenous conditions during winter; well-mixed areas show less variation year-round. This implies that species encounter quite different OA conditions in various parts of the Salish Sea between the seasons. Mooring CO2 data reveal higher variation during late fall through early spring at sites within the Salish Sea, due to winter mixing of stratified waters, yet the reverse pattern off the Washington coast, due to summer upwelling. In both cases, these mechanisms (winter mixing and summer upwelling) operate across a gradient, bringing relatively deeper lower pH / aragonite saturation state waters in contact with surface waters with higher values. Such changes in the spatial and depth distribution of corrosive conditions have broad implications for sensitive marine life

Designing sensory-substitution devices: Principles, pitfalls and potential1

An exciting possibility for compensating for loss of sensory function is to augment deficient senses by conveying missing information through an intact sense. Here we present an overview of techniques that have been developed for sensory substitution (SS) for the blind, through both touch and audition, with special emphasis on the importance of training for the use of such devices, while highlighting potential pitfalls in their design. One example of a pitfall is how conveying extra information about the environment risks sensory overload. Related to this, the limits of attentional capacity make it important to focus on key information and avoid redundancies. Also, differences in processing characteristics and bandwidth between sensory systems severely constrain the information that can be conveyed. Furthermore, perception is a continuous process and does not involve a snapshot of the environment. Design of sensory substitution devices therefore requires assessment of the nature of spatiotemporal continuity for the different senses. Basic psychophysical and neuroscientific research into representations of the environment and the most effective ways of conveying information should lead to better design of sensory substitution systems. Sensory substitution devices should emphasize usability, and should not interfere with other inter- or intramodal perceptual function. Devices should be task-focused since in many cases it may be impractical to convey too many aspects of the environment. Evidence for multisensory integration in the representation of the environment suggests that researchers should not limit themselves to a single modality in their design. Finally, we recommend active training on devices, especially since it allows for externalization, where proximal sensory stimulation is attributed to a distinct exterior object.This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovative Programme under grant agreement no. 643636, “Sound of Vision”.Peer Reviewe

USE OF, SATISFACTION WITH, AND REQUIREMENTS FOR IN SITU pH SENSORS

The fundamental goal of this survey was to assess user needs and applications and to provide the focus for an Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT, www.act-us.info) Technology Verification of in situ pH sensors. The Customer Needs and Use Assessment strives to better understand how pH sensors are used. We hope this information can also assist manufacturers in refining pH sensor technologies to better address user priorities

Riverine coupling of biogeochemical cycles between land, oceans, and atmosphere

Author Posting. © Ecological Society of America, 2011. This article is posted here by permission of Ecological Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 9 (2011): 53–60, doi:10.1890/100014.Streams, rivers, lakes, and other inland waters are important agents in the coupling of biogeochemical cycles between continents, atmosphere, and oceans. The depiction of these roles in global-scale assessments of carbon (C) and other bioactive elements remains limited, yet recent findings suggest that C discharged to the oceans is only a fraction of that entering rivers from terrestrial ecosystems via soil respiration, leaching, chemical weathering, and physical erosion. Most of this C influx is returned to the atmosphere from inland waters as carbon dioxide (CO2) or buried in sedimentary deposits within impoundments, lakes, floodplains, and other wetlands. Carbon and mineral cycles are coupled by both erosion–deposition processes and chemical weathering, with the latter producing dissolved inorganic C and carbonate buffering capacity that strongly modulate downstream pH, biological production of calcium-carbonate shells, and CO2 outgassing in rivers, estuaries, and coastal zones. Human activities substantially affect all of these processes.The US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provided funding for this work

Biogeochemical characterization of carbon sources in the Strickland and Fly rivers, Papua New Guinea

The highstanding islands of Oceania are recognized as a source of significant particulate organic carbon delivered to nearshore marine environments. The existing data on carbon export in Oceania are largely derived from small mountainous watersheds (<10,000 km2) with little or no sediment storage capacity and located in subtropical to temperate regions. The Fly-Strickland fluvial dispersal system is the largest in tropical Oceania and has high sediment yields, aged organic matter in its suspended-sediment load, and lowland sediment storage capacity. The Fly River system also has very high soil organic carbon content and conditions favorable to perennially high production, oxidation, and discharge within the watershed. We used stable and radiogenic isotopes (δ13C, Δ14C, and δ15N), lignin phenols, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to examine the organic and inorganic composition of particulate and dissolved carbon at several lowland sites in the Fly and Strickland rivers and on the Strickland River floodplain. Isotopic, elemental, and biomarker results suggest that organic carbon in the Strickland River was more degraded than in the Fly River, with a greater input of ancient organics from upland sources, and that aquatic production constituted a larger source in the Fly River. Radiocarbon results indicate that all carbon fractions were older in the Strickland than in the Fly and that Strickland floodplain sediments were also depleted in radiocarbon. Collectively, these results suggest that rivers of New Guinea export a comparable amount of particulate organic carbon to the Amazon, with a significant contribution from radiocarbon-depleted sources

Usability and Effectiveness of Auditory Sensory Substitution Models for the Visually Impaired

This paper focuses on auditory sensory substitution for providing visually impaired users with suitable information in both static scene recognition and dynamic obstacle avoidance. We introduce three different sonification models together with three temporal presentation schemes, i.e., ways of temporally organizing the sonic events in order to provide suitable information. Following an overview of the motivation and challenges behind each of the solutions, we describe their implementation and an evaluation of their relative strengths and weaknesses based on a set of experiments in a virtual environment

Terrigenous organic matter in sediments from the Fly River delta-clinoform system (Papua New Guinea)

Although an inordinate fraction of the global sediment flux to the ocean occurs in tropical mountainous river margins, little is known regarding the sources and fate of organic matter in these systems. To address these knowledge gaps, the distribution and composition of organic matter in sediments from the Fly River delta-clinoform were examined in the context of the source-to-sink study of the Papuan Continuum. The significant contrasts in the texture of seabed sediments measured across the study area coincided with stark contrasts in concentration and composition of the sedimentary organic matter. Coarser sediments displayed significantly lower organic carbon and nitrogen contents, more enriched stable carbon and nitrogen compositions, lower lignin product yields, and distinctly different lignin and nonlignin product compositions than their fine-textured counterparts. Compositional differences were also measured between high- and low-density fractions of selected sediment samples. Subsurface sediments showed marked compositional variations that were predominantly associated with changes in the texture of the deposits. Most sediments were characterized by moderate carbon loadings (0.5–1.0 mg C m–2), although several samples from the outer topset region, an area of sediment bypass, were characterized by lower carbon loadings indicative of enhanced carbon losses. Overall, the organic matter in both surface and subsurface sediments appeared to have predominantly a terrigenous origin, with no evidence for dilution and/or replacement by marine carbon. The measured compositions were consistent with contributions from modern vascular plant detritus, aged soil organic matter, and very old or fossil organic matter devoid of recognizable biochemicals