Forest biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services

Forests are critical habitats for biodiversity and they are also essential for the provision of a wide range of ecosystem services that are important to human well-being. There is increasing evidence that biodiversity contributes to forest ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services. Here we provide a review of forest ecosystem services including biomass production, habitat provisioning services, pollination, seed dispersal, resistance to wind storms, fire regulation and mitigation, pest regulation of native and invading insects, carbon sequestration, and cultural ecosystem services, in relation to forest type, structure and diversity. We also consider relationships between forest biodiversity and multifunctionality, and trade-offs among ecosystem services. We compare the concepts of ecosystem processes, functions and services to clarify their definitions. Our review of published studies indicates a lack of empirical studies that establish quantitative and causal relationships between forest biodiversity and many important ecosystem services. The literature is highly skewed; studies on provisioning of nutrition and energy, and on cultural services, delivered by mixed-species forests are under-represented. Planted forests offer ample opportunity for optimising their composition and diversity because replanting after harvesting is a recurring process. Planting mixed-species forests should be given more consideration as they are likely to provide a wider range of ecosystem services within the forest and for adjacent land uses. This review also serves as the introduction to this special issue of Biodiversity and Conservation on various aspects of forest biodiversity and ecosystem services

RAPID PROTOTYPING OF MULTIMEDIA ANALYSIS SYSTEMS A Networked hardware/software solution

Abstract: This paper describes a hardware/software framework and approach for fast integration and testing of complex real-time multimedia analysis algorithms. It enables the rapid assessment of combinations of multimedia analysis algorithms, in order to determine their usefulness in future consumer storage products. The framework described here consists of a set of networked personal computers, running a variety of multimedia analysis algorithms and a multi-media database. The database stores both multimedia content and metadata – as generated by multimedia content analysis algorithms – and maintains links between the two. The full hardware/software solution functions as a test-bed for new, advanced content analysis algorithms; new algorithms are easily plugged-in into any of the networked PCs, while outdated algorithms are simply removed. Once a selected consumer system configuration has passed important user-tests, a more dedicated embedded consumer product implementation is derived in a straightforward way from the framework..

Real-Time and Distributed AV Content Analysis System for Consumer Electronics Networks

ABSTRACT The ever-increasing complexity of generic MultimediaContent-Analysis-based (MCA) solutions, their processing power demanding nature and the need to prototype and assess solutions in a fast and cost-saving manner motivated the development of the Cassandra Framework. The combination of state-of-the-art network and gridcomputing solutions and recently standardized interfaces facilitated the set-up of this framework, forming the basis for multiple cross-domain and cross-organizational collaborations [1]. It enables distributed computing scenario simulations for e.g. Distributed Content Analysis (DCA) across Consumer Electronics (CE) In-Home networks, but also the rapid development and assessment of complex multi-MCA-algorithm-based applications and system solutions. Furthermore, the framework's modular nature -logical MCA units are wrapped into so-called Service Units (SU) -ease the split between systemarchitecture-and algorithmic-related work and additionally facilitate reusability, extensibility and upgradeability of those SUs

Patients with Crohn's disease have longer post-operative in-hospital stay than patients with colon cancer but no difference in complications' rate

BACKGROUNDRight hemicolectomy or ileocecal resection are used to treat benign conditions like Crohn's disease (CD) and malignant ones like colon cancer (CC).AIMTo investigate differences in pre- and peri-operative factors and their impact on post-operative outcome in patients with CC and CD.METHODSThis is a sub-group analysis of the European Society of Coloproctology's prospective, multi-centre snapshot audit. Adult patients with CC and CD undergoing right hemicolectomy or ileocecal resection were included. Primary outcome measure was 30-d post-operative complications. Secondary outcome measures were post-operative length of stay (LOS) at and readmission.RESULTSThree hundred and seventy-five patients with CD and 2,515 patients with CC were included. Patients with CD were younger (median = 37 years for CD and 71 years for CC (P < 0.01), had lower American Society of Anesthesiology score (ASA) grade (P < 0.01) and less comorbidity (P < 0.01), but were more likely to be current smokers (P < 0.01). Patients with CD were more frequently operated on by colorectal surgeons (P < 0.01) and frequently underwent ileocecal resection (P < 0.01) with higher rate of de-functioning/primary stoma construction (P < 0.01). Thirty-day post-operative mortality occurred exclusively in the CC group (66/2515, 2.3%). In multivariate analyses, the risk of post-operative complications was similar in the two groups (OR 0.80, 95%CI: 0.54-1.17; P = 0.25). Patients with CD had a significantly longer LOS (Geometric mean 0.87, 95%CI: 0.79-0.95; P < 0.01). There was no difference in re-admission rates. The audit did not collect data on post-operative enhanced recovery protocols that are implemented in the different participating centers.CONCLUSIONPatients with CD were younger, with lower ASA grade, less comorbidity, operated on by experienced surgeons and underwent less radical resection but had a longer LOS than patients with CC although complication's rate was not different between the two groups

Postoperative outcomes of primary and interval cytoreductive surgery for advanced ovarian cancer registered in the Dutch Gynecological Oncology Audit (DGOA)

Objectives: The challenge when performing cytoreductive surgery (CRS) is to balance the benefits and risks. The aim of this study was to report short term postoperative morbidity and mortality in relation to surgical outcome in patients undergoing primary debulking surgery (PDS) or interval debulking (IDS) surgery in the Netherlands. Methods: The Dutch Gynecological Oncology Audit (DGOA) was used for retrospective analysis. Patients undergoing PDS or IDS between January 1st, 2015 - December 31st, 2018 were included. Outcome was frequency of postoperative complications. Median time to adjuvant chemotherapy and severity of complications were related to outcome of CRS. Complications with Clavien-Dindo ≥3 were analyzed per region and case mix corrected. Statistical analysis was performed with R.Studio. Results: 1027 patients with PDS and 1355 patients with IDS were included. Complications with re-invention were significantly higher in PDS compared to IDS (5.7% vs. 3.6%, p = 0.048). Complete cytoreduction was 69.7% in PDS and 62.1% IDS, p &lt; 0.001. Time to adjuvant chemotherapy was 49 days in patients with complete CRS and a complication with re-intervention. Regional variation for severe complications showed one region outside confidence intervals. Conclusions: Higher complete cytoreduction rate in the PDS group indicates that the correct patients have been selected, but is associated with a higher percentage of complication with re-intervention. As result, time to start adjuvant chemotherapy is longer in this group. Maintaining a balance in aggressiveness of surgery and outcome of the surgical procedure with respect to severe complications is underlined. Bench marked data should be discussed nationally to improve this balance.</p

Impact of the COVID-19-pandemic on patients with gynecological malignancies undergoing surgery: A Dutch population-based study using data from the 'Dutch Gynecological Oncology Audit'

Objective. The COVID-19-pandemic caused drastic healthcare changes worldwide. To date, the impact of these changes on gynecological cancer healthcare is relatively unknown. This study aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19-pandemic on surgical gynecological-oncology healthcare.Methods. This population-based cohort study included all surgical procedures with curative intent for gynecological malignancies, registered in the Dutch Gynecological Oncology Audit, in 2018-2020. Four periods were identified based on COVID-19 hospital admission rates: 'Pre-COVID-19', 'Firstwave', 'Interimperiod', and'Second wave'. Surgical volume, perioperative care processes, and postoperative outcomes from 2020 were compared with 2018-2019.Results. A total of 11,488 surgical procedureswere analyzed. For cervical cancer, surgical volume decreased by 17.2% in 2020 compared to 2018-2019 (mean 2018-2019: n= 542.5, 2020: n= 449). At nadir (interimperiod), only 51% of the expected cervical cancer procedures were performed. For ovarian, vulvar, and endometrial cancer, volumes remained stable. Patients with advanced-stage ovarian cancer more frequently received neoadjuvant chemotherapy in 2020 compared to 2018-2019 (67.7% (n = 432) vs. 61.8% (n = 783), p = 0.011). Median time to first treatmentwas significantly shorter in all four malignancies in 2020. For vulvar and endometrial cancer, the length of hospital staywas significantly shorter in 2020. No significant differences in complicated course and 30-day-mortality were observed.Conclusions. The COVID-19-pandemic impacted surgical gynecological-oncology healthcare: in 2020, surgical volume for cervical cancer dropped considerably, waiting time was significantly shorter for all malignancies, while neoadjuvant chemotherapy administration for advanced-stage ovarian cancer increased. The safety of perioperative healthcare was not negatively impacted by the pandemic, as complications and 30-day-mortality remained stable. (C) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.Analysis and support of clinical decision makin