Electromagnetic rolling mass wave energy harvester for oceanic drifter applications

Ocean monitoring requirements have fomented the evolution of sensor platforms such as Lagrangian drifters, whose autonomy is a critical factor in the design process. Energy Harvesting (EH) has proven to be a sound option as an autonomous power source for sensor platforms. This paper deals with the design and simulation of a kinetic energy harvester (KEH) that captures energy from a drifter’s motion under wave excitation. This KEH is based on a rolling mass resonator with permanent magnets that oscillate with respect to a frame which includes a coil system. The induced current on the coil results from the relative motion of the rolling mass, whose natural frequency is tuned to match the drifter’s to achieve resonance. Preliminary simulations using OrcaFlex provide the motion vectors of the drifter, used to excite the KEH’s frame. A multi-body MSC.ADAMS model has been developed consisting of a simple DOF mass-spring-damper system that includes the frame motion and the electrical and electromagnetic models. Results provide an estimation of the power generated on a resistive load, showing 23 mJ harvested during a one-minute simulation.Postprint (author's final draft

Challenges in the Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia Fellowship Program Since the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic: An Electronic Survey on Potential Solutions

OBJECTIVE: We explored the current practice of fellowship training in cardiothoracic and vascular anesthesia and surveyed the acceptability of potential solutions to mitigate the interrupted fellowship training during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. DESIGN: A prospective electronic questionnaire-based survey. SETTING: The survey was initiated by the Education Committee of the European Association of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology and Intensive Care (EACTAIC) PARTICIPANTS: EACTAIC fellows, EACTAIC and non-EACTAIC subscribers to the EACTAIC newsletter and EACTAIC followers on different social media platforms. INTERVENTIONS: After obtaining the consent of participants, we assessed the peri-operative management of COVID-19 patients, infrastructural aspects of the workplace, local routines for preoperative testing, the perceived availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the impact of COVID-19 on fellowship training. In addition participants rated suggested solutions by the investigators to cope with the interruption of fellowship training using a traffic light signal scale. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We collected 193 responses from 54 countries. 82.4% of respondents reported cancelling or postponing elective cases during the first wave. Of the respondents, 89.7% had provided care for COVID-19 patients, 75.1% reported staff in their center being reassigned to work in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and 45% perceived a shortage of PPE at their centers. Most respondents reported the termination of local educational activities (79.6%) and fellowship assessments (51.5%) because of the pandemic (although 84% of them reported having time to participate in online teaching), and 83% reported a definitive psychological impact. More than 90% of the respondents chose green and/or yellow traffic lights to rate the importance of the suggested solutions to cope with the interrupted fellowship training during the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of elective cases, deployment of anesthesiologists to intensive care units, involvement of anesthesiologists in perioperative care for COVID-19 patients, and interruption of educational activities and trainees’ assessments. There is some consensus on suggested solutions for mitigation of the interruption in fellowship training

Safety and Efficiency of Rotational Atherectomy in Chronic Total Coronary Occlusion-One-Year Clinical Outcomes of an Observational Registry.

The study sought to assess the procedural success of rotational atherectomy (RA) in coronary chronic total occlusion (CTO) and to investigate the in-hospital and one-year outcomes following RA. From 2015 to 2019, patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention for CTO (CTO PCI) were retrospectively included into the hospital database. The primary endpoint was procedural success. Secondary endpoints were in-hospital and one-year major adverse cardiovascular and cerebral event (MACCE) rates. During the study period of 5 years, 2.789 patients underwent CTO PCI. Patients treated with RA (n = 193, 6.92%) had a significantly higher procedural success (93.26% vs. 85.10%, p = 0.0002) compared to those treated without RA (n = 2.596, 93.08%). Despite a significantly higher rate of pericardiocentesis (3.11% vs. 0.50%, p = 0.0013) in the RA group, the in-hospital and one-year MACCE rate was similar in both groups (4.15% vs. 2.77%, p = 0.2612; 18.65% vs. 16.72%, p = 0.485). In conclusion, RA is associated with higher procedural success for CTO PCI, but has higher risks for pericardial tamponade than CTO PCI without the need for RA. Nevertheless, in-hospital and one-year MACCE rates did not differ in-between both groups

Impact of Positive Lymph Nodes and Resection Margin Status on the Overall Survival of Patients with Resected Perihilar Cholangiocarcinoma: The ENSCCA Registry

Background: Lymph node metastasis and positive resection margins have been reported to be major determinants of overall survival (OS) and poor recurrence-free survival (RFS) for patients who underwent resection for perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (pCCA). However, the prognostic value of positive lymph nodes independently from resection margin status on OS has not been evaluated. Methods: From the European Cholangiocarcinoma (ENSCCA) registry, patients who underwent resection for pCCA between 1994 and 2021 were included in this retrospective cohort study. The primary outcome was OS stratified for resection margin and lymph node status. The secondary outcome was recurrence-free survival. Results: A total of 325 patients from 11 different centers and six European countries were included. Of these, 194 (59.7%) patients had negative resection margins. In 113 (34.8%) patients, positive lymph nodes were found. Lymph node status, histological grade, and ECOG performance status were independent prognostic factors for survival. The median OS for N0R0, N0R1, N+R0, and N+R1 was 38, 30, 18, and 12 months, respectively (p < 0.001). Conclusion: These data indicate that in the presence of positive regional lymph nodes, resection margin status does not determine OS or RFS in patients with pCCA. Achieving negative margins in patients with positive nodes should not come at the expense of more extensive surgery and associated higher mortality.The ENSCCA Registry is completely funded by the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL; Registry grant awards 2016 and 2019 to J.M.B.), Incyte Bioscience International Sàrl (grant award 2020 to J.M.B.) and European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (grant number 825510, ESCALON: to J.M.B. and A.L.)

The 2018 European heatwave led to stem dehydration but not to consistent growth reductions in forests

Heatwaves exert disproportionately strong and sometimes irreversible impacts on forest ecosystems. These impacts remain poorly understood at the tree and species level and across large spatial scales. Here, we investigate the effects of the record-breaking 2018 European heatwave on tree growth and tree water status using a collection of high-temporal resolution dendrometer data from 21 species across 53 sites. Relative to the two preceding years, annual stem growth was not consistently reduced by the 2018 heatwave but stems experienced twice the temporary shrinkage due to depletion of water reserves. Conifer species were less capable of rehydrating overnight than broadleaves across gradients of soil and atmospheric drought, suggesting less resilience toward transient stress. In particular, Norway spruce and Scots pine experienced extensive stem dehydration. Our high-resolution dendrometer network was suitable to disentangle the effects of a severe heatwave on tree growth and desiccation at large-spatial scales in situ, and provided insights on which species may be more vulnerable to climate extremes

European Association of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology and Intensive Care (EACTAIC) Fellowship Curriculum: Second Edition.

International audienceThis document represents the first update of the Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anaesthesia Fellowship Curriculum of the European Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care. After obtaining feedback from exit interviews with fellows in training, graduate fellows, and program directors, 2 modified online Delphi procedures with questionnaires were conducted. A consensus was reached when two-thirds of responding committee members gave green or yellow ratings on a traffic light system, and >70% indicated strong agreement or agreement on a 5-point Likert scale. The new regulations include the following: (1) more flexibility in the fellows` rotation, as long as the total number of days, rotations, and cases are completed during the training year; (2) recommendation for strict compliance with national working-time guidelines; (3) no extension of fellowship training to compensate for annual and/or sick leave, unless the required minimum number of cases and rotations are not reached; (4) interruption of fellowship training for >12 months is allowed for personal or medical reasons; (5) introduction of a checklist for quantitative assessment of standard clinical skills; (6) recommendations for a uniform structure of exit interviews; (7) possibility of a 1-month training rotation in a postanesthesia care unit instead of an intensive care unit; and (8) provided all other requirements have been met, the allowance of progression from the basic training year to the advanced fellowship training year without first passing the transesophageal echocardiography examination

The 2018 European heatwave led to stem dehydration but not to consistent growth reductions in forests

Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).Heatwaves exert disproportionately strong and sometimes irreversible impacts on forest ecosystems. These impacts remain poorly understood at the tree and species level and across large spatial scales. Here, we investigate the effects of the record-breaking 2018 European heatwave on tree growth and tree water status using a collection of high-temporal resolution dendrometer data from 21 species across 53 sites. Relative to the two preceding years, annual stem growth was not consistently reduced by the 2018 heatwave but stems experienced twice the temporary shrinkage due to depletion of water reserves. Conifer species were less capable of rehydrating overnight than broadleaves across gradients of soil and atmospheric drought, suggesting less resilience toward transient stress. In particular, Norway spruce and Scots pine experienced extensive stem dehydration. Our high-resolution dendrometer network was suitable to disentangle the effects of a severe heatwave on tree growth and desiccation at large-spatial scales in situ, and provided insights on which species may be more vulnerable to climate extremes.Peer reviewe

European Association of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia Fellowship Curriculum:First Edition

International audiencePediatric cardiac anesthesia is a subspecialty of cardiac and pediatric anesthesiology dedicated to the perioperative care of patients with congenital heart disease. Members of the Congenital and Education Subcommittees of the European Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (EACTAIC) agreed on the necessity to develop an EACTAIC pediatric cardiac anesthesia fellowship curriculum. This manuscript represents a consensus on the composition and the design of the EACTAIC Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia Fellowship program. This curriculum provides a basis for the training of future pediatric cardiac anesthesiologists by clearly defining the theoretical and practical requirements for fellows and host centers

APEX Fingerprinting Reveals the Subcellular Localization of Proteins of Interest

Deciphering the sub-compartmental location of a given protein of interest may help explain its physiological function, but it can be challenging to do using optical or biochemical methods. Imaging with electron microscopy (EM) can provide highly resolved mapping of proteins; however, EM requires complex sample preparation and a specialized facility. Here, we use engineered ascorbate peroxidase (APEX)-generated molecular labeling patterns to provide information regarding intracellular microenvironments in living cells. Using APEX labeling of specific proteins, we uncovered subcellular localization at sub-compartmental resolution and successfully elucidated the membrane protein topology of HMOX1 and sub-mitochondrial localization of recently identified mitochondrial proteins. This method can be expanded to confirm sub-mitochondrial localization and membrane topologies of previously identified mitochondrial proteins. Lee et al. examine subcellular localization at sub-compartmental resolution using APEX labeling of specific proteins. The method is used to reveal the sub-mitochondrial localization of recently identified mitochondrial proteins, as well as the membrane topology of the ER protein HMOX1.clos

Global transpiration data from sap flow measurements : the SAPFLUXNET database

Plant transpiration links physiological responses of vegetation to water supply and demand with hydrological, energy, and carbon budgets at the land-atmosphere interface. However, despite being the main land evaporative flux at the global scale, transpiration and its response to environmental drivers are currently not well constrained by observations. Here we introduce the first global compilation of whole-plant transpiration data from sap flow measurements (SAPFLUXNET, https://sapfluxnet.creaf.cat/, last access: 8 June 2021). We harmonized and quality-controlled individual datasets supplied by contributors worldwide in a semi-automatic data workflow implemented in the R programming language. Datasets include sub-daily time series of sap flow and hydrometeorological drivers for one or more growing seasons, as well as metadata on the stand characteristics, plant attributes, and technical details of the measurements. SAPFLUXNET contains 202 globally distributed datasets with sap flow time series for 2714 plants, mostly trees, of 174 species. SAPFLUXNET has a broad bioclimatic coverage, with woodland/shrubland and temperate forest biomes especially well represented (80 % of the datasets). The measurements cover a wide variety of stand structural characteristics and plant sizes. The datasets encompass the period between 1995 and 2018, with 50 % of the datasets being at least 3 years long. Accompanying radiation and vapour pressure deficit data are available for most of the datasets, while on-site soil water content is available for 56 % of the datasets. Many datasets contain data for species that make up 90 % or more of the total stand basal area, allowing the estimation of stand transpiration in diverse ecological settings. SAPFLUXNET adds to existing plant trait datasets, ecosystem flux networks, and remote sensing products to help increase our understanding of plant water use, plant responses to drought, and ecohydrological processes. SAPFLUXNET version 0.1.5 is freely available from the Zenodo repository (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3971689; Poyatos et al., 2020a). The "sapfluxnetr" R package - designed to access, visualize, and process SAPFLUXNET data - is available from CRAN.Peer reviewe