Priorities and barriers for urban ecosystem service provision: A comparison of stakeholder perspectives from three cities

Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI) can provide many needed ecosystem services (ES) to help address challenges like biodiversity loss and climate change while contributing to the health and wellbeing of urban inhabitants. In order to optimize UGI for a given city, a first step is to assess the local ES needs and the potential barriers to ES provision. However, it is not known how consistent these needs and barriers are among cities in different settings. To help address this knowledge gap, the aim of this study was to assess ES priorities and existing barriers to ES provision for three cities varying in socioeconomic, cultural and climatic setting: Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Cincinnati (USA) and Malmö (Sweden). In case studies of each of the three cities, we carried out workshops with key stakeholders and collected their assessments of both current provision of ES from UGI and future priorities. The workshops were followed by expert stakeholder interviews aimed at highlighting existing barriers to ES provision. In spite of the different urban contexts, expressed ES priorities were similar among the cities, with the highest cross-cutting priorities being climate change adaptation, stormwater runoff management and water quality, mental and physical health, biodiversity, and provision of local food. Stakeholder-expressed barriers to ES provision were also broadly similar among cities, falling into three main categories: structural pressures, gaps in governance, and lack of ecological awareness and vision. Our results suggest that certain key ES priorities and barriers may apply broadly to cities regardless of climatic or socio-cultural context. These generic needs can help direct the focus of future studies, and imply a clear benefit to international, even cross-continental study and knowledge-exchange among practitioners and researchers working with UGI

Acid sphingomyelinase deactivation post-ischemia promotes brain angiogenesis and remodeling by small extracellular vesicles

Antidepressants have been reported to enhance stroke recovery independent of the presence of depressive symptoms. They have recently been proposed to exert their mood-stabilizing actions by inhibition of acid sphingomyelinase (ASM), which catalyzes the hydrolysis of sphingomyelin to ceramide. Their restorative action post-ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) still had to be defined. Mice subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion or cerebral microvascular endothelial cells exposed to oxygen–glucose deprivation were treated with vehicle or with the chemically and pharmacologically distinct antidepressants amitriptyline, fluoxetine or desipramine. Brain ASM activity significantly increased post-I/R, in line with elevated ceramide levels in microvessels. ASM inhibition by amitriptyline reduced ceramide levels, and increased microvascular length and branching point density in wildtype, but not sphingomyelinase phosphodiesterase-1 ([Smpd1]−/−) (i.e., ASM-deficient) mice, as assessed by 3D light sheet microscopy. In cell culture, amitriptyline, fluoxetine, and desipramine increased endothelial tube formation, migration, VEGFR2 abundance and VEGF release. This effect was abolished by Smpd1 knockdown. Mechanistically, the promotion of angiogenesis by ASM inhibitors was mediated by small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) released from endothelial cells, which exhibited enhanced uptake in target cells. Proteomic analysis of sEVs revealed that ASM deactivation differentially regulated proteins implicated in protein export, focal adhesion, and extracellular matrix interaction. In vivo, the increased angiogenesis was accompanied by a profound brain remodeling response with increased blood–brain barrier integrity, reduced leukocyte infiltrates and increased neuronal survival. Antidepressive drugs potently boost angiogenesis in an ASM-dependent way. The release of sEVs by ASM inhibitors disclosed an elegant target, via which brain remodeling post-I/R can be amplified

Introduction of a guideline for measurements of greenhouse gas fluxes from soils using non-steady-state chambers

Method Soils represent a major global source and sink of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Many studies of GHG fluxes between soil, plant and atmosphere rely on chamber measurements. Different chamber techniques have been developed over the last decades, each characterised by different requirements and limitations. In this manuscript, we focus on the non-steady-state technique which is widely used for manual measurements but also in automatic systems. Although the measurement method appears very simple, experience gained over the years shows that there are many details which have to be taken into account to obtain reliable measurement results. Aim This manuscript aims to share lessons learnt and pass on experiences in order to assist the reader with possible questions or unexpected challenges, ranging from the planning of the design of studies and chambers to the practical handling of the chambers and the quality assurance of the gas and data analysis. This concise introduction refers to a more extensive Best Practice Guideline initiated by the Working Group Soil Gases (AG Bodengase) of the German Soil Science Society (Deutsche Bodenkundliche Gesellschaft). The intention was to collect and aggregate the expertise of different working groups in the research field. As a compendium, this Best Practice Guideline is intended to help both beginners and experts to meet the practical and theoretical challenges of measuring soil gas fluxes with non-steady-state chamber systems and to improve the quality of the individual flux measurements and thus entire GHG studies by reducing sources of uncertainty and error

Hydrological droughts in the 21st century, hotspots and uncertainties from a global multimodel ensemble experiment

Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are expected to modify the global water cycle with significant consequences for terrestrial hydrology. We assess the impact of climate change on hydrological droughts in a multimodel experiment including seven global impact models (GIMs) driven by biascorrected climate from five global climate models under four representative concentration pathways (RCPs). Drought severity is defined as the fraction of land under drought conditions. Results show a likely increase in the global severity of hydrological drought at the end of the 21st century, with systematically greater increases for RCPs describing stronger radiative forcings. Under RCP8.5, droughts exceeding 40% of analyzed land area are projected by nearly half of the simulations. This increase in drought severity has a strong signal-to-noise ratio at the global scale, and Southern Europe, the Middle East, the Southeast United States, Chile, and South West Australia are identified as possible hotspots for future water security issues. The uncertainty due to GIMs is greater than that from global climate models, particularly if including a GIM that accounts for the dynamic response of plants to CO2 and climate, as this model simulates little or no increase in drought frequency. Our study demonstrates that different representations of terrestrial water-cycle processes in GIMs are responsible for a much larger uncertainty in the response of hydrological drought to climate change than previously thought. When assessing the impact of climate change on hydrology, it is therefore critical to consider a diverse range of GIMs to better capture the uncertainty

ORCID DE 2 – Konsolidierung der ORCID-Informationsinfrastruktur in Deutschland

[No abstract available

Antiinflammatory Therapy with Canakinumab for Atherosclerotic Disease

Background: Experimental and clinical data suggest that reducing inflammation without affecting lipid levels may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherothrombosis has remained unproved. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of canakinumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1β, involving 10,061 patients with previous myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level of 2 mg or more per liter. The trial compared three doses of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg, administered subcutaneously every 3 months) with placebo. The primary efficacy end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or cardiovascular death. RESULTS: At 48 months, the median reduction from baseline in the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level was 26 percentage points greater in the group that received the 50-mg dose of canakinumab, 37 percentage points greater in the 150-mg group, and 41 percentage points greater in the 300-mg group than in the placebo group. Canakinumab did not reduce lipid levels from baseline. At a median follow-up of 3.7 years, the incidence rate for the primary end point was 4.50 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group, 4.11 events per 100 person-years in the 50-mg group, 3.86 events per 100 person-years in the 150-mg group, and 3.90 events per 100 person-years in the 300-mg group. The hazard ratios as compared with placebo were as follows: in the 50-mg group, 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.07; P = 0.30); in the 150-mg group, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = 0.021); and in the 300-mg group, 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.99; P = 0.031). The 150-mg dose, but not the other doses, met the prespecified multiplicity-adjusted threshold for statistical significance for the primary end point and the secondary end point that additionally included hospitalization for unstable angina that led to urgent revascularization (hazard ratio vs. placebo, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.95; P = 0.005). Canakinumab was associated with a higher incidence of fatal infection than was placebo. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for all canakinumab doses vs. placebo, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.06; P = 0.31). Conclusions: Antiinflammatory therapy targeting the interleukin-1β innate immunity pathway with canakinumab at a dose of 150 mg every 3 months led to a significantly lower rate of recurrent cardiovascular events than placebo, independent of lipid-level lowering. (Funded by Novartis; CANTOS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01327846.

Attribution of Profits Derived Before or After the Existence of a Permanent Establishment under Tax Treaty Law

The attribution of profits to Permanent Establishments (PE) is one of the most discussed topics in international tax literature, the reason being that the attribution determines the amount of taxation in a PE state. Particular problems arise if such profits are derived before or after the existence of a PE. The article discusses the attribution of such profits under tax treaty law provided for by the OECD Model Tax Convention. In doing so, it is found that profits derived before or after the existence of a PE should be attributed to the PE because not only the wording but also the context and purpose of the OECD Model support this view. In further analysis, however, it is shown that slight changes in the attribution may be expected under the new “Authorized OECD Approach”

Neural Network Hyperparameter Optimization for the Assisted Selection of Assembly Equipment

The design of assembly systems has been mainly a manual task including activities such as gathering and analyzing product data, deriving the production process and assigning suitable manufacturing resources. Especially in the early phases of assembly system design in automotive industry, the complexity reaches a substantial level, caused by the increasing number of product variants and the decreased time to market. In order to mitigate the arising challenges, researchers are continuously developing novel methods to support the design of assembly systems. This paper presents an artificial intelligence system for assisting production engineers in the selection of suitable equipment for highly automated assembly systems

Physical Activity of Young Patients following Minimally Invasive Lateral Unicompartmental Knee Replacement

Unicompartmental knee replacement (UKR) has increased in popularity in recent years, especially in young patients with high demands on their athletic ability. To date, there are no data available on the physical activity of young patients following lateral UKR. The aim of this study was to demonstrate return-to-activity rate and sporting activity of patients aged 60 years or younger following lateral UKR with a fixed-bearing (FB) prosthesis. Thirty-seven patients aged 60 years or younger after lateral FB-UKR were included. Sporting activities were assessed using the University of California Los Angeles activity scale (UCLA) and the Tegner activity score (TAS). Clinical outcome was measured using the Oxford Knee Score (OKS), range of motion (ROM) and visual analogue scale (VAS). The mean follow-up (FU) was 3.1 ± 1.5 years and the mean age at surgery was 52.8 ± 3.1 years. The return-to-activity rate was 87.5% and 49% of patients were highly active postoperatively as defined by an UCLA score of 7 or higher. All clinical parameters increased significantly postoperatively. We demonstrated a high return-to-activity rate with nearly half of the patients achieving high activity levels. Longer FU periods are necessary to evaluate the effect of activity on implant survival