Author Correction: Rapidly-migrating and internally-generated knickpoints can control submarine channel evolution (Nature Communications, (2020), 11, 1, (3129), 10.1038/s41467-020-16861-x)

© 2020, The Author(s). The original version of this Article contained an error in the labelling of the cross-section in Fig. 2g and the vertical axis in Fig. 2b. This has been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article

2 days versus 5 days of postoperative antibiotics for complex appendicitis:a pragmatic, open-label, multicentre, non-inferiority randomised trial

Background: The appropriate duration of postoperative antibiotics for complex appendicitis is unclear. The increasing global threat of antimicrobial resistance warrants restrictive antibiotic use, which could also reduce side-effects, length of hospital stay, and costs. Methods: In this pragmatic, open-label, non-inferiority trial in 15 hospitals in the Netherlands, patients with complex appendicitis (aged ≥8 years) were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive 2 days or 5 days of intravenous antibiotics after appendicectomy. Randomisation was stratified by centre, and treating physicians and patients were not masked to treatment allocation. The primary endpoint was a composite endpoint of infectious complications and mortality within 90 days. The main outcome was the absolute risk difference (95% CI) in the primary endpoint, adjusted for age and severity of appendicitis, with a non-inferiority margin of 7·5%. Outcome assessment was based on electronic patient records and a telephone consultation 90 days after appendicectomy. Efficacy was analysed in the intention-to-treat and per-protocol populations. Safety outcomes were analysed in the intention-to-treat population. This trial was registered with the Netherlands Trial Register, NL5946. Findings: Between April 12, 2017, and June 3, 2021, 13 267 patients were screened and 1066 were randomly assigned, 533 to each group. 31 were excluded from intention-to-treat analysis of the 2-day group and 30 from the 5-day group owing to errors in recruitment or consent. Appendicectomy was done laparoscopically in 955 (95%) of 1005 patients. The telephone follow-up was completed in 664 (66%) of 1005 patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 51 (10%) of 502 patients analysed in the 2-day group and 41 (8%) of 503 patients analysed in the 5-day group (adjusted absolute risk difference 2·0%, 95% CI −1·6 to 5·6). Rates of complications and re-interventions were similar between trial groups. Fewer patients had adverse effects of antibiotics in the 2-day group (45 [9%] of 502 patients) than in the 5-day group (112 [22%] of 503 patients; odds ratio [OR] 0·344, 95% CI 0·237 to 0·498). Re-admission to hospital was more frequent in the 2-day group (58 [12%] of 502 patients) than in the 5-day group (29 [6%] of 503 patients; OR 2·135, 1·342 to 3·396). There were no treatment-related deaths. Interpretation: 2 days of postoperative intravenous antibiotics for complex appendicitis is non-inferior to 5 days in terms of infectious complications and mortality within 90 days, based on a non-inferiority margin of 7·5%. These findings apply to laparoscopic appendicectomy conducted in a well resourced health-care setting. Adopting this strategy will reduce adverse effects of antibiotics and length of hospital stay. Funding: The Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development.</p

IGH gene usage for productive IGH for pooled IgG, IgA and IgM

<p>IGHV, IGHD and IGHJ gene usage was quantified from pooled IGH rearrangements from 8 subject sampled by pyrosequencing. The pooled data includes IGH associated with all IGHC genes other than IgE and IgD.</p

Sediment Volume and Grain-Size Partitioning Between Submarine Channel−Levee Systems and Lobes: An Experimental Study

The width and depth of submarine channels change progressively as the channels evolve. This is inferred to act as an important control on the rate of sediment loss due overbank and in-channel deposition. Understanding the downstream extraction of sediment from turbidity currents is important for the prediction of grain-size trends and volume distribution in the stratigraphy. However, the partitioning of sediment by individual turbidity currents as a function of channel dimensions has not been investigated previously. We present a series of physical experiments studying the link between channel dimensions and the resulting partitioning of sediment volume and grain size between sub-environments. The experimental set-up consists of a slope (11°) with a straight pre-formed channel and a horizontal basin floor. An identical flow was released repeatedly into channels with different dimensions, resulting in various styles of overspill, erosion, and deposition under varying degrees of channel confinement. The fraction of sediment that was bypassed through the channel to the basin floor varied between 67% and 89%, depending on the amount of levee and in-channel deposition. The volume of levee deposition correlates well with channel depth. A large channel depth relative to flow thickness limits the amount of overspill. The amount of in-channel deposition correlates well with channel width/depth (W/D) ratio, where low-W/D-ratio channels have less deposition. We compare the experiments to natural system to show that the same patterns of volume and grain-size partitioning are present at different scales. The experiments provide snapshots of different phases of evolution of natural submarine channels. Natural submarine channels in an early evolution phase are inferred to be shallow and the experiments demonstrate that this results in significant sediment loss to levee deposition along the channel. The process of levee deposition preferentially extracts the fine-grained sediment fraction, which overspills from the channel. Therefore, we predict that the initial sediment pulse that reaches the basin floor is coarse grained and volumetrically small. As the channel matures and deepens, it will bypass more sediment with a mix of grain sizes to the basin floor

Sediment Volume and Grain-Size Partitioning Between Submarine Channel−Levee Systems and Lobes: An Experimental Study

The width and depth of submarine channels change progressively as the channels evolve. This is inferred to act as an important control on the rate of sediment loss due overbank and in-channel deposition. Understanding the downstream extraction of sediment from turbidity currents is important for the prediction of grain-size trends and volume distribution in the stratigraphy. However, the partitioning of sediment by individual turbidity currents as a function of channel dimensions has not been investigated previously. We present a series of physical experiments studying the link between channel dimensions and the resulting partitioning of sediment volume and grain size between sub-environments. The experimental set-up consists of a slope (11°) with a straight pre-formed channel and a horizontal basin floor. An identical flow was released repeatedly into channels with different dimensions, resulting in various styles of overspill, erosion, and deposition under varying degrees of channel confinement. The fraction of sediment that was bypassed through the channel to the basin floor varied between 67% and 89%, depending on the amount of levee and in-channel deposition. The volume of levee deposition correlates well with channel depth. A large channel depth relative to flow thickness limits the amount of overspill. The amount of in-channel deposition correlates well with channel width/depth (W/D) ratio, where low-W/D-ratio channels have less deposition. We compare the experiments to natural system to show that the same patterns of volume and grain-size partitioning are present at different scales. The experiments provide snapshots of different phases of evolution of natural submarine channels. Natural submarine channels in an early evolution phase are inferred to be shallow and the experiments demonstrate that this results in significant sediment loss to levee deposition along the channel. The process of levee deposition preferentially extracts the fine-grained sediment fraction, which overspills from the channel. Therefore, we predict that the initial sediment pulse that reaches the basin floor is coarse grained and volumetrically small. As the channel matures and deepens, it will bypass more sediment with a mix of grain sizes to the basin floor

THE SEDIMENT BUDGET ESTIMATOR (SBE): A PROCESS MODEL FOR THE STOCHASTIC ESTIMATION OF FLUXES AND BUDGETS OF SEDIMENT THROUGH SUBMARINE CHANNEL SYSTEMS

Abstract Turbidity currents transport vast amounts of sediment through submarine channels onto deep-marine basin-floor fans. There is a lack of quantitative tools for the reconstruction of the sediment budget of these systems. The aim of this paper is to construct a simple and user-friendly model that can estimate turbidity-current structure and sediment budget based on observable submarine-channel dimensions and general characteristics of the system of interest. The requirements for the model were defined in the spirit of the source-to-sink perspective of sediment volume modeling: a simple, quantitative model that reflects natural variability and can be applied to ancient systems with sparse data availability. The model uses the input conditions to parameterize analytical formulations for the velocity and concentration profiles of turbidity currents. Channel cross section and temporal punctuation of turbidity-current activity in the channel are used to estimate sediment flux and sediment budget. The inherent uncertainties of geological sediment-budget estimates motivate a stochastic approach, which results in histograms of sediment-budget estimations, rather than discrete values. The model is validated against small-scale experimental turbidity currents and the 1929 Grand Banks turbidity current. The model performs within acceptable margins of error for sediment-flux predictions at these smallest and largest scales of turbidity currents possible on Earth. Finally, the model is applied to reconstruct the sediment budget related to Cretaceous slope-channel deposits (Tres Pasos Formation, Chile). The results give insight into the likely highly stratified concentration profile and the flow velocity of the Cretaceous turbidity currents that formed the deposits. They also yield estimates of the typical volume of sediment transported through the channels while they were active. These volumes are demonstrated to vary greatly depending on the geologic interpretation of the relation between observable deposit geometries and the dimensions of the flows that formed them. Finally, the shape of the probability density functions of predicted sediment budgets is shown to depend on the geological (un)certainty ranges. Correct geological interpretations of deep marine deposits are therefore indispensable for quantifications of sediment budgets in deep marine systems.</jats:p

Fill, flush, or shuffle: how is sediment carried through submarine channels to build lobes?

Submarine channels are the primary conduits for land-derived material, including organic carbon, pollutants, and nutrients, into the deep-sea. The flows (turbidity currents) that traverse these systems can pose hazards to seafloor infrastructure such as cables and pipelines. Here we use a novel combination of repeat seafloor surveys and turbidity current monitoring along a 50 km-long submarine channel in Bute Inlet, British Columbia, and discharge measurements from the main feeding river. These source-to-sink observations provide the most detailed information yet on magnitude-frequency-distance relationships for turbidity currents, and the spatial-temporal patterns of sediment transport within a submarine channel-lobe system. This analysis provides new insights into mass redistribution, and particle residence times in submarine channels, as well as where particles are eventually buried and how that is recorded in the deposits. We observe stepwise sediment transport down the channel, with turbidity currents becoming progressively less frequent with distance. Most flows dissipate and deposit within the proximal (&lt; 11 km) part of the system, whilst longer run-out flows then pick up this sediment, ‘shuffling’ it further downstream along the channel. This shuffling occurs mainly through upstream migration of knickpoints, which can generate sediment bypass along the channel over timescales of 10–100 yrs. Infrequent large events flush the channel and ultimately transport sediment onto the lobe. These flushing events can occur without obvious triggers, and thus might be internally generated. We then present the first ever sediment budget analysis of an entire submarine channel system, which shows that the river input and lobe aggradation can approximately balance over decadal timescales. We conclude by discussing the implication of this sediment shuffling for seafloor geohazards and particle burial.</p

Morphometric fingerprints and downslope evolution in bathymetric surveys: insights into morphodynamics of the Congo canyon-channel

Submarine canyons and channels are globally important pathways for sediment, organic carbon, nutrients and pollutants to the deep sea, and they form the largest sediment accumulations on Earth. However, studying these remote submarine systems comprehensively remains a challenge. In this study, we used the only complete-coverage and repeated bathymetric surveys yet for a very large submarine system, which is the Congo Fan off West Africa. Our aim is to understand channel-modifying features such as subaqueous landslides, meander-bend evolution, knickpoints and avulsions by analyzing their morphometric characteristics. We used a new approach to identify these channel-modifying features via morphometric fingerprints, which allows a systematic and efficient search in low-resolution bathymetry data. These observations have led us to identify three morphodynamic reaches within the Congo Canyon-Channel. The upper reach of the system is characterized by landslides that can locally block the channel, storing material for extended periods and re-excavating material through a new incised channel. The middle reach of the system is dominated by the sweep and swing of meander bends, although their importance depends on the channel’s age, and the time since the last up-channel avulsion. In the distal and youngest part of the system, an upstream migrating knickpoint is present, which causes multi-stage sediment transport and overspill through an underdeveloped channel with shallow depths. These findings complement previous less-detailed morphometric analyses of the Congo Canyon-Channel, offering a clearer understanding of how submarine canyon-channels can store sediment (due to channel-damming landslides, meander point bars, levee building due to overspill), re-excavate that sediment (via thalweg incision, meander propagation, knickpoint migration) and finally transport it to the deep sea. This improved understanding of the morphodynamics of the Congo Canyon-Channel may help to understand the evolution of other submarine canyon-channels, and assessment of hazards faced by seabed infrastructure such as telecommunication cables