Results of the 2016 Indianapolis Biodiversity Survey, Marion County, Indiana

Surprising biodiversity can be found in cities, but urban habitats are understudied. We report on a bioblitz conducted primarily within a 24-hr period on September 16 and 17, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. The event focused on stretches of three waterways and their associated riparian habitat: Fall Creek (20.6 ha; 51 acres), Pleasant Run (23.5 ha; 58 acres), and Pogue’s Run (27.1 ha; 67 acres). Over 75 scientists, naturalists, students, and citizen volunteers comprised 14 different taxonomic teams. Five hundred ninety taxa were documented despite the rainy conditions. A brief summary of the methods and findings are presented here. Detailed maps of survey locations and inventory results are available on the Indiana Academy of Science website (https://www.indianaacademyofscience.org/)

Performance evaluation of a waste-heat driven adsorption system for automotive air-conditioning: Part II - Performance optimization under different real driving conditions

[EN] In this part, Part 11, of a two-part study, the validated model of part I is integrated into a general vehicle model in order to predict the performance of the system under real driving conditions. The overall model takes into account all the system components to simulate the dynamic performance of the entire system and predict the cabin temperature at the available waste heat. The system was implemented in a Fiat Grande Punto vehicle and the experimental tests were performed at the Centro Ricerche Fiat (CRF), Italy laboratories. Different design configurations were investigated to explore further improvements of the performance. Results showed that the model was able to well predict the transient performance of the system under different start-up and ambient conditions as well as the normal operating conditions. Using two radiators instead of one radiator increases the cooling capacity by 7.0% and decreases the cabin temperature by 9.1%. At the warming up period, the adsorption system faces serious difficulties to start producing the required cooling. Possible strategies to avoid this problem were studied and compared. In general, it has been proved that the amount of engine waste heat available is sufficient to produce enough cooling to keep reasonably comfortable temperatures in the cabin. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This work has been partially supported by the Thermally Operated Mobile Air Conditioning Systems (TOPMACS). The authors are very grateful to the Energy Research Center of Netherlands (ECN) for their support with the experimental work.This work has been partially supported by the Thermally Operated Mobile Air Conditioning Systems (TOPMACS). The authors are very grateful to the Energy Research Center of Netherlands (ECN) for their support in the experimental work.Verde Trindade, M.; Harby Mohamed Abd Alaal, K.; De Boer, R.; Corberán, JM. (2016). Performance evaluation of a waste-heat driven adsorption system for automotive air-conditioning: Part II - Performance optimization under different real driving conditions. Energy. 115:996-1009. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2016.09.086S996100911

Optimization of thermal design and geometrical parameters of a flat tube-fin adsorbent bed for automobile air-conditioning

Adsorbent bed design and performance strongly affect the overall performance of adsorption systems. In the present study, an analytical model was developed to determine the optimum geometrical and thermal parameters of a flat tube-fin adsorbent bed to reach the maximum system performance. This types of heat exchangers offer substantial reduced in weight, cost, volume and thermal conductivity, which can make them a good choice for adsorbent beds in automobile applications. Results showed that the overall thermal conductance of the bed and the maximum practical specific cooling capacity increased when reducing in flat tube thickness and fin pitch as well as by increasing in fin thickness and water channel wall thickness. The specific thermal conductance increased by 2.5% when reducing the channel pitch from its design value to a minimum permissible (0.004 m). From thermal parameters that have been studied, the adsorbent thermal conductivity is the most sensitive parameter to the specific thermal conductance in beds. The system performance also significantly enhanced by reducing the mass of the metal bed and the heat transfer fluids as well as the desorption heat of the selecting working pair. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This work has been partially supported by the Thermally Operated Mobile Air Conditioning Systems (TOPMACS).Verde Trindade, M.; Harby Mohamed Abd Alaal, K.; Corberán, JM. (2017). Optimization of thermal design and geometrical parameters of a flat tube-fin adsorbent bed for automobile air-conditioning. Applied Thermal Engineering. 111:489-502. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.09.099S48950211

Digital Twin of a Network and Operating Environment Using Augmented Reality

We demonstrate the digital twin of a network, network elements, and operating environment using machine learning. We achieve network card failure localization and remote collaboration over 86 km of fiber using augmented reality

Performance evaluation of a waste-heat driven adsorption system for automotive air-conditioning: Part I - Modeling and experimental validation

[EN] Adsorption systems driven by engine waste heat are one of the possible alternatives to the conventional automobile air conditioning in terms of energy savings and environmental issues. Assessment of this issue are carried in a two-part study. In this first part I, theoretical and experimental investigations were performed on a two bed, silica gel adsorption chiller for automotive applications. A prototype adsorption system with a total weight of about 86 kg was developed and tested to driven by low-grade waste heat. The single adsorbent bed consisted of three plate-fin heat exchangers connected in parallel. An improved non-equilibrium lumped parameter model was developed to predict the transient performance of the system. The model is fully dynamic and takes into account the mass transfer resistance and pressure drop for each component of the system. The results showed that the model is able to accurately predict the dynamic performance of the system under different operating conditions and configuration modes with a short calculation time. The tested chiller was able to produce an average cooling capacity of about 2.1 kW with a COP of 0.35 at the rated operating conditions. Heat recovery system results in increasing the COP by 43% and the cooling power by 4%. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This work has been partially supported by the European project TOPMACS-Thermally Operated Mobile Air-Conditioning Systems, funded by the European Comission under the 6th European Community framework program FP6-SUSTDEV - Sustainable Development, Global Change and Ecosystems: thematic priority 6 under the Focusing and Integrating Community Research programme 2002-2006. (Contract Ref. TST4-CT-2005-012471. The authors are very grateful to the Energy Research Center of Netherlands (ECN) for their support in the experimental work.Verde Trindade, M.; Harby Mohamed Abd Alaal, K.; De Boer, R.; Corberán, JM. (2016). Performance evaluation of a waste-heat driven adsorption system for automotive air-conditioning: Part I - Modeling and experimental validation. Energy. 116:526-538. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2016.09.113S52653811

The effects of breastfeeding on retinoblastoma development: Results from an international multicenter retinoblastoma survey

The protective effects of breastfeeding on various childhood malignancies have been established but an association has not yet been determined for retinoblastoma (RB). We aimed to further investigate the role of breastfeeding in the severity of nonhereditary RB development, assessing relationship to (1) age at diagnosis, (2) ocular prognosis, measured by International Intraocular RB Classification (IIRC) or Intraocular Classification of RB (ICRB) group and success of eye salvage, and (3) extraocular involvement. Analyses were performed on a global dataset subgroup of 344 RB patients whose legal guardian(s) consented to answer a neonatal questionnaire. Patients with undetermined or mixed feeding history, family history of RB, or sporadic bilateral RB were excluded. There was no statistically significant difference between breastfed and formula-fed groups in (1) age at diagnosis (p = 0.20), (2) ocular prognosis measures of IIRC/ICRB group (p = 0.62) and success of eye salvage (p = 0.16), or (3) extraocular involvement shown by International Retinoblastoma Staging System (IRSS) at presentation (p = 0.74), lymph node involvement (p = 0.20), and distant metastases (p = 0.37). This study suggests that breastfeeding neither impacts the sporadic development nor is associated with a decrease in the severity of nonhereditary RB as measured by age at diagnosis, stage of disease, ocular prognosis, and extraocular spread. A further exploration into the impact of diet on children who develop RB is warranted

Travel burden and clinical presentation of retinoblastoma: analysis of 1024 patients from 43 African countries and 518 patients from 40 European countries

BACKGROUND: The travel distance from home to a treatment centre, which may impact the stage at diagnosis, has not been investigated for retinoblastoma, the most common childhood eye cancer. We aimed to investigate the travel burden and its impact on clinical presentation in a large sample of patients with retinoblastoma from Africa and Europe. METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis including 518 treatment-naïve patients with retinoblastoma residing in 40 European countries and 1024 treatment-naïve patients with retinoblastoma residing in 43 African countries. RESULTS: Capture rate was 42.2% of expected patients from Africa and 108.8% from Europe. African patients were older (95% CI -12.4 to -5.4, p<0.001), had fewer cases of familial retinoblastoma (95% CI 2.0 to 5.3, p<0.001) and presented with more advanced disease (95% CI 6.0 to 9.8, p<0.001); 43.4% and 15.4% of Africans had extraocular retinoblastoma and distant metastasis at the time of diagnosis, respectively, compared to 2.9% and 1.0% of the Europeans. To reach a retinoblastoma centre, European patients travelled 421.8 km compared to Africans who travelled 185.7 km (p<0.001). On regression analysis, lower-national income level, African residence and older age (p<0.001), but not travel distance (p=0.19), were risk factors for advanced disease. CONCLUSIONS: Fewer than half the expected number of patients with retinoblastoma presented to African referral centres in 2017, suggesting poor awareness or other barriers to access. Despite the relatively shorter distance travelled by African patients, they presented with later-stage disease. Health education about retinoblastoma is needed for carers and health workers in Africa in order to increase capture rate and promote early referral

Global Retinoblastoma Presentation and Analysis by National Income Level

Importance: Early diagnosis of retinoblastoma, the most common intraocular cancer, can save both a child's life and vision. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that many children across the world are diagnosed late. To our knowledge, the clinical presentation of retinoblastoma has never been assessed on a global scale. Objectives: To report the retinoblastoma stage at diagnosis in patients across the world during a single year, to investigate associations between clinical variables and national income level, and to investigate risk factors for advanced disease at diagnosis. Design, Setting, and Participants: A total of 278 retinoblastoma treatment centers were recruited from June 2017 through December 2018 to participate in a cross-sectional analysis of treatment-naive patients with retinoblastoma who were diagnosed in 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures: Age at presentation, proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, and tumor stage and metastasis. Results: The cohort included 4351 new patients from 153 countries; the median age at diagnosis was 30.5 (interquartile range, 18.3-45.9) months, and 1976 patients (45.4%) were female. Most patients (n = 3685 [84.7%]) were from low- A nd middle-income countries (LMICs). Globally, the most common indication for referral was leukocoria (n = 2638 [62.8%]), followed by strabismus (n = 429 [10.2%]) and proptosis (n = 309 [7.4%]). Patients from high-income countries (HICs) were diagnosed at a median age of 14.1 months, with 656 of 666 (98.5%) patients having intraocular retinoblastoma and 2 (0.3%) having metastasis. Patients from low-income countries were diagnosed at a median age of 30.5 months, with 256 of 521 (49.1%) having extraocular retinoblastoma and 94 of 498 (18.9%) having metastasis. Lower national income level was associated with older presentation age, higher proportion of locally advanced disease and distant metastasis, and smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma. Advanced disease at diagnosis was more common in LMICs even after adjusting for age (odds ratio for low-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 17.92 [95% CI, 12.94-24.80], and for lower-middle-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 5.74 [95% CI, 4.30-7.68]). Conclusions and Relevance: This study is estimated to have included more than half of all new retinoblastoma cases worldwide in 2017. Children from LMICs, where the main global retinoblastoma burden lies, presented at an older age with more advanced disease and demonstrated a smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, likely because many do not reach a childbearing age. Given that retinoblastoma is curable, these data are concerning and mandate intervention at national and international levels. Further studies are needed to investigate factors, other than age at presentation, that may be associated with advanced disease in LMICs

Global overview of the management of acute cholecystitis during the COVID-19 pandemic (CHOLECOVID study)

Background: This study provides a global overview of the management of patients with acute cholecystitis during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: CHOLECOVID is an international, multicentre, observational comparative study of patients admitted to hospital with acute cholecystitis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data on management were collected for a 2-month study interval coincident with the WHO declaration of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and compared with an equivalent pre-pandemic time interval. Mediation analysis examined the influence of SARS-COV-2 infection on 30-day mortality. Results: This study collected data on 9783 patients with acute cholecystitis admitted to 247 hospitals across the world. The pandemic was associated with reduced availability of surgical workforce and operating facilities globally, a significant shift to worse severity of disease, and increased use of conservative management. There was a reduction (both absolute and proportionate) in the number of patients undergoing cholecystectomy from 3095 patients (56.2 per cent) pre-pandemic to 1998 patients (46.2 per cent) during the pandemic but there was no difference in 30-day all-cause mortality after cholecystectomy comparing the pre-pandemic interval with the pandemic (13 patients (0.4 per cent) pre-pandemic to 13 patients (0.6 per cent) pandemic; P = 0.355). In mediation analysis, an admission with acute cholecystitis during the pandemic was associated with a non-significant increased risk of death (OR 1.29, 95 per cent c.i. 0.93 to 1.79, P = 0.121). Conclusion: CHOLECOVID provides a unique overview of the treatment of patients with cholecystitis across the globe during the first months of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The study highlights the need for system resilience in retention of elective surgical activity. Cholecystectomy was associated with a low risk of mortality and deferral of treatment results in an increase in avoidable morbidity that represents the non-COVID cost of this pandemic