Using species richness and functional traits predictions to constrain assemblage predictions from stacked species distribution models

Aim: Modelling species at the assemblage level is required to make effective forecast of global change impacts on diversity and ecosystem functioning. Community predictions may be achieved using macroecological properties of communities (MEM), or by stacking of individual species distribution models (S-SDMs). To obtain more realistic predictions of species assemblages, the SESAM framework suggests applying successive filters to the initial species source pool, by combining different modelling approaches and rules. Here we provide a first test of this framework in mountain grassland communities. Location: The western Swiss Alps. Methods: Two implementations of the SESAM framework were tested: a "Probability ranking" rule based on species richness predictions and rough probabilities from SDMs, and a "Trait range" rule that uses the predicted upper and lower bound of community-level distribution of three different functional traits (vegetative height, specific leaf area and seed mass) to constraint a pool of environmentally filtered species from binary SDMs predictions. Results: We showed that all independent constraints expectedly contributed to reduce species richness overprediction. Only the "Probability ranking" rule allowed slightly but significantly improving predictions of community composition. Main conclusion: We tested various ways to implement the SESAM framework by integrating macroecological constraints into S-SDM predictions, and report one that is able to improve compositional predictions. We discuss possible improvements, such as further improving the causality and precision of environmental predictors, using other assembly rules and testing other types of ecological or functional constraints

Outbreak among drug users caused by a clonal strain of group A streptococcus.

We describe an outbreak among drug users of severe soft-tissue infections caused by a clonal strain of group A streptococcus of M-type 25. Cases (n = 19) in drug users were defined as infections (mainly needle abscesses) due to the outbreak strain. Comparison with controls showed that infected drug users bought drugs more often at a specific place. Drug purchase and use habits may have contributed to this outbreak

Disentangling the processes driving plant assemblages in mountain grasslands across spatial scales and environmental gradients

1. Habitat filtering and limiting similarity are well-documented ecological assembly processes that hierarchically filter species across spatial scales, from a regional pool to local assemblages. However, information on the effects of fine-scale spatial partitioning of species, working as an additional mechanism of coexistence, on community patterns, is much scarcer. 2. In this study, we quantified the importance of fine-scale spatial partitioning, relative to habitat filtering and limiting similarity, in structuring grassland communities in the western Swiss Alps. To do so, 298 vegetation plots (2 m × 2 m ) each with five nested subplots (20 cm × 20 cm) were used for trait based assembly tests (i.e. comparisons with several alternative null expectations), examining the observed plot and subplot level α-diversity (indicating habitat filtering and limiting similarity) and the between-subplot β-diversity of traits (indicating fine-scale spatial partitioning). We further assessed variations in the detected signatures of these assembly processes along a set of environmental gradients. 3. We found habitat filtering to be the dominating assembly process at the plot level with diminished effect at the subplot level, while limiting similarity prevailed at the subplot level with weaker average effect at the plot level. Plot-level limiting similarity was positively correlated with fine-scale partitioning suggesting that the trait divergence may result from a combination of competitive exclusion between functionally similar species and environmental micro-heterogeneities. Overall, signatures of assembly processes only marginally changed along environmental gradients but the observed trends were more prominent at the plot than at the subplot scale. Synthesis: Our study emphasises the importance of considering multiple assembly processes and traits simultaneously across spatial scales and environmental gradients to understand the complex drivers of plant community composition

Risks management and cobots. Identifying critical variables

Trabajo presentado en: 29th European Safety and Reliability Conference (ESREL), 22–26 September 2019, HannoverA collaborative robot or a "Cobot" is the name of a robot that can share a workspace with operators in the absence of a protective fence or with only partial protection. They represent a new and expanding sector of industrial robotics. This investigation draws from the latest international rules and safety parameters related to work with collaborative robots. Its detailed research is motivated by the design of a collaborative industrial robot system, hazard elimination, risk reduction, and different collaborative operations, such as power and force limiting, collaborative operation design, and end-effector safety requirements, among others. The purpose of our study is to analyze the most important variables that must be controlled in accordance with the desired use of the Cobot, according to ISO / TS 15066, ISO / TR 20218-1and some other generic safety regulations on machines and industrial robots. A series of observations and appreciations on the use of the Cobot will also be presented

Hyperpolarized 83Kr magnetic resonance imaging of alveolar degradation in a rat model of emphysema

Hyperpolarized 83Kr surface quadrupolar relaxation (SQUARE) generates MRI contrast that was previously shown to correlate to surface to volume ratios in porous model surface systems. The underlying physics of SQUARE contrast is conceptually different from any other current MRI methodology as the method utilizes the nuclear electric properties of the spin I = 9/2 isotope 83Kr. To explore the usage of this non-radioactive isotope for pulmonary pathophysiology, MRI SQUARE contrast was acquired in excised rat lungs obtained from an elastase induced model of emphysema. A significant 83Kr T1 relaxation time increase in the SQUARE contrast was found in the elastase treated lungs compared to the baseline data from control lungs. The SQUARE contrast suggests a reduction in pulmonary surface to volume ratio in the emphysema model that was validated by histology. The finding supports usage of 83Kr SQUARE as new biomarker for surface to volume ratio changes in emphysema

Digital Holography and artificial intelligence for real-time detection and identification of pathogenic airborne spores

Ever-growing concerns and governmental restrictions related to the use of pesticides in modern agriculture has driven the need for more adept decision-making tools to minimize unnecessary treatments whilst still efficiently preventing a spread of infection. To this effect, a network of cost-effective, laser-based holographic detectors were developed and placed in vineyards in Switzerland and France with the objective of detecting and identifying airborne spores of downy and powdery mildew before they have the potential to infect crops. The data collected are remotely sent to a server where image processing techniques and artificial intelligence classify the spores and determine the quantitative intervention thresholds. Knowledge on the quantitative development of fungal diseases has been successfully used to temporally and spatially identify the primary infection of downy mildew which was confirmed by a visual evaluation of symptoms within the parcel. This data coupled with the current risk prediction models provide farmers with a powerful decision-making tool to optimise strategies in the management of grapevine diseases

Analysis of latent tuberculosis and mycobacterium avium infection data using mixture models

BACKGROUND: Estimation of the frequency of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is difficult in areas with low tuberculosis infection rates and high exposure to non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), including BCG vaccination. The objective was to assess LTBI and M avium infection and to estimate their probability based on skin tests responses in an infant population from a region with the aforementioned characteristics. METHODS: A population-based tuberculin skin test (TST) and sensitin (M avium) survey was conducted on seven years old infants in Biscay, a province from The Basque Country (Spain). 2268 schoolchildren received sensitin and 5277 TST. Participation rate was 89%. Commonly used estimation methods were compared with a method based on the fit of mixture models using the Expectation Maximization algorithm. Functions estimating the probabilities of LTBI and M avium infection given the observed skin tests responses were developed for vaccinated and unvaccinated children. RESULTS: LTBI prevalences varied widely according to the estimation method. The mixture model provided prevalences higher than expected although intermediates between those obtained by currently recommended approaches. Exposure to previous BCG vaccine produces an upward shift of an average of about 3 mm on the induration size to attain the same probability of infection. CONCLUSION: Our results confirm the commonplace exposure to NTM which effect should be taken into account when performing and assessing tuberculin surveys. The use of mixture analysis under the empirical Bayes framework allows to better estimate the probability of LTBI in settings with presence of other NTM and high BCG-vaccination coverage. An estimation of the average effect of BCG vaccination on TST induration is also provided. These models maximise information coming from classical tuberculin surveys and could be used together with the newly developed blood tests to improve survey's specificity and cost-effectiveness

Lichenological exploration of Algeria: historical overview and annotated bibliography, 1799-2013

yesDespite more than two centuries of almost uninterrupted surveys and studies of Algerian lichenology, the history and lichen diversity of Algeria are still poorly understood. During the preparation of a forthcoming checklist of Algerian lichens it was considered necessary to provide the present historical overview of lichenological exploration of the country from 1799 to 2013, supported by a reasonably comprehensive annotated bibliography of 171 titles

Annual Risk of Tuberculous Infection Using Different Methods in Communities with a High Prevalence of TB and HIV in Zambia and South Africa

BACKGROUND: The annual risk of tuberculous infection (ARTI) is a key epidemiological indicator of the extent of transmission in a community. Several methods have been suggested to estimate the prevalence of tuberculous infection using tuberculin skin test data. This paper explores the implications of using different methods to estimate prevalence of infection and ARTI. The effect of BCG vaccination on these estimates is also investigated. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Tuberculin surveys among school children in 16 communities in Zambia and 8 in South Africa (SA) were performed in 2005, as part of baseline data collection and for randomisation purposes of the ZAMSTAR study. Infection prevalence and ARTI estimates were calculated using five methods: different cut-offs with or without adjustments for sensitivity, the mirror method, and mixture analysis. A total of 49,835 children were registered for the surveys, of which 25,048 (50%) had skin tests done and 22,563 (90%) of those tested were read. Infection prevalence was higher in the combined SA than Zambian communities. The mirror method resulted in the least difference of 7.8%, whereas that estimated by the cut-off methods varied from 12.2% to 17.3%. The ARTI in the Zambian and SA communities was between 0.8% and 2.8% and 2.5% and 4.2% respectively, depending on the method used. In the SA communities, the ARTI was higher among the younger children. BCG vaccination had little effect on these estimates. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: ARTI estimates are dependent on the calculation method used. All methods agreed that there were substantial differences in infection prevalence across the communities, with higher rates in SA. Although TB notification rates have increased over the past decades, the difference in cumulative exposure between younger and older children is less dramatic and a rise in risk of infection in parallel with the estimated incidence of active tuberculosis cannot be excluded