Social–environmental drivers inform strategic management of coral reefs in the Anthropocene

Without drastic efforts to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate globalized stressors, tropical coral reefs are in jeopardy. Strategic conservation and management requires identification of the environmental and socioeconomic factors driving the persistence of scleractinian coral assemblages—the foundation species of coral reef ecosystems. Here, we compiled coral abundance data from 2,584 Indo-Pacific reefs to evaluate the influence of 21 climate, social and environmental drivers on the ecology of reef coral assemblages. Higher abundances of framework-building corals were typically associated with: weaker thermal disturbances and longer intervals for potential recovery; slower human population growth; reduced access by human settlements and markets; and less nearby agriculture. We therefore propose a framework of three management strategies (protect, recover or transform) by considering: (1) if reefs were above or below a proposed threshold of >10% cover of the coral taxa important for structural complexity and carbonate production; and (2) reef exposure to severe thermal stress during the 2014–2017 global coral bleaching event. Our findings can guide urgent management efforts for coral reefs, by identifying key threats across multiple scales and strategic policy priorities that might sustain a network of functioning reefs in the Indo-Pacific to avoid ecosystem collapse

Initial design of an LADM-based 3D Cadastre - Case study from Korea

Korea and The Netherlands have started a 3 year cooperation covering joint research, capacity building and international advisory in the domain of cadastre and land administration with a special focus on 3D developments. At the Korean side the Korea Cadastral Survey Corporation and the University of Seoul are involved, while at the Netherlands side the Kadaster, Delft University of Technology, and the University of Twente (ITC) are involved. These partners have been active during the last decade in a range of cadastre, 3D GIS, and related investigations, pilots, tests, etc. The Republic of Korea has also formulated a policy of a 3D NSDI (National Spatial Data Infrastructure), which forms the context for further cadastre developments. Similarly, in the last two to three years in the Netherlands a national 3D pilot has been conducted resulting among others in the inclusion of 3D in model of the BGT (base register for large scale topography). These are excellent environments to design 3D cadastral solutions as the 3D cadastral parcels (3D legal spaces) are often related to (planned) physical objects; such as buildings, tunnels, pipelines and other constructions. For reference (and consistency) purposes the 3D legal objects and their 3D physical counterparts should be associated. This implies at least two aspects: 1. the 3D physical object descriptions (topographic objects) should exists, which is not obvious as in most countries the large scale topographic base map is still 2D, and 2. the topographic objects should be usable and reference-able even when the data is maintained by other organizations. The Land Administration Domain Model (LADM, ISO 19152) supports SDI implementations as the information infrastructure requires in the model (and the system that maintains data within the model): unique id’s for all objects, full database history (versioning), and blueprints of external classes. This besides the fact the standard provides the semantics of land administration data to other users within the SDI. After completing the first step the Korean 3D Cadastre Pilot Project, with focus on describing use cases and collecting 3D data for selected cases to populate the prototype systems to gain experience and support, the second step must now further provide a 3D cadastre application model (together with a legal and systemic alignment strategy). In the context of the reform of the Korean cadastre we (further) investigate the potential use of the ISO LADM standard, for both 2D and 3D representation. This paper presents our plans for the design of an LADM-based 3D extension to the cadastral registration in Korea. Note that in Annex D9 of the ISO LADM, 2012, there is already a very first version of a Korean country profile.OTB ResearchOTB Research Institute for the Built Environmen

Predictive value of baseline serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 level on treatment effect of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in patients with resectable and borderline resectable pancreatic cancer in two randomized trials

In two RCTs, comparing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) with upfront surgery in patients with resectable and borderline resectable pancreatic cancers, CRT was associated with better survival. There was no difference in treatment effect between patients with a baseline CA19-9 level higher or lower than 500 units/ml, meaning that neoadjuvant CRT should not be withheld because of a low CA19-9 concentration.Background Guidelines suggest that the serum carbohydrate antigen (CA19-9) level should be used when deciding on neoadjuvant treatment in patients with resectable and borderline resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (hereafter referred to as pancreatic cancer). In patients with resectable pancreatic cancer, neoadjuvant therapy is advised when the CA19-9 level is 'markedly elevated'. This study investigated the impact of baseline CA19-9 concentration on the treatment effect of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients with resectable and borderline resectable pancreatic cancers. Methods In this post hoc analysis, data were obtained from two RCTs that compared neoadjuvant CRT with upfront surgery in patients with resectable and borderline resectable pancreatic cancers. The effect of neoadjuvant treatment on overall survival was compared between patients with a serum CA19-9 level above or below 500 units/ml using the interaction test. Results Of 296 patients, 179 were eligible for analysis, 90 in the neoadjuvant CRT group and 89 in the upfront surgery group. Neoadjuvant CRT was associated with superior overall survival (HR 0.67, 95 per cent c.i. 0.48 to 0.94; P = 0.019). Among 127 patients (70, 9 per cent) with a low CA19-9 level, median overall survival was 23.5 months with neoadjuvant CRT and 16.3 months with upfront surgery (HR 0.63, 0.42 to 0.93). For 52 patients (29 per cent) with a high CA19-9 level, median overall survival was 15.5 months with neoadjuvant CRT and 12.9 months with upfront surgery (HR 0.82, 0.45 to 1.49). The interaction test for CA19-9 level exceeding 500 units/ml on the treatment effect of neoadjuvant CRT was not significant (P = 0.501). Conclusion Baseline serum CA19-9 level defined as either high or low has prognostic value, but was not associated with the treatment effect of neoadjuvant CRT in patients with resectable and borderline resectable pancreatic cancers, in contrast with current guideline advice.Surgical oncolog