Antenatal automatic diagnosis of cleft lip via unsupervised clustering method relying on 3D facial soft tissue landmarks

Objectives Ultrasound (US) is the first-choice device to detect different types of facial dysmorphisms. Anyway, at present no standard protocol has been defined for automatic nor semi-automatic diagnosis. Even though the practitioner's contribution is core, steps towards automatism are to be undertaken. We propose a methodology for diagnosing cleft lip on 3D US scans. Methods A bounded Depth Minimum Steiner Trees (D-MST) clustering algorithm is proposed for discriminating groups of 3D US faces relying on the presence/absence of a cleft lip. The analysis of 3D facial surfaces via Differential Geometry is adopted to extract landmarks. Thus, the extracted geometrical information is elaborated to feed the unsupervised clustering algorithm and produce the classification. The clustering returns the probability of being affected by the pathology, allowing physicians to focus their attention on risky individuals for further analysis. Results The feasibility is tested upon the available 3D US scans data and then deeply investigated for a large dataset of adult individuals. 3D facial Bosphorus database is chosen for the testing, which seven cleft lip-affected individuals are added to, by artificially creating the defect. The algorithm correctly separates left and right-sided cleft lips, while healthy individuals create a unique cluster; thus, the method shows accurate diagnosis results. Conclusions Even if further testing is to be performed on tailored datasets made exclusively of fetal images, this techniques gives hefty hints for a future tailored algorithm. This method also fosters the investigation of the scientific formalisation of the "normotype", which is the representative face of a class of individuals, collecting all the principal anthropometric facial measurements, in order to recognise a normal or syndromic fetus

Time-restricted eating effects on performance, immune function, and body composition in elite cyclists: a randomized controlled trial

Background: Although there is substantial interest in intermittent fasting as a dietary approach in active individuals, information regarding its effects in elite endurance athletes is currently unavailable. The present parallel randomized trial investigated the effects of a particular intermittent fasting approach, called time-restricted eating (TRE), during 4 weeks of high-level endurance training. Methods: Sixteen elite under-23 cyclists were randomly assigned either to a TRE group or a control group (ND). The TRE group consumed 100% of its estimated daily energy needs in an 8-h time window (from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.) whilst energy intake in the ND group was distributed in 3 meals consumed between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Fat and fat-free mass were estimated by bioelectrical impedance analysis and VO2max and basal metabolism by indirect gas analyzer. In addition, blood counts, anabolic hormones (i.e. free testosterone, IGF-1) and inflammatory markers (i.e. IL-6, TNF-α) were assessed. Results: TRE reduced body weight (− 2%; p = 0.04) and fat mass percentage (− 1.1%; p = 0.01) with no change in fat-free mass. Performance tests showed no significant differences between groups, however the peak power output/body weight ratio (PPO/BW) improved in TRE group due to weight loss (p = 0.02). Free testosterone and IGF-1 decreased significantly (p = 0.01 and p = 0.03 respectively) in TRE group. Leucocyte count decreased in ND group (p = 0.02) whilst the neutrophils-to-lymphocytes ratio (NLR) decreased significantly (p = 0.03) in TRE group. Conclusions: Our results suggest that a TRE program with an 8-h feeding window elicits weight loss, improves body composition and increases PPO/BW in elite cyclists. TRE could also be beneficial for reducing inflammation and may have a protective effect on some components of the immune system. Overall, TRE could be considered as a component of a periodized nutrition plan in endurance athletes. Trial registration: This trial was retrospectively registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT04320784 on 25 March 2020

Information systems project manager soft competencies: A project-phase investigation

This article investigates the soft competencies by project phase that information systems (IS) project managers require for project success. The authors conducted 33 qualitative interviews to collect data from a sample of 22 IS project managers and business leaders located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The authors identified the key competencies for each of the IS project phases (initiation, planning, implementation, and close- out). The competencies were sorted into competency categories: personal attributes (e.g., eye for details), communication (e.g., effective questioning), leadership (e.g., create an effective project environment), negotiations (e.g., consensus building), professionalism (e.g., lifelong learning), social skills (e.g., charisma), and project management competencies (e.g., manage expectations). Each of the most important competencies is discussed and interconnections among competencies identified. How this research can be used by the practitioner and academic communities and the broader implications of this research are examined. © 2009 by the Project Management Institute

Boreal forest soil carbon fluxes one year after a wildfire: Effects of burn severity and management

The extreme 2018 hot drought that affected central and northern Europe led to the worst wildfire season in Sweden in over a century. The Ljusdal fire complex, the largest area burnt that year (8995 ha), offered a rare opportunity to quantify the combined impacts of wildfire and post-fire management on Scandinavian boreal forests. We present chamber measurements of soil CO2 and CH4 fluxes, soil microclimate and nutrient content from five Pinus sylvestris sites for the first growing season after the fire. We analysed the effects of three factors on forest soils: burn severity, salvage-logging and stand age. None of these caused significant differences in soil CH4 uptake. Soil respiration, however, declined significantly after a high-severity fire (complete tree mortality) but not after a low-severity fire (no tree mortality), despite substantial losses of the organic layer. Tree root respiration is thus key in determining post-fire soil CO2 emissions and may benefit, along with heterotrophic respiration, from the nutrient pulse after a low-severity fire. Salvage-logging after a high-severity fire had no significant effects on soil carbon fluxes, microclimate or nutrient content compared with leaving the dead trees standing, although differences are expected to emerge in the long term. In contrast, the impact of stand age was substantial: a young burnt stand experienced more extreme microclimate, lower soil nutrient supply and significantly lower soil respiration than a mature burnt stand, due to a thinner organic layer and the decade-long effects of a previous clear-cut and soil scarification. Disturbance history and burn severity are, therefore, important factors for predicting changes in the boreal forest carbon sink after wildfires. The presented short-term effects and ongoing monitoring will provide essential information for sustainable management strategies in response to the increasing risk of wildfire

Root growth and crop performance of soybean under chemical, physical, and biological changes after subsoiling.

Chemical, physical and biological soil attributes can facilitate soybean root growth in greater volume and depth in the soil, which can minimize yield reduction caused by water deficit. Soil management can contribute positively or negatively to these soil attributes. The aim of this work was to evaluate the root growth and crop performance of soybean, in response to chemical, physical and biological changes after subsoiling at different depths. At the R5 phenological stage, trenches were made for sampling and soil collection for chemical, physical and biological analysis and root growth was carried out. At V5, V7, R2 and R5 stages, plants were collected to evaluate height, leaf area and dry mass. At V5, stage number and dry mass of the nodules were evaluated. Subsoiling increased pH and Ca, and decreased Al in the soil, resulted in higher relative density and did not affect in mechanical penetration resistance compared to non-subsoiled soil. Basal respiration and soybean nodulation were higher in the subsoiled soil. Up to 15 cm depth, there were 87.91% of the total root dry mass and 78.79% of the total root volume. Initial and final plant growth were the same in subsoiled and non-subsoiled soil. Number of nodules in the subsoiled soil was 28% higher than in the non-subsoiled soil. Under these study conditions, subsoiling provides lower root growth but benefits grain yield

Precision restoration: a necessary approach to foster forest recovery in the 21st century

We thank S. Tabik, E. Guirado, and Garnata Drone SL for fruitful debates about the application of remote sensing and artificial intelligence in restoration. E. McKeown looked over the English version of the manuscript. Original drawings were made by J. D. Guerrero. This work was supported by projects RESISTE (P18-RT-1927) from the Consejeria de Economia, Conocimiento, y Universidad from the Junta de Andalucia, and AVA201601.19 (NUTERA-DE I), DETECTOR (A-RNM-256-UGR18), and AVA2019.004 (NUTERA-DE II), cofinanced (80%) by the FEDER Program. F.M.-R. acknowledges the support of the Agreement 4580 between OTRI-UGR and the city council of La Zubia. We thank an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments that improved the manuscript.Forest restoration is currently a primary objective in environmental management policies at a global scale, to the extent that impressive initiatives and commitments have been launched to plant billions of trees. However, resources are limited and the success of any restoration effort should be maximized. Thus, restoration programs should seek to guarantee that what is planted today will become an adult tree in the future, a simple fact that, however, usually receives little attention. Here, we advocate for the need to focus restoration efforts on an individual plant level to increase establishment success while reducing negative side effects by using an approach that we term “precision forest restoration” (PFR). The objective of PFR will be to ensure that planted seedlings or sowed seeds will become adult trees with the appropriate landscape configuration to create functional and self-regulating forest ecosystems while reducing the negative impacts of traditional massive reforestation actions. PFR can take advantage of ecological knowledge together with technologies and methodologies from the landscape scale to the individual- plant scale, and from the more traditional, low-tech approaches to the latest high-tech ones. PFR may be more expensive at the level of individual plants, but will be more cost-effective in the long term if it allows for the creation of resilient forests able to providemultiple ecosystemservices. PFR was not feasible a few years ago due to the high cost and low precision of the available technologies, but it is currently an alternative that might reformulate a wide spectrum of ecosystem restoration activities.Junta de Andalucia P18-RT-1927European Commission AVA201601.19 A-RNM-256-UGR18 AVA2019.004OTRI-UGR 4580city council of La Zubia 458