The 2015 Annual Meeting of SETAC German Language Branch in Zurich (7-10 September, 2015): ecotoxicology and environmental chemistry-from research to application

This report provides a brief review of the 20th annual meeting of the German Language Branch of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC GLB) held from September 7th to 10th 2015 at ETH (Swiss Technical University) in Zurich, Switzerland. The event was chaired by Inge Werner, Director of the Swiss Centre for Applied Ecotoxicology (Ecotox Centre) Eawag-EPFL, and organized by a team from Ecotox Centre, Eawag, Federal Office of the Environment, Federal Office of Agriculture, and Mesocosm GmbH (Germany). Over 200 delegates from academia, public agencies and private industry of Germany, Switzerland and Austria attended and discussed the current state of science and its application presented in 75 talks and 83 posters. In addition, three invited keynote speakers provided new insights into scientific knowledge ‘brokering’, and—as it was the International Year of Soil—the important role of healthy soil ecosystems. Awards were presented to young scientists for best oral and poster presentations, and for best 2014 master and doctoral theses. Program and abstracts of the meeting (mostly in German) are provided as Additional file 1

Direct cooling of the catheter tip increases safety for CMR-guided electrophysiological procedures

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>One of the safety concerns when performing electrophysiological (EP) procedures under magnetic resonance (MR) guidance is the risk of passive tissue heating due to the EP catheter being exposed to the radiofrequency (RF) field of the RF transmitting body coil. Ablation procedures that use catheters with irrigated tips are well established therapeutic options for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias and when used in a modified mode might offer an additional system for suppressing passive catheter heating.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A two-step approach was chosen. Firstly, tests on passive catheter heating were performed in a 1.5 T Avanto system (Siemens Healthcare Sector, Erlangen, Germany) using a ASTM Phantom in order to determine a possible maximum temperature rise. Secondly, a phantom was designed for simulation of the interface between blood and the vascular wall. The MR-RF induced temperature rise was simulated by catheter tip heating via a standard ablation generator. Power levels from 1 to 6 W were selected. Ablation duration was 120 s with no tip irrigation during the first 60 s and irrigation at rates from 2 ml/min to 35 ml/min for the remaining 60 s (Biotronik Qiona Pump, Berlin, Germany). The temperature was measured with fluoroscopic sensors (Luxtron, Santa Barbara, CA, USA) at a distance of 0 mm, 2 mm, 4 mm, and 6 mm from the catheter tip.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A maximum temperature rise of 22.4°C at the catheter tip was documented in the MR scanner. This temperature rise is equivalent to the heating effect of an ablator's power output of 6 W at a contact force of the weight of 90 g (0.883 N). The catheter tip irrigation was able to limit the temperature rise to less than 2°C for the majority of examined power levels, and for all examined power levels the residual temperature rise was less than 8°C.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Up to a maximum of 22.4°C, the temperature rise at the tissue surface can be entirely suppressed by using the catheter's own irrigation system. The irrigated tip system can be used to increase MR safety of EP catheters by suppressing the effects of unwanted passive catheter heating due to RF exposure from the MR scanner.</p

Asset Finder: A Search Tool forFinding Relevant Graphical AssetsUsing Automated Image Labelling

The creation of digital 3D-environments appears in a variety of contexts such as movie making, video game development, advertising, architecture, infrastructure planning and education. When creating these environments it is sometimes necessary to search for graphical assets in big digital libraries by trying different search terms. The goal of this project is to provide an alternative way to find graphical assets by creating a tool called Asset Finder that allows the user to search using images instead of words. The Asset Finder uses image labelling provided by the Google Vision API to find relevant search terms. The tool then uses synonyms and related words to increase the amount of search terms using the WordNet database. Finally the results are presented in order of relevance using a score system. The tool is a web application with an interface that is easy to use. The results of this project show an application that is able to achieve good results in some of the test cases.Skapande av 3D-miljöer dyker upp i en mängd olika kontexter som till exempel filmskapande, spelutveckling, reklam, arkitektur, infrastrukturplanering och utbildning. När man skapar dessa miljöer är det ibland nödvändigt att söka efter 3D-modeller i stora digitala bibliotek och att försöka hitta söktermer som matchar modellen som du försöker hitta. Målet med detta projekt är att förse ett alternativt sätt att hitta dessa modeller genom att skapa ett verktyg kallat Asset Finder som tillåter användaren att söka genom bilder istället för ord. Asset Finder använder sig av bildtaggning som tillhandahålls av Google Vision API för att hitta relevanta söktermer. Verktyget använder sig sedan av synonymer och relaterade ord för att öka mängden söktermer genom WordNet-databasen. Till slut används ett poängsystem för att presentera resultaten sorterade efter relevans. Verktyget är en webbapplikation som ämnas vara enkel att använda. Resultatet av detta projekt är en applikation som kan åstadkomma goda resultat i vissa av testfallen

Asset Finder: A Search Tool forFinding Relevant Graphical AssetsUsing Automated Image Labelling

The creation of digital 3D-environments appears in a variety of contexts such as movie making, video game development, advertising, architecture, infrastructure planning and education. When creating these environments it is sometimes necessary to search for graphical assets in big digital libraries by trying different search terms. The goal of this project is to provide an alternative way to find graphical assets by creating a tool called Asset Finder that allows the user to search using images instead of words. The Asset Finder uses image labelling provided by the Google Vision API to find relevant search terms. The tool then uses synonyms and related words to increase the amount of search terms using the WordNet database. Finally the results are presented in order of relevance using a score system. The tool is a web application with an interface that is easy to use. The results of this project show an application that is able to achieve good results in some of the test cases.Skapande av 3D-miljöer dyker upp i en mängd olika kontexter som till exempel filmskapande, spelutveckling, reklam, arkitektur, infrastrukturplanering och utbildning. När man skapar dessa miljöer är det ibland nödvändigt att söka efter 3D-modeller i stora digitala bibliotek och att försöka hitta söktermer som matchar modellen som du försöker hitta. Målet med detta projekt är att förse ett alternativt sätt att hitta dessa modeller genom att skapa ett verktyg kallat Asset Finder som tillåter användaren att söka genom bilder istället för ord. Asset Finder använder sig av bildtaggning som tillhandahålls av Google Vision API för att hitta relevanta söktermer. Verktyget använder sig sedan av synonymer och relaterade ord för att öka mängden söktermer genom WordNet-databasen. Till slut används ett poängsystem för att presentera resultaten sorterade efter relevans. Verktyget är en webbapplikation som ämnas vara enkel att använda. Resultatet av detta projekt är en applikation som kan åstadkomma goda resultat i vissa av testfallen

Network structure-function coupling and neurocognition in cerebral small vessel disease

Background: Cerebral small vessel disease is a leading cause of cognitive decline and vascular dementia. Small vessel disease pathology changes structural brain networks, but its impact on functional networks remains poorly understood. Structural and functional networks are closely coupled in healthy individuals, and decoupling is associated with clinical symptoms in other neurological conditions. We tested the hypothesis that structural–functional network coupling is related to neurocognitive outcomes in 262 small vessel disease patients. Methods: Participants underwent multimodal magnetic resonance imaging and cognitive assessment in 2011 and 2015. Structural connectivity networks were reconstructed using probabilistic diffusion tractography, while functional connectivity networks were estimated from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Structural and functional networks were then correlated to calculate a measure of structural–functional network coupling for each participant. Results: Lower whole-brain coupling was associated with reduced processing speed and greater apathy both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. In addition, coupling within the cognitive control network was associated with all cognitive outcomes, suggesting that neurocognitive outcomes in small vessel disease may be related to the functioning of this intrinsic connectivity network. Conclusions: Our work demonstrates the influence of structural–functional connectivity network decoupling in small vessel disease symptomatology. Cognitive control network function may be investigated in future studies

Mild Hypercapnia or Normocapnia after Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest.

BACKGROUND Guidelines recommend normocapnia for adults with coma who are resuscitated after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. However, mild hypercapnia increases cerebral blood flow and may improve neurologic outcomes. METHODS We randomly assigned adults with coma who had been resuscitated after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of presumed cardiac or unknown cause and admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) in a 1:1 ratio to either 24 hours of mild hypercapnia (target partial pressure of arterial carbon dioxide [Paco2], 50 to 55 mm Hg) or normocapnia (target Paco2, 35 to 45 mm Hg). The primary outcome was a favorable neurologic outcome, defined as a score of 5 (indicating lower moderate disability) or higher, as assessed with the use of the Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (range, 1 [death] to 8, with higher scores indicating better neurologic outcome) at 6 months. Secondary outcomes included death within 6 months. RESULTS A total of 1700 patients from 63 ICUs in 17 countries were recruited, with 847 patients assigned to targeted mild hypercapnia and 853 to targeted normocapnia. A favorable neurologic outcome at 6 months occurred in 332 of 764 patients (43.5%) in the mild hypercapnia group and in 350 of 784 (44.6%) in the normocapnia group (relative risk, 0.98; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.87 to 1.11; P = 0.76). Death within 6 months after randomization occurred in 393 of 816 patients (48.2%) in the mild hypercapnia group and in 382 of 832 (45.9%) in the normocapnia group (relative risk, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.94 to 1.16). The incidence of adverse events did not differ significantly between groups. CONCLUSIONS In patients with coma who were resuscitated after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, targeted mild hypercapnia did not lead to better neurologic outcomes at 6 months than targeted normocapnia. (Funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and others; TAME ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03114033.)