High Resolution 3D Earth Observation Data Analysis for Safeguards Activities

This paper provides an overview of the investigations performed at DLR with respect to the application of high resolution SAR and optical data for 3D analysis in the context of Safeguards. The Research Center Jülich and the adjacent open cut mines were used as main test sites, and a comprehensive stack of ascending and descending TerraSAR data was acquired over two years. TerraSAR data acquisition was performed, and various ways to visualize and analyze stacks of radar images were evaluated. Building height estimation was performed using a combination of ascending-descending radar images, as well as height-form-shadow and height-from-layover. A tutorial on building signatures from SAR images highlighted the sensor specific imaging characteristics. These topics were particularly relevant in safeguards activity with a “small-budget” as only a single image – or a couple - were employed. Interferometric coherence map interpretation allows the detection of traffic on dirt roads. Digital surface models (DSM) were generated from TanDEM-X interferometric data and from optical VHR data. Sub-meter Worldview-2 and GeoEye-1 data was processed into highly detailed DSM with a grid spacing of 1 m, showing building structures. 3D change and volume detection was performed with both optical and radar DSMs. The TanDEM-X DSMs proved useful for volume change detection and computation in mining areas, and DSMs generated from optical satellite data show details on the building level. Virtual 3D fly-throughs were found to be a good tool to provide an intuitive understanding of site structure and might be useful for inspector briefing

Poultry farm vulnerability and risk of avian influenza re-emergence in Thailand

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) remains of concern as a major potential global threat. This article evaluates and discusses the level of vulnerability of medium and small-scale commercial poultry production systems in Thailand related to avian influenza virus re-emergence. We developed a survey on 173 farms in Nakhon Pathom province to identify the global level of vulnerability of farms, and to determine which type of farms appears to be more vulnerable. We used official regulations (the Good Agricultural Practices and Livestock Farm Standards regulations) as a reference to check whether these regulations are respected. The results show that numerous vulnerability factors subsist and could represent, in case of HPAI re-emergence, a significant risk for a large spread of the disease. Bio-security, farm management and agro-commercial practices are particularly significant on that matter: results show that these practices still need a thorough improvement on a majority of farms. Farms producing eggs (especially duck eggs) are more vulnerable than farms producing meat. Those results are consistent with the type of farms that were mostly affected during the 2004–2008 outbreaks in Thailand

Cardiac safety in cluster headache patients using the very high dose of verapamil (≥720 mg/day)

Use of high doses of verapamil in preventive treatment of cluster headache (CH) is limited by cardiac toxicity. We systematically assess the cardiac safety of the very high dose of verapamil (verapamil VHD) in CH patients. Our work was a study performed in two French headache centers (Marseilles–Nice) from 12/2005 to 12/2008. CH patients treated with verapamil VHD (≥720 mg) were considered with a systematic electrocardiogram (EKG) monitoring. Among 200 CH patients, 29 (14.8%) used verapamil VHD (877 ± 227 mg/day). Incidence of EKG changes was 38% (11/29). Seven (24%) patients presented bradycardia considered as nonserious adverse event (NSAE) and four (14%) patients presented arrhythmia (heart block) considered as serious adverse event (SAE). Patients with EKG changes (1,003 ± 295 mg/day) were taking higher doses than those without EKG changes (800 ± 143 mg/day), but doses were similar in patients with SAE (990 ± 316 mg/day) and those with NSAE (1,011 ± 309 mg/day). Around three-quarters (8/11) of patients presented a delayed-onset cardiac adverse event (delay ≥2 years). Our work confirms the need for systematic EKG monitoring in CH patients treated with verapamil. Such cardiac safety assessment must be continued even for patients using VHD without any adverse event for a long time

Spatial fields’ dispersion as a farmer strategy to reduce agro-climatic risk at the household level in pearl millet-based systems in the Sahel: A modeling perspective

The rainfall pattern in the Sahel is very erratic with a high spatial variability. We tested the often reported hypothesis that the dispersion of farmers’ fields around the village territory helps mitigate agro-climatic risk by increasing yield stability from year to year. We also wished to evaluate whether this strategy had an effect on the yield disparity among households in a village. Based on a network of approximately 60 rain gauges spread over 500 km2 in the Fakara region (Southwest Niger), daily rainfall was interpolated at 300 m × 300 m resolution over a 12-year period. This data was used to compute, by means of the APSIM crop simulation model, millet biomass and grain yields at the pixel scale. Simulated yields were combined with the land tenure map of the Banizoumbou village in a GIS to assess millet yield at field and household level. Agro-climatic risk analysis was performed using linear regression between a spatial dispersion index of household fields and the inter-annual (instability) and inter-household (disparity) millet yield variability of 107 households in the village territory. We find that the spatial variability of annual rainfall induces an even higher spatial variability of millet production at pixel, field and household levels. The dispersion of farm fields reduces moderately but significantly the disparity of millet yield between households each year and increases the inter-annual yield stability of a given household. The less the household fields are scattered, the more the presence of a fertility gradient around the village enhances the inter-annual stability but also the disparity between households. Our results provide evidence that field dispersion is an effective strategy to mitigate agro-climatic risk, as claimed by farmers in the Sahelian Niger. Although the results should be confirmed by further research on longer term rainfall spatial data, it is clearly advisable that any land reforms in the area take into account the benefits of field dispersion to mitigate climatic risk

Advanced ground-penetrating radar for soil moisture retrieval. In: Multiscale Hydrologic Remote Sensing: Perspectives and Applications

peer reviewedChang N.-B., Hong Y

Effect of erenumab on functional outcomes in patients with episodic migraine in whom 2-4 preventives were not useful: results from the LIBERTY study

Objective To evaluate the effect of erenumab on patient-reported, functional outcomes in patients with episodic migraine (EM) in whom 2-4 preventives were not useful from the Phase 3b LIBERTY study.MethodsAs previously reported, 246 patients with EM with 2-4 prior failed preventives were randomised 1:1 to subcutaneous erenumab 140 mg or placebo every 4 weeks for 12 weeks. This analysis evaluated Migraine Physical Function Impact Diary (MPFID), Headache Impact Test (HIT-6) and Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI) scores at Week 12. P values were nominal without multiplicity adjustment.ResultsErenumab significantly improved MPFID-Physical Impairment (PI) and Everyday Activities (EA) scores versus placebo (treatment difference (TD) (95% CI) MPFID-PI: -3.5 (-5.7 to -1.2) (p=0.003); MPFID-EA: -3.9 (-6.1 to -1.7)) (p= 5-point reduction in MPFID score (OR vs placebo (95% CI) MPFID-EA: 2.1 (1.2 to 3.6); MPFID-PI: 2.5 (1.4 to 4.5)). A similar trend was observed for HIT-6 (TD: -3.0; p= 5-point reduction (OR (95% CI): 2.4 (1.4 to 4.1)). In three out of four WPAI domains, erenumab showed improvement versus placebo.ConclusionAt 12 weeks, erenumab was efficacious on functional outcomes in patients with EM in whom 2-4 preventives were not useful.Paroxysmal Cerebral Disorder

Computed Tomography-Derived 3D Modeling to Guide Sizing and Planning of Transcatheter Mitral Valve Interventions

A plethora of catheter-based strategies have been developed to treat mitral valve disease. Evolving 3-dimensional (3D) multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) technology can accurately reconstruct the mitral valve by means of 3-dimensional computational modeling (3DCM) to allow virtual implantation of catheter-based devices. 3D printing complements computational modeling and offers implanting physician teams the opportunity to evaluate devices in life-size replicas of patient-specific cardiac anatomy. MDCT-derived 3D computational and 3D-printed modeling provides unprecedented insights to facilitate hands-on procedural planning, device training, and retrospective procedural evaluation. This overview summarizes current concepts and provides insight into the application of MDCT-derived 3DCM and 3D printing for the planning of transcatheter mitral valve replacement and closure of paravalvular leaks. Additionally, future directions in the development of 3DCM will be discussed

Constant activity of glutamine synthetase after morphine administration versus proteomic results

Glutamine synthetase is a key enzyme which has a regulatory role in the brain glutamate pool. According to previously published proteomic analysis, it was shown that the expression level of this enzyme is affected by morphine administration. In our study, we examined the activity of glutamine synthetase in various structures of rat brain (cortex, striatum, hippocampus and spinal cord) that are biochemically and functionally involved in drug addiction and antinociception caused by morphine. We were not able to observe any significant changes in the enzyme activity between morphine-treated and control samples despite previously reported changes in the expression levels of this enzyme. These findings stressed the fact that changes observed in the expression of particular proteins during proteomic studies may not be correlated with its activity

Phylogenetic Analysis of the Teneurins: Conserved Features and Premetazoan Ancestry

Teneurins are type II transmembrane proteins expressed during pattern formation and neurogenesis with an intracellular domain that can be transported to the nucleus and an extracellular domain that can be shed into the extracellular milieu. In Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans, and mouse the knockdown or knockout of teneurin expression can lead to abnormal patterning, defasciculation, and abnormal pathfinding of neurites, and the disruption of basement membranes. Here, we have identified and analyzed teneurins from a broad range of metazoan genomes for nuclear localization sequences, protein interaction domains, and furin cleavage sites and have cloned and sequenced the intracellular domains of human and avian teneurins to analyze alternative splicing. The basic organization of teneurins is highly conserved in Bilateria: all teneurins have epidermal growth factor (EGF) repeats, a cysteine-rich domain, and a large region identical in organization to the carboxy-half of prokaryotic YD-repeat proteins. Teneurins were not found in the genomes of sponges, cnidarians, or placozoa, but the choanoflagellate Monosiga brevicollis has a gene encoding a predicted teneurin with a transmembrane domain, EGF repeats, a cysteine-rich domain, and a region homologous to YD-repeat proteins. Further examination revealed that most of the extracellular domain of the M. brevicollis teneurin is encoded on a single huge 6,829-bp exon and that the cysteine-rich domain is similar to sequences found in an enzyme expressed by the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum. This leads us to suggest that teneurins are complex hybrid fusion proteins that evolved in a choanoflagellate via horizontal gene transfer from both a prokaryotic gene and a diatom or algal gene, perhaps to improve the capacity of the choanoflagellate to bind to its prokaryotic prey. As choanoflagellates are considered to be the closest living relatives of animals, the expression of a primitive teneurin by an ancestral choanoflagellate may have facilitated the evolution of multicellularity and complex histogenesis in metazoa