Cold War spy satellite images reveal long-term declines of a philopatric keystone species in response to cropland expansion

Agricultural expansion drives biodiversity loss globally, but impact assessments are biased towards recent time periods. This can lead to a gross underestimation of species declines in response to habitat loss, especially when species declines are gradual and occur over long time periods. Using Cold War spy satellite images (Corona), we show that a grassland keystone species, the bobak marmot (Marmota bobak), continues to respond to agricultural expansion that happened more than 50 years ago. Although burrow densities of the bobak marmot today are highest in croplands, densities declined most strongly in areas that were persistently used as croplands since the 1960s. This response to historical agricultural conversion spans roughly eight marmot generations and suggests the longest recorded response of a mammal species to agricultural expansion. We also found evidence for remarkable philopatry: nearly half of all burrows retained their exact location since the 1960s, and this was most pronounced in grasslands. Our results stress the need for farsighted decisions, because contemporary land management will affect biodiversity decades into the future. Finally, our work pioneers the use of Corona historical Cold War spy satellite imagery for ecology. This vastly underused global remote sensing resource provides a unique opportunity to expand the time horizon of broad-scale ecological studies

The Effect of Clay Type on the Physicochemical Properties of New Hydrogel Clay Nanocomposites

This study focuses on the investigation of clay type effect on the final properties of semi-interpenetrated Salecan/poly(methacrylic acid)/clay hydrogel nanocomposites. Previous studies have indicated that the presence of clay in polymer composites leads to better swelling capacity and mechanical properties as functions of clay type. On the other hand, Salecan, which is a water soluble extracellular polysaccharide, was proved to assure greater flexibility to hydrogels. These properties recommend clay and Salecan for semi-interpenetrated hydrogels preparation with specific application in biomedicine. The purpose was to determine the most suitable type of clay as well as Salecan influence for developing the desired water retention/delivery ability and mechanically enhanced semi-interpenetrating polymer network (SIPN) nanocomposites. For our investigations, we have chosen commercially available montmorillonite (ClNa) and different commercial organomodified clay (Cl30B, Cl20A and Cl15A). Several analyses results (FTIR, TGA, DMA, XRD, microscopy and swelling studies) demonstrated that not only the presence of Salecan but also the clay type influenced the structure and properties of the final nanocomposites

Long-term land-cover/use change in a traditional farming landscape in Romania inferred from pollen data, historical maps and satellite images

Traditional farming landscapes in the temperate zone that have persisted for millennia can be exceptionally species-rich and are therefore key conservation targets. In contrast to Europe’s West, Eastern Europe harbours widespread traditional farming landscapes, but drastic socio-economic and political changes in the twentieth century are likely to have impacted these landscapes profoundly. We reconstructed long-term land-use/cover and biodiversity changes over the last 150 years in a traditional farming landscape of outstanding species diversity in Transylvania. We used the Regional Estimates of Vegetation Abundance from Large Sites model applied to a pollen record from the Transylvanian Plain and a suite of historical and satellite-based maps. We documented widespread changes in the extent and location of grassland and cropland, a loss of wood pastures as well as a gradual increase in forest extent. Land management in the socialist period (1947–1989) led to grassland expansion, but grassland diversity decreased due to intensive production. Land-use intensity has declined since the collapse of socialism in 1989, resulting in widespread cropland abandonment and conversion to grassland. However, these trends may be temporary due to both ongoing woody encroachment as well as grassland management intensification in productive areas. Remarkably, only 8% of all grasslands existed throughout the entire time period (1860–2010), highlighting the importance of land-use history when identifying target areas for conservation, given that old-growth grasslands are most valuable in terms of biodiversity. Combining datasets from different disciplines can yield important additional insights into dynamic landscape and biodiversity changes, informing conservation actions to maintain these species-rich landscapes in the longer term

Understanding the Most Frequently Experienced Barriers to the Adherence of Lymphoma Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) and Their Effect on the Lymphoma Physicians' Utilization of CPGs: An Explanatory Mixed-Methods Study

Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have been developed for almost all tumor types including lymphoma by medical and professional organizations. The CPGs have been developed to control the variability in clinical practice. When followed completely, these evidence-based practices are meant to provide an equal quality of treatment to all oncology patients. However, structural, behavioral, and environmental barriers to the adherence of lymphoma CPGs exist. The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed methods study is to measure the most frequently experienced barriers to the adherence of lymphoma CPGs and explore how these barriers affect lymphoma physicians in the utilization of CPGs. The results revealed that among predictors such as the total score from each of three domains of barriers studied, sex, age group, region of practice, location of medical practice, and duration of medical practice examined, the social/environmental domain of barriers was statistically associated with the use of lymphoma CPGs (p=0.0089). The higher the score, the more likely is to implement lymphoma CPGs, whereas in the professional attitudes domain, the higher the score the less likely is to implement lymphoma CPGs such as the NCCN CPGs (p=0.0071). No association was found in the organizational domain of barriers. Additionally, statistically influential covariates in following lymphoma CPGs were observed in each of three domains of barriers. They are location of medical practice, advanced age, and geographical regions such as the South. While lymphoma doctors liked and found lymphoma CPGs to be evidence based they want to have more data known and published on how the adherence of lymphoma CPGs translates to positive patient outcomes and a decrease in healthcare costs. Subsequently, lymphoma doctors' expectations are to be able to make warranted exceptions when patients' comorbidities and variability exist without being called noncompliant. Technology should be reactive, proactive, and be utilized more efficiently in the implementation of CPGs and clinical pathways. Likewise, lymphoma doctors believe insurance plans need to change to provide uniformly a much better coverage for lymphoma patients' variability, drug tolerability, and lower-deductible costs in United States.Ed.D., Education -- Drexel University, 201

Caries Experience In Children With Severe Early Childhood Caries

ntroduction Caries experience indexes in children with severe early childhood caries (S-ECC) reported in literature are lower in the general population than in children referred to paediatric dental clinics. The aim of the study was to compare different samples of children (two samples from dental clinics and one from general population) from this point of view. Methods Retrospective analysis upon 3 samples of children 5 years old or under: sample A – 685 children (392 boys, 293 girls) referred to Pedodontics Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Carol Davila University, Bucharest, sample B – 233 children (124 boys, 109 girls) examined in a private dental clinic and sample C – 552 children (284 boys, 268 girls) from 12 kindergartens from Bucharest. Prevalence index (IpS-ECC) and caries experience indexes (dmft, dmfs and SiC) from S-ECC children were evaluated. Caries topography was also noted. Data were analyzed using a chi-square tes

Deep-Learning-Based System for Assisting People with Alzheimer’s Disease

People with Alzheimer’s disease are at risk of malnutrition, overeating, and dehydration because short-term memory loss can lead to confusion. They need a caregiver to ensure they adhere to the main meals of the day and are properly hydrated. The purpose of this paper is to present an artificial intelligence system prototype based on deep learning algorithms aiming to help Alzheimer’s disease patients regain part of the normal individual comfort and independence. The proposed system uses artificial intelligence to recognize human activity in video, being able to identify the times when the monitored person is feeding or hydrating, reminding them using audio messages that they forgot to eat or drink or that they ate too much. It also allows for the remote supervision and management of the nutrition program by a caregiver. The paper includes the study, search, training, and use of models and algorithms specific to the field of deep learning applied to computer vision to classify images, detect objects in images, and recognize human activity video streams. This research shows that, even using standard computational hardware, neural networks’ training provided good predictive capabilities for the models (image classification 96%, object detection 74%, and activity analysis 78%), with the training performed in less than 48 h, while the resulting model deployed on the portable development board offered fast response times—that is, two seconds. Thus, the current study emphasizes the importance of artificial intelligence used in helping both people with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers, filling an empty slot in the smart assistance software domain

Long-term change in drivers of forest cover expansion: an analysis for Switzerland (1850-2000)

The spatial distribution of forests in Europe represents the legacy of centuries of human land use decisions. Due to the limited availability of historical data, most studies on forest cover change focus only on analyzing recent decades, thereby overlooking the important long-term context. However, the latter is essential to improve our understanding of present landscape patterns. This study quantifies the spatiotemporal dynamics in drivers of forest gain in Switzerland. Specifically, we model forest gain in a long-term study covering 150 years (1850–2000) split into periods of similar length (∼30 years). This makes it possible to identify non-linear dynamics and whether drivers have changed over time. The rates of forest change are quantified based on analyzing historical maps and contemporary forest inventory data. Generalized additive models (GAMs) are fitted to examine the variation in the relative importance of socioeconomic and biophysical explanatory variables. Our results suggest that both biophysical and socioeconomic variables co-drive forest gain. Biophysical variables (such as temperature and slope) were identified as the major drivers explaining variations in forest gain. The most important socioeconomic driver was the change in the percentage of people employed per economic sector, although its effect came with a substantial time lag. Changes in employment per sector for the periods 1920–1941 and 1941–1980 were relevant for forest gain between 1980 and 2000. The identified time lag effect emphasizes the added value of long-term studies, since legacies may persist for decades, adding further complexity to contemporary land change processes. These findings are relevant to many temperate ecosystems that are experiencing increases in forest cover. Such insights can improve both future forest change predictions as well as the development of policies for sustainable landscape management

Using historical spy satellite photographs and recent remote sensing data to identify high-conservation-value forests

High-conservation-value forests (HCVFs) are critically important for biodiversity and ecosystem service provisioning, but they face many threats. Where systematic HCVF inventories are missing, such as in parts of Eastern Europe, these forests remain largely unacknowledged and therefore often unprotected. We devised a novel, transferable approach for detecting HCVFs based on integrating historical spy satellite images, contemporary remote sensing data (Landsat), and information on current potential anthropogenic pressures (e.g., road infrastructure, population density, demand for fire wood, terrain). We applied the method to the Romanian Carpathians, for which we mapped forest continuity (1955–2019), canopy structural complexity, and anthropogenic pressures. We identified 738,000 ha of HCVF. More than half of this area was identified as susceptible to current anthropogenic pressures and lacked formal protection. By providing a framework for broad-scale HCVF monitoring, our approach facilitates integration of HCVF into forest conservation and management. This is urgently needed to achieve the goals of the European Union's Biodiversity Strategy to maintain valuable forest ecosystems.Peer Reviewe

Surgical Treatment in Silicone Oil-Associated Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a vision threatening, not uncommon complication of eyes that have undergone pars plana vitrectomy with silicone oil endotamponade. Although most patients respond well to medical antiglaucoma therapy, there are refractory cases where surgery is required to control the intraocular pressure. This review, following a comprehensive literature search in the Medline database, aims to present the most important surgical techniques currently in use for glaucoma associated with silicone oil endotamponade and their indication depending on the mechanism of glaucoma. In cases of pupillary block, the presence of a patent iridotomy or iridectomy must be ensured, either by laser or surgically. When silicone oil is in excess and whenever the retinal status permits it, partial or complete removal of the silicone oil should be performed. Trabeculectomy has shown higher failure rates and more complications in these cases compared to other indications, so alternate methods are warranted. For very high intraocular pressures, glaucoma drainage devices and transscleral cyclophotocoagulation are the most used options, with good efficacy and safety profiles, although rarely they may have serious complications. The Ex-PRESS mini shunt has shown excellent results and lower rates of complications. For less important IOP elevations, minimally invasive glaucoma surgery and selective laser trabeculoplasty may be used, either alone or in conjunction with other methods