Ecohydrological Modeling in Agroecosystems: Examples and Challenges

Human societies are increasingly altering the water and biogeochemical cycles to both improve ecosystem productivity and reduce risks associated with the unpredictable variability of climatic drivers. These alterations, however, often cause large negative environmental consequences, raising the question as to how societies can ensure a sustainable use of natural resources for the future. Here we discuss how ecohydrological modeling may address these broad questions with special attention to agroecosystems. The challenges related to modeling the two‐way interaction between society and environment are illustrated by means of a dynamical model in which soil and water quality supports the growth of human society but is also degraded by excessive pressure, leading to critical transitions and sustained societal growth‐collapse cycles. We then focus on the coupled dynamics of soil water and solutes (nutrients or contaminants), emphasizing the modeling challenges, presented by the strong nonlinearities in the soil and plant system and the unpredictable hydroclimatic forcing, that need to be overcome to quantitatively analyze problems of soil water sustainability in both natural and agricultural ecosystems. We discuss applications of this framework to problems of irrigation, soil salinization, and fertilization and emphasize how optimal solutions for large‐scale, long‐term planning of soil and water resources in agroecosystems under uncertainty could be provided by methods from stochastic control, informed by physically and mathematically sound descriptions of ecohydrological and biogeochemical interactions

Global convergence of COVID-19 basic reproduction number and estimation from early-time SIR dynamics

The SIR ('susceptible-infectious-recovered') formulation is used to uncover the generic spread mechanisms observed by COVID-19 dynamics globally, especially in the early phases of infectious spread. During this early period, potential controls were not effectively put in place or enforced in many countries. Hence, the early phases of COVID-19 spread in countries where controls were weak offer a unique perspective on the ensemble-behavior of COVID-19 basic reproduction number Ro inferred from SIR formulation. The work here shows that there is global convergence (i.e., across many nations) to an uncontrolled Ro = 4.5 that describes the early time spread of COVID-19. This value is in agreement with independent estimates from other sources reviewed here and adds to the growing consensus that the early estimate of Ro = 2.2 adopted by the World Health Organization is low. A reconciliation between power-law and exponential growth predictions is also featured within the confines of the SIR formulation. The effects of testing ramp-up and the role of 'super-spreaders' on the inference of Ro are analyzed using idealized scenarios. Implications for evaluating potential control strategies from this uncontrolled Ro are briefly discussed in the context of the maximum possible infected fraction of the population (needed to assess health care capacity) and mortality (especially in the USA given diverging projections). Model results indicate that if intervention measures still result in Ro > 2.7 within 44 days after first infection, intervention is unlikely to be effective in general for COVID-19

Between barriers and inclusion. Multidisciplinary reflections on gender and disability

The European project RISEWISE offered a possible model for a multidisciplinary collaboration. During the four years, innovative goals were pursued for breaking down barriers ranging from creating spaces for dialogue and communication, to exchanging knowledge and experience between disciplines by bringing together academics and associations

Up to 10.7-Gb/s high-PDG RSOA-based colorless transmitter for WDM networks

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Mycobacterium tuberculosis Surgical Site Infection after Cardiac Surgery in the COVID-19 Era: A Case Report

Infection of surgical wounds with acid-fast bacilli, including tubercle bacilli, is rare, and is poorly described in the literature. We present the case of a 74-year-old male who developed a sternal wound infection after cardiac surgery due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, diagnosed post-mortem. SARS-CoV-2 infection contributed to worsened clinical conditions and surgical site infection. A high degree of suspicion to avoid unnecessary treatments and progression to severe disease with dismal prognosis is necessary in these types of infections

Embedded modulable self-tuning cavity for WDM-PON transmitter

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ANMCO/SIC/SICI-GISE/SICCH Executive Summary of Consensus Document on Risk Stratification in elderly patients with aortic stenosis before surgery or transcatheter aortic valve replacement

Aortic stenosis is one of the most frequent valvular diseases in developed countries, and its impact on public health resources and assistance is increasing. A substantial proportion of elderly people with severe aortic stenosis is not eligible to surgery because of the advanced age, frailty, and multiple co-morbidities. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) enables the treatment of very elderly patients at high or prohibitive surgical risk considered ineligible for surgery and with an acceptable life expectancy. However, a significant percentage of patients die or show no improvement in quality of life (QOL) in the follow-up. In the decision-making process, it is important to determine: (i) whether and how much frailty of the patient influences the risk of procedures; (ii) how the QOL and the individual patient's survival are influenced by aortic valve disease or from other associated conditions; and (iii) whether a geriatric specialist intervention to evaluate and correct frailty or other diseases with their potential or already manifest disabilities can improve the outcome of surgery or TAVI. Consequently, in addition to risk stratification with conventional tools, a number of factors including multi-morbidity, disability, frailty, and cognitive function should be considered, in order to assess the expected benefit of both surgery and TAVI. The pre-operative optimization through a multidisciplinary approach with a Heart Team can counteract the multiple damage (cardiac, neurological, muscular, respiratory, and kidney) that can potentially aggravate the reduced physiological reserves characteristic of frailty. The systematic application in clinical practice of multidimensional assessment instruments of frailty and cognitive function in the screening and the adoption of specific care pathways should facilitate this task

Lack of association between serum immunoreactivity and Chlamydia pneumoniae detection in the human aortic wall

Only a few studies have focused the attention on the relation between elevated anti-Chlamydia pneumoniae (CP) antibodies and the detection of CP in the arterial wall. The aim of our study is thus to investigate the relationship between immune response to CP and detection of CP in the aortic walls of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm

Adult cardiac surgery outcomes: role of the pump type

This study was carried out to evaluate whether the type of pump used for cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB; roller vs. centrifugal) can affect mortality or the neurological outcomes of adult cardiac surgery patients