Using remotely sensed data to estimate area-averaged daily surface fluxes over a semi-arid mixed agricultural land

E-mail Addresses: [email protected] audienceOptical remote sensing has been widely used for diagnostics of land surface atmosphere exchanges, including evapotranspiration (ET). Estimating ET now benefits from modeling maturity at local scale, while ongoing challenges include both spatial and temporal issues: influences of spatial heterogeneities on non-linear behavior when upscaling and extrapolation of instantaneous estimates at satellite overpass to the daily scale. Both issues are very important when using remote sensing for managing water resources, especially in agriculture. The two main contributions of the current study are first the examination of the diurnal behavior of evaporative fraction (EF) and available energy (AE) over heterogeneous agricultural land surfaces, and second presenting a simple approach to derive area-averaged daily ET under such conditions. Area-averaged fluxes are expressed using the same equations as those used over homogeneous areas, but whose arguments are effective expressions of the local parameters involved. Next, heuristic formulations are proposed to estimate the diurnal courses of EF and AE, by combining diurnal meteorological information available from observation networks (or weather forecasts) with instantaneous estimates at satellite overpass obtained from a simple energy balance model. These investigations were conducted using ground based data collected in the semi-arid Yaqui valley, north-western Mexico, over three adjacent agricultural fields which different crops and soil moisture conditions. This approach accurately reproduced the diurnal course of ET. However, these promising results have to be confirmed using actual satellite and operational meteorological data. This work is the subject of ongoing investigations

Uncovering Causes of Childhood Death Using the Minimally Invasive Autopsy at the Community Level in an Urban Vulnerable Setting of Argentina: A Population-Based Study

Background: Precise determination of the causal chain that leads to community deaths in children in low-and middle-income countries is critical to estimating all causes of mortality accurately and to planning preemptive strategies for targeted allocation of resources to reduce this scourge. Methods: An active surveillance population-based study that combined minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS) and verbal autopsies (VA) among children under 5 was conducted in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from September 2018 to December 2020 to define the burden of all causes of community deaths. Results: Among 90 cases enrolled (86% of parental acceptance), 81 had complete MITS, 15.6% were neonates, 65.6% were post-neonatal infants, and 18.9% were children aged 1-5 years. Lung infections were the most common cause of death (CoD) in all age groups (57.8%). Among all cases of lung infections, acute bronchiolitis was the most common CoD in infants aged 12 months (8 of 11, 72.7%). The most common comorbid condition in all age groups was undernutrition in 18 of 90 (20%). It was possible to find an immediate CoD in 78 of 81 subjects where MITS could be done. With this combined approach, we were able to determine that sudden infant death syndrome was overestimated in state reports. Conclusions: CoD determination by a combination of MITS and VA provides an accurate estimation of the chain of events that leads to death, emphasizing possible interventions to prevent mortality in children.Fil: Caballero, Mauricio Tomás. Fundación Infant; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Diaz Grigaites, Sebastian. Gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio Publico; ArgentinaFil: de la Iglesia Niveyro, Paola Ximena. Instituto Universitario del Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Esperante, Sebastian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Fundación Infant; ArgentinaFil: Bianchi, Alejandra M.. Fundación Infant; ArgentinaFil: Nuño, Alejandra. Fundación Infant; ArgentinaFil: Valle, Sandra. Fundación Infant; ArgentinaFil: Afarian, Gabriela. Gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio Publico; ArgentinaFil: Ferretti, Adrian Julio Pantaleon. Fundación Infant; ArgentinaFil: Baglivo, Sofia Jares. Fundación Infant; ArgentinaFil: De Luca, Julian. Fundación Infant; ArgentinaFil: Zea, Cristian M. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital de Pediatría "Juan P. Garrahan"; ArgentinaFil: Caporal, Paula. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio de Salud. Hospital de Niños "Sor María Ludovica" de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Labanca, Maria Jose. Instituto Universitario del Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Diamanti, Adriana. Gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio Publico; ArgentinaFil: Álvarez Paggi, Damián Jorge. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Fundación Infant; ArgentinaFil: Bassat, Quique. Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica En Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública; España. Centro de Investigação Em Saúde de Manhiça; Mozambique. Universidad de Barcelona; España. Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats; EspañaFil: Polack, Fernando Pedro. Fundación Infant; ArgentinaFil: Carballo, Ana M. Gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio Publico; ArgentinaFil: Hernandez, Gabriela. Gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio Publico; ArgentinaFil: Figueroa, Paola. Gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio Publico; ArgentinaFil: Ares, Patricia E.. Gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio Publico; ArgentinaFil: Rodriquez Paquete, Cesar A.. Gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio Publico; Argentin

Effects of pre-operative isolation on postoperative pulmonary complications after elective surgery: an international prospective cohort study an international prospective cohort study

We aimed to determine the impact of pre-operative isolation on postoperative pulmonary complications after elective surgery during the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We performed an international prospective cohort study including patients undergoing elective surgery in October 2020. Isolation was defined as the period before surgery during which patients did not leave their house or receive visitors from outside their household. The primary outcome was postoperative pulmonary complications, adjusted in multivariable models for measured confounders. Pre-defined sub-group analyses were performed for the primary outcome. A total of 96,454 patients from 114 countries were included and overall, 26,948 (27.9%) patients isolated before surgery. Postoperative pulmonary complications were recorded in 1947 (2.0%) patients of which 227 (11.7%) were associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients who isolated pre-operatively were older, had more respiratory comorbidities and were more commonly from areas of high SARS-CoV-2 incidence and high-income countries. Although the overall rates of postoperative pulmonary complications were similar in those that isolated and those that did not (2.1% vs 2.0%, respectively), isolation was associated with higher rates of postoperative pulmonary complications after adjustment (adjusted OR 1.20, 95%CI 1.05–1.36, p = 0.005). Sensitivity analyses revealed no further differences when patients were categorised by: pre-operative testing; use of COVID-19-free pathways; or community SARS-CoV-2 prevalence. The rate of postoperative pulmonary complications increased with periods of isolation longer than 3 days, with an OR (95%CI) at 4–7 days or ≥ 8 days of 1.25 (1.04–1.48), p = 0.015 and 1.31 (1.11–1.55), p = 0.001, respectively. Isolation before elective surgery might be associated with a small but clinically important increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. Longer periods of isolation showed no reduction in the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. These findings have significant implications for global provision of elective surgical care. We aimed to determine the impact of pre-operative isolation on postoperative pulmonary complications after elective surgery during the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We performed an international prospective cohort study including patients undergoing elective surgery in October 2020. Isolation was defined as the period before surgery during which patients did not leave their house or receive visitors from outside their household. The primary outcome was postoperative pulmonary complications, adjusted in multivariable models for measured confounders. Pre-defined sub-group analyses were performed for the primary outcome. A total of 96,454 patients from 114 countries were included and overall, 26,948 (27.9%) patients isolated before surgery. Postoperative pulmonary complications were recorded in 1947 (2.0%) patients of which 227 (11.7%) were associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients who isolated pre-operatively were older, had more respiratory comorbidities and were more commonly from areas of high SARS-CoV-2 incidence and high-income countries. Although the overall rates of postoperative pulmonary complications were similar in those that isolated and those that did not (2.1% vs 2.0%, respectively), isolation was associated with higher rates of postoperative pulmonary complications after adjustment (adjusted OR 1.20, 95%CI 1.05–1.36, p = 0.005). Sensitivity analyses revealed no further differences when patients were categorised by: pre-operative testing; use of COVID-19-free pathways; or community SARS-CoV-2 prevalence. The rate of postoperative pulmonary complications increased with periods of isolation longer than 3 days, with an OR (95%CI) at 4–7 days or ≥ 8 days of 1.25 (1.04–1.48), p = 0.015 and 1.31 (1.11–1.55), p = 0.001, respectively. Isolation before elective surgery might be associated with a small but clinically important increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. Longer periods of isolation showed no reduction in the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. These findings have significant implications for global provision of elective surgical care