Photogrammetrical UAV-based investigation of torrents

Debris flows are a major hazard in mountainous regions. Cost-effective, long-term studies of debris flow torrents, however, are rare, leading to considerable uncertainties in hazard mitigation methods. Here, we address the question if cost effective remote sensing techniques can be applied along the hazard assessment of mountain torrents and further to gather accurate, long-term information on the evolution of the catchment. Active torrents prone to debris flows are often devoid of vegetation and hence can be well captured with photogrammetrically derived methods based on uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) surveys. The possibility of automatic extraction of torrent parameters from high resolution terrain models, such as cross-section area, gradient, etc., is investigated. The presented methodology yields continuous and automatically derived parameters along the torrent, which is a major advantage compared to discretized field surveys. Cross-validation thereof with field measurements show strong congruence. Those parameters are highly accurate along sharply incised sections with strong limitations along sections with steep adjacent slopes and/or dense vegetation. A further important result of this work is that multiple UAV acquisitions enable a highly accurate mass-balance characterization of watersheds. After a successful co-registration, the M3C2 algorithm provides valuable results, from which debris flow events can be back-calculated and thus support the determination of site-specific model input parameters. A complete debris flow hazard assessment procedure - missing in current guidelines - is presented. We show that such assessments strongly benefit from UAV data and a subsequent automated parameter extraction: The original point clouds allow to obtain a first overview of the torrent. Derived parameters provide further insights such that key sections and weak spots can be identified and precisely evaluated in the field. The study highlights that the extraction of the true location of the ground poses the key challenge. We show that photogrammetric routines are severely limited by dense vegetation. We find that UAV data can contribute to a comprehensive, reproducible, and objective assessment of torrent processes and predispositions. However, ground-truthing fieldwork remains essential and further research on remote sensing supported hazard assessment of debris flow prone torrents is highly indispensable

Assessment of global dimming and brightening in IPCC-AR4/CMIP3 models and ERA40

Observations indicate that solar radiation incident at the Earth surface underwent substantial decadal variations in the second half of the twentieth century, with a tendency towards reduction from the 1950s to the 1980s ("global dimming”) and a partial recovery thereafter ("brightening”) at widespread locations. The most reliable observational records from the Global Energy Balance Archive (GEBA) are used to evaluate the ability of the climate models participating in CMIP3/IPCC-AR4 as well as the ERA40 reanalysis to reproduce these decadal variations. The results from 23 models and reanalysis are analyzed in five different climatic regions where strong decadal variations in surface solar radiation (SSR) have been observed. Only about half of the models are capable of reproducing the observed decadal variations in a qualitative way, and all models show much smaller amplitudes in these variations than seen in the observations. Largely differing tendencies between the models are not only found under all-sky conditions, but also in cloud-free conditions and in the representation of cloud effects. The ERA40 reanalysis neither reproduces the major decadal variations in SSR, despite strong observational constraints on the temporal evolution of the state of the atmosphere, since time varying aerosol loadings are missing. Climate models and reanalyses are therefore not yet at a stage to provide regionally consistent estimates of decadal changes in SSR. Reproduction of these changes would be essential for an adequate representation of regional scale climate variations and impacts, and short-term (decadal) climate projection

Potentialanalyse e-Unterlagen

Im Rahmen eines Projektes wurde geprüft, ob die technischen Voraussetzungen gegeben sind, um Skripte elektronisch statt in Papierform abzugeben. Das Projekt wurde an der ZHAW LSFM mit Unterstützung von SWITCH durchgeführt. Ausgehend von didaktischen Anforderungen wurde untersucht, welche Softwaretools für das Produzieren bzw. das Lesen und Benutzen von elektronischen Skripten auf Tablets geeignet sind. Eine Umfrage an Schweizerischen Hochschulen gibt einen Überblick über den heutigen Einsatz von elektronischen Unterrichtsunterlagen

Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Inhibitors and Kidney Function After Thoracic Transplantation: A Systematic Review and Recommendations for Management of Lung Transplant Recipients

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) after lung transplantation is common and limits the survival of transplant recipients. The calcineurin inhibitors (CNI), cyclosporine A, and tacrolimus being the cornerstone of immunosuppression are key mediators of nephrotoxicity. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors, sirolimus and everolimus, are increasingly used in combination with reduced CNI dosage after lung transplantation. Methods: This systematic review examined the efficacy and safety of mTOR inhibitors after lung transplantation and explored their effect on kidney function. Results: mTOR inhibitors are often introduced to preserve kidney function. Several clinical trials have demonstrated improved kidney function and efficacy of mTOR inhibitors. The potential for kidney function improvement and preservation increases with early initiation of mTOR inhibitors and low target levels for both mTOR inhibitors and CNI. No defined stage of CKD for mTOR inhibitor initiation exists, nor does severe CKD preclude the improvement of kidney function under mTOR inhibitors. Baseline proteinuria may negatively predict the preservation and improvement of kidney function. Discontinuation rates of mTOR inhibitors due to adverse effects increase with higher target levels. Conclusions: More evidence is needed to define the optimal immunosuppressive regimen incorporating mTOR inhibitors after lung transplantation. Not only the indication criteria for the introduction of mTOR inhibitors are needed, but also the best timing, target levels, and possibly discontinuation criteria must be defined more clearly. Current evidence supports the notion of nephroprotective potential under certain conditions

Helicopter inter-hospital transfer for patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective 12-year analysis of a service system.

BACKGROUND Patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) are critically ill and show high mortality. Inter-hospital transfer of these patients has to be safe, with high survival rates during transport without potentially serious and life-threatening adverse events. The Swiss Air-Rescue provides 24-h/7-days per week inter-hospital helicopter transfers that include on-site ECMO cannulation if needed. This retrospective observational study describes adverse events of patients on ECMO transported by helicopter, and their associated survival. METHODS All patients on ECMO with inter-hospital transfer by helicopter from start of service in February 2009 until May 2021 were included. Patients not transported by helicopter or with missing medical records were excluded. Patient demographics (age, sex) and medical history (type of and reason for ECMO), mission details (flight distance, times, primary or secondary transport), adverse events during the inter-hospital transfer, and survival of transferred patients were recorded. The primary endpoint was patient survival during transfer. Secondary endpoints were adverse events during transfer and 28-day survival. RESULTS We screened 214 ECMO-related missions and included 191 in this analysis. Median age was 54.6 [IQR 46.1-62.0] years, 70.7% were male, and most patients had veno-arterial ECMO (56.5%). The main reasons for ECMO were pulmonary (46.1%) or cardiac (44.0%) failure. Most were daytime (69.8%) and primary missions (n = 100), median total mission time was 182.0 [143.0-254.0] min, and median transfer distance was 52.7 [33.2-71.1] km. All patients survived the transfer. Forty-four adverse events were recorded during 37 missions (19.4%), where 31 (70.5%) were medical and none resulted in patient harm. Adverse events occurred more frequently during night-time missions (59.9%, p = 0.047). Data for 28-day survival were available for 157 patients, of which 86 (54.8%) were alive. CONCLUSION All patients under ECMO survived the helicopter transport. Adverse events were observed for about 20% of the flight missions, with a tendency during the night-time flights, none harmed the patients. Inter-hospital transfer for patients undergoing ECMO provided by 24-h/7-d per week helicopter emergency medical service teams can be considered as feasible and safe. The majority of the patients (54.8%) were still alive after 28 days

Passive Pneumatic Stabilization Device for Assisting in Reduction of Femoral Shaft Fractures

During treatment of femoral shaft fractures, not only the actual fracture reduction but also the retention of the achieved reduction is essential. Substantial forces may apply to the bone fragments, due to multidirectional muscular contraction. Furthermore, forces from manipulation of one bone fragment may be transferred over the soft tissues onto the other fragments, thus hindering accurate fracture reduction. Once a sufficient reduction has been achieved, this position must be retained whilst definitive internal fixation is performed. Conventional methods comprise mounting patients on a traction table and applying manual distraction or employing special distraction devices, such as the AO distractor device. These approaches, however, only insufficiently stabilize both main fragments. For example, on the traction table the proximal femoral fragment can pivot around the hip joint thus complicating precise reduction. A novel pneumatic stabilization device to assist surgeons during operative procedures is described. This passive holding device "Passhold” connects to one main fragment through a minimally invasive bone interface and statically locks the fragment's position. Thereafter, only the other main fragment is manipulated to achieve reduction. Mutual interference of the reciprocal fragment positions, due to soft-tissue force transfer during manipulation, is avoided. The authors examined the stability of the novel retention device on a test rig and proved its functionality under sterile settings using cadaver tests. It is concluded that this device largely facilitates the operative procedure in femoral shaft fractures, is sufficiently stable and ergonomically suitable for intraoperative deploymen

High throughput transcriptome analysis of lipid metabolism in Syrian hamster liver in absence of an annotated genome

Background: Whole transcriptome analyses are an essential tool for understanding disease mechanisms. Approaches based on next-generation sequencing provide fast and affordable data but rely on the availability of annotated genomes. However, there are many areas in biomedical research that require non-standard animal models for which genome information is not available. This includes the Syrian hamster Mesocricetus auratus as an important model for dyslipidaemia because it mirrors many aspects of human disease and pharmacological responses. We show that complementary use of two independent next generation sequencing technologies combined with mapping to multiple genome databases allows unambiguous transcript annotation and quantitative transcript imaging. We refer to this approach as ``triple match sequencing{''} (TMS). Results: Contigs assembled from a normalized Roche 454 hamster liver library comprising 1.2 million long reads were used to identify 10'800 unique transcripts based on homology to RefSeq database entries from human, mouse, and rat. For mRNA quantification we mapped 82 million SAGE tags (SOLiD) from the same RNA source to the annotated hamster liver transcriptome contigs. We compared the liver transcriptome of hamster with equivalent data from human, rat, minipig, and cynomolgus monkeys to highlight differential gene expression with focus on lipid metabolism. We identify a cluster of five genes functionally related to HDL metabolism that is expressed in human, cynomolgus, minipig, and hamster but lacking in rat as a non-responder species for lipid lowering drugs. Conclusions: The TMS approach is suited for fast and inexpensive transcript profiling in cells or tissues of species where a fully annotated genome is not available. The continuously growing number of well annotated reference genomes will further empower reliable transcript identification and thereby raise the utility of the method for any species of interest

Functional analysis and transcriptional output of the Göttingen minipig genome

In the past decade the Göttingen minipig has gained increasing recognition as animal model in pharmaceutical and safety research because it recapitulates many aspects of human physiology and metabolism. Genome-based comparison of drug targets together with quantitative tissue expression analysis allows rational prediction of pharmacology and cross-reactivity of human drugs in animal models thereby improving drug attrition which is an important challenge in the process of drug development.; Here we present a new chromosome level based version of the Göttingen minipig genome together with a comparative transcriptional analysis of tissues with pharmaceutical relevance as basis for translational research. We relied on mapping and assembly of WGS (whole-genome-shotgun sequencing) derived reads to the reference genome of the Duroc pig and predict 19,228 human orthologous protein-coding genes. Genome-based prediction of the sequence of human drug targets enables the prediction of drug cross-reactivity based on conservation of binding sites. We further support the finding that the genome of Sus scrofa contains about ten-times less pseudogenized genes compared to other vertebrates. Among the functional human orthologs of these minipig pseudogenes we found HEPN1, a putative tumor suppressor gene. The genomes of Sus scrofa, the Tibetan boar, the African Bushpig, and the Warthog show sequence conservation of all inactivating HEPN1 mutations suggesting disruption before the evolutionary split of these pig species. We identify 133 Sus scrofa specific, conserved long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the minipig genome and show that these transcripts are highly conserved in the African pigs and the Tibetan boar suggesting functional significance. Using a new minipig specific microarray we show high conservation of gene expression signatures in 13 tissues with biomedical relevance between humans and adult minipigs. We underline this relationship for minipig and human liver where we could demonstrate similar expression levels for most phase I drug-metabolizing enzymes. Higher expression levels and metabolic activities were found for FMO1, AKR/CRs and for phase II drug metabolizing enzymes in minipig as compared to human. The variability of gene expression in equivalent human and minipig tissues is considerably higher in minipig organs, which is important for study design in case a human target belongs to this variable category in the minipig. The first analysis of gene expression in multiple tissues during development from young to adult shows that the majority of transcriptional programs are concluded four weeks after birth. This finding is in line with the advanced state of human postnatal organ development at comparative age categories and further supports the minipig as model for pediatric drug safety studies.; Genome based assessment of sequence conservation combined with gene expression data in several tissues improves the translational value of the minipig for human drug development. The genome and gene expression data presented here are important resources for researchers using the minipig as model for biomedical research or commercial breeding. Potential impact of our data for comparative genomics, translational research, and experimental medicine are discussed

Combining range and phenology shifts offers a winning strategy for boreal Lepidoptera

Species can adapt to climate change by adjusting in situ or by dispersing to new areas, and these strategies may complement or enhance each other. Here, we investigate temporal shifts in phenology and spatial shifts in northern range boundaries for 289 Lepidoptera species by using long-term data sampled over two decades. While 40% of the species neither advanced phenology nor moved northward, nearly half (45%) used one of the two strategies. The strongest positive population trends were observed for the minority of species (15%) that both advanced flight phenology and shifted their northern range boundaries northward. We show that, for boreal Lepidoptera, a combination of phenology and range shifts is the most viable strategy under a changing climate. Effectively, this may divide species into winners and losers based on their propensity to capitalize on this combination, with potentially large consequences on future community composition.Peer reviewe