Risk for pelvic metastasis and role of pelvic lymphadenectomy in node-positive vulvar cancer - results from the AGO-VOP.2 QS vulva study

Simple Summary In node-positive vulvar squamous cell cancer, questions of when and how to perform pelvic lymphadenectomy (LAE) as well as the optimal extent of pelvic treatment in general have been surrounded by considerable controversy. In Germany, systematic pelvic LAE is currently recommended as a staging procedure in patients at risk for pelvic nodal involvement in order to prevent morbidity caused by pelvic radiotherapy (RT) in patients without histologically-confirmed pelvic involvement. However, the population at risk for pelvic metastases remains insufficiently described, resulting in the potential overtreatment of a considerable proportion of patients with groin-positive disease. This applies to the indication to perform surgical staging but also to adjuvant RT of the pelvis without previous pelvic staging. Our study aims to describe the risk for pelvic lymph node metastasis with regard to positive groin nodes and to clarify the indication criteria for pelvic treatment in node-positive vulvar cancer. Abstract The need for pelvic treatment in patients with node-positive vulvar cancer (VSCC) and the value of pelvic lymphadenectomy (LAE) as a staging procedure to plan adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) is controversial. In this retrospective, multicenter analysis, 306 patients with primary node-positive VSCC treated at 33 gynecologic oncology centers in Germany between 2017 and 2019 were analyzed. All patients received surgical staging of the groins; nodal status was as follows: 23.9% (73/306) pN1a, 23.5% (72/306) pN1b, 20.4% (62/306) pN2a/b, and 31.9% (97/306) pN2c/pN3. A total of 35.6% (109/306) received pelvic LAE; pelvic nodal involvement was observed in 18.5%. None of the patients with nodal status pN1a or pN1b and pelvic LAE showed pelvic nodal involvement. Taking only patients with nodal status ≥pN2a into account, the rate of pelvic involvement was 25%. In total, adjuvant RT was applied in 64.4% (197/306). Only half of the pelvic node-positive (N+) patients received adjuvant RT to the pelvis (50%, 10/20 patients); 41.9% (122/291 patients) experienced recurrent disease or died. In patients with histologically-confirmed pelvic metastases after LAE, distant recurrences were most frequently observed (7/20 recurrences). Conclusions: A relevant risk regarding pelvic nodal involvement was observed from nodal status pN2a and higher. Our data support the omission of pelvic treatment in patients with nodal status pN1a and pN1b

Next-Generation Sequencing Reveals Significant Bacterial Diversity of Botrytized Wine

While wine fermentation has long been known to involve complex microbial communities, the composition and role of bacteria other than a select set of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) has often been assumed either negligible or detrimental. This study served as a pilot study for using barcoded amplicon next-generation sequencing to profile bacterial community structure in wines and grape musts, comparing the taxonomic depth achieved by sequencing two different domains of prokaryotic 16S rDNA (V4 and V5). This study was designed to serve two goals: 1) to empirically determine the most taxonomically informative 16S rDNA target region for barcoded amplicon sequencing of wine, comparing V4 and V5 domains of bacterial 16S rDNA to terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) of LAB communities; and 2) to explore the bacterial communities of wine fermentation to better understand the biodiversity of wine at a depth previously unattainable using other techniques. Analysis of amplicons from the V4 and V5 provided similar views of the bacterial communities of botrytized wine fermentations, revealing a broad diversity of low-abundance taxa not traditionally associated with wine, as well as atypical LAB communities initially detected by TRFLP. The V4 domain was determined as the more suitable read for wine ecology studies, as it provided greater taxonomic depth for profiling LAB communities. In addition, targeted enrichment was used to isolate two species of Alphaproteobacteria from a finished fermentation. Significant differences in diversity between inoculated and uninoculated samples suggest that Saccharomyces inoculation exerts selective pressure on bacterial diversity in these fermentations, most notably suppressing abundance of acetic acid bacteria. These results determine the bacterial diversity of botrytized wines to be far higher than previously realized, providing further insight into the fermentation dynamics of these wines, and demonstrate the utility of next-generation sequencing for wine ecology studies

Tropical and Boreal Forest Atmosphere Interactions: A Review

This review presents how the boreal and the tropical forests affect the atmosphere, its chemical composition, its function, and further how that affects the climate and, in return, the ecosystems through feedback processes. Observations from key tower sites standing out due to their long-term comprehensive observations: The Amazon Tall Tower Observatory in Central Amazonia, the Zotino Tall Tower Observatory in Siberia, and the Station to Measure Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relations at Hyytiala in Finland. The review is complemented by short-term observations from networks and large experiments.The review discusses atmospheric chemistry observations, aerosol formation and processing, physiochemical aerosol, and cloud condensation nuclei properties and finds surprising similarities and important differences in the two ecosystems. The aerosol concentrations and chemistry are similar, particularly concerning the main chemical components, both dominated by an organic fraction, while the boreal ecosystem has generally higher concentrations of inorganics, due to higher influence of long-range transported air pollution. The emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds are dominated by isoprene and monoterpene in the tropical and boreal regions, respectively, being the main precursors of the organic aerosol fraction.Observations and modeling studies show that climate change and deforestation affect the ecosystems such that the carbon and hydrological cycles in Amazonia are changing to carbon neutrality and affect precipitation downwind. In Africa, the tropical forests are so far maintaining their carbon sink.It is urgent to better understand the interaction between these major ecosystems, the atmosphere, and climate, which calls for more observation sites, providing long-term data on water, carbon, and other biogeochemical cycles. This is essential in finding a sustainable balance between forest preservation and reforestation versus a potential increase in food production and biofuels, which are critical in maintaining ecosystem services and global climate stability. Reducing global warming and deforestation is vital for tropical forests

Tropical and Boreal Forest Atmosphere Interactions : A Review

This review presents how the boreal and the tropical forests affect the atmosphere, its chemical composition, its function, and further how that affects the climate and, in return, the ecosystems through feedback processes. Observations from key tower sites standing out due to their long-term comprehensive observations: The Amazon Tall Tower Observatory in Central Amazonia, the Zotino Tall Tower Observatory in Siberia, and the Station to Measure Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relations at Hyytiala in Finland. The review is complemented by short-term observations from networks and large experiments. The review discusses atmospheric chemistry observations, aerosol formation and processing, physiochemical aerosol, and cloud condensation nuclei properties and finds surprising similarities and important differences in the two ecosystems. The aerosol concentrations and chemistry are similar, particularly concerning the main chemical components, both dominated by an organic fraction, while the boreal ecosystem has generally higher concentrations of inorganics, due to higher influence of long-range transported air pollution. The emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds are dominated by isoprene and monoterpene in the tropical and boreal regions, respectively, being the main precursors of the organic aerosol fraction. Observations and modeling studies show that climate change and deforestation affect the ecosystems such that the carbon and hydrological cycles in Amazonia are changing to carbon neutrality and affect precipitation downwind. In Africa, the tropical forests are so far maintaining their carbon sink. It is urgent to better understand the interaction between these major ecosystems, the atmosphere, and climate, which calls for more observation sites, providing long-term data on water, carbon, and other biogeochemical cycles. This is essential in finding a sustainable balance between forest preservation and reforestation versus a potential increase in food production and biofuels, which are critical in maintaining ecosystem services and global climate stability. Reducing global warming and deforestation is vital for tropical forests.Peer reviewe

Tropical and Boreal Forest Atmosphere Interactions : A Review

This review presents how the boreal and the tropical forests affect the atmosphere, its chemical composition, its function, and further how that affects the climate and, in return, the ecosystems through feedback processes. Observations from key tower sites standing out due to their long-term comprehensive observations: The Amazon Tall Tower Observatory in Central Amazonia, the Zotino Tall Tower Observatory in Siberia, and the Station to Measure Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relations at Hyytiala in Finland. The review is complemented by short-term observations from networks and large experiments. The review discusses atmospheric chemistry observations, aerosol formation and processing, physiochemical aerosol, and cloud condensation nuclei properties and finds surprising similarities and important differences in the two ecosystems. The aerosol concentrations and chemistry are similar, particularly concerning the main chemical components, both dominated by an organic fraction, while the boreal ecosystem has generally higher concentrations of inorganics, due to higher influence of long-range transported air pollution. The emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds are dominated by isoprene and monoterpene in the tropical and boreal regions, respectively, being the main precursors of the organic aerosol fraction. Observations and modeling studies show that climate change and deforestation affect the ecosystems such that the carbon and hydrological cycles in Amazonia are changing to carbon neutrality and affect precipitation downwind. In Africa, the tropical forests are so far maintaining their carbon sink. It is urgent to better understand the interaction between these major ecosystems, the atmosphere, and climate, which calls for more observation sites, providing long-term data on water, carbon, and other biogeochemical cycles. This is essential in finding a sustainable balance between forest preservation and reforestation versus a potential increase in food production and biofuels, which are critical in maintaining ecosystem services and global climate stability. Reducing global warming and deforestation is vital for tropical forests.Peer reviewe

Light-induced nitrous acid (HONO) production from NO2 heterogeneous reactions on household chemicals

International audienceNitrous acid (HONO) can be generated in various indoor environments directly during combustion processes or indirectly via heterogeneous NO2 reactions with water adsorbed layers on diverse surfaces. Indoors not only the concentrations of NO2 are higher but the surface to volume (Sly) ratios are larger and therefore the potential of HONO production is significantly elevated compared to outdoors. It has been claimed that the UV solar light is largely attenuated indoors. Here, we show that solar light (lambda > 340 nm) penetrates indoors and can influence the heterogeneous reactions of gas-phase NO2 with various household surfaces. The NO2 to HONO conversion mediated by light on surfaces covered with domestic chemicals has been determined at atmospherically relevant conditions i.e. 50 ppb NO2 and 50% RH. The formation rates of HONO were enhanced in presence of light for all the studied surfaces and are determined in the following order: 1.3.10(9) molecules cm(-2) s(-1) for borosilicate glass, 1.7.10(9) molecules cm(-2) s(-1) for bathroom cleaner, 1.0.10(10) molecules cm(-2) s(-1) on alkaline detergent (floor cleaner), 1.3.10(19) molecules cm(-2) s(-1) for white wall paint and 2.7.10(19) molecules cm(-2) s(-1) for lacquer. These results highlight the potential of household chemicals, used for cleaning purposes to generate HONO indoors through light-enhanced NO2 heterogeneous reactions. The results obtained have been applied to predict the timely evolution of HONO in a real indoor environment using a dynamic mass balance model. A steady state mixing ratio of HONO has been estimated at 1.6 ppb assuming a contribution from glass, paint and lacquer and considering the photolysis of HONO as the most important loss process. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Concentrations and fluxes of water soluble inorganic aerosol components above tropical rainforest

The interaction between biosphere and atmosphere in the cycling of gas and aerosol species is of key importance in considering overall emission and deposition rates of nutrients and pollutants. Understanding of the biosphereatmosphere processes that govern these cycles is critical to modelling global concentrations of atmospheric aerosols and trace gases, which in turn is vital to developing predictions for future climate, air quality and trans‐boundary air pollution. However, to understand these processes, more measurements over a variety of different ecosystems are required, preferably measurements which are taken in real time, which are of high temporal resolution and record a variety of species simultaneously and at potentially low background concentrations. In particular, very little is known about the role of biosphere‐atmosphere exchange in the nutrient cycling in and above tropical rain forests. While aerosol concentrations can provide information on the regional transport of compounds, fluxes allow an insight into the chemical process in the forest. In this work, the concentrations and fluxes of water‐soluble aerosol species NH4 +, Cl‐, NO2 ‐, NO3 ‐ and SO4 2‐ in total suspended particulate (TSP) and their precursor gases NH3, HCl, HNO2, HNO3 and SO2 were measured using a Gradient of Aerosols and Gases Online Registrator (GRAEGOR) above a tropical rainforest site located at the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO) in Amazonia, Brazil. Measurements were taken during the dry season from the 4 October to 10 November 2017. From the measured concentration‐gradients and ancillary meteorological measurements, fluxes for each species were derived using the hybrid Aerodynamic Gradient Method and the Modified Bowen Ratio Method. Deposition velocities for each species were calculated and compared to theoretical deposition velocities, and interpreted in relation to measurements of leaf wetness at the canopy level. The average concentrations for aerosol species at each of the measurement heights (42 m and 60 m) throughout the campaign were 0.26/0.26 μg m‐3 for NH4 +, 0.11/0.12 μg m‐3 for Cl‐, 0.39/0.48 μg m‐3 for NO3 ‐ and 0.48/0.49 μg m‐3 for SO4 2‐. The mean concentration values of measured precursor gases were 0.26/0.23 μg m‐3 for NH3, 0.10/0.11 μg m‐3 for HCl, 0.06/0.06 μg m‐3 for HNO2, 0.24/0.26 μg m‐3 for HNO3 and 0.20/0.23 μg m‐3 for SO2. The aerosol concentration values were mostly in agreement with previous measurements made at similar time of year, except for higher mass fraction contribution of chloride and nitrate in the current study. This could indicate regional or long‐distance transport of coarse chloride (sea salt) and coarse nitrate that previous measurements would not have detected due to their use of a smaller particle size cut‐off compared with the one in this study. Copyright © 2018 by the International Aerosol Conference (IAC)