The development of herbaceous planting in Britain and Germany from the nineteenth to the early twentieth century.

In 2 vols.Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN027541 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Electroporation Therapy in Soft Tissue Sarcoma: A Potentially Effective Novel Treatment

Purpose. Examination of the potential of electroporation therapy (EPT) in a patient with metastatic soft tissue sarcoma. Patient. A 24-year-old male who underwent extensive resection and postoperative radiotherapy for a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor in the right infratemporal fossa with intracranial extension and invasion of the maxillary sinus and mandible had a recurrence in the scar of his craniotomy for which he was initially treated with doxorubicin. After discontinuation of doxorubicin he developed a metastatic mass at the same site for which he was treated with electroporation therapy. Method. The subcutaneous metastasis was infiltrated with bleomycin and electroporated. Results. Gradually the tumor became increasingly necrotic and demarcated from surrounding tissue. After 10 weeks no tumor was seen anymore. The wound healed secondarily. Discussion. Intralesional bleomycin followed by EPT is potentially effective, well tolerated, and easy to perform in well accessible soft tissue sarcoma sites

The reliability and usability of the Anesthesiologists’ Non-Technical Skills (ANTS) system in simulation research

Background: Non-technical skills (NTS) such as leadership and team work are important in providing good quality of care. One system to assess physicians’ NTS is the Anesthesiologists’ Non-Technical Skills (ANTS) system. The present study evaluates the ANTS system on the interrater reliability and usability for research purposes. Methods: Ten anesthesiologists and 20 anesthesiology residents performed two resuscitation scenarios (with and without the presence of distractors) in a simulation room with a full-scale patient simulator. The scenarios were videotaped. Two independent raters rated the NTS of the anesthesiologists using the ANTS system. The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated to determine the interrater reliability of both the total NTS score and the measured differences between the two scenarios. The raters filled out a questionnaire to obtain insights in the usability of the ANTS system for research purposes. Results: The ICC for the total score of the NTS was substantial (0.683), and the ICC of the elements varied between 0.371 for assessing capabilities and 0.670 for providing and maintaining standards. The intraclass correlation coefficient of measuring differences was fair (0.502). The raters judged the usability as good. Conclusions: The ANTS system was reliable for the total score and usable to measure physicians’ NTS in a research setting. However, there was variation between the reliability of the elements. We recommend that if the ANTS is used for research, a pilot study should determine elements not applicable or observable in the scenario of interest; these elements should be excluded from the study.</p

Interactions of ferrous iron with clay mineral surfaces during sorption and subsequent oxidation

In submerged soils and sediments, clay minerals are often exposed to anoxic waters containing ferrous iron (Fe2+). Here, we investigated the sorption of Fe2+ onto a synthetic montmorillonite (Syn-1) low in structural Fe (<0.05 mmol Fe per kg) under anoxic conditions and the effects of subsequent oxidation. Samples were prepared at two Fe-loadings (0.05 and 0.5 mol Fe added per kg clay) and equilibrated for 1 and 30 days under anoxic conditions (O2 < 0.1 ppm), followed by exposure to ambient air. Iron solid-phase speciation and mineral identity was analysed by 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy and synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Mössbauer analyses showed that Fe(ii) was partially oxidized (14-100% of total added Fe2+) upon sorption to Syn-1 under anoxic conditions. XAS results revealed that the added Fe2+ mainly formed precipitates (layered Fe minerals, Fe(iii)-bearing clay minerals, ferrihydrite, and lepidocrocite) in different quantities depending on the Fe-loading. Exposing the suspensions to ambient air resulted in rapid and complete oxidation of sorbed Fe(ii) and the formation of Fe(iii)-phases (Fe(iii)-bearing clay minerals, ferrihydrite, and lepidocrocite), demonstrating that the clay minerals were unable to protect ferrous Fe from oxidation, even when equilibrated 30 days under anoxic conditions prior to oxidation. Our findings clarify the role of clay minerals in the formation and stability of Fe-bearing solid phases during redox cycles in periodically anoxic environments.ISSN:2050-7887ISSN:2050-789

The reliability and usability of the Anesthesiologists’ Non-Technical Skills (ANTS) system in simulation research

Background: Non-technical skills (NTS) such as leadership and team work are important in providing good quality of care. One system to assess physicians’ NTS is the Anesthesiologists’ Non-Technical Skills (ANTS) system. The present study evaluates the ANTS system on the interrater reliability and usability for research purposes. Methods: Ten anesthesiologists and 20 anesthesiology residents performed two resuscitation scenarios (with and without the presence of distractors) in a simulation room with a full-scale patient simulator. The scenarios were videotaped. Two independent raters rated the NTS of the anesthesiologists using the ANTS system. The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated to determine the interrater reliability of both the total NTS score and the measured differences between the two scenarios. The raters filled out a questionnaire to obtain insights in the usability of the ANTS system for research purposes. Results: The ICC for the total score of the NTS was substantial (0.683), and the ICC of the elements varied between 0.371 for assessing capabilities and 0.670 for providing and maintaining standards. The intraclass correlation coefficient of measuring differences was fair (0.502). The raters judged the usability as good. Conclusions: The ANTS system was reliable for the total score and usable to measure physicians’ NTS in a research setting. However, there was variation between the reliability of the elements. We recommend that if the ANTS is used for research, a pilot study should determine elements not applicable or observable in the scenario of interest; these elements should be excluded from the study.</p

A machine learning-based tool for open cluster membership determination in Gaia DR3

Membership studies characterising open clusters with Gaia data, most using DR2, are so far limited at magnitude G = 18 due to astrometric uncertainties at the faint end. Our goal is to extend current open cluster membership lists with faint members and to characterise the low-mass end, which members are important for many applications, in particular for ground-based spectroscopic surveys. We use a deep neural network architecture to learn the distribution of highly reliable open cluster member stars around known clusters. After that, we use the trained network to estimate new open cluster members based on their similarities in a high-dimensional space, five-dimensional astrometry plus the three photometric bands. Due to the improved astrometric precisions of Gaia DR3 with respect to DR2, we are able to homogeneously detect new faint member stars (G > 18) for the known open cluster population. Our methodology can provide extended membership lists for open clusters down to the limiting magnitude of Gaia, which will enable further studies to characterise the open cluster population, e.g. estimation of their masses, or their dynamics. These extended membership lists are also ideal target lists for forthcoming ground-based spectroscopic surveys.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysic