In Search of Hidden Chambers at Newgrange Passage Tomb

Kevin Barton, Roman Pašteka, Palo Zahorec, Juraj Papčo and Conor Brady describe the first use of microgravity on a passage tomb in Irelan

About a New Palpation Sign in the Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis in Children and Women of Childbearing Age

Acute appendicitis (AA) is defined as nonspecific bacterial inflammation of the appendix vermiformis and is the most common acute abdominal condition requiring surgical intervention. The clinical picture of atypical forms of AA (children, women of childbearing age) is often insidious with its unpredictable onset and course. The diagnosis is particularly problematic. The new palpation sign consists of two reflex arcs. The visceral reflex arc ensures the diagnosis of an early stage of acute appendicitis, on the other hand, the somatic reflex arc points to the late stage of acute appendicitis. Due to the technical simplicity of the new palpation sign and the positioning of the patient during the examination, it is effective in a restless and distrustful child, as well as in women of childbearing age in differentiating AA from a gynecological disease

Gravimetric inversion based on model exploration with growing source bodies (Growth) in diverse earth science disciplines

Gravimetry is a discipline of geophysics that deals with observation and interpretation of the earth gravity field. The acquired gravity data serve the study of the earth interior, be it the deep or the near surface one, by means of the inferred subsurface structural density distribution. The subsurface density structure is resolved by solving the gravimetric inverse problem. Diverse methods and approaches exist for solving this non-unique and ill-posed inverse problem. Here, we focused on those methods that do not pre-constrain the number or geometries of the density sources. We reviewed the historical development and the basic principles of the Growth inversion methodology, which belong to the methods based on the growth of the model density structure throughout an iterative exploration process. The process was based on testing and filling the cells of a subsurface domain partition with density contrasts through an iterative mixed weighted adjustment procedure. The procedure iteratively minimized the data misfit residuals jointly with minimizing the total anomalous mass of the model, which facilitated obtaining compact meaningful source bodies of the solution. The applicability of the Growth inversion approach in structural geophysical studies, in geodynamic studies, and in near surface gravimetric studies was reviewed and illustrated. This work also presented the first application of the Growth inversion tool to near surface microgravimetric data with the goal of seeking very shallow cavities in archeological prospection and environmental geophysics

Sepsis as a Challenge for Personalized Medicine

Sepsis is a clinical syndrome of systemic inflammation induced by infection, now defined as life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated immune response to infection [...

Searching for hidden chambers at Newgrange Passage Tomb; some results with an evaluation of the multi-method geophysical techniques used.

Newgrange Passage Tomb is 76m in diameter and 12m high. A single 19m inner passage leads to a chamber some 6m in diameter and height. The possibility of further chambers existing has been the subject of interest since the partial excavation completed in 1975. Multiple passageways and chambers exist at nearby tombs at Knowth and Dowth - could there be hidden chambers at Newgrange that could be detected using geophysical methods? We present the results from a multi-method geophysical survey. The principal method used was microgravity which has found hidden cavities in the Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt. The method has also been used to detect the presence of medieval crypts but there has been little research in the use of microgravity in the detection of chambers in mounds due to their generally small dimensions. The situation in mounds at Brú na Bóinne is different. The major chambers have quite large dimensions, thus enhancing the detection capability of microgravity. A computer simulation to predict the gravity anomaly over the Newgrange chamber was carried out. This showed that the calculated effect on gravity of the chamber volume together with its depth within the mound would produce a measurable negative gravity anomaly. The key objective of the survey was to investigate the potential of the microgravity method in the initial detection of the known chamber and subsequently in searching for possible hidden chambers. The processing and interpretation of the microgravity survey was informed by ground penetrating radar, electrical resistivity tomography, multi-frequency electromagnetic and earth resistance results. Initial gravity measurements were made over and in the vicinity of the known chamber. The position of each measurement point was precisely determined using a combination of differential GPS and laser tachymetry methods. Strong winds at the time of survey required windshields to be used to protect the instruments from gusts and each measurement was verified by repeat readings. The average error from repeated and independently controlled measurement points was +/-15 microGals. This is relatively high but acceptable in the case of this survey. Data were processed to remove the effects of elevation, tidal variation, topography, latitude, and instrument drift. Topography corrections were made using LiDAR data. The output was a gravity anomaly map draped on a 3-D model made from the LiDAR data which presents the properties and geometry of sub-surface inhomogeneities. The map shows a well developed negative anomaly over the centre of the chamber. The size of the anomaly at its centre is several times larger than the precision of the instrument and also the average error of the instruments. Further gravity measurements were made on the mound and in the chamber in order to seek further anomalies and refine the gravity model of the known chamber. The results confirm the measured gravity anomaly is significantly larger than the computed anomaly based on laser tachymetry measurements of the spaceform of the chamber. This leads us to believe there is an unknown feature or structure of low density associated with the known chamber

SepsEast and COVID-19: time to make a difference

SepsEast is an enthusiastic intensivists group initiative launched in 2012, with the aim to facilitate clinical and research activities in the region. Through its actions and with the motto « Together we win, divided we are slow! » several joint research projects in the fields of perioperative medicine, fluid therapy, cardiovascular monitoring and support have been conducted. In the light of the COVID- 19 pandemic, the SepsEast community is aware of its mission and is ready to take the challenge. This is mirrored by several educational, clinical and research activities including the development of a COVID-19 Registry ; and an observational clinical study on cytokine adsorption in COVID-19 patients. The current pandemic should be our lesson on how to manage the global threat of infectious disease and to develop strategies for effective diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Hopefully, the SepsEast community will contribute to these developments and scientific advances in general

Physical properties of Hradište border fault (Turiec Basin, Western Carpathians, Slovakia) inferred by multidisciplinary geophysical approach

International audienceThe Hradište border fault zone has played an important role in the development of the tectonic contact of the Cenozoic sediments of the Turiec Basin with the Malá Fatra Mountains crystalline basement. Seismic, geoelectric, radiometric, gravimetric, magnetometric and ground penetrating radar measurements were used to study the physical properties and determine the exact position and inclination of this fault zone down to a depth of up to 40 m. The Hradište border fault zone represents an almost vertical physical boundary characterized by decreasing seismic velocity (from 3.0 km.s−1 to 2.2 km.s−1) and decreasing electrical resistivity (500 to 150 Ω.m) when passing from the basement west of the fault to sediments to its east. It corresponds also to a compact segment of the lowest volume activity of radon 222Rn values in soil air (8 kBq.m−3 on average) and maximum horizontal gravity gradient (−0.0076 mGal.m−1). The discovery of this anomalous zone also helps us to distinguish two different anomalous blocks. The block west of the fault represents the orthogneisses of the Tatric crystalline complex belonging to the Malá Fatra Mountains. The eastern block is built-up by the Bystrička Member Pliocene sediments of the Turiec Basin. Our study serves as a case study for geophysical research on faults in different tectonic units of the Western Carpathians and other similar orogens

SepsEast Registry indicates high mortality associated with COVID-19 caused acute respiratory failure in Central-Eastern European intensive care units

Abstract The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic caused unprecedented research activity all around the world but publications from Central-Eastern European countries remain scarce. Therefore, our aim was to characterise the features of the pandemic in the intensive care units (ICUs) among members of the SepsEast (Central-Eastern European Sepsis Forum) initiative. We conducted a retrospective, international, multicentre study between March 2020 and February 2021. All adult patients admitted to the ICU with pneumonia caused by COVID-19 were enrolled. Data on baseline and treatment characteristics, organ support and mortality were collected. Eleven centres from six countries provided data from 2139 patients. Patient characteristics were: median 68, [IQR 60–75] years of age; males: 67%; body mass index: 30.1 [27.0–34.7]; and 88% comorbidities. Overall mortality was 55%, which increased from 2020 to 2021 (p = 0.004). The major causes of death were respiratory (37%), cardiovascular (26%) and sepsis with multiorgan failure (21%). 1061 patients received invasive mechanical ventilation (mortality: 66%) without extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (n = 54). The rest of the patients received non-invasive ventilation (n = 129), high flow nasal oxygen (n = 317), conventional oxygen therapy (n = 122), as the highest level of ventilatory support, with mortality of 50%, 39% and 22%, respectively. This is the largest COVID-19 dataset from Central-Eastern European ICUs to date. The high mortality observed especially in those receiving invasive mechanical ventilation renders the need of establishing national–international ICU registries and audits in the region that could provide high quality, transparent data, not only during the pandemic, but also on a regular basis

The first pan-Alpine surface-gravity database, a modern compilation that crosses frontiers

The AlpArray Gravity Research Group (AAGRG), as part of the European AlpArray program, focuses on the compilation of a homogeneous surface-based gravity data set across the Alpine area. In 2017 10 European countries in the Alpine realm agreed to contribute with gravity data for a new compilation of the Alpine gravity field in an area spanning from 2 to 23∘ E and from 41 to 51∘ N. This compilation relies on existing national gravity databases and, for the Ligurian and the Adriatic seas, on shipborne data of the Service Hydrographique et Océanographique de la Marine and of the Bureau Gravimétrique International. Furthermore, for the Ivrea zone in the Western Alps, recently acquired data were added to the database. This first pan-Alpine gravity data map is homogeneous regarding input data sets, applied methods and all corrections, as well as reference frames. Here, the AAGRG presents the data set of the recalculated gravity fields on a 4 km × 4 km grid for public release and a 2 km × 2 km grid for special request. The final products also include calculated values for mass and bathymetry corrections of the measured gravity at each grid point, as well as height. This allows users to use later customized densities for their own calculations of mass corrections. Correction densities used are 2670 kg m−3 for landmasses, 1030 kg m−3 for water masses above the ellipsoid and −1640 kg m−3 for those below the ellipsoid and 1000 kg m−3 for lake water masses. The correction radius was set to the Hayford zone O2 (167 km). The new Bouguer anomaly is station completed (CBA) and compiled according to the most modern criteria and reference frames (both positioning and gravity), including atmospheric corrections. Special emphasis was put on the gravity effect of the numerous lakes in the study area, which can have an effect of up to 5 mGal for gravity stations located at shorelines with steep slopes, e.g., for the rather deep reservoirs in the Alps. The results of an error statistic based on cross validations and/or “interpolation residuals” are provided for the entire database. As an example, the interpolation residuals of the Austrian data set range between about −8 and +8 mGal and the cross-validation residuals between −14 and +10 mGal; standard deviations are well below 1 mGal. The accuracy of the newly compiled gravity database is close to ±5 mGal for most areas. A first interpretation of the new map shows that the resolution of the gravity anomalies is suited for applications ranging from intra-crustal- to crustal-scale modeling to interdisciplinary studies on the regional and continental scales, as well as applications as joint inversion with other data sets. The data are published with the DOI https://doi.org/10.5880/fidgeo.2020.045 (Zahorec et al., 2021) via GFZ Data Services.</p