Measuring, modelling and managing gully erosion at large scales: A state of the art

Soil erosion is generally recognized as the dominant process of land degradation. The formation and expansion of gullies is often a highly significant process of soil erosion. However, our ability to assess and simulate gully erosion and its impacts remains very limited. This is especially so at regional to continental scales. As a result, gullying is often overlooked in policies and land and catchment management strategies. Nevertheless, significant progress has been made over the past decades. Based on a review of >590 scientific articles and policy documents, we provide a state-of-the-art on our ability to monitor, model and manage gully erosion at regional to continental scales. In this review we discuss the relevance and need of assessing gully erosion at regional to continental scales (Section 1); current methods to monitor gully erosion as well as pitfalls and opportunities to apply them at larger scales (section 2); field-based gully erosion research conducted in Europe and European Russia (section 3); model approaches to simulate gully erosion and its contribution to catchment sediment yields at large scales (section 4); data products that can be used for such simulations (section 5); and currently existing policy tools and needs to address the problem of gully erosion (section 6). Section 7 formulates a series of recommendations for further research and policy development, based on this review. While several of these sections have a strong focus on Europe, most of our findings and recommendations are of global significance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Does the topographic threshold concept explain the initiation points of sunken lanes in the European loess belt?

Sunken lanes or ‘road gullies’ are a common geomorphic feature in the European loess belt. These landforms are usually created by various processes over time (water erosion, mass movements and traffic). They are important for ecology and biodiversity, for recreation and transport, as well as from a hydrological and geomorphological perspective (e.g. by enhancing the runoff and sediment connectivity of the landscape). Nonetheless, little is known about their origin and evolution. The formation of sunken lanes is typically only understood in qualitative terms, while no studies so far have provided a quantitative analysis of their initiation conditions. To address this research gap and to improve our geomorphic understanding of this landform, we investigated to what extent sunken lanes can be treated and described as a gully erosion process. More specifically, we explored to what extent their position in the landscape and their characteristics can be explained by the topographic slope-area (SA) threshold that typically controls gully initiation: S=kA^b, with k and b empirical constants. Based on field surveys and LIDAR data analyses, we determined the slope gradient of the soil surface (S) and contributing area (A) for 132 representative sunken lane heads in the Belgian loess belt and collected data on several other characteristics (position of initiation and sedimentation points, width, depth and length of each sunken lane). Our results show a very large scatter on the S and A values. Moreover, the morphological characteristics of sunken lanes (e.g. width and length) showed no clear relation with these values. However, a very weak SA-threshold relation with a low b-exponent (-0.016) and a low k-coefficient (0.022) could be identified. Overall, our results show that the formation of sunken lanes is not in line with the topographic threshold conditions that govern the initiation of gullies across different environments. The low k-coefficient and the lack of a strong correlation between initiation slope and contributing area point towards an overall higher susceptibility to the formation of sunken lanes than the formation of gullies. This supports the conclusion that not only concentrated flow detachment and transport, but especially human activities (mainly traffic erosion) play a major role in the initiation and development of sunken lanes.status: Published onlin

Acht jaar maatjes in balans : een evaluatie van een evidence-based ambulant groepsprogramma voor lagereschoolkinderen met obesitas

In deze studie evalueerden we het ambulant groepsprogramma “MaatjesInBalans” van het AZ Alma te Eeklo ter behandeling van lagereschoolkinderen met obesitas, gebaseerd op een evidence-based protocol van de Universiteit Gent. Om de effectiviteit na te gaan analyseerden we verschillende fysieke en psychologische maatstaven uit data die gedurende acht jaar werden verzameld. Uit de resultaten concluderen we dat de participanten een aanzienlijk positieve evolutie hebben doorgemaakt. Ten eerste hebben ze significant gewicht verloren na de intensieve behandelsessies, en konden ze dit ook constant houden in de follow-up. Ten tweede presteerden ze beter op een vertesprong-, loop- en fietstest. Ten derde was er vooruitgang op verschillende psychologische vlakken: minder extern eetgedrag, meer gecontroleerd eten en hogere gevoelens van competentie op verschillende domeinen (sociaal, sportief, fysiek, eigenwaarde). In missing-data-analyses bleven dezelfde conclusies overeind. Deze resultaten bieden belangrijke inzichten en pleiten voor het implementeren van evidence-based behandelprogramma’s. Toekomstig onderzoek blijft echter nodig. Het is namelijk zo dat er nog een belangrijke groep onvoldoende vooruitgang heeft geboekt en de norm van 10% gewichtsverlies niet heeft bereikt. Dit duidt erop dat er nog meer onderzoek vereist is naar de oorzaken van het falen van de behandeling bij specifieke subgroepen

Gullies and Badlands as Geoheritage Sites

status: publishe

A comparison of [68Ga]Ga-NOTA-anti-HER2-sdAb PET/CT with [18F]FDG-PET/CT in breast carcinoma patients

Introduction In breast carcinoma (BC), the Human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2) status plays an important role in prognosis and treatment options. HER2 assessment is done via immunohistochemistry (IHC) or in situ hybridization. Tumor heterogeneity can be missed by these techniques. Moreover, the ASCO CAP scoring system is less suited to determine “HER2-low” disease1. Whole body PET imaging could be a solution; we here show clinical evaluation of a 68Ga-labeled, NOTA-coupled, single-domain antibody (sdAb) tracer targeting the HER2 receptor2. Methods Twenty patients (pts) with locally advanced or metastatic BC were included in this phase II trial to assess repeatability, tracer uptake in tumor lesions and immunogenicity. Repeatability was presented at EMIM 20223. In 16 pts, [18F]FDG-PET/CT (FDG) was performed as standard-of-care within 5 weeks of [68Ga]Ga-NOTA-anti-HER2-sdAb PET/CT (HER2-scan), and could be used for this subanalysis. HER2-scan was performed using intravenous injection of [68Ga]Ga-NOTA-anti-HER2-sdAb (121,28 ± 15,65 MBq) followed by PET/CT (Siemens Biograph Vision, 120 s per bed position and 40 s for the legs) at 90 minutes post injection (pi). Peak Standard Uptake Values (SUVpeak) of selected lesions were measured on both the FDG and HER2-scan. Results/Discussion Sixteen women with BC (3 HER2 +, 13 HER2-) and a mean age of 59,7y (range, 33-81) were included in this subanalysis. Looking at historical HER2 scoring, there was no correlation between uptake in HER2-scan and IHC score. Out of 13 HER2-negative pts, 9 had lesions with SUVpeak higher than 5, showing relevant tracer uptake in HER2-low disease. Within multiple pts, clear differences in SUVpeak between lesions were measured on HER2-scan, which was not present on FDG. This observation, together with the earlier-reported repeatability, indicates the potential of the tracer to assess heterogeneity. Two pts with [18F]FDG uptake in suspicious but finally non-cancerous lesions, did not show any HER2 uptake in these lesions (inflammation around breast prosthesis, tuberculosis (Fig. 1)), showing better specificity compared to [18F]FDG. In several pts, even in some HER2-low cases, disease extent was better appreciated on HER2-scan than on FDG, indicating good sensitivity of the tracer. Conclusions Comparison of tracer uptake in HER2-scan and FDG confirms [68Ga]Ga-NOTA-anti-HER2-sdAb as a potentially sensitive and specific tracer in breast carcinoma patients, also in HER2-low disease. HER2-scan holds promise for disease characterization and guidance of treatment decisions in HER2-low BC pts who could be candidates for novel HER2-targeted antibody-drug conjugate treatment