Leaf age structures the phenology and development of plants, as well as the evolution of leaf traits over life histories. However, a general method for efficiently estimating leaf age across forests ...and canopy environments is lacking.
Here, we explored the potential for a statistical model, previously developed for Peruvian sunlit leaves, to consistently predict leaf ages from leaf reflectance spectra across two contrasting forests in Peru and Brazil and across diverse canopy environments.
The model performed well for independent Brazilian sunlit and shade canopy leaves (R
2 = 0.75–0.78), suggesting that canopy leaves (and their associated spectra) follow constrained developmental trajectories even in contrasting forests. The model did not perform as well for mid-canopy and understory leaves (R
2 = 0.27–0.29), because leaves in different environments have distinct traits and trait developmental trajectories. When we accounted for distinct environment–trait linkages – either by explicitly including traits and environments in the model, or, even better, by re-parameterizing the spectra-only model to implicitly capture distinct trait-trajectories in different environments – we achieved a more general model that well-predicted leaf age across forests and environments (R
2 = 0.79).
Fundamental rules, linked to leaf environments, constrain the development of leaf traits and allow for general prediction of leaf age from spectra across species, sites and canopy environments.
Objectives
To assess the accuracy of 68Gallium‐prostate‐specific membrane antigen (68Ga‐PSMA) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for lymph node (LN) staging in intermediate‐ ...and high‐risk prostate cancer (PCa).
Materials and Methods
From April to October 2015, 30 patients with intermediate‐ (n = 3) or high‐risk (n = 27) PCa were prospectively enrolled. Patients underwent preoperative 68Ga‐PSMA PET/CT. Both visual and semi‐quantitative analyses were undertaken. Subsequently, all patients underwent radical prostatectomy (RP) with an extended pelvic lymph node dissection. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for LN status of 68Ga‐PSMA were calculated using histopathology as reference.
Results
Eleven patients (37%) had lymph node metastases (LNMs); 26 LNMs were identified in the 11 patients. Patient analysis showed that 68Ga‐PSMA PET/CT had a sensitivity of 64% for the detection of LNMs, its specificity was 95%, the PPV was 88%, and the NPV was 82%. In total, 180 LN fields were analysed. In the LN‐region‐based analysis, the sensitivity of 68Ga‐PSMA PET/CT for detection of LNMs was 56%, the specificity was 98%, the PPV was 90% and the NPV was 94%. The mean size of missed LNMs was 2.7 mm. Receiver‐operating characteristic curve analysis showed a high accuracy of maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) for the detection of LNMs, with an area under the curve of 0.915 (95% confidence interval 0.847–0.983); the optimum SUVmax was 2.0.
Conclusions
In patients with intermediate‐ to high‐risk PCa, 68Ga‐PSMA PET/CT had a high specificity and a moderate sensitivity for LNM detection. 68Ga‐PSMA PET/CT had the potential to replace current imaging for LN staging of patients with PCa scheduled for RP.
As they descend, the autorotating seeds of maples and some other trees generate unexpectedly high lift, but how they attain this elevated performance is unknown. To elucidate the mechanisms ...responsible, we measured the three-dimensional flow around dynamically scaled models of maple and hornbeam seeds. Our results indicate that these seeds attain high lift by generating a stable leading-edge vortex (LEV) as they descend. The compact LEV, which we verified on real specimens, allows maple seeds to remain in the air more effectively than do a variety of nonautorotating seeds. LEVs also explain the high lift generated by hovering insects, bats, and possibly birds, suggesting that the use of LEVs represents a convergent aerodynamic solution in the evolution of flight performance in both animals and plants.
ABSTRACT The habitability of an exoplanet depends on many factors. One such factor is the impact of stellar eruptive events on nearby exoplanets. Currently this is poorly constrained due to heavy ...reliance on solar scaling relationships and a lack of experimental evidence. Potential impacts of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are the large eruption of magnetic field and plasma from a star, are space weather and atmospheric stripping. A method for observing CMEs as they travel though the stellar atmosphere is the type II radio burst, and the new Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) provides a means of detection. We report on 15 hr of observation of YZ Canis Minoris (YZ CMi), a nearby M dwarf flare star, taken in LOFAR's beam-formed observation mode for the purposes of measuring transient frequency-dependent low-frequency radio emission. The observations utilized the Low Band Antenna (10-90 MHz) or High Band Antenna (110-190 MHz) for five three-hour observation periods. In this data set, there were no confirmed type II events in this frequency range. We explore the range of parameter space for type II bursts constrained by our observations. Assuming the rate of shocks is a lower limit to the rate at which CMEs occur, no detections in a total of 15 hr of observation places a limit of shocks/hr ≤ CME for YZ CMi due to the stochastic nature of the events and the limits of observational sensitivity. We propose a methodology to interpret jointly observed flares and CMEs which will provide greater constraints to CMEs and test the applicability of solar scaling relations.
Municipal wastewater sludge, particularly waste activated sludge (WAS), is more difficult to digest than primary solids due to a rate-limiting cell lysis step. The cell wall and the membrane of ...prokaryotes are composed of complex organic materials such as peptidoglycan, teichoic acids, and complex polysaccharides, which are not readily biodegradable. Physical pretreatment, particularly ultrasonics, is emerging as a popular method for WAS disintegration. The exposure of the microbial cells to ultrasound energy ruptures the cell wall and membrane and releases the intracellular organics in the bulk solution, which enhances the overall digestibility. This review article summarizes the major findings of ultrasonic application in WAS disintegration, and elucidates the impacts of sonic treatment on both aerobic and anaerobic digestion. This review also touches on some basics of ultrasonics, different methods of quantifying ultrasonic efficacy, and some engineering aspects of ultrasonics as applied to biological sludge disintegration. The review aims to advance the understanding of ultrasound sludge disintegration and outlines the future research direction. There is general agreement that ultrasonic density is more important than sonication time for efficient sludge disintegration. Published studies showed as much as 40% improvement in solubilization of WAS following ultrasonic pretreatment. Based on kinetic models, ultrasonic disintegration was impacted in the order: sludge pH > sludge concentration > ultrasonic intensity > ultrasonic density. Both laboratory and full-scale studies showed that the integration of an ultrasonic system to the anaerobic digester improved the anaerobic digestibility significantly.
Cities play a prominent role in our economic development as more than 80 % of the gross world product (GWP) comes from cities. Only 600 urban areas with just 20 % of the world population generate ...60 % of the GWP. Rapid urbanization, climate change, inadequate maintenance of water and wastewater infrastructures and poor solid waste management may lead to flooding, water scarcity, water pollution, adverse health effects and rehabilitation costs that may overwhelm the resilience of cities. These megatrends pose urgent challenges in cities as the cost of inaction is high. We present an overview about population growth, urbanization, water, waste, climate change, water governance and transitions. Against this background, we discuss the categorization of cities based on our baseline assessments, i.e. our City Blueprint research on 45 municipalities and regions predominantly in Europe. With this bias towards Europe in mind, the challenges can be discussed globally by clustering cities into distinct categories of sustainability and by providing additional data and information from global regions. We distinguish five categories of sustainability: (1) cities lacking basic water services, (2) wasteful cities, (3) water-efficient cities, (4) resource-efficient and adaptive cities and (5) water-wise cities. Many cities in Western Europe belong to categories 3 and 4. Some cities in Eastern Europe and the few cities we have assessed in Latin America, Asia and Africa can be categorized as cities lacking basic water services. Lack of water infrastructures or obsolete infrastructures, solid waste management and climate adaptation are priorities. It is concluded that cities require a long-term framing of their sectoral challenges into a proactive and coherent Urban Agenda to maximize the co-benefits of adaptation and to minimize the cost. Furthermore, regional platforms of cities are needed to enhance city-to-city learning and to improve governance capacities necessary to accelerate effective and efficient transitions towards water-wise cities. These learning alliances are needed as the time window to solve the global water governance crisis is narrow and rapidly closing. The water sector can play an important role but needs to reframe and refocus radically.
Expressed on virtually all prostate cancers and their metastases, the transmembrane protein prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) provides a valuable target for the imaging of prostate cancer. ...Not only does PSMA provide a target for noninvasive diagnostic imaging, e.g., PSMA-positron emission tomography (PSMA–PET), it can also be used to guide surgical resections of PSMA-positive lesions. The latter characteristic has led to the development of a plethora of PSMA-targeted tracers, i.e., radiolabeled, fluorescent, or hybrid. With image-guided surgery applications in mind, this review discusses these compounds based on clinical need. Here, the focus is on the chemical aspects (e.g., imaging label, spacer moiety, and targeting vector) and their impact on in vitro and in vivo tracer characteristics (e.g., affinity, tumor uptake, and clearance pattern).
Purpose
Radioguided surgery has been widely used for clinical procedures such as sentinel node resections. In the (robot-assisted) laparoscopic setting radioguidance is realized using laparoscopic ...gamma probes, which have limited maneuverability. To increase the rotational freedom, a tethered DROP-IN gamma probe was designed. Here we present the first in vivo feasibility study of this technology in prostate cancer patients.
Methods
Ten patients scheduled for a sentinel node procedure received four injections into the prostate with (indocyanine green-)
99m
Technetium-nanocolloid and underwent preoperative imaging (lymphoscintigraphy and SPECT/CT). The DROP-IN probe was inserted via the assistant port, still permitting the insertion and usage of additional laparoscopic tools.
Results
The sentinel nodes were resected using the
da Vinci
® Si robot under guidance of DROP-IN gamma tracing and fluorescence imaging. The surgeon was able to independently maneuver the DROP-IN probe using the ProGrasp® forceps of the
da Vinci
® robot and distinguish sentinel nodes from background signal (such as the injection site).
Conclusions
Overall the DROP-IN design proves to be a valuable tool for robot-assisted radioguided surgery approaches.
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