The natural history of type II odontoid fractures in the elderly population. A retrospective study over a 14 years period.

Odontoid fractures are the most common cervical fractures in the adult population. They represent 9 to 18 % of all cervical fractures and the type II is the most common. The incidence of neurologic deficits (ND) in odontoid fractures varies between 3 to 25%. A recent study showed that patients with ND had a mortality rate increased by 4.72 times and a complication rate higher of 1.18 times. The most common complication in patients with ND was respiratory distress8. Surprisingly, although type II odontoid fractures are frequent cervical fractures, their natural history has been poorly described. Surgery for odontoid fractures is well described. However, there are so far guidelines based on class II and class III evidence only regarding indications for surgery and regarding surgical techniques. The class II guidelines recommend to consider surgical stabilization and fusion for type II odontoid in patients over 50 years of age. The class III recommendations are to first manage non-displaced odontoid type II fracture with external immobilization and that translation of 5mm or more is associated with a high rate of non- union with the conservative treatment and should be treated surgically.

Enhancement of human adipose-derived stem cell expansion and stability for clinical use

Co-culture techniques associating both dermal fibroblasts and epidermal keratinocytes have shown to have better clinical outcome than keratinocyte culture alone for the treatment of severe burns. Since fat grafting has been shown to improve scar remodelling, new techniques such as cell-therapy-assisted surgical reconstruction with isolated and expanded autologous adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) would be of benefit to increase graft acceptation. Therefore, integrating ASCs into standardized procedures for cultured skin grafting could be of benefit for the patient if cell quality and quantity could be maintained. The purpose of this study was to evaluate ASC processing from adult tissue with simple isolation (without enzymatic steps), expansion (low density of 325-3,000 cells/cm2) and storage conditions to assure methods to enhance the cellular resistance when transferred back to the patient. Co-culture with cell-banked skin progenitor cells (FE002-SK2) showed an increase of 40-50% ASCs yield at high passages alongside with a better preservation of morphology, proper adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation and efficient biocompatibility with 3D collagen scaffolds. ASCs can be considered as a valuable additional cell source to be delivered in biological bandages to the patient in a need of tissue reconstruction such as burn patients.

Ecological change predicts population dynamics and genetic diversity over 120 000 years.

While ecological effects on short-term population dynamics are well understood, their effects over millennia are difficult to demonstrate and convincing evidence is scant. Using coalescent methods, we analysed past population dynamics of three lizard species (Psammodromus hispanicus, P. edwardsianus, P. occidentalis) and linked the results with climate change data covering the same temporal horizon (120 000 years). An increase in population size over time was observed in two species, and in P. occidentalis, no change was observed. Temporal changes in temperature seasonality and the maximum temperature of the warmest month were congruent with changes in population dynamics observed for the three species and both variables affected population density, either directly or indirectly (via a life-history trait). These results constitute the first solid link between ecological change and long-term population dynamics. The results moreover suggest that ecological change leaves genetic signatures that can be retrospectively traced, providing evidence that ecological change is a crucial driver of genetic diversity and speciation.

An Experimental Study on Peer Selection in a P2P Network over PlanetLab

Peer-reviewed

Population connectivity buffers genetic diversity loss in a seabird

Background Ancient DNA has revolutionized conservation genetic studies as it allows monitoring of the genetic variability of species through time and predicting the impact of ecosystems" threats on future population dynamics and viability. Meanwhile, the consequences of anthropogenic activities and climate change to island faunas, particularly seabirds, remain largely unknown. In this study, we examined temporal changes in the genetic diversity of a threatened seabird, the Cory"s shearwater (Calonectris borealis). Findings We analysed the mitochondrial DNA control region of ancient bone samples from the late-Holocene retrieved from the Canary archipelago (NE Atlantic) together with modern DNA sequences representative of the entire breeding range of the species. Our results show high levels of ancient genetic diversity in the Canaries comparable to that of the extant population. The temporal haplotype network further revealed rare but recurrent long-distance dispersal between ocean basins. The Bayesian demographic analyses reveal both regional and local population size expansion events, and this is in spite of the demographic decline experienced by the species over the last millennia. Conclusions Our findings suggest that population connectivity of the species has acted as a buffer of genetic losses and illustrate the use of ancient DNA to uncover such cryptic genetic events.

New sample of drosophilids from the Font Groga site, Barcelona (Spain)

A new sample of drosophilids was obtained from Font Groga (Barcelona) on 9th October 2013. Flies were netted over 12 baits containing fermenting bananas placed along a trail from 4 to 7 pm. The number of flies classified according to species and sex is presented in Table 1. The most abundant species is D. subobscura (62.60%). This is expected because the sample was obtained during its autumn peak of expansion. Also interesting is to find again D. suzukii, and in a percentage similar (9.20%) to that obtained in 2012 sample. This species invaded recently many European regions and seems it is well established. We have finally estimated the species diversity using H" (Shannon diversity index) and J (Shannon uniformity index). The values obtained were 0.990 and 0.615, respectively. They are similar to those estimates obtained in the same site by Calabria in autumn 2007 and higher than those of Canals et al. in late autumn 2012.

Discrepancies over the onset of surfactant monomer aggregation interpreted by fluorescence, conductivity and surface tension methods

Molecular probe techniques have made important contributions to the determination of microstructure of surfactant assemblies such as size, stability, micropolarity and conformation. Conductivity and surface tension were used to determine the critical aggregation concentration (cac) of polymer-surfactant complexes and the critical micellar concentration (cmc) of aqueous micellar aggregates. The results are compared with those of fluorescent techniques. Several surfactant systems were examined, 1-butanol-sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) mixtures, solutions containing poly(ethylene oxide)-SDS, poly(vinylpyrrolidone)-SDS and poly(acrylic acid)-alkyltrimethylammonium bromide complexes. We found differences between the cac and cmc values obtained by conductivity or surface tension and those obtained by techniques which use hydrophobic probe.

Cultural Diffusion Was the Main Driving Mechanism of the Neolithic Transition in Southern Africa

It is well known that the Neolithic transition spread across Europe at a speed of about 1 km/yr. This result has been previously interpreted as a range expansion of the Neolithic driven mainly by demic diffusion (whereas cultural diffusion played a secondary role). However, a long-standing problem is whether this value (1 km/yr) and its interpretation (mainly demic diffusion) are characteristic only of Europe or universal (i.e. intrinsic features of Neolithic transitions all over the world). So far Neolithic spread rates outside Europe have been barely measured, and Neolithic spread rates substantially faster than 1 km/yr have not been previously reported. Here we show that the transition from hunting and gathering into herding in southern Africa spread at a rate of about 2.4 km/yr, i.e. about twice faster than the European Neolithic transition. Thus the value 1 km/yr is not a universal feature of Neolithic transitions in the world. Resorting to a recent demic-cultural wave-of-advance model, we also find that the main mechanism at work in the southern African Neolithic spread was cultural diffusion (whereas demic diffusion played a secondary role). This is in sharp contrast to the European Neolithic. Our results further suggest that Neolithic spread rates could be mainly driven by cultural diffusion in cases where the final state of this transition is herding/pastoralism (such as in southern Africa) rather than farming and stockbreeding (as in Europe)

Calcination of aluminum hydroxide over pressure and residence time

This work investigates the possible effect of pressure and residence time to the reaction of aluminum hydroxide into aluminum oxide. Various pressurized conditions are used as well as the help of various residence times. The aim is to increase the conversion of the reaction with the use of different pressures and residence times. The tests were performed with a laboratory scale fluidized bed reactor at the Outotec R&D Center in Frankfurt. Additional test work such as particle size analysis and differential thermal analysis were also carried out. Some calcined samples were also characterized with X-ray diffraction at the University of Auckland to obtain a reaction pathway when using pressurized conditions. All of the results are then compared with previous results.

One-sided jet at milliarcsecond scales in LS I +61˚ 303

We present Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations of the high mass X-ray binary LS I +61˚303, carried out with the European VLBI Network (EVN). Over the 11 hour observing run, performed ~10 days after a radio outburst, the radio source showed a constant flux density, which allowed sensitive imaging of the emission distribution. The structure in the map shows a clear extension to the southeast. Comparing our data with previous VLBI observations we interpret the extension as a collimated radio jet as found in several other X-ray binaries. Assuming that the structure is the result of an expansion that started at the onset of the outburst, we derive an apparent expansion velocity of 0:003 c, which, in the context of Doppler boosting, corresponds to an intrinsic velocity of at least 0:4 c for an ejection close to the line of sight. From the apparent velocity in all available epochs we are able to establish variations in the ejection angle which imply a precessing accretion disk. Finally we point out that LS I +61˚303, like SS 433 and Cygnus X-1, shows evidence for an emission region almostorthogonal to the relativistic jet

Spatial and Temporal Trends in Sunshine Duration over Western Europe

This work analyzes sunshine duration variability in the western part of Europe (WEU) over the 1938– 2004 period. A principal component analysis is applied to cluster the original series from 79 sites into 6 regions, and then annual and seasonal mean series are constructed on regional and also for the whole WEU scales. Over the entire period studied here, the linear trend of annual sunshine duration is found to be nonsignificant. However, annual sunshine duration shows an overall decrease since the 1950s until the early 1980s, followed by a subsequent recovery during the last two decades. This behavior is in good agreement with the dimming and brightening phenomena described in previous literature. From the seasonal analysis, the most remarkable result is the similarity between spring and annual series, although the spring series has a negative trend; and the clear significant increase found for the whole WEU winter series, being especially large since the 1970s. The behavior of the major synoptic patterns for two seasons is investigated, resulting in some indications that sunshine duration evolution may be partially explained by changes in the frequency of some of them

Maritime transportation in the Gulf of Finland in 2007 and in 2015

The Gulf of Finland is said to be one of the densest operated sea areas in the world. It is a shallow and economically vulnerable sea area with dense passenger and cargo traffic of which petroleum transports have a share of over 50 %. The winter conditions add to the risks of maritime traffic in the Gulf of Finland. It is widely believed that the growth of maritime transportation will continue also in the future. The Gulf of Finland is surrounded by three very different national economies with, different maritime transportation structures. Finland is a country of high GDP/per capita with a diversified economic structure. The number of ports is large and the maritime transportation consists of many types of cargoes: raw materials, industrial products, consumer goods, coal and petroleum products, and the Russian transit traffic of e.g. new cars and consumer goods. Russia is a large country with huge growth potential; in recent years, the expansion of petroleum exports has lead to a strong economic growth, which is also apparent in the growth of maritime transports. Russia has been expanding its port activities in the Gulf of Finland and it is officially aiming to transport its own imports and exports through the Russian ports in the future; now they are being transported to great extend through the Finnish, Estonian and other Baltic ports. Russia has five ports in the Gulf of Finland. Estonia has also experienced fast economic growth, but the growth has been slowing down already during the past couples of years. The size of its economy is small compared to Russia, which means the transported tonnes cannot be very massive. However, relatively large amounts of the Russian petroleum exports have been transported through the Estonian ports. The future of the Russian transit traffic in Estonia looks nevertheless uncertain and it remains to be seen how it will develop and if Estonia is able to find replacing cargoes if the Russian transit traffic will come to an end in the Estonian ports. Estonia’s own import and export consists of forestry products, metals or other raw materials and consumer goods. Estonia has many ports on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, but the port of Tallinn dominates the cargo volumes. In 2007, 263 M tonnes of cargoes were transported in the maritime traffic in the Gulf of Finland, of which the share of petroleum products was 56 %. 23 % of the cargoes were loaded or unloaded in the Finnish ports, 60 % in the Russian ports and 17 % in the Estonian ports. The largest ports were Primorsk (74.2 M tonnes) St. Petersburg (59.5 M tonnes), Tallinn (35.9 M tonnes), Sköldvik (19.8 M tonnes), Vysotsk (16.5 M tonnes) and Helsinki (13.4 M) tonnes. Approximately 53 600 ship calls were made in the ports of the Gulf of Finland. The densest traffic was found in the ports of St. Petersburg (14 651 ship calls), Helsinki (11 727 ship calls) and Tallinn (10 614 ship calls) in 2007. The transportation scenarios are usually based on the assumption that the amount of transports follows the development of the economy, although also other factors influence the development of transportation, e.g. government policy, environmental aspects, and social and behavioural trends. The relationship between the development of transportation and the economy is usually analyzed in terms of the development of GDP and trade. When the GDP grows to a certain level, especially the international transports increase because countries of high GDP produce, consume and thus transport more. An effective transportation system is also a precondition for the economic development. In this study, the following factors were taken into consideration when formulating the future scenarios: maritime transportation in the Gulf of Finland 2007, economic development, development of key industries, development of infrastructure and environmental aspects in relation to maritime transportation. The basic starting points for the three alternative scenarios were: • the slow growth scenario: economic recession • the average growth scenario: economy will recover quickly from current instability • the strong growth scenario: the most optimistic views on development will realize According to the slow growth scenario, the total tonnes for the maritime transportation in the Gulf of Finland would be 322.4 M tonnes in 2015, which would mean a growth of 23 % compared to 2007. In the average growth scenario, the total tonnes were estimated to be 431.6 M tonnes – a growth of 64 %, and in the strong growth scenario 507.2 M tonnes – a growth of 93%. These tonnes were further divided into petroleum products and other cargoes by country, into export, import and domestic traffic by country, and between the ports. For petroleum products, the share of crude oil and oil products was estimated and the number of tanker calls in 2015 was calculated for each scenario. However, the future development of maritime transportation in the GoF is dependent on so many societal and economic variables that it is not realistic to predict one exact point estimate value for the cargo tonnes for a certain scenario. Plenty of uncertainty is related both to the degree in which the scenario will come true as well as to the cause-effect relations between the different variables. For these reasons, probability distributions for each scenario were formulated by an expert group. As a result, a range for the total tonnes of each scenario was formulated and they are as follows: the slow growth scenario: 280.8 – 363 M tonnes (expectation value 322.4 M tonnes)

ESTRO-HERO survey: Guidelines for equipment and staffing of radiotherapy facilities in the European countries: Final results of the ESTRO-HERO survey

Background and purpose: In planning to meet evidence based needs for radiotherapy, guidelines for the provision of capital and human resources are central if access, quality and safety are not to be compromised. A component of the ESTRO-HERO (Health Economics in Radiation Oncology) project is to document the current availability and content of guidelines for radiotherapy in Europe. Materials and methods: An 84 part questionnaire was distributed to the European countries through their national scientific and professional radiotherapy societies with 30 items relating to the availability of guidelines for equipment and staffing and selected operational issues. Twenty-nine countries provided full or partial evaluable responses. Results: The availability of guidelines across Europe is far from uniform. The metrics used for capital and human resources are variable. There seem to have been no major changes in the availability or specifics of guidelines over the ten-year period since the QUARTS study with the exception of the recent expansion of RTT staffing models. Where comparison is possible it appears that staffing for radiation oncologists, medical physicists and particularly RTTs tend to exceed guidelines suggesting developments in clinical radiotherapy are moving faster than guideline updating. Conclusion: The efficient provision of safe, high quality radiotherapy services would benefit from the availability of well-structured guidelines for capital and human resources, based on agreed upon metrics, which could be linked to detailed estimates of need