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European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is an important tree species throughout Europe but shifts in its suitable habitats are expected in the future due to climate change. Finding provenances that are still economically viable and ecologically resilient is an ongoing field of research. We modelled the dominant tree heights of European beech as a trait reflecting growth performance dependent on provenance, climate and soil conditions. We derived dominant tree heights from national forest inventory (NFI) data from six European countries spanning over large ecological gradients. We performed function-on-scalar regression using hierarchical generalized additive models (HGAM) to model both the global effects shared among all provenances and the effects specific to a particular provenance. By comparing predictions for a reference period of 1981–2010 and 2071–2100 in a RCP 8.5 scenario, we showed that changes in growth performance can be expected in the future. Dominant tree heights decreased in Southern and Central Europe but increased in Northern Europe by more than 10 m. Changes in growth performance were always accompanied by a change in beech provenances, assuming assisted migration without dispersal limitations. Our results support the concept of assisted migration for the building of resilient future forests and emphasize the use of genetic data for future growth predictions. Nasl. z nasl. zaslona. Opis vira z dne 21. 3. 2023. Bibliografija: str. 12-16. Abstract.

Objective In amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), respiratory muscle involvement and sleep-disordered breathing relate to worse prognosis. The present study investigated whether respiratory outcomes on first-ever sleep studies predict survival in patients with ALS, specifically taking into account subsequent initiation of non-invasive ventilation (NIV). Methods From patients with ALS, baseline sleep study records, transcutaneous capnometry, early morning blood gas analysis, survival data and clinical disease characteristics were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were stratified according to whether enduring NIV was consecutively established (“NIV(+)”) or not (“NIV(–)”). Results Among the study cohort (n = 158, 72 female, 51 with bulbar onset ALS, 105 deceased) sleep-disordered breathing was present at baseline evaluation in 97 patients. Early morning base excess (EMBE) > 2 mmol/l predicted nocturnal hypercapnia. Ninety-five patients were NIV(+) and 63 were NIV(–). Survival from baseline sleep studies was significantly reduced in NIV(–) but not in NIV(+) patients with nocturnal CO2 tension ≥ 50 mmHg, apnea hypopnea index ≥ 5/h, and EMBE > 2 mmol/l. Hazard ratio for EMBE > 2 mmol/l was increased in NIV(–) patients only, and EMBE independently predicted survival in both NIV(–) and NIV(+) patients. Furthermore, EMBE on baseline sleep studies was the only predictor for survival from symptom onset, and hazard ratio for shorter survival was markedly higher in the NIV(–) than the NIV(+) group (2.85, p = 0.005, vs. 1.71, p = 0.042). Interpretation: In patients with ALS, EMBE > 2 mmol/l predicts nocturnal hypercapnia and shorter survival. Negative effects of sleep-disordered breathing on survival are statistically abolished by sustained NIV.

Penalized regression splines and distributed lag models were used to evaluate the effects of species mixing on productivity and climate-related resistance via tree-ring width measurements from sample cores. Data were collected in Lower Austria from sample plots arranged in a triplet design. Triplets were established for sessile oak [Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.] and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and Norway spruce [Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.], and European beech and European larch (Larix decidua Mill.). Mixing shortened the temporal range of time-lagged climate effects for beech, spruce, and larch, but only slightly changed the effects for oak and pine. Beech and spruce as well as beech and larch exhibited contrasting climate responses, which were consequently reversed by mixing. Single-tree productivity was reduced by between − 15% and − 28% in both the mixed oak–pine and beech–spruce stands but only slightly reduced in the mixed beech–larch stands. Measures of climate sensitivity and resistance were derived by model predictions of conditional expectations for simulated climate sequences. The relative climate sensitivity was, respectively, reduced by between − 16 and − 39 percentage points in both the beech–spruce and beech–larch mixed stands. The relative climate sensitivity of pine increased through mixing, but remained unaffected for oak. Mixing increased the resistance in both the beech–larch and the beech–spruce mixed stand. In the mixed oak–pine stand, resistance of pine was decreased and remained unchanged for oak.

15 Pág. Ecological Modelling, Tree species mixing of oak (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl./Quercus robur L.) and pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) has been shown to have positive effects on ecosystem service provision. From a management perspective, however, it is still uncertain which thinning regime provides the highest possible productivity of mixed oak–pine forests in the long term. Because of a lack of empirical studies dealing with thinning and species mixing effects on oak–pine forests, we simulated forest growth in order to test which thinning type and intensity may provide the highest productivity in the long-term. To achieve this, we simulated the growth of pure and mixed stands of oak and pine for 100 years in 23 triplets located on an ecological gradient across Europe. For this purpose, we applied four different growth simulators and compared their results: the distance-independent single-tree simulator PROGNAUS, the distance-dependent single-tree simulator SILVA, the gap model ForCEEPS, and the process-based simulator 3D-CMCC-FEM. We investigated the effects of species mixing and thinning from the upper (thinning from above) and lower tail (thinning from below) of the diameter distribution by reducing the stand basal area to 50 and 80% of the maximum basal area. We compared simulated results of the relative volume productivity of mixed versus pure stands and of thinned versus unthinned stands to empirical results previously obtained on the same set of triplets. Simulated relative volume productivity ranged between 61 and 156%, although extremes of 10% and of 300% could be observed. We found the relative volume productivity to be influenced by stand age, but not by stand density, except for PROGNAUS. Relative volume productivity did not increase with the site water supply of the triplet location. Highest long-term productivity for oak, pine and oak–pine stands can be expected in consequence of thinning from above, but the effect of thinning intensity differed between simulators. Thinning effects were positively affected by stand density, but not by stand age, except for thinning from above predicted by PROGNAUS. Predicted thinning effects showed good approximation of results from thinning experiments for oak, but not for pine stands. We hypothesize the results might be caused by the insufficient simulator representation of climate and its interaction with other site variables and stand structure. Further work is needed to reduce the revealed limitations of the existing growth models, as we currently see no alternative to such kind of studies and simulators., The authors thank the European Union for funding the project “Mixed species forest management. Lowering risk, increasing resilience (REFORM)” under the framework of Sumforest ERA-NET. The authors from Austria also thank the Austrian Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism for supporting the establishment of the Austrian triplet plots and for covering the work expenses of Markus Engel within the project ”Forstwirtschaft mit Mischwäldern – geringes Risiko, hohe Widerstandskraft – REFORM” under the grant number 101199. All contributors thank their national funding institutions to establish, measure and analyze data from the triplets. Maude Toïgo and Xavier Morin thank François de Coligny and Nicolas Beudez for their help in the development of the ForCEEPS model. Antonio Tomao, Carlo Trotta and Anna Barbati thank Alessio Collalti for his support and suggestions about the simulations with the 3D-CMCC-FEM model.

Centro de Investigación Forestal (CIFOR), Despite growing evidence that diverse forests play an important role in ecosystem functioning, ensuring the provision of different ecosystem services, whether such diversity improves their response to drought events remains unclear. In this study, we use a large tree-ring database from thirty case studies across nine European countries and eleven species, covering from Mediterranean to hemiboreal forests, to test if the growth response to site specific drought events that occurred between 1975 and 2015 varied between mixed and monospecific stands. In particular, we quantify how stands resist those specific drought events and recover after them, thus analyzing their resilience. For each drought event and forest stand we calculated resistance, recovery, resilience and relative resilience and we related the variation in these indices between monospecific and mixed stands with type of admixture, tree species identity, site aridity gradient, stand basal area and stand age. We found a large variability among case studies, even for those that share similar species composition and have similar climates. On average, mixed stands showed higher resistance, resilience and relative resilience to drought events than monospecific stands. However, the beneficial effect of mixtures could not be generalized, being greatly modulated by the type of admixture and tree species identity, and depending on site water supply and stand characteristics, such as basal area and age. The increase in resilience in mixtures compared with monocultures was greater on the conifer-broadleaved admixtures, and to a lesser extent in the broadleaved-broadleaved combinations. The observed response patterns to drought largely varied among the eleven studied species, thus revealing the importance of functional traits for understanding a species’ response to drought across its distribution range. Along the site aridity gradient, resilience and relative resilience to drought increased in drier sites for both monospecific and mixed stands, with an observed trend towards higher resilience in mixed stands in the drier and hotter sites. Our results confirm the complexity of the relationships found of resistance, recovery, resilience and relative resilience with drought when comparing pure vs mixed stands., The study was supported by the ERA-Net SUMFOREST project REFORM “Mixed species forest management. Lowering risk, increasing resilience” (PCIN2017-026) and Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions-RISE , CARE4C . Special thankW117/H2020/2018s to Nuria Simón and Guillermo Madrigal for their assistance building up the common database. All coauthors thank their national funding institutions for supporting the establishment, measure and analysis of core data in the studied plots. Research at the Polish case studies was additionally supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Poland (No W117/H2020/2018 )., 15 Pág.

A universal, mobile protection system for work close to patients suffering from acute infectious diseases with aerosol formation has been developed. It is considered useful by the main medical disciplines involved in the treatment of CoVid patients. In those times, disposable protection gear is scarce, and the robust, reusable protection system might be helpful for medical personnel to work more safely in vulnerable situations.

Old-growth beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forests in Europe show a structural heterogeneity, which distinguish from managed ones. Recent investigations revealed that facilitative belowground interactions might counteract aboveground competition for light. However, the exact interaction of these mechanisms is unclear. We developed the BEEchPlasticity (BEEP) model to investigate whether the mere focus on the aboveground competition for canopy space with subsequent modeling of the light transmittance through the forest canopy suffices to reproduce the observed structural attributes. The BEEP model is individual-based, and explicitly describes the plasticity of tree crowns in a three-dimensional space through a geometric approach. This conceptual design allows tracing neighborhood effects to the forest stand level. We ran 10 simulation experiments with 1000 time steps on a simulation area of 0.5oha. We analyzed the emerging spatial point patterns, gap dynamics as well as distributions of tree age, tree height, tree crown projection area, and tree diameter. By applying various indices that revealed the emergent horizontal and vertical forest structure, we were able to show a strong mutual link between beech crown plasticity and forest heterogeneity. The crown plasticity enabled the trees to close small gaps, which resulted in a highly dynamic tree regeneration, which in turn led to a small-scale heterogeneous forest structure. We found that, over long periods, crown centroids of canopy trees taller than 20om were more regularly distributed than stem foot points. Absolute crown displacements were greater than reported from beech stands in North-Germany and the Sudetes in the Czech Republic. This indicates a need to restrain the model crown growth in order to recognize tree architecture and stability. We could simulate an increasing forest structural heterogeneity. Starting with a structural homogeneous layer of tree saplings, we showed that forest structures similar to those in unmanaged beech forests took several tree generations or approximately 700 time steps to emerge. We recommend enhancing this model approach with spatial explicit modeling of the leaf-area distribution, which has already been done for single beech trees.

The Dark Web, a conglomerate of services hidden from search engines and regular users, is used by cyber criminals to offer all kinds of illegal services and goods. Multiple Dark Web offerings are highly relevant for the cyber security domain in anticipating and preventing attacks, such as information about zero-day exploits, stolen datasets with login information, or botnets available for hire. In this work, we analyze and discuss the challenges related to information gathering in the Dark Web for cyber security intelligence purposes. To facilitate information collection and the analysis of large amounts of unstructured data, we present BlackWidow, a highly automated modular system that monitors Dark Web services and fuses the collected data in a single analytics framework. BlackWidow relies on a Docker-based micro service architecture which permits the combination of both preexisting and customized machine learning tools. BlackWidow represents all extracted data and the corresponding relationships extracted from posts in a large knowledge graph, which is made available to its security analyst users for search and interactive visual exploration. Using BlackWidow, we conduct a study of seven popular services on the Deep and Dark Web across three different languages with almost 100,000 users. Within less than two days of monitoring time, BlackWidow managed to collect years of relevant information in the areas of cyber security and fraud monitoring. We show that BlackWidow can infer relationships between authors and forums and detect trends for cybersecurity-related topics. Finally, we discuss exemplary case studies surrounding leaked data and preparation for malicious activity.

Past failures of monocultures, caused by wind-throw or insect damages, and ongoing climate change currently strongly stimulate research into mixed-species stands. So far, the focus has mainly been on combinations of species with obvious complementary functional traits. However, for any generalization, a broad overview of the mixing reactions of functionally different tree species in different mixing proportions, patterns and under different site conditions is needed, including assemblages of species with rather similar demands on resources such as light. Here, we studied the growth of Scots pine and oak in mixed versus monospecific stands on 36 triplets located along a productivity gradient across Europe, reaching from Sweden to Spain and from France to Georgia. The set-up represents a wide variation in precipitation (456–1250 mm year−1), mean annual temperature (6.7–11.5 °C) and drought index by de Martonne (21–63 mm °C−1). Stand inventories and increment cores of trees stemming from 40- to 132-year-old, fully stocked stands on 0.04–0.94-ha-sized plots provided insight into how species mixing modifies stand growth and structure compared with neighbouring monospecific stands. On average, the standing stem volume was 436 and 360 m3 ha−1 in the monocultures of Scots pine and oak, respectively, and 418 m3 ha−1 in the mixed stands. The corresponding periodical annual volume increment amounted to 10.5 and 9.1 m3 ha−1 year−1 in the monocultures and 10.5 m3 ha−1 year−1 in the mixed stands. Scots pine showed a 10% larger quadratic mean diameter (p p p p p p p

Spectrum sensing using energy detectors is a promising, simple and flexible approach for cognitive radio networks to detect primary users. In this paper, we present a new energy detector, called Selective Clustering Energy Detector (SCED. This detector determines dynamic thresholds based on clustering and aggregating selected sequences of energy measurements obtained from a software-defined radio. We assess SCED in a series of controlled experiments on real hardware, and compare its performance and reliability to reference cell based energy detectors reported in the literature. We show that SCED surpasses these detectors in all experiments, in particular in scenarios with non-transmission-free reference cells and during the startup phase.

Cognitive radio networks provide solutions for the coexistence of primary users (license holders) and secondary users within a licensed spectrum. In this paper, we present and assess a three-dimensional stabilization protocol for cognitive radio networks, addressing the dimensions time, channel, and space. For stabilization in time and space, nodes agree on a global time structure consisting of superslots and macroslots. For stabilization of network-wide channel usage, nodes determine and share global schedules, which assign channels of sufficient quality to macroslots. The stabilization protocol realizes a conservative strategy, whereby nodes only transmit on channels that have a sufficient locally measured quality and have been assigned in a recent schedule. Furthermore, the protocol is robust against topology changes. To assess the stabilization capability of the protocol, we introduce the notion of schedule-consistency, and evaluate the protocol performance in a series of ns-3 simulations.

This paper discusses the robustness properties of a novel, model-based HVDC fault localization algorithm. The approach utilizes a bank of Kalman filters to rank the fit of a discrete set of line fault models to measured data. The best fitting model indicates the fault position and fault type. The robustness of the algorithm in the presence of disturbances and unmodeled dynamics is demonstrated using synthetic data from high fidelity simulations as well as field data from a real HVDC transmission system.

To evaluate whether extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal by means of a pumpless extracorporeal lung-assist (PECLA) device could be an effective and safe alternative to invasive mechanical ventilation in patients with chronic pulmonary disease and acute hypercapnic ventilatory failure not responding to noninvasive ventilation (NIV).In this multicentre, retrospective study, 21 PECLA patients were compared with respect to survival and procedural outcomes to 21 matched controls with conventional invasive mechanical ventilation. Matching criteria were underlying diagnosis, age, Simplified Acute Physiology Score II and pH at ICU admission.Of the 21 patients treated with PECLA, 19 (90 %) did not require intubation. Median PaCO(2) levels and pH in arterial blood prior to PECLA were 84.0 mmHg (54.2-131.0) and 7.28 (7.10-7.41), respectively. Within 24 h, median PaCO(2) levels and pH had significantly improved to 52.1 (33.0-70.1; p0.001) and 7.44 (7.27-7.56; p0.001), respectively. Two major and seven minor bleeding complications related to the device occurred. Further complications were one pseudoaneurysm and one heparin-induced thrombocytopenia type 2. Compared to the matched control group, there was a trend toward a shorter hospital length of stay in the PECLA group (adjusted p = 0.056). There was no group difference in the 28-day (24 % vs. 19 %, adjusted p = 0.845) or 6-month mortality (33 % vs. 33 %).In this study the use of extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal allowed avoiding intubation and invasive mechanical ventilation in the majority of patients with acute on chronic respiratory failure not responding to NIV. Compared to conventional invasive ventilation, short- and long-term survivals were similar.

Purpose: Computed tomography (CT) guided minimally invasive interventions such as biopsies or ablation therapies often involve insertion of a needle-shaped instrument into the target organ (e.g., the liver). Today, these interventions still require manual planning of a suitable trajectory to the target (e.g., the tumor) based on the slice data provided by the imaging modality. However, taking into account the critical structures and other parameters crucial to the success of the intervention—such as instrument shape and penetration angle—is challenging and requires a lot of experience. Methods: To overcome these problems, we present a system for the automatic or semiautomatic planning of optimal trajectories to a target, based on 3D reconstructions of all relevant structures. The system determines possible insertion zones based on so-calledhard constraints and rates the quality of these zones by so-called soft constraints. The concept of pareto optimality is utilized to allow for a weight-independent proposal of insertion trajectories. In order to demonstrate the benefits of our method, automatic trajectory planning was applied retrospectively to n = 10 data sets from interventions in which complications occurred. Results: The efficient (graphics processing unit-based) implementation of the constraints results in a mean overall planning time of about 9 s. The examined trajectories, originally chosen by the physician, have been rated as follows: in six cases, the insertion point was labeled invalid by the planning system. For two cases, the system would have proposed points with a better rating according to thesoft constraints. For the remaining two cases the system would have indicated poor rating with respect to one of the soft constraints. The paths proposed by our system were rated feasible and qualitatively good by experienced interventional radiologists. Conclusions: The proposed computer-assisted trajectory planning system is able to detect unsafe and propose safe insertion trajectories and may especially be helpful for interventional radiologist at the beginning or during their interventional training.

Invasive mechanical ventilation is known to be detrimental to patients with respiratory failure due to acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). If hypercapnic respiratory failure and acidosis cannot be controlled by noninvasive mechanical ventilation, extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCO2 R) serves as an alternative option. Currently applied systems like extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) or pumpless extracorporeal lung assist (PECLA) are associated with potentially significant bleeding complications and require a very high nursing standard. We report a case of AECOPD with hypercapnic coma and failure of noninvasive ventilation for which we used a novel low-flow ECCO2 R device, called the Hemolung Respiratory Assist System. This device requires only a single 15.5 French double-lumen venous catheter and operates at blood flows of 350 mL/min to 550 mL/min. Use of this device enabled the patient to avoid general anesthesia and invasive mechanical ventilation without adverse events. In addition, weaning from noninvasive mechanical ventilation, early mobilization, communication and nutrition were facilitated. CO2 removal with low extracorporeal blood flow avoided intubation in the treatment of hypercapnic coma with failure of non-invasive ventilation.

Background To evaluate the economic implications of the pre-emptive use of extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCO2R) to avoid invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) in patients with hypercapnic ventilatory insufficiency failing non-invasive ventilation (NIV). Methods Retrospective ancillary cost analysis of data extracted from a recently published multicentre case–control-study (n = 42) on the use of arterio-venous ECCO2R to avoid IMV in patients with acute on chronic ventilatory failure. Cost calculations were based on average daily treatment costs for intensive care unit (ICU) and normal medical wards as well as on the specific costs of the ECCO2R system. Results In the group treated with ECCO2R IMV was avoided in 90 % of cases and mean hospital length of stay (LOS) was shorter than in the matched control group treated with IMV (23.0 vs. 42.0 days). The overall average hospital treatment costs did not differ between the two groups (41.134 vs. 39.366 €, p = 0.8). A subgroup analysis of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) revealed significantly lower median ICU length of stay (11.0 vs. 35.0 days), hospital length of stay (17.5 vs. 51.5 days) and treatment costs for the ECCO2R group (19.610 vs. 46.552 €, p = 0.01). Conclusions Additional costs for the use of arterio-venous ECCO2R to avoid IMV in patients with acute-on-chronic ventilatory insufficiency failing NIV may be offset by a cost reducing effect of a shorter length of ICU and hospital stay. peerReviewed

This paper discusses a novel protection technique for DC line faults in multi-terminal HVDC (MTDC) systems. Hereby a bank of Kalman filters ranks the fit of a discrete set of line fault models to measured data. The best fitting model indicates the fault location and fault type. The suitability of the technique is discussed for fast on-line fault localization and exact off-line fault localization and fault identification. Experimental results are shown to validate the approach based on data from a high fidelity simulation of a 3-terminal HVDC system.

BACKGROUND Systematic data on clinical outcome in patients with liver failure due to cardiogenic shock are scarce. METHODS We performed a monocentric retrospective data analysis in 197 cardiogenic shock patients with serum bilirubin levels above 102 µmol/L receiving molecular adsorbent recirculating system (MARS). We assessed clinical outcome, recorded laboratory parameters, and tried to assess risk factors for survival. RESULTS The median duration of MARS was 87 hours (range, 20-315 hours) during a median time period of 9 days (range, 3-736 days). During MARS, 48 to 75% of patients developed infections and gastrointestinal, respiratory, and neurological complications, respectively. Inhospital mortality was 66% (n = 129). Baseline bilirubin levels were comparable between survivors and non-survivors. During MARS, bilirubin values decreased significantly in survivors but not in non-survivors. Of various clinical and biochemical parameters assessed at baseline, the sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment score remained the only independent predictor of inhospital mortality. CONCLUSION Inhospital mortality is still unsatisfyingly high in cardiogenic shock patients with liver failure. Future studies should clarify whether MARS can definitively improve survival in these patients.

Computed tomography (CT) guided minimally invasive interventions such as biopsies or ablation therapies often involve insertion of a needle-shaped instrument into the target organ (e.g., the liver). Today, these interventions still require manual planning of a suitable trajectory to the target (e.g., the tumor) based on the slice data provided by the imaging modality. However, taking into account the critical structures and other parameters crucial to the success of the intervention--such as instrument shape and penetration angle--is challenging and requires a lot of experience.To overcome these problems, we present a system for the automatic or semiautomatic planning of optimal trajectories to a target, based on 3D reconstructions of all relevant structures. The system determines possible insertion zones based on so-called hard constraints and rates the quality of these zones by so-called soft constraints. The concept of pareto optimality is utilized to allow for a weight-independent proposal of insertion trajectories. In order to demonstrate the benefits of our method, automatic trajectory planning was applied retrospectively to n = 10 data sets from interventions in which complications occurred.The efficient (graphics processing unit-based) implementation of the constraints results in a mean overall planning time of about 9 s. The examined trajectories, originally chosen by the physician, have been rated as follows: in six cases, the insertion point was labeled invalid by the planning system. For two cases, the system would have proposed points with a better rating according to the soft constraints. For the remaining two cases the system would have indicated poor rating with respect to one of the soft constraints. The paths proposed by our system were rated feasible and qualitatively good by experienced interventional radiologists.The proposed computer-assisted trajectory planning system is able to detect unsafe and propose safe insertion trajectories and may especially be helpful for interventional radiologist at the beginning or during their interventional training.