Local Extent Research Articles

Определение конгруэнтности стандартного полусферического вертлужного компонента и посттравматически деформированной вертлужной впадины при первичном эндопротезировании тазобедренного сустава (экспериментальное исследование)

Introduction An original ASPID classification was developed for primary total hip arthroplasty in the presence of post-traumatic acetabular deformity at the Vreden National Medical Research Centre for Traumatology and Orthopaedics. We aimed to explore how the extent of displacement and localization of acetabular deformity as classified by the original ASPID grading system can affect the coverage area of the acetabular component. The purpose of the study was to determine the congruence of the standard hemispherical acetabular component and the post-traumatic acetabular deformity in the experiment. Material and methods Computer 3D models of 92 post-traumatic acetabulums were formed, followed by simulated implantation of a standard hemisphere of the appropriate size in compliance with permissible values of the spatial orientation of the acetabular cup in total hip replacement. The congruence of the deformed acetabulum and the standard hemisphere of the corresponding size was determined with simulated implantation. Formula for the acetabular deformity was determined for each case using the original classification. With formula identified for each acetabular deformity and the magnitude of congruence, the data were compared to determine the relationship between congruence, bone displacement and the extent of bone displacement. Results The mean congruence value in the group was 59.5 ± 16.83 %. The sum of the scores A+S+P+I+D was compared with the percentage of congruence. The statistical analysis showed that the congruence of the hemispherical acetabular component and the post-traumatic acetabulum was less than 70% with a sum of parameters greater than four. The continuation of the study will allow for a more global analysis and identification of more patterns to improve surgical approaches to primary total hip arthroplasty in specific cases. Conclusion Screws can be recommended for reliable primary mechanical fixation of the pelvic component in target patients, and cavitary bone defects can be repaired with autobone chips to allow greater congruence at the bone-implant interface.

Evaluation of Preoperative Multidetector Row Computed Tomography in Colon Malignancy with Reference to (Local Staging and Lymph Node Status)

A proper preliminary stage is essential for determining the appropriate therapy approach for each patient. Even though controversial, computed tomography (CT) preoperative staging in colorectal cancer (CRC) may be beneficial for planning surgery and neoadjuvant treatment, especially when local tumor extension onto surrounding structures or metastatic disease is identified. CT technology has advanced significantly since the debut of the multidetector row CT (MDCT) scanner. Due to developments in CT technology, the potential usefulness of CT in the diagnosis and staging of CRC has piqued attention. In recent studies, MDCT using multiplanar reformations imaging has shown promise in identifying the local extent and nodal involvement of CRC. CT scans are useful because they give functional as well as anatomical information. As a result, it is only normal to assume that CT will improve CRC preoperative staging accuracy. The exact identification of distant metastases is the most crucial additional information provided by CT. CT offers a relative advantage over CT in the assessment of patients with CRC in terms of tumor penetration thru the walls, extracurricular expansion, and regional lymph node metastases. Patients with metastatic lesions that are suggestive but not definitive should get a CT scan.

PH-Driven Intracellular Nano-to-Molecular Disassembly of Heterometallic [Au2L2]{Re6Q8} Colloids (L = PNNP Ligand; Q = S2- or Se2-).

The present work introduces a simple, electrostatically driven approach to engineered nanomaterial built from the highly cytotoxic [Au2L2]2+ complex (Au2, L = 1,5-bis(p-tolyl)−3,7-bis(pyridine-2-yl)−1,5-diaza-3,7-diphosphacyclooctane (PNNP) ligand) and the pH-sensitive red-emitting [{Re6Q8}(OH)6]4− (Re6-Q, Q = S2− or Se2−) cluster units. The protonation/deprotonation of the Re6-Q unit is a prerequisite for the pH-triggered assembly of Au2 and Re6-Q into Au2Re6-Q colloids, exhibiting disassembly in acidic (pH = 4.5) conditions modeling a lysosomal environment. The counter-ion effect of polyethylenimine causes the release of Re6-Q units from the colloids, while the binding with lysozyme restricts their protonation in acidified conditions. The enhanced luminescence response of Re6-S on the disassembly of Au2Re6-S colloids in the lysosomal environment allows us to determine their high lysosomal localization extent through the colocalization assay, while the low luminescence of Re6-Se units in the same conditions allows us to reveal the rapture of the lysosomal membrane through the use of the Acridine Orange assay. The lysosomal pathway of the colloids, followed by their endo/lysosomal escape, correlates with their cytotoxicity being on the same level as that of Au2 complexes, but the contribution of the apoptotic pathway differentiates the cytotoxic effect of the colloids from that of the Au2 complex arisen from the necrotic processes.

Low and high frequency intracranial neural signals match in the human associative cortex.

In vivo intracranial recordings of neural activity offer a unique opportunity to understand human brain function. Intracranial electrophysiological (iEEG) activity related to sensory, cognitive or motor events manifests mostly in two types of signals: event-related local field potentials in lower frequency bands (<30 Hz, LF) and broadband activity in the higher end of the frequency spectrum (>30 Hz, High frequency, HF). While most current studies rely exclusively on HF, thought to be more focal and closely related to spiking activity, the relationship between HF and LF signals is unclear, especially in human associative cortex. Here, we provide a large-scale in-depth investigation of the spatial and functional relationship between these 2 signals based on intracranial recordings from 121 individual brains (8000 recording sites). We measure category-selective responses to complex ecologically salient visual stimuli - human faces - across a wide cortical territory in the ventral occipito-temporal cortex (VOTC), with a frequency-tagging method providing high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the same objective quantification of signal and noise for the two frequency ranges. While LF face-selective activity has higher SNR across the VOTC, leading to a larger number of significant electrode contacts especially in the anterior temporal lobe, LF and HF display highly similar spatial, functional, and timing properties. Specifically, and contrary to a widespread assumption, our results point to nearly identical spatial distribution and local spatial extent of LF and HF activity at equal SNR. These observations go a long way towards clarifying the relationship between the two main iEEG signals and reestablish the informative value of LF iEEG to understand human brain function.

Abbreviated and Standard Breast MRI in Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Response Evaluation: A Comparative Study.

This study aims to investigate the efficacy of abbreviated breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) response evaluation. MR images of 50 locally advanced breast cancer patients who underwent standard protocol (SP) breast MRI before and after NAC were re-evaluated retrospectively. Abbreviated protocol (AP) was obtained by extracting images from SP and then evaluating them in a separate session. Protocols were compared with the histological findings after surgery as the reference standard. A statistically significant difference was found between the two protocols in response evaluation by the McNemar test (p=0.018). However, the Kappa value was 0.62 (p<0.001), which indicates substantial agreement. No statistically significant differences were found between the two protocols (AP and SP) and pathological results in the McNemar test (p=0.12, p=0.60, respectively). Kappa values were 0.48 (p<0.001) and 0.60 (p<0.001), respectively, which indicates moderate agreement for both protocols with higher values by SP evaluation. The residual maximum median diameters were smaller than the pathology, with both protocols (p<0.001). Despite the statistical differences, there was a significant correlation in response evaluation between the two protocols. The pathological results were moderately correlated with both protocols, with SP slightly higher. However, the residual maximum median diameters were smaller than the pathology with both protocols. These results may limit the use of AP in evaluating the local extent of the tumor, especially in patients who will undergo breast-conserving surgery.

CT features of subcutaneous, intermuscular, and intramuscular mast cell tumors in dogs.

Surgical removal is the treatment of choice for subcutaneous (SC), intermuscular (InterM), and intramuscular (IntraM) mast cell tumors (MCTs). Advanced imaging (CT or MRI) is frequently used for presurgical planning, but InterM and IntraM MCTs can be difficult to identify and delineate on CT. Aims of the current retrospective, diagnostic accuracy, observer agreement study were to describe the imaging features of SC, InterM, and IntraM MCTs on CT and to assess the limitation of CT to identify the full local extent of the MCT. Inclusion criteria for the study were dogs with a cytologically or histologically diagnosed MCTs determined to be SC, InterM, or IntraM MCT based on histology and/or a CT scan performed in the gross disease setting. Two board-certified veterinary radiologists reviewed the CT images and recorded location, contrast enhancement pattern, and delineation between the normal and abnormal tissue. Sensitivity and specificity of CT for determining location (SC/InterM versus IntraM) was 85.71% and 55.56%, respectively, when compared to consensus location based on surgical pathology report/CT/MRI review. There was a low inter-rater agreement for delineation (kappa: 0.150 (-0.070 to 0.370) and measurement had a low/moderate correlation (rho: 0.4667 to 0.5792). Upon review by a surgical oncologist, CT findings were deemed insufficient for curative surgical planning in 13 of 16 due to inadequate definition of tumor depth, compartment boundary (fascial plane) or MCT margins. The use of CT for presurgical planning of SC/InterM/IntraM MCT dogs has limitations, especially when differentiating MCT from the adjacent muscle.

Multimodality imaging in lobular breast cancer: Differences in mammography, ultrasound, and MRI in the assessment of local tumor extent and correlation with molecular characteristics.

IntroductionInvasive lobular breast cancer (ILC) is a diagnostic challenge due to the diversity of morphological features. The objective of the study was to investigate the presentation and local extent of ILC using various imaging techniques and to assess the correlation between imaging and molecular profile.Materials and methodsWe reviewed 162 consecutive patients with ILC found on vacuum-assisted biopsy, who underwent evaluation of the lesion morphology and extent using ultrasound (US), mammography (MMG), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Radiographic features were compared with ILC intrinsic subtype based on the expression of Ki-67 and estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors.ResultsA total of 113 mass lesions and 49 non-mass enhancements (NMEs) were found in MRI. Masses were typically irregular and spiculated, showing heterogeneous contrast enhancement, diffusion restriction, and type III enhancement curve. NMEs presented mainly as the area of focal or multiregional distribution with heterogeneous or clumped contrast enhancement, diffusion restriction, and type III enhancement curve. Lesion extent significantly varied between MRI and MMG/ultrasonography (USG) (P < 0.001) but did not differ between MGF and ultrasonography (USG). The larger the ILC, the higher the disproportion when lesion extent in MRI was compared with MMG (P < 0.001) and ultrasonography (USG) (P < 0.001). In the study group, there were 97 cases of luminal A subtype (59.9%), 54 cases of luminal B HER2− (33.3%), nine cases of luminal B HER2+ (5.5%), and two cases of triple negative (1.2%). The HER2 type was not found in the study group. We did not observe any significant correlation between molecular profile and imaging.ConclusionMRI is the most effective technique for the assessment of ILC local extent, which is important for optimal treatment planning. Further studies are needed to investigate if the intrinsic subtype of ILC can be predicted by imaging features on MRI.

Mapping Two Decades of New York State Forest Aboveground Biomass Change Using Remote Sensing

Forest aboveground biomass (AGB) provides valuable information about the carbon cycle, carbon sink monitoring, and understanding of climate change factors. Remote sensing data coupled with machine learning models have been increasingly used for forest AGB estimation over local and regional extents. Landsat series provide a 50-year data archive, which is a valuable source for historical mapping over large areas. As such, this paper proposed a machine learning-based workflow for historical AGB estimation and its change analysis from 2001 to 2019 for the New York State’s forests using Landsat historical imagery, airborne LiDAR, and forest plot data. As the object-based image analysis (OBIA) is able to incorporate spectral, contextual, and textural features into the regression model, the proposed method utilizes an OBIA approach and a random forest (RF) regression model implemented on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud computing platform. Results demonstrated that there is a considerable decrease of 983.79 × 106 Mg/ha in the AGB of deciduous forests from 2001 to 2006, followed by an increase of 618.28 × 106 Mg/ha from 2006 to 2011, continued with an increase of 229.12 × 106 Mg/ha of deciduous forests from 2011–2016. Finally, the results demonstrated a slight change in AGB from 2016 to 2019. The transferability of the proposed framework provides a practical solution for monitoring forests in other states or even on a national scale.

The correlation between the embryological development of the pancreas and the local extent of the pancreatic tumors

Progression reported so far in the field of hepato-bilio-pancreatic surgery leaded to a significant increase of the number of cases diagnosed with borderline or locally advanced pancreatic tumors which are successfully submitted to radical surgery. However, it has been observed that local invasion of the vascular structures respects the embryological and anatomical development of the pancreatic parenchyma. The aim of the current paper is to analyze the correlation ship between the embryological development of the pancreas, location, extent and possible therapeutic strategies in borderline or locally advanced pancreatic head cancer.

Resultados de la radioterapia en los carcinomas de orofaringe

ObjectiveTo present the results of radiotherapy treatment in patients with oropharyngeal carcinomas. Material and methodsRetrospective study of a cohort of 359 patients treated with radiotherapy, including chemo- and bio-radiotherapy, during the period 2000-2019. Information on human papillomavirus (HPV) status was available for 202 patients, of whom 26.2% were HPV-positive. ResultsFive-year local recurrence-free survival was 73.5% (95% CI: 68.8-78.2%). The variables that were related to local disease control in a multivariate study were the local tumor extension category and the HPV status. Five-year local recurrence-free survival for patients with cT1 tumors was 90.0%, for cT2 88.0%, for cT3 70.6%, and for cT4 42.3%. Five-year local recurrence-free survival for HPV-negative tumors was 67.2% and for HPV-positive tumors 93.3%. Five-year specific-disease survival was 64.4% (95% CI: 59.1-69.7%). Variables that were related to specific survival in a multivariate study were the patient's general condition, local and regional extent of the tumor, and HPV status. ConclusionsFive-year local recurrence-free survival of patients with oropharyngeal carcinomas treated with radiotherapy was 73.5%. Variables that were related to local control were local tumor extension and HPV status.

Outcomes after recurrence of low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (LGESS) (150)

Objectives: To evaluate clinical characteristics of patients with recurrent low-grade endometrial sarcoma (LGESS) and identify prognostic factors associated with improved outcomes. Methods: All patients with a diagnosis of recurrent LGESS treated for their first recurrence at our institution between 1980 and 2019 were retrospectively identified. All recurrent uterine pathologies were reviewed, and pertinent clinical data were abstracted from the medical record. Survival outcomes were estimated using Kaplan-Meier method and differences in survival were analyzed using Logrank tests. Results: Among 28 patients with recurrent LGESS, the median time to first recurrence after the initial diagnosis was 49.5 months (range: 5.1-265.5). The median age at the time of recurrence was 54 years (range: 26-83). The sites of first recurrence were abdomen/pelvis (20, 71%), lung only (7, 25%), lung/spine (1, 4%). Eighteen patients (65%) had multi-site recurrent disease. The median follow-up time was 75.9 months (range: 8.3-232.7). Twenty-two patients (79%) experienced subsequent recurrence(s) with median progression-free survival (PFS) of 34.3 months (95% CI: 14.5-54.2). Median overall survival (OS) after the first recurrence was 136.2 months (95% CI: 87.4-185.0). At the time of the first recurrence, 21 patients (75%) underwent secondary surgical cytoreduction (SSR), and seven (25%) received non-surgical management alone. Reasons for non-surgical management included bony involvement (n=2), diffuse metastatic disease (n=2), short disease-free interval (DFI) (n=1), local extent of disease (n=1), and patient declining resection (n=1). Of those who underwent SSR, complete gross resection (CGR) was obtained in 15 (71%). CGR was not associated with PFS or OS, as most subsequent recurrences were salvaged. Seventeen of 21 (81%) SSR patients received postoperative therapy. ER+ and PR+ recurrent tumors and single-site recurrent disease were factors associated with a significant improvement in PFS (p=0.005 and p=0.03, respectively), but these did not impact OS (p=0.5 and p=0.2, respectively). An initial DFI of >4 years was associated with improved PFS (p=0.06) but no improvement in OS (p=0.1). Conclusions: Patients with a first recurrence of LGESS are likely to recur again. Longer DFI, ER+/PR+ tumors and single-site disease are associated with greater time to subsequent recurrence. Outcomes are generally favorable with this rare tumor, and all multi-modality therapy options should be considered for salvage, including surgical resection. Objectives: To evaluate clinical characteristics of patients with recurrent low-grade endometrial sarcoma (LGESS) and identify prognostic factors associated with improved outcomes. Methods: All patients with a diagnosis of recurrent LGESS treated for their first recurrence at our institution between 1980 and 2019 were retrospectively identified. All recurrent uterine pathologies were reviewed, and pertinent clinical data were abstracted from the medical record. Survival outcomes were estimated using Kaplan-Meier method and differences in survival were analyzed using Logrank tests. Results: Among 28 patients with recurrent LGESS, the median time to first recurrence after the initial diagnosis was 49.5 months (range: 5.1-265.5). The median age at the time of recurrence was 54 years (range: 26-83). The sites of first recurrence were abdomen/pelvis (20, 71%), lung only (7, 25%), lung/spine (1, 4%). Eighteen patients (65%) had multi-site recurrent disease. The median follow-up time was 75.9 months (range: 8.3-232.7). Twenty-two patients (79%) experienced subsequent recurrence(s) with median progression-free survival (PFS) of 34.3 months (95% CI: 14.5-54.2). Median overall survival (OS) after the first recurrence was 136.2 months (95% CI: 87.4-185.0). At the time of the first recurrence, 21 patients (75%) underwent secondary surgical cytoreduction (SSR), and seven (25%) received non-surgical management alone. Reasons for non-surgical management included bony involvement (n=2), diffuse metastatic disease (n=2), short disease-free interval (DFI) (n=1), local extent of disease (n=1), and patient declining resection (n=1). Of those who underwent SSR, complete gross resection (CGR) was obtained in 15 (71%). CGR was not associated with PFS or OS, as most subsequent recurrences were salvaged. Seventeen of 21 (81%) SSR patients received postoperative therapy. ER+ and PR+ recurrent tumors and single-site recurrent disease were factors associated with a significant improvement in PFS (p=0.005 and p=0.03, respectively), but these did not impact OS (p=0.5 and p=0.2, respectively). An initial DFI of >4 years was associated with improved PFS (p=0.06) but no improvement in OS (p=0.1). Conclusions: Patients with a first recurrence of LGESS are likely to recur again. Longer DFI, ER+/PR+ tumors and single-site disease are associated with greater time to subsequent recurrence. Outcomes are generally favorable with this rare tumor, and all multi-modality therapy options should be considered for salvage, including surgical resection.

Spatio-temporal characterization of surface water dynamics with Landsat in endorheic Cuvelai-Etosha Basin (1990–2021)

Socio-economic damages caused by extreme floods have been increasing rapidly in recent years, mainly driven by changes in the climate and modulated by increasing human population in deltic areas and floodplains. The Cuvelai-Etosha Basin (CEB) in southern Africa, covering southern Angola and northern Namibia, experiences socially and economically devastating extreme floods. Yet, accurate information on past and current surface water changes and dynamics is lacking. Here, we estimate and map the surface water extents in the CEB and its surroundings (CEB + S) for 32 years (1990–2021) from Landsat data using random forest models to provide long-term baseline information on surface water changes and dynamics. Based on the reference data, a total of 15,677 ± 1080 km2 have been inundated by surface water in the CEB + S during 1990–2021. This extent was accurately mapped by our local water extent product (mapped area = 16,273 km2, user’s accuracy = 91.5 ± 2.5%, producer’s accuracy = 91.1 ± 6%). With user’s and producer’s accuracy of 91%, our overall water extent provides the first most accurate long-term baseline information on surface water inundation in CEB + S necessary for local spatial planning processes to minimise future negative impacts of floods in the basin. Interannual variability of surface water extent is, however, high, with water extent ranging from 520.8 ± 375.7 km2 to 12372.3 ± 1154.7 km2 during the 1990–2021 period. The largest annual water extents (>10,000 km2) were recorded in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2017, whereas the smallest extents (<1000 km2) were recorded in 1992 and 2019. We found that over 40% of the area inundated in the CEB + S during 1990–2021 was inundated less than 9 times. With human population increasing rapidly in the CEB + S, rarely inundated areas with short water residence could become a prime target for human settlements, which may lead to huge socio-economic damages during extreme floods if no preventive measures are put in place. Globally available surface water maps from the Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) and European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) did not provide realistic surface water extent for CEB + S, especially during years with extreme floods. Therefore, locally adopted product for operational monitoring of surface water in the CEB + S is needed to provide accurate information for informing spatial planning processes and surface water resource management strategies in this endorheic basin and help minimise future negative impacts of floods.

Reduced Scaling of Optimal Regional Orbital Localization via Sequential Exhaustion of the Single-Particle Space.

Wannier functions have become a powerful tool in the electronic structure calculations of extended systems. The generalized Pipek-Mezey Wannier functions exhibit appealing characteristics (e.g., reaching an optimal localization and the separation of the σ–π orbitals) compared with other schemes. However, when applied to giant nanoscale systems, the orbital localization suffers from a large computational cost overhead if one is interested in localized states in a small fragment of the system. Herein, we present a swift, efficient, and robust approach for obtaining regionally localized orbitals of a subsystem within the generalized Pipek-Mezey scheme. The proposed algorithm introduces a reduced work space and sequentially exhausts the entire orbital space until the convergence of the localization functional. It tackles systems with ∼10000 electrons within 0.5 h with no loss in localization quality compared to the traditional approach. Regionally localized orbitals with a higher extent of localization are obtained via judiciously extending the subsystem’s size. Exemplifying on large bulk and a 4 nm wide slab of diamond with an NV– center, we demonstrate the methodology and discuss how the choice of the localization region affects the excitation energy of the defect. Furthermore, we show how the sequential algorithm is easily extended to stochastic methodologies that do not provide individual single-particle eigenstates. It is thus a promising tool to obtain regionally localized states for solving the electronic structure problems of a subsystem embedded in giant condensed systems.

Australia's 2019–20 mega‐fires are associated with lower occupancy of a rainforest‐dependent bat

AbstractMega‐fires in the Australian summer of 2019–20 resulted in the largest ever documented forest fire extent. These fires impacted many species, but individual responses remain poorly known, making assessments of their conservation status and ongoing threats uncertain. We assessed the influence of the 2019–20 mega‐fires on habitat occupancy in the golden‐tipped bat Phoniscus papuensis, a specialist which roosts in suspended birds' nests and occurs in relictual Gondwanan rainforest not typically exposed to fire. We used trapping and accounted for nightly detection probability (lower detection with increasing rainfall) to estimate site occupancy. Occupancy increased with the local (1 km buffer surrounding each site) extent of rainforest, gullies and unburnt forest. The model predicted a strong negative effect of fire in the surrounding buffer, with occupancy reduced from &gt;90% at sites with suitable habitat (extensive rainforest and gully systems) surrounded by unburnt forest to 20% when the entire surrounding area was burnt (regardless of severity). Gully rainforest sites surrounded by a mixture of burnt and unburnt forest were modelled to have intermediate occupancy values. On average, fire severity mapping revealed that 22% of rainforest in the 1 km buffer surrounding our burnt sites was unburnt, 61% had a low severity burn, while 17% experienced a high severity burn. The lower occupancy of P. papuensis in burnt rainforest was associated with a reduction in the abundance of suspended bird nests, a critical resource used for day‐roosting. Our results quantify the effects of extreme fire events on animal populations in rainforest that is normally unaffected by fire. The large extent of rainforest burnt during the 2019–20 Australian season of ‘mega‐fires’ and its strong negative effect on occupancy highlights the vulnerability of animal species reliant on fire‐sensitive habitat to a climate‐change driven increase in such extreme fire events.

The Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh: an analysis of the involvement of local humanitarian actors

Since August 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingya have sought refuge in Bangladesh from neighbouring Myanmar, resulting in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. A significant endeavour is taking place involving various humanitarian actors for the provision and overall management of the humanitarian activities in Rohingya refugee camps. The article studies the configuration and evolution of the humanitarian operations with the aim of identifying the extent of localisation, ie the involvement of the Bangladeshi actors in the management of the camps in the early stage (1–2 years) of the crisis. It employs a quantitative method by analysing the 4W data of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Segregation of humanitarian operators by national and international non-governmental organisations and a network analysis suggest that the humanitarian operations are dominated by international actors, and localisation was not achieved in the early stage of the crisis. Additionally, the article provides a profile of the humanitarian operation along with the context and background of the crisis; as such, it can be utilised by both academic and non-academic audiences.

Mainstreaming the Ambition, Coherence, and Comprehensiveness of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework Into Conservation Policy

Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity are finalizing a new Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) to more effectively guide efforts by the world’s nations to address global loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Each party is required to mainstream the new framework and its component targets into national conservation strategies. To date, such strategies have been criticized as largely aspirational and lacking clear linkages to national policy mechanisms, which has contributed to the world’s general failure to meet the Convention’s previous targets. We use the United States and European Union as examples to compare and contrast opportunities and barriers for mainstreaming the GBF more effectively into policy. The European Union and United States have unique relationships to the Convention, the former being the only supranational party and the latter, having signed but never ratified the treaty, adopting Convention targets on an ad hoc basis. The contrasting conservation policy frameworks of these two polities illustrate several conceptual issues central to biodiversity conservation and demonstrate how insights from the GBF can strengthen biodiversity policy even in atypical contexts. We focus on three characteristics of the GBF which are essential if policy is to effectively motivate and guide efforts to halt and reverse biodiversity loss: comprehensiveness, coherence, and ambition. Statutes in both the United States and European Union provide a strong foundation for mainstreaming the GBF’s comprehensiveness, coherence, and ambition, but policy development and implementation falls short. We identify six common themes among the reforms needed to successfully achieve targets for reversing biodiversity loss: broadening conservation focus to all levels of biodiversity, better coordinating conservation strategies that protect sites and landscapes with those focused on biodiversity elements (e.g., species), coordinating biodiversity conservation with efforts to safeguard ecosystem services including ecosystem-based climate mitigation and adaptation, more coherent scaling of targets from global to local extents, adoption of a more ambitious vision for recovery of biodiversity, and development of effective tracking and accountability mechanisms.

Localization and Delocalization in Solids from Electron Distribution Functions.

The extent of electron localization and delocalization in molecular and condensed phases has been the subject of intense scrutiny over the years. In Chemistry, where real, instead of momentum space viewpoints are many times closer to intuition, a plethora of localization descriptors exist, including a family of indices invariant under orbital transformations that rely only on an underlying partition of the physical space into meaningful regions. These localization and delocalization indices measure the fluctuation of the electron population contained in such domains, and have been rigorously related to the insulating or conductive character of extended systems. Knowledge of the full electron population probability distribution function is also available in molecules, where it has provided many meaningful results as well as uncovered exotic interaction regimes in excited states. Electron distribution functions (EDFs), which can be seen as real space analogs of Pauling resonance structures, are now reported in periodic systems. In agreement with what is known in finite systems, ionic compounds display narrow EDFs that get wider as covalency sets in. Contrarily to conventional wisdom, most electrons delocalize over their nearest neighbors, even in quasi electron-gas metals like sodium, and it is only in the decay rate of the probability distribution where conductors and insulators can be distinguished.

Characterization of Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Oligometastatic Incidence in an Era of Changing Treatment Paradigms

Because of the limitations of current staging systems and evolving definitions, there are limited data on oligometastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) epidemiology. The purpose of this study was to evaluate metastatic disease burden and the incidence of oligometastatic disease using recent clinical trial eligibility criteria. A cohort of patients with metastatic NSCLC, diagnosed from 2016 to 2019, were randomly sampled from a curated tumor registry. Definitions for oligometastatic disease were obtained from relevant clinical trials. The Stanford Cancer Institute Research Database was used to identify baseline patient factors, systemic and local therapy, extent and location of metastatic lesions, and survival outcomes. Among 120 patients presenting with metastatic NSCLC, the majority had de novo metastatic disease (75%) with a median of 4 metastatic lesions involving 3 organ systems. Of these, 37.5% would have been eligible for at least 1 oligometastatic trial, with 28.3% meeting criteria for the MD Anderson Cancer Center trial, 20.0% for NRG-LU002, 6.7% for SINDAS, and 16.7% for SABR-COMET. By adding malignant pleural effusions and early progression as exclusionary criteria, only 54.1% of patients with ≤3 synchronous metastases were eligible for consideration of local therapy. Early progression on systemic therapy was associated with worse survival (10.0 vs 42.4 months; P < .001), whereas presence of malignant pleural effusions was not. Of those tumors identified as oligometastatic, 44.4% received local therapy and 28.9% underwent ablative therapy to all sites. There was a trend toward greater overall survival (44.4 vs 24.9 months; P=.055) and progression-free survival (8.0 vs 5.4 months; P=.06) in patients meeting eligibility for at least 1 oligometastatic trial. Around 48% of patients with metastatic NSCLC had ≤3 metastases at presentation and 28% met clinical trial criteria for oligometastatic disease. Future research is needed to better define the oligometastatic state and identify patients most likely to benefit from local therapy.

Inclusion of condition in natural capital assessments is critical to the implementation of marine nature-based solutions

Current approaches to measure ecosystem services (ES) within natural capital (NC) and nature-based solutions (NbS) assessments are generally coarse, often using a single figure for ecosystem services (e.g., nutrient remediation or blue carbon sequestration) applied to the local or national habitat stock, which fails to take account of local ecosystem conditions and regional variability. As such, there is a need for improved understanding of the link between habitat condition and ES provision, using comparable indicators in order to take more informed management decisions. Here the UK, Solent Marine Sites (SEMS) is used as a case study system to demonstrate how Water Framework Directive (WFD) ‘ecological status’ and other indicators of ecosystem condition (state or quality) can be coupled with habitat extent information to deliver a more precise locally-tailored NC approach for active coastal and marine habitat restoration. Habitat extent and condition data are collected for seven NbS relevant coastal habitats (littoral sediment, mat-forming green macroalgae, subtidal sediment, saltmarsh, seagrass, reedbeds and native oyster beds). The workflow includes: 1) biophysical assessment of regulatory ES; 2) monetary valuation; and 3) compilation of future scenarios of habitat restoration and creation. The results indicate that incorporating classifications by condition indices into local NC extent accounts improved ES benefits by 11–67%. This suggests that omitting condition from NC assessments could lead to undervaluation of ES benefits. Future scenarios of restoration in the SEMS also show that the additional regulatory benefits of reaching ‘Good’ ecological status are £376 million annually, but could be as much as £1.218 billion if ‘High‘status and all habitat creation targets were met. This evidence of the potential value of restoration and importance of including condition indices in assessments is highly relevant to consider when investing in water ecosystems conservation and restoration as called for by the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021−2030), and more generally in global nutrient neutrality and blue carbon policy strategies.

An Efficient Localized Nonlinear Solver for Simulating Natural Depletion of Unconventional Reservoirs with Complex Fracture Networks

Summary Simulating unconventional reservoirs efficiently and accurately poses a big challenge. Transient flow can last for a long period and sharp solution gradients appear because of the severe permeability contrast between fracture and matrix. Although high-resolution well and fracture models are required to achieve sufficient accuracy, they are computationally too demanding for field models with many hydraulic-fracture stages. This paper aims to develop a nonlinear solution method, which is applicable to discrete fracture models (DFMs) for unconventional reservoirs. The localization algorithm takes advantage of solution locality on timestep and Newton iteration levels. We study the new method through multiple natural-depletion cases containing discrete fractures and compositional models. It is found that a large extent of solution locality displays over iterations as well as timesteps. The developed nonlinear solver exhibits outstanding simulation efficiency compared with a standard solver. A significant speedup is achieved by focusing computations to the locales that undergo considerable solution changes. Moreover, nonlinear convergence performance is maintained, with no degradation of the solution results.