Sciences Meeting Research Articles

Understanding the Science Surrounding Environmental Consequences and Rehabilitation Actions Stemming from Brazil's Fundão Tailing Dam Rupture.

Collapse of the Fundão tailings dam in November 2015 in Minas Gerais, Brazil, resulted in the release of approximately 36 million cubic meters of primarily clay and fine sand-sized particles to the environment. The spill event extended over 600 km of the Rio Doce catchment and affected terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and compromised socioeconomic activities throughout the watershed. Numerous monitoring programs and research investigations in the catchment since that time contribute to better understanding of the environmental consequences and plans for rehabilitation of the landscape. The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Latin America Geographic Unit hosted the Fundão Dam Rupture Science Meeting in Brasilia, Brazil, in June 2019 to report on the findings from these studies. Fourteen technical papers from that meeting are presented in this Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (IEAM) special series. These papers and the technical discussions at the meeting reflect the consensus opinions of scientists who attended the symposium. Delegates generally agreed that society must commit to rehabilitation after disasters based on the best available evidence describing the structure and function of affected ecosystems. Scientists can play a crucial role in prioritizing and facilitating rehabilitation actions, as well as monitoring for progress toward achieving goals. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2020;16:569-571. © 2020 SETAC.

How Early-Career Researchers Are Navigating the COVID-19 Pandemic

How Early-Career Researchers Are Navigating the COVID-19 Pandemic

Who owns the Earth? A challenge for the land system science community

ABSTRACT Reflecting on the 2019 Open Science Meeting of the Global Land Program and on commentaries since, we argue that the time is ripe for the land system science community to fully embrace the thorny issue of land ownership and control. Beyond land governance and institutions, the issue of who actually owns and controls land, and how land holding and rents are distributed across society, is central to the future of sustainability initiatives, biodiversity protection, social justice, climate change mitigation, and long-term food security and sovereignty. By explicitly tracking and visualizing just Who Owns the Earth, the land system science community could provide much-needed data and insights to inform public debate and advance political action in these arenas.

Efficacy and safety of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC): A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCTs).

e16631 Background: ICIs have ushered a new era in cancer therapy, but their efficacy in HCC is uncertain. Single-arm phase II studies with sorafenib-refractory patients have suggested clinical activity of nivolumab and pembrolizumab, which have become FDA-approved therapies. Nevertheless, the overall effect of ICIs compared with the standard of care (SOC) in unresectable HCC patients is still unknown. Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, LILACS, and ASCO and ESMO Meeting Proceedings in the last 10 years for RCTs that have compared the efficacy of ICIs versus the SOC in the systemic therapy of unresectable HCC. Outcomes of interest included overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), overall response rate (ORR), and grade 3-4 treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs). A summary hazard ratio (HR) of OS and PFS was calculated using 95% confidence intervals (CI) by fixed-effects model. The likelihood of ICIs being associated with ORR and TRAEs was expressed by odds ratio (OR) and 95% CI using a random-effects model (PROSPERO ID 162599). Results: Of the 2,334 studies yielded by the search, 3 studies were retained (KEYNOTE-240, CheckMate-459, and IMbrave150), totaling 1,657 patients (985 ICIs versus 672 SOC). Two studies compared ICIs versus sorafenib in 1st line setting, and one study compared with placebo in 2nd line. The ICIs studied were pembrolizumab, nivolumab, and atezolizumab. RCTs with anti-CTLA4 have not been reported. Two studies evaluated ICIs as monotherapy, and one study investigated the association with bevacizumab. Compared with the SOC (sorafenib in 1st line or placebo in 2nd line), ICIs significantly improved OS (HR: 0.78, 95% CI 0.68 – 0.89, p = 0.0002), PFS (HR: 0.79, 95% CI 0.71 – 0.89, p < 0.0001), and ORR (OR: 2.82, 95% CI 2.02 – 3.93, p < 0.0001). ICIs were associated with a lower probability of grade 3-4 TRAEs when compared to sorafenib (OR: 0.44, 95% CI 0.20 – 0.96, p = 0.04). No significant heterogeneity was found among studies when OS and ORR were analyzed, but it was found in the analysis of PFS and TRAEs. Conclusions: ICIs demonstrated superior efficacy and safety compared to the standard therapy of patients with unresectable HCC. The analysis of ICIs as monotherapy and combination therapy increased the heterogeneity among studies. The association of anti-angiogenic therapy with ICIs improved the survival benefit of immunotherapy and should become the new SOC in the 1st line systemic therapy of unresectable HCC.

ASLO 2020 Award Winners

<scp>ASLO</scp> 2020 Award Winners

Kształtowanie tożsamości polskiej w okresie zaborów oraz umacnianie świadomości narodowej w okresie II Rzeczypospolitej na przykładzie Towarzystwa Czytelni Ludowych w powiecie tucholskim

The Society of People’s Readings established in 1880 had a great influence on shaping the national consciousness of Poles living under the occupation. The main aim of the society was to be realized through the creation of a library network in the areas of the Prussian partition. People who lead the library of the Society of People’s Readings should not only share books, but above all, broaden the horizons of people from the lower social layer. That is why popular science meetings, reading meetings, evening parties and folk rallies were organized. In the Tuchola County in 1914 there were 12 libraries with 728 books in their collections. In 1921, the Tuchola district committee, consisting of 14 libraries, was one of the most energetic in the Pomeranian Voivodship.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

A transnational cooperation for sustainable use and management of non-native trees in urban, peri-urban and forest ecosystems in the Alpine region (ALPTREES)

The expected benefits and potential risks of non-native tree species (NNT) to European geographic regions have polarized the opinions of experts and citizens. Benefits include climate change (CC) mitigation and adaptation, contributions to bioeconomy, urban and peri-urban green infrastructure and mitigation of natural hazards. However, NNT may become invasive and thus may pose risks to native biodiversity, ecosystem functioning or socio-economy. In critical and vulnerable ecosystems such as the Alpine Space (AS), such risks and benefits must be carefully considered before management decisions are made. Experiences in the management of NNT in urban areas, peri-urban, rural territories and forests are often region- or city-specific and rarely shared. Given the challenges in NNT management with respect to both benefits and risks, an European transnational approach is needed to qualify the role of NNT in future AS ecosystems. The objective is to provide a transnational strategy for a responsible use and sustainable management of NNT in the AS with the help of an integrated Decision Support System. The project fits within the context of national and regional site-derived policy aiming at protecting and enhancing biodiversity to ensure ecological connectivity and cultural resources while maintaining a high level of resilience and ecosystem services across the AS. Implementation activities of the ALPTREES project include developing a comprehensive database on NNT, projecting the current and potential distribution of NNT in the AS under CC scenarios determining their invasive potential and analyzing the different ecosystem services provided by NNT to assess the tradeoffs between risks and benefits. developing a comprehensive database on NNT, projecting the current and potential distribution of NNT in the AS under CC scenarios determining their invasive potential and analyzing the different ecosystem services provided by NNT to assess the tradeoffs between risks and benefits. ALPTREES will formulate management recommendations for NNT under different climate and economic scenarios based on experience from sample plots combined with model projections, citizen science, and multiple stakeholder meetings. With the help of policy briefs, a handbook of lessons learned, transnational pilot actions for best management practices, and an inter-active online Decision Support System a close stakeholder interaction and -benefit will be ensured Another innovative output of the project is the Open ALPTREES Knowledge Hub, that will support the transnational and interdisciplinary knowledge transfer.

Forty-Third ASPEN Presidential Address: "Our Time Is Now-Challenges and Strategies for the Field of Nutrition".

I am grateful for this opportunity to address the ASPEN community and the international colleagues gathered at the ASPEN 2019 Nutrition Science and Practice Meeting. I have used this platform to revisit some of the historical beginnings of our field and our organization, and illustrate some of the lessons learned. I have outlined 5 challenges facing the field of nutrition during our times and discussed strategies that might help navigate them. These challenges are, healthcare finance, biotechnology disruption, safety, research, and knowledge transfer. These challenges will require nutrition providers to adapt to changing times. We must be prepared to show the "value" of the care provided. The impact of nutrition therapies must be unequivocally demonstrated on meaningful patient outcomes, thereby emphasizing the relevance and value of the services we provide. As clinical nutrition professionals, we must embrace the rapid pace of biotechnology advance and harness its power to assist us and our patients. The provision of safe nutrition care to our patients is the fundamental aspect of the ASPEN vision. I remain confident in our collective strengths, our sense of purpose, and our ability to rise above the challenges we face. Together with our global partners we will deliver on the promise of safe, efficacious, low-cost, and high-quality nutrition that will improve patient outcomes and population health.

Editor's comments: Special issue on the URSI-JRSM 2019 student paper competition

This issue contains the three top prize-winning papers from the Student Paper Competition held as part of the 2019 URSI Japan Radio Science Meeting (URSI-JRSM 2019). The conference was held at the University of Electro-Communications (UEC), Tokyo, Japan, on September 5–6, 2019. The guest editors for this section of this issue were Satoshi Yagitani and Shinichiro Ohnuki, respectively the General Chair and the Technical Program Chair for URSI-JRSM 2019. Their efforts are greatly appreciated. They have provided a separate introduction to the special issue.

Introduction to the URSI-JRSM 2019 student paper competition special issue

This special issue is a collection of papers by university students who successfully applied for the Student Paper Competition organized at the 2019 URSI Japan Radio Science Meeting (URSI-JRSM 2019). The conference was held at the University of Electro-Communications (UEC), Tokyo, Japan, on September 5–6, 2019 (http://www.ursi.jp/jrsm2019/).

Anthropogenically forced change in aquatic ecosystems: Reflections on the use of monitoring, archival and palaeolimnological data to inform conservation

The open collection “Aquatic transitions: Tracking the nature and trajectories of anthropogenically forced change in freshwater and coastal ecosystems” stems from a session of the same name at the ASLO (Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography) Aquatic Sciences Meeting 2017 in Honolulu, Hawai'i. The five papers gathered here reflect the focus of the special session on long‐term ecosystem research and monitoring (LTERM), and collectively make use of monitoring data, palaeolimnology, and historical and documentary records to explore the timing, extent, and causes of human‐related impacts on aquatic ecosystems. Collectively, they demonstrate that because timescales of ecological change often extend beyond contemporary monitoring, LTERM plays a crucial role in supporting evidence‐based conservation. In this introduction, we reflect on the role that LTERM has had in each of the ecosystems studied, and discuss the opportunities for LTERM work to inform future conservation.

Call for Proposals to Host the Joint IEEE AP-S International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation/USNC-URSI Radio Science Meeting

Call for Proposals to Host the Joint IEEE AP-S International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation/USNC-URSI Radio Science Meeting

Elective nodal irradiation\u2002versus involved-field irradiation in patients with esophageal cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy: a network meta-analysis

BackgroundTo assess the comparative efficacy and safety of elective nodal irradiation (ENI) and involved-field irradiation (IFI) in patients with esophageal cancer (EC) receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy plus surgery (nCRTS).Material and methodsPubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science and major meetings were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared at least two of the following treatment regimens: nCRTS, neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus surgery (nCTS), and surgery (S) alone. Overall survival (OS) was the primary outcomes of interest, reported as hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). A Bayesian network meta-analysis was performed to compare all regimens simultaneously.ResultsTwenty-nine RCTs with a total of 5212 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Both nCRTS adopting ENI (nCRTS-ENI) (HR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.48–0.83) and nCRTS adopting IFI (nCRTS-IFI) (HR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.66–0.86) significantly improved OS compared to S alone. No significant differences in OS, locoregional recurrence, distant metastases, R0 resection and postoperative mortality were observed between nCRTS-ENI and nCRTS-IFI. In subgroup analyses, nCRTS-IFI showed a significant OS advantage over nCTS (HR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.63–0.96) and S alone (HR = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.38–0.68) for esophagus squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), but nCRTS-ENI did not; nCRTS-ENI using three-dimensional radiotherapy (3D-RT) resulted in an improved OS compared to that with 2D-RT (HR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.34–0.99). Based on treatment ranking in term of OS, nCRTS-IFI (0.90) and nCRTS-ENI (0.96) was ranked the most effective treatment for ESCC and esophagus adenocarcinoma (EAC), respectively.ConclusionEither adopting ENI or IFI, nCRTS is likely to be the optimal treatment for resectable EC, and nCRTS-IFI and nCRTS-ENI seem to be more effective for patients with ESCC and EAC, respectively. Future head to head comparison trials are needed to confirm these findings.

First-line treatments in EGFR-mutated advanced non-small cell lung cancer: A network meta-analysis.

BackgroundIt remains unknown which is the optimal first-line treatment regimen for patients with advanced epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We performed a network meta-analysis to address this important issue.MethodsPubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science and major international scientific meetings were searched for relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Progression-free survival (PFS) data was the primary outcome of interest, and overall survival (OS) and serious adverse events (SAEs) were the secondary outcomes of interests, reported as hazard ratio (HR) or odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).Results25 RCTs with a total of 5005 patients randomized to receive seven treatments were included in the meta-analysis. Third-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) (osimertinib) and first-generation TKIs (F-TKIs) in combination with chemotherapy (F-TKIs+CT) were more effective than F-TKIs alone in terms of PFS (HR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.22–0.93; P = 0.031 and HR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.39–0.98; P = 0.041) and OS (HR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.43–0.91; P = 0.014 and HR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.57–0.92; P = 0.008). Second-generation TKIs (S-TKIs) showed significant OS advantage over F-TKIs (HR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.70–0.99; P = 0.04). Based on treatment ranking in terms of PFS and OS, osimertinib had the highest probability of being the most effective treatment (89% and 86%) and with the best tolerability. F-TKIs+CT was ranked the second-most effective regimen, but with relatively high risk of SAEs.ConclusionsOsimertinib seemed to be the most preferable first-line treatment in advanced EGFR-mutated NSCLC. However, limitations of the study including a single RCT investigating osimertinib and immature OS data need to be considered.

Hypersonic Flow Simulation towards Space Propulsion Geometries

&lt;div class="section abstract"&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;This work aims to expand the applicability of an open-source numerical tool to solve hypersonic gas dynamic flows for space propulsion geometries. This is done by validating the code using two well-known hypersonic test cases, the double cone and the hollow cylinder flare, used by the NATO Research and Technology Organization for the validation of hypersonic flight for laminar viscous-inviscid interactions (D. Knight, “RTO WG 10 - Test cases for CFD validation of hypersonic flight,” in 40th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting &amp;amp; Exhibit, 2002). The Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulation is conducted using the two-temperature solver hy2Foam that is capable to study external aerodynamics in re-entry flows. In the present work the assessment of hy2Foam to solve hypersonic complex flow features with strong interactions including non-equilibrium effects was demonstrated. Freestream conditions with stagnation enthalpy of 5.44 MJ/kg and Mach number of 12.2, for the double cone case, and stagnation enthalpy of 5.07 MJ/kg and Mach number of 11.3 for the hollow cylinder case were considered. Comparison with newer existing numerical data and experimental data from LENS XX (Large Energy National Shock Expansion Tunnel Version 2) was also performed. Special attention was taken to the phenomenon of vibrational excitation of the molecules. Different vibrational non-equilibrium models were used and compared with the available data. Hy2Foam showed consistent results, with the vibrational non-equilibrium models reducing the discrepancies between numerical and experimental results.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

A Global Approach Addressing the Double Burden of Malnutrition in Pediatric Oncology: A Bench to Bedside Paradigm. A Report from the State of the Science Meeting, Children's Oncology Group.

A Global Approach Addressing the Double Burden of Malnutrition in Pediatric Oncology: A Bench to Bedside Paradigm. A Report from the State of the Science Meeting, Children's Oncology Group.

Broadening Horizons: Graduate Students Participating in International Collaborations through the Limnology and Oceanography Research Exchange (LOREX) Program

AbstractInternational research is necessary in aquatic sciences because water moves across borders. Historically, international collaborations have been useful in conducting oceanographic research programs, which span large distances and require several funding sources. Although valuable, international research can have unforeseen challenges to the unprepared researcher. Communication with an international collaborator and professional development training can mitigate these pitfalls. The Limnology and Oceanography Research Exchange Program (LOREX) is an opportunity for graduate students to gain experience developing international collaborations. The LOREX program aims to help graduate students develop connections and gain experience in international research. During the summer of 2019 and spring of 2020, 26 graduate students from 24 U.S. institutions will travel to one of six different host institutions to conduct a research project that they developed with an international collaborator. To prepare for their research experience, LOREX participants participated in training programs during the 2019 Aquatic Sciences Meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The first group of LOREX graduate students will share their experience through social media and blog posts throughout their journey. Applications are now open for the second cohort of LOREX participants, and potential applicants are encouraged to contact potential collaborators to develop a research project.

Schrödinger’s placenta: Determining placentas as not/waste

An estimated 50 million kilograms of human placental material is produced worldwide every year. In countries such as Canada, human placentas are utilized in scientific research concerned with fetal and women’s health, immunology, and cancer, to name a few. Through an empirical study involving interviews with placenta scientists and observations of placental science research laboratories and meetings, this article examines the material and discursive processes through which placentas are rendered materially and ethically available for scientific study. We argue that these processes involve a critical shift in placenta ontology such that placentas exist as waste and not-waste, an indeterminacy that is resolved in a four-phase praxis. The praxis ultimately makes placentas not only available, but also monetarily and morally ‘free of charge’ for scientific purposes. Our analysis reveals that the purported waste-ness of placentas potentiates their amenability to scientific experimentation, and is foundational to scientists’ claims about their moral relationship with broader publics.

Hey Kids, Don't Feed the Wildlife: The Dark Side of Biophilia

Hey Kids, Don't Feed the Wildlife: The Dark Side of Biophilia

The ASLO Awards Program Primer: How it Works, Historical Trends, and How You Can Get Involved

The ASLO Awards Program Primer: How it Works, Historical Trends, and How You Can Get Involved