Suitable Entry Point Research Articles

Has Digital Village Construction Narrowed the Urban–Rural Income Gap: Evidence from Chinese Counties

Can the backward endowments of rural areas support digital village construction to attain the expected results? If the answer is yes, what are the mechanisms involved? Answering these questions is related to common prosperity. Counties are China’s frontline commanders, and the urban–rural income gap is a suitable entry point for observing the urban–rural digital divide; however, there is limited research assessing the effectiveness of digital village construction from the perspective of the urban–rural income gap at the county level. In addition, counties lifted out of poverty, as counties with worse initial endowments and as counties that should be most concerned with common wealth, are more typical for examining the effectiveness of digital rural construction; however, there are few studies on counties lifted out of poverty. Based on cross-sectional data from 865 counties in China in 2020, this study empirically analyzes the impact of digital village construction on the urban–rural income gap using an OLS model. This study also conducts mechanism tests and poverty benefit tests in addition to heterogeneity and robustness tests. The findings indicate that the development of digital villages lowers the income difference between urban and rural areas, and that the shift in the industrial structure is a key driver of this effect. Different construction dimensions have varying degrees of impact, with digital infrastructure and the digitalization of the economy having the most significant impact, the digitalization of countryside governance coming second, and the digitalization of countryside life having the most negligible impact. The impact is more pronounced in the central-eastern region of China and counties that have just been lifted out of poverty than in the western region and counties that have never been in poverty. The government will benefit greatly from this study’s understanding of the main themes, areas, and scope of digital rural construction, which will help to expand and further integrate the outcomes of reducing poverty and fostering shared prosperity.

Multisectoral approaches for sustainable food and nutrition security actions in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has demonstrated a commitment to tackling the high burden of Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) challenges by developing and implementing various policies, strategies, and programs. Despite the efforts, the current FNS situation is of significant public health concern observed by various nutrition indices. The narrative review aimed to appraise multisectoral policy, strategic and programmatic initiatives aimed at addressing FNS challenges and identify entry points for enhancing coherent and integrated FNS approaches. The review involved broad literature research using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A total of 1,086 articles and grey literature were identified. Out of this, 47 full-text articles and documents met the selection criteria and were included in this review. Evidence was synthesized in themes to characterize the successes and challenges of key FNS policies, strategies, and programs and identify potential areas of improvement to enhance multisectoral actions and address FNS challenges. Overall, Ethiopia has made considerable progress in enhancing FNS through the implementation of a range of FNS policies, strategies, and programs such as the National Nutrition Program (NNP), Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), and Agricultural Growth Program (AGP) among others. These efforts have resulted in notable achievements, such as the reduction of the prevalence of undernourishment from 47.0% in 2000 to 24.9% in 2020 and the reduction of stunting among children under five years from 57.4% to 35.2% over the same period. Nonetheless, the pace of progress has been hindered by various contextual and programmatic challenges such as climatic shocks, poverty, high inflation, political instability, limited access to production resources, inadequate coverage of FNS interventions, inadequate financing, and inadequate multisectoral coherence and integration. A comprehensive and integrated multisectoral FNS approach focusing on enhancing commitment, planning, coordination, financing, capacity building, and accountability across sectors and levels is imperative. Strengthening coherence across various sectors, alongside the operationalization of robust multisectoral monitoring and evaluation systems highlighted in the National Food and Nutrition Strategy, constitutes the most suitable entry points for ensuring sustainable advancement in mitigating the prevailing FNS challenges in Ethiopia. Key words: Food and nutrition security, policy and program, multisectoral approaches, Integration, Ethiopia

Fungal Presence and Changes of Wood Structure in Bark Stripping Wounds Made by Red Deer (Cervus elaphus L.) on Stems of Fraxinus angustifolia (Vahl)

Narrow-leaved ash (Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl), a highly valued European forest tree species, has been severely affected by a large-scale decline, which is most probably driven by a complex of multiple interacting factors including fungi, which contribute to and accelerate this process. Red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) can be considered as one of the contributing factors, as they inflict damage on the stems of young trees by stripping the bark. These wounds not only represent suitable entry points for fungi which can cause tissue necroses and decomposition, they can lead to changes in the wood structure as well. The aims of this research were to analyze chosen parameters of bark stripping wounds in narrow-leaved ash stands, identify fungi present in the tissue exposed by wounding, and inspect the effect of wounding on the wood structure. Bark stripping was observed on ash trees from 2 cm up to 18 cm of DBH and between 0.1 m and 1.9 m of stem height. The most susceptible trees were those with an average DBH of 5 ± 2.5 cm. On most of the ash trees (51%), one-third to two-thirds of the circumference was damaged. In wounded tissue, 174 fungal isolates were found, most of which belonged to known endophytic fungi from the genera Trichoderma, Fusarium, and Clonostachys. It was observed that earlywood cells in the wounding zone had narrower lumens compared to ones in adjacent healthy zone with regard to different trees and stem heights.

Discrete Optimization Technology Helps Non-heritage Tourism Project Ecological Chain Construction Model Optimization

Abstract The protection, inheritance, and innovation of non-heritage tourism projects need to find a suitable entry point so that more people can participate in the inheritance and innovation of non-heritage in order to promote the long-term stable development of non-heritage tourism projects. The article establishes the framework for the ecological chain of non-heritage tourism projects based on the cultural ecological chain and analyzes the problems that exist in the development process of the ecological chain of non-heritage tourism. The optimization of the ecological chain of non-heritage tourism projects is considered a dynamic multi-objective optimization problem, and a dynamic planning model for tourism paths is established. The tourism path dynamic planning model is solved using a two-stage parallel optimization ant colony algorithm and a two-stage heuristic algorithm based on the ant colony algorithm. A simulation experiment was conducted to analyze the data and evaluate the effectiveness of the algorithm. The results show that the DACS algorithm can solve the optimal path of the ecological chain of non-heritage tourism projects with an average gap value of GAP between [10.88% and 18.71%]. The IGD of the DACS algorithm in the dMOP test case varies within 0.005, the average running time of the DACS algorithm is 29.72s, and the maximum deviation rate between the optimal solution of the algorithm and the actual optimal solution is only 3.85%. The use of the DACS algorithm can optimize the ecological chain model of non-heritage tourism projects and help the healthy development of non-heritage tourism ecological chains.

Big data analysis of coastal illegal fishing from the perspective of compensation of ecological and environmental damage

Illegal fishing is one of the sources of marine ecological damage. The implementation of compensation of ecological and environmental damage in this field is poorly understood. In this study, we examined data pertaining to coastal illegal fishing cases during 2018-2022 using the big data publicly made available by China Judgement Online. The main results included: 1) there are numerous types of illegal fishing, and more efforts should focus on the nature and extent of illegal fishing, with electrofishing and trawl being suitable entry points; 2) Special attention should be paid to the variation characteristics of rakes in the range of high illegal catch weight and value. It was suggested to optimize and adjust its management mode to avoid the frequent occurrence of such illegal fishing cases of rake; 3) The varieties of assessment models increased the uncertainty of damages computation, which might be reduced by establishing strong criteria for value quantification and damage assessment; 4) There is limited scientific support for the compensation for releasing the most popular ecological restoration technique for illegal fishing. As a result, the "compensation" design for "restoration" should be implemented, while the potential for additional restoration methods should be investigated.

A simple pleural effusion or not?

A 60-year-old man presented with a 2-week history of progressive dyspnea and bilateral leg edema. He had undergone a prosthetic mitral valve replacement 9 years earlier. The patient was in respiratory distress (respiratory rate 32/min, oxygen saturation 86% on air, heart rate 124/min, blood pressure 109/56 mmHg). Examination revealed bilateral lung crackles and reduced air entry with dullness to percussion and elevated jugular venous pressure. The electrocardiogram showed sinus tachycardia. A chest X-ray (CXR) (Figure 1) and bedside lung ultrasonography were performed (Figure 2A). A diagnosis of a large pleural effusion was made and urgent thoracocentesis was considered in view of the patient’s respiratory distress. A repeat ultrasonographic scan with adjusted angulation to identify the most suitable entry point for the chest drain (Figure 2B) yielded new results that led to the cancellation of the thoracocentesis.

L’Iconographie du ‘Lancelot-Graal’. Par Irène Fabry-Tehranchi et Catherine Nicolas

Although the iconographic cycles which illustrated medieval books are of great importance for a holistic understanding of the texts they were designed to illustrate, they are often neglected by scholars. Obstacles to accessing the original manuscripts preserving these cycles, in conjunction with the difficulty of conceptualizing a given cycle of illustrations as a unitary entity (especially in long works in which illustrations may be widely scattered, or in works where the relation of text to image is unclear), have fed the need in medieval studies for examinations such as that presented by the present volume. Here, two eminent Arthurian scholars, Irène Fabry-Tehranchi and Catherine Nicolas, provide a detailed commentary of a complete iconographic cycle illustrating the Lancelot-Graal (or Vulgate) cycle of Old French prose romances. This cycle comprises five units or books, all dating from the thirteenth century: the Estoire del Saint Graal, Merlin and the Suite Vulgate, the prose Lancelot, the Queste del Saint Graal, and the Mort le Roi Artu. This cycle was extremely popular, being preserved for us today in over 180 manuscripts from the thirteenth century to the fifteenth, as well as in numerous early printed editions. In order to produce this study, the authors have examined a wide range of extant manuscripts; the results of their survey are presented in a concise and informative Introduction, which in addition contextualizes the Lancelot-Graal and provides summaries of its constituent parts. The authors focus in particular on six manuscripts created between the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, all of which contain the full cycle of texts and are richly illustrated. They note that it is difficult to speak of a definitive, fixed iconographic cycle for the Lancelot-Graal, for exemplars are characterized by a high degree of variety; much higher than image cycles designed to accompany contemporary but more conventional texts, such as books of hours. For this reason, rather than struggling to justify the selection of any one manuscript on the grounds of the superior representative quality of its illustrative cycle, the authors have chosen to reproduce the complete cycle as found in Paris, BnF, MS fr. 344, as representing the most suitable entry point for studying the iconographic tradition associated with this text as a whole. The reproductions in black and white of the 348 illustrations in MS fr. 344 are arranged in order of books and chapters, and are accompanied by detailed commentary, as well as by brief descriptions of the corresponding illustrations in the other manuscripts. Brief descriptions of illustrations from these other manuscripts are similarly included for chapters left unillustrated in MS fr. 344. This excellent research tool is supplemented by a comprehensive bibliography and a synoptic table that allows researchers to compare at a glance the iconographic programmes of all six manuscripts. Following a detailed index, this volume is crowned by an appendix of full-colour reproductions of the iconographic cycle from MS fr. 344, helpfully cross-referenced with the commentary. Arthurian studies will long be indebted to this thorough guide to the iconographic tradition of the Vulgate cycle.

Achieving Sustainable Urban Development with an Ageing Population: An “Age-Friendly City and Community” Approach

The ageing population tends to be seen as a burden of cities’ future development. Thus, the public funds for older residents’ wellbeing are at risk of being cut back under the economic austerity due to the prevalent neoliberalism policy atmosphere. However, some cities set good examples to turn their older citizens into active contributors to sustainable urban development (SUD) by developing age-friendly cities and communities (AFCC). Taking Hong Kong as an example, this study aims to raise a strategy for policymakers, especially at the municipal level, to incorporate the concept of AFCC in SUD. Data were retrieved for our analysis from a published report of the Hong Kong Public Policy Research Fund project. A total of 15 AFCC and SUD policy factors were identified by using factor analysis. The correlations between these policy factors were evaluated and visualised in a synergetic effect network. According to the network, this study indicates that developing the silver hair market can be a suitable entry point to realise SUD by adopting an AFCC development. Isolation prevention, social sustainability and low-energy-consumption development are the supportive policy factors for the silver hair market. Specifically, respect, discrimination prevention, communication and information, age-friendly facilities, environmental safety and public transportation accessibility are five AFCC policy factors incorporated in the policy integration to enhance older residents’ wellbeing further. This study is an innovative attempt to develop a comprehensive model for the synergy between sustainable urban development and an age-friendly city and community using a correlation network. This study also provides a reference for other city governments to respond to population ageing positively.

DNA metabarcoding reveals trophic niche diversity of micro and mesozooplankton species.

Alternative pathways of energy transfer guarantee the functionality and productivity in marine food webs that experience strong seasonality. Nevertheless, the complexity of zooplankton interactions is rarely considered in trophic studies because of the lack of detailed information about feeding interactions in nature. In this study, we used DNA metabarcoding to highlight the diversity of trophic niches in a wide range of micro- and mesozooplankton, including ciliates, rotifers, cladocerans, copepods and their prey, by sequencing 16- and 18S rRNA genes. Our study demonstrates that the zooplankton trophic niche partitioning goes beyond both phylogeny and size and reinforces the importance of diversity in resource use for stabilizing food web efficiency by allowing for several different pathways of energy transfer. We further highlight that small, rarely studied zooplankton (rotifers and ciliates) fill an important role in the Baltic Sea pelagic primary production pathways and the potential of ciliates, rotifers and crustaceans in the utilization of filamentous and picocyanobacteria within the pelagic food web. The approach used in this study is a suitable entry point to ecosystem-wide food web modelling considering species-specific resource use of key consumers.

A Breach in Plant Defences: Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae Targets Ethylene Signalling to Overcome Actinidia chinensis Pathogen Responses.

Ethylene interacts with other plant hormones to modulate many aspects of plant metabolism, including defence and stomata regulation. Therefore, its manipulation may allow plant pathogens to overcome the host’s immune responses. This work investigates the role of ethylene as a virulence factor for Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa), the aetiological agent of the bacterial canker of kiwifruit. The pandemic, highly virulent biovar of this pathogen produces ethylene, whereas the biovars isolated in Japan and Korea do not. Ethylene production is modulated in planta by light/dark cycle. Exogenous ethylene application stimulates bacterial virulence, and restricts or increases host colonisation if performed before or after inoculation, respectively. The deletion of a gene, unrelated to known bacterial biosynthetic pathways and putatively encoding for an oxidoreductase, abolishes ethylene production and reduces the pathogen growth rate in planta. Ethylene production by Psa may be a recently and independently evolved virulence trait in the arms race against the host. Plant- and pathogen-derived ethylene may concur in the activation/suppression of immune responses, in the chemotaxis toward a suitable entry point, or in the endophytic colonisation.

Introduction to neural network‐based question answering over knowledge graphs

AbstractQuestion answering has emerged as an intuitive way of querying structured data sources and has attracted significant advancements over the years. A large body of recent work on question answering over knowledge graphs (KGQA) employs neural network‐based systems. In this article, we provide an overview of these neural network‐based methods for KGQA. We introduce readers to the formalism and the challenges of the task, different paradigms and approaches, discuss notable advancements, and outline the emerging trends in the field. Through this article, we aim to provide newcomers to the field with a suitable entry point to semantic parsing for KGQA, and ease their process of making informed decisions while creating their own QA systems.This article is categorized under: Technologies > Machine Learning Technologies > Prediction Technologies > Artificial Intelligence

Clergy in Politics: The Opportunistic Engagement of Faith-Based Organisations in Malawi’s Politics

Abstract Malawi is a profoundly religious society and faith-based organisations (FBO s) play a significant role in politics, addressing social concerns and governance. This article investigates their role in Malawi’s political realm when engaging with the state and argues that the FBO s are opportunistic in their engagement. They seize upon opportunities for exerting influence when political and social issues dictate that action be taken in accordance with religious tenets of social responsibility, in tandem with fluctuating levels of political tension. Typical high points of tension are elections, but other controversial issues may also feature prominently. FBO s consider suitable entry points and tools of advocacy at their disposal within existing opportunity structures. As organised religion, we find that faith communities have engaged and continue to engage with the political establishment through various means, predominantly by issuing pastoral letters and statements.

Minimally invasive trans-sulcal parafascicular surgical resection of cerebral tumors: translating anatomy to early clinical experience.

The minimally invasive port-based trans-sulcal parafascicular surgical corridor (TPSC) has incrementally evolved to provide a safe, feasible, and effective alternative to access subcortical and intraventricular pathologies. A detailed anatomical foundation is important in mitigating cortical and white matter tract injury with this corridor. Thus, the aims of this study are (1) to provide a detailed anatomical construct and overview of TPSCs and (2) to translate an anatomical framework to early clinical experience. Based on regional anatomical constraints, suitable parafascicular entry points were identified and described. Fiber tracts at both minimal and increased risks for each corridor were analyzed. TPSC-managed cases for metastatic or primary brain tumors were retrospectively reviewed. Adult patients 18years or older with Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) ≥ 70 were included. Subcortical brain metastases between 2 and 6cm or primary brain tumors between 2 and 5cm were included. Patient-specific corridors and trajectories were determined using MRI-tractography. Anatomy: The following TPSCs were described and translated to clinical practice: superior frontal, inferior frontal, inferior temporal, intraparietal, and postcentral sulci. Clinical: Eleven patients (5 males, 6 females) were included (mean age = 52years). Seven tumors were metastatic, and 4 were primary. Gross total, near total, and subtotal resection was achieved in 7, 3, and 1 patient(s), respectively. Three patients developed intraoperative complications; all recovered from their intraoperative deficits and returned to baseline in 30days. A detailed TPSC anatomical framework is critical in conducting safe and effective port-based surgical access. This review may represent one of the few early translational TPSC studies bridging anatomical data to clinical subcortical and intraventricular surgical practice.

Map-makers and navigators of politicised terrain: Expert understandings of epistemological uncertainty in integrated assessment modelling of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) has recently risen to international prominence due to its modelled potential to allow a mid-term temperature overshoot compensated by large, long-term removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The technology, however, is far from commercial. Therefore, BECCS is a suitable entry point for exploring how modellers identify, manage and communicate uncertainties. By applying framing analysis to 21 interviews with researchers working directly or closely with integrated assessment models (IAMs), three prevalent cognitive frames are identified: Climate scenarios as (1) talking points to discuss possible futures, (2) fundamentally political prescriptions that foreclose alternatives, and (3) distortions of pure science. The discourse around IAMs has entered a phase of critical reflection about their performative, political dimensions, both inside and outside of the IA modelling community. This phase is marked by modellers grappling with the responsibilities that are perceived to come with simultaneously providing maps of possible futures and standards by which these maps are to be evaluated.

Agriculture–nutrition linkages in farmers’ communication networks

AbstractTo date, little is known about how information flows within farmer groups and how extension interventions could be designed to deliver combined information on agriculture and nutrition. This study uses unique network data from 815 farm households in Kenya to investigate the structure and characteristics of agricultural and nutrition information networks within farmer groups. Dyadic regressions are used to analyze the factors influencing link formation for the exchange of agricultural and nutrition information. In addition, we apply fixed‐effects models to identify the characteristics of central persons driving information exchange in the two networks, as well as potentially isolated persons, who are excluded from information networks within their farmer groups. Our results show that nutrition information is exchanged within farmer groups, although to a limited extent, and mostly flows through the existing agricultural information links. Thus, diffusing nutrition information through agricultural extension systems may be a viable approach. Our findings further suggest that group leaders and persons living in central locations are important drivers in the diffusion of information in both networks and may thus serve as suitable entry points for nutrition‐sensitive extension programs. However, we also identify important heterogeneities in network characteristics. In particular, nutrition information is less often exchanged between men and women, and some group members are completely isolated from nutrition information exchange within their farmer groups. We derive recommendations on taking these differences in network structure and characteristics into account when designing nutrition‐sensitive extension programs.

Where to begin: on pattern language entry points

Pattern languages as tools for solving problems based on interconnected, abstract, and proven solutions can offer valuable help to practitioners. But there is always the question of where to begin when a pattern language should be applied. Their authors often provide entry points, but these are usually only useful if one starts completely from scratch or from a very specific situation. When confronted with problems at hand, practitioners are often left to find a suitable entry point themselves by reading through the whole pattern language to find applicable patterns. To help with this problem, we present a general approach and its formalization that provides entry points for any kind of situation. Our general three step approach guides practitioners through Situation Assessment, Treatment Selection, and Treatment Application in order to find and apply a suitable pattern language for their specific problems. We formalize all the parts involved and show that the facts collected during Situation Assessment can be used to find a suitable entry point for a specific situation. We also present an algorithm for finding these entry points.

Brokel: Towards enabling multi-level cloud elasticity on publish/subscribe brokers

Internet of Things networks together with the data that flow between networked smart devices are growing at unprecedented rates. Often brokers, or intermediaries nodes, combined with the publish/subscribe communication model represent one of the most used strategies to enable Internet of Things applications. At scalability viewpoint, cloud computing and its main feature named resource elasticity appear as an alternative to solve the use of over-provisioned clusters, which normally present a fixed number of resources. However, we perceive that today the elasticity and Pub/Sub duet presents several limitations, mainly related to application rewrite, single cloud elasticity limited to one level and false-positive resource reorganization actions. Aiming at bypassing the aforesaid problems, this article proposes Brokel, a multi-level elasticity model for Pub/Sub brokers. Users, things, and applications use Brokel as a centralized messaging service broker, but in the back-end the middleware provides better performance and cost (used resources × performance) on message delivery using virtual machine (VM) replication. Our scientific contribution regards the multi-level, orchestrator, and broker, and the addition of a geolocation domain name system service to define the most suitable entry point in the Pub/Sub architecture. Different execution scenarios and metrics were employed to evaluate a Brokel prototype using VMs that encapsulate the functionalities of Mosquitto and RabbitMQ brokers. The obtained results were encouraging in terms of application time, message throughput, and cost (application time × resource usage) when comparing elastic and non-elastic executions.

Use of Future Scenarios as a Pedagogical Approach for Science Teacher Education

Futures studies is usually a transdisciplinary study and as such embraces the physical world of the sciences and system sciences and the subjective world of individuals and cultures, as well as the time dimension—past, present and futures. Science education, where student interests, opportunities and challenges often manifest themselves, can provide a suitable entry point for futures work. In this paper, we describe how we have used futures themes, concepts and techniques both implicitly and explicitly in our undergraduate middle school teacher education courses and, in particular, science curriculum and general studies courses. Taking a critical orientation to the past and the present in these courses enables the future to be more than a mere reproduction of the status quo and opens up a range of possible futures in the areas of current interest. For example, having studied middle school teaching and learning in mathematics and science, students explore the past, present and possible future of a natural part of a university campus. In a general studies course on the science of the Earth’s atmosphere, students construct a normative futures scenario on living in a changing climate. One way to gain insight into an uncertain future is to construct scenarios. This technique has been used since the 1970s to bring issues of environment and development—areas with strong science content—to the attention of both scientists and policymakers.

Real-time advanced spinal surgery via visible patient model and augmented reality system

This paper presents an advanced augmented reality system for spinal surgery assistance, and develops entry-point guidance prior to vertebroplasty spinal surgery. Based on image-based marker detection and tracking, the proposed camera-projector system superimposes pre-operative 3-D images onto patients. The patients’ preoperative 3-D image model is registered by projecting it onto the patient such that the synthetic 3-D model merges with the real patient image, enabling the surgeon to see through the patients’ anatomy. The proposed method is much simpler than heavy and computationally challenging navigation systems, and also reduces radiation exposure. The system is experimentally tested on a preoperative 3D model, dummy patient model and animal cadaver model. The feasibility and accuracy of the proposed system is verified on three patients undergoing spinal surgery in the operating theater. The results of these clinical trials are extremely promising, with surgeons reporting favorably on the reduced time of finding a suitable entry point and reduced radiation dose to patients.

EComment. A pocket-sized imaging device during a minimally invasive pleural biopsy.

We read with great interest the innovative work by Lisi et al. regarding the value of a pocket-sized imaging device (PSID) for the bedside diagnosis of pleural effusions and ultrasound-guided thoracentesis [1]. We think that the use of PSIDs could be extended to minimally invasive pleural biopsies, if the diagnosis by simple thoracentesis is not sufficient. Apart from the standard methods of pleural biopsy, we have recently published a simple method of simultaneous chest tube drainage and minimally invasive pleural biopsy with the use of the mediastinoscope [2]. The technique is simple and is carried out under local anaesthesia. It is performed with the patient in either the supine or the lateral position. During the routine process of chest tube insertion, after the dissection of the intercostal muscles, a standard mediastinoscope is inserted to inspect the outer aspect of the adjacent parietal pleura. The parietal pleura can be detached from the chest wall by a small gauze in the forceps of the mediastinoscopy set. It can alternatively be performed blindly with a finger, or both techniques can be used. Then, biopsies of the adjacent parietal pleura are taken by using the biopsy forceps from the mediastinoscopy set. In this way, full-thickness specimens of the parietal pleura can be taken. An inspection of the pleural cavity may sometimes be possible, if the patient's condition permits it. Pleural specimens are sent for biopsy, frozen section biopsy, and any other appropriate examination cultures (B. Koch, Gram stain, etc). The thoracic drainage tube is then inserted as usual [2]. Advantages to our technique are: 1) it is a simple and rapid procedure that is well-tolerated by the patient; 2) it can usually be performed in both high-risk patients and in elderly patients, under local anaesthesia, and with minimal risk; 3) it can normally be used without the assistance of an anaesthetist; 4) it can be performed as an outpatient procedure or a one-day procedure; 5) it can be performed using the standard equipment of a thoracic surgery unit; 6) the main advantage is that visible pleural biopsy and haemostasis take place, in contrast to the blind biopsy of other similar minimally invasive techniques [2]. In closed pleural biopsy techniques, such as the Abrams or the Tru-Cut technique, pleural tissue is not always present in the specimen [3]. In contrast, with the above-mentioned technique, there was always pleura tissue in the specimen, and there were no complications [2]. In our technique, a suitable entry point can be chosen with CT and/or ultrasound guidance [2]. A PSID could be used and add great convenience to our technique in order to have easier and quicker application in the outpatient department. We would like to propose a combination of the use of a PSID and our minimally invasive pleural biopsy with the use of the mediastinoscope to expand the diagnostic possibilities in the investigation of pleural effusions with minimal risk for the patient. Conflict of Interest: None declared