The new patent foramen ovale occluder FIGULLA in complex septal anatomy: a case series

Background: The appropriate treatment strategy for secondary stroke prevention in patients with cryptogenic stroke and patent foramen ovale (PFO) remains challenging. The aim of this study was to describe a case series of patients with PFO and complex septal anatomy who underwent percutaneous correction using a FIGULLA (Occlutech®) septal occluder (FSO). Patients: Ten consecutive patients (6 females, 4 males, mean age 41.6 ± 16.0 years, range 17–52 years; Group 1) with cryptogenetic stroke and/or transient cerebral ischemia and complex septal anatomy, as defined by intraprocedural transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) were compared with a group of 25 patients (10 females, 15 males, mean age 43.7 ± 12.3 years; Group 2) with usual tunnel-like PFO anatomy in whom PFO was closed by an Amplatzer septal occluder (ASO; AGA®). Results: No significant differences were noted between Group 1 and Group 2 for immediate success rate, residual intraprosthetic shunt at the end of the procedure, discharge, 1, 6 and 12 months follow up, number of attempts, procedure time, fluoroscopy time, or cardiac complication (atrial arrhythmias, device embolism). The only significant difference was shown for delivery sheath size (11 ± 2 versus 9 ± 1 F) and incidence of local hematoma (30% versus 12 %) between Group 1 and Group 2, without any clinical consequence (need of transfusion) or increase in length of stay. Conclusion: FSO shows high performance in patients with PFO and complex septal anatomy when compared with patients with PFO and uncomplicated atrial anatomy treated by ASO. Its favorable behavior is probably related to fabric features such as the total amount of metal and the presence of titanium

Soil organic carbon significantly increases when perennial biomass plantations are reverted back to annual arable crops

Funding: This research was supported by funding from the Rural Developing Program (measure 16.01) of the Emilia Romagna region that financed the “FarmCO2Sink” EIP-AGRI operational group (grant number 5015651). Acknowledgments: The authors thank Mike Martin for his support in the modification of the ECOSSE source code.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Moisture content estimation and senescence phenotyping of novel Miscanthus hybrids combining UAV-based remote sensing and machine learning

Miscanthus is a leading perennial biomass crop that can produce high yields on marginal lands. Moisture content is a highly relevant biomass quality trait with multiple impacts on efficiencies of harvest, transport, and storage. The dynamics of moisture content during senescence and overwinter ripening are determined by genotype × environment interactions. In this paper, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based remote sensing was used for high-throughput plant phenotyping (HTPP) of the moisture content dynamics during autumn and winter senescence of 14 contrasting hybrid types (progeny of M. sinensis x M. sinensis [M. sin x M. sin, eight types] and M. sinensis x M. sacchariflorus [M. sin x M. sac, six types]). The time series of moisture content was estimated using machine learning (ML) models and a range of vegetation indices (VIs) derived from UAV-based remote sensing. The most important VIs for moisture content estimation were selected by the recursive feature elimination (RFE) algorithm and were BNDVI, GDVI, and PSRI. The ML model transferability was high only when the moisture content was above 30%. The best ML model accuracy was achieved by combining VIs and categorical variables (5.6% of RMSE). This model was used for phenotyping senescence dynamics and identifying the stay-green (SG) trait of Miscanthus hybrids using the generalized additive model (GAM). Combining ML and GAM modeling, applied to time series of moisture content values estimated from VIs derived from multiple UAV flights, proved to be a powerful tool for HTPP

Deep learning-based feature extraction for prediction and interpretation of sharp-wave ripples in the rodent hippocampus

Local field potential (LFP) deflections and oscillations define hippocampal sharp-wave ripples (SWRs), one of the most synchronous events of the brain. SWRs reflect firing and synaptic current sequences emerging from cognitively relevant neuronal ensembles. While spectral analysis have permitted advances, the surge of ultra-dense recordings now call for new automatic detection strategies. Here, we show how one-dimensional convolutional networks operating over highdensity LFP hippocampal recordings allowed for automatic identification of SWR from the rodent hippocampus. When applied without retraining to new datasets and ultra-dense hippocampus-wide recordings, we discovered physiologically relevant processes associated to the emergence of SWR, prompting for novel classification criteria. To gain interpretability, we developed a method to interrogate the operation of the artificial network. We found it relied in feature-based specialization, which permit identification of spatially segregated oscillations and deflections, as well as synchronous population firing typical of replay. Thus, using deep learning-based approaches may change the current heuristic for a better mechanistic interpretation of these relevant neurophysiological events.This work is supported by grants from Fundación La Caixa (LCF/PR/HR21/52410030; DeepCode). Access to the Artemisa high-performance computing infrastructure (NeuroConvo project) is supported by Universidad de Valencia and co-funded by the European Union through the 2014–2020 FEDER Operative Programme (IDIFEDER/2018/048). ANO and RA are supported by PhD fellowships from the Spanish Ministry of Education (FPU17/03268) and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (FPI-UAM-2017), respectively. We thank Elena Cid for help with histological confirmation of the probe tracks and Pablo Varona for feedback and discussion. We also thank Aarón Cuevas for clarifications and support while developing the Open Ephys Plugin for online detection

Biomass production and energy balance of herbaceous and woody crops on marginal soils in the Po valley

A wealth of data and information on the cultivation of perennial biomass crops has been collected, but direct comparisons between herbaceous and woody crops are rare. The main objective of this research was to compare the biomass yield, the energy balance and the biomass quality of six perennial bioenergy crops: Populus spp., Robinia pseudoacacia, Salix spp., Arundo donax, Miscanthus 9 giganteus, and Panicum virgatum, grown in two marginal environments. For giant reed and switchgrass, two levels of nitrogen fertilization were applied annually (0–100 kg ha 1). Nitrogen fertilization did not affect biomass or energy production of giant reed; thus, it significantly reduced the energy return on investment (EROI) (from 73 to 27). In switchgrass, nitrogen fertiliza- tion significantly increased biomass production and the capacity of this crop to respond to water availability, making it a favorable option when only biomass production is a target. Net energy gain (NEG) was higher for herbaceous crops than for woody crops. In Casale, EROI calculated for poplar and willow (7, on average) was significantly lower than that of the other crops (14, on average). In Gariga, the highest EROI was calculated for miscanthus (98), followed by nonfertilized giant reed and switchgrass (82 and 73, respectively). Growing degree days10 during the cropping season had no effect on biomass production in any of the studied species, although water availability from May to August was a major factor affecting biomass yield in herbaceous crops. Overall, herbaceous crops had the highest ranking for bioenergy production due to their high biomass yield, high net energy gain (NEG), and biomass quality that renders them suitable to both biochemical and thermochemical conversion. Miscanthus in particular had the highest EROI in both locations (16 and 98, in Casale and Gariga), while giant reed had the highest NEG on the silty-loam soil of Gariga

Early impacts of marginal land-use transition to Miscanthus on soil quality and soil carbon storage across Europe

The authors acknowledged INA laboratories for performing soil chemical analysis, in particular Slijepčević Boris and Rukavina Slavica.Peer reviewe

Impacts of willow and miscanthus bioenergy buffers on biogeochemical N removal processes along the soil-groundwater continuum

In this paper the below- and above-ground biomass production in bioenergy buffers and biogeochemical N removal processes along the soil-groundwater continuum were assessed. In a sandy loam soil with shallow groundwater, bioenergy buffers of miscanthus and willow (5 and 10 m wide) were planted along a ditch of an agricultural field (AF) located in the Po valley (Italy). Mineral N forms and dissolved organic C (DOC) were monitored monthly over an 18 month period in groundwater before and after the bioenergy buffers. Soil samples were measured for inorganic N, DOC, microbial biomass C (MBC) and N (MBN), and potential nitrate reductase activity (NAR). The results indicated that bioenergy buffers are able to efficiently remove from groundwater the incoming NO3-N (62%-5 m and 80%-10 m). NO3-N removal rate was higher when nitrate input from AF increased due to N fertilization. Willow performed better than miscanthus in terms of biomass production (17 Mg DM ha-1 y-1), fine root biomass (5.3 Mg ha-1) and N removal via harvesting (73 kg N ha-1). The negative nonlinear relationship found between NO3-N and DOC along the soil-groundwater continuum from AF to bioenergy buffers indicates that DOC:NO3-N ratio is an important controlling factor for promoting denitrification in bioenergy buffers. Bioenergy buffers promoted soil microbial functioning as they stimulated plant\u2013microbial linkages by increasing the easily available C sources for microorganisms (as DOC). First, willow and miscanthus promoted high rates of biological removal of nitrate (NAR) along the soil profile. Second, rhizosphere processes activated the soil microbial community leading to significant increases in MBC and microbial N immobilization. Herbaceous and woody bioenergy crops have been confirmed as providing good environmental performances when cultivated as bioenergy buffers by mitigating the disservices of agricultural activities such as groundwater N pollution