bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Using Experimental Models to Calibrate Numerical Models for Slope Stability and Deformation Analysis
Authors: Tiwari Binod , Tran Duc
Published: January 2023

Landslides cause significant loss of lives and properties globally. Rainfall and earthquake are considered to be two frequent causes of landslides although there are dozens of natural or anthropogenic triggers of landslides. Experimental or numerical analyses by varying a single parameter—while keeping other triggers constant—help researchers/practitioners to understand the influence of each triggering factor on slope stability/landslides. However, experimental modeling of landslides in laboratory is exhaustive, time consuming, and expensive process. There are various experimental methods available for such modeling—ranging from centrifuge modeling to small scale 1 g models—depending on the need, available resources, and funds. With the wide availability of materials and development of better sensors/instruments, our capability to perform laboratory experiments, specifically for landslide modeling, has been much easier and accessible in recent decades. Such experiments are valuable to calibrate numerical models so that various analyses can be performed on the real-world problems. In this study, we prepared laboratory scale slopes in Plexiglas containers at varying densities and slope inclinations, and instrumented the slopes properly to measure real time suction, displacement, advancement of wetting front, and accelerations at various locations and depths within the model. The slopes were subjected to rainfall and/or earthquake shaking to evaluate the effect of rainfall and earthquakes—separately and combined—on slope stability. The experimental results were used to calibrate the numerical modeling effort so that a full spectrum of sensitivity analyses could be performed for a slope located in an expensive neighborhood of Southern California.
International Consortium on Landslides: From IDNDR, IGCP, UNITWIN, WCDRR 2 & 3 to Kyoto Landslide Commitment 2020
Authors: Sassa Kyoji , Canuti Paolo , Bobrowsky Peter , Casagli Nicola
Published: January 2023

The International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) was proposed and established in January 2002, based on the Japan–China international joint research activities (1991–1999) in a part of IDNDR (International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction) and the UNESCO-IUGS Joint programme IGCP-425: Landslide Hazard Assessment and Cultural Heritage (1998–2003). The ICL has developed through the UNESCO-KU-ICL UNITWIN Cooperation Programme from 2003, the second World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe in 2005, the 2006 Tokyo Action Plan, the third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai in 2015, and the ISDR-ICL Sendai Landslide Partnerships 2015–2025. On 5 November 2020, the Kyoto Landslide Commitment 2020 for global promotion of understanding and reducing landslide disaster risk was launched by 90 signatory organizations consisting of the ICL, ICL supporting organizations and other stakeholders. The ICL history is reviewed focusing on the link with United Nations Programmes, UN World Conferences by the founding, the second, the immediate past, and the current Presidents of the ICL.
Landform Geometry for Restoration of Mountain Roads and Landslide Hazard Resilience
Authors: Virajh Dias A. A. , Herath H. M. J. M. K. , Kulathilake L. K. N. S.
Published: January 2023

Traveling on a mountainous road is attractive but questionable under aggressive climatic conditions such as extreme rainstorms. Roads are often designed in different geological complexity overlaying upper and lower terrains. The complexity of slope geometries, potential deformities, ground discontinuities, soil-rock composite nature, factors incorporated in structural integrity, the complexity associated with infrastructure developments, and unstable landform have long been causes of the increasing cost of road constructions in hills. In many instances, landform geometries and the natures of slope observed in-situ allow us to understand many salient features that we need to know in the design to mitigate landslide threats. The extent to which we make the collective effort to gather many features of landforms and their static representations concludes its validity. Findings are more forced to be based on geometrical evidence of slopes and cross-checked with an appropriate design criterion. A provision should describe a design or construction method that is deemed to comply with the site-specific conditions. Such an approach will save the enormous cost of investigations, design, and simplification for numerical evaluations, and also contribute to an indirect approach to road restoration and improve an appropriate approach for resilience to landslide hazards.
Mechanisms of Shallow Rainfall-Induced Landslides from Australia: Insights into Field and Laboratory Investigations
Authors: Gratchev Ivan , Ravindran Sinnappoo , Kim Dong Hyun , Cui Chen , Tang Qianhao
Published: January 2023

This paper presents and discusses the mechanisms of rainfall-induced shallow landslides that commonly occur in South East Queensland (SEQ) and northern New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The major factors causing the formation of landslide mass such as geology, weathering, and rainfall patterns were discussed. Results from field surveys and laboratory testing of rock/soil material from landslide masses were presented, and relationships between the material strength and landslide occurrence were drawn. It was found that most of shallow slides were related to sandstone deposits. Those failures occurred on natural slopes and road cuts with the inclination of the failure plane being in the range of 35–45°. For natural slopes where the landslide mass mostly consisted of coarse-grained soil, the relationship between the soil strength and water content was established. In addition, the relationship between rainfall patterns such as intensity and duration, and the landslide occurrence was presented. Based on the data from field work and laboratory results including a series of flume tests, the mechanism of shallow landslides triggered by rainfall events was identified and discussed.
Design Protection Barriers Against Flow-Like Landslides
Authors: Cuomo Sabatino , Di Perna Angela , Martinelli Mario
Published: January 2023

The interaction of flow-like landslides with protection barriers is analyzed for their design. Three recent analysis approaches are briefly presented and applied to different landslide geometries. Approach no. 1 (empirical) allows estimating the impact force and flow kinetic energy over the time. Approach no. 2 (analytical) additionally provides the displacement of the barrier due to the impact. Approach no. 3 (numerical) fully simulates the Landslide-Structure-Interaction (LSI) also including the estimate of the amount of landslide volume overtopping the barrier. The required input parameters and the results achievable through the three approaches are illustrated and compared.
Landslide Warning Systems in Low-And Lower-Middle-Income Countries: Future Challenges and Societal Impact
Authors: Alcántara-Ayala Irasema , Garnica-Peña Ricardo J.
Published: January 2023

There is a growing body of literature that recognises the importance of warning systems to reduce landslide disaster risk and avoid the occurrence of disasters. Recent developments in landslide disasters around the world have heightened the need for the implementation of Landslide Early Warning Systems (LEWSs) particularly in low-and lower-middle-income countries (LICs and MICs), where levels of vulnerability and exposure are very high. However, no previous study has systematically evaluated the use of LEWSs in LICs and MICs. By means of a systematic review on the scientific literature this chapter explores the ways in which LEWSs have been implemented in LICs and MICs. This research seeks to address the spatial distribution of LEWSs in the world, specifically in LICs and MICs. Special attention is given to reviewing the development of LEWSs in terms of their inclusion in integrated disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies or as standalone initiatives, and the type of approaches followed, either as top-down or bottom-up. The chapter has three key components: (1) to prepare a search and inclusion criteria strategy for systematic literature review to collect a set of articles on LEWSs using the ISI Web of Science database; (2) to organize the literature review set to extract and analyse quantitative and qualitative data and information on LEWSs in LICs and MICs; and (3) to provide insights on a future LEWSs research agenda concerning critical issues and gaps in the literature and identifying main challenges with high societal impact. A noteworthy remark about this review is that only 12.4% of the total publications that met the specified criteria are from LICs and MICs. These papers address diverse dimensions of LEWSs in different degrees, but despite that, the actual use or implementation of LEWSs was addressed only by five papers. This suggests a potential disadvantage in the development and successful systematic implementation of LEWSs in these countries.
Effect of Landslide Deformation on the Stability of St. Andrew’s Church (Kyiv, Ukraine): Applications of Remote Sensing and Mathematical Modeling
Authors: Trofymchuk Oleksandr , Kaliukh Iurii , Lebid Oleksiy , Klymenko Viktoriia , Vyshniakov Viacheslav , Kreta Dmytro , Elshayeb Yasser
Published: January 2023

This article presents the work conducted by the authors to analyze the stability of the St. Andrew’s Church which contains architecture, painting and decorative arts of the XVIII century. The church is located on a landslide-hazardous hill in the historic part of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. The architectural monument was built in 1747–1762 upon the project of Francois Bartolomeo Rastrelli in the Baroque style. It is one of the most important architectural monuments in Ukraine, which has cultural and historical value. Fluctuations in the height of the soil of the upper and lower part of the hill, on which St. Andrew’s Church is located, vary from 181.7 to 118.5 m. There are physical and geological hazards around the historic building, such as landslides, loose soil, soil inhomogeneities, and external erosion of the hill. To preserve this national heritage monument, a set of measures needed (monitoring the monument, identifying dangerous areas, carrying out fortification works, etc.). Monitoring of architectural monument in large areas could be carried out using optoelectronic and radar-location data and remote sensing of the Earth from space. Radar-location observations make it possible to determine reliable information about objects that are exposed to landslides and endure displacements (Casagli et al. in Landslides 7:291–301, 2010). Optoelectronic observations are effective for identifying areas and objects, identifying threats, operational assessment of the state of environmental objects, identifying areas that are affected, etc. After obtaining information on specific landslide-hazardous objects, with the help of geographic information systems (GIS) tools, areas of interest are identified for space survey of ultra-high spatial diversity to further assess the state of the architectural monument and the surrounding area. Subsequently, ground research and mathematical calculations of the object under study are carried out and measures are taken to eliminate landslide hazards and preserve the national heritage. With the results of this research, geotechnical works were already carried out to strengthen, restore and reinforce the damaged building structures.
30 Years of Cultural Heritage Landslides and Block Movements Risk Assessment: Case Studies from Egypt
Authors: Elshayeb Yasser
Published: January 2023

Throughout history, sites of high societal values, such as temples, tombs or palaces were mainly constructed through the digging/carving of rocks, built on hills or plateaus, or through the usage of carved/cut displaced rocks. Ancient designers/engineers/workers usually chose construction sites as to facilitate the building or the carving of stones, while, at the same time, serving the purpose of the building/constructions. In Egypt, throughout the ancient Egyptian Civilization, Egyptians have chosen to carve their temples and tombs in the soft limestone, shales and sandstones that are covering most of the modern Egypt, whereas in few temples and tombs, hard igneous and metamorphic rocks were used as ornament material for tombs and statutes. In this paper, we will present an account of the development of landslide risk assessment for various cultural heritage sites around Egypt, for different eras of Egyptian history and different sites. This paper aims at discussing different case studies and success stories of landslides and block movements hazards assessment around or inside Egyptian Cultural Heritage sites.
10th Anniversary of ICL Adriatic-Balkan Network and 5th Regional Symposium on Landslides
Authors: Arbanas Željko , Mihalić Arbanas Snježana
Published: January 2023

The Adriatic-Balkan Network (ABN) was established in January 2012 as one of regional networks in the framework of International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) and its 10th Anniversary was concluded with 5th Regional Symposium on Landslides in Adriatic-Balkan Region (ReSyLAB) in Rijeka, Croatia, in March 2022. The Adriatic-Balkan Network was formally established during the 14th Serbian Symposium on Engineering Geology and Geotechnics in Belgrade in September 2012 based on the Proposal of the ICL Adriatic-Balkan Network that was approved at the 10th Anniversary Meeting of ICL held in Kyoto, Japan, in January 2012. The main outcome of the Adriatic-Balkan Network activity is organization of biannual Regional Symposiums on Landslides, organized in Zagreb, Croatia, 2013; Belgrade, Serbia, 2015; Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2017; Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2019; and the last one in Rijeka, Croatia in March 2022. In this paper, the establishment, objectives and activities of Adriatic-Balkan Network (ABN) within last ten years were presented as well as main outcomes of the 5th ReSyLAB held in Rijeka, Croatia, in March 2022.
Deep Learning in Landslide Studies: A Review
Authors: Thirugnanam Hemalatha
Published: January 2023

This study reviews deep learning architectures and techniques used in the landslide domain. This study aims to understand the state of the art, challenges, and opportunities of applying deep learning to landslide research. Every paper discussed in this article is reviewed for the deep learning approach employed, the study area where it is implemented, additional benchmark algorithms implemented, model assessment metrics, the best model that is selected, and the limitations mentioned by the authors. This review increases visibility into (1) various deep learning methodologies as implemented in real-world landslide mapping, detection, monitoring, and prediction case studies, (2) projects constraints of applying deep learning to landslide research (3) provides recommendations and breakthroughs that must be established in certain areas of landslide studies.
Landslide Early Warning Systems: Requirements and Solutions for Disaster Risk Reduction—India
Authors: Ramesh Maneesha Vinodini , Thirugnanam Hemalatha , Singh Balmukund , Nitin Kumar M. , Pullarkatt Divya
Published: January 2023

Globally the prevalence of landslides has increased, impacting more than 4.8 million people between 1998 and 2017 and reported more than 18,000 casualties [UNDP]. The scenario has worsened dramatically, and it has become imperative to develop early warning systems to save human life. This demands the need for systems that could identify the potential of imminent landslides and disseminate the information related to landslide initiation in real-time. This would provide the opportunity to save lives. However, globally the research on reliable end-to-end systems for early warning of landslides is still in its nascent stage. Therefore, this paper explores in detail the requirements for developing systems for real-time monitoring, detection, and early warning of landslides. An integrated solution for building the real-time landslide monitoring and early warning system to provide community-scale disaster resilience is also proposed. This solution integrates multiple modules such as a heterogeneous sensor system, data storage and management, event detection framework, alert dissemination, and emergency communication system to address issues such as capturing dynamic variability, managing multi-scale voluminous datasets, extracting key triggering information regarding the onset of possible landslide, multilevel alert dissemination, and robust emergency communication among the stakeholders respectively. The paper also presents two case studies of real-time landslide early warning systems deployed in North-eastern Himalayas and Western Ghats of India. These case studies demonstrate the approaches utilized for risk assessment, risk analysis, risk evaluation, risk visualization, risk control, risk communication, and risk governance. The results from the deployed system in the case study areas demonstrate the capability of the IoT system to gather Spatio-temporal triggers for multiple types of landslides, detection and decision of specific scenarios, and the impact of real-time data on mitigating the imminent disaster.
Application of Ichi-Nichi-Mae (The Day Before the Disaster) Project for Landslide Awareness and Risk Communication
Authors: Nishikawa Satoru
Published: January 2023

Landslide disasters are common in most habitable areas and claim numerous lives, and cause havoc to livelihoods. However, most landslide survivors state that they never thought of being hit by landslides in their area. This indicates the need to effectively raise public awareness about landslides. Ichi-Nichi-Mae (The Day before the Disaster) Project started in 2005 and has been used to raise awareness against various types of disasters. Since landslides are common in many communities, the episodes by the survivors of landslides are found to be effective means for risk communication. This project has developed to be linked with community disaster management plans which started in 2014 in Japan.
Characteristics and Remedy Solutions for a New Mong Sen Deep-Seated Landslide, Sapa Town, Vietnam
Authors: Nguyen Lan Chau , Do Tuan-Nghia , Nguyen Quoc Dinh
Published: January 2023

Landslides govern the evolution of landforms and pose a serious threat across the globe, especially in mountainous areas. In the northwestern area of Vietnam, a deep-seated landslide occurred near the new Mong Sen bridge in Trung Chai commune, Sapa town, Laocai province. In October 2020, some serious cracks were observed above a natural slope near a road, which was under construction to connect the Noi Bai-Laocai highway to Sapa town. The crack area was divided into two zones. Since this phenomenon could not only cause loss of life but also damage to the properties located downhill, the construction was stopped until the slope was rehabilitated. In this study, geological investigations, laboratory tests, and stability analysis were conducted to understand the failure mechanism. The analysis results showed that cutting activities during the construction of the road contributed to the sliding of the sloping soil mass. The following rehabilitation works at the failed area were conducted: (1) removing the soil above the natural slope; and (2) constructing the retaining system, including ground anchors and soil nails to retain the remaining slope. Results of stability analysis demonstrated that the retained slope would be stable after treatment.
March 2019 Flood Impact on the Stability of Ambal Salt Ridge in the Gotvand Dam Reservoir, Southern Iran
Authors: Barjasteh Arash
Published: January 2023

Ambal salt ridge is a unique exposure of salt piercement in the reservoir of Gotvand dam in the southwest of Iran. It is composed of evaporitic Gachsaran Formation of Oilgo-Miocene Age. This structurally controlled piercement is accompanied by subsidence and sliding of highly soluble layers into the dam reservoir. The region is affected by neotectonic activity due to proximity to two known active faults namely, Lahbari and Pir-Ahmad thrust faults. Based on a four year field observation and monitoring, a gradual and continuous sliding is occurring that is intensified by ground water circulation through evaporite karstic sinkholes and fracture systems. The subsidence and sliding of the Gachsaran evaporitic layers increased significantly after a severe flash flooding in March 2019. The water level rising due to flood event caused filling and saturation of the existing sinkholes in the salt ridge that facilitated and prompted development of land sliding. The situation is expected to be more critical if a moderate to high earthquake would happen since the dam lies in an active tectonic zone of the Zagros Fold Belt. Land subsidence and sliding was facilitated by high fracturing due to neotectonic activity. Finally, based on the Newmark method, slide potential of the largest landslide body of the Ambal ridge was calculated considering geotechnical parameters obtained from core drilling and partial saturation of the salt body during March, 2019 flooding of Karun River.
Ongoing Persistent Slope Failures at the Toe of a Giant Submarine Slide in the Ryukyu Trench that Generated the AD 1771 Meiwa Tsunami
Authors: Kawamura Kiichiro , Oguri Kazumasa , Inoue Mutsuo , Hsiung Kan-Hsi , Kudaka Taishi , Takai Ken
Published: January 2023

This study investigates sedimentation processes and associated submarine sliding on the floor of the Ryukyu Trench. Three dive surveys were conducted using the manned submersible Shinkai 6500 (hereafter 6K) in the trench. The AD 1771 Meiwa tsunami was generated by a giant submarine slide on the landward trench slope in this region. Dive survey site 6K#1469 was located on a mouth of the submarine canyon in the forearc basin. Dive survey site 6K#1468 was located on the uppermost part of the submarine slide, where steps and fissures were observed. Dive survey site 6K#1467 was located at the toe of the submarine slide, which is covered by a muddy sediment layer. Core sample 6K#1467 measured 36.3 cm long and comprised muddy sediments interlayered with silt and/or sand laminations. The paleocurrent direction of the laminated sediments is mostly from north to south, indicating that they were not transported along with the trench but were from the landward slope, probably via repeated small submarine slides. The sedimentation rate for sample 6K#1467 was estimated at 2.42 mm/year using a depth profile of 210Pbex concentration within 10 cm deep and a date for the sediment of ~ 50 year ago. Based on the sedimentation rate and the number of laminae, the typical recurrence interval of the silt/sand layers is calculated to be ~ 6 year. We interpret these results as indicating that repeated small submarine slides have occurred persistently (recurrence interval of ~ 6 year) at the toe of the investigated giant submarine slide in the Ryukyu Trench over the last 50 year.
Precise estimate of charged Wino decay rate
Authors: Ibe Masahiro , Mishima Masataka , Nakayama Yuhei , Shirai Satoshi
Published: January 2023

Abstract

The Wino is an SU(2)L triplet Majorana fermion and a well-motivated dark matter candidate. The mass difference between the charged and the neutral Winos is small thanks to the SU(2)L symmetry. The small mass difference makes the charged Wino metastable, which provides disappearing charged track signatures at collider experiments. The constraint on the Wino dark matter at the LHC strongly depends on the Wino lifetime. We compute the next-to-leading order (NLO) correction of the charged Wino decay and make the most precise estimate of the decay rate. We find that the NLO decay rate is determined by the mass difference and scarcely depend on the Wino mass itself in the heavy Wino limit. As a result, we find the NLO correction gives a minor impact on the lifetime of 2–4% increase.
Wellposedness of NLS in Modulation Spaces
Authors: Klaus Friedrich
Published: January 2023

We prove new local and global well-posedness results for the cubic one-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equation in modulation spaces. Local results are obtained via multilinear interpolation. Global results are proven using conserved quantities based on the complete integrability of the equation, persistence of regularity, and by separating off the time evolution of finitely many Picard iterates.
Palliative appropriateness criteria: external validation of a new method to evaluate the suitability of palliative radiotherapy fractionation
Authors: Nieder Carsten , Haukland Ellinor C. , Mannsåker Bård , Dalhaug Astrid
Published: January 2023

Background

Recently, the palliative appropriateness criteria (PAC) score, a novel metric to aid clinical decision-making between different palliative radiotherapy fractionation regimens, has been developed. It includes baseline parameters including but not limited to performance status. The researchers behind the PAC score analyzed the percent of remaining life (PRL) on treatment. The latter was accomplished by calculating the time between start and finish of palliative radiotherapy (minimum 1 day in case of a single-fraction regimen) and dividing it by overall survival in days from start of radiotherapy. The purpose of the present study was to validate this novel metric.

Patients and methods

The retrospective validation study included 219 patients (287 courses of palliative radiotherapy). The methods were identical to those employed in the score development study. The score was calculated by assigning 1 point each to several factors identified in the original study and using the online calculator provided by the PAC developers.

Results

Median survival was 6 months and death within 30 days from start of radiotherapy was recorded in 13% of courses. PRL on treatment ranged from 1 to 23%, median 8%. Significant associations were confirmed between online-calculated PAC score, observed survival, and risk of death within 30 days from the start of radiotherapy. Patients with score 0 had distinctly better survival than all other groups. The score-predicted median risk of death within 30 days from start of radiotherapy was 22% in our cohort. A statistically significant correlation was found between predicted and observed risk (p < 0.001). The original and present study were not perfectly concordant regarding number and type of baseline parameters that should be included when calculating the PAC score.

Conclusion

This study supports the dual strategy of PRL and risk of early death calculation, with results stratified for fractionation regimen, in line with the original PAC score study. When considering multifraction regimens, the PAC score identifies patients who may benefit from shorter courses. Additional work is needed to answer open questions surrounding the underlying components of the score, because the original and validation study were only partially aligned.
Robotik in der plastischen Chirurgie
Authors: Grünherz Lisanne , Gousopoulos Epameinondas , Barbon Carlotta , Uyulmaz Semra , Giovanoli Pietro , Lindenblatt Nicole
Published: January 2023

In den letzten Jahren haben speziell für die Mikrochirurgie entwickelte Roboter das Anwendungsgebiet robotisch assistierter Operationen auch in der plastisch-rekonstruktiven Chirurgie erweitert. Derzeit gibt es zwei Mikrochirurgierobotersysteme, welche in der plastischen Chirurgie eingesetzt werden. Beide Systeme verfügen über Technologien zur Tremorreduzierung und Bewegungsskalierung, wodurch die Präzision und Geschicklichkeit des Chirurgen optimiert werden sollen. In der Klinik für Plastische Chirurgie und Handchirurgie des Universitätsspitals Zürich wird das Symani Surgical System® bereits bei vielen mikro- und supermikrochirurgischen Operationen, unter anderem bei autologen Brustrekonstruktionen, Nerventransfers und im Besonderen in der rekonstruktiven Lymphchirurgie, eingesetzt. Trotz spezieller technischer Herausforderungen, beispielsweise einem fehlenden haptischen Feedback, überwiegen nach entsprechendem Training des Mikrochirurgen die Vorteile, dazu zählen insbesondere kleinere Operationszugänge für anatomisch tiefe Strukturen und eine Verbesserung der chirurgischen Präzision.
Oncologic Liver Resections in a Geriatric Population: Peri‐operative, Long‐Term and Quality‐of‐Life Outcomes—Experience from a High‐Volume Centre in India
Authors: Patkar Shraddha , Agarwal Jasmine , Kunte Aditya , Pandrowala Saneya , Goel Mahesh
Published: January 2023

Background

Elderly patients can often be overlooked as candidates for a major hepatic resection, by virtue of their age. To enable better patient selection for hepatic resections in this age group, we analysed the outcomes of liver resections in elderly patients to identify any potential prognostic factors.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective review of a prospectively maintained database of hepatic resections from 1 January 2010 to 31 October 2021 and analysed the post‐operative outcomes in patients aged 65 years or older. Short‐term outcomes were analysed in terms of length of hospital stay, 90‐day major morbidity, and 90‐day mortality. Long‐term outcome was defined by the disease‐free survival, overall survival and quality of life.

Results

Over a period of 11 years, 170 elderly patients underwent oncologic liver resections, of which 68 (40%) underwent a major hepatectomy. The overall morbidity and mortality rates were 32.8% and 5.3%, respectively. Extent of hepatic resection, increasing age, concomitant resection of other organs and a biliary‐enteric anastomosis were independent predictors for poor immediate post‐operative outcomes. Median disease‐free survival and overall survival were 30 months and 78 months, respectively. The global health status was excellent in majority of patients with a mean score of 88.62.

Conclusion

Major oncologic liver resections can be performed in well‐selected geriatric population with acceptable peri‐operative, long‐term and quality‐of‐life outcomes.
Automated lung cancer assessment on 18F-PET/CT using Retina U-Net and anatomical region segmentation
Authors: Weikert T. , Jaeger P. F. , Yang S. , Baumgartner M. , Breit H. C. , Winkel D. J. , Sommer G. , Stieltjes B. , Thaiss W. , Bremerich J. , Maier-Hein K. H. , Sauter A. W.
Published: January 2023

Objectives

To develop and test a Retina U-Net algorithm for the detection of primary lung tumors and associated metastases of all stages on FDG-PET/CT.

Methods

A data set consisting of 364 FDG-PET/CTs of patients with histologically confirmed lung cancer was used for algorithm development and internal testing. The data set comprised tumors of all stages. All lung tumors (T), lymphatic metastases (N), and distant metastases (M) were manually segmented as 3D volumes using whole-body PET/CT series. The data set was split into a training (n = 216), validation (n = 74), and internal test data set (n = 74). Detection performance for all lesion types at multiple classifier thresholds was evaluated and false-positive-findings-per-case (FP/c) calculated. Next, detected lesions were assigned to categories T, N, or M using an automated anatomical region segmentation. Furthermore, reasons for FPs were visually assessed and analyzed. Finally, performance was tested on 20 PET/CTs from another institution.

Results

Sensitivity for T lesions was 86.2% (95% CI: 77.2–92.7) at a FP/c of 2.0 on the internal test set. The anatomical correlate to most FPs was the physiological activity of bone marrow (16.8%). TNM categorization based on the anatomical region approach was correct in 94.3% of lesions. Performance on the external test set confirmed the good performance of the algorithm (overall detection rate = 88.8% (95% CI: 82.5–93.5%) and FP/c = 2.7).

Conclusions

Retina U-Nets are a valuable tool for tumor detection tasks on PET/CT and can form the backbone of reading assistance tools in this field. FPs have anatomical correlates that can lead the way to further algorithm improvements. The code is publicly available.

Key Points

• Detection of malignant lesions in PET/CT with Retina U-Net is feasible.

• All false-positive findings had anatomical correlates, physiological bone marrow activity being the most prevalent.

• Retina U-Nets can build the backbone for tools assisting imaging professionals in lung tumor staging.
Personal dose equivalent Hp(0.07) during 68Ga-DOTA-TATE production procedures
Authors: Wrzesień M. , Albiniak Ł.
Published: January 2023

This work presents the exposure of hands of the personnel of a nuclear medicine department who prepare and administer 68Ga-DOTA-TATE. Dosimetry measurements were performed during three 1-week sessions, for nine production procedures. A total of 360 measurements were made by using high-sensitivity MCP-N thermoluminescent detectors. Annealed detectors were and vacuum-packed in foil and then placed on each fingertip of both hands of five radiochemists and four nurses (one detector for one fingertip). The greatest exposure to ionizing radiation was found on the non-dominant left hand of radiochemists and nurses. A maximum Hp(0.07)/A value of 49.36 ± 4.95 mSv/GBq was registered for radiochemists during the 68 Ga-DOTA-DATE activity dispensing procedure. For nurses performing the radiopharmaceutical injection procedure, a corresponding maximum value of 1.28 ± 0.13 mSv/GBq was measured, while the mean value for all the nurses was 0.38 mSv/GBq. The dispensing procedure accounted for approximately 60% of the total exposure of radiochemists' fingertips. Based on the results obtained it is recommended that a ring dosimeter should be routinely placed on the middle finger of the non-dominant hand of radiochemists and nurses. Furthermore, it is proposed to systematically train workers in handling open sources of ionizing radiation, with the aim of reducing the required handling time.
Solving the two-decades-old murder case through joint application of ZooMS and ancient DNA approaches
Authors: Xu Yang , Wang Naihui , Gao Shizhu , Li Chunxiang , Ma Pengcheng , Yang Shasha , Jiang Hai , Shi Shoujin , Wu Yanhua , Zhang Quanchao , Cui Yinqiu
Published: January 2023

Bones are one of the most common biological types of evidence in forensic cases. Discriminating human bones from irrelevant species is important for the identification of victims; however, the highly degraded bones could be undiagnostic morphologically and difficult to analyze with standard DNA profiling approaches. The same challenge also exists in archaeological studies. Here, we present an initial study of an analytical strategy that involves zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS) and ancient DNA methods. Through the combined strategy, we managed to identify the only biological evidence of a two-decades-old murder case — a small piece of human bone out of 19 bone fragments — and confirmed the kinship between the victim and the putative parents through joint application of next-generation sequencing (NGS) and Sanger sequencing methods. ZooMS effectively screened out the target human bone while ancient DNA methods improve the DNA yields. The combined strategy in this case outperforms the standard DNA profiling approach with shorter time, less cost, as well as higher reliability for the genetic identification results.

Highlights

• The first application of zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry technique in the forensic case for screening out human bones from bone fragment mixtures.

• Application of ancient DNA technique to recover the highly degraded DNA sequence from the challenging sample that failed standard DNA profiling approaches.

• A fast, sensitive, and low-cost strategy that combines the strengths of protein analysis and DNA analysis for kinship identification in forensic research.
Acute effects of concurrent muscle power and sport-specific endurance exercises on markers of immunological stress response and measures of muscular fitness in highly trained youth male athletes
Authors: Markov Adrian , Bussweiler Jens , Helm Norman , Arntz Fabian , Steidten Thomas , Krohm Lars , Sacot Arnau , Baumert Philipp , Puta Christian , Chaabene Helmi
Published: January 2023

Purpose

To examine the acute effects of concurrent muscle power and sport-specific endurance exercises order on immunological stress responses, muscular-fitness, and rating-of-perceived-exertion (RPE) in highly trained youth male judo athletes.

Methods

Twenty male participants randomly performed two concurrent training (CT) sessions; power-endurance and endurance-power. Measures of immune response (e.g., white blood cells), muscular-fitness (i.e., counter-movement-jump [CMJ]), RPE, blood-lactate, and -glucose were taken at different time-point (i.e., pre, mid, post, and post6h).

Results

There were significant time*order interactions for white blood cells, lymphocytes, granulocytes, granulocyte-lymphocyte-ratio, and systemic-inflammation-index. Power-endurance resulted in significantly larger pre-to-post increases in white blood cells and lymphocytes while endurance-power resulted in significantly larger pre-to-post increases in the granulocyte-lymphocyte-ratio and systemic-inflammation-index. Likewise, significantly larger pre-to-post6h white blood cells and granulocytes increases were observed following power-endurance compared to endurance-power. Moreover, there was a significant time*order interaction for blood-glucose and -lactate. Following endurance-power, blood-lactate and -glucose increased from pre-to-mid but not from pre-to-post. Meanwhile, in power-endurance blood-lactate and -glucose increased from pre-to-post but not from pre-to-mid. A significant time*order interaction was observed for CMJ-force with larger pre-to-post decreases in endurance-power compared to power-endurance. Further, CMJ-power showed larger pre-to-mid performance decreases following power-endurance, compared to endurance-power. Regarding RPE, significant time*order interactions were noted with larger pre-to-mid values following endurance-power and larger pre-to-post values following power-endurance.

Conclusion

CT induced acute and delayed order-dependent immune cell count alterations in highly trained youth male judo athletes. In general, power-endurance induced higher acute and delayed immunological stress responses compared to endurance-power. CMJ-force and RPE fluctuated during both CT sessions but went back to baseline 6 h post-exercise.
Evaluation of a Machine Learning-Based Dysphagia Prediction Tool in Clinical Routine: A Prospective Observational Cohort Study
Authors: Jauk Stefanie , Kramer Diether , Veeranki Sai Pavan Kumar , Siml-Fraissler Angelika , Lenz-Waldbauer Angelika , Tax Ewald , Leodolter Werner , Gugatschka Markus
Published: January 2023

Based on a large number of pre-existing documented electronic health records (EHR), we developed a machine learning (ML) algorithm for detection of dysphagia and aspiration pneumonia. The aim of our study was to prospectively apply this algorithm in two large patient cohorts. The tool was integrated in the hospital information system of a secondary care hospital in Austria. Based on existing data such as diagnoses, laboratory, and medication, dysphagia risk was predicted automatically, and patients were stratified into three risk groups. Patients’ risk groups and risk factors were visualized in a web application. Prospective predictions of 1270 admissions to geriatric or internal medicine departments were compared with the occurrence of dysphagia or aspiration pneumonia of routinely documented events. The discriminative performance for internal medicine patients (n = 885) was excellent with an AUROC of 0.841, a sensitivity of 74.2%, and a specificity of 84.1%. For the smaller geriatric cohort (n = 221), the AUROC was 0.758, sensitivity 44.4%, and specificity 93.0%. For both cohorts, calibration plots showed a slight overestimation of the risk. This is the first study to evaluate the performance of a ML-based prediction tool for dysphagia in a prospective clinical setting. Future studies should validate the predictions on data of systematic dysphagia screening by specialists and evaluate user satisfaction and acceptance. The ML-based dysphagia prediction tool achieved an excellent performance in the internal medicine cohort. More data are needed to determine the performance in geriatric patients.
A scoping review of the methods used to capture dysphagia after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion: the need for a paradigm shift
Authors: Molfenter Sonja M. , Amin Milan R. , Balou Matina , Herzberg Erica G. , Frempong-Boadu Anthony
Published: January 2023

Objective

Dysphagia is the most commonly reported complication of annterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) surgery. However, the incidence of dysphagia post-ACDF varies widely–partly attributable to differing outcome measures used to capture dysphagia. Our objective was to conduct a scoping review of the literature to quantify which dysphagia outcome measures have been employed post-ACDF and examine trends by study design, year, and location.

Methods

After removing duplicates, 2396 abstracts were screened for inclusion. A total of 480 studies were eligible for full-text review. After applying exclusion criteria, data was extracted from 280 studies. We extracted the dysphagia outcome measure(s), study design (prospective vs retrospective), year, and location (country). Approximately 10% of studies were repeated for intra-rater agreement.

Results

In total, 317 dysphagia outcome measures were reported in 280 studies (primarily retrospective—63%). The largest proportion of outcome measures were categorized as “unvalidated patient-reported outcome measures” (46%), largely driven by use of the popular Bazaz scale. The next most common categories were “insufficient detail” and “validated patient-reported outcome measures” (both 16%) followed by “chart review/database” (13%) and instrumental assessment (7%). Studies examining dysphagia post-ACDF steadily increased over the years and the use of validated measures increased in the past 10 years.

Conclusions

This scoping review of the literature highlights that nearly half of the ACDF dysphagia literature relies on unvalidated patient-reported outcome measures. The current understanding of the mechanism, timeline, and presentation of dysphagia post-ACDF are likely limited due to the metrics that are most commonly reported in the literature.
Ultrasound-guided superficial cervical plexus block combined with clavipectoral fascial plane block or interscalene brachial plexus block in clavicle surgery: a single-centre, double-blind, randomized controlled trial
Authors: Xu Guangmin , Su Peng , Cai Bing , Liu Yanyu , Jiang Danfeng , He Yanxia , Zhou Miyi , Zhang Meng
Published: January 2023

The sensory innervation of the clavicle is complex, and the best regional block technology for clavicular surgery has yet to be determined. The purpose of this study was to compare the application of ultrasound-guided superficial cervical plexus block combined with clavipectoral fascial plane block verses interscalene brachial plexus block in clavicular surgery. Fifty patients undergoing internal fixation surgery for elective clavicle fractures were randomly divided into two groups (n = 25 for each group): group I and group II. Superficial cervical plexus block combined with clavipectoral fascial plane block was used in group I, and superficial cervical plexus block combined with interscalene brachial plexus block was used in group II. The primary outcome measure was the duration of analgesia. The duration of analgesia in group I was significantly longer than that in group II (P < 0.05). The modified Bromage scale function score in group II was lower than that in group I (P < 0.01). There was no significant difference in the skin acupuncture pain score 30 min after block and visual analog scale (VAS) scores at 6 and 12 h after surgery. However, the 24 h VAS score in group I was lower than that in group II (P < 0.05). The incidence of diaphragmatic paralysis was significantly increased in group II (P < 0.01). Ultrasound-guided superficial cervical plexus block combined with clavipectoral fascial plane block can be used for clavicular surgery. It has a long postoperative analgesia time, can retain the motor function of the involved upper limb and does not cause hemidiaphragmatic paresis.

Clinical trial number and registry URL: Clinical Trials.gov; Trial registration number: ChiCTR2000039383; Date of registration: 25 October 2020.
Improved Gegenbauer spectral tau algorithms for distributed-order time-fractional telegraph models in multi-dimensions
Authors: Ahmed Hoda F. , Hashem W. A.
Published: January 2023

The distributed-order fractional telegraph models are commonly used to describe the phenomenas of diffusion and wave-like anomalous, which can model processes without a power-law scale across the entire temporal domain. To increase the range of implementation of distributed-order fractional telegraph models, there is a need to present effective and accurate numerical algorithms to solve these models, as these models are hard to solve analytically. In this work, a novel matrix representation of the distributed-order fractional derivative based on shifted Gegenbauer (SG) polynomials has been derived. Also, two efficient algorithms based on the aforementioned operatonal matrix and the spectral tau method have been constructed for solving the one- and two-dimensional (1D and 2D) distributed-order time-fractional telegraph models with spatial variable coefficients. Also, a new operational matrix of the multiplication of space vectors has been built to have the ability in applying the tau method in the 2D case. The convergence and error bound analysis of the presented techniques are investigated. Moreover, the presented algorithms are applied on four miscellaneous test examples to illustrate the robustness and effectiveness of these algorithms.
The location of unilateral axillary lymphadenopathy after COVID-19 vaccination compared with that of metastasis from breast cancer without vaccination
Authors: Mukai Kiyoko , Tsunoda Hiroko , Imai Ryosuke , Numata Akiko , Kida Kumiko , Oba Ken , Yagishita Kazuyo , Yamauchi Hideko , Kanomata Naoki , Kurihara Yasuyuki
Published: January 2023

Purpose

Unilateral axillary lymphadenopathy is known to occur after coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination. Post-vaccination lymphadenopathy may mimic the metastatic lymph nodes in breast cancer, and it is challenging to distinguish between them. This study investigated whether the localization of axillary lymphadenopathy on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could be used to distinguish reactive lymphadenopathy after COVID-19 vaccines from metastatic nodes.

Materials and methods

We retrospectively examined preoperative MRI images of 684 axillae in 342 patients who underwent breast cancer surgery from June to October 2021. Lymphadenopathy was defined as cortical thickening or short axis ≥ 5 mm. The axilla was divided into ventral and dorsal parts on the axial plane using a perpendicular line extending from the most anterior margin of the muscle group, including the deltoid, latissimus dorsi, or teres major muscles, relative to a line along the lateral chest wall. We recorded the presence or absence of axillary lymphadenopathy in each area and the number of visible lymph nodes.

Results

Of 80 axillae, 41 and 39 were included in the vaccine and metastasis groups, respectively. The median time from the last vaccination to MRI was 19 days in the vaccine group. The number of visible axillary lymph nodes was significantly higher in the vaccine group (median, 15 nodes) than in the metastasis group (7 nodes) (P < 0.001). Dorsal lymphadenopathy was observed in 16 (39.0%) and two (5.1%) axillae in the vaccine and metastasis groups, respectively (P < 0.001). If the presence of both ventral and dorsal lymphadenopathy is considered indicative of vaccine-induced reaction, this finding has a sensitivity of 34.1%, specificity of 97.4%, and positive and negative predictive values of 93.3％ and 58.5%, respectively.

Conclusion

The presence of deep axillary lymphadenopathy may be an important factor for distinguishing post-vaccination lymphadenopathy from metastasis. The number of axillary lymph nodes may also help.