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Background An acceleration of model-data synthesis activities has leveraged many terrestrial carbon datasets, but utilization of soil respiration (RS) data has not kept pace. Scope We identify three major challenges in interpreting RS data, and opportunities to utilize it more extensively and creatively: (1) When RS is compared to ecosystem respiration (RECO) measured from EC towers, it is not uncommon to find RS > RECO. We argue this is most likely due to difficulties in calculating RECO, which provides an opportunity to utilize RS for EC quality control. (2) RS integrates belowground heterotrophic and autotrophic activity, but many models include only an explicit heterotrophic output. Opportunities exist to use the total RS flux for data assimilation and model benchmarking methods rather than less-certain partitioned fluxes. (3) RS is generally measured at a very different resolution than that needed for comparison to EC or ecosystem- to global-scale models. Downscaling EC fluxes to match the scale of RS, and improvement of RS upscaling techniques will improve resolution challenges. Conclusions RS data can bring a range of benefits to model development, particularly with larger databases and improved data sharing protocols to make RS data more robust and broadly available to the research community.

Plants are key components of the terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycle. Atmospheric CO2 is assimilated through photosynthesis and stored in plant biomass and in the soil. The use of turfgrass is expanding due to the increasing human population and urbanization. In this review, we summarize recent carbon sequestration research in turfgrass and compare turfgrass systems to other plant systems. The soil organic carbon (SOC) stored in turfgrass systems is comparable to that in other natural and agricultural systems. Turfgrass systems are generally carbon-neutral or carbon sinks, with the exception of intensively managed areas, such as golf course greens and athletic fields. Turfgrass used in other areas, such as golf course fairways and roughs, parks, and home lawns, has the potential to contribute to carbon sequestration if proper management practices are implemented. High management inputs can increase the biomass productivity of turfgrass but do not guarantee higher SOC compared to low management inputs. Additionally, choosing the appropriate turfgrass species that are well adapted to the local climate and tolerant to stresses can maximize CO2 assimilation and biomass productivity, although other factors, such as soil respiration, can considerably affect SOC. Future research is needed to document the complete carbon footprint, as well as to identify best management practices and appropriate turfgrass species to enhance carbon sequestration in turfgrass systems.

The prevailing view of abandoned children in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries comes from Dickens’ Oliver Twist. Twist was born and raised in a workhouse in nineteenth-century London. However, the workhouse was not the only, or even, the main place to which children were abandoned. The London Foundling Hospital opened in 1741 and, although admission rules were often strict, between the years 1756 and 1760, any child presented to the Hospital was admitted. This article examines the ways in which children were abandoned to the Foundling Hospital and how these children were cared for in the period 1741–1834. It charts the children’s journeys through the Hospital, from their initial abandonment and admission to their eventual discharge—either through death, apprenticeship, or marriage—or their continued residence at the institution. This article provides insights into the multiple experiences of childhood abandonment and details the utility of the Hospital’s surviving records. It argues that children admitted to the London Foundling Hospital received life chances they would otherwise not have received. The Hospital provided nursing, clothing, medical care, both an academic and vocational education, and a living space for those unable to survive alone in adulthood.

Purpose The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive assessment of patient intrafraction motion in linac‐based frameless stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and radiotherapy (SRT). Methods A retrospective review was performed on 101 intracranial SRS/SRT patients immobilized with the Klarity stereotactic thermoplastic mask (compatible with the Brainlab frameless stereotactic system) and aligned on a 6 Degree of Freedom (DoF) couch with the Brainlab ExacTrac image guidance system. Both pretreatment and intrafraction correction data are provided as observed by the ExacTrac system. The effects of couch angle and treatment duration on positioning outcomes are also explored. Results Initial setup data for patients is shown to vary by up to ±4.18 mm, ±2.97°, but when corrected with a single x‐ray image set with ExacTrac, patient positions are corrected to within ±2.11 mm, ±2.27°. Intrafraction patient motion is shown to be uniformly random and independent of both time and couch angle. Patient motion was also limited to within approximately 3 mm, 3° by the thermoplastic mask. Conclusions Our results indicate that since patient intrafraction motion is unrelated to couch rotation and treatment duration, intrafraction patient monitoring in 6 DoF is required to minimize intracranial SRS/SRT margins.

Meningococcal disease is a rapidly progressive childhood infection of global importance. To our knowledge, no systematic quantitative research exists into the occurrence of symptoms before admission to hospital. Data were obtained from questionnaires answered by parents and from primary-care records for the course of illness before admission to hospital in 448 children (103 fatal, 345 non-fatal), aged 16 years or younger, with meningococcal disease. In 373 cases, diagnosis was confirmed with microbiological techniques. The rest of the children were included because they had a purpuric rash, and either meningitis or evidence of septicaemic shock. Results were standardised to UK case-fatality rates. The time-window for clinical diagnosis was narrow. Most children had only non-specific symptoms in the first 4–6 h, but were close to death by 24 h. Only 165 (51%) children were sent to hospital after the first consultation. The classic features of haemorrhagic rash, meningism, and impaired consciousness developed late (median onset 13–22 h). By contrast, 72% of children had early symptoms of sepsis (leg pains, cold hands and feet, abnormal skin colour) that first developed at a median time of 8 h, much earlier than the median time to hospital admission of 19 h. Classic clinical features of meningococcal disease appear late in the illness. Recognising early symptoms of sepsis could increase the proportion of children identified by primary-care clinicians and shorten the time to hospital admission. The framework within which meningococcal disease is diagnosed should be changed to emphasise identification of these early symptoms by parents and clinicians.

Corn (Zea mays L.) stover is an abundant biomass source with multiple end‐uses including cellulosic biofuel production. However, stover removal may increase soil compaction by reducing organic matter inputs and increasing vehicle loads during harvest. While numerous studies have reported stover removal impacts on soil physical quality, few have assessed the role played by traffic compaction. Our objective was to quantify subsurface soil compaction after 13 years of chisel plow versus no‐till management and no, moderate (3.5 ± 1.1 Mg ha−1 year−1), or high (5.0 ± 1.7 Mg ha−1 year−1) stover harvest rates. Penetration resistance was measured in most‐ and least‐trafficked interrow spaces. Chisel plowed plots with moderate and high levels of stover removal had higher penetration resistance in trafficked areas relative to least‐trafficked areas, whereas there was no evidence of traffic compaction when stover was retained. Traffic compaction did not negatively impact yields, which were greater with high levels of stover removal compared to no removal. The no‐till practice led to very small increases in penetration resistance with wheel traffic and had no evidence of increased compaction with residue removal. This lack of traffic compaction indicated soils under no‐till practice have a higher load‐bearing capacity than soils under chisel plow practice. Overall, there were no yield‐limiting effects of tillage practice or stover removal, and no evidence of soil compaction below the plow layer, suggesting stover removal with both tillage practices can be effectively employed without detrimental effects on plant or soil health. Core Ideas Stover harvest caused modest traffic compaction with chisel plow (CP) but not with no‐till tillage management. Compaction did not negatively affect yields, which were 9% higher with high stover harvest than no‐harvest. No‐till soils were more compacted but had greater load‐bearing capacity than CP soils. Long‐term corn stover harvest can be sustainable in high yielding systems with good soil management.

The response of soil organic carbon (SOC) to increasing temperature is a critical and uncertain component of terrestrial ecosystems feedbacks to climate. To investigate warming impacts on soil and whole-ecosystem carbon cycling, we conducted a whole-ecosystem warming experiment in grassland mesocosms in Oregon, USA, with diurnal temperature profiles simulating both asymmetric and symmetric increases in daily minimum (Tₘᵢₙ) and maximum (Tₘₐₓ) temperature. In 2011 we reported that after 3 years of warming, the ecosystem switched from a neutral C balance to a C source, with warming causing an average loss of 88 g C m⁻² year⁻¹. Because warming had no impact on aboveground net primary productivity, decomposition of SOC was initially the suspected source of these emissions. Here we report follow-up data from years 4–9 on the effects of warming on soil C stocks, litter, and soil respiration. We employed several complimentary methods to isolate the readily-mineralizable soil C fraction, but power analysis showed that only density fractionation provided sufficient power to detect warming impacts from natural variability. Collectively, the warming treatments reduced the C content in the light density fraction by 9 % after 6 years, and also dramatically reduced litter accumulation, with about 50 % less litter C in warmed chambers by year 9. Consistent with these losses, warming also increased soil respiration by an average of 27–29 %. We conclude that warming-induced losses of unprotected soil carbon and litter, but not protected C, were detectable within a decade.

IntroductionTumor-related epilepsy may respond to chemotherapy. In a previously-published multi-centre randomized clinical trial of 562 elderly glioblastoma patients, temozolomide plus short-course radiotherapy conferred a survival benefit over radiotherapy alone. Seizure outcomes were not reported.MethodsWe performed an unplanned secondary analysis of this trial’s data. The trial design has been previously reported. Seizures were recorded by clinicians as adverse events and by patients in quality of life questionnaires. A Chi-square test of seizure rates between the two groups (α = 0.05) and a Kaplan–Meier estimator of time-to-first self-reported seizure were planned.ResultsAlmost all patients were followed until they died. In the radiotherapy alone group, 68 patients (24%) had a documented or self-reported seizure versus 83 patients (30%) in the temozolomide plus radiotherapy group, Chi-square analysis showed no difference (p = 0.15). Patients receiving radiotherapy alone tended to develop seizures earlier than those receiving temozolomide plus radiotherapy (p = 0.054). Patients with seizures had shorter overall survival than those without seizures (hazard ratio 1.24, p = 0.02).ConclusionsThis study was not powered to detect differences in seizure outcomes, but temozolomide seemed to have minimal impact on seizure control in elderly patients with glioblastoma.Clinical Trial Registration: NCT00482677 2007-06-05.

Background Real-world data (RWD) is increasingly being embraced as an invaluable source of information to address clinical and policy-relevant questions that are unlikely to ever be answered by clinical trials. However, the largely unrealised potential of RWD is the value to be gained by supporting prospective studies and translational research. Here we describe the design and implementation of an Australian brain cancer registry, BRAIN, which is pursuing these opportunities. Methods BRAIN was designed by a panel of clinicians in conjunction with BIOGRID to capture comprehensive clinical data on patients diagnosed with brain tumours from diagnosis through treatment to recurrence or death. Extensive internal and external testing was undertaken, followed by implementation at multiple sites across Victoria and Tasmania. Results Between February 2021 and December 2021, a total of 350 new patients from 10 sites, including one private and two regional, were entered into BRAIN. Additionally, BRAIN supports the world’s first registry trial in neuro-oncology, EX-TEM, addressing the optimal duration of post-radiation temozolomide; and BioBRAIN, a dedicated brain tumour translational program providing a pipeline for biospecimen collection matched with linked clinical data. Conclusions Here we report on the first data collection effort in brain tumours for Australia, which we believe to be unique worldwide given the number of sites and patients involved and the extent to which the registry resource is being leveraged to support clinical and translational research. Further directions such as passive data flow and data linkages, use of artificial intelligence and inclusion of patient-entered data are being explored.

Generating continental-scale pixel composites in dynamic coastal and estuarine environments presents a unique challenge, as the application of a temporal or seasonal approach to composite generation is confounded by tidal influences. We demonstrate how this can be resolved using an approach to compositing that provides robust composites of multi-type environments. In addition to the visual aesthetics of the images created, we demonstrate the utility of these composites for further interpretation and analysis. This is enabled by the manner in which our approach captures the spatial variation in tidal dynamics through the use of a Voronoi mesh, and preserves the band relationships within the modelled spectra at each pixel. Case studies are presented which include continental-scale mosaics of the Australian coastline at high and low tide, and tailored examples demonstrating the potential of the tidally constrained composites to address a range of coastal change detection and monitoring applications. We conclude with a discussion on the potential applications of the composite products and method in the coastal and marine environment, as well as further development directions for our tidal modelling framework.