Intraoperative Measurement of Intracranial Pressure During Cranial Vault Remodeling in Children with Craniosynostosis

Purpose In this study, we analyzed the utility of intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring intraoperatively for deciding height reduction and need for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) diversion during cranial vault remodeling in children with multisutural craniosynostosis (CS). Methods This is a retrospective observational study of children who underwent surgery for CS and ICP monitoring during surgery. The ICP was monitored using an external ventricular drainage catheter. The ICP monitoring was continued during the entire procedure. Results A total of 28 (19 boys) children with the involvement of two or more sutures underwent ICP monitoring during surgery. The commonest pattern of suture involvement was bicoronal seen in 16 (57.1%) children followed by pancraniosynostoses in eight (28.6%) cases. The mean opening ICP was 23 mm Hg, which dropped to 10.9 mm Hg after craniotomy. The ICP increased transiently to 19.5 mm Hg after height reduction, and the mean ICP at closure was 16.2 mm Hg. The ICP recordings helped in undoing the height reduction in two children and ventriculoperitoneal shunt after surgery in two children. Conclusions Intraoperative monitoring of ICP helps in deciding the type of cranial vault remodeling and the need for CSF diversion after surgery.

EFFECT OF DOUBLE BOTTOM HEIGHT ON THE STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOUR OF BULK CARRIERS

This is the first of a series of companion papers that the authors propose to present on the effect that the new CSR Rules will have on the design of bulk carriers. Our initial focus will be on the new design framework established for the inner bottom height of such vessels, a parameter critical to their structural integrity. It examines the effect that double bottom height reduction has on the reliability of the bulk carrier structure, by applying a finite element 3D - 3 hold analysis of varying double bottom heights to a typical current Panamax bulk carrier design. The results are compared to pre and post IACS CSR[2] requirements. The conclusion reached is that the establishing of the double bottom height should not be left to direct calculations. A minimum acceptable height should be established in order to maintain a minimum level of structural reliability and safety.

TRINEXAPAC-ETHYL REDUCES PLANT HEIGHT AND SEED YIELD IN FORAGE SORGHUM

Forage sorghum presents tall plants, what makes mechanicalseed harvesting a difficult task. Plant hormones can reduce plant height andfacilitate the harvesting. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluatethe effect of the growth regulator trinexapac-ethyl on plant height and seedyield in forage sorghum. This research was carried out at Embrapa Maizeand Sorghum, in two seasons (2017 and 2018), in a randomized completeblock design, four replications and three varieties (BRS Ponta Negra, 1141574and 0947216) under application of Trinexapac-ethyl in two stages of the plantgrowth (V8, V12, V8 + V12). The characteristics evaluated were: plant height,seed yield and mass of 1000 seeds. The effect of the hormone was significantin both stages of growth, with a significant reduction in plant height. Thehormone applied twice at growth stages V8 + V12 had a greater effect inreducing plant height. However, the hormone reduced seed yield in the threevarieties, what implies the need for further studies comparing the advantageof plant height reduction and the loss in seed yield.

Elevation and Distribution of Freshwater and Sewage Canals Regulate Canopy Structure and Differentiate Hurricane Damages to a Basin Mangrove Forest

The coastal mangrove forest bears important ecosystem functions and services, including the protection of shorelines and coastal communities. While coastal mangroves often suffer severe damage during storms, understanding the vulnerability and resistance of mangroves to the damage at a landscape scale is crucial for coastal mangrove management and conservation. In September 2017, two consecutive major hurricanes caused tremendous damage to the coastal mangroves in the Caribbean. By utilizing LiDAR data taken before and after the hurricanes in a basin mangrove forest in Northeast Puerto Rico, we analyzed the spatial variation of a canopy structure before the hurricanes and hurricane-induced canopy height reduction and explored possible drivers by means of spatial regressions. Regarding the canopy structure, we found that the pre-hurricane canopy height of the mangrove forest decreased with elevation and distance to the freshwater/sewage canals within the forest, and these two drivers explained 82% of variations in the mangrove canopy height. The model, thus, implies that freshwater and nutrient inputs brought by the canals tend to promote the canopy height, and mangrove trees at lower elevation are especially more advantageous. Similarly, tree densities decreased with the canopy height but increased with the elevation and the distance to the canals. We also found that this mangrove forest suffered on average a 53% canopy height reduction, reflecting mostly heavy crown defoliation and the rupture of branches. The regression, which explains 88% of spatial variation in the canopy height reduction, showed that mangroves with a higher canopy or lower density, or growing in lower elevation, or being closer to the canals suffered more damage. Our findings indicate that delivered freshwater/sewage by means of human-made canals has a strong impact on the canopy structure as well as its resistance to tropical storms. Freshwater and sewage tend to release the salinity stress and nutrient deficit and, thus, to promote the mangrove canopy height. However, the addition of freshwater and nutrients might also increase the risk of mangrove damage during the storms probably because of an altered allometry of assimilates.

A Novel Framework for Rapid Detection of Damaged Buildings Using Pre-Event LiDAR Data and Shadow Change Information

After a major earthquake in a dense urban area, the spatial distribution of heavily damaged buildings is indicative of the impact of the event on public safety. Timely assessment of the locations of severely damaged buildings and their damage morphologies using remote sensing approaches is critical for search and rescue actions. Detection of damaged buildings that did not suffer collapse can be highly challenging from aerial or satellite optical imagery, especially those structures with height-reduction or inclination damage and apparently intact roofs. A key information cue can be provided by a comparison of predicted building shadows based on pre-event building models with shadow estimates extracted from post-event imagery. This paper addresses the detection of damaged buildings in dense urban areas using the information of building shadow changes based on shadow simulation, analysis, and image processing in order to improve real-time damage detection and analysis. A novel processing framework for the rapid detection of damaged buildings without collapse is presented, which includes (a) generation of building digital surface models (DSMs) from pre-event LiDAR data, (b) building shadow detection and extraction from imagery, (c) simulation of predicted building shadows utilizing building DSMs, and (d) detection and identification of shadow areas exhibiting significant pre- and post-event differences that can be attributed to building damage. The framework is demonstrated through two simulated case studies. The building damage types considered are those typically observed in earthquake events and include height-reduction, over-turn collapse, and inclination. Total collapse cases are not addressed as these are comparatively easy to be detected using simpler algorithms. Key issues are discussed including the attributes of essential information layers and sources of error influencing the accuracy of building damage detection.

Screening Diverse Weedy Rice (Oryza sativa ssp.) Mini Germplasm for Tolerance to Heat and Complete Submergence Stress During Seedling Stage

Rice is a staple food for more than 3.5 billion people worldwide, with Asia producing almost 90% of the global rice yield. In the US, rice is primarily produced in four regions: Arkansas Grand Prairie, Mississippi Delta, Gulf Coast, and Sacramento Valley of California. Arkansas currently accounts for more than 50% of the rice produced in the US. As global temperatures continue to rise and fluctuate, crop-breeding programs must continue to evolve. Unfortunately, sudden submergence due to climate change and unpredictable flash flooding can cause yield reduction up to 100% and affect 20 million ha of agricultural farmlands. Similarly, it has been demonstrated that temperatures higher than 34°C can cause spikelet infertility resulting in up to 60% reduction in yield. One major drawback to developing abiotic stress-tolerant rice is the loss of critical traits such as vegetative vigor, spikelet fertility, and grain quality, which are essential in increasing economic return for farmers. To replace traits lost in past breeding endeavors, weedy rice (WR) has been proposed as a source for novel trait discovery to improve rice breeding programs. Therefore, the goal of this study was to screen and identify heat- and submergence-tolerant WR accessions. A WR mini germplasm consisting of seedlings at the 3–4 leaf stage was exposed to heat (38°C) and complete submergence for 21 days. After each treatment, height was recorded every 7 days for 28 days, and biomass was collected 28 days after treatment. The average height reduction across all accessions was 19 and 21% at 14 and 28 days after treatment (DAT) for the heat-stress treatment. The average height reduction across all accessions was 25 and 33% for the complete submergence stress. The average biomass reduction across all accessions was 18 and 21% for heat and complete submergence stress, respectively. Morphologically, at 28 DAT, 28% of the surviving WR accessions in the heat-stress treatment with <20% height reduction were straw-colored hull types without awns. Under complete submergence stress, 33% of the surviving WR accessions were blackhull types without awns. These specific biotypes may play a role in the increased resilience of WR populations to heat or submergence stress. The results presented in this paper will highlight elite WR accessions that can survive the effects of climate change.

FEATURES OF DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF PATIENTS WITH REDUCED BITE HEIGHT

Aesthetic and hygienic requirements of patients with reduced bite height necessitate the use of modern orthopedic constructions. The main cause of this disease is pathological abrasion of the hard tissues of the teeth, the prevalence of which ranges from 4 to 57% at a young age, reaches 91% in the elderly and is accompanied by both morphological and functional disorders of the dental-maxillary system. The aim of the research. Research the features of the diagnosis of dental status in patients with reduced bite height and timing of their treatment. Materials and methods of research. Determine the degree of reduction in the height of the bite in persons with pathological abrasion of the hard tissues of the teeth of varying severity compared with the norm and features of its recovery. Research results and their discussion. In order to prepare for orthopedic treatment, we determined the height of the bite in 123 patients. Accordingly, they were divided into three groups. Group 1 consisted of 32 patients with included dentition defects with reduced bite height up to 2 mm (n = 32), group 2 - examined with included dentition defects with reduced bite height 2-4 mm (n = 31), group 3 are patients with included dentition defects with reduced bite height of 4-6 mm (n = 30). All persons of the main groups belonged to the second and third age groups according to the WHO, aged 35-55 years, who required orthopedic treatment with fixed constructions of dentures. The control group (n = 30) are young people who belonged to the 1st WHO age group (age - 18-34 years) with intact dentition, without concomitant somatic and dental pathology, were examined in one visit. In order to study the degree of dependence of bite height reduction between incisors, canines, premolars and molars, we studied 30 gypsum models of supergypsum of the upper and lower jaws without reduction of bite height and 93 - with varying degrees of pathological abrasion of tooth hard tissues of all examined people. The models were fixed in a standard articulator in the central occlusion position. Using a caliper, we determined the size of the tooth crowns and compared it with standard sizes. In this research, we found the dependence of the degree of reduction in the height of the bite in the area of molars - premolars - incisors and canines in the ratio 1: 1,25: 1,5. We performed orthopedic treatment and subsequent clinical observation for each patient for 6 months, examining their condition after fixation of prostheses in 1 week and in 1, 3 and 6 months after orthopedic treatment. Based on the diagnosis of bite height reduction, we provided practical recommendations on the terms of use of fixed pharmacy bridges prostheses according to the degree of bite height reduction in the examined people. In the case of patients with a decrease in bite height by 3-4 mm, permanent orthopedic treatment is possible in 90 days after fixation of temporary orthopedic constructions in the oral cavity, and in patients with a reduced bite height of more than 4 mm - in 180 days. Conclusions. According to the results of the research, a high efficiency of determining the degree of reduction in bite height in preparing patients for permanent orthopedic treatment depending on the severity of the pathological process.