Managing offshore multi-use settings: Use of conceptual mapping to reduce uncertainty of co-locating seaweed aquaculture and wind farms.

The offshore Multi-use Setting (MUS) is a concept that aims to co-locate marine industrial activities, including wind farms and aquaculture. MUS is considered an innovative approach to promoting efficiency in space and resource use whilst contributing global policy priorities. However, the impacts of MUS development across social, economic, and environmental domains are uncertain, hindering the commercialisation of the concept. In this study, we initially demonstrate the potential consequences of co-locating seaweed aquaculture and a wind farm as a step towards MUS. Using a hypothetical case study and modified Delphi methodology, 14 subject matter experts predicted potential outcomes across social and environmental objectives. Five Cognitive maps and impact tables of 58 potential consequences were generated based on experts' perspective on co-locating seaweed aquaculture and a wind farm. The findings highlight the potential to exasperate pressures in the area, including those already attributed to wind farm operations, such as species mortality and stakeholder conflict. However, it may also enhance social-ecological conditions, such as resource provisioning and promoting habitat functionality in the region, through the addition of seaweed aquaculture. The cognitive maps demonstrate the complexity of managing MUS implementation, where high degree of variability and uncertainty about the outcomes is present. The findings of this study provide the vital entry point to performing further integrative assessment and modelling approaches, such as probabilistic analysis and simulations, in support of MUS decision-making. The research also strongly recommends alternative strategies in the pursuit of combining seaweed production and wind farms to avoid significant financial (among many other) trade-offs and risks. More broadly, we have found that our approach's ability to visually represent a complex situation while considering multiple objectives could be immensely valuable for other bioeconomy innovations or nature-based solutions. It helps mitigate the potential for expensive investments without a comprehensive evaluation of the associated risks and negative impacts, as necessitated by the principles of sustainability in decision-making.

Simulation framework for evaluating lightweight spectral cameras in drone-based aquatic sensing applications.

Optical remote sensing of aquatic environments using aerial drones is becoming more feasible as lightweight, low-power, spectral cameras increase in availability. Use of these cameras in such applications involves complex trade-offs in optical design and in deployment strategies, and simulations provide a means to examine this multidimensional design space to identify specific limitations on performance for a given measurement scenario. In this paper, such a simulation framework is developed, and its use in two realistic aquatic remote sensing scenarios is explored. Such a framework can provide insight into not only uses of existing camera systems, but also aspects of optical design or hardware that would lead to improved accuracy when using such cameras aerially over natural water bodies.

Evaluation of glint correction approaches for fine-scale ocean color measurements by lightweight hyperspectral imaging spectrometers.

Low-power, lightweight, off-the-shelf imaging spectrometers, deployed on above-water fixed platforms or on low-altitude aerial drones, have significant potential for enabling fine-scale assessment of radiometrically derived water quality properties (WQPs) in oceans, lakes, and reservoirs. In such applications, it is essential that the measured water-leaving spectral radiances be corrected for surface-reflected light, i.e., glint. However, noise and spectral characteristics of these imagers, and environmental sources of fine-scale radiometric variability such as capillary waves, complicate the glint correction problem. Despite having a low signal-to-noise ratio, a representative lightweight imaging spectrometer provided accurate radiometric estimates of chlorophyll concentration-an informative WQP-from glint-corrected hyperspectral radiances in a fixed-platform application in a coastal ocean region. Optimal glint correction was provided by a spectral optimization algorithm, which outperformed both a hardware solution utilizing a polarizer and a subtractive algorithm incorporating the reflectance measured in the near infrared. In the same coastal region, this spectral optimization approach also provided the best glint correction for radiometric estimates of backscatter at 650 nm, a WQP indicative of suspended particle load.

Establishing Safe Zones to Avoid Nerve Injury in the Approach to the Humerus in Pediatric Patients: A Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.

BACKGROUND: The surgical anatomy of upper-extremity peripheral nerves in adults has been well described as "safe zones" or specific distances from osseous landmarks. In pediatrics, relationships between nerves and osseous landmarks remain ambiguous. The goal of our study was to develop a model to accurately predict the location of the radial and axillary nerves in children to avoid iatrogenic injury when approaching the humerus in this population. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of 116 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of entire humeri of skeletally immature patients; 53 of these studies met our inclusion criteria. Two independent observers reviewed all scans. Arm length was measured as the distance between the lateral aspect of the acromion and the lateral epicondyle. We then calculated the distances (defined as the percentage of arm length) between the radial nerve and distal osseous landmarks (the medial epicondyle, transepicondylar line, and lateral epicondyle) as well between the axillary nerve and the most lateral aspect of the acromion. RESULTS: The axillary nerve was identified at a distance equaling 18.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], ±0.62%) of arm length inferior to the lateral edge of the acromion. The radial nerve crossed (1) the medial cortex of the posterior part of the humerus at a distance equaling 63.19% (95% CI: ±0.942%) of arm length proximal to the medial epicondyle, (2) the middle of the posterior part of the humerus at a distance equaling 53.9% (95% CI: ±1.08%) of arm length proximal to the transepicondylar line, (3) the lateral cortex of the posterior part of the humerus at a distance equaling 45% (95% CI: ±0.99%) of arm length proximal to the lateral epicondyle, and (4) from the posterior to the anterior compartment at a distance equaling 35.3% (95% CI: ±0.92%) of arm length proximal to the lateral epicondyle. A strong linear relationship between these distances and arm length was observed, with an intraclass correlation coefficient of >0.9 across all measurements. CONCLUSIONS: The positions of the radial and axillary nerves maintain linear relationships with arm lengths in growing children. The locations of these nerves in relation to palpable osseous landmarks are predictable. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Knowing the locations of upper-extremity peripheral nerves as a proportion of arm length in skeletally immature patients may help to avoid iatrogenic injuries during surgical approaches to the humerus.

What is new in idiopathic clubfoot?

Idiopathic clubfoot has a tremendous worldwide prevalence. If left untreated, the deformity has severely disabling effects on mobility and quality of life. Given its prevalence and significance, numerous studies are published on this condition every year. In this article, we attempt to highlight important themes and findings of studies published on idiopathic clubfoot over the past 3 years.

A standardized Code Blue Team eliminates variable survival from in-hospital cardiac arrest.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies suggest that time of day affects survival from in-hospital cardiac arrest. Lower survival rates are observed during nights and on weekends, except in areas with consistent physician care, such as the Emergency Department. Since 1997, our hospital has utilized a standard, hospital-wide "Code Blue Team" (CBT) to respond to cardiac arrests at any time. This team is always led by an emergency physician, and includes specially trained nurses. OBJECTIVE: To assess if time of day or week affects survival from in-hospital cardiac arrest when a trained, consistent, emergency physician-led CBT is implemented. METHODS: This is an analysis of prospectively collected data on initial survival rates (return of spontaneous circulation >20 min) of all cardiac arrests that were managed by the CBT from 2000 to 2008. Cardiac arrests were also subcategorized based on initial cardiac rhythm. Survival rates were compared according to time of day or week. RESULTS: A total of 1692 cardiac arrests were included. There was no significant difference in the overall rate of initial survival between day/evening vs. night hours (odds ratio [OR] 1.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.83-1.29), or between weekday vs. weekend hours (OR 1.10, 95% CI 0.85-1.38). This held true for all cardiac rhythms. CONCLUSION: At our institution, there is no significant difference in survival from cardiac arrest when a standardized "Code Blue Team" is utilized, regardless of the time of day or week.

Congenital third foot deformity: a case report.

A congenital accessory limb is a rare condition that may be associated with predisposing factors such as drug or alcohol or toxin exposure, trauma, and deformities such as spina bifida. This article describes a case involving an accessory foot in an otherwise healthy 33-year-old male. It is likely that the etiology of this case was an early embryologic exposure to amniotic constriction bands that affected the development of the distal limb.