Strategic roadmap to assess forest vulnerability under air pollution and climate change.

Although it is an integral part of global change, most of the research addressing the effects of climate change on forests have overlooked the role of environmental pollution. Similarly, most studies investigating the effects of air pollutants on forests have generally neglected the impacts of climate change. We review the current knowledge on combined air pollution and climate change effects on global forest ecosystems and identify several key research priorities as a roadmap for the future. Specifically, we recommend (1) the establishment of much denser array of monitoring sites, particularly in the South Hemisphere; (2) further integration of ground and satellite monitoring; (3) generation of flux-based standards and critical levels taking into account the sensitivity of dominant forest tree species; (4) long-term monitoring of N, S, P cycles and base cations deposition together at global scale; (5) intensification of experimental studies, addressing the combined effects of different abiotic factors on forests by assuring a better representation of taxonomic and functional diversity across the ~73,000 tree species on Earth; (6) more experimental focus on phenomics and genomics; (7) improved knowledge on key processes regulating the dynamics of radionuclides in forest systems; and (8) development of models integrating air pollution and climate change data from long-term monitoring programs.

Women in radiation (WiR)-a perspective for the strengthening of radiation protection.

Gender balance refers to the equitable treatment and access to opportunities for all genders. In order to achieve true gender balance, a variety of proactive approaches developed collaboratively, with insight from multiple perspectives, need to be implemented. With that purpose, the participation of women in professions related to radiation and radiation protection was prioritised and given high visibility by allocating a 'Women in Radiation' (WiR) Special Session at the 15th International Congress of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA), hosted by South Korea on 20 January 2021. In this session, various issues related to gender balance and equity/equality were highlighted by the panellists, and further elaborated in a subsequent discussion with attendees. The main goal of the WiR Special Session was to convene women from different organisations, career and age stages, disciplines and countries, in particular to consider the Asian-Oceanic vision and status of gender equality, along with other topics to support a 'Call for Action', with concrete recommendations subsequently provided to IRPA. The discussion stressed the main needs and challenges faced by women working in various radiation fields, along with raising awareness of possible professional and employment opportunities. This paper identifies some steps necessary to encourage, enhance and support the inclusion of more diversity in nuclear professions with specific emphasis on women. In conclusion, gender balance and equality must be at the heart of any strategic plan for the future of the radiological protection profession; international cooperation between relevant bodies is essential for success and could serve as a catalyst for specific policy statements aimed at achieving a balanced representation of women in radiological protection.

Field-based soil-plant uptake measurements of natural radionuclides for key vegetables and ghaf leaves in Abu Dhabi.

With the thriving fossil fuel and nuclear based industries in the nation, radioecology has become necessary for the radiation safety and emergency-preparedness for the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Environmental radiation transport modelling in the UAE and the Arabian Peninsula are severely limited, as we discuss in this paper, due to lack of experiments specific to arid desert climates. To fill the missing gaps in the baseline arid region radioecological database, especially for the soil-plant uptake studies, rigorous field works have been conducted for the first time on the soil and plant in the farms and open fields of the UAE. We present Abu Dhabi based measurements of activity concentrations of radionuclides of natural origins, in soils, key vegetables (cucumber, tomato, and bell pepper), and leaves of ghaf - a prominent native tree. The empirical data are utilized to get the first published estimates of UAE-specific plant-soil concentration ratios (CR), measuring root uptake of radionuclides in nonleafy vegetables and native trees. Such systematic studies are very rare for arid sandy soils. For the 27 samples analyzed, the activity concentrations' (unit Bq kg-1) ranges are: 169-1746 for 40K, 12-19.5 for 226Ra, and 2.7-23.1 for 228Ra. Likewise, wide variability is seen in the averages of concentration ratios also, ranging in 1.05-4.94 for 40K, 0.14-1.82 for 226Ra, and 0.53-2.78 for 228Ra. A net bioaccumulation (concentration ratio >1) of some of these natural radionuclides is found in many samples, but no significant doses or hazard indices are found due to these three radionuclides in the UAE's soils and vegetations. The paper discusses the careful work through tens of field sampling exercises, well controlled sample processing, high resolution gamma spectrometry, and treatment of data from gamma counting rates to accumulated dose rate estimations.

Conceptualization of arid region radioecology strategies for agricultural ecosystems of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Since the last decade, ambitious nuclear power programmes have begun maturing in the Arab countries, most importantly in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The region's environment and population, therefore, are prone to adverse, long-term impacts of radionuclide discharges. To calculate the associated exposure scenarios, to estimate doses and their consequences, and finally, to lay out a radiological emergency management plan, arid region radioecology is taking shape in the UAE as a major field of research. Geography, demography, food habits, weather, soil, water, flora, and fauna of the desert-marine regions are quite distinct from their temperate counterparts. This results in the need to increase the knowhows of environmental migration and bioaccumulation of radionuclides in the region's agricultural ecosystems. In this paper, we present a detailed review of the measured data from the UAE and nearby nations, generating insights for the soil radioactivity and soil-to-plant transfer phenomena under local arid conditions. In the literature, the radionuclide activity concentrations (in Bq kg-1) vary over five orders of magnitude depending on nuclide type, sample type, and locality. Variabilities over six orders of magnitude are observed for transfer parameters too, and in-depth studies on the transfer mechanisms are usually scarce. We discuss the recent progresses made in root and foliar uptake studies with methods relatively new to sandy soils, like controlled potting, and soil Kd measurements. Showing the serious gaps in the data and interpretations, we provide a justification for the immediate experimentation in the understudied aspects of radioecology in the UAE and in arid lands in general.

Reaching for the cloud: on the lessons learned from grid computing technology transfer process to the biomedical community.

Natural scientists such as physicists pioneered the sharing of computing resources, which led to the creation of the Grid. The inter domain transfer process of this technology has hitherto been an intuitive process without in depth analysis. Some difficulties facing the life science community in this transfer can be understood using the Bozeman's "Effectiveness Model of Technology Transfer". Bozeman's and classical technology transfer approaches deal with technologies which have achieved certain stability. Grid and Cloud solutions are technologies, which are still in flux. We show how Grid computing creates new difficulties in the transfer process that are not considered in Bozeman's model. We show why the success of healthgrids should be measured by the qualified scientific human capital and the opportunities created, and not primarily by the market impact. We conclude with recommendations that can help improve the adoption of Grid and Cloud solutions into the biomedical community. These results give a more concise explanation of the difficulties many life science IT projects are facing in the late funding periods, and show leveraging steps that can help overcoming the "vale of tears".

On transferring the grid technology to the biomedical community.

Natural scientists such as physicists pioneered the sharing of computing resources, which resulted in the Grid. The inter domain transfer process of this technology has been an intuitive process. Some difficulties facing the life science community can be understood using the Bozeman's "Effectiveness Model of Technology Transfer". Bozeman's and classical technology transfer approaches deal with technologies that have achieved certain stability. Grid and Cloud solutions are technologies that are still in flux. We illustrate how Grid computing creates new difficulties for the technology transfer process that are not considered in Bozeman's model. We show why the success of health Grids should be measured by the qualified scientific human capital and opportunities created, and not primarily by the market impact. With two examples we show how the Grid technology transfer theory corresponds to the reality. We conclude with recommendations that can help improve the adoption of Grid solutions into the biomedical community. These results give a more concise explanation of the difficulties most life science IT projects are facing in the late funding periods, and show some leveraging steps which can help to overcome the "vale of tears".

Comparison of statistical learning approaches for cerebral aneurysm rupture assessment.

PURPOSE: Incidental aneurysms pose a challenge to physicians who need to decide whether or not to treat them. A statistical model could potentially support such treatment decisions. The aim of this study was to compare a previously developed aneurysm rupture logistic regression probability model (LRM) to other machine learning (ML) classifiers for discrimination of aneurysm rupture status. METHODS: Hemodynamic, morphological, and patient-related information of 1631 cerebral aneurysms characterized by computational fluid dynamics simulations were used to train support vector machines (SVMs) with linear and RBF kernel (RBF-SVM), k-nearest neighbors (kNN), decision tree, random forest, and multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network classifiers for predicting the aneurysm rupture status. The classifiers' accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were evaluated and compared to the LRM using 249 test cases obtained from two external cohorts. Additionally, important variables were determined based on the random forest and weights of the linear SVM. RESULTS: The AUCs of the MLP, LRM, linear SVM, RBF-SVM, kNN, decision tree, and random forest were 0.83, 0.82, 0.80, 0.81, 0.76, 0.70, and 0.79, respectively. The accuracy ranged between 0.76 (decision tree,) and 0.79 (linear SVM, RBF-SVM, and MLP). Important variables for predicting the aneurysm rupture status included aneurysm location, the mean surface curvature, and maximum flow velocity. CONCLUSION: The performance of the LRM was overall comparable to that of the other ML classifiers, confirming its potential for aneurysm rupture assessment. To further improve the predictions, additional information, e.g., related to the aneurysm wall, might be needed.

Bologna backstage - experiences from behind the scenes of the reforms of the Basel medical curriculum.

Based on a six-year degree in medical studies which was characterized by a series of lectures without an over-arching concept, Basel decided to embark on reforms in 1995. The first wave of reforms (1998-2003) produced a hybrid curriculum structure with PbL teaching units, organized according to organ systems, in years 1-4 of medical studies, which met the demand for "clinical content in the pre-clinical phase". A focus on General Practice medicine was achieved by implementing the "One to one tutorial" in the 3rd and 4th year of studies. Fixed weekly schedules provided space for instruction in the three learning dimensions - cognitive, affective and psychomotor learning - implemented in four longitudinal competence strands. The compulsory elective subject area "Early patient contact" was integrated into the elective degree courses of the Bachelor's degree by creating projects. From 2006 to 2012, the demands of the Bologna Declaration were implemented and a Bachelor's and a "consecutive" Master's degree program developed and then implemented. The PbL teaching units which had come in for criticism were replaced in the Master's Degree by the "Clinical Case" and in the Bachelor's degree by the "Tutorial on Scientific and Clinical Reasoning". To strengthen scientific competences, the "Science Month" and the compulsory elective subject area "Scientific Competences - Flexible Offers (WIKO.flex)" were introduced. Further curricular adjustments resulted in the development of an externally accredited integrated emergency curriculum, the establishment of feedback OSCEs and the intensification of the Skills Lab offer. In addition to content, organizational framework conditions for curricular development were key: Thus, the massive expansion of places on medical degree courses also had an impact on curriculum structure and examinations. In 2017, PROFILES, the new Swiss competence framework, was published, which presents curriculum planning with new challenges as a result of the introduction of the EPA concept. Due to the flexible structure of the curriculum, the faculty feels confident it will be able to handle these challenges. The re-accreditation of the degree program in 2018 provided important stimuli for the strengthening of interprofessional teaching and a focus on the competent handling of an increasing number of patients asking for complementary medical treatments.

Evolutionary image simplification for lung nodule classification with convolutional neural networks.

PURPOSE: Understanding decisions of deep learning techniques is important. Especially in the medical field, the reasons for a decision in a classification task are as crucial as the pure classification results. In this article, we propose a new approach to compute relevant parts of a medical image. Knowing the relevant parts makes it easier to understand decisions. METHODS: In our approach, a convolutional neural network is employed to learn structures of images of lung nodules. Then, an evolutionary algorithm is applied to compute a simplified version of an unknown image based on the learned structures by the convolutional neural network. In the simplified version, irrelevant parts are removed from the original image. RESULTS: In the results, we show simplified images which allow the observer to focus on the relevant parts. In these images, more than 50% of the pixels are simplified. The simplified pixels do not change the meaning of the images based on the learned structures by the convolutional neural network. An experimental analysis shows the potential of the approach. Besides the examples of simplified images, we analyze the run time development. CONCLUSIONS: Simplified images make it easier to focus on relevant parts and to find reasons for a decision. The combination of an evolutionary algorithm employing a learned convolutional neural network is well suited for the simplification task. From a research perspective, it is interesting which areas of the images are simplified and which parts are taken as relevant.

Radiocaesium transfer from volcanic soils to Swiss chard, cabbage and sweet corn.

The root uptake of radiocaesium by different plant parts of Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris L. var. cicla), cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata) and sweet corn (Zea mays L. var. saccharata) and the potential influence of K-fertilising on the transfer behaviour was studied in allophanic volcanic soils (umbric andosol and dystric fluvisol) in Chile under temperate climate and heavy rainfall conditions (∼2660 mm y-1) over several vegetation periods. The soils were spiked homogeneously to 0.20 m depth with 100 kBq 134Cs m-2 and activity concentrations measured. The transfer factor (TF, on a dry mass basis) to Swiss chard had a clear exponential decrease within each crop year for both soil types, either K-fertilised or unfertilised. The highest values of the TFs to Swiss chard were at the beginning of the harvests, and the half-times of TF decrease ranged between 52 and 137 d for umbric andosol and between 40 and 164 d for dystric fluvisol. Over the five seasons there was no consistent ageing effect based on TF in either soil types for the three studied crops. The effect of 134Cs foliar uptake by Swiss chard from resuspended soil was estimated to account for about 70% (external leaves) and 30% (internal leaves) increase in the TF for the K-unfertilised umbric andosol, and showed an ambiguous behaviour for the K-fertilised umbric andosol. Consequently foliar uptake does not explain the 370 and 500% increase of the TF to Swiss chard leaves determined during the third growing period in the umbric andosol without and with K-fertilisation, respectively. Therefore an uncertainty factor of 3-5 is recommended to be taken into account when using this parameter for dose calculations. The TF to Swiss chard was found to be higher than previously reported values. The TF to cabbage and sweet corn plant parts was found to be within the range of previously reported values. Normal K-fertilisation resulted in about 2.4-fold reduction in 134Cs TF to Swiss chard, 2.3-fold to sweet corn and 3.0-fold to cabbage.

An extended critical review of twenty years of countermeasures used in agriculture after the Chernobyl accident.

A wide range of different countermeasures has been used to mitigate the consequences of the Chernobyl accident for agriculture in affected regions in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. The paper comprehensively brings together key data on countermeasure application over twenty years for all three countries and critically evaluates the response to the accident with respect to agriculture. The extents of countermeasures implementation in various periods following the ChNPP accident are documented. Examples of best practices and drawbacks in remediation of affected areas are identified. Data on the effectiveness of agricultural countermeasures have been evaluated and the impact of countermeasures implementation to mitigate consequences of the accident has been assessed for the period 1986-2006. Implementation of agricultural countermeasures averted 30-40% of the internal collective dose that would have been received by the residents of affected regions without the use of countermeasures. The current situation in agriculture of areas subjected to contamination following the Chernobyl accident is described. Current and future needs for remediation, including a consideration of various strategies of rehabilitation of affected areas are presented.

Review of dynamical models for external dose calculations based on Monte Carlo simulations in urbanised areas.

After an accidental release of radionuclides to the inhabited environment the external gamma irradiation from deposited radioactivity contributes significantly to the radiation exposure of the population for extended periods. For evaluating this exposure pathway, three main model requirements are needed: (i) to calculate the air kerma value per photon emitted per unit source area, based on Monte Carlo (MC) simulations; (ii) to describe the distribution and dynamics of radionuclides on the diverse urban surfaces; and (iii) to combine all these elements in a relevant urban model to calculate the resulting doses according to the actual scenario. This paper provides an overview about the different approaches to calculate photon transport in urban areas and about several dose calculation codes published. Two types of Monte Carlo simulations are presented using the global and the local approaches of photon transport. Moreover, two different philosophies of the dose calculation, the "location factor method" and a combination of relative contamination of surfaces with air kerma values are described. The main features of six codes (ECOSYS, EDEM2M, EXPURT, PARATI, TEMAS, URGENT) are highlighted together with a short model-model features intercomparison.

Modeling of an industrial environment: external dose calculations based on Monte Carlo simulations of photon transport.

External gamma exposures from radionuclides deposited on surfaces usually result in the major contribution to the total dose to the public living in urban-industrial environments. The aim of the paper is to give an example for a calculation of the collective and averted collective dose due to the contamination and decontamination of deposition surfaces in a complex environment based on the results of Monte Carlo simulations. The shielding effects of the structures in complex and realistic industrial environments (where productive and/or commercial activity is carried out) were computed by the use of Monte Carlo method. Several types of deposition areas (walls, roofs, windows, streets, lawn) were considered. Moreover, this paper gives a summary about the time dependence of the source strengths relative to a reference surface and a short overview about the mechanical and chemical intervention techniques which can be applied in this area. An exposure scenario was designed based on a survey of average German and Hungarian supermarkets. In the first part of the paper the air kermas per photon per unit area due to each specific deposition area contaminated by 137Cs were determined at several arbitrary locations in the whole environment relative to a reference value of 8.39 x 10(-4) pGy per gamma m(-2). The calculations provide the possibility to assess the whole contribution of a specific deposition area to the collective dose, separately. According to the current results, the roof and the paved area contribute the most part (approximately 92%) to the total dose in the first year taking into account the relative contamination of the deposition areas. When integrating over 10 or 50 y, these two surfaces remain the most important contributors as well but the ratio will increasingly be shifted in favor of the roof. The decontamination of the roof and the paved area results in about 80-90% of the total averted collective dose in each calculated time period (1, 10, 50 y).

Low-level radiocaesium exposure alters gene expression in roots of Arabidopsis.

Radiocaesium is one of the main anthropogenic sources of internal and external exposure to beta- and gamma-radiation (e.g. from global fallout of atmospheric atomic bomb testing and from the Chernobyl reactor accident). Here we investigated gene expression by suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in Arabidopsis thaliana, which was induced by the root uptake of 134Cs. SSH analysis resulted in the isolation of 46 clones that were differentially expressed at 30 Bq cm(-3) 134Cs. Most of the expressed sequence tags identified belonged to genes encoding proteins that were involved in cell growth, cell division and the development of plants, and in proteins controlling translation, general metabolism and stress defence, including a DNA excision repair protein. The accumulation of caesium in plant material was measured in plants grown for 5 wk on agar contaminated by up to 60 Bq cm(-3) 134Cs. 134Cs was found to accumulate, in particular, in leaf rosettes and was dependent on the activity concentration in the growth media. The data indicate that low-level ionizing radiation influences important cellular responses, resulting in a changed gene-expression profile.

Caesium-affected gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana.

* Excessive caesium can be toxic to plants. Here we investigated Cs uptake and caesium-induced gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana. * Accumulation was measured in plants grown for 5 wk on agar supplemented with nontoxic and up to toxic levels of Cs. Caesium-induced gene expression was studied by suppression-subtractive hybridization (SSH) and RT-PCR. * Caesium accumulated in leaf rosettes dependent upon the external concentration in the growth media, whereas the potassium concentration decreased in rosettes. At a concentration of 850 microM, Cs plants showed reduced development, and withered with an increase in concentration to 1 mM Cs. SSH resulted in the isolation of 73 clones that were differentially expressed at a Cs concentration of 150 microM. Most of the genes identified belong to groups of genes encoding proteins in stress defence, detoxification, transport, homeostasis and general metabolism, and proteins controlling transcription and translation. * The present study identified a number of marker genes for Cs in Arabidopsis grown under nontoxic Cs concentrations, indicating that Cs acts as an abiotic stress factor.