Earthworm activity and its coupling to soil hydrology: A deterministic analysis.

Considering in situ observations, chaos theory was taken as a basis to study the activity of anecic earthworms based on cast production from September 2016 to January 2018 in the Dong Cao watershed (Vietnam). To study this activity, the global modeling technique was used to obtain deterministic models of ordinary differential equations directly from observational time series. The obtained models show that the behavior of earthworms is chaotic; it is coupled to the dynamics of soil water content in a complex (integrative) way and can be interpreted as an habituation/sensitization process. However, this coupling is insufficient to explain the desynchronization of the cast production variations observed at different study sites. The retroaction of earthworm activity on soil is required to explain the spatiotemporal discrepancies.

Chaos theory applied to the outbreak of COVID-19: an ancillary approach to decision making in pandemic context.

While predicting the course of an epidemic is difficult, predicting the course of a pandemic from an emerging virus is even more so. The validity of most predictive models relies on numerous parameters, involving biological and social characteristics often unknown or highly uncertain. Data of the COVID-19 epidemics in China, Japan, South Korea and Italy were used to build up deterministic models without strong assumptions. These models were then applied to other countries to identify the closest scenarios in order to foresee their coming behaviour. The models enabled to predict situations that were confirmed little by little, proving that these tools can be efficient and useful for decision making in a quickly evolving operational context.

Axillary recurrence in sentinel lymph node-negative breast cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) was developed to axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in the treatment of breast cancer. SLNB is predictive of axillary node status. Major concern is the occurrence of a false-negative SLN. Purpose of this study is to determine the rate of axillary recurrence in our series of unselected patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All patients with a negative SLNB from November 1999 to December 2006 have been treated and followed at our unit. Information on patients' characteristics, treatment and follow-up has been collected. RESULTS: Eight-hundred and four patients with negative SLNB did not receive ALND. After a median follow-up of 38.8 months, 21 patients had distant metastases, four had axillary relapse, nine had an in-breast recurrence and two had both. All patients with axillary recurrence received axillary dissection and systemic adjuvant therapy. They are all presently alive and free from disease. CONCLUSION: Data from this series, the largest from a general hospital, showed that isolated axillary node recurrence after negative SLNB is rare (<1%) and comparable with those reported from referral cancer institutions. We confirm that SLNB for the treatment of early breast cancer patients of a community-based hospital is safe and reliable.

[Upper digestive hemorrhage (observations on 201 cases)]. / Le emorragie digestive alte (osservazioni su 201 casi).

The results obtained in 201 cases of haemorrhage of the higher tract of the digestive tube are reported. The role of early endoscopy (less than 24 h) and that of a "rigorous" selection of patients for surgery treatment are emphasized. The value of surgical resection in serious haemorrhage of chronic peptic ulcus is confirmed by the satisfactory results obtained.

[Spontaneous pneumothorax (therapeutic consideration)]. / Il pneumotorace spontaneo (considerazioni terapeutiche).

The Authors report the results achieved in 74 patients with spontaneous pneumothorax. The treatment was conservative in 66 patients. The surgical treatment was performed in 8 patients operated with monolateral resection of apical bullae (7 cases) or lobectomy (1 case) through lateral thoracotomy.

[Transduodenal papillosphincterotomy. Remarks on 138 cases (1975-1982)]. / La papillosfinterotomia transduodenale. Rilievi su 138 interventi (1975-1982).

Transduodenal papillosphincterotomy, largely performed since many years, is still controversial. The retrospective analysis of 138 cases allows a discussion about its indications and some important details of surgical technique. Particularly, the authors report a relative low incidence of serious complications, with peculiar regard to postsurgical acute pancreatitis, and satisfactory long-term results (follow-up ranging from one to eight years) in the 95,2% of cases.

[Bronchogenic carcinoma (personal observations)]. / I carcinomi broncogeni (osservazioni personali).

The authors report the results achieved in the treatment of 62 patients with pulmonary cancer "non-microcytoma". The survival rate was 20.9% at 5 years (actuarial). The best prognosis is for patients with epidermoid cancer: 35.5%. The authors emphasize the importance of the exact stage of the neoplasm and the evaluation of the postoperative cardiopulmonary functional adaptation in the prognostic evaluation of resection for pulmonary carcinoma.

[Recurrent anorectal abscesses]. / Gli ascessi anorettali recidivi.

A study of 78 patients with recurrent anorectal abscess was carried out to elucidate the cause of recurrence. The inadequate treatment (incision and drainage) and the spontaneous rupture or resolution of the abscess with no further treatment were the most common reasons for recurrence. At surgery, 18 patients were found to have recurrent hidradenitis suppurativa. The authors recommend a careful regional exploration under anesthesia and an aggressive surgical approach to achieve satisfactory results and to ensure minimal, if any recurrence.

Polynomial search and global modeling: Two algorithms for modeling chaos.

Global modeling aims to build mathematical models of concise description. Polynomial Model Search (PoMoS) and Global Modeling (GloMo) are two complementary algorithms (freely downloadable at the following address: http://www.cesbio.ups-tlse.fr/us/pomos_et_glomo.html) designed for the modeling of observed dynamical systems based on a small set of time series. Models considered in these algorithms are based on ordinary differential equations built on a polynomial formulation. More specifically, PoMoS aims at finding polynomial formulations from a given set of 1 to N time series, whereas GloMo is designed for single time series and aims to identify the parameters for a selected structure. GloMo also provides basic features to visualize integrated trajectories and to characterize their structure when it is simple enough: One allows for drawing the first return map for a chosen Poincaré section in the reconstructed space; another one computes the Lyapunov exponent along the trajectory. In the present paper, global modeling from single time series is considered. A description of the algorithms is given and three examples are provided. The first example is based on the three variables of the Rössler attractor. The second one comes from an experimental analysis of the copper electrodissolution in phosphoric acid for which a less parsimonious global model was obtained in a previous study. The third example is an exploratory case and concerns the cycle of rainfed wheat under semiarid climatic conditions as observed through a vegetation index derived from a spatial sensor.