The ROCEEH Out of Africa Database (ROAD): A large-scale research database serves as an indispensable tool for human evolutionary studies.

Large scale databases are critical for helping scientists decipher long-term patterns in human evolution. This paper describes the conception and development of such a research database and illustrates how big data can be harnessed to formulate new ideas about the past. The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans (ROCEEH) is a transdisciplinary research center whose aim is to study the origins of culture and the multifaceted aspects of human expansions across Africa and Eurasia over the last three million years. To support its research, the ROCEEH team developed an online tool named the ROCEEH Out of Africa Database (ROAD) and implemented its web-based applications. ROAD integrates geographical data as well as archaeological, paleoanthropological, paleontological and paleobotanical content within a robust chronological framework. In fact, a unique feature of ROAD is its ability to dynamically link scientific data both spatially and temporally, thereby allowing its reuse in ways that were not originally conceived. The data stem from published sources spanning the last 150 years, including those generated by the research team. Descriptions of these data rely on the development of a standardized vocabulary and profit from online explanations of each table and attribute. By synthesizing legacy data, ROAD facilitates the reuse of heritage data in novel ways. Database queries yield structured information in a variety of interoperable formats. By visualizing data on maps, users can explore this vast dataset and develop their own theories. By downloading data, users can conduct further quantitative analyses, for example with Geographic Information Systems, modeling programs and artificial intelligence. In this paper, we demonstrate the innovative nature of ROAD and show how it helps scientists studying human evolution to access datasets from different fields, thereby connecting the social and natural sciences. Because it permits the reuse of "old" data in new ways, ROAD is now an indispensable tool for researchers of human evolution and paleogeography.

New pedotransfer approaches to predict soil bulk density using WoSIS soil data and environmental covariates in Mediterranean agro-ecosystems.

For the estimation of the soil organic carbon stocks, bulk density (BD) is a fundamental parameter but measured data are usually not available especially when dealing with legacy soil data. It is possible to estimate BD by applying pedotransfer function (PTF). We applied different estimation methods with the aim to define a suitable PTF for BD of arable land for the Mediterranean Basin, which has peculiar climate features that may influence the soil carbon sequestration. To improve the existing BD estimation methods, we used a set of public climatic and topographic data along with the soil texture and organic carbon data. The present work consisted of the following steps: i) development of three PTFs models separately for top (0-0.4 m) and subsoil (0.4-1.2 m), ii) a 10-fold cross-validation, iii) model transferability using an external dataset derived from published data. The development of the new PTFs was based on the training dataset consisting of World Soil Information Service (WoSIS) soil profile data, climatic data from WorldClim at 1 km spatial resolution and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model at 30 m spatial resolution. The three PTFs models were developed using: Multiple Linear Regression stepwise (MLR-S), Multiple Linear Regression backward stepwise (MLR-BS), and Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The predictions of the newly developed PTFs were compared with the BD calculated using the PTF proposed by Manrique and Jones (MJ) and the modelled BD derived from the global SoilGrids dataset. For the topsoil training dataset (N = 129), MLR-S, MLR-BS and ANN had a R2 0.35, 0.58 and 0.86, respectively. For the model transferability, the three PTFs applied to the external topsoil dataset (N = 59), achieved R2 values of 0.06, 0.03 and 0.41. For the subsoil training dataset (N = 180), MLR-S, MLR-BS and ANN the R2 values were 0.36, 0.46 and 0.83, respectively. When applied to the external subsoil dataset (N = 29), the R2 values were 0.05, 0.06 and 0.41. The cross-validation for both top and subsoil dataset, resulted in an intermediate performance compared to calibration and validation with the external dataset. The new ANN PTF outperformed MLR-S, MLR-BS, MJ and SoilGrids approaches for estimating BD. Further improvements may be achieved by additionally considering the time of sampling, agricultural soil management and cultivation practices in predictive models.

Soil erosion modelling: A global review and statistical analysis.

To gain a better understanding of the global application of soil erosion prediction models, we comprehensively reviewed relevant peer-reviewed research literature on soil-erosion modelling published between 1994 and 2017. We aimed to identify (i) the processes and models most frequently addressed in the literature, (ii) the regions within which models are primarily applied, (iii) the regions which remain unaddressed and why, and (iv) how frequently studies are conducted to validate/evaluate model outcomes relative to measured data. To perform this task, we combined the collective knowledge of 67 soil-erosion scientists from 25 countries. The resulting database, named 'Global Applications of Soil Erosion Modelling Tracker (GASEMT)', includes 3030 individual modelling records from 126 countries, encompassing all continents (except Antarctica). Out of the 8471 articles identified as potentially relevant, we reviewed 1697 appropriate articles and systematically evaluated and transferred 42 relevant attributes into the database. This GASEMT database provides comprehensive insights into the state-of-the-art of soil- erosion models and model applications worldwide. This database intends to support the upcoming country-based United Nations global soil-erosion assessment in addition to helping to inform soil erosion research priorities by building a foundation for future targeted, in-depth analyses. GASEMT is an open-source database available to the entire user-community to develop research, rectify errors, and make future expansions.

Spatio-temporal topsoil organic carbon mapping of a semi-arid Mediterranean region: The role of land use, soil texture, topographic indices and the influence of remote sensing data to modelling.

SOC is the most important indicator of soil fertility and monitoring its space-time changes is a prerequisite to establish strategies to reduce soil loss and preserve its quality. Here we modelled the topsoil (0-0.3m) SOC concentration of the cultivated area of Sicily in 1993 and 2008. Sicily is an extremely variable region with a high number of ecosystems, soils, and microclimates. We studied the role of time and land use in the modelling of SOC, and assessed the role of remote sensing (RS) covariates in the boosted regression trees modelling. The models obtained showed a high pseudo-R2 (0.63-0.69) and low uncertainty (s.d.<0.76gCkg-1 with RS, and <1.25gCkg-1 without RS). These outputs allowed depicting a time variation of SOC at 1arcsec. SOC estimation strongly depended on the soil texture, land use, rainfall and topographic indices related to erosion and deposition. RS indices captured one fifth of the total variance explained, slightly changed the ranking of variance explained by the non-RS predictors, and reduced the variability of the model replicates. During the study period, SOC decreased in the areas with relatively high initial SOC, and increased in the area with high temperature and low rainfall, dominated by arables. This was likely due to the compulsory application of some Good Agricultural and Environmental practices. These results confirm that the importance of texture and land use in short-term SOC variation is comparable to climate. The present results call for agronomic and policy intervention at the district level to maintain fertility and yield potential. In addition, the present results suggest that the application of RS covariates enhanced the modelling performance.

Successful immunoapheresis of bullous autoimmune diseases: pemphigus vulgaris and pemphigoid gestationis.

BACKGROUND: Immunoapheresis/immunoadsorption is a specific tool to remove immunoglobulins and immune complexes from the circulation. Immunoapheresis is successfully used in various autoantibody-mediated diseases (such as autoimmune renal disease and others). In dermatology immunoapheresis is increasingly applied as an adjuvant treatment for severe autoimmune bullous diseases. CASE REPORT: We successfully employed adjuvant immunoapheresis to treat a 57-year-old man with life-threatening pemphigus vulgaris and a 30-year-old pregnant woman with severe pemphigoid gestationis. Immunoapheresis induced a rapid improvement and almost complete clearance of clinical symptoms without notable side effects. The clinical improvement was paralleled by a decline of the pathologic circulating autoantibodies. Following stabilization of his disease with immunoapheresis, the pemphigus vulgaris patient was continued on rituximab and remained almost free of symptoms for the next 12 months. The patient with pemphigoid gestationis was subsequently treated with systemic corticosteroids until the symptoms of her self-limited disease ceased. CONCLUSION: Immunoapheresis might represent an excellent therapy for certain patients with severe pemphigus vulgaris or pemphigoid gestationis, unresponsive to conventional treatment regimens. We observed rapid improvement of clinical symptoms and no notable side effects.

Miniaturized osmotic pump for oromucosal drug delivery with external readout station.

We report on a miniaturized, exchangeable drug delivery cartridge for Parkinson's Disease which is integrated in a partial removable prosthesis. An osmotic pumping principle uses saliva to release constantly a separately stored drug to the buccal mucosa, thus avoiding first pass metabolism and drug plasma level fluctuations. Therapeutic relevant information and fill level of the cartridge can be determined before and after usage with an external readout station. The selected material combinations of the cartridge fulfill both, functional and regulatory aspects as well as requirements for assembly and packaging, e.g. thermal fusion bonding, solvent bonding and capillary stop bonding. By using the cartridge, highly precise release rates over 97% of its storage capacity with a rate deviation of only 1.1% can be achieved.

Pemphigus vegetans--immunopathological findings in a rare variant of pemphigus vulgaris.

A patient with painful erosions of the oral cavity and the labia minora developed multifocal blisters in inter-triginous areas. These blisters eroded and evolved into papillomatous erosive vegetations. Histopathology and immunopathological investigations confirmed the diagnosis of pemphigus vegetans, mediated by IgG autoantibodies. The circulating IgG1 and IgG4 autoantibodies were exclusively directed against desmoglein 3, as shown by ELISA and indirect immunofluorescence studies. These IgG1 and IgG4 isotypes were also in vivo bound, as demonstrated with immunoperoxidase staining of perilesional skin. Our clinical, biochemical and immunopathological observations confirm the hypothesis that pemphigus vegetans is a variant of pemphigus vulgaris.

Early effects of paroxetine on serotonin storage, plasma levels, and urinary excretion: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors efficiently decrease intraplatelet concentrations of the platelet activator and potent vasoconstrictor serotonin within 2 weeks of treatment. As elevated plasma serotonin levels potentially lead to vascular adverse events, like vasoconstriction, it is of interest to examine whether selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors may acutely increase plasma serotonin levels. Twenty healthy male smoking volunteers received the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors paroxetine 20 mg/d for 18 days in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, block-randomized, 2-way crossover study to characterize the acute effect of paroxetine on serotonin plasma levels and urinary excretion. Paroxetine decreased intraplatelet serotonin concentrations by a median of 16% after 24 hours and by -93% after 18 days (P < 0.001). After 24 hours, there was a slight transient rise in plasma serotonin concentration by 36%-which ranged within physiologic concentrations of the control period. Concomitantly, urinary serotonin excretion increased by 89% after 24 hours. In conclusion, initiation of paroxetine treatment does not increase plasma concentrations of the potent vasoconstrictor serotonin to a pathologically relevant extent.