The consumption of ice-derived resources is associated with higher mercury contamination in an Arctic seabird.

Sea ice plays a fundamental role in Arctic marine environments, by driving primary productivity and sustaining ice-associated ecosystems. Simultaneously, sea ice influences the contamination of Arctic marine organisms, by modifying contaminant cycles or their bioavailability. Changes in sea ice conditions could therefore profoundly impact the functioning of Arctic marine food webs and their contamination.

Cytoarchitectonic Maps of the Human Metathalamus in 3D Space.

The human metathalamus plays an important role in processing visual and auditory information. Understanding its layers and subdivisions is important to gain insights in its function as a subcortical relay station and involvement in various pathologies. Yet, detailed histological references of the microanatomy in 3D space are still missing.

S-Convnet: A Shallow Convolutional Neural Network Architecture for Neuromuscular Activity Recognition Using Instantaneous High-Density Surface EMG Images.

The recent progress in recognizing low-resolution instantaneous high-density surface electromyography (HD-sEMG) images opens up new avenues for the development of more fluid and natural muscle-computer interfaces. However, the existing approaches employed a very large deep convolutional neural network (ConvNet) architecture and complex training schemes for HD-sEMG image recognition, which requires learning of >5.63 million(M) training parameters only during fine-tuning and pre-trained on a very large-scale labeled HD-sEMG training dataset, as a result, it makes high-end resource-bounded and computationally expensive.

Faster Atlantic currents drive poleward expansion of temperate phytoplankton in the Arctic Ocean.

The Arctic marine biome, shrinking with increasing temperature and receding sea-ice cover, is tightly connected to lower latitudes through the North Atlantic. By flowing northward through the European Arctic Corridor (the main Arctic gateway where 80% of in- and outflow takes place), the North Atlantic Waters transport most of the ocean heat, but also nutrients and planktonic organisms toward the Arctic Ocean. Using satellite-derived altimetry observations, we reveal an increase, up to two-fold, in North Atlantic current surface velocities over the last 24 years.

Linking fisheries to land use: How anthropogenic inputs from the watershed shape fish habitat quality.

Aquatic ecosystems are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic stressors, both at local and larger scales. For instance, runoff from intensively cultivated areas leads to higher nutrient and sediment concentrations deteriorating water quality, which potentially trigger trophic state changes. Unfortunately, we have a poor understanding of the complex relationships linking water quality degradation and different ecosystem components.

Arctic seabirds and shrinking sea ice: egg analyses reveal the importance of ice-derived resources.

In the Arctic, sea-ice plays a central role in the functioning of marine food webs and its rapid shrinking has large effects on the biota. It is thus crucial to assess the importance of sea-ice and ice-derived resources to Arctic marine species. Here, we used a multi-biomarker approach combining Highly Branched Isoprenoids (HBIs) with δC and δN to evaluate how much Arctic seabirds rely on sea-ice derived resources during the pre-laying period, and if changes in sea-ice extent and duration affect their investment in reproduction.

Management of Stroke in Neonates and Children: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

Purpose- Much has transpired since the last scientific statement on pediatric stroke was published 10 years ago. Although stroke has long been recognized as an adult health problem causing substantial morbidity and mortality, it is also an important cause of acquired brain injury in young patients, occurring most commonly in the neonate and throughout childhood. This scientific statement represents a synthesis of data and a consensus of the leading experts in childhood cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Coagulopathy in Children With Liver Disease.

It was thought that a high international normalized ratio predicted bleeding in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) and patients were "autoanticoagulated." Contrary to this belief, while patients with CLD experienced bleeding, they also developed thromboses. In the last decade, the prevailing literature challenged the idea that an elevated international normalized ratio increased bleeding risk.

Global distribution of dissolved organic matter along the aquatic continuum: Across rivers, lakes and oceans.

Based on an extensive literature survey containing more than 12,000 paired measurements of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations and absorption of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) distributed over four continents and seven oceans, we described the global distribution and transformation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) along the aquatic continuum across rivers and lakes to oceans. A strong log-linear relationship (R=0.92) between DOC concentration and CDOM absorption at 350nm was observed at a global scale, but was found to be ecosystem-dependent at local and regional scales.

Diagnosis and treatment of antiphospholipid syndrome in childhood: A review.

The antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a multisystem autoimmune disease characterized by recurrent fetal loss and thromboembolic events associated with the presence of elevated titres of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL). The purpose of this review is to summarize what is currently known about the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric APS, to highlight key differences between APS presenting in adults versus children throughout, and to identify areas where future research is needed.

Thrombophilia risk is not increased in children after perinatal stroke.

Perinatal stroke causes cerebral palsy and lifelong disability. Specific diseases are definable, but mechanisms are poorly understood. Evidence suggests possible associations between arterial perinatal stroke and prothrombotic disorders, but population-based, controlled, disease-specific studies are limited.

The Impact of Central Venous Catheters on Pediatric Venous Thromboembolism.

The use of central venous catheters (CVCs) in children is escalating, which is likely linked to the increased incidence of pediatric venous thromboembolism (VTE). In order to better understand the specific risk factors associated with CVC-VTE in children, as well as available prevention methods, a literature review was performed. The overall incidence of CVC-VTE was found to range from 0 to 74%, depending on the patient population, CVC type, imaging modality, and study design.

Immunizations in Children Requiring Warfarin Therapy.

Children with conditions requiring chronic warfarin therapy have increased. The importance of receiving immunizations in this population is magnified due to potential weakness in their immune response. There is concern about immunizing on therapeutic anticoagulation due to risk of hematomas and the influence of vaccine on warfarin metabolism.

Testing the influence of environmental heterogeneity on fish species richness in two biogeographic provinces.

Environmental homogenization in coastal ecosystems impacted by human activities may be an important factor explaining the observed decline in fish species richness. We used fish community data (>200 species) from extensive surveys conducted in two biogeographic provinces (extent >1,000 km) in North America to quantify the relationship between fish species richness and local (grain <10 km(2)) environmental heterogeneity. Our analyses are based on samples collected at nearly 800 stations over a period of five years.

Thrombotic complications of neonates and children with congenital nephrotic syndrome.

Congenital nephrotic syndrome (CNS) refers to a disease presenting with massive proteinuria in association with hypoalbuminemia, hyperlipidemia, and edema at birth or within the first three months of life. In the past, most children with CNS had extremely poor prognosis and succumbed to various complications, usually within the first 6 months. Recent advancements in protein supplementation and nutritional support, renal replacement therapy and renal transplantation in infancy, render these patients to have much better outcomes.

Googling trends in conservation biology.

Web-crawling approaches, that is, automated programs data mining the internet to obtain information about a particular process, have recently been proposed for monitoring early signs of ecosystem degradation or for establishing crop calendars. However, lack of a clear conceptual and methodological framework has prevented the development of such approaches within the field of conservation biology. Our objective was to illustrate how Google Trends, a freely accessible web-crawling engine, can be used to track changes in timing of biological processes, spatial distribution of invasive species, and level of public awareness about key conservation issues.

Colorful niches of phytoplankton shaped by the spatial connectivity in a large river ecosystem: a riverscape perspective.

Large rivers represent a significant component of inland waters and are considered sentinels and integrators of terrestrial and atmospheric processes. They represent hotspots for the transport and processing of organic and inorganic material from the surrounding landscape, which ultimately impacts the bio-optical properties and food webs of the rivers. In large rivers, hydraulic connectivity operates as a major forcing variable to structure the functioning of the riverscape, and--despite increasing interest in large-river studies--riverscape structural properties, such as the underwater spectral regime, and their impact on autotrophic ecological processes remain poorly studied.

Impact of persistent antiphospholipid antibodies on risk of incident symptomatic thromboembolism in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The aim of this study was to estimate the impact of antiphospholipid (aPL) antibodies on the risk of incident thromboembolism (TE; arterial and venous) in children via meta-analysis of published observational studies. A systematic search of electronic databases (Medline, EMBASE, OVID, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library) for studies published from 1966 to 2010 was conducted using keywords in combination both as MeSH terms and text words. Two authors independently screened citations and those meeting the a priori defined inclusion criteria were retained.

Spatial connectivity in a large river system: resolving the sources and fate of dissolved organic matter.

Large rivers are generally heterogeneous and productive systems that receive important inputs of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from terrestrial and in situ sources. Thus, they are likely to play a significant role in the biogeochemical cycling of the DOM flowing to the oceans. The asymmetric spatial gradient driven by directional flow and environmental heterogeneity contributes to the fate of DOM flowing downstream.

Layered surface fluid simulation for surgical training.

We present a novel approach to fluid simulation over complex dynamic geometry designed for the specific context of virtual surgery simulation. The method combines a surface-based fluid simulation model with a multi-layer depth peeling representation to allow realistic yet efficient simulation of bleeding on complex surfaces undergoing geometry and topology modifications. Our implementation allows for fast fluid propagation and accumulation over the entire scene, and runs on the GPU at a constant low cost that is independent of the amount of blood in the scene.

Berlin Heart EXCOR Pediatric ventricular assist device Investigational Device Exemption study: study design and rationale.

Background: Currently, there are no Food and Drug Administration-approved devices available that can provide long-term mechanical circulatory support to smaller children with severe heart failure as a bridge to heart transplant (HT). In recent years, the Berlin Heart EXCOR Pediatric ventricular assist device (VAD) has emerged as a potential treatment option. Systematic data on the safety and efficacy of the EXCOR are limited.