Comparison of Heating Strategies on Soil Water Measurement Using Actively Heated Fiber Optics on Contrasting Textured Soils.

The actively heated fiber optics (AHFO) technique has the potential to measure soil water at high spatial and temporal resolutions, and thus it can bridge the measurement gap from point to large scales. However, the availability of power might restrict its use, since high power is required to heat long fiber optic cables under field conditions; this can be a challenge for long-term soil water monitoring under field conditions. This study investigated the performance of different heating strategies (power intensity and heating duration) on soil water measurement by the AHFO technique on three different textured soils.

Can Early Warning Systems Enhance Detection of High Risk Patients by Rapid Response Teams?

Purpose: We sought to evaluate if incorporating an early warning system (EWS), the Visensia Safety Index (VSI) and the National Early Warning Systems 2 (NEWS2), may lead to earlier identification of rapid response team (RRT) patients.

Methods: This was a retrospective study (2015-2018) of patients experiencing RRT activation within a tertiary care network. We evaluated the proportion of patients with an EWS alert prior to RRT activation and their associated outcomes (primary: hospital mortality).

Effects of Initial Soil Moisture, Clod Size, and Clay Content on Ammonia Volatilization after Subsurface Band Application of Urea.

Ammonia losses from broadcast urea vary based on soil physical and chemical properties; however, less is known about how soil properties affect NH losses after subsurface banding of urea. Therefore, three field trials were established to determine how initial soil moisture, clod size, and clay content affect NH volatilization from subsurface-banded (0.025-m depth) urea using wind tunnels.

The heat penalty of walkable neighbourhoods.

"Walkability" or walking-friendliness is generally considered a favourable attribute of a neighbourhood that supports physical activity and improves health outcomes. Walkable neighbourhoods tend to have high-density infrastructure and relatively high amounts of concrete and pavement for sidewalks and streets, all of which can elevate local urban temperatures. The objective of this study was to assess whether there is a "heat penalty" associated with more walkable neighbourhoods in Montréal, Québec, Canada, using air temperature measurements taken in real time at street level during a heat event.

Multi-year net ecosystem carbon balance of a restored peatland reveals a return to carbon sink.

Peatlands after drainage and extraction are large sources of carbon (C) to the atmosphere. Restoration, through re-wetting and revegetation, aims to return the C sink function by re-establishing conditions similar to that of an undrained peatland. However, the time needed to re-establish C sequestration is not well constrained due to the lack of multi-year measurements.

Soil Water Measurement Using Actively Heated Fiber Optics at Field Scale.

Several studies have demonstrated the potential of actively heated fiber optics (AHFO) to measure soil water content (SWC) at high spatial and temporal resolutions. This study tested the feasibility of the AHFO technique to measure soil water in the surface soil of a crop grown field over a growing season using an in-situ calibration approach. Heat pulses of five minutes duration were applied at a rate of 7.

Modelling CO emissions from water surface of a boreal hydroelectric reservoir.

To quantify CO emissions from water surface of a reservoir that was shaped by flooding the boreal landscape, we developed a daily time-step reservoir biogeochemistry model. We calibrated the model using the measured concentrations of dissolved organic and inorganic carbon (C) in a young boreal hydroelectric reservoir, Eastmain-1 (EM-1), in northern Quebec, Canada. We validated the model against observed CO fluxes from an eddy covariance tower in the middle of EM-1.

Warming effects on the urban hydrology in cold climate regions.

While approximately 338 million people in the Northern hemisphere live in regions that are regularly snow covered in winter, there is little hydro-climatologic knowledge in the cities impacted by snow. Using observations and modelling we have evaluated the energy and water exchanges of four cities that are exposed to wintertime snow. We show that the presence of snow critically changes the impact that city design has on the local-scale hydrology and climate.

A fundamental relationship between intraventricular conduction and heart rate.

Background: Existence of a relationship between the electrocardiographic QRS interval duration and the diurnally varying heart rate, of consistent sign and magnitude, is controversial and the relationship has not been fully characterized in normal populations.

Methods And Results: We analyzed the QRS-RR interval relationship in 884 Holter recordings in 410 normal subjects participating in 5 clinical trials. The slope of the linear regression of QRS on RR was positive in 93% of subjects with an average slope of 0.

Modeling surface energy fluxes and thermal dynamics of a seasonally ice-covered hydroelectric reservoir.

The thermal dynamics of human created northern reservoirs (e.g., water temperatures and ice cover dynamics) influence carbon processing and air-water gas exchange.

Daily steps are low year-round and dip lower in fall/winter: findings from a longitudinal diabetes cohort.

Background: Higher walking levels lead to lower mortality in type 2 diabetes, but inclement weather may reduce walking. In this patient population, we conducted a longitudinal cohort study to objectively quantify seasonal variations both in walking and in two vascular risk factors associated with activity levels, hemoglobin A1C and blood pressure.

Methods: Between June 2006 and July 2009, volunteer type 2 diabetes patients in Montreal, Quebec, Canada underwent two weeks of pedometer measurement up to four times over a one year follow-up period (i.

Action and puzzle video games prime different speed/accuracy tradeoffs.

To understand the way in which video-game play affects subsequent perception and cognitive strategy, two experiments were performed in which participants played either a fast-action game or a puzzle-solving game. Before and after video-game play, participants performed a task in which both speed and accuracy were emphasized. In experiment 1 participants engaged in a location task in which they clicked a mouse on the spot where a target had appeared, and in experiment 2 they were asked to judge which of four shapes was most similar to a target shape.

Automated QT analysis that learns from cardiologist annotations.

Background: Reliable, automated QT analysis would allow the use of all the ECG data recorded during continuous Holter monitoring, rather than just intermittent 10-second ECGs.

Methods: BioQT is an automated ECG analysis system based on a Hidden Markov Model, which is trained to segment ECG signals using a database of thousands of annotated waveforms. Each sample of the ECG signal is encoded by its wavelet transform coefficients.

Walking behaviour and glycemic control in type 2 diabetes: seasonal and gender differences--study design and methods.

Background: The high glucose levels typically occurring among adults with type 2 diabetes contribute to blood vessel injury and complications such as blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, and stroke. Higher physical activity levels are associated with improved glycemic control, as measured by hemoglobin A1C. A 1% absolute increase in A1C is associated with an 18% increased risk for heart disease or stroke.

How to count curves: from nineteenth-century problems to twenty-first-century solutions.

Find the next term in the sequence 1, 1, 12, 620, 87304. This particular problem belongs to a branch of mathematics called enumerative geometry. This is concerned with curve-counting - counting the number of curves that can be drawn on a particular geometric object.

Medicines and older people: a nurses' guide to administration.

Older people represent only 18% of the population but receive approximately 45% of all prescribed medication in the UK (Offerhaus, 1997). Problems arising from drug therapy are numerous, as medication will often act in a number of complex and even surprising ways. As the number of older people grows, it becomes increasingly necessary for nurses to recognize and understand the legal and professional issues relating to the administration of medicines.

Unilateral congenital fibrosis syndrome presenting with hypertropia.

A case of sporadic unilateral congenital fibrosis is described. The patient had the additional unusual features of primary position hypertropia and minimal ptosis.

Whiplash and its effect on the visual system.

Whiplash or indirect injuries to the neck as a consequence of motor vehicle collisions are a common occurrence in which the frequency of ocular complications is largely unknown. Ophthalmic and oculomotor function was investigated in a longitudinal study of 39 cases who had their initial ophthalmological assessment within one week of the whiplash injury. Ten of 39 cases had ocular symptoms and signs which developed shortly after the accident.

Congenital nystagmus, anisomyopia, and hemimegalencephaly in the Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber syndrome.

Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber syndrome is a rare phacomatosis of uncertain aetiology, variable expression, and disputed pathogenesis, whose cardinal signs are cutaneous angiomas, varicosities, tissue hypertrophy, and arteriovenous fistulae. The case reported herein is the first description of an unusual variant with limb and facial hemihypertrophy, congenital nystagmus, progressive ipsilateral anisomyopia, and strabismus. We review the ophthalmic findings and report the co-occurrence of hemimegalencephaly with congenital nystagmus and ipsilateral axial anisomyopia.

Convergence excess esotropia treated surgically with fadenoperation and medical rectus muscle recessions.

Convergence excess esotropia has been treated with bifocals, miotics, medial rectus recession(s), fadenoperation, or a combination of these. However, comparatively few studies on the sensory status of these patients exist. We present the sensory findings in 31 children treated surgically.

Orbital blowout fractures--the influence of age on surgical outcome.

We report the frequency of troublesome diplopia in 17 patients (11 patients less than or equal to 21 years) who underwent surgical repair of traumatic orbital blowout fractures. Thirteen patients had primary surgery performed within 21 days of injury, 2 patients at 4 and 6 weeks and 2 cases at 6 and 24 months. The latter continues to complain of diplopia.