Spatial predictions and uncertainties of forest carbon fluxes for carbon accounting.

Countries have pledged to different national and international environmental agreements, most prominently the climate change mitigation targets of the Paris Agreement. Accounting for carbon stocks and flows (fluxes) is essential for countries that have recently adopted the United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting - ecosystem accounting framework (UNSEEA) as a global statistical standard. In this paper, we analyze how spatial carbon fluxes can be used in support of the UNSEEA carbon accounts in five case countries with available in-situ data.

Assessing the impacts of past and ongoing deforestation on rainfall patterns in South America.

Despite recent advances in modeling forest-rainfall relationships, the current understanding of changes in observed rainfall patterns resulting from historical deforestation remains limited. To address this knowledge gap, we analyzed how 40 years of deforestation has altered rainfall patterns in South America as well as how current Amazonian forest cover sustains rainfall. First, we develop a spatiotemporal neural network model to simulate rainfall as a function of vegetation and climate inputs in South America; second, we assess the rainfall effects of observed deforestation in South America during the periods 1982-2020 and 2000-2020; third, we assess the potential rainfall changes in the Amazon biome under two deforestation scenarios.

Early Biomarker-Guided Prediction of Bloodstream Infection in Critically Ill Patients: C-Reactive Protein, Procalcitonin, and Leukocytes.

Background: Bloodstream infections (BSIs) often lead to critical illness and death. The primary aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of the biomarkers C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), and leukocyte count for the diagnosis of BSI in critically ill patients.

Methods: This was a nested case-control study based on the Procalcitonin And Survival Study (PASS) trial (n = 1200).

The health impacts of Indonesian peatland fires.

Background: Indonesian peatlands have been drained for agricultural development for several decades. This development has made a major contribution to economic development. At the same time, peatland drainage is causing significant air pollution resulting from peatland fires.

Ecosystem services through the lens of indigenous people in the highlands of Cordillera Region, Northern Philippines.

Understanding the perception, use, and prioritization of ecosystem services (ES) is important for shaping local environmental policies. This study assessed for the Cordillera Region, Philippines, Indigenous peoples (IPs) perception on the significance of ES for their well-being, influence of socio-economic factors attributing to these perceptions, and ranked the most valued ES. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a semi-structured questionnaires with 922 households in 48 villages of the Region.

Assessing the monetary value of ecosystem services provided by Gaung - Batang Tuaka Peat Hydrological Unit (KHG), Riau Province.

Peatland plays a pivotal role in providing natural resource production and environmental services for human welfare. However, many studies have mentioned the impact of dryland cultivation in peatland on the shifting carbon balance in the ecosystem that clearly will alter the interaction of these two ecosystem services. The goal of this study, conducted under the framework of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) framework, was to monetary value the ecosystem services (ES) of provisioning and carbon regulating services of the Gaung-Batang Tuaka Peat Hydrological Unit (KHG).

Social media and deep learning capture the aesthetic quality of the landscape.

Peoples' recreation and well-being are closely related to their aesthetic enjoyment of the landscape. Ecosystem service (ES) assessments record the aesthetic contributions of landscapes to peoples' well-being in support of sustainable policy goals. However, the survey methods available to measure these contributions restrict modelling at large scales.

ABO blood types and sepsis mortality.

Background: We aimed to determine if the ABO blood types carry different risks of 30-day mortality, acute kidney injury (AKI), and endothelial damage in critically ill patients with sepsis. This was a retrospective cohort study of three independent cohorts of critically ill patients from the United States and Scandinavia consisting of adults with septic shock. We compared the 30-day mortality across the blood types within each cohort and pooled the results in a meta-analysis.

Intracranial entrapment of a haemodialysis catheter guidewire.

A 49-year-old man with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was hospitalised due to pneumonia and pulmonary embolisms. After subsequently developing septic shock and acute renal failure, he required dialysis. A haemodialysis catheter was planned inserted into the right subclavian vein, the guidewire was introduced using the Seldinger technique.

Development of SEEA water accounts with a hydrological model.

Worldwide, water resources are increasingly under pressure. The Water accounting approach of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) has been developed to inform decision-makers on water supply, use, and quality. However, a critical issue in water accounting is finding data and models to populate SEEA water accounts.

Assessing the health impacts of peatland fires: a case study for Central Kalimantan, Indonesia.

The conversion of Indonesian tropical peatlands has been associated with the recurring problems of peatland fires and smoke affecting humans and the environment. Yet, the local government and public in the affected areas have paid little attention to the impacts and costs of the poor air quality on human health. This study aims to analyse the long-term health impacts of the peat smoke exposure to the local populations.

Ecosystem service change caused by climatological and non-climatological drivers: a Swiss case study.

Understanding the drivers of ecosystem change and their effects on ecosystem services are essential for management decisions and verification of progress towards national and international sustainability policies (e.g., Aichi Biodiversity Targets, Sustainable Development Goals).

Assessing the Capacity of Ecosystems to Supply Ecosystem Services Using Remote Sensing and An Ecosystem Accounting Approach.

Ecosystems contribute to economic development through the supply of ecosystem services such as food and fresh water. Information on ecosystems and their services is required to support policy making, but this information is not captured in economic statistics. Ecosystem accounting has been developed to integrate ecosystems and ecosystem services into national accounts.

Impacts of climate change on cropping patterns in a tropical, sub-humid watershed.

In recent decades, there have been substantial increases in crop production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as a result of higher yields, increased cropping intensity, expansion of irrigated cropping systems, and rainfed cropland expansion. Yet, to date much of the research focus of the impact of climate change on crop production in the coming decades has been on crop yield responses. In this study, we analyse the impact of climate change on the potential for increasing rainfed cropping intensity through sequential cropping and irrigation expansion in central Benin.

Induced hypothermia in patients with septic shock and respiratory failure (CASS): a randomised, controlled, open-label trial.

Background: Animal models of serious infection suggest that 24 h of induced hypothermia improves circulatory and respiratory function and reduces mortality. We tested the hypothesis that a reduction of core temperature to 32-34°C attenuates organ dysfunction and reduces mortality in ventilator-dependent patients with septic shock.

Methods: In this randomised, controlled, open-label trial, we recruited patients from ten intensive care units (ICUs) in three countries in Europe and North America.

Linking planetary boundaries and ecosystem accounting, with an illustration for the Colombian Orinoco river basin.

Economic development has increased pressures on natural resources during the last decades. The concept of planetary boundaries has been developed to propose limits on human activities based on earth processes and ecological thresholds. However, this concept was not developed to downscale planetary boundaries to sub-global level.

Quantifying trade-offs between future yield levels, food availability and forest and woodland conservation in Benin.

Meeting the dual objectives of food security and ecosystem protection is a major challenge in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). To this end agricultural intensification is considered desirable, yet, there remain uncertainties regarding the impact of climate change on opportunities for agricultural intensification and the adequacy of intensification options given the rapid population growth. We quantify trade-offs between levels of yield gap closure, food availability and forest and woodland conservation under different scenarios.

Prediction of non-recovery from ventilator-demanding acute respiratory failure, ARDS and death using lung damage biomarkers: data from a 1200-patient critical care randomized trial.

Background: It is unclear whether biomarkers of alveolar damage (surfactant protein D, SPD) or conductive airway damage (club cell secretory protein 16, CC16) measured early after intensive care admittance are associated with one-month clinical respiratory prognosis. If patients who do not recover respiratory function within one month can be identified early, future experimental lung interventions can be aimed toward this high-risk group. We aimed to determine, in a heterogenous critically ill population, whether baseline profound alveolar damage or conductive airway damage has clinical respiratory impact one month after intensive care admittance.

Defining Ecosystem Assets for Natural Capital Accounting.

In natural capital accounting, ecosystems are assets that provide ecosystem services to people. Assets can be measured using both physical and monetary units. In the international System of Environmental-Economic Accounting, ecosystem assets are generally valued on the basis of the net present value of the expected flow of ecosystem services.

Benefits and costs of oil palm expansion in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, under different policy scenarios.

Deforestation and oil palm expansion in Central Kalimantan province are among the highest in Indonesia. This study examines the physical and monetary impacts of oil palm expansion in Central Kalimantan up to 2025 under three policy scenarios. Our modelling approach combines a spatial logistic regression model with a set of rules governing land use change as a function of the policy scenario.

Who Benefits from Ecosystem Services? A Case Study for Central Kalimantan, Indonesia.

There is increasing experience with the valuation of ecosystem services. However, to date, less attention has been devoted to who is actually benefiting from ecosystem services. This nevertheless is a key issue, in particular, if ecosystem services analysis and valuation is used to support environmental management.

Danish national sedation strategy. Targeted therapy of discomfort associated with critical illness. Danish Society of Intensive Care Medicine (DSIT) and the Danish Society of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (DASAIM).

Sedation of critically ill patients undergoing mechanical ventilation should be minimized or completely avoided. Only in selected situations is sedation indicated as first line therapy (increased intracranial pressure or therapeutic hypothermia). The critical care physicians primary objective should be to focus on the reversible causes of agitation, such as: pain, anxiety, delirium, dyspnea, withdrawal symptoms, sleep or gastrointestinal symptoms.

Profound endothelial damage predicts impending organ failure and death in sepsis.

Endothelial damage contributes to organ failure and mortality in sepsis, but the extent of the contribution remains poorly quantified. Here, we examine the association between biomarkers of superficial and profound endothelial damage (syndecan-1 and soluble thrombomodulin [sTM], respectively), organ failure, and death in sepsis. The data from a clinical trial, including critically ill patients predominantly suffering sepsis (Clinicaltrials.