Unlocking ground-based imagery for habitat mapping

Fine-grained environmental data across large extents are needed to resolve the processes that impact species communities from local to global scales. Ground-based images (GBIs) have the potential to capture habitat complexity at biologically relevant spatial and temporal resolutions. Moving beyond existing applications of GBIs for species identification and monitoring ecological change from repeat photography, we describe promising approaches to habitat mapping, leveraging multimodal data and computer vision. We illustrate empirically how GBIs can be applied to predict distributions of species at fine scales along Street View routes, or to automatically classify and quantify habitat features. Further, we outline future research avenues using GBIs that can bring a leap forward in analyses for ecology and conservation with this underused resource.

Abstract CT103: Final results for OptimalTTF-1: Optimizing Tumor Treating Fields with targeted skull remodeling surgery for first recurrence glioblastoma: Phase 1 trial

Background: We present a clinical open label, phase-1 trial (OptimalTTF-1, NCT02893137), which aims to test a novel treatment for first recurrence glioblastoma (rGBM). The aim of the treatment is to optimize the electric field generated by Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) with targeted and individualized skull-remodeling surgery (SR-surgery). Selectively placed burrholes reduces the electric resistance created by the bone and thus improves the electric field focally. Preclinical research has indicated this conclusion. The final analysis examined the toxicity and efficacy of this combined intervention in addition to best practice chemotherapy.

Methods: Trial period was from Dec2016 to Mar2019. Primary endpoint was the frequency of adverse events (CTCAEv4.0) and secondary endpoints were overall survival and progression-free survival.Major eligibility: ≥18-years, focal supratentorial rGBM, KPS≥70, and a minimum calculated increase in TTFields strength of ≥25% after SR-surgery. At the time-of-analysis patients were censored for time-to-event endpoints.

Results: 15 patients (11M/4F) were included out of the 18 screened. Patient baseline (median, (range)) showed, age 57(39;67), skull defect area=10.6cm2(7;37) and improved TTFields strength by 43%(25;59). All tumors were IDH-wt and 4 had MGMT methylation. Four were excluded before initiation of TTFields (withdrawal of consent, radionecrosis, postoperative infection and cognitive deficit). Therefor 11 underwent the treatment. TTFields compliance was 90% (48;98), treatment duration 6.8months(2.3;20.4) and average follow-up was 10months.Regarding toxicity, grade 3 AE was the highest recorded with 12 episodes (6 seizures, 1 headache, 1 fatigue, 1 TIA, 1 diarrhea, 1 DVT and 1 postop infection. Most common AE grade 1-2 was headache 60% CI95%=[32;84], fatigue 53%, CI95%=[27;79], skin rash 47%, CI95%=[21;73], and nausea 40%, CI95%=[16;68]. Regarding survival following was observed, OS=15.0 months, CI95%=[9.6;16.2], and OS12=64%, CI95%=[35;85], PFS=8.8 months, CI95%=[6.2;13.2] and PFS6=64%, CI95%=[35;85].

Conclusion: TTFields coupled with SR-surgery is safe and does not give additional toxicity. Trial data indicates improved overall survival in rGBM. More research is needed, which is why a phase 2 clinical trial is underway (NCT04223999).

Citation Format: Nikola Mikic, Anders R. Korshøj, Slavka Lukacova, Jens C. Sørensen, Frederik L. Hansen, Axel Thielscher, Søren O. Cortnum, Trine L. Guldberg, Yasmin Ramshad-Lassen, Christian Rahbek, Kåre Eg Severinsen, Gorm von Oettingen. Final results for OptimalTTF-1: Optimizing Tumor Treating Fields with targeted skull remodeling surgery for first recurrence glioblastoma: Phase 1 trial [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr CT103.

OptimalTTF-1: Enhancing tumor treating fields therapy with skull remodeling surgery. A clinical phase I trial in adult recurrent glioblastoma

BACKGROUND

Preclinical studies suggest that skull remodeling surgery (SR-surgery) increases the dose of tumor treating fields (TTFields) in glioblastoma (GBM) and prevents wasteful current shunting through the skin. SR-surgery introduces minor skull defects to focus the cancer-inhibiting currents toward the tumor and increase the treatment dose. This study aimed to test the safety and feasibility of this concept in a phase I setting.

METHODS

Fifteen adult patients with the first recurrence of GBM were treated with personalized SR-surgery, TTFields, and physician's choice oncological therapy. The primary endpoint was toxicity and secondary endpoints included standard efficacy outcomes.

RESULTS

SR-surgery resulted in a mean skull defect area of 10.6 cm2 producing a median TTFields enhancement of 32% (range 25-59%). The median TTFields treatment duration was 6.8 months and the median compliance rate 90%. Patients received either bevacizumab, bevacizumab/irinotecan, or temozolomide rechallenge. We observed 71 adverse events (AEs) of grades 1 (52%), 2 (35%), and 3 (13%). There were no grade 4 or 5 AEs or intervention-related serious AEs. Six patients experienced minor TTFields-induced skin rash. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 4.6 months and the PFS rate at 6 months was 36%. The median overall survival (OS) was 15.5 months and the OS rate at 12 months was 55%.

CONCLUSIONS

TTFields therapy combined with SR-surgery and medical oncological treatment is safe and nontoxic and holds the potential to improve the outcome for GBM patients through focal dose enhancement in the tumor.

SURG-01. OPTIMALTTF-1: FINAL RESULTS OF A PHASE 1 STUDY: FIRST GLIOBLASTOMA RECURRENCE EXAMINING TARGETED SKULL REMODELING SURGERY TO ENHANCE TUMOR TREATING FIELDS STRENGTH

BACKGROUND

OptimalTTF-1(open-label phase-1) combines Tumor Treating Fields(TTFields) treatment with targeted skull-remodeling surgery(SR-surgery) aiming to enhance the electric field strength in the tumor(NCT02893137). SR-surgery aims to reduce the electrical impedance of the skull. Pre-clinical modeling indicates that SR-surgery increases the electric field strength. The final analysis examined toxicity and efficacy of TTFields combined with SR-surgery and best-choice-chemotherapy in first glioblastoma recurrence(rGBM).

METHODS

18 patients were screened and 15 (4F/11M) enrolled between Dec2016 and Mar2019. The primary endpoint was frequency of serious adverse events (CTCAEv4.0) and secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Eligible patients were ≥18-years, had focal supratentorial rGBM, KPS≥70, and a minimum calculated increase in TTFields strength of ≥25% after SR-surgery. At the time-of-analysis patients were censored for time-to-event endpoints.

RESULTS

Baseline data(median (range)) demonstrated a patient age of 57(39;67), skull defect area=10.6 cm2(7;37), increase in the TTFields strength by 43%(25;59). All tumors were IDH-wt and 4 had MGMT-promoter methylation. In total, 4 patients were excluded from the study prior to TTFields initiation (consent withdrawal, radionecrosis/non-recurrence, postoperative infection and neurodeficit), 11 patients (2F/9M) underwent treatment. Treatment compliance was 90%(48;98), mean treatment duration and follow-up was 6.8 months(2.3;20.4) and 10 months respectively. Grade 1–2 AEs included, headache 60% CI95%=[32;84], fatigue 53%, CI95%=[27;79], skin rash 47%, CI95%=[21;73], and nausea 40%, CI95%=[16;68]. No grade 3 SAEs were related to the intervention (6 seizures, 1 headache, 1 fatigue, 1 TIA, 1 post-op infection, 1 diarrhea and 1 DVT). Efficacy outcomes were PFS6=64%, CI95%=[35;85], PFS=8.8 months, CI95%=[6.2;13.2], OS=15.0 months, CI95%=[9.6;16.2], and OS12=64%, CI95%=[35;85].

CONCLUSION

Targeted SR-surgery combined with TTFields is safe and does not induce additional toxicity. Furthermore, it potentially increases overall survival in rGBM. A phase 2 clinical trial is currently being planned.

P05.03 OptimalTTF-1: Final results of a phase 1 study at first glioblastoma recurrence examining targeted craniotomy to enhance Tumor Treating Fields intensity

BACKGROUND

OptimalTTF-1 is an open-label phase-1 study on the combination of Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) treatment together with targeted skull remodeling surgery aiming to enhance the electric field intensity in the brain (NCT02893137). Skull-remodeling surgery (SR-surgery) in this trial aims to reduce the electrical impedance of the skull. Pre-clinical modeling experiments indicate that these procedures may increase the intensity of the applied electric field. The final analysis this trial examined primarily toxicity of (TTFields) in combination with SR-surgery and best-choice chemotherapy in first glioblastoma recurrence (rGBM).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

15 patients (4 female and 11 male) were enrolled into the trial, which was active from December 2016 to March 2019. The primary endpoint was frequency of serious adverse events (CTCAEv4.0) and among the secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS).Eligible patients were ≥18 years of age, had focal supratentorial rGBM, a KPS ≥60, and a minimum increase in TTFields i by ≥25% after SR-surgery, which was afterwards verified by computation field calculations. At the time-of-analysis patients were censored for time-to-event endpoints.

RESULTS

The baseline data (median (range)) demonstrated a patient age of 57 (39;67), skull defect area= 10.6 cm2 (7;37), and an increase in the TTFields intensity by 43% (25;59). All of the examined GBM tumors were IDH-wt and 4 of them carried an MGMT-Promoter methylation. In total, 4 patients were excluded from the study because of the following reasons: withdraw of consent, radionecrosis/non-recurrence, postoperative infection and neurodeficit, prior to treatment start. 11 patients (2 female/9 male) were treated with the study procedure.Headache 60% CI95%= [32; 84], fatigue 53%, CI95%= [27; 79], skin rash 47%, CI95%= [21; 73], and nausea 40%, CI95%= [16; 68] were found to be the most common AE of grade 1–2. With respect to grade 3 SAE, 6 seizures, 1 headache, 1 fatigue, 1 TIA, 1 post-op infection, 1 diarrhea and 1 DVT were observed. However, no device- related serious adverse events (SAEs) or grade 4–5 were reported. With respect to the secondary endpoints of OS and PFS, the study revealed that the PFS6 was 64%, CI95%= [35; 85], PFS= 8.8 months, CI95%= [6.2; 13.2], OS= 15.0 months, CI95%= [9.6;16.2], and OS12= 64%, CI95%= [35;85].The treatment compliance was 90% (48; 98) and the mean treatment duration was 6.8 months (2.3; 20.4).

CONCLUSION

The results of this study demonstrate that targeted craniotomy combined with TTFields is safe and does not induce additional toxicity. Therefore, this treatment regimen, by increasing the intensity of the electric field, could potentially result in significant improvement of overall survival in patients suffering from recurrent glioblastoma. Further evaluation of this concept in a phase 2 clinical trial is currently being planned.

Relative effectiveness of insects versus hummingbirds as pollinators of Rubiaceae plants across elevation in Dominica, Caribbean

Most angiosperms rely on animal pollination for reproduction, but the dependence on specific pollinator groups varies greatly between species and localities. Notably, such dependence may be influenced by both floral traits and environmental conditions. Despite its importance, their joint contribution has rarely been studied at the assemblage level. At two elevations on the Caribbean island of Dominica, we measured the floral traits and the relative contributions of insects versus hummingbirds as pollinators of plants in the Rubiaceae family. Pollinator importance was measured as visitation rate (VR) and single visit pollen deposition (SVD), which were combined to assess overall pollinator effectiveness (PE). In the wet and cool Dominican highland, we found that hummingbirds were relatively more frequent and effective pollinators than insects, whereas insects and hummingbirds were equally frequent and effective pollinators at the warmer and less rainy midelevation. Furthermore, floral traits correlated independently of environment with the relative importance of pollinators, hummingbirds being more important in plant species having flowers with long and wide corollas producing higher volumes of dilute nectar. Our findings show that both environmental conditions and floral traits influence whether insects or hummingbirds are the most important pollinators of plants in the Rubiaceae family, highlighting the complexity of plant-pollinator systems.

Coagulation Profile after Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage: A Cohort Study

BACKGROUND

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) causes death or disability and the incidence increases with age. Knowledge of acute hemostatic function in patients with ICH without anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapy is sparse. Increased knowledge of the coagulation profile in the acute phase of ICH could improve acute treatment and recovery. We investigated coagulation at admission and changes in coagulation during the first 24hours after symptom onset.

METHODS

Enrolled were 41 ICH patients without anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy admitted to Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark. Blood samples were collected at admission, 6, and 24hours after symptom onset. Thromboelastometry (ROTEM), thrombin generation, and thrombin-antithrombin (TAT) complex were analyzed. Clinical outcome was evaluated using the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale, the Modified Rankin Score, and mortality.

RESULTS

At admission, compared with healthy individuals, ICH patients had increased maximum clot firmness (EXTEM P < .0001; INTEM P < .0001; FIBTEM P < .0001), increased platelet maximum clot elasticity (P < .0001) in ROTEM, higher peak thrombin (P < .0001) and endogenous thrombin potential (P = .01) in thrombin generation, and elevated TAT complex levels. During 24hours after significantly, while thrombin generation showed decreased peak thrombin (P < .0001) and endogenous thrombin potential (P < .0001). Coagulation test results did not differ between patients when stratified according to clinical outcome.

CONCLUSIONS

ICH patients without anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy demonstrated activated coagulation at admission and within 24hours after symptom onset.

Drought in Africa caused delayed arrival of European songbirds

Despite an overall advancement in breeding area arrival, one of the latest spring arrivals in northwest Europe since 1950 of several trans-Saharan songbird species occurred in 2011. Year-round tracking of red-backed shrikes and thrush nightingales revealed that the cause of the delay was a prolongation of stopover time during spring migration at the Horn of Africa, which was affected by extreme drought. Our results help to establish a direct link at the individual level between changes in local climate during migration and arrival and breeding condition in Europe thousands of kilometers further north.

Transmission of Salmonella between wildlife and meat-production animals in Denmark

AIMS

To investigate the transmission of Salmonella spp. between production animals (pigs and cattle) and wildlife on production animal farms in Denmark.

METHODS AND RESULTS

In the winter and summer of 2001 and 2002, 3622 samples were collected from Salmonella-infected and noninfected herds of pigs and cattle and surrounding wildlife. Salmonella was detected in wildlife on farms carrying Salmonella-positive production animals and only during the periods when Salmonella was detected in the production animals. The presence of Salmonella Typhimurium in wild birds significantly correlated to their migration pattern and food preference.

CONCLUSIONS

Salmonella was transmitted from infected herds of production animals (cattle and pigs) to wildlife that lived amongst or in close proximity to them.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

Salmonella in animal food products is associated with the occurrence of Salmonella in primary animal production. Strategies to control the introduction and spread of infection should include wildlife management, as the nearby wildlife may act as reservoirs for Salmonella spp. and/or may be passive carriers of the bacteria.

Modeling freshwater snail habitat suitability and areas of potential snail-borne disease transmission in Uganda

Geographic information system (GIS-based modeling of an intermediate host snail species environmental requirements using known occurrence records can provide estimates of its spatial distribution. When other data are lacking, this can be used as a rough spatial prediction of potential snail-borne disease transmission areas. Furthermore, knowledge of abiotic factors affecting intra-molluscan parasitic development can be used to make "masks" based on remotely sensed climatic data, and these can in turn be used to refine these predictions. We used data from a recent freshwater snail survey from Uganda, environmental data and the genetic algorithm for rule-set prediction (GARP) to map the potential distribution of snail species known to act as intermediate hosts of several human and animal parasites. The results suggest that large areas of Uganda are suitable habitats for many of these snail species, indicating a large potential for disease transmission. The lack of parasitological data still makes it difficult to determine the magnitude of actual disease transmission, but the predicted snail distributions might be used as indicators of potential present and future risk areas. Some of the predicted snail distribution maps were furthermore combined with temperature masks delineating suitable temperature regimes of the parasites they host. This revealed the coinciding suitable areas for snail and parasite, but also areas suitable for host snails, but apparently not for the parasites. Assuming that the developed models correctly reflect areas suitable for transmission, the applied approach could prove useful for targeting control interventions.

Diversification of tanagers, a species rich bird group, from lowlands to montane regions of South America

Synopsis The process of diversification since the late Tertiary was studied by linking together well-resolved phylogenies and species distributions for tanagers (Aves, Thraupini). Species richness patterns reveal very high densities of range-restricted species in the Andes, and to a lesser extent in the Atlantic forests of south-eastern Brazil, and moderate densities of widespread species in the tropical lowlands. Contemporary climate explains well the variation in species richness for the 25% most widespread species; for the remaining 75% of species with more restricted distributions, variation can only be explained well from topography and landscape complexity. Phylogenetically old species are mainly found along the Andes and along the Rio coast of Brazil. Most other areas outside the Andes probably had very moderate rates of later diversification. In contrast, the humid tropical Andes region was a centre of intensive speciation throughout the evolutionary history of the group, and species richness patterns here seem largely to be driven by the rate of speciation, with further diversification from the highlands into adjacent lowlands. The diversification process in montane areas may be related to high persistence of lineages in specific areas, something that may be related to how climatic changes are moderated by local topography.

Geometric constraints explain much of the species richness pattern in African birds

The world contains boundaries (e.g., continental edge for terrestrial taxa) that impose geometric constraints on the distribution of species ranges. Thus, contrary to traditional thinking, the expected species richness pattern in absence of ecological or physiographical factors is unlikely to be uniform. Species richness has been shown to peak in the middle of a bounded one-dimensional domain, even in the absence of ecological or physiographical factors. Because species ranges are not linear, an extension of the approach to two dimensions is necessary. Here we present a two-dimensional null model accounting for effects of geometric constraints. We use the model to examine the effects of continental edge on the distribution of terrestrial animals in Africa and compare the predictions with the observed pattern of species richness in birds endemic to the continent. Latitudinal, longitudinal, and two-dimensional patterns of species richness are predicted well from the modeled null effects alone. As expected, null effects are of high significance for wide ranging species only. Our results highlight the conceptual significance of an until recently neglected constraint from continental shape alone and support a more cautious analysis of species richness patterns at this scale.

Multiscale assessment of patterns of avian species richness

The search for a common cause of species richness gradients has spawned more than 100 explanatory hypotheses in just the past two decades. Despite recent conceptual advances, further refinement of the most plausible models has been stifled by the difficulty of compiling high-resolution databases at continental scales. We used a database of the geographic ranges of 2,869 species of birds breeding in South America (nearly a third of the world's living avian species) to explore the influence of climate, quadrat area, ecosystem diversity, and topography on species richness gradients at 10 spatial scales (quadrat area, approximately 12,300 to approximately 1,225,000 km(2)). Topography, precipitation, topography x latitude, ecosystem diversity, and cloud cover emerged as the most important predictors of regional variability of species richness in regression models incorporating 16 independent variables, although ranking of variables depended on spatial scale. Direct measures of ambient energy such as mean and maximum temperature were of ancillary importance. Species richness values for 1 degrees x 1 degrees latitude-longitude quadrats in the Andes (peaking at 845 species) were approximately 30-250% greater than those recorded at equivalent latitudes in the central Amazon basin. These findings reflect the extraordinary abundance of species associated with humid montane regions at equatorial latitudes and the importance of orography in avian speciation. In a broader context, our data reinforce the hypothesis that terrestrial species richness from the equator to the poles is ultimately governed by a synergism between climate and coarse-scale topographic heterogeneity.

Conservation conflicts across Africa

There is increasing evidence that areas of outstanding conservation importance may coincide with dense human settlement or impact. We tested the generality of these findings using 1 degree-resolution data for sub-Saharan Africa. We find that human population density is positively correlated with species richness of birds, mammals, snakes, and amphibians. This association holds for widespread, narrowly endemic, and threatened species and looks set to persist in the face of foreseeable population growth. Our results contradict earlier expectations of low conflict based on the idea that species richness decreases and human impact increases with primary productivity. We find that across Africa, both variables instead exhibit unimodal relationships with productivity. Modifying priority-setting to take account of human density shows that, at this scale, conflicts between conservation and development are not easily avoided, because many densely inhabited grid cells contain species found nowhere else.

Detection of macro-ecological patterns in South American hummingbirds is affected by spatial scale

Scale is widely recognized as a fundamental conceptual problem in biology, but the question of whether species-richness patterns vary with scale is often ignored in macro-ecological analyses, despite the increasing application of such data in international conservation programmes. We tested for scaling effects in species-richness gradients with spatially scaled data for 241 species of South American hummingbirds (Trochilidae). Analyses revealed that scale matters above and beyond the effect of quadrat area. Species richness was positively correlated with latitude and topographical relief at ten different spatial scales spanning two orders of magnitude (ca. 12,300 to ca. 1,225,000 km2). Surprisingly, when the influence of topography was removed, the conditional variation in species richness explained by latitude fell precipitously to insignificance at coarser spatial scales. The perception of macro-ecological pattern thus depends directly upon the scale of analysis. Although our results suggest there is no single correct scale for macro-ecological analyses, the averaging effect of quadrat sampling at coarser geographical scales obscures the fine structure of species-richness gradients and localized richness peaks, decreasing the power of statistical tests to discriminate the causal agents of regional richness gradients. Ideally, the scale of analysis should be varied systematically to provide the optimal resolution of macro-ecological pattern.