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The landscape structure influences the local wind field by lowering the wind speed and thus reducing the wind erosion risk. An important parameter is the height of each landscape element, as this determines the length of wind protection behind it. Further determining parameters are the wind speeds above a threshold value for initiating wind erosion and the corresponding wind directions. The presented method combines heights of landscape elements and the directional transport capacities of erosive wind speeds to derive a map of the spatial wind speed reduction by landscape structures. This map can be combined with the soil-derived erodibility map to get finally a wind erosion risk map which includes landscape effects.•The ArcGIS toolbox "WERA" allows a detailed analysis of the landscape structure on wind erosion processes,.•The method allows both the identification of risk areas and needs for additional plantings of LE.•The area-specific query determines the wind erosion risk for field blocks, districts or municipalities., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Aim: Low Back Pain (LBP) is a prevalent condition. Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has emerged as a more effective, long-term treatment compared to conventional medical management (CMM). The DISTINCT study enrolled and randomized chronic LBP patients with no indication of traditional spine surgery. This analysis focuses comparing study outcomes on patients initially randomized to receive CMM treatment and subsequently crossed over to SCS after 6 months., Purpose: To compare the therapeutic effectiveness and cost-efficiency of passive recharge burst SCS to CMM., Patients and Methods: A total of 269 patients were enrolled with 162 randomly assigned to SCS and 107 to CMM. The DISTINCT study design allowed a crossover to the alternative treatment arm after 6 months. Patients underwent a trial and received a permanent implant if they reported ≥50% pain reduction. Outcome analysis included pain (NRS), disability (ODI), catastrophizing (PCS), quality of life (PROMIS-29) and health care utilization., Results: Seventy out of eighty-one patients opted to cross over to trial SCS at 6M with 94% (66/70) undergoing a trial. Among those, 88% (58/66) reported a ≥50% or more pain relief and 55 received a permanent implant. At 12M visit, 71.4% reported a ≥50% pain improvement sustained at the 18M visit, with 24.5% (12/49) indicating a ≥80% improvement. Disability reductions (79% meeting the minimally important difference of a 13-point decrease), decreased catastrophizing, and significant improvements in all PROMIS-29 domains were noted. Furthermore, 42% of the patients reported decreased or discontinued opioid usage. Clinical benefits at the 12M visit were sustained through the 18M visit accompanied by a significant reduction in healthcare utilization and a $1214 cost savings., Conclusion: SCS demonstrates superior, long-term performance and safety outcomes compared to CMM therapy in LBP patients who received both CMM and SCS therapy. Additionally, SCS patients experienced reduced healthcare resource utilization and lower costs compared to those receiving CMM., Competing Interests: Timothy Deer has consulting agreements with Abbott, Saluda, Nalu, and SPR Therapeutics and has received grant support from Vertos, SpineThera, Mainstay, Cornerloc, Boston Scientific, PainTeq, Spinal Simplicity, Biotronik, Aurora, Nervonik, Saluda, Nalu, and SPR Therapeutics. Timothy Deer has stocks or stock options with Saluda, Nalu, and SPR Therapeutics. Jacqueline Weisbein has consulting agreements with Abbott, Vertos, Saluda, Biotronik and SI Bone. She has received payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speaking bureaus or educational events from Abbott and Saluda. Jacqueline Weisbein has received grants from Abbvie, Medtronic, Saluda, and SI Bone. Udoka Okaro is an employee of Abbott. Denis Patterson has received grant/research support from Abbott, Flowonix, Nevro, Saluda, Vertiflex. Denis Patterson has consulting agreements with Aurora Spine, Abbvie, Nevro, Abbott, AIS, Allergan, Amgen, CornerLoc, Flowonix, Lundbeck, PainTEQ, Pajunk Medical, Saluda, Spark Biomedical, Vertos and has received honoraria from Abbott, Allergan, Amgen, Vertos, CornerLoc, Lundbeck, PainTEQ and Saluda. He also has stock or stock options with CornerLoc. Ajay Antony has consulting agreements with Abbott, Boston Scientific, Saluda, Vertos, PainTEQ, and Avanos and serves on an advisory board for Boston Scientific, Abbott, and Saluda. Patrick Buchanan reports consulting fees from Abbott, Saluda and PainTEQ. Chris Gilligan reports consulting fees from Biotronik, Mainstay Medical, Persica, Saluda, and Iliad Lifesciences and stock or stock options from Mainstay Medical. He also reports to the Board of Directors for International Neuromodulation Society and Editor-in-Chief for Pain Practice. Robert Heros reports consulting fees from Abbott, Mainstay Medical, Saluda Medical, Biotronik, Ethos Laboratories and Boston Scientific and support for attending meetings from Mainstay Medical and participated on a data safety monitoring board/advisory board for Biotronik. James J. Yue reports consulting income and grant support from Abbott. The other authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2024 Deer et al.)

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is a highly prevalent, disabling condition affecting millions of people. Patients with an identifiable anatomic pain generator and resulting neuropathic lower extremity symptoms often undergo spine surgery, but many patients lack identifiable and/or surgically corrective pathology. Nonoperative treatment options often fail to provide sustained relief. Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is sometimes used to treat these patients, but the lack of level 1 evidence limits its widespread use and insurance coverage. The DISTINCT RCT study evaluates the efficacy of passive recharge burst SCS compared to conventional medical treatment (CMM) in alleviating chronic, refractory axial low back pain., Methods: This prospective, multicenter, randomized, study with an optional 6-month crossover involved patients who were not candidates for lumbar spine surgery. The primary and secondary endpoints evaluated improvements in low back pain intensity (NRS), back pain-related disability (ODI), pain catastrophizing (PCS), and healthcare utilization. Patients were randomized to SCS therapy or CMM at 30 US study sites., Results: The SCS arm reported an 85.3% NRS responder rate (≥ 50% reduction) compared to 6.2% (5/81) in the CMM arm. After the 6M primary endpoint, SCS patients elected to remain on assigned therapy and 66.2% (49/74) of CMM patients chose to trial SCS (crossover). At the 12M follow-up, SCS and crossover patients reported 78.6% and 71.4% NRS responder rates. Secondary outcomes indicated significant improvements in ODI, PCS, and reduced healthcare utilization. Six serious adverse events were reported and resolved without sequelae., Conclusion: DISTINCT chronic low back pain patients with no indication for corrective surgery experienced a significant and sustained response to burst SCS therapy for up to 12 months. CMM patients who crossed over to the SCS arm reported profound improvements after 6 months. This data advocates for a timely consideration of SCS therapy in patients unresponsive to conservative therapy., Competing Interests: One or more of the authors declare financial or professional relationships on ICMJE-NASSJ disclosure forms., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

This study examines the impact of fundamental frequency on gender perception in prepubertal children in the LoKiS database - a longitudinal project collecting and analyzing recordings of approximately 60 German primary school children aged 6 to 10years. Spontaneous and content-controlled audio recordings were collected in two German primary schools. Three distinct listening experiments with over 100 listeners were conducted. In the first experiment, listeners judged the gender of the voices on a seven-point scale. The second experiment explored the relationships between perceptual attribute ratings and corresponding acoustic parameters associated with fundamental frequency. The third experiment utilized voice morphing techniques to investigate the influence of fundamental frequency on gender perception while controlling for other acoustic parameters. About one-third of the children receive unambiguous gender attributions. The perceived gender difference between children assigned female at birth (AFAB) and assigned male at birth (AMAB) increases from first to third grade. The feminine-sounding children were perceived as significantly higher-pitched and more melodious. A strong correlation between perceived pitch and measured fundamental frequency was found. While the acoustic analysis revealed only a few significant differences between AFAB and AMAB children in general, the feminine-sounding children exhibited markedly higher values than the masculine-sounding ones. Stronger differences of fundamental frequency and semitone range occur as AFAB and AMAB children get older. Linear mixed models confirm a significant influence of fundamental frequency and semitone range on gender perception. Other interacting factors include the speech material used, as well as the gender of the listener. The influence of fundamental frequency was even more pronounced when controlling for other acoustic parameters., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)