Stochastic Reconstruction and Interpolation of Precipitation Fields Using Combined Information of Commercial Microwave Links and Rain Gauges

For the reconstruction and interpolation of precipitation fields, we present the application of a stochastic approach called Random Mixing. Generated fields are based on a data set consisting of rain gauge observations and path-averaged rain rates estimated using Commercial Microwave Link (CML) derived information. Precipitation fields are received as linear combination of unconditional spatial random fields, where the spatial dependence structure is described by copulas. The weights of the linear combination are optimized such that the observations and the spatial structure of the precipitation observations are reproduced. The innovation of the approach is that this strategy enables the simulation of ensembles of precipitation fields of any size. Each ensemble member is in concordance with the observed path-averaged CML derived rain rates and additionally reflects the observed rainfall variability along the CML paths. The ensemble spread allows additionally an estimation of the uncertainty of the reconstructed precipitation fields. The method is demonstrated both for a synthetic data set and a real-world data set in South Germany. While the synthetic example allows an evaluation against a known reference, the second example demonstrates the applicability for real-world observations. Generated precipitation fields of both examples reproduce the spatial precipitation pattern in good quality. A performance evaluation of Random Mixing compared to Ordinary Kriging demonstrates an improvement of the reconstruction of the observed spatial variability. Random Mixing is concluded to be a beneficial new approach for the provision of precipitation fields and ensembles of them, in particular when different measurement types are combined

Evaluation of afoxolaner chewables to control flea populations in naturally infested dogs in private residences in Tampa FL, USA

Citation: Dryden, M. W., Smith, V., Chwala, M., Jones, E., Crevoiserat, L., McGrady, J. C., . . . Carithers, D. (2015). Evaluation of afoxolaner chewables to control flea populations in naturally infested dogs in private residences in Tampa FL, USA. Parasites & Vectors, 8, 7. doi:10.1186/s13071-015-0897-zBackground: A study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of afoxolaner chewables to control flea populations in naturally infested dogs in private residences in Tampa FL, USA. Evaluations of on-animal and premises flea burdens, flea sex structure and fed-unfed premises flea populations were conducted to more accurately assess flea population dynamics in households. Methods: Thirty seven naturally flea infested dogs in 23 homes in Tampa, FL were enrolled in the study and treated with afoxolaner chewables. Chewables (NexGard (R) Chewables; Merial) were administered according to label directions by study investigators on study day 0 and once again between study days 28 and 30. Flea infestations on pets were assessed using visual area thumb counts and premises flea infestations were assessed using intermittent-light flea traps on days 0, 7, 14, 21, and once between study days 28-30, 40-45, and 54-60. Results: Within 7 days of administration of afoxolaner chewable tablets, flea counts on dogs were reduced by 99.3 %. By one month post-treatment, total flea counts on dogs were reduced by 99.9 %, with 97.3 % (36/37) of the dogs being flea free. Following the second dosing on study day 28-30, total on-dog flea burden was reduced by 100 % on days 40-45 and 54-60. On day 0, the traps collected a geometric mean of 18.2 fleas. Subsequent reductions in emerging flea populations were 97.7 and 100 % by days 28-30 and 54-60, respectively. There were 515 total fleas (Ctenocephalides felis felis) collected in the intermittent light flea traps on day 0, and 40.4 % of those fleas displayed visual evidence of having fed. Seven days after initial treatment, only 13.1 % of the fleas contained blood and by day 14 only 4.9 % of the fleas collected in traps displayed evidence of having fed. On day 0, prior to treatment, 60 % of the unfed fleas collected in intermittent-light flea traps were females, but by days 28-30, unfed males accounted for 78 % of the population. Conclusions: This in-home investigation conducted during the summer of 2014 in subtropical Tampa, FL demonstrated that afoxolaner chewables rapidly and effectively eliminated flea populations in infested dogs and homes

A systematic literature review informing the consensus statement on efficacy and safety of pharmacological treatment with interleukin-6 pathway inhibition with biological DMARDs in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases

Objectives: Informing an international task force updating the consensus statement on efficacy and safety of biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) selectively targeting interleukin-6 (IL-6) pathway in the context of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. Methods: A systematic literature research of all publications on IL-6 axis inhibition with bDMARDs published between January 2012 and December 2020 was performed using MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane CENTRAL databases. Efficacy and safety outcomes were assessed in clinical trials including their long-term extensions and observational studies. Meeting abstracts from ACR, EULAR conferences and results on clinicaltrials.gov were taken into consideration. Results: 187 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Evidence for positive effect of IL-6 inhibition was available in various inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, giant cell arteritis, Takayasu arteritis, adult-onset Still’s disease, cytokine release syndrome due to chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy and systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease. Newcomers like satralizumab and anti-IL-6 ligand antibody siltuximab have expanded therapeutic approaches for Castleman’s disease and neuromyelitis optica, respectively. IL-6 inhibition did not provide therapeutic benefits in psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and certain connective tissue diseases. In COVID-19, tocilizumab (TCZ) has proven to be therapeutic in advanced disease. Safety outcomes did not differ from other bDMARDs, except higher risks of diverticulitis and lower gastrointestinal perforations. Inconsistent results were observed in several studies investigating the risk for infections when comparing TCZ to TNF-inhibitors. Conclusion: IL-6 inhibition is effective for treatment of several inflammatory diseases with a safety profile that is widely comparable to other bDMARDs

The ScaleX campaign: scale-crossing land-surface and boundary layer processes in the TERENO-preAlpine observatory

Augmenting long-term ecosystem-atmosphere observations with multidisciplinary intensive campaigns aims at closing gaps in spatial and temporal scales of observation for energy- and biogeochemical cycling, and at stimulating collaborative research. ScaleX is a collaborative measurement campaign, co-located with a long-term environmental observatory of the German TERENO (TERrestrial ENvironmental Observatories) network in mountainous terrain of the Bavarian Prealps, Germany. The aims of both TERENO and ScaleX include the measurement and modeling of land-surface atmosphere interactions of energy, water, and greenhouse gases. ScaleX is motivated by the recognition that long-term intensive observational research over years or decades must be based on well-proven, mostly automated measurement systems, concentrated on a small number of locations