The impact of air pollutant and methane emission controls on tropospheric ozone and radiative forcing: CTM calculations for the period 1990-2030

To explore the relationship between tropospheric ozone and radiative forcing with changing emissions, we compiled two sets of global scenarios for the emissions of the ozone precursors methane (CH₄), carbon monoxide (CO), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) and nitrogen oxides (NO_x) up to the year 2030 and implemented them in two global Chemistry Transport Models. The 'Current Legislation' (CLE) scenario reflects the current perspectives of individual countries on future economic development and takes the anticipated effects of presently decided emission control legislation in the individual countries into account. In addition, we developed a 'Maximum technically Feasible Reduction' (MFR) scenario that outlines the scope for emission reductions offered by full implementation of the presently available emission control technologies, while maintaining the projected levels of anthropogenic activities. Whereas the resulting projections of methane emissions lie within the range suggested by other greenhouse gas projections, the recent pollution control legislation of many Asian countries, requiring introduction of catalytic converters for vehicles, leads to significantly lower growth in emissions of the air pollutants NO_x, NMVOC and CO than was suggested by the widely used and more pessimistic IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) SRES (Special Report on Emission Scenarios) scenarios (Nakicenovic et al., 2000), which made Business-as-Usual assumptions regarding emission control technology. With the TM3 and STOCHEM models we performed several long-term integrations (1990-2030) to assess global, hemispheric and regional changes in CH₄, CO, hydroxyl radicals, ozone and the radiative climate forcings resulting from these two emission scenarios. Both models reproduce broadly the observed trends in CO, and CH₄ concentrations from 1990 to 2002. <P style='line-height: 20px;'> For the 'current legislation' case, both models indicate an increase of the annual average ozone levels in the Northern Hemisphere by 5ppbv, and up to 15ppbv over the Indian sub-continent, comparing the 2020s (2020-2030) with the 1990s (1990-2000). The corresponding higher ozone and methane burdens in the atmosphere increase radiative forcing by approximately 0.2 Wm^-2. Full application of today's emissions control technologies, however, would bring down ozone below the levels experienced in the 1990s and would reduce the radiative forcing of ozone and methane to approximately -0.1 Wm^-2. This can be compared to the 0.14-0.47 Wm^-2 increase of methane and ozone radiative forcings associated with the SRES scenarios. While methane reductions lead to lower ozone burdens and to less radiative forcing, further reductions of the air pollutants NO_x and NMVOC result in lower ozone, but at the same time increase the lifetime of methane. Control of methane emissions appears an efficient option to reduce tropospheric ozone as well as radiative forcing

Uncertainty in data integration systems: automatic generation of probabilistic relationships

This paper proposes a method for the automatic discovery of probabilistic relationships in the environment of data integration systems. Dynamic data integration systems extend the architecture of current data integration systems by modeling uncertainty at their core. Our method is based on probabilistic word sense disambiguation (PWSD), which allows to automatically lexically annotate (i.e. to perform annotation w.r.t. a thesaurus/lexical resource) the schemata of a given set of data sources to be integrated. From the annotated schemata and the relathionships defined in the thesaurus, we derived the probabilistic lexical relationships among schema elements. Lexical relationships are collected in the Probabilistic Common Thesaurus (PCT), as well as structural relationships

Evaluation of local site effects in the city of Sansepolcro (Central Italy): preliminary results obtained by a urban seismic network.

Sansepolcro, one of the most significant city of Tuscan Tiber Valley, is located in an area close to the eastern edge of the Upper Tiber Valley, characterized by a wide local seismicity, related to the Altotiberina Fault (ATF) activity and not far from the main seismogenic areas of Mid-Northern Apennines (Montefeltro, Forlì, Gubbio, etc.). The Upper Tiber Valley has felt in the past several strong earthquakes: in 1789 (VIII MCS in the city of Sansepolcro), in 1917 (> VIII MCS), in 1948 (> VII MCS), in 1964 (VII MCS). Furthermore, many seismic sequences took place in recent years (1987, 1990, 1997), the last one in 2001 (November, 26, 2001, ML = 4.4). From May 2005, some seismic stations have been deployed in the center of Sansepolcro and its vicinities. Five sites were covering different geologic environments, along a direction approximately orthogonal to the valley axis. The seismic array has recorded more than 100 local and regional seismic events. 20 seismic events, with magnitude ranging from 2.0 and 3.8, distributed with a good azimuthal coverage in an area of 150 km radius centered on the city, have been selected. They were recorded by all the seismic stations with a signal to noise ratio higher than 3 in the frequency band of interest (0.5-10 Hz). The selected events have been analyzed with HHSR and HVSR techniques, to obtain the average spectral ratios for each site. Moreover, we analyzed seismic ambient noise in order to evaluate HVNSR, to be compared with the curves obtained by earthquake analysis. The results allow to give a preliminar evaluation of amplification effects due to the surface geology in the urban area. The three average spectral ratios (HHSR, HVSR and HVNSR) provide a good agreement: they show peaks with a raising amplitude centered on frequencies which point to long period moving from east to the center of the valley. The good agreement with 1D theoretical transfer functions, obtained from stratigraphic data and velocity downhole profiles (Vp e Vs), available for the monitored sites, suggests the hypothesis of being in geologic environment characterized by the presence of a stiff layer, identifiable in the well logs and in the velocity profiles obtained by downhole measurements, which seems to be the reason of surface amplification effects. This layer mainly made by firm cobble-stone associated to the sedimentary phases of Afra torrent, a Tiber tributary that flows close to the SE border of the city, is characterized by shear waves velocities comparable with those of a bedrock and it is recognizable in all the locations, at depths that increase from few meters to 100 m, moving from east to west. This layer, that seems to determine the distinct impedance contrast with the fluvial-lacustrine superficial layers, is not bottom of the basin which should be at a depth of more than 1000 m, as shown by the results of recent 3D analysis (Ciaccio e Barchi, 2006)

Suporte hormonal com GnRH após a ovulação de vacas de corte.

Após uma inseminação artificial (IA) bem sucedida, a manutenção da gestação na vaca depende do desenvolvimento embrionário adequado, para assegurar o reconhecimento materno da prenhez. Assim, o ambiente uterino deve estar preparado pela progesterona (P4) para otimizar o crescimento do concepto. Existe uma relação entre sobrevivência embrionária até o 18º dia da gestação (período crítico do reconhecimento materno da prenhez = PC) e concentração circulante de esteroides produzidos pelos ovários, pois taxas de prenhez mais baixas estão associadas com concentrações baixas de P4. Num projeto em andamento na Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste estão sendo idealizadas estratégias hormonais para otimizar o reconhecimento materno da prenhez e reduzir a mortalidade embrionária precoce. Uma dessas estratégias objetiva aumentar a P4 no PC pela aplicação de um análogo do hormônio liberador de gonadotrofinas (GnRH) no quinto dia após a ovulação (D5), o qual provoca a liberação de hormônio luteinizante (LH) endógeno para ovular o folículo dominante (FD) da 1ª onda de crescimento folicular e gerar um corpo lúteo (CL) acessório, capaz de secretar progesterona adicional durante o PC. Para testar essa hipótese, 20 vacas Nelore foram submetidas à indução hormonal da ovulação pela aplicação de uma dose parenteral (IM) de 2 mg de benzoato de estradiol (BE) simultaneamente à colocação subcutânea de um implante auricular de silicone contendo 3 mg norgestomet, que foi retirado após nove dias. As vacas receberam ainda uma dose de 150 mg de cloprostenol dextrógiro (prostaglandina F2a) e outra injeção (ambas IM) de 2 mg de BE 24 h depois da remoção do implante. Formaram-se os grupos CONT (n=10)_ nenhum tratamento adicional foi imposto e GnRH (n=10)_ as vacas receberam 250 mg de gonadorrelina (GnRH) cinco dias (D5) após a ovulação induzida. As variáveis foram submetidas à analise de variância, utilizando o proc GLM do programa SAS. A observação do estro, a avaliação ultrassonográfica dos ovários e a coleta de sangue para dosagem de P4 foram feitas diariamente até que se detectassem os próximos estro e ovulação espontâneos. Portanto, o estudo da dinâmica do crescimento folicular e do desenvolvimento luteínico teve a duração de um ciclo estral completo para cada animal. As principais diferenças (P<0,05) entre tratamentos ocorreram nas variáveis relacionadas ao desenvolvimento luteínico. O GnRH induziu a ovulação do folículo dominante da 1ª onda em apenas três vacas, o que causou a formação de um CL acessório em cada uma delas. Entretanto, o GnRH consistentemente otimizou a função luteínica, pois a área do CL, a concentração de P4 máxima e o incremento na secreção de progesterona entre o D5 e o final da fase luteínica foram maiores para as vacas tratadas com GnRH (420,0 ± 57,0 mm2, 6,76 ± 0,64 ng/mL e 0,62 ± 0,08ng/mL.dia-1, respectivamente) em comparação às vacas do grupo CONT (382,0 ± 30,6 mm2, 5,24 ± 0,39 ng/mL e 0,37 ± 0,05ng/mL.dia-1, respectivamente). Conclui-se que a otimização da função luteínica expressa como aporte adicional de P4 em resposta ao GnRH no D5 pode potencialmente favorecer o reconhecimento materno da prenhez durante o PC. Apoio Financeiro: Embrapa (projeto 03.06.06.025 - 02) e Fapesp (proc. 2006/5519

Como calcular a proporção touro: vaca para a estação de monta de bovinos de corte.

bitstream/item/37275/1/Circular53.pdfISSN 1981-208

Escore de condição corporal e sua aplicação no manejo reprodutivo de ruminantes.

bitstream/CPPSE-2009/18301/1/CircularTecnica57.pd

Laparoscopic partial splenectomy.

BACKGROUND: The immunologic function of the spleen and its important role in immune defense has led to splenic-preserving surgery. This study aimed to evaluate whether laparoscopic partial splenectomy is safe. METHODS: Data on consecutive patients presenting with localized benign or malignant disease of the spleen were included in a prospective database. The surgical technique consisted of six steps: patient positioning and trocar placement, mobilization of the spleen, vascular dissection, parenchymal resection, sealing/tamponading of the transected edge, and removal of the specimen. RESULTS: From 1994 to 2005, 38 patients underwent laparoscopic partial splenectomy. The indications included splenomegaly of unknown origin, splenic cysts, benign tumors (hamartoma), and metastasis from ovarian carcinoma and schwannoma. The median operating time was 110 min (range, 65-148 min). The median length of hospital stay was 5 days (range, 4-7 days). There was no postoperative mortality. Postoperative pleural effusion occurred in two patients. There were no reoperations. Three patients required blood transfusions. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic partial splenectomy is safe for patients with localized benign or malignant disease of the spleen

A multi-layer edge-on single photon counting silicon microstrip detector for innovative techniques in diagnostic radiology

A three-layer detector prototype, obtained by stacking three edge-on single photon counting silicon microstrip detectors, has been developed and widely tested. This was done in the framework of the Synchrotron Radiation for Medical Physics/Frontier Radiology (SYRMEP/FRONTRAD) collaboration activities, whose aim is to improve the quality of mammographic examinations operating both on the source and on the detector side. The active surface of the device has been fully characterized making use of an edge-scanning technique and of a well-collimated laminar synchrotron radiation beam. The obtained data (interlayer distances, channel correspondence, etc.) have then been used to combine information coming from each detector layer, without causing any loss in spatial and contrast resolution of the device. Contrast and spatial resolution have also been separately evaluated for each detector layer. Moreover, imaging techniques (phase contrast, refraction, and scatter imaging), resulting in an increased visibility of low absorbing details, have been implemented, and their effectiveness has been tested on a biological sample. Finally, the possibility of simultaneously acquiring different kind of images with the different detector layers is discussed. This would result in maximizing the information extracted from the sample, while at the same time the high absorption efficiency of the detector device would allow a low dose delivery

Manipulation of ovarian and uterine function to increase conception rates in cattle.

In cattle, embryonic and fetal losses are the major causes of reproductive failureo Losses associated with failure in the process of maternal recognition of pregnancy can amount to as much as 30%0 Successful establishment of pregnancy depends on a delicate balance between luteolytic mechanisms inherent to the endometrium at the end of diestrus and antiluteolytic mechanisms, orchestrated by the conceptus to change endometrial function and, ultimately, block luteolysis. Antiluteolytic strategies are pharmacological, mechanical, nutritional and management manipulations of the process of maternal recognition of pregnancy that aim to increase the probability of successful gestations. Objective of the present paper is to review the recent literature on antiluteolytic strategies in cattle. Specifically, we focused on strategies to stimulate production of progesterone, strategies to reduce production of estradiol and other sttategies. Future directions for research in this area are proposedo