PMS62 A Multi-Country Physician Survey On Patient Eligibility And Use Of Biologics In Rheumatoid Arthritis (Ra), Ankylosing Spondylitis (As) And Psoriatic Arthritis (Psa) In European Union (Eu)

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ARAC's radiological support of the Cassini Launch

The Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability (ARAC) program at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) was the U.S. Department of Energy atmospheric modeling resource used for the contingency of potential radiological releases during the launch of the Cassini mission. Having the ARAC system up and running was one of the launch criteria during the countdown. The ARAC Center at LLNL forecasted detailed weather conditions and delivered consequence assessments for potential accident scenarios to NASA before and during launch operations. A key aspect of ARAC's support was to acquire a variety of meteorological data for use in both forecast and real-time model calculations. ARAC acquired electronically two types of real-time observed meteorological data: 1) the set of on-site tower and profiler data via the Cape Canaveral Air Station (CCAS) Meteorological Interactive Data Display System (MIDDS), and 2) routine regional airport observations delivered to the ARAC Center from the Air Force Weather Agency. We also used two forecasted data sources: 1) the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron at CCAS forecasted soundings for launch time, and 2) the Navy Operational Regional Atmospheric Prediction System (NORAPS) prognostic model which ARAC ran over the Cape. The NORAPS runs produced detailed 24-hr forecasts of 3-D wind fields. ARAC used default radiological accident source terms involving the potential destruction of Cassini�s Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) during 3 phases: 1) before the launch, 2) during the first 5 sec after ignition, and 3) from 5 to 143 sec after ignition. ARAC successfully developed and delivered dose and deposition plots at 24 hours, 3 hours, and 30 minutes before each of the launch windows

Evaluation of a new sonic anemometer for routine monitoring and emergency response applications

Recently, several new sonic anemometers have become available for routine wind measurements. Sonic anemometers avoid many problems associated with the traditional rotating anemometer and vane sets- inertia of moving parts, bearing wear, contamination from dust and ice, frequent maintenance. Without a starting threshold, the sonic anemometer also produces more accurate measurements of wind direction and sigma theta at very low wind speeds. We illustrate these advantages by comparing 20 days of observations from a new sonic anemometer with data from existing cup and vane sensors at the 10-m level of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory`s meteorological tower

ARAC's operational support of the Cassini Launch

The Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability (ARAC) program at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) was the U.S. Department of Energy atmospheric modeling resource used for the contingency of potential radiological releases during the launch of the Cassini mission. The ARAC Center at LLNL forecasted detailed weather conditions and delivered consequence assessments for potential accident scenarios to NASA before and during launch operations. A key aspect of ARAC� s support was to acquire a variety of meteorological data for use in both forecast and real-time model calculations. ARAC acquired electronically two types of real-time observed meteorological data: 1) the full set of on-site towers and profilers via the Cape Canaveral Air Station (CCAS) Meteorological Interactive Data Display System (MIDDS), and 2) routine regional airport observations (delivered to the ARAC Center from the Air Force Weather Agency). We also used two forecasted data sources: 1) the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron at CCAS forecasted soundings for launch time, and 2) the Navy Operational Regional Atmospheric Prediction System (NORAPS) prognostic model which ARAC ran over the Cape. The NORAPS runs produced detailed 24-hr forecasts of 3-D wind fields. ARAC used default radiological accident source terms involving the potential destruction of Cassini� s Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) during 3 phases: 1) before the launch, 2) during the first S set after ignition, and 3) from 5 to 143 set after ignition. ARAC successfully developed and delivered dose and deposition plots at 24 hours, 3 hours, and 30 minutes before each of the la

Recommended launch-hold criteria for protecting public health from hydrogen chloride (HC1) gas produced by rocket exhaust

Solid-fuel rocket motors used by the United States Air Force (USAF) to launch missiles and spacecraft can produce ambient-air concentrations of hydrogen chloride (HCI) gas. The HCI gas is a reaction product exhausted from the rocket motor during normal launch or emitted as a result of a catastrophic abort destroying the launch vehicle. Depending on the concentration in ambient air, the HCI gas can be irritating or toxic to humans. The diagnostic and complex-terrain wind field and particle dispersion model used by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory`s (LLNL`s) Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability (ARAC) Program was applied to the launch of a Peacekeeper missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California. Results from this deterministic model revealed that under specific meteorological conditions, cloud passage from normal-launch and catastropic-abort situations can yield measureable ground-level air concentrations of HCI where the general public is located. To protect public health in the event of such cloud passage, scientifically defensible, emergency ambient-air concentration limits for HCI were developed and recommended to the USAF for use as launch-hold criteria. Such launch-hold criteria are used to postpone a launch unless the forecasted meteorological conditions favor the prediction of safe ground-level concentrations of HCl for the general public. The recommended concentration limits are a 2 ppM 1-h time-weighted average (TWA) concentration constrained by a 1-min 10-ppM average concentration. This recommended criteria is supported by human dose-response information, including data for sensitive humans (e.g., asthmatics), and the dose response exhibited experimentally by animal models with respiratory physiology or responses considered similar to humans

Partitioning colony size variation into growth and partial mortality

We thank the Australian Research Council for fellowship and research support. M.A.D. is funded by a Leverhulme Fellowship and by the John Templeton Foundation grant no. 60501.Body size is a trait that broadly influences the demography and ecology of organisms. In unitary organisms, body size tends to increase with age. In modular organisms, body size can either increase or decrease with age, with size changes being the net difference between modules added through growth and modules lost through partial mortality. Rates of colony extension are independent of body size, but net growth is allometric, suggesting a significant role of size-dependent mortality. In this study, we develop a generalizable model of partitioned growth and partial mortality and apply it to data from 11 species of reef-building coral. We show that corals generally grow at constant radial increments that are size independent, and that partial mortality acts more strongly on small colonies. We also show a clear life-history trade-off between growth and partial mortality that is governed by growth form. This decomposition of net growth can provide mechanistic insights into the relative demographic effects of the intrinsic factors (e.g. acquisition of food and life-history strategy), which tend to affect growth, and extrinsic factors (e.g. physical damage, and predation), which tend to affect mortality.PostprintPostprintPeer reviewe

Multiple metrics of latitudinal patterns in insect pollination and herbivory for a tropical‐temperate congener pair

The biotic interactions hypothesis posits that biotic interactions are more important drivers of adaptation closer to the equator, evidenced by “stronger” contemporary interactions (e.g. greater interaction rates) and/or patterns of trait evolution consistent with a history of stronger interactions. Support for the hypothesis is mixed, but few studies span tropical and temperate regions while experimentally controlling for evolutionary history. Here, we integrate field observations and common garden experiments to quantify the relative importance of pollination and herbivory in a pair of tropical‐temperate congeneric perennial herbs. Phytolacca rivinoides and P. americana are pioneer species native to the Neotropics and the eastern USA, respectively. We compared plant‐pollinator and plant‐herbivore interactions between three tropical populations of P. rivinoides from Costa Rica and three temperate populations of P. americana from its northern range edge in Michigan and Ohio. For some metrics of interaction importance, we also included three subtropical populations of P. americana from its southern range edge in Florida. This approach confounds species and region but allows us, uniquely, to measure complementary proxies of interaction importance across a tropical‐temperate range in one system. To test the prediction that lower‐latitude plants are more reliant on insect pollinators, we quantified floral display and reward, insect visitation rates, and self‐pollination ability (autogamy). To test the prediction that lower‐latitude plants experience more herbivore pressure, we quantified herbivory rates, herbivore abundance, and leaf palatability. We found evidence supporting the biotic interactions hypothesis for most comparisons between P. rivinoides and north‐temperate P. americana (floral display, insect visitation, autogamy, herbivory, herbivore abundance, and young‐leaf palatability). Results for subtropical P. americana populations, however, were typically not intermediate between P. rivinoides and north‐temperate P. americana, as would be predicted by a linear latitudinal gradient in interaction importance. Subtropical young‐leaf palatability was intermediate, but subtropical mature leaves were the least palatable, and pollination‐related traits did not differ between temperate and subtropical regions. These nonlinear patterns of interaction importance suggest future work to relate interaction importance to climatic or biotic thresholds. In sum, we found that the biotic interactions hypothesis was more consistently supported at the larger spatial scale of our study