High spectral resolution ozone absorption cross-sections – Part 1: Measurements, data analysis and comparison with previous measurements around 293 K

In this paper we discuss the methodology of taking broadband relative and absolute measurements of ozone cross-sections including uncertainty budget, experimental set-ups, and methods for data analysis. We report on new ozone absorption cross-section measurements in the solar spectral region using a combination of Fourier transform and echelle spectrometers. The new cross-sections cover the spectral range 213–1100 nm at a spectral resolution of 0.02–0.06 nm in the UV–visible and 0.12–0.24 nm in the IR at eleven temperatures from 193 to 293 K in steps of 10 K. The absolute accuracy is better than three percent for most parts of the spectral region and wavelength calibration accuracy is better than 0.005 nm. <br><br> The new room temperature cross-section data are compared in detail with previously available literature data. The temperature dependence of our cross-sections is described in a companion paper (Serdyuchenko et al., 2014)

Perspectives of frailty and frailty screening: Protocol for a collaborative knowledge translation approach and qualitative study of stakeholder understandings and experiences

Accompanying the unprecedented growth in the older adult population worldwide is an increase in the prevalence of frailty, an age-related clinical state of increased vulnerability to stressor events. This increased vulnerability results in lower social engagement and quality of life, increased dependency, and higher rates of morbidity, health service utilization and mortality. Early identification of frailty is necessary to guide implementation of interventions to prevent associated functional decline. Consensus is lacking on how to clinically recognize and manage frailty. It is unknown how healthcare providers and healthcare consumers understand and perceive frailty, whether or not they regard frailty as a public health concern; and information on the indirect and direct experiences of consumer and healthcare provider groups towards frailty are markedly limited.We will conduct a qualitative study of consumer, practice nurse, general practitioner, emergency department physician, and orthopedic surgeons' perspectives of frailty and frailty screening in metropolitan and non-metropolitan South Australia. We will use tailored combinations of semi-structured interviews and arts-based data collection methods depending on each stakeholder group, followed by inductive and iterative analysis of data using qualitative description.Using stakeholder driven approaches to understanding and addressing frailty and frailty screening in context is critical as the prevalence and burden of frailty is likely to increase worldwide. We will use the findings from the Perceptions of Frailty and Frailty Screening study to inform a context-driven identification, implementation and evaluation of a frailty-screening tool; drive awareness, knowledge, and skills development strategies across stakeholder groups; and guide future efforts to embed emerging knowledge about frailty and its management across diverse South Australian contexts using a collaborative knowledge translation approach. Study findings will help achieve a coordinated frailty and healthy ageing strategy with relevance to other jurisdictions in Australia and abroad, and application of the stakeholder driven approach will help illuminate how its applicability to other jurisdictions.Mandy M. Archibald, Rachel Ambagtsheer, Justin Beilby, Mellick J. Chehade, Tiffany K. Gill, Renuka Visvanathan, and Alison L. Kitso

Development and validation of a symptom-based activity index for adults with eosinophilic esophagitis.

BACKGROUND &amp; AIMS: Standardized instruments are needed to assess the activity of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and to provide end points for clinical trials and observational studies. We aimed to develop and validate a patient-reported outcome (PRO) instrument and score, based on items that could account for variations in patient assessments of disease severity. We also evaluated relationships between patient assessment of disease severity and EoE-associated endoscopic, histologic, and laboratory findings. METHODS: We collected information from 186 patients with EoE in Switzerland and the United States (69.4% male; median age, 43 y) via surveys (n = 135), focus groups (n = 27), and semistructured interviews (n = 24). Items were generated for the instruments to assess biologic activity based on physician input. Linear regression was used to quantify the extent to which variations in patient-reported disease characteristics could account for variations in patient assessment of EoE severity. The PRO instrument was used prospectively in 153 adult patients with EoE (72.5% male; median age, 38 y), and validated in an independent group of 120 patients with EoE (60.8% male; median age, 40.5 y). RESULTS: Seven PRO factors that are used to assess characteristics of dysphagia, behavioral adaptations to living with dysphagia, and pain while swallowing accounted for 67% of the variation in patient assessment of disease severity. Based on statistical consideration and patient input, a 7-day recall period was selected. Highly active EoE, based on endoscopic and histologic findings, was associated with an increase in patient-assessed disease severity. In the validation study, the mean difference between patient assessment of EoE severity (range, 0-10) and PRO score (range, 0-8.52) was 0.15. CONCLUSIONS: We developed and validated an EoE scoring system based on 7 PRO items that assess symptoms over a 7-day recall period. Clinicaltrials.gov number: NCT00939263

Leveraging machine learning to predict rail corrugation level from axle-box acceleration measurements on commercial vehicles

Rail corrugation is a prominent degradative problem in the health monitoring of railway systems. Monitoring process is dependent on use of a diagnostic trolley, which is expensive and needs the track to be out-of-service. Alternatively, in-service rail vehicles with Axle-Box Acceleration measurement systems installed, have shown success in detecting rail corrugation levels based on physical models, albeit with limitations. Extending this approach, we build a Machine Learning model, represented by a tuned Random Forest regressor, trained on collected accelerometer signals along with other offline and/or static features. We also propose a method to engineer acceleration-based features which nullifies the aggregated acceleration vibrations inherited from the other rail due to dynamically coupled vibrations between the left and right rails. The resulting model is able to recreate the moving RMS irregularity profile at bandwidth 100-300 mm, especially in highly corrugated sections, with an R-2 score of 0.97-0.98. The results show that the suggested data-driven approach outperforms a state-of-the-art model-based benchmark

Expressiveness of Commutative Quantum Circuits: A Probabilistic Approach

This study investigates the frame potential and expressiveness of commutative quantum circuits. Based on the Fourier series representation of these circuits, we express quantum expectation and pairwise fidelity as characteristic functions of random variables, and expressiveness as the recurrence probability of a random walk on a lattice. A central outcome of our work includes formulas to approximate the frame potential and expressiveness for any commutative quantum circuit, underpinned by convergence theorems in probability theory. We identify the lattice volume of the random walk as means to approximate expressiveness based on circuit architecture. In the specific case of commutative circuits involving Pauli-$Z$ rotations, we provide theoretical results relating expressiveness and circuit structure. Our probabilistic representation also provide means for bounding and approximately calculating the frame potential of a circuit through sampling methods

Assessment of Damage to Nucleic Acids and Repair Machinery in Salmonella typhimurium Exposed to Chlorine

Water disinfection is usually evaluated using mandatory methods based on cell culturability. However, such methods do not consider the potential of cells to recover, which should also be kept as low as possible. In this paper, we hypothesized that a successful disinfection is achieved only when the applied chlorine leads to both intracellular nucleic acid damage and strong alterations of the DNA repair machinery. Monitoring the SOS system responsiveness with a umuC’-‘lacZ reporter fusion, we found that the expression of this important cellular machinery was altered after the beginning of membrane permeabilization but prior to the total decline of both the cell culturability and the nucleic acid integrity as revealed by Sybr-II staining. Rapid measurement of such nucleic acid alterations by fluorochrome-based staining could be used as an alternative method for assessing the effectiveness of disinfection with chlorine

Modeling the climate impact of Southern Hemisphere ozone depletion:the importance of the ozone dataset

The ozone hole is an important driver of recent Southern Hemisphere (SH) climate change, and capturing these changes is a goal of climate modeling. Most climate models are driven by off-line ozone data sets. Previous studies have shown that there is a substantial range in estimates of SH ozone depletion, but the implications of this range have not been examined systematically. We use a climate model to evaluate the difference between using the ozone forcing (Stratospheric Processes and their Role in Climate (SPARC)) used by many Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project) models and one at the upper end of the observed depletion estimates (Binary Database of Profiles (BDBP)). In the stratosphere, we find that austral spring/summer polar cap cooling, geopotential height decreases, and zonal wind increases in the BDBP simulations are all doubled compared to the SPARC simulations, while tropospheric responses are 20–100% larger. These results are important for studies attempting to diagnose the climate fingerprints of ozone depletion

Pneumopericardium, pneumomediastinum and air travel: A case report in a patient with Gardner syndrome

© 2020 The Author(s) Onboard aircraft medical emergencies are on the rise as commercial air traffic is increasing. However, thoracic injury secondary to air travel is extremely rare and, most reported injuries are cases of pneumothoraces. Spontaneous pneumomediastinum and pneumopericardium have been barely reported in the medical literature as a complication of air travel. We are reporting a case of spontaneous pneumopericardium and pneumomediastinum in a patient with Gardner\u27s Syndrome after a flight from Central America to New York City. The patient presented with chest discomfort. He was managed conservatively with oxygen therapy as he was hemodynamically stable throughout his stay in the hospital. A thorough work up in hospital including and esophagogram and a CT scan of the chest were none revealing of the cause. However, the patient was noted to have metastatic rectal cancer with lung involvement. The patient was discharged with instructions to avoid air travel

Long-term impact of maternal high-fat diet on offspring cardiac health: role of micro-RNA biogenesis.

Heart failure is a worldwide leading cause of death. Diet and obesity are particularly of high concern in heart disease etiology. Gravely, altered nutrition during developmental windows of vulnerability can have long-term impact on heart health; however, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. In the understanding of the initiation of chronic diseases related to developmental exposure to environmental challenges, deregulations in epigenetic mechanisms including micro-RNAs have been proposed as key events. In this context, we aimed at delineating the role of micro-RNAs in the programming of cardiac alterations induced by early developmental exposure to nutritional imbalance. To reach our aim, we developed a human relevant model of developmental exposure to nutritional imbalance by maternally exposing rat to high-fat diet during gestation and lactation. In this model, offspring exposed to maternal high-fat diet developed cardiac hypertrophy and increased extracellular matrix depot compared to those exposed to chow diet. Microarray approach performed on cardiac tissue allowed the identification of a micro-RNA subset which was down-regulated in high-fat diet-exposed animals and which were predicted to regulate transforming growth factor-beta (TGFβ)-mediated remodeling. As indicated by in vitro approaches and gene expression measurement in the heart of our animals, decrease in DiGeorge critical region 8 (DGCR8) expression, involved in micro-RNA biogenesis, seems to be a critical point in the alterations of the micro-RNA profile and the TGFβ-mediated remodeling induced by maternal exposure to high-fat diet. Finally, increasing DGCR8 activity and/or expression through hemin treatment in vitro revealed its potential in the rescue of the pro-fibrotic phenotype in cardiomyocytes driven by DGCR8 decrease. These findings suggest that cardiac alterations induced by maternal exposure to high-fat diet is related to abnormalities in TGFβ pathway and associated with down-regulated micro-RNA processing. Our study highlighted DGCR8 as a potential therapeutic target for heart diseases related to early exposure to dietary challenge

A field vegetable transplanter for use in both tilled and no-till soils

A commercial, manually fed vegetable transplanter was modified and adapted to work in no-till soils. Details of the modifications are described in this article. The aim of this research was to evaluate the performance of this transplanter under actual field conditions in both tilled and no-till soils. The draft force in the no-till soil was measured for different working tools mounted for tilling or loosening a narrow band of soil before passing with the furrower. The combination of a ripper shank opener with a straight nose point resulted in the lowest draft force values per unit of working depth. The transplanter accuracy and transplant success rate were evaluated in different vegetable crops. The accuracy parameters (multiple index, miss index, quality of feed index, and precision) were estimated and in general were similar in the tilled and no-till soils, indicating that the transplanter was able to operate in both soil conditions with the same accuracy. The transplant success rates were also similar in both soil conditions. The transplanter thus offers a satisfactory technical solution for transplanting vegetables in both tilled and no-till soils