Long-term Observations in Acoustics - the Ocean Acoustic Observatory Federation

The Ocean Acoustic Observatory Federation (OAOF) includes several laboratories and universities: the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP) and the Marine Physical Laboratory (MPL) at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Pacific Meteorological and Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) of NOAA, the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), and the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington (UW/APL)

Landscape - wildfire interactions in southern Europe: implications for landscape management

ReviewEvery year approximately half a million hectares of land are burned by wildfires in southern Europe, causing large ecological and socio-economic impacts. Climate and land use changes in the last decades have increased fire risk and danger. In this paper we review the available scientific knowledge on the relationships between landscape and wildfires in the Mediterranean region, with a focus on its application for defining landscape management guidelines and policies that could be adopted in order to promote landscapes with lower fire hazard. The main findings are that (1) socio-economic drivers have favoured land cover changes contributing to increasing fire hazard in the last decades, (2) large wildfires are becoming more frequent, (3) increased fire frequency is promoting homogeneous landscapes covered by fire-prone shrublands; (4) landscape planning to reduce fuel loads may be successful only if fire weather conditions are not extreme. The challenges to address these problems and the policy and landscape management responses that should be adopted are discussed, along with major knowledge gapsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Efficacy and safety of statin therapy in older people: a meta-analysis of individual participant data from 28 randomised controlled trials

Background: Statin therapy has been shown to reduce major vascular events and vascular mortality in a wide range of individuals, but there is uncertainty about its efficacy and safety among older people. We undertook a meta-analysis of data from all large statin trials to compare the effects of statin therapy at different ages. Methods: In this meta-analysis, randomised trials of statin therapy were eligible if they aimed to recruit at least 1000 participants with a scheduled treatment duration of at least 2 years. We analysed individual participant data from 22 trials (n=134 537) and detailed summary data from one trial (n=12 705) of statin therapy versus control, plus individual participant data from five trials of more intensive versus less intensive statin therapy (n=39 612). We subdivided participants into six age groups (55 years or younger, 56–60 years, 61–65 years, 66–70 years, 71–75 years, and older than 75 years). We estimated effects on major vascular events (ie, major coronary events, strokes, and coronary revascularisations), cause-specific mortality, and cancer incidence as the rate ratio (RR) per 1·0 mmol/L reduction in LDL cholesterol. We compared proportional risk reductions in different age subgroups by use of standard χ2 tests for heterogeneity when there were two groups, or trend when there were more than two groups. Findings: 14 483 (8%) of 186 854 participants in the 28 trials were older than 75 years at randomisation, and the median follow-up duration was 4·9 years. Overall, statin therapy or a more intensive statin regimen produced a 21% (RR 0·79, 95% CI 0·77–0·81) proportional reduction in major vascular events per 1·0 mmol/L reduction in LDL cholesterol. We observed a significant reduction in major vascular events in all age groups. Although proportional reductions in major vascular events diminished slightly with age, this trend was not statistically significant (ptrend=0·06). Overall, statin or more intensive therapy yielded a 24% (RR 0·76, 95% CI 0·73–0·79) proportional reduction in major coronary events per 1·0 mmol/L reduction in LDL cholesterol, and with increasing age, we observed a trend towards smaller proportional risk reductions in major coronary events (ptrend=0·009). We observed a 25% (RR 0·75, 95% CI 0·73–0·78) proportional reduction in the risk of coronary revascularisation procedures with statin therapy or a more intensive statin regimen per 1·0 mmol/L lower LDL cholesterol, which did not differ significantly across age groups (ptrend=0·6). Similarly, the proportional reductions in stroke of any type (RR 0·84, 95% CI 0·80–0·89) did not differ significantly across age groups (ptrend=0·7). After exclusion of four trials which enrolled only patients with heart failure or undergoing renal dialysis (among whom statin therapy has not been shown to be effective), the trend to smaller proportional risk reductions with increasing age persisted for major coronary events (ptrend=0·01), and remained non-significant for major vascular events (ptrend=0·3). The proportional reduction in major vascular events was similar, irrespective of age, among patients with pre-existing vascular disease (ptrend=0·2), but appeared smaller among older than among younger individuals not known to have vascular disease (ptrend=0·05). We found a 12% (RR 0·88, 95% CI 0·85–0·91) proportional reduction in vascular mortality per 1·0 mmol/L reduction in LDL cholesterol, with a trend towards smaller proportional reductions with older age (ptrend=0·004), but this trend did not persist after exclusion of the heart failure or dialysis trials (ptrend=0·2). Statin therapy had no effect at any age on non-vascular mortality, cancer death, or cancer incidence. Interpretation: Statin therapy produces significant reductions in major vascular events irrespective of age, but there is less direct evidence of benefit among patients older than 75 years who do not already have evidence of occlusive vascular disease. This limitation is now being addressed by further trials. Funding: Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, UK Medical Research Council, and British Heart Foundation

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Circulation-Wave Coupling With a Wave Parameterization For the Idealized California Coastal Region

Momentum and energy transfers across the airsea interface under realistic ocean conditions are important not only in theoretical studies, but also in many applications including marine atmospheric and oceanic forecasts and climate modeling on all scales. Surface breaking waves are believed to be an important supplier of turbulent energy besides shear production of the classical turbulence theory. Waves contain a considerable amount of momentum and energy, and they redistribute these quantities over great distances. Wind waves supply energy for turbulence due to breaking. Ocean waves strongly effect the air-sea system on all scale. A part of the energy and momentum is transferred directly from the atmosphere to ocean currents while another part is transferred to surface waves. The influence of surface waves on the air-sea system has been studied experimentally and numerically by many investigators

Temporal variability of downward fluxes of organic carbon off Monterey Bay (CA, USA)

Presented at the 2015 Aquatic Sciences Meeting, 22-27 Feb 2015, Granada SpainThe interannual and seasonal changes in the vertical biogenic particulate fluxes, and its relation to the environmental conditions in the coastal upwelling region of Monterey Bay (Central California) has been studied since 1998 till 2006. The magnitude and composition of the settling particles presented a large interannual and seasonal variability. Organic carbon (Corg) fluxes ranged between 4 - 296 mgC·m-2·day-1 and 1 - 142 mgC·m-2·day-1 for shallow and deep sediment traps respectively. The time series of Corg vertical export was characterized by pulses of intense fluxes, that were associated to peaks of primary production, generally during upwelling periods. These results illustrate how the hydrodynamics and primary production of this coastal upwelling system regulates the vertical export of biogenic particles.This project was funded by the David and Lucile Packard foundation, the Naval Post Graduate School, and the National Research Council. We thank the crews of R/V Point Lobos, R/V Point Sur and R/V New Horizon. We specially thank Marla Stone and Erich Rienecker for mooring deploymen

Using a PV-Powered Pump to Remediate Contaminated Ground Water at a Dry Cleaning Site

Green and sustainable remediation techniques sometimes involve the substitution of renewable energy systems for utility-provided power. Such a use of renewable energy may be attractive in terms of resource conservation, ease of installation, reduced installation costs, and limited disruption of facility operation. This project includes the installation of a single-axis tracking photovoltaic (PV) array at a former dry-cleaning site that is undergoing remediation under Missouri\u27s Drycleaning Environmental Response Trust (DERT) program. The PV array was used to power a piston pump that extracted shallow ground water and circulated the contaminated ground water through granular activated carbon units prior to discharge to the local publicly owned treatment works (POTW). The PV system included a linear current booster that eliminated the need for batteries but meant that the system would only pump water when there was adequate solar insolation. The system was instrumented to collect insolation and flowrate data, and water quality samples were regularly collected to quantify the mass of PCE (the primary contaminant of concern) that was removed from the aquifer. There were several challenges encountered during the project, the greatest of which was the low aquifer yield and the greater than anticipated GAC consumption rate. A stochastic analysis was performed to characterize the average daily flowrate as a function of the power consumed by the pump, and a comparison of the actual insolation relative to publically-available insolation estimates for the site were conducted. The data provide a means for predicting PV-powered pumping rates at other sites

Using Conditional Probability to Predict Solar-Powered Pump-and-Treat Performance

The purpose of remediation projects is to protect human health and the environment by removing harmful substances from the environment. The carbon footprint of an environmental remediation site can be reduced by powering the project with green or sustainable energy. This paper describes a sustainable remediation project that involves the use of a single-axis passive tracking photovoltaic array to power a pump-and-treat system at a Missouri Drycleaning Environmental Response Trust Fund site. The tetrachloroethene-contaminated groundwater is pumped by way of a positive displacement piston pump and treated using granular activated carbon. Previous works studying the performance of solar-powered pumping systems were performed using known or constant water heads that are typically unknown at active remediation sites. A stochastic analysis was performed using the two inherently random variables solar radiation and pumping flow rates. Two models were developed for the estimation of the amount of water that would be pumped from a solar-powered system given (1) the amount of solar radiation observed at the site, or (2) the amount of energy consumed by the pump, both of which can be determined by using data from the free online resource PVWatts. The results showed that even given substantial effects from bioremediation activities, a long-form model was able to accurately predict data within the central range of probabilities for five of the seven months studie

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE: Title (Mix case letters) Impact of High Resolution Wind Fields on Coastal Ocean Models

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