Tracking of urban aerosols using combined LIDAR-based remote sensing and ground-based measurements

A measuring campaign was performed over the neighboring towns of Nova Gorica in Slovenia and Gorizia in Italy on 24 and 25 May 2010, to investigate the concentration and distribution of urban aerosols. Tracking of two-dimensional spatial and temporal aerosol distributions was performed using scanning elastic LIDAR, operating at 1064 nm. In addition, PM<sub>10</sub> concentrations of particles, NO<sub>x</sub> concentrations and meteorological data were continuously monitored within the LIDAR scanning region. Based on the data we collected, we investigated the flow dynamics and the aerosol concentrations within the lower troposphere and found an evidence for daily aerosol cycles. We observed a number of cases with spatially localized increased LIDAR returns, which are associated with the presence of point sources of particulate matter. Daily aerosol concentration cycles were also clearly visible with a peak in aerosol concentration during the morning rush hours and daily plateau at around 17:00 Central European Time. We also found that horizontal atmospheric extinction at the height of 200 m, averaged in limited region with a radius of 300 m directly above the ground-based measuring site, was linearly correlated to the PM<sub>10</sub> concentration with a correlation coefficient of 0.84. When considering the average of the horizontal atmospheric extinction over the entire scanning region, a strong dependence on traffic conditions (concentration of NO<sub>x</sub>) in the vicinity of the ground-based measuring site was observed

Decompositions of modules lacking zero sums

The third author thanks the University of Virginia mathematics department for its hospitality.Peer reviewedPostprin

Relationship between cardiorespiratory phase coherence during hypoxia and genetic polymorphism in humans.

High altitude-induced hypoxia in humans evokes a pattern of breathing known as periodic breathing (PB), in which the regular oscillations corresponding to rhythmic expiration and inspiration are modulated by slow periodic oscillations. The phase coherence between instantaneous heart rate and respiration is shown to increase significantly at the frequency of periodic breathing during acute and sustained normobaric and hypobaric hypoxia. It is also shown that polymorphism in specific genes, NOTCH4 and CAT, is significantly correlated with this coherence, and thus with the incidence of PB. Differences in phase shifts between blood flow signals and respiratory and PB oscillations clearly demonstrate contrasting origins of the mechanisms underlying normal respiration and PB. These novel findings provide a better understanding of both the genetic and the physiological mechanisms responsible for respiratory control during hypoxia at altitude, by linking genetic factors with cardiovascular dynamics, as evaluated by phase coherence. Periodic breathing (PB) occurs in most humans at high altitudes and is characterised by low-frequency periodic alternation between hyperventilation and apnoea. In hypoxia-induced PB the dynamics and coherence between heart rate and respiration and their relationship to underlying genetic factors is still poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate, through novel usage of time-frequency analysis methods, the dynamics of hypoxia-induced PB in healthy individuals genotyped for a selection of antioxidative and neurodevelopmental genes. Breathing, ECG and microvascular blood flow were simultaneously monitored for 30 min in 22 healthy males. The same measurements were repeated under normoxic and hypoxic (normobaric (NH) and hypobaric (HH)) conditions, at real and simulated altitudes of up to 3800 m. Wavelet phase coherence and phase difference around the frequency of breathing (approximately 0.3 Hz) and around the frequency of PB (approximately 0.06 Hz) were evaluated. Subjects were genotyped for common functional polymorphisms in antioxidative and neurodevelopmental genes. During hypoxia, PB resulted in increased cardiorespiratory coherence at the PB frequency. This coherence was significantly higher in subjects with NOTCH4 polymorphism, and significantly lower in those with CAT polymorphism (HH only). Study of the phase shifts clearly indicates that the physiological mechanism of PB is different from that of the normal respiratory cycle. The results illustrate the power of time-evolving oscillatory analysis content in obtaining important insight into high altitude physiology. In particular, it provides further evidence for a genetic predisposition to PB and may partly explain the heterogeneity in the hypoxic response

Glutamatergic gene variants impact the clinical profile of efficacy and side effects of haloperidol

BACKGROUND: The glutamatergic system may be relevant to the pathophysiology of psychosis and to the effects of antipsychotic treatments. OBJECTIVES: We investigated a set of 62 SNPs located in genes coding for subunits of glutamatergic receptors (GAD1, GRIA1, GRIA3, GRIA4, GRID2, GRIK1, GRIK2, GRIK3, GRIK4, GRIN2B, GRM1 and GRM4), and the transporter of glycine (SLC6A5), as modulators of the effects of haloperidol. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied a sample of 101 acutely ill psychotic patients. We then validated our result in two independent samples from Slovenia (n=71 and n=118) of schizophrenic patients treated with antipsychotics. We both investigated the antipsychotic effect (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale) and motor side effect (Extrapyramidal Symptom Rating Scale) at baseline and days 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28. SLC6A5 variant (rs2298826) was found to be associated with a rapid rise of motor side effects at the beginning of the treatment (repeated measures of analysis of variance, P=0.0002), followed by a subsequent adaptation, probably dependent on haloperidol doses down titration. A specific effect was noted for dyskinetic symptoms. Haplotype analysis strengthened the relevance of SLC6A5: the C-A-C haplotype (rs1443548, rs883377, rs1945771) was found to be associated with higher Extrapyramidal symptom rating scale scores (overall P=0.01, haplotype P=0.000001). We successfully replicated this finding in the two independent samples from Slovenia. CONCLUSION: This result further stresses the relevance of the glutamatergic system in modulating the effects of haloperidol treatment, especially with regards to motor side effects