Efficient dynamical downscaling of general circulation models using continuous data assimilation

Continuous data assimilation (CDA) is successfully implemented for the first time for efficient dynamical downscaling of a global atmospheric reanalysis. A comparison of the performance of CDA with the standard grid and spectral nudging techniques for representing long- and short-scale features in the downscaled fields using the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model is further presented and analyzed. The WRF model is configured at 25km horizontal resolution and is driven by 250km initial and boundary conditions from NCEP/NCAR reanalysis fields. Downscaling experiments are performed over a one-month period in January, 2016. The similarity metric is used to evaluate the performance of the downscaling methods for large and small scales. Similarity results are compared for the outputs of the WRF model with different downscaling techniques, NCEP reanalysis, and Final Analysis. Both spectral nudging and CDA describe better the small-scale features compared to grid nudging. The choice of the wave number is critical in spectral nudging; increasing the number of retained frequencies generally produced better small-scale features, but only up to a certain threshold after which its solution gradually became closer to grid nudging. CDA maintains the balance of the large- and small-scale features similar to that of the best simulation achieved by the best spectral nudging configuration, without the need of a spectral decomposition. The different downscaled atmospheric variables, including rainfall distribution, with CDA is most consistent with the observations. The Brier skill score values further indicate that the added value of CDA is distributed over the entire model domain. The overall results clearly suggest that CDA provides an efficient new approach for dynamical downscaling by maintaining better balance between the global model and the downscaled fields

EVALUATION OF EFFICACY OF OOSHAKADI LEKHANA BASTI IN HYPERLIPIDAEMIA - A SINGLE BLINDED RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED STUDY

Disorders of lipid metabolism and obesity are reported by 30% to 40% with increased prevalence. These conditions are co-related with Medo-pradoshajavikara - a condition leading for excess formation of Meda (lipids) directly from Amarasa Dhatu (improperly formed chyle) and travel all over body through blood circulation. This stage is compared to hyperlipidaemia where it is defined as excess circulation of lipids in blood. The present study highlights the efficacy of Ooshakadi Lekhana Basti (type of therapeutic enema) processed by Ooshakadigana Dravyas (alkaline substances). Ooshaka (alkaline sand) was special drug and used almost for first time which is synonymously known as Kshara Mrittika. A single blinded controlled study has been conducted on 45 patients randomized in to three groups each containing 15 patients. The control drug was atrovastin. Average mean reduction of lipids were found statistically significant (p<0.05) in the experimental groups over control group in all types of lipids except HDL which has presented increase pattern. Hence the study establishes the efficacy of Ooshakadi Lekhana Basti in hyperlipidaemia of obese and non-obese patients

Theoretically Efficient Parallel Graph Algorithms Can Be Fast and Scalable

There has been significant recent interest in parallel graph processing due to the need to quickly analyze the large graphs available today. Many graph codes have been designed for distributed memory or external memory. However, today even the largest publicly-available real-world graph (the Hyperlink Web graph with over 3.5 billion vertices and 128 billion edges) can fit in the memory of a single commodity multicore server. Nevertheless, most experimental work in the literature report results on much smaller graphs, and the ones for the Hyperlink graph use distributed or external memory. Therefore, it is natural to ask whether we can efficiently solve a broad class of graph problems on this graph in memory. This paper shows that theoretically-efficient parallel graph algorithms can scale to the largest publicly-available graphs using a single machine with a terabyte of RAM, processing them in minutes. We give implementations of theoretically-efficient parallel algorithms for 20 important graph problems. We also present the optimizations and techniques that we used in our implementations, which were crucial in enabling us to process these large graphs quickly. We show that the running times of our implementations outperform existing state-of-the-art implementations on the largest real-world graphs. For many of the problems that we consider, this is the first time they have been solved on graphs at this scale. We have made the implementations developed in this work publicly-available as the Graph-Based Benchmark Suite (GBBS).Comment: This is the full version of the paper appearing in the ACM Symposium on Parallelism in Algorithms and Architectures (SPAA), 201

Pancreas exocrine replacement therapy is associated with increased survival following pancreatoduodenectomy for periampullary malignancy

Background: Although many patients undergoing pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) for cancer have pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) is not routinely used, and effects upon post-operative survival are unclear.Methods: This review of patients undergoing PD for periampullary malignancy sought to test for an association between PERT and overall survival, with post-hoc subgroup analysis performed after stratifying patients by the year of surgery, pancreatic duct width and tumour type.Results: Some 202/469 (43.1%) patients received PERT. After accounting for pathological variables and chemotherapy, PERT use was found to be independently associated with improved survival on multivariable analysis [HR 0.72 (95% CI: 0.52-0.99), p = 0.044] and on propensity matched analysis (p = 0.009). The effect of PERT upon improved survival was predominantly observed amongst patients with a dilated pancreatic duct (>= 3 mm).Discussion: PERT use was independently associated with improved survival following PD for cancer. The validity of this observation is supported by an effect largely confined to those patients with a dilated pancreatic duct. The nutritional status of patients undergoing PD for cancer needs further investigation and the effects of PERT require verification in further clinical studies

Comparable Overall Survival in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Diagnosed within and outside a Surveillance Programme:The Potential Impact of Liver Cirrhosis

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer death, and its incidence is rising. Mortality from HCC is predicted to increase by 140% by 2035. Surveillance of high-risk patients with cirrhosis or chronic liver disease may be one means of reducing HCC mortality, but the level of supporting evidence for international guidelines is low/moderate. This study explores the real-world experience of HCC surveillance at a tertiary referral centre. Electronic patient records for all new HCCs diagnosed between August 2012 and December 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. Patient and tumour characteristics were evaluated, including the co-existence of chronic liver disease, cancer treatment and survival, and categorised according to HCC diagnosis within or outside a surveillance programme. Patients with HCC who presented through surveillance had smaller tumours diagnosed at an earlier stage, but this did not translate into improved overall survival. All patients in surveillance had chronic liver disease, including 91% (n = 101) with cirrhosis, compared to 45% (n = 29) in the non-surveillance cohort. We propose that the immune dysfunction associated with cirrhosis predisposes patients to a more aggressive tumour biology than the largely non-cirrhotic population in the non-surveillance group

Chargeâ Transport Properties of F6TNAPâ Based Chargeâ Transfer Cocrystals

The crystal structures of the chargeâ transfer (CT) cocrystals formed by the Ï â electron acceptor 1,3,4,5,7,8â hexafluoroâ 11,11,12,12â tetracyanonaphthoâ 2,6â quinodimethane (F6TNAP) with the planar Ï â electronâ donor molecules triphenylene (TP), benzo[b]benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3â d]thiophene (BTBT), benzo[1,2â b:4,5â bâ ²]dithiophene (BDT), pyrene (PY), anthracene (ANT), and carbazole (CBZ) have been determined using singleâ crystal Xâ ray diffraction (SCXRD), along with those of two polymorphs of F6TNAP. All six cocrystals exhibit 1:1 donor/acceptor stoichiometry and adopt mixedâ stacking motifs. Cocrystals based on BTBT and CBZ Ï â electron donor molecules exhibit brickwork packing, while the other four CT cocrystals show herringboneâ type crystal packing. Infrared spectroscopy, molecular geometries determined by SCXRD, and electronic structure calculations indicate that the extent of groundâ state CT in each cocrystal is small. Density functional theory calculations predict large conduction bandwidths and, consequently, low effective masses for electrons for all six CT cocrystals, while the TPâ , BDTâ , and PYâ based cocrystals are also predicted to have large valence bandwidths and low effective masses for holes. Chargeâ carrier mobility values are obtained from spaceâ charge limited current (SCLC) measurements and fieldâ effect transistor measurements, with values exceeding 1 cm2 Vâ 1 s1 being estimated from SCLC measurements for BTBT:F6TNAP and CBZ:F6TNAP cocrystals.Structural, electronic band structure, and electrical properties of a series of chargeâ transfer cocrystals based on F6TNAP and six planar donors are presented. Density functional theory calculations afford large conduction bandwidths and low effective masses for all six cocrystals. A few cocrystals exhibit chargeâ carrier mobilities in excess of 1 cm2 Vâ 1 sâ 1, as estimated from spaceâ charge limited current measurements.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153248/1/adfm201904858-sup-0001-S1.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153248/2/adfm201904858.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153248/3/adfm201904858_am.pd

Lung Cancer in Pulmonary Fibrosis: Tales of Epithelial Cell Plasticity

Lung epithelial cells exhibit a high degree of plasticity. Alterations to lung epithelial cell function are critically involved in several chronic lung diseases such as pulmonary fibrosis. Pulmonary fibrosis is characterized by repetitive injury and subsequent impaired repair of epithelial cells, which leads to aberrant growth factor activation and fibroblast accumulation. Increased proliferation and hyper- and metaplasia of epithelial cells upon injury have also been observed in pulmonary fibrosis; this epithelial cell activation might represent the basis for lung cancer development. Indeed, several studies have provided histopathological evidence of an increased incidence of lung cancer in pulmonary fibrosis. The mechanisms involved in the development of cancer in pulmonary fibrosis, however, remain poorly understood. This review highlights recently uncovered molecular mechanisms shared between lung cancer and fibrosis, which extend the current evidence of a common trait of cancer and fibrosis, as provided by histopathological observations. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base

Current challenges in software solutions for mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics

This work was in part supported by the PRIME-XS project, grant agreement number 262067, funded by the European Union seventh Framework Programme; The Netherlands Proteomics Centre, embedded in The Netherlands Genomics Initiative; The Netherlands Bioinformatics Centre; and the Centre for Biomedical Genetics (to S.C., B.B. and A.J.R.H); by NIH grants NCRR RR001614 and RR019934 (to the UCSF Mass Spectrometry Facility, director: A.L. Burlingame, P.B.); and by grants from the MRC, CR-UK, BBSRC and Barts and the London Charity (to P.C.

Liver Resection and Ablation for Squamous Cell Carcinoma Liver Metastases

Background Limited evidence exists to guide the management of patients with liver metastases from squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The aim of this retrospective multicentre cohort study was to describe patterns of disease recurrence after liver resection/ablation for SCC liver metastases and factors associated with recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). Method Members of the European–African Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association were invited to include all consecutive patients undergoing liver resection/ablation for SCC liver metastases between 2002 and 2019. Patient, tumour and perioperative characteristics were analysed with regard to RFS and OS. Results Among the 102 patients included from 24 European centres, 56 patients had anal cancer, and 46 patients had SCC from other origin. RFS in patients with anal cancer and non-anal cancer was 16 and 9 months, respectively (P = 0.134). A positive resection margin significantly influenced RFS for both anal cancer and non-anal cancer liver metastases (hazard ratio 6.82, 95 per cent c.i. 2.40 to 19.35, for the entire cohort). Median survival duration and 5-year OS rate among patients with anal cancer and non-anal cancer were 50 months and 45 per cent and 21 months and 25 per cent, respectively. For the entire cohort, only non-radical resection was associated with worse overall survival (hazard ratio 3.21, 95 per cent c.i. 1.24 to 8.30). Conclusion Liver resection/ablation of liver metastases from SCC can result in long-term survival. Survival was superior in treated patients with liver metastases from anal versus non-anal cancer. A negative resection margin is paramount for acceptable outcome