Advances in the process-related understanding of atmosphere-cryosphere-hydrosphere couplings on the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract HKT-ISTP 2013 B

Evaluation of a distributed energy balance model for a high-altitude glacier on the Tibetan Plateau using glaciological measurements and a time-lapse camera system

Abstract HKT-ISTP 2013 B

Genome-Wide Association Study in Bipolar Patients Stratified by Co-Morbidity

Bipolar disorder is a severe psychiatric disorder with high heritability. Co-morbid conditions are common and might define latent subgroups of patients that are more homogeneous with respect to genetic risk factors.In the Caucasian GAIN bipolar disorder sample of 1000 cases and 1034 controls, we tested the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms with patient subgroups defined by co-morbidity.). All three associations were found under the recessive genetic model. Bipolar disorder with low probability of co-morbid conditions did not show significant associations.Conceptualizing bipolar disorder as a heterogeneous disorder with regard to co-morbid conditions might facilitate the identification of genetic risk alleles. Rare variants might contribute to the susceptibility to bipolar disorder

Chapter 1.2: Tipping points in the cryosphere

Drastic changes in our planet’s frozen landscapes have occurred over recent decades, from Arctic sea ice decline and thawing of permafrost soils to polar amplification, the retreat of glaciers and ice loss from the ice sheets. In this chapter, we assess multiple lines of evidence for tipping points in the cryosphere – encompassing the ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica, sea ice, mountain glaciers and permafrost – based on recent observations, palaeorecords, numerical modelling and theoretical understanding. With about 1.2°C of global warming compared to pre-industrial levels, we are getting dangerously close to the temperature thresholds of some major tipping points for the ice sheets of Greenland and West Antarctica. Crossing these would lock in unavoidable long-term global sea level rise of up to 10 metres. There is evidence for localised and regional tipping points for glaciers and permafrost and, while evidence for global-scale tipping dynamics in sea ice, glaciers and permafrost is limited, their decline will continue with unabated global warming. Because of the long response times of these systems, some impacts of crossing potential tipping points will unfold over centuries to millennia. However, with the current trajectory of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and subsequent anthropogenic climate change, such largely irreversible changes might already have been triggered. These will cause far-reaching impacts for ecosystems and humans alike, threatening the livelihoods of millions of people, and will become more severe the further global warming progresses. The scientific content of this chapter is based on the following manuscript in preparation: Winkelmann et al., (in prep

Transcriptional Responses of Cultured Rat Sympathetic Neurons during BMP-7-Induced Dendritic Growth

Dendrites are the primary site of synapse formation in the vertebrate nervous system; however, relatively little is known about the molecular mechanisms that regulate the initial formation of primary dendrites. Embryonic rat sympathetic neurons cultured under defined conditions extend a single functional axon, but fail to form dendrites. Addition of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) triggers these neurons to extend multiple dendrites without altering axonal growth or cell survival. We used this culture system to examine differential gene expression patterns in naïve vs. BMP-treated sympathetic neurons in order to identify candidate genes involved in regulation of primary dendritogenesis.To determine the critical transcriptional window during BMP-induced dendritic growth, morphometric analysis of microtubule-associated protein (MAP-2)-immunopositive processes was used to quantify dendritic growth in cultures exposed to the transcription inhibitor actinomycin-D added at varying times after addition of BMP-7. BMP-7-induced dendritic growth was blocked when transcription was inhibited within the first 24 hr after adding exogenous BMP-7. Thus, total RNA was isolated from sympathetic neurons exposed to three different experimental conditions: (1) no BMP-7 treatment; (2) treatment with BMP-7 for 6 hr; and (3) treatment with BMP-7 for 24 hr. Affymetrix oligonucleotide microarrays were used to identify differential gene expression under these three culture conditions. BMP-7 significantly regulated 56 unique genes at 6 hr and 185 unique genes at 24 hr. Bioinformatic analyses implicate both established and novel genes and signaling pathways in primary dendritogenesis.This study provides a unique dataset that will be useful in generating testable hypotheses regarding transcriptional control of the initial stages of dendritic growth. Since BMPs selectively promote dendritic growth in central neurons as well, these findings may be generally applicable to dendritic growth in other neuronal cell types

How accurate are estimates of glacier ice thickness? Results from ITMIX, the Ice Thickness Models Intercomparison eXperiment

© Author(s) 2017. Knowledge of the ice thickness distribution of glaciers and ice caps is an important prerequisite for many glaciological and hydrological investigations. A wealth of approaches has recently been presented for inferring ice thickness from characteristics of the surface. With the Ice Thickness Models Intercomparison eXperiment (ITMIX) we performed the first coordinated assessment quantifying individual model performance. A set of 17 different models showed that individual ice thickness estimates can differ considerably - locally by a spread comparable to the observed thickness. Averaging the results of multiple models, however, significantly improved the results: on average over the 21 considered test cases, comparison against direct ice thickness measurements revealed deviations on the order of 10 ± 24% of the mean ice thickness (1σ estimate). Models relying on multiple data sets - such as surface ice velocity fields, surface mass balance, or rates of ice thickness change - showed high sensitivity to input data quality. Together with the requirement of being able to handle large regions in an automated fashion, the capacity of better accounting for uncertainties in the input data will be a key for an improved next generation of ice thickness estimation approaches

Mitochondrial dysfunction in autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis

A comprehensive literature search was performed to collate evidence of mitochondrial dysfunction in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) with two primary objectives. First, features of mitochondrial dysfunction in the general population of children with ASD were identified. Second, characteristics of mitochondrial dysfunction in children with ASD and concomitant mitochondrial disease (MD) were compared with published literature of two general populations: ASD children without MD, and non-ASD children with MD. The prevalence of MD in the general population of ASD was 5.0% (95% confidence interval 3.2, 6.9%), much higher than found in the general population (∼0.01%). The prevalence of abnormal biomarker values of mitochondrial dysfunction was high in ASD, much higher than the prevalence of MD. Variances and mean values of many mitochondrial biomarkers (lactate, pyruvate, carnitine and ubiquinone) were significantly different between ASD and controls. Some markers correlated with ASD severity. Neuroimaging, in vitro and post-mortem brain studies were consistent with an elevated prevalence of mitochondrial dysfunction in ASD. Taken together, these findings suggest children with ASD have a spectrum of mitochondrial dysfunction of differing severity. Eighteen publications representing a total of 112 children with ASD and MD (ASD/MD) were identified. The prevalence of developmental regression (52%), seizures (41%), motor delay (51%), gastrointestinal abnormalities (74%), female gender (39%), and elevated lactate (78%) and pyruvate (45%) was significantly higher in ASD/MD compared with the general ASD population. The prevalence of many of these abnormalities was similar to the general population of children with MD, suggesting that ASD/MD represents a distinct subgroup of children with MD. Most ASD/MD cases (79%) were not associated with genetic abnormalities, raising the possibility of secondary mitochondrial dysfunction. Treatment studies for ASD/MD were limited, although improvements were noted in some studies with carnitine, co-enzyme Q10 and B-vitamins. Many studies suffered from limitations, including small sample sizes, referral or publication biases, and variability in protocols for selecting children for MD workup, collecting mitochondrial biomarkers and defining MD. Overall, this evidence supports the notion that mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with ASD. Additional studies are needed to further define the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in ASD

El Derecho Argentino frente a la pandemia y post-pandemia COVID-19. TOMO II

La Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba no podía permanecer indolente frente a la conmoción que, durante este año 2020, ha provocado en el mundo la pandemia de COVID-19. Como comunidad educativa advertíamos que la prioridad máxima era lograr la continuidad de la labor de nuestra Casa de Estudios, para garantizar a nuestros alumnos del grado y del posgrado, el ejercicio de su derecho a estudiar, continuando y en algunos casos iniciando sus estudios, a pesar de las condiciones adversas que se vivían. Con esa finalidad convocamos a los profesores titulares de todas las cátedras y eméritos y consultos que quisieran hacerlo, a sumarse con sus aportes a esta construcción colectiva, que aborda los temas que nos ocupan desde las diversas perspectivas de las distintas áreas del mundo jurídico. Y la desinteresada respuesta positiva no se hizo esperar. Prueba de ello es este libro cuyas dimensiones, tanto en lo cuantitativo como en lo cualitativo, superaron las expectativas iniciales. La jerarquía de los autores que generosamente han participado con sus contribuciones, en algunos casos en forma individual y en otros acompañados por sus equipos de colaboradores, permiten prever que esta obra ha de brindar elementos de juicio de gran utilidad para continuar construyendo el mundo jurídico, dentro de la pandemia y después de ella.ÍNDICE GENERAL. TOMO II. DERECHO CONSTITUCIONAL. "Emergencias, orden constitucional y COVID-19 en Argentina" por Antonio María Hernández. "Una constitución para todas las épocas. Algunas notas sobre el Derecho Constitucional en tiempo de pandemia" por Guillermo E. Barrera Buteler, Magdalena I. Álvarez, José M. Pérez Corti y Victorino Solá. Pandemia y constitución en la Argentina actual. Reflexiones desde la Cátedra “B” de Derecho Constitucional Facultad de Derecho. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. I. Introducción. Breves comentarios sobre este texto y “lo constitucional” en los tiempos actuales en Argentina por Andrés Rossetti. II. Nociones sobre el Cuidado y el Modo de Ser en el Mundo por Marta Faur. III. Impacto de la pandemia en la dicotomía público/privado en Argentina por Claudio E. Guiñazú. IV. Preocupaciones constitucionales en tiempos de pandemia: desigualdad y emergencia. La necesidad de repensar los mecanismos decisorios por Romina Verri. V. Derechos laborales y gremiales de los trabajadores estatales durante la emergencia sanitaria por Félix A. López Amaya. VI. La coordinación intergubernamental frente al COVID-19 en experiencias de países federales por Marcelo Bernal. "Cuando el centro está afuera de la figura. -República, desequilibrio de poderes y emergencia-" por Pablo Riberi. "Pandemia y estado de excepción" por Miguel Ángel Ortiz Pellegrini. DERECHO PENAL. "La emergencia sanitaria en contextos de encierro carcelario" por Carlos Julio Lascano. "COVID-19 y cárceles argentinas" por Gustavo A. Arocena. DERECHO INTERNACIONAL PUBLICO. "La confrontación entre Estados Unidos de América y China en tiempos de COVID-19 y el Derecho Internacional Público" por Zlata Drnas de Clément. "El rol del principio de cooperación internacional durante la pandemia y en el período post-COVID 19" por María Alejandra Sticca. "COVID-19, crímenes internacionales y amenazas a la paz: ¿integran las pandemias el ámbito material de la responsabilidad de proteger?" por Luciano Pezzano. "Incidencia de la pandemia covid 19 en derechos fundamentales. Las organizaciones internacionales y la seguridad de los estados" por Christian G. Sommer, María Pilar Llorens, Oscar Benítez y Guillermo Costilla. DERECHO INTERNACIONAL PRIVADO. "El COVID-19 y la cooperación jurídica internacional" por Adriana Dreyzin de Klor. "El COVID-19 y las nuevas formas de celebración del matrimonio" por Carlos E. Echegaray de Maussion. "Pandemia y solicitudes de retorno de menores por traslados ilícitos en sustracción de niños: ¿es la COVID-19 una excepción de riesgo grave?" por Myriam Diana Lucero. "Justicia, aislamiento y videoconferencia la experiencia del Derecho Internacional Privado en desandar barreras: guía de buenas prácticas de la conferencia de La Haya 2019" por Carolina Harrington. "Restitución internacional de niños. La excepción de grave riesgo y COVID-19" por Laura Martina Jeifetz. "El Derecho Internacional Privado y el desafío frente a los grupos más vulnerables en el marco del COVID-19" por Cristina Britos. "La responsabilidad social empresaria de las empresas multinacionales como herramienta para enfrentar la pandemia COVID-19" por Candela Noelia Villegas. DERECHO ADMINISTRATIVO. "Los deberes cívicos frente a la pandemia COVID 19" por José Luis Palazzo. "Importancia del rol y la gestión del Poder Judicial en tiempos de coronavirus – COVID-19" por Domingo J. Sesin y Daniela S. Sosa. DERECHO DEL TRABAJO Y DE LA SEGURIDAD SOCIAL. "Las relaciones laborales en la emergencia" por Carlos Alberto Toselli.Fil: Hernández, Antonio María. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Barrera Buteler, Guillermo Eduardo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Álvarez, Magdalena I. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Pérez Corti, José M. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Solá, Victorino. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Rossetti, Andrés. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Faur, Marta. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Guiñazú, Claudio E. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Verri, Romina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: López Amaya, Félix A. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Bernal, Marcelo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Bernal, Marcelo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Centro de Estudios Avanzados; Argentina.Fil: Riberi, Pablo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Ortiz Pellegrini, Miguel Ángel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Lascano, Carlos Julio. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Arocena, Gustavo A. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Drnas de Clément, Zlata. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Sticca, María Alejandra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Pezzano, Luciano. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales; Argentina.Fil: Sommer, Christian G. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Sommer, Christian G. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho. Instituto de Derechos Humanos; Argentina.Fil: Llorens, María Pilar. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Benítez, Oscar. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Costilla, Guillermo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Salas, Graciela R. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Mortarotti, Pablo César. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Mortarotti, Pablo César. Universidad Católica de Córdoba; Argentina.Fil: Mortarotti, Pablo César. Universidad Siglo 21; Argentina.Fil: Dreyzin de Klor, Adriana. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Dreyzin de Klor, Adriana. Universidad Blas Pascal; Argentina.Fil: Lucero, Myriam Diana. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Harrington, Carolina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Jeifetz, Laura Martina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Britos, Cristina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Villegas, Candela Noelia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Villegas, Candela Noelia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba; Argentina.Fil: Zavatti, Adriana M. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Bottiglieri, María G. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Fernández, Flavia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Gordillo Reinalde, Laura Andrea. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Palazzo, José Luis. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Sesin, Domingo J. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Sosa, Daniela S. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Giménez, Laura E. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Tello Roldan, María Cecilia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Toselli, Carlos Alberto. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina.Fil: Echegaray de Maussion, Carlos E. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Derecho; Argentina

The impacts of climate change on the winter water cycle of the western Himalaya

Some 180 million people depend on the Indus River as a key water resource, fed largely by precipitation falling over the western Himalaya. However, the projected response of western Himalayan precipitation to climate change is currently not well constrained: CMIP5 GCMs project a reduced frequency and vorticity of synoptic-scale systems impacting the area, but such systems would exist in a considerably moister atmosphere. In this study, a convection-permitting (4 km horizontal resolution) setup of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is used to examine 40 cases of these synoptic-scale systems, known as western disturbances (WDs), as they interact with the western Himalaya. In addition to a present-day control run, three experiments are performed by perturbing the boundary and initial conditions to reflect pre-industrial, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 background climates respectively. It is found that in spite of the weakening intensity of WDs, net precipitation associated with them in future climate scenarios increases significantly; conversely there is no net change in precipitation between the pre-industrial and control experiments despite a significant conversion of snowfall in the pre-industrial experiment to rainfall in the control experiment, consistent with the changes seen in historical observations. This shift from snowfall to rainfall has profound consequences on water resource management in the Indus Valley, where irrigation is dependent on spring meltwater. Flux decomposition shows that the increase in future precipitation follows directly from the projected moistening of the tropical atmosphere (which increases the moisture flux incident on the western Himalaya by 28%) overpowering the weakened dynamics (which decreases it by 20%). Changes to extreme rainfall events are also examined: it is found that such events may increase significantly in frequency in both future scenarios examined. Two-hour maxima rainfall events that currently occur in 1-in-8 WDs are projected to increase tenfold in frequency in the RCP8.5 scenario; more prolonged (one-week maxima) events are projected to increase fiftyfold

De la modélisation a la commande non linéaire des convertisseurs multicellulaires série. Application à la fonction hacheur

Nowadays, the linear control of classical static power converters is a well known ground, almost fully investigated by numerous researchers all around the world. Besides, some new control problems appeared with new power converter architectures, such as multi-cell converters. In this paper a new method is presented for the control of a series multi-level converter, by the mean of input-output linearization. First, the multi-level structure and modelling are recalled, then the principle of the voltage and current control using exact input-output linearization, is presented. The sample period and the digital implementation problems will be taken into account for complete validation of this type of new control.
La commande des convertisseurs statiques à structure classique est un domaine qui est à l'heure actuelle bien maîtrisé et a été largement exploré par de nombreux chercheurs au cours de ces dernières années. Avec l'arrivée de nouvelles structures de convertisseurs (multicellulaires), de nouveaux problèmes en termes de commande sont apparus. Nous présenterons dans cet article une nouvelle approche développée pour la commande d'un convertisseur multicellulaire en association série. Après quelques rappels sur la structure et l'aspect modélisation de ce type de convertisseur, nous présenterons une procédure de régulation utilisant le principe de linéarisation exacte entrées/sorties. Nous terminerons cet article par la validation de ce type de commande à l'aide de simulations prenant en compte les problèmes d'échantillonnage et d'implantation numérique