Greenery in the historic area of Maria Konopnicka square in Suwałki

Greenery in the historic area of Maria Konopnicka square in Suwałk

Traditional eye medication and pterygium occurrence in Limpopo Province

Background. The relative importance of environmental and hereditary factors in the occurrence of pterygium in African blacks has not been reported.Aim. To investigate the relative significance of factors associatedwith pterygium occurrence.Methods. This was a prospective case-controlled study where150 pterygium patients and 150 controls participated. Interviewswere conducted, eyes examined and multivariate analysis done. Thefamilies of 51 pterygium cases and 50 controls were examined forpresence of pterygium.Results. Of 150 cases and 150 controls, 79 (52.6%) and 60 (40%)used traditional eye drops (odds ratio (OR) 2.03; p=0.009. Ten cases (6.6%) and 26 controls (17.3%) had unstable tear film (OR 0.30; p=0.007. Forty-six cases (30.6%) and 15 controls (10%) reported a positive family history (OR 3.93; p<0.001). Groups of 3 - 5 pterygium cases in a household occurred in 36 of 51 pterygium families (70.5%) v. 1 of 50 controls (2%).Conclusions. Pterygium occurrence was associated with the use of traditional eye drops, a positive family history and having groupsof diagnosed pterygium-affected relatives. However, unstable tearfilm seemed protective against pterygium occurrence

Traditional eye medication and pterygium occurrence in Limpopo Province

Background. The relative importance of environmental and hereditary factors in the occurrence of pterygium in African blacks has not been reported. Aim. To investigate the relative significance of factors associated with pterygium occurrence. Methods. This was a prospective case-controlled study where 150 pterygium patients and 150 controls participated. Interviews were conducted, eyes examined and multivariate analysis done. The families of 51 pterygium cases and 50 controls were examined for presence of pterygium. Results. Of 150 cases and 150 controls, 79 (52.6%) and 60 (40%) used traditional eye drops (odds ratio (OR) 2.03; p=0.009. Ten cases (6.6%) and 26 controls (17.3%) had unstable tear film (OR 0.30; p=0.007. Forty-six cases (30.6%) and 15 controls (10%) reported a positive family history (OR 3.93;

Operational setup of the soil-perturbed, time-lagged Ensemble Prediction System at the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management – National Research Institute

The usage of Ensemble Prediction System (EPS)-based weather forecasts is nowadays becoming very popular and widespread, because ensemble means better represent weather-related risks than a single (deterministic) forecast. Perturbations of the lower boundary state (i.e., layers of soil and the boundary between soil and the lower atmosphere) applied to the governing system are also believed to play an important role at any resolution. As a part of the research project of the Consortium for Small-scale Modelling (COSMO) at the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management – National Research Institute (IMWM-NRI), a simple and efficient method was proposed to produce a reasonable number of valid ensemble members, taking into consideration predefined soil-related model parameters. Tests, case studies and long-term evaluations confirmed that small perturbations of a selected parameter(s) were sufficient to induce significant changes in the forecast of the state of the atmosphere and to provide qualitative selection of a valid member of the ensemble members. Another important factor that added a significant increment to ensemble spread was the time-lagged approach. All these aspects resulted in the preparation of a well-defined ensemble based on the perturbation of soil-related parameters, and introduced in the COSMO model operational setup at the IMWM-NRI. This system is intended for the use in forecasters’ routine work