Modeling of orographic precipitation events in South America to couple hydrological and atmospheric models; part 1: The simulation of rain with the Mesoscale Model GESIMA

Globalmodelle sind aufgrund ihres groben Gitters (60 x 60 km) nur unzureichend in der Lage kleinskalige Prozesse (orographische Niederschlagsverstärkung) in der Atmosphäre aufzulösen. Mit Mesoskalenmodellen z.B. dem GESIMA (5 x 5 km) können deshalb die physikalische Grundlagen der Atmosphäre (Wolken- und Niederschlagsbildung) besser studiert und eine Kopplung mit hydrologischen Abflussmodellen erprobt werden. Zukünftig sieht dieses Projekt genau das vor, wobei der erste Teil, die Arbeit mit dem meteorologische Modell hier vorgestellt werden soll. Starkniederschlagserreignisse sind vielerorts auf der Welt mit charakteristischen Wetterlagen verbunden, die quasi über Tage unverändert ergiebigen Regen produzieren. Initialisiert mit den lokalen Vertikalprofilen aus Radiosondendaten, produzieren das prognostische Mesoskalenmodell GESIMA und das diagnostische Niederschlagsberechungsverfahren (MAXRR) maximale Regenmengen vergleichbarer Größenordnung.Global models are insufficient to solve small scale atmospheric processes (e.g. orographic precipitation) due to their gross resolution (60 x 60 km). With mesoscale models e.g. the GESIMA (5 x 5 km), the physical fundamentals of the atmosphere (formation of precipitation and clouds) can better be studied and a coupling with hydrological models be tested through. This project plans exactly, as a first step, the work with the cited meteorological model. Heavy rainfall events are connected with characteristic weather conditions in many places in the world which produce invariably rain quasi over days. Initialized with the local vertical profiles from radiosonde data, the prediction model GESIMA and the diagnostic model MAXRR produced rain quantities of comparable order of magnitude

Effect of lifting COVID-19 restrictions on utilisation of primary care services in Nepal: a difference-in-differences analysis

INTRODUCTION: An increasing number of studies have reported disruptions in health service utilisation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions. However, little is known about the effect of lifting COVID-19 restrictions on health service utilisation. The objective of this study was to estimate the effect of lifting COVID-19 restrictions on primary care service utilisation in Nepal. METHODS: Data on utilisation of 10 primary care services were extracted from the Health Management Information System across all health facilities in Nepal. We used a difference-in-differences design and linear fixed effects regressions to estimate the effect of lifting COVID-19 restrictions. The treatment group included palikas that had lifted restrictions in place from 17 August 2020 to 16 September 2020 (Bhadra 2077) and the control group included palikas that had maintained restrictions during that period. The pre-period included the 4 months of national lockdown from 24 March 2020 to 22 July 2020 (Chaitra 2076 to Ashar 2077). Models included month and palika fixed effects and controlled for COVID-19 incidence. RESULTS: We found that lifting COVID-19 restrictions was associated with an average increase per palika of 57.5 contraceptive users (95% CI 14.6 to 100.5), 15.6 antenatal care visits (95% CI 5.3 to 25.9) and 1.6 child pneumonia visits (95% CI 0.2 to 2.9). This corresponded to a 9.4% increase in contraceptive users, 34.2% increase in antenatal care visits and 15.6% increase in child pneumonia visits. Utilisation of most other primary care services also increased after lifting restrictions, but coefficients were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the ongoing pandemic, lifting restrictions can lead to an increase in some primary care services. Our results point to a causal link between restrictions and health service utilisation and call for policy makers in low- and middle-income countries to carefully consider the trade-offs of strict lockdowns during future COVID-19 waves or future pandemics

РАННЕПЕРМСКИЙ (300–270 МЛН ЛЕТ) МАГМАТИЗМ ВОСТОЧНОГО КАЗАХСТАНА КАК РЕЗУЛЬТАТ СОЧЕТАНИЯ ПЛЕЙТ- И ПЛЮМ-ТЕКТОНИЧЕСКИХ ФАКТОРОВ

The history of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) was marked by several major events of magmatism which produced large volumes of volcanic and intrusive (mafic-ultramafic and granitic) rocks within a relatively short time span (30–40 Ma) over a vast area. The magmatic activity postdated the orogenic stages of accretionary-collisional belts in Central Asia and likely resulted from the impact of mantle plumes that formed Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs). The formation of the Tarim–South Mongolia LIP at 300–270 Ma is the best known among the major Permian events of basaltic and granitic magmatism. Early Permian igneous rocks (volcanic, subvolcanic and intrusive suites that vary from ultramafic to felsic compositions) of the same age range (300 to 270 Ma) have been recently found also in Eastern Kazakhstan, within the late Paleozoic Altai collisional system. The compositions and ages of the rocks suggest that the Eastern Kazakhstan magmatism was the northward expansion of the Tarim LIP. The spread of the Tarim LIP was apparently facilitated by lithospheric extension after the Siberia-Kazakhstan collision. The extension led to rheological weakening of the lithosphere whereby deep mantle melts could penetrate to shallower depths. The early Permian history of Eastern Kazakhstan was controlled by the interplay of plate tectonic and plume processes: plate-tectonic accretion and collision formed the structural framework, and the Tarim mantle plume was a heat source maintaining voluminous magma generation.В истории развития крупнейшего Центрально-Азиатского складчатого пояса (ЦАСП) выявлены несколько периодов крупномасштабной эндогенной активности, характеризующихся проявлениями значительных объемов вулканических и интрузивных (как базитовых, так и гранитоидных) пород на обширных территориях в сравнительно короткие временные интервалы (30–40 млн лет). Эти вспышки магматической активности обычно происходят после завершения аккреционно-коллизионных процессов в складчатых системах и рассматриваются как результат воздействия мантийных плюмов на литосферу – крупные изверженные провинции. Одним из ярких примеров является Тарим-Южномонгольская крупная изверженная провинция (300–270 млн лет назад), характеризующаяся широким развитием базитового и гранитоидного магматизма в западной части ЦАСП. Исследования последних лет показали, что в Восточном Казахстане, в пределах Алтайской коллизионной системы герцинид, широко распространены как базитовые, так и гранитоидные комплексы раннепермского возраста (300–270 млн лет). В приведенном кратком обзоре показано, что особенности состава и условия формирования этих магматических ассоциаций позволяют рассматривать их как результат северо-западного распространения влияния Таримской крупной изверженной провинции. Распространение этого термического возмущения в литосфере,по-видимому, стало возможным благодаря пост-орогеническому растяжению после коллизии Сибирского и Казахстанского континентов. Реологическое ослабление литосферы позволило глубинным расплавам проникать в литосферную мантию, образовав крупные очаги базитовых магм. Таким образом, современный геологический облик и металлогеническая специфика территории Восточного Казахстана является результатом плейт-тектонических процессов посторогенического растяжения на фоне повышенного термического градиента в мантии, вызванного активностью Таримского мантийного плюма

Quality Of Antenatal Care In Rural Southern Tanzania: A Reality Check.

Counselling on the danger signs of unpredictable obstetric complications and the appropriate management of such complications are crucial in reducing maternal mortality. The objectives of this study were to identify gaps in the provision of ANC services and knowledge of danger signs as well as the quality of care women receive in case of complications. The study took place in the Rufiji District of Tanzania in 2008 and was conducted in seven health facilities. The study used (1) observations from 63 antenatal care (ANC) sessions evaluated with an ANC checklist, (2) self-assessments of 11 Health workers, (3) interviews with 28 pregnant women and (4) follow-up of 12 women hospitalized for pregnancy-related conditions.Blood pressure measurements and abdominal examinations were common during ANC visits while urine testing for albumin or sugar or haemoglobin levels was rare which was often explained as due to a lack of supplies. The reasons for measuring blood pressure or abdominal examinations were usually not explained to the women. Only 15/28 (54%) women were able to mention at least one obstetric danger sign requiring medical attention. The outcomes of ten complicated cases were five stillbirths and three maternal complications. There was a considerable delay in first contact with a health professional or the start of timely interventions including checking vital signs, using a partograph, and detailed record keeping. Linking danger signs to clinical and laboratory examination results during ANC with the appropriate follow up and avoiding delays in emergency obstetric care are crucial to the delivery of coordinated, effective care interventions

The Clumping Transition in Niche Competition: a Robust Critical Phenomenon

We show analytically and numerically that the appearance of lumps and gaps in the distribution of n competing species along a niche axis is a robust phenomenon whenever the finiteness of the niche space is taken into account. In this case depending if the niche width of the species $\sigma$ is above or below a threshold $\sigma_c$, which for large n coincides with 2/n, there are two different regimes. For $\sigma > sigma_c$ the lumpy pattern emerges directly from the dominant eigenvector of the competition matrix because its corresponding eigenvalue becomes negative. For $\sigma </- sigma_c$ the lumpy pattern disappears. Furthermore, this clumping transition exhibits critical slowing down as $\sigma$ is approached from above. We also find that the number of lumps of species vs. $\sigma$ displays a stair-step structure. The positions of these steps are distributed according to a power-law. It is thus straightforward to predict the number of groups that can be packed along a niche axis and it coincides with field measurements for a wide range of the model parameters.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures; http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-5468/2010/05/P0500

Using Semantic Technologies in Digital Libraries- A Roadmap to Quality Evaluation

Abstract. In digital libraries semantic techniques are often deployed to reduce the expensive manual overhead for indexing documents, maintaining metadata, or caching for future search. However, using such techniques may cause a decrease in a collection’s quality due to their statistical nature. Since data quality is a major concern in digital libraries, it is important to be able to measure the (loss of) quality of metadata automatically generated by semantic techniques. In this paper we present a user study based on a typical semantic technique use

Quasi-molecular Satellites of Lyman Beta in the Spectrum of the DA White Dwarf WOLF 1346

We present new FUV/UV observations of the DA white dwarf Wolf 1346 obtained with the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope. The atmospheric parameters of this object are estimated from a fit of model atmospheres to several optical spectra to be Teff = 20000 K, log g = 7.90. From the optical spectrum this star is a normal DA without any indications for chemical elements other than hydrogen. The hydrogen line L beta, however, shows a very unusual shape, with a steep red wing and two absorption features on this wing. The shape is reminiscent of the effects of quasi-molecular line broadening, as observed in L alpha in cooler DA white dwarfs. We show that this is indeed the correct explanation, by identifying 4 quasi-molecular satellites caused through perturbations by the H+ ion (H2+ quasi-molecule). The steep red wing is caused by the exponential decline of the line profile beyond the satellite most distant from the line center at 1078 A.Comment: 11 pages Latex with aaspp4 style, 4 postscript figures, as compressed tar file, ApJ Letters, in pres