Interannual variability of the stratospheric wave driving during northern winter

The strength of the stratospheric wave driving during northern winter is often quantified by the January–February mean poleward eddy heat flux at 100 hPa, averaged over 40°–80° N (or a similar area and period). Despite the dynamical and chemical relevance of the wave driving, the causes for its variability are still not well understood. In this study, ERA-40 reanalysis data for the period 1979–2002 are used to examine several factors that significantly affect the interannual variability of the wave driving. The total poleward heat flux at 100 hPa is poorly correlated with that in the troposphere, suggesting a decoupling between 100 hPa and the troposphere. However, the individual zonal wave-1 and wave-2 contributions to the wave driving at 100 hPa do exhibit a significant coupling with the troposphere, predominantly their stationary components. The stationary wave-1 contribution to the total wave driving significantly depends on the latitude of the stationary wave-1 source in the troposphere. The results suggest that this dependence is associated with the varying ability of stationary wave-1 activity to enter the tropospheric waveguide at mid-latitudes. The wave driving anomalies are separated into three parts: one part due to anomalies in the zonal correlation coefficient between the eddy temperature and eddy meridional wind, another part due to anomalies in the zonal eddy temperature amplitude, and a third part due to anomalies in the zonal eddy meridional wind amplitude. It is found that year-to-year variability in the zonal correlation coefficient between the eddy temperature and the eddy meridional wind is the most dominant factor in explaining the year-to-year variability of the poleward eddy heat flux

Analysis of the frequency-dependent response to wave forcing in the extratropics

A quasigeostrophic model for the frequency-dependent response of the zonal-mean flow to planetary-wave forcing at Northern Hemisphere (NH) midlatitudes is applied to 4-D-Var ECMWF analysis data for six extended winter seasons. The theoretical response is a non-linear function of the frequency of the forcing, the thermal damping time α−1, and a scaling parameter µ which includes the aspect ratio of the meridional to the vertical length scale of the response. Regression of the calculated response from the analyses onto the theoretical response yields height-dependent estimates for both α−1 and µ. The thermal damping time estimated from this dynamical model is about 2 days in the troposphere, 7–10 days in the stratosphere, and 2–4 days in the lower mesosphere. For the stratosphere and lower mesosphere, the estimates lie within the range of existing radiative damping time estimates, but for the troposphere they are significantly smaller

‘Wat de boer niet kent’:Een onderzoek naar het effect van formulering (technisch versus niet-technisch) op de acceptatie van kweekvlees

Cultured meat looks, feels and tastes like conventional meat, but is much less destructive for humans, animals and the environment. However, consumer acceptance of cultured meat is still not very high, which may have to do with the perceived unnaturalness of the way it is produced. Previous research has suggested that part of this unease can be taken away if the textual description of the production process makes use of non-technical terms, instead of the rather technical terms that are often used in information brochures. The current study failed to replicate these earlier findings: there were no significant differences between the technical text, the non-technical text, and a control condition in which no description of the production process was included. Furthermore, from our results it appears that the feeling of ‘disgust’ that is evoked when participants read about cultured meat is central in the acceptance process, and not ‘perceived naturalness’ as has been hypothesized earlier. Thus, it seems to be important to focus on reducing the feeling of disgust in further communications about cultured meat, for instance by creating associations with pleasant and tasty sensations, and leave out descriptions of the production process altogether

Pharmacokinetics of vibunazole (Bay n7133) administered orally to healthy subjects

Contains fulltext : 4447.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Angiosarcomatous transdifferentiation of metastatic melanoma

Melanoma is known to show considerable variation in its histopathological presentation. In exceptional cases, heterologous or divergent differentiation (metaplastic melanoma) can be observed. We report a case of a 69-year-old man who was diagnosed with nodular melanoma on the right upper leg. One year later, the patient presented with an inguinal lymph node metastasis and a lymph node dissection was carried out. In two out of five positive lymph nodes, an angiosarcomatous component was found next to a conventional melanoma component. Shortly after, the patient developed two in-transit metastases in which again an angiosarcomatous component was seen. The vascular component stained positive for ERG and CD31 and negative for melanocytic markers (Mart-1, S100, SOX-10), while the conventional melanoma had an opposite staining pattern. Molecular analysis on both components showed an identical mutation in the NRAS gene, which in our opinion proves the divergent differentiation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report describing angiosarcomatous transdifferentiation of melanoma

Does combination therapy work in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension?

Objective: The current experience with combination therapy in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is limited. We present the first survival results up to 5 years for dual combination therapy versus monotherapy in CTEPH. Methods: All consecutive, non-operated CTEPH or residual PH after pulmonary endarterectomy patients treated with PH-specific medical therapy between January 2002 and November 2019 were included. We report and compare survival between monotherapy and (upfront or sequential) dual combination therapy until five years after medication initiation. Results: In total, 183 patients (mean age 65 ± 14 years, 60% female, 66% WHO FC III/IV, 86% non-operated) were included, of which 83 patients received monotherapy and 100 patients received dual combination therapy. At baseline, patients receiving combination therapy had a higher NT-proBNP (p = 0.02) mean pulmonary artery pressure (p = 0.0001) and pulmonary vascular resistance (p = 0.02), while cardiac index was lower (p = 0.03). Total follow-up duration was 3.3 ± 1.8 years, during which 31 (17%) patients died. Estimated 1-, 3- and 5-year survival for monotherapy were 99%, 92% and 79%, respectively. For combination therapy percentages were 98%, 89% and 70%, respectively. Survival did not significantly differ between both groups (p = 0.22). Conclusion: Survival up to 5 years for patients treated with combination therapy, regardless of the combination strategy, was similar as patients with monotherapy, despite worse clinical and haemodynamic baseline characteristics

A new version of the HBSC Family Affluence Scale - FAS III: Scottish qualitative findings from the International FAS Development Study

A critical review of the Family Affluence Scale (FAS) concluded that FAS II was no longer discriminatory within very rich or very poor countries, where a very high or a very low proportion of children were categorised as high FAS or low FAS respectively (Currie et al. 2008). The review concluded that a new version of FAS - FAS III - should be developed to take into account current trends in family consumption patterns across the European region, the US and Canada. In 2012, the FAS Development and Validation Study was conducted in eight countries - Denmark, Greenland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Scotland. This paper describes the Scottish qualitative findings from this study. The Scottish qualitative fieldwork comprising cognitive interviews and focus groups sampled from 11, 13 and 15 year-old participants from 18 of the most- and least- economically deprived schools. These qualitative results were used to inform the final FAS III recommendations.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Impact of ultra-thin struts on restenosis after chronic total occlusion recanalization: Insights from the randomized PRISON IV trial

The PRISON-IV trial showed inferior outcome in patients with chronic total occlusions (CTOs) treated with the ultrathin-struts (60\u2009\u3bcm for stent diameter 643\u2009mm, 81\u3bcm >3\u2009mm) hybrid-sirolimus eluting stents (SES) compared with everolimus eluting stents (EES, 81\u2009\u3bcm). The aim of this study is to investigate if the use of smaller stents ( 643\u2009mm) was responsible for the inferior outcome reported in the trial