Sub-continental transport mechanisms and pathways during two ozone episodes in northern Spain

International audienceTwo ozone episodes (occurring in June 2001 and June 2003) in the air quality monitoring network of the Basque Country (BC) are analyzed. The population information threshold was exceeded in many stations (urban, urban-background and rural). During this type of episodes, forced by a blocking anticyclone over the British Isles, ozone background concentrations over the area increase after the import of pollution from both, the continental Europe and the western Mediterranean areas (Gangoiti et al., 2002). For the present analysis, emphasis is made in the search for transport mechanisms, pathways and area sources contributing to the build-up of the episodes. Contributions from a selection of 17 urban and industrial conglomerates in the western European Atlantic (WEA) and the western Mediterranean (WM) are shown after the results of a coupled RAMS-HYPACT modelling system. Meteorological simulations are tested against both the high-resolution wind data recorded at the BC coastal area by a boundary layer wind-profiler radar (Alonso et al., 1998) and the wind soundings reported by the National Centres of Meteorology at a selection of European and north-African sites. Results show that during the accumulation phase of the episodes, background ozone concentrations increase in the whole territory as a consequence of transport from the Atlantic coast of France and the British Channel. For the peak phase, intrusions from new sources, located at the Western Mediterranean, Southern France, Ebro Valley, and, occasionally, the area of Madrid are added, resulting in a further increase in the ozone concentrations. Direct day and night transport within the north-easterly winds over the sea from the WEA source region, and night-time transport within the residual layer over continental areas (southern France, the Ebro Valley, and central Iberia) modulate the import sequence of pollutants and the local increase of ozone concentrations. The alternative direct use of low resolution meteorological data for the estimation of back-trajectories shows a more simple transport scheme with no contributions neither from the Western Mediterranean nor from the Madrid area

Climatic Feedbacks and Desertification: The Mediterranean Model

Abstract Mesometeorological information obtained in several research projects in southern Europe has been used to analyze perceived changes in the western Mediterranean summer storm regime. A procedure was developed to disaggregate daily precipitation data into three main components: frontal precipitation, summer storms, and Mediterranean cyclogenesis. Working hypotheses were derived on the likely processes involved. The results indicate that the precipitation regime in this Mediterranean region is very sensitive to variations in surface airmass temperature and moisture. Land-use perturbations that accumulated over historical time and greatly accelerated in the last 30 yr may have induced changes from an open, monsoon-type regime with frequent summer storms over the mountains inland to one dominated by closed vertical recirculations where feedback mechanisms favor the loss of storms over the coastal mountains and additional heating of the sea surface temperature during summer. This, in turn, favors Mediterranean cyclogenesis and torrential rains in autumn–winter. Because these intense rains and floods can occur anywhere in the basin, perturbations to the hydrological cycle in any part of the basin can propagate to the whole basin and adjacent regions. Furthermore, present levels of air pollutants can produce greenhouse heating, amplifying the perturbations and pushing the system over critical threshold levels. The questions raised are relevant for the new European Union (EU) water policies in southern Europe and for other regions dominated by monsoon-type weather systems

Comparative study of mid-upper arm circumference, arm muscle area and arm fat area percentiles in Argentinean and US children aged 4-14 years

Background: mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), subcutaneous fat and muscle measurements are an alternative method to diagnose overweight and evaluate growth as well as protein and energy reserves. Aim: to compare MUAC, arm muscle area (AMA) and arm fat area (AFA) measurements of Argentinean boys and girls (Sa) with reference curves for US boys and girls (R). Subjects and methods: data from 22,736 school-children aged 4-14 years from six Argentinean provinces were collected. MUAC and triceps skinfold thickness were measured and the derived AMA and AFA measures were calculated. Analyses were performed with GAMLSS using the R software. Differences in mean values of Sa and R were compared in percentiles 3, 50 and 97. Results: mean values of MUAC and AMA in boys and girls were higher in R than in Sa at all ages; conversely, AFA values were lower. Conclusions: our results confirm differences in upper arm anthropometry of Argentinean school-children with respect to the US reference. The higher adipose tissue and lower skeletal muscle mass observed in Argentinean children could be partly associated with the different ethnic origin of both populations. However, differences should be interpreted in the context of an obesogenic environment, which has favored a calorie-protein imbalance

Extended composite index of anthropometric failure in Argentinean preschool and school children

Objective: The Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (CIAF) can only be applied to children under 5 years of age and does not contemplate obesity. The aim of this study was to propose an Extended CIAF (ECIAF) that combines the characterization of malnutrition due to undernutrition and excess weight, and apply it in six Argentine provinces. Design: ECIAF excludes children not in anthropometric failure (group A) and was calculated from a percentage of children included in malnutrition categories B: wasting only; C: wasting and underweight; D: wasting, stunting and underweight; E: stunting and underweight; F: stunting only; Y: underweight only; G: only weight excess; and H: stunting and weight excess. Setting: Cross-sectional study conducted in Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chubut, Jujuy, Mendoza and Misiones (Argentina). Participants: 10 879 children of both sexes aged between 3 and 13·99. Results: ECIAF in preschool children (3 to 4·99 years) was 15·1 %. The highest prevalence was registered in Mendoza (16·7 %) and the lowest in Misiones (12·0 %). In school children (5 to 13·99 years) ECIAF was 28·6 %. Mendoza also recorded the highest rate (30·7 %), while Catamarca and Chubut had the lowest values (27·0 %). In the whole sample, about 25 % of the malnutrition was caused by undernutrition and 75 % by excess weight. Conclusions: The ECIAF summarizes anthropometric failure by both deficiency and excess weight and it highlights that a quarter of the malnutrition in the Argentine population was caused by undernutrition, although there are differences between Provinces (P < 0·05). ECIAF estimates are higher than those of CIAF or under-nutrition.Instituto de Genética VeterinariaCentro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectore

What Is ‘Value’ and How Can We Capture It from the Product Value Chain?

The mobile phone industry is based upon the rapid development of handsets and the high turnover of devices in order to drive sales. Phones are often used for shorter periods of time than their designed life, and when discarded it is often through channels that result in lost resource. This unsustainable business model places strain on resources and creates adverse environmental and social impacts. Through interrogation of a stock and flow model, a product-service system (PSS) for a small consumer electronic device, a mobile telephone, is proposed. The points at which value may be extracted from the PSS are identified. A quantitative measure of value is proposed in order to allow the evaluation of the most appropriate time to extract it. This value is not solely monetary, but is derived from the combination of indicators which encompass environmental, economic, and technological factors. A worked example is presented, in which it is found that the precious metals within the phone are the main determinants for value extraction. These metals are found in the printed circuit board, leading to a requirement to design phones for ease of extraction of these components in order to access the value within

The first hominin of Europe

The earliest hominin occupation of Europe is one of the most debated topics in palaeoanthropology. However, the purportedly oldest of the Early Pleistocene sites in Eurasia lack precise age control and contain stone tools rather than human fossil remains(1-5). Here we report the discovery of a human mandible associated with an assemblage of Mode 1 lithic tools and faunal remains bearing traces of hominin processing, in stratigraphic level TE9 at the site of the Sima del Elefante, Atapuerca, Spain(6-8). Level TE9 has been dated to the Early Pleistocene ( approximately 1.2 - 1.1 Myr), based on a combination of palaeomagnetism, cosmogenic nuclides and biostratigraphy. The Sima del Elefante site thus emerges as the oldest, most accurately dated record of human occupation in Europe, to our knowledge. The study of the human mandible suggests that the first settlement of Western Europe could be related to an early demographic expansion out of Africa. The new evidence, with previous findings in other Atapuerca sites ( level TD6 from Gran Dolina(9-13)), also suggests that a speciation event occurred in this extreme area of the Eurasian continent during the Early Pleistocene, initiating the hominin lineage represented by the TE9 and TD6 hominins.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62855/1/nature06815.pd

The role of tenascin-C in tissue injury and tumorigenesis

The extracellular matrix molecule tenascin-C is highly expressed during embryonic development, tissue repair and in pathological situations such as chronic inflammation and cancer. Tenascin-C interacts with several other extracellular matrix molecules and cell-surface receptors, thus affecting tissue architecture, tissue resilience and cell responses. Tenascin-C modulates cell migration, proliferation and cellular signaling through induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines and oncogenic signaling molecules amongst other mechanisms. Given the causal role of inflammation in cancer progression, common mechanisms might be controlled by tenascin-C during both events. Drugs targeting the expression or function of tenascin-C or the tenascin-C protein itself are currently being developed and some drugs have already reached advanced clinical trials. This generates hope that increased knowledge about tenascin-C will further improve management of diseases with high tenascin-C expression such as chronic inflammation, heart failure, artheriosclerosis and cancer