Empirical wind model for the middle and lower atmosphere. Part 1: Local time average

The HWM90 thermospheric wind model was revised in the lower thermosphere and extended into the mesosphere and lower atmosphere to provide a single analytic model for calculating zonal and meridional wind profiles representative of the climatological average for various geophysical conditions. Gradient winds from CIRA-86 plus rocket soundings, incoherent scatter radar, MF radar, and meteor radar provide the data base and are supplemented by previous data driven model summaries. Low-order spherical harmonics and Fourier series are used to describe the major variations throughout the atmosphere including latitude, annual, semiannual, and longitude (stationary wave 1). The model represents a smoothed compromise between the data sources. Although agreement between various data sources is generally good, some systematic differences are noted, particularly near the mesopause. Root mean square differences between data and model are on the order of 15 m/s in the mesosphere and 10 m/s in the stratosphere for zonal wind, and 10 m/s and 4 m/s, respectively, for meridional wind

Effect of age on bone mineral density and micro architecture in the radius and tibia of horses: An Xtreme computed tomographic study

Background: The effect of age on the bone mineral density and microarchitecture of the equine radius and tibia was investigated. Fifty-six bones from 15 horses aged four to 21 years were used. There were nine geldings and six mares, and none of the horses had any disease influencing bone properties. Xtreme computed tomography was used to evaluate a 9-mm segment of the diaphysis and metaphysis of each bone. The following variables were determined: length of the bone, circumference and diameter in the frontal and sagittal planes in the middle of the bone. Diaphysis: total volume, bone volume, bone volume ratio, slice area, bone area, marrow area, cortical and marrow thickness, bone mineral density, polar moment of inertia of the cortex. Metaphysis: total area, bone area, cortical bone area, cortical thickness, bone mineral density, bone mineral density in the cortex, bone mineral density in the trabecular region, trabecular number, trabecular thickness, trabecular separation, polar moment of inertia of the metaphysis, polar moment of inertia of the cortex of the metaphysis. Results: Bone density and microarchitecture were not affected by breed or gender. However, the microarchitecture varied with the age of the horse; the number of trabeculae decreased significantly and the distance between trabeculae increased significantly with increasing age. There were no significant differences between bones of the left and right limbs or between the radius and tibia. Conclusion: The variables investigated did not differ between geldings and mares. However, there were age-related changes in the microstructure of the bones. Further experimental studies are necessary to determine whether these changes reduce bone strength. Age-related changes in the bones were seen and may explain the higher incidence of fractures and fissures in older horses

Gravity waves in the middle atmosphere during the MaCWAVE winter campaign: evidence of mountain wave critical level encounters

Falling sphere and balloon wind and temperature data from the MaCWAVE winter campaign, which was conducted in northern Scandinavia during January 2003, are analyzed to investigate gravity wave characteristics in the stratosphere and mesosphere. There were two stratospheric warming events occurring during the campaign, one having a maximum temperature perturbation at ~45 km during 17–19 January, and the other having a maximum perturbation at ~30 km during 24–27 January. The former was a major event, whereas the latter was a minor one. Both warmings were accompanied by upper mesospheric coolings, and during the second warming, the upper mesospheric cooling propagated downward. Falling sphere data from the two salvos on 24–25 January and 28 January were analyzed for gravity wave characteristics. Gravity wave perturbations maximized at ~45–50 km, with a secondary maximum at ~60 km during Salvo 1; for Salvo 2, wave activity was most pronounced at ~60 km and above. <P style="line-height: 20px;"> Gravity wave horizontal propagation directions are estimated using the conventional hodographic analysis combined with the S-transform (a Gaussian wavelet analysis method). The results are compared with those from a Stokes analysis. They agree in general, though the former appears to provide better estimates for some cases, likely due to the capability of the S-transform to obtain robust estimates of wave amplitudes and phase differences between different fields. <P style="line-height: 20px;"> For Salvo 1 at ~60 km and above, gravity waves propagated towards the southeast, whereas for Salvo 2 at similar altitudes, waves propagated predominantly towards the northwest or west. These waves were found not to be topographic waves. Gravity wave motions at ~45–50 km in Salvo 1 were more complicated, but they generally had large amplitudes, short vertical scales, and their hodographs revealed a northwest-southeast orientation. In addition, the ratios between wave amplitudes and intrinsic phase speeds generally displayed a marked peak at ~45–50 km and decreased sharply at ~50 km, where the background winds were very weak. These results suggest that these wave motions were most likely topographic waves approaching their critical levels. Waves were more nearly isotropic in the lower stratosphere

The effect of green tea as an adjunct to scaling and root planing in non-surgical periodontitis therapy: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE To provide a systematic overview on the efficacy of green tea catechin as an adjunct to scaling and root planing (SRP) in terms of probing pocket depth (PPD). MATERIALS AND METHODS A systematic literature search was performed using electronic databases in PubMed, Scopus, Medline, Cochrane, CINAHL, and Web of Science on randomized clinical trials up to January 2017. The research question was posed in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. RESULTS The search provided 234 studies. After analyzing the full texts, five studies were included, with four studies qualifying for meta-analysis. Mean PPD reduction was significantly higher (α = 0.05) when green tea catechin was used as an adjunct to SRP (test group) than with SRP alone (control group). The difference in the reduction was 0.74 mm [0.35-1.13; 95% CI]. CONCLUSION The local application of green tea catechin as an adjunct to SRP may result in a beneficial reduction in PPD. Due to the highly heterogeneous data and some risk of bias, however, this data still needs to be interpreted with caution. CLINICAL RELEVANCE The finding suggests that green tea catechin may be a topical adjunct to SRP without negative side effects

Cytotoxic and Inflammatory Effects of Electronic and Traditional Cigarettes on Oral Gingival Cells Using a Novel Automated Smoking Instrument: An In Vitro Study

Information about the potential oral health effects of vaping from electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) is still sparse and inconsistent. The purpose of this study was to compare the safety and cytotoxicity of e-cig liquid aerosols versus traditional cigarette (t-cig) smoke on human epithelial oral cells. T-cig smoke and e-cig aerosols were generated by a newly developed automated smoking instrument in order to simulate realistic user puffing behaviors. Air-liquid interface transwell cell cultures were exposed to standardized puff topography (puff duration: 2 s, puff volume: 35 mL, puff frequency: 1 puff every 60 s) of reference t-cigs or commercially available e-cigs at different air dilutions. Cell viability, morphology, and death rate were evaluated with MTT and TUNEL assays. The inflammatory cytokine gene expression of inflammatory genes was assessed by quantitative RT-PCR. E-cigs and t-cigs indicated similar adverse effects by enhancing cytotoxicity and cell death in a dose-dependent manner. E-cig aerosol and t-cig smoke treatment expressed upregulation of inflammatory cytokines up to 3.0-fold (p < 0.05). These results indicate that e-cig smoking may contribute to oral tissue-cell damage and tissue inflammation. Our approach allows the production of e-cig aerosol and t-cig smoke in order to identify harmful effects in oral tissues in vitro

Synchronous vs. asynchronous dynamics of diffusion-controlled reactions

An analytical method based on the classical ruin problem is developed to compute the mean reaction time between two walkers undergoing a generalized random walk on a 1d lattice. At each time step, either both walkers diffuse simultaneously with probability $p$ (synchronous event) or one of them diffuses while the other remains immobile with complementary probability (asynchronous event). Reaction takes place through same site occupation or position exchange. We study the influence of the degree of synchronicity $p$ of the walkers and the lattice size $N$ on the global reaction's efficiency. For odd $N$, the purely synchronous case ($p=1$) is always the most effective one, while for even $N$, the encounter time is minimized by a combination of synchronous and asynchronous events. This new parity effect is fully confirmed by Monte Carlo simulations on 1d lattices as well as for 2d and 3d lattices. In contrast, the 1d continuum approximation valid for sufficiently large lattices predicts a monotonic increase of the efficiency as a function of $p$. The relevance of the model for several research areas is briefly discussed.Comment: 21 pages (including 12 figures and 4 tables), uses revtex4.cls, accepted for publication in Physica

Clinical assessment of fluorescence cystoscopy during transurethral bladder resection in superficial bladder cancer

The prognosis of superficial bladder cancer in terms of recurrence and disease progression is related to bladder tumor multiplicity and the presence of concomitant "plane” tumors such as high-grade dysplasia and carcinoma in situ. This study in 33 patients aimed to demonstrate the role of fluorescence cystoscopy in transurethral resection of superficial bladder cancer. The method is based on the detection of protoporphyrin-IX-induced fluorescence in urothelial cancer cells by topical administration of 5-aminolevulinic acid. The sensitivity and the specificity of this procedure on apparently normal mucosa in superficial bladder cancer are estimated to be 82.9% and 81.3%, respectively. Thus, fluorescence cytoscopy is a simple and reliable method for mapping the bladder mucosa, especially in the case of multifocal bladder disease, and it facilitates the screening of occult dysplasi

Die Rolle des Freibergerpferdes im Pferdemarkt Schweiz

Das Freiberger Pferd hat wie viele andere vergleichbare lokale, ursprüngliche europäische Pferderassen mit rückläufigen Bestandes- und Geburtenzahlen sowie einer fehlenden Rentabilität auf Stufe Produktion zu kämpfen. Agroscope, Schweizer Nationalgestüt SNG, untersuchte im Zuge der Erarbeitung eines Strategierapportes zur Erhaltung der Freibergerrasse die Marktkonformität des Freibergerpferdes (FM: franches-montagnes) mittels einer Umfrage bei Pferdeeigentümern sowie ergänzenden Experteninterviews. Die Ergebnisse lassen den Schluss zu, dass bei einer Mehrheit der befragten Pferdeeigentümer die persönlichen Erwartungen an ein Pferd mit der Beurteilung der Qualitäten und der generellen Wahrnehmung des Freibergerpferdes deckungsgleich sind. Daraus lässt sich ableiten, dass der FM über Qualitäten verfügt, die im Grundsatz im Freizeitpferdemarkt nachgefragt werden (einfacher Charakter, Polyvalenz, Robustheit, Gesundheit). Das Image des Markenbildes FM ist bei den nicht FM-Besitzern deutlich weniger positiv als bei den FM-Besitzern. Die Ergebnisse der Umfrage sowie der Experteninterviews zeigten, dass vor allem Anstrengungen zur Verbesserung der Vermarktung und des Images notwendig sind, um einen besseren Absatz von Freibergerpferden zu gewährleisten und damit auch langfristig einen Anstieg der Geburten zu erreichen

Analysis of Raman Lidar and radiosonde measurements from the AWEX-G field campaign and its relation to Aqua validation

Early work within the Aqua validation activity revealed there to be large differences in water vapor measurement accuracy among the various technologies in use for providing validation data. The validation measurements were made at globally distributed sites making it difficult to isolate the sources of the apparent measurement differences among the various sensors, which included both Raman lidar and radiosonde. Because of this, the AIRS Water Vapor Experiment-Ground (AWEX-G) was held in October - November, 2003 with the goal of bringing validation technologies to a common site for intercomparison and resolution of the measurement discrepancies. Using the University of Colorado Cryogenic Frostpoint Hygrometer (CFH) as the water vapor reference, the AWEX-G field campaign resulted in new correction techniques for both Raman lidar, Vaisala RS80-H and RS90/92 measurements that significantly improve the absolute accuracy of those measurement systems particularly in the upper troposphere. Mean comparisons of radiosondes and lidar are performed demonstrating agreement between corrected sensors and the CFH to generally within 5% thereby providing data of sufficient accuracy for Aqua validation purposes. Examples of the use of the correction techniques in radiance and retrieval comparisons are provided and discussed