Stability of Atmospheric Flow and Low-Level Jets Influencing Forest Fire Behaviour - An EFFIS Report

During the past years, there have been a considerable number of occasions that a forest fire burns with such strong intensity that seems far out of proportion to apparent burning conditions. This proved to be the case for the Sweden fire “blow-up” that took place during 4 August 2014 between Sala and Surahammar municipalities. The fire broke out after an unusual spell of hot, dry summer weather in northern Europe and proved to be the Sweden's largest wildfire in 40 years encompassing an area of ~15,000 hectares. The fire was declared a national emergency. Close investigation of fire weather parameters revealed the existence of an upper-air trough linked to a dissolving warm front on the previous day (3 August) providing low stability values over the fire centroid and the approach of a cold front from southwest further lowering the stability of the atmosphere. But above all, the air dryness and the prevailing of strong surface wind gusts due to a Secondary Low-Level Jet (SLLJ) at 950 hPa accompanied by a short-wave trough most pronounced at 700 hPa (the level of the main LLJ’s kernel of max winds) made ideal conditions for such an extreme event. In such a case, the left entrance area of SLLJ would have allowed an ageostrophic circulation to feed dry air the fire by a direct downward current during the critical hours of 4 August. The time that the SLLJ was crossing and intensifying over and to the east of fire centroid found to be in agreement with the position and movement of the area of maximum instability as defined by the very high (and at times “saturated”) values of Haines Index (HI) being combined with almost “saturated” Fire Weather Index (FWI) values. The HI gives an indication about the potential for a fire "blow­-up” due to low stability values of the atmosphere whereas FWI provides a description of the fire suppression difficulty. It should be noted that a fire blow-­up would lead to erratic/extreme fire behavior. Most of the initial simulations utilising ECMWF instantaneous wind speed values, as driving terms for EFFIS (European Forest Fires Information System) fire evolution models, namely FireSim and FARSITE, were inaccurate due to errors in the intensity and gustiness of true prevailing winds. By introducing model gust factor values (GFs) instead of instantaneous wind speeds (WSs) significant improvement in accuracy was accomplished in all fire evolution simulations. In such distinct unstable environment and under the presence and influence of both LLJ and SLLJ the utilization of model gust factors instead of instantaneous winds found to be more appropriate for simulating fire evolution behavior. Overall, it seems quite important to consider the concept of atmospheric stability, dryness and the presence of LLJs/SLLJs as key elements in the forest fire management system particularly in circumstances conducive to interactions within the PBL (Planetary Boundary Layer).JRC.H.3-Forest Resources and Climat

Mitochondrial Metabolism and EV Cargo of Endothelial Cells Is Affected in Presence of EVs Derived from MSCs on Which HIF Is Activated

Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have attracted growing interest as a possible novel therapeutic agent for the management of different cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Hypoxia significantly enhances the secretion of angiogenic mediators from MSCs as well as sEVs. The iron-chelating deferoxamine mesylate (DFO) is a stabilizer of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 and consequently used as a substitute for environmental hypoxia. The improved regenerative potential of DFO-treated MSCs has been attributed to the increased release of angiogenic factors, but whether this effect is also mediated by the secreted sEVs has not yet been investigated. In this study, we treated adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) with a nontoxic dose of DFO to harvest sEVs (DFO-sEVs). Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) treated with DFO-sEVs underwent mRNA sequencing and miRNA profiling of sEV cargo (HUVEC-sEVs). The transcriptomes revealed the upregulation of mitochondrial genes linked to oxidative phosphorylation. Functional enrichment analysis on miRNAs of HUVEC-sEVs showed a connection with the signaling pathways of cell proliferation and angiogenesis. In conclusion, mesenchymal cells treated with DFO release sEVs that induce in the recipient endothelial cells molecular pathways and biological processes strongly linked to proliferation and angiogenesis

Forest Fires in Europe Middle East and North Africa 2013

This is the 14th “Forest Fires in Europe” report published by the European Commission. The report contains a summary of the 2013 fire season in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa with official statistics on the number of fires and burnt areas compiled by the contributing countries. In addition to country reports with a summary of the past fire season provided by the countries, the report Forest Fires in Europe, Middle East and North Africa informs about the latest developments in terms of forest fire prevention and initiatives of the European Commission to support forest fires fire protection activities in the European Union. Furthermore it provides the results of the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) operating during the fire season, with special emphasis on the EFFIS Danger Forecast, providing daily maps of meteorological fire danger forecast of EU, and the EFFIS Rapid Damage Assessment, performing the daily mapping and assessment of main land cover and Natura2000 areas affected by fires of at least 40 ha during the fire season.JRC.H.3-Forest Resources and Climat

Genomic Database Analysis of Uterine Leiomyosarcoma Mutational Profile

Uterine Leiomyosarcoma (uLMS) is by far the most common type of uterine sarcoma, characterized by an aggressive clinical course, a heterogeneous genetic profile and a very scarce response to cytotoxic chemotherapy. The genetic make-up of uLMS is an area of active study that could provide essential cues for the development of new therapeutic approaches. A total of 216 patients with uLMS from cBioPortal and AACR-GENIE databases were included in the study. The vast majority of patients (81%) carried at least one mutation in either TP53, RB1, ATRX or PTEN. The most frequently mutated gene was TP53, with 61% of the patients harboring at least one mutation, followed by RB1 at 48%. PTEN alteration was more frequent in metastases than in primary lesions, consistent with a later acquisition during tumor progression. There was a significant trend for TP53 and RB1 mutations to occur together, while both TP53 and RB1 were mutually exclusive with respect to CDKN2A/B inactivation. Overall survival did not show significant correlation with the mutational status, even if RB1 mutation emerged as a favorable prognostic factor in the TP53-mutant subgroup. This comprehensive analysis shows that uLMS is driven almost exclusively by the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes and suggests that future therapeutic strategies should be directed at targeting the main genetic drivers of uLMS oncogenesis

DigiTranScope: some key findings

Digitranscope originated from the JRC Strategy 20301. The strategy identified ten strategic topics on which the JRC should concentrate to anticipate future policy requests. One of these topics was ‘Data and Digital Transformation’, to which the JRC set up two initiatives: the first being a transversal project on ‘Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation’, the second being a CAS research project on digital transformation, which was to be more exploratory in nature. The CAS project originally proposed to address two key issues: i) how the information glut triggered by digital transformation reverses the cognitive balance between humans and machines, and ii) the impact of digital information technology on the rules and institutions that guide modern societies. This proposal therefore led to the establishment of two projects in 2017: ‘Human behaviour and machine intelligence’ (HUMAINT)2 and our project, ‘Digital transformation and the governance of human society’ (Digitranscope)

DigiTranScope: some key findings

Digitranscope originated from the JRC Strategy 20301. The strategy identified ten strategic topics on which the JRC should concentrate to anticipate future policy requests. One of these topics was ‘Data and Digital Transformation’, to which the JRC set up two initiatives: the first being a transversal project on ‘Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation’, the second being a CAS research project on digital transformation, which was to be more exploratory in nature. The CAS project originally proposed to address two key issues: i) how the information glut triggered by digital transformation reverses the cognitive balance between humans and machines, and ii) the impact of digital information technology on the rules and institutions that guide modern societies. This proposal therefore led to the establishment of two projects in 2017: ‘Human behaviour and machine intelligence’ (HUMAINT)2 and our project, ‘Digital transformation and the governance of human society’ (Digitranscope)

The Challenges For The Next Decade: Notes On The Debate On The Development Of The Emilia-Romagna Region

Facing exogenous changes and endogenous impasses, Emilia-Romagna, one of the richest regions in Europe, is undergoing transformation. In this paper, we outline the dynamics of change at the regional level, both in the changes in the interrelationships among the major actors, and the emergence of new phenomena such as demographic trends. Regional policy measures to foster local development are sketched by focusing on industrial policy, transport infrastructure plans and policy measures on learning processes, as they emerge in the changes undertaken at regional level in technical and vocational education.Regional policy, industrial dynamics, local development, learning regions, technical and vocational education

Free and open source software underpinning the european forest data centre

Excerpt: Worldwide, governments are growingly focusing on free and open source software (FOSS) as a move toward transparency and the freedom to run, copy, study, change and improve the software. The European Commission (EC) is also supporting the development of FOSS [...]. In addition to the financial savings, FOSS contributes to scientific knowledge freedom in computational science (CS) and is increasingly rewarded in the science-policy interface within the emerging paradigm of open science. Since complex computational science applications may be affected by software uncertainty, FOSS may help to mitigate part of the impact of software errors by CS community- driven open review, correction and evolution of scientific code. The continental scale of EC science-based policy support implies wide networks of scientific collaboration. Thematic information systems also may benefit from this approach within reproducible integrated modelling. This is supported by the EC strategy on FOSS: "for the development of new information systems, where deployment is foreseen by parties outside of the EC infrastructure, [F]OSS will be the preferred choice and in any case used whenever possible". The aim of this contribution is to highlight how a continental scale information system may exploit and integrate FOSS technologies within the transdisciplinary research underpinning such a complex system. A European example is discussed where FOSS innervates both the structure of the information system itself and the inherent transdisciplinary research for modelling the data and information which constitute the system content. [...