Intercomparison of Vaisala RS92 and RS41 Radiosonde Temperature Sensors under Controlled Laboratory Conditions

Radiosoundings are essential for weather and climate applications, as well as for calibration and validation of remote sensing observations. Vaisala RS92 radiosondes have been widely used on a global scale until 2016; although in the fall of 2013, Vaisala introduced the RS41 model to progressively replace the RS92. To ensure the highest quality and homogeneity of measurements following the transition from RS92 to RS41, intercomparisons of the two radiosonde models are needed. A methodology was introduced to simultaneously test and compare the two radiosonde models inside climatic chambers, in terms of noise, calibration accuracy, and bias in temperature measurements. A pair of RS41 and RS92 radiosondes has been tested at ambient pressure under very different temperature and humidity conditions, reproducing the atmospheric conditions that a radiosonde can meet at the ground before launch. The radiosondes have also been tested before and after fast (within ≈ 10 s) temperature changes of about ±20 °C, simulating a scenario similar to steep thermal changes that radiosondes can meet when passing from indoor to outdoor environment during the pre-launch phase. The results show that the temperature sensor of RS41 is less affected by noise and more accurate than that of RS92, with noise values less than 0.06 °C for RS41 and less than 0.1 °C for RS92. The deviation from the reference value, referred to as calibration error, is within ±0.1 °C for RS41 and the related uncertainty (hereafter with coverage factor k = 1) is less than 0.06 °C, while RS92 is affected by a cold bias in the calibration, which ranges from 0.1 °C up to a few tenths of a degree, with a calibration uncertainty less than 0.1 °C. The temperature bias between RS41 and RS92 is within ±0.1 °C, while its uncertainty is less than 0.1 °C. The fast and steep thermal changes that radiosondes can meet during the pre-launch phase might lead to a noise increase in temperature sensors during radiosoundings, up to 0.1 °C for RS41 and up to 0.3 °C for RS92, with a similar increase in their calibration uncertainty, as well as an increase in the uncertainty of their bias up to 0.3 °C

Stimulation of S1PR5 with A-971432, a selective agonist, preserves blood-brain barrier integrity and exerts therapeutic effect in an animal model of Huntington's disease

Huntington's disease (HD) is themost common neurodegenerative disorder for which no effective cure is yet available. Although several agents have been identified to provide benefits so far, the number of therapeutic options remains limited with only symptomatic treatment available. Over the past few years, we have demonstrated that sphingolipid-based approachesmay open the door to newandmore targeted treatments for the disease. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic potential of stimulating sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptor 5 by the new selective agonist A-971432 (provided by AbbVie) in R6/2mice, a widely used HD animalmodel. Chronic administration of low-dose (0.1mg/kg) A-971432 slowed down the progression of the disease and significantly prolonged lifespan in symptomatic R6/2mice. Such beneficial effects were associated with activation of pro-survival pathways (BDNF, AKT and ERK) and with reduction of mutant huntingtin aggregation. A-971432 also protected blood-brain barrier (BBB) homeostasis in the same mice. Interestingly, when administered early in the disease, before any overt symptoms, A-971432 completely protected HDmice fromthe classic progressivemotor deficit and preserved BBB integrity. Beside representing a promising strategy to take into consideration for the development of alternative therapeutic options for HD, selective stimulation of S1P receptor 5may be also seen as an effective approach to target brain vasculature defects in the disease

A Conceptual Framework to Defining Leading Indicators to Measure Safety Management System Performance

The measurement of health and safety management performance in organisations is a key step, as well as in any management process, as it provides information to identify the critical areas that require actions to achieve continuous improvement. Within the safety management system (SMS), the performance measurement is therefore associated with the check step in the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle. However, it is also in the planning phase that we need to think about what we will have to measure in order to be able to make decisions in key areas. Unfortunately, based on existing literature and standardisation, there is no unique checklist for measuring the performance of safety management systems. Although theorists and researchers have not yet found standard indicators for measuring the SMS performance, they seem to agree in classifying performance indicators into lagging and leading indicators. While lagging indicators measure the frequency of injuries, illnesses and fatalities that occurred in the past, leading indicators provide information about safety and health activities by enabling organisations to implement preventive measures. In this paper, the authors have proposed a conceptual framework for defining key indicators to measure safety performance. The objective is to design a structured path to identify indicators, among those existing in the literature and those widely used by experts, for each element of the SMS. The steps for using these indicators are also traced

Vertically resolved precipitation intensity retrieved through a synergy between the ground-based NASA MPLNET lidar network measurements, surface disdrometer datasets and an analytical model solution

In this paper, we illustrate a new, simple and complementary ground-based methodology to retrieve the vertically resolved atmospheric precipitation intensity through a synergy between measurements from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Micropulse Lidar network (MPLNET), an analytical model solution and ground-based disdrometer measurements. The presented results are obtained at two mid-latitude MPLNET permanent observational sites, located respectively at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, USA, and at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain. The methodology is suitable to be applied to existing and/or future lidar/ceilometer networks with the main objective of either providing near real-time (3 h latency) rainfall intensity measurements and/or to validate satellite missions, especially for critical light precipitation (< 3 mm h-1).Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Stratospheric AOD after the 2011 eruption of Nabro volcano measured by lidars over the Northern Hemisphere

International audienceNabro volcano (13.37°N, 41.70°E) in Eritrea erupted on 13 June 2011 generating a layer of sulfate aerosols that persisted in the stratosphere for months. For the first time we report on ground-based lidar observations of the same event from every continent in the Northern Hemisphere, taking advantage of the synergy between global lidar networks such as EARLINET, MPLNET and NDACC with independent lidar groups and satellite CALIPSO to track the evolution of the stratospheric aerosol layer in various parts of the globe. The globally averaged aerosol optical depth (AOD) due to the stratospheric volcanic aerosol layers was of the order of 0.018 ± 0.009 at 532 nm, ranging from 0.003 to 0.04. Compared to the total column AOD from the available collocated AERONET stations, the stratospheric contribution varied from 2% to 23% at 532 nm

Observing mineral dust in northern Africa, the middle east and Europe: current capabilities and challenges ahead for the development of dust services

Mineral dust produced by wind erosion of arid and semi-arid surfaces is a major component of atmospheric aerosol that affects climate, weather, ecosystems, and socio-economic sectors such as human health, transportation, solar energy, and air quality. Understanding these effects and ultimately improving the resilience of affected countries requires a reliable, dense, and diverse set of dust observations, fundamental for the development and the provision of skillful dust forecasts tailored products. The last decade has seen a notable improvement of dust observational capabilities in terms of considered parameters, geographical coverage, and delivery times, as well as of tailored products of interest to both the scientific community and the various end-users. Given this progress, here we review the current state of observational capabilities including in-situ, ground-based and satellite remote sensing observations, in Northern Africa, the Middle East and Europe for the provision of dust information considering the needs of various users. We also critically discuss observational gaps and related unresolved questions while providing suggestions for overcoming the current limitations. Our review aims to be a milestone for discussing dust observational gaps at a global level to address the needs of users, from research communities to nonscientific stakeholders

Rat Adipose Tissue-Derived Stem Cells Transplantation Attenuates Cardiac Dysfunction Post Infarction and Biopolymers Enhance Cell Retention

Background: Cardiac cell transplantation is compromised by low cell retention and poor graft viability. Here, the effects of co-injecting adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs) with biopolymers on cell cardiac retention, ventricular morphometry and performance were evaluated in a rat model of myocardial infarction (MI). Methodology/Principal Findings: (99m)Tc-labeled ASCs (1 x 10(6) cells) isolated from isogenic Lewis rats were injected 24 hours post-MI using fibrin a, collagen (ASC/C), or culture medium (ASC/M) as vehicle, and cell body distribution was assessed 24 hours later by gamma-emission counting of harvested organs. ASC/F and ASC/C groups retained significantly more cells in the myocardium than ASC/M (13.8+/-2.0 and 26.8+/-2.4% vs. 4.8+/-0.7%, respectively). Then, morphometric and direct cardiac functional parameters were evaluated 4 weeks post-MI cell injection. Left ventricle (LV) perimeter and percentage of interstitial collagen in the spare myocardium were significantly attenuated in all ASC-treated groups compared to the non-treated (NT) and control groups (culture medium, fibrin, or collagen alone). Direct hemodynamic assessment under pharmacological stress showed that stroke volume (SV) and left ventricle end-diastolic pressure were preserved in ASC-treated groups regardless of the vehicle used to deliver ASCs. Stroke work (SW), a global index of cardiac function, improved in ASC/M while it normalized when biopolymers were co-injected with ASCs. A positive correlation was observed between cardiac ASCs retention and preservation of SV and improvement in SW post-MI under hemodynamic stress. Conclusions: We provided direct evidence that intramyocardial injection of ASCs mitigates the negative cardiac remodeling and preserves ventricular function post-MI in rats and these beneficial effects can be further enhanced by administrating co-injection of ASCs with biopolymers.Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP)[01/0009-0]Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP)[05/54695-3]Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP)[04/06784-4]Ministerio da Ciencia e Tecnologia/Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico/Ministerio da Saude/Departamento Ciencia e Tecnologia (MCT/CNPq/MS/DECIT)[552324/20005-1]Ministerio da Ciencia e Tecnologia/Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico/Ministerio da Saude/Departamento Ciencia e Tecnologia (MCT/CNPq/MS/DECIT)[10120104096700]CNPq[141276/2004-5