Integrated campaign for aerosols, gases and radiation budget (ICARB): an overview

During March-May 2006, an extensive, multi-institution, multi-instrument, and multi-platform integrated field experiment 'Integrated Campaign for Aerosols, gases and Radiation Budget' (ICARB) was carried out under the Geosphere Biosphere Programme of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO-GBP). The objective of this largest and most exhaustive field campaign, ever conducted in the Indian region, was to characterize the physico-chemical properties and radiative effects of atmospheric aerosols and trace gases over the Indian landmass and the adjoining oceanic regions of the Arabian Sea, northern Indian Ocean, and Bay of Bengal through intensive, simultaneous observations. A network of ground-based observatories (over the mainland and islands), a dedicated ship cruise over the oceanic regions using a fully equipped research vessel, the Sagar Kanya, and altitude profiling over selected regions using an instrumented aircraft and balloonsondes formed the three segments of this integrated experiment, which were carried out in tandem. This paper presents an overview of the ICARB field experiment, the database generated, and some of its interesting outcomes though these are preliminary in nature. The ICARB has revealed significant spatio-temporal heterogeneity in most of the aerosol characteristics both over land and ocean. Observed aerosol loading and optical depths were comparable to or in certain regions, a little lower than those reported in some of the earlier campaigns for these regions. The preliminary results indicate: - low (< 0.2) aerosol optical depths (AOD) over most part of the Arabian Sea, except two pockets; one off Mangalore and the other, less intense, in the central Arabian Sea at ~18°N latitude - High Angstrom exponent in the southern Arabian Sea signifying steep AOD spectra and higher abundance of accumulation mode particles in the southern Arabian Sea and off Mangalore - Remarkably low Angstrom exponents signifying increased concentration of coarse mode aerosols and high columnar abundance in the northern Arabian Sea - Altitude profiles from aircraft showed a steady BC level up to 3 km altitude with structures which were associated with inversions in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) - A surprisingly large increase in the BC mass fraction with altitude - Presence of a convectively mixed layer extending up to about 1 km over the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal - A spatial off shore extent of < 100 km for the anthropogenic impact at the coast; and - Advection of aerosols, through airmass trajectories, from west Asia and NW arid regions of India leading to formation of elevated aerosol layers extending as far as 400 km off the east coast

Using Citizen Science to Help Monitor Urban Landscape Changes and Drive Improvements

Citizen Science has become a vital source for data collection when the spatial and temporal extent of a project makes it too expensive to send experts into the field. However, involving citizens can go further than that – participatory projects focusing on subjective parameters can fill in the gap between local community needs and stakeholder approaches to tackle key social and environmental issues. LandSense, a Horizon 2020 project that is deeply rooted in environmental challenges and solutions, aims to establish a citizen observatory that will provide data to stakeholders, from researchers to businesses. Within this project, a mobile application has been developed that aims not only to stimulate civic engagement to monitor changes within the urban environment, but also to enable users to drive improvements by providing city planners with information about the public perception of urban spaces. The launch of a public version of such an app requires preparation and testing by focus groups. Recently, a prototype of the app was used by both staff and students from Vienna University of Technology, who contributed valuable insights to help enhance this citizen science tool for engaging and empowering the inhabitants of the city

A review of antibiotic synergy in carbapenemase-producing bacteria

The problem of antibiotic resistance has garnered too much attention over the last few decades for posing a global hazard to the clinical handling and the inhibition of several deadly infections caused by bacteria. It burdens the world not only clinically but also economically... Antibiotic agents known as carbapenems are a very effective and  typically designated for the treatment of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections. To identify a suitable antibiotic combination to be used in vivo, one must be able to determine the synergism between the antibiotics in vitro. Several methods, such as the checkerboard method, multiple-combination bactericidal test, time-kill and E-test, have been used for this purpose. However, the lack of proper standardization procedures, types of bacterial agents, bacterial load, stage of infection and other factors make it very difficult to reproduce or correlate the results with other methods.Carbapenem-destroying lactases, which have recently emerged as mechanisms of resistance, are increasing in number and decreasing the treatment alternatives available. These infections are treated with colistin and tigecycline, but monotherapy may result in clinical breakdown because of a variety of factors. To control these infections, clinicians often choose combinations of drugs over monotherapy. There is an extreme lack of information on synergistic antibiotic combinations accounting for the diverse mechanisms of GNB resistance commonly encountered. The incidence of carbapenem-resistant GNB in Indian articles is also unknown. Therefore, we anticipate that this study may provide methodology for the selection of an appropriate antibiotic combination

A Randomised, Double-Blind, Controlled Vaccine Efficacy Trial of DNA/MVA ME-TRAP Against Malaria Infection in Gambian Adults

BACKGROUND: Many malaria vaccines are currently in development, although very few have been evaluated for efficacy in the field. Plasmodium falciparum multiple epitope (ME)– thrombospondin-related adhesion protein (TRAP) candidate vaccines are designed to potently induce effector T cells and so are a departure from earlier malaria vaccines evaluated in the field in terms of their mechanism of action. ME-TRAP vaccines encode a polyepitope string and the TRAP sporozoite antigen. Two vaccine vectors encoding ME-TRAP, plasmid DNA and modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA), when used sequentially in a prime-boost immunisation regime, induce high frequencies of effector T cells and partial protection, manifest as delay in time to parasitaemia, in a clinical challenge model. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A total of 372 Gambian men aged 15–45 y were randomised to receive either DNA ME-TRAP followed by MVA ME-TRAP or rabies vaccine (control). Of these men, 296 received three doses of vaccine timed to coincide with the beginning of the transmission season (141 in the DNA/MVA group and 155 in the rabies group) and were followed up. Volunteers were given sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine 2 wk before the final vaccination. Blood smears were collected weekly for 11 wk and whenever a volunteer developed symptoms compatible with malaria during the transmission season. The primary endpoint was time to first infection with asexual P. falciparum. Analysis was per protocol. DNA ME-TRAP and MVA ME-TRAP were safe and well-tolerated. Effector T cell responses to a non-vaccine strain of TRAP were 50-fold higher postvaccination in the malaria vaccine group than in the rabies vaccine group. Vaccine efficacy, adjusted for confounding factors, was 10.3% (95% confidence interval, −22% to +34%; p = 0.49). Incidence of malaria infection decreased with increasing age and was associated with ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS: DNA/MVA heterologous prime-boost vaccination is safe and highly immunogenic for effector T cell induction in a malaria-endemic area. But despite having produced a substantial reduction in liver-stage parasites in challenge studies of non-immune volunteers, this first generation T cell–inducing vaccine was ineffective at reducing the natural infection rate in semi-immune African adults

Tracking poverty using satellite imagery and big data

Despite recent improvements in the availability and quality of socioeconomic data from developing countries, there are still persistent data gaps that are preventing comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of targets and indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals. Approaches are hampered by the inconsistent spatial and temporal coverage of census data and Demographic and Health Surveys, which serve as the primary source for population-level statistics in most developing countries. Traditional censuses are too expensive to be implemented in remote areas where population density is low and road networks are poor. However, the recent and rapid diffusion of high-resolution satellite imagery offers a new wealth of relatively untapped information that can be used to gain in-depth information on groups that have historically been left out by traditional surveys. Moreover, there are new data streams such as call detail records from mobile phone data networks can help to derive behavioral indicators and improve tracking of expenditure and wealth. This exploratory research conflates various data streams to derive spatially explicit poverty indicators for Senegal with immense scaling potential to other regions

Do absorption and realistic distraction influence performance of component task surgical procedure?

Background. Surgeons perform complex tasks while exposed to multiple distracting sources that may increase stress in the operating room (e.g., music, conversation, and unadapted use of sophisticated technologies). This study aimed to examine whether such realistic social and technological distracting conditions may influence surgical performance. Methods. Twelve medical interns performed a laparoscopic cholecystectomy task with the Xitact LC 3.0 virtual reality simulator under distracting conditions (exposure to music, conversation, and nonoptimal handling of the laparoscope) versus nondistracting conditions (control condition) as part of a 2 x 2 within-subject experimental design. Results. Under distracting conditions, the medical interns showed a significant decline in task performance (overall task score, task errors, and operating time) and significantly increased levels of irritation toward both the assistant handling the laparoscope in a nonoptimal way and the sources of social distraction. Furthermore, individual differences in cognitive style (i.e., cognitive absorption and need for cognition) significantly influenced the levels of irritation experienced by the medical interns. Conclusion. The results suggest careful evaluation of the social and technological sources of distraction in the operation room to reduce irritation for the surgeon and provision of proper preclinical laparoscope navigation training to increase security for the patient.Industrial DesignIndustrial Design Engineerin

Churn, Baby, Churn: Strategic Dynamics Among Dominant and Fringe Firms in a Segmented Industry

This paper integrates and extends the literatures on industry evolution and dominant firms to develop a dynamic theory of dominant and fringe competitive interaction in a segmented industry. It argues that a dominant firm, seeing contraction of growth in its current segment(s), enters new segments in which it can exploit its technological strengths, but that are sufficiently distant to avoid cannibalization. The dominant firm acts as a low-cost Stackelberg leader, driving down prices and triggering a sales takeoff in the new segment. We identify a “churn” effect associated with dominant firm entry: fringe firms that precede the dominant firm into the segment tend to exit the segment, while new fringe firms enter, causing a net increase in the number of firms in the segment. As the segment matures and sales decline in the segment, the process repeats itself. We examine the predictions of the theory with a study of price, quantity, entry, and exit across 24 product classes in the desktop laser printer industry from 1984 to 1996. Using descriptive statistics, hazard rate models, and panel data methods, we find empirical support for the theoretical predictions

Lidar Observations of aerosol layers just below the tropopause level during IFP-INDOEX

A lidar system has been used at Gadanki (13.5º, 79.2ºE) to study the characteristics of aerosol layer (cloud) occurring just below the tropical tropopause. The preliminary results of the lidar observations indicate that the cloud occurs ~ 2 km below the tropopause. The top and bottom edges of the cloud have propensity for ice crystal presence with liquid droplets/ vapours in-between. The clouds show temporal fluctuations (in their backscattering ratio) with temporal scales of the order of 30–90 min