Propagation of Radiosonde Pressure Sensor Errors to Ozonesonde Measurements

Several previous studies highlight pressure (or equivalently, pressure altitude) discrepancies between the radiosonde pressure sensor and that derived from a GPS flown with the radiosonde. The offsets vary during the ascent both in absolute and percent pressure differences. To investigate this problem further, a total of 731 radiosonde-ozonesonde launches from the Southern Hemisphere subtropics to Northern mid-latitudes are considered, with launches between 2005 - 2013 from both longer-term and campaign-based intensive stations. Five series of radiosondes from two manufacturers (International Met Systems: iMet, iMet-P, iMet-S, and Vaisala: RS80-15N and RS92-SGP) are analyzed to determine the magnitude of the pressure offset. Additionally, electrochemical concentration cell (ECC) ozonesondes from three manufacturers (Science Pump Corporation; SPC and ENSCI-Droplet Measurement Technologies; DMT) are analyzed to quantify the effects these offsets have on the calculation of ECC ozone (O3) mixing ratio profiles (O3MR) from the ozonesonde-measured partial pressure. Approximately half of all offsets are 0.6 hPa in the free troposphere, with nearly a third 1.0 hPa at 26 km, where the 1.0 hPa error represents 5 persent of the total atmospheric pressure. Pressure offsets have negligible effects on O3MR below 20 km (96 percent of launches lie within 5 percent O3MR error at 20 km). Ozone mixing ratio errors above 10 hPa (30 km), can approach greater than 10 percent ( 25 percent of launches that reach 30 km exceed this threshold). These errors cause disagreement between the integrated ozonesonde-only column O3 from the GPS and radiosonde pressure profile by an average of +6.5 DU. Comparisons of total column O3 between the GPS and radiosonde pressure profiles yield average differences of +1.1 DU when the O3 is integrated to burst with addition of the McPeters and Labow (2012) above-burst O3 column climatology. Total column differences are reduced to an average of -0.5 DU when the O3 profile is integrated to 10 hPa with subsequent addition of the O3 climatology above 10 hPa. The RS92 radiosondes are superior in performance compared to other radiosondes, with average 26 km errors of -0.12 hPa or +0.61 percent O3MR error. iMet-P radiosondes had average 26 km errors of -1.95 hPa or +8.75 percent O3MR error. Based on our analysis, we suggest that ozonesondes always be coupled with a GPS-enabled radiosonde and that pressure-dependent variables, such as O3MR, be recalculated-reprocessed using the GPS-measured altitude, especially when 26 km pressure offsets exceed 1.0 hPa 5 percent

EFECTOS DEL ESTRÉS COMBINADO DE ALTA TEMPERATURA Y DEFICIENCIA DE AGUA EN LA FLORACIÓN FEMENINA, MASCULINA Y EL NÚMERO DE GRANOS EN MAÍZ.

Extremely high temperatures and water deficits commonly affect crop productivity worldwide (Prasad et al., 2008; Lobell et al., 2013). The frequency of these events may increase as a result of global warming (Rezaei et al., 2015; IPCC, 2023; Heino et al., 2023) impacting to a greater extent in low latitudes with high probability of heat stress during crop growth and development (Easterling et al., 1997). Feng et al. (2020), in a global analysis, determined that Argentina is among the seven producing countries with the highest probability of occurrence of events with high temperatures and water deficit. Thus, the increase in the frequency and magnitude of heat stress (TS) due to high temperature and water deficit (DH) are among the main abiotic constraints with considerable adverse effects on maize yield (Lobell and Field, 2007; Hatfield et al., 2011). The number of grains (NG) is the component that explains most of the variations in maize yield (Tollenaar et al., 1992). The most critical time for NG determination in maize is around flowering (e.g., Tollenaar et al., 1992; Carrera et al., 2023). In particular, it was shown that the effects of ET on NG reduction were greatest between stigma emission and 15-17 days after stigma emission (Rattalino Edreira and Otegui, 2013; Neiff et al., 2016; Shim et al., 2017), coinciding with the period of maximum susceptibility to DH (Ouattar et al., 1987). Both the occurrence of ET or DH often result in the lag between the anthesis-stigmas interval (Cairns et al., 2013; Trachsel et al., 2016; Wang et al. 2019), leading to NG declines. Episodes of ET often reduce the pollen release period (PLP) and its daily production (Wang, 2019), as well as the % of viable pollen grains (Alam et al., 2017).Las temperaturas extremadamente altas y el déficit hídrico comúnmente afectan la productividad de los cultivos en el mundo (Prasad et al., 2008; Lobell et al., 2013). La frecuencia de estos eventos puede aumentar como resultado del calentamiento global (Rezaei et al., 2015; IPCC, 2023; Heino et al., 2023) impactando en mayor medida en latitudes bajas con alta probabilidad de golpes de calor durante el crecimiento y desarrollo de los cultivos (Easterling et al., 1997). Feng et al. (2020), en un análisis global, determinaron que Argentina se encuentra dentro de los siete países productores que presentan una mayor probabilidad de ocurrencia de eventos con altas temperaturas y déficit hídrico. Así, el aumento de la frecuencia y la magnitud del estrés térmico (ET) por alta temperatura y déficit hídrico (DH) son unas de las principales limitantes abióticas con efectos adversos considerables en el rendimiento de maíz (Lobell y Field, 2007; Hatfield et al., 2011). El número de granos (NG) es el componente que explica en mayor medida las variaciones en rendimiento de maíz (Tollenaar et al., 1992). El momento más crítico para la determinación del NG en maíz es alrededor de su floración (e.g., Tollenaar et al., 1992; Carrera et al., 2023). En particular se demostró que los efectos del ET sobre la reducción en NG fueron mayores entre la emisión de estigmas y 15-17 días posteriores a la misma (Rattalino Edreira y Otegui, 2013; Neiff et al., 2016; Shim et al., 2017), coincidente con el periodo de máxima susceptibilidad al DH (Ouattar et al., 1987). Tanto la ocurrencia de ET o DH a menudo producen el desfase entre el intervalo antesis-estigmas (Cairns et al., 2013; Trachsel et al., 2016; Wang et al. 2019), lo cual conlleva a disminuciones del NG. Episodios de ET a menudo reducen el periodo de liberación de polen (PLP) y su producción diaria (Wang, 2019), como así también el % de granos de polen viables (Alam et al., 2017). Además, se han reportado reducciones del número total de flores pistiladas y disminuciones de estigmas exertos por fuera de las chalas atribuibles a episodios de ET con diferencias genotípicas (Rattalino Edreira et al. 2011; Liu et al., 2020). A menudo, los genotipos con germoplasma tropical han presentado una mayor tolerancia al ET (Rattalino Edreira y Otegui, 2012; Mayer et al., 2016) que los híbridos templados. Sin embargo, gran parte de los híbridos sembrados en el Nordeste Argentino poseen genética de origen templada. Por su parte, el DH durante el PC también produce importantes reducciones en el NG como consecuencia delretraso en la emergencia de los estigmas y el fallo en el cuaje de los granos (i.e., aborto; Westgate y Boyer, 1986; Bassetti y Westgate, 1993). La principal causa de aborto de granos ocurre por la escasez de asimilados hacia los ovarios fecundados (Westgate y Boyer 1986; McLaughlin y Boyer, 2004) que son resultado de las bajas tasas de crecimiento (Andrade et al., 2002; Nagore et al., 2017). Más aún, la aparición y el número total de estigmas y su relación con el porcentaje de cuaje fueron estudiados para estreses individuales por ET (Rattalino et al., 2011), DH (Otegui et al., 1995) y nitrógeno (Rossini et al., 2020), no existiendo estudios a campo que proporcionen información bajo ET*DH y que contrasten genotipos de distinto origen (templado vs. subtropical). La mayoría de los estudios en maíz se han centrado en los efectos del ET y DH como factores de estrés individuales. Sin embargo, varios estudios revelan que los efectos combinados del ET*DH reducen en mayor medida el rendimiento del cultivo maíz respecto a estreses individuales (Neiff et al., 2015; Meseka et al., 2018; Hussain et al., 2019; Nelimor et al., 2019). Además, la tolerancia de híbridos de maíz a estreses individuales no confirió tolerancia al ET*DH combinado (Mittler et al., 2006; Cairns et al., 2013). Por lo tanto, y considerando la escasez de estudios en condiciones de campo que combinen la incidencia de ET*DH y que contrasten genotipos de distinto origen, este trabajo tiene como objetivos: (i) caracterizar la floración masculina (período de liberación, producción y viabilidad de polen) y femenina (número de estigmas totales y exertos), (ii) cuantificar el intervalo antesis-emisión estigmas y (iii)establecer el impacto en el número de granos y su relación con las variables mencionadas

Defining and Verifying Durable Opacity: Correctness for Persistent Software Transactional Memory

Non-volatile memory (NVM), aka persistent memory, is a new paradigm for memory that preserves its contents even after power loss. The expected ubiquity of NVM has stimulated interest in the design of novel concepts ensuring correctness of concurrent programming abstractions in the face of persistency. So far, this has lead to the design of a number of persistent concurrent data structures, built to satisfy an associated notion of correctness: durable linearizability. In this paper, we transfer the principle of durable concurrent correctness to the area of software transactional memory (STM). Software transactional memory algorithms allow for concurrent access to shared state. Like linearizability for concurrent data structures, opacity is the established notion of correctness for STMs. First, we provide a novel definition of durable opacity extending opacity to handle crashes and recovery in the context of NVM. Second, we develop a durably opaque version of an existing STM algorithm, namely the Transactional Mutex Lock (TML). Third, we design a proof technique for durable opacity based on refinement between TML and an operational characterisation of durable opacity by adapting the TMS2 specification. Finally, we apply this proof technique to show that the durable version of TML is indeed durably opaque. The correctness proof is mechanized within Isabelle.Comment: This is the full version of the paper that is to appear in FORTE 2020 (https://www.discotec.org/2020/forte

Anti–Neutrophil Extracellular Trap Antibodies in Antiphospholipid Antibody–Positive Patients: Results From the Antiphospholipid Syndrome Alliance for Clinical Trials and InternatiOnal Networking Clinical Database and Repository

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to elucidate the presence, antigen specificities, and potential clinical associations of anti–neutrophil extracellular trap (anti-NET) antibodies in a multinational cohort of antiphospholipid (aPL) antibody–positive patients who did not have lupus. METHODS: Anti-NET IgG/IgM levels were measured in serum samples from 389 aPL-positive patients; 308 patients met the classification criteria for antiphospholipid syndrome. Multivariate logistic regression with best variable model selection was used to determine clinical associations. For a subset of the patients (n = 214), we profiled autoantibodies using an autoantigen microarray platform. RESULTS: We found elevated levels of anti-NET IgG and/or IgM in 45% of the aPL-positive patients. High anti-NET antibody levels are associated with more circulating myeloperoxidase (MPO)–DNA complexes, which are a biomarker of NETs. When considering clinical manifestations, positive anti-NET IgG was associated with lesions affecting the white matter of the brain, even after adjusting for demographic variables and aPL profiles. Anti-NET IgM tracked with complement consumption after controlling for aPL profiles; furthermore, patient serum samples containing high levels of anti-NET IgM efficiently deposited complement C3d on NETs. As determined by autoantigen microarray, positive testing for anti-NET IgG was significantly associated with several autoantibodies, including those recognizing citrullinated histones, heparan sulfate proteoglycan, laminin, MPO–DNA complexes, and nucleosomes. Anti-NET IgM positivity was associated with autoantibodies targeting single-stranded DNA, double-stranded DNA, and proliferating cell nuclear antigen. CONCLUSION: These data reveal high levels of anti-NET antibodies in 45% of aPL-positive patients, where they potentially activate the complement cascade. While anti-NET IgM may especially recognize DNA in NETs, anti-NET IgG species appear to be more likely to target NET-associated protein antigens

Track E Implementation Science, Health Systems and Economics

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138412/1/jia218443.pd

Prenatal exposures and exposomics of asthma

This review examines the causal investigation of preclinical development of childhood asthma using exposomic tools. We examine the current state of knowledge regarding early-life exposure to non-biogenic indoor air pollution and the developmental modulation of the immune system. We examine how metabolomics technologies could aid not only in the biomarker identification of a particular asthma phenotype, but also the mechanisms underlying the immunopathologic process. Within such a framework, we propose alternate components of exposomic investigation of asthma in which, the exposome represents a reiterative investigative process of targeted biomarker identification, validation through computational systems biology and physical sampling of environmental medi

ps4 79 long term follow up of 320 chilren born to mothers with systemic autoimmune diseases a multicentre survey from 24 rheumatology centres in italy

Background Rheumatic Diseases (RD) frequently affect women during reproductive age, therefore counselling on family planning is crucial for their quality of life. Children's outcome is a major topic, but no large studies are available. This study aimed at assessing the long-term health conditions of children born to women with RD. Methods 24 Italian Rheumatology Centres distributed the questionnaire (65 multiple-choice and 12 open-answer questions) to consecutive patients (aged 18–55) during September 2015. Data were analysed dividing children upon maternal diagnosis: Chronic Arthritides (CA) and Connective Tissue Diseases (CTD). Results Data were collected for 320 children born to 184 mothers (63 CA and 121 CTD). At the time of interview, children had a mean age of 17.1±9.6 years. Pre-term delivery ( The occurrence of an autoimmune/inflammatory disease (AIID) and/or neurodevelopmental disorders (ND)/learning disabilities (LD) is reported in table 1. Twelve children (3.7%) were diagnosed with an AIID, mostly coeliac disease (8/12, 67%). Eleven children (3.4%) were diagnosed as having a ND and/or LD by a Paediatric Neuropsychiatrist. Data of in utero exposure to maternal autoantibodies and/or anti-rheumatic drugs were retrieved for 280 children (87.5%) and a comparison was performed between affected (n=11) and not-affected children (n=258). No association was found with ND/LD and in utero exposure to autoantibodies (ANA, anti-Ro, anti-dsDNA, aPL) or drugs (HCQ,AZA or steroids), neither with sex, preterm birth, birth weight or maternal diagnosis. Conclusions The long-term follow-up of children born to mothers with RD did not raise particular concerns in terms of relevant health problems. In particular, each AIID did not display a significantly increased frequency as compared to the literature. Children with ND/LD had a tendency to cluster in the group of mothers with CTD, especially after maternal diagnosis, with a higher frequency as compared to GPP (7.9% vs 3%). Our data suggest that the development of ND/LD in children of patients with RD cannot be linked exclusively to maternal disease. The results of this study can be reassuring for patients with RD about problems in the offspring possibly related to their disease

New pyrrole derivatives with potent tubulin polymerization inhibiting activity as anticancer agents including hedgehog-dependent cancer

We synthesized 3-aroyl-1-arylpyrrole (ARAP) derivatives as potential anticancer agents having different substituents at the pendant 1-phenyl ring. Both the 1-phenyl ring and 3-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)carbonyl moieties were mandatory to achieve potent inhibition of tubulin polymerization, binding of colchicine to tubulin, and cancer cell growth. ARAP 22 showed strong inhibition of the P-glycoprotein-overexpressing NCI-ADR-RES and Messa/Dx5MDR cell lines. Compounds 22 and 27 suppressed in vitro the Hedgehog signaling pathway, strongly reducing luciferase activity in SAG treated NIH3T3 Shh-Light II cells, and inhibited the growth of medulloblastoma D283 cells at nanomolar concentrations. ARAPs 22 and 27 represent a new potent class of tubulin polymerization and cancer cell growth inhibitors with the potential to inhibit the Hedgehog signaling pathway

Profiles of Volatile Biomarkers Detect Tuberculosis from Skin

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that threatens >10 million people annually. Despite advances in TB diagnostics, patients continue to receive an insufficient diagnosis as TB symptoms are not specific. Many existing biodiagnostic tests are slow, have low clinical performance, and can be unsuitable for resource-limited settings. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a rapid, sputum-free, and cost-effective triage test for real-time detection of TB is urgently needed. This article reports on a new diagnostic pathway enabling a noninvasive, fast, and highly accurate way of detecting TB. The approach relies on TB-specific volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are detected and quantified from the skin headspace. A specifically designed nanomaterial-based sensors array translates these findings into a point-of-care diagnosis by discriminating between active pulmonary TB patients and controls with sensitivity above 90%. This fulfills the WHO's triage test requirements and poses the potential to become a TB triage test