Rapid virological surveillance of community influenza infection in general practice

No abstract available

Results from the Scottish national HAI prevalence survey

A national point prevalence survey was undertaken over the period of one calendar year in Scotland from October 2005 to October 2006. The prevalence of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) was 9.5% in acute hospitals and 7.3% in non-acute hospitals. The highest prevalence of HAI in acute hospital inpatients was found in the following specialties: care of the elderly (11.9%), surgery (11.2%), medicine (9.6%) and orthopaedics (9.2%). The lowest prevalence was found in obstetrics (0.9%). The most common types of HAI in acute hospital inpatients were: urinary tract infections (17.9% of all HAI), surgical site infections (15.9%) and gastrointestinal infections (15.4%). In non-acute hospitals one in ten inpatients in two specialties (combined) medicine (11.4%) and care of the elderly (7.8%) was found to have HAI, and one in 20 inpatients in psychiatry (5.0%) had HAI. In non-acute hospital patients, urinary tract infections were frequent (28.1% of all HAI) and similarly skin and soft tissue infection (26.8% of all HAI). When combined, these two HAI types affected 4% of all the inpatients in non-acute hospitals. This is the first survey of its kind in Scotland and describes the burden of HAI at a national level

Profiles of CH_4, HDO, H_2O, and N_2O with improved lower tropospheric vertical resolution from Aura TES radiances

Thermal infrared (IR) radiances measured near 8 microns contain information about the vertical distribution of water vapor (H_2O), the water isotopologue HDO, and methane (CH_4), key gases in the water and carbon cycles. Previous versions (Version 4 or less) of the TES profile retrieval algorithm used a "spectral-window" approach to minimize uncertainty from interfering species at the expense of reduced vertical resolution and sensitivity. In this manuscript we document changes to the vertical resolution and uncertainties of the TES version 5 retrieval algorithm. In this version (Version 5), joint estimates of H_2O, HDO, CH_4 and nitrous oxide (N_2O) are made using radiances from almost the entire spectral region between 1100 cm^(−1) and 1330 cm^(−1). The TES retrieval constraints are also modified in order to better use this information. The new H_2O estimates show improved vertical resolution in the lower troposphere and boundary layer, while the new HDO/H_2O estimates can now profile the HDO/H_2O ratio between 925 hPa and 450 hPa in the tropics and during summertime at high latitudes. The new retrievals are now sensitive to methane in the free troposphere between 800 and 150 mb with peak sensitivity near 500 hPa; whereas in previous versions the sensitivity peaked at 200 hPa. However, the upper troposphere methane concentrations are biased high relative to the lower troposphere by approximately 4% on average. This bias is likely related to temperature, calibration, and/or methane spectroscopy errors. This bias can be mitigated by normalizing the CH_4 estimate by the ratio of the N_2O estimate relative to the N_2O prior, under the assumption that the same systematic error affects both the N_2O and CH_4 estimates. We demonstrate that applying this ratio theoretically reduces the CH4 estimate for non-retrieved parameters that jointly affect both the N_2O and CH_4 estimates. The relative upper troposphere to lower troposphere bias is approximately 2.8% after this bias correction. Quality flags based upon the vertical variability of the methane and N_2O estimates can be used to reduce this bias further. While these new CH_4, HDO/H_2O, and H_2O estimates are consistent with previous TES retrievals in the altitude regions where the sensitivities overlap, future comparisons with independent profile measurement will be required to characterize the biases of these new retrievals and determine if the calculated uncertainties using the new constraints are consistent with actual uncertainties

Synthesis of Electrophiles Derived from Dimeric Aminoboranes and Assessing Their Utility in the Borylation of π Nucleophiles

Dimeric aminoboranes, [H2BNR2]2 (R = Me or CH2CH2) containing B2N2 cores, can be activated by I2, HNTf2 (NTf2 = [N(SO2CF3)2]), or [Ph3C][B(C6F5)4] to form isolable H2B(μ-NR2)2BHX (for X = I or NTf2). For X = [B(C6F5)4]− further reactivity, presumably between [H2B(μ-NMe2)2BH][B(C6F5)4] and aminoborane, forms a B3N3-based monocation containing a three-center two electron B-(μ-H)-B moiety. The structures of H2B(μ-NMe2)2BH(I) and [(μ-NMe2)BH(NTf2)]2 indicated a sterically crowded environment around boron, and this leads to the less common O-bound mode of NTf2 binding. While the iodide congener reacted very slowly with alkynes, the NTf2 analogues were more reactive, with hydroboration of internal alkynes forming (vinyl)2BNR2 species and R2NBH(NTf2) as the major products. Further studies indicated that the B2N2 core is maintained during the first hydroboration, and that it is during subsequent steps that B2N2 dissociation occurs. In the mono-boron systems, for example, iPr2NBH(NTf2), NTf2 is N-bound; thus, they have less steric crowding around boron relative to the B2N2 systems. Notably, the monoboron systems are much less reactive in alkyne hydroboration than the B2N2-based bis-boranes, despite the former being three coordinate at boron while the latter are four coordinate at boron. Finally, these B2N2 electrophiles are much more prone to dissociate into mono-borane species than pyrazabole [H2B(μ-N2C3H3)]2 analogues, making them less useful for the directed diborylation of a single substrate

The Connected Isotopic Water Cycle in the Community Earth System Model Version 1

Because of the pervasive role of water in the Earth system, the relative abundances of stable isotopologues of water are valuable for understanding atmospheric, oceanic, and biospheric processes, and for interpreting paleoclimate proxy reconstructions. Isotopologues are transported by both largeâ scale and turbulent flows, and the ratio of heavy to light isotopologues changes due to fractionation that can accompany condensation and evaporation processes. Correctly predicting the isotopic distributions requires resolving the relationships between largeâ scale ocean and atmospheric circulation and smallerâ scale hydrological processes, which can be accomplished within a coupled climate modeling framework. Here we present the water isotopeâ enabled version of the Community Earth System Model version 1 (iCESM1), which simulates global variations in water isotopic ratios in the atmosphere, land, ocean, and sea ice. In a transient Last Millennium simulation covering the 850â 2005 period, iCESM1 correctly captures the lateâ twentiethâ century structure of δ18O and δD over the global oceans, with more limited accuracy over land. The relationship between salinity and seawater δ18O is also well represented over the observational period, including interbasin variations. We illustrate the utility of coupled, isotopeâ enabled simulations using both Last Millennium simulations and freshwater hosing experiments with iCESM1. Closing the isotopic mass balance between all components of the coupled model provides new confidence in the underlying depiction of the water cycle in CESM, while also highlighting areas where the underlying hydrologic balance can be improved. The iCESM1 is poised to be a vital community resource for ongoing model development with both modern and paleoclimate applications.Key PointsAn isotopeâ enabled version of the Community Earth System Model (iCESM1) is now publicly availableiCESM1 simulates the major observed features of δ18O and δD over the late twentieth centuryiCESM1 is useful for both modern climate and paleoclimate applicationsPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151857/1/jame20931.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151857/2/jame20931_am.pd

Ultrathin Tropical Tropopause Clouds (UTTCs) : I. Cloud morphology and occurrence

Subvisible cirrus clouds (SVCs) may contribute to dehydration close to the tropical tropopause. The higher and colder SVCs and the larger their ice crystals, the more likely they represent the last efficient point of contact of the gas phase with the ice phase and, hence, the last dehydrating step, before the air enters the stratosphere. The first simultaneous in situ and remote sensing measurements of SVCs were taken during the APE-THESEO campaign in the western Indian ocean in February/March 1999. The observed clouds, termed Ultrathin Tropical Tropopause Clouds (UTTCs), belong to the geometrically and optically thinnest large-scale clouds in the Earth´s atmosphere. Individual UTTCs may exist for many hours as an only 200--300 m thick cloud layer just a few hundred meters below the tropical cold point tropopause, covering up to 105 km2. With temperatures as low as 181 K these clouds are prime representatives for defining the water mixing ratio of air entering the lower stratosphere

Mediation in the Law Curriculum

Cited by Lord Neuberger in ‘Educating Future Mediators’ at the 4th Civil Mediation Council National Conference, May 201

In situ aerosol-size distributions and clear-column radiative closure during ACE-2

As part of the second Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-2) during June and July of 1997, aerosol-size distributions were measured on board the CIRPAS Pelican aircraft through the use of a DMA and 2 OPCs. During the campaign, the boundary-layer aerosol typically possessed characteristics representative of a background marine aerosol or a continentally influenced aerosol, while the free-tropospheric aerosol was characterized by the presence or absence of a Saharan dust layer. A range of radiative closure comparisons were made using the data obtained during vertical profiles flown on 4 missions. Of particular interest here are the comparisons made between the optical properties as determined through the use of measured aerosol-size distributions and those measured directly by an airborne 14-wavelength sunphotometer and 3 nephelometers. Variations in the relative humidity associated with each of the direct measurements required consideration of the hygroscopic properties of the aerosol for size-distribution-based calculations. Simultaneous comparison with such a wide range of directly-measured optical parameters not only offers evidence of the validity of the physicochemical description of the aerosol when closure is achieved, but also provides insight into potential sources of error when some or all of the comparisons result in disagreement. Agreement between the derived and directly-measured optical properties varied for different measurements and for different cases. Averaged over the 4 case studies, the derived extinction coefficient at 525 nm exceeded that measured by the sunphotometer by 2.5% in the clean boundary layer, but underestimated measurements by 13% during pollution events. For measurements within the free troposphere, the mean derived extinction coefficient was 3.3% and 17% less than that measured by the sunphotometer during dusty and non-dusty conditions, respectively. Likewise, averaged discrepancies between the derived and measured scattering coefficient were −9.6%, +4.7%, +17%, and −41% for measurements within the clean boundary layer, polluted boundary layer, free troposphere with a dust layer, and free troposphere without a dust layer, respectively. Each of these quantities, as well as the majority of the >100 individual comparisons from which they were averaged, were within estimated uncertainties

Airborne sunphotometer, airborne in-situ, space-borne, and ground-based measurements of tropospheric aerosol in ACE-2

The North Atlantic Regional Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-2) of the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry Project (IGAC) ran from 16 June to 25 July 1997. The results presented in this study are part of the "Clear-sky column closure experiment" (CLEARCOLUMN) activity, one of 6 ACE-2 activities [1]. Clear-sky column closure experiments call for characterization of aerosol layers by simultaneous measurements using different techniques that can be related using models [2]. A wide range of aerosol types was encountered throughout the ACE-2 area, including background Atlantic marine, European pollution-derived and African mineral dust. In a series of papers, we reported on ACE-2 CLEARCOLUMN results obtained by combining airborne sunphotometer and in-situ measurements taken aboard the Pelican aircraft, spaceborne NOAA/VHRR data and ground-based lidar and sunphotometer measurements [3]-[10]. Those and other CLEARCOLUMN results have been summarized in [11]. In this paper we only report on results not shown in this form in [3]-[11]