Quantifying the Direct Radiative Effect of Absorbing Aerosols for Numerical Weather Prediction: A Case Study

We conceptualize aerosol radiative transfer processes arising from the hypothetical coupling of a global aerosol transport model and a global numerical weather prediction model by applying the US Naval Research Laboratory Navy Aerosol Analysis and Prediction System (NAAPS) and the Navy Global Environmental Model (NAVGEM) meteorological and surface reflectance fields. A unique experimental design during the 2013 NASA Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) field mission allowed for collocated airborne sampling by the high spectral resolution Lidar (HSRL), the Airborne Multi-angle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI), up/down shortwave (SW) and infrared (IR) broadband radiometers, as well as NASA A-Train support from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), to attempt direct aerosol forcing closure. The results demonstrate the sensitivity of modeled fields to aerosol radiative fluxes and heating rates, specifically in the SW, as induced in this event from transported smoke and regional urban aerosols. Limitations are identified with respect to aerosol attribution, vertical distribution, and the choice of optical and surface polarimetric properties, which are discussed within the context of their influence on numerical weather prediction output that is particularly important as the community propels forward towards inline aerosol modeling within global forecast systems

Plasmodium knowlesi Genome Sequences from Clinical Isolates Reveal Extensive Genomic Dimorphism.

Plasmodium knowlesi is a newly described zoonosis that causes malaria in the human population that can be severe and fatal. The study of P. knowlesi parasites from human clinical isolates is relatively new and, in order to obtain maximum information from patient sample collections, we explored the possibility of generating P. knowlesi genome sequences from archived clinical isolates. Our patient sample collection consisted of frozen whole blood samples that contained excessive human DNA contamination and, in that form, were not suitable for parasite genome sequencing. We developed a method to reduce the amount of human DNA in the thawed blood samples in preparation for high throughput parasite genome sequencing using Illumina HiSeq and MiSeq sequencing platforms. Seven of fifteen samples processed had sufficiently pure P. knowlesi DNA for whole genome sequencing. The reads were mapped to the P. knowlesi H strain reference genome and an average mapping of 90% was obtained. Genes with low coverage were removed leaving 4623 genes for subsequent analyses. Previously we identified a DNA sequence dimorphism on a small fragment of the P. knowlesi normocyte binding protein xa gene on chromosome 14. We used the genome data to assemble full-length Pknbpxa sequences and discovered that the dimorphism extended along the gene. An in-house algorithm was developed to detect SNP sites co-associating with the dimorphism. More than half of the P. knowlesi genome was dimorphic, involving genes on all chromosomes and suggesting that two distinct types of P. knowlesi infect the human population in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. We use P. knowlesi clinical samples to demonstrate that Plasmodium DNA from archived patient samples can produce high quality genome data. We show that analyses, of even small numbers of difficult clinical malaria isolates, can generate comprehensive genomic information that will improve our understanding of malaria parasite diversity and pathobiology

Análisis y detección de características de la varicela en imágenes de la piel

Las técnicas de procesamiento de imágenes pueden resultar de gran ayuda a los profesionales de la medicina en el diagnóstico temprano de enfermedades de la piel. Este trabajo se centra en el análisis y detección de características propias de la varicela sobre fotografías digitales del paciente. El procedimiento utilizado consiste en el análisis de la luminancia, el mejoramiento del contraste por medio de la ecualización del histograma, la suavización de la imagen y la detección de bordes. Luego aplicamos operaciones morfológicas sobre los bordes hallados y la transformada de Hough para detectar círculos, teniendo en cuenta un grado de tolerancia, dado que las ampollas de la varicela no son círculos perfectos. De esta forma se consigue, para un conjunto representativo de imágenes, un método de detección de ampollas de la varicela con una tasa razonable de aciertos.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

Compound climate-pollution extremes in Santiago de Chile

Cities in the global south face dire climate impacts. It is in socioeconomically marginalized urban communities of the global south that the effects of climate change are felt most deeply. Santiago de Chile, a major mid-latitude Andean city of 7.7 million inhabitants, is already undergoing the so-called “climate penalty” as rising temperatures worsen the effects of endemic ground-level ozone pollution. As many cities in the global south, Santiago is highly segregated along socioeconomic lines, which offers an opportunity for studying the effects of concurrent heatwaves and ozone episodes on distinct zones of affluence and deprivation. Here, we combine existing datasets of social indicators and climate-sensitive health risks with weather and air quality observations to study the response to compound heat-ozone extremes of different socioeconomic strata. Attributable to spatial variations in the ground-level ozone burden (heavier for wealthy communities), we found that the mortality response to extreme heat (and the associated further ozone pollution) is stronger in affluent dwellers, regardless of comorbidities and lack of access to health care affecting disadvantaged population. These unexpected findings underline the need of a site-specific hazard assessment and a community-based risk management.</p

Optimización por diseño de mezcla D-optimal de la aceptabilidad general de una galletaenriquecida con harina de tocosh (Solanum tuberosum L.) y harina de kiwicha (Amaranthuscaudatus)

Esta investigación tuvo como objetivo formular una galleta enriquecida con sustitución parcial de granos andinos como la harina de harina de tocosh de papa (Solanum tuberosum L) y kiwicha (Amaranthus caudatus L.) y la evaluación de la aceptabilidad general de la galleta fue realizada por 30 panelista semi-entrenados empleando para la optimización un diseño de mezcla D-optimal, a partir de 11 tratamientos de galletas enriquecidas siendo evaluadas mediante evaluación sensorial de aceptabilidad general y consideradas como variables de control la acidez y la humedad, encontrándose la mezcla óptima con 75.29% de harina de trigo, 5.00% de harina de tocosh de papa y 19.72% de harina de kiwicha; cuya combinación permitió obtener una galleta enriquecida con una aceptabilidad general de 7.14, acidez 0.07%, humedad 3.50% y una deseabilidad de 0.81, que garantizan su aceptabilidad por parte del consumidor.This research designed to formulate an enriched cookie with partial substitution of Andean grains such as potatotocosh flour (Solanum tuberosum L) and kiwicha (Amaranthus caudatus L.) and the evaluation of the generalacceptability of the cookie was carried out by 30 semi-trained panelists using a D-optimal mixture design for optimization,from 11 treatments of enriched cookies being evaluated by sensory evaluation of general acceptabilityand acidity and humidity considered as control variables, finding the optimal mixture with 75.29% wheat flour,5.00% potato tocosh flour and 19.72% kiwicha flour; whose combination allowed us to obtain an enriched cookiewith a general acceptability of 7.14, acidity 0.07%, humidity 3.50% and a desirability of 0.81, which guarantee itsacceptability by the consumer

Progress towards a quiescent, high confinement regime for the all-metal ASDEX Upgrade tokamak

EUROfusion Consortium 633053European Union’s Horizon 2020 80516

Conceptualizing the impact of dust-contaminated infrared radiances on data assimilation for numerical weather prediction

Numerical weather prediction systems depend on Hyperspectral Infrared Sounder (HIS) data, yet the impacts of dust-contaminated HIS radiances on weather forecasts has not been quantified. To determine the impact of dust aerosol on HIS radiance assimilation, we use a modified radiance assimilation system employing a one-dimensional variational assimilation system (1DVAR) developed under the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) Numerical Weather Prediction–Satellite Application Facility (NWP-SAF) project, which uses the Radiative Transfer for TOVS (RTTOV). Dust aerosol impacts on analyzed temperature and moisture fields are quantified using synthetic HIS observations from rawinsonde, Micropulse Lidar Network (MPLNET), and Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET). Specifically, a unit dust aerosol optical depth (AOD) contamination at 550 nm can introduce larger than 2.4 and 8.6 K peak biases in analyzed temperature and dewpoint, respectively, over our test domain. We hypothesize that aerosol observations, or even possibly forecasts from aerosol predication models, may be used operationally to mitigate dust induced temperature and moisture analysis biases through forward radiative transfer modeling.This study is supported by the NASA ROSES Science of Terra and Aqua program (T. Lee; 80HQTR18T0085). The MPLNET project is funded by the NASA Radiation Sciences Program and Earth Observing System. MPLNET observations at the Santa Cruz de Tenerife site are supported by the INTA Grant IGE03004