THREE MAIN SPATIAL TECHNIQUES of SPATIAL MIXING SYSTEM

This written review is to have a deep review for three techniques to realize spatial effects, which are Head Related Transfer Functions, Image Source Method, and Schroeder Reverberation, utilized in Spatial Mixing System, 2nd lab report.Architecture & Allied Art

Airborne observations of the Eyjafjalla volcano ash cloud over Europe during air space closure in April and May 2010

© Author(s) 2011. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 LicenseAirborne lidar and in-situ measurements of aerosols and trace gases were performed in volcanic ash plumes over Europe between Southern Germany and Iceland with the Falcon aircraft during the eruption period of the Eyjafjalla1 volcano between 19 April and 18 May 2010. Flight planning and measurement analyses were supported by a refined Meteosat ash product and trajectory model analysis. The volcanic ash plume was observed with lidar directly over the volcano and up to a distance of 2700 km downwind, and up to 120 h plume ages. Aged ash layers were between a few 100 m to 3 km deep, occurred between 1 and 7 km altitude, and were typically 100 to 300 km wide. Particles collected by impactors had diameters up to 20 μm diameter, with size and age dependent composition. Ash mass concentrations were derived from optical particle spectrometers for a particle density of 2.6 g cm-3 and various values of the refractive index (RI, real part: 1.59; 3 values for the imaginary part: 0, 0.004 and 0.008). The mass concentrations, effective diameters and related optical properties were compared with ground-based lidar observations. Theoretical considerations of particle sedimentation constrain the particle diameters to those obtained for the lower RI values. The ash mass concentration results have an uncertainty of a factor of two. The maximum ash mass concentration encountered during the 17 flights with 34 ash plume penetrations was below 1 mg m-3. The Falcon flew in ash clouds up to about 0.8 mg m-3 for a few minutes and in an ash cloud with approximately 0.2 mg -3 mean-concentration for about one hour without engine damage. The ash plumes were rather dry and correlated with considerable CO and SO2 increases and O3 decreases. To first order, ash concentration and SO2 mixing ratio in the plumes decreased by a factor of two within less than a day. In fresh plumes, the SO2 and CO concentration increases were correlated with the ash mass concentration. The ash plumes were often visible slantwise as faint dark layers, even for concentrations below 0.1 mg m-3. The large abundance of volatile Aitken mode particles suggests previous nucleation of sulfuric acid droplets. The effective diameters range between 0.2 and 3 μm with considerable surface and volume contributions from the Aitken and coarse mode aerosol, respectively. The distal ash mass flux on 2 May was of the order of 500 (240-1600) kgs -1. The volcano induced about 10 (2.5-50) Tg of distal ash mass and about 3 (0.6-23) Tg of SO2 during the whole eruption period. The results of the Falcon flights were used to support the responsible agencies in their decisions concerning air traffic in the presence of volcanic ash.Peer reviewe

Salinity drives meiofaunal community structure dynamics across the Baltic ecosystem

Coastal benthic biodiversity is under increased pressure from climate change, eutrophication, hypoxia, and changes in salinity due to increase in river runoff. The Baltic Sea is a large brackish system characterized by steep environmental gradients that experiences all of the mentioned stressors. As such it provides an ideal model system for studying the impact of on‐going and future climate change on biodiversity and function of benthic ecosystems. Meiofauna (animals < 1 mm) are abundant in sediment and are still largely unexplored even though they are known to regulate organic matter degradation and nutrient cycling. In this study, benthic meiofaunal community structure was analysed along a salinity gradient in the Baltic Sea proper using high‐throughput sequencing. Our results demonstrate that areas with higher salinity have a higher biodiversity, and salinity is probably the main driver influencing meiofauna diversity and community composition. Furthermore, in the more diverse and saline environments a larger amount of nematode genera classified as predators prevailed, and meiofauna‐macrofauna associations were more prominent. These findings show that in the Baltic Sea, a decrease in salinity resulting from accelerated climate change will probably lead to decreased benthic biodiversity, and cause profound changes in benthic communities, with potential consequences for ecosystem stability, functions and services

Treatment as Prevention for Hepatitis C (TraP Hep C) - a nationwide elimination programme in Iceland using direct-acting antiviral agents

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked FilesA nationwide programme for the treatment of all patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) was launched in Iceland in January 2016. By providing universal access to direct-acting antiviral agents to the entire patient population, the two key aims of the project were to (i) offer a cure to patients and thus reduce the long-term sequelae of chronic hepatitis C, and (ii) to reduce domestic incidence of HCV in the population by 80% prior to the WHO goal of HCV elimination by the year 2030. An important part of the programme is that vast majority of cases will be treated within 36 months from the launch of the project, during 2016-2018. Emphasis is placed on early case finding and treatment of patients at high risk for transmitting HCV, that is people who inject drugs (PWID), as well as patients with advanced liver disease. In addition to treatment scale-up, the project also entails intensification of harm reduction efforts, improved access to diagnostic tests, as well as educational campaigns to curtail spread, facilitate early detection and improve linkage to care. With these efforts, Iceland is anticipated to achieve the WHO hepatitis C elimination goals well before 2030. This article describes the background and organization of this project. Clinical trial number: NCT02647879.Merck Astellas Gilead Gilead Sciences AbbVie BM

Common and rare variants associated with kidney stones and biochemical traits.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Files. This article is open access.Kidney stone disease is a complex disorder with a strong genetic component. We conducted a genome-wide association study of 28.3 million sequence variants detected through whole-genome sequencing of 2,636 Icelanders that were imputed into 5,419 kidney stone cases, including 2,172 cases with a history of recurrent kidney stones, and 279,870 controls. We identify sequence variants associating with kidney stones at ALPL (rs1256328[T], odds ratio (OR)=1.21, P=5.8 × 10(-10)) and a suggestive association at CASR (rs7627468[A], OR=1.16, P=2.0 × 10(-8)). Focusing our analysis on coding sequence variants in 63 genes with preferential kidney expression we identify two rare missense variants SLC34A1 p.Tyr489Cys (OR=2.38, P=2.8 × 10(-5)) and TRPV5 p.Leu530Arg (OR=3.62, P=4.1 × 10(-5)) associating with recurrent kidney stones. We also observe associations of the identified kidney stone variants with biochemical traits in a large population set, indicating potential biological mechanism.Rare Kidney Stone Consortium 5U54DK083908-07 National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN) Rare Kidney Stone Consortiu

Are European Blue Economy ambitions in conflict with European environmental visions?

We report the outcomes of a comprehensive study of the potential consequences of the implementation of the EU Maritime Spatial Planning Directive (MSPD) in Danish waters. The analyses are anchored in a framework developed in support of data-driven Ecosystem-Based Maritime Spatial Planning. The data for the models include not only human stressors but also information on the distribution of ecosystem components ranging from planktonic communities over benthic communities to fish, seabirds and marine mammals. We have established a baseline, based on state-of-the-art data sets, with respect to combined effects upon ecosystem components. Future scenarios for the developments in human stressors were estimated for 2030 and 2050 based on information on existing policies, strategies and plans and were compared to the baseline. In addition, we developed a scenario for implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), i.e. working towards meeting the objectives of Good Environmental Status. Our results indicate that (1) combined human stressors will possibly increase in 2030 and 2050 compared to the baseline, (2) increased combined human stressors are likely to lead to a worsening of the environmental and ecological status sensu the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the Water Framework Directive (WFD), and (3) the MSPD implementation process appears to conflict with the MSFD and WFD objectives. Accordingly, we are sceptical of claims of an untapped potential for Blue Growth in Danish marine waters.publishedVersio

No Rise in Incidence but Geographical Heterogeneity in the Occurrence of Primary Biliary Cirrhosis in North East England

In this study, we examined temporal changes in the incidence of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and investigated associations between PBC incidence and sociodemographic factors and spatial clustering. We included 982 patients aged ≥40 years from North East England with incident PBC diagnosed during 1987–2003. Age-standardized incidence rates with 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Negative binomial regression was used to analyze incidence and socioeconomic deprivation. Clustering analysis was performed using point process methods, testing the null hypothesis that disease risk does not vary spatially and that PBC cases occur independently. The age-standardized incidence rate was 53.50 per million persons per year (95% confidence interval: 48.65, 58.35) in 1987–1994 and 45.09 per million persons per year (95% confidence interval: 41.10, 49.07) in 1995–2003. Risk of PBC increased in areas with higher levels of socioeconomic deprivation (P = 0.035). More specifically, risk increased in areas with higher levels of overcrowded homes (P = 0.040), higher levels of households without cars (P < 0.001), and higher levels of non-owner-occupied homes (P < 0.001). Overall, there was evidence of spatial clustering (P = 0.001). The findings confirm that overall incidence of PBC did not rise over time, but sociodemographic variations suggest that certain aspects of deprivation are involved in its etiology

Clinical Characteristics and Treatment Outcomes of Mycobacterium kansasii Lung Disease in Korea

*These authors contributed equally to this work. ∙The authors have no financial conflicts of interest. Purpose: While Mycobacterium kansasii is a common cause of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung disease in many developed countries, M. kansasii is infrequently isolated in Korea. We investigated the clinical and radiological features and treatment outcomes of M. kansasii lung disease in Korea retrospectively. Materials and Methods: We identified 41 patients with M. kansasii lung disease who met the diagnostic criteria for NTM lung disease in two tertiary referral hospitals in Seoul, Korea, between January 1998 and December 2007. Results: Their median age was 63 years [interquartile range (IQR) 51-75 years] and 33 (81%) were men. Twenty-three patients (56%) were smokers and 13 patients (32%) had previous pulmonary tuberculosis. The most common radiographic findings were nodules (n = 22, 54%) and consolidation (n = 22, 54%). Cavitation was present in 13 patients (32%). Thirty-one patients (76%) were treated with isoniazid, rifampin, and ethambutol. The median treatment duration was 16 months (IQR 9-18 months). The negative conversion rate after 12 months of treatment was 95%. Conclusion: Clinicians should be aware of the various radiographic manifestations of M. kansasii lung disease. With appropriate treatment, these patients have a good prognosis

Fourteen sequence variants that associate with multiple sclerosis discovered by meta-analysis informed by genetic correlations

A meta-analysis of publicly available summary statistics on multiple sclerosis combined with three Nordic multiple sclerosis cohorts (21,079 cases, 371,198 controls) revealed seven sequence variants associating with multiple sclerosis, not reported previously. Using polygenic risk scores based on public summary statistics of variants outside the major histocompatibility complex region we quantified genetic overlap between common autoimmune diseases in Icelanders and identified disease clusters characterized by autoantibody presence/absence. As multiple sclerosis-polygenic risk scores captures the risk of primary biliary cirrhosis and vice versa (P = 1.6 x 10(-7), 4.3 x 10(-9)) we used primary biliary cirrhosis as a proxy-phenotype for multiple sclerosis, the idea being that variants conferring risk of primary biliary cirrhosis have a prior probability of conferring risk of multiple sclerosis. We tested 255 variants forming the primary biliary cirrhosis-polygenic risk score and found seven multiple sclerosis-associating variants not correlated with any previously established multiple sclerosis variants. Most of the variants discovered are close to or within immune-related genes. One is a low-frequency missense variant in TYK2, another is a missense variant in MTHFR that reduces the function of the encoded enzyme affecting methionine metabolism, reported to be dysregulated in multiple sclerosis brain.publishedVersio