Formaldehyde over the central Pacific during PEM-Tropics B

Formaldehyde, CH2O, mixing ratios are reported for the central Pacific troposphere from a series of 41 flights, which took place in March-April 1999 as part of the NASA Pacific Exploratory Mission (PEM) -Tropics B mission. Ambient CH2O was collected in aqueous media and quantified using an enzyme-derivatization fluorescence technique. Primary calibration was performed using aqueous standards and known flow rates. Occasionally, CH2O gas standard additions to ambient air were performed as a secondary calibration. Analytical blanks were determined by replacing ambient air with pure air. The estimated precision was ±30 pptv and the estimated accuracy was the sum of ±30 parts per trillion by volume (pptv) ±15% of the measured value. Approximately 25% of the observations were less than the instrumental detection limit of 50 pptv, and 85% of these occurred above 6 km. CH2O mixing ratios decreased with altitude; for example, near the equator the median value in the lowest 2 km was 275 pptv, decreased to 150 pptv by 6 km and was below 100 pptv above 8 km. Between 130 and 170 W and below 1km, a small variation of CH2O mixing ratio with latitude was noted as near-surface median mixing ratios decreased near the equator (275 pptv) and were greater on either side (375 pptv). A marked decrease in near-surface CH2O (200 pptv) was noted south of 23° S on two flights. Between 3° and 23° S, median CH2O mixing ratios were lower in the eastern tropical Pacific than in the western or central Pacific; nominal differences were >100 pptv near the surface to ∼100 pptv at midaltitude to ∼50 pptv at high altitude. Off the coast of Central America and Mexico, mixing ratios as high as 1200 pptv were observed in plumes that originated to the east over land. CH2O observations were consistently higher than the results from a point model constrained by other photochemical species and meteorological parameters. Regardless of latitude or longitude, agreement was best at altitudes above 4 km where the difference between measured and modeled CH2O medians was less than 50 pptv. Below 2 km the model median was approximately 150 pptv less than the measured median. Copyright 2001 by the American Geophysical Union

π→lνγ\pi \to l\nu \gamma Form Factors at Two-loop

Within Chiral Perturbation Theory (CHPT) we compute the form factors A, V and $\gamma = A/V$ in the $\pi \to \nu l \gamma$ decay to $O(p^6)$. A and $\gamma$ obtain corrections of order 25%.Comment: Added cut-off dependence discusion, misprints correcte

Complex patterns of schist tor exposure and surface uplift, Otago (New Zealand)

Landscapes are subjected to surface denudation during their complex and non-linear evolution. In order to quantify the in situ surface lowering and, thus, denudation or soil erosion rates, new, multi-millennia archives are needed and must be rigorously tested. Large residual rocks, tors, are the basis for the Tor Exhumation Approach. Here we present novel results on meta-sedimentary (schist) rock tors using this approach, which previously has only been applied in granitic terrains. The exhumation patterns of eight schist tors in three landscape locations (valley, ridge, distal) of Otago, New Zealand, were studied using cosmogenic dating. The in situ 10Be ages have high variability along individual vertical tor profiles. Average surface age is 122 ± 12 ka and ranges from 836 ± 89 ka to 19 ± 2 ka. The majority of investigated tors have surfaced during the MIS 5 which was one of the wettest and warmest climate periods. The resulting surface denudation trend of the three locations differs. The valley commenced denudation no earlier than ~200 ka with rates of ~0.22 [m kyr−1] to ~0.02 [m kyr−1]. In contrast, exposure started at the ridge position around 230 ka at ~0.03 [m kyr−1]. An age inversion found in the valley is considered to be the result of mushroom-like exposure by undercutting and repeated rock breakoffs. The distal site tor has been exhumed continuously for ~120 ka at a rate of ~0.2 to ~0.05 [m kyr−1]. We identified a mix of surface emergence patterns of the tors such as continuous-, mushroom-, tafoni- and structural-like. The comparison to modern erosion rates indicates that surface erosion has increased up to a factor of ten during the last few decades. To determine the actual surface uplift, we linked the tor derived surface denudation rates with rock uplift data. The data indicates that the surface uplift rates started to decrease during the Middle Pleistocene (0.04–0.09 [m kyr−1]), remained relatively low during the Late Pleistocene (~0.01 [m kyr−1]) and started to increase again during the Holocene (c. 0.21–0.64 [m kyr−1]). In summary, the emergence pattern of local tors enabled reconstruction of the evolution of Pleistocene-Holocene surfaces in East Otago

Effect of Heavy Metal Contaminated Shooting Range Soils on Mycorrhizal Colonization of Roots and Metal Uptake by Leek

We grew leek (Allium porrum) in soils of two shooting ranges heavily contaminated with heavy metals in the towns of Zuchwil and Oberuzwil in Switzerland as a bioassay to test theactivity of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in these soils.Soil samples were taken from (1) front of the shooting house(HOUSE), (2) the area between house and target (FIELD) and (3) the berm (BACKSTOP). Samples of Ribwort plantain (Plantagolanceolata) growing naturally within the shooting ranges werealso collected and the colonization of its roots by mycorrhizalfungi was measured. The number of AM spores in the soils wassignificantly reduced concomitant with the increase in thedegree of soil contamination with metals. In Zuchwil,mycorrhizal fungi equally colonized roots of Ribwort plantainsampled from BACKSTOP and HOUSE. In Oberuzwil, however, plantsfrom BACKSTOP had lower colonization when compared with thosesampled from HOUSE. Colonization of leek was strongly reducedin the BACKSTOP soil of Zuchwil and slightly reduced in theBACKSTOP soil of Oberuzwil when compared with plants grown inrespective HOUSE soil. Concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb andZn in the leaves of leek grown in the BACKSTOP soil was withinthe range considered toxic for human consumption. This pointsto the high degree of bio-availability of these metal in thesesoils. Significant decrease in the number of mycorrhizal sporesin the BACKSTOP soils in Zuchwil and the low colonization ofleek roots grown in these soils point to possible changes inthe species diversity of mycorrhizal fungi in these soil

Emergency department visits for non-life-threatening conditions : evolution over 13 years in a Swiss urban teaching hospital

INTRODUCTION: A large proportion of visits to our Emergency Department (ED) are for non-life-threatening conditions. We investigated whether patients' characteristics and reasons for consultation had changed over 13 years. METHODS: Consecutive adult patients with non-life-threatening conditions at triage were included in the spring of 2000 and in the summer of 2013. In both years patients completed a similar questionnaire, which addressed their reasons for consultation and any previous consultation with a general practitioner (GP). RESULTS: We included 581 patients in 2013 vs 516 in 2000, with a mean age of 44.5 years vs 46.4 years (p=0.128). Of these patients, 54.0% vs 57.0% were male (p=0.329), 55.5% vs 58.7% were Swiss (p=0.282), 76.4% were registered with a GP in both periods, but self-referral increased from 52.0% to 68.8% (p<0.001); 57.7% vs., 58.3% consulted during out-of- hours (p=0.821). Trauma-related visits decreased from 34.2% to 23.7% (p<0.001). Consultations within 12 hours of onset of symptoms dropped from 54.5% to 30.9%, and delays of ≥1 week increased from 14.3% to 26.9% (p<0.001). The primary motive for self-referral remained unawareness of an alternative, followed in 2013 by dissatisfaction with the GP's treatment or appointment. Patients who believed that their health problem would not require hospitalisation increased from 52.8% to 74.2% and those who were actually hospitalised decreased from 24.9% to 13.9% (all p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The number of visits for non-life-threatening consultations continue to increase. Our ED is used by a large proportion of patients as a convenient alternative source of primary care

Lack of associations between female hormone levels and visuospatial working memory, divided attention and cognitive bias across two consecutive menstrual cycles

Background: Interpretation of observational studies on associations between prefrontal cognitive functioning and hormone levels across the female menstrual cycle is complicated due to small sample sizes and poor replicability. Methods: This observational multisite study comprised data of n = 88 menstruating women from Hannover, Germany, and Zurich, Switzerland, assessed during a first cycle and n = 68 re-assessed during a second cycle to rule out practice effects and false-positive chance findings. We assessed visuospatial working memory, attention, cognitive bias and hormone levels at four consecutive time-points across both cycles. In addition to inter-individual differences we examined intra-individual change over time (i.e., within-subject effects). Results: Estrogen, progesterone and testosterone did not relate to inter-individual differences in cognitive functioning. There was a significant negative association between intra-individual change in progesterone and change in working memory from pre-ovulatory to mid-luteal phase during the first cycle, but that association did not replicate in the second cycle. Intra-individual change in testosterone related negatively to change in cognitive bias from menstrual to pre-ovulatory as well as from pre-ovulatory to mid-luteal phase in the first cycle, but these associations did not replicate in the second cycle. Conclusions: There is no consistent association between women’s hormone levels, in particular estrogen and progesterone, and attention, working memory and cognitive bias. That is, anecdotal findings observed during the first cycle did not replicate in the second cycle, suggesting that these are false-positives attributable to random variation and systematic biases such as practice effects. Due to methodological limitations, positive findings in the published literature must be interpreted with reservation

Detection of noninteracting single domain particles using first-order reversal curve diagrams

We present a highly sensitive and accurate method for quantitativedetection and characterization of noninteracting or weakly interactinguniaxial single domain particles (UNISD) in rocks and sediments. Themethod is based on high-resolution measurements of first-order reversalcurves (FORCs). UNISD particles have a unique FORC signature that can beused to isolate their contribution among other magnetic components. Thissignature has a narrow ridge along the H(c) axis of the FORC diagram,called the central ridge, which is proportional to the switching fielddistribution of the particles. Therefore, the central ridge is directlycomparable with other magnetic measurements, such as remanentmagnetization curves, with the advantage of being fully selective to SDparticles, rather than other magnetic components. This selectivity isunmatched by other magnetic unmixing methods, and offers usefulapplications ranging from characterization of SD particles forpaleointensity studies to detecting magnetofossils and ultrafineauthigenically precipitated minerals in sediments