CHARACTERISTICS OF LIGHTNING ACTIVITY IN DEEP CONVECTIVE CLOUDS WITH THE OVERSHOOTING TOPS

In this study characteristics of lightning activity, such as type and amplitude of lightning strokes in convective clouds with overshooting tops (OT), are analyzed. OTs are specific cloud-top signatures representing a strong updraft, which in some cases can penetrate through the tropopause region into the lower stratosphere. The focus was on the warm part of the year (May-September) during 2009. The study area covers a region from approximately 41°N 8°E to 49.5°N 24°E. Deep convective clouds with OTs were detected from the Meteosat 9 data, using a so called COMB method based on the infrared window (IRW, 10.8 μm) channel and the absorption channels of water vapor (WV, 6.2 μm) and ozone (O3, 9.7 μm) in form of brightness temperature differences (BTD). Locations and times of the detected OTs were compared to the distribution and types of the lightning strokes, provided by the Lightning Location System, a part of the International Lightning Detection Network in Europe (LINET). For each satellite pixel meeting the OT criteria, occurrence of lightning discharge was searched 5 min before and after the time of the scan, within the range of 0.05° from the pixel position. The results present the characteristics of lightning in the vicinity of the OTs which might give an idea about the connection between the occurrence of the strongest updraft, represented with the OT in the cloud and the change in the lightning activity

Determination of thiopurine S-methyltransferase activity by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography hyphenated with mass spectrometry

Thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) plays an important role in the metabolism of thiopurines used in the therapy of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). In this work a new progressive method for the determination of TPMT activity in red blood cells lysates was developed. Analysis was carried out by means of hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) hyphenated with mass spectrometry (MS). In comparison with reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), that has been typically applied in determination of TPMT activity, the HILIC significantly improved the analytical signal provided by MS, shortened analysis time, and improved chromatographic resolution. The HILIC-HPLC-MS method was optimized and validated, providing favorable parameters of detection and quantitation limits (5.5 an

An IAEA Multi-technique X-ray Spectrometry End-station at Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste: Benchmarking Results and Interdisciplinary Applications

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) jointly with the Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste (EST) operates a multipurpose X-ray spectrometry endstation at the X-ray Fluorescence beamline (10.1L). The facility has been available to external users since the beginning of 2015 through the peer-review process of EST. Using this collaboration framework, the IAEA supports and promotes synchrotron-radiation-based research and training activities for various research groups from the IAEA Member States, especially those who have limited previous experience and resources to access a synchrotron radiation facility. This paper aims to provide a broad overview about various analytical capabilities, intrinsic features and performance figures of the IAEA X-ray spectrometry endstation through the measured results. The IAEA-EST endstation works with monochromatic X-rays in the energy range 3.7-14keV for the Elettra storage ring operating at 2.0 or 2.4GeV electron energy. It offers a combination of different advanced analytical probes, e.g. X-ray reflectivity, X-ray absorption fine-structure measurements, grazing-incidence X-ray fluorescence measurements, using different excitation and detection geometries, and thereby supports a comprehensive characterization for different kinds of nanostructured and bulk materials.A broad overview of the various analytical capabilities, intrinsic features and performance figures of the IAEA X-ray spectrometry endstation operated at the X-ray Fluorescence beamline of Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste is given, and different applications are demonstrated to familiarize the user community with the applicable intersdisciplinary research.Fil: Karydas, A.. International Atomic Energy Agency; Austria. National Centre for Scientific Research "Demokritos"; GreciaFil: Czyzycki, M.. International Atomic Energy Agency; Austria. AGH University of Science and Technology. Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science ; PoloniaFil: Leani, Juan Jose. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentina. International Atomic Energy Agency; AustriaFil: Migliori, A.. International Atomic Energy Agency; Austria. Nuclear Spectrometry And Appications Lab, Iaea. Onu; AustriaFil: Osán, J.. Hungarian Academy of Sciences Centre for Energy Research; Hungría. International Atomic Energy Agency; AustriaFil: Bogovac, M.. International Atomic Energy Agency; AustriaFil: Wrobel, P.. AGH University of Science and Technology. Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science ; PoloniaFil: Vakula, N.. International Atomic Energy Agency; AustriaFil: Padilla Alvarez, R.. International Atomic Energy Agency; AustriaFil: Menk, Ralf Hendrik. Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste SCpA di Interesse Nazionale; Italia. University of Saskatchewan; CanadáFil: Gol, M. G.. Iranian Light Source Facility; IránFil: Antonelli, M.. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare; Italia. Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste SCpA di Interesse Nazionale; ItaliaFil: Tiwari, M. K.. Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology; IndiaFil: Caliri, C.. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare; ItaliaFil: Vogel Mikuš, K.. Jozef Stefan Institute; Eslovenia. University of Ljubljana; EsloveniaFil: Darby, I.. Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste SCpA di Interesse Nazionale; Italia. International Atomic Energy Agency; AustriaFil: Kaiser, R.. International Atomic Energy Agency; Austri

Analytical and Sample Preparation Protocol for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of 12 Thiopurine Metabolites Related to Clinical Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Thiopurines (TP) represent an important therapeutic tool for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in the current situation of rising incidence and health care costs. The results of multiple clinical studies aimed at finding correlations between levels of TP metabolites and response of IBD patients to the treatment are, however, often controversial due to variability in analytical and sample preparation procedures among these studies. In this work, therefore, an updated analytical and sample preparation procedure for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of TP metabolites in blood samples obtained from patients with IBD was proposed to establish a unified protocol. An advanced analytical method based on ion-exchange liquid chromatography hyphenated with tandem mass

Magnesium and calcium overaccumulate in the leaves of a schengen3 mutant of Brassica rapa

Magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) are essential mineral nutrients poorly supplied in many human food systems. In grazing livestock, Mg and Ca deficiencies are costly welfare issues. Here, we report a Brassica rapa loss-of-function schengen3 (sgn3) mutant, braA.sgn3.a-1, which accumulates twice as much Mg and a third more Ca in its leaves. We mapped braA.sgn3.a to a single recessive locus using a forward ionomic screen of chemically mutagenized lines with subsequent backcrossing and linked-read sequencing of second back-crossed, second filial generation (BC2F2) segregants. Confocal imaging revealed a disrupted root endodermal diffusion barrier, consistent with SGN3 encoding a receptor-like kinase required for normal formation of Casparian strips, as reported in thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana). Analysis of the spatial distribution of elements showed elevated extracellular Mg concentrations in leaves of braA.sgn3.a-1, hypothesized to result from preferential export of excessive Mg from cells to ensure suitable cellular concentrations. This work confirms a conserved role of SGN3 in controlling nutrient homeostasis in B. rapa, and reveals mechanisms by which plants are able to deal with perturbed shoot element concentrations resulting from a “leaky” root endodermal barrier. Characterization of variation in leaf Mg and Ca accumulation across a mutagenized population of B. rapa shows promise for using such populations in breeding programs to increase edible concentrations of essential human and animal nutrients

Administracja, zarządzanie i handel zagraniczny w warunkach integracji. Materiały konferencyjne - Zarządzanie bezpieczeństwem

Ze wstępu: "Bezpieczeństwo jest w coraz wyższej cenie. Zajmują się nim naukowcy oraz praktycy z różnych dziedzin. W najszerszym wymiarze pojęcie „bezpieczeństwo” sprowadzić można do słów: stan niezagrożenia, spokoju, pewności. Takie ogólne ujęcie problematyki bezpieczeństwa sprawia, że różne podmioty podchodzą wybiórczo do tych bardzo ważnych zarówno dla pojedynczych ludzi, jak i społeczeństwa zagadnień. Inaczej postrzegają i interpretują bezpieczeństwo politycy, prawnicy, ekonomiści, wojskowi, policjanci, lekarze, pedagodzy, a inaczej zwyczajni ludzie. W ich ujęciu bezpieczeństwo to: 1) stan świadomości człowieka, w którym czuje się on wolny od jakichkolwiek zagrożeń, pociągający za sobą poczucie spokoju i komfortu; 2) niczym niezakłócone współistnienie człowieka z innymi ludźmi i środowiskiem przyrodniczym; 3) stan bez lęku i niepokoju o siebie i innych, pewność jutra; 4) brak zagrożenia utraty zdrowia, mienia i życia, komfort psychiczny umożliwiający realizację życiowych marzeń i celów; 5) sytuacja, w której człowiekowi nic nie zagraża, a w nagłych i nieprzewidzianych sytuacjach może liczyć na pomoc i wsparcie innych."(...

Measuring of block error rates in high-speed digital networks

Error characteristics is a decisive factor for the digital networks transmission quality definition. The ITU – T G.826 and G.828 recommendations identify error parameters for high – speed digital networks in relation to G.821 recommendation. The paper describes the relations between individual error parameters and the error rate assuming that these are invariant in terms of time