Validation of IFE-1.6 SCIAMACHY limb ozone profiles

International audienceThe IFE-1.6 scientific data set of SCIAMACHY limb ozone profiles is validated for the period August?December 2002. The data set provides ozone profiles over an altitude range of 15?45 km. The main uncertainty in the profiles is the imprecise knowledge of the pointing of the instrument, leading to retrieved profiles that are shifted in altitude direction. To obtain a first order correction for the pointing error and the remaining uncertainties, the retrieved profiles are compared to their a-priori value and ozone sondes based on absolute distance and equivalent latitude criteria. A vertical shift of the satellite profiles with 2 km downward is found to be an appropriate correction for the data set studied. A total root-mean-square difference between limb profiles and sondes of 10?15% remains for the stratospheric ozone profile after application of the correction. Small biases are left above and below the ozone maximum at mid latitudes, where the vertical gradients in the retrieved product are in general too strong

The yellow hypergiants HR 8752 and rho Cassiopeiae near the evolutionary border of instability

High-resolution near-ultraviolet spectra of the yellow hypergiants HR 8752 and rho Cassiopeiae indicate high effective temperatures placing both stars near the T_eff border of the ``yellow evolutionary void''. At present, the temperature of HR 8752 is higher than ever. For this star we found Teff=7900+-200 K, whereas rho Cassiopeiae has Teff=7300+-200 K. Both, HR 8752 and rho Cassiopeiae have developed strong stellar winds with Vinf ~ 120 km/s and Vinf ~ 100 km/s, respectively. For HR 8752 we estimate an upper limit for the spherically symmetric mass-loss of 6.7X10^{-6}M_solar/yr. Over the past decades two yellow hypergiants appear to have approached an evolutionary phase, which has never been observed before. We present the first spectroscopic evidence of the blueward motion of a cool super/hypergiant on the HR diagram.Comment: 13 pages including 3 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

REVISITING ANNA MOSCOWITZ\u27S KROSS\u27S CRITIQUE OF NEW YORK CITY\u27S WOMEN\u27S COURT: THE CONTINUED PROBLEM OF SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF PROSTITUTION WITH SPECIALIZED CRIMINAL COURTS

This article explores New York City\u27s non-traditional, judicially based response to prostitution. This article first recounts the history of New York City’s Women’s Court. It then examines the work of the Midtown Community Court, the “problem-solving court” established in 1993 to address criminal issues, like prostitution, in Midtown Manhattan. It also discusses the renewed concerns about sex work in New York and describe the movement, propelled by modern reformers, to address prostitution through specialty courts. It then contrasts the shared features and attributes of the Women’s Court and Midtown Court models. Finally, the article urges modern reformers to step back from the problem-solving court movement and their call for the creation of more such specialized criminal courts

Loss of microbial topography between oral and nasopharyngeal microbiota and development of respiratory infections early in life

Rationale: The respiratory microbiota is increasingly being appreciated as an important mediator in the susceptibility to childhood respiratory tract infections (RTIs). Pathogens are presumed to originate from the nasopharyngeal ecosystem. Objectives: To investigate the association between early life respiratory microbiota and development of childhood RTIs. Methods: In a prospective birth cohort (Microbiome Utrecht Infant Study: MUIS), we characterized the oral microbiota longitudinally from birth until 6 months of age of 112 infants (nine regular samples/subject) and compared them with nasopharyngeal microbiota using 16S-rRNA–based sequencing. We also characterized oral and nasopharynx samples during RTI episodes in the first half year of life. Measurements and Main Results: Oral microbiota were driven mostly by feeding type, followed by age, mode of delivery, and season of sampling. In contrast to our previously published associations between nasopharyngeal microbiota development and susceptibility to RTIs, oral microbiota development was not directly associated with susceptibility to RTI development. However, we did observe an influx of oral taxa, such as Neisseria lactamica, Streptococcus, Prevotella nanceiensis, Fusobacterium, and Janthinobacterium lividum, in the nasopharyngeal microbiota before and during RTIs, which was accompanied by reduced presence and abundance of Corynebacterium, Dolosigranulum, and Moraxella spp. Moreover, this phenomenon was accompanied by reduced niche differentiation indicating loss of ecological topography preceding confirmed RTIs. This loss of ecological topography was further augmented by start of daycare, and linked to consecutive development of symptomatic infections. Conclusions: Together, our results link the loss of topography to subsequent development of RTI episodes. This may lead to new insights for prevention of RTIs and antibiotic use in childhood

Maturation of the infant respiratory microbiota, environmental drivers and health consequences: a prospective cohort study

Rationale: Perinatal and postnatal influences are presumed important drivers of the early-life respiratory microbiota composition. We hypothesized that the respiratory microbiota composition and development in infancy is affecting microbiota stability and thereby resistance against respiratory tract infections (RTIs) over time. Objectives: To investigate common environmental drivers, including birth mode, feeding type, antibiotic exposure, and crowding conditions, in relation to respiratory tract microbiota maturation and stability, and consecutive risk of RTIs over the first year of life. Methods: In a prospectively followed cohort of 112 infants, we characterized the nasopharyngeal microbiota longitudinally from birth on (11 consecutive sample moments and the maximum three RTI samples per subject; in total, n = 1,121 samples) by 16S-rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Measurements and Main Results: Using a microbiota-based machine-learning algorithm, we found that children experiencing a higher number of RTIs in the first year of life already demonstrate an aberrant microbial developmental trajectory from the first month of life on as compared with the reference group (0-2 RTIs/yr). The altered microbiota maturation process coincided with decreased microbial community stability, prolonged reduction of Corynebacterium and Dolosigranulum, enrichment of Moraxella very early in life, followed by later enrichment of Neisseria and Prevotella spp. Independent drivers of these aberrant developmental trajectories of respiratory microbiota members were mode of delivery, infant feeding, crowding, and recent antibiotic use. Conclusions: Our results suggest that environmental drivers impact microbiota development and, consequently, resistance against development of RTIs. This supports the idea that microbiota form the mediator between early-life environmental risk factors for and susceptibility to RTIs over the first year of life

Benchmarking laboratory processes to characterise low-biomass respiratory microbiota

Abstract The low biomass of respiratory samples makes it difficult to accurately characterise the microbial community composition. PCR conditions and contaminating microbial DNA can alter the biological profile. The objective of this study was to benchmark the currently available laboratory protocols to accurately analyse the microbial community of low biomass samples. To study the effect of PCR conditions on the microbial community profile, we amplified the 16S rRNA gene of respiratory samples using various bacterial loads and different number of PCR cycles. Libraries were purified by gel electrophoresis or AMPure XP and sequenced by V2 or V3 MiSeq reagent kits by Illumina sequencing. The positive control was diluted in different solvents. PCR conditions had no significant influence on the microbial community profile of low biomass samples. Purification methods and MiSeq reagent kits provided nearly similar microbiota profiles (paired Bray–Curtis dissimilarity median: 0.03 and 0.05, respectively). While profiles of positive controls were significantly influenced by the type of dilution solvent, the theoretical profile of the Zymo mock was most accurately analysed when the Zymo mock was diluted in elution buffer (difference compared to the theoretical Zymo mock: 21.6% for elution buffer, 29.2% for Milli-Q, and 79.6% for DNA/RNA shield). Microbiota profiles of DNA blanks formed a distinct cluster compared to low biomass samples, demonstrating that low biomass samples can accurately be distinguished from DNA blanks. In summary, to accurately characterise the microbial community composition we recommend 1. amplification of the obtained microbial DNA with 30 PCR cycles, 2. purifying amplicon pools by two consecutive AMPure XP steps and 3. sequence the pooled amplicons by V3 MiSeq reagent kit. The benchmarked standardized laboratory workflow presented here ensures comparability of results within and between low biomass microbiome studies

Suppressed Far-UV stellar activity and low planetary mass-loss in the WASP-18 system

WASP-18 hosts a massive, very close-in Jupiter-like planet. Despite its young age (R′HK activity parameter lies slightly below the basal level; there is no significant time-variability in the log R′HK value; there is no detection of the star in the X-rays. We present results of far-UV observations of WASP-18 obtained with COS on board of HST aimed at explaining this anomaly. From the star’s spectral energy distribution, we infer the extinction (E(B − V) ≈ 0.01mag) and then the ISM column density for a number of ions, concluding that ISM absorption is not the origin of the anomaly. We measure the flux of the four stellar emission features detected in the COS spectrum (C II, C III, C IV, Si IV). Comparing the C II/C IV flux ratio measured for WASP-18 with that derived from spectra of nearby stars with known age, we see that the far-UV spectrum of WASP-18 resembles that of old (>5Gyr), inactive stars, in stark contrast with its young age. We conclude that WASP-18 has an intrinsically low activity level, possibly caused by star-planet tidal interaction, as suggested by previous studies. Re-scaling the solar irradiance reference spectrum to match the flux of the Si IV line, yields an XUV integrated flux at the planet orbit of 10.2 erg s−1 cm−2. We employ the rescaled XUV solar fluxes to model of the planetary upper atmosphere, deriving an extremely low thermal mass-loss rate of 10−20MJ Gyr−1. For such high-mass planets, thermal escape is not energy limited, but driven by Jeans escape

Host and environmental factors shape upper airway microbiota and respiratory health across the human lifespan

Our understanding of the normal variation in the upper respiratory tract (URT) microbiota across the human lifespan and how these relate to host, environment, and health is limited. We studied the microbiota of 3,104 saliva (&lt;10 year-olds)/oropharynx (≥10 year-olds) and 2,485 nasopharynx samples of 3,160 Dutch individuals 0-87 years of age, participating in a cross-sectional population-wide study (PIENTER-3) using 16S-rRNA sequencing. The microbiota composition was strongly related to age, especially in the nasopharynx, with maturation occurring throughout childhood and adolescence. Clear niche- and age-specific associations were found between the microbiota composition and host/environmental factors and health outcomes. Among others, social interaction, sex, and season were associated with the nasopharyngeal microbial community. By contrast, the oral microbiota was more related to antibiotics, tobacco, and alcohol use. We present an atlas of the URT microbiota across the lifespan in association with environment and health, establishing a baseline for future research.</p

The Cabauw Intercomparison Campaign for Nitrogen Dioxide Measuring Instruments (CINDI): Design, Execution, and Early Results

From June to July 2009 more than thirty different in-situ and remote sensing instruments from all over the world participated in the Cabauw Intercomparison campaign for Nitrogen Dioxide measuring Instruments (CINDI). The campaign took place at KNMI's Cabauw Experimental Site for Atmospheric Research (CESAR) in the Netherlands. Its main objectives were to determine the accuracy of state-ofthe- art ground-based measurement techniques for the detection of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide (both in-situ and remote sensing), and to investigate their usability in satellite data validation. The expected outcomes are recommendations regarding the operation and calibration of such instruments, retrieval settings, and observation strategies for the use in ground-based networks for air quality monitoring and satellite data validation. Twenty-four optical spectrometers participated in the campaign, of which twenty-one had the capability to scan different elevation angles consecutively, the so-called Multi-axis DOAS systems, thereby collecting vertical profile information, in particular for nitrogen dioxide and aerosol. Various in-situ samplers and lidar instruments simultaneously characterized the variability of atmospheric trace gases and the physical properties of aerosol particles. A large data set of continuous measurements of these atmospheric constituents has been collected under various meteorological conditions and air pollution levels. Together with the permanent measurement capability at the CESAR site characterizing the meteorological state of the atmosphere, the CINDI campaign provided a comprehensive observational data set of atmospheric constituents in a highly polluted region of the world during summertime. First detailed comparisons performed with the CINDI data show that slant column measurements of NO2, O4 and HCHO with MAX-DOAS agree within 5 to 15%, vertical profiles of NO2 derived from several independent instruments agree within 25% of one another, and MAX-DOAS aerosol optical thickness agrees within 20-30% with AERONET data. For the in-situ NO2 instrument using a molybdenum converter, a bias was found as large as 5 ppbv during day time, when compared to the other in-situ instruments using photolytic converters