What causes the irregular cycle of the atmospheric tape recorder signal in HCN?

Variations in the mixing ratio of long-lived trace gases entering the stratosphere in the tropics are carried upward with the rising air with the signal being observable throughout the tropical lower stratosphere. This phenomenon, referred to as "atmospheric tape recorder" has previously been observed for water vapor, CO2, and CO which exhibit an annual cycle. Recently, based on Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) and the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) satellite measurements, the tape recorder signal has been observed for hydrogen cyanide (HCN) but with an approximately two-year period. Here we report on a model simulation of the HCN tape recorder for the time period 2002-2008 using the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS). The model can reproduce the observed pattern of the HCN tape recorder signal if time-resolved emissions from fires in Indonesia are used as lower boundary condition. This finding indicates that inter-annual variations in biomass burning in Indonesia, which are strongly influenced by El Nino events, control the HCN tape recorder signal. A longer time series of tropical HCN data will probably exhibit an irregular cycle rather than a regular biannual cycle. Citation: Pommrich, R., R. Muller, J.-U. Grooss, G. Gunther, P. Konopka, M. Riese, A. Heil, M. Schultz, H.-C. Pumphrey, and K. A. Walker (2010), What causes the irregular cycle of the atmospheric tape recorder signal in HCN?, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L16805, doi:10.1029/2010GL044056

Space as a low-temperature regime of graphs

I define a statistical model of graphs in which 2-dimensional spaces arise at low temperature. The configurations are given by graphs with a fixed number of edges and the Hamiltonian is a simple, local function of the graphs. Simulations show that there is a transition between a low-temperature regime in which the graphs form triangulations of 2-dimensional surfaces and a high-temperature regime, where the surfaces disappear. I use data for the specific heat and other observables to discuss whether this is a phase transition. The surface states are analyzed with regard to topology and defects.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures; v3: published version; J.Stat.Phys. 201

The impact of mixing across the polar vortex edge on Match ozone loss estimates

The Match method for quantification of polar chemical ozone loss is investigated mainly with respect to the impact of mixing across the vortex edge onto this estimate. We show for the winter 2002/03 that significant mixing across the vortex edge occurred and was accurately modeled by the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere. Observations of inert tracers and ozone in-situ from HAGAR on the Geophysica aircraft and sondes and also remote from MIPAS on ENVISAT were reproduced well. The model even reproduced a small vortex remnant that was isolated until June 2003 and was observed in-situ by a balloon-borne whole air sampler. We use this CLaMS simulation to quantify the impact of cross vortex edge mixing on the results of the Match method. It is shown that a time integration of the determined vortex average ozone loss rates as performed in Match results in larger ozone loss than the polar vortex average ozone loss in CLaMS. Also, the determination of the Match ozone loss rates can be influenced by mixing. This is especially important below 430 K, where ozone outside the vortex is lower than inside and the vortex boundary is not a strong transport barrier. This effect and further sampling effects cause an offset between vortex average ozone loss rates derived from Match and deduced from CLaMS with an even sampling for the entire vortex. Both, the time-integration of ozone loss and the determination of ozone loss rates for Match are evaluated using the winter 2002/03 CLaMS simulation. These impacts can explain the differences between CLaMS and Match column ozone loss. While the investigated effects somewhat reduce the apparent discrepancy in January ozone loss rates, a discrepancy between simulations and Match remains. However, its contribution to the accumulated ozone loss over the winter is not large

The Free Particle in Deformed Special Relativity

The phase space of a classical particle in DSR contains de Sitter space as the space of momenta. We start from the standard relativistic particle in five dimensions with an extra constraint and reduce it to four dimensional DSR by imposing appropriate gauge fixing. We analyze some physical properties of the resulting theories like the equations of motion, the form of Lorentz transformations and the issue of velocity. We also address the problem of the origin and interpretation of different bases in DSR.Comment: 15 page

Anionic liposomes inhibit human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infectivity in CD4\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e A3.01 and H9 cells

Immunodeficiency viruses undergo fusion with liposomes containing anionic phospholipids (Larsen et al., 1990). We have investigated the effect of liposomes composed of cardiolipin, phosphatidylserine or phosphatidylinositol, on the infectivity of three strains of HIV-1 in A3.01 and H9 cells, measured by p24 (gag) production in the medium. The infectivity of HIV-1 in A3.01 or H9 cells was inhibited by the presence of cardiolipin liposomes during a 2 h infection period, with IC50\u27s of 23.0, 4.8, and 5.0 μM phospholipid, respectively, for the different strains. Liposomes composed of phosphatidylserine or phosphatidylinositol were ineffective under similar conditions. However, prolonged pre-incubation of the virus with these liposomes also inhibited infectivity. Inhibition of virus binding to cells could not account for the inhibition of infectivity. We propose that the fusion products of HIV-1 and anionic liposomes are impaired in their ability to fuse with the plasma membrane

New Observational Bounds to Quantum Gravity Signals

We consider a new set of effects arising from the quantum gravity corrections to the propagation of fields, associated with fluctuations of the spacetime geometry. Using already existing experimental data, we can put bounds on these effects that are more stringent by several orders of magnitude than those expected to be obtained in astrophysical observations. In fact these results can be already interpreted as questioning the whole scenario of linear (in $l_P$) corrections to the dispersion relations for free fields in Lorentz violating theories.Comment: Latex, to be published in PR

Endplate calcification and cervical intervertebral disc degeneration: the role of endplate marrow contact channel occlusion

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the fundamental relationships between cervical intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration, endplate calcification, and the patency of endplate marrow contact channels (MCC). Materials and methods: Sixty cervical IVDs were excised from 30 human cadavers. After sectioning the specimens underwent micro computed tomography (microCT) — from all images the number, calibre, diameter and distribution of endplate openings were measured using ImageJ. Next, the specimens were scored for macroscopic degeneration (Thompson’s classification), and subsequently underwent histological analysis for both IVD and endplate degeneration (Boos’s classification) and calcification. Results: The study group comprised 30 female and 30 male IVDs (mean age ± SD: 51.4 ± 19.5). Specimen’s age, macroscopic and microscopic degeneration correlated negatively with the number of MCCs (r = –0.33–(–0.95); p < 0.0001), apart from the MCCs > 300 μm in diameter (r = 0.66–0.79; p < 0.0001). The negative relationship was strongest for the MCCs 10–50 μm in diameter. Conclusions: There is a strong negative correlation between the number of endplate MCCs, and both macroscopic and microscopic cervical IVD and endplate degeneration. This could further support the thesis that endplate calcification, through the occlusion of MCCs, leads to a fall in nutrient transport to the IVD, and subsequently causes its degeneration

Observations of meteoric material and implications for aerosol nucleation in the winter Arctic lower stratosphere derived from in situ particle measurements

Number concentrations of total and non-volatile aerosol particles with size diameters >0.01 μm as well as particle size distributions (0.4–23 μm diameter) were measured in situ in the Arctic lower stratosphere (10–20.5 km altitude). The measurements were obtained during the campaigns European Polar Stratospheric Cloud and Lee Wave Experiment (EUPLEX) and Envisat-Arctic-Validation (EAV). The campaigns were based in Kiruna, Sweden, and took place from January to March 2003. Measurements were conducted onboard the Russian high-altitude research aircraft Geophysica using the low-pressure Condensation Nucleus Counter COPAS (COndensation PArticle Counter System) and a modified FSSP 300 (Forward Scattering Spectrometer Probe). Around 18–20 km altitude typical total particle number concentrations nt range at 10–20 cm−3 (ambient conditions). Correlations with the trace gases nitrous oxide (N2O) and trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11) are discussed. Inside the polar vortex the total number of particles >0.01 μm increases with potential temperature while N2O is decreasing which indicates a source of particles in the above polar stratosphere or mesosphere. A separate channel of the COPAS instrument measures the fraction of aerosol particles non-volatile at 250°C. Inside the polar vortex a much higher fraction of particles contained non-volatile residues than outside the vortex (~67% inside vortex, ~24% outside vortex). This is most likely due to a strongly increased fraction of meteoric material in the particles which is transported downward from the mesosphere inside the polar vortex. The high fraction of non-volatile residual particles gives therefore experimental evidence for downward transport of mesospheric air inside the polar vortex. It is also shown that the fraction of non-volatile residual particles serves directly as a suitable experimental vortex tracer. Nanometer-sized meteoric smoke particles may also serve as nuclei for the condensation of gaseous sulfuric acid and water in the polar vortex and these additional particles may be responsible for the increase in the observed particle concentration at low N2O. The number concentrations of particles >0.4 μm measured with the FSSP decrease markedly inside the polar vortex with increasing potential temperature, also a consequence of subsidence of air from higher altitudes inside the vortex. Another focus of the analysis was put on the particle measurements in the lowermost stratosphere. For the total particle density relatively high number concentrations of several hundred particles per cm3 at altitudes below ~14 km were observed in several flights. To investigate the origin of these high number concentrations we conducted air mass trajectory calculations and compared the particle measurements with other trace gas observations. The high number concentrations of total particles in the lowermost stratosphere are probably caused by transport of originally tropospheric air from lower latitudes and are potentially influenced by recent particle nucleation

Enhancement of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection by cationic liposomes: The role of CD4, serum and liposome-cell interactions

We have reported previously the enhancement of the infectivity of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV- 1) by liposomes composed of the cationic lipid N[2,3-(dioleyloxy) propyl]-N,N,N-trimethylammonium chloride (DOTMA). To determine the mechanism by which this process occurs, we have investigated the role of CD4, serum concentration and liposome-cell interactions in the DOTMA-mediated stimulation of HIV-1 infection of A3.01 cells. Serum alone significantly inhibited the binding and infectivity of HIV-1, but DOTMA-mediated enhancement of infectivity was more pronounced in the presence of serum than in its absence. HIV-1 binding to cells was increased in the presence of DOTMA liposomes, DEAE-dextran and polybrene, all of which also enhanced infectivity to a similar extent at comparable concentrations. Fluorescence dequenching measurements indicated that DOTMA liposomes fused with HIV-1, but not with cell membranes, in the presence of serum. The enhancing effect of DOTMA liposomes on HIV-1 infectivity was CD4-dependent, and appeared to involve virus-liposome fusion and liposome binding to the cell surface. DOTMA liposomes did not mediate infection of the CD4- K562 and Raji cell lines