Introducing the Bulletin of Atmospheric Science and Technology

The rapid technological development of the past few decades has allowed for an unprecedented wealth of data about ourselves and our planet. The cost reduction of space platforms, the microelectronic revolution and the nearly exponential increase in computer power have been generating novel opportunities to explore and understand the world around us. Tools and theoretical approaches, capable of putting together all the insights we may possibly gain from all these new streams of data in a multidisciplinary framework, are still being developed. We are hence faced with both a unique challenge and an opportunity to make a significant progress in many scientific fields, first and foremost in the atmospheric and climate sciences. We are pleased to announce here the launch of the Bulletin of Atmospheric Science and Technology (BAST), a new peer-reviewed journal which is meant to bridge this gap in the broad area of the atmospheric sciences. The journal encourages a cross-disciplinary approach with an emphasis on new sensor technologies and systems, combined observational and modeling techniques, innovative numerical methods, data analysis, and retrieval techniques. BAST offers a platform to share new ideas and fresh developments to stimulate research activities focusing on urban, coastal, marine, rural, and mountain environments. Particular attention will be given to cross-disciplinary studies, especially those involving citizens for the collection of crowd-sourced data and those devoted to the characterization of uncertainties and homogenization of methods. BAST aims at connecting weather and climate communities using both observational and modeling approaches, creating a forum hosting discussion and brainstorming activities. The journal also hopes to attract contributions reporting approaches or techniques from other scientific fields that can be applicable to atmospheric sciences, as well as contributions where technological developments are discussed alongside with their scientific and societal impacts. In this sense BAST will provide a new platform to support the technological revolution towards a climate-smart society through the collection and exploitation of big data. The journal will give visibility to international experiments and projects in atmospheric science and technology, illustrating preliminary or consolidated results from these initiatives. Additional fields of interest are : environmental protection; observation, understanding, and modeling of hazardous and extreme events and mitigation of their impacts; development of new sensing tools integrating satellite information with surface or airborne measurements; operation of unmanned and remotely piloted air vehicles equipped with sensors of small size and weight, especially remote sensors, pushing electro-optical-mechanical components towards a continuously increasing miniaturization. Research articles, Review articles, Technical reports, Brief reports, Letters and News are welcome. While keeping the focus of the journal on scientific research, the “Bulletin” format provides appropriate visibility to contributions from the operational side, i.e., meteorological services and private companies developing sensors and products of interest to the atmospheric science and technology community. Below we provide a more detailed description of the topics that will be emphasized and fostered in BAST

Le traitement pédagogique d'enfants dyslexiques

21 children were diagnosed as dyslexic at 8 years of age and given adequate pedagogic and rehabilitative treatment for around five years. At the end of this period, one third of the children appeared able to continue a normal scholastic curriculum. The status of the remaining two thirds was either unchanged and required a differentiated programme to achieve reading and writing competence, or they continued to have considerable difficulty with a normal school curriculum. It appears that, for a positive prognosis, the sex of the subject, early diagnosis of the disorder, the educational level of the parents and when treatment is started are important factors. On the other hand, etiological factors, WISC Scale IQ, the initial severity of the dyslexia and indications of various neuropsychological functional disorders do not appear to influence the prognosis.Un groupe de 21 enfants dyslexiques a été identifié à l'âge de 8-9 ans et il a été soumis à un traitement pédagogique et de rééducation adéquat pendant une période d'environ cinq ans. A la fin de cette période, un tiers des enfants sort du critère diagnostique de dyslexie et semble en mesure de poursuivre avec succès la vie scolaire, tandis que les deux tiers restants demeurent en partie dans leur trouble spécifique ou bien ils ont une évolution différenciée dans leur difficulté de lecture et d'écriture et sont fortement en difficulté dans leur vie scolaire normale. Aussi bien le sexe que le diagnostic précoce et le début du traitement semblent avoir de l'importance aux fins du pronostic favorable, de même que la scolarité des parents. Par contre, la présence éventuelle de facteurs étiologiques spécifiques, le niveau du QI à l'échelle WISC, la gravité initiale de la dyslexie et l'évidence de problèmes dans les diverses fonctions neuropsychologiques s'avèrent sans importance aux fins du pronostic.Curci Paolo, Ruggerini Ciro, Ciotti Francesco, Papperini Rossella. Le traitement pédagogique d'enfants dyslexiques. In: Enfance, tome 46, n°1-2, 1992. pp. 51-62

Development and Internal Validation of a Model for Predicting Overall Survival in Subjects with MAFLD: A Cohort Study

Background & Aims: Fatty liver disease with metabolic dysfunction (MAFLD) is a new concept proposed to replace the previous concept of Non-Alcoholic Hepatic Steatosis (NAFLD). We developed and internally validated a prognostic model to predict the likelihood of death in a cohort of subjects with MAFLD. Methods: Our work involved two steps: the first was the construction of a bootstrapped multivariable Cox model for mortality risk prognosis and the second was its validation. Results: The study cohort included 1506 subjects, of which 907 were used for internal validation. Discriminant measures for the final model were R2D 0.6845 and Harrell’s C 0.8422 in the development and R2D 0.6930 and Harrell’s C 0.8465 in the validation. We used the nine independent prognostic factors selected by the LASSO Cox procedure and fitted by the bootstrap Cox survival model, and observed β were: Gender 0.356 1.42 (p p p p p p p p p Conclusions: We produced and validated a model to estimate the probability of death in subjects with MAFLD. The instruments we used showed satisfactory predictive capabilities

AISF position paper on HCV in immunocompromised patients

This report summarizes the clinical features and the indications for treating HCV infection in immunocompromised and transplanted patients in the Direct Acting Antiviral drugs era