Gravity waves excited during a minor sudden stratospheric warming

An exceptionally deep upper-air sounding launched from Kiruna airport (67.82 degrees N, 20.33 degrees E) on 30 January 2016 stimulated the current investigation of internal gravity waves excited during a minor sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) in the Arctic winter 2015/16. The analysis of the radiosonde profile revealed large kinetic and potential energies in the upper stratosphere without any simultaneous enhancement of upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric values. Upward-propagating inertia-gravity waves in the upper stratosphere and downward-propagating modes in the lower stratosphere indicated a region of gravity wave generation in the stratosphere. Two-dimensional wavelet analysis was applied to vertical time series of temperature fluctuations in order to determine the vertical propagation direction of the stratospheric gravity waves in 1-hourly high-resolution meteorological analyses and short-term forecasts. The separation of upward- and downward-propagating waves provided further evidence for a stratospheric source of gravity waves. The scale-dependent decomposition of the flow into a balanced component and inertia-gravity waves showed that coherent wave packets preferentially occurred at the inner edge of the Arctic polar vortex where a sub-vortex formed during the minor SSW

A Deletion in the Canine POMC Gene Is Associated with Weight and Appetite in Obesity-Prone Labrador Retriever Dogs.

Sequencing of candidate genes for obesity in Labrador retriever dogs identified a 14 bp deletion in pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) with an allele frequency of 12%. The deletion disrupts the β-MSH and β-endorphin coding sequences and is associated with body weight (per allele effect of 0.33 SD), adiposity, and greater food motivation. Among other dog breeds, the deletion was only found in the closely related flat-coat retriever (FCR), where it is similarly associated with body weight and food motivation. The mutation is significantly more common in Labrador retrievers selected to become assistance dogs than pets. In conclusion, the deletion in POMC is a significant modifier of weight and appetite in Labrador retrievers and FCRs and may influence other behavioral traits.We are grateful to Rachel Moxon of Guide Dogs UK for collecting the assistance dog samples; Stephen J Sharp of the MRC Epidemiology Unit for his statistical advice; Jens Häggström, Karin Hultin Jäderlund and Berndt Klingeborn for the Swedish dog samples; Anne White for efforts to develop a canine beta MSH assay and adaptation of her original for figure 1b; and the Dogslife Consortium for samples from British Labrador retrievers (supported by an Institute Core Strategic Grant from the BBSRC to the Roslin Institute). A full list of the investigators who contributed to the Dogslife project is available from www.dogslife.ac.uk/who-runs-dogslife. AJG's academic post at the University of Liverpool is financially supported by Royal Canin. The work was primarily supported by the Wellcome Trust (Senior Investigator Award 095515/Z/11/Z and Strategic Award 100574/Z/12/Z), MRC (MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit, award 4050281695 and MRC_MC_UU_12012/5), and Dogs Trust. The authors would like to thank all the veterinary surgeons and nurses, owners and dogs who contributed samples.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2016.04.01

Proteolytic Activities of Oral Bacteria on ProMMP-9 and the Effect of Synthetic Proteinase Inhibitors

Tissue reactions to bacteria lead to proinflammatory reactions involving matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Synthetic protease inhibitors may offer new possibilities to regulate bacterial proteases. We investigated proteolytic activities of certain periodontal bacteria, their effects on the latent proMMP-9, and the effects of synthetic MMP inhibitors and a serine protease inhibitor Pefabloc. The strains studied were Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Peptostreptoccus micros, Prevotella nigrescens, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and 5 Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans serotypes. Their gelatinolytic activities and the effects of certain synthetic MMP inhibitors and Pefabloc were analyzed by zymography. Bacterial effects on proMMP-9 conversion were investigated by Western immunoblot. All investigated periodontal bacteria produced gelatinolytic cell-bound and extracellular proteinases which could fragment latent proMMP-9, suggesting co-operative processing cascades in oral tissue remodeling. A. actinomycetemcomitans produced the weakest gelatinolytic activity. Synthetic proteinase inhibitors exhibited slight but clear reductive effects on the bacterial proteolytic activities. We conclude that targeted anti-proteolytic treatment modalities against bacterial-host proteolytic cascades can be developed

Identification of a Shared Genetic Susceptibility Locus for Coronary Heart Disease and Periodontitis

Recent studies indicate a mutual epidemiological relationship between coronary heart disease (CHD) and periodontitis. Both diseases are associated with similar risk factors and are characterized by a chronic inflammatory process. In a candidate-gene association study, we identify an association of a genetic susceptibility locus shared by both diseases. We confirm the known association of two neighboring linkage disequilibrium regions on human chromosome 9p21.3 with CHD and show the additional strong association of these loci with the risk of aggressive periodontitis. For the lead SNP of the main associated linkage disequilibrium region, rs1333048, the odds ratio of the autosomal-recessive mode of inheritance is 1.99 (95% confidence interval 1.33–2.94; P = 6.9×10−4) for generalized aggressive periodontitis, and 1.72 (1.06–2.76; P = 2.6×10−2) for localized aggressive periodontitis. The two associated linkage disequilibrium regions map to the sequence of the large antisense noncoding RNA ANRIL, which partly overlaps regulatory and coding sequences of CDKN2A/CDKN2B. A closely located diabetes-associated variant was independent of the CHD and periodontitis risk haplotypes. Our study demonstrates that CHD and periodontitis are genetically related by at least one susceptibility locus, which is possibly involved in ANRIL activity and independent of diabetes associated risk variants within this region. Elucidation of the interplay of ANRIL transcript variants and their involvement in increased susceptibility to the interactive diseases CHD and periodontitis promises new insight into the underlying shared pathogenic mechanisms of these complex common diseases

Strategies for continuous balancing in future power systems with high wind and solar shares

The use of wind power has grown strongly in recent years and is expected to continue to increase in the coming decades. Solar power is also expected to increase significantly. In a power system, a continuous balance is maintained between total production and demand. This balancing is currently mainly managed with conventional power plants, but with larger amounts of wind and solar power, other sources will also be needed. Interesting possibilities include continuous control of wind and solar power, battery storage, electric vehicles, hydrogen production, and other demand resources with flexibility potential. The aim of this article is to describe and compare the different challenges and future possibilities in six systems concerning how to keep a continuous balance in the future with significantly larger amounts of variable renewable power production. A realistic understanding of how these systems plan to handle continuous balancing is central to effectively develop a carbon-dioxide-free electricity system of the future. The systems included in the overview are the Nordic synchronous area, the island of Ireland, the Iberian Peninsula, Texas (ERCOT), the central European system, and Great Britain

D6.3 Intermediate system evaluation results

The overall purpose of METIS is to develop a 5G system concept that fulfil s the requirements of the beyond-2020 connected information society and to extend today’s wireless communication systems for new usage cases. First, in this deliverable an updated view on the overall METIS 5G system concept is presented. Thereafter, simulation results for the most promising technology components supporting the METIS 5G system concept are reported. Finally, s imulation results are presented for one relevant aspect of each Horizontal Topic: Direct Device - to - Device Communication, Massive Machine Communication, Moving Networks, Ultra - Dense Networks, and Ultra - Reliable Communication.Popovski, P.; Mange, G.; Fertl, P.; Gozálvez - Serrano, D.; Droste, H.; Bayer, N.; Roos, A.... (2014). D6.3 Intermediate system evaluation results. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/7676