Interiorized Feminism and Gendered Nostalgia of The ‘Daughter Generation’ in Ning Ying's Perpetual Motion

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The original publication is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1386/jcc.5.3.253_1Ning Ying’s 2006 film Wuqiong dong/Perpetual Motion can be regarded as her first attempt to explore the genre of ‘women’s film’. Deviating from her previous neo-realist style, this film seeks to cultivate an alternative cinematic practice through developing a heavy-handed negative aesthetics. Ning Ying interiorizes the filmic exploration of female subjectivity in an enclosed time and space, which is constantly haunted by a spectral aesthetics characterized by audio-visual allusions to loss, grave, ruins and ghosts. However, the film’s radical content and alternative aesthetics are, ironically, packaged in prevailing consumer aesthetics and commodity fetishism on and off the silver screen. All these competing drives and accounts render the film a contested narrative constantly oscillating between avant-garde feminism and domestic melodrama, and between a register of disintegrating sisterhood and a celebrity scandal of adultery. This article examines the discursive and aesthetic innovations, contradictions and limits of Ning Ying’s cinematic feminism

Overview of the Chemistry-Aerosol Mediterranean Experiment/Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing on the Mediterranean Climate (ChArMEx/ADRIMED) summer 2013 campaign

The Chemistry-Aerosol Mediterranean Experiment (ChArMEx; http://charmex.lsce.ipsl.fr) is a collaborative research program federating international activities to investigate Mediterranean regional chemistry-climate interactions. A special observing period (SOP-1a) including intensive airborne measurements was performed in the framework of the Aerosol Direct Radiative Impact on the regional climate in the MEDiterranean region (ADRIMED) project during the Mediterranean dry season over the western and central Mediterranean basins, with a focus on aerosol-radiation measurements and their modeling. The SOP-1a took place from 11 June to 5 July 2013. Airborne measurements were made by both the ATR-42 and F-20 French research aircraft operated from Sardinia (Italy) and instrumented for in situ and remote-sensing measurements, respectively, and by sounding and drifting balloons, launched in Minorca. The experimental setup also involved several ground-based measurement sites on islands including two ground-based reference stations in Corsica and Lampedusa and secondary monitoring sites in Minorca and Sicily. Additional measurements including lidar profiling were also performed on alert during aircraft operations at EARLINET/ACTRIS stations at Granada and Barcelona in Spain, and in southern Italy. Remote-sensing aerosol products from satellites (MSG/SEVIRI, MODIS) and from the AERONET/PHOTONS network were also used. Dedicated meso-scale and regional modeling experiments were performed in relation to this observational effort. We provide here an overview of the different surface and aircraft observations deployed during the ChArMEx/ADRIMED period and of associated modeling studies together with an analysis of the synoptic conditions that determined the aerosol emission and transport. Meteorological conditions observed during this campaign (moderate temperatures and southern flows) were not favorable to producing high levels of atmospheric pollutants or intense biomass burning events in the region. However, numerous mineral dust plumes were observed during the campaign, with the main sources located in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, leading to aerosol optical depth (AOD) values ranging between 0.2 and 0.6 (at 440 nm) over the western and central Mediterranean basins. One important point of this experiment concerns the direct observations of aerosol extinction onboard the ATR-42, using the CAPS system, showing local maxima reaching up to 150Mm(-1) within the dust plume. Non-negligible aerosol extinction (about 50Mm(-1)) has also been observed within the marine boundary layer (MBL). By combining the ATR- 42 extinction coefficient observations with absorption and scattering measurements, we performed a complete optical closure revealing excellent agreement with estimated optical properties. This additional information on extinction properties has allowed calculation of the dust single scattering albedo (SSA) with a high level of confidence over the western Mediterranean. Our results show a moderate variability from 0.90 to 1.00 (at 530 nm) for all flights studied compared to that reported in the literature on this optical parameter. Our results underline also a relatively low difference in SSA with values derived near dust sources. In parallel, active remote-sensing observations from the surface and onboard the F-20 aircraft suggest a complex vertical structure of particles and distinct aerosol layers with sea spray and pollution located within the MBL, and mineral dust and/or aged North American smoke particles located above (up to 6–7 km in altitude). Aircraft and balloon-borne observations allow one to investigate the vertical structure of the aerosol size distribution showing particles characterized by a large size (> 10 μm in diameter) within dust plumes. In most of cases, a coarse mode characterized by an effective diameter ranging between 5 and 10 μm, has been detected above the MBL. In terms of shortwave (SW) direct forcing, in situ surface and aircraft observations have been merged and used as inputs in 1-D radiative transfer codes for calculating the aerosol direct radiative forcing (DRF). Results show significant surface SW instantaneous forcing (up to (-90)Wm(-2) at noon). Aircraft observations provide also original estimates of the vertical structure of SW and LW radiative heating revealing significant instantaneous values of about 5 K per day in the solar spectrum (for a solar angle of 30 ) within the dust layer. Associated 3-D modeling studies from regional climate (RCM) and chemistry transport (CTM) models indicate a relatively good agreement for simulated AOD compared with observations from the AERONET/PHOTONS network and satellite data, especially for long-range dust transport. Calculations of the 3-D SW (clear-sky) surface DRF indicate an average of about -10 to -20Wm(-2) (for the whole period) over the Mediterranean Sea together with maxima (-50Wm(-2)) over northern Africa. The top of the atmosphere (TOA) DRF is shown to be highly variable within the domain, due to moderate absorbing properties of dust and changes in the surface albedo. Indeed, 3-D simulations indicate negative forcing over the Mediterranean Sea and Europe and positive forcing over northern Africa. Finally, a multiyear simulation, performed for the 2003 to 2009 period and including an ocean–atmosphere (O–A) coupling, underlines the impact of the aerosol direct radiative forcing on the sea surface temperature, O–A fluxes and the hydrological cycle over the Mediterranean.French National Research Agency (ANR) ANR-11-BS56-0006ADEMEFrench Atomic Energy CommissionCNRS-INSU and Meteo-France through the multidisciplinary programme MISTRALS (Mediterranean Integrated Studies aT Regional And Local Scales)CORSiCA project - Collectivite Territoriale de Corse through Fonds Europeen de Developpement Regional of the European Operational ProgramContrat de Plan Etat-RegionEuropean Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program 654169Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity TEC2012-34575Science and Innovation UNPC10-4E-442European Union (EU)Department of Economy and Knowledge of the Catalan Autonomous Government SGR 583Andalusian Regional Government P12-RNM-2409Spanish Government CGL2013-45410-R 26225

Parental and infant characteristics and childhood leukemia in Minnesota

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Leukemia is the most common childhood cancer. With the exception of Down syndrome, prenatal radiation exposure, and higher birth weight, particularly for acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL), few risk factors have been firmly established. Translocations present in neonatal blood spots and the young age peak of diagnosis suggest that early-life factors are involved in childhood leukemia etiology.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We investigated the association between birth characteristics and childhood leukemia through linkage of the Minnesota birth and cancer registries using a case-cohort study design. Cases included 560 children with ALL and 87 with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) diagnoses from 28 days to 14 years. The comparison group was comprised of 8,750 individuals selected through random sampling of the birth cohort from 1976–2004. Cox proportional hazards regression specific for case-cohort studies was used to compute hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Male sex (HR = 1.41, 95% CI 1.16–1.70), white race (HR = 2.32, 95% CI 1.13–4.76), and maternal birth interval ≥ 3 years (HR = 1.31, 95% CI 1.01–1.70) increased ALL risk, while maternal age increased AML risk (HR = 1.21/5 year age increase, 95% CI 1.0–1.47). Higher birth weights (>3798 grams) (HRALL = 1.46, 1.08–1.98; HRAML = 1.97, 95% CI 1.07–3.65), and one minute Apgar scores ≤ 7 (HRALL = 1.30, 95% CI 1.05–1.61; HRAML = 1.62, 95% CI 1.01–2.60) increased risk for both types of leukemia. Sex was not a significant modifier of the association between ALL and other covariates, with the exception of maternal education.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We confirmed known risk factors for ALL: male sex, high birth weight, and white race. We have also provided data that supports an increased risk for AML following higher birth weights, and demonstrated an association with low Apgar scores.</p

In silico design of novel probes for the atypical opioid receptor MRGPRX2

The primate-exclusive MRGPRX2 G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) has been suggested to modulate pain and itch. Despite putative peptide and small molecule MRGPRX2 agonists, selective nanomolar potency probes have not yet been reported. To identify a MRGPRX2 probe, we first screened 5,695 small molecules and found many opioid compounds activated MRGPRX2, including (−)- and (+)-morphine, hydrocodone, sinomenine, dextromethorphan and the prodynorphin-derived peptides, dynorphin A, dynorphin B, and α- and β-neoendorphin. We used these to select for mutagenesis-validated homology models and docked almost 4 million small molecules. From this docking, we predicted ZINC-3573, which represents a potent MRGPRX2-selective agonist, showing little activity against 315 other GPCRs and 97 representative kinases, and an essentially inactive enantiomer. ZINC-3573 activates endogenous MRGPRX2 in a human mast cell line inducing degranulation and calcium release. MRGPRX2 is a unique atypical opioid-like receptor important for modulating mast cell degranulation, which can now be specifically modulated with ZINC-3573

The unprecedented 2017-2018 stratospheric smoke event : Decay phase and aerosol properties observed with the EARLINET

© Author(s) 2019. This open access work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Six months of stratospheric aerosol observations with the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET) from August 2017 to January 2018 are presented. The decay phase of an unprecedented, record-breaking stratospheric perturbation caused by wildfire smoke is reported and discussed in terms of geometrical, optical, and microphysical aerosol properties. Enormous amounts of smoke were injected into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere over fire areas in western Canada on 12 August 2017 during strong thunderstorm-pyrocumulonimbus activity. The stratospheric fire plumes spread over the entire Northern Hemisphere in the following weeks and months. Twenty-eight European lidar stations from northern Norway to southern Portugal and the eastern Mediterranean monitored the strong stratospheric perturbation on a continental scale. The main smoke layer (over central, western, southern, and eastern Europe) was found at heights between 15 and 20 km since September 2017 (about 2 weeks after entering the stratosphere). Thin layers of smoke were detected at heights of up to 22-23 km. The stratospheric aerosol optical thickness at 532 nm decreased from values > 0.25 on 21-23 August 2017 to 0.005-0.03 until 5-10 September and was mainly 0.003-0.004 from October to December 2017 and thus was still significantly above the stratospheric background (0.001-0.002). Stratospheric particle extinction coefficients (532 nm) were as high as 50-200 Mm-1 until the beginning of September and on the order of 1 Mm-1 (0.5- 5 Mm-1) from October 2017 until the end of January 2018. The corresponding layer mean particle mass concentration was on the order of 0.05-0.5 μg m-3 over these months. Soot particles (light-absorbing carbonaceous particles) are efficient ice-nucleating particles (INPs) at upper tropospheric (cirrus) temperatures and available to influence cirrus formation when entering the tropopause from above. We estimated INP concentrations of 50-500 L-1 until the first days in September and afterwards 5-50 L-1 until the end of the year 2017 in the lower stratosphere for typical cirrus formation temperatures of -55 ?C and an ice supersaturation level of 1.15. The measured profiles of the particle linear depolarization ratio indicated a predominance of nonspherical smoke particles. The 532 nm depolarization ratio decreased slowly with time in the main smoke layer from values of 0.15-0.25 (August-September) to values of 0.05-0.10 (October-November) and < 0.05 (December-January). The decrease of the depolarization ratio is consistent with aging of the smoke particles, growing of a coating around the solid black carbon core (aggregates), and thus change of the shape towards a spherical form. We found ascending aerosol layer features over the most southern European stations, especially over the eastern Mediterranean at 32-35? N, that ascended from heights of about 18-19 to 22-23 km from the beginning of October to the beginning of December 2017 (about 2 km per month). We discuss several transport and lifting mechanisms that may have had an impact on the found aerosol layering structures.Peer reviewe

The unprecedented 2017–2018 stratospheric smoke event: decay phase and aerosol properties observed with the EARLINET

Six months of stratospheric aerosol observations with the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET) from August 2017 to January 2018 are presented. The decay phase of an unprecedented, record-breaking stratospheric perturbation caused by wildfire smoke is reported and discussed in terms of geometrical, optical, and microphysical aerosol properties. Enormous amounts of smoke were injected into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere over fire areas in western Canada on 12 August 2017 during strong thunderstorm–pyrocumulonimbus activity. The stratospheric fire plumes spread over the entire Northern Hemisphere in the following weeks and months. Twenty-eight European lidar stations from northern Norway to southern Portugal and the eastern Mediterranean monitored the strong stratospheric perturbation on a continental scale. The main smoke layer (over central, western, southern, and eastern Europe) was found at heights between 15 and 20 km since September 2017 (about 2 weeks after entering the stratosphere). Thin layers of smoke were detected at heights of up to 22–23 km. The stratospheric aerosol optical thickness at 532 nm decreased from values > 0.25 on 21–23 August 2017 to 0.005–0.03 until 5–10 September and was mainly 0.003–0.004 from October to December 2017 and thus was still significantly above the stratospheric background (0.001–0.002). Stratospheric particle extinction coefficients (532 nm) were as high as 50–200 Mm−1 until the beginning of September and on the order of 1 Mm−1 (0.5–5 Mm−1) from October 2017 until the end of January 2018. The corresponding layer mean particle mass concentration was on the order of 0.05–0.5 µg m−3 over these months. Soot particles (light-absorbing carbonaceous particles) are efficient ice-nucleating particles (INPs) at upper tropospheric (cirrus) temperatures and available to influence cirrus formation when entering the tropopause from above. We estimated INP concentrations of 50–500 L−1 until the first days in September and afterwards 5–50 L−1 until the end of the year 2017 in the lower stratosphere for typical cirrus formation temperatures of −55 ∘C and an ice supersaturation level of 1.15. The measured profiles of the particle linear depolarization ratio indicated a predominance of nonspherical smoke particles. The 532 nm depolarization ratio decreased slowly with time in the main smoke layer from values of 0.15–0.25 (August–September) to values of 0.05–0.10 (October–November) and < 0.05 (December–January). The decrease of the depolarization ratio is consistent with aging of the smoke particles, growing of a coating around the solid black carbon core (aggregates), and thus change of the shape towards a spherical form. We found ascending aerosol layer features over the most southern European stations, especially over the eastern Mediterranean at 32–35∘ N, that ascended from heights of about 18–19 to 22–23 km from the beginning of October to the beginning of December 2017 (about 2 km per month). We discuss several transport and lifting mechanisms that may have had an impact on the found aerosol layering structures

Tropospheric and stratospheric smoke over Europe as observed within EARLINET/ACTRIS in summer 2017

For several weeks in summer 2017, strong smoke layers were observed over Europe at numerous EARLINET stations. EARLINET is the European research lidar network and part of ACTRIS and comprises more than 30 ground-based lidars. The smoke layers were observed in the troposphere as well as in the stratosphere up to 25 km from Northern Scandinavia over whole western and central Europe to the Mediterranean regions. Backward trajectory analysis among other tools revealed that these smoke layers originated from strong wild fires in western Canada in combination with pyrocumulus convection. An extraordinary fire event in the mid of August caused intense smoke layers that were observed across Europe for several weeks starting on 18 August 2017. Maximum aerosol optical depths up to 1.0 at 532 nm were observed at Leipzig, Germany, on 22 August 2017 during the peak of this event. The stratospheric smoke layers reached extinction coefficient values of more than 600 Mm−1 at 532 nm, a factor of 10 higher than observed for volcanic ash after the Pinatubo eruption in the 1990s. First analyses of the intensive optical properties revealed low particle depolarization values at 532 nm for the tropospheric smoke (spherical particles) and rather high values (up to 20%) in the stratosphere. However, a strong wavelength dependence of the depolarization ratio was measured for the stratospheric smoke. This indicates irregularly shaped stratospheric smoke particles in the size range of the accumulation mode. This unique depolarization feature makes it possible to distinguish clearly smoke aerosol from cirrus clouds or other aerosol types by polarization lidar measurements. Particle extinction-to-backscatter ratios were rather low in the order of 40 to 50 sr at 355 nm, while values between 70-90 sr were measured at higher wavelengths. In the western and central Mediterranean, stratospheric smoke layers were most prominent in the end of August at heights between 16 and 20 km. In contrast, stratospheric smoke started to occur in the eastern Mediterranean (Cyprus and Israel) in the beginning of September between 18 and 23 km. Stratospheric smoke was still visible in the beginning of October at certain locations (e.g. Evora, Portugal), while tropospheric smoke was mainly observed until the end of August within Europe. An overview of the smoke layers measured at several EARLINET sites will be given. The temporal development of these layers as well as their geometrical and optical properties will be presented

Three-dimensional P-wave velocity structure on the shallow part of the Central Costa Rican Pacific margin from Local Earthquake Tomography using off- and onshore networks

The Central Costa Rican Pacific margin is characterized by a high-seismicity rate, coincident with the subduction of rough-relief ocean floor and has generated earthquakes with magnitude up to seven in the past. We inverted selected P-wave traveltimes from earthquakes recorded by a combined on- and offshore seismological array deployed during 6 months in the area, simultaneously determining hypocentres and the 3-D tomographic velocity structure on the shallow part of the subduction zone (<70 km). The results reflect the complexity associated to subduction of ocean-floor morphology and the transition from normal to thickened subducting oceanic crust. The subducting slab is imaged as a high-velocity perturbation with a band of low velocities (LVB) on top encompassing the intraslab seismicity deeper than ∼30 km. The LVB is locally thickened by the presence of at least two subducted seamounts beneath the margin wedge. There is a general eastward widening of the LVB over a relatively short distance, closely coinciding with the onset of an inverted forearc basin onshore and the appearance of an aseismic low-velocity anomaly beneath the inner forearc. The latter coincides spatially with an area of the subaerial forearc where differential uplift of blocks has been described, suggesting tectonic underplating of eroded material against the base of the upper plate crust. Alternatively, the low velocities could be induced by an accumulation of upward migrating fluids. Other observed velocity perturbations are attributed to several processes taking place at different depths, such as slab hydration through outer rise faulting, tectonic erosion and slab dehydration