Global Pharmacovigilance for Antiretroviral Drugs: Overcoming Contrasting Priorities

Jur Strobos and colleagues describe the deliberations of a recent multi-stakeholder meeting discussing the creation of a sustainable global pharmacovigilance system for antiretroviral drugs that would be applicable in resource limited settings

Civil Aircraft for the regular investigation of the atmosphere based on an instrumented container: The new CARIBIC system

An airfreight container with automated instruments for measurement of atmospheric gases and trace compounds was operated on a monthly basis onboard a Boeing 767-300 ER of LTU International Airways during long-distance flights from 1997 to 2002 (CARIBIC, Civil Aircraft for Regular Investigation of the Atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container, http://www.caribic-atmospheric.com). Subsequently a more advanced system has been developed, using a larger capacity container with additional equipment and an improved inlet system. CARIBIC phase #2 was implemented on a new long-range aircraft type Airbus A340-600 of the Lufthansa German Airlines (Star Alliance) in December 2004, creating a powerful flying observatory. The instrument package comprises detectors for the measurement of O3, total and gaseous H2O, NO and NOy, CO, CO2, O2, Hg, and number concentrations of sub-micrometer particles (>4 nm, >12 nm, and >18 nm diameter). Furthermore, an optical particle counter (OPC) and a proton transfer mass spectrometer (PTR-MS) are incorporated. Aerosol samples are collected for analysis of elemental composition and particle morphology after flight. Air samples are taken in glass containers for laboratory analyses of hydrocarbons, halocarbons and greenhouse gases (including isotopic composition of CO2) in several laboratories. Absorption tubes collect oxygenated volatile organic compounds. Three differential optical absorption spectrometers (DOAS) with their telescopes mounted in the inlet system measure atmospheric trace gases such as BrO, HONO, and NO2. A video camera mounted in the inlet provides information about clouds along the flight track. The flying observatory, its equipment and examples of measurement results are reported

The fingerprint of the summer 2018 drought in Europe on ground-based atmospheric CO2 measurements

During the summer of 2018, a widespread drought developed over Northern and Central Europe. The increase in temperature and the reduction of soil moisture have influenced carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems in various ways, such as a reduction of photosynthesis, changes in ecosystem respiration, or allowing more frequent fires. In this study, we characterize the resulting perturbation of the atmospheric CO2 seasonal cycles. 2018 has a good coverage of European regions affected by drought, allowing the investigation of how ecosystem flux anomalies impacted spatial CO2 gradients between stations. This density of stations is unprecedented compared to previous drought events in 2003 and 2015, particularly thanks to the deployment of the Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) network of atmospheric greenhouse gas monitoring stations in recent years. Seasonal CO2 cycles from 48 European stations were available for 2017 and 2018.The UK sites were funded by the UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (formerly the Department of Energy and Climate Change) through contracts TRN1028/06/2015 and TRN1537/06/2018. The stations at the ClimaDat Network in Spain have received funding from the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation, under agreement 2010-002624

Sensitivity to the sources of uncertainties in the modeling of atmospheric CO₂ concentration within and in the vicinity of Paris

International audienceAbstract. The top-down atmospheric inversion method that couples atmospheric CO2 observations with an atmospheric transport model has been used extensively to quantify CO2 emissions from cities. However, the potential of the method is limited by several sources of misfits between the measured and modeled CO2 that are of different origins than the targeted CO2 emissions. This study investigates the critical sources of errors that can compromise the estimates of the city-scale emissions and identifies the signal of emissions that has to be filtered when doing inversions. A set of 1-year forward simulations is carried out using the WRF-Chem model at a horizontal resolution of 1 km focusing on the Paris area with different anthropogenic emission inventories, physical parameterizations, and CO2 boundary conditions. The simulated CO2 concentrations are compared with in situ observations from six continuous monitoring stations located within Paris and its vicinity. Results highlight large nighttime model–data misfits, especially in winter within the city, which are attributed to large uncertainties in the diurnal profile of anthropogenic emissions as well as to errors in the vertical mixing near the surface in the WRF-Chem model. The nighttime biogenic respiration to the CO2 concentration is a significant source of modeling errors during the growing season outside the city. When winds are from continental Europe and the CO2 concentration of incoming air masses is influenced by remote emissions and large-scale biogenic fluxes, differences in the simulated CO2 induced by the two different boundary conditions (CAMS and CarbonTracker) can be of up to 5 ppm. Nevertheless, our results demonstrate the potential of our optimal CO2 atmospheric modeling system to be utilized in atmospheric inversions of CO2 emissions over the Paris metropolitan area. We evaluated the model performances in terms of wind, vertical mixing, and CO2 model–data mismatches, and we developed a filtering algorithm for outliers due to local contamination and unfavorable meteorological conditions. Analysis of model–data misfit indicates that future inversions at the mesoscale should only use afternoon urban CO2 measurements in winter and suburban measurements in summer. Finally, we determined that errors related to CO2 boundary conditions can be overcome by including distant background observations to constrain the boundary inflow or by assimilating CO2 gradients of upwind–downwind stations rather than by assimilating absolute CO2 concentrations

CO₂ dispersion modelling over Paris region within the CO₂-MEGAPARIS project

Accurate simulation of the spatial and temporal variability of tracer mixing ratios over urban areas is a challenging and interesting task needed to be performed in order to utilise CO₂ measurements in an atmospheric inverse framework and to better estimate regional CO₂ fluxes. This study investigates the ability of a high-resolution model to simulate meteorological and CO₂ fields around Paris agglomeration during the March field campaign of the CO₂-MEGAPARIS project. The mesoscale atmospheric model Meso-NH, running at 2 km horizontal resolution, is coupled with the Town Energy Balance (TEB) urban canopy scheme and with the Interactions between Soil, Biosphere and Atmosphere CO₂-reactive (ISBA-A-gs) surface scheme, allowing a full interaction of CO₂ modelling between the surface and the atmosphere. Statistical scores show a good representation of the urban heat island (UHI) with stronger urban–rural contrasts on temperature at night than during the day by up to 7 °C. Boundary layer heights (BLH) have been evaluated on urban, suburban and rural sites during the campaign, and also on a suburban site over 1 yr. The diurnal cycles of the BLH are well captured, especially the onset time of the BLH increase and its growth rate in the morning, which are essential for tall tower CO₂ observatories. The main discrepancy is a small negative bias over urban and suburban sites during nighttime (respectively 45 m and 5 m), leading to a few overestimations of nocturnal CO₂ mixing ratios at suburban sites and a bias of +5 ppm. The diurnal CO₂ cycle is generally well captured for all the sites. At the Eiffel tower, the observed spikes of CO₂ maxima occur every morning exactly at the time at which the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) growth reaches the measurement height. At suburban ground stations, CO₂ measurements exhibit maxima at the beginning and at the end of each night, when the ABL is fully contracted, with a strong spatio-temporal variability. A sensitivity test without urban parameterisation removes the UHI and underpredicts nighttime BLH over urban and suburban sites, leading to large overestimation of nocturnal CO₂ mixing ratio at the suburban sites (bias of +17 ppm). The agreement between observation and prediction for BLH and CO₂ concentrations and urban–rural increments, both day and night, demonstrates the potential of using the urban mesoscale system in the context of inverse modellin

On the ability of pseudo-operational ground-based light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensors to determine boundary-layer structure: intercomparison and comparison with in-situ radiosounding

International audienceTwenty-one cases of boundary-layer (BL) structure were retrieved by three co-located remote sensors, one lidar (Leosphere ALS300) and two ceilometers (Vaisala CL31, Jenoptik CHM15K). Data were collected during the ICOS field campaign held at the GAW Atmospheric Station of Mace Head, Ireland, from 8 to 28 June 2009. The study is a two-step investigation of the BL structure based (i) on the intercomparison of backscatter profiles from the three laser sensors and (ii) on the comparison of the backscatter profiles with twenty-three radiosoundings performed during the period of 8 to 15 June 2009. The Temporal Height-Tracking (THT) algorithm was applied to the three sensors' backscatter profiles to retrieve the decoupled structure of the BL over Mace Head. The results of the intercomparisons are expressed in terms of the mean correlation coefficients, mean bias (difference between two sensors' detections), mean sigma (the standard deviation of the bias) and the consistency, i.e. the percentage of cases where the detections of the intercompared sensors were closer than 200 m. The ALS300-CHM15K comparison provided the most consistent retrievals amongst the three comparisons with, respectively, the 86.5% and 77.2% of the lower and upper layer detections closer than 200 m and with correlation coefficients equal to 0.88 and 0.83 at the lower and upper layer, respectively. The lidar and ceilometers-detected BL heights were then compared to the temperature profiles retrieved by radiosoundings. The most consistent retrievals at the lower layer are from the ALS300 with the 75% of detections closer than 200 m to the radiosoundings' first temperature inversion. Despite the lower signal-to-noise ratio and R-value compared to the ASL300 and CHM15K, the CL31 is more consistent with the radiosoundings retrievals at the upper layer with 62.5% of detections closer than 200 m to the radiosoundings' second temperature inversion. The ALS300 has larger pulse-averaged power compared to the two ceilometers and better ability in detecting fine aerosol layers within the BL. The comparison of remote and in-situ data proved both the veracity of the inherent link between temperature and aerosol backscatter profiles, and the existence of possible limitations in using aerosols as a tracer to detect the BL structure

Measurement of fossil fuel carbon dioxide and other anthropogenic trace gases from MEGAPOLI intensive campaign in Paris during winter 2010

International audienceThe Paris agglomeration is the third biggest megacity in Europe (12 million inhabitants) and according to national emission inventories, is responsible for 15 % of the French anthropogenic CO2 emissions mainly originating from road transport, residential and industrial energy consumption. The objective of our feasibility study was to design an efficient monitoring strategy in order to quantify future trends in anthropogenic CO2 emission in Paris area. During the winter campaign of the European project MEGAPOLI and French project CO2-MEGAPARIS, we performed measurements of CO2 and related trace gases from January to February 2010. The RAMCES (Atmospheric Network for Greenhouse Gases Monitoring) team at LSCE monitored CO2 and CO mixing ratio with high temporal resolution using instruments based on Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) in the thirteenth arrondissement of Paris (south). We also sampled air in more than fifty flasks covering three full days at the same place. Flasks were analysed in the RAMCES central laboratory with a Gas Chromatograph system for CO2, CO, CH4, N2O, SF6 and H2 mixing ratios and also by Mass Spectroscopy for CO2 isotopic ratios (δ13C and δ18O). In order to quantify the fossil fuel CO2 (CO2ff) most flasks were analysed at INSTAAR for Δ14C in CO2. In addition, 13CO2 isotopic ratio and total CO2 concentration were measured at high temporal resolution (< 1 min) over three days at Paris with Tunable Diode Laser Spectroscope developed at LPMAA. In parallel with the Paris measurements, in-situ CO2, CO and other trace gases were monitored at Gif-sur-Yvette, a semi urban station 20km south west of Paris. Similar synoptic variations of CO2 and CO mixing ratios were found in Paris and Gif with maximum mixing ratio up to 495 ppm CO2 and 1000 ppb CO downtown Paris. The mean diurnal variation during this winter period shows peak to peak amplitude of 15 ppm CO2 and 150 ppb CO at Paris and 10 ppm CO2 and 40 CO ppb at Gif station. We focused on CO and NOx as tracer of fossil fuel emission to estimate CO2ff. We calibrated these tracers against CO2ff estimates based on Δ14C. Moreover, δ13C measurements were used to quantify the contribution of the different combustion sources for CO2 emission. Finally, we compared our results to the emission inventories from EDGAR 4.2 (global inventories), IER (European inventory) and the national ones from CITEPA and AirParif

Analysis of 5.5 years of atmospheric CO2, CH4, CO continuous observations (2014–2020) and their correlations, at the Observatoire de Haute Provence, a station of the ICOS-France national greenhouse gases observation network

International audienc

Analysis of Convective Transport and Parameter Sensitivity in a Single Column Version of the Goddard Earth Observation System, Version 5, General Circulation Model

International audienceConvection strongly influences the distribution of atmospheric trace gases. General circulation models (GCMs) use convective mass fluxes calculated by parameterizations to transport gases, but the results are difficult to compare with trace gas observations because of differences in scale. The high resolution of cloud-resolving models (CRMs) facilitates direct comparison with aircraft observations. Averaged over a sufficient area, CRM results yield a validated product directly comparable to output from a single global model grid column. This study presents comparisons of vertical profiles of convective mass flux and trace gas mixing ratios derived from CRM and single column model (SCM) simulations of storms observed during three field campaigns. In all three cases, SCM simulations underpredicted convective mass flux relative to CRM simulations. As a result, the SCM simulations produced lower trace gas mixing ratios in the upper troposphere in two of the three storms than did the CRM simulations.The impact of parameter sensitivity in the moist physics schemes employed in the SCM has also been examined. Statistical techniques identified the most significant parameters influencing convective transport. Convective mass fluxes are shown to be strongly dependent on chosen parameter values. Results show that altered parameter settings can substantially improve the comparison between SCM and CRM convective mass flux. Upper tropospheric trace gas mixing ratios were also improved in two storms. In the remaining storm, the SCM representation of CO2 was not improved because of differences in entrainment and detrainment levels in the CRM and SCM simulations

Purified Vero cell rabies vaccine and human diploid cell strain vaccine: comparison of neutralizing antibody responses to post-exposure regimens.

Neutralizing antibody responses to conventional rabies post-exposure regimens of human diploid cell strain vaccine (HDCSV) and the new purified Vero cell rabies vaccine (PVRV) were compared in 58 healthy Thai veterinary students. The geometric mean titres (GMTs) of the group given HDCSV were slightly higher than those given PVRV, but on day 28 the peak GMTs of the two groups were statistically similar. The early antibody response to PVRV was unaffected by the addition of passive immunization, whereas the level of HDCSV response was reduced on day 14, so that there was no difference on that day between the GMTs of the two vaccine groups given HRIG. However, by day 91 the GMT of those given PVRV and HRIG was lower than in those given HDCSV alone or with HRIG. The appearance of antibody was less rapid than was observed in previous studies using multiple-site intradermal vaccination. Side effects were trivial. Our results confirm the promise of this new, potentially more economical tissue culture vaccine, but they suggest that the regimen could be improved