63 research outputs found
Effects of model chemistry and data biases on stratospheric ozone assimilation
The innovations or observation minus forecast (O–F) residuals produced by a data assimilation system provide a convenient metric of evaluating global analyses. In this study, O–F statistics from the Global Ozone Assimilation Testing System (GOATS) are used to examine how ozone assimilation products and their associated O–F statistics depend on input data biases and ozone photochemistry parameterizations (OPP). All the GOATS results shown are based on a 6-h forecast and analysis cycle using observations from SBUV/2 (Solar Backscatter UltraViolet instrument-2) during September–October 2002. Results show that zonal mean ozone analyses are more independent of observation biases and drifts when using an OPP, while the mean ozone O–Fs are more sensitive to observation drifts when using an OPP. In addition, SD O–Fs (standard deviations) are reduced in the upper stratosphere when using an OPP due to a reduction of forecast model noise and to increased covariance between the forecast model and the observations. Experiments that changed the OPP reference state to match the observations by using an "adaptive" OPP scheme reduced the mean ozone O–Fs at the expense of zonal mean ozone analyses being more susceptible to data biases and drifts. Additional experiments showed that the upper boundary of the ozone DAS can affect the quality of the ozone analysis and therefore should be placed well above (at least a scale height) the region of interest
Evaluation of the United States National Air Quality Forecast Capability experimental real-time predictions in 2010 using Air Quality System ozone and NO<sub>2</sub> measurements
The National Air Quality Forecast Capability (NAQFC) project provides the US with operational and experimental real-time ozone predictions using two different versions of the three-dimensional Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system. Routine evaluation using near-real-time AIRNow ozone measurements through 2011 showed better performance of the operational ozone predictions. In this work, quality-controlled and -assured Air Quality System (AQS) ozone and nitrogen dioxide (NO<sub>2</sub>) observations are used to evaluate the experimental predictions in 2010. It is found that both ozone and NO<sub>2</sub> are overestimated over the contiguous US (CONUS), with annual biases of +5.6 and +5.1 ppbv, respectively. The annual root mean square errors (RMSEs) are 15.4 ppbv for ozone and 13.4 ppbv for NO<sub>2</sub>. For both species the overpredictions are most pronounced in the summer. The locations of the AQS monitoring sites are also utilized to stratify comparisons by the degree of urbanization. Comparisons for six predefined US regions show the highest annual biases for ozone predictions in Southeast (+10.5 ppbv) and for NO<sub>2</sub> in the Lower Middle (+8.1 ppbv) and Pacific Coast (+7.1 ppbv) regions. The spatial distributions of the NO<sub>2</sub> biases in August show distinctively high values in the Los Angeles, Houston, and New Orleans areas. In addition to the standard statistics metrics, daily maximum eight-hour ozone categorical statistics are calculated using the current US ambient air quality standard (75 ppbv) and another lower threshold (70 ppbv). Using the 75 ppbv standard, the hit rate and proportion of correct over CONUS for the entire year are 0.64 and 0.96, respectively. Summertime biases show distinctive weekly patterns for ozone and NO<sub>2</sub>. Diurnal comparisons show that ozone overestimation is most severe in the morning, from 07:00 to 10:00 local time. For NO<sub>2</sub>, the morning predictions agree with the AQS observations reasonably well, but nighttime concentrations are overpredicted by around 100%
Toxoplasmosis in Transplant Recipients, Europe, 2010-2014
Transplantation activity is increasing, leading to a growing number of patients at risk for toxoplasmosis. We reviewed toxoplasmosis prevention practices, prevalence, and outcomes for hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) and solid organ transplant (SOT; heart, kidney, or liver) patients in Europe. We collected electronic data on the transplant population and prevention guidelines/regulations and clinical data on toxoplasmosis cases diagnosed during 2010-2014. Serologic pretransplant screening of allo-hematopoietic stem cell donors was performed in 80% of countries, screening of organ donors in 100%. SOT recipients were systematically screened in 6 countries. Targeted anti-Toxoplasma chemoprophylaxis was heterogeneous. A total of 87 toxoplasmosis cases were recorded (58 allo-HSCTs, 29 SOTs). The 6-month survival rate was lower among Toxoplasma-seropositive recipients and among allo-hematopoietic stem cell and liver recipients. Chemoprophylaxis improved outcomes for SOT recipients. Toxoplasmosis remains associated with high mortality rates among transplant recipients. Guidelines are urgently needed to standardize prophylactic regimens and optimize patient management
Recommended from our members
Some challenges of middle atmosphere data assimilation
The assimilation of measurements from the stratosphere and mesosphere is becoming increasingly common as the lids of weather prediction and climate models rise into the mesosphere and thermosphere. However, the dynamics of the middle atmosphere pose specific challenges to the assimilation of measurements from this region. Forecast-error variances can be very large in the mesosphere and this can render assimilation schemes very sensitive to the details of the specification of forecast error correlations. An example is shown where observations in the stratosphere are able to produce increments in the mesosphere. Such sensitivity of the assimilation scheme to misspecification of covariances can also amplify any existing biases in measurements or forecasts. Since both models and measurements of the middle atmosphere are known to have biases, the separation of these sources of bias remains a issue. Finally, well-known deficiencies of assimilation schemes, such as the production of imbalanced states or the assumption of zero bias, are proposed explanations for the inaccurate transport resulting from assimilated winds. The inability of assimilated winds to accurately transport constituents in the middle atmosphere remains a fundamental issue limiting the use of assimilated products for applications involving longer time-scales
Atypical strain of Toxoplasma gondii causing fatal reactivation after hematopoietic stem cell transplantion in a patient with an underlying immunological deficiency
International audienceIn immunocompromized patients, including hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients, life-threatening toxoplasmosis may result from reactivation of previous infection. We report a case of severe disseminated toxoplasmosis that developed early after allogeneic HSCT for T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma in a 15-year-old Toxoplasma gondii-seropositive boy with Nijmegen breakage syndrome, a rare genetic DNA repair disorder associated with immunodeficiency. The donor was the patient's HLA-identical brother. Prophylaxis with cotrimoxazole was discontinued a day before the HSCT procedure. Signs of lung infection appeared as early as day 14 post-HSCT. The presence of tachyzoite-like structures on Giemsa-stained bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid smears suggested toxoplasmosis. Real-time PCR targeted at the T. gondii AF146527 gene revealed extremely high parasite burdens in both blood and BAL fluid. Although immediate introduction of specific treatment resulted in a marked reduction of the parasite load and transient clinical improvement, the patient deteriorated and died of multiple organ failure on day 39 post-HSCT. Direct genotyping of T. gondii DNA from blood and BAL fluid with the PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism method revealed type II alleles with SAG1, SAG2, and GRA6 markers but alleles of both type I and type II with GRA7. Additional analysis with 15 microsatellite markers showed that the T. gondii DNA was atypical and genetically divergent from that of the clonal type I, II, and III strains. This is the first report of increased clinical severity of toxoplasmosis associated with an atypical strain in the setting of immunosuppression, which emphasizes the need to diagnose and monitor toxoplasmosis by quantitative molecular methods in cases of reactivation risk
Cytisus scoparius link - A natural antioxidant
BACKGROUND: Recent investigations have shown that the antioxidant properties of plants could be correlated with oxidative stress defense and different human diseases. In this respect flavonoids and other polyphenolic compounds have gained the greatest attention. The plant Cytisus scoparius contains the main constituent of flavone and flavonals. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the in vitro antioxidant activities of extract of aerial part of Cytisus scoparius. METHODS: The plant extract was tested for DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl, 2-picryl hydrazyl) radical scavenging, nitric oxide radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, hydroxyl radical scavenging, antilipid peroxidation assay, reducing power and total phenol content. RESULTS: The extract exhibited scavenging potential with IC(50 )value of 1.5 μg/ml, 116.0 μg/ml and 4.7 μg/ml for DPPH, nitric oxide and superoxide anion radicals. The values were found to lesser than those of vitamin C, rutin, and curcumin, as standards. The extract showed 50% protection at the dose of 104.0 μg/ml in lipid peroxidation induced by Fe(2+)/ ascorbate system in rat liver microsomal preparation. There is decrease in hydroxyl radical generation with IC(50 )value of 27.0 μg/ml when compared with standard vitamin E. The reducing power of the extract depends on the amount of extract. A significant amount of polyphenols could be detected by the equivalent to 0.0589 μg of pyrocatechol from 1 mg of extract. CONCLUSION: The results obtained in the present study indicate that hydro alcoholic extract of aerial part of Cytisus scoparius is a potential source of natural antioxidants
A new proposal for evaluation of the pharyngoesophageal segment and its relation with the narrow-band spectrogram in tracheoesophageal speakers
Some properties of the interval-valued g ¯ -integrals and a standard interval-valued g ¯ -convolution
Different Gene Expressions of Resistant and Susceptible Hop Cultivars in Response to Infection with a Highly Aggressive Strain of Verticillium albo-atrum
- …