OBSERVATIONS OF STRATOSPERIC CLOUDS AND THEIR CONNECTION WITH CONDITIONS FOR VERTICAL PROPAGATION OF MOUNTAIN WAVES

Forty years of synoptic observations of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) over Iceland are analyzed. The PSC are most frequent in January, followed by December and February. Only a handful of observations have been made in November and March and none outside this period of the year. Observations of PSCs are much more frequent in N- and E- Iceland than in SW-Iceland and there is large interannual variability in the occurrence of these clouds. An investigation of the atmospheric flow when PSCs are observed reveal that in most cases, the conditions are very favourable for the generation of orographic gravity waves and propagation of these waves far upwards in the atmosphere. This suggests that localized cooling in the ascending part of a gravity wave may be crucial for the formation of most PSCs over Iceland. This corresponds with the relatively low frequency of PSCs over SW-Iceland: PSCs are only observed when there are no or only few tropospheric clouds and under such conditions the low-level winds are usually from the north in SW-Iceland. In northerly flow, there is often a reverse wind shear in the troposphere inhibiting upward propagation of wave energy

NORTHERLY WINDSTORMS IN ICELAND

The dynamics and frequency of northerly windstorms over Iceland in current and possible future climate are discussed. These storms are relatively frequent in Iceland in the spring and in the autumn and they are also frequent during periods when there is much sea ice in the waters to the east of Greenland. Unlike most of the southerly windstorms in Iceland and many windstorms in W-Europe, many of the northerly windstorms are characterized by a low level-jet and a reverse vertical windshear in the lower troposphere. The spring-time northerly windstorms coincide with the period of maximum extent of the sea-ice north of Iceland and the frequency of these windstorms is reduced dramatically in a simulation of future climate. The windstorms are discussed in relation to blocking of cold airmasses at the east coast of Greenland. A further study of the impact of the sea-ice and Greenland on meso- and synoptic scale strong winds and the wind climate is planned during the International Polar Year (IPY)

THE KVÍSKER 2002 PRECIPITATION RECORD

The precipitation record of Kvísker, SE-Iceland (293 mm/24 hrs) is investigated. Kvísker is located downstream of a 2119 m high mountain and observations indicate that strong wind upstream of the mountain is a key factor in generating the maximum precipitation intensity within the 24 hours period. A numerical simulation of the flow suggests that there are two distinct maxima in the precipitation intensity. One is situated close to the mountain top and is directly associated with the updraft and high concentration of liquid cloud water. The second maximum is located downstream and is associated with localized downdrafts and horizontal convergence of the spillover rain

NORTHERLY WINDSTORMS IN ICELAND

The dynamics and frequency of northerly windstorms over Iceland in current and possible future climate are discussed. These storms are relatively frequent in Iceland in the spring and in the autumn and they are also frequent during periods when there is much sea ice in the waters to the east of Greenland. Unlike most of the southerly windstorms in Iceland and many windstorms in W-Europe, many of the northerly windstorms are characterized by a low level-jet and a reverse vertical windshear in the lower troposphere. The spring-time northerly windstorms coincide with the period of maximum extent of the sea-ice north of Iceland and the frequency of these windstorms is reduced dramatically in a simulation of future climate. The windstorms are discussed in relation to blocking of cold airmasses at the east coast of Greenland. A further study of the impact of the sea-ice and Greenland on meso- and synoptic scale strong winds and the wind climate is planned during the International Polar Year (IPY)

Icelandic coastal sea surface temperature records constructed: putting the pulse on air-sea-climate interactions in the northern North Atlantic. Part I: Comparison with HadISST1 open-ocean surface temperatures and preliminary analysis of long-term patterns and anomalies of SSTs around Iceland

A new comprehensive record of long-term Icelandic sea surface temperature measurements, which have been updated and filled in with reference to air temperature records, is presented. The new SST series reveal important features of the variability of climate in Iceland and the northern North Atlantic. This study documents site histories and possible resulting inconsistencies and biases, for example, changes in observing sites and instruments. A new 119-yr continuous time series for north Iceland SST is presented, which should prove particularly useful for investigating air-sea ice interactions around northern Iceland. As this is the only part of the country to be regularly engulfed by winter and/or spring sea ice, it is therefore highly sensitive to climatic change. The coastal series correlate well overall with independent Hadley Centre Sea Ice and SST dataset version 1 (HadISST1) series from the adjacent open ocean (mean r = 0.59), although correlations are generally higher in summer than winter and for south and east Iceland compared with the west and north. The seasonal temperature range is generally twice as large at the coastal sites because of differential effects of radiation, melting, mixing, and advection of warmer or colder air or water masses, as well as spatial resolution differences and smoothing in HadISST1. The long-term climatological averages and graphs for the 10 SST stations and/or their composites reveal decadal variations and trends that are generally similar to Icelandic air temperature records: a cold late-nineteenth-century, rapid warming around the 1920s, an overall warm peak circa 1940, cooling until an "icy" period circa 1970, followed by warming. Regional differences between sites include relatively greater (lesser) long-term variations for the eastern and southern (western and northern) Icelandic coasts, suggesting greater variability and influence of ocean current advection in the southeast. Moreover, Vestmannaeyjar SST data reveal that the late-nineteenth-century cold period in the ocean was not confined to the cold currents off north and east Iceland but also affected the south coast markedly. The Stykkishólmur, Iceland, SST record is relatively noisy and shows very little decadal variation, which may largely be due to fjord ice in cold winters suppressing low temperatures. It is anticipated that researchers may find these Icelandic SST series of practical use as a historic measure of air-sea-climate interactions around Iceland. © 2006 American Meteorological Society

Survival and causes of death in children diagnosed with cancer in Iceland 1981-2006

Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn Skoða/Opna(view/open)OBJECTIVE: Of children diagnosed with cancer, approximately one fourth die of the disease or disease related complications. The aim of this study was to investigate survival and causes of death in children with cancer in Iceland. METHODS: This study is retrospective; population based and includes all children, less than 18 years of age, diagnosed with cancer in Iceland from 1981 to 2006. Information was extracted from the Icelandic Cancer Registry, patients hospital records and data from Statistics Iceland. RESULTS: Of 279 children diagnosed with cancer in the research period 215 were alive at the end of 2008. The overall 5-year survival was 81.2% and 10-year survival was 76.7%. There was not a significant survival difference with respect to age at diagnosis, year of diagnosis, gender or geographical residence. The small cohort size could be the explanation. Eleven individuals developed secondary neoplasm, eight of whom died. Sixteen of the 64 nonsurvivors were treated with curative intent until death, 12 of them died of therapy related complications. CONCLUSIONS: Survival rate in childhood cancer in Iceland is comparable to other Western countries. As previously reported, prognosis of patients with secondary neoplasm is unfavorable. Therapy related complications are the most common cause of death in patients treated with curative intent.Inngangur: Um fjórðungur barna sem greinist með krabbamein deyr vegna sjúkdóms síns eða meðferðartengdra fylgikvilla. Tilgangur rannsóknarinnar var að kanna lifun og dánarorsakir barna sem greinst hafa með krabbamein á Íslandi. Aðferðir: Rannsóknin var afturskyggn, lýðgrunduð og náði til allra einstaklinga yngri en 18 ára sem greindust með krabbamein á Íslandi frá upphafi árs 1981 til loka ársins 2006. Upplýsingum var safnað frá Krabbameinsskrá Íslands, sjúkraskrám og Hagstofu Íslands. Niðurstöður: Á rannsóknartímabilinu greindust 279 börn með krabbamein á Íslandi. Af þeim voru 215 á lífi í lok árs 2008. Á tímabilinu var fimm ára lifun 81,2% og 10 ára lifun 76,7%. Ekki var marktækur munur á lifun milli kynja, greiningartímabila, aldurs eða búsetu. Gæti það skýrst af smæð þýðisins. Lifun var mismunandi eftir krabbameinstegundum. Ellefu einstaklingar greindust síðar með meðferðartengd krabbamein, átta þeirra létust. Sextán þeirra 64 sem létust voru í læknandi meðferð fram að andláti. Var dánarorsök meðferðartengdir fylgikvillar hjá 12 úr þeim hópi. Ályktun: Horfur barna og unglinga á Íslandi með krabbamein eru sambærilegar við önnur vestræn ríki. Horfur eru mun verri í meðferðartengdum krabbameinum samanborið við frumkrabbamein. Meðferðartengdir fylgikvillar eru algengasta dánarorsök ef krabbameinsmeðferð er gefin með læknanlegum tilgangi

Childhood cancer in Iceland 1981-2006

Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn Skoða/Opna(view/open)BACKGROUND: Childhood cancer is the second most common cause of death in children. The aim of this study was to gather epidemiological information on childhood cancer in Iceland. METHODS: The study was population based and included all children younger than 18 years of age, diagnosed with cancer in Iceland from 1981 to 2006. Information was extracted from the Icelandic Cancer Registry and patient hospital records. RESULTS: During the study period 288 cancer cases were diagnosed in 279 children, 10 cases were secondary neoplasms. Age standardized incidence was 16.1 per 100.000 (95% CI 13,6-18,6) for boys and 12.8 per 100.000 (95% CI 10,5-15,0) for girls. There was no significant difference in the incidence rate between the first and second half of the study period. For children aged 0-14 years, the age standardized incidence was 13.6 per 100.000. The incidence was highest in the 0-4 year age group (17.3 per 100.000) and in the 15-17 year age group (19.6 per 100.000). Brain tumors (27.1%) and leukemia (25.0%) were the most common cancer groups diagnosed. Lymphoid leukemia was the most common cancer type (17.9%) and astrocytoma (13.1%) came second. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of childhood cancer in Iceland is similar to other Western countries. Long-term follow-up is very important in childhood cancer survivors.Inngangur: Krabbamein er næst algengasta dánarorsök barna á eftir slysum. Tilgangur rann-sóknarinnar var að kanna nýgengi krabbameina hjá börnum á Íslandi.
 Aðferðir: Rannsóknin var lýðgrunduð og náði til allra <18 ára sem greindust með krabbamein á Íslandi frá upphafi árs 1981 til ársloka 2006. Upplýsingum var safnað frá Krabbameinsskrá Íslands og úr sjúkraskrám.
 Niðurstöður: Alls greindust 288 krabbameinstilfelli á tímabilinu hjá 279 börnum. Í 10 tilvikum var um meðferðartengd krabbamein að ræða. Árlegt aldursstaðlað nýgengi hjá drengjum var 16,1 af 100.000 (95% CI; 13,6-18,6) en hjá stúlkum 12,8 af 100.000 (95% CI; 10,5-15,0) en ekki var marktækur munur á nýgengi milli fyrri og seinni hluta rannsóknartímabilsins. Fyrir aldursbilið 0-14 ára var árlegt aldursstaðlað nýgengi 13,6 af 100.000. Miðtaugakerfisæxli og hvítblæði voru samanlagt 52,1% allra krabbameinstilvika. Algengasta grein-ingin var bráða eitilfrumuhvítblæði (17,9%) og stjarnfrumnaæxli (13,1%) næstalgengust. Nýgeng-ið var hæst hjá aldursbilunum 0-4 ára (17,3 af 100.00) og 15-17 ára (19,6 af 100.000). Tíu börn voru með þekkta meðfædda áhættuþætti.
 Ályktun: Nýgengi krabbameina hjá börnum á Íslandi er sambærilegt við nágrannalöndin. Mikilvægt er að fylgja vel eftir börnum sem gengið hafa í gegnum krabbameinsmeðferð og þeim sem hafa þekkta meðfædda áhættuþætti.


Relapsed childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the Nordic countries: prognostic factors, treatment and outcome.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Files. This article is open access.Relapse is the main reason for treatment failure in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Despite improvements in the up-front therapy, survival after relapse is still relatively poor, especially for high-risk relapses. The aims of this study were to assess outcomes following acute lymphoblastic leukemia relapse after common initial Nordic Society of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology protocol treatment; to validate currently used risk stratifications, and identify additional prognostic factors for overall survival. Altogether, 516 of 2735 patients (18.9%) relapsed between 1992 and 2011 and were included in the study. There were no statistically significant differences in outcome between the up-front protocols or between the relapse protocols used, but an improvement over time was observed. The 5-year overall survival for patients relapsing in the period 2002-2011 was 57.5±3.4%, but 44.7±3.2% (P<0.001) if relapse occurred in the period 1992-2001. Factors independently predicting mortality after relapse included short duration of first remission, bone marrow involvement, age ten years or over, unfavorable cytogenetics, and Down syndrome. T-cell immunophenotype was not an independent prognostic factor unless in combination with hyperleukocytosis at diagnosis. The outcome for early combined pre-B relapses was unexpectedly poor (5-year overall survival 38.0±10.6%), which supports the notion that these patients need further risk adjustment. Although survival outcomes have improved over time, the development of novel approaches is urgently needed to increase survival in relapsed childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation, Barncancerfonde