The HARMONIE–AROME Model Configuration in the ALADIN–HIRLAM NWP System

The aim of this article is to describe the reference configuration of the convection-permitting numerical weather prediction (NWP) model HARMONIE-AROME, which is used for operational short-range weather forecasts in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden. It is developed, maintained, and validated as part of the shared ALADIN–HIRLAM system by a collaboration of 26 countries in Europe and northern Africa on short-range mesoscale NWP. HARMONIE–AROME is based on the model AROME developed within the ALADIN consortium. Along with the joint modeling framework, AROME was implemented and utilized in both northern and southern European conditions by the above listed countries, and this activity has led to extensive updates to themodel’s physical parameterizations. In this paper the authors present the differences inmodel dynamics and physical parameterizations compared with AROME, as well as important configuration choices of the reference, such as lateral boundary conditions, model levels, horizontal resolution, model time step, as well as topography, physiography, and aerosol databases used. Separate documentation will be provided for the atmospheric and surface data-assimilation algorithms and observation types used, as well as a separate description of the ensemble prediction system based on HARMONIE–AROME, which is called HarmonEPS

Expression and prognostic value of circulating angiogenic cytokines in pancreatic cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The utility of circulating angiogenic cytokines (CAC) as biomarkers in pancreatic cancer has not been clarified yet. We investigated the expression and prognostic associations of seven CAC in patients with pancreatic cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Serum samples were collected preoperatively in patients undergoing surgery for localized pancreatic cancer (n = 74), metastatic pancreatic cancer (n = 24) or chronic pancreatitis (n = 20) and in healthy controls (n = 48). Quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and multiplex protein arrays were used to determine circulating levels of VEGF, VEGFR-1, PlGF, PDGF-AA, PDGF-BB, Ang-1 and EGF. Multivariate analyses on cancer-specific survival were performed with a Cox proportional hazards model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>VEGF (p < 0.0001), PDGF-AA (p < 0.0001), Ang-1 (p = 0.002) and EGF (p < 0.0001) were differentially expressed in patients with pancreatic cancer compared to healthy controls. The presence of lymph node metastases was associated with increased levels of all CAC except for PlGF, whereas there were only minor associations of CAC with other clinicopathologic variables. The multivariate model including the entire angiogenic panel revealed high levels of circulating PDGF-AA (hazard ratio 4.58; 95% confidence interval 1.43 - 14.69) as predictor of poor cancer-specific survival, whereas high levels of PDGF-BB (0.15; 0.15 - 0.88), Ang-1 (0.30; 0.10 - 0.93) and VEGF (0.24; 0.09 - 0.57) were associated with a favorable prognosis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Circulating levels of certain angiogenic cytokines correlate with patients' prognosis after resection for pancreatic cancer, if a panel of several CAC is considered simultaneously. These data should be considered in future studies evaluating angiogenic factors as prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets in patients with pancreatic cancer.</p

Turbulence structures in a non-stationary marine atmospheric boundary layer

The vertical structure in the coastal marine atmosphere has been investigated using data from aircraft measurements performed along the Blekinge coast. The present data are from the third of October 1990. The main feature is fairly homogeneous horizontal conditions and a subceeing boundary layer which lowers from 600 meters down to about 50 meters during the day. The turbulence were found to be in a decreasing state. The turbulence parameters were normalized using normal stationary scaling, in order to compare with other results

Turbulence structures in a non-stationary marine atmospheric boundary layer

The vertical structure in the coastal marine atmosphere has been investigated using data from aircraft measurements performed along the Blekinge coast. The present data are from the third of October 1990. The main feature is fairly homogeneous horizontal conditions and a subceeing boundary layer which lowers from 600 meters down to about 50 meters during the day. The turbulence were found to be in a decreasing state. The turbulence parameters were normalized using normal stationary scaling, in order to compare with other results

Life Cycle Assessment of a telecommunications exchange

This paper describes a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) of a new Business Communication 10 (BC10) and an old Business Communication 8 (BC8) model of the private branch exchange Modular Digital 110 (MD 110), designed and sold by Ericsson Enterprise AB (EE) and produced by Flextronics, in this case for the European Union (EU) market. LCA is a technique for assessing the environmental aspects and potential impact associated with a products whole life cycle from the cradle to the grave. The study meets the requirements of the standards International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 14040:1997 English (E), ISO 14041:1998 E and the draft standards ISO/Draft International Standard (DIS) 14042 and ISO/DIS 14043 and was critically reviewed by Henrik Wenzel, Instituttet for ProduktUdvikling (The Institute for Product Development, IPU) in Denmark. The modelling of the system includes manufacturing (hardware and EEs organisation), use stage (electricity consumption), end-of-life (recycling processes) and transports. Electronic devices are modelled in depth (16 groups of components) and data from over 40 suppliers have been collected. EEs organisation (development, marketing & sales, supply, installation, service and maintenance) is modelled for use of offices and business travelling. The following main conclusions of the project are based on results for potential contributions to the environmental impact categories acidification, global warming and eutrophication, which were chosen to be the most relevant. The environmental impact improvements of the new model compared to the old are approximately 10%, and the uncertainty of the results is judged to be smaller than the difference between the systems.The use stage and the manufacturing stage give the largest impacts, both for the new and the old model. In the manufacturing stage, the hardware production clearly dominates. EEs organisation is secondly most important and hardware transport is least important. This is due to more environmental load from service and business travelling in the organisation than environmental load arising from the distribution of the product. The results predominantly reflect energy use, whereas toxicological aspects could not be reliably assessed due to lack of data and reliable methods and needs separate attention. The technology improvements shown for BC10 compared to BC8 only describe design improvements made by EE, and do not take into account potential technology production improvements made by component suppliers

Convection-permitting ensembles : Challenges related to their design and use

Challenges related to the design and use of a convection-permitting ensemble (CPEPS) are discussed. In particular the scale-dependent predictability of precipitation and the use of a CPEPS as well as its potential added value over global ensemble prediction systems (EPS) are investigated. Forecasts of precipitation from the operational CPEPS in Finland, Norway and Sweden (MEPS) are used for the investigations. It is found that predictability for scales smaller than similar to 60 km is lost rapidly within the first 6 h of the forecast with the smallest predictable scale growing more slowly to similar to 100 km over the following 18-24 h. However, there is large case-to-case variability and the ensemble perturbations fail to become fully saturated, especially in winter, suggesting a weakness in the design of the ensemble. The added value of CPEPS over deterministic forecasts and coarser resolution EPSs is discussed with summary statistics and case-studies. It is shown that the added value varies between seasons and lead times. For precipitation there is an added value for both severe precipitation events and for precipitation/no precipitation decisions. The added value is higher in summer compared to winter and for shorter lead times compared to longer lead times

A role for PDGF-C/PDGFR alpha signaling in the formation of the meningeal basement membranes surrounding the cerebral cortex

Platelet-derived growth factor-C (PDGF-C) is one of three known ligands for the tyrosine kinase receptor PDGFR alpha. Analysis of Pdgfc null mice has demonstrated roles for PDGF-C in palate closure and the formation of cerebral ventricles, but redundancy with other PDGFR alpha ligands might obscure additional functions. In search of further developmental roles for PDGF-C, we generated mice that were double mutants for Pdgfc(-/-) and Pdgfra(GFP/+). These mice display a range of severe phenotypes including spina bifida, lung emphysema, abnormal meninges and neuronal over-migration in the cerebral cortex. We focused our analysis on the central nervous system (CNS), where PDGF-C was identified as a critical factor for the formation of meninges and assembly of the glia limitans basement membrane. We also present expression data on Pdgfa, Pdgfc and Pdgfra in the cerebral cortex and microarray data on cerebral meninges