Novel Fast Catadioptric Objective with Wide Field of View

Using the Simultaneous Multiple Surface method in 2D (SMS2D), we present a fast catadioptric objective with a wide field of view (125°×96°designed for a microbolometer detector with 640×480 pixels and 25 microns pixel pitc

Identification of genetic variants associated with Huntington's disease progression: a genome-wide association study

Background Huntington's disease is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene, HTT. Age at onset has been used as a quantitative phenotype in genetic analysis looking for Huntington's disease modifiers, but is hard to define and not always available. Therefore, we aimed to generate a novel measure of disease progression and to identify genetic markers associated with this progression measure. Methods We generated a progression score on the basis of principal component analysis of prospectively acquired longitudinal changes in motor, cognitive, and imaging measures in the 218 indivduals in the TRACK-HD cohort of Huntington's disease gene mutation carriers (data collected 2008–11). We generated a parallel progression score using data from 1773 previously genotyped participants from the European Huntington's Disease Network REGISTRY study of Huntington's disease mutation carriers (data collected 2003–13). We did a genome-wide association analyses in terms of progression for 216 TRACK-HD participants and 1773 REGISTRY participants, then a meta-analysis of these results was undertaken. Findings Longitudinal motor, cognitive, and imaging scores were correlated with each other in TRACK-HD participants, justifying use of a single, cross-domain measure of disease progression in both studies. The TRACK-HD and REGISTRY progression measures were correlated with each other (r=0·674), and with age at onset (TRACK-HD, r=0·315; REGISTRY, r=0·234). The meta-analysis of progression in TRACK-HD and REGISTRY gave a genome-wide significant signal (p=1·12 × 10−10) on chromosome 5 spanning three genes: MSH3, DHFR, and MTRNR2L2. The genes in this locus were associated with progression in TRACK-HD (MSH3 p=2·94 × 10−8 DHFR p=8·37 × 10−7 MTRNR2L2 p=2·15 × 10−9) and to a lesser extent in REGISTRY (MSH3 p=9·36 × 10−4 DHFR p=8·45 × 10−4 MTRNR2L2 p=1·20 × 10−3). The lead single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in TRACK-HD (rs557874766) was genome-wide significant in the meta-analysis (p=1·58 × 10−8), and encodes an aminoacid change (Pro67Ala) in MSH3. In TRACK-HD, each copy of the minor allele at this SNP was associated with a 0·4 units per year (95% CI 0·16–0·66) reduction in the rate of change of the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) Total Motor Score, and a reduction of 0·12 units per year (95% CI 0·06–0·18) in the rate of change of UHDRS Total Functional Capacity score. These associations remained significant after adjusting for age of onset. Interpretation The multidomain progression measure in TRACK-HD was associated with a functional variant that was genome-wide significant in our meta-analysis. The association in only 216 participants implies that the progression measure is a sensitive reflection of disease burden, that the effect size at this locus is large, or both. Knockout of Msh3 reduces somatic expansion in Huntington's disease mouse models, suggesting this mechanism as an area for future therapeutic investigation

Pla d'Ordenació Cinegètica per al delimitat A-10505 en el terme municipal de Benimarfull

[ES] En el plan de ordenación cinegética realizaremos un informe técnico que se elaborará en el acotado A-10505, en el término municipal de Benimarfull. En él se pretende garantizar un aprovechamiento sostenible de las especies objeto de caza sin perjuicio de otros valores medioambientales. El proyecto estará compuesto por una memoria, esta misma recogerá una descripción del terreno objeto de estudio en sus aspectos ecológicos, legales, sociales y económicos, aparte de un inventario cinegético que incluya el estado de poblaciones silvestres existentes, la estimación de extracciones o capturas por especie a realizar y los criterios de gestión con un nivel de detalle que permita la toma de decisiones en cada una de las unidades del monte y la estimación y optimización de sus rentas.[EN In the hunting management plan we will carry out a technical report that will be prepared in the delimited A-10505, in the Benimarfull. It is intended to guarantee a sustainable use of the hunted species without prejudice to other environmental values. The project will consist of a report, which will include a description of the land under study in its ecological, legal, social and economic aspects, apart from a hunting inventory that includes the status of existing wild populations, the estimation of extractions or captures by species to be carried out and the management criteria with a level of detail that allows decision-making in each of the units of the forest and the estimation and optimization of their income.Vilaplana Vila, JM. (2023). Plan de Ordenación Cinegética para el acotado A-10505 en el término municipal de Benimarfull. Universitat Politècnica de València. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/19648

Influence of the ozone profile above Madrid (Spain) on Brewer estimation of ozone air mass factor

The methodology used by Brewer spectroradiometers to estimate the ozone column is based on differential absorption spectroscopy. This methodology employs the ozone air mass factor (AMF) to derive the total ozone column from the slant path ozone amount. For the calculating the ozone AMF, the Brewer algorithm assumes that the ozone layer is located at a fixed height of 22 km. However, for a real specific site the ozone presents a certain profile, which varies spatially and temporally depending on the latitude, altitude and dynamical conditions of the atmosphere above the site of measurements. In this sense, this work address the reliability of the mentioned assumption and analyses the influence of the ozone profiles measured above Madrid (Spain) in the ozone AMF calculations. The approximated ozone AMF used by the Brewer algorithm is compared with simulations obtained using the libRadtran radiative transfer model code. The results show an excellent agreement between the simulated and the approximated AMF values for solar zenith angle lower than 75°. In addition, the relative differences remain lower than 2% at 85°. These good results are mainly due to the fact that the altitude of the ozone layer assumed constant by the Brewer algorithm for all latitudes notably can be considered representative of the real profile of ozone above Madrid (average value of 21.7±1.8 km). The operational ozone AMF calculations for Brewer instruments are limited, in general, to SZA below 80°. Extending the usable SZA range is especially relevant for Brewer instruments located at high mid-latitudes

Total ozone column from direct and diffuse spectral solar irradiance in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula

Daily total ozone column (TOC) measurements from the Brewer spectroradiometer located at El Arenosillo (Spain) and the Spectrometer for Atmospheric TRAcers Monitoring (SPATRAM) located at Évora (Portugal) are analyzed for the period 2006–2008. The main goal of this study is to compare TOC estimates retrieved with the passive differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) methodology from zenith-sky observations by the SPATRAM spectrometer with highly accurate TOC estimates retrieved from direct-sun recordings by a well-calibrated Brewer instrument. On average, SPATRAM TOC estimates are (1.69 ± 0.18)% smaller than collocated Brewer TOC estimates. Significant relative differences between SPATRAM and Brewer total ozone data are detected in some periods caused by the influence of high aerosol load episodes over the SPATRAM data. Satellite data recorded by the ozone monitoring instrument (OMI)-DOAS algorithm aboard the NASA EOS-Aura satellite have been used to quantify the natural spatial variability of TOC over the region of interest as a potential source of uncertainty in the SPATRAM-Brewer comparison. Our results show that the differences observed between both systems is not associated with the natural spatial variability of TOC. In addition, the OMI-DOAS total ozone data have been compared to the ground-based spectroradiometer data showing an excellent agreement for the Brewer spectroradiometer (R2 ∼ 0.95) and a fairly good agreement for the SPATRAM instrument (R2 ∼ 0.89)

Surface UV Radiation in the South of Portugal: Monitoring and Assessment of Cloud Effects

M easurements of both UV B (280 – 315 nm) and UV AB (280 – 400 nm) irradiances taken during about seven years are presented and analyzed here . The UV irradiance data were measured with MACA M radiometers, which are installed in the Atmospheric Physics Observatory of the University of Évora Geophysics Center - CGE (38°34’N, 7°54’W, 300 m above mean sea level) since 200 4 . Special attention is devoted to calibration issues, since the radiometers were calibrated in Spain, at “El Arenosillo” ESAt/INTA laboratory in 2009 and a methodology based on radiative transfer calculations combined with observations from atmospheric quantities, was developed and applied to retro - calib rate the data from 2009 to 2004 . The comparison between the radiative transfer based and the laboratory calibration methodologies yielded a quite promising outcome, with normalized root mean square errors lower than 3 % and mean absolute percentage error s lower than 2 %. Cloud opti cal thickness values derived from ground - based spectral irradiance measurements taken at the CGE observatory, are also used in order to investigate the influence of this cloud quantity o n UV irradiance s

Assessment of Mediterranean Aquaculture Sustainability

Aquaculture is a source of food, critical and essential to feed humanity and to ensure the world’s food security, and, also is a business that generates economic interest. This is clearly specified in the analysis document of the State of Fisheries and Aquaculture FAO 2016, which exposes that “aquaculture will become the main driver of change in the fisheries and aquaculture sector“. Aquaculture is the productive industrial activity that will play a crucial role in providing solutions to the millennium challenges. Globally this is the main idea that exists under the MedAID EU Horizon 2020 project. Production and productivity of Mediterranean marine fish aquaculture, mainly seabass and seabream, are stagnating or growing slowly as a result of multiple and interrelated causes. To accomplish the objective of improving its competitiveness and sustainability, MedAID is structured in a first interdisciplinary Work-packages (WPs) to assess technical, environmental, market, socioeconomic and governance weaknesses. WP1, “Holistic sustainability assessment of Mediterranean marine fish farming sector”, aims to carry out this mentioned assessment with a particular focus on the farm’s zootechnical performance, environmental and social sustainability, health, welfare and diseases, economic aspects and governance. The objective is to provide an overview of all the components of the value chain and assist the other WPs in their execution. To succeed in this challenge we started from the knowledge that we get from surveys addressed to the sector. The aim of the present report “Deliverable 1.2. Assessment of Mediterranean Aquaculture Sustainability” is to present the results of such assessment throughout the compilation of different analysis (Zotechnical performance, Environmental and social sustainability, Prevalence of diseases, Economic performance of the industry, and Governance and social acceptability), which has been mainly done based on a survey addressed to Mediterranean aquaculture farms from the whole region. The replies to surveys were compiled in a the Database of Mediterranean aquaculture farms, which have been used to analyse the information from a wider perspective, for both technical and economic indicators considered in the different thematic analysis here presented. MedAID has been able to obtain information from 27 partners and collaborating companies (50 production units) from 10 countries. For confidentially reasons their names are no mentioned in this report. Our most sincere gratitude is due to them, as without their collaboration, this study would had not been possible. Although not all companies replied to all questions, and for some parts of the analysis the data were small, this study was able to identify significant associations between key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and predictor variables in the units that took part in the survey. The survey data analysis shows that farming practices differ among the farms, allowing for improvement of management and, also, there is not a common production method for the Mediterranean seabass and seabream production. Moreover, it should be considered both seabass and seabream routinely surveyed and analysed separately, and the possibility of analysing separately the farms according production systems. Companies need to improve their productive efficiency through technical, operational and management innovations with a real transfer to the productive activity. The reduction of the average cost of production is a key aspect for the sustainability of the activity. While diversification is more efficient as the size of the company increases. Finally, there is a broad consensus about the necessity of improving governance, reducing the complexity of the administration and the regulation of the sector. It is also argued the need to reduce the time required to obtain a license