Efficient Radar Forward Operator for Operational Data Assimilation within the COSMO-model

Doppler radars provide unique 3D information about precipitating clouds in high spatial and temporal resolutions. However, the observed quantities (reflectivity, Doppler velocity and polarization properties) are not directly comparable to the variables of numerical prediction models. In order to enable radar data assimilation, a comprehensive modular radar forward operator has been developed

Eriodictyol modulates glioma cell autophagy and apoptosis by inhibition of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway

Purpose: To investigate the effects of eriodictyol (ERD) on U251 human glioma cell cycle and viability, autophagy and apoptosis by modulation of PI3/Akt/mTOR signaling cascade. Methods: 740 Y-P was used to activate U251 human glioma cells. For exploring ERD effects, the U251 cells were treated with ERD and 740 Y-P together. MTT assay was used to elucidate cell viability and apoptosis. The expression of autophagic proteins (LC3B and Beclin-1), and apoptotic proteins (Bcl-2 and Bax) were quantified using Western blotting. To explore the role of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway, their expression was measured in comparison to their respective phosphorylated derivatives by Western blotting. Results: ERD exposure downregulated p-PI3K and p-Akt protein expression. The results also indicate that ERD reduced cell viability and stimulated apoptosis in U251 cells (p < 0.05). Consequently, Bax expression was upregulated and the expression of Bcl-2 was downregulated. ERD enhanced the autophagy of glioma cells U251 by enhancing LC3B and Beclin-1 expression (p < 0.05). These effects were opposite to that revealed by 740 Y-P exposure alone. Conclusion: ERD reduces U251 human glioma cell viability, and triggers cell autophagy and apoptosis, which is significantly correlated to downregulation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signalling cascade. Thus, the compound can potentially be used for the treatment of glioma

Evaluating Latent-Heat-Nudging Schemes and Radar forward Operator Settings for a Convective Summer Period over Germany Using the ICON-KENDA System

Radar data assimilation has been operational at the Deutscher Wetterdienst for several years and is essential for generating accurate precipitation forecasts. The current work attempts to further enhance the radar data assimilation by improving the latent heat nudging (LHN) scheme and by reducing the observation error (OE) caused by the representation error of the efficient modular volume radar operator (EMVORADO). First of all, a series of hindcasts for a one-month convective period over Germany are performed. Compared with radar reflectivity and satellite observations, it is found that the LHN scheme that implicitly adjusts temperature performs better, and the beam broadening effect and the choice of the scattering schemes in EMVORADO are important. Moreover, the Mie scheme with the new parameterization to reduce the brightband effect not only proves to be the best in hindcasts but also that it results in the smallest standard deviations and the shortest horizontal correlation length scales of the OE in data assimilation experiments

Aconitine and its derivatives: bioactivities, structure-activity relationships and preliminary molecular mechanisms

Aconitine (AC), which is the primary bioactive diterpene alkaloid derived from Aconitum L plants, have attracted considerable interest due to its unique structural feature. Additionally, AC demonstrates a range of biological activities, such as its ability to enhance cardiac function, inhibit tumor growth, reduce inflammation, and provide analgesic effects. However, the structure-activity relationships of AC are remain unclear. A clear understanding of these relationships is indeed critical in developing effective biomedical applications with AC. In line with these challenges, this paper summarized the structural characteristics of AC and relevant functional and bioactive properties and the structure-activity relationships presented in biomedical applications. The primary temporal scope of this review was established as the period spanning from 2010 to 2023. Subsequently, the objective of this review was to provide a comprehensive understanding of the specific action mechanism of AC, while also exploring potential novel applications of AC derivatives in the biomedical field, drawing upon their structural characteristics. In conclusion, this review has provided a comprehensive analysis of the challenges and prospects associated with AC in the elucidation of structure-bioactivity relationships. Furthermore, the importance of exploring modern biotechnology approaches to enhance the potential biomedical applications of AC has been emphasized

Representation of Model Error in Convective‐Scale Data Assimilation: Additive Noise Based on Model Truncation Error

To account for model error on multiple scales in convective‐scale data assimilation, we incorporate the small‐scale additive noise based on random samples of model truncation error and combine it with the large‐scale additive noise based on random samples from global climatological atmospheric background error covariance. A series of experiments have been executed in the framework of the operational Kilometre‐scale ENsemble Data Assimilation system of the Deutscher Wetterdienst for a 2‐week period with different types of synoptic forcing of convection (i.e., strong or weak forcing). It is shown that the combination of large‐ and small‐scale additive noise is better than the application of large‐scale noise only. The specific increase in the background ensemble spread during data assimilation enhances the quality of short‐term 6‐hr precipitation forecasts. The improvement is especially significant during the weak forcing period, since the small‐scale additive noise increases the small‐scale variability which may favor occurrence of convection. It is also shown that additional perturbation of vertical velocity can further advance the performance of combination

FI-CEUS: a solution to improve the diagnostic accuracy in MRI LI-RADS-indeterminate (LR-3/4) FLLs at risk for HCC

ObjectiveTo evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of fusion imaging contrast-enhanced ultrasound (FI-CEUS) of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) LI-RADS-indeterminate (LR-3/4) and conventional ultrasound undetected focal liver lesions (FLLs) in patients at risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).MethodsBetween February 2020 and July 2021, 71 FLLs in 63 patients were registered for diagnostic performance evaluation respectively for ultrasound-guided thermal ablation evaluation in this retrospective study. Diagnostic performance regarding FLLs was compared between FI-CEUS and contrast-enhanced MRI (CE-MRI).ResultsFor diagnostic performance evaluation, among 71 lesions in 63 patients, the diagnostic efficacy of FI-CEUS with LI-RADS was significantly higher than that of CE-MRI (P < 0.05) in both overall and hierarchical comparison (except for the group with lesion diameter ≥2 cm). For malignant lesions, the proportion of arterial phase hyperenhancement (APHE) and washout on FI-CEUS was higher than that on CE-MRI (P < 0.05).ConclusionFI-CEUS has a high value in the precise qualitative diagnosis of small FLLs (<2 cm) of MRI LI-RADS-indeterminate diagnosis (LR-3/4) that are undetected by conventional ultrasound in patients at risk for HCC and can be a good supplementary CE-MRI diagnostic method for thermal ablation evaluation

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Efficient Radar Forward Operator for Operational Data Assimilation within the COSMO-model

Doppler radars provide unique 3D information about precipitating clouds in high spatial and temporal resolutions. However, the observed quantities (reflectivity, Doppler velocity and polarization properties) are not directly comparable to the variables of numerical prediction models. In order to enable radar data assimilation, a comprehensive modular radar forward operator has been developed

Efficient Radar Forward Operator for Operational Data Assimilation within the COSMO-model

Doppler radars provide unique 3D information about precipitating clouds in high spatial and temporal resolutions. However, the observed quantities (reflectivity, Doppler velocity and polarization properties) are not directly comparable to the variables of numerical prediction models. In order to enable radar data assimilation, a comprehensive modular radar forward operator has been developed