The Drought Monitor

There is a need for improved drought monitoring and assessment methods in the United States. Drought is the most costly natural disaster [Federal Emergency Management Agancy (FEMA 1995; Wilhite 2000)], but it is often neglected by developers of assessment and forecast products. Drought is more nebulous than other disasters and does not lend itself to traditional assessments or forecast methods. Its relatively slow onset and the complexity of its impacts are reasons for the new assessment methodology. Improvements in drought monitoring and forecasting techniques will allow for better preparation, lead to better management practices, and reduce the vulnerability of society to drought and its subsequent impacts. The Drought Monitor (additional information available online at http://drought.unl/edu/dm) was created with the goal of tracking and displaying the magnitude and spatial extent of drought and its impacts across the United States. The Drought Monitor is produced weekly and classifies drought severity into four major categories, with a fifth category threshold assigned to locations on a map are determined from a number of indicators, or tools, blended with subjective interpretation

The Drought Monitor

There is a need for improved drought monitoring and assessment methods in the United States. Drought is the most costly natural disaster [Federal Emergency Management Agancy (FEMA 1995; Wilhite 2000)], but it is often neglected by developers of assessment and forecast products. Drought is more nebulous than other disasters and does not lend itself to traditional assessments or forecast methods. Its relatively slow onset and the complexity of its impacts are reasons for the new assessment methodology. Improvements in drought monitoring and forecasting techniques will allow for better preparation, lead to better management practices, and reduce the vulnerability of society to drought and its subsequent impacts. The Drought Monitor (additional information available online at http://drought.unl/edu/dm) was created with the goal of tracking and displaying the magnitude and spatial extent of drought and its impacts across the United States. The Drought Monitor is produced weekly and classifies drought severity into four major categories, with a fifth category threshold assigned to locations on a map are determined from a number of indicators, or tools, blended with subjective interpretation

Deriving Historical Temperature and Precipitation Time Series For Alaska Climate Divisions Via Climatologically Aided Interpolation

This paper describes the construction of temperature and precipitation time series for climate divisions in Alaska for 1925-2015. Designed for NOAA climate monitoring applications, these new series build upon the divisional data of Bieniek et al. (2014) through the inclusion of additional observing stations, temperature bias adjustments, supplemental temperature elements, and enhanced computational techniques (i.e., climatologically aided interpolation). The new NOAA series are in general agreement with Bieniek et al. (2014), differences being attributable to the underlying methods used to compute divisional averages in each dataset. Trends in minimum temperature are significant in most divisions whereas trends in maximum temperature are generally not significant in the eastern third of the state. Likewise, the statewide rate of warming in minimum temperature (0.158°C dec-1) is roughly 50% larger than that of maximum temperature (0.101 °C dec-1). Trends in precipitation are not significant for most divisions or for the state as a whole

Activation of nuclear factor-κB in human prostate carcinogenesis and association to biochemical relapse

Nuclear factor (NF)-κB/p65 regulates the transcription of a wide variety of genes involved in cell survival, invasion and metastasis. We characterised by immunohistochemistry the expression of NF-κB/p65 protein in six histologically normal prostate, 13 high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) and 86 prostate adenocarcinoma specimens. Nuclear localisation of p65 was used as a measure of NF-κB active state. Nuclear localisation of NF-κB was only seen in scattered basal cells in normal prostate glands. Prostatic intraepithelial neoplasias exhibited diffuse and strong cytoplasmic staining but no nuclear staining. In prostate adenocarcinomas, cytoplasmic NF-κB was detected in 57 (66.3%) specimens, and nuclear NF-κB (activated) in 47 (54.7%). Nuclear and cytoplasmic NF-κB staining was not correlated (P=0.19). By univariate analysis, nuclear localisation of NF-κB was associated with biochemical relapse (P=0.0009; log-rank test) while cytoplasmic expression did not. On multivariate analysis, serum preoperative prostate specific antigen (P=0.02), Gleason score (P=0.03) and nuclear NF-κB (P=0.002) were independent predictors of biochemical relapse. These results provide novel evidence for NF-κB/p65 nuclear translocation in the transition from PIN to prostate cancer. Our findings also indicate that nuclear localisation of NF-κB is an independent prognostic factor of biochemical relapse in prostate cancer

State of the climate in 2018

In 2018, the dominant greenhouse gases released into Earth’s atmosphere—carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide—continued their increase. The annual global average carbon dioxide concentration at Earth’s surface was 407.4 ± 0.1 ppm, the highest in the modern instrumental record and in ice core records dating back 800 000 years. Combined, greenhouse gases and several halogenated gases contribute just over 3 W m−2 to radiative forcing and represent a nearly 43% increase since 1990. Carbon dioxide is responsible for about 65% of this radiative forcing. With a weak La Niña in early 2018 transitioning to a weak El Niño by the year’s end, the global surface (land and ocean) temperature was the fourth highest on record, with only 2015 through 2017 being warmer. Several European countries reported record high annual temperatures. There were also more high, and fewer low, temperature extremes than in nearly all of the 68-year extremes record. Madagascar recorded a record daily temperature of 40.5°C in Morondava in March, while South Korea set its record high of 41.0°C in August in Hongcheon. Nawabshah, Pakistan, recorded its highest temperature of 50.2°C, which may be a new daily world record for April. Globally, the annual lower troposphere temperature was third to seventh highest, depending on the dataset analyzed. The lower stratospheric temperature was approximately fifth lowest. The 2018 Arctic land surface temperature was 1.2°C above the 1981–2010 average, tying for third highest in the 118-year record, following 2016 and 2017. June’s Arctic snow cover extent was almost half of what it was 35 years ago. Across Greenland, however, regional summer temperatures were generally below or near average. Additionally, a satellite survey of 47 glaciers in Greenland indicated a net increase in area for the first time since records began in 1999. Increasing permafrost temperatures were reported at most observation sites in the Arctic, with the overall increase of 0.1°–0.2°C between 2017 and 2018 being comparable to the highest rate of warming ever observed in the region. On 17 March, Arctic sea ice extent marked the second smallest annual maximum in the 38-year record, larger than only 2017. The minimum extent in 2018 was reached on 19 September and again on 23 September, tying 2008 and 2010 for the sixth lowest extent on record. The 23 September date tied 1997 as the latest sea ice minimum date on record. First-year ice now dominates the ice cover, comprising 77% of the March 2018 ice pack compared to 55% during the 1980s. Because thinner, younger ice is more vulnerable to melting out in summer, this shift in sea ice age has contributed to the decreasing trend in minimum ice extent. Regionally, Bering Sea ice extent was at record lows for almost the entire 2017/18 ice season. For the Antarctic continent as a whole, 2018 was warmer than average. On the highest points of the Antarctic Plateau, the automatic weather station Relay (74°S) broke or tied six monthly temperature records throughout the year, with August breaking its record by nearly 8°C. However, cool conditions in the western Bellingshausen Sea and Amundsen Sea sector contributed to a low melt season overall for 2017/18. High SSTs contributed to low summer sea ice extent in the Ross and Weddell Seas in 2018, underpinning the second lowest Antarctic summer minimum sea ice extent on record. Despite conducive conditions for its formation, the ozone hole at its maximum extent in September was near the 2000–18 mean, likely due to an ongoing slow decline in stratospheric chlorine monoxide concentration. Across the oceans, globally averaged SST decreased slightly since the record El Niño year of 2016 but was still far above the climatological mean. On average, SST is increasing at a rate of 0.10° ± 0.01°C decade−1 since 1950. The warming appeared largest in the tropical Indian Ocean and smallest in the North Pacific. The deeper ocean continues to warm year after year. For the seventh consecutive year, global annual mean sea level became the highest in the 26-year record, rising to 81 mm above the 1993 average. As anticipated in a warming climate, the hydrological cycle over the ocean is accelerating: dry regions are becoming drier and wet regions rainier. Closer to the equator, 95 named tropical storms were observed during 2018, well above the 1981–2010 average of 82. Eleven tropical cyclones reached Saffir–Simpson scale Category 5 intensity. North Atlantic Major Hurricane Michael’s landfall intensity of 140 kt was the fourth strongest for any continental U.S. hurricane landfall in the 168-year record. Michael caused more than 30 fatalities and $25 billion (U.S. dollars) in damages. In the western North Pacific, Super Typhoon Mangkhut led to 160 fatalities and$6 billion (U.S. dollars) in damages across the Philippines, Hong Kong, Macau, mainland China, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Tropical Storm Son-Tinh was responsible for 170 fatalities in Vietnam and Laos. Nearly all the islands of Micronesia experienced at least moderate impacts from various tropical cyclones. Across land, many areas around the globe received copious precipitation, notable at different time scales. Rodrigues and Réunion Island near southern Africa each reported their third wettest year on record. In Hawaii, 1262 mm precipitation at Waipā Gardens (Kauai) on 14–15 April set a new U.S. record for 24-h precipitation. In Brazil, the city of Belo Horizonte received nearly 75 mm of rain in just 20 minutes, nearly half its monthly average. Globally, fire activity during 2018 was the lowest since the start of the record in 1997, with a combined burned area of about 500 million hectares. This reinforced the long-term downward trend in fire emissions driven by changes in land use in frequently burning savannas. However, wildfires burned 3.5 million hectares across the United States, well above the 2000–10 average of 2.7 million hectares. Combined, U.S. wildfire damages for the 2017 and 2018 wildfire seasons exceeded $40 billion (U.S. dollars)

I kappa B kinase alpha (IKKα) activity is required for functional maturation of dendritic cells and acquired immunity to infection

Dendritic cells (DC) are required for priming antigen-specific T cells and acquired immunity to many important human pathogens, including Mycobacteriuim tuberculosis (TB) and influenza. However, inappropriate priming of auto-reactive T cells is linked with autoimmune disease. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate the priming and activation of naïve T cells is critical for development of new improved vaccines and understanding the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. The serine/threonine kinase IKKα (CHUK) has previously been shown to have anti-inflammatory activity and inhibit innate immunity. Here, we show that IKKα is required in DC for priming antigen-specific T cells and acquired immunity to the human pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. We describe a new role for IKKα in regulation of IRF3 activity and the functional maturation of DC. This presents a unique role for IKKα in dampening inflammation while simultaneously promoting adaptive immunity that could have important implications for the development of new vaccine adjuvants and treatment of autoimmune diseases

Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search

Document recommendation systems for locating relevant literature have mostly relied on methods developed a decade ago. This is largely due to the lack of a large offline gold-standard benchmark of relevant documents that cover a variety of research fields such that newly developed literature search techniques can be compared, improved and translated into practice. To overcome this bottleneck, we have established the RElevant LIterature SearcH consortium consisting of more than 1500 scientists from 84 countries, who have collectively annotated the relevance of over 180 000 PubMed-listed articles with regard to their respective seed (input) article/s. The majority of annotations were contributed by highly experienced, original authors of the seed articles. The collected data cover 76% of all unique PubMed Medical Subject Headings descriptors. No systematic biases were observed across different experience levels, research fields or time spent on annotations. More importantly, annotations of the same document pairs contributed by different scientists were highly concordant. We further show that the three representative baseline methods used to generate recommended articles for evaluation (Okapi Best Matching 25, Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency and PubMed Related Articles) had similar overall performances. Additionally, we found that these methods each tend to produce distinct collections of recommended articles, suggesting that a hybrid method may be required to completely capture all relevant articles. The established database server located at https://relishdb.ict.griffith.edu.au is freely available for the downloading of annotation data and the blind testing of new methods. We expect that this benchmark will be useful for stimulating the development of new powerful techniques for title and title/abstract-based search engines for relevant articles in biomedical research.Peer reviewe