Differences in the Same OMI/MLS Aura Tropospheric Ozone Data Set Published Before and After January 2013

On the website "NASA Goddard Homepage for Tropospheric Ozone", global data of tropospheric ozone obtained from observations of OMI and MLS Aura satellite instruments, are reported. In mid-2013, the data was covering the period between October 2004 and January 2013. Subsequently, in early 2014, the time series was extended until December 2013. At present time, the published series has been extended to December 2014. Analysing this new series, we observed that the data already published to January 2013 had been replaced; not only the missing months of 2013 were added but all the values published since 2004 were recalculated. We present the detected differences in the comparison between common data to both time series (the original, before January 2013, and the new one, currently published on the website). These differences are important considering that they represent the result of the same satellite observation and should be considered when comparing results before/after January 2013, especially when adopting a certain confidence level in the spectral analysis of these data to intraseasonal scale. A warn of caution is suggested in the use of these observations and intercomparison with other values of these and other instruments, because of possible recurrent problems of instrumental calibration.Fil: Cionco, Rodolfo Gustavo. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Agosta Scarel, Eduardo Andres. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez, Rubén L.. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Quaranta, Nancy Esther. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional; Argentin

Epithelial integrin alpha 6 beta 4: complete primary structure of alpha 6 and variant forms of beta 4.

The integrin alpha 6 beta 4 is a heterodimer predominantly expressed by epithelia. While no definite receptor function has yet been assigned to it, this integrin may mediate adhesive and/or migratory functions of epithelial cells. We have determined the complete primary structure of both the alpha 6 and beta 4 subunits from cDNA clones isolated from pancreatic carcinoma cell line libraries. The deduced amino acid sequence of alpha 6 is homologous to other integrin alpha chains (18-26% identity). Antibodies to an alpha 6 carboxy terminus peptide immunoprecipitated alpha 6 beta 4 complexes from carcinoma cells and alpha 6 beta 1 complexes from platelets, providing further evidence for the association of alpha 6 with more than one beta subunit. The deduced amino acid sequence of beta 4 predicts an extracellular portion homologous to other integrin beta chains, and a unique cytoplasmic domain comprised of greater than 1,000 residues. This agrees with the structures of the beta 4 cDNAs from normal epithelial cells (Suzuki, S., and Y. Naitoh. 1990. EMBO [Eur. Mol. Biol. Organ.] J. 9:757-763; Hogervost, F., I. Kuikman, A. E. G. Kr. von dem Borne, and A. Sonnenberg. 1990. EMBO [Eur. Mol. Biol. Organ.] J. 9:765-770). Compared to these structures, however, the beta 4 cDNAs that we have cloned from carcinoma cells contain extra sequences. One of these is located in the 5'-untranslated region, and may encode regulatory sequences. Another specifies a segment of 70 amino acids in the cytoplasmic tail. Amplification by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction of mRNA indicated that multiple forms of beta 4 may exist, possibly due to cell-type specific alternative splicing. The unique structure of beta 4 suggests its involvement in novel cytoskeletal interactions. Consistent with this possibility, alpha 6 beta 4 is mostly concentrated on the basal surface of epithelial cells, but does not colocalize with components of adhesion plaques

Outcomes of conjunctival compression sutures for hypotony after glaucoma filtering surgery

3openopenQuaranta L.; Riva I.; Floriani I.C:Quaranta, Luciano; Riva, Ivano; Floriani I., C

Assessing the Vulnerability of Monterey Bay Area Seniors to COVID-19

This paper assesses the vulnerability of seniors residing in the Monterey Bay Tri-County Region to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to weakened immune systems, seniors are the most at-risk members of our community to COVID-19, and have a death rate that is three times higher than the overall death rate to COVID-19. Using standard ambulance response times from each hospital throughout the area, our objective is to determine what proportion of Tri-County seniors aged 65 and over, including those who are in nursing homes, are living independently, and cannot afford health care, were within an adequate travel time to the hospital. Additionally, we want to know which county is the most underprepared for a potential COVID-19 surge among its senior population. Using ArcGIS Online and Desktop, we addressed our research question by performing drive-time analysis on all Tri-County hospitals, determining the proportion of seniors and nursing homes that were within or outside the drive-time areas. We then compared the results to the number of active COVID-19 cases in each county. Our findings indicate that Monterey County had the most seniors and nursing homes completely outside of the hospital service zones, as well as the highest number of COVID-19 cases. Additionally, Santa Cruz County had the most seniors without health insurance living outside of the service zones, a figure that seems to agree logically with the astronomical cost of living in the area. We conclude that while Monterey County is by far the most at-risk, underprepared, and in need of resources, Santa Cruz could also have a potential problem with large proportions of uninsured (and homeless) seniors who are unable to access desperately needed medical attention

KGTorrent: A dataset of python jupyter notebooks from kaggle

Computational notebooks have become the tool of choice for many data scientists and practitioners for performing analyses and disseminating results. Despite their increasing popularity, the research community cannot yet count on a large, curated dataset of computational notebooks. In this paper, we fill this gap by introducing KGTorrent, a dataset of Python Jupyter notebooks with rich metadata retrieved from Kaggle, a platform hosting data science competitions for learners and practitioners with any levels of expertise. We describe how we built KGTorrent, and provide instructions on how to use it and refresh the collection to keep it up to date. Our vision is that the research community will use KGTorrent to study how data scientists, especially practitioners, use Jupyter Notebook in the wild and identify potential shortcomings to inform the design of its future extensions

Seeking the Optimal Dimension of Local Administrative Units: A Reflection on Urban Concentration and Changes in Municipal Size

In the search for a better administrative functioning as a key dimension of economic performances, changes in municipal boundaries and the creation (or suppression) of local administrative units reflect a progressive adjustment to a spatially varying population size and density. With intense population growth, municipal size reflects the overall amount (and spatial concentration) of services and infrastructures, being functionally related with agglomeration economies, land availability for building, and specific sociodemographic attributes of local communities. Based on these premises, the intrinsic relationship between settlement expansion, population growth, and municipal size in a metropolitan region of Southern Europe (Attica, hosting the Greater Athens’ area in Central Greece) was investigated in this study over nearly one century as a contribution to a refined investigation of the (changing) organization of local administrative units under a complete metropolitan cycle from urbanization to reurbanization. Based on descriptive statistics, mapping, (parametric and nonparametric) correlation coefficients, and econometric techniques, a quantitative analysis of the relationship between population size and density and municipal area provides pivotal knowledge to policy and planning adjustments toward a more balanced spatial distribution of population and administered land among local government units. Together with a slight decrease in the average municipal size over time, the average population density per municipal unit increased systematically, with a considerable reduction in spatial heterogeneity of settlements. The observed goodness-of-fit of the linear model explaining municipal area with population density, increased significantly over time. Empirical results of our study indicate that municipal size has slowly adjusted to population density across metropolitan areas, determining an imbalanced spatial distribution of resident population and a supposedly less efficient government partition. The recent administrative reform of local authorities in Greece (the so-called ‘Kallikratis’ law) seems to consolidate–rather than rebalance this organizational structure over space, reflecting spatially polarized settlements. Such conditions represent a base for informed analysis of the spatial structure of local administrative units as a pivotal element of economic sustainability and may contribute to the debate on the optimal size of municipalities at both urban and metropolitan scales of governance

Ultra Low Momentum Neutron Catalyzed Nuclear Reactions on Metallic Hydride Surfaces

Ultra low momentum neutron catalyzed nuclear reactions in metallic hydride system surfaces are discussed. Weak interaction catalysis initially occurs when neutrons (along with neutrinos) are produced from the protons which capture ``heavy'' electrons. Surface electron masses are shifted upwards by localized condensed matter electromagnetic fields. Condensed matter quantum electrodynamic processes may also shift the densities of final states allowing an appreciable production of extremely low momentum neutrons which are thereby efficiently absorbed by nearby nuclei. No Coulomb barriers exist for the weak interaction neutron production or other resulting catalytic processes.Comment: 4 pages, ReVTeX forma

Energy harvesting from electrospun piezoelectric nanowires for structural health monitoring of a cable-stayed bridge

Wireless monitoring could greatly impact the fields of structural health assessment and infrastructure asset management, but some technological challenges pose unsolved issues toward its reliable use in continuous large-scale applications. Among the others, it is worth highlighting that power supply by means of batteries is usually implemented within wireless sensor networks, even though it causes practical concerns that heavily prevent the development of efficient monitoring systems for large structures and infrastructures. Conversely, scavenging ambient energy can alleviate or eventually eliminate the problem of electrical supply by batteries, a strategy that has emerged in recent years as a promising technological solution for bridges. Within this framework, the present work proposes to harvest ambient-induced vibrations of bridge structures using a new class of piezoelectric textiles. The considered case study is an existing cable-stayed bridge located in Italy along the high-speed road that connects Rome and Naples, for which a recent monitoring campaign has allowed to record the dynamic responses of deck and cables. In order to enhance the electric energy that can be converted from wind- and traffic-induced bridge vibrations, the energy harvester exploits a piezoelectric nanogenerator built using arrays of piezoelectric electrospun nanofibers. Particularly, several fiber arrangements are studied at the nano/micro-scale leading to different macro constitutive laws and different electric energy output. A computational study is performed to demonstrate that such nanogenerator is able to provide higher energy levels from recorded dynamic loading time histories than a standard piezoelectric energy harvester. The feasibility of this piezoelectric nanogenerator for bridge monitoring applications is finally discussed

Effects of the timolol-dorzolamide fixed combination and latanoprost on circadian diastolic ocular perfusion pressure in glaucoma.

PURPOSE. To evaluate the effect of the timolol-dorzolamide fixed combination (TDFC) and latanoprost 0.005% on 24-hour intraocular pressure (IOP), systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure, and diastolic ocular perfusion pressure (DOPP) in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). METHODS. This was an institutional, randomized clinical trial. After a 24-hour assessment without treatment, 27 previously untreated patients with POAG were randomized to 6 weeks’ treatment with twice-daily TDFC (8 AM and 8 PM) followed by once-daily latanoprost 0.005% (8 PM), or vice versa. One eye was analyzed per patient. The mean values of IOP, DBP, SBP, and DOPP (difference between DBP and IOP) were recorded at each time point, and the 24-hour data are the mean values of each patient’s measurements over the 24-hour period. The differences between the values of the first treatment period and the baseline and the second treatment period and washout were calculated and analyzed by means of an analysis of variance model that tested the effects of sequence and treatment. RESULTS. Both treatments significantly reduced 24-hour IOP (P <0.0001), but TDFC led to lower 24-hour pressure (mean ±SD: 15.4 ±1.9 vs. 16.7± 1.7 mm Hg; P=0.004). Latanoprost did not lead to any significant reduction in mean 24-hour SBP and DBP (SBP: P =0.952; DBP: P=0.831), but TDFC did (SBP and DBP: P < 0.0001). Both treatments significantly increased 24-hour DOPP (P < 0.0001), with no difference between the two medications (P=0.09). CONCLUSIONS. In previously untreated patients with POAG, TDFC, and latanoprost equally enhanced 24-hour DOPP: the former by counteracting the decrease in DBP with a substantial reduction in IOP and the latter by not affecting DBP and significantly reducing IO