Isolation and Characterization of Circulating Tumor Cells in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lung Using a Non-EpCAM-Based Capture Method.

PubMed

Bozzetti, Cecilia; Quaini, Federico; Squadrilli, Anna; Tiseo, Marcello; Frati, Caterina; Lagrasta, Costanza; Azzoni, Cinzia; Bottarelli, Lorena; Galetti, Maricla; Alama, Angela; Belletti, Silvana; Gatti, Rita; Passaro, Antonio; Gradilone, Angela; Cavazzoni, Andrea; Alfieri, Roberta; Petronini, Pier Giorgio; Bonelli, Mara; Falco, Angela; Carubbi, Cecilia; Pedrazzi, Giuseppe; Nizzoli, Rita; Naldi, Nadia; Pinto, Carmine; Ardizzoni, Andrea

2015-01-01

The exclusion of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) that have lost epithelial antigens during the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process by using Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule (EpCAM) based capture methods is still a matter of debate. In this study, cells obtained after depletion procedure from blood samples of squamous cell lung cancer (SQCLC) patients were identified based on morphology and characterized with the combination of FISH assessment and immunophenotypic profile. Five mL blood samples, collected from 55 advanced SQCLC patients, were analyzed by a non-EpCAM-based capture method. After depletion of leukocytes and erythroid cells, the negative fraction was characterized by both FISH using a fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) probe and by immunocytochemistry. Thirty healthy donors were also tested. Based on morphology (nuclear dimension ≥10 μm, shape and hypercromatic aspect) suspicious circulating cells clearly distinguishable from contaminant leukocytes were observed in 49/55 (89%) SQCLC patients. Thirty-four of the 44 (77%) samples evaluable for FGFR1 FISH showed ≥ 6 FGFR1 gene copy number on average per cell. Vimentin expression involved 43% (18/42) of pooled circulating SQCLC cells, whereas only 29% (14/48) were EpCAM positive. Confocal microscopy confirmed the localization of FGFR1 probe in suspicious circulating cells. Suspicious circulating elements were also observed in healthy donors and did not show any epithelial associated antigens. A significantly lower number of suspicious circulating cells in healthy donors compared to SQCLC patients was found. Among the heterogeneous cell population isolated by depletion procedure, the coexistence of cells with epithelial and/or mesenchymal phenotype suggests that EMT may participate to transendothelial invasion and migration of tumor cells in advanced SQCLC. The finding of cells with neither EpCAM or EMT phenotype, retrieved after non-EpCAM-based systems, underlines the presence of suspicious elements in the blood of both SQCLC patients and healthy donors. Further phenotyping and molecular analyses are necessary to fully characterize these circulating elements.

Electrokinetically driven microfluidic mixing with patchwise surface heterogeneity and AC applied electric field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Win-Jet; Yue, Cheng-Feng

2004-12-01

This paper investigates two-dimensional, time-dependent electroosmotic flows driven by an AC electric field via patchwise surface heterogeneities distributed along the microchannel walls. The time-dependent flow fields through the microchannel are simulated for various patchwise heterogeneous surface patterns using the backwards-Euler time stepping numerical method. Different heterogeneous surface patterns are found to create significantly different electrokinetic transport phenomena. It is shown that the presence of oppositely charged surface heterogeneities on the microchannel walls results in the formation of localized flow circulations within the bulk flow. These circulation regions grow and decay periodically in accordance with the applied periodic AC electric field intensity. The circulations provide an effective means of enhancing species mixing in the microchannel. A suitable design of the patchwise heterogeneous surface pattern permits the mixing channel length and the retention time required to attain a homogeneous solution to be reduced significantly.

A Method of Relating General Circulation Model Simulated Climate to the Observed Local Climate. Part I: Seasonal Statistics.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karl, Thomas R.; Wang, Wei-Chyung; Schlesinger, Michael E.; Knight, Richard W.; Portman, David

1990-10-01

Important surface observations such as the daily maximum and minimum temperature, daily precipitation, and cloud ceilings often have localized characteristics that are difficult to reproduce with the current resolution and the physical parameterizations in state-of-the-art General Circulation climate Models (GCMs). Many of the difficulties can be partially attributed to mismatches in scale, local topography. regional geography and boundary conditions between models and surface-based observations. Here, we present a method, called climatological projection by model statistics (CPMS), to relate GCM grid-point flee-atmosphere statistics, the predictors, to these important local surface observations. The method can be viewed as a generalization of the model output statistics (MOS) and perfect prog (PP) procedures used in numerical weather prediction (NWP) models. It consists of the application of three statistical methods: 1) principle component analysis (FICA), 2) canonical correlation, and 3) inflated regression analysis. The PCA reduces the redundancy of the predictors The canonical correlation is used to develop simultaneous relationships between linear combinations of the predictors, the canonical variables, and the surface-based observations. Finally, inflated regression is used to relate the important canonical variables to each of the surface-based observed variables.We demonstrate that even an early version of the Oregon State University two-level atmospheric GCM (with prescribed sea surface temperature) produces free-atmosphere statistics than can, when standardized using the model's internal means and variances (the MOS-like version of CPMS), closely approximate the observed local climate. When the model data are standardized by the observed free-atmosphere means and variances (the PP version of CPMS), however, the model does not reproduce the observed surface climate as well. Our results indicate that in the MOS-like version of CPMS the differences between the output of a ten-year GCM control run and the surface-based observations are often smaller than the differences between the observations of two ten-year periods. Such positive results suggest that GCMs may already contain important climatological information that can be used to infer the local climate.

Steroid profiling reveals widespread local regulation of glucocorticoid levels during mouse development.

PubMed

Taves, Matthew D; Plumb, Adam W; Sandkam, Benjamin A; Ma, Chunqi; Van Der Gugten, Jessica Grace; Holmes, Daniel T; Close, David A; Abraham, Ninan; Soma, Kiran K

2015-02-01

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are produced by the adrenal glands and circulate in the blood to coordinate organismal physiology. In addition, different tissues may independently regulate their local GC levels via local GC synthesis. Here, we find that in the mouse, endogenous GCs show tissue-specific developmental patterns, rather than mirroring GCs in the blood. Using solid-phase extraction, HPLC, and specific immunoassays, we quantified endogenous steroids and found that in tissues of female and male mice, (1) local GC levels can be much higher than systemic GC levels, (2) local GCs follow age-related patterns different from those of systemic GCs, and (3) local GCs have identities different from those of systemic GCs. For example, whereas corticosterone is the predominant circulating adrenal GC in mice, high concentrations of cortisol were measured in neonatal thymus, bone marrow, and heart. The presence of cortisol was confirmed with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. In addition, gene expression of steroidogenic enzymes was detected across multiple tissues, consistent with local GC production. Our results demonstrate that local GCs can differ from GCs in circulating blood. This finding suggests that steroids are widely used as local (paracrine or autocrine) signals, in addition to their classic role as systemic (endocrine) signals. Local GC regulation may even be the norm, rather than the exception, especially during development.

Reduction of circulating and selective limbic brain levels of (3α,5α)-3-hydroxy-pregnan-20-one (3α,5α-THP) following forced swim stress in C57BL/6J mice

PubMed Central

Maldonado-Devincci, Antoniette M.; Beattie, Matthew C.; Morrow, Danielle H.; McKinley, Raechel E.; Cook, Jason B.; O’Buckley, Todd K.

2014-01-01

Rationale Stress activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, and GABAergic neuroactive steroids contribute to homeostatic regulation of this circuitry. Acute forced swim stress (FSS) increases plasma, cortical, and hypothalamic (3α,5α)-3-hydroxy-pregnan-20-one (3α,5α-THP) levels in rats. However, there have not been systemic investigations of acute stress on changes in plasma and brain levels of 3α,5α-THP in mouse models. Objectives The present experiments aimed to assess circulating and local brain levels of 3α,5α-THP following acute FSS in C57BL/6J mice. Methods Mice were exposed to FSS (10 min), and 50 min later, blood and brains were collected. Circulating pregnenolone and 3α,5α-THP levels were assessed in serum. Free-floating brain sections (40 µm, four to five sections/region) were immunostained and analyzed in cortical and limbic brain structures. Results FSS decreased circulating 3α,5α-THP (−41.6± 10.4 %) and reduced 3α,5α-THP immunolabeling in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (−15.2±5.7 %), lateral amygdala (LA, −31.1±13.4 %), and nucleus accumbens (NAcc) shell (−31.9±14.6). Within the LA, vesicular glutamate transporter 1 (VGLUT1) and vesicular GABA transporter were localized in 3α,5α-THP-positively stained cells, while in the NAcc shell, only VGLUT1 was localized in 3α,5α-THP-positively stained cells, suggesting that both glutamatergic and GABAergic cells within the LA are 3α,5α-THP-positive, while in the NAcc shell, 3α,5α-THP only localizes to glutamatergic cells. Conclusions The decrease in circulating and brain levels of 3α,5α-THP may be due to alterations in the biosynthesis/ metabolism or changes in the regulation of the HPA axis following FSS. Changes in GABAergic neuroactive steroids in response to stress likely mediate functional adaptations in neuronal activity. This may provide a potential targeted therapeutic avenue to address maladaptive stress responsivity. PMID:24744202

Magnetic forces and localized resonances in electron transfer through quantum rings.

PubMed

Poniedziałek, M R; Szafran, B

2010-11-24

We study the current flow through semiconductor quantum rings. In high magnetic fields the current is usually injected into the arm of the ring preferred by classical magnetic forces. However, for narrow magnetic field intervals that appear periodically on the magnetic field scale the current is injected into the other arm of the ring. We indicate that the appearance of the anomalous-non-classical-current circulation results from Fano interference involving localized resonant states. The identification of the Fano interference is based on the comparison of the solution of the scattering problem with the results of the stabilization method. The latter employs the bound-state type calculations and allows us to extract both the energy of metastable states localized within the ring and the width of resonances by analysis of the energy spectrum of a finite size system as a function of its length. The Fano resonances involving states of anomalous current circulation become extremely narrow on both the magnetic field and energy scales. This is consistent with the orientation of the Lorentz force that tends to keep the electron within the ring and thus increases the lifetime of the electron localization within the ring. Absence of periodic Fano resonances in electron transfer probability through a quantum ring containing an elastic scatterer is also explained.

Circulation of Venusian Atmosphere at 90-110 km Based on Apparent Motions of the O2 1.27 μm Nightglow From VIRTIS-M (Venus Express) Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorinov, D. A.; Khatuntsev, I. V.; Zasova, L. V.; Turin, A. V.; Piccioni, G.

2018-03-01

The paper is devoted to the investigation of Venus mesosphere circulation at 90-110 km altitudes, where tracking of the O2(a1Δg) 1.27 μm nightglow is practically the only method of studying the circulation. The images of the nightglow were obtained by VIRTIS-M on Venus Express over the course of more than 2 years. The resulting global mean velocity vector field covers the nightside between latitudes 75°S-20°N and local time 19-5 h. The main observed mode of circulation is two opposite flows from terminators to midnight; however, the wind speed in the eastward direction from the morning side exceeds the westward (evening) by 20-30 m/s, and the streams "meet" at 22.5 ± 0.5 h. The influence of underlying topography was suggested in some cases: Above mountain regions, flows behave as if they encounter an "obstacle" and "wrap around" highlands. Instances of circular motion were discovered, encompassing areas of 1,500-4,000 km.

Interannual Variability in the Position and Strength of the East Asian Jet Stream and Its Relation to Large - scale Circulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Duo; Zhang, Yang; Wu, Qigang

2013-04-01

East Asian Jet Stream (EASJ) is charactered by obvious interannual variability in strength and position (latitude), with wide impacts on East Asian climate in all seasons. In this study, two indices are established to measure the interannual variability in intensity and position of EAJS. Possible causing factors, including both local signals and non-local large-scale circulation, are examined using NCAP-NCAR reanalysis data to investigate their relations with jet variation. Our analysis shows that the relationship between the interannual variations of EASJ and these factors depends on seasons. In the summer, both the intensity and position of EASJ are closely related to the meridional gradient of local surface temperature, but display no apparent relationship with the larg-scale circulation. In cold seasons (autumn, winter and spring), both the local factor and the large-scale circulation, i.e. the Pacific/North American teleconnection pattern (PNA), play important roles in the interannual variability of the jet intensity. The variability in the jet position, however, is more correlated to the Arctic Oscillation (AO), especially in winter. Diagnostic analysis indicates that transient eddy activity plays an important role in connecting the interannual variability of EASJ position with AO.

An experimental analysis of critical factors involved in the breakdown process of leading edge vortex flows. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Visser, Kenneth D.

1991-01-01

Experimental crosswire measurements of the flowfield above a 70 and 75 degree flat plate delta wing were performed at a Reynolds number of 250,000. Survey grids were taken normal to the platform at a series of chordwise locations for angles of attack of 20 and 30 degrees. Axial and azimuthal vorticity distributions were derived from the velocity fields. The dependence of circulation on distance from the vortex core as well as on chordwise location was examined. The effects of nondimensionalization in comparison with other experimental data was made. The circulation distribution scales with the local semispan and grows approximately linearly in the chordwise direction. For regions of the flow outside of the vortex subcore, the circulation at any chordwise station was observed to vary logarithmically with distance from the vortex axis. The circulation was also found to increase linearly with angle of incidence at a given chordwise station. A reduction in the local circulation about the vortex axis occurred at breakdown. The spanwise distribution of axial vorticity was severely altered through the breakdown region and the spanwise distribution of axial vorticity present appeared to reach a maximum immediately preceding breakdown. The local concentration of axial vorticity about the vortex axis was reduced while the magnitude of the azimuthal vorticity decreased throughout the breakdown zone. The axial vorticity components with a negative sense, found in the secondary vortex, remained unaffected by changes in wing sweep or angle of attack, in direct contrast to the positive components. The inclusion of the local wing geometry into a previously derived correlation parameter indicated that the circulation of growing leading edge vortex flows were similar at corresponding radii from the vortex axis. It was concluded that the flow over a delta wing, upstream of the breakdown regions and away from the apex and trailing edge regions, is conical. In addition, the dominating factors leading to the onset of breakdown are felt to be the local circulation of the vortex and the accompanying pressure field.

A simple, rapid and inexpensive method for localization of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus and Potato leafroll virus in plant and insect vectors.

PubMed

Ghanim, Murad; Brumin, Marina; Popovski, Smadar

2009-08-01

A simple, rapid, inexpensive method for the localization of virus transcripts in plant and insect vector tissues is reported here. The method based on fluorescent in situ hybridization using short DNA oligonucleotides complementary to an RNA segment representing a virus transcript in the infected plant or insect vector. The DNA probe harbors a fluorescent molecule at its 5' or 3' ends. The protocol: simple fixation, hybridization, minimal washing and confocal microscopy, provides a highly specific signal. The reliability of the protocol was tested by localizing two phloem-limited plant virus transcripts in infected plants and insect tissues: Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) (Begomovirus: Geminiviridae), exclusively transmitted by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) in a circulative non-propagative manner, and Potato leafroll virus (Polerovirus: Luteoviridae), similarly transmitted by the aphid Myzus persicae (Sulzer). Transcripts for both viruses were localized specifically to the phloem sieve elements of infected plants, while negative controls showed no signal. TYLCV transcripts were also localized to the digestive tract of B. tabaci, confirming TYLCV route of transmission. Compared to previous methods for localizing virus transcripts in plant and insect tissues that include complex steps for in-vitro probe preparation or antibody raising, tissue fixation, block preparation, sectioning and hybridization, the method described below provides very reliable, convincing, background-free results with much less time, effort and cost.

Interactive Exhibits Foster Partnership and Engage Diverse Learners at Their Local Libraries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LaConte, K.; Dusenbery, P.; Fitzhugh, G.; Harold, J. B.; Holland, A.

2016-12-01

Learners frequently need to access increasingly complex information to help them understand our changing world. More and more libraries are transforming themselves into places where learners not only access STEM information, but interact with professionals and undertake hands-on learning. Libraries are beginning to position themselves as part of learning ecosystems that contribute to a collective impact on the community. Traveling STEM exhibits are catalyzing these partnerships and engaging students, families, and adults in repeat visits through an accessible venue: their public library. The impact of the STAR Library Education Network's (STAR_Net) Discover Earth: A Century of Change exhibit on partnerships, the circulation of STEM resources, and the engagement of learners was studied by an external evaluation team. The STAR_Net project's summative evaluation utilized mixed methods to investigate project implementation and its outcomes. Methods included pre- and post-exhibit surveys administered to staff from each library that hosted the exhibits; interviews with staff from host libraries; patron surveys; exhibit-related circulation records; web metrics regarding the online STAR_Net community of practice; and site visits. A subset of host libraries recruited professionals, who delivered programming that connected Earth systems science, weather, climate, and conservation themes from the exhibit to local issues. Library patrons improved their knowledge about STEM topics presented in the exhibits and associated programming, and patrons viewing the exhibit reflected the demographics of their communities. In a follow-up survey, patrons reported spending an average of 60 minutes looking at the exhibit over their cumulative visits to the library. In contrast, visitors might visit a museum only once to look at a comparably-sized traveling exhibit due to barriers such as cost and distance. Exhibit host libraries reported an increase in the circulation of Earth science materials of 27% while the exhibit was at their library. The summative evaluation results, as well as tips for working with your local library, will be shared.

Large-Scale Circulation and Climate Variability. Chapter 5

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perlwitz, J.; Knutson, T.; Kossin, J. P.; LeGrande, A. N.

2017-01-01

The causes of regional climate trends cannot be understood without considering the impact of variations in large-scale atmospheric circulation and an assessment of the role of internally generated climate variability. There are contributions to regional climate trends from changes in large-scale latitudinal circulation, which is generally organized into three cells in each hemisphere-Hadley cell, Ferrell cell and Polar cell-and which determines the location of subtropical dry zones and midlatitude jet streams. These circulation cells are expected to shift poleward during warmer periods, which could result in poleward shifts in precipitation patterns, affecting natural ecosystems, agriculture, and water resources. In addition, regional climate can be strongly affected by non-local responses to recurring patterns (or modes) of variability of the atmospheric circulation or the coupled atmosphere-ocean system. These modes of variability represent preferred spatial patterns and their temporal variation. They account for gross features in variance and for teleconnections which describe climate links between geographically separated regions. Modes of variability are often described as a product of a spatial climate pattern and an associated climate index time series that are identified based on statistical methods like Principal Component Analysis (PC analysis), which is also called Empirical Orthogonal Function Analysis (EOF analysis), and cluster analysis.

48 CFR 805.205 - Special situations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Special situations. (a) A contracting officer may procure paid advertising in a daily newspaper circulated... procure paid advertising in a daily newspaper circulated in the local area or in professional journals to...

Coupling 3D groundwater modeling with CFC-based age dating to classify local groundwater circulation in an unconfined crystalline aquifer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolbe, Tamara; Marçais, Jean; Thomas, Zahra; Abbott, Benjamin W.; de Dreuzy, Jean-Raynald; Rousseau-Gueutin, Pauline; Aquilina, Luc; Labasque, Thierry; Pinay, Gilles

2016-12-01

Nitrogen pollution of freshwater and estuarine environments is one of the most urgent environmental crises. Shallow aquifers with predominantly local flow circulation are particularly vulnerable to agricultural contaminants. Water transit time and flow path are key controls on catchment nitrogen retention and removal capacity, but the relative importance of hydrogeological and topographical factors in determining these parameters is still uncertain. We used groundwater dating and numerical modeling techniques to assess transit time and flow path in an unconfined aquifer in Brittany, France. The 35.5 km2 study catchment has a crystalline basement underneath a ∼60 m thick weathered and fractured layer, and is separated into a distinct upland and lowland area by an 80 m-high butte. We used groundwater discharge and groundwater ages derived from chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) concentration to calibrate a free-surface flow model simulating groundwater flow circulation. We found that groundwater flow was highly local (mean travel distance = 350 m), substantially smaller than the typical distance between neighboring streams (∼1 km), while CFC-based ages were quite old (mean = 40 years). Sensitivity analysis revealed that groundwater travel distances were not sensitive to geological parameters (i.e. arrangement of geological layers and permeability profile) within the constraints of the CFC age data. However, circulation was sensitive to topography in the lowland area where the water table was near the land surface, and to recharge rate in the upland area where water input modulated the free surface of the aquifer. We quantified these differences with a local groundwater ratio (rGW-LOCAL), defined as the mean groundwater travel distance divided by the mean of the reference surface distances (the distance water would have to travel across the surface of the digital elevation model). Lowland, rGW-LOCAL was near 1, indicating primarily topographical controls. Upland, rGW-LOCAL was 1.6, meaning the groundwater recharge area is almost twice as large as the topographically-defined catchment for any given point. The ratio rGW-LOCAL is sensitive to recharge conditions as well as topography and it could be used to compare controls on groundwater circulation within or between catchments.

Application of meteorology-based methods to determine local and external contributions to particulate matter pollution: A case study in Venice (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Squizzato, Stefania; Masiol, Mauro

2015-10-01

The air quality is influenced by the potential effects of meteorology at meso- and synoptic scales. While local weather and mixing layer dynamics mainly drive the dispersion of sources at small scales, long-range transports affect the movements of air masses over regional, transboundary and even continental scales. Long-range transport may advect polluted air masses from hot-spots by increasing the levels of pollution at nearby or remote locations or may further raise air pollution levels where external air masses originate from other hot-spots. Therefore, the knowledge of ground-wind circulation and potential long-range transports is fundamental not only to evaluate how local or external sources may affect the air quality at a receptor site but also to quantify it. This review is focussed on establishing the relationships among PM2.5 sources, meteorological condition and air mass origin in the Po Valley, which is one of the most polluted areas in Europe. We have chosen the results from a recent study carried out in Venice (Eastern Po Valley) and have analysed them using different statistical approaches to understand the influence of external and local contribution of PM2.5 sources. External contributions were evaluated by applying Trajectory Statistical Methods (TSMs) based on back-trajectory analysis including (i) back-trajectories cluster analysis, (ii) potential source contribution function (PSCF) and (iii) concentration weighted trajectory (CWT). Furthermore, the relationships between the source contributions and ground-wind circulation patterns were investigated by using (iv) cluster analysis on wind data and (v) conditional probability function (CPF). Finally, local source contribution have been estimated by applying the Lenschow' approach. In summary, the integrated approach of different techniques has successfully identified both local and external sources of particulate matter pollution in a European hot-spot affected by the worst air quality.

Numerical simulation of terrain-induced mesoscale circulation in the Chiang Mai area, Thailand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sathitkunarat, Surachai; Wongwises, Prungchan; Pan-Aram, Rudklao; Zhang, Meigen

2008-11-01

The regional atmospheric modeling system (RAMS) was applied to Chiang Mai province, a mountainous area in Thailand, to study terrain-induced mesoscale circulations. Eight cases in wet and dry seasons under different weather conditions were analyzed to show thermal and dynamic impacts on local circulations. This is the first study of RAMS in Thailand especially investigating the effect of mountainous area on the simulated meteorological data. Analysis of model results indicates that the model can reproduce major features of local circulation and diurnal variations in temperatures. For evaluating the model performance, model results were compared with observed wind speed, wind direction, and temperature monitored at a meteorological tower. Comparison shows that the modeled values are generally in good agreement with observations and that the model captured many of the observed features.

Importation and co-circulation of multiple serotypes of dengue virus in Sarawak, Malaysia.

PubMed

Holmes, Edward C; Tio, Phaik-Hooi; Perera, David; Muhi, Jamail; Cardosa, Jane

2009-07-01

Although dengue is a common disease in South-East Asia, there is a marked absence of virological data from the Malaysian state of Sarawak located on the island of Borneo. From 1997 to 2002 we noted the co-circulation of DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4 in Sarawak. To determine the origins of these Sarawak viruses we obtained the complete E gene sequences of 21 isolates. A phylogenetic analysis revealed multiple entries of DENV-2 and DENV-4 into Sarawak, such that multiple lineages co-circulate, yet with little exportation from Sarawak. Notably, all viral isolates were most closely related to those circulating in different localities in South-East Asia. In sum, our analysis reveals a frequent traffic of DENV in South-East Asia, with Sarawak representing a local sink population.

Dynamics of Andaman Sea circulation and its role in connecting the equatorial Indian Ocean to the Bay of Bengal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chatterjee, Abhisek; Shankar, D.; McCreary, J. P.; Vinayachandran, P. N.; Mukherjee, A.

2017-04-01

Circulation in the Bay of Bengal (BoB) is driven not only by local winds, but are also strongly forced by the reflection of equatorial Kelvin waves (EKWs) from the eastern boundary of the Indian Ocean. The equatorial influence attains its peak during the monsoon-transition period when strong eastward currents force the strong EKWs along the equator. The Andaman Sea, lying between the Andaman and Nicobar island chains to its west and Indonesia, Thailand, and Myanmar to the south, east, and north, is connected to the equatorial ocean and the BoB by three primary passages, the southern (6°N), middle (10°N), and northern (15°N) channels. We use ocean circulation models, together with satellite altimeter data, to study the pathways by which equatorial signals pass through the Andaman Sea to the BoB and associated dynamical interactions in the process. The mean coastal circulation within the Andaman Sea and around the islands is primarily driven by equatorial forcing, with the local winds forcing a weak sea-level signal. On the other hand, the current forced by local winds is comparable to that forced remotely from the equator. Our results suggest that the Andaman and Nicobar Islands not only influence the circulation within the Andaman Sea, but also significantly alter the circulation in the interior bay and along the east coast of India, implying that they need to be represented accurately in numerical models of the Indian Ocean.

Elevated circulating IGF-I promotes mammary gland development and proliferation.

PubMed

Cannata, Dara; Lann, Danielle; Wu, Yingjie; Elis, Sebastien; Sun, Hui; Yakar, Shoshana; Lazzarino, Deborah A; Wood, Teresa L; Leroith, Derek

2010-12-01

Animal studies have shown that IGF-I is essential for mammary gland development. Previous studies have suggested that local IGF-I rather than circulating IGF-I is the major mediator of mammary gland development. In the present study we used the hepatic IGF-I transgenic (HIT) and IGF-I knockout/HIT (KO-HIT) mouse models to examine the effects of enhanced circulating IGF-I on mammary development in the presence and absence of local IGF-I. HIT mice express the rat IGF-I transgene under the transthyretin promoter in the liver and have elevated circulating IGF-I and normal tissue IGF-I levels. The KO-HIT mice have no tissue IGF-I and increased circulating IGF-I. Analysis of mammary gland development reveals a greater degree of complexity in HIT mice as compared to control and KO-HIT mice, which demonstrate similar degrees of mammary gland complexity. Immunohistochemical evaluation of glands of HIT mice also suggests an enhanced degree of proliferation of the mammary gland, whereas KO-HIT mice exhibit mammary gland proliferation similar to control mice. In addition, HIT mice have a higher percentage of proliferating myoepithelial and luminal cells than control mice, whereas KO-HIT mice have an equivalent percentage of proliferating myoepithelial and luminal cells as control mice. Thus, our findings show that elevated circulating IGF-I levels are sufficient to promote normal pubertal mammary epithelial development. However, HIT mice demonstrate more pronounced mammary gland development when compared to control and KO-HIT mice. This suggests that both local and endocrine IGF-I play roles in mammary gland development and that elevated circulating IGF-I accelerates mammary epithelial proliferation.

A method of calculation on the airloading of vertical axis wind turbine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azuma, A.; Kimura, S.

A new method of analyzing the aerodynamic characteristics of the Darrieus Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) by applying the local circulation method is described. The validity of this method is confirmed by analyzing the air load acting on a curved blade. The azimuthwise variation of spanwise airloading, torque, and longitudinal forces are accurately calculated for a variety of operational conditions. The results are found to be in good agreement with experimental ones obtained elsewhere. It is concluded that the present approach can calculate the aerodynamic characteristics of the VAWT with much less computational time than that used by the free vortex model.

Differences of atmospheric boundary layer characteristics between pre-monsoon and monsoon period over the Erhai Lake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Lujun; Liu, Huizhi; Du, Qun; Wang, Lei; Yang, Liu; Sun, Jihua

2018-01-01

The differences in planetary boundary layer characteristics, in particular atmospheric boundary layer height (ABLH), humidity, and local circulations in pre-monsoon and monsoon period over the Erhai Lake, were simulated by the lake-atmosphere coupled model WRF v3.7.1. No lake simulations were also conducted to investigate lake effects over complex topography. During pre-monsoon period, local circulation was fully developed under weak synoptic system. The ABLH ran up to 2300 m or so. During monsoon period, temperature difference between land and lake became smaller, resulting in weaker local circulations. The height of circulation reduced by 500 m, and ABLH ran up to 1100 m during the day. Enhanced soil moisture and low surface temperature due to monsoon rainfalls in July could be the main reason for the slightly lower ABLH over the Erhai Lake area. Specific humidity of the boundary layer increased 8.8 g kg-1 or so during monsoon period. The Erhai Lake enlarged thermal contrast between valley and mountain slope in the Dali Basin. The lake reduced air temperature by 2 3 °C during daytime and increased air temperature by nearly 2 °C in the evening. Due to its small roughness length and large thermal capacity, the Erhai Lake enlarged lake-land temperature difference and local wind speed. A cyclonic circulation was maintained by the combination of mountain breeze and land breeze in the south of the lake. The lake decreased air temperature, increased specific humidity, and reduced ABLH during daytime, whereas the opposite effect is presented at night.

Atmospheric circulation classification comparison based on wildfires in Portugal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pereira, M. G.; Trigo, R. M.

2009-04-01

Atmospheric circulation classifications are not a simple description of atmospheric states but a tool to understand and interpret the atmospheric processes and to model the relation between atmospheric circulation and surface climate and other related variables (Radan Huth et al., 2008). Classifications were initially developed with weather forecasting purposes, however with the progress in computer processing capability, new and more robust objective methods were developed and applied to large datasets prompting atmospheric circulation classification methods to one of the most important fields in synoptic and statistical climatology. Classification studies have been extensively used in climate change studies (e.g. reconstructed past climates, recent observed changes and future climates), in bioclimatological research (e.g. relating human mortality to climatic factors) and in a wide variety of synoptic climatological applications (e.g. comparison between datasets, air pollution, snow avalanches, wine quality, fish captures and forest fires). Likewise, atmospheric circulation classifications are important for the study of the role of weather in wildfire occurrence in Portugal because the daily synoptic variability is the most important driver of local weather conditions (Pereira et al., 2005). In particular, the objective classification scheme developed by Trigo and DaCamara (2000) to classify the atmospheric circulation affecting Portugal have proved to be quite useful in discriminating the occurrence and development of wildfires as well as the distribution over Portugal of surface climatic variables with impact in wildfire activity such as maximum and minimum temperature and precipitation. This work aims to present: (i) an overview the existing circulation classification for the Iberian Peninsula, and (ii) the results of a comparison study between these atmospheric circulation classifications based on its relation with wildfires and relevant meteorological variables. To achieve these objectives we consider the main classifications for Iberia developed within the framework of COST action 733 (Radan Huth et al., 2008). This European project aims to provide a wide range of atmospheric circulation classifications for Europe and sub-regions (http://www.cost733.org/) with an ambitious objective of assessing, comparing and classifying all relevant weather situations in Europe. Pereira et al. (2005) "Synoptic patterns associated with large summer forest fires in Portugal". Agricultural and Forest Meteorology,129, 11-25. Radan Huth et al. (2008) "Classifications of Atmospheric circulation patterns. Recent advances and applications". Trends and Directions in Climate Research: Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1146: 105-152. doi: 10.1196/annals.1446.019. Trigo R.M., DaCamara C. (2000) "Circulation Weather Types and their impact on the precipitation regime in Portugal". Int J of Climatology, 20, 1559-1581.

Large-Scale Atmospheric Circulation Patterns Associated with Temperature Extremes as a Basis for Model Evaluation: Methodological Overview and Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loikith, P. C.; Broccoli, A. J.; Waliser, D. E.; Lintner, B. R.; Neelin, J. D.

2015-12-01

Anomalous large-scale circulation patterns often play a key role in the occurrence of temperature extremes. For example, large-scale circulation can drive horizontal temperature advection or influence local processes that lead to extreme temperatures, such as by inhibiting moderating sea breezes, promoting downslope adiabatic warming, and affecting the development of cloud cover. Additionally, large-scale circulation can influence the shape of temperature distribution tails, with important implications for the magnitude of future changes in extremes. As a result of the prominent role these patterns play in the occurrence and character of extremes, the way in which temperature extremes change in the future will be highly influenced by if and how these patterns change. It is therefore critical to identify and understand the key patterns associated with extremes at local to regional scales in the current climate and to use this foundation as a target for climate model validation. This presentation provides an overview of recent and ongoing work aimed at developing and applying novel approaches to identifying and describing the large-scale circulation patterns associated with temperature extremes in observations and using this foundation to evaluate state-of-the-art global and regional climate models. Emphasis is given to anomalies in sea level pressure and 500 hPa geopotential height over North America using several methods to identify circulation patterns, including self-organizing maps and composite analysis. Overall, evaluation results suggest that models are able to reproduce observed patterns associated with temperature extremes with reasonable fidelity in many cases. Model skill is often highest when and where synoptic-scale processes are the dominant mechanisms for extremes, and lower where sub-grid scale processes (such as those related to topography) are important. Where model skill in reproducing these patterns is high, it can be inferred that extremes are being simulated for plausible physical reasons, boosting confidence in future projections of temperature extremes. Conversely, where model skill is identified to be lower, caution should be exercised in interpreting future projections.

Tip leakage vortex dynamics and inception

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oweis, Ghanem; Ceccio, Steven; Jessup, Stuart; Chesnakas, Christopher; Fry, David

2002-11-01

The McCormick rule for tip vortex cavitation scaling predicts that cavitation should take place in the vortex where the average core pressure deficit from the free stream is the largest along the vortex tube. The average core pressure deficit can be calculated from the vortex core size and circulation and these can be measured by LDV or hot wire, among other methods. The same rule applies to the tip vortex from a wall-bounded hydrofoil. Recent cavitation inception experiments on a ducted propeller in the NSWCCD 36 inch water tunnel combined with PIV and LDV measurements of the tip vortex flow are described. These tests reveal a disagreement between the actual inception location and that predicted by the McCormick rule. It is hypothesized that in this case the inception mechanism is related to local flow phenomena associated with local vortex unsteadiness, as opposed to the average vortex parameters (core size and circulation) used in the viscous scaling rule of McCormick. Discussion of the flow field measurements, bubble population, and the noise production from the inception events is given.

Application of Local Discretization Methods in the NASA Finite-Volume General Circulation Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yeh, Kao-San; Lin, Shian-Jiann; Rood, Richard B.

2002-01-01

We present the basic ideas of the dynamics system of the finite-volume General Circulation Model developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for climate simulations and other applications in meteorology. The dynamics of this model is designed with emphases on conservative and monotonic transport, where the property of Lagrangian conservation is used to maintain the physical consistency of the computational fluid for long-term simulations. As the model benefits from the noise-free solutions of monotonic finite-volume transport schemes, the property of Lagrangian conservation also partly compensates the accuracy of transport for the diffusion effects due to the treatment of monotonicity. By faithfully maintaining the fundamental laws of physics during the computation, this model is able to achieve sufficient accuracy for the global consistency of climate processes. Because the computing algorithms are based on local memory, this model has the advantage of efficiency in parallel computation with distributed memory. Further research is yet desirable to reduce the diffusion effects of monotonic transport for better accuracy, and to mitigate the limitation due to fast-moving gravity waves for better efficiency.

Seawater circulation in sediments driven by interactions between seabed topography and fluid density

USGS Publications Warehouse

Konikow, Leonard F.; Akhavan, M.; Langevin, C.D.; Michael, H.A.; Sawyer, A.H.

2013-01-01

Measurements of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in coastal areas often show that the saltwater discharge component is substantially greater than the freshwater discharge. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain these high saltwater discharge values, including saltwater circulation driven by wave and tidal pumping, wave and tidal setup in intertidal areas, currents over bedforms, and density gradients resulting from mixing along the freshwater-saltwater interface. In this study, a new mechanism for saltwater circulation and discharge is proposed and evaluated. The process results from interaction between bedform topography and buoyancy forces, even without flow or current over the bedform. In this mechanism, an inverted salinity (and density) profile in the presence of both a bedform on the seafloor and an upward flow of fresher groundwater from depth induces a downward flow of saline pore water under the troughs and upward flow under the adjacent crest of the bedform. The magnitude and occurrence of the mechanism were tested using numerical methods. The results indicate that this mechanism could drive seawater circulation under a limited range of conditions and contribute 20%–30% of local SGD when and where the process is operative. Bedform shape, hydraulic conductivity, hydraulic head, and salinity at depth in the porous media, aquifer thickness, effective porosity, and hydrodynamic dispersion are among the factors that control the occurrence and magnitude of the circulation of seawater by this mechanism.

Aquaporin-4 facilitator TGN-073 promotes interstitial fluid circulation within the blood-brain barrier: [17O]H2O JJVCPE MRI study.

PubMed

Huber, Vincent J; Igarashi, Hironaka; Ueki, Satoshi; Kwee, Ingrid L; Nakada, Tsutomu

2018-06-13

The blood-brain barrier (BBB), which imposes significant water permeability restriction, effectively isolates the brain from the systemic circulation. Seemingly paradoxical, the abundance of aquaporin-4 (AQP-4) on the inside of the BBB strongly indicates the presence of unique water dynamics essential for brain function. On the basis of the highly specific localization of AQP-4, namely, astrocyte end feet at the glia limitans externa and pericapillary Virchow-Robin space, we hypothesized that the AQP-4 system serves as an interstitial fluid circulator, moving interstitial fluid from the glia limitans externa to pericapillary Virchow-Robin space to ensure proper glymphatic flow draining into the cerebrospinal fluid. The hypothesis was tested directly using the AQP-4 facilitator TGN-073 developed in our laboratory, and [O]H2O JJ vicinal coupling proton exchange MRI, a method capable of tracing water molecules delivered into the blood circulation. The results unambiguously showed that facilitation of AQP-4 by TGN-073 increased turnover of interstitial fluid through the system, resulting in a significant reduction in [O]H2O contents of cortex with normal flux into the cerebrospinal fluid. The study further suggested that in addition to providing the necessary water for proper glymphatic flow, the AQP-4 system produces a water gradient within the interstitial space promoting circulation of interstitial fluid within the BBB.

Surface wave resonance and chirality in a tubular cavity with metasurface design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Yuzhou; Fang, Yangfu; Wang, Lu; Tang, Shiwei; Sun, Shulin; Liu, Zhaowei; Mei, Yongfeng

2018-06-01

Optical microcavities with whispering-gallery modes (WGMs) have been indispensable in both photonic researches and applications. Besides, metasurfaces, have attracted much attention recently due to their strong abilities to manipulate electromagnetic waves. Here, combining these two optical elements together, we show a tubular cavity can convert input propagating cylindrical waves into directed localized surface waves (SWs), enabling the circulating like WGMs along the wall surface of the designed tubular cavity. Finite element method (FEM) simulations demonstrate that such near-field WGM shows both large chirality and high local field. This work may stimulate interesting potential applications in e.g. directional emission, sensing, and lasing.

Numerical simulation and prediction of coastal ocean circulation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, P.

1992-01-01

Numerical simulation and prediction of coastal ocean circulation have been conducted in three cases. 1. A process-oriented modeling study is conducted to study the interaction of a western boundary current (WBC) with coastal water, and its responses to upstream topographic irregularities. It is hypothesized that the interaction of propagating WBC frontal waves and topographic Rossby waves are responsible for upstream variability. 2. A simulation of meanders and eddies in the Norwegian Coastal Current (NCC) for February and March of 1988 is conducted with a newly developed nested dynamic interactive model. The model employs a coarse-grid, large domain to account formore » non-local forcing and a fine-grid nested domain to resolve meanders and eddies. The model is forced by wind stresses, heat fluxes and atmospheric pressure corresponding Feb/March of 1988, and accounts for river/fjord discharges, open ocean inflow and outflow, and M[sub 2] tides. The simulation reproduced fairly well the observed circulation, tides, and salinity features in the North Sea, Norwegian Trench and NCC region in the large domain and fairly realistic meanders and eddies in the NCC in the nested region. 3. A methodology for practical coastal ocean hindcast/forecast is developed, taking advantage of the disparate time scales of various forcing and considering wind to be the dominant factor in affecting density fluctuation in the time scale of 1 to 10 days. The density field obtained from a prognostic simulation is analyzed by the empirical orthogonal function method (EOF), and correlated with the wind; these information are then used to drive a circulation model which excludes the density calculation. The method is applied to hindcast the circulation in the New York Bight for spring and summer season of 1988. The hindcast fields compare favorably with the results obtained from the prognostic circulation model.« less

[The sequential use of local vacuum magnetotherapy and papaverine electrophoresis with sinusoidal modulated currents in impotence].

PubMed

Karpukhin, I V; Bogomol'nyĭ, V A

1997-01-01

105 patients with chronic nonspecific prostatitis were examined and treated with papaverin electrophoresis using sinusoidal modulated currents (SMC) and local vacuum magnetotherapy (LVMT). Papaverin SMC electrophoresis and LVMT stimulated cavernous circulation. The highest stimulation was achieved at successive use of LVMT and the electrophoresis. LVMT followed by the electrophoresis maintained good cavernous circulation for 5-6 hours after the procedure in the course of which several spontaneous erections were observed.

Prostate Cancer Detection by Molecular Urinalysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-04-01

proteins.13 We did not specifically assess whether the urinary endoglin we detected was a result of circulating and filtered endoglin or a result of...a marker of pan-endothelial damage and angiogenesis, it is unlikely that circulating endoglin levels would be significantly affected by localized... circulating endoglin is 33 15 increased in metastatic disease states.8,10, 11 Presumably, the angiogenic cascade necessary for metastasis is

Regional Myocardial Blood Flow*

PubMed Central

Sullivan, Jay M.; Taylor, Warren J.; Elliott, William C.; Gorlin, Richard

1967-01-01

A method is described which measures the local effectiveness of the myocardial circulation, expressed as a clearance constant. Uniform clearance constants have been demonstrated in the normal canine and human myocardium. A distinct difference in clearance constants has been demonstrated between the normal canine myocardium and areas of naturally occurring disease. Heterogeneous clearance constants have been found in a majority of human subjects with coronary artery disease—the lowest rates being noted in areas of fibrous aneurysm. PMID:6036537

Microsphere-Based Rapamycin Delivery, Systemic Versus Local Administration in a Rat Model of Renal Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury.

PubMed

Zandstra, Jurjen; van Beuge, Marike M; Zuidema, Johan; Petersen, Arjen H; Staal, Mark; Duque, Luisa F; Rodriguez, Sergio; Lathuile, Audrey A R; Veldhuis, Gert J; Steendam, Rob; Bank, Ruud A; Popa, Eliane R

2015-10-01

The increasing prevalence and treatment costs of kidney diseases call for innovative therapeutic strategies that prevent disease progression at an early stage. We studied a novel method of subcapsular injection of monodisperse microspheres, to use as a local delivery system of drugs to the kidney. We generated placebo- and rapamycin monodisperse microspheres to investigate subcapsular delivery of drugs. Using a rat model of acute kidney injury, subcapsular injection of placebo and rapamycin monodisperse microspheres (monospheres) was compared to subcutaneous injection, mimicking systemic administration. We did not find any adverse effects related to the delivery method. Irrespective of the injection site, a similar low dose of rapamycin was present in the circulation. However, only local intrarenal delivery of rapamycin from monospheres led to decreased macrophage infiltration and a significantly lower amount of myofibroblasts in the kidney, where systemic administration did not. Local delivery of rapamycin did cause a transient increase in the deposition of collagen I, but not of collagen III. We conclude that therapeutic effects can be increased when rapamycin is delivered subcapsularly by monospheres, which, combined with low systemic concentrations, may lead to an effective intrarenal delivery method.

Long-term trends in patron satisfaction of DC Circulator.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-10-01

The DC Circulator is a local transit system designed to facilitate travel to and within the central business area in the District of Columbia. Since its inception in 2005, the Downtown DC Business Improvement District (DCBID) and the District Departm...

Encoders for block-circulant LDPC codes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Divsalar, Dariush (Inventor); Abbasfar, Aliazam (Inventor); Jones, Christopher R. (Inventor); Dolinar, Samuel J. (Inventor); Thorpe, Jeremy C. (Inventor); Andrews, Kenneth S. (Inventor); Yao, Kung (Inventor)

2009-01-01

Methods and apparatus to encode message input symbols in accordance with an accumulate-repeat-accumulate code with repetition three or four are disclosed. Block circulant matrices are used. A first method and apparatus make use of the block-circulant structure of the parity check matrix. A second method and apparatus use block-circulant generator matrices.

Intrinsic Cholinergic Mechanisms Regulating Cerebral Blood Flow as a Target for Organophosphate Action

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-10-01

autoregulation, render the cerebral circulation dependent upon systemic circulation exposing brain to ischernic damage or edema in shock or stress...Thus, sharp reductions of arterial pressure, as might occur in hemorrhagic or traumatic shock, will render the cerebral circulation vulnerable to...autoregulated range, rendering local areas of the brain vulnerable to cerebral edema and breakdown of the blood brain barrier. -2- 8. Cerebral blood

Fluorescent porphyrin with an increased uptake in peripheral blood cell subpopulations from colon cancer patients.

PubMed

Constantin, Carolina; Neagu, Monica

2015-01-01

The intrinsic fluorescence of synthetic or natural porphyrins is regarded as an attractive characteristic exploited for assisting early cancer diagnosis and/or tumor localization. Single tumor cells circulating in the blood stream can be considered a major step in depicting dissemination of primary tumors, an event of clinical relevance for prognosis, staging or therapy monitoring of cancer. The third leading cause of cancer death in men is colorectal cancer and the hematogenous spreading of primary tumor cells is one of the main events in metastasis of this type of cancer. Hidden in the myriad of circulating blood cells, tumor cells need both a sensitive and affordable detection technique. 5- (3-methoxy)-4-methoxycarbonylphenyl)-10, 15, 20-tris-(4- methoxycarbonylphenyl) - 21, 23-H porphyne is a synthetic porphyrin with a noticeable preference of accumulation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from cancer patients as assessed by flow cytometry analysis. In addition, we found distinct accumulation of porphyrin depending on cancer type (cutaneous melanoma versus colorectal cancer). These data lead to the possibility of identifying circulating cells based on preferential accumulation of this new porphyrin in circulating tumor cells because, even accumulated in low percentage of cells the registered intensity of fluorescence was high. Selecting the genetic markers for circulating tumor cells is an option, but high costs and high level of know-how can be somewhat a hurdle for a rapid evaluation. Thus our approach with a new porphyrin can be developed in an accurate and innovative fast tracking method for circulating cancer cells, at least in colorectal cancer patients.

Nearshore circulation on a sea breeze dominated beach during intense wind events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torres-Freyermuth, Alec; Puleo, Jack A.; DiCosmo, Nick; Allende-Arandía, Ma. Eugenia; Chardón-Maldonado, Patricia; López, José; Figueroa-Espinoza, Bernardo; de Alegria-Arzaburu, Amaia Ruiz; Figlus, Jens; Roberts Briggs, Tiffany M.; de la Roza, Jacobo; Candela, Julio

2017-12-01

A field experiment was conducted on the northern Yucatan coast from April 1 to April 12, 2014 to investigate the role of intense wind events on coastal circulation from the inner shelf to the swash zone. The study area is characterized by a micro-tidal environment, low-energy wave conditions, and a wide and shallow continental shelf. Furthermore, easterly trade winds, local breezes, and synoptic-scale events, associated with the passage of cold-fronts known as Nortes, are ubiquitous in this region. Currents were measured concurrently at different cross-shore locations during both local and synoptic-scale intense wind events to investigate the influence of different forcing mechanisms (i.e., large-scale currents, winds, tides, and waves) on the nearshore circulation. Field observations revealed that nearshore circulation across the shelf is predominantly alongshore-directed (westward) during intense winds. However, the mechanisms responsible for driving instantaneous spatial and temporal current variability depend on the weather conditions and the across-shelf location. During local strong sea breeze events (W > 10 m s-1 from the NE) occurring during spring tide, westward circulation is controlled by the tides, wind, and waves at the inner-shelf, shallow waters, and inside the surf/swash zone, respectively. The nearshore circulation is relaxed during intense land breeze events (W ≈ 9 m s-1 from the SE) associated with the low atmospheric pressure system that preceded a Norte event. During the Norte event (Wmax≈ 15 m s-1 from the NNW), westward circulation dominated outside the surf zone and was correlated to the Yucatan Current, whereas wave breaking forces eastward currents inside the surf/swash zone. The latter finding implies the existence of large alongshore velocity shear at the offshore edge of the surf zone during the Norte event, which enhances mixing between the surf zone and the inner shelf. These findings suggest that both sea breezes and Nortes play an important role in sediment and pollutant transport along/across the nearshore of the Yucatan shelf.

Transient electroosmotic flow induced by AC electric field in micro-channel with patchwise surface heterogeneities.

PubMed

Luo, Win-Jet

2006-03-15

This paper investigates two-dimensional, time-dependent electroosmotic flow driven by an AC electric field via patchwise surface heterogeneities distributed along the micro-channel walls. The time-dependent flow fields through the micro-channel are simulated for various patchwise heterogeneous surface patterns using the backwards-Euler time stepping numerical method. Different heterogeneous surface patterns are found to create significantly different electrokinetic transport phenomena. The transient behavior characteristics of the generated electroosmotic flow are then discussed in terms of the influence of the patchwise surface heterogeneities, the direction of the applied AC electric field, and the velocity of the bulk flow. It is shown that the presence of oppositely charged surface heterogeneities on the micro-channel walls results in the formation of localized flow circulations within the bulk flow. These circulation regions grow and decay periodically in phase with the applied periodic AC electric field intensity. The location and rotational direction of the induced circulations are determined by the directions of the bulk flow velocity and the applied electric field.

Studies on the liver sequestration of lymphocytes bearing membrane-associated galactose-terminal glycoconjugates: reversal with agents that effectively compete for the asialoglycoprotein receptor.

PubMed

Samlowski, W E; Spangrude, G J; Daynes, R A

1984-10-15

The removal of "effete" glycoproteins from the circulation represents a proposed physiologic role for the hepatocyte asialoglycoprotein receptor. Our experiments support the hypothesis that this receptor may also be directly involved in the removal from the circulation of cells bearing asialoglycoconjugates. We report that the enhanced liver localization of neuraminidase-treated lymphocytes can be competitively inhibited by the coinjection of asialofetuin (ASF). Fetuin itself was without effect. Competitive inhibition of the liver receptor allowed normal localization to lymphoid tissues of the enzyme-treated lymphocytes, a condition which persisted as long as free ASF was present in the circulation. Our studies support the concept that cell surface carbohydrates play an important role in the tissue distribution of circulating lymphocytes. The process of thymocyte maturation, bone marrow transplantation, and the adoptive immunotherapy with continuous T-cell lines represent conditions where recirculation potential may be influenced by the presence of galactose terminal glycoconjugates.

Deformation structure analysis of material at fatigue on the basis of the vector field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kibitkin, Vladimir V.; Solodushkin, Andrey I.; Pleshanov, Vasily S.

2017-12-01

In the paper, spatial distributions of deformation, circulation, and shear amplitudes and shear angles are obtained from the displacement vector field measured by the DIC technique. This vector field and its characteristics of shears and vortices are given as an example of such approach. The basic formulae are also given. The experiment shows that honeycomb deformation structures can arise in the center of a macrovortex at developed plastic flow. The spatial distribution of local circulation and shears is discovered, which coincides with the deformation structure but their amplitudes are different. The analysis proves that the spatial distribution of shear angles is a result of maximum tangential and normal stresses. The anticlockwise circulation of most local vortices obeys the normal Gaussian law in the area of interest.

On the Vertical Distribution of Local and Remote Sources of Water for Precipitation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bosilovich, Michael G.

2001-01-01

The vertical distribution of local and remote sources of water for precipitation and total column water over the United States are evaluated in a general circulation model simulation. The Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) general circulation model (GCM) includes passive constituent tracers to determine the geographical sources of the water in the column. Results show that the local percentage of precipitable water and local percentage of precipitation can be very different. The transport of water vapor from remote oceanic sources at mid and upper levels is important to the total water in the column over the central United States, while the access of locally evaporated water in convective precipitation processes is important to the local precipitation ratio. This result resembles the conceptual formulation of the convective parameterization. However, the formulations of simple models of precipitation recycling include the assumption that the ratio of the local water in the column is equal to the ratio of the local precipitation. The present results demonstrate the uncertainty in that assumption, as locally evaporated water is more concentrated near the surface.

Flow convergence caused by a salinity minimum in a tidal channel

USGS Publications Warehouse

Warner, John C.; Schoellhamer, David H.; Burau, Jon R.; Schladow, S. Geoffrey

2006-01-01

Residence times of dissolved substances and sedimentation rates in tidal channels are affected by residual (tidally averaged) circulation patterns. One influence on these circulation patterns is the longitudinal density gradient. In most estuaries the longitudinal density gradient typically maintains a constant direction. However, a junction of tidal channels can create a local reversal (change in sign) of the density gradient. This can occur due to a difference in the phase of tidal currents in each channel. In San Francisco Bay, the phasing of the currents at the junction of Mare Island Strait and Carquinez Strait produces a local salinity minimum in Mare Island Strait. At the location of a local salinity minimum the longitudinal density gradient reverses direction. This paper presents four numerical models that were used to investigate the circulation caused by the salinity minimum: (1) A simple one-dimensional (1D) finite difference model demonstrates that a local salinity minimum is advected into Mare Island Strait from the junction with Carquinez Strait during flood tide. (2) A three-dimensional (3D) hydrodynamic finite element model is used to compute the tidally averaged circulation in a channel that contains a salinity minimum (a change in the sign of the longitudinal density gradient) and compares that to a channel that contains a longitudinal density gradient in a constant direction. The tidally averaged circulation produced by the salinity minimum is characterized by converging flow at the bed and diverging flow at the surface, whereas the circulation produced by the constant direction gradient is characterized by converging flow at the bed and downstream surface currents. These velocity fields are used to drive both a particle tracking and a sediment transport model. (3) A particle tracking model demonstrates a 30 percent increase in the residence time of neutrally buoyant particles transported through the salinity minimum, as compared to transport through a constant direction density gradient. (4) A sediment transport model demonstrates increased deposition at the near-bed null point of the salinity minimum, as compared to the constant direction gradient null point. These results are corroborated by historically noted large sedimentation rates and a local maximum of selenium accumulation in clams at the null point in Mare Island Strait.

Aquaporin-4 facilitator TGN-073 promotes interstitial fluid circulation within the blood–brain barrier: [17O]H2O JJVCPE MRI study

PubMed Central

Huber, Vincent J.; Igarashi, Hironaka; Ueki, Satoshi; Kwee, Ingrid L.

2018-01-01

The blood–brain barrier (BBB), which imposes significant water permeability restriction, effectively isolates the brain from the systemic circulation. Seemingly paradoxical, the abundance of aquaporin-4 (AQP-4) on the inside of the BBB strongly indicates the presence of unique water dynamics essential for brain function. On the basis of the highly specific localization of AQP-4, namely, astrocyte end feet at the glia limitans externa and pericapillary Virchow–Robin space, we hypothesized that the AQP-4 system serves as an interstitial fluid circulator, moving interstitial fluid from the glia limitans externa to pericapillary Virchow–Robin space to ensure proper glymphatic flow draining into the cerebrospinal fluid. The hypothesis was tested directly using the AQP-4 facilitator TGN-073 developed in our laboratory, and [17O]H2O JJ vicinal coupling proton exchange MRI, a method capable of tracing water molecules delivered into the blood circulation. The results unambiguously showed that facilitation of AQP-4 by TGN-073 increased turnover of interstitial fluid through the system, resulting in a significant reduction in [17O]H2O contents of cortex with normal flux into the cerebrospinal fluid. The study further suggested that in addition to providing the necessary water for proper glymphatic flow, the AQP-4 system produces a water gradient within the interstitial space promoting circulation of interstitial fluid within the BBB. PMID:29481527

40 CFR 1502.19 - Circulation of the environmental impact statement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Circulation of the environmental impact statement. 1502.19 Section 1502.19 Protection of Environment COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY... environmental impact involved and any appropriate Federal, State or local agency authorized to develop and...

40 CFR 1502.19 - Circulation of the environmental impact statement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 33 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Circulation of the environmental impact statement. 1502.19 Section 1502.19 Protection of Environment COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY... environmental impact involved and any appropriate Federal, State or local agency authorized to develop and...

Optimized circulation and weather type classifications relating large-scale atmospheric conditions to local PM10 concentrations in Bavaria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weitnauer, C.; Beck, C.; Jacobeit, J.

2013-12-01

In the last decades the critical increase of the emission of air pollutants like nitrogen dioxide, sulfur oxides and particulate matter especially in urban areas has become a problem for the environment as well as human health. Several studies confirm a risk of high concentration episodes of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter < 10 μm (PM10) for the respiratory tract or cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore it is known that local meteorological and large scale atmospheric conditions are important influencing factors on local PM10 concentrations. With climate changing rapidly, these connections need to be better understood in order to provide estimates of climate change related consequences for air quality management purposes. For quantifying the link between large-scale atmospheric conditions and local PM10 concentrations circulation- and weather type classifications are used in a number of studies by using different statistical approaches. Thus far only few systematic attempts have been made to modify consisting or to develop new weather- and circulation type classifications in order to improve their ability to resolve local PM10 concentrations. In this contribution existing weather- and circulation type classifications, performed on daily 2.5 x 2.5 gridded parameters of the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data set, are optimized with regard to their discriminative power for local PM10 concentrations at 49 Bavarian measurement sites for the period 1980 to 2011. Most of the PM10 stations are situated in urban areas covering urban background, traffic and industry related pollution regimes. The range of regimes is extended by a few rural background stations. To characterize the correspondence between the PM10 measurements of the different stations by spatial patterns, a regionalization by an s-mode principal component analysis is realized on the high-pass filtered data. The optimization of the circulation- and weather types is implemented using two representative classification approaches, a k-means cluster analysis and an objective version of the Grosswetter types. They have been run with varying spatial and temporal settings as well as modified numbers of classes. As an evaluation metric for their performance several skill scores are used. Taking into account the outcome further attempts towards the optimization of circulation type classifications are made. These are varying meteorological input parameters (e.g. geopotential height, zonal and meridional wind, specific humidity, temperature) on several pressure levels (1000, 850 and 500 hPa) and combinations of these variables. All classification variants are again evaluated. Based on these analyses it is further intended to develop robust downscaling models for estimating possible future - climate change induced - variations of local PM10 concentrations in Bavaria from scenario runs of global CMIP5 climate models.

Automated Bilingual Circulation System Using PC Local Area Networks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Iskanderani, A. I.; Anwar, M. A.

1992-01-01

Describes a personal computer and LAN-based automated circulation system capable of handling both Arabic and Latin characters that was developed for use at King Abdullaziz University (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia). Outlines system requirements, system structure, hardware needs, and individual functional modules of the system. Numerous examples and flow…

A neural network to retrieve the mesoscale instantaneous latent heat flux over oceans from SSM/I observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bourras, D.; Eymard, L.; Liu, W. T.

2000-01-01

The turbulent latent and sensible heat fluxes are necessary to study heat budget of the upper ocean or initialize ocean general circulation models. In order to retrieve the latent heat flux from satellite observations authors mostly use a bulk approximation of the flux whose parameters are derived from different instrument. In this paper, an approach based on artificial neural networks is proposed and compared to the bulk method on a global data set and 3 local data sets.

48 CFR 805.205 - Special situations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... in the local area to publicize a proposed procurement of architectural and engineering (A/E) services... procure paid advertising in a daily newspaper circulated in the local area or in professional journals to...

48 CFR 805.205 - Special situations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... in the local area to publicize a proposed procurement of architectural and engineering (A/E) services... procure paid advertising in a daily newspaper circulated in the local area or in professional journals to...

48 CFR 805.205 - Special situations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... in the local area to publicize a proposed procurement of architectural and engineering (A/E) services... procure paid advertising in a daily newspaper circulated in the local area or in professional journals to...

48 CFR 805.205 - Special situations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... in the local area to publicize a proposed procurement of architectural and engineering (A/E) services... procure paid advertising in a daily newspaper circulated in the local area or in professional journals to...

Relationships between Circulating and Intraprostatic Sex Steroid Hormone Concentrations.

PubMed

Cook, Michael B; Stanczyk, Frank Z; Wood, Shannon N; Pfeiffer, Ruth M; Hafi, Muhannad; Veneroso, Carmela C; Lynch, Barlow; Falk, Roni T; Zhou, Cindy Ke; Niwa, Shelley; Emanuel, Eric; Gao, Yu-Tang; Hemstreet, George P; Zolfghari, Ladan; Carroll, Peter R; Manyak, Michael J; Sesterhann, Isabell A; Levine, Paul H; Hsing, Ann W

2017-11-01

Background: Sex hormones have been implicated in prostate carcinogenesis, yet epidemiologic studies have not provided substantiating evidence. We tested the hypothesis that circulating concentrations of sex steroid hormones reflect intraprostatic concentrations using serum and adjacent microscopically verified benign prostate tissue from prostate cancer cases. Methods: Incident localized prostate cancer cases scheduled for surgery were invited to participate. Consented participants completed surveys, and provided resected tissues and blood. Histologic assessment of the ends of fresh frozen tissue confirmed adjacent microscopically verified benign pathology. Sex steroid hormones in sera and tissues were extracted, chromatographically separated, and then quantitated by radioimmunoassays. Linear regression was used to account for variations in intraprostatic hormone concentrations by age, body mass index, race, and study site, and subsequently to assess relationships with serum hormone concentrations. Gleason score (from adjacent tumor tissue), race, and age were assessed as potential effect modifiers. Results: Circulating sex steroid hormone concentrations had low-to-moderate correlations with, and explained small proportions of variations in, intraprostatic sex steroid hormone concentrations. Androstane-3α,17β-diol glucuronide (3α-diol G) explained the highest variance of tissue concentrations of 3α-diol G (linear regression r 2 = 0.21), followed by serum testosterone and tissue dihydrotestosterone ( r 2 = 0.10), and then serum estrone and tissue estrone ( r 2 = 0.09). There was no effect modification by Gleason score, race, or age. Conclusions: Circulating concentrations of sex steroid hormones are poor surrogate measures of the intraprostatic hormonal milieu. Impact: The high exposure misclassification provided by circulating sex steroid hormone concentrations for intraprostatic levels may partly explain the lack of any consistent association of circulating hormones with prostate cancer risk. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(11); 1660-6. ©2017 AACR . ©2017 American Association for Cancer Research.

Circulating Magnetic Microbubbles for Localized Real-Time Control of Drug Delivery by Ultrasonography-Guided Magnetic Targeting and Ultrasound

PubMed Central

Chertok, Beata; Langer, Robert

2018-01-01

Image-guided and target-selective modulation of drug delivery by external physical triggers at the site of pathology has the potential to enable tailored control of drug targeting. Magnetic microbubbles that are responsive to magnetic and acoustic modulation and visible to ultrasonography have been proposed as a means to realize this drug targeting strategy. To comply with this strategy in vivo, magnetic microbubbles must circulate systemically and evade deposition in pulmonary capillaries, while also preserving magnetic and acoustic activities in circulation over time. Unfortunately, challenges in fabricating magnetic microbubbles with such characteristics have limited progress in this field. In this report, we develop magnetic microbubbles (MagMB) that display strong magnetic and acoustic activities, while also preserving the ability to circulate systemically and evade pulmonary entrapment. Methods: We systematically evaluated the characteristics of MagMB including their pharmacokinetics, biodistribution, visibility to ultrasonography and amenability to magneto-acoustic modulation in tumor-bearing mice. We further assessed the applicability of MagMB for ultrasonography-guided control of drug targeting. Results: Following intravenous injection, MagMB exhibited a 17- to 90-fold lower pulmonary entrapment compared to previously reported magnetic microbubbles and mimicked circulation persistence of the clinically utilized Definity microbubbles (>10 min). In addition, MagMB could be accumulated in tumor vasculature by magnetic targeting, monitored by ultrasonography and collapsed by focused ultrasound on demand to activate drug deposition at the target. Furthermore, drug delivery to target tumors could be enhanced by adjusting the magneto-acoustic modulation based on ultrasonographic monitoring of MagMB in real-time. Conclusions: Circulating MagMB in conjunction with ultrasonography-guided magneto-acoustic modulation may provide a strategy for tailored minimally-invasive control over drug delivery to target tissues. PMID:29290812

Local persistence and global dissemination play a significant role in the circulation of influenza B viruses in Leyte Island, Philippines.

PubMed

Furuse, Yuki; Odagiri, Takashi; Tamaki, Raita; Kamigaki, Taro; Otomaru, Hirono; Opinion, Jamie; Santo, Arlene; Dolina-Lacaba, Donna; Daya, Edgard; Okamoto, Michiko; Saito-Obata, Mariko; Inobaya, Marianette; Tan, Alvin; Tallo, Veronica; Lupisan, Socorro; Suzuki, Akira; Oshitani, Hitoshi

2016-05-01

The local and global transmission dynamics of influenza B virus is not completely understood mainly because of limited epidemiological and sequence data for influenza B virus. Here we report epidemiological and molecular characteristics of influenza B viruses from 2010 to 2013 in Leyte Island, Philippines. Phylogenetic analyses showed global dissemination of the virus among both neighboring and distant areas. The analyses also suggest that southeast Asia is not a distributor of influenza B virus and can introduce the virus from other areas. Furthermore, we found evidence on the local persistence of the virus over years in the Philippines. Taken together, both local persistence and global dissemination play a significant role in the circulation of influenza B virus. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Numerical study of the effects of local atmospheric circulations on a pollution event over Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, China.

PubMed

Miao, Yucong; Liu, Shuhua; Zheng, Yijia; Wang, Shu; Chen, Bicheng; Zheng, Hui; Zhao, Jingchuan

2015-04-01

Currently, the Chinese central government is considering plans to build a trilateral economic sphere in the Bohai Bay area, including Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei (BTH), where haze pollution frequently occurs. To achieve sustainable development, it is necessary to understand the physical mechanism of the haze pollution there. Therefore, the pollutant transport mechanisms of a haze event over the BTH region from 23 to 24 September 2011 were studied using the Weather Research and Forecasting model and the FLEXible-PARTicle dispersion model to understand the effects of the local atmospheric circulations and atmospheric boundary layer structure. Results suggested that the penetration by sea-breeze could strengthen the vertical dispersion by lifting up the planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) and carry the local pollutants to the downstream areas; in the early night, two elevated pollution layers (EPLs) may be generated over the mountain areas: the pollutants in the upper EPL at the altitude of 2-2.5 km were favored to disperse by long-range transport, while the lower EPL at the altitude of 1 km may serve as a reservoir, and the pollutants there could be transported downward and contribute to the surface air pollution. The intensity of the sea-land and mountain-valley breeze circulations played an important role in the vertical transport and distribution of pollutants. It was also found that the diurnal evolution of the PBLH is important for the vertical dispersion of the pollutants, which is strongly affected by the local atmospheric circulations and the distribution of urban areas. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Regional climates in the GISS global circulation model - Synoptic-scale circulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hewitson, B.; Crane, R. G.

1992-01-01

A major weakness of current general circulation models (GCMs) is their perceived inability to predict reliably the regional consequences of a global-scale change, and it is these regional-scale predictions that are necessary for studies of human-environmental response. For large areas of the extratropics, the local climate is controlled by the synoptic-scale atmospheric circulation, and it is the purpose of this paper to evaluate the synoptic-scale circulation of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) GCM. A methodology for validating the daily synoptic circulation using Principal Component Analysis is described, and the methodology is then applied to the GCM simulation of sea level pressure over the continental United States (excluding Alaska). The analysis demonstrates that the GISS 4 x 5 deg GCM Model II effectively simulates the synoptic-scale atmospheric circulation over the United States. The modes of variance describing the atmospheric circulation of the model are comparable to those found in the observed data, and these modes explain similar amounts of variance in their respective datasets. The temporal behavior of these circulation modes in the synoptic time frame are also comparable.

Regional and local background ozone in Houston during Texas Air Quality Study 2006

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Langford, A. O.; Senff, C. J.; Banta, R. M.; Hardesty, R. M.; Alvarez, R. J.; Sandberg, Scott P.; Darby, Lisa S.

2009-04-01

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is used to isolate the common modes of behavior in the daily maximum 8-h average ozone mixing ratios measured at 30 Continuous Ambient Monitoring Stations in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria area during the Second Texas Air Quality Study field intensive (1 August to 15 October 2006). Three principal components suffice to explain 93% of the total variance. Nearly 84% is explained by the first component, which is attributed to changes in the "regional background" determined primarily by the large-scale winds. The second component (6%) is attributed to changes in the "local background," that is, ozone photochemically produced in the Houston area and spatially and temporally averaged by local circulations. Finally, the third component (3.5%) is attributed to short-lived plumes containing high ozone originating from industrial areas along Galveston Bay and the Houston Ship Channel. Regional background ozone concentrations derived using the first component compare well with mean ozone concentrations measured above the Gulf of Mexico by the tunable profiler for aerosols and ozone lidar aboard the NOAA Twin Otter. The PCA regional background values also agree well with background values derived using the lowest daily 8-h maximum method of Nielsen-Gammon et al. (2005), provided the Galveston Airport data (C34) are omitted from that analysis. The differences found when Galveston is included are caused by the sea breeze, which depresses ozone at Galveston relative to sites further inland. PCA removes the effects of this and other local circulations to obtain a regional background value representative of the greater Houston area.

Large Scale Processes and Extreme Floods in Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ribeiro Lima, C. H.; AghaKouchak, A.; Lall, U.

2016-12-01

Persistent large scale anomalies in the atmospheric circulation and ocean state have been associated with heavy rainfall and extreme floods in water basins of different sizes across the world. Such studies have emerged in the last years as a new tool to improve the traditional, stationary based approach in flood frequency analysis and flood prediction. Here we seek to advance previous studies by evaluating the dominance of large scale processes (e.g. atmospheric rivers/moisture transport) over local processes (e.g. local convection) in producing floods. We consider flood-prone regions in Brazil as case studies and the role of large scale climate processes in generating extreme floods in such regions is explored by means of observed streamflow, reanalysis data and machine learning methods. The dynamics of the large scale atmospheric circulation in the days prior to the flood events are evaluated based on the vertically integrated moisture flux and its divergence field, which are interpreted in a low-dimensional space as obtained by machine learning techniques, particularly supervised kernel principal component analysis. In such reduced dimensional space, clusters are obtained in order to better understand the role of regional moisture recycling or teleconnected moisture in producing floods of a given magnitude. The convective available potential energy (CAPE) is also used as a measure of local convection activities. We investigate for individual sites the exceedance probability in which large scale atmospheric fluxes dominate the flood process. Finally, we analyze regional patterns of floods and how the scaling law of floods with drainage area responds to changes in the climate forcing mechanisms (e.g. local vs large scale).

Characterization of Choline Transporters in the Human Placenta over Gestation

PubMed Central

Baumgartner, Heidi K.; Trinder, Kinsey M.; Galimanis, Carly E.; Post, Annalisa; Phang, Tzu; Ross, Randal G.; Winn, Virginia D.

2015-01-01

INTRODUCTION The developing fetus relies on the maternal blood supply to provide the choline it requires for making membrane lipids, synthesizing acetylcholine, and performing important methylation reactions. It is vital, therefore, that the placenta is efficient at transporting choline from maternal to fetal circulation. Although choline transporters have been found in term placenta samples, little is known about what cell types express specific choline transporters and how expression of the transporters may change over gestation. The objective of this study was to characterize choline transporter expression levels and localization in the human placenta throughout placental development. METHODS We analyzed CTL1 and −2 expression over gestation in human placental biopsies from 6 to 40 weeks gestation (n=6–10 per gestational window) by immunoblot analysis. To determine the cellular expression pattern of the choline transporters throughout gestation, immunofluorescence analysis was then performed. RESULTS Both CTL1 and CTL2 were expressed in the chorionic villi from 6 weeks gestation to term. Labor did not alter expression levels of either transporter. CTL1 localized to the syncytial trophoblasts and the endothelium of the fetal vasculature within the chorionic villous structure. CTL2 localized mainly to the stroma early in gestation and by the second trimester co-localized with CTL1 at the fetal vasculature. DISCUSSION The differential expression pattern of CTL1 and CTL2 suggests that CTL1 is the key transporter involved in choline transport from maternal circulation and both transporters are likely involved in stromal and endothelial cell choline transport. PMID:26601765

Relationship between Air Pollution and Weather Conditions under Complicated Geographical conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Q.; Jiang, P.; Li, M.

2017-12-01

Air pollution is one of the most serious issues all over the world, especially in megacities with constrained geographical conditions for air pollution diffusion. However, the dynamic mechanism of air pollution diffusion under complicated geographical conditions is still be confused. Researches to explore relationship between air pollution and weather conditions from the perspective of local atmospheric circulations can contribute more to solve such problem. We selected three megacities (Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou) under different geographical condition (mountain-plain transition region, coastal alluvial plain and coastal hilly terrain) to explore the relationship between air pollution and weather conditions. RDA (Redundancy analysis) model was used to analyze how the local atmospheric circulation acts on the air pollutant diffusion. The results show that there was a positive correlation between the concentration of air pollutants and air pressure, while temperature, precipitation and wind speed have negative correlations with the concentration of air pollutants. Furthermore, geographical conditions, such as topographic relief, have significant effects on the direction, path and intensity of local atmospheric circulation. As a consequence, air pollutants diffusion modes in different cities under various geographical conditions are diverse from each other.

Proxy system modeling of tree-ring isotope chronologies over the Common Era

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anchukaitis, K. J.; LeGrande, A. N.

2017-12-01

The Asian monsoon can be characterized in terms of both precipitation variability and atmospheric circulation across a range of spatial and temporal scales. While multicentury time series of tree-ring widths at hundreds of sites across Asia provide estimates of past rainfall, the oxygen isotope ratios of annual rings may reveal broader regional hydroclimate and atmosphere-ocean dynamics. Tree-ring oxygen isotope chronologies from Monsoon Asia have been interpreted to reflect a local 'amount effect', relative humidity, source water and seasonality, and winter snowfall. Here, we use an isotope-enabled general circulation model simulation from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Science (GISS) Model E and a proxy system model of the oxygen isotope composition of tree-ring cellulose to interpret the large-scale and local climate controls on δ 18O chronologies. Broad-scale dominant signals are associated with a suite of covarying hydroclimate variables including growing season rainfall amounts, relative humidity, and vapor pressure deficit. Temperature and source water influences are region-dependent, as are the simulated tree-ring isotope signals associated with the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and large-scale indices of the Asian monsoon circulation. At some locations, including southern coastal Viet Nam, local precipitation isotope ratios and the resulting simulated δ 18O tree-ring chronologies reflect upstream rainfall amounts and atmospheric circulation associated with monsoon strength and wind anomalies.

Comparison of circulating and intratumoral regulatory T cells in patients with renal cell carcinoma.

PubMed

Asma, Gati; Amal, Gorrab; Raja, Marrakchi; Amine, Derouiche; Mohammed, Chebil; Amel, Ben Ammar Elgaaied

2015-05-01

The clear evidence that tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) exists in the tumor microenvironment raises the question why renal cell carcinoma (RCC) progresses. Numerous studies support the implication of CD4(+)CD25(high) regulatory T (Treg) cells in RCC development. We aimed in this study to characterize the phenotype and function of circulating and intratumoral Treg cells of RCC patient in order to evaluate their implication in the inhibition of the local antitumor immune response. Our results demonstrate that the proportion of Treg in TIL was, in average, similar to that found in circulating CD4(+) T cells of patients or healthy donors. However, intratumoral Treg exhibit a marked different phenotype when compared with the autologous circulating Treg. A higher CD25 mean level, HLA-DR, Fas, and GITR, and a lower CD45RA expression were observed in intratumoral Treg, suggesting therefore that these cells are effector in the tumor microenvironment. Additionally, intratumoral Treg showed a higher inhibitory function on autologous CD4(+)CD25(-) T cells when compared with circulating Treg that may be explained by an overexpression of FoxP3 transcription factor. These findings suggest that intratumoral Treg could be major actors in the impairment of local antitumor immune response for RCC patients.

Statistical downscaling of daily precipitation over Llobregat river basin in Catalonia (Spain) using three downscaling methods.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ballinas, R.; Versini, P.-A.; Sempere, D.; Escaler, I.

2009-09-01

Any long-term change in the patterns of average weather in a global or regional scale is called climate change. It may cause a progressive increase of atmospheric temperature and consequently may change the amount, frequency and intensity of precipitation. All these changes of meteorological parameters may modify the water cycle: run-off, infiltration, aquifer recharge, etc. Recent studies in Catalonia foresee changes in hydrological systems caused by climate change. This will lead to alterations in the hydrological cycle that could impact in land use, in the regimen of water extractions, in the hydrological characteristics of the territory and reduced groundwater recharge. Besides, can expect a loss of flow in rivers. In addition to possible increases in the frequency of extreme rainfall, being necessary to modify the design of infrastructure. Because this, it work focuses on studying the impacts of climate change in one of the most important basins in Catalonia, the Llobregat River Basin. The basin is the hub of the province of Barcelona. It is a highly populated and urbanized catchment, where water resources are used for different purposes, as drinking water production, agricultural irrigation, industry and hydro-electrical energy production. In consequence, many companies and communities depend on these resources. To study the impact of climate change in the Llobregat basin, storms (frequency, intensity) mainly, we will need regional climate change information. A regional climate is determined by interactions at large, regional and local scales. The general circulation models (GCMs) are run at too coarse resolution to permit accurate description of these regional and local interactions. So far, they have been unable to provide consistent estimates of climate change on a local scale. Several regionalization techniques have been developed to bridge the gap between the large-scale information provided by GCMs and fine spatial scales required for regional and environmental impact studies. Downscaling methods to assess the effect of large-scale circulations on local parameters have. Statistical downscaling methods are based on the view that regional climate can be conditioned by two factors: large-scale climatic state and regional/local features. Local climate information is derived by first developing a statistical model which relates large-scale variables or "predictors" for which GCMs are trustable to regional or local surface "predictands" for which models are less skilful. The main advantage of these methods is that they are computationally inexpensive, and can be applied to outputs from different GCM experiments. Three statistical downscaling methods are applied: Analogue method, Delta Change and Direct Forcing. These methods have been used to determine daily precipitation projections at rain gauge location to study the intensity, frequency and variability of storms in a context of climate change in the Llobregat River Basin in Catalonia, Spain. This work is part of the European project "Water Change" (included in the LIFE + Environment Policy and Governance program). It deals with Medium and long term water resources modelling as a tool for planning and global change adaptation. Two stakeholders involved in the project provided the historical time series: Catalan Water Agency (ACA) and the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET).

Percutaneous achillotomy in the treatment of congenital clubfoot: should it be performed in the operating theater or the polyclinic?

PubMed

Tuhanioğlu, Ümit; Oğur, Hasan U; Seyfettinoğlu, Fırat; Çiçek, Hakan; Tekbaş, Volkan T; Kapukaya, Ahmet

2018-06-19

The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy, advantages, and complications of percutaneous achillotomy in the treatment of clubfoot with the Ponseti method when performed to two different groups under general anesthesia or polyclinic conditions with local anesthesia. A retrospective evaluation was made of 96 patients treated for clubfoot in our clinic between January 2013 and June 2016. Fifty-seven patients were separated into two groups according to whether the achillotomy was performed in polyclinic conditions with local anesthesia or under general anesthesia following serial plaster casting with the Ponseti method. The characteristics of age distribution, mean week of tenotomy, side, and sex were similar in both groups. No statistically significant difference was determined between the two groups in respect to complication and recurrence. The durations of hospitalization-observation, separation from the mother, and fasting were found to be statistically significantly shorter in local anesthesia group. Although the performance of percutaneous achillotomy with local or general anesthesia has different advantages, it can be considered that especially in centers with high patient circulation, achillotomy with local anesthesia can be more preferable to general anesthesia because it is practical and quick, does not require a long period of fasting or hospitalization, and has a similar complication rate to general anesthesia procedures.

Wind Streaks on Venus: Clues to Atmospheric Circulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Greeley, Ronald; Schubert, Gerald; Limonadi, Daniel; Bender, Kelly C.; Newman, William I.; Thomas, Peggy E.; Weitz, Catherine M.; Wall, Stephen D.

1994-01-01

Magellan images reveal surface features on Venus attributed to wind processes. Sand dunes, wind-sculpted hills, and more than 5830 wind streaks have been identified. The streaks serve as local "wind vanes," representing wind direction at the time of streak formation and allowing the first global mapping of near-surface wind patterns on Venus. Wind streaks are oriented both toward the equator and toward the west. When streaks associated with local transient events, such as impact cratering, are deleted, the westward component is mostly lost but the equatorward component remains. This pattern is consistent with a Hadley circulation of the lower atmosphere.

Responses of the Tropical Atmospheric Circulation to Climate Change and Connection to the Hydrological Cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Jian; Chadwick, Robin; Seo, Kyong-Hwan; Dong, Changming; Huang, Gang; Foltz, Gregory R.; Jiang, Jonathan H.

2018-05-01

This review describes the climate change–induced responses of the tropical atmospheric circulation and their impacts on the hydrological cycle. We depict the theoretically predicted changes and diagnose physical mechanisms for observational and model-projected trends in large-scale and regional climate. The tropical circulation slows down with moisture and stratification changes, connecting to a poleward expansion of the Hadley cells and a shift of the intertropical convergence zone. Redistributions of regional precipitation consist of thermodynamic and dynamical components, including a strong offset between moisture increase and circulation weakening throughout the tropics. This allows other dynamical processes to dominate local circulation changes, such as a surface warming pattern effect over oceans and multiple mechanisms over land. To improve reliability in climate projections, more fundamental understandings of pattern formation, circulation change, and the balance of various processes redistributing land rainfall are suggested to be important.

Encoders for block-circulant LDPC codes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Andrews, Kenneth; Dolinar, Sam; Thorpe, Jeremy

2005-01-01

In this paper, we present two encoding methods for block-circulant LDPC codes. The first is an iterative encoding method based on the erasure decoding algorithm, and the computations required are well organized due to the block-circulant structure of the parity check matrix. The second method uses block-circulant generator matrices, and the encoders are very similar to those for recursive convolutional codes. Some encoders of the second type have been implemented in a small Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and operate at 100 Msymbols/second.

Local Drug Delivery to Prevent Restenosis

PubMed Central

Seedial, Stephen M.; Ghosh, Soumojit; Saunders, R. Scott; Suwanabol, Pasithorn A.; Shi, Xudong; Liu, Bo; Kent, K. Craig

2013-01-01

Introduction Despite significant advances in vascular biology, bioengineering and pharmacology, restenosis remains a limitation to the overall efficacy of vascular reconstructions, both percutaneous and open. Although the pathophysiology of intimal hyperplasia is complex, a number of drugs and/or molecular tools have been identified that can prevent restenosis. Moreover, the focal nature of this process lends itself to treatment with local drug administration. In this article we provide a broad overview of current and future techniques for local drug delivery that have been developed to prevent restenosis following vascular intervention. Methods A systematic electronic literature search using PubMed was performed for all accessible published articles through September 2012. In an effort to remain current, additional searches were performed for abstracts presented at relevant societal meetings, filed patents, clinical trials and funded NIH awards. Results The efficacy of local drug delivery has been demonstrated in the coronary circulation with the current clinical use of drug-eluting stents (DES). Until recently, however, DES were not found to be efficacious in the peripheral circulation. Further pursuit of intraluminal devices has led to the development of balloon-based technologies with a recent surge in trials involving drug-eluting balloons. Early data appears encouraging, particularly for treatment of lesions in the superficial femoral artery, with several devices having recently received the CE mark in Europe. Investigators have also explored periadventitial application of biomaterials containing anti-restenotic drugs, an approach that could be particularly useful for surgical bypass or endarterectomy. In the past systemic drug delivery has been unsuccessful, however, there has been recent exploration of intravenous delivery of drugs designed specifically to target injured or reconstructed arteries. Our review revealed a multitude of additional interesting strategies including more than 65 new patents issued over the past two years for approaches to local drug delivery focused on preventing restenosis. Conclusion Restenosis following intraluminal or open vascular reconstruction remains an important clinical problem. Success in the coronary circulation has not translated into solutions for the peripheral arteries. However, our review of the literature reveals a number of promising approaches including drug-eluting balloons, periadventitial drug delivery as well as targeted systemic therapies. These innovations as well as others suggest that the future is bright and a solution for preventing restenosis in peripheral vessels will soon be at hand. PMID:23601595

On the Circulation Manifold for Two Adjacent Lifting Sections

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zannetti, Luca; Iollo, Angelo

1998-01-01

The circulation functional relative to two adjacent lifting sections is studied for two cases. In the first case we consider two adjacent circles. The circulation is computed as a function of the displacement of the secondary circle along the axis joining the two centers and of the angle of attack of the secondary circle, The gradient of such functional is computed by deriving a set of elliptic functions with respect both to their argument and to their Period. In the second case studied, we considered a wing-flap configuration. The circulation is computed by some implicit mappings, whose differentials with respect to the variation of the geometrical configuration in the physical space are found by divided differences. Configurations giving rise to local maxima and minima in the circulation manifold are presented.

Clearance and organ localization of particles and soluble complexes in mice with circulating complexes.

PubMed Central

Carter, S D; Brennan, F M; Grace, S A; Elson, C J

1984-01-01

The clearance and organ localization of a number of substances cleared by either Fc-dependent or -independent mechanisms was studied in normal mice and in mice with endogenously produced persistent circulating complexes. Clearance of covalent dimers of mouse IgG, chicken IgG and ovalbumin were no different between the two groups of mice. By contrast, hepatic and splenic uptake of dimeric mouse IgG (but not of chicken IgG or ovalbumin dimer) was impaired in the mice with persisting complexes. Surprisingly the rate of clearance of sheep red blood cells (SRBC) was increased in mice with persisting complexes as was hepatic uptake of polyvinyl pyrrolidone. It is suggested that the mononuclear phagocytes of mice with persistent circulating complexes are non-specifically stimulated while their ability to take up soluble complexes by Fc-dependent attachment is selectively impaired. PMID:6746002

Large-scale drivers of local precipitation extremes in convection-permitting climate simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Steven C.; Kendon, Elizabeth J.; Roberts, Nigel M.; Fowler, Hayley J.; Blenkinsop, Stephen

2016-04-01

The Met Office 1.5-km UKV convective-permitting models (CPM) is used to downscale present-climate and RCP8.5 60-km HadGEM3 GCM simulations. Extreme UK hourly precipitation intensities increase with local near-surface temperatures and humidity; for temperature, the simulated increase rate for the present-climate simulation is about 6.5% K**-1, which is consistent with observations and theoretical expectations. While extreme intensities are higher in the RCP8.5 simulation as higher temperatures are sampled, there is a decline at the highest temperatures due to circulation and relative humidity changes. Extending the analysis to the broader synoptic scale, it is found that circulation patterns, as diagnosed by MSLP or circulation type, play an increased role in the probability of extreme precipitation in the RCP8.5 simulation. Nevertheless for both CPM simulations, vertical instability is the principal driver for extreme precipitation.

Rapid response to coastal upwelling in a semienclosed bay

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gilcoto, Miguel; Largier, John L.; Barton, Eric D.; Piedracoba, Silvia; Torres, Ricardo; Graña, Rocío.; Alonso-Pérez, Fernando; Villacieros-Robineau, Nicolás.; de la Granda, Francisco

2017-03-01

Bays/estuaries forced by local wind show bidirectional exchange flow. When forced by remote wind, they exhibit unidirectional flow adjustment to coastal sea level. Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler observations over 1 year show that the Ria de Vigo (Iberian Upwelling) responds to coastal wind events with bidirectional exchange flow. The duration of the upwelling and downwelling events, estimated from the current variability, was 3.3 days and 2.6 days, respectively. Vectorial correlations reveal a rapid response to upwelling/downwelling, in which currents lag local wind by <6 h and remote wind by <14 h, less than the Ekman spinup (17.8 h). This rapidity arises from the ria's narrowness (nonrotational local response), equatorward orientation (additive remote and local wind responses), depth greater than the Ekman depth (penetration of shelf circulation into the interior), and vertical stratification (shear reinforcing shelf circulation). Similar rapid responses are expected in other narrow bays where local and remote winds act together and stratification enhances bidirectional flow.

Localization of self-potential sources in volcano-electric effect with complex continuous wavelet transform and electrical tomography methods for an active volcano

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saracco, Ginette; Labazuy, Philippe; Moreau, Frédérique

2004-06-01

This study concerns the fluid flow circulation associated with magmatic intrusion during volcanic eruptions from electrical tomography studies. The objective is to localize and characterize the sources responsible for electrical disturbances during a time evolution survey between 1993 and 1999 of an active volcano, the Piton de la Fournaise. We have applied a dipolar probability tomography and a multi-scale analysis on synthetic and experimental SP data. We show the advantage of the complex continuous wavelet transform which allows to obtain directional information from the phase without a priori information on sources. In both cases, we point out a translation of potential sources through the upper depths during periods preceding a volcanic eruption around specific faults or structural features. The set of parameters obtained (vertical and horizontal localization, multipolar degree and inclination) could be taken into account as criteria to define volcanic precursors.

On the global dynamics of a chronic myelogenous leukemia model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krishchenko, Alexander P.; Starkov, Konstantin E.

2016-04-01

In this paper we analyze some features of global dynamics of a three-dimensional chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) model with the help of the stability analysis and the localization method of compact invariant sets. The behavior of CML model is defined by concentrations of three cellpopulations circulating in the blood: naive T cells, effector T cells specific to CML and CML cancer cells. We prove that the dynamics of the CML system around the tumor-free equilibrium point is unstable. Further, we compute ultimate upper bounds for all three cell populations and provide the existence conditions of the positively invariant polytope. One ultimate lower bound is obtained as well. Moreover, we describe the iterative localization procedure for refining localization bounds; this procedure is based on cyclic using of localizing functions. Applying this procedure we obtain conditions under which the internal tumor equilibrium point is globally asymptotically stable. Our theoretical analyses are supplied by results of the numerical simulation.

Improving label-free detection of circulating melanoma cells by photoacoustic flow cytometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Huan; Wang, Qiyan; Pang, Kai; Zhou, Quanyu; Yang, Ping; He, Hao; Wei, Xunbin

2018-02-01

Melanoma is a kind of a malignant tumor of melanocytes with the properties of high mortality and high metastasis rate. The circulating melanoma cells with the high content of melanin can be detected by light absorption to diagnose and treat cancer at an early stage. Compared with conventional detection methods such as in vivo flow cytometry (IVFC) based on fluorescence, the in vivo photoacoustic flow cytometry (PAFC) utilizes melanin cells as biomarkers to collect the photoacoustic (PA) signals without toxic fluorescent dyes labeling in a non-invasive way. The information of target tumor cells is helpful for data analysis and cell counting. However, the raw signals in PAFC system contain numerous noises such as environmental noise, device noise and in vivo motion noise. Conventional denoising algorithms such as wavelet denoising (WD) method and means filter (MF) method are based on the local information to extract the data of clinical interest, which remove the subtle feature and leave many noises. To address the above questions, the nonlocal means (NLM) method based on nonlocal data has been proposed to suppress the noise in PA signals. Extensive experiments on in vivo PA signals from the mice with the injection of B16F10 cells in caudal vein have been conducted. All the results indicate that the NLM method has superior noise reduction performance and subtle information reservation.

ICPP: Approach for Understanding Complexity of Plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, Tetsuya

2000-10-01

In this talk I wish to present an IT system that could promote Science of Complexity. In order to deal with a seemingly `complex' phenomenon, which means `beyond analytical manipulation', computer simulation is a viable powerful tool. However, complexity implies a concept beyond the horizon of reductionism. Therefore, rather than simply solving a complex phenomenon for a given boundary condition, one must establish an intelligent way of attacking mutual evolution of a system and its environment. NIFS-TCSC has been developing a prototype system that consists of supercomputers, virtual reality devices and high-speed network system. Let us explain this by picking up a global atmospheric circulation group, global oceanic circulation group and local weather prediction group. Local weather prediction group predicts the local change of the weather such as the creation of cloud and rain in the near future under the global conditions obtained by the global atmospheric and ocean groups. The global groups run simulations by modifying the local heat source/sink evaluated by the local weather prediction and then obtain the global conditions in the next time step. By repeating such a feedback performance one can predict the mutual evolution of the local system and its environment. Mutual information exchanges among multiple groups are carried out instantaneously by the networked common virtual reality space in which 3-D global and local images of the atmospheric and oceanic circulation and the cloud and rain maps are arbitrarily manipulated by any of the groups and commonly viewed. The present networking system has a great advantage that any simulation groups can freely and arbitrarily change their alignment, so that mutual evolution of any stratum system can become tractable by utilizing this network system.

Reconstructing transport pathways for late Quaternary dust from eastern Australia using the composition of trace elements of long traveled dusts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petherick, Lynda M.; McGowan, Hamish A.; Kamber, Balz S.

2009-04-01

The southeast Australian dust transport corridor is the principal pathway through which continental emissions of dust from central and eastern Australia are carried to the oceans by the prevailing mid-latitude westerly circulation. The analysis of trace elements of aeolian dust, preserved in lake sediment on North Stradbroke Island, southeast Queensland, is used to reconstruct variation in the intensity and position of dust transport to the island over the past 25,000 yrs. Separation of local and long traveled dust content of lake sediments is achieved using a unique, four-element (Ga, Ni, Tl and Sc) separation method. The local and continental chronologies of aeolian deposition developed by this study show markedly different records, and indicate varied responses to climate variability on North Stradbroke Island (local aeolian sediment component) and in eastern and central Australia (long traveled dust component). The provenance of the continental component of the record to sub-geologic catchment scales was accomplished using a ternary mixing model in which the chemical identification of dusts extracted, from the lake sediments, was compared to potential chemical characteristics of surface dust from the source areas using 16 trace elements. The results indicate that the position and intensity of dust transport pathways during the late Quaternary varied considerably in response to changing atmospheric circulation patterns as well as to variations in sediment supply to dust source areas, which include the large anabranching river systems of the Lake Eyre and Murray-Darling Basins.

Synoptic and climatological analysis of atmospheric circulation impacts on particulate matter pollution in Shanghai, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Z.; Fan, S.

2016-12-01

This study investigated the particulate matter characteristics within different circulation types (CTs) in the megacity of Shanghai during the period 2001-2015, and provided a quantitative evaluation of atmospheric circulation influences on PM10 pollution across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, from local to region and daily to interannual. Ten CTs were identified over the Asian-Pacific region by objective Lamb Weather Type approach and each resulting CT was characterized with distinct local meteorology and air mass source. The PM10 loadings in the CTs associated with continental westerly flow were significant higher than that in the CTs linked to marine easterly air masses. Regional backgrounds that transported by the synoptic flows were more responsible for the distinct PM10 levels in different CTs. The locally-produced PM10 generally stabilized in range of 20-25 μg m-3, but enhanced to 41.2 μg m-3 in case of anticyclone type. There were distinct PM10 trends in different CTs (ranged from -3.74 to -0.28 μg m-3 yr-1), indicating the different background trends. Overall, the PM10 concentrations have decreased (-2.33 μg m-3 yr-1) in the studied period and the estimated locally-produced trend (-0.79 μg m-3 yr-1) accounted for 33.9% of overall downward trend. The occurrence frequency presented an increase (0.15 % yr-1) for anticyclone type, but a decrease (-0.10 % yr-1) for the type N associated with invasion of cold air. The 15-yr frequency change of atmospheric circulation induced an increase in PM­10 level (0.17 μg m-3) in Shanghai. On the contrary, controls on the pollutant emission had always positive effects and hence should be always encouraged.

Single-cell mRNA profiling reveals transcriptional heterogeneity among pancreatic circulating tumour cells.

PubMed

Lapin, Morten; Tjensvoll, Kjersti; Oltedal, Satu; Javle, Milind; Smaaland, Rune; Gilje, Bjørnar; Nordgård, Oddmund

2017-05-31

Single-cell mRNA profiling of circulating tumour cells may contribute to a better understanding of the biology of these cells and their role in the metastatic process. In addition, such analyses may reveal new knowledge about the mechanisms underlying chemotherapy resistance and tumour progression in patients with cancer. Single circulating tumour cells were isolated from patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer with immuno-magnetic depletion and immuno-fluorescence microscopy. mRNA expression was analysed with single-cell multiplex RT-qPCR. Hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis were performed to identify expression patterns. Circulating tumour cells were detected in 33 of 56 (59%) examined blood samples. Single-cell mRNA profiling of intact isolated circulating tumour cells revealed both epithelial-like and mesenchymal-like subpopulations, which were distinct from leucocytes. The profiled circulating tumour cells also expressed elevated levels of stem cell markers, and the extracellular matrix protein, SPARC. The expression of SPARC might correspond to an epithelial-mesenchymal transition in pancreatic circulating tumour cells. The analysis of single pancreatic circulating tumour cells identified distinct subpopulations and revealed elevated expression of transcripts relevant to the dissemination of circulating tumour cells to distant organ sites.

Effect of Vortex Circulation on Injectant from a Single Film-Cooling Hole and a Row of Film-Cooling Holes in a Turbulent Boundary Layer. Part 1. Injection Beneath the Vortex Downwash

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-06-01

coefficients vortex circulation, symbols used in vorticity plots representing circulation values derived from different vortex core models injection...derived from different vortex core models dimensionless core size parameter: t wice the a verage core radius divided by t h e i n jection hole...Wall Heating, xjd=109.2, m=0.5, Single Injection Hole Vortex w, Temp. Difference Range (.5- 2.5) degree s 91. Local Temperature Distribution

Early irradiation syndrome. A study of the functional changes in the rabbit following whole-body $gamma$ exposure at sublethal doses (in French)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dufour, R.; Collignon, Y.; Vincent, F.

1975-05-01

A method of simultaneous observation of several physiological functions was developed in the unanaesthetized rabbit. Arterial blood pressure, local brain circulation, internal body temperature and arterial blodd acido-basic balance were thus followed before, during and after $gamma$-irradiation. There appeared two periods in the development of this early syndrome: they were related to two processes, a central one, mainly of sympathetic origin was hardly sensitive to the dose, the other is dose-dependent. (FR)

A multi-method study of regional groundwater circulation in the Ordos Plateau, NW China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Xiao-Wei; Wan, Li; Wang, Xu-Sheng; Wang, Dan; Wang, Heng; Wang, Jun-Zhi; Zhang, Hong; Zhang, Zhi-Yuan; Zhao, Ke-Yu

2018-01-01

The Ordos Basin is one of the most intensively studied groundwater basins in China. The Ordos Plateau, located in the north part of the Ordos Basin, is ideal to study the pattern of regional groundwater circulation induced by water-table undulations due to the wavy topography and the relatively simple aquifer systems with macroscopically homogeneous sandstone. In catchments located near the first-order divide, the water table is found to be a subdued replica of the topography, and the nonclosed water-table contours in topographic highs of a catchment are indicative of regional groundwater outflow to other catchments. In topographic lows, groundwater-fed lakes/rivers, topography-driven flowing wells, water-loving and/or salt-tolerant vegetation, and soap holes are all indicative of discharge areas. In discharge areas, although groundwater inflow from recharge areas is relatively stable, seasonal variations in groundwater recharge and evapotranspiration lead to significant seasonal fluctuations in the water table, which can be used to estimate groundwater inflow and evapotranspiration rates based on water balance at different stages of water-table change. In the lowest reaches of a complex basin, superposition of local flow systems on regional flow systems has been identified based on groundwater samples collected from wells with different depths and geophysical measurements of apparent resistivity, both of which can be used for characterizing groundwater flow systems. This study enhances understanding of the pattern of regional groundwater circulation in the Ordos Plateau, and also tests the effectiveness of methods for groundwater flow-system characterization.

Circulating heat exchangers for oscillating wave engines and refrigerators

DOEpatents

Swift, Gregory W.; Backhaus, Scott N.

2003-10-28

An oscillating-wave engine or refrigerator having a regenerator or a stack in which oscillating flow of a working gas occurs in a direction defined by an axis of a trunk of the engine or refrigerator, incorporates an improved heat exchanger. First and second connections branch from the trunk at locations along the axis in selected proximity to one end of the regenerator or stack, where the trunk extends in two directions from the locations of the connections. A circulating heat exchanger loop is connected to the first and second connections. At least one fluidic diode within the circulating heat exchanger loop produces a superimposed steady flow component and oscillating flow component of the working gas within the circulating heat exchanger loop. A local process fluid is in thermal contact with an outside portion of the circulating heat exchanger loop.

Emergence of Vaccine-derived Polioviruses, Democratic Republic of Congo, 2004–2011

PubMed Central

Lentsoane, Olivia; Burns, Cara C.; Pallansch, Mark; de Gourville, Esther; Yogolelo, Riziki; Muyembe-Tamfum, Jean Jacques; Puren, Adrian; Schoub, Barry D.; Venter, Marietjie

2013-01-01

Polioviruses isolated from 70 acute flaccid paralysis patients from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during 2004–2011 were characterized and found to be vaccine-derived type 2 polioviruses (VDPV2s). Partial genomic sequencing of the isolates revealed nucleotide sequence divergence of up to 3.5% in the viral protein 1 capsid region of the viral genome relative to the Sabin vaccine strain. Genetic analysis identified at least 7 circulating lineages localized to specific geographic regions. Multiple independent events of VDPV2 emergence occurred throughout DRC during this 7-year period. During 2010–2011, VDPV2 circulation in eastern DRC occurred in an area distinct from that of wild poliovirus circulation, whereas VDPV2 circulation in the southwestern part of DRC (in Kasai Occidental) occurred within the larger region of wild poliovirus circulation. PMID:24047933

Emergence of vaccine-derived polioviruses, Democratic Republic of Congo, 2004-2011.

PubMed

Gumede, Nicksy; Lentsoane, Olivia; Burns, Cara C; Pallansch, Mark; de Gourville, Esther; Yogolelo, Riziki; Muyembe-Tamfum, Jean Jacques; Puren, Adrian; Schoub, Barry D; Venter, Marietjie

2013-10-01

Polioviruses isolated from 70 acute flaccid paralysis patients from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during 2004-2011 were characterized and found to be vaccine-derived type 2 polioviruses (VDPV2s). Partial genomic sequencing of the isolates revealed nucleotide sequence divergence of up to 3.5% in the viral protein 1 capsid region of the viral genome relative to the Sabin vaccine strain. Genetic analysis identified at least 7 circulating lineages localized to specific geographic regions. Multiple independent events of VDPV2 emergence occurred throughout DRC during this 7-year period. During 2010-2011, VDPV2 circulation in eastern DRC occurred in an area distinct from that of wild poliovirus circulation, whereas VDPV2 circulation in the southwestern part of DRC (in Kasai Occidental) occurred within the larger region of wild poliovirus circulation.

Bio-media Citizenship and Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology in Sri Lanka.

PubMed

de Silva, M W Amarasiri

2018-04-01

In this article, I examine the crucial role of the biomedical industry, epidemiological and biomedical research, and the media in forming attitudes to and the understanding of chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) in Sri Lanka. Local conceptions of CKDu have been shaped by the circulation in the media of epidemiological research findings pertaining to the disease, biomedical interventions in the management of the disease in hospitals and clinics, community programs involving mass blood surveys and the testing of well water, and local food and health education programs carried out through village health committees. This process of circulation I identify as bio-media citizenship.

Local Oxidative Stress Expansion through Endothelial Cells – A Key Role for Gap Junction Intercellular Communication

PubMed Central

Feine, Ilan; Pinkas, Iddo; Salomon, Yoram; Scherz, Avigdor

2012-01-01

Background Major circulation pathologies are initiated by oxidative insult expansion from a few injured endothelial cells to distal sites; this possibly involves mechanisms that are important to understanding circulation physiology and designing therapeutic management of myocardial pathologies. We tested the hypothesis that a localized oxidative insult of endothelial cells (ECs) propagates through gap junction inter-cellular communication (GJIC). Methodology/Principal Findings Cultures comprising the bEnd.3 cell line, that have been established and recognized as suitable for examining communication among ECs, were used to study the propagation of a localized oxidative insult to remote cells. Spatially confined near infrared illumination of parental or genetically modified bEnd.3 cultures, pretreated with the photosensitizer WST11, generated O2•− and •OH radicals in the illuminated cells. Time-lapse fluorescence microscopy, utilizing various markers, and other methods, were used to monitor the response of non-illuminated bystander and remote cells. Functional GJIC among ECs was shown to be mandatory for oxidative insult propagation, comprising de-novo generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS and RNS, respectively), activation and nuclear translocation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase, followed by massive apoptosis in all bystander cells adjacent to the primarily injured ECs. The oxidative insult propagated through GJIC for many hours, over hundreds of microns from the primary photogeneration site. This wave is shown to be limited by intracellular ROS scavenging, chemical GJIC inhibition or genetic manipulation of connexin 43 (a key component of GJIC). Conclusion/Significance Localized oxidative insults propagate through GJIC between ECs, while stimulating de-novo generation of ROS and RNS in bystander cells, thereby driving the insult's expansion. PMID:22911831

[In vivo measurement of ocular circulation with the laser speckle method--development of apparatus and application in ophthalmological research].

PubMed

Araie, M

1999-12-01

We have developed an apparatus utilizing laser speckle phenomenon which can measure the peripheral circulation in the iris, choroid, retina and optic nerve head (ONH) and blood velocity through retinal vessels in the living eye non-invasively and quantitatively. A blue-component argon laser (wavelength 488 nm) was used for measurement of peripheral circulation in the retina and a diode laser (wavelength 808 nm) for measurements of peripheral circulation in the iris, posterior choroid and ONH, and measurement of centerline blood velocity through retinal vessels. A fundus camera (TRC-WT 3, Topcon) was equipped with a laser source and an image sensor where the speckle pattern from the fundus appears, and the data were analyzed with a personal computer to give a normalized blur (NB) value or a square blur rate (SBR) value, both quantitative indices of blood velocity. The NB value, whose computation requires much less time, was adopted to evaluate peripheral circulation because of non-linear correlation between the NB and actual blood velocity in the range above 20 mm/sec. The SBR value, whose computation requires a longer time, was adopted for measurement of blood velocity through retinal vessels. Measurement field in the living eye was 1.06 x 1.06 mm at its maximum and reproducibility index of the in vivo measurement in the rabbit iris, choroid, retina, and ONH was approximately 10%. When blood flow was changed by intraocular pressure (IOP) change in rabbit eyes, NB values obtained from the iris, choroid, and retina showed a significant correlation with the blood flow simultaneously determined with the colored microsphere technique in the same eye, and the NB obtained from the ONH also correlated with the blood flow determined with the H2 gas clearance method. Stepwise reduction in the ocular perfusion pressure (OPP) by stepwise increment of IOP resulted in proportional reduction in the iris- and choroid-NB. On the other hand, the retina- or ONH-NB remained almost unaltered at OPP levels above 50 mmHg, and decreased along with OPP at levels less than 50 mmHg. By monitoring NB values for 2 hours, presence or absence of autoregulatory mechanism against OPP change in the choroidal and ONH circulation was studied in rabbits. Throughout the experimental period of 2 hours, the choroidal NB was changed along with the OPP change, suggesting absence of blood flow autoregulation in this tissue. In the ONH, however, the NB returned to the baseline after its transient increase or decrease when the OPP was continuously increased or decreased, showing the presence of an autoregulatory mechanism in the ONH circulation. However, the time course of the NB resumption depended on the extent of OPP change. These results indicated that the laser speckle method can be useful in investigating the autoregulatory mechanism and processes of peripheral circulation in ocular tissues. Unilateral instillation of drugs with vasodilative activity (ifenprodil, betaxolol or nipradilol) in rabbit eyes significantly increased ONH and/or choroidal circulation. The extent in change in the ONH and/or choroidal circulation correlated with the number of doses, but not with the extent of IOP reduction, which suggested that the observed effects were attributable to the drug which penetrated locally. Intravenous administration of a Ca(2+)-antagonist (nicardipine, nilvadipine or pranidipine) significantly increased choroidal or retinal circulation in rabbits. The ONH circulation, however, was not affected by nicardipine, but affected by nilvadipine or pranidipine. Given the same effect on the ONH circulation, systemic hypotensive effect was stronger in pranidipine than in nilvadipine, which suggested that nilvadipine can be used in patients with ocular circulatory insufficiency. A modification of the laser speckle apparatus used for animal experiments was devised so that the NB or SBR values could be measured in human eyes every 0.12 sec on a real-time basis. (ABSTRACT TRUN

The Qur'an and the Academic Library: Circulation and Storage Issues with Holy Books

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Long, Dallas

2010-01-01

This article addresses concerns raised by members of the local Muslim community regarding copies of the Qur'an in the circulating collections at Milner Library, Illinois State University. The librarians conducted an analysis of the collection of holy books and investigated the rules and traditions of the Islamic faith that govern the care and…

Dynamical balance in the Indonesian Seas circulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burnett, William H.; Kamenkovich, Vladimir M.; Jaffe, David A.; Gordon, Arnold L.; Mellor, George L.

2000-09-01

A high resolution, four-open port, non-linear, barotropic ocean model (2D POM) is used to analyze the Indonesian Seas circulation. Both local and overall momentum balances are studied. It is shown that geostrophy holds over most of the area and that the Pacific-Indian Ocean pressure difference is essentially balanced by the resultant of pressure forces acting on the bottom.

Mesoscale mixing of the Denmark Strait Overflow in the Irminger Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koszalka, Inga M.; Haine, Thomas W. N.; Magaldi, Marcello G.

2017-04-01

The Denmark Strait Overflow (DSO) is a major export route for dense waters from the Nordic Seas forming the lower limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, an important element of the climate system. Mixing processes along the DSO pathway influence its volume transport and properties contributing to the variability of the deep overturning circulation. They are poorly sampled by observations, however, which hinders development of a proper DSO representation in global circulation models. We employ a high resolution regional ocean model of the Irminger Basin to quantify impact of the mesoscale flows on DSO mixing focusing on geographical localization and the time-modulation of water property changes. The model reproduces the observed bulk warming of the DSO plume 100-200 km downstream of the Denmark Strait sill. It also reveals that mesoscale variability of the overflow ('DSO-eddies', of 20-30 km extent and a time scale of 2-5 day) modulates water property changes and turbulent mixing, diagnosed with the vertical shear of horizontal velocity and the eddy heat flux divergence. The space-time localization of the DSO mixing and warming and the role of coherent mesoscale structures should be explored by turbulence measurements and factored into the coarse circulation models.

Heat-flow and hydrothermal circulation at the ocean-continent transition of the eastern gulf of Aden

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lucazeau, Francis; Leroy, Sylvie; Rolandone, Frédérique; d'Acremont, Elia; Watremez, Louise; Bonneville, Alain; Goutorbe, Bruno; Düsünur, Doga

2010-07-01

In order to investigate the importance of fluid circulation associated with the formation of ocean-continent transitions (OCT), we examine 162 new heat-flow (HF) measurements in the eastern Gulf of Aden, obtained at close locations along eight seismic profiles and with multi-beam bathymetry. The average HF values in the OCT and in the oceanic domain (~ 18 m.y.) are very close to the predictions of cooling models, showing that the overall importance of fluids remains small at the present time compared to oceanic ridge flanks of the same age. However, local HF anomalies are observed, although not systematically, in the vicinity of the unsedimented basement and are interpreted by the thermal effect of meteoric fluids flowing laterally. We propose a possible interpretation of hydrothermal paths based on the shape of HF anomalies and on the surface morphology: fluids can circulate either along-dip or along-strike, but are apparently focussed in narrow "pipes". In several locations in the OCT, there is no detectable HF anomaly while the seismic velocity structure suggests serpentinization and therefore past circulation. We relate the existence of the present day fluid circulation in the eastern Gulf of Aden to the presence of unsedimented basement and to the local extensional stress in the vicinity of the Socotra-Hadbeen fault zone. At the scale of rifted-margins, fluid circulation is probably not as important as in the oceanic domain because it can be inhibited rapidly with high sedimentation rates, serpentinization and stress release after the break-up.

Screening for circulating RAS/RAF mutations by multiplex digital PCR.

PubMed

Andersen, Rikke Fredslund; Jakobsen, Anders

2016-07-01

Recent years have shown a large interest in the application of liquid biopsies in cancer management. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has been investigated for potential use in treatment selection, monitoring of treatment response, and early detection of recurrence. Advances have been hampered by technical challenges primarily due to the low levels of ctDNA in patients with localized disease and in patients responding to therapy. The approach presented here is a multiplex digital PCR method of screening for 31 mutations in the KRAS, NRAS, BRAF, and PIK3CA genes in the plasma. The upper level of the limit of blank, which defines the specificity of the multiplexes, was 0.006%-0.06%. Mutations found by multiplex analyses were identified and quantified by duplex analyses. The method was tested on samples from cholangiocarcinoma patients with known tumor mutational status. Mutations found in the tumor were also found in plasma samples in all cases with analyses for all other mutations being negative. There was a perfect agreement as to wild type status in tumor and plasma. The method combines a high sensitivity with the ability to analyze for several mutations at a time and could be a step towards routine clinical application of liquid biopsies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Clinical and experimental study of the production of renal hemodynamic effects of IABP-assisted pulsatile flow extracorporeal circulation].

PubMed

Moro, H

1992-01-01

Renal hemodynamics during IABP-assisted pulsatile flow extracorporeal circulation was assessed in terms of measurement values for intraoperative renal blood flow obtained by the local thermodilution method in human clinical patients. In addition, the effect of IABP on renal hemodynamics was investigated in an animal model of renal denervation in a study undertaken to elucidate the action mechanism of IABP. Eighteen patients with acquired heart disease were involved in the study and measured for the renal blood flow (RBF), cardiac output (CO), renal-systemic partition coefficient for blood flow (RBF/CO), renal vascular resistance (RVR) and perfusion pressure. In the pulsatile flow group, the RBF/CO increased as the number of pump runs increased, whole the RVR was conversely reduced with increasing pump runs. The experimental study without extracorporeal circulation was conducted on 19 mongrel dogs. During IABP runs RBF/CO increased, while the RVR decreased. After renal denervation, no noticeable influence of IABP upon renal hemodynamics was observed. Following a loading dose of noradrenaline (Norad), the RVR increased in a Norad concentration-dependent fashion, independently of IABP and renal denervation. These results indicate that IABP reduces the RVR and thereby exerts a favorable action on renal hemodynamics during pump times. The study thus warrants us to surmise that a mechanism involving the renal sympathetic nerves might play an important role in the production of favorable renal hemodynamic effects of IABP-assisted pulsatile flow extracorporeal circulation.

Predictability of weather and climate in a coupled ocean-atmosphere model: A dynamical systems approach. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nese, Jon M.

1989-01-01

A dynamical systems approach is used to quantify the instantaneous and time-averaged predictability of a low-order moist general circulation model. Specifically, the effects on predictability of incorporating an active ocean circulation, implementing annual solar forcing, and asynchronously coupling the ocean and atmosphere are evaluated. The predictability and structure of the model attractors is compared using the Lyapunov exponents, the local divergence rates, and the correlation, fractal, and Lyapunov dimensions. The Lyapunov exponents measure the average rate of growth of small perturbations on an attractor, while the local divergence rates quantify phase-spatial variations of predictability. These local rates are exploited to efficiently identify and distinguish subtle differences in predictability among attractors. In addition, the predictability of monthly averaged and yearly averaged states is investigated by using attractor reconstruction techniques.

Circulation patterns and wave climate along the coast of the Iberian Peninsula

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rasilla Álvarez, D.; García Codrán, J. C.

2010-09-01

Evidences of an active erosion (beach retreat, falling cliffs, damaged infrastructures) are observed in many coastal areas around the Iberian Peninsula. Morphogenetic coastal processes result from individual episodes of storminess that can accelerate or mitigate the expected impacts of the global rising trend of average sea levels. Thus, a good understanding of the local forcing processes is required in order to assess the impacts of future sea levels. The spatial and temporal variability of the wave climate along the cost of the Iberian Peninsula and their relationships with regional scale circulation patterns and local-scale winds are the main objectives of this contribution. The oceanographic data set consists of observed hourly data from 7 buoys disseminated along the Spanish coastline, and hindcasted 3-hourly analogous parameters (SIMAR 44 database), provided by Puertos del Estado. Sea level pressure, surface 10m U and V wind components gridded data were obtained from NCEP Reanalysis, while storm tracks and cyclone statistics were extracted from the CDC Map Room Climate Products Storm Track Data (http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/map/clim/st_data.html). The influence of the local conditions was highlighted comparing meteorological data from the buoys and synop reports from coastal stations. To explore the regional atmospheric mechanisms responsible for the wave variability, a regional Eulerian approach (a synoptic typing) were combined with a larger-scale Lagrangian method, based on the analysis of storm-tracks over the area. The synoptic catalogue was obtained following a well-known procedure that combines Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for reduction purposes and clustering (Ward plus K-means) to define the circulation types. As expected, rougher wave climate are observed along the northern and western coast of the Iberian Peninsula, open to the Atlantic storms. The Mediterranean shorelines experiences calmer conditions, although the Gulf of Lions, Catalonian coast and Balearic Islands suffer stormier episodes than Mar de Alborán. Moderate wave power conditions occurred frequently by circulation patterns predominately stable and characterized by weak (mostly sea breezes) winds. Synoptic situations dominated by extra-tropical cyclones produced the highest, but least frequent wave power conditions. Depending on the location of the shorelines, three types of storm events are defined: 1. Long winds fetch and locally strong westerly and northwesterly winds expose the northern coast of Iberia to episodes of intense storminess. Extratropical disturbances tracking between the 50-60°N parallels are the main forcing mechanism of those episodes, many of them result of a cyclogenesis processes along the eastern coast of North America. In some cases, the systems evolves as a secondary cyclon, crossing the area southward of the 50°N parallel; significant wave heights can be as high as the northernmost cyclones, but the wave period is slightly lower. 2.Cyclones tracking along the 40°N parallel bring stormy conditions to the western coast and the Gulf of Cádiz area, associated to southwesterly winds. 3. Finally, the Mediterranean shoreline suffer the worst conditions during easterly and northeasterly wind events, usually dominanted by local disturbances formed along the Western Mediterranean basin. Trends observed on the different circulation patterns can explain the temporal evolution of the wave climate along the Spanish coast, characterized by calmer conditions on the south and an increase of the wave period on the north, without discernible wave height trend. The overall results indicated that this synoptic climatological approach provides a viable framework to establish and examine links between weather systems and wave conditions.

Some remarks on using circulation classifications to evaluate circulation model and atmospheric reanalysis data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stryhal, Jan; Huth, Radan

2017-04-01

Automated classifications of atmospheric circulation patterns represent a tool widely used for studying the circulation in both the real atmosphere, represented by atmospheric reanalyses, and in circulation model outputs. It is well known that the results of studies utilizing one of these methods are influenced by several subjective choices, of which one of the most crucial is the selection of the method itself. Authors of the present study used eight methods from the COST733 classification software (Grosswettertypes, two variants of Jenkinson-Collison, Lund, T-mode PCA with oblique rotation of principal components, k-medoids, k-means with differing starting partitions, and SANDRA) to assess the winter 1961-2000 daily sea level pressure patterns in five reanalysis datasets (ERA-40, NCEP-1, JRA-55, 20CRv2, and ERA-20C), as well as in the historical runs and 21st century projections of an ensemble of CMIP5 GCMs. The classification methods were quite consistent in displaying the strongest biases in GCM simulations. However, the results also showed that multiple classifications are required to quantify the biases in certain types of circulation (e.g., zonal circulation or blocking-like patterns). There was no sign that any method should have a tendency to over- or underestimate the biases in circulation type frequency. The bias found by a particular method for a particular domain clearly reflects the ability of the algorithm to detect groups of similar patterns within the data space, and whether these groups do or do not differ one dataset to another is to a large extend coincidental. There were, nevertheless, systematic differences between groups of methods that use some form of correlation to classify the patterns to circulation types (CTs) and those which use the Euclidean distance. The comparison of reanalyses, which was conducted over eight European domains, showed that there is even a weak negative correlation between the average differences of CT frequency found by cluster analysis methods on one hand, and the remaining methods on the other. This suggests that groups of different methods capture different kinds of errors and that averaging the results obtained by an ensemble of methods very likely leads to an underestimation of the errors actually present in the data.

A finite element method for solving the shallow water equations on the sphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Comblen, Richard; Legrand, Sébastien; Deleersnijder, Eric; Legat, Vincent

Within the framework of ocean general circulation modeling, the present paper describes an efficient way to discretize partial differential equations on curved surfaces by means of the finite element method on triangular meshes. Our approach benefits from the inherent flexibility of the finite element method. The key idea consists in a dialog between a local coordinate system defined for each element in which integration takes place, and a nodal coordinate system in which all local contributions related to a vectorial degree of freedom are assembled. Since each element of the mesh and each degree of freedom are treated in the same way, the so-called pole singularity issue is fully circumvented. Applied to the shallow water equations expressed in primitive variables, this new approach has been validated against the standard test set defined by [Williamson, D.L., Drake, J.B., Hack, J.J., Jakob, R., Swarztrauber, P.N., 1992. A standard test set for numerical approximations to the shallow water equations in spherical geometry. Journal of Computational Physics 102, 211-224]. Optimal rates of convergence for the P1NC-P1 finite element pair are obtained, for both global and local quantities of interest. Finally, the approach can be extended to three-dimensional thin-layer flows in a straightforward manner.

In vivo detection of fluctuating brain steroid levels SHORT

PubMed Central

Ikeda, Maaya; Rensel, Michelle A.; Schlinger, Barney A.; Remage-Healey, Luke

2015-01-01

This protocol describes a method for in vivo measurement of steroid hormones in brain circuits of the zebra finch. In vivo microdialysis has been used successfully to detect fluctuating neurosteroids in the auditory forebrain (Remage-Healey et al., 2008; 2012; Ikeda et al., 2012) and in the hippocampus (Rensel et al., 2012; 2013) of behaving adult zebra finches. In some cases, the steroids measured are derived locally (e.g., ‘neurosteroids’ like estrogens in males) whereas in other cases the steroids measured reflect systemic circulating levels and/or central conversion (e.g., the primary androgen testosterone and the primary glucocorticoid corticosterone). We also describe the method of reverse-microdialysis (‘retrodialysis’) of compounds that can influence local steroid neurochemistry as well as behavior. In vivo microdialysis can now be used to study steroid signaling in the brain for a variety of experimental purposes. Furthermore, similar methods have been developed to examine changing levels of catecholamines in behaving zebra finches (e.g., Sasaki et al., 2006). Thus, the combined study of neurochemistry and behavior in a vocal learning species now has a new set of powerful tools. PMID:25342066

Evaluation of equipment and methods to map lost circulation zones in geothermal wells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McDonald, W.J.; Leon, P.A.; Pittard, G.

A study and evaluation of methods to locate, characterize, and quantify lost circulation zones are described. Twenty-five methods of mapping and quantifying lost circulation zones were evaluated, including electrical, acoustical, mechanical, radioactive, and optical systems. Each tool studied is described. The structured, numerical evaluation plan, used as the basis for comparing the 25 tools, and the resulting ranking among the tools is presented.

A dehydration mechanism for the stratosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Danielsen, E. F.

1982-01-01

Although mean circulations are generally credited with dehydration of the earth's stratosphere, convective instability in the tropics converts mean circulations to small residuals of local convective circulations. The effects of large cumulonimbus which penetrate the stratosphere and form huge anvils in the lower stratosphere are discussed with respect to hydration and dehydration of the stratosphere. Radiative heating at anvil base combined with cooling at anvil top drives a dehydration engine considered essential to explain the dry stratosphere. Seasonal and longitudinal variations in dehydration potentials are examined with maximum potential attributed to Micronesian area during winter and early spring.

Impact of cloud radiative heating on East Asian summer monsoon circulation

DOE PAGES

Guo, Zhun; Zhou, Tianjun; Wang, Minghuai; ...

2015-07-17

The impacts of cloud radiative heating on East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) over the southeastern China (105°-125°E, 20°-35°N) are explained by using the Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5). Sensitivity experiments demonstrate that the radiative heating of clouds leads to a positive effect on the local EASM circulation over southeastern China. Without the radiative heating of cloud, the EASM circulation and precipitation would be much weaker than that in the normal condition. The longwave heating of clouds dominates the changes of EASM circulation. The positive effect of clouds on EASM circulation is explained by the thermodynamic energy equation, i.e. themore » different heating rate between cloud base and cloud top enhances the convective instability over southeastern China, which enhances updraft consequently. The strong updraft would further result in a southward meridional wind above the center of the updraft through Sverdrup vorticity balance.« less

Production of systemically circulating Hedgehog by the intestine couples nutrition to growth and development.

PubMed

Rodenfels, Jonathan; Lavrynenko, Oksana; Ayciriex, Sophie; Sampaio, Julio L; Carvalho, Maria; Shevchenko, Andrej; Eaton, Suzanne

2014-12-01

In Drosophila larvae, growth and developmental timing are regulated by nutrition in a tightly coordinated fashion. The networks that couple these processes are far from understood. Here, we show that the intestine responds to nutrient availability by regulating production of a circulating lipoprotein-associated form of the signaling protein Hedgehog (Hh). Levels of circulating Hh tune the rates of growth and developmental timing in a coordinated fashion. Circulating Hh signals to the fat body to control larval growth. It regulates developmental timing by controlling ecdysteroid production in the prothoracic gland. Circulating Hh is especially important during starvation, when it is also required for mobilization of fat body triacylglycerol (TAG) stores. Thus, we demonstrate that Hh, previously known only for its local morphogenetic functions, also acts as a lipoprotein-associated endocrine hormone, coordinating the response of multiple tissues to nutrient availability. © 2014 Rodenfels et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Excess Circulating Alternatively Activated Myeloid (M2) Cells Accelerate ALS Progression While Inhibiting Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis

PubMed Central

Miller, Omer; Butovsky, Oleg; Bukshpan, Shay; Beers, David R.; Henkel, Jenny S.; Yoles, Eti; Appel, Stanley H.; Schwartz, Michal

2011-01-01

Background Circulating immune cells including autoreactive T cells and monocytes have been documented as key players in maintaining, protecting and repairing the central nervous system (CNS) in health and disease. Here, we hypothesized that neurodegenerative diseases might be associated, similarly to tumors, with increased levels of circulating peripheral myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), representing a subset of suppressor cells that often expand under pathological conditions and inhibit possible recruitment of helper T cells needed for fighting off the disease. Methods and Findings We tested this working hypothesis in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and its mouse model, which are characterized by a rapid progression once clinical symptoms are evident. Adaptive transfer of alternatively activated myeloid (M2) cells, which homed to the spleen and exhibited immune suppressive activity in G93A mutant superoxide dismutase-1 (mSOD1) mice at a stage before emergence of disease symptoms, resulted in earlier appearance of disease symptoms and shorter life expectancy. The same protocol mitigated the inflammation-induced disease model of multiple sclerosis, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), which requires circulating T cells for disease induction. Analysis of whole peripheral blood samples obtained from 28 patients suffering from sporadic ALS (sALS), revealed a two-fold increase in the percentage of circulating MDSCs (LIN−/LowHLA-DR−CD33+) compared to controls. Conclusions Taken together, these results emphasize the distinct requirements for fighting the inflammatory neurodegenerative disease, multiple sclerosis, and the neurodegenerative disease, ALS, though both share a local inflammatory component. Moreover, the increased levels of circulating MDSCs in ALS patients indicates the operation of systemic mechanisms that might lead to an impairment of T cell reactivity needed to overcome the disease conditions within the CNS. This high level of suppressive immune cells might represent a risk factor and a novel target for therapeutic intervention in ALS at least at the early stage. PMID:22073221

Multiscale and multidisciplinary Marine Rapid Environmental Assessment data collection methods for process studies: the case of the Taranto Gulf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Federico, Ivan; Maicu, Francesco; Pinardi, Nadia; Lyubartsev, Vladyslav; Causio, Salvatore; Caporale, Claudio; Demarte, Maurizio; Falconieri, Alfredo; Lecci, Rita; Lacava, Teodosio; Lisi, Matteo; Sepp-Neves, Augusto; Lorenzetti, Giuliano; Manfe', Giorgia; Trotta, Francesco; Zaggia, Luca; Ciliberti, Stefania Angela; Fratianni, Claudia; Grandi, Alessandro

2017-04-01

The present work aims to investigate the thermohaline properties and the circulation of the Gulf of Taranto, which is a deep, semi-enclosed ocean area in the northern Ionian sea, encircled by two Italian peninsulas of southern Apulia and Calabria. Since few observations in the past have been reported in the Gulf of Taranto, it emerged the need of planning and implementing oceanographic cruises in this area, based on an innovative concept of MREA (Marine Rapid Environmental Assessment). The methodology was based on an optimal experimental strategy to collect definitive evidences on ocean mesoscales with a spatial-and-time synoptic coverage. The MREA surveys have been performed thanks to the synergies between Italian oceanographic research centers and the Italian Navy Hydrographic Institute. Starting from the experience and results of MREA14 (Pinardi et al., 2016), which have shown in the Gulf an anticyclonic circulation in Autumn (October 2014) and the presence of submesoscale structure, a new experiment (MREA16) was repeated in a different season (Summer, June-July 2016), evaluating possible changes in current circulation. Furthermore, the new sampling methodology was refined and strengthened integrating the classical CTD data collection with additional simultaneous measurements of currents by means of vessel-mounted ADCP. The geostrophic circulation pattern derived from the CTD objective-analysis mapping techniques has been verified with the ADCP measurements. Moreover, the analysis on circulation fields confirms the presence of possible submesoscale structures, which can be well solved by a high-resolution sampling scheme. The MREA investigation in Gulf of Taranto shows a large-scale gyre anticyclonically-oriented in Autumn (MREA14) and cyclonically-oriented in Summer (MREA16). This opposite circulation pattern is probably connected to (i) the impact of Western Adriatic Coastal Current (WACC), (ii) the effect of the Northern Ionian Sea outflow-inflow system in different seasons and (iii) the local atmospheric forcing.

On Lagrangian residual currents with applications in south San Francisco Bay, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cheng, Ralph T.; Casulli, Vincenzo

1982-01-01

The Lagrangian residual circulation has often been introduced as the sum of the Eulerian residual circulation and the Stokes' drift. Unfortunately, this definition of the Lagrangian residual circulation is conceptually incorrect because both the Eulerian residual circulation and the Stokes' drift are Eulerian variables. In this paper a classification of various residual variables are reviewed and properly defined. The Lagrangian residual circulation is then studied by means of a two-stage formulation of a computer model. The tidal circulation is first computed in a conventional Eulerian way, and then the Lagrangian residual circulation is determined by a method patterned after the method of markers and cells. To demonstrate properties of the Lagrangian residual circulation, application of this approach in South San Francisco Bay, California, is considered. With the aid of the model results, properties of the Eulerian and Lagrangian residual circulation are examined. It can be concluded that estimation of the Lagrangian residual circulation from Eulerian data may lead to unacceptable error, particularly in a tidal estuary where the tidal excursion is of the same order of magnitude as the length scale of the basin. A direction calculation of the Lagrangian residual circulation must be made and has been shown to be feasible.

An analysis of the relationship between cloud anomalies and sea surface temperature anomalies in a global circulation model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peterson, Thomas C.; Barnett, Tim P.; Roeckner, Erich; Vonder Haar, Thomas H.

1992-01-01

The relationship between the sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) and the anomalies of the monthly mean cloud cover (including the high-level, low-level, and total cloud cover), the outgoing longwave radiation, and the reflected solar radiation was analyzed using a least absolute deviations regression at each grid point over the open ocean for a 6-yr period. The results indicate that cloud change in association with a local 1-C increase in SSTAs cannot be used to predict clouds in a potential future world where all the oceans are 1-C warmer than at present, because much of the observed cloud changes are due to circulation changes, which in turn are related not only to changes in SSTAs but to changes in SSTA gradients. However, because SSTAs are associated with changes in the local ocean-atmosphere moisture and heat fluxes as well as significant changes in circulation (such as ENSO), SSTAs can serve as a surrogate for many aspects of global climate change.

Size-dependent extravasation and interstitial localization of polyethyleneglycol liposomes in solid tumor-bearing mice.

PubMed

Ishida, O; Maruyama, K; Sasaki, K; Iwatsuru, M

1999-11-10

We have examined the size dependence of extravasation and interstitial localization of polyethyleneglycol-coated liposomes (PEG-liposomes) in the solid tumor tissue by means of electron microscopic observation. Liposomes composed of distearoyl phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol and distearoylphosphatidylethanolamine derivative of polyethyleneglycol (PEG) were prepared in various size ranges. PEG-liposomes with an average diameter of 100-200 nm showed the most prolonged circulation time and the greatest tumor accumulation in all the solid tumors employed in this experiment. Although large PEG-liposomes with a diameter of 400 nm showed a short circulation time in normal mice, the results in splenectomized mice indicated that they do have an intrinsic prolonged circulation character in vivo. However, large PEG-liposomes could not extravasate into solid tumor tissue. These results indicate that the size of liposomes is critical for extravasation. The electron microscopic observations revealed the almost exclusive engulfment of extravasated liposomes by tumor-associated macrophages; very few were taken up by tumor cells.

The Impact of Low-Level Cloud Feedback on Persistent Changes in Atmospheric Circulation in the Pacific

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burgman, R.; Kirtman, B. P.; Clement, A. C.; Vazquez, H.

2017-12-01

Recent studies suggest that low clouds in the Pacific play an important role in the observed decadal climate variability and future climate change. In this study, we implement a novel modeling experiment designed to isolate how interactions between local and remote feedbacks associated with low cloud, SSTs, and the largescale circulation play a significant role in the observed persistence of tropical Pacific SST and associated North American drought. The modeling approach involves the incorporation of observed patterns of satellite-derived shortwave cloud radiative effect (SWCRE) into the coupled model framework and is ideally suited for examining the role of local and large-scale coupled feedbacks and ocean heat transport in Pacific decadal variability. We show that changes in SWCRE forcing in eastern subtropical Pacific alone reproduces much of the observed changes in SST and atmospheric circulation over the past 16 years, including the observed changes in precipitation over much of the Western Hemisphere.

West Florida shelf circulation and temperature budget for the 1999 spring transition

USGS Publications Warehouse

He, Ruoying; Weisberg, Robert H.

2002-01-01

Mid-latitude continental shelves undergo a spring transition as the net surface heat flux changes from cooling to warming. Using in situ data and a numerical circulation model we investigate the circulation and temperature budget on the West Florida Continental Shelf (WFS) for the spring transition of 1999. The model is a regional adaptation of the primitive equation, Princeton Ocean Model forced by NCEP reanalysis wind and heat flux fields and by river inflows. Based on agreements between the modeled and observed fields we use the model to draw inferences on how the surface momentum and heat fluxes affect the seasonal and synoptic scale variability. We account for a strong southeastward current at mid-shelf by the baroclinic response to combined wind and buoyancy forcing, and we show how this local forcing leads to annually occurring cold and low salinity tongues. Through term-by-term analyses of the temperature budget we describe the WFS temperature evolution in spring. Heat flux largely controls the seasonal transition, whereas ocean circulation largely controls the synoptic scale variability. These two processes, however, are closely linked. Bottom topography and coastline geometry are important in generating regions of convergence and divergence. Rivers contribute to the local hydrography and are important ecologically. Along with upwelling, river inflows facilitate frontal aggregation of nutrients and the spring formation of a high concentration chlorophyll plume near the shelf break (the so-called ‘Green River’) coinciding with the cold, low salinity tongues. These features originate by local, shelf-wide forcing; the Loop Current is not an essential ingredient.

Statistical Downscaling in Multi-dimensional Wave Climate Forecast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Camus, P.; Méndez, F. J.; Medina, R.; Losada, I. J.; Cofiño, A. S.; Gutiérrez, J. M.

2009-04-01

Wave climate at a particular site is defined by the statistical distribution of sea state parameters, such as significant wave height, mean wave period, mean wave direction, wind velocity, wind direction and storm surge. Nowadays, long-term time series of these parameters are available from reanalysis databases obtained by numerical models. The Self-Organizing Map (SOM) technique is applied to characterize multi-dimensional wave climate, obtaining the relevant "wave types" spanning the historical variability. This technique summarizes multi-dimension of wave climate in terms of a set of clusters projected in low-dimensional lattice with a spatial organization, providing Probability Density Functions (PDFs) on the lattice. On the other hand, wind and storm surge depend on instantaneous local large-scale sea level pressure (SLP) fields while waves depend on the recent history of these fields (say, 1 to 5 days). Thus, these variables are associated with large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns. In this work, a nearest-neighbors analog method is used to predict monthly multi-dimensional wave climate. This method establishes relationships between the large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns from numerical models (SLP fields as predictors) with local wave databases of observations (monthly wave climate SOM PDFs as predictand) to set up statistical models. A wave reanalysis database, developed by Puertos del Estado (Ministerio de Fomento), is considered as historical time series of local variables. The simultaneous SLP fields calculated by NCEP atmospheric reanalysis are used as predictors. Several applications with different size of sea level pressure grid and with different temporal domain resolution are compared to obtain the optimal statistical model that better represents the monthly wave climate at a particular site. In this work we examine the potential skill of this downscaling approach considering perfect-model conditions, but we will also analyze the suitability of this methodology to be used for seasonal forecast and for long-term climate change scenario projection of wave climate.

47 CFR 61.58 - Notice requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... newspapers of general circulation. (b) Tariffs for new services filed by price cap local exchange carriers... Sundays and holidays must be counted. (2)(i) Local exchange carriers may file tariffs pursuant to the...(a)(3) of the Communications Act must comply with the applicable cost support requirements specified...

Epidemiological dynamics of norovirus GII.4 variant New Orleans 2009.

PubMed

Medici, Maria Cristina; Tummolo, Fabio; De Grazia, Simona; Calderaro, Adriana; De Conto, Flora; Terio, Valentina; Chironna, Maria; Bonura, Floriana; Pucci, Marzia; Bányai, Kristián; Martella, Vito; Giammanco, Giovanni Maurizio

2015-09-01

Norovirus (NoV) is one of the major causes of diarrhoeal disease with epidemic, outbreak and sporadic patterns in humans of all ages worldwide. NoVs of genotype GII.4 cause nearly 80-90 % of all NoV infections in humans. Periodically, some GII.4 strains become predominant, generating major pandemic variants. Retrospective analysis of the GII.4 NoV strains detected in Italy between 2007 and 2013 indicated that the pandemic variant New Orleans 2009 emerged in Italy in the late 2009, became predominant in 2010-2011 and continued to circulate in a sporadic fashion until April 2013. Upon phylogenetic analysis based on the small diagnostic regions A and C, the late New Orleans 2009 NoVs circulating during 2011-2013 appeared to be genetically different from the early New Orleans 2009 strains that circulated in 2010. For a selection of strains, a 3.2 kb genome portion at the 3' end was sequenced. In the partial ORF1 and in the full-length ORF2 and ORF3, the 2011-2013 New Orleans NoVs comprised at least three distinct genetic subclusters. By comparison with sequences retrieved from the databases, these subclusters were also found to circulate globally, suggesting that the local circulation reflected repeated introductions of different strains, rather than local selection of novel viruses. Phylogenetic subclustering did not correlate with changes in residues located in predicted putative capsid epitopes, although several changes affected the P2 domain in epitopes A, C, D and E.

The Regional Water Cycle and Water Ice Clouds in the Tharsis - Valles Marineris System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leung, C. W. S.; Rafkin, S. C.

2017-12-01

The regional atmospheric circulation on Mars is highly influenced by local topographic gradients. Terrain-following air parcels forced along the slopes of the major Tharsis volcanoes and the steep canyon walls of Valles Marineris significantly impact the local water vapor concentration and the associated conditions for cloud formation. Using a non-hydrostatic mesoscale atmospheric model with aerosol & cloud microphysics, we investigate the meteorological conditions for water ice cloud formation in the coupled Tharsis - Valles Marineris system near the aphelion season. The usage of a limited area regional model ensures that topographic slopes are well resolved compared to the typical resolutions of a global-coverage general circulation model. The effects of shadowing and slope angle geometries on the energy budget is also taken into account. Diurnal slope winds in complex terrains are typically characterized by the reversal of wind direction twice per sol: upslope during the day, and downslope at night. However, our simulation results of the regional circulation and diurnal water cycle indicate substantial asymmetries in the day-night circulation. The convergence of moist air masses enters Valles Marineris via easterly flows, whereas dry air sweep across the plateau of the canyon system from the south towards the north. We emphasize the non-uniform vertical distribution of water vapor in our model results. Water vapor mixing ratios in the lower planetary boundary layer may be factors greater than the mixing ratio aloft. Water ice clouds are important contributors to the climatic forcing on Mars, and their effects on the mesoscale circulations in the Tharsis - Valles Marineris region significantly contribute to the regional perturbations in the large-scale global atmospheric circulation.

Clinical applications of circulating tumor DNA and circulating tumor cells in pancreatic cancer.

PubMed

Riva, Francesca; Dronov, Oleksii I; Khomenko, Dmytro I; Huguet, Florence; Louvet, Christophe; Mariani, Pascale; Stern, Marc-Henri; Lantz, Olivier; Proudhon, Charlotte; Pierga, Jean-Yves; Bidard, Francois-Clement

2016-03-01

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most frequent pancreatic cancer type and is characterized by a dismal prognosis due to late diagnosis, local tumor invasion, frequent distant metastases and poor sensitivity to current therapy. In this context, circulating tumor cells and circulating tumor DNA constitute easily accessible blood-borne tumor biomarkers that may prove their clinical interest for screening, early diagnosis and metastatic risk assessment of PDAC. Moreover these markers represent a tool to assess PDAC mutational landscape. In this review, together with key biological findings, we summarize the clinical results obtained using "liquid biopsies" at the different stages of the disease, for early and metastatic diagnosis as well as monitoring during therapy. Copyright © 2016 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Review: Intracardiac intracellular angiotensin system in diabetes

PubMed Central

Kumar, Rajesh; Yong, Qian Chen; Thomas, Candice M.

2012-01-01

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) has mainly been categorized as a circulating and a local tissue RAS. A new component of the local system, known as the intracellular RAS, has recently been described. The intracellular RAS is defined as synthesis and action of ANG II intracellularly. This RAS appears to differ from the circulating and the local RAS, in terms of components and the mechanism of action. These differences may alter treatment strategies that target the RAS in several pathological conditions. Recent work from our laboratory has demonstrated significant upregulation of the cardiac, intracellular RAS in diabetes, which is associated with cardiac dysfunction. Here, we have reviewed evidence supporting an intracellular RAS in different cell types, ANG II's actions in cardiac cells, and its mechanism of action, focusing on the intracellular cardiac RAS in diabetes. We have discussed the significance of an intracellular RAS in cardiac pathophysiology and implications for potential therapies. PMID:22170614

Methods for measuring right ventricular function and hemodynamic coupling with the pulmonary vasculature.

PubMed

Bellofiore, Alessandro; Chesler, Naomi C

2013-07-01

The right ventricle (RV) is a pulsatile pump, the efficiency of which depends on proper hemodynamic coupling with the compliant pulmonary circulation. The RV and pulmonary circulation exhibit structural and functional differences with the more extensively investigated left ventricle (LV) and systemic circulation. In light of these differences, metrics of LV function and efficiency of coupling to the systemic circulation cannot be used without modification to characterize RV function and efficiency of coupling to the pulmonary circulation. In this article, we review RV physiology and mechanics, established and novel methods for measuring RV function and hemodynamic coupling, and findings from application of these methods to RV function and coupling changes with pulmonary hypertension. We especially focus on non-invasive measurements, as these may represent the future for clinical monitoring of disease progression and the effect of drug therapies.

Global Response to Local Ionospheric Mass Ejection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, T. E.; Fok, M.-C.; Delcourt, D. C.; Slinker, S. P.; Fedder, J. A.

2010-01-01

We revisit a reported "Ionospheric Mass Ejection" using prior event observations to guide a global simulation of local ionospheric outflows, global magnetospheric circulation, and plasma sheet pressurization, and comparing our results with the observed global response. Our simulation framework is based on test particle motions in the Lyon-Fedder-Mobarry (LFM) global circulation model electromagnetic fields. The inner magnetosphere is simulated with the Comprehensive Ring Current Model (CRCM) of Fok and Wolf, driven by the transpolar potential developed by the LFM magnetosphere, and includes an embedded plasmaspheric simulation. Global circulation is stimulated using the observed solar wind conditions for the period 24-25 Sept 1998. This period begins with the arrival of a Coronal Mass Ejection, initially with northward, but later with southward interplanetary magnetic field. Test particles are launched from the ionosphere with fluxes specified by local empirical relationships of outflow to electrodynamic and particle precipitation imposed by the MIlD simulation. Particles are tracked until they are lost from the system downstream or into the atmosphere, using the full equations of motion. Results are compared with the observed ring current and a simulation of polar and auroral wind outflows driven globally by solar wind dynamic pressure. We find good quantitative agreement with the observed ring current, and reasonable qualitative agreement with earlier simulation results, suggesting that the solar wind driven global simulation generates realistic energy dissipation in the ionosphere and that the Strangeway relations provide a realistic local outflow description.

Burn Enhances Toll-Like Receptor Induced Responses by Circulating Leukocytes

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-04-30

Introduction Major burn is associated with a local and sys- temic activation of the innate immune system resulting in a profound inflammatory...plications. Previous studies have shown that responses after burn differ between fixed-tissue immune cells and circulating immune cells [15]. In the current...Abstract: Burn and toll-like receptors (TLR) are associated with innate immune system activation, but the impact of burn on TLR-induced inflammation

Production regimes in four eastern boundary current systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carr, M. E.; Kearns, E. J.

2003-01-01

High productivity (maxima 3 g C m(sup -2)day(sup -1)) of the Eastern Boundary Currents (EBCs), i.e. the California, Peru-Humboldt, Canary and Benguela Currents, is driven by a combination of local forcing and large-scale circulation. The characteristics of the deep water brought to the surface by upwelling favorable winds depend on the large-scale circulation patterns. Here we use a new hydrographic and nutrient climatology together with satellite measurements ofthe wind vector, sea-surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll concentration, and primary production modeled from ocean color to quantify the meridional and seasonal patterns of upwelling dynamics and biological response. The unprecedented combination of data sets allows us to describe objectively the variability for small regions within each current and to characterize the governing factors for biological production. The temporal and spatial environmental variability was due in most regions to large-scale circulation, alone or in combination with offshore transport (local forcing). The observed meridional and seasonal patterns of biomass and primary production were most highlycorrelated to components representing large-scale circulation. The biomass sustained by a given nutrient concentration in the Atlantic EBCs was twice as large as that of the Pacific EBCs. This apparent greater efficiency may be due toavailability of iron, physical retention, or differences in planktonic community structure.

Methods to Study the Role of Progranulin in the Tumor Microenvironment.

PubMed

Elkabets, Moshe; Brook, Samuel

2018-01-01

Accurate measurement of progranulin (PGRN) in the circulation and in the tumor microenvironment is essential for understanding its role in cancer progression and metastasis. This chapter describes a number of approaches to measure the transcription level of the GRN gene and to detect and analyze PGRN expression in cancer cells and in the local environment of the tumor, in mouse and human samples. These validated protocols are utilized to investigate the functional role of PGRN in cancer. Finally, we discuss strategies to investigate the functions of PGRN in tumors using genetically modified mouse models and gene silencing techniques.

Recharge and Topographical Controls on Groundwater Circulation in Shallow Crystalline Rock Aquifers revealed by CFC-based Age Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolbe, T.; Abbott, B. W.; Marçais, J.; Thomas, Z.; Aquilina, L.; Labasque, T.; Pinay, G.; De Dreuzy, J. R.

2016-12-01

Groundwater transit time and flow path are key factors controlling nitrogen retention and removal capacity at the catchment scale (Abbott et al., 2016), but the relative importance of hydrogeological and topographical factors in determining these parameters remains uncertain (Kolbe et al., 2016). To address this unknown, we used numerical modelling techniques calibrated with CFC groundwater age data to quantify transit time and flow path in an unconfined aquifer in Brittany, France. We assessed the relative importance of parameters (aquifer depth, porosity, arrangement of geological layers, and permeability profile), hydrology (recharge rate), and topography in determining characteristic flow distances (Leray et al., 2016). We found that groundwater flow was highly local (mean travel distance of 350 m) but also relatively old (mean CFC age of 40 years). Sensitivity analysis revealed that groundwater travel distances were not sensitive to geological parameters within the constraints of the CFC age data. However, circulation was sensitive to topography in lowland areas where the groundwater table was close to the land surface, and to recharge rate in upland areas where water input modulated the free surface of the aquifer. We quantified these differences with a local groundwater ratio (rGW-LOCAL) defined as the mean groundwater travel distance divided by the equivalent surface distance water would have traveled along the land surface. Lowland rGW-LOCAL was near 1, indicating primarily topographic controls. Upland rGW-LOCALwas 1.6, meaning the groundwater recharge area was substantially larger than the topographically-defined catchment. This ratio was applied to other catchments in Brittany to test its relevance in comparing controls on groundwater circulation within and among catchments. REFERENCES Abbott et al., 2016, Using multi-tracer inference to move beyond single-catchment ecohydrology. Earth-Science Reviews. Kolbe et al., 2016, Coupling 3D groundwater modeling with CFC-based age dating to classify local groundwater circulation in an unconfined crystalline aquifer. J. Hydrol. Leray et al., 2016, Residence time distributions for hydrologic systems: Mechanistic foundations and steady-state analytical solutions. J. Hydrol.

Implementation of local grid refinement (LGR) for the Lake Michigan Basin regional groundwater-flow model

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hoard, C.J.

2010-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey is evaluating water availability and use within the Great Lakes Basin. This is a pilot effort to develop new techniques and methods to aid in the assessment of water availability. As part of the pilot program, a regional groundwater-flow model for the Lake Michigan Basin was developed using SEAWAT-2000. The regional model was used as a framework for assessing local-scale water availability through grid-refinement techniques. Two grid-refinement techniques, telescopic mesh refinement and local grid refinement, were used to illustrate the capability of the regional model to evaluate local-scale problems. An intermediate model was developed in central Michigan spanning an area of 454 square miles (mi2) using telescopic mesh refinement. Within the intermediate model, a smaller local model covering an area of 21.7 mi2 was developed and simulated using local grid refinement. Recharge was distributed in space and time using a daily output from a modified Thornthwaite-Mather soil-water-balance method. The soil-water-balance method derived recharge estimates from temperature and precipitation data output from an atmosphere-ocean coupled general-circulation model. The particular atmosphere-ocean coupled general-circulation model used, simulated climate change caused by high global greenhouse-gas emissions to the atmosphere. The surface-water network simulated in the regional model was refined and simulated using a streamflow-routing package for MODFLOW. The refined models were used to demonstrate streamflow depletion and potential climate change using five scenarios. The streamflow-depletion scenarios include (1) natural conditions (no pumping), (2) a pumping well near a stream; the well is screened in surficial glacial deposits, (3) a pumping well near a stream; the well is screened in deeper glacial deposits, and (4) a pumping well near a stream; the well is open to a deep bedrock aquifer. Results indicated that a range of 59 to 50 percent of the water pumped originated from the stream for the shallow glacial and deep bedrock pumping scenarios, respectively. The difference in streamflow reduction between the shallow and deep pumping scenarios was compensated for in the deep well by deriving more water from regional sources. The climate-change scenario only simulated natural conditions from 1991-2044, so there was no pumping stress simulated. Streamflows were calculated for the simulated period and indicated that recharge over the period generally increased from the start of the simulation until approximately 2017, and decreased from then to the end of the simulation. Streamflow was highly correlated with recharge so that the lowest streamflows occurred in the later stress periods of the model when recharge was lowest.

On the Freshwater Sensitivity of the Arctic-Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lambert, E.; Eldevik, T.; Haugan, P.

2016-02-01

The North Atlantic thermohaline circulation (THC) carries heat and salt toward the Arctic. This circulation is generally believed to be inhibited by northern freshwater input as indicated by the `box-model' of Stommel (1961). The inferred freshwater-sensitivity of the THC, however, varies considerably between studies, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The northernmost branch of the Atlantic THC, which forms a double estuarine circulation in the Arctic Mediterranean, is one example where both strengthening and weakening of the circulation may occur due to increased freshwater input. We have accordingly built on Stommel's original concept to accomodate a THC similar to that in the Arctic Mediterranean. This model consists of three idealized basins, or boxes, connected by two coupled branches of circulation - the double estuary. The net transport of these two branches represents the extension of the Gulf Stream toward the Arctic. Its sensitivity to a change in freshwater forcing depends largely on the distribution of freshwater over the two northern basins. Varying this distribution opens a spectrum of qualitative behaviours ranging from Stommel's original freshwater-inhibited overturning circulation to a freshwater-facilitated estuarine circulation. Between these limiting cases, a Hopf and a cusp bifurcation divide the spectrum into three qualitative regions. In the first region, the circulation behaves similarly to Stommel's circulation, and sufficient freshwater input can induce an abrupt transition into a reversed flow; in the second, a similar transition can be found, although it does not reverse the circulation; in the third, no transition can occur and the circulation is generally facilitated by the northern freshwater input. Overall, the northern THC appears more stable than what would be inferred based on Stommel's model; it requires a larger amount and more localized freshwater input to `collapse' it, and a double estuary circulation is less prone to flow reversal.

High levels of circulating VEGFR2+ Bone marrow-derived progenitor cells correlate with metastatic disease in patients with pediatric solid malignancies.

PubMed

Taylor, Melissa; Rössler, Jochen; Geoerger, Birgit; Laplanche, Agnès; Hartmann, Olivier; Vassal, Gilles; Farace, Françoise

2009-07-15

Pediatric solid malignancies display important angiogenic potential, and blocking tumor angiogenesis represents a new therapeutic approach for these patients. Recent studies have evidenced rare circulating cells with endothelial features contributing to tumor neovascularization and have shown the pivotal role of bone marrow-derived (BMD) progenitor cells in metastatic disease progression. We measured these cells in patients with pediatric solid malignancies as a prerequisite to clinical trials with antiangiogenic therapy. Peripheral blood was drawn from 45 patients with localized (n = 23) or metastatic (n = 22) disease, and 20 healthy subjects. Subsets of circulating vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)2+-BMD progenitor cells, defined as CD45-CD34+VEGFR2(KDR)+7AAD- and CD45(dim)CD34+VEGFR2+7AAD- events, were measured in progenitor-enriched fractions by flow cytometry. Mature circulating endothelial cells (CEC) were measured in whole blood as CD31+CD146+CD45-7AAD- viable events. Data were correlated with VEGF and sVEGFR2 plasma levels. The CD45-CD34+VEGFR2(KDR)+7AAD- subset represented <0.003% of circulating BMD progenitor cells (< or =0.05 cells/mL). However, the median level (range) of the CD45(dim)CD34+VEGFR2+7AAD- subset was higher in patients compared with healthy subjects, 1.5% (0%-10.3%) versus 0.3% (0%-1.6%) of circulating BMD progenitors (P < 0.0001), and differed significantly between patients with localized and metastatic disease, 0.7% (0%-8.6%) versus 2.9% (0.6%-10.3%) of circulating BMD progenitors (P < 0.001). Median CEC value was 7 cells/mL (0-152 cells/mL) and similar in all groups. Unlike VEGFR2+-BMD progenitors, neither CECs, VEGF, or sVEGFR2 plasma levels correlated with disease status. High levels of circulating VEGFR2+-BMD progenitor cells correlated with metastatic disease. Our study provides novel insights for angiogenesis mechanisms in pediatric solid malignancies for which antiangiogenic targeting of VEGFR2+-BMD progenitors could be of interest.

Smoothing Forecasting Methods for Academic Library Circulations: An Evaluation and Recommendation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brooks, Terrence A.; Forys, John W., Jr.

1986-01-01

Circulation time-series data from 50 midwest academic libraries were used to test 110 variants of 8 smoothing forecasting methods. Data and methodologies and illustrations of two recommended methods--the single exponential smoothing method and Brown's one-parameter linear exponential smoothing method--are given. Eight references are cited. (EJS)

The Sensitivity of the Midlatitude Moist Isentropic Circulation on Both Sides of the Climate Model Hierarchy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fajber, R. A.; Kushner, P. J.; Laliberte, F. B.

2017-12-01

In the midlatitude atmosphere, baroclinic eddies are able to raise warm, moist air from the surface into the midtroposphere where it condenses and warms the atmosphere through latent heating. This coupling between dynamics and moist thermodynamics motivates using a conserved moist thermodynamic variable, such as the equivalent potential temperature, to study the midlatitude circulation and associated heat transport since it implicitly accounts for latent heating. When the equivalent potential temperature is used to zonally average the circulation, the moist isentropic circulation takes the form of a single cell in each hemisphere. By utilising the statistical transformed Eulerian mean (STEM) circulation we are able to parametrize the moist isentropic circulation in terms of second order dynamic and moist thermodynamic statistics. The functional dependence of the STEM allows us to analytically calculate functional derivatives that reveal the spatially varying sensitivity of the moist isentropic circulation to perturbations in different statistics. Using the STEM functional derivatives as sensitivity kernels we interpret changes in the moist isentropic circulation from two experiments: surface heating in an idealised moist model, and a climate change scenario in a comprehensive atmospheric general circulation model. In both cases we find that the changes in the moist isentropic circulation are well predicted by the functional sensitivities, and that the total heat transport is more sensitive to changes in dynamical processes driving local changes in poleward heat transport than it is to thermodynamic and/or radiative processes driving changes to the distribution of equivalent potential temperature.

Detection of FAM172A expressed in circulating tumor cells is a feasible method to predict high-risk subgroups of colorectal cancer.

PubMed

Cui, Chun-Hui; Chen, Ri-Hong; Zhai, Duan-Yang; Xie, Lang; Qi, Jia; Yu, Jin-Long

2017-06-01

Previous studies used to enumerate circulating tumor cells to predict prognosis and therapeutic effect of colorectal cancer. However, increasing studies have shown that only circulating tumor cells enumeration was not enough to reflect the heterogeneous condition of tumor. In this study, we classified different metastatic-potential circulating tumor cells from colorectal cancer patients and measured FAM172A expression in circulating tumor cells to improve accuracy of clinical diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer. Blood samples were collected from 45 primary colorectal cancer patients. Circulating tumor cells were enriched by blood filtration using isolation by size of epithelial tumor cells, and in situ hybridization with RNA method was used to identify and discriminate subgroups of circulating tumor cells. Afterwards, FAM172A expression in individual circulating tumor cells was measured. Three circulating tumor cell subgroups (epithelial/biophenotypic/mesenchymal circulating tumor cells) were identified using epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers. In our research, mesenchymal circulating tumor cells significantly increased along with tumor progression, development of distant metastasis, and vascular invasion. Furthermore, FAM172A expression rate in mesenchymal circulating tumor cells was significantly higher than that in epithelial circulating tumor cells, which suggested that FAM172A may correlate with malignant degree of tumor. This hypothesis was further verified by FAM172A expression in mesenchymal circulating tumor cells, which was strictly related to tumor aggressiveness factors. Mesenchymal circulating tumor cells and FAM172A detection may predict highrisk stage II colorectal cancer. Our research proved that circulating tumor cells were feasible surrogate samples to detect gene expression and could serve as a predictive biomarker for tumor evaluation.

Wind directions predicted from global circulation models and wind directions determined from eolian sandstones of the western United States-A comparison

USGS Publications Warehouse

Parrish, Judith T.; Peterson, F.

1988-01-01

Wind directions for Middle Pennsylvanian through Jurassic time are predicted from global circulation models for the western United States. These predictions are compared with paleowind directions interpreted from eolian sandstones of Middle Pennsylvanian through Jurassic age. Predicted regional wind directions correspond with at least three-quarters of the paleowind data from the sandstones; the rest of the data may indicate problems with correlation, local effects of paleogeography on winds, and lack of resolution of the circulation models. The data and predictions suggest the following paleoclimatic developments through the time interval studied: predominance of winter subtropical high-pressure circulation in the Late Pennsylvanian; predominance of summer subtropical high-pressure circulation in the Permian; predominance of summer monsoonal circulation in the Triassic and earliest Jurassic; and, during the remainder of the Jurassic, influence of both summer subtropical and summer monsoonal circulation, with the boundary between the two systems over the western United States. This sequence of climatic changes is largely owing to paleogeographic changes, which influenced the buildup and breakdown of the monsoonal circulation, and possibly owing partly to a decrease in the global temperature gradient, which might have lessened the influence of the subtropical high-pressure circulation. The atypical humidity of Triassic time probably resulted from the monsoonal circulation created by the geography of Pangaea. This circulation is predicted to have been at a maximum in the Triassic and was likely to have been powerful enough to draw moisture along the equator from the ocean to the west. ?? 1988.

Mesoscale simulations of atmospheric flow and tracer transport in Phoenix, Arizona

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ge; Ostoja-Starzewski, Martin

2006-09-01

Large urban centres located within confining rugged or complex terrain can frequently experience episodes of high concentrations of lower atmospheric pollution. Metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona (United States), is a good example, as the general population is occasionally subjected to high levels of lower atmospheric ozone, carbon monoxide and suspended particulate matter. As a result of dramatic but continuous increase in population, the accompanying environmental stresses and the local atmospheric circulation that dominates the background flow, an accurate simulation of the mesoscale pollutant transport across Phoenix and similar urban areas is becoming increasingly important. This is particularly the case in an airshed, such as that of Phoenix, where the local atmospheric circulation is complicated by the complex terrain of the area.

Local metric dimension of circulant graph c i r c (n :1 ,2 ,…,n/+1 2 )

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rimadhany, Ruzika; Darmaji

2017-08-01

Let G be a connected graph with two vertices u and v. The distance between u and v, denoted by d(u, v), is defined as length of the shortest path from u to v in G. For an ordered set W = {w1, w2, w3, … , wk} of k distinct vertices in a nontrivial connected graph G, the representation of a vertex v of V(G) respect to W is r(v|W) = (d(v, w1), d(v, w2), … , d(v, wk)). The set W is a resolving set of G if r(v|W) for each vertex v ∈ V(G) is distinct. A resolving set of minimum cardinality is a metric dimension and denoted by dim(G). The set W is a local resolving set of G if r(v|W) for every two adjacent vertices of V(G) is distinct. The minimum cardinality of local resolving set of G is a local metric dimension and denoted by ldim(G). In this research, we determine local metric dimension of circulant graph c i r c (n :1 ,2 ,3 ,…,n/+1 2 ) .

Surface changes in the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the last millennium

PubMed Central

Wanamaker, Alan D.; Butler, Paul G.; Scourse, James D.; Heinemeier, Jan; Eiríksson, Jón; Knudsen, Karen Luise; Richardson, Christopher A.

2012-01-01

Despite numerous investigations, the dynamical origins of the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age remain uncertain. A major unresolved issue relating to internal climate dynamics is the mode and tempo of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation variability, and the significance of decadal-to-centennial scale changes in Atlantic meridional overturning circulation strength in regulating the climate of the last millennium. Here we use the time-constrained high-resolution local radiocarbon reservoir age offset derived from an absolutely dated annually resolved shell chronology spanning the past 1,350 years, to reconstruct changes in surface ocean circulation and climate. The water mass tracer data presented here from the North Icelandic shelf, combined with previously published data from the Arctic and subtropical Atlantic, show that surface Atlantic meridional overturning circulation dynamics likely amplified the relatively warm conditions during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the relatively cool conditions during the Little Ice Age within the North Atlantic sector. PMID:22692542

Surface changes in the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the last millennium.

PubMed

Wanamaker, Alan D; Butler, Paul G; Scourse, James D; Heinemeier, Jan; Eiríksson, Jón; Knudsen, Karen Luise; Richardson, Christopher A

2012-06-12

Despite numerous investigations, the dynamical origins of the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age remain uncertain. A major unresolved issue relating to internal climate dynamics is the mode and tempo of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation variability, and the significance of decadal-to-centennial scale changes in Atlantic meridional overturning circulation strength in regulating the climate of the last millennium. Here we use the time-constrained high-resolution local radiocarbon reservoir age offset derived from an absolutely dated annually resolved shell chronology spanning the past 1,350 years, to reconstruct changes in surface ocean circulation and climate. The water mass tracer data presented here from the North Icelandic shelf, combined with previously published data from the Arctic and subtropical Atlantic, show that surface Atlantic meridional overturning circulation dynamics likely amplified the relatively warm conditions during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the relatively cool conditions during the Little Ice Age within the North Atlantic sector.

Large-Scale Transport Responses to Tropospheric Circulation Changes Using GEOS-5

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Orbe, Clara; Molod, Andrea; Arnold, Nathan; Waugh, Darryn W.; Yang, Huang

2017-01-01

The mean age since air was last at the Northern Hemisphere midlatitude surface is a fundamental property of tropospheric transport. Recent comparisons among chemistry climate models, however, reveal that there are large differences in the mean age among models and that these differences are most likely related to differences in tropical (parameterized) convection. Here we use aquaplanet simulations of the Goddard Earth Observing System Model Version 5 (GEOS-5) to explore the sensitivity of the mean age to changes in the tropical circulation. Tropical circulation changes are forced by prescribed localized off-equatorial warm sea surface temperature anomalies that (qualitatively) reproduce the convection and circulation differences among the comprehensive models. Idealized chemical species subject to prescribed OH loss are also integrated in parallel in order to illustrate the impact of tropical transport changes on interhemispheric constituent transport.

Assessing Northern Hemisphere Land-Atmosphere Hotspots Using Dynamical Adjustment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Merrifield, Anna; Lehner, Flavio; Deser, Clara; Xie, Shang-Ping

2017-04-01

Understanding the influence of soil moisture on surface air temperature (SAT) is made more challenging by large-scale, internal atmospheric variability present in the midlatitude summer atmosphere. In this study, dynamical adjustment is used to characterize and remove summer SAT variability associated with large-scale circulation patterns in the Community Earth System Model large ensemble (CESM-LE). The adjustment is performed over North America and Europe with two different circulation indicators: sea level pressure (SLP) and 500mb height (Z500). The removal of dynamical "noise" leaves residual SAT variability in the central U.S. and Mediterranean regions identified as hotspots of land-atmosphere interaction (e.g. Koster et al. 2004, Seneviratne et al. 2006). The residual SAT variability "signal" is not clearly related to modes of sea surface temperature (SST) variability, but is related to local soil moisture, evaporative fraction, and radiation availability. These local relationships suggest that residual SAT variability is representative of the aggregate land surface signal. SLP dynamical adjustment removes ˜15% more variability in the central U.S. hotspot region than Z500 dynamical adjustment. Similar amounts of variability are removed by SLP and Z500 in the Mediterranean region. Differences in SLP and Z500 signal magnitude in the central U.S. are likely due to the modification of SLP by local land surface conditions, while the proximity of European hotspots to the Mediterranean sea mitigates the land surface influence. Variations in the Z500 field more closely resemble large-scale midlatitude circulation patterns and therefore Z500 may be a more suitable circulation indicator for summer dynamical adjustment. Changes in the residual SAT variability signal under increased greenhouse gas forcing will also be explored.

Liver-specific GH receptor gene-disrupted (LiGHRKO) mice have decreased endocrine IGF-I, increased local IGF-I, and altered body size, body composition, and adipokine profiles.

PubMed

List, Edward O; Berryman, Darlene E; Funk, Kevin; Jara, Adam; Kelder, Bruce; Wang, Feiya; Stout, Michael B; Zhi, Xu; Sun, Liou; White, Thomas A; LeBrasseur, Nathan K; Pirtskhalava, Tamara; Tchkonia, Tamara; Jensen, Elizabeth A; Zhang, Wenjuan; Masternak, Michal M; Kirkland, James L; Miller, Richard A; Bartke, Andrzej; Kopchick, John J

2014-05-01

GH is an important regulator of body growth and composition as well as numerous other metabolic processes. In particular, liver plays a key role in the GH/IGF-I axis, because the majority of circulating "endocrine" IGF-I results from GH-stimulated liver IGF-I production. To develop a better understanding of the role of liver in the overall function of GH, we generated a strain of mice with liver-specific GH receptor (GHR) gene knockout (LiGHRKO mice). LiGHRKO mice had a 90% decrease in circulating IGF-I levels, a 300% increase in circulating GH, and significant changes in IGF binding protein (IGFBP)-1, IGFBP-2, IGFBP-3, IGFBP-5, and IGFBP-7. LiGHRKO mice were smaller than controls, with body length and body weight being significantly decreased in both sexes. Analysis of body composition over time revealed a pattern similar to those found in GH transgenic mice; that is, LiGHRKO mice had a higher percentage of body fat at early ages followed by lower percentage of body fat in adulthood. Local IGF-I mRNA levels were significantly increased in skeletal muscle and select adipose tissue depots. Grip strength was increased in LiGHRKO mice. Finally, circulating levels of leptin, resistin, and adiponectin were increased in LiGHRKO mice. In conclusion, LiGHRKO mice are smaller despite increased local mRNA expression of IGF-I in several tissues, suggesting that liver-derived IGF-I is indeed important for normal body growth. Furthermore, our data suggest that novel GH-dependent cross talk between liver and adipose is important for regulation of adipokines in vivo.

Splanchnic venous thrombosis and pancreatitis.

PubMed

Nadkarni, Nikhil A; Khanna, Sahil; Vege, Santhi Swaroop

2013-08-01

Pancreatitis is an inflammatory process with local and systemic manifestations. One such local manifestation is thrombosis in splanchnic venous circulation, predominantly of the splenic vein. The literature on this important complication is very sparse. This review offers an overview of mechanism of thrombosis, its pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management in the setting of acute as well as chronic pancreatitis.

The Integrated Library System: The University of Alabama in Birmingham.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelms, Doyal E.; Stephens, Jerry W.

1980-01-01

This discussion of the approach taken in developing and integrating the available local and national systems into one unified management system examines and illustrates how the home-grown acquisitions module, the shared cataloging of OCLC and local circulation/inventory control module under development all interface and complement each other.…

Mediterranean summer climate and the importance of Middle-East Topography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simpson, Isla; Seager, Richard; Shaw, Tiffany; Ting, Mingfang

2015-04-01

In summer, the atmospheric circulation over the Mediterranean is characterized by localized intense subsidence and low level northerlies over the central- to eastern portion of the basin. Here, simulations with the Community Atmosphere Model, version 5 are used to investigate the influence of the elevated terrain of North Africa and the Middle East on this summertime circulation. This builds on previous work that recognized a role for North African topography in localizing the Mediterranean subsidence. By flattening the two regions of elevated terrain in the model it is demonstrated that, while they both conspire to produce about 30% of the summertime subsidence, contrary to previous work, the mountains of the Middle-East dominate in this topographic contribution by far. This topography, consisting primarily of the Zagros Mountain range, alters the circulation throughout the depth of the troposphere over the Mediterranean, and further East. The model results suggest that about 20% of the Mediterranean summertime moisture deficit can be attributed to this mountain induced circulation. This topography, therefore, plays an important role in the climate of the Mediterranean and the large scale circulation over the rest of Eurasia during the summer. Further stationary wave modelling reveals that the mountain influence is produced via mechanical forcing of the flow. The greatest influence of the topography occurs when the low level incident flow is easterly, as happens during the summer, primarily due to the presence of condensational heating over Asia. During other seasons, when the low level incident flow is westerly, the influence of Middle-East topography on the Mediterranean is negligible.

An inquiry into the cirrus-cloud thermostat effect for tropical sea surface temperature

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lau, K.-M.; Sui, C.-H.; Chou, M.-D.; Tao, W.-K.

1994-01-01

In this paper, we investigate the relative importance of local vs remote control on cloud radiative forcing using a cumulus ensemble model. It is found that cloud and surface radiation forcings are much more sensitive to the mean vertical motion assoicated with large scale tropical circulation than to the local SST (sea surface temperature). When the local SST is increased with the mean vertical motion held constant, increased surface latent and sensible heat flux associated with enhanced moisture recycling is found to be the primary mechanism for cooling the ocean surface. Large changes in surface shortwave fluxes are related to changes in cloudiness induced by changes in the large scale circulation. These results are consistent with a number of earlier empirical studies, which raised concerns regarding the validity of the cirrus-thermostat hypothesis (Ramanathan and Collins, 1991). It is argued that for a better understanding of cloud feedback, both local and remote controls need to be considered and that a cumulus ensemble model is a powerful tool that should be explored for such purpose.

Control of respiration-driven retrograde flow in the subdiaphragmatic venous return of the Fontan circulation

PubMed Central

Vukicevic, M; Conover, T; Jaeggli, M; Zhou, J; Pennati, G; Hsia, TY; Figliola, RS

2014-01-01

Respiration influences the subdiaphragmatic venous return in the total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC) of the Fontan circulation whereby both the inferior vena cava (IVC) and hepatic vein flows can experience retrograde motion. Controlling retrograde flows could improve patient outcomes. Using a patient-specific model within a Fontan mock circulatory system with respiration, we inserted a valve into the IVC to examine its effects on local hemodynamics while varying retrograde volumes by changing vascular impedances. A bovine valved conduit reduced IVC retrograde flow to within 3% of antegrade flow in all cases. The valve closed only under conditions supporting retrograde flow and its effects on local hemodynamics increased with larger retrograde volume. Liver and TCPC pressures improved only while the valve leaflets were closed while cycle-averaged pressures improved only slightly (italic>1 mm Hg). Increased pulmonary vascular resistance raised mean circulation pressures but the valve functioned and cardiac output improved and stabilized. Power loss across the TCPC improved by 12–15% (pbold>0.05) with a valve. The effectiveness of valve therapy is dependent on patient vascular impedance. PMID:24814833

Impacts of changing ocean circulation on the distribution of marine microplastic litter.

PubMed

Welden, Natalie Ac; Lusher, Amy L

2017-05-01

Marine plastic pollution is currently a major scientific focus, with attention paid to its distribution and impacts within ecosystems. With recent estimates indicating that the mass of plastic released to the marine environment may reach 250 million metric tons by 2025, the effects of plastic on our oceans are set to increase. Distribution of microplastics, those plastics measuring less than 5 mm, are of increasing concern because they represent an increasing proportion of marine litter and are known to interact with species in a range of marine habitats. The local abundance of microplastic is dependent on a complex interaction between the scale of local plastic sources and prevailing environmental conditions; as a result, microplastic distribution is highly heterogeneous. Circulation models have been used to predict plastic distribution; however, current models do not consider future variation in circulation patterns and weather systems caused by a changing climate. In this study, we discuss the potential impacts of global climate change on the abundance and distribution of marine plastic pollution. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:483-487. © 2017 SETAC. © 2017 SETAC.

Prominent Midlatitude Circulation Signature in High Asia's Surface Climate During Monsoon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mölg, Thomas; Maussion, Fabien; Collier, Emily; Chiang, John C. H.; Scherer, Dieter

2017-12-01

High Asia has experienced strong environmental changes in recent decades, as evident in records of glaciers, lakes, tree rings, and vegetation. The multiscale understanding of the climatic drivers, however, is still incomplete. In particular, few systematic assessments have evaluated to what degree, if at all, the midlatitude westerly circulation modifies local surface climates in the reach of the Indian Summer Monsoon. This paper shows that a southward shift of the upper-tropospheric westerlies contributes significantly to climate variability in the core monsoon season (July-September) by two prominent dipole patterns at the surface: cooling in the west of High Asia contrasts with warming in the east, while moist anomalies in the east and northwest occur with drying along the southwestern margins. Circulation anomalies help to understand the dipoles and coincide with shifts in both the westerly wave train and the South Asian High, which imprint on air mass advection and local energy budgets. The relation of the variabilities to a well-established index of midlatitude climate dynamics allows future research on climate proxies to include a fresh hypothesis for the interpretation of environmental changes.

Accelerated Edge-Preserving Image Restoration Without Boundary Artifacts

PubMed Central

Matakos, Antonios; Ramani, Sathish; Fessler, Jeffrey A.

2013-01-01

To reduce blur in noisy images, regularized image restoration methods have been proposed that use non-quadratic regularizers (like l1 regularization or total-variation) that suppress noise while preserving edges in the image. Most of these methods assume a circulant blur (periodic convolution with a blurring kernel) that can lead to wraparound artifacts along the boundaries of the image due to the implied periodicity of the circulant model. Using a non-circulant model could prevent these artifacts at the cost of increased computational complexity. In this work we propose to use a circulant blur model combined with a masking operator that prevents wraparound artifacts. The resulting model is non-circulant, so we propose an efficient algorithm using variable splitting and augmented Lagrangian (AL) strategies. Our variable splitting scheme, when combined with the AL framework and alternating minimization, leads to simple linear systems that can be solved non-iteratively using FFTs, eliminating the need for more expensive CG-type solvers. The proposed method can also efficiently tackle a variety of convex regularizers including edge-preserving (e.g., total-variation) and sparsity promoting (e.g., l1 norm) regularizers. Simulation results show fast convergence of the proposed method, along with improved image quality at the boundaries where the circulant model is inaccurate. PMID:23372080

Planning for Downtown Circulation Systems. Volume 2. Analysis Techniques.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1983-10-01

This volume contains the analysis and refinement stages of downtown circulator planning. Included are sections on methods for estimating patronage, costs, revenues, and impacts, and a section on methods for performing micro-level analyses.

Using Time-Series Regression to Predict Academic Library Circulations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brooks, Terrence A.

1984-01-01

Four methods were used to forecast monthly circulation totals in 15 midwestern academic libraries: dummy time-series regression, lagged time-series regression, simple average (straight-line forecasting), monthly average (naive forecasting). In tests of forecasting accuracy, dummy regression method and monthly mean method exhibited smallest average…

Retina vascular network recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tascini, Guido; Passerini, Giorgio; Puliti, Paolo; Zingaretti, Primo

1993-09-01

The analysis of morphological and structural modifications of the retina vascular network is an interesting investigation method in the study of diabetes and hypertension. Normally this analysis is carried out by qualitative evaluations, according to standardized criteria, though medical research attaches great importance to quantitative analysis of vessel color, shape and dimensions. The paper describes a system which automatically segments and recognizes the ocular fundus circulation and micro circulation network, and extracts a set of features related to morphometric aspects of vessels. For this class of images the classical segmentation methods seem weak. We propose a computer vision system in which segmentation and recognition phases are strictly connected. The system is hierarchically organized in four modules. Firstly the Image Enhancement Module (IEM) operates a set of custom image enhancements to remove blur and to prepare data for subsequent segmentation and recognition processes. Secondly the Papilla Border Analysis Module (PBAM) automatically recognizes number, position and local diameter of blood vessels departing from optical papilla. Then the Vessel Tracking Module (VTM) analyses vessels comparing the results of body and edge tracking and detects branches and crossings. Finally the Feature Extraction Module evaluates PBAM and VTM output data and extracts some numerical indexes. Used algorithms appear to be robust and have been successfully tested on various ocular fundus images.

Monitoring of Circulating Tumor Cells and Their Expression of EGFR/Phospho-EGFR During Combined Radiotherapy Regimens in Locally Advanced Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tinhofer, Ingeborg, E-mail: ingeborg.tinhofer@charite.de; Hristozova, Tsvetana; Stromberger, Carmen

2012-08-01

Purpose: The numbers of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and their expression/activation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) during the course of combined chemo- or bioradiotherapy regimens as potential biomarkers of treatment efficacy in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) were determined. Methods and Materials: Peripheral blood samples from SCCHN patients with locally advanced stage IVA/B disease who were treated with concurrent radiochemotherapy or induction chemotherapy followed by bioradiation with cetuximab were included in this study. Using flow cytometry, the absolute number of CTCs per defined blood volume as well as their expression of EGFR and its phosphorylatedmore » form (pEGFR) during the course of treatment were assessed. Results: Before treatment, we detected {>=}1 CTC per 3.75 mL blood in 9 of 31 patients (29%). Basal expression of EGFR was detected in 100% and pEGFR in 55% of the CTC+ cases. The frequency of CTC detection was not influenced by induction chemotherapy. However, the number of CTC+ samples significantly increased after radiotherapy. This radiation-induced increase in CTC numbers was less pronounced when radiotherapy was combined with cetuximab compared to its combination with cisplatin/5-fluorouracil. The former treatment regimen was also more effective in reducing pEGFR expression in CTCs. Conclusions: Definitive radiotherapy regimens of locally advanced SCCHN can increase the number of CTCs and might thus contribute to a systemic spread of tumor cells. Further studies are needed to evaluate the predictive value of the radiation-induced increase in CTC numbers and the persistent activation of the EGFR signalling pathway in individual CTC+ cases.« less

Three-dimensional circulation structures leading to heavy summer rainfall over central North China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Wei; Yu, Rucong; Li, Jian; Yuan, Weihua

2016-04-01

Using daily and hourly rain gauge records and Japanese 25 year reanalysis data over 30 years, this work reveals two major circulation structures leading to heavy summer rainfall events in central North China (CNC), and further analyzes the effects of the circulations on these rainfall events. One circulation structure has an extensive upper tropospheric warm anomaly (UTWA) covering North China (NC). By strengthening the upper anticyclonic anomaly and lower southerly flows around NC, the UTWA plays a positive role in forming upper level divergence and lower level moisture convergence. As a result, the warm anomalous circulation has a solid relationship with large-scale, long-duration rainfall events with a diurnal peak around midnight to early morning. The other circulation structure has an upper tropospheric cold anomaly (UTCA) located in the upper stream of NC. Contributed to by the UTCA, a cold trough appears in the upper stream of NC and an unstable configuration with upper (lower) cold (warm) anomalies forms around CNC. Consequently, CNC is covered by strong instability and high convective energy, and the cold anomalous circulation is closely connected with local, short-duration rainfall events concentrated from late afternoon to early nighttime. The close connections between circulation structures and typical rainfall events are confirmed by two independent converse analysis processes: from circulations to rainfall characteristics, and from typical rainfall events to circulations. The results presented in this work indicate that the upper tropospheric temperature has significant influences on heavy rainfall, and thus more attention should be paid to the upper tropospheric temperature in future analyses.

A study of atmospheric mixing of trace gases by aerial sampling with a multi-rotor drone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Chih-Chung; Chang, Chih-Yuan; Wang, Jia-Lin; Lin, Ming-Ren; Ou-Yang, Chang-Feng; Pan, Hsiang-Hsu; Chen, Yen-Chen

2018-07-01

We exploited a novel sampling vehicle, a multi-rotor drone carrying a remote-controlled whole air sampling device, to collect aerial samples with high sample integrity and preservation conditions. An array of 106 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), CO, CH4, and CO2 were analyzed and compared between the aerial samples (300-m height) and the ground-level samples in pairs to inspect for vertical mixing of the trace gases at a coastal site under three different meteorological conditions of local circulation, frontal passage, and high-pressure peripheral circulation. A rather homogeneous composition was observed for the sample pairs immediately after the frontal passage, indicating a well-mixed condition below 300 m. In contrast, inhomogeneous mixing was observed for the sample pairs under the other two conditions (local circulation and high-pressure peripheral circulation), suggesting different layers of air masses. Furthermore, information of unique source markers, composition profiles, and lifetimes of compounds were used to differentiate the origins of the air masses aloft and at the surface to substantiate the observed inhomogeneity. The study demonstrates that, with the availability of the near-surface aerial sampling coupling with in-laboratory analysis, detailed compositions of trace gases can now be readily obtained with superior data quality. Based on the distinctive chemical compositions, the sources, transport, and atmospheric mixing of the airborne pollutants in the near-surface atmosphere can be better studied and understood.

Possible Role of Hadley Circulation Strengthening in Interdecadal Intensification of Snowfalls Over Northeastern China Under Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Botao; Wang, Zunya; Shi, Ying

2017-11-01

This article revealed that strengthening of winter Hadley circulation in the context of climate change may partially contribute to interdecadal increasing of snowfall intensity over northeastern China in recent decades. This hypothesis is well supported by the process-based linkage between Hadley circulation and atmospheric circulations over the Asian-Pacific region on the interdecadal time scale. The strengthening of winter Hadley circulation corresponds to a weakening of the Siberian high, an eastward shifting of the Aleutian low, a reduction of the East Asian trough, and anomalous southwesterly prevailing over northeastern China. These atmospheric situations weaken the East Asian winter monsoon and lead to an increase of air temperature over northeastern China. Increased local evaporation due to the increase of air temperature, concurrent with more water vapor transported from the Pacific Ocean, can significantly enhance atmospheric water vapor content in the target region. Meanwhile, the ascending of airflows is also strengthened over northeastern China. All of these provide favorable interdecadal backgrounds for the occurrence of intense snowfalls, and thus, snowfall intensity is intensified over northeastern China after the 1980s. Further analysis suggests that the circum-Pacific-like teleconnection pattern may play an important role in connecting Hadley circulation strengthening signal and atmospheric circulation anomalies favoring interdecadal intensification of snowfalls over northeastern China.

Circulation and multiple-scale variability in the Southern California Bight

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Changming; Idica, Eileen Y.; McWilliams, James C.

2009-09-01

The oceanic circulation in the Southern California Bight (SCB) is influenced by the large-scale California Current offshore, tropical remote forcing through the coastal wave guide alongshore, and local atmospheric forcing. The region is characterized by local complexity in the topography and coastline. All these factors engender variability in the circulation on interannual, seasonal, and intraseasonal time scales. This study applies the Regional Oceanic Modeling System (ROMS) to the SCB circulation and its multiple-scale variability. The model is configured in three levels of nested grids with the parent grid covering the whole US West Coast. The first child grid covers a large southern domain, and the third grid zooms in on the SCB region. The three horizontal grid resolutions are 20 km, 6.7 km, and 1 km, respectively. The external forcings are momentum, heat, and freshwater flux at the surface and adaptive nudging to gyre-scale SODA reanalysis fields at the boundaries. The momentum flux is from a three-hourly reanalysis mesoscale MM5 wind with a 6 km resolution for the finest grid in the SCB. The oceanic model starts in an equilibrium state from a multiple-year cyclical climatology run, and then it is integrated from years 1996 through 2003. In this paper, the 8-year simulation at the 1 km resolution is analyzed and assessed against extensive observational data: High-Frequency (HF) radar data, current meters, Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP) data, hydrographic measurements, tide gauges, drifters, altimeters, and radiometers. The simulation shows that the domain-scale surface circulation in the SCB is characterized by the Southern California Cyclonic Gyre, comprised of the offshore equatorward California Current System and the onshore poleward Southern California Countercurrent. The simulation also exhibits three subdomain-scale, persistent ( i.e., standing), cyclonic eddies related to the local topography and wind forcing: the Santa Barbara Channel Eddy, the Central-SCB Eddy, and the Catalina-Clemente Eddy. Comparisons with observational data reveal that ROMS reproduces a realistic mean state of the SCB oceanic circulation, as well as its interannual (mainly as a local manifestation of an ENSO event), seasonal, and intraseasonal (eddy-scale) variations. We find high correlations of the wind curl with both the alongshore pressure gradient (APG) and the eddy kinetic energy level in their variations on time scales of seasons and longer. The geostrophic currents are much stronger than the wind-driven Ekman flows at the surface. The model exhibits intrinsic eddy variability with strong topographically related heterogeneity, westward-propagating Rossby waves, and poleward-propagating coastally-trapped waves (albeit with smaller amplitude than observed due to missing high-frequency variations in the southern boundary conditions).

Predicting Academic Library Circulations: A Forecasting Methods Competition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brooks, Terrence A.; Forys, John W., Jr.

Based on sample data representing five years of monthly circulation totals from 50 academic libraries in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Ohio, a study was conducted to determine the most efficient smoothing forecasting methods for academic libraries. Smoothing forecasting methods were chosen because they have been characterized…

Dispersive aortic cannulas reduce aortic wall shear stress affecting atherosclerotic plaque embolization.

PubMed

Assmann, Alexander; Gül, Fethi; Benim, Ali Cemal; Joos, Franz; Akhyari, Payam; Lichtenberg, Artur

2015-03-01

Neurologic complications during on-pump cardiovascular surgery are often induced by mobilization of atherosclerotic plaques, which is directly related to enhanced wall shear stress. In the present study, we numerically evaluated the impact of dispersive aortic cannulas on aortic blood flow characteristics, with special regard to the resulting wall shear stress profiles. An idealized numerical model of the human aorta and its branches was created and used to model straight as well as bent dispersive aortic cannulas with meshlike tips inserted in the distal ascending aorta. Standard cannulas with straight beveled or bent tips served as controls. Using a recently optimized computing method, simulations of pulsatile and nonpulsatile extracorporeal circulation were performed. Dispersive aortic cannulas reduced the maximum and average aortic wall shear stress values to approximately 50% of those with control cannulas, while the difference in local values was even larger. Moreover, under pulsatile circulation, dispersive cannulas shortened the time period during which wall shear stress values were increased. The turbulent kinetic energy was also diminished by utilizing dispersive cannulas, reducing the risk of hemolysis. In summary, dispersive aortic cannulas decrease aortic wall shear stress and turbulence during extracorporeal circulation and may therefore reduce the risk of endothelial and blood cell damage as well as that of neurologic complications caused by atherosclerotic plaque mobilization. Copyright © 2014 International Center for Artificial Organs and Transplantation and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Global stability and tumor clearance conditions for a cancer chemotherapy system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valle, Paul A.; Starkov, Konstantin E.; Coria, Luis N.

2016-11-01

In this paper we study the global dynamics of a cancer chemotherapy system presented by de Pillis et al. (2007). This mathematical model describes the interaction between tumor cells, effector-immune cells, circulating lymphocytes and chemotherapy treatment. By applying the localization method of compact invariant sets, we find lower and upper bounds for these three cells populations. Further, we define a bounded domain in R+,04 where all compact invariant sets of the system are located and provide conditions under which this domain is positively invariant. We apply LaSalle's invariance principle and one result concerning two-dimensional competitive systems in order to derive sufficient conditions for tumor clearance and global asymptotic stability of the tumor-free equilibrium point. These conditions are computed by using bounds of the localization domain and they are given in terms of the chemotherapy treatment. Finally, we perform numerical simulations in order to illustrate our results.

Anti-cancer, pharmacokinetics and tumor localization studies of pH-, RF- and thermo-responsive nanoparticles.

PubMed

Sanoj Rejinold, N; Thomas, Reju George; Muthiah, Muthunarayanan; Chennazhi, K P; Manzoor, K; Park, In-Kyu; Jeong, Yong Yeon; Jayakumar, R

2015-03-01

The curcumin-encapsulated chitosan-graft-poly(N-vinyl caprolactam) nanoparticles containing gold nanoparticles (Au-CRC-TRC-NPs) were developed by ionic cross-linking method. After "optimum RF exposure" at 40 W for 5 min, Au-CRC-TRC-NPs dissipated heat energy in the range of ∼42°C, the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of chitosan-graft-poly(N-vinyl caprolactam), causing controlled curcumin release and apoptosis to cancer cells. Further, in vivo PK/PD studies on swiss albino mice revealed that Au-CRC-TRC-NPs could be sustained in circulation for a week with no harm to internal organs. The colon tumor localization studies revealed that Au-CRC-TRC-NPs were retained in tumor for a week. These results throw light on their feasibility as multi-responsive nanomedicine for RF-assisted cancer treatment modalities. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Diagnosis of middle atmosphere chemistry-dynamics interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, X.; Swartz, W. H.; Garcia, R. R.; Chartier, A.; Yee, J. H.; Yue, J.

2017-12-01

We apply the recently developed middle atmosphere climate feedback-response analysis method (MCFRAM) to diagnosing the temperature variations associated with chemistry-dynamics interactions in the middle atmosphere. By using output fields from the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) coupled with the measurements, we identify and isolate the distinctive characteristics of different components in the observed temperature variations. Both the temperature trends associated with the anthropogenic forcing and temperature changes associated with natural and internal feedback processes are quantified based on MCFRAM defined partial temperature changes corresponding to localized radiative heating, non-localized chemical heating, eddy transport, and transport by the mean meridional circulation of energy and chemical species. In addition, the temperature responses to variations of CO2, O3, and solar flux have distinctly different spatial structures that can be systematically categorized by the eigenmodes of the generalized damping matrix derived from MCFRAM.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guo, Zhun; Zhou, Tianjun; Wang, Minghuai

The impacts of cloud radiative heating on East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) over the southeastern China (105°-125°E, 20°-35°N) are explained by using the Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5). Sensitivity experiments demonstrate that the radiative heating of clouds leads to a positive effect on the local EASM circulation over southeastern China. Without the radiative heating of cloud, the EASM circulation and precipitation would be much weaker than that in the normal condition. The longwave heating of clouds dominates the changes of EASM circulation. The positive effect of clouds on EASM circulation is explained by the thermodynamic energy equation, i.e. themore » different heating rate between cloud base and cloud top enhances the convective instability over southeastern China, which enhances updraft consequently. The strong updraft would further result in a southward meridional wind above the center of the updraft through Sverdrup vorticity balance.« less

Aerodynamic loads on a Darrieus rotor blade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, R. E.; McKie, W. R.; Lissaman, P. B. S.; James, M.

1983-03-01

A method is presented for the free vortex analysis of a Darrieus rotor blade in nonsteady motion, which employs the circle theorem to map the moving rotor airfoil into the circle plane and models the wake generated in terms of point vortices. Nascent vortex strength and position are taken from the Kutta condition, so that the nascent vortex has the same strength as a vortex sheet of uniform strength. Pressure integration over the plate and wake vortex impulse methods yields the same numerical results. The numerical results presented for a one-bladed Darrieus rotor at a tip/speed ratio of three, and two different chord sizes, indicate that the moment on the blade can be adequately approximated by quasi-steady relationships, although the accurate determination of local velocity and circulation are still required.

Local diurnal wind-driven variabiity and upwelling in a small coastal embayment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walter, R. K.; Reid, E. C.; Davis, K. A.; Armenta, K. J.; Merhoff, K.; Nidzieko, N.

2017-12-01

The oceanic response to high-frequency local diurnal wind forcing is examined in a small coastal embayment located along an understudied stretch of the central California coast. We show that local diurnal wind forcing is the dominant control on nearshore temperature variability and circulation patterns. A complex empirical orthogonal function (CEOF) analysis of velocities in San Luis Obispo Bay reveals that the first-mode CEOF amplitude time series, which accounts for 47.9% of the variance, is significantly coherent with the local wind signal at the diurnal frequency and aligns with periods of weak and strong wind forcing. The diurnal evolution of the hydrographic structure and circulation in the bay is examined using both individual events and composite-day averages. During the late afternoon, the local wind strengthens and results in a sheared flow with near-surface warm waters directed out of the bay and a compensating flow of colder waters into the bay over the bottom portion of the water column. This cold water intrusion into the bay causes isotherms to shoal toward the surface and delivers subthermocline waters to shallow reaches of the bay, representing a mechanism for small-scale upwelling. When the local winds relax, the warm water mass advects back into the bay in the form of a buoyant plume front. Local diurnal winds are expected to play an important role in nearshore dynamics and local upwelling in other small coastal embayments with important implications for various biological and ecological processes.

Local diurnal wind-driven variability and upwelling in a small coastal embayment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walter, Ryan K.; Reid, Emma C.; Davis, Kristen A.; Armenta, Kevin J.; Merhoff, Kevin; Nidzieko, Nicholas J.

2017-02-01

The oceanic response to high-frequency local diurnal wind forcing is examined in a small coastal embayment located along an understudied stretch of the central California coast. We show that local diurnal wind forcing is the dominant control on nearshore temperature variability and circulation patterns. A complex empirical orthogonal function (CEOF) analysis of velocities in San Luis Obispo Bay reveals that the first-mode CEOF amplitude time series, which accounts for 47.9% of the variance, is significantly coherent with the local wind signal at the diurnal frequency and aligns with periods of weak and strong wind forcing. The diurnal evolution of the hydrographic structure and circulation in the bay is examined using both individual events and composite-day averages. During the late afternoon, the local wind strengthens and results in a sheared flow with near-surface warm waters directed out of the bay and a compensating flow of colder waters into the bay over the bottom portion of the water column. This cold water intrusion into the bay causes isotherms to shoal toward the surface and delivers subthermocline waters to shallow reaches of the bay, representing a mechanism for small-scale upwelling. When the local winds relax, the warm water mass advects back into the bay in the form of a buoyant plume front. Local diurnal winds are expected to play an important role in nearshore dynamics and local upwelling in other small coastal embayments with important implications for various biological and ecological processes.

Hydrodynamic patterns favouring sea urchin recruitment in coastal areas: A Mediterranean study case.

PubMed

Farina, S; Quattrocchi, G; Guala, I; Cucco, A

2018-05-11

In invertebrate fisheries, sea urchin harvesting continues to grow with dramatic consequences for benthic ecosystems. The identification of areas with a marked natural recruitment and the mechanisms regulating it is crucial for the conservation of benthic communities and for planning the sustainable harvesting. This study evaluates the spatial distribution and density of recruits of the edible sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus along the Sinis + Peninsula (Sardinia) and explores its significant relationships with the local oceanographic features. Our results reveal that recruitment is favoured in areas with slow currents and high levels of confinement and trapping of the water masses. Analysis of the residual circulation indicates that the presence of local standing circulation structures promotes the sea urchin recruitment process. Our findings emphasize the importance of managing local sea urchin harvesting as a system of populations with their demographic influence mainly dependent on the most important ecological driver that is the recruitment. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A spatially explicit metapopulation model and cattle trade analysis suggests key determinants for the recurrent circulation of rift valley Fever virus in a pilot area of madagascar highlands.

PubMed

Nicolas, Gaëlle; Chevalier, Véronique; Tantely, Luciano Michaël; Fontenille, Didier; Durand, Benoît

2014-12-01

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a vector-borne zoonotic disease that causes high morbidity and mortality in ruminants. In 2008-2009, a RVF outbreak affected the whole Madagascar island, including the Anjozorobe district located in Madagascar highlands. An entomological survey showed the absence of Aedes among the potential RVF virus (RVFV) vector species identified in this area, and an overall low abundance of mosquitoes due to unfavorable climatic conditions during winter. No serological nor virological sign of infection was observed in wild terrestrial mammals of the area, suggesting an absence of wild RVF virus (RVFV) reservoir. However, a three years serological and virological follow-up in cattle showed a recurrent RVFV circulation. The objective of this study was to understand the key determinants of this unexpected recurrent transmission. To achieve this goal, a spatial deterministic discrete-time metapopulation model combined with cattle trade network was designed and parameterized to reproduce the local conditions using observational data collected in the area. Three scenarios that could explain the RVFV recurrent circulation in the area were analyzed: (i) RVFV overwintering thanks to a direct transmission between cattle when viraemic cows calve, vectors being absent during the winter, (ii) a low level vector-based circulation during winter thanks to a residual vector population, without direct transmission between cattle, (iii) combination of both above mentioned mechanisms. Multi-model inference methods resulted in a model incorporating both a low level RVFV winter vector-borne transmission and a direct transmission between animals when viraemic cows calve. Predictions satisfactorily reproduced field observations, 84% of cattle infections being attributed to vector-borne transmission, and 16% to direct transmission. These results appeared robust according to the sensitivity analysis. Interweaving between agricultural works in rice fields, seasonality of vector proliferation, and cattle exchange practices could be a key element for understanding RVFV circulation in this area of Madagascar highlands.

The Practitioner's Dilemma: How to Assess the Credibility of Downscaled Climate Projections

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barsugli, Joseph J.; Guentchev, Galina; Horton, Radley M.; Wood, Andrew; Mearns, Lindo O.; Liang, Xin-Zhong; Winkler, Julia A.; Dixon, Keith; Hayhoe, Katharine; Rood, Richard B.;

A Phase Space Monitoring of Injected Beam of J-PARC MR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hatakeyama, Shuichiro; Toyama, Takeshi

Beam power of J-PARC MR (30 GeV Proton Synchrotron Main Ring) has been improved since 2008 and now achieved over 200 kW for the user operation. A part of beam loss is localized at the beam injection phase so it is important to monitor the beam bunch behavior in the transverse direction. In this paper it is described the method how to measure the position and momentum for each injected beam bunch using Beam Position Monitors (BPMs). It is also mentioned some implementation of an operator's interface (OPI) to display the plots of injected and circulating beam bunches in phase space coordinate.

Cellular and molecular basis of wound healing in diabetes

PubMed Central

Brem, Harold; Tomic-Canic, Marjana

2007-01-01

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), a leading cause of amputations, affect 15% of people with diabetes. A series of multiple mechanisms, including decreased cell and growth factor response, lead to diminished peripheral blood flow and decreased local angiogenesis, all of which can contribute to lack of healing in persons with DFUs. In this issue of the JCI, Gallagher and colleagues demonstrate that in diabetic mice, hyperoxia enhances the mobilization of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) from the bone marrow to the peripheral circulation (see the related article beginning on page 1249). Local injection of the chemokine stromal cell–derived factor–1α then recruits these EPCs to the cutaneous wound site, resulting in accelerated wound healing. Thus, Gallagher et al. have identified novel potential targets for therapeutic intervention in diabetic wound healing. PMID:17476353

Enrichment and Detection of Circulating Tumor Cells and Other Rare Cell Populations by Microfluidic Filtration.

PubMed

Pugia, Michael; Magbanua, Mark Jesus M; Park, John W

2017-01-01

The current standard methods for isolating circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from blood involve EPCAM-based immunomagnetic approaches. A major disadvantage of these strategies is that CTCs with low EPCAM expression will be missed. Isolation by size using filter membranes circumvents the reliance on this cell surface marker, and can facilitate the capture not only of EPCAM-negative CTCs but other rare cells as well. These cells that are trapped on the filter membrane can be characterized by immunocytochemistry (ICC) , enumerated and profiled to elucidate their clinical significance. In this chapter, we discuss advances in filtration systems to capture rare cells as well as downstream ICC methods to detect and identify these cells. We highlight our recent clinical study demonstrating the feasibility of using a novel method consisting of automated microfluidic filtration and sequential ICC for detection and enumeration of CTCs, as well as circulating mesenchymal cells (CMCs), circulating endothelial cells (CECs), and putative circulating stem cells (CSCs). We hypothesize that simultaneous analysis of circulating rare cells in blood of cancer patients may lead to a better understanding of disease progression and development of resistance to therapy.

Synoptic and Mesoscale Climatologies of Severe Local Storms for the American Midwest.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arnold, David Leslie

This study investigates the synoptic and mesoscale environments associated with severe local storms (SELS) in the heart of the American Midwest. This region includes west-central Illinois, most of Indiana, the extreme western counties of Ohio, and a small part of northeastern Kentucky. The primary objectives of this study are to determine the surface and middle-tropospheric synoptic circulation patterns and thermodynamic and kinematic environments associated with SELS event types (tornadoes, hail, severe straight -line winds), and to assess the degree to which the synoptic circulation patterns and meso-beta scale kinematic and thermodynamic climatology of the Midwest differ from that of the Great Plains. A secondary objective is to investigate the possible role that land-surface atmosphere interactions play in the spatial distribution of SELS. A new subjective synoptic typing scheme is developed and applied to determine the synoptic-scale circulation patterns associated with the occurrence of SELS event types. This scheme is based on a combination of surface and middle -tropospheric patterns. Thermodynamic and kinematic parameters are analyzed to determine meso-scale environments favorable for the development of SELS. Results indicate that key synoptic-scale circulation patterns, and specific ranges of thermodynamic and kinematic parameters are related to specific SELS event types. These circulation types and ranges of thermodynamic and kinematic parameters may be used to help improve the medium-range forecasting of severe local storms. Results of the secondary objective reveal that the spatial distribution of SELS events is clustered within the study region, and most occur under a negative climate division-level soil moisture gradient; that is, a drier upwind division than the division in which the event occurs. Moreover, the spatial distribution of SELS events is compared against a map of soil types and vegetation. The resulting distribution depicts a visual correlation between the primary soil and vegetative boundaries and clusters of SELS. This supports the likely role of meso-scale land-surface-atmosphere interactions in severe weather development for humid lowlands of the Midwest United States.

Risk group characteristics and viral transmission clusters in South-East Asian patients infected with HIV-1 circulating recombinant form (CRF)01_AE and subtype B

PubMed Central

Oyomopito, Rebecca A; Chen, Yen-Ju; Sungkanuparph, Somnuek; Kantor, Rami; Merati, Tuti; Yam, Wing-Cheong; Sirisanthana, Thira; Li, Patrick CK; Kantipong, Pacharee; Phanuphak, Praphan; Lee, Chris KC; Kamarulzaman, Adeeba; Ditangco, Rossana; Huang, Szu-Wei; Sohn, Annette H; Law, Matthew; Chen, Yi Ming A

2016-01-01

HIV-1 epidemics in Asian countries are driven by varying exposures. The epidemiology of the regional pandemic has been changing with the spread of HIV-1 to lower-risk populations through sexual transmission. Common HIV-1 genotypes include subtype B and circulating recombinant form (CRF)01_AE. Our objective was to use HIV-1 genotypic data to better quantify local epidemics. TASER-M is a multi-centre prospective cohort of HIV-infected patients. Associations between HIV-exposure, patient gender, country of sample origin and HIV-1 genotype were evaluated by multivariate logistic regression. Phylogenetic methods were used on genotypic data to investigate transmission relationships. A total of 1086 patients from Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia and the Philippines were included in analyses. Proportions of males within countries varied (Thailand: 55.6%, Hong Kong: 86.1%, Malaysia: 81.4%, Philippines: 93.8%; p <0.001) as did HIV exposures (Heterosexual contact: Thailand: 85.7%, Hong Kong, 46.2%, Malaysia: 47.8%, Philippines: 25.0%; p <0.001). After adjustment, we found increased subtype B infection among men-who-have-sex with-men, relative to heterosexual-reported exposures (OR = 2.4, p <0.001). We further describe four transmission clusters of 8–15 treatment naive, predominantly symptomatic patients (two each for subtype B and CRF01_AE). Risk-group sub-populations differed with respect to the infecting HIV-1 genotype. Homosexual exposure patients had a higher odds of being infected with subtype B. Where HIV-1 genotypes circulate within countries or patient risk-groups, local monitoring of genotype-specific transmissions may play a role in focussing public health prevention strategies. Phylogenetic evaluations provide complementary information for surveillance and monitoring of viruses with high mutation rates such as HIV-1 and Ebola. PMID:26362956

Month-to-month variability of Indian summer monsoon rainfall in 2016: role of the Indo-Pacific climatic conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chowdary, Jasti S.; Srinivas, G.; Du, Yan; Gopinath, K.; Gnanaseelan, C.; Parekh, Anant; Singh, Prem

2018-03-01

Indian summer monsoon (ISM) rainfall during 2016 exhibited a prominent month-to-month fluctuations over India, with below normal rainfall in June and August and above normal rainfall in July. The factors determining the month-to-month fluctuations in ISM rainfall during 2016 are investigated with main focus on the Indo-Pacific climatic anomalies. Warm sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies associated with super El Niño 2015 disappeared by early summer 2016 over the central and eastern Pacific. On the other hand, negative Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) like SST anomaly pattern over the equatorial Indian Ocean and anomalous anticyclonic circulation over the western North Pacific (WNP) are reported in summer 2016 concurrently with decaying El Niño/developing La Niña phase. Observations revealed that the low rainfall over central north India in June is due to moisture divergence caused by the westward extension of ridge corresponding to WNP anticyclone and subsidence induced by local Hadley cell partly related to negative IOD. Low level convergence of southeasterly wind from Bay of Bengal associated with weak WNP anticyclone and northwesterly wind corresponding to anticyclonic circulation over the northwest India remarkably contributed to positive rainfall in July over most of the Indian subcontinent. While reduced rainfall over the Indian subcontinent in August 2016 is associated with the anomalous moisture transport from ISM region to WNP region, in contrast to July, due to local cyclogenesis corroborated by number of tropical cyclones in the WNP. In addition to this, subsidence related to strong convection supported by cyclonic circulation over the WNP also resulted in low rainfall over the ISM region. Coupled General Circulation model sensitivity experiments confirmed that strong convective activities associated with cyclonic circulation over the WNP is primarily responsible for the observed negative ISM rainfall anomalies in August 2016. It is noted that the Indo-Western Pacific circulation anomalies in August 2016 are well predicted when the coupled model is initiated with initial conditions from end of July and beginning of August compared to May. This analysis suggests the importance of the WNP circulation in forcing strong sub-seasonal/month to month rainfall variations over India.

The Effect of Surface Ice and Topography on the Atmospheric Circulation and Distribution of Nitrogen Ice on Pluto

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rafkin, Scot C. R.; Soto, Alejandro; Michaels, Timothy I.

2016-10-01

A newly developed general circulation model (GCM) for Pluto is used to investigate the impact of a heterogeneous distribution of nitrogen surface ice and large scale topography on Pluto's atmospheric circulation. The GCM is based on the GFDL Flexible Modeling System (FSM). Physics include a gray model radiative-conductive scheme, subsurface conduction, and a nitrogen volatile cycle. The radiative-conductive model takes into account the 2.3, 3.3 and 7.8 μm bands of CH4 and CO, including non-local thermodynamic equilibrium effects. including non-local thermodynamic equilibrium effects. The nitrogen volatile cycle is based on a vapor pressure equilibrium assumption between the atmosphere and surface. Prior to the arrival of the New Horizons spacecraft, the expectation was that the volatile ice distribution on the surface of Pluto would be strongly controlled by the latitudinal temperature gradient. If this were the case, then Pluto would have broad latitudinal bands of both ice covered surface and ice free surface, as dictated by the season. Further, the circulation, and the thus the transport of volatiles, was thought to be driven almost exclusively by sublimation and deposition flows associated with the volatile cycle. In contrast to expectations, images from New Horizon showed an extremely complex, heterogeneous distribution of surface ices draped over substantial and variable topography. To produce such an ice distribution, the atmospheric circulation and volatile transport must be more complex than previously envisioned. Simulations where topography, surface ice distributions, and volatile cycle physics are added individually and in various combinations are used to individually quantify the importance of the general circulation, topography, surface ice distributions, and condensation flows. It is shown that even regional patches of ice or large craters can have global impacts on the atmospheric circulation, the volatile cycle, and hence, the distribution of surface ices. The work demonstrates that explaining Pluto's volatile cycle and the expression of that cycle in the surface ice distributions requires consideration of atmospheric processes beyond simple vapor pressure equilibrium arguments.

What Drives Saline Circulation Cells in Coastal Aquifers? An Energy Balance for Density-Driven Groundwater Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harvey, C. F.; Michael, H. A.

2017-12-01

We formulate the energy balance for coastal groundwater systems and apply it to: (1) Explain the energy driving offshore saline circulation cells, and; (2) Assess the accuracy of numerical simulations of coastal groundwater systems. The flow of fresh groundwater to the ocean is driven by the loss of potential energy as groundwater drops from the elevation of the inland watertable, where recharge occurs, to discharge at sea level. This freshwater flow creates an underlying circulation cell of seawater, drawn into coastal aquifers offshore and discharging near shore, that adds to total submarine groundwater discharge. The saline water in the circulation cell enters and exits the aquifer through the sea floor at the same hydraulic potential. Existing theory explains that the saline circulation cell is driven by mixing of fresh and saline without any additional source of potential or mechanical power. This explanation raises a basic thermodynamic question: what is the source of energy that drives the saline circulation cell? Here, we resolve this question by building upon Hubbert's conception of hydraulic potential to formulate an energy balance for density-dependent flow and salt transport through an aquifer. We show that, because local energy dissipation within the aquifer is proportional to the square of the groundwater velocity, more groundwater flow may be driven through an aquifer for a given energy input if local variations in velocity are smoothed. Our numerical simulations of coastal groundwater systems show that dispersion of salt across the fresh-saline interface spreads flow over larger volumes of the aquifer, smoothing the velocity field, and increasing total flow and submarine groundwater discharge without consuming more power. The energy balance also provides a criterion, in addition to conventional mass balances, for judging the accuracy of numerical solutions of non-linear density-dependent flow problems. Our results show that some numerical simulations of saline circulation converge to excellent balances of both mass and energy, but that other simulations may poorly balance energy even after converging to a good mass balance. Thus, the energy balance can be used to identify incorrect simulations that pass convential mass balance criteria for accuracy.

A Novel Observational Method for Assessing Acute Responses to Cannabis: Preliminary Validation Using Legal Market Strains.

PubMed

Bidwell, L Cinnamon; Mueller, Raeghan; YorkWilliams, Sophie L; Hagerty, Sarah; Bryan, Angela D; Hutchison, Kent E

2018-01-01

Background: The development of novel cannabis research methods that are compatible with current federal regulations is imperative to conduct studies of the effects of legal market cannabis. There is very little research on higher strength, higher Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which has become increasingly available since legalization. Research on strains containing cannabidiol (CBD), a second primary, but nonpsychotomimetic, cannabinoid, is very limited. Materials and Methods: Using a novel observational methodology, regular cannabis users were asked to use one of two legal market cannabis strains that they purchased from a local dispensary (one strain containing 8% THC and 16% CBD (THC+CBD) and one containing a 17% THC concentration, but no CBD (THC). After using their suggested cannabis strain as they typically would for a 3-day period, participants returned to the laboratory immediately after their final use. Measures included a blood draw to measure cannabinoid blood levels and circulating cytokines, self-reported subjective drug effects, and verbal recall memory. Results: Analysis of CBD/THC concentration levels in the blood following the 3-day strain manipulation suggests that all, but one participant ( n =23/24) followed instructions and used their assigned strain. Individuals in the THC group ( n =11) smoked no more than their usual amount, and participants who used the THC+CBD ( n =12) strain smoked more than their reported usual amount, but did not have significantly different THC+metabolite blood levels from the THC group. The THC+CBD strain was also associated with less desire to smoke, lower levels of subjective drug effects, and lower levels of circulating cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β) immediately after use. Conclusions: Initial results support the feasibility of this novel observational methodology involving brief manipulation of strain use. Preliminary findings indicate that participants may self-titrate cannabis use based on cannabinoid concentration and the THC+CBD strain was associated with lower levels of cannabis craving, subjective intoxication, and circulating cytokines.

Symbols in motion: Flexible cultural boundaries and the fast spread of the Neolithic in the western Mediterranean

PubMed Central

Manen, Claire; García-Martínez de Lagrán, Iñigo

2018-01-01

The rapid diffusion of farming technologies in the western Mediterranean raises questions about the mechanisms that drove the development of intensive contact networks and circulation routes between incoming Neolithic communities. Using a statistical method to analyze a brand-new set of cultural and chronological data, we document the large-scale processes that led to variations between Mediterranean archaeological cultures, and micro-scale processes responsible for the transmission of cultural practices within farming communities. The analysis of two symbolic productions, pottery decorations and personal ornaments, shed light on the complex interactions developed by Early Neolithic farmers in the western Mediterranean area. Pottery decoration diversity correlates with local processes of circulation and exchange, resulting in the emergence and the persistence of stylistic and symbolic boundaries between groups, while personal ornaments reflect extensive networks and the high level of mobility of Early Neolithic farmers. The two symbolic productions express different degrees of cultural interaction that may have facilitated the successful and rapid expansion of early farming societies in the western Mediterranean. PMID:29715284

Analysis of Electrokinetic Mixing Using AC Electric Field and Patchwise Surface Heterogeneities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Win-Jet; Yarn, Kao-Feng; Hsu, Shou-Ping

2007-04-01

In this paper, the authors investigate the use of an applied AC electric field and microchannel surface heterogeneities to carry out the microfluidic mixing of two-dimensional, time-dependent electroosmotic flows. The time-dependent flow fields within the microchannel are simulated using the backwards-Euler time-stepping numerical method. The mixing efficiencies obtained in microchannels with two different patchwise surface heterogeneity patterns are investigated. In general, the results show that the application of an AC electric field significantly reduces the required mixing length compared with the use of a DC electric field. Furthermore, the presence of oppositely charged surface heterogeneities on the microchannel walls results in the formation of localized flow circulation regions within the bulk flow. These circulation regions grow and decay periodically in accordance with the periodic variation of the AC electric field intensity and provide an effective means of enhancing species mixing in the microchannel. Consequently, the use of an AC electric field together with patchwise surface heterogeneities permits a significant reduction in both the mixing channel length and the retention time required to attain a homogeneous solution.

Three-pattern decomposition of global atmospheric circulation: part I—decomposition model and theorems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Shujuan; Chou, Jifan; Cheng, Jianbo

2018-04-01

In order to study the interactions between the atmospheric circulations at the middle-high and low latitudes from the global perspective, the authors proposed the mathematical definition of three-pattern circulations, i.e., horizontal, meridional and zonal circulations with which the actual atmospheric circulation is expanded. This novel decomposition method is proved to accurately describe the actual atmospheric circulation dynamics. The authors used the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data to calculate the climate characteristics of those three-pattern circulations, and found that the decomposition model agreed with the observed results. Further dynamical analysis indicates that the decomposition model is more accurate to capture the major features of global three dimensional atmospheric motions, compared to the traditional definitions of Rossby wave, Hadley circulation and Walker circulation. The decomposition model for the first time realized the decomposition of global atmospheric circulation using three orthogonal circulations within the horizontal, meridional and zonal planes, offering new opportunities to study the large-scale interactions between the middle-high latitudes and low latitudes circulations.

Conjugate-gradient preconditioning methods for shift-variant PET image reconstruction.

PubMed

Fessler, J A; Booth, S D

1999-01-01

Gradient-based iterative methods often converge slowly for tomographic image reconstruction and image restoration problems, but can be accelerated by suitable preconditioners. Diagonal preconditioners offer some improvement in convergence rate, but do not incorporate the structure of the Hessian matrices in imaging problems. Circulant preconditioners can provide remarkable acceleration for inverse problems that are approximately shift-invariant, i.e., for those with approximately block-Toeplitz or block-circulant Hessians. However, in applications with nonuniform noise variance, such as arises from Poisson statistics in emission tomography and in quantum-limited optical imaging, the Hessian of the weighted least-squares objective function is quite shift-variant, and circulant preconditioners perform poorly. Additional shift-variance is caused by edge-preserving regularization methods based on nonquadratic penalty functions. This paper describes new preconditioners that approximate more accurately the Hessian matrices of shift-variant imaging problems. Compared to diagonal or circulant preconditioning, the new preconditioners lead to significantly faster convergence rates for the unconstrained conjugate-gradient (CG) iteration. We also propose a new efficient method for the line-search step required by CG methods. Applications to positron emission tomography (PET) illustrate the method.

Ultrasound-mediated blood-brain barrier disruption for targeted drug delivery in the central nervous system

PubMed Central

Aryal, Muna; Arvanitis, Costas D.; Alexander, Phillip M.; McDannold, Nathan

2014-01-01

The physiology of the vasculature in the central nervous system (CNS), which includes the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and other factors, complicates the delivery of most drugs to the brain. Different methods have been used to bypass the BBB, but they have limitations such as being invasive, non-targeted or requiring the formulation of new drugs. Focused ultrasound (FUS), when combined with circulating microbubbles, is a noninvasive method to locally and transiently disrupt the BBB at discrete targets. This review provides insight on the current status of this unique drug delivery technique, experience in preclinical models, and potential for clinical translation. If translated to humans, this method would offer a flexible means to target therapeutics to desired points or volumes in the brain, and enable the whole arsenal of drugs in the CNS that are currently prevented by the BBB. PMID:24462453

Signs of embryo-maternal communication: miRNAs in the maternal serum of pregnant pigs.

PubMed

Reliszko, Z P; Gajewski, Z; Kaczmarek, M M

2017-09-01

Circulating miRNAs were proposed to be indicators of normal or complicated pregnancies. Based on this knowledge and our recent transcriptomic approach showing expression of miRNAs in the porcine endometrium, conceptuses and uterine extracellular vesicles during pregnancy, we have hypothesized that signs of ongoing local embryo-maternal crosstalk involving miRNAs can be detected in the circulation of pregnant gilts as early as a few days after maternal recognition of pregnancy. By applying several molecular biology techniques that differ in dynamic range and precision in maternal serum of Day 16 pregnant pigs, we were able to show for the first time increased levels of several miRNAs, previously reported to be expressed in either conceptuses and extracellular vesicles (miR-26a and miR-125b) or pregnant endometrium (miR-23b). Our results clearly showed that real-time RT-PCR and digital PCR are the most reliable methods, being able to detect small-fold changes of low-abundant circulating miRNAs. Further validation in a separate group of gilts confirmed an increase in miR-23b and miR-125b levels. In silico analyses identified pregnancy-related biological processes and pathways affected by these miRNAs. Target prediction analysis revealed hundreds of porcine transcripts with conserved sites for these miRNAs, which were classified into signaling pathways relevant to pregnancy. We conclude that a unique set of miRNAs can already be observed in the circulation of pigs during the first weeks of pregnancy, as a result of the initiation of embryo-maternal communication. © 2017 Society for Reproduction and Fertility.

Multi-platform validation of a high-resolution model in the Western Mediterranean Sea: insight into spatial-temporal variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aguiar, Eva; Mourre, Baptiste; Heslop, Emma; Juza, Mélanie; Escudier, Romain; Tintoré, Joaquín

2017-04-01

This study focuses on the validation of the high resolution Western Mediterranean Operational model (WMOP) developed at SOCIB, the Balearic Islands Coastal Observing and Forecasting System. The Mediterranean Sea is often seen as a small scale ocean laboratory where energetic eddies, fronts and circulation features have important ecological consequences. The Medclic project is a program between "La Caixa" Foundation and SOCIB which aims at characterizing and forecasting the "oceanic weather" in the Western Mediterranean Sea, specifically investigating the interactions between the general circulation and mesoscale processes. We use a WMOP 2009-2015 free run hindcast simulation and available observational datasets (altimetry, moorings and gliders) to both assess the numerical simulation and investigate the ocean variability. WMOP has a 2-km spatial resolution and uses CMEMS Mediterranean products as initial and boundary conditions, with surface forcing from the high-resolution Spanish Meteorological Agency model HIRLAM. Different aspects of the spatial and temporal variability in the model are validated from local to regional and basin scales: (1) the principal axis of variability of the surface circulation using altimetry and moorings along the Iberian coast, (2) the inter-annual changes of the surface flows incorporating also glider data, (3) the propagation of mesoscale eddies formed in the Algerian sub-basin using altimetry, and (4) the statistical properties of eddies (number, rotation, size) applying an eddy tracker detection method in the Western Mediterranean Sea. With these key points evaluated in the model, EOF analysis of sea surface height maps are used to investigate spatial patterns of variability associated with eddies, gyres and the basis-scale circulation and so gain insight into the interconnections between sub-basins, as well as the interactions between physical processes at different scales.

Linking boundary-layer circulations and surface processes during FIFE89. Part 1: Observational analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Eric A.; Wai, Mickey M.-K.; Cooper, Harry J.; Rubes, Michael T.; Hsu, Ann

1994-01-01

Surface, aircraft, and satellite observations are analyzed for the 21-day 1989 intensive field campaign of the First ISLSCP Field Experiment (FIFE) to determine the effect of precipitation, vegetation, and soil moisture distributions on the thermal properties of the surface including the heat and moisture fluxes, and the corresponding response in the boundary-layer circulation. Mean and variance properties of the surface variables are first documented at various time and space scales. These calculations are designed to set the stage for Part 2, a modeling study that will focus on how time-space dependent rainfall distribution influences the intensity of the feedback between a vegetated surface and the atmospheric boundary layer. Further analysis shows strongly demarked vegetation and soil moisture gradients extending across the FIFE experimental site that were developed and maintained by the antecedent and ongoing spatial distribution of rainfall over the region. These gradients are shown to have a pronounced influence on the thermodynamic properties of the surface. Furthermore, perturbation surface wind analysis suggests for both short-term steady-state conditions and long-term averaged conditions that the gradient pattern maintained a diurnally oscillating local direct circulation with perturbation vertical velocities of the same order as developing cumulus clouds. Dynamical and scaling considerations suggest that the embedded perturbation circulation is driven by surface heating/cooling gradients and terrain ef fects rather than the manifestation of an inertial oscillation. The implication is that at even relatively small scales (less than 30 km), the differential evolution in vegetation density and soil moisture distribution over a relatively homogenous ecotone can give rise to preferential boundary-layer circulations capable of modifying local-scale horizontal and vertical motions.

Widespread circulation of a new echovirus 30 variant causing aseptic meningitis and non-specific viral illness, South-East France, 2013.

PubMed

Nougairede, Antoine; Bessaud, Mael; Thiberville, Simon-Djamel; Piorkowski, Geraldine; Ninove, Laetitia; Zandotti, Christine; Charrel, Remi N; Guilhem, Noel; de Lamballerie, Xavier

2014-09-01

Human enteroviruses (HEVs) are major cause of aseptic meningitis. A new outbreak of E-30 occurred between April and September 2013 in Marseille, South-East France. Better understand what happen locally when an E-30 outbreak occurs. Laboratory data (identification and characterization of circulating E-30 strains by partial/complete genome sequencing) were analyzed together with clinical data from emergency ward of the public hospital of Marseille. Compared with data from previous years, we observed an excess of HEV infections between April and September 2013. A total of 202 patients were tested positive of which 79% (160/202) had a cerebrospinal fluid tested positive. Because we performed genotyping using clinical specimens, we obtained representative molecular data related to patients tested positive and found a majority (105/119) of echoviruses 30 (E-30). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that E-30 circulating in Europe since 2000 belong to a unique lineage and showed at the intra-genogroup level the temporal circulation of E-30. Molecular data also indicated that majority of E-30 detected (92%) were almost identical. Compared with data from previous years, this outbreak was finally associated with an excess of patients admitted to an emergency ward for meningitis but also for non-specific viral illness. Our data provide new insights into microevolution of E-30: almost all E-30 emerged from local circulation of one parental virus. Moreover, our findings showed that HEV outbreaks cause an excess of emergency ward consultations but probably also an excess of consultations to general practitioners who receive majority of the non-specific viral illness. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fluid circulations in response to mantle exhumation at the passive margin setting in the north Pyrenean zone, France

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corre, B.; Boulvais, P.; Boiron, M. C.; Lagabrielle, Y.; Marasi, L.; Clerc, C.

2018-02-01

Sub-continental lithospheric mantle rocks are exhumed in the distal part of magma-poor passive margins. Remnants of the North Iberian paleo-passive margin are now exposed in the North-Pyrenean Zone (NPZ) and offers a field analogue to study the processes of continental crust thinning, subcontinental mantle exhumation and associated fluid circulations. The Saraillé Massif which belongs to the `Chaînons Béarnais' range (Western Pyrenees), displays field, petrographic and stable isotopic evidence of syn-kinematic fluid circulations. Using electron probe micro-analyses on minerals, O, C, Sr isotopes compositions and micro thermometry/Raman spectrometry of fluid inclusions, we investigate the history of fluid circulations along and in the surroundings of the Saraillé detachment fault. The tectonic interface between the pre-rift Mesozoic sedimentary cover and the mantle rocks is marked by a metasomatic talc-chlorite layer. This layer formed through the infiltration of a fluid enriched in chemical elements like Cr leached from the exhuming serpentinized mantle rocks. In the overlying sediments (dolomitic and calcitic marbles of Jurassic to Aptian age), a network of calcitic veins, locally with quartz, formed as a consequence of the infiltration of aqueous saline fluids (salinities up to 34 wt% NaCl are recorded in quartz-hosted fluid inclusions) at moderate temperatures ( 220 °C). These brines likely derived from the dissolution of the local Triassic evaporites. In the upper part of the metasomatic system, upward movement of fluids is limited by the Albian metasediments, which likely acted as an impermeable layer. The model of fluid circulation in the Saraillé Massif sheds light onto other synchronous metasomatic systems in the Pyrenean realm.

Assessing climate change impacts on water resources in remote mountain regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buytaert, Wouter; De Bièvre, Bert

2013-04-01

From a water resources perspective, remote mountain regions are often considered as a basket case. They are often regions where poverty is often interlocked with multiple threats to water supply, data scarcity, and high uncertainties. In these environments, it is paramount to generate locally relevant knowledge about water resources and how they impact local livelihoods. This is often problematic. Existing environmental data collection tends to be geographically biased towards more densely populated regions, and prioritized towards strategic economic activities. Data may also be locked behind institutional and technological barriers. These issues create a "knowledge trap" for data-poor regions, which is especially acute in remote and hard-to-reach mountain regions. We present lessons learned from a decade of water resources research in remote mountain regions of the Andes, Africa and South Asia. We review the entire tool chain of assessing climate change impacts on water resources, including the interrogation and downscaling of global circulation models, translating climate variables in water availability and access, and assessing local vulnerability. In global circulation models, mountain regions often stand out as regions of high uncertainties and lack of agreement of future trends. This is partly a technical artifact because of the different resolution and representation of mountain topography, but it also highlights fundamental uncertainties in climate impacts on mountain climate. This problem also affects downscaling efforts, because regional climate models should be run in very high spatial resolution to resolve local gradients, which is computationally very expensive. At the same time statistical downscaling methods may fail to find significant relations between local climate properties and synoptic processes. Further uncertainties are introduced when downscaled climate variables such as precipitation and temperature are to be translated in hydrologically relevant variables such as streamflow and groundwater recharge. Fundamental limitations in both the understanding of hydrological processes in mountain regions (e.g., glacier melt, wetland attenuation, groundwater flows) and in data availability introduce large uncertainties. Lastly, assessing access to water resources is a major challenge. Topographical gradients and barriers, as well as strong spatiotemporal variations in hydrological processes, makes it particularly difficult to assess which parts of the mountain population is most vulnerable to future perturbations of the water cycle.

Comprehensive Condition Survey and Storm Waves, Circulation, and Sediment Study, Dana Point Harbor, California

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-01

waters; 3) west to northwest local sea; 4) prefrontal local sea; 5) tropical storm swell; and 6) extratropical cyclone in the southern hemisphere...14-13 58 Prefrontal local sea The coastal zone within the south Orange County area is vulnerable under extratropical winter storm conditions (a...wave characteristics for severe extratropical storms during the 39 yr time period (1970–2008) are comparable to peak storm wave heights that were

Mechanisms underlying recent decadal changes in subpolar North Atlantic Ocean heat content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piecuch, Christopher G.; Ponte, Rui M.; Little, Christopher M.; Buckley, Martha W.; Fukumori, Ichiro

2017-09-01

The subpolar North Atlantic (SPNA) is subject to strong decadal variability, with implications for surface climate and its predictability. In 2004-2005, SPNA decadal upper ocean and sea-surface temperature trends reversed from warming during 1994-2004 to cooling over 2005-2015. This recent decadal trend reversal in SPNA ocean heat content (OHC) is studied using a physically consistent, observationally constrained global ocean state estimate covering 1992-2015. The estimate's physical consistency facilitates quantitative causal attribution of ocean variations. Closed heat budget diagnostics reveal that the SPNA OHC trend reversal is the result of heat advection by midlatitude ocean circulation. Kinematic decompositions reveal that changes in the deep and intermediate vertical overturning circulation cannot account for the trend reversal, but rather ocean heat transports by horizontal gyre circulations render the primary contributions. The shift in horizontal gyre advection reflects anomalous circulation acting on the mean temperature gradients. Maximum covariance analysis (MCA) reveals strong covariation between the anomalous horizontal gyre circulation and variations in the local wind stress curl, suggestive of a Sverdrup response. Results have implications for decadal predictability.

Exploiting Synoptic-Scale Climate Processes to Develop Nonstationary, Probabilistic Flood Hazard Projections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spence, C. M.; Brown, C.; Doss-Gollin, J.

2016-12-01

Climate model projections are commonly used for water resources management and planning under nonstationarity, but they do not reliably reproduce intense short-term precipitation and are instead more skilled at broader spatial scales. To provide a credible estimate of flood trend that reflects climate uncertainty, we present a framework that exploits the connections between synoptic-scale oceanic and atmospheric patterns and local-scale flood-producing meteorological events to develop long-term flood hazard projections. We demonstrate the method for the Iowa River, where high flow episodes have been found to correlate with tropical moisture exports that are associated with a pressure dipole across the eastern continental United States We characterize the relationship between flooding on the Iowa River and this pressure dipole through a nonstationary Pareto-Poisson peaks-over-threshold probability distribution estimated based on the historic record. We then combine the results of a trend analysis of dipole index in the historic record with the results of a trend analysis of the dipole index as simulated by General Circulation Models (GCMs) under climate change conditions through a Bayesian framework. The resulting nonstationary posterior distribution of dipole index, combined with the dipole-conditioned peaks-over-threshold flood frequency model, connects local flood hazard to changes in large-scale atmospheric pressure and circulation patterns that are related to flooding in a process-driven framework. The Iowa River example demonstrates that the resulting nonstationary, probabilistic flood hazard projection may be used to inform risk-based flood adaptation decisions.

Field estimates of groundwater circulation depths in two mountainous watersheds in the western U.S. and the effect of deep circulation on solute concentrations in streamflow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frisbee, Marty D.; Tolley, Douglas G.; Wilson, John L.

2017-04-01

Estimates of groundwater circulation depths based on field data are lacking. These data are critical to inform and refine hydrogeologic models of mountainous watersheds, and to quantify depth and time dependencies of weathering processes in watersheds. Here we test two competing hypotheses on the role of geology and geologic setting in deep groundwater circulation and the role of deep groundwater in the geochemical evolution of streams and springs. We test these hypotheses in two mountainous watersheds that have distinctly different geologic settings (one crystalline, metamorphic bedrock and the other volcanic bedrock). Estimated circulation depths for springs in both watersheds range from 0.6 to 1.6 km and may be as great as 2.5 km. These estimated groundwater circulation depths are much deeper than commonly modeled depths suggesting that we may be forcing groundwater flow paths too shallow in models. In addition, the spatial relationships of groundwater circulation depths are different between the two watersheds. Groundwater circulation depths in the crystalline bedrock watershed increase with decreasing elevation indicative of topography-driven groundwater flow. This relationship is not present in the volcanic bedrock watershed suggesting that both the source of fracturing (tectonic versus volcanic) and increased primary porosity in the volcanic bedrock play a role in deep groundwater circulation. The results from the crystalline bedrock watershed also indicate that relatively deep groundwater circulation can occur at local scales in headwater drainages less than 9.0 km2 and at larger fractions than commonly perceived. Deep groundwater is a primary control on streamflow processes and solute concentrations in both watersheds.

Apparatus and method for determining solids circulation rate

DOEpatents

Ludlow, J Christopher [Morgantown, WV; Spenik, James L [Morgantown, WV

2012-02-14

The invention relates to a method of determining bed velocity and solids circulation rate in a standpipe experiencing a moving packed bed flow, such as the in the standpipe section of a circulating bed fluidized reactor The method utilizes in-situ measurement of differential pressure over known axial lengths of the standpipe in conjunction with in-situ gas velocity measurement for a novel application of Ergun equations allowing determination of standpipe void fraction and moving packed bed velocity. The method takes advantage of the moving packed bed property of constant void fraction in order to integrate measured parameters into simultaneous solution of Ergun-based equations and conservation of mass equations across multiple sections of the standpipe.

Untangling the roles of wind, run-off and tides in Prince William Sound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Colas, François; Wang, Xiaochun; Capet, Xavier; Chao, Yi; McWilliams, James C.

2013-07-01

Prince William Sound (PWS) oceanic circulation is driven by a combination of local wind, large run-off and strong tides. Using a regional oceanic model of the Gulf of Alaska, adequately resolving the mean circulation and mesoscale eddies, we configure a series of three nested domains. The inner domain zooms in on Prince William Sound with a 1-km horizontal grid resolution. We analyze a set of four experiments with different combinations of run-off, wind and tides to demonstrate the relative influence of these forcing on the central Sound mean circulation cell and its seasonal variability. The mean circulation in the central PWS region is generally characterized by a cyclonic cell. When forced only by the wind, the circulation is cyclonic in winter and fall and strongly anticyclonic in summer. The addition of freshwater run-off greatly enhances the eddy kinetic energy in PWS partly through near-surface baroclinic instabilities. This leads to a much more intermittent circulation in the central Sound, with the presence of intense small-scale turbulence and a disappearance of the summer wind-forced anticyclonic cell. The addition of tides reduces the turbulence intensity (relatively to the experiment with run-off only), particularly in the central Sound. The generation of turbulent motions by baroclinic processes is lowered by tidal mixing and by modification of the exchange at Hinchinbrook Entrance. Tides have an overall stabilizing effect on the central Sound circulation. Tidal rectification currents help maintain a mean cyclonic circulation throughout the year.

Radiosonde observational evidence of the influence of extreme SST gradient upon atmospheric meso-scale circulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishikawa, H.; Tachibana, Y.; Udagawa, Y.

2012-12-01

Although the influence of the anomalous midlatitude SST upon atmospheric local circulation has been getting common in particular over the Kuroshio and the Gulf Stream regions, observational studies on the influence of the Okhotsk Sea, which is to the north of the Kuroshio, upon the atmospheric local circulation is much less than those of the Kuroshio. The climate of the Okhotsk SST is very peculiar. Extremely cold SST spots, whose summertime SST is lower than 5 Celsius degrees, are formed around Kuril Islands. Because SSTs are generally determined by local air-sea interaction as well as temperature advection, it is very difficult to isolate only the oceanic influence upon the atmosphere. The SST in this cold spot is, however, dominated by the tidal mixing, which is independent of the atmospheric processes. This unique condition may ease the account for the oceanic influence only. Although the SST environment of the Okhotsk Sea is good for understanding the oceanic influence upon the atmosphere, only a few studies has been executed in this region because of the difficulty of observations by research vessels in this region, where territory problems between Japan and Russia is unsolved. Because of the scant of direct observation, the Okhotsk Sea was still mysterious. In 2006 August, GPS radiosonde observation was carried out by Russian research vessel Khromov in the Sea of Okhotsk by the cooperation between Japan and Russia, and strong SST gradient of about 7 Celsius degrees/10km was observed around the Kuril Islands. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate observational finding of meso-scale atmospheric anticyclonic circulation influenced by the cold oceanic spot around the Kuril Island. The summaries of the observation are as follows. Meso-scale atmospheric ageostrophic anticyclonic circulation in the atmospheric marine-boundary layer is observed in and around the cold spot. A high air pressure area as compared with other surrounding areas is also located at the area of the ageostrophic anticyclonic circulation. In addition, the location of the cold dome in the atmospheric marine-boundary layer is in accordance with that of the large SST gradient. The cold dome with denser air than the surroundings probably strengthened the high pressure associated with subsidence over the cold dome. The downward direction of the sensible heat flux estimated by surface meteorological observation suggests that the cold dome was formed by the cooling by the cold sea. During the observation period around this area, the synoptic-scale sea level pressure field hardly changed. No reanalysis data sets resolve this anticyclonic circulation in this area. Therefore, we can conclude that the meso-scale anticyclone was formed by the influence of this cold SST and its large gradient.

Hopewell Furnace NHS : alternative transportation study

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-12-31

This study assesses the potential for an alternative transportation system (ATS) at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site (NHS). The Volpe Center investigated internal circulation and potential partnerships with local historic, cultural, and recrea...

Changes in urban-related precipitation in the summer over three city clusters in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Deming; Wu, Jian

2017-09-01

The impacts of urban surface expansion on the summer precipitations over three city clusters [Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), and the Pearl River Delta (PRD)] in eastern China under different monsoonal circulation backgrounds were explored using the nested fifth-generation Penn State/NCAR Mesoscale Model version 3.7 (MM5 V3.7), including the urban-related thermal and dynamical parameters. Ten-year integrations were performed using satellite image data from 2000 and 2010 to represent the urban surface distributions and expansions in China. Changes in the precipitation revealed obvious subregional characteristics, which could be explained by the influences of the vertical wind velocity and moisture flux. With urban-related warming, vertical wind motion generally intensified over urban surface-expanded areas. Meanwhile, the increase in impervious surface areas induced rapid rainwater runoff into drains, and the Bowen ratio increased over urban areas, which further contributed to changes in the local moisture fluxes in these regions. The intensities of the changes in precipitation were inconsistent over the three city clusters, although the changes in vertical motion and local evaporation were similar, which indicates that the changes in precipitation cannot be solely explained by the changes in the local evaporation-related moisture flux. The changes in precipitation were also influenced by the changes in the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) circulation and the corresponding moisture flux, which are expressed in marked subregional characteristics. Therefore, the influence of urban-related precipitation over the three city clusters in China, for which changes in moisture flux from both the impacted local evaporation and EASM circulation should be considered, varied based on the precipitation changes of only a single city.

Severe storms and local weather research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Developments in the use of space related techniques to understand storms and local weather are summarized. The observation of lightning, storm development, cloud development, mesoscale phenomena, and ageostrophic circulation are discussed. Data acquisition, analysis, and the development of improved sensor and computer systems capability are described. Signal processing and analysis and application of Doppler lidar data are discussed. Progress in numerous experiments is summarized.

Comparison of GEOS-5 AGCM planetary boundary layer depths computed with various definitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGrath-Spangler, E. L.; Molod, A.

2014-07-01

Accurate models of planetary boundary layer (PBL) processes are important for forecasting weather and climate. The present study compares seven methods of calculating PBL depth in the GEOS-5 atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) over land. These methods depend on the eddy diffusion coefficients, bulk and local Richardson numbers, and the turbulent kinetic energy. The computed PBL depths are aggregated to the Köppen-Geiger climate classes, and some limited comparisons are made using radiosonde profiles. Most methods produce similar midday PBL depths, although in the warm, moist climate classes the bulk Richardson number method gives midday results that are lower than those given by the eddy diffusion coefficient methods. Additional analysis revealed that methods sensitive to turbulence driven by radiative cooling produce greater PBL depths, this effect being most significant during the evening transition. Nocturnal PBLs based on Richardson number methods are generally shallower than eddy diffusion coefficient based estimates. The bulk Richardson number estimate is recommended as the PBL height to inform the choice of the turbulent length scale, based on the similarity to other methods during the day, and the improved nighttime behavior.

Investigation of alternative organic solvents and methods for the preparation of long-circulating and pH-sensitive liposomes containing cisplatin.

PubMed

Giuberti, Cristiane dos Santos; Boratto, Fernanda Alves; Degobert, Ghania; Silveira, Josianne Nicácio; Oliveira, Mônica Cristina

2013-09-01

Recent studies using long-circulating and pH-sensitive liposomes containing cisplatin (SpHL-CDDP) have resulted in a formulation with improved pharmacokinetic, toxicity and tumor localization properties. In this study, SpHL-CDDP were prepared in both laboratory and pilot scales. This study evaluated the possibility of using the dehydration-rehydration method, as well as using alternative organic solvents (ethyl acetate/ethanol mixtures at 2:1 and 1:1 volume ratios), for the preparation of liposomes by the reverse-phase evaporation (REV) method. The influence of different concentrations of cisplatin (CDDP) (2.0, 1.0, 0.5 and 0.25 mg/mL) on the entrapment percentage and size of SpHL-CDDP was also investigated. In addition, carbohydrates were tested as cryoprotectants in a freeze-thaw study as a pretest to screen the type to be used in the freeze-drying process. A decrease in the encapsulation percentage of CDDP and an increase in the vesicle diameter could be observed for both liposome formulations prepared with ethyl acetate:ethanol mixtures, as compared with REV liposomes prepared with ethyl ether. It is important to note that after applying either quick or slow cooling, the mean diameter of SpHL (empty liposomes) proved to be similar when in the presence of cryoprotectants. In sum, the optimal processing conditions were achieved when using a 0.5 mg/mL CDDP solution, ethyl ether and the REV method, resulting in liposomal dispersions of mean diameters and homogeneities that were deemed suitable for intravenous administration.

A study of natural circulation in the evaporator of a horizontal-tube heat recovery steam generator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roslyakov, P. V.; Pleshanov, K. A.; Sterkhov, K. V.

2014-07-01

Results obtained from investigations of stable natural circulation in an intricate circulation circuit with a horizontal layout of the tubes of evaporating surface having a negative useful head are presented. The possibility of making a shift from using multiple forced circulation organized by means of a circulation pump to natural circulation in vertical heat recovery steam generator is estimated. Criteria for characterizing the performance reliability and efficiency of a horizontal evaporator with negative useful head are proposed. The influence of various design solutions on circulation robustness is considered. With due regard of the optimal parameters, the most efficient and least costly methods are proposed for achieving more stable circulation in a vertical heat recovery steam generator when a shift is made from multiple forced to natural circulation. A procedure for calculating the circulation parameters and an algorithm for checking evaporator performance reliability are developed, and recommendations for the design of heat recovery steam generator, nonheated parts of natural circulation circuit, and evaporating surface are suggested.

Implication of Guigo and L'Hajeb Causses in the renewal and circulations of Saïs basin groundwaters (Middle-Atlas Causses, Morocco).

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miche, H.; Saracco, G.; Mayer, A.; Qarqori, K.; Rouai, M.; Dekayir, A.; Chalikakis, K.; Emblanch, C.

2017-12-01

In a context of overexploitation of the karst system of the Middle-Atlas Causses feeding the Saïs basin and, with the current climatic variations, the study of circulations and of renewal of waters of this system in the Fes-Meknes area becomes essential for the population, in order to maintain a sufficient quality of waters with a good management. By coupling hydrochemical and isotopic analyzes methods (δD, δ18O, 222Rn), saturation indices obtained from PHREEQC code and the help of a principal component analysis (PCA) of ten springs and three wells, a first conceptual model of groundwater flows of this karst system was obtained. These waters are mainly renewed by the rainfall of L'Hajeb Causse and secondarily by the rainfall of Guigo Causse containing several springs. Hydrochemistry and saturation indexes allowed us to highlight two types of waters: a main contribution of Liasic origin and two low contributions of Triassic origin at the southern extremities (SW, SE) of the basin. We pointed out the existence of five local recharge zones of different altitudes (900 to 1500 m asl.) including the two main mixing zones to the south (SE, SW). Radon-222 showed areas of rapid exchanges (upwelling time less than two weeks) between waters of Liasic aquifer and the ones of Triassic origin of high radon activity. The use of PCA on hydrochemical data, allowed us to refine the kind of waters, their transit times and highlighted the existence of several mixing zones between the Triassic aquitard and the Liasic aquifers in more or less faulted structures for the two causses. Our results allow us to obtain a first conceptual model of groundwater circulations between the two causses and the Saïs basin. Previous campaigns of electrical resistivity tomography coupled with electromagnetic measurements (EM34) revealed lateral and vertical variations of electrical conductivity changing with the depth along the North-South axis, and a preferential drain perpendicularly to the causses (EGU 2009). We can note that groundwater flows are conditioned by two major fracture networks, NE-SW and NW-SE directions (Bentayeb & Leclerc 1977, Amraoui 2005). A karstic complex water circulation is especially developed locally at the border of the two hydrogeological units (Qarqori 2015).

An improved method for detecting circulating microRNAs with S-Poly(T) Plus real-time PCR

PubMed Central

Niu, Yanqin; Zhang, Limin; Qiu, Huiling; Wu, Yike; Wang, Zhiwei; Zai, Yujia; Liu, Lin; Qu, Junle; Kang, Kang; Gou, Deming

2015-01-01

We herein describe a simple, sensitive and specific method for analysis of circulating microRNAs (miRNA), termed S-Poly(T) Plus real-time PCR assay. This new method is based on our previously developed S-Poly(T) method, in which a unique S-Poly(T) primer is used during reverse-transcription to increase sensitivity and specificity. Further increased sensitivity and simplicity of S-Poly(T) Plus, in comparison with the S-Poly(T) method, were achieved by a single-step, multiple-stage reaction, where RNAs were polyadenylated and reverse-transcribed at the same time. The sensitivity of circulating miRNA detection was further improved by a modified method of total RNA isolation from serum/plasma, S/P miRsol, in which glycogen was used to increase the RNA yield. We validated our methods by quantifying miRNA expression profiles in the sera of the patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with congenital heart disease. In conclusion, we developed a simple, sensitive, and specific method for detecting circulating miRNAs that allows the measurement of 266 miRNAs from 100 μl of serum or plasma. This method presents a promising tool for basic miRNA research and clinical diagnosis of human diseases based on miRNA biomarkers. PMID:26459910

Subunit vaccine H56/CAF01 induces a population of circulating CD4 T cells that traffic into the Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected lung.

PubMed

Woodworth, J S; Cohen, S B; Moguche, A O; Plumlee, C R; Agger, E M; Urdahl, K B; Andersen, P

2017-03-01

The capacity of CD4 T cells to protect against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is governed by their ability to localize to the lung site of infection. Subunit vaccine H56/CAF01, a liposome-adjuvanted fusion protein of Mtb antigens Ag85B, ESAT-6, and Rv2660, conferred durable protection and elicited polyfunctional CD4 T cells that preferentially localized to the lung parenchyma. These lung-resident T cells had reduced KLRG1 and increased CXCR3 expression, an intermediate state of Th1 differentiation that has been associated with Mtb protection. Importantly, KLGR1 - CXCR3 + cells were also enriched in the lung vasculature and peripheral circulation of vaccinated animals, but not controls. Moreover, S1P1R blockade rapidly cleared this population from the blood and adoptive transfer of T cells recovered from the vasculature of vaccinated, but not control, mice efficiently trafficked into the Mtb-infected lung parenchyma. Thus, durable immunity elicited by H56/CAF01 vaccination is associated with the maintenance of circulating CD4 T cells that selectively home to the lung parenchyma.

Minimal residual disease in breast cancer: an overview of circulating and disseminated tumour cells.

PubMed

Tachtsidis, A; McInnes, L M; Jacobsen, N; Thompson, E W; Saunders, C M

2016-08-01

Within the field of cancer research, focus on the study of minimal residual disease (MRD) in the context of carcinoma has grown exponentially over the past several years. MRD encompasses circulating tumour cells (CTCs)-cancer cells on the move via the circulatory or lymphatic system, disseminated tumour cells (DTCs)-cancer cells which have escaped into a distant site (most studies have focused on bone marrow), and resistant cancer cells surviving therapy-be they local or distant, all of which may ultimately give rise to local relapse or overt metastasis. Initial studies simply recorded the presence and number of CTCs and DTCs; however recent advances are allowing assessment of the relationship between their persistence, patient prognosis and the biological properties of MRD, leading to a better understanding of the metastatic process. Technological developments for the isolation and analysis of circulating and disseminated tumour cells continue to emerge, creating new opportunities to monitor disease progression and perhaps alter disease outcome. This review outlines our knowledge to date on both measurement and categorisation of MRD in the form of CTCs and DTCs with respect to how this relates to cancer outcomes, and the hurdles and future of research into both CTCs and DTCs.

A decline in female baboon hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis activity anticipates aging.

PubMed

Yang, Shanshan; Gerow, Kenneth G; Huber, Hillary F; Considine, McKenna M; Li, Cun; Mattern, Vicki; Comuzzie, Anthony G; Ford, Stephen P; Nathanielsz, Peter W

2017-05-09

Stressors that disrupt homeostasis advance aging. Glucocorticoids regulate multiple processes that determine the aging trajectory. Debate exists regarding life-course circulating glucocorticoid concentrations. Rodent and nonhuman primate studies indicate circulating glucocorticoids fall from early life. We measured fasting morning cortisol in 24 female baboons (6-21 years, human equivalent ~18-70). We also quantified hypothalamic paraventricular nuclear (PVN) arginine vasopressin (AVP), corticotropin-releasing hormone, steroid receptors, and pituitary proopiomelanocortin immunohistochemically in 14 of these females at 6-13 years. We identified significant age-related 1) linear fall in cortisol and PVN AVP from as early as 6 years; 2) increased PVN glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors; 3) increased PVN 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 and 2, regulators of local cortisol production, and 4) decreased pituitary proopiomelanocortin. Our data identify increased age-related negative feedback and local PVN cortisol production as potential mechanisms decreasing PVN drive to hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis activity that result in the age-related circulating cortisol fall. Further studies are needed to determine whether the cortisol fall 1) causes aging, 2) protects by slowing aging, or 3) is an epiphenomenon unrelated to aging processes. We conclude that aging processes are best studied by linear life-course analysis beginning early in life.

Intraseasonal variability of sea level and circulation in the Gulf of Thailand: the role of the Madden-Julian Oscillation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliver, Eric C. J.

2014-01-01

Intraseasonal variability of the tropical Indo-Pacific ocean is strongly related to the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO). Shallow seas in this region, such as the Gulf of Thailand, act as amplifiers of the direct ocean response to surface wind forcing by efficient setup of sea level. Intraseasonal ocean variability in the Gulf of Thailand region is examined using statistical analysis of local tide gauge observations and surface winds. The tide gauges detect variability on intraseasonal time scales that is related to the MJO through its effect on local wind. The relationship between the MJO and the surface wind is strongly seasonal, being most vigorous during the monsoon, and direction-dependent. The observations are then supplemented with simulations of sea level and circulation from a fully nonlinear barotropic numerical ocean model (Princeton Ocean Model). The numerical model reproduces well the intraseasonal sea level variability in the Gulf of Thailand and its seasonal modulations. The model is then used to map the wind-driven response of sea level and circulation in the entire Gulf of Thailand. Finally, the predictability of the setup and setdown signal is discussed by relating it to the, potentially predictable, MJO index.

Flow separation on flapping and rotating profiles with spanwise gradients.

PubMed

Wong, J G; laBastide, B P; Rival, D E

2017-02-15

The growth of leading-edge vortices (LEV) on analogous flapping and rotating profiles has been investigated experimentally. Three time-varying cases were considered: a two-dimensional reference case with a spanwise-uniform angle-of-attack variation α; a case with increasing α towards the profile tip (similar to flapping flyers); and a case with increasing α towards the profile root (similar to rotor blades experiencing an axial gust). It has been shown that the time-varying spanwise angle-of-attack gradient produces a vorticity gradient, which, in combination with spanwise flow, results in a redistribution of circulation along the profile. Specifically, when replicating the angle-of-attack gradient characteristic of a rotor experiencing an axial gust, the spanwise-vorticity gradient is aligned such that circulation increases within the measurement domain. This in turn increases the local LEV growth rate, which is suggestive of force augmentation on the blade. Reversing the relative alignment of the spanwise-vorticity gradient and spanwise flow, thereby replicating that arrangement found in a flapping flyer, was found to reduce local circulation. From this, we can conclude that spanwise flow can be arranged to vary LEV growth to prolong lift augmentation and reduce the unsteadiness of cyclic loads.

Breaking down the delta wing vortex: The role of vorticity in the breakdown process. Ph.D. Thesis Final Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nelson, Robert C.; Visser, Kenneth D.

1990-01-01

Experimental x-wire measurements of the flowfield above a 70 and 75 deg flat plate delta wing were performed at a Reynolds number of 250,000. Grids were taken normal to the wing at various chordwise locations for angles of attack of 20 and 30 deg. Axial and azimuthal vorticity distributions were derived from the velocity fields. The dependence of circulation on distance from the vortex core and on chordwise location was also examined. The effects of nondimensionalization in comparison with other experimental data is made. The results indicate that the circulation distribution scales with the local semispan and grows in a nearly linear fashion in the chordwise direction. The spanwise distribution of axial vorticity is severely altered through the breakdown. The axial vorticity components with a negative sense, such as that found in the secondary vortex, seem to remain unaffected by changes in wind sweep or angle of attack, in direct contrast to the positive components. In addition, the inclusion of the local wing geometry into a previously derived correlation parameter allows the circulation of growing leading edge vortex flows to be reduced into a single curve.

Analogous detection of circulating tumor cells using the AccuCyte® -CyteFinder® system and ISET system in patients with locally advanced and metastatic prostate cancer.

PubMed

van der Toom, Emma E; Groot, Vincent P; Glavaris, Stephanie A; Gemenetzis, Georgios; Chalfin, Heather J; Wood, Laura D; Wolfgang, Christopher L; de la Rosette, Jean J M C H; de Reijke, Theo M; Pienta, Kenneth J

2018-03-01

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) can provide important information on patient's prognosis and treatment efficacy. Currently, a plethora of methods is available for the detection of these rare cells. We compared the outcomes of two of those methods to enumerate and characterize CTCs in patients with locally advanced and metastatic prostate cancer (PCa). First, the selection-free AccuCyte ® - CyteFinder ® system (RareCyte ® , Inc., Seattle, WA) and second, the ISET system (Rarecells Diagnostics, France), a CTC detection method based on cell size-exclusion. Peripheral blood samples were obtained from 15 patients with metastatic PCa and processed in parallel, using both methods according to manufacturer's protocol. CTCs were identified by immunofluorescence, using commercially available antibodies to pancytokeratin (PanCK), EpCAM, CD45/CD66b/CD34/CD11b/CD14 (AccuCyte ® - CyteFinder ® system), and pancytokeratin, vimentin (Vim) and CD45 (ISET system). The median CTC count was 5 CTCs/7.5 mL (range, 0-20) for the AccuCyte ® - CyteFinder ® system and 37 CTCs/7.5 mL (range, 8-139) for the ISET system (P < 0.001). Total CTC counts obtained for the two methods were correlated (r = 0.750, P = 0.001). When separating the total CTC count obtained with the ISET system in PanCK+/Vim- and PanCK+/Vim+ CTCs, the total CTC count obtained with the AccuCyte ® - CyteFinder ® system was moderately correlated with the PanCK+/Vim- CTCs, and strongly correlated with the PanCK+/Vim+ CTCs (r = 0.700, P = 0.004 and r = 0.810, P < 0.001, respectively). Our results highlight significant disparities in the enumeration and phenotype of CTCs detected by both techniques. Although the median amount of CTCs/7.5 mL differed significantly, total CTC counts of both methods were strongly correlated. For future studies, a more uniform approach to the isolation and definition of CTCs based on immunofluorescent stains is needed to provide reproducible results that can be correlated with clinical outcomes. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

West Florida shelf circulation and temperature budget for the 1998 fall transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Ruoying; Weisberg, Robert H.

2003-05-01

Mid-latitude continental shelves undergo a fall transition as the net heat flux changes from warming to cooling. Using in situ data and a numerical model we investigate the circulation on the west Florida shelf (WFS) for the fall transition of 1998. The model is a regional adaptation of the primitive equation, Princeton Ocean Model forced by NCEP reanalysis wind, air pressure, and heat flux fields, plus river inflows. After comparison with observations the model is used to draw inferences on the seasonal and synoptic scale features of the shelf circulation. By running twin experiments, one without and the other with an idealized Loop Current (LC), we explore the relative importance of local versus deep-ocean forcing. We find that local forcing largely controls the inner-shelf circulation, including changes from the Florida Panhandle in the north to regions farther south. The effects of the LC in fall 1998 are to reinforce the mid-shelf currents and to increase the across-shelf transports in the bottom Ekman layer, thereby accentuating the shoreward transport of cold, nutrient rich water of deep-ocean origin. A three-dimensional analysis of the temperature budget reveals that surface heat flux largely controls both the seasonal and synoptic scale temperature variations. Surface cooling leads to convective mixing that rapidly alters temperature gradients. One interesting consequence is that upwelling can result in near-shore warming as warmer offshore waters are advected landward. The temperature balances on the shelf are complex and fully three-dimensional.

A three-dimensional, finite element model for coastal and estuarine circulation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Walters, R.A.

1992-01-01

This paper describes the development and application of a three-dimensional model for coastal and estuarine circulation. The model uses a harmonic expansion in time and a finite element discretization in space. All nonlinear terms are retained, including quadratic bottom stress, advection and wave transport (continuity nonlinearity). The equations are solved as a global and a local problem, where the global problem is the solution of the wave equation formulation of the shallow water equations, and the local problem is the solution of the momentum equation for the vertical velocity profile. These equations are coupled to the advection-diffusion equation for salt so that density gradient forcing is included in the momentum equations. The model is applied to a study of Delaware Bay, U.S.A., where salinity intrusion is the primary focus. ?? 1991.

Mechanically-reattachable liquid-cooled cooling apparatus

DOEpatents

Arney, Susanne; Cheng, Jen-Hau; Kolodner, Paul R; Kota-Venkata, Krishna-Murty; Scofield, William; Salamon, Todd R; Simon, Maria E

2013-09-24

An apparatus comprising a rack having a row of shelves, each shelf supporting an electronics circuit board, each one of the circuit boards being manually removable from the shelve supporting the one of the circuit boards and having a local heat source thereon. The apparatus also comprises a cooler attached to the rack and being able to circulate a cooling fluid around a channel forming a closed loop. The apparatus further comprises a plurality of heat conduits, each heat conduit being located over a corresponding one of the circuit boards and forming a path to transport heat from the local heat source of the corresponding one of the circuit boards to the cooler. Each heat conduit is configured to be manually detachable from the cooler or the circuit board, without breaking a circulation pathway of the fluid through the cooler.

Influence of spatial resolution on precipitation simulations for the central Andes Mountains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trachte, Katja; Bendix, Jörg

2013-04-01

The climate of South America is highly influenced by the north-south oriented Andes Mountains. Their complex structure causes modifications of large-scale atmospheric circulations resulting in various mesoscale phenomena as well as a high variability in the local conditions. Due to their height and length the terrain generates distinctly climate conditions between the western and the eastern slopes. While in the tropical regions along the western flanks the conditions are cold and arid, the eastern slopes are dominated by warm-moist and rainy air coming from the Amazon basin. Below 35° S the situation reverses with rather semiarid conditions in the eastern part and temperate rainy climate along southern Chile. Generally, global circulation models (GCMs) describe the state of the global climate and its changes, but are disabled to capture regional or even local features due to their coarse resolution. This is particularly true in heterogeneous regions such as the Andes Mountains, where local driving features, e. g. local circulation systems, highly varies on small scales and thus, lead to a high variability of rainfall distributions. An appropriate technique to overcome this problem and to gain regional and local scale rainfall information is the dynamical downscaling of the global data using a regional climate model (RCM). The poster presents results of the evaluation of the performance of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model over South America with special focus on the central Andes Mountains of Ecuador. A sensitivity study regarding the cumulus parametrization, microphysics, boundary layer processes and the radiation budget is conducted. With 17 simulations consisting of 16 parametrization scheme combinations and 1 default run a suitable model set-up for climate research in this region is supposed to be evaluated. The simulations were conducted in a two-way nested mode i) to examine the best physics scheme combination for the target and ii) to analyze the impact of spatial resolution and thus, the representation of the terrain on the result.

Local IGF-1 isoform protects cardiomyocytes from hypertrophic and oxidative stresses via SirT1 activity.

PubMed

Vinciguerra, Manlio; Santini, Maria Paola; Claycomb, William C; Ladurner, Andreas G; Rosenthal, Nadia

2009-12-10

Oxidative and hypertrophic stresses contribute to the pathogenesis of heart failure. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is a peptide hormone with a complex post-transcriptional regulation, generating distinct isoforms. Locally acting IGF-1 isoform (mIGF-1) helps the heart to recover from toxic injury and from infarct. In the murine heart, moderate overexpression of the NAD(+)-dependent deacetylase SirT1 was reported to mitigate oxidative stress. SirT1 is known to promote lifespan extension and to protect from metabolic challenges. Circulating IGF-1 and SirT1 play antagonizing biological roles and share molecular targets in the heart, in turn affecting cardiomyocyte physiology. However, how different IGF-1 isoforms may impact SirT1 and affect cardiomyocyte function is unknown. Here we show that locally acting mIGF-1 increases SirT1 expression/activity, whereas circulating IGF-1 isoform does not affect it, in cultured HL-1 and neonatal cardiomyocytes. mIGF-1-induced SirT1 activity exerts protection against angiotensin II (Ang II)-triggered hypertrophy and against paraquat (PQ) and Ang II-induced oxidative stress. Conversely, circulating IGF-1 triggered itself oxidative stress and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Interestingly, potent cardio-protective genes (adiponectin, UCP-1 and MT-2) were increased specifically in mIGF-1-overexpressing cardiomyocytes, in a SirT1-dependent fashion. Thus, mIGF-1 protects cardiomyocytes from oxidative and hypertrophic stresses via SirT1 activity, and may represent a promising cardiac therapeutic.

Local IGF-1 isoform protects cardiomyocytes from hypertrophic and oxidative stresses via SirT1 activity

PubMed Central

Vinciguerra, Manlio; Santini, Maria Paola; Claycomb, William C.; Ladurner, Andreas G.; Rosenthal, Nadia

2010-01-01

Oxidative and hypertrophic stresses contribute to the pathogenesis of heart failure. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is a peptide hormone with a complex post-transcriptional regulation, generating distinct isoforms. Locally acting IGF-1 isoform (mIGF-1) helps the heart to recover from toxic injury and from infarct. In the murine heart, moderate overexpression of the NAD+-dependent deacetylase SirT1 was reported to mitigate oxidative stress. SirT1 is known to promote lifespan extension and to protect from metabolic challenges. Circulating IGF-1 and SirT1 play antagonizing biological roles and share molecular targets in the heart, in turn affecting cardiomyocyte physiology. However, how different IGF-1 isoforms may impact SirT1 and affect cardiomyocyte function is unknown. Here we show that locally acting mIGF-1 increases SirT1 expression/activity, whereas circulating IGF-1 isoform does not affect it, in cultured HL-1 and neonatal cardiomyocytes. mIGF-1-induced SirT1 activity exerts protection against angiotensin II (Ang II)-triggered hypertrophy and against paraquat (PQ) and Ang II-induced oxidative stress. Conversely, circulating IGF-1 triggered itself oxidative stress and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Interestingly, potent cardio-protective genes (adiponectin, UCP-1 and MT-2) were increased specifically in mIGF-1-overexpressing cardiomyocytes, in a SirT1-dependent fashion. Thus, mIGF-1 protects cardiomyocytes from oxidative and hypertrophic stresses via SirT1 activity, and may represent a promising cardiac therapeutic. PMID:20228935

Efficient quantum circuits for dense circulant and circulant like operators

PubMed Central

Zhou, S. S.

2017-01-01

Circulant matrices are an important family of operators, which have a wide range of applications in science and engineering-related fields. They are, in general, non-sparse and non-unitary. In this paper, we present efficient quantum circuits to implement circulant operators using fewer resources and with lower complexity than existing methods. Moreover, our quantum circuits can be readily extended to the implementation of Toeplitz, Hankel and block circulant matrices. Efficient quantum algorithms to implement the inverses and products of circulant operators are also provided, and an example application in solving the equation of motion for cyclic systems is discussed. PMID:28572988

Evaluation of Heating Methods for Thermal Structural Testing of Large Structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Daryabeigi, Kamran; Sikora, Joseph G.; Caldwell, Darrell L., Jr.

1998-01-01

An experimental study was conducted to evaluate different heating methods for thermal structural testing of large scale structures at temperatures up to 350 F as part of the High Speed Research program. The heating techniques evaluated included: radiative/convective, forced convective, and conductive. The radiative/convective heaters included finned strip heaters, and clear and frosted quartz lamps. The forced convective heating was accomplished by closed loop circulation of heated air. The conductive heater consisted of heating blankets. The tests were conducted on an 1/8 inch thick stainless steel plate in a custom-built oven. The criteria used for comparing the different heating methods included test specimen temperature uniformity, heater response time, and consumed power. The parameters investigated included air circulation in the oven, reflectance of oven walls, and the orientation of the test specimen and heaters (vertical and horizontal). It was found that reflectance of oven walls was not an important parameter. Air circulation was necessary to obtain uniform temperatures only for the vertically oriented specimen. Heating blankets provided unacceptably high temperature non-uniformities. Quartz lamps with internal air circulation had the lowest power consumption levels. Using frosted quartz lamps with closed loop circulation of cool air, and closed loop circulation of heated air provided the fastest response time.

Operation of a cascade air conditioning system with two-phase loop

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Feng, Yinshan; Wang, Jinliang; Zhao, Futao

A method of operating a heat transfer system includes starting operation of a first heat transfer fluid vapor/compression circulation loop including a fluid pumping mechanism, a heat exchanger for rejecting thermal energy from a first heat transfer fluid, and a heat absorption side of an internal heat exchanger. A first conduit in a closed fluid circulation loop circulates the first heat transfer fluid therethrough. Operation of a second two-phase heat transfer fluid circulation loop is started after starting operation of the first heat transfer fluid circulation loop. The second heat transfer fluid circulation loop transfers heat to the first heatmore » transfer fluid circulation loop through the internal heat exchanger and includes a heat rejection side of the internal heat exchanger, a liquid pump, and a heat exchanger evaporator. A second conduit in a closed fluid circulation loop circulates a second heat transfer fluid therethrough.« less

Methods of forming a fluidized bed of circulating particles

DOEpatents

Marshall, Douglas W [Blackfoot, ID

2011-05-24

There is disclosed an apparatus for forming a fluidized bed of circulating particles. In an embodiment, the apparatus includes a bottom portion having a sidewall, the sidewall defining a curvilinear profile, and the bottom portion configured to contain a bed of particles; and a gas inlet configured to produce a column of gas to carry entrained particles therein. There is disclosed a method of forming a fluidized bed of circulating particles. In an embodiment, the method includes positioning particles within a bottom portion having a sidewall, the sidewall defining a curvilinear profile; producing a column of gas directed upwardly through a gas inlet; carrying entrained particles in the column of gas to produce a fountain of particles over the fluidized bed of circulating particles and subside in the particle bed until being directed inwardly into the column of gas within the curvilinear profile.

Fluid circulations in the depths of accretionary prism: the record of quartz from the Shimanto Belt, Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raimbourg, Hugues; Vacelet, Maxime; Ramboz, Claire; Famin, Vincent; Augier, Romain; Palazzin, Giulia

2014-05-01

Fluids present in the depths of subduction zones play a major role on seismogenesis, although fluid circulations paths and physico-chemical conditions are still largely unknown. Two main reservoirs of water, either in the pores of sediments or bound to hydrous minerals, release large amounts of water in the relatively shallow and deep domains of subduction zones, respectively. The usual model of circulation assumes then a bottom-up circulation driven by fluid pressure gradients. This study aims at reassessing this model, using the record of rocks from a paleo-accretionary prism, the Shimanto Belt in Japan. These rocks, buried to 5kbars and 300° C (Toriumi and Teruya, Modern Geology, 1988), were affected by pervasive fracturing throughout their history, from burial to exhumation. The quartz filling these fractures and the fluid inclusions that it contains keep the track of the fluid associated with the rock evolution. Using a combined approach of microstructural observations by optical microscopy and cathodoluminescence (CL), and chemical characterization by electron and ion microprobe as well as microthermometry, we show that there are actually two distinct fluids that have cyclically wetted the rock at depth. The first one is an 'external' fluid penetrating through macroscopic fractures and precipitating a quartz blue in CL. In contrast, a 'local' fluid attended the formation of quartz brown in CL, precipitating in microfractures or associated with ductile recrystallization. The two fluids are also chemically distinct: Both have a salinity close to seawater, but the local fluid is fresher than the external one. In addition, the external fluid is richer in aluminum than the local one. Finally, the external fluid is very slightly depleted in δ18O, although the difference is probably not significant and the first-order isotopic signal is a buffering by host rock. Our interpretation of microstructures and chemical signatures is that the external fluid is seawater, penetrating to accretionary prism depths during transient phases of large-scale fracturing and fluid circulation. Macroscale fractures then close, permeability drops, and the fluid is progressively reequilibrated at depth with water produced in-situ by metamorphic reactions. The general scheme is therefore a top-down circulation, contrasting with the usually proposed bottom-up flux. We finally discuss geodynamical scenarios, such as during the postseismic phase or in association with thermal anomalies, where such a counter-intuitive top-down flux of water could prevail in subduction zones.

Comparison of GEOS-5 AGCM Planetary Boundary Layer Depths Computed with Various Definitions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcgrath-Spangler, E. L.; Molod, A.

2014-01-01

Accurate models of planetary boundary layer (PBL) processes are important for forecasting weather and climate. The present study compares seven methods of calculating PBL depth in the GEOS-5 atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) over land. These methods depend on the eddy diffusion coefficients, bulk and local Richardson numbers, and the turbulent kinetic energy. The computed PBL depths are aggregated to the Koppen climate classes, and some limited comparisons are made using radiosonde profiles. Most methods produce similar midday PBL depths, although in the warm, moist climate classes, the bulk Richardson number method gives midday results that are lower than those given by the eddy diffusion coefficient methods. Additional analysis revealed that methods sensitive to turbulence driven by radiative cooling produce greater PBL depths, this effect being most significant during the evening transition. Nocturnal PBLs based on Richardson number are generally shallower than eddy diffusion coefficient based estimates. The bulk Richardson number estimate is recommended as the PBL height to inform the choice of the turbulent length scale, based on the similarity to other methods during the day, and the improved nighttime behavior.

Comparison of GEOS-5 AGCM planetary boundary layer depths computed with various definitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGrath-Spangler, E. L.; Molod, A.

2014-03-01

Accurate models of planetary boundary layer (PBL) processes are important for forecasting weather and climate. The present study compares seven methods of calculating PBL depth in the GEOS-5 atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) over land. These methods depend on the eddy diffusion coefficients, bulk and local Richardson numbers, and the turbulent kinetic energy. The computed PBL depths are aggregated to the Köppen climate classes, and some limited comparisons are made using radiosonde profiles. Most methods produce similar midday PBL depths, although in the warm, moist climate classes, the bulk Richardson number method gives midday results that are lower than those given by the eddy diffusion coefficient methods. Additional analysis revealed that methods sensitive to turbulence driven by radiative cooling produce greater PBL depths, this effect being most significant during the evening transition. Nocturnal PBLs based on Richardson number are generally shallower than eddy diffusion coefficient based estimates. The bulk Richardson number estimate is recommended as the PBL height to inform the choice of the turbulent length scale, based on the similarity to other methods during the day, and the improved nighttime behavior.

Naive vs. Sophisticated Methods of Forecasting Public Library Circulations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brooks, Terrence A.

1984-01-01

Two sophisticated--autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), straight-line regression--and two naive--simple average, monthly average--forecasting techniques were used to forecast monthly circulation totals of 34 public libraries. Comparisons of forecasts and actual totals revealed that ARIMA and monthly average methods had smallest mean…

[Current radionuclear methods in the diagnosis of regional myocardial circulation disorders].

PubMed

Felix, R; Winkler, C

1977-01-29

Among nuclear medical diagnostic procedures a distinction can be made between non-invasive and invasive methods. The non-invasive methods serve either to image the still viable myocardium ("cold spot" technique) or for direct visualization of recently infarcted myocardial tissue ("hot spot" technique). These methods have the advantage of simple handling and good reproducibility. Side effects and risks are thus far unknown. Improvement of local dissolution should be aimed at in the future and wound greatly increase diagnostic and topographic security. The invasive procedures always require catheterization of the coronary arteries. This is the reason why they can be performed only with coronary arteriography. The Xenon "wash out" technique permits, with some restrictions, quantitative measurement of the regional flow rate. The "inflow technique" permits determination of perfusion distribution. The possibilities of the "double-radionuclide" scintigramm are discussed. For measurement of activity distribution, sationary detectors are generally preferred. In the case of the time-activity curves with the Xenon "wash out" technique, single detectors offer certain advantages.

Planning a tourism landscape in geosite area: Sipiso-piso waterfall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vinky Rahman, N.; Ginting, Nurlisa; Subhilhar; Narisa, Nindya

2018-03-01

Landscape is one of the valuable assets in tourism, especially in rural tourism. Good landscape planning can be increasing the tourism in one place. In Geopark area, landscape planning is also necessary, and it is because geopark area is also a landscape. This paper aims to create a landscape planning concept in Sipiso-Piso Waterfall that can be used to improve the tourism in Sipiso-piso Waterfall. The method that used in this paper is a qualitative method that is used interviews with related stakeholders like, local figure, government, and academic, and field observation in the study area. The data obtained would be analyzed with four elements of landscape namely, open space, pedestrian path, street circulation, and street furniture. The result shows that the four elements of landscape in Sipiso-Piso Waterfall is still not proper and needs improvement.

Inner Ear Drug Delivery for Auditory Applications

PubMed Central

Swan, Erin E. Leary; Mescher, Mark J.; Sewell, William F.; Tao, Sarah L.; Borenstein, Jeffrey T.

2008-01-01

Many inner ear disorders cannot be adequately treated by systemic drug delivery. A blood-cochlear barrier exists, similar physiologically to the blood-brain barrier, which limits the concentration and size of molecules able to leave the circulation and gain access to the cells of the inner ear. However, research in novel therapeutics and delivery systems has led to significant progress in the development of local methods of drug delivery to the inner ear. Intratympanic approaches, which deliver therapeutics to the middle ear, rely on permeation through tissue for access to the structures of the inner ear, whereas intracochlear methods are able to directly insert drugs into the inner ear. Innovative drug delivery systems to treat various inner ear ailments such as ototoxicity, sudden sensorineural hearing loss, autoimmune inner ear disease, and for preserving neurons and regenerating sensory cells are being explored. PMID:18848590

Interannual rainfall variability and SOM-based circulation classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolski, Piotr; Jack, Christopher; Tadross, Mark; van Aardenne, Lisa; Lennard, Christopher

2018-01-01

Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) based classifications of synoptic circulation patterns are increasingly being used to interpret large-scale drivers of local climate variability, and as part of statistical downscaling methodologies. These applications rely on a basic premise of synoptic climatology, i.e. that local weather is conditioned by the large-scale circulation. While it is clear that this relationship holds in principle, the implications of its implementation through SOM-based classification, particularly at interannual and longer time scales, are not well recognized. Here we use a SOM to understand the interannual synoptic drivers of climate variability at two locations in the winter and summer rainfall regimes of South Africa. We quantify the portion of variance in seasonal rainfall totals that is explained by year to year differences in the synoptic circulation, as schematized by a SOM. We furthermore test how different spatial domain sizes and synoptic variables affect the ability of the SOM to capture the dominant synoptic drivers of interannual rainfall variability. Additionally, we identify systematic synoptic forcing that is not captured by the SOM classification. The results indicate that the frequency of synoptic states, as schematized by a relatively disaggregated SOM (7 × 9) of prognostic atmospheric variables, including specific humidity, air temperature and geostrophic winds, captures only 20-45% of interannual local rainfall variability, and that the residual variance contains a strong systematic component. Utilising a multivariate linear regression framework demonstrates that this residual variance can largely be explained using synoptic variables over a particular location; even though they are used in the development of the SOM their influence, however, diminishes with the size of the SOM spatial domain. The influence of the SOM domain size, the choice of SOM atmospheric variables and grid-point explanatory variables on the levels of explained variance, is consistent with the general understanding of the dominant processes and atmospheric variables that affect rainfall variability at a particular location.

A global slowdown of tropical-cyclone translation speed.

PubMed

Kossin, James P

2018-06-01

As the Earth's atmosphere warms, the atmospheric circulation changes. These changes vary by region and time of year, but there is evidence that anthropogenic warming causes a general weakening of summertime tropical circulation 1-8 . Because tropical cyclones are carried along within their ambient environmental wind, there is a plausible a priori expectation that the translation speed of tropical cyclones has slowed with warming. In addition to circulation changes, anthropogenic warming causes increases in atmospheric water-vapour capacity, which are generally expected to increase precipitation rates 9 . Rain rates near the centres of tropical cyclones are also expected to increase with increasing global temperatures 10-12 . The amount of tropical-cyclone-related rainfall that any given local area will experience is proportional to the rain rates and inversely proportional to the translation speeds of tropical cyclones. Here I show that tropical-cyclone translation speed has decreased globally by 10 per cent over the period 1949-2016, which is very likely to have compounded, and possibly dominated, any increases in local rainfall totals that may have occurred as a result of increased tropical-cyclone rain rates. The magnitude of the slowdown varies substantially by region and by latitude, but is generally consistent with expected changes in atmospheric circulation forced by anthropogenic emissions. Of particular importance is the slowdown of 30 per cent and 20 per cent over land areas affected by western North Pacific and North Atlantic tropical cyclones, respectively, and the slowdown of 19 per cent over land areas in the Australian region. The unprecedented rainfall totals associated with the 'stall' of Hurricane Harvey 13-15 over Texas in 2017 provide a notable example of the relationship between regional rainfall amounts and tropical-cyclone translation speed. Any systematic past or future change in the translation speed of tropical cyclones, particularly over land, is therefore highly relevant when considering potential changes in local rainfall totals.

A two-tier atmospheric circulation classification scheme for the European-North Atlantic region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guentchev, Galina S.; Winkler, Julie A.

A two-tier classification of large-scale atmospheric circulation was developed for the European-North-Atlantic domain. The classification was constructed using a combination of principal components and k-means cluster analysis applied to reanalysis fields of mean sea-level pressure for 1951-2004. Separate classifications were developed for the winter, spring, summer, and fall seasons. For each season, the two classification tiers were identified independently, such that the definition of one tier does not depend on the other tier having already been defined. The first tier of the classification is comprised of supertype patterns. These broad-scale circulation classes are useful for generalized analyses such as investigations of the temporal trends in circulation frequency and persistence. The second, more detailed tier consists of circulation types and is useful for numerous applied research questions regarding the relationships between large-scale circulation and local and regional climate. Three to five supertypes and up to 19 circulation types were identified for each season. An intuitive nomenclature scheme based on the physical entities (i.e., anomaly centers) which dominate the specific patterns was used to label each of the supertypes and types. Two example applications illustrate the potential usefulness of a two-tier classification. In the first application, the temporal variability of the supertypes was evaluated. In general, the frequency and persistence of supertypes dominated by anticyclonic circulation increased during the study period, whereas the supertypes dominated by cyclonic features decreased in frequency and persistence. The usefulness of the derived circulation types was exemplified by an analysis of the circulation associated with heat waves and cold spells reported at several cities in Bulgaria. These extreme temperature events were found to occur with a small number of circulation types, a finding that can be helpful in understanding past variability and projecting future changes in the occurrence of extreme weather and climate events.

A combination of circulating miRNAs for the early detection of ovarian cancer

PubMed Central

Yokoi, Akira; Yoshioka, Yusuke; Hirakawa, Akihiro; Yamamoto, Yusuke; Ishikawa, Mitsuya; Ikeda, Shun-ichi; Kato, Tomoyasu; Niimi, Kaoru; Kajiyama, Hiroaki; Kikkawa, Fumitaka; Ochiya, Takahiro

2017-01-01

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of gynecologic cancer mortality, due to the difficulty of early detection. Current screening methods lack sufficient accuracy, and it is still challenging to propose a new early detection method that improves patient outcomes with less-invasiveness. Although many studies have suggested the utility of circulating microRNAs in cancer detection, their potential for early detection remains elusive. Here, we develop novel predictive models using a combination of 8 circulating serum miRNAs. This method was able to successfully distinguish ovarian cancer patients from healthy controls (area under the curve, 0.97; sensitivity, 0.92; and specificity, 0.91) and early-stage ovarian cancer from patients with benign tumors (0.91, 0.86 and 0.83, respectively). This method also enables subtype classification in 4 types of epithelial ovarian cancer. Furthermore, it is found that most of the 8 miRNAs were packaged in extracellular vesicles, including exosomes, derived from ovarian cancer cells, and they were circulating in murine blood stream. The circulating miRNAs described in this study may serve as biomarkers for ovarian cancer patients. Early detection and subtype determination prior to surgery are crucial for clinicians to design an effective treatment strategy for each patient, as is the goal of precision medicine. PMID:29163790

Phase shift method to estimate solids circulation rate in circulating fluidized beds

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ludlow, James Christopher; Panday, Rupen; Shadle, Lawrence J.

2013-01-01

While solids circulation rate is a critical design and control parameter in circulating fluidized bed (CFB) reactor systems, there are no available techniques to measure it directly at conditions of industrial interest. Cold flow tests have been conducted at NETL in an industrial scale CFB unit where the solids flow has been the topic of research in order to develop an independent method which could be applied to CFBs operating under the erosive and corrosive high temperatures and pressures of a coal fired boiler or gasifier. The dynamic responses of the CFB loop to modest modulated aeration flows in themore » return leg or standpipe were imposed to establish a periodic response in the unit without causing upset in the process performance. The resulting periodic behavior could then be analyzed with a dynamic model and the average solids circulation rate could be established. This method was applied to the CFB unit operated under a wide range of operating conditions including fast fluidization, core annular flow, dilute and dense transport, and dense suspension upflow. In addition, the system was operated in both low and high total solids inventories to explore the influence of inventory limiting cases on the estimated results. The technique was able to estimate the solids circulation rate for all transport circulating fluidized beds when operating above upper transport velocity, U{sub tr2}. For CFB operating in the fast fluidized bed regime (i.e., U{sub g}< U{sub tr2}), the phase shift technique was not successful. The riser pressure drop becomes independent of the solids circulation rate and the mass flow rate out of the riser does not show modulated behavior even when the riser pressure drop does.« less

Threshold Switchable Particles (TSPs) To Control Internal Hemorrhage

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-01

hemorrhage at local sites. Four collaborating laboratories worked together under this contract to define threshold levels of activators of blood clotting...such that the candidate clotting activators will circulate in the blood at a concentration below the threshold necessary to trigger clotting, but...accumulation of the activators at sites of internal injury/bleeding will cause the local concentration of clotting activators to exceed the clotting

In vivo flow cytometry of circulating clots using negative photothermal and photoacoustic contrasts.

PubMed

Galanzha, Ekaterina I; Sarimollaoglu, Mustafa; Nedosekin, Dmitry A; Keyrouz, Salah G; Mehta, Jawahar L; Zharov, Vladimir P

2011-10-01

Conventional photothermal (PT) and photoacousic (PA) imaging, spectroscopy, and cytometry are preferentially based on positive PT/PA effects, when signals are above background. Here, we introduce PT/PA technique based on detection of negative signals below background. Among various new applications, we propose label-free in vivo flow cytometry of circulating clots. No method has been developed for the early detection of clots of different compositions as a source of thromboembolism including ischemia at strokes and myocardial infarction. When a low-absorbing, platelet-rich clot passes a laser-irradiated vessel volume, a transient decrease in local absorption results in an ultrasharp negative PA hole in blood background. Using this phenomenon alone or in combination with positive contrasts, we demonstrated identification of white, red, and mixed clots on a mouse model of myocardial infarction and human blood. The concentration and size of clots were measured with threshold down to few clots in the entire circulation with size as low as 20 μm. This multiparameter diagnostic platform using portable personal high-speed flow cytometer with negative dynamic contrast mode has potential to real-time defining risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, and for prognosis and prevention of stroke or use clot count as a marker of therapy efficacy. Possibility for label-free detection of platelets, leukocytes, tumor cells or targeting themby negative PA probes (e.g., nonabsorbing beads or bubbles) is also highlighted. Copyright © 2011 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

In vivo flow cytometry of circulating clots using negative phototothermal and photoacoustic contrasts

PubMed Central

Galanzha, Ekaterina I.; Sarimollaoglu, Mustafa; Nedosekin, Dmitry A.; Keyrouz, Salah G.; Mehta, Jawahar L.; Zharov, Vladimir P.

2012-01-01

Conventional photothermal (PT) and photoacousic (PA) imaging, spectroscopy, and cytometry are preferentially based on positive PT/PA effects, when signals are above background. Here, we introduce PT/PA technique based on detection of negative signals below background. Among various new applications, we propose label-free in vivo flow cytometry of circulating clots. No method has been developed for the early detection of clots of different compositions as a source of severe thromboembolisms including ischemia at strokes and myocardial dysfunction at heart attack. When a low-absorbing, platelet-rich clot passes a laser-irradiated vessel volume, a transient decrease in local absorption results in an ultrasharp negative PA hole in blood background. Using this phenomenon alone or in combination with positive contrasts, we demonstrated identification of white, red and mixed clots on a mouse model of myocardial infarction and human blood. The concentration and size of clots were measured with threshold down to few clots in the entire circulation with size as low as 20 µm. This multiparameter diagnostic platform using portable personal high-speed flow cytometer with negative dynamic contrast mode has potential to real-time defining risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, and for prognosis and prevention of stroke or use clot count as a marker of therapy efficacy. Possibility for label-free detection of platelets, leukocytes, tumor cells or targeting them by negative PA probes (e.g., nonabsorbing beads or bubbles) is also highlighted. PMID:21976458

Processes and mechanisms of persistent extreme precipitation events in East China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhai, Panmao; Chen, Yang

2014-11-01

This study mainly presents recent progresses on persistent extreme precipitation events (PEPEs) in East China. A definition focusing both persistence and extremity of daily precipitation is firstly proposed. An identification method for quasi-stationary regional PEPEs is then designed. By utilizing the identified PEPEs in East China, typical circulation configurations from the lower to the upper troposphere are confirmed, followed by investigations of synoptic precursors for key components with lead time of 1-2 weeks. Two characteristic circulation patterns responsible for PEPEs in East China are identified: a double blocking high type and a single blocking high type. They may account for occurrence of nearly 80% PEPEs during last 60 years. For double blocking high type, about two weeks prior to PEPEs, two blockings developed and progressed towards the Ural Mountains and the Sea of Okhotsk, respectively. A northwestward progressive anomalous anticyclone conveying abundant moisture and eastward-extended South Asia High favoring divergence can be detected about one week in advance. A dominant summertime teleconnection over East Asia, East Asia/ Pacific (EAP) pattern, is deemed as another typical regime inducing PEPEs in the East China. Key elements of the EAP pattern initiated westward movement since one week prior to PEPEs. Eastward energy dispersion and poleward energy dispersion contributed to early development and subsequent maintenance of this teleconnection pattern, respectively. These typical circulation patterns and significant precursors may offer local forecasters some useful clues in identifying and predicting such high-impact precipitation events about 1-2 weeks in advance.

Circulating tumor cells and circulating tumor DNA: What surgical oncologists need to know?

PubMed

Cabel, L; Proudhon, C; Mariani, P; Tzanis, D; Beinse, G; Bieche, I; Pierga, J-Y; Bidard, F-C

2017-05-01

As a result of recent progress in detection techniques, circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and circulating tumor cells (CTC) can now be accurately detected in the blood of most cancer patients. While these new biomarkers can provide a better understanding of key biological mechanisms underlying cancer growth and dissemination, they also open up a wide range of possible clinical applications in medical oncology, radiation oncology and surgical oncology. In this review, we summarize the results obtained with ctDNA and CTC together with their potential future clinical applications in the field of surgical oncology, with particular focus on the perioperative setting of various types of cancer. These applications include, but are not limited to, cancer screening, early diagnosis, prognostic assessment, evaluation and management of preoperative systemic or local therapies, post-surgical detection of minimal residual disease and early detection of cancer relapse. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd, BASO ~ The Association for Cancer Surgery, and the European Society of Surgical Oncology. All rights reserved.

What Drives the Variability of the Atlantic Water Circulation in the Arctic Ocean?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lique, C.; Johnson, H. L.

2016-02-01

The Atlantic Water (AW) layer in the Arctic Basin is isolated from the atmosphere by the overlaying surface layer; yet observations of the AW pan-Arctic boundary current have revealed that the velocities in this layer exhibit significant variations on all timescales. Here, analysis of a global ocean/sea ice model hindcast, complemented by experiments performed with an idealized process model, are used to investigate what controls the variability of AW circulation, with a focus on the role of wind forcing. The AW circulation carries the imprint of wind variations, both remotely over the Nordic and Barents seas where they force variability on the AW inflow to the Arctic Basin, and locally over the Arctic Basin through the forcing of the wind-driven Beaufort gyre, which modulates and transfers the wind variability to the AW layer. Our results further suggest that understanding variability in the large amount of heat contained within the AW layer requires a better understanding of the circulation within both AW and surface layers.

Detection of circulating breast cancer cells using photoacoustic flow cytometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhattacharyya, Kiran

According to the American Cancer Society, more than 200,000 new cases of breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed this year. Moreover, about 40,000 women died from breast cancer last year alone. As breast cancer progresses in an individual, it can transform from a localized state to a metastatic one with multiple tumors distributed through the body, not necessarily contained within the breast. Metastasis is the spread of cancer through the body by circulating tumor cells (CTCs) which can be found in the blood and lymph of the diagnosed patient. Diagnosis of a metastatic state by the discovery of a secondary tumor can often come too late and hence, significantly reduce the patient's chance of survival. There is a current need for a CTC detection method which would diagnose metastasis before the secondary tumor occurs or reaches a size resolvable by current imaging systems. Since earlier detection would improve prognosis, this study proposes a method of labeling of breast cancer cells for detection with a photoacoustic flow cytometry system as a model for CTC detection in human blood. Gold nanoparticles and fluorescent polystyrene nanoparticles are proposed as contrast agents for T47D, the breast cancer cell line of choice. The labeling, photoacoustic detection limit, and sensitivity are first characterized and then applied to a study to show detection from human blood.

Development and Validation of a Nutritional Education Pamphlet for Low-Literacy Pediatric Oncology Caregivers in Central America

PubMed Central

Garcia, Melissa; Chismark, Elisabeth A.; Mosby, Terezie; Day, Sara

2013-01-01

Background A culturally appropriate nutrition education pamphlet was developed and validated for low-literacy caregivers in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Methods The pamphlet was developed after a preliminary survey of pediatric oncology nurses in the 3 countries to assess the need for education materials, caregiver literacy levels, and local eating habits. Experts in nutrition and low-literacy patient education and nurses validated the pamphlet’s content and design. Results and Conclusions Nurses expressed the need for nutrition-related pamphlets in developing countries. The pamphlet was validated positively by experts and nurses and has been circulated to pediatric oncology caregivers in Central America. PMID:20300913

Seasonal circulation over the Catalan inner-shelf (northwest Mediterranean Sea)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Grifoll, Manel; Aretxabaleta, Alfredo L.; Pelegrí, Josep L.; Espino, Manuel; Warner, John C.; Sánchez-Arcilla, Agustín

2013-01-01

This study characterizes the seasonal cycle of the Catalan inner-shelf circulation using observations and complementary numerical results. The relation between seasonal circulation and forcing mechanisms is explored through the depth-averaged momentum balance, for the period between May 2010 and April 2011, when velocity observations were partially available. The monthly-mean along-shelf flow is mainly controlled by the along-shelf pressure gradient and by surface and bottom stresses. During summer, fall, and winter, the along-shelf momentum balance is dominated by the barotropic pressure gradient and local winds. During spring, both wind stress and pressure gradient act in the same direction and are compensated by bottom stress. In the cross-shelf direction the dominant forces are in geostrophic balance, consistent with dynamic altimetry data.

Seasonal circulation over the Catalan inner-shelf (northwest Mediterranean Sea)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grifoll, Manel; Aretxabaleta, Alfredo L.; Pelegrí, Josep L.; Espino, Manuel; Warner, John C.; Sánchez-Arcilla, Agustín.

2013-10-01

This study characterizes the seasonal cycle of the Catalan inner-shelf circulation using observations and complementary numerical results. The relation between seasonal circulation and forcing mechanisms is explored through the depth-averaged momentum balance, for the period between May 2010 and April 2011, when velocity observations were partially available. The monthly-mean along-shelf flow is mainly controlled by the along-shelf pressure gradient and by surface and bottom stresses. During summer, fall, and winter, the along-shelf momentum balance is dominated by the barotropic pressure gradient and local winds. During spring, both wind stress and pressure gradient act in the same direction and are compensated by bottom stress. In the cross-shelf direction the dominant forces are in geostrophic balance, consistent with dynamic altimetry data.

Synoptic-scale circulation patterns during summer derived from tree rings in mid-latitude Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seim, Andrea; Schultz, Johannes A.; Leland, Caroline; Davi, Nicole; Byambasuren, Oyunsanaa; Liang, Eryuan; Wang, Xiaochun; Beck, Christoph; Linderholm, Hans W.; Pederson, Neil

2017-09-01

Understanding past and recent climate and atmospheric circulation variability is vital for regions that are affected by climate extremes. In mid-latitude Asia, however, the synoptic climatology is complex and not yet fully understood. The aim of this study was to investigate dominant synoptic-scale circulation patterns during the summer season using a multi-species tree-ring width (TRW) network comprising 78 sites from mid-latitude Asia. For each TRW chronology, we calculated an atmospheric circulation tree-ring index (ACTI), based on 1000 hPa geopotential height data, to directly link tree growth to 13 summertime weather types and their associated local climate conditions for the period 1871-1993. Using the ACTI, three groups of similarly responding tree-ring sites can be associated with distinct large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns: 1. growth of drought sensitive trees is positively affected by a cyclone over northern Russia; 2. temperature sensitive trees show positive associations to a cyclone over northwestern Russia and an anticyclone over Mongolia; 3. trees at two high elevation sites show positive relations to a zonal cyclone extending from mid-latitude Eurasia to the West Pacific. The identified synoptic-scale circulation patterns showed spatiotemporal variability in their intensity and position, causing temporally varying climate conditions in mid-latitude Asia. Our results highlight that for regions with less pronounced atmospheric action centers during summer such as the occurrence of large-scale cyclones and anticyclones, synoptic-scale circulation patterns can be extracted and linked to the Northern Hemisphere circulation system. Thus, we provide a new and solid envelope for climate studies covering the past to the future.

Circulating androgens correlate with resting-state MRI in transgender men.

PubMed

Mueller, Sven C; Wierckx, Katrien; Jackson, Kathryn; T'Sjoen, Guy

2016-11-01

Despite mounting evidence regarding the underlying neurobiology in transgender persons, information regarding resting-state activity, particularly after hormonal treatment, is lacking. The present study examined differences between transgender persons on long-term cross-sex hormone therapy and comparisons on two measures of local functional connectivity, intensity of spontaneous resting-state activity (low frequency fluctuations, LFF) and local synchronization of specific brain areas (regional homogeneity, ReHo). Nineteen transgender women (TW, male-to-female), 19 transgender men (TM, female-to-male), 21 non-transgender men (NTM) and 20 non-transgender women (NTW) underwent a resting-state MRI scan. The results showed differences between transgender persons and non-transgender comparisons on both LFF and ReHo measures in the frontal cortex, medial temporal lobe, and cerebellum. More interestingly, circulating androgens correlated for TM in the cerebellum and regions of the frontal cortex, an effect that was associated with treatment duration in the cerebellum. By comparison, no associations were found for TW with estrogens. These data provide first evidence for a potential masculinization of local functional connectivity in hormonally-treated transgender men. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multiscale systems biology of trauma-induced coagulopathy.

PubMed

Tsiklidis, Evan; Sims, Carrie; Sinno, Talid; Diamond, Scott L

2018-07-01

Trauma with hypovolemic shock is an extreme pathological state that challenges the body to maintain blood pressure and oxygenation in the face of hemorrhagic blood loss. In conjunction with surgical actions and transfusion therapy, survival requires the patient's blood to maintain hemostasis to stop bleeding. The physics of the problem are multiscale: (a) the systemic circulation sets the global blood pressure in response to blood loss and resuscitation therapy, (b) local tissue perfusion is altered by localized vasoregulatory mechanisms and bleeding, and (c) altered blood and vessel biology resulting from the trauma as well as local hemodynamics control the assembly of clotting components at the site of injury. Building upon ongoing modeling efforts to simulate arterial or venous thrombosis in a diseased vasculature, computer simulation of trauma-induced coagulopathy is an emerging approach to understand patient risk and predict response. Despite uncertainties in quantifying the patient's dynamic injury burden, multiscale systems biology may help link blood biochemistry at the molecular level to multiorgan responses in the bleeding patient. As an important goal of systems modeling, establishing early metrics of a patient's high-dimensional trajectory may help guide transfusion therapy or warn of subsequent later stage bleeding or thrombotic risks. This article is categorized under: Analytical and Computational Methods > Computational Methods Biological Mechanisms > Regulatory Biology Models of Systems Properties and Processes > Mechanistic Models. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Research on acupuncture points and cortical functional activation position in cats by infrared imaging detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Shuwang; Sha, Zhanyou; Wang, Shuhai; Wen, Huanming

2007-12-01

The research of the brain cognition is mainly to find out the activation position in brain according to the stimulation at present in the world. The research regards the animals as the experimental objects and explores the stimulation response on the cerebral cortex of acupuncture. It provides a new method, which can detect the activation position on the creatural cerebral cortex directly by middle-far infrared imaging. According to the theory of local temperature situation, the difference of cortical temperature maybe associate with the excitement of cortical nerve cells, the metabolism of local tissue and the local hemal circulation. Direct naked detection of temperature variety on cerebral cortex is applied by middle and far infrared imaging technology. So the activation position is ascertained. The effect of stimulation response is superior to other indirect methods. After removing the skulls on the head, full of cerebral cortex of a cat are exposed. By observing the infrared images and measuring the temperatures of the visual cerebral cortex during the process of acupuncturing, the points are used to judge the activation position. The variety in the cortical functional sections is corresponding to the result of the acupuncture points in terms of infrared images and temperatures. According to experimental results, we know that the variety of a cortical functional section is corresponding to a special acupuncture point exactly.

The tropospheric biennial oscillation defined by a biennial mode of sea surface temperature and its impact on the atmospheric circulation and precipitation in the tropical eastern Indo-western Pacific region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Jinju; Kim, Kwang-Yul

2016-10-01

Temporal and spatial patterns of anomalous atmospheric circulation and precipitation over the Indo-Pacific region are analyzed in conjunction with the Tropospheric Biennial Oscillation as represented by the biennial mode of sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA). The biennial components of key variables are identified independently of other variability via CSEOF analysis. Then, its impact on the Asian-Australian monsoon is examined. The biennial mode exhibits a seasonally distinctive atmospheric response over the tropical eastern Indo-western Pacific (EIWP) region (90°-150°E, 20°S-20°N). In boreal summer, local meridional circulation is a distinguishing characteristic over the tropical EIWP region, whereas a meridionally expanded branch of intensified zonal circulation develops in austral summer. Temporally varying evolution and distinct timing of SSTA phase transition in the Indian and Pacific Oceans is considered a main factor for this variation of circulation in the tropical EIWP region. The impact of the biennial mode is not the same between the two seasons, with different impacts over ocean areas in Asian monsoon and Australian monsoon regions.

Antarctic glaciation caused ocean circulation changes at the Eocene-Oligocene transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldner, A.; Herold, N.; Huber, M.

2014-07-01

Two main hypotheses compete to explain global cooling and the abrupt growth of the Antarctic ice sheet across the Eocene-Oligocene transition about 34 million years ago: thermal isolation of Antarctica due to southern ocean gateway opening, and declining atmospheric CO2 (refs 5, 6). Increases in ocean thermal stratification and circulation in proxies across the Eocene-Oligocene transition have been interpreted as a unique signature of gateway opening, but at present both mechanisms remain possible. Here, using a coupled ocean-atmosphere model, we show that the rise of Antarctic glaciation, rather than altered palaeogeography, is best able to explain the observed oceanographic changes. We find that growth of the Antarctic ice sheet caused enhanced northward transport of Antarctic intermediate water and invigorated the formation of Antarctic bottom water, fundamentally reorganizing ocean circulation. Conversely, gateway openings had much less impact on ocean thermal stratification and circulation. Our results support available evidence that CO2 drawdown--not gateway opening--caused Antarctic ice sheet growth, and further show that these feedbacks in turn altered ocean circulation. The precise timing and rate of glaciation, and thus its impacts on ocean circulation, reflect the balance between potentially positive feedbacks (increases in sea ice extent and enhanced primary productivity) and negative feedbacks (stronger southward heat transport and localized high-latitude warming). The Antarctic ice sheet had a complex, dynamic role in ocean circulation and heat fluxes during its initiation, and these processes are likely to operate in the future.

Antarctic glaciation caused ocean circulation changes at the Eocene-Oligocene transition.

PubMed

Goldner, A; Herold, N; Huber, M

2014-07-31

Two main hypotheses compete to explain global cooling and the abrupt growth of the Antarctic ice sheet across the Eocene-Oligocene transition about 34 million years ago: thermal isolation of Antarctica due to southern ocean gateway opening, and declining atmospheric CO2 (refs 5, 6). Increases in ocean thermal stratification and circulation in proxies across the Eocene-Oligocene transition have been interpreted as a unique signature of gateway opening, but at present both mechanisms remain possible. Here, using a coupled ocean-atmosphere model, we show that the rise of Antarctic glaciation, rather than altered palaeogeography, is best able to explain the observed oceanographic changes. We find that growth of the Antarctic ice sheet caused enhanced northward transport of Antarctic intermediate water and invigorated the formation of Antarctic bottom water, fundamentally reorganizing ocean circulation. Conversely, gateway openings had much less impact on ocean thermal stratification and circulation. Our results support available evidence that CO2 drawdown--not gateway opening--caused Antarctic ice sheet growth, and further show that these feedbacks in turn altered ocean circulation. The precise timing and rate of glaciation, and thus its impacts on ocean circulation, reflect the balance between potentially positive feedbacks (increases in sea ice extent and enhanced primary productivity) and negative feedbacks (stronger southward heat transport and localized high-latitude warming). The Antarctic ice sheet had a complex, dynamic role in ocean circulation and heat fluxes during its initiation, and these processes are likely to operate in the future.

Enzootic Transmission of Yellow Fever Virus in Peru

PubMed Central

Bryant, Juliet; Wang, Heiman; Cabezas, Cesar; Ramirez, Gladys; Watts, Douglas; Russell, Kevin

2003-01-01

The prevailing paradigm of yellow fever virus (YFV) ecology in South America is that of wandering epizootics. The virus is believed to move from place to place in epizootic waves involving monkeys and mosquitoes, rather than persistently circulating within particular locales. After a large outbreak of YFV illness in Peru in 1995, we used phylogenetic analyses of virus isolates to reexamine the hypothesis of virus movement. We sequenced a 670-nucleotide fragment of the prM/E gene region of from 25 Peruvian YFV samples collected from 1977 to 1999, and delineated six clades representing the states (Departments) of Puno, Pasco, Junin, Ayacucho, San Martin/Huanuco, and Cusco. The concurrent appearance of at least four variants during the 1995 epidemic and the genetic stability of separate virus lineages over time, indicate that Peruvian YFV is locally maintained and circulates continuously in discrete foci of enzootic transmission. PMID:12967489

Efficiency of circulant diallels via mixed models in the selection of papaya genotypes resistant to foliar fungal diseases.

PubMed

Vivas, M; Silveira, S F; Viana, A P; Amaral, A T; Cardoso, D L; Pereira, M G

2014-07-02

Diallel crossing methods provide information regarding the performance of genitors between themselves and their hybrid combinations. However, with a large number of parents, the number of hybrid combinations that can be obtained and evaluated become limited. One option regarding the number of parents involved is the adoption of circulant diallels. However, information is lacking regarding diallel analysis using mixed models. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the method of linear mixed models to estimate, for variable resistance to foliar fungal diseases, components of general and specific combining ability in a circulant table with different s values. Subsequently, 50 diallels were simulated for each s value, and the correlations and estimates of the combining abilities of the different diallel combinations were analyzed. The circulant diallel method using mixed modeling was effective in the classification of genitors regarding their combining abilities relative to the complete diallels. The numbers of crosses in which each genitor(s) will compose the circulant diallel and the estimated heritability affect the combining ability estimates. With three crosses per parent, it is possible to obtain good concordance (correlation above 0.8) between the combining ability estimates.

Measuring accessibility of sustainable transportation using space syntax in Bojonggede area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suryawinata, B. A.; Mariana, Y.; Wijaksono, S.

2017-12-01

Changes in the physical structure of regional space as a result of the increase of planned and unplanned settlements in the Bojonggede area have an impact on the road network pattern system. Changes in road network patterns will have an impact on the permeability of the area. Permeability measures the extent to which road network patterns provide an option in traveling. If the permeability increases the travel distance decreases and the route of travel choice increases, permeability like this can create an easy access system and physically integrated. This study aims to identify the relationship of physical characteristics of residential area and road network pattern to the level of space permeability in Bojonggede area. By conducting this research can be a reference for the arrangement of circulation, accessibility, and land use in the vicinity of Bojonggede. This research uses quantitative method and space syntax method to see global integration and local integration on the region which become the parameter of permeability level. The results showed that the level of permeability globally and locally high in Bojonggede physical area is the physical characteristics of the area that has a grid pattern of road network grid.

Downhole material injector for lost circulation control

DOEpatents

Glowka, D.A.

1991-01-01

This invention is comprised of an apparatus and method for simultaneously and separately emplacing two streams of different materials through a drillstring in a borehole to a downhole location for lost circulation control. The two streams are mixed outside the drillstring at the desired downhole location and harden only after mixing for control of a lost circulation zone.

Downhole material injector for lost circulation control

DOEpatents

Glowka, D.A.

1994-09-06

Apparatus and method are disclosed for simultaneously and separately emplacing two streams of different materials through a drill string in a borehole to a downhole location for lost circulation control. The two streams are mixed outside the drill string at the desired downhole location and harden only after mixing for control of a lost circulation zone. 6 figs.

The role and production of polar/subtropical jet superpositions in two high-impact weather events over North America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winters, Andrew C.

Careful observational work has demonstrated that the tropopause is typically characterized by a three-step pole-to-equator structure, with each break between steps in the tropopause height associated with a jet stream. While the two jet streams, the polar and subtropical jets, typically occupy different latitude bands, their separation can occasionally vanish, resulting in a vertical superposition of the two jets. A cursory examination of a number of historical and recent high-impact weather events over North America and the North Atlantic indicates that superposed jets can be an important component of their evolution. Consequently, this dissertation examines two recent jet superposition cases, the 18--20 December 2009 Mid-Atlantic Blizzard and the 1--3 May 2010 Nashville Flood, in an effort (1) to determine the specific influence that a superposed jet can have on the development of a high-impact weather event and (2) to illuminate the processes that facilitated the production of a superposition in each case. An examination of these cases from a basic-state variable and PV inversion perspective demonstrates that elements of both the remote and local synoptic environment are important to consider while diagnosing the development of a jet superposition. Specifically, the process of jet superposition begins with the remote production of a cyclonic (anticyclonic) tropopause disturbance at high (low) latitudes. The cyclonic circulation typically originates at polar latitudes, while organized tropical convection can encourage the development of an anticyclonic circulation anomaly within the tropical upper-troposphere. The concurrent advection of both anomalies towards middle latitudes subsequently allows their individual circulations to laterally displace the location of the individual tropopause breaks. Once the two circulation anomalies position the polar and subtropical tropopause breaks in close proximity to one another, elements within the local environment, such as proximate convection or transverse vertical circulations, can work to further deform the tropopause and to aid in the production of the two-step tropopause structure characteristic of a superposed jet. The analysis also demonstrates that the intensified transverse vertical circulation that accompanies a superposed jet serves as the primary mechanism through which it can influence the evolution of a high-impact weather event.

Estimating habitat volume of living resources using three-dimensional circulation and biogeochemical models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Katharine A.; Schlag, Zachary; North, Elizabeth W.

2018-07-01

Coupled three-dimensional circulation and biogeochemical models predict changes in water properties that can be used to define fish habitat, including physiologically important parameters such as temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen. However, methods for calculating the volume of habitat defined by the intersection of multiple water properties are not well established for coupled three-dimensional models. The objectives of this research were to examine multiple methods for calculating habitat volume from three-dimensional model predictions, select the most robust approach, and provide an example application of the technique. Three methods were assessed: the "Step," "Ruled Surface", and "Pentahedron" methods, the latter of which was developed as part of this research. Results indicate that the analytical Pentahedron method is exact, computationally efficient, and preserves continuity in water properties between adjacent grid cells. As an example application, the Pentahedron method was implemented within the Habitat Volume Model (HabVol) using output from a circulation model with an Arakawa C-grid and physiological tolerances of juvenile striped bass (Morone saxatilis). This application demonstrates that the analytical Pentahedron method can be successfully applied to calculate habitat volume using output from coupled three-dimensional circulation and biogeochemical models, and it indicates that the Pentahedron method has wide application to aquatic and marine systems for which these models exist and physiological tolerances of organisms are known.

Local renin-angiotensin system contributes to hyperthyroidism-induced cardiac hypertrophy.

PubMed

Kobori, H; Ichihara, A; Miyashita, Y; Hayashi, M; Saruta, T

1999-01-01

We have reported previously that thyroid hormone activates the circulating and tissue renin-angiotensin systems without involving the sympathetic nervous system, which contributes to cardiac hypertrophy in hyperthyroidism. This study examined whether the circulating or tissue renin-angiotensin system plays the principal role in hyperthyroidism-induced cardiac hypertrophy. The circulating renin-angiotensin system in Sprague-Dawley rats was fixed by chronic angiotensin II infusion (40 ng/min, 28 days) via mini-osmotic pumps. Daily i.p. injection of thyroxine (0.1 mg/kg per day, 28 days) was used to mimic hyperthyroidism. Serum free tri-iodothyronine, plasma renin activity, plasma angiotensin II, cardiac renin and cardiac angiotensin II were measured with RIAs. The cardiac expression of renin mRNA was evaluated by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Plasma renin activity and plasma angiotensin II were kept constant in the angiotensin II and angiotensin II+thyroxine groups (0.12+/-0.03 and 0.15+/-0.03 microgram/h per liter, 126+/-5 and 130+/-5 ng/l respectively) (means+/-s.e.m.). Despite stabilization of the circulating renin-angiotensin system, thyroid hormone induced cardiac hypertrophy (5.0+/-0.5 vs 3.5+/-0.1 mg/g) in conjunction with the increases in cardiac expression of renin mRNA, cardiac renin and cardiac angiotensin II (74+/-2 vs 48+/-2%, 6.5+/-0.8 vs 3.8+/-0.4 ng/h per g, 231+/-30 vs 149+/-2 pg/g respectively). These results indicate that the local renin-angiotensin system plays the primary role in the development of hyperthyroidism-induced cardiac hypertrophy.

Emergence and localized circulation of a vaccine-derived poliovirus in an isolated mountain community in Guangxi, China.

PubMed

Yan, Dongmei; Li, Li; Zhu, Shuangli; Zhang, Yong; An, Junjing; Wang, Dongyan; Wen, Ning; Jorba, Jaume; Liu, Wei; Zhong, Ge; Huang, Lin; Kew, Olen; Liang, Xiaofeng; Xu, Wenbo

2010-09-01

From March to May 2006, type 1 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) was isolated from one case patient with acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) and six unimmunized healthy contacts in isolated mountain villages in Guangxi, China. We conducted epidemiological investigations in the affected communities and nucleotide sequence analyses of the cVDPV isolates. The results of the investigations showed that the AFP patient, an unimmunized 10-year-old boy, and five laboratory-confirmed contacts lived in the same village; one contact lived in a neighboring village. Only approximately 27% of children 5 to 10 years of age in the affected villages had received three or more doses of the trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). Nucleotide sequence analyses revealed that the cVDPV isolates differed from the Sabin 1 (S1) isolate at 1.4 to 2.2% of VP1 nucleotide positions and shared 12 nucleotide substitutions within VP1. All isolates were S1/S2/S1/S3 recombinants sharing common recombination junctions. Key determinants of attenuation were replaced. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that the cVDPV circulated locally for approximately 12 months following the initiating OPV dose. No VDPVs were found after mass OPV immunizations, conducted from May to June 2006, that targeted all children <12 years of age. Our findings reinforce the point that VDPVs can emerge and spread in isolated communities with immunity gaps. Maintenance of sensitive AFP and poliovirus surveillance is essential to permit early detection and a rapid response to VDPV circulation.

Impact of four-dimensional data assimilation (FDDA) on urban climate analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Linlin; Liu, Yubao; Liu, Yuewei; Li, Lei; Jiang, Yin; Cheng, Will; Roux, Gregory

2015-12-01

This study investigates the impact of four-dimensional data assimilation (FDDA) on urban climate analysis, which employs the NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) WRF (the weather research and forecasting model) based on climate FDDA (CFDDA) technology to develop an urban-scale microclimatology database for the Shenzhen area, a rapidly developing metropolitan located along the southern coast of China, where uniquely high-density observations, including ultrahigh-resolution surface AWS (automatic weather station) network, radio sounding, wind profilers, radiometers, and other weather observation platforms, have been installed. CFDDA is an innovative dynamical downscaling regional climate analysis system that assimilates diverse regional observations; and has been employed to produce a 5 year multiscale high-resolution microclimate analysis by assimilating high-density observations at Shenzhen area. The CFDDA system was configured with four nested-grid domains at grid sizes of 27, 9, 3, and 1 km, respectively. This research evaluates the impact of assimilating high-resolution observation data on reproducing the refining features of urban-scale circulations. Two experiments were conducted with a 5 year run using CFSR (climate forecast system reanalysis) as boundary and initial conditions: one with CFDDA and the other without. The comparisons of these two experiments with observations indicate that CFDDA greatly reduces the model analysis error and is able to realistically analyze the microscale features such as urban-rural-coastal circulation, land/sea breezes, and local-hilly terrain thermal circulations. It is demonstrated that the urbanization can produce 2.5 k differences in 2 m temperatures, delays/speeds up the land/sea breeze development, and interacts with local mountain-valley circulations.

Using the Weak-Temperature Gradient Approximation to Evaluate Parameterizations: An Example of the Transition From Suppressed to Active Convection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daleu, C. L.; Plant, R. S.; Woolnough, S. J.

2017-10-01

Two single-column models are fully coupled via the weak-temperature gradient approach. The coupled-SCM is used to simulate the transition from suppressed to active convection under the influence of an interactive large-scale circulation. The sensitivity of this transition to the value of mixing entrainment within the convective parameterization is explored. The results from these simulations are compared with those from equivalent simulations using coupled cloud-resolving models. Coupled-column simulations over nonuniform surface forcing are used to initialize the simulations of the transition, in which the column with suppressed convection is forced to undergo a transition to active convection by changing the local and/or remote surface forcings. The direct contributions from the changes in surface forcing are to induce a weakening of the large-scale circulation which systematically modulates the transition. In the SCM, the contributions from the large-scale circulation are dominated by the heating effects, while in the CRM the heating and moistening effects are about equally divided. A transition time is defined as the time when the rain rate in the dry column is halfway to the value at equilibrium after the transition. For the control value of entrainment, the order of the transition times is identical to that obtained in the CRM, but the transition times are markedly faster. The locally forced transition is strongly delayed by a higher entrainment. A consequence is that for a 50% higher entrainment the transition times are reordered. The remotely forced transition remains fast while the locally forced transition becomes slow, compared to the CRM.

Mesoscale Effects on Carbon Export: A Global Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harrison, Cheryl S.; Long, Matthew C.; Lovenduski, Nicole S.; Moore, Jefferson K.

2018-04-01

Carbon export from the surface to the deep ocean is a primary control on global carbon budgets and is mediated by plankton that are sensitive to physical forcing. Earth system models generally do not resolve ocean mesoscale circulation (O(10-100) km), scales that strongly affect transport of nutrients and plankton. The role of mesoscale circulation in modulating export is evaluated by comparing global ocean simulations conducted at 1° and 0.1° horizontal resolution. Mesoscale resolution produces a small reduction in globally integrated export production (<2%) however, the impact on local export production can be large (±50%), with compensating effects in different ocean basins. With mesoscale resolution, improved representation of coastal jets block off-shelf transport, leading to lower export in regions where shelf-derived nutrients fuel production. Export is further reduced in these regions by resolution of mesoscale turbulence, which restricts the spatial area of production. Maximum mixed layer depths are narrower and deeper across the Subantarctic at higher resolution, driving locally stronger nutrient entrainment and enhanced summer export production. In energetic regions with seasonal blooms, such as the Subantarctic and North Pacific, internally generated mesoscale variability drives substantial interannual variation in local export production. These results suggest that biogeochemical tracer dynamics show different sensitivities to transport biases than temperature and salinity, which should be considered in the formulation and validation of physical parameterizations. Efforts to compare estimates of export production from observations and models should account for large variability in space and time expected for regions strongly affected by mesoscale circulation.

Getting too sweet: galectin-1 dysregulation in gestational diabetes mellitus.

PubMed

Blois, Sandra M; Gueuvoghlanian-Silva, Barbara Y; Tirado-González, Irene; Torloni, Maria R; Freitag, Nancy; Mattar, Rosiane; Conrad, Melanie L; Unverdorben, Laura; Barrientos, Gabriela; Knabl, Julia; Toldi, Gergely; Molvarec, Attila; Rose, Matthias; Markert, Udo R; Jeschke, Udo; Daher, Silvia

2014-07-01

Galectin-1 (gal-1) is a prototype carbohydrate-binding protein, whose dysregulation is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes such as spontaneous abortion and pre-eclampsia. Furthermore, it is known that faulty gal-1 protein production or gene regulation can be caused by single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the LGALS1 gene. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is also an adverse pregnancy outcome and the most common metabolic disorder during gestation. However, gal-1 expression patterns during GDM remain largely unknown. Our aims were to define local and peripheral gal-1 expression patterns during pregnancy, and to investigate LGALS1 gene polymorphisms in GDM patients. Circulating gal-1 levels were determined by ELISA in GDM patients and normal pregnant controls, and LGALS1 gene polymorphisms were assessed for association with GDM. Placental tissues were collected from control and GDM term pregnancies to evaluate local gal-1 expression by immunofluorescence. Our results show that GDM is associated with a failure to increase circulating gal-1 levels during the second and third trimester, as well as overexpression of gal-1 in placental tissue. Additionally, the LGALS1 polymorphism rs4820294 was associated with the development of GDM. In pregnancies complicated by GDM, we observed gal-1 dysregulation both locally in the placenta and peripherally in the circulation. Furthermore, the association between the LGALS1 polymorphism and GDM may indicate a genetic contribution to this adverse pregnancy outcome. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Assessing Intrarenal Non-perfusion and Vascular Leakage in Acute Kidney Injury withzz 19F MRI and Perfluorocarbon Nanoparticles

PubMed Central

Hu, Lingzhi; Chen, Junjie; Yang, Xiaoxia; Senpan, Angana; Allen, John S.; Yanaba, Noriko; Caruthers, Shelton D.; Lanza, Gregory M.; Hammerman, Marc R.; Wickline, Samuel A.

2014-01-01

Purpose We sought to develop a unique sensor-reporter approach for functional kidney imaging that employs circulating perfluorocarbon nanoparticles (PFC NPs) and 19F MRI. Methods Because the detected 19F signal intensity directly reflects local blood volume, and the 19F R1 is linearly proportional to local blood oxygen content (pO2), 19F spin density weighted and T1 weighted images were utilized to generate quantitative functional mapping in both healthy and ischemia-reperfusion (acute kidney injury, AKI) injured mouse kidneys. 1H Blood-Oxygenation-Level-Dependant (BOLD) MRI was also employed as a supplementary approach to facilitate the compressive analysis of renal circulation and its pathological changes in AKI. Results Heterogeneous blood volume distribution and intrarenal oxygenation gradient were confirmed in healthy kidneys by 19F MRI. In a mouse model of AKI, 19F MRI, in conjunction with BOLR MRI, sensitively delineated renal vascular damage and recovery. In the cortico-medullary (CM) junction region, we observed 25% lower 19F signal (p<0.05) and 70% longer 1H T2* (p<0.01) in injured kidneys compared to contralateral kidneys at 24 hours after initial ischemia-reperfusion injury. We also detected 71% higher 19F signal (p<0.01) and 40% lower 1H T2* (p<0.05) in the renal medulla region of injured kidneys compared to contralateral kidneys. Conclusion With demonstrated superior diagnostic capability, functional kidney 19F MRI using PFC NPs could serve as a new diagnostic measures for comprehensive evaluation of renal function and pathology. PMID:23929727

CYGNSS Surface Wind Validation and Characteristics in the Maritime Continent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asharaf, S.; Waliser, D. E.; Zhang, C.; Wandala, A.

2017-12-01

Surface wind over tropical oceans plays a crucial role in many local/regional weather and climate processes and helps to shape the global climate system. However, there is a lack of consistent high quality observations for surface winds. The newly launched NASA Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) mission provides near surface wind speed over the tropical ocean with sampling that accounts for the diurnal cycle. In the early phase of the mission, validation is a critical task, and over-ocean validation is typically challenging due to a lack of robust validation resources that a cover a variety of environmental conditions. In addition, it can also be challenging to obtain in-situ observation resources and also to extract co-located CYGNSS records for some of the more scientifically interesting regions, such as the Maritime Continent (MC). The MC is regarded as a key tropical driver for the mean global circulation as well as important large-scale circulation variability such as the Madian-Julian Oscillation (MJO). The focus of this project and analysis is to take advantage of local in-situ resources from the MC regions (e.g. volunteer shipping, marine buoys, and the Year of Maritime Continent (YMC) campaign) to quantitatively characterize and validate the CYGNSS derived winds in the MC region and in turn work to unravel the complex multi-scale interactions between the MJO and MC. This presentation will show preliminary results of a comparison between the CYGNSS and the in-situ surface wind measurements focusing on the MC region. Details about the validation methods, uncertainties, and planned work will be discussed in this presentation.

Use of variational methods in the determination of wind-driven ocean circulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gelos, R.; Laura, P. A. A.

1976-01-01

Simple polynomial approximations and a variational approach were used to predict wind-induced circulation in rectangular ocean basins. Stommel's and Munk's models were solved in a unified fashion by means of the proposed method. Very good agreement with exact solutions available in the literature was shown to exist. The method was then applied to more complex situations where an exact solution seems out of the question.

Do Circulating Tumor Cells, Exosomes, and Circulating Tumor Nucleic Acids Have Clinical Utility?

PubMed Central

Gold, Bert; Cankovic, Milena; Furtado, Larissa V.; Meier, Frederick; Gocke, Christopher D.

2016-01-01

Diagnosing and screening for tumors through noninvasive means represent an important paradigm shift in precision medicine. In contrast to tissue biopsy, detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating tumor nucleic acids provides a minimally invasive method for predictive and prognostic marker detection. This allows early and serial assessment of metastatic disease, including follow-up during remission, characterization of treatment effects, and clonal evolution. Isolation and characterization of CTCs and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) are likely to improve cancer diagnosis, treatment, and minimal residual disease monitoring. However, more trials are required to validate the clinical utility of precise molecular markers for a variety of tumor types. This review focuses on the clinical utility of CTCs and ctDNA testing in patients with solid tumors, including somatic and epigenetic alterations that can be detected. A comparison of methods used to isolate and detect CTCs and some of the intricacies of the characterization of the ctDNA are also provided. PMID:25908243

Tests of the higher order turbulence model for atmospheric circulations (HOTMAC) at Deseret Chemical Depot

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Costigan, K.R.

1998-11-01

Deseret Chemical Depot is one of the US Army`s storage facilities for its stockpile of chemical weapon agents. Congress has directed the Department of Defense to eliminate the aging stockpiles, which have existed since the end of World War II, and the US Army is destroying these lethal chemical munitions. Although the danger is slight, accurate predictions of the wind field in the valley are necessary for dispersion calculations in the event of an accident involving toxic chemicals at the depot. There are several small communities in Rush and Tooele valleys, including the town of Tooele, and Salt Lake Citymore » is located 65 km to the Northeast of Deseret Chemical Depot South area, at 1,300 m MSL and beyond the Oquirrh Mountains. The purpose of this report is to carry out three-dimensional numerical simulations of the atmospheric circulations in the region around Deseret Chemical Depot with the Higher Order Turbulence Model for Atmospheric Circulations (HOTMAC) and to evaluate the performance of the model. The code had been modified to assimilate local meteorological observations through the use of Newtonian nudging. The nudging scheme takes advantage of the extensive network of local observations in the valley.« less

Geochemical behaviour of the Tunisian background aerosols in Sirocco wind circulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azri, Chafai; Abida, Habib; Medhioub, Khaled

2009-05-01

This study examines spatial and time evolutions of the principal constituents of the Tunisian background aerosols under Sirocco wind circulations. Aerosols coming from the Sahara Desert were found to be loaded with particulate matter, especially silicon. The aerosols were shown to have varying geochemical behaviour along the "South-North" displacement of the Saharan plumes, depending on the wind flow characteristics, geomorphologic features and the nature of soils swept by the wind. In the south and the center part of the country, the transfer of aerosol constituents to the soil (by gravity and/or impaction) was probably predominated by localized enrichment phenomena. The latter are reinforced by the effect of turbulent winds over bare soils, wind wakes and probably selective disintegration, especially in the vicinity of the geomorphologic features of central Tunisia. These relatively high features, extending over important distances, appear to be of paramount importance for the phenomena of redistribution of aerosol constituents even during periods without Sirocco wind circulations. In the northern section of the country, aerosol constituent concentrations dropped to almost 50%, in spite of the abundance of localized turbulent winds. This may be explained by the effect of forests and the relatively dense vegetation cover, which clearly reinforces the transfer phenomena to the soil and the attenuate of dust entrainment.

Multi-scale coupled modelling of waves and currents on the Catalan shelf.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grifoll, M.; Warner, J. C.; Espino, M.; Sánchez-Arcilla, A.

2012-04-01

Catalan shelf circulation is characterized by a background along-shelf flow to the southwest (including some meso-scale features) plus episodic storm driven patterns. To investigate these dynamics, a coupled multi-scale modeling system is applied to the Catalan shelf (North-western Mediterranean Sea). The implementation consists of a set of increasing-resolution nested models, based on the circulation model ROMS and the wave model SWAN as part of the COAWST modeling system, covering from the slope and shelf region (~1 km horizontal resolution) down to a local area around Barcelona city (~40 m). The system is initialized with MyOcean products in the coarsest outer domain, and uses atmospheric forcing from other sources for the increasing resolution inner domains. Results of the finer resolution domains exhibit improved agreement with observations relative to the coarser model results. Several hydrodynamic configurations were simulated to determine dominant forcing mechanisms and hydrodynamic processes that control coastal scale processes. The numerical results reveal that the short term (hours to days) inner-shelf variability is strongly influenced by local wind variability, while sea-level slope, baroclinic effects, radiation stresses and regional circulation constitute second-order processes. Additional analysis identifies the significance of shelf/slope exchange fluxes, river discharge and the effect of the spatial resolution of the atmospheric fluxes.

Natural convection in square cavity filled with ferrofluid saturated porous medium in the presence of uniform magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Javed, Tariq; Mehmood, Z.; Abbas, Z.

2017-02-01

This article contains numerical results for free convection through square enclosure enclosing ferrofluid saturated porous medium when uniform magnetic field is applied upon the flow along x-axis. Heat is provided through bottom wall and a square blockage placed near left or right bottom corner of enclosure as a heat source. Left and right vertical boundaries of the cavity are considered insulated while upper wall is taken cold. The problem is modelled in terms of system of nonlinear partial differential equations. Finite element method has been adopted to compute numerical simulations of mathematical problem for wide range of pertinent flow parameters including Rayleigh number, Hartman number, Darcy number and Prandtl number. Analysis of results reveals that the strength of streamline circulation is an increasing function of Darcy and Prandtl number where convection heat transfer is dominant for large values of these parameters whereas increase in Hartman number has opposite effects on isotherms and streamline circulations. Thermal conductivity and hence local heat transfer rate of fluid gets increased when ferroparticles are introduced in the fluid. Average Nusselt number increases with increase in Darcy and Rayleigh numbers while it is decreases when Hartman number is increased.

An approximate Kalman filter for ocean data assimilation: An example with an idealized Gulf Stream model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fukumori, Ichiro; Malanotte-Rizzoli, Paola

1995-01-01

A practical method of data assimilation for use with large, nonlinear, ocean general circulation models is explored. A Kalman filter based on approximation of the state error covariance matrix is presented, employing a reduction of the effective model dimension, the error's asymptotic steady state limit, and a time-invariant linearization of the dynamic model for the error integration. The approximations lead to dramatic computational savings in applying estimation theory to large complex systems. We examine the utility of the approximate filter in assimilating different measurement types using a twin experiment of an idealized Gulf Stream. A nonlinear primitive equation model of an unstable east-west jet is studied with a state dimension exceeding 170,000 elements. Assimilation of various pseudomeasurements are examined, including velocity, density, and volume transport at localized arrays and realistic distributions of satellite altimetry and acoustic tomography observations. Results are compared in terms of their effects on the accuracies of the estimation. The approximate filter is shown to outperform an empirical nudging scheme used in a previous study. The examples demonstrate that useful approximate estimation errors can be computed in a practical manner for general circulation models.

An approximate Kalman filter for ocean data assimilation: An example with an idealized Gulf Stream model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fukumori, Ichiro; Malanotte-Rizzoli, Paola

1995-04-01

A practical method of data assimilation for use with large, nonlinear, ocean general circulation models is explored. A Kaiman filter based on approximations of the state error covariance matrix is presented, employing a reduction of the effective model dimension, the error's asymptotic steady state limit, and a time-invariant linearization of the dynamic model for the error integration. The approximations lead to dramatic computational savings in applying estimation theory to large complex systems. We examine the utility of the approximate filter in assimilating different measurement types using a twin experiment of an idealized Gulf Stream. A nonlinear primitive equation model of an unstable east-west jet is studied with a state dimension exceeding 170,000 elements. Assimilation of various pseudomeasurements are examined, including velocity, density, and volume transport at localized arrays and realistic distributions of satellite altimetry and acoustic tomography observations. Results are compared in terms of their effects on the accuracies of the estimation. The approximate filter is shown to outperform an empirical nudging scheme used in a previous study. The examples demonstrate that useful approximate estimation errors can be computed in a practical manner for general circulation models.

Proliferating macrophages prevail in atherosclerosis.

PubMed

Randolph, Gwendalyn J

2013-09-01

Macrophages accumulate in atherosclerotic lesions during the inflammation that is part of atherosclerosis development and progression. A new study in mice indicates that the accumulation of macrophages in atherosclerotic plaques depends on local macrophage proliferation rather than the recruitment of circulating monocytes.

Spectroscopic Biomarkers for Monitoring Wound Healing and Infection in Wounds

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

injuries, burns, acute vascular disruption, blastwave-associated pressure injuries, air, thrombotic, and fat embolism , and compartment syndrome. In...damage and compromised local circulation often associated with overt vascular injury. These injuries include traumatic amputations, open fractures , crush

Identifying three-dimensional nested groundwater flow systems in a Tóthian basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xu-Sheng; Wan, Li; Jiang, Xiao-Wei; Li, Hailong; Zhou, Yangxiao; Wang, Junzhi; Ji, Xiaohui

2017-10-01

Nested groundwater flow systems have been revealed in Tóth's theory as the structural property of basin-scale groundwater circulation but were only well known with two-dimensional (2D) profile models. The method of searching special streamlines across stagnation points for partitioning flow systems, which has been successfully applied in the 2D models, has never been implemented for three-dimensional (3D) Tóthian basins because of the difficulty in solving the dual stream functions. Alternatively, a new method is developed to investigate 3D nested groundwater flow systems without determination of stagnation points. Connective indices are defined to quantify the connection between individual recharge and discharge zones along streamlines. Groundwater circulation cells (GWCCs) are identified according to the distribution of the connective indices and then grouped into local, intermediate and regional flow systems. This method requires existing solution of the flow velocity vector and is implemented via particle tracking technique. It is applied in a hypothetical 3D Tóthian basin with an analytical solution of the flow field and in a real-world basin with a numerical modeling approach. Different spatial patterns of flow systems compared to 2D profile models are found. The outcrops boundaries of GWCCs on water table may significantly deviate from and are not parallel to the nearby water table divides. Topological network is proposed to represent the linked recharge-discharge zones through closed and open GWCCs. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the development of GWCCs depends on the basin geometry, hydraulic parameters and water table shape.

Circulating tumor cells in localized prostate cancer: isolation, cultivation in vitro and relationship to T-stage and Gleason score.

PubMed

Kolostova, Katarina; Broul, Marek; Schraml, Jan; Cegan, Martin; Matkowski, Rafal; Fiutowski, Marek; Bobek, Vladimir

2014-07-01

The most promising near-term application of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) monitoring relates to the development of targeted cancer therapies, and the need to tailor such treatments to individual tumor characteristics. A high number of new innovative technologies to improve methods for detecting CTCs, with extraordinarily high sensitivity, have recently been presented. The identification and characterization of CTCs require extremely sensitive and specific methods that are able to isolate CTCs with the possibility of cultivation and downstream analysis of in vitro culture of separated CTCs. In this original research paper, we demonstrate that it is possible to isolate human CTCs from a patient with prostate cancer, with subsequent cultivation and proliferation in vitro. We show that the use of a filtration device implemented by MetaCell® can fulfil all the requirements mentioned above. Fifty-five patients with localized prostate cancer have so far been enrolled into the study. CTCs were detected in the blood samples of 28 (52%) out of the 55 patients. We report successful isolation of CTCs from patients with prostate cancer, capturing cells with a proliferative capacity in 18 (64.3%) out of the 28 CTC-positive patients. Direct correlation with Gleason score and T stage was not proven. The cells, captured by a size-based filtration approach, remain in a good state, unaffected by any antibodies or lysing solutions. During the filtration process, no interactions occurred between antibodies and antigens on the surface of CTCs. This biological interaction is specific for immunomagnetic methods. The MetaCell device provides the possibility of reaching virgin CTCs suitable for subsequent cultivation or single-cell analysis. This aspect will have an important impact on the future design of clinical trials testing new drugs against targets expressed on metastatic cancer cells. In addition to measurement of CTC counts, future trials with targeted therapies should also include the assessment of the specific therapeutic target on CTCs. Copyright© 2014 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.

Liver-derived IGF-I contributes to GH-dependent increases in lean mass and bone mineral density in mice with comparable levels of circulating GH.

PubMed

Nordstrom, Sarah M; Tran, Jennifer L; Sos, Brandon C; Wagner, Kay-Uwe; Weiss, Ethan J

2011-07-01

The relative contributions of circulating and locally produced IGF-I in growth remain controversial. The majority of circulating IGF-I is produced by the liver, and numerous mouse models have been developed to study the endocrine actions of IGF-I. A common drawback to these models is that the elimination of circulating IGF-I disrupts a negative feedback pathway, resulting in unregulated GH secretion. We generated a mouse with near total abrogation of circulating IGF-I by disrupting the GH signaling mediator, Janus kinase (JAK)2, in hepatocytes. We then crossed these mice, termed JAK2L, to GH-deficient little mice (Lit). Compound mutant (Lit-JAK2L) and control (Lit-Con) mice were treated with equal amounts of GH such that the only difference between the two groups was hepatic GH signaling. Both groups gained weight in response to GH but there was a reduction in the final weight of GH-treated Lit-JAK2L vs. Lit-Con mice. Similarly, lean mass increased in both groups, but there was a reduction in the final lean mass of Lit-JAK2L vs. Lit-Con mice. There was an equivalent increase in skeletal length in response to GH in Lit-Con and Lit-JAK2L mice. There was an increase in bone mineral density (BMD) in both groups, but Lit-JAK2L had lower BMD than Lit-Con mice. In addition, GH-mediated increases in spleen and kidney mass were absent in Lit-JAK2L mice. Taken together, hepatic GH-dependent production of IGF-I had a significant and nonredundant role in GH-mediated acquisition of lean mass, BMD, spleen mass, and kidney mass; however, skeletal length was dependent upon or compensated for by locally produced IGF-I.

[Post-stroke constipation treated with acupuncture therapy of regulating qi circulation of fu-organ].

PubMed

Ren, Zhen; Wu, Qing-Ming; Li, Dan-Dan; Liu, Wei-Ai; Li, Xiang-Rong; Lin, Xu-Ming

2013-10-01

To compare the difference in the efficacy on post-stroke constipation between acupuncture therapy of regulating qi circulation of fe-organ and Shengxue Tongbian Capsules. Seventy-five patients of post-stroke constipation were randomized into an acupuncture group (39 cases) and a Chinese medicine group (36 cases). The unit mode comprehensive therapy of stroke was adopted as basic treatment in the two groups. In the acupuncture group, acupuncture therapy of regulating qi circulation of fu-organ was added at Tianshu (ST 25), Zhigou (TE 6), Qihai (CV 6) and Zusanli (ST 36), once every day. In the Chinese medicine group, Shengrue Tongbian Capsules were supplemented for oral administration, once every day, 10 g each time. The clinical symptom score of constipation was observed before treatment, after 1 and 2 weeks treatment in the two groups, respectively. The efficacy in 1 week and 2 weeks of treatment and the adverse reaction were observed. In 1 and 2 weeks of treatment, the clinical symptom score of constipation was reduced significantly as compared with that before treatment in the two groups (all P < 0.05). The improvements in the acupuncture group were significant than those in the Chinese medicine group in 2 weeks of treatment (8.03 +/- 2.38 vs 9.20 +/- 2.45, P < 0.05). Concerning to the occurrence of adverse reaction, there was 1 case of local bruises in needling local site in the acupuncture group; and there were 1 case of abdominal pain, 3 cases of diarrhea and 2 cases of nausea and vomiting in the Chinese medicine group. Both the acupuncture therapy of regulating qi circulation of fu-organ and Shengxue Tongbian Capsules achieve the significant efficacy on post-stroke constipation. The efficacy of the acupuncture therapy of regulating qi circulation of fe-organ is better and the adverse reaction is less after long-term persistent treatment.

Oxidative Burst of Circulating Neutrophils Following Traumatic Brain Injury in Human

PubMed Central

Liao, Yiliu; Liu, Peng; Guo, Fangyuan; Zhang, Zhi-Yuan; Zhang, Zhiren

2013-01-01

Besides secondary injury at the lesional site, Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can cause a systemic inflammatory response, which may cause damage to initially unaffected organs and potentially further exacerbate the original injury. Here we investigated plasma levels of important inflammatory mediators, oxidative activity of circulating leukocytes, particularly focusing on neutrophils, from TBI subjects and control subjects with general trauma from 6 hours to 2 weeks following injury, comparing with values from uninjured subjects. We observed increased plasma level of inflammatory cytokines/molecules TNF-α, IL-6 and CRP, dramatically increased circulating leukocyte counts and elevated expression of TNF-α and iNOS in circulating leukocytes from TBI patients, which suggests a systemic inflammatory response following TBI. Our data further showed increased free radical production in leukocyte homogenates and elevated expression of key oxidative enzymes iNOS, COX-2 and NADPH oxidase (gp91phox) in circulating leukocytes, indicating an intense induction of oxidative burst following TBI, which is significantly greater than that in control subjects with general trauma. Furthermore, flow cytometry assay proved neutrophils as the largest population in circulation after TBI and showed significantly up-regulated oxidative activity and suppressed phagocytosis rate for circulating neutrophils following brain trauma. It suggests that the highly activated neutrophils might play an important role in the secondary damage, even outside the injured brain. Taken together, the potent systemic inflammatory response induced by TBI, especially the intensively increase oxidative activity of circulating leukocytes, mainly neutrophils, may lead to a systemic damage, dysfunction/damage of bystander tissues/organs and even further exacerbate secondary local damage. Controlling these pathophysiological processes may be a promising therapeutic strategy and will protect unaffected organs and the injured brain from the secondary damage. PMID:23894384

Research on the Impact of a Computerized Circulation System on the Performance of a Large College Library. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frohmberg, Katherine A.; Moffett, William A.

In order to study the effects of introducing an automated circulation system at Oberlin College, Ohio, data were collected from September 1978 until June 1982 on book availability, usage of library facilities, attitudes of library users toward the library, and the efficiency of circulation activities. Data collection methods included circulation…

Circulation Policies in Academic Medical Libraries: A Comparative Study of Allocation Strategies, Demographic Analysis, Service Offerings, and Implications for Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitehead, Michele L.; Gutierrez, Laura; Miller, Melody

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of current academic medical library circulation polices and examine methods libraries utilize to meet patron needs. Key informants were selected from five states. Statistics regarding financial practices, users, services, space access, and circulation practices were collected via survey…

On-chip synthesis of fine-tuned bone-seeking hybrid nanoparticles.

PubMed

Hasani-Sadrabadi, Mohammad Mahdi; Dashtimoghadam, Erfan; Bahlakeh, Ghasem; Majedi, Fatemeh S; Keshvari, Hamid; Van Dersarl, Jules J; Bertsch, Arnaud; Panahifar, Arash; Renaud, Philippe; Tayebi, Lobat; Mahmoudi, Morteza; Jacob, Karl I

2015-01-01

Here we report a one-step approach for reproducible synthesis of finely tuned targeting multifunctional hybrid nanoparticles (HNPs). A microfluidic-assisted method was employed for controlled nanoprecipitation of bisphosphonate-conjugated poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) chains, while coencapsulating superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles and the anticancer drug Paclitaxel. Smaller and more compact HNPs with narrower size distribution and higher drug loading were obtained at microfluidic rapid mixing regimen compared with the conventional bulk method. The HNPs were shown to have a strong affinity for hydroxyapatite, as demonstrated in vitro bone-binding assay, which was further supported by molecular dynamics simulation results. In vivo proof of concept study verified the prolonged circulation of targeted microfluidic HNPs. Biodistribution as well as noninvasive bioimaging experiments showed high tumor localization and suppression of targeted HNPs to the bone metastatic tumor. The hybrid bone-targeting nanoparticles with adjustable characteristics can be considered as promising nanoplatforms for various theragnostic applications.

Cauchy integral method for two-dimensional solidification interface shapes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siegel, R.; Sosoka, D. J.

1982-07-01

A method is developed to determine the shape of steady state solidification interfaces formed when liquid above its freezing point circulates over a cold surface. The solidification interface, which is at uniform temperature, will form in a shape such that the non-uniform energy convected to it is locally balanced by conduction into the solid. The interface shape is of interest relative to the crystal structure formed during solidification; regulating the crystal structure has application in casting naturally strengthened metallic composites. The results also pertain to phase-change energy storage devices, where the solidified configuration and overall heat transfer are needed. The analysis uses a conformal mapping technique to relate the desired interface coordinates to the components of the temperature gradient at the interface. These components are unknown because the interface shape is unknown. A Cauchy integral formulation provides a second relation involving the components, and a simultaneous solution yields the interface shape.

The Prevalence and Endemic Nature of Dengue Infections in Guangdong, South China: An Epidemiological, Serological, and Etiological Study from 2005–2011

PubMed Central

Guo, Ru-ning; Lin, Jin-yan; Li, Lin-hui; Ke, Chang-wen; He, Jian-feng; Zhong, Hao-jie; Zhou, Hui-qiong; Peng, Zhi-qiang; Yang, Fen; Liang, Wen-jia

2014-01-01

Objectives Frequent outbreaks of dengue are considered to be associated with an increased risk for endemicity of the disease. The occurrence of a large number of indigenous dengue cases in consecutive years indicates the possibility of a changing dengue epidemic pattern in Guangdong, China. Methods To have a clear understanding of the current dengue epidemic, a retrospective study of epidemiological profile, serological response, and virological features of dengue infections from 2005–2011 was conducted. Case data were collected from the National Notifiable Infectious Diseases Reporting Network. Serum samples were collected and prepared for serological verification and etiological confirmation. Incidence, temporal and spatial distribution, and the clinical manifestation of dengue infections were analyzed. Pearson's Chi-Square test was used to compare incidences between different age groups. A seroprevalence survey was implemented in local healthy inhabitants to obtain the overall positive rate for the specific immunoglobulin (Ig) G antibody against dengue virus (DENV). Results The overall annual incidence rate was 1.87/100000. A significant difference was found in age-specific incidence (Pearson's Chi-Square value 498.008, P<0.001). Children under 5 years of age had the lowest incidence of 0.28/100000. The vast majority of cases presented with a mild manifestation typical to dengue fever. The overall seroprevalence of dengue IgG antibody in local populations was 2.43% (range 0.28%–5.42%). DENV-1 was the predominant serotype in circulation through the years, while all 4 serotypes were identified in indigenous patients from different outbreak localities since 2009. Conclusions A gradual change in the epidemic pattern of dengue infection has been observed in recent years in Guangdong. With the endemic nature of dengue infections, the transition from a monotypic to a multitypic circulation of dengue virus in the last several years will have an important bearing on the prevention and control of dengue in the province and in the neighboring districts. PMID:24465613

Phase II Study of Neoadjuvant Bevacizumab and Radiotherapy for Resectable Soft Tissue Sarcomas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yoon, Sam S., E-mail: syoon@partners.org; Department of Cancer Biology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA; Duda, Dan G.

Purpose: Numerous preclinical studies have demonstrated that angiogenesis inhibitors can increase the efficacy of radiotherapy (RT). We sought to examine the safety and efficacy of bevacizumab (BV) and RT in soft tissue sarcomas and explore biomarkers to help determine the treatment response. Methods and Materials: Patients with {>=}5 cm, intermediate- or high-grade soft tissue sarcomas at significant risk of local recurrence received neoadjuvant BV alone followed by BV plus RT before surgical resection. Correlative science studies included analysis of the serial blood and tumor samples and serial perfusion computed tomography scans. Results: The 20 patients had a median tumor sizemore » of 8.25 cm, with 13 extremity, 1 trunk, and 6 retroperitoneal/pelvis tumors. The neoadjuvant treatment was well tolerated, with only 4 patients having Grade 3 toxicities (hypertension, liver function test elevation). BV plus RT resulted in {>=}80% pathologic necrosis in 9 (45%) of 20 tumors, more than double the historical rate seen with RT alone. Three patients had a complete pathologic response. The median microvessel density decreased 53% after BV alone (p <.05). After combination therapy, the median tumor cell proliferation decreased by 73%, apoptosis increased 10.4-fold, and the blood flow, blood volume, and permeability surface area decreased by 62-72% (p <.05). Analysis of gene expression microarrays of untreated tumors identified a 24-gene signature for treatment response. The microvessel density and circulating progenitor cells at baseline and the reduction in microvessel density and plasma soluble c-KIT with BV therapy also correlated with a good pathologic response (p <.05). After a median follow-up of 20 months, only 1 patient had developed local recurrence. Conclusions: The results from the present exploratory study indicated that BV increases the efficacy of RT against soft tissue sarcomas and might reduce the incidence of local recurrence. Thus, this regimen warrants additional investigation. Gene expression profiles and other tissue and circulating biomarkers showed promising correlations with treatment response.« less

A comparative epidemiologic study of specific antibodies (IgM and IgA) and parasitological findings in an endemic area of low transmission of schistosoma mansoni.

PubMed

Kanamura, H Y; Dias, L C; da Silva, R M; Glasser, C M; Patucci, R M; Vellosa, S A; Antunes, J L

1998-01-01

The diagnostic potential of circulating IgM and IgA antibodies against Schistosoma mansoni gut-associated antigens detected by the immunofluorescence test (IFT) on adult worm paraffin sections was evaluated comparatively to the fecal parasitological method, for epidemiological purposes in low endemic areas for schistosomiasis. Blood samples were collected on filter paper from two groups of schoolchildren living in two different localities of the municipality of Itariri (São Paulo, Brazil) with different histories and prevalences of schistosomiasis. The parasitological and serological data were compared to those obtained for another group of schoolchildren from a non-endemic area for schistosomiasis. The results showed poor sensitivity of the parasitological method in detecting individuals with low worm burden and indicate the potential of the serological method as an important tool to be incorporated into schistosomiasis control and vigilance programs for determining the real situation of schistosomiasis in low endemic areas.

Momentum flux measurements: Techniques and needs, part 4.5A

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fritts, D. C.

1984-01-01

The vertical flux of horizontal momentum by internal gravity waves is now recognized to play a significant role in the large-scale circulation and thermal structure of the middle atmosphere. This is because a divergence of momentum flux due to wave dissipation results in an acceleration of the local mean flow towards the phase speed of the gravity wave. Such mean flow acceleration are required to offset the large zonal accelerations driven by Coriolis torques acting on the diabatic meridional circulation. Techniques and observations regarding the momentum flux distribution in the middle atmosphere are discussed.

Co-firing of paper mill sludge and coal in an industrial circulating fluidized bed boiler.

PubMed

Tsai, Meng-Yuan; Wu, Keng-Tung; Huang, Chin-Cheng; Lee, Hom-Ti

2002-01-01

Co-firing of coal and paper mill sludge was conducted in a 103 MWth circulating fluidized bed boiler to investigate the effect of the sludge feeding rate on emissions of SOx, NOx, and CO. The preliminary results show that emissions of SOx and Nx decrease with increasing sludge feeding rate, but CO shows the reverse tendency due to the decrease in combustion temperature caused by a large amount of moisture in the sludge. All emissions met the local environmental requirements. The combustion ashes could be recycled as feed materials in the cement manufacturing process.

On the role of the transient eddies in maintaining the seasonal mean circulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, G. H.; Hoskins, B. J.

1984-01-01

The role of transient eddies in maintaining the observed local seasonal mean atmospheric circulation was investigated by examining the time-averaged momentum balances and omega equation, using seasonal statistics calculated from daily operational analyses by the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts. While both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and several seasons were studied, emphasis was placed upon the Northern Hemisphere during December 1981-February 1982. The results showed that transient eddies played a secondary role in the seasonal mean zonal momentum budget and in the forcing of seasonal mean vertical and a geostrophic motion.

Study on Ecological Design Concept of Buton Sultanate Cityscape Based on Local Culture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mansyur, A.; Gunawan, A.; Munandar, A.

2017-10-01

Buton Sultanate Cityscape was constituted of man-made landscape constructed in the era of Buton Sultanate in 1322. It is one of the Indonesian heritage networks proposed to be the world heritage city. The Sultanate cityscape should have the concept of traditional city and refer to the ecological principles. This research was conducted to analyze elements and spatial patterns of Sultanate cityscape based on the ecological principles (eco-design). Descriptive method was utilized in the research by conducting in-depth interviews with the local custom figures and experts of the local culture, literature reviews, and field observations. The main elements of Buton Sultanate Cityscape consisted of palaces, city square, mosque, cemeteries, and settlements, while the supporting elements located outside the city border include mountains, valleys, rivers, and forests. City square is located in the city center surrounded by the palace, cemetery, and mosque. The main pattern of city circulation pattern has formed a simple figure of human body. Ecological principles can be examined from the housing layout paralleled to the road, direction of most city gates facing the east and forests, and the city wall pattern which is closely related to the religious matter.

Diversity and Abundance of Chlorophyta in Krakal Beach, Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Putri, A. C.; Nugroho, I. C.; Firdaus, N. U. N.; Puspita, N. O. J.; Fajrin, S. A. R.; Hamzah, S. D. A.

2017-10-01

Chlorophyta plays an important role in energy flow as the main producer in marine food chain, material circulation, bioaccumulation, and bio-indicator in the intertidal zone. Several genera of Chlorophyta have been used by local society around coastal area of Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta as local product, but the research about diversity and abundance information of Chlorophyta in Krakal beach was not yet understood. The aim of this study is to gain the information about diversity and abundancy of Chlorophyta in Krakal Beach, Gunung Kidul,Yogyakarta. This research was conducted in March 11th 2017. This research utilizes Line Transect and Stratified Random Sampling method which is used 1x1 m plot. There are six genera of Chlorophyta have been identified in this research, such as Chaetomorpha sp.; Boergesenia sp; Ulva sp.; Cladophora sp.; Enteromorpha sp.; and Halicystis sp. From 6 genera of Chlorophyta, the highest genera coverage is Enteromorpha sp. (9.88%). This research is expected to record data of macroalgae abundance especially Chlorophyta, in Krakal Beach. By this research, monitoring of macroalgae could be done and supported by government and local people to maintain the sustainability of Chlorophyta.

Research on the identification of inefficient and invalid circulation in ultra-high water cut stage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Shaoxin

2018-06-01

After oil field entered into ultra-high water cut stage, big channels are formed in some oil and water wells and lead to the inefficient and ineffective circulation of injected water, which not only inhibit the increase of recovery ratio of oil and gas, but also cause the waste of resources. This article selects three static parameters and four dynamic parameters which can perform inefficient and ineffective circulation characteristics between oil and water wells, integrates the fuzzy mathematics theory, establishes fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model to identify the inefficient and ineffective circulation wells in the research area, on this basis, inefficient and ineffective circulation position is further determined through the logging curve characteristics and logging ratio method, the identification of inefficient and ineffective circulation "determine well and layer" is achieved, and provide powerful basis for governance work of inefficient and ineffective circulation.

28 CFR 48.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... following: Printing; time, method, and field of publication; allocation of production facilities; distribution; advertising solicitation; circulation solicitation; business department; establishment of advertising rates; establishment of circulation rates and revenue distribution: Provided, That there is no...

Deficiency of liver-derived insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) does not interfere with the skin wound healing rate

PubMed Central

Narayanan, Sampath; Grünler, Jacob; Sunkari, Vivekananda Gupta; Calissendorff, Freja S.; Ansurudeen, Ishrath; Illies, Christopher; Svensson, Johan; Jansson, John-Olov; Ohlsson, Claes; Brismar, Kerstin; Catrina, Sergiu-Bogdan

2018-01-01

Objective IGF-I is a growth factor, which is expressed in virtually all tissues. The circulating IGF-I is however derived mainly from the liver. IGF-I promotes wound healing and its levels are decreased in wounds with low regenerative potential such as diabetic wounds. However, the contribution of circulating IGF-I to wound healing is unknown. Here we investigated the role of systemic IGF-I on wound healing rate in mice with deficiency of liver-derived IGF-I (LI-IGF-I-/- mice) during normal (normoglycemic) and impaired wound healing (diabetes). Methods LI-IGF-I-/- mice with complete inactivation of the IGF-I gene in the hepatocytes were generated using the Cre/loxP recombination system. This resulted in a 75% reduction of circulating IGF-I. Diabetes was induced with streptozocin in both LI-IGF-I-/- and control mice. Wounds were made on the dorsum of the mice, and the wound healing rate and histology were evaluated. Serum IGF-I and GH were measured by RIA and ELISA respectively. The expression of IGF-I, IGF-II and the IGF-I receptor in the skin were evaluated by qRT-PCR. The local IGF-I protein expression in different cell types of the wounds during wound healing process was analyzed using immunohistochemistry. Results The wound healing rate was similar in LI-IGF-I-/- mice to that in controls. Diabetes significantly delayed the wound healing rate in both LI-IGF-I-/- and control mice. However, no significant difference was observed between diabetic animals with normal or reduced hepatic IGF-I production. The gene expression of IGF-I, IGF-II and IGF-I receptor in skin was not different between any group of animals tested. Local IGF-I levels in the wounds were similar between of LI-IGF-I-/- and WT mice although a transient reduction of IGF-I expression in leukocytes in the wounds of LI-IGF-I-/- was observed seven days post wounding. Conclusion Deficiency in the liver-derived IGF-I does not affect wound healing in mice, neither in normoglycemic conditions nor in diabetes. PMID:29534073

Summer circulation in the Mexican tropical Pacific

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trasviña, A.; Barton, E. D.

2008-05-01

The main components of large-scale circulation of the eastern tropical Pacific were identified in the mid 20th century, but the details of the circulation at length scales of 10 2 km or less, the mesoscale field, are less well known particularly during summer. The winter circulation is characterized by large mesoscale eddies generated by intense cross-shore wind pulses. These eddies propagate offshore to provide an important source of mesoscale variability for the eastern tropical Pacific. The summer circulation has not commanded similar attention, the main reason being that the frequent generation of hurricanes in the area renders in situ observations difficult. Before the experiment presented here, the large-scale summer circulation of the Gulf of Tehuantepec was thought to be dominated by a poleward flow along the coast. A drifter-deployment experiment carried out in June 2000, supported by satellite altimetry and wind data, was designed to characterize this hypothesized Costa Rica Coastal Current. We present a detailed comparison between altimetry-estimated geostrophic and in situ currents estimated from drifters. Contrary to expectation, no evidence of a coherent poleward coastal flow across the gulf was found. During the 10-week period of observations, we documented a recurrent pattern of circulation within 500 km of shore, forced by a combination of local winds and the regional-scale flow. Instead of the Costa Rica Coastal Current, we found a summer eddy field capable of influencing large areas of the eastern tropical Pacific. Even in summer, the cross-isthmus wind jet is capable of inducing eddy formation.

Global Ocean Circulation in Thermohaline Coordinates and Small-scale and Mesoscale mixing: An Inverse Estimate.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groeskamp, S.; Zika, J. D.; McDougall, T. J.; Sloyan, B.

2016-02-01

I will present results of a new inverse technique that infers small-scale turbulent diffusivities and mesoscale eddy diffusivities from an ocean climatology of Salinity (S) and Temperature (T) in combination with surface freshwater and heat fluxes.First, the ocean circulation is represented in (S,T) coordinates, by the diathermohaline streamfunction. Framing the ocean circulation in (S,T) coordinates, isolates the component of the circulation that is directly related to water-mass transformation.Because water-mass transformation is directly related to fluxes of salt and heat, this framework allows for the formulation of an inverse method in which the diathermohaline streamfunction is balanced with known air-sea forcing and unknown mixing. When applying this inverse method to observations, we obtain observationally based estimates for both the streamfunction and the mixing. The results reveal new information about the component of the global ocean circulation due to water-mass transformation and its relation to surface freshwater and heat fluxes and small-scale and mesoscale mixing. The results provide global constraints on spatially varying patterns of diffusivities, in order to obtain a realistic overturning circulation. We find that mesoscale isopycnal mixing is much smaller than expected. These results are important for our understanding of the relation between global ocean circulation and mixing and may lead to improved parameterisations in numerical ocean models.

Application of classical thermodynamic principles to the study of oceanic overturning circulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gade, Herman G.; Gustafsson, Karin E.

2004-08-01

Stationary deep-reaching overturning circulation in the ocean is studied by means of classical thermodynamic methods employing closed cycles in pV-space (p, pressure; V, volume). From observed (or computed) density fields, the pV-method may be used to infer the power required for driving a circulation with a given mass flux, or, if the available power is known, the resulting mass flux of the circulation may be assessed. Here, the circulation is assumed to be driven by diapycnal mixing caused by internal disturbances of meteorological and tidal origin and from transfer of geothermal heat through the ocean bottom. The analysis is developed on the basis that potential energy produced by any of these mechanisms is available for driving a circulation of the water masses above its level of generation. The method also takes into account secondary generated potential energy resulting from turbulence developed by the ensuing circulation.Models for different types of circulation are developed and applied to four types of hemispheric circulation with deep-water formation, convection and sinking in an idealized North Atlantic. Our calculations show that the energy input must exceed 15 J kg1 for a cycle to the bottom to exist. An energy supply of 2 TW would in that case support a constant vertical mass flux of 3.2 G kg s1 (3.1 Sv). Computed mass fluxes reaching the surface in the subtropics, corresponding to the same energy input, range between 2.3 5.2 G kg s1, depending on the type of convection/sinking involved. Much higher flux values ensue with ascending water masses reaching the surface at higher geographical latitudes.The study reveals also that compressibility of sea water does not enhance the circulation. An incompressible system, operating within the same mass flux and temperature range, would require about 25% less energy supply, provided that the circulation comprises the same water masses. It is furthermore shown that the meridional distribution of surface salinity, with higher values in the tropics and lower values in regions of deep-water formation, actually enhances the circulation in comparison with one of a more uniform surface salinity. With a homohaline North Atlantic, operating within the same temperature range as presently observed, an increase of 66% of power supply would be required in order that the mass flux of the overturning circulation should remain the same.

Combination of plasma HA and circulating M2-like monocytes may serve as a diagnostic marker for breast cancer.

PubMed

Zhang, Boke; Cao, Manlin; He, Yiqing; Liu, Yiwen; Zhang, Guoliang; Yang, Cuixia; Du, Yan; Xu, Jing; Hu, Jiajie; Gao, Feng

2017-01-01

Background: Breast cancer (BC)-derived hyaluronan (HA) can induce the formation of M2-like tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in tumor context. However, little is known about the correlation between circulating M2-like monocytes and plasma HA in BC patients. This study focused on evaluating the relationship between circulating M2-like monocytes and plasma HA, and further appraised the diagnostic value of them in BC. Methods: The expression of M2-like TAMs and HA was determined in pathological tissues by immunohistochemistry. Flow cytometry was used to detect the levels of circulating CD14 + CD204 + M2-like monocytes in 81 BC patients, 45 patients with breast benign diseases, and 46 healthy subjects. The levels of HA, CEA, and CA15-3 were measured in plasma samples using chemiluminescence method. Results: M2-like TAMs and HA expressions were elevated in BC tissues compared with benign tissues. In correspondence, the frequency of circulating CD14 + CD204 + M2-like monocytes and the plasma HA levels were significantly higher in patients with BC than those in control groups. Importantly, there was a positive correlation between circulating M2-like monocytes and the plasma HA (Spearman r = 0.404, p < 0.001). Area under receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) for the combination of circulating M2-like monocytes and HA was 0.899 (95% CI: 0.853-0.946), which was higher than the panel of CEA and CA15-3. Conclusions: The frequency of circulating CD14 + CD204 + M2-like monocytes was positively correlated to plasma HA levels. The combination of circulating CD14 + CD204 + M2-like monocytes and plasma HA could provide considerable diagnostic value in BC.

Numerical simulation of large-scale ocean-atmosphere coupling and the ocean's role in climate

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gates, W. L.

1983-01-01

The problem of reducing model generated sigma coordinate data to pressure levels is considered. A mass consistent scheme for performing budget analyses is proposed, wherein variables interpolated to a given pressure level are weighted according to the mass between a nominal pressure level above and either a nominal pressure level below or the Earth's surface, whichever is closer. The method is applied to the atmospheric energy cycle as simulated by the OSU two level atmospheric general circulation model. The results are more realistic than sigma coordinate analyses with respect to eddy decomposition, and are in agreement with the sigma coordinate evaluation of the numerical energy sink. Comparison with less sophisticated budget schemes indicates superiority locally, but not globally.

Magnetic forces enable controlled drug delivery by disrupting endothelial cell-cell junctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiu, Yongzhi; Tong, Sheng; Zhang, Linlin; Sakurai, Yumiko; Myers, David R.; Hong, Lin; Lam, Wilbur A.; Bao, Gang

2017-06-01

The vascular endothelium presents a major transport barrier to drug delivery by only allowing selective extravasation of solutes and small molecules. Therefore, enhancing drug transport across the endothelial barrier has to rely on leaky vessels arising from disease states such as pathological angiogenesis and inflammatory response. Here we show that the permeability of vascular endothelium can be increased using an external magnetic field to temporarily disrupt endothelial adherens junctions through internalized iron oxide nanoparticles, activating the paracellular transport pathway and facilitating the local extravasation of circulating substances. This approach provides a physically controlled drug delivery method harnessing the biology of endothelial adherens junction and opens a new avenue for drug delivery in a broad range of biomedical research and therapeutic applications.

Mars Pathfinder meteorological observations on the basis of results of an atmospheric global circulation model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Forget, Francois; Hourdin, F.; Talagrand, O.

1994-01-01

The Mars Pathfinder Meteorological Package (ASI/MET) will measure the local pressure, temperature, and winds at its future landing site, somewhere between the latitudes 0 deg N and 30 deg N. Comparable measurements have already been obtained at the surface of Mars by the Viking Landers at 22 deg N (VL1) and 48 deg N (VL2), providing much useful information on the martian atmosphere. In particular the pressure measurements contain very instructive information on the global atmospheric circulation. At the Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique (LMD), we have analyzed and simulated these measurements with a martian atmospheric global circulation model (GCM), which was the first to simulate the martian atmospheric circulation over more than 1 year. The model is able to reproduce rather accurately many observed features of the martian atmosphere, including the long- and short-period oscillations of the surface pressure observed by the Viking landers. From a meteorological point of view, we think that a landing site located near or at the equator would be an interesting choice.

An Improved Heat Budget Estimation Including Bottom Effects for General Ocean Circulation Models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carder, Kendall; Warrior, Hari; Otis, Daniel; Chen, R. F.

2001-01-01

This paper studies the effects of the underwater light field on heat-budget calculations of general ocean circulation models for shallow waters. The presence of a bottom significantly alters the estimated heat budget in shallow waters, which affects the corresponding thermal stratification and hence modifies the circulation. Based on the data collected during the COBOP field experiment near the Bahamas, we have used a one-dimensional turbulence closure model to show the influence of the bottom reflection and absorption on the sea surface temperature field. The water depth has an almost one-to-one correlation with the temperature rise. Effects of varying the bottom albedo by replacing the sea grass bed with a coral sand bottom, also has an appreciable effect on the heat budget of the shallow regions. We believe that the differences in the heat budget for the shallow areas will have an influence on the local circulation processes and especially on the evaporative and long-wave heat losses for these areas. The ultimate effects on humidity and cloudiness of the region are expected to be significant as well.

Arctic and Arctic-like rabies viruses: distribution, phylogeny and evolutionary history

PubMed Central

KUZMIN, I. V.; HUGHES, G. J.; BOTVINKIN, A. D.; GRIBENCHA, S. G.; RUPPRECHT, C. E.

2008-01-01

SUMMARY Forty-one newly sequenced isolates of Arctic and Arctic-like rabies viruses, were genetically compared to each other and to those available from GenBank. Four phylogenetic lineages of Arctic viruses were identified. Arctic-1 viruses circulate in Ontario, Arctic-2 viruses circulate in Siberia and Alaska, Arctic-3 viruses circulate circumpolarly, and a newly described lineage Arctic-4 circulates locally in Alaska. The oldest available isolates from Siberia (between 1950 and 1960) belong to the Arctic-2 and Arctic-3 lineages and share 98·6–99·2% N gene identity with contemporary viruses. Two lineages of Arctic-like viruses were identified in southern Asia and the Middle East (Arctic-like-1) and eastern Asia (Arctic-like-2). A time-scaled tree demonstrates that the time of the most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) of Arctic and Arctic-like viruses is dated between 1255 and 1786. Evolution of the Arctic viruses has occurred through a northerly spread. The Arctic-like-2 lineage diverged first, whereas Arctic viruses share a TMRCA with Arctic-like-1 viruses. PMID:17599781

[Circulating endothelial cells: biomarkers for monitoring activity of antiangiogenic therapy].

PubMed

Farace, Françoise; Bidart, Jean-Michel

2007-07-01

Tumor vessel formation is largely dependent on the recruitment of endothelial cells. Rare in healthy individuals, circulating endothelial cells (CEC) are shed from vessel walls and enter the circulation reflecting endothelial damage or dysfunction. Increased numbers of CEC have been documented in different types of cancer. Recent studies have suggested the role for CEC in tumor angiogenesis, but whose presence could also reflect normal endothelium perturbation in cancer. Originating from the bone marrow rather than from vessel walls, endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) are mobilized following tissue ischemia and may be recruited to complement local angiogenesis supplied by existing endothelium. Recently, studies in mouse models suggest that the circulating fraction of endothelial progenitors (CEP) is involved in tumor angiogenesis but their contribution is less clear in humans. The detection of CEC and CEP is difficult and impeded by the rarity of these cells. They may have important clinical implication as novel biomarkers susceptible to predict more efficiently and rapidly the therapeutic response to anti-angiogenic treatments. However, a methodological consensus would be necessary in order to correctly evaluate the clinical interest of CEC and CEP in patients.

Arctic and Arctic-like rabies viruses: distribution, phylogeny and evolutionary history.

PubMed

Kuzmin, I V; Hughes, G J; Botvinkin, A D; Gribencha, S G; Rupprecht, C E

2008-04-01

Forty-one newly sequenced isolates of Arctic and Arctic-like rabies viruses, were genetically compared to each other and to those available from GenBank. Four phylogenetic lineages of Arctic viruses were identified. Arctic-1 viruses circulate in Ontario, Arctic-2 viruses circulate in Siberia and Alaska, Arctic-3 viruses circulate circumpolarly, and a newly described lineage Arctic-4 circulates locally in Alaska. The oldest available isolates from Siberia (between 1950 and 1960) belong to the Arctic-2 and Arctic-3 lineages and share 98.6-99.2% N gene identity with contemporary viruses. Two lineages of Arctic-like viruses were identified in southern Asia and the Middle East (Arctic-like-1) and eastern Asia (Arctic-like-2). A time-scaled tree demonstrates that the time of the most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) of Arctic and Arctic-like viruses is dated between 1255 and 1786. Evolution of the Arctic viruses has occurred through a northerly spread. The Arctic-like-2 lineage diverged first, whereas Arctic viruses share a TMRCA with Arctic-like-1 viruses.

Why Can't They Keep the Book Longer and Do We Really Need to Charge Fines? Assessing Circulation Policies at the Harold B. Lee Library: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Duane

2014-01-01

In response to a charge from the library administration, the Circulation Committee of the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University designed and implemented a thorough assessment of circulation policies. Using multiple assessment methods including surveys, focus groups, and statistical analysis, the committee determined that the…

PCR diagnostics underestimate the prevalence of avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum) in experimentally-infected passerines

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jarvi, Susan I.; Schultz, Jeffrey J.; Atkinson, Carter T.

2002-01-01

Several polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods have recently been developed for diagnosing malarial infections in both birds and reptiles, but a critical evaluation of their sensitivity in experimentally-infected hosts has not been done. This study compares the sensitivity of several PCR-based methods for diagnosing avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum) in captive Hawaiian honeycreepers using microscopy and a recently developed immunoblotting technique. Sequential blood samples were collected over periods of up to 4.4 yr after experimental infection and rechallenge to determine both the duration and detectability of chronic infections. Two new nested PCR approaches for detecting circulating parasites based on P. relictum 18S rRNA genes and the thrombospondin-related anonymous protein (TRAP) gene are described. The blood smear and the PCR tests were less sensitive than serological methods for detecting chronic malarial infections. Individually, none of the diagnostic methods was 100% accurate in detecting subpatent infections, although serological methods were significantly more sensitive (97%) than either nested PCR (61–84%) or microscopy (27%). Circulating parasites in chronically infected birds either disappear completely from circulation or to drop to intensities below detectability by nested PCR. Thus, the use of PCR as a sole means of detection of circulating parasites may significantly underestimate true prevalence.

Blue Laser Light Increases Perfusion of a Skin Flap Via Release of Nitric Oxide from Hemoglobin

PubMed Central

Mittermayr, Rainer; Osipov, Anatoly; Piskernik, Christina; Haindl, Susanne; Dungel, Peter; Weber, Carina; Vladimirov, Yuri A; Redl, Heinz; Kozlov, Andrey V

2007-01-01

It has recently been shown that nitrosyl complexes of hemoglobin (NO-Hb) are sensitive to low-level blue laser irradiation, suggesting that laser irradiation can facilitate the release of biologically active nitric oxide (NO), which can affect tissue perfusion. The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic value of blue laser irradiation for local tissue perfusion after surgical intervention. Blood was withdrawn from a rat, exposed to NO and infused back to the same rat or used for in vitro experiments. In vitro, an increase of NO-Hb levels (electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy) up to 15 μM in rat blood did not result in the release of detectable amounts of NO (NO selective electrode). Blue laser irradiation of NO-Hb in blood caused decomposition of NO-Hb complexes and release of free NO. Systemic infusion of NO-Hb in rats affected neither systemic circulation (mean arterial pressure) nor local tissue perfusion (Doppler blood flow imaging system). In contrast, a clear enhancement of local tissue perfusion was observed in epigastric flap when elevated NO-Hb levels in blood were combined with local He-Cd laser irradiation focused on the left epigastric artery. The enhancement of regional tissue perfusion was not accompanied by any detectable changes in systemic circulation. This study demonstrates that blue laser irradiation improves local tissue perfusion in a controlled manner stimulating NO release from NO-Hb complexes. PMID:17515954

Local and Systemic Inflammatory Biomarkers of Diabetic Retinopathy: An Integrative Approach.

PubMed

Vujosevic, Stela; Simó, Rafael

2017-05-01

To review the usefulness of local and systemic inflammatory biomarkers of diabetic retinopathy (DR) to implement a more personalized treatment. An integrated research (from ophthalmologist and diabetologist point of view) of most significant literature on serum, vitreous, and aqueous humor (AH) biochemical biomarkers related to inflammation at early and advanced stages of DR (including diabetic macular edema [DME] and proliferative DR) was performed. Moreover, novel imaging retinal biomarkers of local "inflammatory condition" were described. Multiple inflammatory cytokines and chemokines are increased in DR in both serum as well as in the eye (vitreous and AH). Nevertheless, local rather than systemic production of proinflammatory cytokines seems more relevant in the pathogenesis of both DR and DME. In the eye, retinal glia cells (macroglia and microglia) together with RPE are major sources of proinflammatory and angiogenic modulators. Retinal imaging allows for noninvasive clinical evaluation of retinal inflammatory response induced by diabetes mellitus. Proinflammatory cytokines/chemokines play an essential role in the pathogenesis of DR. Therefore, circulating biomarkers and retinal imaging aimed at assessing inflammation have emerged as useful tools for monitoring the onset and progression of DR. In addition, "liquid biopsy" of AH seems a good option in patients with advanced stages of DR requiring intravitreous injections. This strategy may permit us to implement a more personalized treatment with better visual function outcome. Further evaluation and validation of circulating and local biomarkers, as well as multimodal imaging is needed to gain new insights into this issue.

Epidemiological trends of HIV-1 infection in blood donors from Catalonia, Spain (2005-2014).

PubMed

Bes, Marta; Piron, Maria; Casamitjana, Natàlia; Gregori, Josep; Esteban, Juan Ignacio; Ribera, Esteban; Quer, Josep; Puig, Lluís; Sauleda, Sílvia

2017-09-01

Human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) subtype B is predominant in Spain. However, the recent arrival of immigrant populations has increased the prevalence of non-B subtypes and circulating recombinant forms. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of HIV-1 subtypes and transmitted drug-resistance mutations in blood donors from the Catalonian region (northeastern Spain). HIV-1-positive blood donors identified in Catalonia from 2005 to 2014 were included. Demographic variables and risk factors for HIV-1 acquisition were recorded. HIV-1 subtyping was carried out by HIV-1 DNA polymerase region sequencing, and phylogenetic analyses were performed using the neighbor-joining method. During the study period, 2.8 million blood donations were screened, and 214 HIV-1-positive donors were identified, yielding an overall prevalence of 7.7 per 100,000 donations (89% men; mean age, 34 ± 10 years). Most HIV-1-positive donors were native to Spain (81%), and 61% were regular blood donors. When risk factors were known, 62% reportedly were men who had sex with men. HIV-1 subtyping was possible in 176 HIV-1-positive individuals: 143 (81%) had HIV-1 subtype B, and 33 (19%) had non-B subtypes. Most HIV-1 non-B subtypes were circulating recombinant forms (n = 20; 61%). Factors associated with HIV-1 subtype B were male sex (p = 0.007) and men who had sex with men (p < 0.001). The overall prevalence of transmitted drug-resistance mutations was 14%. Non-B subtypes, circulating recombinant forms, and transmitted drug-resistance mutation sequences circulate among HIV-1-positive blood donors in Catalonia. Continuous local epidemiological surveillance is required to implement optimal prevention strategies for controlling transfusion-transmitted HIV and to improve health policies regarding HIV infection. © 2017 AABB.

Ocean Circulation Modeling for Aquatic Dispersion of Liquid Radioactive Effluents from Nuclear Power Plants

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chung, Y.G.; Lee, G.B.; Bang, S.Y.

2006-07-01

Recently, three-dimensional models have been used for aquatic dispersion of radioactive effluents in relation to nuclear power plant siting based on the Notice No. 2003-12 'Guideline for investigating and assessing hydrological and aquatic characteristics of nuclear facility site' of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) in Korea. Several nuclear power plants have been under construction or planed, which are Shin-Kori Unit 1 and 2, Shin-Wolsong Unit 1 and 2, and Shin-Ulchin Unit 1 and 2. For assessing the aquatic dispersion of radionuclides released from the above nuclear power plants, it is necessary to know the coastal currents around sitesmore » which are affected by circulation of East Sea. In this study, a three dimensional hydrodynamic model for the circulation of the East Sea of Korea has been developed as the first phase, which is based on the RIAMOM (Research Institute of Applied Mechanics' Ocean Model, Kyushu University, Japan). The model uses the primitive equation with hydrostatic approximation, and uses Arakawa-B grid system horizontally and Z coordinate vertically. Model domain is 126.5 deg. E to 142.5 deg. E of east longitude and 33 deg. N and 52 deg. N of the north latitude. The space of the horizontal grid was 1/12 deg. to longitude and latitude direction and vertical level was divided to 20. This model uses Generalized Arakawa Scheme, Slant Advection, and Mode-Splitting Method. The input data were from JODC (Japan Oceanographic Data Center), KNFRDI (Korea National Fisheries Research and Development Institute), and ECMWF (European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). The modeling results are in fairly good agreement with schematic patterns of the surface circulation in the East Sea/Japan Sea. The local current model and aquatic dispersion model of the coastal region will be developed as the second phase. The oceanic dispersion experiments will be also carried out by using ARGO Drifter around a nuclear power plant site. (authors)« less

On the Use of the Platelet Activity State Assay for the In Vitro Quantification of Platelet Activation in Blood Recirculating Devices for Extracorporeal Circulation.

PubMed

Consolo, Filippo; Valerio, Lorenzo; Brizzola, Stefano; Rota, Paolo; Marazzato, Giulia; Vincoli, Valentina; Reggiani, Stefano; Redaelli, Alberto; Fiore, Gianfranco

2016-10-01

We designed an experimental setup to characterize the thrombogenic potential associated with blood recirculating devices (BRDs) used in extracorporeal circulation (ECC). Our methodology relies on in vitro flow loop platelet recirculation experiments combined with the modified-prothrombinase platelet activity state (PAS) assay to quantify the bulk thrombin production rate of circulated platelets, which correlates to the platelet activation (PA) level. The method was applied to a commercial neonatal hollow fiber membrane oxygenator. In analogous hemodynamic environment, we compared the PA level resulting from multiple passes of platelets within devices provided with phosphorylcholine (PC)-coated and noncoated (NC) fibers to account for flow-related mechanical factors (i.e., fluid-induced shear stress) together with surface contact activation phenomena. We report for the first time that PAS assay is not significantly sensitive to the effect of material coating under clinically pertinent flow conditions (500 mL/min), while providing straightforward information on shear-mediated PA dynamics in ECC devices. Being that the latter is intimately dependent on local flow dynamics, according to our results, the rate of thrombin production as measured by the PAS assay is a valuable biochemical marker of the selective contribution of PA in BRDs induced by device design features. Thus, we recommend the use of PAS assay as a means of evaluating the effect of modification of specific device geometrical features and/or different design solutions for developing ECC devices providing flow conditions with reduced thrombogenic impact. Copyright © 2016 International Center for Artificial Organs and Transplantation and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Ocean circulation drifts in multi-millennial climate simulations: the role of salinity corrections and climate feedbacks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dentith, Jennifer E.; Ivanovic, Ruza F.; Gregoire, Lauren J.; Tindall, Julia C.; Smith, Robin S.

2018-05-01

Low-resolution, complex general circulation models (GCMs) are valuable tools for studying the Earth system on multi-millennial timescales. However, slowly evolving salinity drifts can cause large shifts in climatic and oceanic regimes over thousands of years. We test two different schemes for neutralising unforced salinity drifts in the FAMOUS GCM: surface flux correction and volumetric flux correction. Although both methods successfully maintain a steady global mean salinity, local drifts and subsequent feedbacks promote cooling (≈ 4 °C over 6000 years) and freshening (≈ 2 psu over 6000 years) in the North Atlantic Ocean, and gradual warming (≈ 0.2 °C per millennium) and salinification (≈ 0.15 psu per millennium) in the North Pacific Ocean. Changes in the surface density in these regions affect the meridional overturning circulation (MOC), such that, after several millennia, the Atlantic MOC (AMOC) is in a collapsed state, and there is a strong, deep Pacific MOC (PMOC). Furthermore, the AMOC exhibits a period of metastability, which is only identifiable with run lengths in excess of 1500 years. We also compare simulations with two different land surface schemes, demonstrating that small biases in the surface climate may cause regional salinity drifts and significant shifts in the MOC (weakening of the AMOC and the initiation then invigoration of PMOC), even when the global hydrological cycle has been forcibly closed. Although there is no specific precursor to the simulated AMOC collapse, the northwest North Pacific and northeast North Atlantic are important areas that should be closely monitored for trends arising from such biases.

The ECCO Family of State Estimates: An Overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wunsch, C.

2008-12-01

The idea of ECCO (Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean)originated in the middle 1980s, when it became apparent that a global oceanographic observing system for the general circulation would become a reality as it did through the World Ocean Circulation Experiment. Observational design involved extremely diverse technologies and oceanic flow regimes. To be physically interpretable, these diverse data and physical processes would need to be combined into a useful, coherent, whole. Such a synthesis can only be done with a skillful GCM having useful resolution. ECCO originated as an experiment to demonstrate the technical feasibility of such a synthesis and to determine if any of several possible methods was preferable. In contrast to a number of other superficially similar efforts, mainly derived from weather forecasting methods, the ECCO goal was to estimate the long-term circulation mean and its variability on climate (decadal and longer) time scales in a form exactly satisfying known equations of motion. ECCO was made feasible with the simultaneous construction of a new GCM (MIT) along with the development of an automatic differentiation (AD) software tool(now called TAF) which rendered practical the method of Lagrange multipliers (called the adjoint method in oceanography). Parallel developments of simplified sequential methods (smoothers) provided an alternative, also practical, methodology. One can now use the existing (publicly available) machinery to discuss the ocean circulation and its variability. The huge variety of issues connected with the global circulation has meant that an entire family of estimates has grown up, each having different emphases (primarily global; but some primarily regional---the tropics, the Southern Ocean); some focussed on physics---the role of eddies or sea ice). The methodology leads, usefully, to intense scrutiny of data and model errors and spatio-temporal coverage. As with any estimation problem, no uniquely 'correct' solution is now or ever going to be possible-- -only evolving best estimates. Further development of these and similar methodologies appears to be a necessary, inevitable, and growing component of oceanography and climate.

Stressed lungs: unveiling the role of circulating stress ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ozone, a major component of smog generated through the interaction of light and anthropogenic emissions, induces adverse pulmonary, cardiovascular, and systemic health effects upon inhalation. It is generally accepted that ozone-induced lung injury is mediated by its interaction with lung lining components causing local oxidative changes, which then leads to cell damage and recruitment of inflammatory cells. It is postulated that the spillover of reactive intermediates and pro-inflammatory molecules from lung to systemic circulation mediates extra-pulmonary effects. However, recent work from our laboratory supports an alternative hypothesis that circulating stress hormones, such as epinephrine and corticosterone/cortisol, are involved in mediating ozone pulmonary effects. We have shown in rats and humans that ozone increases the levels of circulating stress hormones through activation of the hypothalamus- pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis before any measurable effects are observed in the lung. The surgical removal of adrenals diminishes circulating stress hormones and at the same time, the pulmonary effects of ozone suggesting a significant contribution of these hormones in ozone-induced lung injury and inflammation. While ozone effects in the lung have been extensively studied, the contribution of central nervous system -mediated hormonal stress response has not been examined. In order to understand the signaling pathways that might be involved in ozone-induced lun

Biodistribution and pharmacokinetic analysis of long-circulating thiolated gelatin nanoparticles following systemic administration in breast cancer-bearing mice.

PubMed

Kommareddy, Sushma; Amiji, Mansoor

2007-02-01

The objective of the present study was to modify thiolated gelatin nanoparticles with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) chains and examine their long circulating and tumor-targeting properties in vivo in an orthotopic a human breast adenocarcinoma xenograft model. The crosslinked nanoparticle systems were characterized to have a size of 150-250 nm with rapid payload release properties in a highly reducing environment. Upon PEG modification, the nanoparticle size increased to 300-350 nm in diameter. The presence of PEG chains on the surface was confirmed by characterization with electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis. The in vivo long-circulating potential, biodistribution and passive tumor targeting of the controls, and PEG-modified thiolated gelatin nanoparticles were evaluated by injecting indium-111 (111In)-labeled nanoparticles into breast tumor (MDA-MB-435)-bearing nude mice. Upon modification with PEG, the nanoparticles were found to have longer circulation times, with the plasma and tumor half-lives of 15.3 and 37.8 h, respectively. The results also showed preferential localization of thiolated nanoparticles in the tumor mass. The resulting nanoparticulate systems with long circulation properties could be used to target encapsulated drugs and genes to tumors passively by utilizing the enhanced permeability and retention effect of the tumor vasculature. Copyright (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Decreased circulation time offsets increased efficacy of PEGylated nanocarriers targeting folate receptors of glioma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNeeley, Kathleen M.; Annapragada, Ananth; Bellamkonda, Ravi V.

2007-09-01

Liposomal and other nanocarrier based drug delivery vehicles can localize to tumours through passive and/or active targeting. Passively targeted liposomal nanocarriers accumulate in tumours via 'leaky' vasculature through the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. Passive accumulation depends upon the circulation time and the degree of tumour vessel 'leakiness'. After extravasation, actively targeted liposomal nanocarriers efficiently deliver their payload by receptor-mediated uptake. However, incorporation of targeting moieties can compromise circulation time in the blood due to recognition and clearance by the reticuloendothelial system, decreasing passive accumulation. Here, we compare the efficacy of passively targeted doxorubicin-loaded PEGylated liposomal nanocarriers to that of actively targeted liposomal nanocarriers in a rat 9L brain tumour model. Although folate receptor (FR)-targeted liposomal nanocarriers had significantly reduced blood circulation time compared to PEGylated liposomal nanocarriers; intratumoural drug concentrations both at 20 and 50 h after administration were equal for both treatments. Both treatments significantly increased tumour inoculated animal survival by 60-80% compared to non-treated controls, but no difference in survival was observed between FR-targeted and passively targeted nanocarriers. Therefore, alternate approaches allowing for active targeting without compromising circulation time may be important for fully realizing the benefits of receptor-mediated active targeting of gliomas.

Interannual variation of the South China Sea circulation during winter: intensified in the southern basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zu, Tingting; Xue, Huijie; Wang, Dongxiao; Geng, Bingxu; Zeng, Lili; Liu, Qinyan; Chen, Ju; He, Yunkai

2018-05-01

Surface geostrophic current derived from altimetry remote sensing data, and current profiles observed from in-situ Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP) mooring in the northern South China Sea (NSCS) and southern South China Sea (SSCS) are utilized to study the kinetic and energetic interannual variability of the circulation in the South China Sea (SCS) during winter. Results reveal a more significant interannual variation of the circulation and water mass properties in the SSCS than that in the NSCS. Composite ananlysis shows a significantly reduced western boundary current (WBC) and a closed cyclonic eddy in the SSCS at the mature phase of El Niño event, but a strong WBC and an unclosed cyclonic circulation in winter at normal or La Niña years. The SST is warmer while the subsurface water is colder and fresher in the mature phase of El Niño event than that in the normal or La Niña years in the SSCS. Numerical experiments and energy analysis suggest that both local and remote wind stress change are important for the interannual variation in the SSCS, remote wind forcing and Kuroshio intrusion affect the circulation and water mass properties in the SSCS through WBC advection.

A new look at cerebrospinal fluid circulation

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

According to the traditional understanding of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) physiology, the majority of CSF is produced by the choroid plexus, circulates through the ventricles, the cisterns, and the subarachnoid space to be absorbed into the blood by the arachnoid villi. This review surveys key developments leading to the traditional concept. Challenging this concept are novel insights utilizing molecular and cellular biology as well as neuroimaging, which indicate that CSF physiology may be much more complex than previously believed. The CSF circulation comprises not only a directed flow of CSF, but in addition a pulsatile to and fro movement throughout the entire brain with local fluid exchange between blood, interstitial fluid, and CSF. Astrocytes, aquaporins, and other membrane transporters are key elements in brain water and CSF homeostasis. A continuous bidirectional fluid exchange at the blood brain barrier produces flow rates, which exceed the choroidal CSF production rate by far. The CSF circulation around blood vessels penetrating from the subarachnoid space into the Virchow Robin spaces provides both a drainage pathway for the clearance of waste molecules from the brain and a site for the interaction of the systemic immune system with that of the brain. Important physiological functions, for example the regeneration of the brain during sleep, may depend on CSF circulation. PMID:24817998

NEUTRONIC REACTOR COUNTER METHOD AND SYSTEM

DOEpatents

Graham, C.B.; Spiewak, I.

1960-05-31

An improved method is given for controlling the rate of fission in circulating-fuel neutronic reactors in which the fuel is a homogeneous liquid containing fissionable material and a neutron moderator. A change in the rate of flssion is effected by preferentially retaining apart from the circulating fuel a variable amount of either fissionable material or moderator, thereby varying the concentration of fissionable material in the fuel. In the case of an aqueous fuel solution a portion of the water may be continuously vaporized from the circulating solution and the amount of condensate, or condensate plus make-up water, returned to the solution is varied to control the fission rate.

Linking storm surge activity and circulation variability along the Spanish coast through a synoptic pattern classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rasilla Álvarez, Domingo; Garcia Codrón, Juan Carlos

2010-05-01

The potentially negative consequences resulting from the estimations of global sea level rising along the current century are a matter of serious concern in many coastal areas worldwide. Most of the negative consequences of the sea level variability, such as flooding or erosion, are linked to episodic events of strong atmospheric forcing represented by deep atmospheric disturbances, especially if they combine with extreme astronomical high tides. Moreover, the interaction between the prevailing flows during such events and the actual orientation of the coast line might accelerate or mitigate such impacts. This contribution analyses sea surge variations measured at five tide-gauge stations located around the Iberian Peninsula and their relationships with regional scale circulation patterns with local-scale winds. Its aim is to improve the knowledge of surge related-coastal-risks by analysing the relationship between surges and their atmospheric forcing factors at different spatial scales. The oceanographic data set consists of hourly data from 5 tide gauge stations (Santander, Vigo, Bonanza, Málaga, Valencia and Barcelona) disseminated along the Spanish coastline, provided by Puertos del Estado. To explore the atmospheric mechanisms responsible for the sign and magnitude of sea surges, a regional Eulerian approach (a synoptic typing) were combined with a larger-scale Lagrangian method, based on the analysis of storm-tracks over the Atlantic and local information (synop reports) obtained from the closest meteorological stations to the tide gauges. The synoptic catalogue was obtained following a procedure that combines Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for reduction purposes and clustering (Ward plus K-means) to define the circulation types. Sea level pressure, surface 10m U and V wind components gridded data were obtained from NCEP Reanalysis, while storm tracks and cyclone statistics were extracted from the CDC Map Room Climate Products Storm Track Data (http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/map/clim/st_data.html). The second task was to evaluate the performance of each circulation type on the spatial patterns of a daily fire danger risk index (Canadian Fire Weather Index, FWI). Finally, anomaly maps of several surface and low level climate variables, corresponding to the dates of ignition of the very large forest fires within each synoptic pattern, were calculated to provide insight of the specific conditions associated to those extreme events. A principal component analysis upon 6 hourly residuals highlighted the homogeneous behaviour of the tide gauges and provided a regional quantitative index to identify the largest storm surges. The leading PCA displayed a homogeneous spatial pattern, describing the low frequency variability along the entire coast, in spite of different orientations of the coast, accounting for more than 80% of the total variability. The second PCA displayed opposite phases between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Furthermore, the results suggest that surges are a regional rather than local phenomenon, probably related to the same single physical forcing. The comparison between extreme surge events and circulation patterns highlighted that single physical mechanism is represented by extratropical cyclonic disturbances located at the north-western corner of the Iberian Peninsula, responsible for an environment characterized by low pressure readings and westerly-southwesterly winds. That wind pattern acquires an onshore component in the Atlantic coast, but becomes offshore in the Mediterranean. So, the main mechanism responsible for those storm surges is the inverse barometer effect, being the wind dragging secondary. The main physical forcing of the storm surges, the extratropical cyclones, have experience a reduction of this frequency and a marked reduction in their strength since 1950, replaced by stable circulations. Both conditions suggest a long term reduction of the frequency and the magnitude of storm surges.

Spatio-temporal characteristics of the diurnal precipitation cycle over Sweden and the linkage to large-scale circulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walther, A.; Jeong, J.-H.; Chen, D.

2009-04-01

Rainfall events exhibit diurnal cycle in both frequency and amount, of which phase and amplitude show substantial geographic and seasonal variation. Although the diurnal cycle of precipitation is one of the fundamental characteristics to determine local weather and climate, most of sophisticated climate models still have great deficiencies in reproducing it. Thus more exact understanding of the diurnal precipitation cycle and its mechanisms is thought to be very important to improve climate models and their prediction results. In this work we investigate the diurnal cycle of precipitation in Sweden using ground based hourly observations for 1996-2008. For the precipitation amount and frequency, mean diurnal cycles are computed, and the peak timing and amplitude of the diurnal and semi-diurnal cycle of precipitation are estimated by the harmonic analysis method. Clear mean diurnal precipitation cycles as well as distinct spatial patterns for all seasons are derived. In summer, showing the most distinct pattern, the majority of the stations show a clear rainfall maximum in the afternoon (12-18 LST) except for the coastal part of Central Sweden where we see an early-morning peak (00-06 LST) and the east coast of southern Sweden where we find a morning peak (06-12 LST). The clear afternoon peak may be due to high insolation accumulated during the day time in summer leading to a local convection activity later on that day. These coastal bands mostly consist of the stations closest to the Baltic Sea. Meso-scale convection connected to temperature differences between sea and land combined with a favorable wind pattern seems to play a role here. In the transition seasons, spring and autumn, the amplitude is weaker and the spatial pattern of peak timing is less distinct than in summer. In spring the westcoast stations have a morning peak and stations in southeastern Sweden show an afternoon peak. In autumn we see a zonal division with a clear afternoon peak in southern Sweden. This might be due to a steeply decreasing energy input from the solar insolation in the northern parts causing less convection activity but still enough insolation to cause an afternoon peak in southern Sweden. In both seasons, spring and autumn, north of 60 degrees the pattern is mixed showing early-morning, morning and afternoon peaks. The winter pattern is characterized by afternoon peaks along the eastcoast and central South Sweden and morning peaks over the most of the other parts of the country. However, the amplitude of the diurnal cycle is much weaker compared to that in summer or autumn. In order to examine the large scale circulation which might modulate the diurnal cycle, the Lamb weather types are computed based on sea level pressure fields from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis 2 dataset with daily and 6-hourly resolution, respectively. The Lamb types based on 6-hourly SLP underline the high temporal variability of atmospheric conditions over the research area. Throughout all seasons, on about 45% of the days two or more circulation classes are different. In 6.3% (JJA) to 8.4% (DJF) of the days can observe 4 different Lamb classes. Using Lamb types with 6-hourly resolution leads to a somewhat finer classification. On average, for about one third of the days with precipitation the daily Lamb type and the appropriate 6-hourly one are different. The most frequent large-scale circulation classes coupled to precipitation events are of cyclonic or directional type. The atmospheric circulation patterns do not follow a diurnal cycle, whereas the local observed precipitation does. Knowledge about the timing of the rainfall is important in order to assign the right underlying circulation patterns to precipitation events.

First case of New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase in Klebsiella pneumoniae from Ecuador: An update for South America.

PubMed

Romero-Alvarez, Daniel; Reyes, Jorge; Quezada, Viviana; Satán, Carolina; Cevallos, Nelson; Barrera, Sofía; Trueba, Gabriel; Escobar, Luis E; Villacís, José E

2017-12-01

To describe a clinical case of Klebsiella pneumoniae harboring a New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM) plasmid in Ecuador and to present a map of reports of NDM isolates in South America. The modified Hodge test, carbapenem inactivation method, imipenem-EDTA disk method (synergy), and Rapidec Carba NP test were used to identify antibiotic resistance mechanisms. The presence of resistance genes was explored with a conjugation assay, and molecular confirmation of NDM was performed by PCR and DNA sequencing. Plasmid characterization was conducted by PCR-based replicon typing. A literature review was performed in Google Scholar and PubMed to identify reports from South America. An HIV-infected patient, who had never traveled abroad, developed a bloodstream infection caused by K. pneumoniae ST147 harboring the NDM-1 resistance gene in a plasmid from the IncA/C group. Local circulation of NDM has also been described in other South American countries, in particular in Colombia and Brazil, although published scientific records were not found for other countries. This report presents the first evidence of autochthonous circulation of the NDM-1 resistance gene harbored by an IncA/C plasmid isolated from a K. pneumoniae ST147 in Ecuador. Efforts should be implemented to monitor and characterize the spatial and temporal distribution of NDM in Ecuador and other countries of South America. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Positive feedback between strain localization and fluid flow at the ductile-brittle transition leading to Pb-Zn-Fe-Cu-Ag ore deposits in Lavrion (Greece)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scheffer, Christophe; Tarantola, Alexandre; Vanderhaeghe, Olivier

2016-04-01

At the crustal scale, the ductile-brittle transition (DBT) might correspond to a physical barrier that separates a deep reservoir of metamorphic and magmatic fluids from a shallow reservoir of surficial fluids. Rock rheology, and thus the location of the DBT, is mainly governed by lithology, temperature and the presence/absence of fluids. Accordingly, the position of the DBT potentially evolves during orogenic evolution owing to thermal evolution and fluid circulation. In turn rocks are transferred across it during burial and exhumation. These processes induce connections between fluid reservoirs which might play a role on ore deposition. In this contribution, we discuss the impact of lithological heterogeneities on deformation, fluid flow and ore deposition based on the example of the Lavrion low-angle top-to-the-SSW detachment accommodating gravitational collapse of the Hellenides orogenic belt in Greece. The Lavrion peninsula, localized along the western boundary of the Attic-Cycladic Metamorphic Core Complex, is characterized by Pb-Zn-Fe-Cu-Ag ore mineralization mainly concentrated along a lithological contact (marble/schists) below and within a detachment shear zone. The mylonitic marble below the detachment shear zone is composed of white layers of pure marble alternating with blue layers containing impurities (SiO2, Al2O3, organic matter…). Development of the mylonitic fabric in competent impure blue marble is associated with its preferred dolomitization related to focused fluid infiltration. This mylonitic marble is cross-cut by several cataclastic horizons preferentially developed within the more competent impure blue marble and newly-crystallized dolomitic horizon. These cataclasites are invaded by fluorite and calcite gangue minerals showing locally Mn, Pb, Zn, Fe oxides and/or hydroxides, sphalerite, Ag-galena, Ag-sulfur and native Ag. Oxygen and carbon stable isotopes performed on marble sections point out decarbonation with magmatic contribution and fluid-rock interactions including organic matter present in the whole-rock during ore precipitation. These features show the positive feedback between localization of ductile-brittle deformation-recrystallization, fluid circulation and ore deposition. Accordingly, during orogenic gravitational collapse, the activation of mylonitic-cataclastic low-angle detachments, controlled at first order by temperature, are, at second order, influenced by lithologic heterogeneities that are determinant at localizing fluid circulation, allowing thus a multi-localization of the DBT and ore deposition.

Development of a combined canine distemper virus specific RT-PCR protocol for the differentiation of infected and vaccinated animals (DIVA) and genetic characterization of the hemagglutinin gene of seven Chinese strains demonstrated in dogs.

PubMed

Yi, Li; Cheng, Shipeng; Xu, Hongli; Wang, Jianke; Cheng, Yuening; Yang, Shen; Luo, Bin

2012-01-01

A combined reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method was developed for the detection and differentiation of wild-type and vaccine strains of the canine distemper virus (CDV). A pair of primers (P1/P2) was used to detect both CDV wild-type strains and vaccines. Another pair (P3/P4) was used to detect only CDV wild-type strains. A 335bp fragment was amplified from the genomic RNA of the vaccine and wild-type strains. A 555bp fragment was amplified specifically from the genomic RNA of the wild-type strains. No amplification was achieved for the uninfected cells, cells infected with canine parvovirus, canine coronavirus, or canine adenovirus. The combined RT-PCR method detected effectively and differentiated the CDV wild-type and vaccine strains by two separate RT-PCRs. The method can be used for clinical detection and epidemiological surveillance. The phylogenetic analysis of the hemagglutinin gene of the local wild-type CDV strains revealed that the seven local isolates all belonged to the Asia-1 lineage, and were clustered closely with one another at the same location. These results suggested that the CDV genotype Asia-1 is circulating currently in domestic dogs in China. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Buoyancy forcing and the MOC: insights from experiments, simulations and global models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

White, B. L.; Passaggia, P. Y.; Zemskova, V.

2017-12-01

The driving forces behind the Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) have been widely debated, with wind-driven upwelling, surface buoyancy fluxes due to heating/cooling/freshwater input, and vertical diffusion due to turbulent mixing all thought to play significant roles. To explore the specific role of buoyancy forcing we present results from experiments and simulations of Horizontal Convection (HC), where a circulation is driven by differential buoyancy forcing applied along a horizontal surface. We interpret these results using energy budgets based on the local Available Potential Energy framework introduced in [Scotti and White, J. Fluid Mech., 2014]. We first describe HC experiments driven by the diffusion of salt in water across membranes localized at the surface, at Schmidt numbers {Sc}≈ 610 and Rayleigh numbers in the range 1012 < Ra=Δ b L3/(ν κ ) < 1017, where ν is the kinematic viscosity of water, κ is the diffusion coefficient of salt, L=[.5,2,5]m is the length of the different tanks and Δ b=g(ρ salt}-ρ {fresh}/ρ_{fresh is the reduced gravity difference. We show that the scaling follows a Nu ˜ Ra1/4 type scaling recently theorized by Shishkina et; al. (2016). We then present numerical results for rotating horizontal convection with a zonally re-entrant channel to represent the Southern Ocean branch of the MOC. While the zonal wind stress profile is important to the spatial pattern of the circulation, perhaps surprisingly, the energy budget shows only a weak dependence on the magnitude of the wind input, suggesting that surface APE generation by buoyancy forcing is dominant in driving the overturning circulation.

Airborne heavy metals in two cities of North Rhine Westphalia - Performing inhalation cancer risk assessment in terms of atmospheric circulation.

PubMed

Dimitriou, Konstantinos; Kassomenos, Pavlos

2017-11-01

The main objective of this study was to examine the levels of four heavy metals (As, Cd, Pb and Ni) in PM 10 samples collected in two urban background stations in Dortmund and Bielefeld, in relation to atmospheric circulation. Pollution roses, Conditional Probability Function (CPF) roses and backward air mass trajectory clusters were used to identify air currents associated with the importation of PM 10 and of the included metal constituents. In addition, PM 10 , NO 2 , SO 2 , O 3 , As, Cd, Ni and Pb concentrations were analyzed by a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to reveal major local emission sources of PM 10 metal content. Traffic was the main emitter of PM 10 , As, Cd, and Pb in both cities, highlighting the existence of non-negligible lead quantities in unleaded gasoline, whilst nickel emissions were associated with heavy fuel oil combustion in industries and primarily for domestic heating. The created CPF roses and trajectory clusters were in good agreement, clearly revealing that eastern air currents enriched the locally produced PM 10 load with additional aerosols from Eastern Europe. The concentrations of arsenic and cadmium were also enhanced by the arrival of air parcels from the East, indicating the anthropogenic origin of the exogenous aerosols due to combustion. The induced cancer risk (CR inh ) for adults, due to inhalation of individual metal constituents, was also estimated in terms of atmospheric circulation, indicating higher risk in Dortmund than in Bielefeld. CR inh values for arsenic exceeded the limit of 1 × 10 -6 in both cities, primarily during the influence of eastern circulation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Local renin–angiotensin system contributes to hyperthyroidism-induced cardiac hypertrophy

PubMed Central

Kobori, H; Ichihara, A; Miyashita, Y; Hayashi, M; Saruta, T

2008-01-01

We have reported previously that thyroid hormone activates the circulating and tissue renin–angiotensin systems without involving the sympathetic nervous system, which contributes to cardiac hypertrophy in hyperthyroidism. This study examined whether the circulating or tissue renin–angiotensin system plays the principal role in hyperthyroidism-induced cardiac hypertrophy. The circulating renin–angiotensin system in Sprague–Dawley rats was fixed by chronic angiotensin II infusion (40 ng/ min, 28 days) via mini-osmotic pumps. Daily i.p. injection of thyroxine (0·1 mg/kg per day, 28 days) was used to mimic hyperthyroidism. Serum free tri-iodothyronine, plasma renin activity, plasma angiotensin II, cardiac renin and cardiac angiotensin II were measured with RIAs. The cardiac expression of renin mRNA was evaluated by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Plasma renin activity and plasma angiotensin II were kept constant in the angiotensin II and angiotensin II+thyroxine groups (0·12 ± 0·03 and 0·15 ± 0·03 μg/h per liter, 126 ± 5 and 130 ± 5 ng/l respectively) (means ± s.e.m.). Despite stabilization of the circulating renin–angiotensin system, thyroid hormone induced cardiac hypertrophy (5·0 ± 0·5 vs 3·5 ± 0·1 mg/g) in conjunction with the increases in cardiac expression of renin mRNA, cardiac renin and cardiac angiotensin II (74 ± 2 vs 48 ± 2%, 6·5 ± 0·8 vs 3·8 ± 0·4 ng/h per g, 231 ± 30 vs 149 ± 2 pg/g respectively). These results indicate that the local renin–angiotensin system plays the primary role in the development of hyperthyroidism-induced cardiac hypertrophy. PMID:9854175

Evidence of hepatitis A virus circulation in central Argentina: seroprevalence and environmental surveillance.

PubMed

Yanez, Laura A; Lucero, Noelia S; Barril, Patricia A; Díaz, María Del P; Tenaglia, María M; Spinsanti, Lorena I; Nates, Silvia V; Isa, María B; Ré, Viviana E

2014-01-01

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) has shown intermediate endemicity in Argentina, but notification of clinical cases has decreased since the introduction of the vaccine in 2005. In order to get insight into the local circulation of this virus after four years of the official introduction of the vaccine, the aims of this study were to provide information on HAV immune status of the adult population of Córdoba city and to conduct environmental surveillance of HAV in sewage and river samples in the same region. The prevalence of anti-HAV was determined by EIA in 416 samples of people (without prior vaccination) from Córdoba city (2009-2010). Spline regression models were estimated under generalized additive models. Environmental surveillance was conducted in river and sewage samples collected in the same period. Viral detection was performed by RT-Nested PCR of the 5'UTR. In Córdoba, the global prevalence of anti-HAV was 73.5%. It increased with age (p<0.0001) and it was associated with the low-income population (OR: 1.14; 95% CI 1.05-1.25). This prevalence decreased in younger age groups, especially in the high-income population. Environmental monitoring revealed the presence of HAV (IA) in 20.8% and 16.1% of wastewater and river samples, respectively. As a consequence of a decrease in HAV circulation due to improvements in immunization, socio-economic and hygienic conditions, young adults are becoming increasingly susceptible to HAV infections. Environmental monitoring demonstrated that HAV circulates in the local population; therefore, health care systems should consider the implementation of preventive measures for susceptible adults in order to reduce the risk of HAV infection. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Impacts of Local Soil Moisture Anomalies on the Atmospheric Circulation and on Remote Surface Meteorological Fields During Boreal Summer: A Comprehensive Analysis over North America

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koster, Randal D.; Chang, Yehui; Wang, Hailan; Schubert, Siegfried D.

2016-01-01

We perform a series of stationary wave model (SWM) experiments in which the boreal summer atmosphere is forced, over a number of locations in the continental U.S., with an idealized diabatic heating anomaly that mimics the atmospheric heating associated with a dry land surface. For localized heating within a large portion of the continental interior, regardless of the specific location of this heating, the spatial pattern of the forced atmospheric circulation anomaly (in terms of 250-mb eddy streamfunction) is largely the same: a high anomaly forms over west central North America and a low anomaly forms to the east. In supplemental atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) experiments, we find similar results; imposing soil moisture dryness in the AGCM in different locations within the US interior tends to produce the aforementioned pattern, along with an associated near-surface warming and precipitation deficit in the center of the continent. The SWM-based and AGCM-based patterns generally agree with composites generated using reanalysis and precipitation gauge data. The AGCM experiments also suggest that dry anomalies imposed in the lower Mississippi Valley have remote surface impacts of particularly large spatial extent, and a region along the eastern half of the US-Canada border is particularly sensitive to dry anomalies in a number of remote areas. Overall, the SWM and AGCM experiments support the idea of a positive feedback loop operating over the continent: dry surface conditions in many interior locations lead to changes in atmospheric circulation that act to enhance further the overall dryness of the continental interior.

Impact of Greenland orography on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davini, Paolo; von Hardenberg, Jost; Filippi, Luca; Provenzale, Antonello

2015-04-01

We show that the absence of the Greenland Ice Sheet would have important consequences on the North Atlantic Ocean circulation, even without taking into account the effect of the freshwater input from ice melting. These effects are investigated in a 200-year long coupled ocean-atmosphere simulation with the high-resolution global climate model EC-Earth 3.0.1. Once a new equilibrium is established, cooling of Eurasia and of the North Atlantic and poleward shift of the subtropical jet are observed. These hemispheric changes are ascribed to a weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) by about 20%. Such slowdown is associated to the freshening of the Arctic basin and to the related reduction in the freshwater export through the Fram Strait, as a result of the new wind pattern generated by the lower orography. This idealized experiment reveals the possibility of decreasing the AMOC by locally changing the surface winds.

Silver hake tracks changes in Northwest Atlantic circulation.

PubMed

Nye, Janet A; Joyce, Terrence M; Kwon, Young-Oh; Link, Jason S

2011-08-02

Recent studies documenting shifts in spatial distribution of many organisms in response to a warming climate highlight the need to understand the mechanisms underlying species distribution at large spatial scales. Here we present one noteworthy example of remote oceanographic processes governing the spatial distribution of adult silver hake, Merluccius bilinearis, a commercially important fish in the Northeast US shelf region. Changes in spatial distribution of silver hake over the last 40 years are highly correlated with the position of the Gulf Stream. These changes in distribution are in direct response to local changes in bottom temperature on the continental shelf that are responding to the same large scale circulation change affecting the Gulf Stream path, namely changes in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). If the AMOC weakens, as is suggested by global climate models, silver hake distribution will remain in a poleward position, the extent to which could be forecast at both decadal and multidecadal scales.

Sediment dynamics in the Adriatic Sea investigated with coupled models

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sherwood, Christopher R.; Book, Jeffrey W.; Carniel, Sandro; Cavaleri, Luigi; Chiggiato, Jacopo; Das, Himangshu; Doyle, James D.; Harris, Courtney K.; Niedoroda, Alan W.; Perkins, Henry; Poulain, Pierre-Marie; Pullen, Julie; Reed, Christopher W.; Russo, Aniello; Sclavo, Mauro; Signell, Richard P.; Traykovski, Peter A.; Warner, John C.

2004-01-01

Several large research programs focused on the Adriatic Sea in winter 2002-2003, making it an exciting place for sediment dynamics modelers (Figure 1). Investigations of atmospheric forcing and oceanic response (including wave generation and propagation, water-mass formation, stratification, and circulation), suspended material, bottom boundary layer dynamics, bottom sediment, and small-scale stratigraphy were performed by European and North American researchers participating in several projects. The goal of EuroSTRATAFORM researchers is to improve our ability to understand and simulate the physical processes that deliver sediment to the marine environment and generate stratigraphic signatures. Scientists involved in the Po and Apennine Sediment Transport and Accumulation (PASTA) experiment benefited from other major research programs including ACE (Adriatic Circulation Experiment), DOLCE VITA (Dynamics of Localized Currents and Eddy Variability in the Adriatic), EACE (the Croatian East Adriatic Circulation Experiment project), WISE (West Istria Experiment), and ADRICOSM (Italian nowcasting and forecasting) studies.

[Tracheal Intubation by Paramedics in a Local Community: Current Situation and Future Challenges].

PubMed

Takinami, Yoshikazu

2016-03-01

As of April 2013, 164 paramedics are certified to perform tracheal intubation in Fukui Prefecture. This study investigated the current situation surrounding tracheal intubation performed by paramedics in prehospital care. Subjects were 58 paramedics who completed practical training at our hospital. Post-training duration, number of tracheal intubation cases, number of attempts before successful tracheal intubation, disease involved, rate of return of spontaneous circulation, and prognosis were examined. Tracheal intubation was successful on the first attempt in 92% of cases. Rate of return of spontaneous circulation was high in paramedics whose post-training duration was short. No return of spontaneous circulation occurred after a second attempt. Four patients survived asphyxia or aspiration. It is important to perform successful tracheal intubation on the first attempt, to recognize the probability of successful resuscitation in patients with exogenous disease, and to strengthen the medical control system.

[Mechanisms of immune deposit formation in glomerulonephritis].

PubMed

Bussolati, B; Camussi, G

1996-03-01

Recent experimental studies allowed the identification of several mechanisms of immune deposit formation, which are able to reproduce the morphological and clinical pattern of human glomerulonephritis. Moreover, it was shown that most of the lesions considered, in the past, as due to circulating immune complexes (IC), are instead caused by the "in situ" formation of IC. As a result of these studies, the following schematic classification was proposed: 1) immune deposits formed by glomerular localization of IC primarily formed in the circulation; 2) immune deposits formed "in situ" by reaction of circulating antibodies with fixed structural antigens; 3) immune deposits formed "in situ" by antibodies reactive with movable structural antigens; 4) immune deposits formed "in situ" by antibodies reactive with sequestered antigens leaking out of tissues; 5) IC formed "in situ" by antibodies reactive with exogenous or non-glomerular endogenous antigens planted in the glomeruli; 6) ANCA-associated glomerular disease.

Planning for Downtown Circulation Systems. Volume 1. Planning Concepts.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1983-10-01

This document brings together the state-of-the-art in planning concepts, methods and data for use by those cities proposing or considering comprehensive or innovative downtown circulation systems, particularly Downtown People Mover systems. DPM syste...

Maritime Continent seasonal climate biases in AMIP experiments of the CMIP5 multimodel ensemble

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toh, Ying Ying; Turner, Andrew G.; Johnson, Stephanie J.; Holloway, Christopher E.

2018-02-01

The fidelity of 28 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) models in simulating mean climate over the Maritime Continent in the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) experiment is evaluated in this study. The performance of AMIP models varies greatly in reproducing seasonal mean climate and the seasonal cycle. The multi-model mean has better skill at reproducing the observed mean climate than the individual models. The spatial pattern of 850 hPa wind is better simulated than the precipitation in all four seasons. We found that model horizontal resolution is not a good indicator of model performance. Instead, a model's local Maritime Continent biases are somewhat related to its biases in the local Hadley circulation and global monsoon. The comparison with coupled models in CMIP5 shows that AMIP models generally performed better than coupled models in the simulation of the global monsoon and local Hadley circulation but less well at simulating the Maritime Continent annual cycle of precipitation. To characterize model systematic biases in the AMIP runs, we performed cluster analysis on Maritime Continent annual cycle precipitation. Our analysis resulted in two distinct clusters. Cluster I models are able to capture both the winter monsoon and summer monsoon shift, but they overestimate the precipitation; especially during the JJA and SON seasons. Cluster II models simulate weaker seasonal migration than observed, and the maximum rainfall position stays closer to the equator throughout the year. The tropics-wide properties of these clusters suggest a connection between the skill of simulating global properties of the monsoon circulation and the skill of simulating the regional scale of Maritime Continent precipitation.

High-frequency daily temperature variability in China and its relationship to large-scale circulation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu, Fu-Ting; Fu, Congbin; Qian, Yun

Two measures of intra-seasonal variability, indicated respectively by standard deviations (SD) and day-to-day (DTD) fluctuations denoted by absolute differences between adjacent 2-day periods, as well as their relationships with large-scale circulation patterns were investigated in China during 1962–2008 on the basis of homogenized daily temperature records from 549 local stations and reanalysis data. Our results show that both the SD and DTD of daily minimum temperatures (Tmin) in summer as well as the minimum and maximum temperatures in winter have been decreasing, while the daily maximum temperature (Tmax) variability in summer is fluctuating more, especially over southern China. In summer,more » an attribution analysis indicates that the intensity of the Western Pacific Subtropical High (WPSH) and high-level East Asian Subtropical Jet stream (EASJ) are positively correlated with both SD and DTD, but the correlation coefficients are generally greater with the SD than with the DTD of the daily maximum temperature, Tmax. In contrast, the location of the EASJ shows the opposite correlation pattern, with intensity regarding the correlation with both SD and DTD. In winter, the Arctic Oscillation (AO) is negatively correlated with both the SD and DTD of the daily minimum temperature, but its intra-seasonal variability exhibits good agreement with the SD of the Tmin. The Siberian High acts differently with respect to the SD and DTD of the Tmin, demonstrating a regionally consistent positive correlation with the SD. Overall, the large-scale circulation can well explain the intra-seasonal SD, but DTD fluctuations may be more local and impacted by local conditions, such as changes in the temperature itself, the land surface, and so on.« less

Testing the fidelity of laminations as a proxy for oxygen concentration in the Bering Sea over millennial to orbital timescales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Black, A. E.; Baranow, N.; Amdur, S.; Cook, M. S.

2017-12-01

Ocean circulation and biological productivity play an important role in the climate system through their contribution to global heat transport and air-sea exchange of CO­2. Oceanic oxygen concentration provides insight to ocean circulation and biological productivity. Sediment laminations provide a valuable proxy for local oceanic oxygen concentration. Many sediment cores from the Pacific Ocean are laminated from the last deglaciation, but previous studies have not provided an in-depth examination of laminations over many glacial and interglacial (G/IG) cycles. Typically, studies to date that consider bioturbation as a proxy for oxygen concentration have only considered one sediment core from a site, leaving ambiguity as to whether laminations faithfully record local oxygen levels. With sediment cores from three different holes (A, C, D) on the northern Bering Slope from IODP site U1345 (1008m), we investigate how faithfully laminations record oxygen concentration. We assign a bioturbation index from 1 to 4 for 1-cm intervals for the cores from each of the three holes and align the holes based on physical properties data. We find that the bioturbation is relatively consistent (within one bioturbation unit) between holes, suggesting that laminations may be a faithful, if not perfect, proxy for local oxygen concentration. After examining laminations from a complete hole, representing over 500,000 years, there seems to be no consistent pattern of laminations during the past five glacial cycles, suggesting there is no consistent pattern to oxygen concentration during glacial periods in the northern Bering Slope. Thus, hypotheses on ocean circulation and productivity in the northern Bering Sea from the last deglaciation may not apply to previous G/IG cycles.

Influence of high-resolution surface databases on the modeling of local atmospheric circulation systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paiva, L. M. S.; Bodstein, G. C. R.; Pimentel, L. C. G.

2014-08-01

Large-eddy simulations are performed using the Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS) code at horizontal grid resolutions as fine as 300 m to assess the influence of detailed and updated surface databases on the modeling of local atmospheric circulation systems of urban areas with complex terrain. Applications to air pollution and wind energy are sought. These databases are comprised of 3 arc-sec topographic data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, 10 arc-sec vegetation-type data from the European Space Agency (ESA) GlobCover project, and 30 arc-sec leaf area index and fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation data from the ESA GlobCarbon project. Simulations are carried out for the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro using six one-way nested-grid domains that allow the choice of distinct parametric models and vertical resolutions associated to each grid. ARPS is initialized using the Global Forecasting System with 0.5°-resolution data from the National Center of Environmental Prediction, which is also used every 3 h as lateral boundary condition. Topographic shading is turned on and two soil layers are used to compute the soil temperature and moisture budgets in all runs. Results for two simulated runs covering three periods of time are compared to surface and upper-air observational data to explore the dependence of the simulations on initial and boundary conditions, grid resolution, topographic and land-use databases. Our comparisons show overall good agreement between simulated and observational data, mainly for the potential temperature and the wind speed fields, and clearly indicate that the use of high-resolution databases improves significantly our ability to predict the local atmospheric circulation.

Transnational science and collaborative networks. The case of Genetics and Radiobiology in Mexico, 1950-1970.

PubMed

Barahona, Ana

2015-01-01

The transnational approach of the science and technology studies (S&TS) abandons the nation as a unit of analysis in order to understand the development of science history. It also abandons Euro-US-centred narratives in order to explain the role of international collaborative networks and the circulation of knowledge, people, artefacts and scientific practices. It is precisely under this perspective that the development of genetics and radiobiology in Mexico shall be analyzed, together with the pioneering work of the Mexican physician-turned-geneticist Alfonso León de Garay who spent two years in the Galton Laboratory in London under the supervision of Lionel Penrose. Upon his return de Garay funded the Genetics and Radiobiology Program of the National Commission of Nuclear Energy based on local needs and the aim of working beyond geographical limitations to thus facilitate the circulation of knowledge, practices and people. The three main lines of research conducted in the years after its foundation that were in line with international projects while responding to the national context were, first, cytogenetic studies of certain abnormalities, and the cytogenetics and anthropological studies of the Olympic Games held in Mexico in 1968; second, the study of the effects of radiation on hereditary material; and third, the study of population genetics in Drosophila and in Mexican indigenous groups. The program played a key role in reshaping the scientific careers of Mexican geneticists, and in transferring locally sourced research into broader networks. This case shows the importance of international collaborative networks and circulation in the constitution of national scientific elites, and also shows the national and transnational concerns that shaped local practices.

In vivo acoustic and photoacoustic focusing of circulating cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galanzha, Ekaterina I.; Viegas, Mark G.; Malinsky, Taras I.; Melerzanov, Alexander V.; Juratli, Mazen A.; Sarimollaoglu, Mustafa; Nedosekin, Dmitry A.; Zharov, Vladimir P.

2016-03-01

In vivo flow cytometry using vessels as natural tubes with native cell flows has revolutionized the study of rare circulating tumor cells in a complex blood background. However, the presence of many blood cells in the detection volume makes it difficult to count each cell in this volume. We introduce method for manipulation of circulating cells in vivo with the use of gradient acoustic forces induced by ultrasound and photoacoustic waves. In a murine model, we demonstrated cell trapping, redirecting and focusing in blood and lymph flow into a tight stream, noninvasive wall-free transportation of blood, and the potential for photoacoustic detection of sickle cells without labeling and of leukocytes targeted by functionalized nanoparticles. Integration of cell focusing with intravital imaging methods may provide a versatile biological tool for single-cell analysis in circulation, with a focus on in vivo needleless blood tests, and preclinical studies of human diseases in animal models.

In vivo acoustic and photoacoustic focusing of circulating cells

PubMed Central

Galanzha, Ekaterina I.; Viegas, Mark G.; Malinsky, Taras I.; Melerzanov, Alexander V.; Juratli, Mazen A.; Sarimollaoglu, Mustafa; Nedosekin, Dmitry A.; Zharov, Vladimir P.

2016-01-01

In vivo flow cytometry using vessels as natural tubes with native cell flows has revolutionized the study of rare circulating tumor cells in a complex blood background. However, the presence of many blood cells in the detection volume makes it difficult to count each cell in this volume. We introduce method for manipulation of circulating cells in vivo with the use of gradient acoustic forces induced by ultrasound and photoacoustic waves. In a murine model, we demonstrated cell trapping, redirecting and focusing in blood and lymph flow into a tight stream, noninvasive wall-free transportation of blood, and the potential for photoacoustic detection of sickle cells without labeling and of leukocytes targeted by functionalized nanoparticles. Integration of cell focusing with intravital imaging methods may provide a versatile biological tool for single-cell analysis in circulation, with a focus on in vivo needleless blood tests, and preclinical studies of human diseases in animal models. PMID:26979811

An advanced method for classifying atmospheric circulation types based on prototypes connectivity graph

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zagouras, Athanassios; Argiriou, Athanassios A.; Flocas, Helena A.; Economou, George; Fotopoulos, Spiros

2012-11-01

Classification of weather maps at various isobaric levels as a methodological tool is used in several problems related to meteorology, climatology, atmospheric pollution and to other fields for many years. Initially the classification was performed manually. The criteria used by the person performing the classification are features of isobars or isopleths of geopotential height, depending on the type of maps to be classified. Although manual classifications integrate the perceptual experience and other unquantifiable qualities of the meteorology specialists involved, these are typically subjective and time consuming. Furthermore, during the last years different approaches of automated methods for atmospheric circulation classification have been proposed, which present automated and so-called objective classifications. In this paper a new method of atmospheric circulation classification of isobaric maps is presented. The method is based on graph theory. It starts with an intelligent prototype selection using an over-partitioning mode of fuzzy c-means (FCM) algorithm, proceeds to a graph formulation for the entire dataset and produces the clusters based on the contemporary dominant sets clustering method. Graph theory is a novel mathematical approach, allowing a more efficient representation of spatially correlated data, compared to the classical Euclidian space representation approaches, used in conventional classification methods. The method has been applied to the classification of 850 hPa atmospheric circulation over the Eastern Mediterranean. The evaluation of the automated methods is performed by statistical indexes; results indicate that the classification is adequately comparable with other state-of-the-art automated map classification methods, for a variable number of clusters.

Reduced connection between the East Asian Summer Monsoon and Southern Hemisphere Circulation on interannual timescales under intense global warming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Tianlei; Guo, Pinwen; Cheng, Jun; Hu, Aixue; Lin, Pengfei; Yu, Yongqiang

2018-03-01

Previous studies show a close relationship between the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) and Southern Hemisphere (SH) circulation on interannual timescales. In this study, we investigate whether this close relationship will change under intensive greenhouse-gas effect by analyzing simulations under two different climate background states: preindustrial era and Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 stabilization from the Community Climate System Model Version 4 (CCSM4). Results show a significantly reduced relationship under stabilized RCP8.5 climate state, such a less correlated EASM with the sea level pressure in the southern Indian Ocean and the SH branch of local Hadley Cell. Further analysis suggests that the collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) due to this warming leads to a less vigorous northward meridional heat transport, a decreased intertropical temperature contrast in boreal summer, which produces a weaker cross-equatorial Hadley Cell in the monsoonal region and a reduced Interhemispheric Mass Exchange (IME). Since the monsoonal IME acts as a bridge connecting EASM and SH circulation, the reduced IME weakens this connection. By performing freshwater hosing experiment using the Flexible Global Ocean—Atmosphere—Land System model, Grid-point Version 2 (FGOALS-g2), we show a weakened relationship between the EASM and SH circulation as in CCSM4 when AMOC collapses. Our results suggest that a substantially weakened AMOC is the main driver leading to the EASM, which is less affected by SH circulation in the future warmer climate.

Detection of the secondary meridional circulation associated with the quasi-biennial oscillation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ribera, P.; PeñA-Ortiz, C.; Garcia-Herrera, R.; Gallego, D.; Gimeno, L.; HernáNdez, E.

2004-09-01

The quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) signal in stratospheric zonal and meridional wind, temperature, and geopotential height fields is analyzed based on the use of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis (1958-2001). The multitaper method-singular value decomposition (MTM-SVD), a multivariate frequency domain analysis method, is used to detect significant and spatially coherent narrowband oscillations. The QBO is found as the most intense signal in the stratospheric zonal wind. Then, the MTM-SVD method is used to determine the patterns induced by the QBO at every stratospheric level and data field. The secondary meridional circulation associated with the QBO is identified in the obtained patterns. This circulation can be characterized by negative (positive) temperature anomalies associated with adiabatic rising (sinking) motions over zones of easterly (westerly) wind shear and over the subtropics and midlatitudes, while meridional convergence and divergence levels are found separated by a level of maximum zonal wind shear. These vertical and meridional motions form quasi-symmetric circulation cells over both hemispheres, though less intense in the Southern Hemisphere.

Island-trapped Waves, Internal Waves, and Island Circulation

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-30

c), which is about 20 times the local Coriolis frequency. This result indicates large Rossby number, strain, and vorticity in the wake, all of which...submarine topography- i.e., seamounts and ridges, which extend into the thermocline. Lee wave effects may be quite important locally, but not resolved or...Baines. Topographic Effects in Stratified Flows. Cambridge Press, 1995. M.-H. Chang, T. Y. Tang, C.-R. Ho, and S.-Y. Chao. Kuroshio-induced wake in the

Fabrication of thin bulk ceramics for microwave circulator applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ings, J.B.; Simmins, J.J.; May, J.L.

1995-09-01

Planer MMIC circulator applications require the production of thin, flat garnet, spinel, and hexagonal ferrite circulator elements. Fabrication of cira 250 {mu}m circulator elements was done by tape casting and roll compaction. For the garnet, tape cast gave equivalent results to roll compaction. For the spinel and hexaferrite materials, which undergo magnetic flocculation, roll compaction was found to be the preferred fabrication method. Roll compacted lithium ferrite resulted in higher densities and lower {triangle}H and tan{delta} than did the tape case material. Roll compacted barium hexaferrite resulted in higher densities and remanent magnetization than did the tape cast material.

Superconductor rotor cooling system

DOEpatents

Gamble, Bruce B.; Sidi-Yekhlef, Ahmed; Schwall, Robert E.; Driscoll, David I.; Shoykhet, Boris A.

2004-11-02

A system for cooling a superconductor device includes a cryocooler located in a stationary reference frame and a closed circulation system external to the cryocooler. The closed circulation system interfaces the stationary reference frame with a rotating reference frame in which the superconductor device is located. A method of cooling a superconductor device includes locating a cryocooler in a stationary reference frame, and transferring heat from a superconductor device located in a rotating reference frame to the cryocooler through a closed circulation system external to the cryocooler. The closed circulation system interfaces the stationary reference frame with the rotating reference frame.

Superconductor rotor cooling system

DOEpatents

Gamble, Bruce B.; Sidi-Yekhlef, Ahmed; Schwall, Robert E.; Driscoll, David I.; Shoykhet, Boris A.

2002-01-01

A system for cooling a superconductor device includes a cryocooler located in a stationary reference frame and a closed circulation system external to the cryocooler. The closed circulation system interfaces the stationary reference frame with a rotating reference frame in which the superconductor device is located. A method of cooling a superconductor device includes locating a cryocooler in a stationary reference frame, and transferring heat from a superconductor device located in a rotating reference frame to the cryocooler through a closed circulation system external to the cryocooler. The closed circulation system interfaces the stationary reference frame with the rotating reference frame.

Observations of Local Seychelles Circulation

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-30

long term deployments. Addtitionally, we have been in touch with Julie MacClean and Tommy Jenson regarding model output, both for use as boundary...help guide regional model boundary condition placement while Tommy is in the process of extracting numerical mooring outputs near the locations of our

The Automation of Reserve Processing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Self, James

1985-01-01

Describes an automated reserve processing system developed locally at Clemons Library, University of Virginia. Discussion covers developments in the reserve operation at Clemons Library, automation of the processing and circulation functions of reserve collections, and changes in reserve operation performance and staffing needs due to automation.…

Modeling the circle of Willis to assess the effect of anatomical variations on the development of unilateral internal carotid artery stenosis.

PubMed

Zhang, Chi; Wang, Ling; Li, Xiaoyun; Li, Shuyu; Pu, Fang; Fan, Yubo; Li, Deyu

2014-01-01

Circle of Willis (CoW) plays a significant role in maintaining the blood supply for the brain. Specifically, when the stenosis occurs in the internal carotid artery (ICA), abnormal structures of CoW would decrease the compensatory capacity, leading to the local insufficiency of cerebral blood supply. The present paper built a series of lumped parameter models for CoW, and simulated the blood redistribution caused by the unilateral ICA stenosis with different severities in cerebral arteries in the normal and abnormal CoW respectively. The results showed that when unilateral ICA stenosis occurred, the collateral circulation was built through the anterior communicating artery and the ipsilateral posterior communicating artery, maintaining the flow in cerebral arteries. The absence of the two communicating arteries would cause an obvious decrease of flow in local cerebral arteries in the anterior circulation. In conclusion, the two arteries play a significant role in maintaining the balance of cerebral blood supply in the development of ICA stenosis.

Geochemical and isotopic data for restricting seawater intrusion and groundwater circulation in a series of typical volcanic islands in the South China Sea.

PubMed

Zhang, Wenjie; Chen, Xi; Tan, Hongbing; Zhang, Yanfei; Cao, Jifu

2015-04-15

The decline of groundwater table and deterioration of water quality related to seawater have long been regarded as a crucial problem in coastal regions. In this work, a hydrogeologic investigation using combined hydrochemical and isotopic approaches was conducted in the coastal region of the South China Sea near the Leizhou peninsular to provide primary insight into seawater intrusion and groundwater circulation. Hydrochemical and isotopic data show that local groundwater is subjected to anthropogenic activities and geochemical processes, such as evaporation, water-rock interaction, and ion exchange. However, seawater intrusion driven by the over-exploitation of groundwater and insufficient recharge is the predominant factor controlling groundwater salinization. Systematic and homologic isotopic characteristics of most samples suggest that groundwater in volcanic area is locally recharged and likely caused by modern precipitation. However, very depleted stable isotopes and extremely low tritium of groundwater in some isolated aquifers imply a dominant role of palaeowater. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Can Arctic sea-ice melt be explained by atmospheric meridional transports? (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tjernstrom, M. K.; Graversen, R. G.

2010-12-01

The Arctic summer sea ice is melting away at an alarming rate, and it is now expected that an principally sea-ice free Arctic summer will occur much earlier than projected by the IPCC AR4 models. At the same time Arctic near-surface temperatures are rising at a rate much faster than the global average. The processes responsible for these changes are debated and many claim that local feedbacks, such as the surface albedo feedback, are the main culprits while other argue that remote effects, such as atmospheric circulation changes on synoptic and hemispheric scales, are the most important. We will explore the effects of the meridional transport by synoptic and larger scale atmospheric circulation on recent changes, using reanalysis data. It will be illustarated how this transport can contribute significant amounts of sensible heat, but also of atmospheric moisture such that local cloud feedbacks as well as the direct greenhouse effect of the water vapor contributes significantly to the surface energy balance over the Arctic polar cap.

Modeling waves and circulation in Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Signell, Richard P.; List, Jeffrey H.

1997-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey is conducting a study of storm-driven sediment resuspension and transport in Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana. Two critical processes related to sediment transport in the lake are (1) the resuspension of sediments due to wind-generated storm waves and (2) the movement of resuspended material by lake currents during storm wind events. The potential for sediment resuspension is being studied with the wave prediction model which simulates local generation of waves by wind and shallow-water effects on waves (refraction, shoaling, bottom friction, and breaking). Long-term wind measurements are then used to determine the regional "climate" of bottom orbital velocity (showing the spatial and temporal variability of wave-induced currents at the bottom). The circulation of the lake is being studied with a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model. Results of the modeling effort indicate that remote forcing due to water levels in Mississippi Sound dominate the circulation near the passes in the eastern end of the lake, while local wind forcing dominates water movement in the western end. During typical storms with winds from the north-northeast or the south-southeast, currents along the south coast near New Orleans generally transport material westward, while material in the central region moves against the wind. When periods of sustained winds are followed by a drop in coastal sea level, a large amount of suspended sediment can be flushed from the lake.

Numerical study on the Welander oscillatory natural circulation problem using high-order numerical methods

DOE PAGES

Zou, Ling; Zhao, Haihua; Kim, Seung Jun

2016-11-16

In this study, the classical Welander’s oscillatory natural circulation problem is investigated using high-order numerical methods. As originally studied by Welander, the fluid motion in a differentially heated fluid loop can exhibit stable, weakly instable, and strongly instable modes. A theoretical stability map has also been originally derived from the stability analysis. Numerical results obtained in this paper show very good agreement with Welander’s theoretical derivations. For stable cases, numerical results from both the high-order and low-order numerical methods agree well with the non-dimensional flow rate analytically derived. The high-order numerical methods give much less numerical errors compared to themore » low-order methods. For stability analysis, the high-order numerical methods could perfectly predict the stability map, while the low-order numerical methods failed to do so. For all theoretically unstable cases, the low-order methods predicted them to be stable. The result obtained in this paper is a strong evidence to show the benefits of using high-order numerical methods over the low-order ones, when they are applied to simulate natural circulation phenomenon that has already gain increasing interests in many future nuclear reactor designs.« less

Classification of circulation type sequences applied to snow avalanches over the eastern Pyrenees (Andorra and Catalonia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esteban, Pere; Beck, Christoph; Philipp, Andreas

2010-05-01

Using data associated with accidents or damages caused by snow avalanches over the eastern Pyrenees (Andorra and Catalonia) several atmospheric circulation type catalogues have been obtained. For this purpose, different circulation type classification methods based on Principal Component Analysis (T-mode and S-mode using the extreme scores) and on optimization procedures (Improved K-means and SANDRA) were applied . Considering the characteristics of the phenomena studied, not only single day circulation patterns were taken into account but also sequences of circulation types of varying length. Thus different classifications with different numbers of types and for different sequence lengths were obtained using the different classification methods. Simple between type variability, within type variability, and outlier detection procedures have been applied for selecting the best result concerning snow avalanches type classifications. Furthermore, days without occurrence of the hazards were also related to the avalanche centroids using pattern-correlations, facilitating the calculation of the anomalies between hazardous and no hazardous days, and also frequencies of occurrence of hazardous events for each circulation type. Finally, the catalogues statistically considered the best results are evaluated using the avalanche forecaster expert knowledge. Consistent explanation of snow avalanches occurrence by means of circulation sequences is obtained, but always considering results from classifications with different sequence length. This work has been developed in the framework of the COST Action 733 (Harmonisation and Applications of Weather Type Classifications for European regions).

In vivo label-free photoacoustic flow cytography and on-the-spot laser killing of single circulating melanoma cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Yun; Wang, Lidai; Shi, Junhui; Yao, Junjie; Li, Lei; Zhang, Ruiying; Huang, Chih-Hsien; Zou, Jun; Wang, Lihong V.

2016-12-01

Metastasis causes as many as 90% of cancer-related deaths, especially for the deadliest skin cancer, melanoma. Since hematogenous dissemination of circulating tumor cells is the major route of metastasis, detection and destruction of circulating tumor cells are vital for impeding metastasis and improving patient prognosis. Exploiting the exquisite intrinsic optical absorption contrast of circulating melanoma cells, we developed dual-wavelength photoacoustic flow cytography coupled with a nanosecond-pulsed melanoma-specific laser therapy mechanism. We have successfully achieved in vivo label-free imaging of rare single circulating melanoma cells in both arteries and veins of mice. Further, the photoacoustic signal from a circulating melanoma cell immediately hardware-triggers a lethal pinpoint laser irradiation to kill it on the spot in a thermally confined manner without causing collateral damage. A pseudo-therapy study including both in vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrated the performance and the potential clinical value of our method, which can facilitate early treatment of metastasis by clearing circulating tumor cells from vasculature.

Lipopolysaccharide Specific Immunochromatography Based Lateral Flow Assay for Serogroup Specific Diagnosis of Leptospirosis in India

PubMed Central

Vanithamani, Shanmugam; Shanmughapriya, Santhanam; Narayanan, Ramasamy; Raja, Veerapandian; Kanagavel, Murugesan; Sivasankari, Karikalacholan; Natarajaseenivasan, Kalimuthusamy

2015-01-01

Background Leptospirosis is a re-emerging infectious disease that is under-recognized due to low-sensitivity and cumbersome serological tests. MAT is the gold standard test and it is the only serogroup specific test used till date. Rapid reliable alternative serogroup specific tests are needed for surveillance studies to identify locally circulating serogroups in the study area. Methods/Principal Findings In the present investigation the serological specificity of leptospiral lipopolysaccharides (LPS) was evaluated by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), dot blot assay and rapid immunochromatography based lateral flow assay (ICG-LFA). Sera samples from 120 MAT positive cases, 174 cases with febrile illness other than leptospirosis, and 121 seronegative healthy controls were evaluated for the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the developed assays. LPS was extracted from five locally predominant circulating serogroups including: Australis (27.5%), Autumnalis (11.7%), Ballum (25.8%), Grippotyphosa (12.5%), Pomona (10%) and were used as antigens in the diagnostics to detect IgM antibodies in patients’ sera. The sensitivity observed by IgM ELISA and dot blot assay using various leptospiral LPS was >90% for homologous sera. Except for Ballum LPS, no other LPS showed cross-reactivity to heterologous sera. An attempt was made to develop LPS based ICG-LFA for rapid and sensitive serogroup specific diagnostics of leptospirosis. The developed ICG-LFA showed sensitivity in the range between 93 and 100% for homologous sera. The Wilcoxon analysis showed LPS based ICG-LFA did not differ significantly from the gold standard MAT (P>0.05). Conclusion The application of single array of LPS for serogroup specific diagnosis is first of its kind. The developed assay could potentially be evaluated and employed for as MAT alternative. PMID:26340095

General Circulation Model Simulations of the Annual Cycle of Martian Climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, R.; Richardson, M.; Rodin, A.

Observations of the martian atmosphere have revealed a strong annual modulation of global mean atmospheric temperature that has been attributed to the pronounced seasonal asymmetry in solar radiation and the highly variable distribution of aerosol. These observations indicate little interannual variability during the relatively cool aphelion season and considerable variability in the perihelion season that is associated with the episodic occurrence of regional and major dust storms. The atmospheric circulation responds to the evolving spatial distribution of aerosol-induced heating and, in turn, plays a major role in determining the sources, sinks, and transport of radiatively active aerosol. We will present simulations employing the GFDL Mars General Circulation Model (MGCM) that show that aspects of the seasonally evolving climate may be simulated in a self-consistent manner using simple dust source parameterizations that represent the effects of lifting associated with local dust storms, dust devil activity, and other processes. Aerosol transport is accomplished, in large part, by elements of the large-scale circulation such as the Hadley circulation, baroclinic storms, tides, etc. A seasonal cycle of atmospheric opacity and temperature results from the variation in the strength and distribution of dust sources as well as from seasonal variations in the efficiency of atmospheric transport associated with changes in the circulation between solstice and equinox, and between perihelion and aphelion. We examine the efficiency of atmospheric transport of dust lifted along the perimeter of the polar caps to gauge the influence of these storms on the global circulation. We also consider the influence of water, as the formation of water ice clouds on dust nuclei may also affect the vertical distribution of dust and strongly influence the aerosol radiative properties.

Optimisation of a parallel ocean general circulation model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beare, M. I.; Stevens, D. P.

1997-10-01

This paper presents the development of a general-purpose parallel ocean circulation model, for use on a wide range of computer platforms, from traditional scalar machines to workstation clusters and massively parallel processors. Parallelism is provided, as a modular option, via high-level message-passing routines, thus hiding the technical intricacies from the user. An initial implementation highlights that the parallel efficiency of the model is adversely affected by a number of factors, for which optimisations are discussed and implemented. The resulting ocean code is portable and, in particular, allows science to be achieved on local workstations that could otherwise only be undertaken on state-of-the-art supercomputers.

Themes on circulation in the third world.

PubMed

Chapman, M; Prothero, R M

1983-01-01

"This article focuses upon circulation, or reciprocal flows of people, with specific reference to Third World societies." Aspects considered include attempts to standardize terminology and to formulate typologies of population movement; the development of explanatory models of circulation and modernization, social networks, family welfare, and capitalism; and "the transfer of methods and concepts to societies and populations different from those from which they initially evolved and in which they were first tested." excerpt

Process-conditioned bias correction for seasonal forecasting: a case-study with ENSO in Peru

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manzanas, R.; Gutiérrez, J. M.

2018-05-01

This work assesses the suitability of a first simple attempt for process-conditioned bias correction in the context of seasonal forecasting. To do this, we focus on the northwestern part of Peru and bias correct 1- and 4-month lead seasonal predictions of boreal winter (DJF) precipitation from the ECMWF System4 forecasting system for the period 1981-2010. In order to include information about the underlying large-scale circulation which may help to discriminate between precipitation affected by different processes, we introduce here an empirical quantile-quantile mapping method which runs conditioned on the state of the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), which is accurately predicted by System4 and is known to affect the local climate. Beyond the reduction of model biases, our results show that the SOI-conditioned method yields better ROC skill scores and reliability than the raw model output over the entire region of study, whereas the standard unconditioned implementation provides no added value for any of these metrics. This suggests that conditioning the bias correction on simple but well-simulated large-scale processes relevant to the local climate may be a suitable approach for seasonal forecasting. Yet, further research on the suitability of the application of similar approaches to the one considered here for other regions, seasons and/or variables is needed.

Phase Locking between Atmospheric Convectively Coupled Equatorial Kelvin Waves and the Diurnal Cycle of Precipitation over the Maritime Continent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flatau, M. K.; Baranowski, D. B.; Flatau, P. J.; Matthews, A. J.

2016-12-01

Although the importance of the Maritime Continent to the global atmospheric circulation has been long recognized, many researchers have argued that scale separation prevents local processes, such as the local diurnal cycle of precipitation, from directly influencing global scale phenomena such as the variability of atmospheric circulation associated with the equatorial waves. In our study we show that in fact multiscale interactions, which link processes in local and global scales, may play a crucial role for propagation of the CCKWs, which along with the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) are the main eastward propagating component of intraseasonal variability. In our study, we show that not only do CCKWs bring excess amounts of precipitation to the Maritime Continent, but events which are phase locked with the local diurnal cycle of convection have a precipitation signal up to three times larger than average. That means that CCKWs are a primary candidate for extreme precipitation events over the densely populated areas of Indonesia and Malaysia. The complex terrain created by mixture of oceans and lands within the Maritime Continent is unique: the distance between the two main land masses at the equator (islands of Sumatra and Borneo) is approximately the same as the distance travelled by a CCKW in one day. Therefore a CCKW event that is synchronized with a local diurnal cycle over Sumatra is likely to be synchronized over Borneo as well. We find that CCKWs, which are in phase with the local diurnal cycle of precipitation over Sumatra, Borneo and surrounding seas, have a 40% larger chance to successfully cross the Maritime Continent than other CCKWs. That unique feature is a likely a clear example of a multiscale interaction within the region.

[HPLC method to determine DEHP released into blood from a disposable extracorporeal circulation tube].

PubMed

Liu, Xi; Yu, Jingjing; Li, Shen; Wang, Hong; Liu, Jiaxin

2013-08-01

We used blood as leaching medium, simulating clinical operation under maximum condition, to develop Liquid-phase extraction- High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) method for determination of plasticizer Di-(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) released from Disposable Extracorporeal Circulation Tube in order to lay the foundation of risk analysis of this product. The characteristic wavelength of DEHP in methanol was detected. Acetonitrile was added to the leaching blood in proportion and extracted DEHP from blood. The methodology for HPLC to quantify DEHP was established and the DEHP amount released from this disposable extracorporeal circulation tube was measured. The experiments showed good results as follows. The characteristic wavelength of DEHP was 272nm. The concentration of DEHP (5-250 microg/mL) kept good linear relationship with peak area (r=0.9999). Method sensitivity was 1 microg/mL. Precisions showed RSD<5%. The adding standard extraction Recovery Rates of 25, 100 and 250 microg DEHP standard were 61.91 +/- 3.32)%, (69.38 +/- 0.55)% and (68.47 +/- 1.15)%. The DEHP maximum amounts released from 3 sets of this disposable extracorporeal circulation tube were 204.14, 106.30 and 165.34 mg/set. Our Liquid-phase Extraction-HPLC method showed high accuracy and precision, and relatively stable recovery rate. Its operation was also convenient.

Fractures, Faults, and Hydrothermal Systems of Puna, Hawaii, and Montserrat, Lesser Antilles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kenedi, Catherine Lewis

The focus of this work is to use geologic and geophysical methods to better understand the faults and fracture systems at Puna, in southeastern Hawaii, and southern Montserrat, in the Lesser Antilles. The particular interest is understanding and locating the deep fracture networks that are necessary for fluid circulation in hydrothermal systems. The dissertation first presents a study in which identification of large scale faulting places Montserrat into a tectonic context. Then follow studies of Puna and Montserrat that focus on faults and fractures of the deep hydrothermal systems. The first chapter consists of the results of the SEA-CALIPSO experiment seismic reflection data, recorded on a 48 channel streamer with the active source as a 2600 in3 airgun. This chapter discusses volcaniclastic debris fans off the east coast of Montserrat and faults off the west coast. The work places Montserrat in a transtensional environment (influenced by oblique subduction) as well as in a complex local stress regime. One conclusion is that the stress regime is inconsistent with the larger arc due to the influence of local magmatism and stress. The second chapter is a seismic study of the Puna hydrothermal system (PHS) along the Kilauea Lower East Rift Zone. The PHS occurs at a left step in the rift, where a fracture network has been formed between fault segments. It is a productive geothermal field, extracting steam and reinjecting cooled, condensed fluids. A network of eight borehole seismometers recorded >6000 earthquakes. Most of the earthquakes are very small (< M.2), and shallow (1-3 km depth), likely the result of hydrothermal fluid reinjection. Deeper earthquakes occur along the rift as well as along the south-dipping fault plane that originates from the rift zone. Seismic methods applied to the PHS data set, after the initial recording, picking, and locating earthquakes, include a tomographic inversion of the P-wave first arrival data. This model indicates a high seismic velocity under the field that is thought to be an intrusion and the heat source of the hydrothermal system. A shear wave splitting study suggested the PHS fracture system is largely oriented rift-parallel with some orthogonal fractures. Shear wave splitting data also were used in a tomographic inversion for fracture density. The fracture density is high in the PHS, which indicates high permeability and potential for extensive fluid circulation. This has been confirmed by high fluid flow and energy generation. The high fracture density is consistent with the interpretation of a transfer zone between the rift segments where a fracture mesh would be expected. In Puna the transfer zone is a relay ramp. The results from the PHS are used as an example to examine the proposed hydrothermal system at St. George's Hill, Montserrat. In southern Montserrat, hot springs and fumaroles suggest a deep hydrothermal system heated by local magmatism. A magnetotelluric study obtained resistivity data that suggest focused alteration under southeastern Montserrat that is likely to be along fault segments. Several faults intersect under SGH, making it the probable center of the hydrothermal system. At Puna, and also Krafla, Iceland, where faults interact is an area of increased permeability, acting as a model to be applied to southern Montserrat. The conclusion is that in both Puna and Montserrat large faults interact to produce local areas of stress transfer that lead to fracturing and permeable networks; these networks allow for high-temperature hydrothermal circulation.

Possibilities of the method of irreversible electroporation in treatment of the local and widespread pancreatic cancer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anaskin, S. G.; Ivanov, Yu V.; Panchenkov, D. N.; Chertyuk, V. B.; Astakhov, D. A.; Nechunayev, A. A.; Geraskin, V. S.; Fedotova, T. Y.

2017-01-01

Methods of a local destruction of tumors didn’t find till today wide circulation in treatment of patients with formations of the pancreas (P). It is bound to features of blood supply, anatomical and histological structure of PZh, and also a large number of complications and a recurrence. The technique of the irreversible elektroporation (IE) represents a new unique method of not thermal ablyation at which impact on tissues is carried out by short electric impulses of high voltage (to 3 kV) that involves irreversible rising of permeability of cellular membranes and death of cells. The optimum mechanism of rising of permeability of a cellular membrane electric impulses concerning their frequency or repetitions is yet not up to the end clear; it is recognized that outcomes depend on amplitude, duration and number of impulses. Influence has to be synchronized with a cordial rhythm in order to avoid development of an arrhythmia. Existence at the patient of an arrhythmia and the artificial driver of a rhythm is contraindication to carrying out an elektroporation. We have experience of use of a technique for 18 patients with a locally-spread pancreatic cancer. It was succeeded to reflect the main advantages of a new technique in our experience, such as comparative simplicity of workmanship, safety for vascular and pro-current structures, the minimum impact on function of a pancreas. Efficiency of a destruction is proved to ultrasonic, computer and morphological researches in the postoperative period. The maximum term of observation made 19 months. Though exact indications to use of NE still accurately aren’t defined, the international experience and the first own data allow to state efficiency of new technology in palliative surgical treatment of perivascular tumors of a pancreas, and also its safety.

The RAPID method for blood processing yields new insight in plasma concentrations and molecular forms of circulating gut peptides.

PubMed

Stengel, Andreas; Keire, David; Goebel, Miriam; Evilevitch, Lena; Wiggins, Brian; Taché, Yvette; Reeve, Joseph R

2009-11-01

The correct identification of circulating molecular forms and measurement of peptide levels in blood entails that the endocrine peptide being studied is stable and recovered in good yields during blood processing. However, it is not clear whether this is achieved in studies using standard blood processing. Therefore, we compared peptide concentration and form of 12 (125)I-labeled peptides using the standard procedure (EDTA-blood on ice) and a new method employing Reduced temperatures, Acidification, Protease inhibition, Isotopic exogenous controls, and Dilution (RAPID). During standard processing there was at least 80% loss for calcitonin-gene-related peptide and cholecystokinin-58 (CCK-58) and more than 35% loss for amylin, insulin, peptide YY forms (PYY((1-36)) and PYY((3-36))), and somatostatin-28. In contrast, the RAPID method significantly improved the recovery for 11 of 12 peptides (P < 0.05) and eliminated the breakdown of endocrine peptides occurring after standard processing as reflected in radically changed molecular forms for CCK-58, gastrin-releasing peptide, somatostatin-28, and ghrelin. For endogenous ghrelin, this led to an acyl/total ghrelin ratio of 1:5 instead of 1:19 by the standard method. These results show that the RAPID method enables accurate assessment of circulating gut peptide concentrations and forms such as CCK-58, acylated ghrelin, and somatostatin-28. Therefore, the RAPID method represents an efficacious means to detect circulating variations in peptide concentrations and form relevant to the understanding of physiological function of endocrine peptides.

32 CFR 644.316 - Environmental considerations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Impact Statement (EIS) be prepared, circulated among interested Federal, State and local agencies, and... affects the quality of the human environment. This may include some disposals. No major disposal action... agency, until the required EIS has be submitted to the EPA unless a “Finding of No Significant Impact...

32 CFR 644.316 - Environmental considerations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Impact Statement (EIS) be prepared, circulated among interested Federal, State and local agencies, and... affects the quality of the human environment. This may include some disposals. No major disposal action... agency, until the required EIS has be submitted to the EPA unless a “Finding of No Significant Impact...

Have You Got What It Takes...And Are You Using All You Could?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dyer, Hilary

1994-01-01

Suggests ways of using personal computers in special libraries, including online searching; CD-ROM networks; reference work; current awareness services; press cuttings services; selective dissemination of information; local databases; object linking and embedding; cataloging; acquisitions; circulation; serials control; interlibrary loan; space…

Effect of neck warming and cooling on thermal comfort

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, B. A.; Chambers, A. B.

1972-01-01

The potential use of local neck cooling in an area superficial to the cerebral arteries was evaluated by circulating cold or hot water through two copper disks held firmly against the neck. Subjective responses indicated that neck cooling improves the thermal comfort in a hot environment.

Long-term trend in ground-based air temperature and its responses to atmospheric circulation and anthropogenic activity in the Yangtze River Delta, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Xia; She, Qiannan; Long, Lingbo; Liu, Min; Xu, Qian; Zhang, Jiaxin; Xiang, Weining

2017-10-01

The Yangtze River Delta (YRD), including Shanghai City, Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces, is the largest metropolitan region in China. In the past decades, the region has experienced massive urbanization and detrimentally affected the environment in the region. Identifying the spatio-temporal variations of climate change and its influencing mechanism in the YRD is an important task for assessing their impacts on the local society and ecosystem. Based on long-term (1958-2014) observation data of meteorological stations, three temperature indices, i.e. extreme maximum temperature (TXx), extreme minimum temperature (TNn), and mean temperature (TMm), were selected and spatialized with climatological calculations and spatial techniques. Evolution and spatial heterogeneity of three temperature indices over YRD as well as their links to atmospheric circulation and anthropogenic activity were investigated. In the whole YRD, a statistically significant overall uptrend could be detected in three temperature indices with the Mann-Kendall (M-K) trend test method. The linear increasing trend for TMm was 0.31 °C/10 a, which was higher than the global average (0.12 °C/10 a during 1951-2012). For TXx and TNn, the increasing rates were 0.41 °C/10 a and 0.52 °C/10 a. Partial correlation analysis indicated that TMm was more related with TXx (rp = 0.68, p < 0.001) than TNn (rp = 0.48, p < 0.001). Furthermore, it was detected with M-K analysis at pixel scale that 62.17%, 96.75% and 97.05% of the areas in the YRD showed significant increasing trends for TXx, TNn and TMm, respectively. The increasing trend was more obvious in the southern mountainous areas than the northern plains areas. Further analysis indicated that the variation of TXx over YRD was mainly influenced by anthropogenic activities (e.g. economic development), while TNn was more affected by atmospheric circulations (e.g., the Eurasian zonal circulation index (EAZ) and the cold air activity index (CA)). For TMm, it was a result of comprehensive effects of both atmospheric circulations and anthropogenic activities. On the whole, the northern plain areas was mainly dominated by atmospheric circulations, while the southern mountain areas of YRD was more affected by anthropogenic activities. The findings of this study might help to build a better understanding of the mechanics of temperature variations, and assess the potentially influencing factors on temperature changes.

The distribution of solar global radiation over Romania

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Badescu, V.

1990-01-01

This article shows the monthly distributions of solar global radiation over Romania. The results have been tested by the author under the climatic features of Romania. Meteorological data from 29 localities have been used in computations. The results show Romania has a solar potential higher than that of the world maps of solar radiation. It was pointed out that local radiation peculiarities, expressed as strong deviations from the law of latitudinal variation, are mainly determined by the atmospheric circulation features.

Methods of testing parameterizations: Vertical ocean mixing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tziperman, Eli

1992-01-01

The ocean's velocity field is characterized by an exceptional variety of scales. While the small-scale oceanic turbulence responsible for the vertical mixing in the ocean is of scales a few centimeters and smaller, the oceanic general circulation is characterized by horizontal scales of thousands of kilometers. In oceanic general circulation models that are typically run today, the vertical structure of the ocean is represented by a few tens of discrete grid points. Such models cannot explicitly model the small-scale mixing processes, and must, therefore, find ways to parameterize them in terms of the larger-scale fields. Finding a parameterization that is both reliable and plausible to use in ocean models is not a simple task. Vertical mixing in the ocean is the combined result of many complex processes, and, in fact, mixing is one of the less known and less understood aspects of the oceanic circulation. In present models of the oceanic circulation, the many complex processes responsible for vertical mixing are often parameterized in an oversimplified manner. Yet, finding an adequate parameterization of vertical ocean mixing is crucial to the successful application of ocean models to climate studies. The results of general circulation models for quantities that are of particular interest to climate studies, such as the meridional heat flux carried by the ocean, are quite sensitive to the strength of the vertical mixing. We try to examine the difficulties in choosing an appropriate vertical mixing parameterization, and the methods that are available for validating different parameterizations by comparing model results to oceanographic data. First, some of the physical processes responsible for vertically mixing the ocean are briefly mentioned, and some possible approaches to the parameterization of these processes in oceanographic general circulation models are described in the following section. We then discuss the role of the vertical mixing in the physics of the large-scale ocean circulation, and examine methods of validating mixing parameterizations using large-scale ocean models.

Circulation, Water Temperature, and Larval Settlement Over the Inner Continental Shelves of the Santa Barbara Channel, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fewings, M. R.; Washburn, L.; Ohlmann, C.; Blanchette, C.; Caselle, J.; Gotschalk, C.

2008-12-01

We use seven-year time series of wind stress, water velocity, and temperature in 15-18 m water depth to describe the circulation and water temperature over the inner continental shelves of the Channel Islands and California mainland in the Santa Barbara Basin. This area is strongly influenced by the California Current upwelling system. In turn, the water circulation in the Santa Barbara Basin influences the local marine ecosystem by affecting the water temperature and the supply of nutrients and larval fish and invertebrates. Larvae and nutrients traveling from the coast to the open ocean and back again must somehow pass through the inner shelf. The water circulation over the inner continental shelf of the Northern Channel Islands has not been described. Due to the shallowness of the water, an inner shelf has different physical dynamics than either the surfzone or the middle and outer continental shelf. We discuss the relative importance of upwelling- favorable along-shelf winds and of cross-shelf winds as forcing mechanisms for coastal upwelling circulations over the inner shelf; test whether the cross-shelf wind stress and surface gravity waves are important for cross-shelf circulation in the Santa Barbara Basin; and describe the subtidal patterns of water temperature, stratification, and velocity around the Channel Islands and their relation to observed larval settlement patterns. Cross-shelf circulation and the movement of water masses into and out of the Basin have implications for settlement and recruitment of many coastal species, including the economically important kelp rockfish, kelp bass, and sea urchin. Understanding the circulation of the Santa Barbara Basin and its inner shelves is a precursor to determining the source locations of the planktonic larvae. That information on source locations is essential for the design, siting, and assessment of existing and future marine protected areas in California and elsewhere.

Global standards and local knowledge building: Upgrading small producers in developing countries

PubMed Central

Perez-Aleman, Paola

2012-01-01

Local knowledge building is a crucial factor for upgrading small producers and improving their market competitiveness and livelihoods. The rise of global standards affecting food safety and environmental sustainability in agriculture sparks debates on the impact on smallholders in developing countries. This article presents a perspective on the links of international standards to knowledge and institution building for developing the capabilities of small producers. Interacting with global practices, indigenous private and public actors create local institutions to develop capabilities for product and process innovations that contribute to economic development and enhance food security. Local innovation depends on collective strategic efforts through increasing networks among small producers and other organizations, including firms, nongovernmental organizations, and government, that foster knowledge circulation and bring diverse resources and support to build local capabilities. PMID:21670309

Global standards and local knowledge building: upgrading small producers in developing countries.

PubMed

Perez-Aleman, Paola

2012-07-31

Local knowledge building is a crucial factor for upgrading small producers and improving their market competitiveness and livelihoods. The rise of global standards affecting food safety and environmental sustainability in agriculture sparks debates on the impact on smallholders in developing countries. This article presents a perspective on the links of international standards to knowledge and institution building for developing the capabilities of small producers. Interacting with global practices, indigenous private and public actors create local institutions to develop capabilities for product and process innovations that contribute to economic development and enhance food security. Local innovation depends on collective strategic efforts through increasing networks among small producers and other organizations, including firms, nongovernmental organizations, and government, that foster knowledge circulation and bring diverse resources and support to build local capabilities.

Circulating Microvesicles from Pancreatic Cancer Accelerate the Migration and Proliferation of PANC-1 Cells.

PubMed

An, Mingrui; Zhu, Jianhui; Wu, Jing; Cuneo, Kyle C; Lubman, David M

2018-04-06

Circulating microvesicles are able to mediate long-distance cell-cell communications. It is essential to understand how microvesicles from pancreatic cancer act on other cells in the body. In this work, serum-derived microvesicles were isolated from 10 patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer and healthy controls. Using Cell Transwell and WST-1 reagents, we found that microvesicles from pancreatic cancer accelerated migration and proliferation of PANC-1 cells. Meanwhile, the proliferation of these cancer-microvesicle-treated cells (CMTCs) was affected less by 10 μM of gemcitabine relative to healthy microvesicle-treated cells (HMTCs). Next, we optimized the filter-aided sample preparation method to increase the recovery of protein samples and then applied it to the quantification of the proteome of CMTCs and HMTCs. The peptides were labeled and analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. In total, 4102 proteins were identified, where 35 proteins were up-regulated with 27 down-regulated in CMTCs. We verified the quantitative results of three key proteins CD44, PPP2R1A, and TP53 by Western blot. The Ingenuity Pathway Analysis revealed pathways that cancer microvesicles might participate in to promote cell migration and proliferation. These findings may provide novel clues of treatment for tumorigenesis and metastasis.

Internal tides and vertical mixing over the Kerguelen Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Young-Hyang; Fuda, Jean-Luc; Durand, Isabelle; Naveira Garabato, Alberto C.

2008-03-01

Within the context of the natural iron-fertilization study KEOPS, time series measurements of CTD and LADCP profiles at a site (50.6°S, 72°E; 528 m) coinciding with an annual phytoplankton bloom over the Kerguelen Plateau were made during the January-February 2005 KEOPS cruise. An important activity of highly nonlinear semidiurnal internal tides having peak-to-peak isopycnal displacements of up to 80 m is identified. These internal tides appear to be a principal agent for promoting elevated vertical mixing indispensable for upward transfer of iron within the seasonal thermocline. We estimate local vertical eddy diffusivities of the order of 4×10 -4 m 2 s -1 using a Thorpe scale analysis. Although this estimate is higher by an order of magnitude than the canonical value O (0.1×10 -4 m 2 s -1) in the open ocean away from boundaries, it is consistent with nonlinear internal wave/wave interaction theories, as verified by independent diffusivity estimates using the vertical wavenumber spectral methods for shear and strain. It is also suggested that the general ocean circulation may play an important role in preconditioning the bloom in that the relatively sluggish circulation over the shallow plateau (compared to the much more dynamic neighbouring deep ocean) may foster the bloom's observed annual recurrence over the plateau.

Calibrating the ECCO ocean general circulation model using Green's functions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Menemenlis, D.; Fu, L. L.; Lee, T.; Fukumori, I.

2002-01-01

Green's functions provide a simple, yet effective, method to test and calibrate General-Circulation-Model(GCM) parameterizations, to study and quantify model and data errors, to correct model biases and trends, and to blend estimates from different solutions and data products.

DEMONSTRATION BULLETIN: CIRCULATING BED COMBUSTOR - OGDEN ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES, INC.

EPA Science Inventory

An evaluation of the Ogden Environmental Services (OES) circulating bed combustor (CBC) technology was carried out under the superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program to determine its applicabilitY as an on-site treatment method for waste site cleanups, and more s...

FIELD EVALUATION OF DIPOLE METHOD TO MEASURE AQUIFER ANISOTROPY

EPA Science Inventory

The ultimate size of a three-dimensional groundwater circulation cell surrounding a vertical circulation well (VCW) is a strong function of the aquifer hydraulic anisotropy, the ratio of the hydraulic conductivity in the horizontal direction to that in the vertical direction. In ...

FIELD APPLICATION OF DIPOLE METHOD TO MEASURE AQUIFER ANISOTROPHY

EPA Science Inventory

The ultimate size of a three-dimensional groundwater circulation cell surrounding a vertical circulation well (VCW) is a strong function of the aquifer hydraulic anisotrophy, the ratio of the hydraulic conductivity in the horizontal direction to that in the vertical direction. In...

Saline water in the Little Arkansas River Basin area, south-central Kansas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Leonard, Robert B.; Kleinschmidt, Melvin K.

1976-01-01

Ground water in unconsolidated deposits of Pleistocene age in part of the Little Arkansas River basin has been polluted by the influx of saline water. The source of the saline water generally is oil-field brine that leaked from disposal ponds on the land surface. Locally, pollution by saline water also has been caused by upwelling of oil-field brine injected under pressure into the "lost-circulation zone" of the Lower Permian Wellington Formation and, possibly, by leakage of brine from corroded or improperly cased disposal wells. Anomalously high concentrations of chloride ion in some reaches of the Little Arkansas River probably can be attributed to pollution by municipal wastes rather than from inflow of saline ground water. Hydraulic connection exists between the "lost-circulation zone" and unconsolidated deposits, as evidenced by the continuing development of sinkholes, by the continuing discharge of saline water through springs and seeps along the Arkansas River south of the Little Arkansas River basin and by changes in the chloride concentration in water pumped from wells in the "lost-circulation zone." The hydraulic head in the "lost-circulation zone" is below the base of the unconsolidated deposits, and much below the potentiometric surface of the aquifer in those deposits. Any movement of water, therefore, would be downward from the "fresh-water" aquifer to the saline "lost-circulation zone."

Experimental Investigation of Natural-Circulation Flow Behavior Under Low-Power/Low-Pressure Conditions in the Large-Scale PANDA Facility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Auban, Olivier; Paladino, Domenico; Zboray, Robert

2004-12-15

Twenty-five tests have been carried out in the large-scale thermal-hydraulic facility PANDA to investigate natural-circulation and stability behavior under low-pressure/low-power conditions, when void flashing might play an important role. This work, which extends the current experimental database to a large geometric scale, is of interest notably with regard to the start-up procedures in natural-circulation-cooled boiling water reactors. It should help the understanding of the physical phenomena that may cause flow instability in such conditions and can be used for validation of thermal-hydraulics system codes. The tests were performed at a constant power, balanced by a specific condenser heat removal capacity.more » The test matrix allowed the reactor pressure vessel power and pressure to be varied, as well as other parameters influencing the natural-circulation flow. The power spectra of flow oscillations showed in a few tests a major and unique resonance peak, and decay ratios between 0.5 and 0.9 have been found. The remainder of the tests showed an even more pronounced stable behavior. A classification of the tests is presented according to the circulation modes (from single-phase to two-phase flow) that could be assumed and particularly to the importance and the localization of the flashing phenomenon.« less

A time-dependent, three-dimensional model of the Delaware Bay and River system. Part 2: Three-dimensional flow fields and residual circulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galperin, Boris; Mellor, George L.

1990-09-01

The three-dimensional model of Delaware Bay, River and adjacent continental shelf was described in Part 1. Here, Part 2 of this two-part paper demonstrates that the model is capable of realistic simulation of current and salinity distributions, tidal cycle variability, events of strong mixing caused by high winds and rapid salinity changes due to high river runoff. The 25-h average subtidal circulation strongly depends on the wind forcing. Monthly residual currents and salinity distributions demonstrate a classical two-layer estuarine circulation wherein relatively low salinity water flows out at the surface and compensating high salinity water from the shelf flows at the bottom. The salinity intrusion is most vigorous along deep channels in the Bay. Winds can generate salinity fronts inside and outside the Bay and enhance or weaken the two-layer circulation pattern. Since the portion of the continental shelf included in the model is limited, the model shelf circulation is locally wind-driven and excludes such effects as coastally trapped waves and interaction with Gulf Stream rings; nevertheless, a significant portion of the coastal elevation variability is hindcast by the model. Also, inclusion of the shelf improves simulation of salinity inside the Bay compared with simulations where the salinity boundary condition is specified at the mouth of the Bay.

Airway and Pulmonary β2-Adrenergic Vasodilatory Function in Current Smokers and Never Smokers.

PubMed

Hurwitz, Barry E; Mendes, Eliana S; Schmid, Andreas; Parker, Meela; Arana, Johana; Gonzalez, Alex; Wanner, Adam

2017-03-01

Cigarette smoking has been associated with diminished vasodilatory function in the airway circulation. It is possible that cigarette smoking similarly affects the pulmonary circulation before resting pulmonary circulatory abnormalities become manifested. The aim of this study was to compare the acute effect of inhaled albuterol on airway and pulmonary hemodynamic function as an index of β 2 -adrenoceptor-mediated vasodilation in smokers and never smokers. In 30 adults, airway and pulmonary vascular function was assessed before and 15 min after albuterol inhalation (270 μg). From mean systemic arterial pressure, cardiac output, airway blood flow, and mean pulmonary arterial pressure, airway vascular resistance (AVR) and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) were derived. Albuterol induced a substantial drop in mean (± SE) PVR (-67.2% ± 5%), with no difference between groups. In contrast, the albuterol-induced decrease in AVR was significantly greater in never smokers than in smokers (-28.6% ± 3% vs -3.1% ± 6%; P < .02). These results are consistent with a dysfunction in a β 2 -adrenergic signaling pathway mediating vasorelaxation in the airway circulation of current smokers. The vasodilatory deficit in the airway circulation but not in the pulmonary circulation could be related to local differences in the impact of cigarette smoke on the vascular endothelium. Copyright © 2016 American College of Chest Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Role of circulation in European heatwaves using flow analogues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jézéquel, Aglaé; Yiou, Pascal; Radanovics, Sabine

2018-02-01

The intensity of European heatwaves is connected to specific synoptic atmospheric circulation. Given the relatively small number of observations, estimates of the connection between the circulation and temperature require ad hoc statistical methods. This can be achieved through the use of analogue methods, which allow to determine a distribution of temperature conditioned to the circulation. The computation of analogues depends on a few parameters. In this article, we evaluate the influence of the variable representing the circulation, the size of the domain of computation, the length of the dataset, and the number of analogues on the reconstituted temperature anomalies. We tested the sensitivity of the reconstitution of temperature to these parameters for four emblematic recent heatwaves: June 2003, August 2003, July 2006 and July 2015. The paper provides general guidelines for the use of flow analogues to investigate European summer heatwaves. We found that Z500 is better suited than SLP to simulate temperature anomalies, and that rather small domains lead to better reconstitutions. The dataset length has an important influence on the uncertainty. We conclude by a set of recommendations for an optimal use of analogues to probe European heatwaves.

Do circulating tumor cells, exosomes, and circulating tumor nucleic acids have clinical utility? A report of the association for molecular pathology.

PubMed

Gold, Bert; Cankovic, Milena; Furtado, Larissa V; Meier, Frederick; Gocke, Christopher D

2015-05-01

Diagnosing and screening for tumors through noninvasive means represent an important paradigm shift in precision medicine. In contrast to tissue biopsy, detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating tumor nucleic acids provides a minimally invasive method for predictive and prognostic marker detection. This allows early and serial assessment of metastatic disease, including follow-up during remission, characterization of treatment effects, and clonal evolution. Isolation and characterization of CTCs and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) are likely to improve cancer diagnosis, treatment, and minimal residual disease monitoring. However, more trials are required to validate the clinical utility of precise molecular markers for a variety of tumor types. This review focuses on the clinical utility of CTCs and ctDNA testing in patients with solid tumors, including somatic and epigenetic alterations that can be detected. A comparison of methods used to isolate and detect CTCs and some of the intricacies of the characterization of the ctDNA are also provided. Copyright © 2015 American Society for Investigative Pathology and the Association for Molecular Pathology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Numerical Investigation of the Middle Atlantic Bight Shelfbreak Frontal Circulation Using a High-Resolution Ocean Hindcast Model

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-05-01

circulation from December 2003 to June 2008 . The model is driven by tidal harmonics, realistic atmospheric forcing, and dynamically consistent initial and open...important element of the regional circulation (He and Wilkin 2006). We applied the method of Mellor and Yamada (1982) to compute vertical turbulent...shelfbreak ROMS hindcast ran continuously from December 2003 through January 2008 . Initial conditions were taken from the MABGOM ROMS simulation on 1

Patterns of bleaching and mortality following widespread warming events in 2014 and 2015 at the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, Hawai'i.

PubMed

Rodgers, Ku'ulei S; Bahr, Keisha D; Jokiel, Paul L; Richards Donà, Angela

2017-01-01

Drastic increases in global carbon emissions in the past century have led to elevated sea surface temperatures that negatively affect coral reef organisms. Worldwide coral bleaching-related mortality is increasing and data has shown even isolated and protected reefs are vulnerable to the effects of global climate change. In 2014 and 2015, coral reefs in the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) suffered up to 90% bleaching, with higher than 50% subsequent mortality in some areas. The location and severity of bleaching and mortality was strongly influenced by the spatial and temporal patterns of elevated seawater temperatures. The main objective of this research was to understand the spatial extent of bleaching mortality in Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve (HBNP), O'ahu, Hawai'i to gain a baseline understanding of the physical processes that influence localized bleaching dynamics. Surveys at HBNP in October 2015 and January 2016 revealed extensive bleaching (47%) and high levels of coral mortality (9.8%). Bleaching was highly variable among the four HBNP sectors and ranged from a low of ∼31% in the central bay at Channel (CH) to a high of 57% in the area most frequented by visitors (Keyhole; KH). The highest levels of bleaching occurred in two sectors with different circulation patterns: KH experienced comparatively low circulation velocity and a low temperature increase while Witches Brew (WB) and Backdoors (BD) experienced higher circulation velocity and higher temperature increase. Cumulative mortality was highest at WB (5.0%) and at BD (2.9%) although WB circulation velocity is significantly higher. HBNP is minimally impacted by local factors that can lead to decline such as high fishing pressure or sedimentation although human use is high. Despite the lack of these influences, high coral mortality occurred. Visitor impacts are strikingly different in the two sectors that experienced the highest mortality evidenced by the differences in coral cover associated with visitor use however, coral mortality was similar. These results suggest that elevated temperature was more influential in coral bleaching and the associated mortality than high circulation or visitor use.

Circulating and intraprostatic sex steroid hormonal profiles in relation to male pattern baldness and chest hair density among men diagnosed with localized prostate cancers.

PubMed

Zhou, Cindy Ke; Stanczyk, Frank Z; Hafi, Muhannad; Veneroso, Carmela C; Lynch, Barlow; Falk, Roni T; Niwa, Shelley; Emanuel, Eric; Gao, Yu-Tang; Hemstreet, George P; Zolfghari, Ladan; Carroll, Peter R; Manyak, Michael J; Sesterhenn, Isabell A; Levine, Paul H; Hsing, Ann W; Cook, Michael B

2017-12-01

Prospective cohort studies of circulating sex steroid hormones and prostate cancer risk have not provided a consistent association, despite evidence from animal and clinical studies. However, studies using male pattern baldness as a proxy of early-life or cumulative androgen exposure have reported significant associations with aggressive and fatal prostate cancer risk. Given that androgens underlie the development of patterned hair loss and chest hair, we assessed whether these two dermatological characteristics were associated with circulating and intraprostatic concentrations of sex steroid hormones among men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer. We included 248 prostate cancer patients from the NCI Prostate Tissue Study, who answered surveys and provided a pre-treatment blood sample as well as fresh frozen adjacent normal prostate tissue. Male pattern baldness and chest hair density were assessed by trained nurses before surgery. General linear models estimated geometric means and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) of each hormone variable by dermatological phenotype with adjustment for potential confounding variables. Subgroup analyses were performed by Gleason score (<7 vs ≥7) and race (European American vs. African American). We found strong positive associations of balding status with serum testosterone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), estradiol, and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), and a weak association with elevated intraprostatic testosterone. Conversely, neither circulating nor intraprostatic sex hormones were statistically significantly associated with chest hair density. Age-adjusted correlation between binary balding status and three-level chest hair density was weak (r = 0.05). There was little evidence to suggest that Gleason score or race modified these associations. This study provides evidence that balding status assessed at a mean age of 60 years may serve as a clinical marker for circulating sex hormone concentrations. The weak-to-null associations between balding status and intraprostatic sex hormones reaffirm differences in organ-specific sex hormone metabolism, implying that other sex steroid hormone-related factors (eg, androgen receptor) play important roles in organ-specific androgenic actions, and that other overlapping pathways may be involved in associations between the two complex conditions. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Patterns of bleaching and mortality following widespread warming events in 2014 and 2015 at the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, Hawai‘i

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Drastic increases in global carbon emissions in the past century have led to elevated sea surface temperatures that negatively affect coral reef organisms. Worldwide coral bleaching-related mortality is increasing and data has shown even isolated and protected reefs are vulnerable to the effects of global climate change. In 2014 and 2015, coral reefs in the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) suffered up to 90% bleaching, with higher than 50% subsequent mortality in some areas. The location and severity of bleaching and mortality was strongly influenced by the spatial and temporal patterns of elevated seawater temperatures. The main objective of this research was to understand the spatial extent of bleaching mortality in Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve (HBNP), O‘ahu, Hawai‘i to gain a baseline understanding of the physical processes that influence localized bleaching dynamics. Surveys at HBNP in October 2015 and January 2016 revealed extensive bleaching (47%) and high levels of coral mortality (9.8%). Bleaching was highly variable among the four HBNP sectors and ranged from a low of ∼31% in the central bay at Channel (CH) to a high of 57% in the area most frequented by visitors (Keyhole; KH). The highest levels of bleaching occurred in two sectors with different circulation patterns: KH experienced comparatively low circulation velocity and a low temperature increase while Witches Brew (WB) and Backdoors (BD) experienced higher circulation velocity and higher temperature increase. Cumulative mortality was highest at WB (5.0%) and at BD (2.9%) although WB circulation velocity is significantly higher. HBNP is minimally impacted by local factors that can lead to decline such as high fishing pressure or sedimentation although human use is high. Despite the lack of these influences, high coral mortality occurred. Visitor impacts are strikingly different in the two sectors that experienced the highest mortality evidenced by the differences in coral cover associated with visitor use however, coral mortality was similar. These results suggest that elevated temperature was more influential in coral bleaching and the associated mortality than high circulation or visitor use. PMID:28584703

Effects of endurance exercise training on inflammatory circulating progenitor cell content in lean and obese adults.

PubMed

Niemiro, Grace M; Allen, Jacob M; Mailing, Lucy J; Khan, Naiman A; Holscher, Hannah D; Woods, Jeffrey A; De Lisio, Michael

2018-06-19

Chronic inflammation underlies many of the health decrements associated with obesity. Circulating progenitor cells can sense and respond to inflammatory stimuli, increasing the local inflammatory response within tissues. Here we show that 6 weeks of endurance exercise training significantly decreases inflammatory circulating progenitor cells in obese adults. These findings provide novel cellular mechanisms for the beneficial effects of exercise in obese adults. Circulating progenitor cells (CPCs) and subpopulations are normally found in the bone marrow, but can migrate to peripheral tissues to participate in local inflammation and/or remodelling. The purpose of this study was to compare the CPC response, particularly the inflammatory-primed haematopoietic stem and progenitor (HSPC) subpopulation, to a 6 week endurance exercise training (EET) intervention between lean and obese adults. Seventeen healthy weight (age: 23.9 ± 5.4 years, body mass index (BMI): 22.0 ± 2.6 kg m -2 ) and 10 obese (age: 29.0 ± 8.0 years, BMI: 33.1 ± 6.0 kg m -2 ) previously sedentary adults participated in an EET. Blood was collected before and after EET for quantification of CPCs and subpopulations via flow cytometry, colony forming unit assays and plasma concentrations of C-X-C motif chemokine 12 (CXCL12), granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), and chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2). Exercise training reduced the number of circulating HSPCs and adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs). EET increased the colony forming potential of granulocytes and macrophages irrespective of BMI. EET reduced the number of HSPCs expressing the chemokine receptor CCR2 and the pro-inflammatory marker TLR4. EET-induced changes in adipose tissue-derived MSCs and bone marrow-derived MSCs were negatively related to changes in absolute fitness. Our results indicate that EET, regardless of BMI status, decreases CPCs and subpopulations, particularly those primed for contribution to tissue inflammation. © 2018 The Authors. The Journal of Physiology © 2018 The Physiological Society.

Label-free detection of circulating melanoma cells by in vivo photoacoustic flow cytometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xiaoling; Yang, Ping; Liu, Rongrong; Niu, Zhenyu; Suo, Yuanzhen; He, Hao; Gao, Wenyuan; Tang, Shuo; Wei, Xunbin

2016-03-01

Melanoma is a malignant tumor of melanocytes. Melanoma cells have high light absorption due to melanin highly contained in melanoma cells. This property is employed for the detection of circulating melanoma cell by in vivo photoacoustic flow cytometry (PAFC), which is based on photoacoustic effect. Compared to in vivo flow cytometry based on fluorescence, PAFC can employ high melanin content of melanoma cells as endogenous biomarkers to detect circulating melanoma cells in vivo. We have developed in vitro experiments to prove the ability of PAFC system of detecting photoacoustic signals from melanoma cells. For in vivo experiments, we have constructed a model of melanoma tumor bearing mice by inoculating highly metastatic murine melanoma cancer cells, B16F10 with subcutaneous injection. PA signals are detected in the blood vessels of mouse ears in vivo. The raw signal detected from target cells often contains some noise caused by electronic devices, such as background noise and thermal noise. We choose the Wavelet denoising method to effectively distinguish the target signal from background noise. Processing in time domain and frequency domain would be combined to analyze the signal after denoising. This algorithm contains time domain filter and frequency transformation. The frequency spectrum image of the signal contains distinctive features that can be used to analyze the property of target cells or particles. The processing methods have a great potential for analyzing signals accurately and rapidly. By counting circulating melanoma cells termly, we obtain the number variation of circulating melanoma cells as melanoma metastasized. Those results show that PAFC is a noninvasive and label-free method to detect melanoma metastases in blood or lymph circulation.

General Anesthesia Inhibits the Activity of the “Glymphatic System”

PubMed Central

Gakuba, Clement; Gaberel, Thomas; Goursaud, Suzanne; Bourges, Jennifer; Di Palma, Camille; Quenault, Aurélien; Martinez de Lizarrondo, Sara; Vivien, Denis; Gauberti, Maxime

2018-01-01

INTRODUCTION: According to the “glymphatic system” hypothesis, brain waste clearance is mediated by a continuous replacement of the interstitial milieu by a bulk flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Previous reports suggested that this cerebral CSF circulation is only active during general anesthesia or sleep, an effect mediated by the dilatation of the extracellular space. Given the controversies regarding the plausibility of this phenomenon and the limitations of currently available methods to image the glymphatic system, we developed original whole-brain in vivo imaging methods to investigate the effects of general anesthesia on the brain CSF circulation. METHODS: We used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and near-infrared fluorescence imaging (NIRF) after injection of a paramagnetic contrast agent or a fluorescent dye in the cisterna magna, in order to investigate the impact of general anesthesia (isoflurane, ketamine or ketamine/xylazine) on the intracranial CSF circulation in mice. RESULTS: In vivo imaging allowed us to image CSF flow in awake and anesthetized mice and confirmed the existence of a brain-wide CSF circulation. Contrary to what was initially thought, we demonstrated that the parenchymal CSF circulation is mainly active during wakefulness and significantly impaired during general anesthesia. This effect was especially significant when high doses of anesthetic agent were used (3% isoflurane). These results were consistent across the different anesthesia regimens and imaging modalities. Moreover, we failed to detect a significant change in the brain extracellular water volume using diffusion weighted imaging in awake and anesthetized mice. CONCLUSION: The parenchymal diffusion of small molecular weight compounds from the CSF is active during wakefulness. General anesthesia has a negative impact on the intracranial CSF circulation, especially when using a high dose of anesthetic agent. PMID:29344300

General Anesthesia Inhibits the Activity of the "Glymphatic System".

PubMed

Gakuba, Clement; Gaberel, Thomas; Goursaud, Suzanne; Bourges, Jennifer; Di Palma, Camille; Quenault, Aurélien; de Lizarrondo, Sara Martinez; Vivien, Denis; Gauberti, Maxime

2018-01-01

INTRODUCTION: According to the "glymphatic system" hypothesis, brain waste clearance is mediated by a continuous replacement of the interstitial milieu by a bulk flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Previous reports suggested that this cerebral CSF circulation is only active during general anesthesia or sleep, an effect mediated by the dilatation of the extracellular space. Given the controversies regarding the plausibility of this phenomenon and the limitations of currently available methods to image the glymphatic system, we developed original whole-brain in vivo imaging methods to investigate the effects of general anesthesia on the brain CSF circulation. METHODS: We used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and near-infrared fluorescence imaging (NIRF) after injection of a paramagnetic contrast agent or a fluorescent dye in the cisterna magna, in order to investigate the impact of general anesthesia (isoflurane, ketamine or ketamine/xylazine) on the intracranial CSF circulation in mice. RESULTS: In vivo imaging allowed us to image CSF flow in awake and anesthetized mice and confirmed the existence of a brain-wide CSF circulation. Contrary to what was initially thought, we demonstrated that the parenchymal CSF circulation is mainly active during wakefulness and significantly impaired during general anesthesia. This effect was especially significant when high doses of anesthetic agent were used (3% isoflurane). These results were consistent across the different anesthesia regimens and imaging modalities. Moreover, we failed to detect a significant change in the brain extracellular water volume using diffusion weighted imaging in awake and anesthetized mice. CONCLUSION: The parenchymal diffusion of small molecular weight compounds from the CSF is active during wakefulness. General anesthesia has a negative impact on the intracranial CSF circulation, especially when using a high dose of anesthetic agent.

Pathways and Hydrography in the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System Part 1: Circulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carrillo, L.; Johns, E. M.; Smith, R. H.; Lamkin, J. T.; Largier, J. L.

2015-10-01

Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) measurements and surface drifters released from two oceanographic cruises conducted during March 2006 and January/February 2007 are used to investigate the circulation off the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS). We show that the MBRS circulation can be divided into two distinct regimes, a northern region dominated by the strong, northward-flowing Yucatan Current, and a southern region with weaker southward coastal currents and the presence of the Honduras Gyre. The latitude of impingement of the Cayman Current onto the coastline varies with time, and creates a third region, which acts as a boundary between the northern and southern circulation regimes. This circulation pattern yields two zones in terms of dispersal, with planktonic propagules in the northern region being rapidly exported to the north, whereas plankton in the southern and impingement regions may be retained locally or regionally. The latitude of the impingement region shifts interannually and intra-annually up to 3° in latitude. Sub-mesoscale features are observed in association with topography, e.g., flow bifurcation around Cozumel Island, flow wake north of Chinchorro Bank and separation of flow from the coast just north of Bahia de la Ascencion. This third feature is evident as cyclonic recirculation in coastal waters, which we call the Ascencion-Cozumel Coastal Eddy. An understanding of the implications of these different circulation regimes on water mass distributions, population connectivity, and the fate of land-based pollutants in the MBRS is critically important to better inform science-based resource management and conservation plans for the MBRS coral reefs.

Circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses: current state of knowledge.

PubMed Central

Kew, Olen M.; Wright, Peter F.; Agol, Vadim I.; Delpeyroux, Francis; Shimizu, Hiroyuki; Nathanson, Neal; Pallansch, Mark A.

2004-01-01

Within the past 4 years, poliomyelitis outbreaks associated with circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPVs) have occurred in Hispaniola (2000-01), the Philippines (2001), and Madagascar (2001-02). Retrospective studies have also detected the circulation of endemic cVDPV in Egypt (1988-93) and the likely localized spread of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV)-derived virus in Belarus (1965-66). Gaps in OPV coverage and the previous eradication of the corresponding serotype of indigenous wild poliovirus were the critical risk factors for all cVDPV outbreaks. The cVDPV outbreaks were stopped by mass immunization campaigns using OPV. To increase sensitivity for detecting vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPVs), in 2001 the Global Polio Laboratory Network implemented additional testing requirements for all poliovirus isolates under investigation. This approach quickly led to the recognition of the Philippines and Madagascar cVDPV outbreaks, but of no other current outbreaks. The potential risk of cVDPV emergence has increased dramatically in recent years as wild poliovirus circulation has ceased in most of the world. The risk appears highest for the type 2 OPV strain because of its greater tendency to spread to contacts. The emergence of cVDPVs underscores the critical importance of eliminating the last pockets of wild poliovirus circulation, maintaining universally high levels of polio vaccine coverage, stopping OPV use as soon as it is safely possible to do so, and continuing sensitive poliovirus surveillance into the foreseeable future. Particular attention must be given to areas where the risks for wild poliovirus circulation have been highest, and where the highest rates of polio vaccine coverage must be maintained to suppress cVDPV emergence. PMID:15106296

Bering Sea Nd isotope records of North Pacific Intermediate Water circulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rabbat, C.; Knudson, K. P.; Goldstein, S. L.

2017-12-01

North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) is the primary water mass associated with Pacific meridional overturning circulation. While the relationship between Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and climate has been extensively studied, a lack of suitable sediment cores has limited past investigations of North Pacific climate and NPIW variability. Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Site U1342 (818 m water depth) on Bower's Ridge in the Bering Sea is located at a sensitive depth for detecting changes in NPIW, and it is the only available sub-arctic North Pacific site that offers long, continuous core recovery, relatively high sedimentation rates, excellent foraminifera preservation, and a well-constrained age model over multiple glacial-interglacial cycles. Previous work at Site U1342 from Knudson and Ravelo (2015), using non-quantitative circulation proxies, provides evidence for enhanced NPIW formation during extreme glacials associated with the closure of the Bering Strait and suggest that NPIW was formed locally within the Bering Sea. Our work builds on the potential importance of these results and applies more robust and potentially quantitative circulation proxies to constrain NPIW variability. Here, we present new records of NPIW circulation from Site U1342 based on Nd isotope analyses on fish debris and Fe-Mn encrusted foraminifera, which serve as semi-quantitative "water mass tracers." Weak Bering Sea NPIW formation and ventilation are reflected by relatively lower eNd values indicative of open subarctic North Pacific waters, which are presently predominant, whereas enhanced Bering Sea NPIW formation and ventilation are be reflected by relatively higher eNd values due to the input of Nd from regional volcanic rocks.

Sentinel site-enhanced near-real time surveillance documenting West Nile virus circulation in two Culex mosquito species indicating different transmission characteristics, Djibouti City, Djibouti.

PubMed

Faulde, Michael K; Spiesberger, Michael; Abbas, Babiker

2012-08-01

The Horn of Africa represents a region formerly known to be highly susceptible to mosquito-borne infectious diseases. In order to investigate whether autochthonous WNV transmission occurs in the Djibouti City area, in how far, and which of, the endemic Culex mosquito species are involved in WNV circulation activity,and whether sentinel site-enhanced near-real time surveillance (SSE-NRTS) may increase WNV detection sensitivity, mosquito vector monitoring was conducted from January 2010 to June 2012. Six monitoring locations, including two identified sentinel sites, considered most probable for potential anthroponotic and zoonotic virus circulation activity, have been continuously employed. Among the 20431 mosquitoes collected, 19069 (93.4%) were Cx. quinquefasciatus, and 1345 (6.6%) Cx. pipiens ssp. torridus. WNV lineage 2 circulation activity was detected between December 20th, 2010 and January 7th, 2011. Overall, 19 WNV RNA-positive mosquito pools were detected. Generally, urban environment-specific WNV-RNA circulation took place in Cx. pipiens ssp. torridus, whereas periurban and rural area-linked circulation was detected only in Cx. quinquefasciatus. Serological investigation data from 10 volunteers employed at the dislocated zoonotic WNV transmission sentinel site suggest that six persons (60%) had an acute, or recent, WNV infection. Results show that WNV should be considered endemic for Djibouti and sentinel site-enhanced near-real time surveillance is an elegant and highly effective epidemiological tool. In Djibouti, the endemicity level, public health impact and transmission modes of vector-borne diseases in concordance with locally optimized monitoring and control regimen deserve further investigation.

Role of dust direct radiative effect on the tropical rain belt over Middle East and North Africa: A high-resolution AGCM study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bangalath, Hamza Kunhu; Stenchikov, Georgiy

2015-05-01

To investigate the influence of direct radiative effect of dust on the tropical summer rain belt across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the present study utilizes the high-resolution capability of an Atmospheric General Circulation Model, the High-Resolution Atmospheric Model. Ensembles of Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project style simulations have been conducted with and without dust radiative impacts, to differentiate the influence of dust on the tropical rain belt. The analysis focuses on summer season. The results highlight the role of dust-induced responses in global- and regional-scale circulations in determining the strength and the latitudinal extent of the tropical rain belt. A significant response in the strength and position of the local Hadley circulation is predicted in response to meridionally asymmetric distribution of dust and the corresponding radiative effects. Significant responses are also found in regional circulation features such as African Easterly Jet and West African Monsoon circulation. Consistent with these dynamic responses at various scales, the tropical rain belt across MENA strengthens and shifts northward. Importantly, the summer precipitation over the semiarid strip south of Sahara, including Sahel, increases up to 20%. As this region is characterized by the "Sahel drought," the predicted precipitation sensitivity to the dust loading over this region has a wide range of socioeconomic implications. Overall, the study demonstrates the extreme importance of incorporating dust radiative effects and the corresponding circulation responses at various scales, in the simulations and future projections of this region's climate.

Arterial wave intensity and ventricular-arterial coupling by vascular ultrasound: rationale and methods for the automated analysis of forwards and backwards running waves.

PubMed

Rakebrandt, F; Palombo, C; Swampillai, J; Schön, F; Donald, A; Kozàkovà, M; Kato, K; Fraser, A G

2009-02-01

Wave intensity (WI) in the circulation is estimated noninvasively as the product of instantaneous changes in pressure and velocity. We recorded diameter as a surrogate for pressure, and velocity in the right common carotid artery using an Aloka SSD-5500 ultrasound scanner. We developed automated software, applying the water hammer equation to obtain local wave speed from the slope of a pressure/velocity loop during early systole to separate net WI into individual forwards and backwards-running waves. A quality index was developed to test for noisy data. The timing, duration, peak amplitude and net energy of separated WI components were measured in healthy subjects with a wide age range. Age and arterial stiffness were independent predictors of local wave speed, whereas backwards-travelling waves correlated more strongly with ventricular systolic function than with age-related changes in arterial stiffness. Separated WI offers detailed insight into ventricular-arterial interactions that may be useful for assessing the relative contributions of ventricular and vascular function to wave travel.

25 CFR 175.5 - Operations manual.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... Provisions § 175.5 Operations manual. (a) The Area Director shall establish an operations manual for the... Director shall amend the operations manual as needed. (b) The public shall be notified by the Area Director... shall be published in local newspaper(s) of general circulation, posted at the utility office(s), and...

40 CFR 300.815 - Administrative record file for a remedial action.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... SUBSTANCES POLLUTION CONTINGENCY PLAN Administrative Record for Selection of Response Action § 300.815... investigation phase. At such time, the lead agency shall publish in a major local newspaper of general circulation a notice of the availability of the administrative record file. (b) The lead agency shall provide...

46 CFR 385.36 - Public notice of availability of assistance awards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... other assistance programs will br provided by MarAd to the Office of Management and Budget for publication in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance pursuant to Office of Management and Budget Circular... and professional journals which are widely circulated to state and local governments, and news media...

Indiana's Academic Standards: Economics--Social Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Indiana Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

In this standard, students learn how economies, large and small, function. Supply and demand are covered in depth, and students learn to identify the production, consumption, and circulation of different types of resources in local, state, national, and world economies. Students also learn about employment and personal finance, as well as the…

Indirect downscaling of global circulation model data based on atmospheric circulation and temperature for projections of future precipitation in hourly resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beck, F.; Bárdossy, A.

2013-07-01

Many hydraulic applications like the design of urban sewage systems require projections of future precipitation in high temporal resolution. We developed a method to predict the regional distribution of hourly precipitation sums based on daily mean sea level pressure and temperature data from a Global Circulation Model. It is an indirect downscaling method avoiding uncertain precipitation data from the model. It is based on a fuzzy-logic classification of atmospheric circulation patterns (CPs) that is further subdivided by means of the average daily temperature. The observed empirical distributions at 30 rain gauges to each CP-temperature class are assumed as constant and used for projections of the hourly precipitation sums in the future. The method was applied to the CP-temperature sequence derived from the 20th century run and the scenario A1B run of ECHAM5. According to ECHAM5, the summers in southwest Germany will become progressively drier. Nevertheless, the frequency of the highest hourly precipitation sums will increase. According to the predictions, estival water stress and the risk of extreme hourly precipitation will both increase simultaneously during the next decades.

Lung cancer perfusion: can we measure pulmonary and bronchial circulation simultaneously?

PubMed

Yuan, Xiaodong; Zhang, Jing; Ao, Guokun; Quan, Changbin; Tian, Yuan; Li, Hong

2012-08-01

To describe a new CT perfusion technique for assessing the dual blood supply in lung cancer and present the initial results. This study was approved by the institutional review board. A CT protocol was developed, and a dual-input CT perfusion (DI-CTP) analysis model was applied and evaluated regarding the blood flow fractions in lung tumours. The pulmonary trunk and the descending aorta were selected as the input arteries for the pulmonary circulation and the bronchial circulation respectively. Pulmonary flow (PF), bronchial flow (BF), and a perfusion index (PI, = PF/ (PF + BF)) were calculated using the maximum slope method. After written informed consent was obtained, 13 consecutive subjects with primary lung cancer underwent DI-CTP. Perfusion results are as follows: PF, 13.45 ± 10.97 ml/min/100 ml; BF, 48.67 ± 28.87 ml/min/100 ml; PI, 21 % ± 11 %. BF is significantly larger than PF, P < 0.001. There is a negative correlation between the tumour volume and perfusion index (r = 0.671, P = 0.012). The dual-input CT perfusion analysis method can be applied successfully to lung tumours. Initial results demonstrate a dual blood supply in primary lung cancer, in which the systemic circulation is dominant, and that the proportion of the two circulation systems is moderately dependent on tumour size. A new CT perfusion technique can assess lung cancer's dual blood supply. A dual blood supply was confirmed with dominant bronchial circulation in lung cancer. The proportion of the two circulations is moderately dependent on tumour size. This new technique may benefit the management of lung cancer.

Apparatus, components and operating methods for circulating fluidized bed transport gasifiers and reactors

DOEpatents

Vimalchand, Pannalal; Liu, Guohai; Peng, Wan Wang

2015-02-24

The improvements proposed in this invention provide a reliable apparatus and method to gasify low rank coals in a class of pressurized circulating fluidized bed reactors termed "transport gasifier." The embodiments overcome a number of operability and reliability problems with existing gasifiers. The systems and methods address issues related to distribution of gasification agent without the use of internals, management of heat release to avoid any agglomeration and clinker formation, specific design of bends to withstand the highly erosive environment due to high solid particles circulation rates, design of a standpipe cyclone to withstand high temperature gasification environment, compact design of seal-leg that can handle high mass solids flux, design of nozzles that eliminate plugging, uniform aeration of large diameter Standpipe, oxidant injection at the cyclone exits to effectively modulate gasifier exit temperature and reduction in overall height of the gasifier with a modified non-mechanical valve.

GLP-1 analogues for neuroprotection after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Wiberg, Sebastian; Hassager, Christian; Thomsen, Jakob Hartvig; Frydland, Martin; Høfsten, Dan Eik; Engstrøm, Thomas; Køber, Lars; Schmidt, Henrik; Møller, Jacob Eifer; Kjaergaard, Jesper

2016-06-30

Attenuating the neurological damage occurring after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is an ongoing research effort. This dual-centre study investigates the neuroprotective effects of the glucagon-like-peptide-1 analogue Exenatide administered within 4 hours from the return of spontaneous circulation to comatose patients resuscitated from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. This pilot study will randomize a total of 120 unconscious patients with sustained return of spontaneous circulation after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest undergoing targeted temperature management in a blinded one-to-one fashion to a 6-hour and 15-minute infusion of either Exenatide or placebo. Patients are eligible for inclusion if resuscitated from cardiac arrest with randomization from 20 minutes to 240 minutes after return of spontaneous circulation. The co-primary endpoint is feasibility, defined as the initiation of treatment within the inclusion window in more than 90 % of participants, and efficacy, defined as the area under the neuron-specific enolase curve from 0 to 72 hours after admission. Secondary endpoints include all-cause mortality at 30 days and Cerebral Performance Category as well as a modified Rankin Score at 180 days. The study has been approved by the Danish National Board of Health and the local Ethics Committee and is monitored by Good Clinical Practice units. The study is currently enrolling. This paper presents the methods and planned statistical analyses used in the GLP-1 trial and aims to minimize bias and data-driven reporting of results. 1) Danish National Board of Health, EudraCT 2013-004311-45. Registered on 25 March 2014. 2) Videnskabsetisk komité C, Region Hovedstaden, No. 45728. Registered on 29 January 2014. 3) Clinicaltrial.gov, NCT02442791 . Registered on 25 of January 2015.

Evaluation of laser radiation regimes at thermal tissue destruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivanov, Anatoly; Kazaryan, Mishik A.; Molodykh, E. I.; Shchetinkina, T. A.

1996-01-01

The existing methods of laser destruction of biotissues, widely spread in surgery and coagulation action, are based on local heat emission in the tissues after light absorption. Here we present the results of the simulation of tissues heat destruction, taking into account the influence of blood and lymph circulation on the processes of heat transfer. The problem is adapted to the case of liver tissue with tumor. A liver is considered as a capillary-porous body with internal blood circulation. Heatconductivity and tissue-blood heat transfer are considered. Heat action is assumed to be implemented with contact laser scalpel. The mathematical model consists of two inhomogeneous nonlinear equations of heatconductivity with spherical symmetry. Nonstationary temperature fields of tissue and blood are determined and the main parameters are: (1) coefficients of heatconductivity and capacitance of blood and tissue, (2) blood and tissue density, (3) total metabolic energy, (4) volume coefficient accounting for heat-exchange between tissue and blood, and (5) blood circulation velocity. The power of laser radiation was taken into account in boundary conditions set for the center of coagulated tissue volume. We also took into account the process connected with changing of substance phase (vaporization). The original computer programs allow one to solve the problem varying in a wide range of the main parameters. Reasonable agreement was found between the calculation results and the experimental data for operations on microsamples and on test animals. It was demonstrated, in particular, that liver tissue coagulation regime is achieved at 10 W laser power during 25 s. The coagulation radius of 0.7 cm with the given tumor radius of 0.5 cm corresponds to the real clinical situation in case of metastasis liver affection.

Deep sequencing of near full-length HIV-1 genomes from plasma identifies circulating subtype C and infrequent occurrence of AC recombinant form in Southern India

PubMed Central

Sampathkumar, Raghavan; Sivaraman, Karthi; U. K. J., Anto Jesuraj; Dhar, Chirag; D. Souza, George; Berry, Neil

2017-01-01

India has the third largest number of HIV-1-infected individuals accounting for approximately 2.1 million people, with a predominance of circulating subtype C strains and a low prevalence of subtype A and A1C and BC recombinant forms, identified over the past two decades. Recovery of near full-length HIV-1 genomes from a plasma source coupled with advances in next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies and development of universal methods for amplifying whole genomes of HIV-1 circulating in a target geography or population provides the opportunity for a detailed analysis of HIV-1 strain identification, evolution and dynamics. Here we describe the development and implementation of approaches for HIV-1 NGS analysis in a southern Indian cohort. Plasma samples (n = 20) were obtained from HIV-1-confirmed individuals living in and around the city of Bengaluru. Near full-length genome recovery was obtained for 9 Indian HIV-1 patients, with recovery of full-length gag and env genes for 10 and 2 additional subjects, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses indicate the majority of sequences to be represented by subtype C viruses branching within a monophyletic clade, comprising viruses from India, Nepal, Myanmar and China and closely related to a southern African cluster, with a low prevalence of the A1C recombinant form also present. Development of algorithms for bespoke recovery and analysis at a local level will further aid clinical management of HIV-1 infected Indian subjects and delineate the progress of the HIV-1 pandemic in this and other geographical regions. PMID:29220350

[Variational structure and function of products from IGF-1 gene].

PubMed

Zhang, Bing-Bing; Wang, Yuan-Liang; Fan, Kai

2008-07-01

The IGF-1 gene, containing six exons, is characterized by the generation of multiple heterogeneous mRNA transcripts and translations. The IGF-1 isoforms being produced arise from the combination of multiple transcription initiation sites, alternate splicing, and different polyadenylation signals. These different mRNAs are translated to distinct circulating and local isoforms. The circulating mature IGF-1 is encoded by exons 3 and 4, and its biological function in growth and development has been intensively studied. The local isoforms of IGF-1 contains the part encoded by exons 3 and 4, and moreover the alternate extension peptide at carboxy-terminal, encoded by exons 5 and 6, is also included in the isoforms. And the functions of local IGF-1 isoforms and E-peptides have been overlooked until recently. Recently investigation shows that cell discrepant response to the overexpression of different IGF-1 isoforms and the E-peptides, and more interestingly, IGF-1Ea, IGF-1Eb (MGF) and MGF E-peptide have potential to promote skeletal muscle regeneration, to prevent cardiac muscle loss and neural damage. The acting mechanism of IGF-1 isoforms differ from the IGF-1, and the isoforms functioned probably by binding to specific E-peptide receptor, instead of binding to the IGF-1R.

Thermographic and clinical evaluation of 808-nm laser photobiomodulation effects after third molar extraction.

PubMed

Pedreira, Amanda A; Wanderley, Flavia G; Sa, Maira F; Viena, Camila S; Perez, Adriano; Hoshi, Ryuichi; Leite, Marcia P; Reis, Silvia R; Medrado, Alena P

2016-08-01

A randomized, blind, controlled clinical study was conducted with a convenience sample of 24 patients to evaluate the effectiveness of an aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs) infrared laser 808 nm after third molar extraction by the use of infrared thermography technique. Patients were divided into four groups: erupted third molars were extracted from the patients in Group I and Group II, and impacted third molars were extracted from the patients in Group III and Group IV. Group I and Group III received mock laser therapy in which the device was powered off, and Group II and Group IV were exposed to laser light. Postoperative clinical parameters related to the third molar extraction were evaluated; these parameters included pain, trismus and edema. Circulatory patterns were also evaluated by infrared thermography that exhibited local temperature coefficient at different postoperative periods. A slight improvement was observed for swelling, pain and trismus in patients who received laser irradiation, although the differences were not statistically significant (P>0.05). Laser therapy had a significant influence on the local circulation in the area near the temporomandibular joint, as determined by infrared thermography (P<0.05). Laser therapy was able to change the local circulation, although it did not significantly influence swelling, pain or trismus during the postoperative period.

Mechanism of Torrential Rain Associated with the Mei-yu Development during SCSMEX-98

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Qian, Jian-Hua; Tao, Wei-Kuo; Lau, K.-M.; Starr, David OC. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

A case of torrential precipitation process in the Mei-yu front, an Asian monsoon system east to the Tibetan Plateau, is studied with the coupled Penn State University/NCAR MM5 and NASA/GSFC PLACE (Parameterization for Land - Atmosphere - Cloud Exchange) models. Remote and local impacts of water vapor on the location and intensity of Mei-yu precipitation are studied by numerical experiments. Results demonstrate that the water vapor source for this heavy precipitation case in Yangtze river basin is derived mostly from the Bay of Bengal, transported by the southwesterly low-level Jet (LLJ) southeast to the Tibetan Plateau. The moist convection is a critical process in the development and maintenance of the front. The meridional and zonal secondary circulations resulted from Mei-yu condensation heating both act to increase the wind speed in the LLJ. The condensation induced local circulation strengthens the moisture transport in the LLJ, providing a positive feedback to sustain the Mei-yu precipitation system. It is found that local precipitation recycling shifts heavy rain toward the warm side of the Mei-yu front. This shift of rainfall location is due to the pronounced increase of atmospheric moisture and decrease of surface temperature over the warm side of the front.

Highly Compact Circulators in Square-Lattice Photonic Crystal Waveguides

PubMed Central

Jin, Xin; Ouyang, Zhengbiao; Wang, Qiong; Lin, Mi; Wen, Guohua; Wang, Jingjing

2014-01-01

We propose, demonstrate and investigate highly compact circulators with ultra-low insertion loss in square-lattice- square-rod-photonic-crystal waveguides. Only a single magneto- optical square rod is required to be inserted into the cross center of waveguides, making the structure very compact and ultra efficient. The square rods around the center defect rod are replaced by several right-angled-triangle rods, reducing the insertion loss further and promoting the isolations as well. By choosing a linear-dispersion region and considering the mode patterns in the square magneto-optical rod, the operating mechanism of the circulator is analyzed. By applying the finite-element method together with the Nelder-Mead optimization method, an extremely low insertion loss of 0.02 dB for the transmitted wave and ultra high isolation of 46 dB∼48 dB for the isolated port are obtained. The idea presented can be applied to build circulators in different wavebands, e.g., microwave or Tera-Hertz. PMID:25415417

Highly compact circulators in square-lattice photonic crystal waveguides.

PubMed

Jin, Xin; Ouyang, Zhengbiao; Wang, Qiong; Lin, Mi; Wen, Guohua; Wang, Jingjing

2014-01-01

We propose, demonstrate and investigate highly compact circulators with ultra-low insertion loss in square-lattice- square-rod-photonic-crystal waveguides. Only a single magneto- optical square rod is required to be inserted into the cross center of waveguides, making the structure very compact and ultra efficient. The square rods around the center defect rod are replaced by several right-angled-triangle rods, reducing the insertion loss further and promoting the isolations as well. By choosing a linear-dispersion region and considering the mode patterns in the square magneto-optical rod, the operating mechanism of the circulator is analyzed. By applying the finite-element method together with the Nelder-Mead optimization method, an extremely low insertion loss of 0.02 dB for the transmitted wave and ultra high isolation of 46 dB∼48 dB for the isolated port are obtained. The idea presented can be applied to build circulators in different wavebands, e.g., microwave or Tera-Hertz.

ISOTOPE CONVERSION DEVICE AND METHOD

DOEpatents

Wigner, E.P.; Ohlinger, L.A.

1958-11-11

Homogeneous nuclear reactors are discussed, and an apparatus and method of operation are descrlbed. The apparatus consists essentially of a reaction tank, a heat exchanger connected to the reaction tank and two separate surge tanks connected to the heat exchanger. An oscillating differential pressure is applied to the surge tanks so that a portion of the homogeneous flssionable solution is circulated through the heat exchanger and reaction tank while maintaining sufficient solution in the reaction tank to sustain a controlled fission chain reaction. The reaction tank is disposed within another tank containing a neutron absorbing material through which coolant fluid is circulated, the outer tank being provided with means to permit and cause rotation thereof due to the circulation of the coolant therethrough.

Localization, characterization and dating of water circulations in the soil-saprolite system of the Strengbach watershed: petrological, hydro-geophysical and geochemical evidences.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chabaux, François; Viville, Daniel; Pierret, Marie-Claire; Stille, Peter; Lerouge, Catherine; Wyns, Robert; Dezayes, Chrystel; Labasque, Thierry; Aquilina, Luc; Ranchoux, Coralie; Négrel, Philippe

2017-04-01

The characterization of the critical zone along depth profiles remains a major scientific issue for understanding and modelling the response of continental surfaces to climatic, tectonic and anthropogenic forcings. Besides characterization it requires the modelling of the water circulations within the substratum of the critical zone. A series of boreholes drilled along the north and the south slopes of the Strengbach watershed makes it possible to characterize the critical zone to depths of ≈100 to 150 m within this critical zone observatory. In this study we attempt to combine mineralogical and petrological observations of the cores recovered through the drilling with chemical data of waters collected in each of these wells and hydro-geophysical data in order to characterize processes of water-rock interactions, visualize the water arrivals within the boreholes and bring new information on the deep water circulations within the watershed. Mineralogical, petrological and hydrogeophysical data suggest that deepwater circulation in the watershed likely occurs along fractures, concentrated in relatively narrow areas, several centimeters wide, interspersed with areas where the granite is much less fractured. This points to the occurrence of deep waters circulating in a network of more or less independent conduits, which could extend over several tens to hundreds of meters deep. The hydrochemical data from the boreholes, show contrasting characteristics for surface waters collected at 10 to 15 m depth and the deeper waters collected between 50 to 80m depth; the surface waters are very similar to those of the spring waters collected in the watershed (Pierret et al., 2014), and the deeper waters collected between 50 to 80m depth. The residence times of the circulating waters are also very variable, with ages of up to a few months for surface and subsurface waters and ages exceeding several decades for the deep waters. These differences suggest that the subsurface circulation systems are quite different from the deeper circulation ones. They also point to the importance to focus future studies on deep-water circulations in order to properly characterize the functioning of the critical zone in watersheds, especially in mountainous areas, such as the Strengbach watershed.

Influences of Local Sea-Surface Temperatures and Large-scale Dynamics on Monthly Precipitation Inferred from Two 10-year GCM-Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sud, Y. C.; Walker, G. K.; Zhou, Y.; Lau, W. K.-M.

2007-01-01

Two parallel sets of 10-year long: January 1, 1982 to December 31, 1991, simulations were made with the finite volume General Circulation Model (fvGCM) in which the model integrations were forced with prescribed sea-surface temperature fields (SSTs) available as two separate SST-datasets. One dataset contained naturally varying monthly SSTs for the chosen period, and the oth& had the 12-monthly mean SSTs for the same period. Plots of evaporation, precipitation, and atmosphere-column moisture convergence, binned by l C SST intervals show that except for the tropics, the precipitation is more strongly constrained by large-scale dynamics as opposed to local SST. Binning data by SST naturally provided an ensemble average of data contributed from disparate locations with same SST; such averages could be expected to mitigate all location related influences. However, the plots revealed: i) evaporation, vertical velocity, and precipitation are very robust and remarkably similar for each of the two simulations and even for the data from 1987-ENSO-year simulation; ii) while the evaporation increased monotonically with SST up to about 27 C, the precipitation did not; iii) precipitation correlated much better with the column vertical velocity as opposed to SST suggesting that the influence of dynamical circulation including non-local SSTs is stronger than local-SSTs. The precipitation fields were doubly binned with respect to SST and boundary-layer mass and/or moisture convergence. The analysis discerned the rate of change of precipitation with local SST as a sum of partial derivative of precipitation with local SST plus partial derivative of precipitation with boundary layer moisture convergence multiplied by the rate of change of boundary-layer moisture convergence with SST (see Eqn. 3 of Section 4.5). This analysis is mathematically rigorous as well as provides a quantitative measure of the influence of local SST on the local precipitation. The results were recast to examine the dependence of local rainfall on local SSTs; it was discernible only in the tropics. Our methodology can be used for computing relationship between any forcing function and its effect(s) on a chosen field.

Numerical investigations with WRF about atmospheric features leading to heavy precipitation and flood events over the Central Andes' complex topography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zamuriano, Marcelo; Brönnimann, Stefan

2017-04-01

It's known that some extremes such as heavy rainfalls, flood events, heatwaves and droughts depend largely on the atmospheric circulation and local features. Bolivia is no exception and while the large scale dynamics over the Amazon has been largely investigated, the local features driven by the Andes Cordillera and the Altiplano is still poorly documented. New insights on the regional atmospheric dynamics preceding heavy precipitation and flood events over the complex topography of the Andes-Amazon interface are added through numerical investigations of several case events: flash flood episodes over La Paz city and the extreme 2014 flood in south-western Amazon basin. Large scale atmospheric water transport is dynamically downscaled in order to take into account the complex topography forcing and local features as modulators of these events. For this purpose, a series of high resolution numerical experiments with the WRF-ARW model is conducted using various global datasets and parameterizations. While several mechanisms have been suggested to explain the dynamics of these episodes, they have not been tested yet through numerical modelling experiments. The simulations captures realistically the local water transport and the terrain influence over atmospheric circulation, even though the precipitation intensity is in general unrealistic. Nevertheless, the results show that Dynamical Downscaling over the tropical Andes' complex terrain provides useful meteorological data for a variety of studies and contributes to a better understanding of physical processes involved in the configuration of these events.

Local estrogenic/androgenic balance in the cerebral vasculature

PubMed Central

Krause, Diana N.; Duckles, Sue P.; Gonzales, Rayna J.

2011-01-01

Reproductive effects of sex steroids are well-known, however it is increasingly apparent that these hormones have important actions on non-reproductive tissues such as the vasculature. The latter effects can be relevant throughout the lifespan, not just limited to reproductive years, and are not necessarily restricted to one sex or the other. Our work has established that cerebral blood vessels are a non-reproductive target tissue for sex steroids. We have found that estrogen and androgens alter vascular tone, endothelial function, oxidative stress and inflammatory responses in cerebral vessels. Often the actions of estrogen and androgens oppose each other. Moreover, it is clear that cerebral vessels are directly targeted by sex steroids as they express specific receptors for these hormones. Interestingly, cerebral blood vessels also express enzymes that metabolize sex steroids. These findings suggest that local synthesis of 17β-estradiol and dihydrotestosterone can occur within the vessel wall. One of the enzymes present, aromatase, converts testosterone to 17β-estradiol, which would alter the local balance of androgenic and estrogenic influences. Thus cerebral vessels are affected by circulating sex hormones as well as locally synthesized sex steroids. The presence of vascular endocrine effector mechanisms has important implications for male-female differences in cerebrovascular function and disease. Moreover, the cerebral circulation is a target for gonadal hormones as well as anabolic steroids and therapeutic drugs used to manipulate sex steroid actions. The long-term consequences of these influences have yet to be determined. PMID:21535417

Angiotensin peptides in the non-gravid uterus: Paracrine actions beyond circulation.

PubMed

Casalechi, Maíra; Dela Cruz, Cynthia; Lima, Luiza C; Maciel, Luciana P; Pereira, Virgínia M; Reis, Fernando M

2018-03-01

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) involves a complex network of precursors, peptides, enzymes and receptors comprising a systemic (endocrine) and a local (paracrine/autocrine) system. The local RAS plays important roles in tissue modulation and may operate independently of or in close interaction with the circulatory RAS, acting in a complementary fashion. Angiotensin (Ang) II, its receptor AT 1 and Ang-(1-7) expression in the endometrium vary with menstrual cycle, and stromal cell decidualization in vitro is accompanied by local synthesis of angiotensinogen and prorenin. Mas receptor is unlikely to undergo marked changes accompanying the cyclic ovarian steroid hormone fluctuations. Studies investigating the functional relevance of the RAS in the non-gravid uterus show a number of paracrine effects beyond circulation and suggest that RAS peptides may be involved in the pathophysiology of proliferative and fibrotic diseases. Endometrial cancer is associated with increased expression of Ang II, Ang-converting enzyme 1 and AT 1 in the tumoral tissue compared to neighboring non-neoplastic endometrium, and also with a gene polymorphism that enhances AT 1 signal. Ang II induces human endometrial cells to transdifferentiate into cells with myofibroblast phenotype and to synthetize extracellular matrix components that might contribute to endometrial fibrosis. Altogether, these findings point to a fully operating RAS within the uterus, but since many concepts rely on preliminary evidence further studies are needed to clarify the role of the local RAS in uterine physiology and pathophysiology. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Calculation of Compressible Flows past Aerodynamic Shapes by Use of the Streamline Curvature

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perl, W

1947-01-01

A simple approximate method is given for the calculation of isentropic irrotational flows past symmetrical airfoils, including mixed subsonic-supersonic flows. The method is based on the choice of suitable values for the streamline curvature in the flow field and the subsequent integration of the equations of motion. The method yields limiting solutions for potential flow. The effect of circulation is considered. A comparison of derived velocity distributions with existing results that are based on calculation to the third order in the thickness ratio indicated satisfactory agreement. The results are also presented in the form of a set of compressibility correction rules that lie between the Prandtl-Glauert rule and the von Karman-Tsien rule (approximately). The different rules correspond to different values of the local shape parameter square root sign YC sub a, in which Y is the ordinate and C sub a is the curvature at a point on an airfoil. Bodies of revolution, completely supersonic flows, and the significance of the limiting solutions for potential flow are also briefly discussed.

Ubiquitin C-Terminal Hydrolase-L1 as a Biomarker for Ischemic and Traumatic Brain Injury in Rats

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

specific enolase increases in plasma during and immediately after extracorporeal circulation . Ann. Thorac. Surg., 69, 750– 754. Johnston, S.C., Riddle, S.M...and eventually into circulating blood. Materials and methods Materials Sodium bicarbonate was from Sigma (St Louis, MO, USA) (catalog no. C-3041...ischemia is responsible for its release into circulating blood. In this study, the potential of UCH-L1 as a biofluid-based protein biomarker for two

Intracoronary and Retrograde Coronary Venous Myocardial Delivery of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells in Swine Infarction Lead to Transient Myocardial Trapping with Predominant Pulmonary Redistribution

PubMed Central

Hong, Soon Jun; Hou, Dongming; Brinton, Todd J.; Johnstone, Brian; Feng, Dongni; Rogers, Pamela; Fearon, William F.; Yock, Paul; March, Keith L.

2012-01-01

Objectives To examine the comparative fate of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) as well as their impact on coronary microcirculation following either retrograde coronary venous or arterial delivery. Background Local delivery of ASCs to the heart has been proposed as a practical approach to limiting the extent of myocardial infarction. Mouse models of mesenchymal stem cell effects on the heart have also demonstrated significant benefits from systemic (intravenous) delivery, prompting a question about the advantage of local delivery. There has been no study addressing the extent of myocardial vs. systemic disposition of ASCs in large animal models following local delivery to the myocardium. Methods In an initial experiment, dose-dependent effects of ASC delivery on coronary circulation in normal swine were evaluated to establish a tolerable ASC dosing range for intracoronary delivery. In a set of subsequent experiments, an anterior acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was created by balloon occlusion of the proximal left anterior descending (LAD) artery, followed by either intracoronary (IC) or retrograde coronary venous (RCV) infusion of 107 111Indium-labeled autologous ASCs 6 days following AMI. Indices of microcirculatory resistance (IMR) and coronary flow reserve (CFR) were measured before sacrifices to collect tissues for analysis at 1 or 24 hours after cell delivery. Results IC delivery of porcine ASCs to normal myocardium was well-tolerated up to a cumulative dose of 14×106 cells (approximately 0.5×106 cells/kg). There was evidence suggesting microcirculatory trapping of ASC: at unit doses of 50×106 ASCs, IMR and CFR were found to be persistently altered in the target LAD distribution at 7 days following delivery, while at 10×106 ASCs, only CFR was altered. In the context of recent MI, a significantly higher percentage of ASCs was retained at 1 hour with IC delivery compared to RCV delivery (57.2 ± 12.7% vs. 17.9 ± 1.6%, p=0.037) but this initial difference was not apparent at 24 hours (22.6 ± 5.5% vs. 18.7 ± 8.6%; p= 0.722). In both approaches, most ASC redistributed to the pulmonary circulation by 24 hours post-delivery. There were no significant differences in CFR or IMR following ASC delivery to infarcted tissue by either route. Conclusions Selective intravascular delivery of ASC by coronary arterial and venous routes leads to similarly limited myocardial cell retention with predominant redistribution of cells to the lungs. Intracoronary arterial delivery of ASC leads to only transiently greater myocardial retention, which is accompanied by obstruction of normal regions of coronary microcirculation at higher doses. The predominant intrapulmonary localization of cells following local delivery via both methods prompts the notion that systemic delivery of ASC might provide similarly beneficial outcomes while avoiding risks of inadvertent microcirculatory compromise. PMID:22972685

Plasma DNA tissue mapping by genome-wide methylation sequencing for noninvasive prenatal, cancer, and transplantation assessments

PubMed Central

Sun, Kun; Jiang, Peiyong; Chan, K. C. Allen; Wong, John; Cheng, Yvonne K. Y.; Liang, Raymond H. S.; Chan, Wai-kong; Ma, Edmond S. K.; Chan, Stephen L.; Cheng, Suk Hang; Chan, Rebecca W. Y.; Tong, Yu K.; Ng, Simon S. M.; Wong, Raymond S. M.; Hui, David S. C.; Leung, Tse Ngong; Leung, Tak Y.; Lai, Paul B. S.; Chiu, Rossa W. K.; Lo, Yuk Ming Dennis

2015-01-01

Plasma consists of DNA released from multiple tissues within the body. Using genome-wide bisulfite sequencing of plasma DNA and deconvolution of the sequencing data with reference to methylation profiles of different tissues, we developed a general approach for studying the major tissue contributors to the circulating DNA pool. We tested this method in pregnant women, patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, and subjects following bone marrow and liver transplantation. In most subjects, white blood cells were the predominant contributors to the circulating DNA pool. The placental contributions in the plasma of pregnant women correlated with the proportional contributions as revealed by fetal-specific genetic markers. The graft-derived contributions to the plasma in the transplant recipients correlated with those determined using donor-specific genetic markers. Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma showed elevated plasma DNA contributions from the liver, which correlated with measurements made using tumor-associated copy number aberrations. In hepatocellular carcinoma patients and in pregnant women exhibiting copy number aberrations in plasma, comparison of methylation deconvolution results using genomic regions with different copy number status pinpointed the tissue type responsible for the aberrations. In a pregnant woman diagnosed as having follicular lymphoma during pregnancy, methylation deconvolution indicated a grossly elevated contribution from B cells into the plasma DNA pool and localized B cells as the origin of the copy number aberrations observed in plasma. This method may serve as a powerful tool for assessing a wide range of physiological and pathological conditions based on the identification of perturbed proportional contributions of different tissues into plasma. PMID:26392541

Equatorial cloud level convection on Venus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Yeon Joo; Imamura, Takeshi; Sugiyama, Koichiro; Sato, Takao M.; Maejima, Yasumitsu

2016-10-01

In the equatorial region on Venus, a clear cloud top morphology difference depending on solar local time has been observed through UV images. Laminar flow shaped clouds are shown on the morning side, and convective-like cells on the afternoon side (Titov et al. 2012). Baker et al. (1998) suggested that deep convective motions in the low-to-middle cloud layers at the 40-60 km range can explain cellular shapes. Imamura et al. (2014), however argued that this cannot be a reason, as convection in the low-to-middle cloud layers can be suppressed near sub solar regions due to a stabilizing effect by strong solar heating. We suggest that the observed feature may be related to strong solar heating at local noon time (Lee et al. 2015). Horizontal uneven distribution of an unknown UV absorber and/or cloud top structure may trigger horizontal convection (Toigo et al. 1994). In order to examine these possibilities, we processed 1-D radiative transfer model calculations from surface to 100 km altitude (SHDOM, Evans 1998), which includes clouds at 48-71 km altitudes (Crisp et al. 1986). The results on the equatorial thermal cooling and solar heating profiles were employed in a 2D fluid dynamic model calculation (CReSS, Tsuboki and Sakakibara 2007). The calculation covered an altitude range of 40-80 km and a 100-km horizontal distance. We compared three conditions; an 'effective' global circulation condition that cancels out unbalanced net radiative energy at equator, a condition without such global circulation effect, and the last condition assumed horizontally inhomogeneous unknown UV absorber distribution. Our results show that the local time dependence of lower level cloud convection is consistent with Imamura et al.'s result, and suggest a possible cloud top level convection caused by locally unbalanced net energy and/or horizontally uneven solar heating. This may be related to the observed cloud morphology in UV images. The effective global circulation condition, however, can "remove" such cloud top level convection. The later one consists with measured high static stability at the cloud top level from radio occultation measurement.

[Changes in prostatic circulation in response to laser therapy and magnetic therapy in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia].

PubMed

2005-01-01

The results of preoperative preparation were analysed in 59 patients with prostatic benign hyperplasia (PBH) subjected to TUR. Treatment outcomes were assessed by transrectal ultrasound (color Doppler mapping) in two groups of patients. Group 1 received combined therapy including transrectal laser radiation of the prostate, group 2--transrectal magnetotherapy. The analysis showed that laser radiation reduced insignificantly the size of the prostate and adenomatous node, improved microcirculation and circulation in the prostate. This resulted in relief of inflammation and reduction of the number of postoperative inflammatory complications. Transrectal magnetotherapy has a positive effect on vascularization and hemodynamics of the prostate, local immunity, contamination of the tissues with pathogenic flora.

Coal gasification vessel

DOEpatents

Loo, Billy W.

1982-01-01

A vessel system (10) comprises an outer shell (14) of carbon fibers held in a binder, a coolant circulation mechanism (16) and control mechanism (42) and an inner shell (46) comprised of a refractory material and is of light weight and capable of withstanding the extreme temperature and pressure environment of, for example, a coal gasification process. The control mechanism (42) can be computer controlled and can be used to monitor and modulate the coolant which is provided through the circulation mechanism (16) for cooling and protecting the carbon fiber and outer shell (14). The control mechanism (42) is also used to locate any isolated hot spots which may occur through the local disintegration of the inner refractory shell (46).

Tissue Engineering Organs for Space Biology Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vandenburgh, H. H.; Shansky, J.; DelTatto, M.; Lee, P.; Meir, J.

1999-01-01

Long-term manned space flight requires a better understanding of skeletal muscle atrophy resulting from microgravity. Atrophy most likely results from changes at both the systemic level (e.g. decreased circulating growth hormone, increased circulating glucocorticoids) and locally (e.g. decreased myofiber resting tension). Differentiated skeletal myofibers in tissue culture have provided a model system over the last decade for gaining a better understanding of the interactions of exogenous growth factors, endogenous growth factors, and muscle fiber tension in regulating protein turnover rates and muscle cell growth. Tissue engineering these cells into three dimensional bioartificial muscle (BAM) constructs has allowed us to extend their use to Space flight studies for the potential future development of countermeasures.

[International experience in the legal regulation of the circulation of medicines through the prism of the law of the world trade organization].

PubMed

Pasechnyk, Olena V; Hendel, Nataliia V

2018-01-01

Introduction: The development of international legal cooperation in the field of health has largely been driven by the trade interests of states. The aim: The article analyzes the legal regulation of the circulation of medicines through the prism of the law of the World Trade Organization. Materials and methods: Using the historical legal method has allowed to analyze the genesis of legal regulation of the circulation of medicines through the prism of the law of the World Trade Organization. The dialectical method is widely used, in particular, when it comes to the issue of the ratio of market regulation of medicines circulation and public health protection, the formal logic method, in particular, in formulating the general principles, principles and methods of legal regulation in the field of medicines, as well as the systemic method, in particular, in defining the institutional component of legal regulation in the field of medicines. Review: The activities of the WTO include several areas related to health protection: international control over infectious diseases, international legal regulation of food safety (food security), tobacco control, environmental protection, international legal aspects of access and treatment of medicinal and pharmaceutical products, international legal regulation of medical services provision. Conclusions: It is proved that the right to health is a right to access to medicines. However, for many developing countries, it is problematic to obtain patents for the production of necessary medicines or to pay a license fee, which creates a barrier to the realization of the right to health.

Slip stream apparatus and method for treating water in a circulating water system

DOEpatents

Cleveland, J.R.

1997-03-18

An apparatus is described for treating water in a circulating water system that has a cooling water basin which includes a slip stream conduit in flow communication with the circulating water system, a source of acid solution in flow communication with the slip stream conduit, and a decarbonator in flow communication with the slip stream conduit and the cooling water basin. In use, a slip stream of circulating water is drawn from the circulating water system into the slip stream conduit of the apparatus. The slip stream pH is lowered by contact with an acid solution provided from the source thereof. The slip stream is then passed through a decarbonator to form a treated slip stream, and the treated slip stream is returned to the cooling water basin. 4 figs.

An alternative to the TEM (Transformed Eulerian Mean) equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaßmann, Almut

2013-04-01

The TEM equations constitute a powerful means to get access to the residual circulation. However, due to their foundation on the wave perspective, they deliver only a zonally averaged picture without access to the three-dimensional structure or the local origins of the residual circulation. Therefore it is worth to investigate whether there are alternatives. The pathway followed here is to perform a transformation of the momentum and the potential temperature equation before taking the zonal mean. This is done by removing the steady state ideal wind solution vid = ?×?B-(?±P) from the equations (? - potential temperature, B - Bernoulli function, P - Ertel's potential vorticity EPV, ?± - density). The advantage of that approach is that the total EPV-flux does no longer contain an explicitly visible 'do-nothing-flux'. This flux, ?? ×?B, does only vanish when averaging on isentropic surfaces, but not on other isosurfaces. Here we find the reason why the conventional zonal mean on isentropes delivers a direct overturning cell on each hemisphere, whereas on other isosurfaces we obtain the typical three-cell structure with Headley, Ferrel, and polar cells. It will be demonstrated and made visible through idealized climate experiments with the ICON-IAP model that the zonal averages of the nonideal wind components vnid = v - vid and wnid = w - wid constitute similar direct overturning cells on non-isentropic surfaces as obtained with the TEM-generated v* and w*. It is also interesting to inspect fields of local nonideal wind components, the very origin of the residual circulation.

Sensitivity of two Iberian lakes to North Atlantic atmospheric circulation modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernández, Armand; Trigo, Ricardo M.; Pla-Rabes, Sergi; Valero-Garcés, Blas L.; Jerez, Sonia; Rico-Herrero, Mayte; Vega, José C.; Jambrina-Enríquez, Margarita; Giralt, Santiago

2015-12-01

The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) exerts a major influence on the climate of the North Atlantic region. However, other atmospheric circulation modes (ACMs), such as the East Atlantic (EA) and Scandinavian (SCAND) patterns, also play significant roles. The dynamics of lakes on the Iberian Peninsula are greatly controlled by climatic parameters, but their relationship with these various ACMs has not been investigated in detail. In this paper, we analyze monthly meteorological and limnological long-term datasets (1950-2011 and 1992-2011, respectively) from two lakes on the northern and central Iberian Peninsula (Sanabria and Las Madres) to develop an understanding of the seasonal sensitivity of these freshwater systems to the NAO, EA and SCAND circulation modes. The limnological variability within Lake Sanabria is primarily controlled by fluctuations in the seasonal precipitation and wind, and the primary ACMs associated with the winter limnological processes are the NAO and the SCAND modes, whereas only the EA mode appears to weakly influence processes during the summer. However, Lake Las Madres is affected by precipitation, wind and, to a lesser extent, temperature, whereas the ACMs have less influence. Therefore, we aim to show that the lakes of the Iberian Peninsula are sensitive to these ACMs. The results presented here indicate that the lake dynamics, in some cases, have a higher sensitivity to variations in the ACMs than single local meteorological variables. However, certain local features, such as geography, lake morphology and anthropic influences, are crucial to properly record the signals of these ACMs.

U.S. IOOS coastal and ocean modeling testbed: Inter-model evaluation of tides, waves, and hurricane surge in the Gulf of Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kerr, P. C.; Donahue, A. S.; Westerink, J. J.; Luettich, R. A.; Zheng, L. Y.; Weisberg, R. H.; Huang, Y.; Wang, H. V.; Teng, Y.; Forrest, D. R.; Roland, A.; Haase, A. T.; Kramer, A. W.; Taylor, A. A.; Rhome, J. R.; Feyen, J. C.; Signell, R. P.; Hanson, J. L.; Hope, M. E.; Estes, R. M.; Dominguez, R. A.; Dunbar, R. P.; Semeraro, L. N.; Westerink, H. J.; Kennedy, A. B.; Smith, J. M.; Powell, M. D.; Cardone, V. J.; Cox, A. T.

2013-10-01

A Gulf of Mexico performance evaluation and comparison of coastal circulation and wave models was executed through harmonic analyses of tidal simulations, hindcasts of Hurricane Ike (2008) and Rita (2005), and a benchmarking study. Three unstructured coastal circulation models (ADCIRC, FVCOM, and SELFE) validated with similar skill on a new common Gulf scale mesh (ULLR) with identical frictional parameterization and forcing for the tidal validation and hurricane hindcasts. Coupled circulation and wave models, SWAN+ADCIRC and WWMII+SELFE, along with FVCOM loosely coupled with SWAN, also validated with similar skill. NOAA's official operational forecast storm surge model (SLOSH) was implemented on local and Gulf scale meshes with the same wind stress and pressure forcing used by the unstructured models for hindcasts of Ike and Rita. SLOSH's local meshes failed to capture regional processes such as Ike's forerunner and the results from the Gulf scale mesh further suggest shortcomings may be due to a combination of poor mesh resolution, missing internal physics such as tides and nonlinear advection, and SLOSH's internal frictional parameterization. In addition, these models were benchmarked to assess and compare execution speed and scalability for a prototypical operational simulation. It was apparent that a higher number of computational cores are needed for the unstructured models to meet similar operational implementation requirements to SLOSH, and that some of them could benefit from improved parallelization and faster execution speed.

Incremental dynamical downscaling for probabilistic analysis based on multiple GCM projections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wakazuki, Y.

2015-12-01

A dynamical downscaling method for probabilistic regional scale climate change projections was developed to cover an uncertainty of multiple general circulation model (GCM) climate simulations. The climatological increments (future minus present climate states) estimated by GCM simulation results were statistically analyzed using the singular vector decomposition. Both positive and negative perturbations from the ensemble mean with the magnitudes of their standard deviations were extracted and were added to the ensemble mean of the climatological increments. The analyzed multiple modal increments were utilized to create multiple modal lateral boundary conditions for the future climate regional climate model (RCM) simulations by adding to an objective analysis data. This data handling is regarded to be an advanced method of the pseudo-global-warming (PGW) method previously developed by Kimura and Kitoh (2007). The incremental handling for GCM simulations realized approximated probabilistic climate change projections with the smaller number of RCM simulations. Three values of a climatological variable simulated by RCMs for a mode were used to estimate the response to the perturbation of the mode. For the probabilistic analysis, climatological variables of RCMs were assumed to show linear response to the multiple modal perturbations, although the non-linearity was seen for local scale rainfall. Probability of temperature was able to be estimated within two modes perturbation simulations, where the number of RCM simulations for the future climate is five. On the other hand, local scale rainfalls needed four modes simulations, where the number of the RCM simulations is nine. The probabilistic method is expected to be used for regional scale climate change impact assessment in the future.

Local Adaptive Calibration of the GLASS Surface Incident Shortwave Radiation Product Using Smoothing Spline

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, X.; Liang, S.; Wang, G.

2015-12-01

Incident solar radiation (ISR) over the Earth's surface plays an important role in determining the Earth's climate and environment. Generally, can be obtained from direct measurements, remotely sensed data, or reanalysis and general circulation models (GCMs) data. Each type of product has advantages and limitations: the surface direct measurements provide accurate but sparse spatial coverage, whereas other global products may have large uncertainties. Ground measurements have been normally used for validation and occasionally calibration, but transforming their "true values" spatially to improve the satellite products is still a new and challenging topic. In this study, an improved thin-plate smoothing spline approach is presented to locally "calibrate" the Global LAnd Surface Satellite (GLASS) ISR product using the reconstructed ISR data from surface meteorological measurements. The influences of surface elevation on ISR estimation was also considered in the proposed method. The point-based surface reconstructed ISR was used as the response variable, and the GLASS ISR product and the surface elevation data at the corresponding locations as explanatory variables to train the thin plate spline model. We evaluated the performance of the approach using the cross-validation method at both daily and monthly time scales over China. We also evaluated estimated ISR based on the thin-plate spline method using independent ground measurements at 10 sites from the Coordinated Enhanced Observation Network (CEON). These validation results indicated that the thin plate smoothing spline method can be effectively used for calibrating satellite derived ISR products using ground measurements to achieve better accuracy.

Ensemble-based evaluation of extreme water levels for the eastern Baltic Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eelsalu, Maris; Soomere, Tarmo

2016-04-01

The risks and damages associated with coastal flooding that are naturally associated with an increase in the magnitude of extreme storm surges are one of the largest concerns of countries with extensive low-lying nearshore areas. The relevant risks are even more contrast for semi-enclosed water bodies such as the Baltic Sea where subtidal (weekly-scale) variations in the water volume of the sea substantially contribute to the water level and lead to large spreading of projections of future extreme water levels. We explore the options for using large ensembles of projections to more reliably evaluate return periods of extreme water levels. Single projections of the ensemble are constructed by means of fitting several sets of block maxima with various extreme value distributions. The ensemble is based on two simulated data sets produced in the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute. A hindcast by the Rossby Centre Ocean model is sampled with a resolution of 6 h and a similar hindcast by the circulation model NEMO with a resolution of 1 h. As the annual maxima of water levels in the Baltic Sea are not always uncorrelated, we employ maxima for calendar years and for stormy seasons. As the shape parameter of the Generalised Extreme Value distribution changes its sign and substantially varies in magnitude along the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, the use of a single distribution for the entire coast is inappropriate. The ensemble involves projections based on the Generalised Extreme Value, Gumbel and Weibull distributions. The parameters of these distributions are evaluated using three different ways: maximum likelihood method and method of moments based on both biased and unbiased estimates. The total number of projections in the ensemble is 40. As some of the resulting estimates contain limited additional information, the members of pairs of projections that are highly correlated are assigned weights 0.6. A comparison of the ensemble-based projection of extreme water levels and their return periods with similar estimates derived from local observations reveals an interesting pattern of match and mismatch. The match is almost perfect in measurement sites where local effects (e.g., wave-induced set-up or local surge in very shallow areas that are not resolved by circulation models) do not contribute to the observed values of water level. There is, however, substantial mismatch between projected and observed extreme values for most of the Estonian coast. The mismatch is largest for sections that are open to high waves and for several bays that are deeply cut into mainland but open for predominant strong wind directions. Detailed quantification of this mismatch eventually makes it possible to develop substantially improved estimates of extreme water levels in sections where local effects considerably contribute into the total water level.

Impact of Greenland orography on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davini, P.; Hardenberg, J.; Filippi, L.; Provenzale, A.

2015-02-01

We show that the absence of the Greenland ice sheet would have important consequences on the North Atlantic Ocean circulation, even without taking into account the effect of the freshwater input to the ocean from ice melting. These effects are investigated in a 600year long coupled ocean-atmosphere simulation with the high-resolution global climate model EC-Earth 3.0.1. Once a new equilibrium is established, a cooling of Eurasia and of the North Atlantic and a poleward shift of the subtropical jet are observed. These hemispheric changes are ascribed to a weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) by about 12%. We attribute this slowdown to a reduction in salinity of the Arctic basin and to the related change of the mass and salt transport through the Fram Strait—a consequence of the new surface wind pattern over the lower orography. This idealized experiment illustrates the sensitivity of the AMOC to local surface winds.

Molecular Epidemiology of Influenza A/H3N2 Viruses Circulating in Mexico from 2003 to 2012

PubMed Central

Escalera-Zamudio, Marina; Nelson, Martha I.; Cobián Güemes, Ana Georgina; López-Martínez, Irma; Cruz-Ortiz, Natividad; Iguala-Vidales, Miguel; García, Elvia Rodríguez; Barrera-Badillo, Gisela; Díaz-Quiñonez, Jose Alberto; López, Susana; Arias, Carlos F.; Isa, Pavel

2014-01-01

In this work, nineteen influenza A/H3N2 viruses isolated in Mexico between 2003 and 2012 were studied. Our findings show that different human A/H3N2 viral lineages co-circulate within a same season and can also persist locally in between different influenza seasons, increasing the chance for genetic reassortment events. A novel minor cluster was also identified, named here as Korea, that circulated worldwide during 2003. Frequently, phylogenetic characterization did not correlate with the determined antigenic identity, supporting the need for the use of molecular evolutionary tools additionally to antigenic data for the surveillance and characterization of viral diversity during each flu season. This work represents the first long-term molecular epidemiology study of influenza A/H3N2 viruses in Mexico based on the complete genomic sequences and contributes to the monitoring of evolutionary trends of A/H3N2 influenza viruses within North and Central America. PMID:25075517

Stable isotopes of fossil teeth corroborate key general circulation model predictions for the Last Glacial Maximum in North America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohn, Matthew J.; McKay, Moriah

2010-11-01

Oxygen isotope data provide a key test of general circulation models (GCMs) for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in North America, which have otherwise proved difficult to validate. High δ18O pedogenic carbonates in central Wyoming have been interpreted to indicate increased summer precipitation sourced from the Gulf of Mexico. Here we show that tooth enamel δ18O of large mammals, which is strongly correlated with local water and precipitation δ18O, is lower during the LGM in Wyoming, not higher. Similar data from Texas, California, Florida and Arizona indicate higher δ18O values than in the Holocene, which is also predicted by GCMs. Tooth enamel data closely validate some recent models of atmospheric circulation and precipitation δ18O, including an increase in the proportion of winter precipitation for central North America, and summer precipitation in the southern US, but suggest aridity can bias pedogenic carbonate δ18O values significantly.

Multi-stage circulating fluidized bed syngas cooling

DOEpatents

Liu, Guohai; Vimalchand, Pannalal; Guan, Xiaofeng; Peng, WanWang

2016-10-11

A method and apparatus for cooling hot gas streams in the temperature range 800.degree. C. to 1600.degree. C. using multi-stage circulating fluid bed (CFB) coolers is disclosed. The invention relates to cooling the hot syngas from coal gasifiers in which the hot syngas entrains substances that foul, erode and corrode heat transfer surfaces upon contact in conventional coolers. The hot syngas is cooled by extracting and indirectly transferring heat to heat transfer surfaces with circulating inert solid particles in CFB syngas coolers. The CFB syngas coolers are staged to facilitate generation of steam at multiple conditions and hot boiler feed water that are necessary for power generation in an IGCC process. The multi-stage syngas cooler can include internally circulating fluid bed coolers, externally circulating fluid bed coolers and hybrid coolers that incorporate features of both internally and externally circulating fluid bed coolers. Higher process efficiencies can be realized as the invention can handle hot syngas from various types of gasifiers without the need for a less efficient precooling step.

The local, remote, and global consequences of climate feedbacks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feldl, Nicole

Climate feedbacks offer a powerful framework for revealing the energetic pathways by which the system adjusts to an imposed forcing, such as an increase in atmospheric CO2. We investigate how local atmospheric feedbacks, such as those associated with Arctic sea ice and the Walker circulation, affect both global climate sensitivity and spatial patterns of warming. Emphasis is placed on a general circulation model with idealized boundary conditions, for the clarity it provides. For this aquaplanet simulation, we account for rapid tropospheric adjustments to CO2 and explicitly diagnose feedbacks (using radiative kernels) and forcing for this precise model set-up. In particular, a detailed closure of the energy budget within a clean experimental set-up allows us to consider nonlinear interactions between feedbacks. The inclusion of a tropical Walker circulation is found to prime the Hadley Circulation for a larger deceleration under CO2 doubling, by altering subtropical stratus decks and the meridional feedback gradient. We perform targeted experiments to isolate the atmospheric processes responsible for the variability in climate sensitivity, with implications for high-sensitivity paleoclimates. The local climate response is characterized in terms of the meridional structure of feedbacks, atmospheric heat transport, nonlinearities, and forcing. Our results display a combination of positive subtropical feedbacks and polar amplified warming. These two factors imply a critical role for transport and nonlinear effects, with the latter acting to substantially reduce global climate sensitivity. At the hemispheric scale, a rich picture emerges: anomalous divergence of heat flux away from positive feedbacks in the subtropics; clear-sky nonlinearities that reinforce the pattern of tropical cooling and high-latitude warming tendencies; and strong ice-line feedbacks that drive further amplification of polar warming. These results have implications for regional climate predictability, by providing an indication of how spatial patterns in feedbacks combine to affect both the local and nonlocal climate response, and how constraining uncertainty in those feedbacks may constrain the climate response. We also consider how competing definitions of feedbacks influence interpretation of climate sensitivity. While climate feedbacks represent a convenient breakdown of the energy balance, their widespread appeal has led to a profusion of definitions, and to variations upon the traditional decomposition. We demonstrate that a locally defined feedback framework does provide several advantages from the perspective of regional climate predictability. Namely, it enables a partial temperature change analysis which quantifies contributions to spatial patterns of warming; it also ensures feedbacks are not biased at high latitudes due to polar amplification. Alternative approaches to characterizing feedbacks can also isolate and illuminate different atmospheric processes. In particular, comparison of two versions of the water vapor feedback, one focused on specific humidity and the other on relative humidity, allows for an elegant dissection of the relative importance of thermodynamical and dynamical changes in a warmer world.

Induction of Purple Sulfur Bacterial Growth in Dairy Wastewater Lagoons by Circulation

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Aims: To determine if circulation of diary wastewater induces the growth of phototrophic purple sulfur bacteria (PSB). Methods and Results: Two dairy wastewater lagoons that were similar in size, geographic location, number and type of cattle loading the lagoons were chosen. The only obvious diffe...

The Use of Research Libraries: A Comment about the Pittsburgh Study and Its Critics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peat, W. Leslie

1981-01-01

Reviews the controversy surrounding the Pittsburgh study of library circulation and collection usage and proposes the use of citation analysis techniques as an acceptable method for measuring research use of a research library which will complement circulation studies. Five references are listed. (RAA)

The interplay between estuarine transport and biogeochemical processes in determining the nutrient conditions in bottom layers of non-tidal Gulf of Finland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kõuts, Mariliis; Raudsepp, Urmas; Maljutenko, Ilja

2017-04-01

In coastal areas, especially estuaries, spatial distribution and seasonal cycling of chemical and biological variables is largely determined by local biogeochemical processes and water transport of different properties. In tidal estuaries, however, biogeochemical processes are affected by tides as frequent water exchange alters nutrient and oxygen concentrations. In wide and deep non-tidal estuary-type marginal seas spatial distribution and seasonal cycling are determined by the mixture of water transport and local biogeochemistry. The Baltic Sea is a stratified water basin where halocline divides the water column into two parts: upper layer, which is horizontally uniform in terms of distribution of chemical and biological parameters, and has clear seasonal cycle; and bottom part, where nutrient and oxygen dynamics is more complex. There water transport and sediment-water interface fluxes play a major role. Our prime focus is the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea. It is a wide, non-tidal and stratified sub-basin known for its high nutrient concentrations and severe oxygen deficiency in summer. We modelled the Baltic Sea (including Gulf of Finland) using ERGOM, a biogeochemical model coupled with circulation model GETM. Seasonal cycling and water circulation were observed with a 40-year simulation from 1966 to 2006. Our results show that in shallow areas above halocline the seasonal cycle of phytoplankton, nutrients and oxygen concentrations is uniform in space. Water circulation does not create inhomogeneous distribution pattern of biogeochemical parameters and their seasonal cycle. The circulation in the Gulf of Finland is strongly modulated by the seasonality of estuarine transport. Below the halocline saline low-oxygen and nutrient-rich water is transported from the open Baltic Proper to the Gulf of Finland in spring and early summer. This results in the highest nutrient concentrations and the poorest oxygen conditions by the end of August. In the shallow area nutrients have high concentrations in March-April before the spring bloom of diatoms starts. Low oxygen and nutrient concentrations are observed at the end of August. There is a qualitative difference of nutrient dynamics between shallow and deep layers but quantification of the role of transport and local biogeochemical processes is still challenging.

Circulating asymmetric dimethylarginine and the risk of preeclampsia: a meta-analysis based on 1338 participants.

PubMed

Yuan, Jing; Wang, Xinguo; Xie, Yudou; Wang, Yuzhi; Dong, Lei; Li, Hong; Zhu, Tongyu

2017-07-04

Patients with preeclampsia have higher circulating asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA). However, whether circulating ADMA is elevated before the diagnosis of preeclampsia has not been determined. A meta-analysis of observational studies that reported circulating ADMA level before the onset of preeclampsia was performed. Pubmed and Embase were searched. Standardized mean differences (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to estimate the differences in circulating ADMA. A random effect model or a fixed effect model was applied depending on the heterogeneity. The predictive efficacy of circulating ADMA for the incidence of preeclampsia was also explored. Eleven comparisons with 1338 pregnant women were included. The pooled results showed that the circulating ADMA was significantly higher in women who subsequently developed preeclampsia as compared with those did not (SMD: 0.71, p < 0.001) with a moderate heterogeneity (I2 = 43%). Stratified analyses suggested elevation of circulating ADMA is more remarkable in studies with GA of ADMA sampling ≥ 20 weeks (SMD: 0.89, p < 0.01) as compared those with GA of ADMA sampling < 20 weeks (SMD: 0.56, p < 0.01; p for subgroup interaction = 0.03). Differences of maternal age, study design, and ADMA measurement methods did not significantly affect the results. Only two studies evaluated the potential predicting ability of circulating ADMA for subsequent preeclampsia, and retrieved moderate predictive efficacy. Circulating ADMA is elevated before the development of preeclampsia. Studies are needed to evaluate the predictive efficacy of ADMA for the incidence of preeclampsia.

Lunar tides in the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stening, R. J.; Richmond, A. D.; Roble, R. G.

1999-01-01

Lunar semidiurnal tides are introduced at the lower boundary of the National Center for Atmospheric Research Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIEGCM). The tides are derived from the model of Vial and Forbes [1994] and interesting properties of these tides are found when they are subjected to Hough decomposition; there is considerable hemispherical antisymmetry in the September tides, and the March and September modal compositions are significantly different. A differencing method is used to isolate the lunar tidal effects in the TIEGCM, and these are compared with lunar tidal analyses of ionospheric data. The model reproduces the broad features of the lunar tide in foF2 (maximum frequency of the F region) with phase changes around 7° magnetic dip latitude during daytime. The model and data analysis both give variations of the amplitude and phase of the lunar tide with local time. Near the equator the variation of phase with local time changes with latitude as the equatorial anomaly develops during the day. Comparison between the model predictions and analyses of data at observatories at midlatitudes produces mixed results. Here the effects of the lunar components of both electrodynamic drifts and of neutral winds need to be taken into account. Several cases of day to night changes in the phase of the lunar tide in foF2 are noted. Large nighttime amplitudes of the lunar tide in hmF2 (height of the maximum density), more than 4 km, seem to be due to inphase action of the electrodynamic and neutral wind effects while during daytime they are out of phase. The lunar tide in the ratio of oxygen to nitrogen density [O]/[N2] is estimated and found to be of relatively minor importance. Amplitudes of the lunar tide in foF2 may be measured at more than 0.4 MHz at some local times, but the model values are less than this. Comparison is also made with ion drift measurements made by the San Marco D satellite. The several uncertainties which underlie this work are discussed in detail.

Air quality impacted by local pollution sources and beyond - Using a prominent petro-industrial complex as a study case.

PubMed

Chen, Sheng-Po; Wang, Chieh-Heng; Lin, Wen-Dian; Tong, Yu-Huei; Chen, Yu-Chun; Chiu, Ching-Jui; Chiang, Hung-Chi; Fan, Chen-Lun; Wang, Jia-Lin; Chang, Julius S

2018-05-01

The present study combines high-resolution measurements at various distances from a world-class gigantic petrochemical complex with model simulations to test a method to assess industrial emissions and their effect on local air quality. Due to the complexity in wind conditions which were highly seasonal, the dominant wind flow patterns in the coastal region of interest were classified into three types, namely northeast monsoonal (NEM) flows, southwest monsoonal (SEM) flows and local circulation (LC) based on six years of monitoring data. Sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) was chosen as an indicative pollutant for prominent industrial emissions. A high-density monitoring network of 12 air-quality stations distributed within a 20-km radius surrounding the petrochemical complex provided hourly measurements of SO 2 and wind parameters. The SO 2 emissions from major industrial sources registered by the monitoring network were then used to validate model simulations and to illustrate the transport of the SO 2 plumes under the three typical wind patterns. It was found that the coupling of observations and modeling was able to successfully explain the transport of the industrial plumes. Although the petrochemical complex was seemingly the only major source to affect local air quality, multiple prominent sources from afar also played a significant role in local air quality. As a result, we found that a more complete and balanced assessment of the local air quality can be achieved only after taking into account the wind characteristics and emission factors of a much larger spatial scale than the initial (20 km by 20 km) study domain. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Circulation (Organs). MicroSIFT Courseware Evaluation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Northwest Regional Educational Lab., Portland, OR.

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT (Except for the Evaluation Summary Table): PRODUCER: Micro Power and Light Company, Keystone Park, Suite 1108, 13773 N. Central Expressway, Dallas, TX 75243. LOCAL DISTRIBUTORS: Contact producer for list. EVALUATION COMPLETED: Fall 1981. VERSION: Apple II. COST: $29.95. ABILITY LEVEL: Grades 5-12.…

78 FR 20334 - Changes in Flood Hazard Determinations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-04

... a Letter of Map Revision (LOMR), in accordance with Title 44, Part 65 of the Code of Federal... in a newspaper of local circulation, any person has ninety (90) days in which to request through the........... 060299 areas San Joaquin Vogel, Chairman, Public Works Docs/12-09-2566P- County (12-09- San Joaquin...

Seeing Education with One's Own Eyes and through PISA Lenses: Considerations of the Reception of PISA in European Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carvalho, Luís Miguel; Costa, Estela

2015-01-01

The paper addresses the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's "Program for International Student Assessment" (PISA) as a public policy instrument, whose worldwide circulation is mediated by processes of reinterpretation, negotiation, and re-contextualization, where national, local, and international agencies intertwine.…

Using genetic algorithms to achieve an automatic and global optimization of analogue methods for statistical downscaling of precipitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horton, Pascal; Weingartner, Rolf; Obled, Charles; Jaboyedoff, Michel

2017-04-01

Analogue methods (AMs) rely on the hypothesis that similar situations, in terms of atmospheric circulation, are likely to result in similar local or regional weather conditions. These methods consist of sampling a certain number of past situations, based on different synoptic-scale meteorological variables (predictors), in order to construct a probabilistic prediction for a local weather variable of interest (predictand). They are often used for daily precipitation prediction, either in the context of real-time forecasting, reconstruction of past weather conditions, or future climate impact studies. The relationship between predictors and predictands is defined by several parameters (predictor variable, spatial and temporal windows used for the comparison, analogy criteria, and number of analogues), which are often calibrated by means of a semi-automatic sequential procedure that has strong limitations. AMs may include several subsampling levels (e.g. first sorting a set of analogs in terms of circulation, then restricting to those with similar moisture status). The parameter space of the AMs can be very complex, with substantial co-dependencies between the parameters. Thus, global optimization techniques are likely to be necessary for calibrating most AM variants, as they can optimize all parameters of all analogy levels simultaneously. Genetic algorithms (GAs) were found to be successful in finding optimal values of AM parameters. They allow taking into account parameters inter-dependencies, and selecting objectively some parameters that were manually selected beforehand (such as the pressure levels and the temporal windows of the predictor variables), and thus obviate the need of assessing a high number of combinations. The performance scores of the optimized methods increased compared to reference methods, and this even to a greater extent for days with high precipitation totals. The resulting parameters were found to be relevant and spatially coherent. Moreover, they were obtained automatically and objectively, which reduces efforts invested in exploration attempts when adapting the method to a new region or for a new predictand. In addition, the approach allowed for new degrees of freedom, such as a weighting between the pressure levels, and non overlapping spatial windows. Genetic algorithms were then used further in order to automatically select predictor variables and analogy criteria. This resulted in interesting outputs, providing new predictor-criterion combinations. However, some limitations of the approach were encountered, and the need of the expert input is likely to remain necessary. Nevertheless, letting GAs exploring a dataset for the best predictor for a predictand of interest is certainly a useful tool, particularly when applied for a new predictand or a new region under different climatic characteristics.

Thyroid hormone transporters in health and disease: advances in thyroid hormone deiodination.

PubMed

Köhrle, Josef

2007-06-01

Thyroid hormone metabolism by the three deiodinase selenoproteins -- DIO1, DIO2, and DIO3 -- regulates the local availability of various iodothyronine metabolites and thus mediates their effects on gene expression, thermoregulation, energy metabolism, and many key reactions during the development and maintenance of an adult organism. Circulating serum levels of thyroid hormone and thyroid-stimulating hormone, used as a combined indicator of thyroid hormone status, reflect a composite picture of: thyroid secretion; tissue-specific production of T(3) by DIO1 and DIO2 activity, which both contribute to circulating levels of T(3); and degradation of the prohormone T4, of the thyromimetically active T(3), of the inactive rT(3), of other iodothyronines metabolites with a lower iodine content and of thyroid hormone conjugates. Degradation reactions are catalyzed by either DIO1 or DIO3. Aberrant expression of individual deiodinases in disease, single nucleotide polymorphisms in their genes, and novel regulators of DIO gene expression (such as bile acids) provide a more complex picture of the fine tuning and the adaptation of systemic and local bioavailability of thyroid hormones.

Tidal and tidally averaged circulation characteristics of Suisun Bay, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smith, Lawrence H.; Cheng, Ralph T.

1987-01-01

Availability of extensive field data permitted realistic calibration and validation of a hydrodynamic model of tidal circulation and salt transport for Suisun Bay, California. Suisun Bay is a partially mixed embayment of northern San Francisco Bay located just seaward of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The model employs a variant of an alternating direction implicit finite-difference method to solve the hydrodynamic equations and an Eulerian-Lagrangian method to solve the salt transport equation. An upwind formulation of the advective acceleration terms of the momentum equations was employed to avoid oscillations in the tidally averaged velocity field produced by central spatial differencing of these terms. Simulation results of tidal circulation and salt transport demonstrate that tides and the complex bathymetry determine the patterns of tidal velocities and that net changes in the salinity distribution over a few tidal cycles are small despite large changes during each tidal cycle. Computations of tidally averaged circulation suggest that baroclinic and wind effects are important influences on tidally averaged circulation during low freshwater-inflow conditions. Exclusion of baroclinic effects would lead to overestimation of freshwater inflow by several hundred m3/s for a fixed set of model boundary conditions. Likewise, exclusion of wind would cause an underestimation of flux rates between shoals and channels by 70–100%.

Detection and Attribution of Temperature Trends in the Presence of Natural Variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wallace, J. M.

2014-12-01

The fingerprint of human-induced global warming stands out clearly above the noise In the time series of global-mean temperature, but not local temperature. At extratropical latitudes over land the standard error of 50-year linear temperature trends at a fixed point is as large as the cumulative rise in global-mean temperature over the past century. Much of the samping variability in local temperature trends is "dynamically-induced", i.e., attributable to the fact that the seasonally-varying mean circulation varies substantially from one year to the next and anomalous circulation patterns are generally accompanied by anomalous temperature patterns. In the presence of such large sampling variability it is virtually impossible to identify the spatial signature of greenhouse warming based on observational data or to partition observed local temperature trends into natural and human-induced components. It follows that previous IPCC assessments, which have focused on the deterministic signature of human-induced climate change, are inherently limited as to what they can tell us about the attribution of the past record of local temperature change or about how much the temperature at a particular place is likely to rise in the next few decades in response to global warming. To obtain more informative assessments of regional and local climate variability and change it will be necessary to take a probabilistic approach. Just as the use of the ensembles has contributed to more informative extended range weather predictions, large ensembles of climate model simulations can provide a statistical context for interpreting observed climate change and for framing projections of future climate. For some purposes, statistics relating to the interannual variability in the historical record can serve as a surrogate for statistics relating to the diversity of climate change scenarios in large ensembles.

Statistical downscaling modeling with quantile regression using lasso to estimate extreme rainfall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santri, Dewi; Wigena, Aji Hamim; Djuraidah, Anik

2016-02-01

Rainfall is one of the climatic elements with high diversity and has many negative impacts especially extreme rainfall. Therefore, there are several methods that required to minimize the damage that may occur. So far, Global circulation models (GCM) are the best method to forecast global climate changes include extreme rainfall. Statistical downscaling (SD) is a technique to develop the relationship between GCM output as a global-scale independent variables and rainfall as a local- scale response variable. Using GCM method will have many difficulties when assessed against observations because GCM has high dimension and multicollinearity between the variables. The common method that used to handle this problem is principal components analysis (PCA) and partial least squares regression. The new method that can be used is lasso. Lasso has advantages in simultaneuosly controlling the variance of the fitted coefficients and performing automatic variable selection. Quantile regression is a method that can be used to detect extreme rainfall in dry and wet extreme. Objective of this study is modeling SD using quantile regression with lasso to predict extreme rainfall in Indramayu. The results showed that the estimation of extreme rainfall (extreme wet in January, February and December) in Indramayu could be predicted properly by the model at quantile 90th.

Surface water subduction during a downwelling event in a semienclosed bay

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barton, E. D.; Torres, R.; Figueiras, F. G.; Gilcoto, M.; Largier, J.

2016-09-01

The Ría de Vigo is a bay strongly influenced by upwelling-downwelling cycles along the adjacent coast of NW Iberia. Moored and ship-board observations during September 2006 showed that subduction, initially associated with an estuarine circulation, strengthened when a strong downwelling circulation, resulting from northward wind over the coastal ocean, was generated in the outer Ría causing ambient waters to be advected outward in the lower layer. Incoming surface waters confined the estuarine circulation to the shallow interior and displaced isopleths downward through the water column at ˜10 m d-1. As the estuarine circulation retreated inward, strong flow convergence developed between middle and inner ria in the layer above 15 m, while divergence developed beneath. The convergence increased through the period of downwelling-favorable wind at a rate consistent with the observed isopleth displacement velocities. The coefficient of turbulent diffusion Kt, from a microstructure profiler, indicated that mixing was strong in the estuarine circulation and subsequently in the downwelling zone, where localized instabilities and temperature-salinity inversions were observed. During the downwelling, concentrations of phytoplankton, including potentially harmful species, increased, especially in the middle and inner ria, as a result of inward advection, subduction, and the ability of the dinoflagellates to maintain their position in the water column by swimming. In the course of the 5 day event, the water mass of all but the innermost Ría was flushed completely and replaced by waters originating in the coastally trapped poleward flow along the Atlantic coastline.

Global circulation patterns of seasonal influenza viruses vary with antigenic drift

PubMed Central

Bedford, Trevor; Riley, Steven; Barr, Ian G.; Broor, Shobha; Chadha, Mandeep; Cox, Nancy J.; Daniels, Rodney S.; Gunasekaran, C. Palani; Hurt, Aeron C.; Kelso, Anne; Lewis, Nicola S.; Li, Xiyan; McCauley, John W.; Odagiri, Takato; Potdar, Varsha; Rambaut, Andrew; Shu, Yuelong; Skepner, Eugene; Smith, Derek J.; Suchard, Marc A.; Tashiro, Masato; Wang, Dayan; Xu, Xiyan; Lemey, Philippe; Russell, Colin A.

2015-01-01

Understanding the spatio-temporal patterns of emergence and circulation of new human seasonal influenza virus variants is a key scientific and public health challenge. The global circulation patterns of influenza A/H3N2 viruses are well-characterized1-7 but the patterns of A/H1N1 and B viruses have remained largely unexplored. Here, based on analyses of 9,604 hemagglutinin sequences of human seasonal influenza viruses from 2000–2012, we show that the global circulation patterns of A/H1N1 (up to 2009), B/Victoria, and B/Yamagata viruses differ substantially from those of A/H3N2 viruses. While genetic variants of A/H3N2 viruses did not persist locally between epidemics and were reseeded from East and Southeast (E-SE) Asia, genetic variants of A/H1N1 and B viruses persisted across multiple seasons and exhibited complex global dynamics with E-SE Asia playing a limited role in disseminating new variants. The less frequent global movement of influenza A/H1N1 and B viruses coincided with slower rates of antigenic evolution, lower ages of infection, and smaller less frequent epidemics compared to A/H3N2 viruses. Detailed epidemic models support differences in age of infection, combined with the less frequent travel of children, as likely drivers of the differences in the patterns of global circulation, suggesting a complex interaction between virus evolution, epidemiology and human behavior. PMID:26053121

A Forecast Skill Comparison between CliPAS One-Tier and Two-Tier Hindcast Experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, J.; Wang, B.; Kang, I.

2006-05-01

A 24-year (1981-2004) MME hindcast experimental dataset is produced under the "Climate Prediction and Its Application to Society" (CliPAS) project sponsored by Korean Meteorological Administration (KMA). This dataset consists of 5 one-tier model systems from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), Frontier Research Center for Global Change (FRCGC), Seoul National University (SNU), and University of Hawaii (UH) and 5 two-tier model systems from Florida State University (FSU), Geophysical Fluid Dynamic Lab (GFDL), SNU, and UH. Multi-model Ensemble (MME) Forecast skills of seasonal precipitation and atmospheric circulation are compared between CliPAS one-tier and two-tier hindcast experiments for seasonal mean precipitation and atmospheric circulation. For winter prediction, two-tier MME has a comparable skill to one-tier MME. However, it is demonstrated that in the Asian-Australian monsoon (A-AM) heavy precipitation regions, one-tier systems are superior to two-tier systems in summer season. The reason is that inclusion of the local warm pool- monsoon interaction in the one-tier system improves the ENSO teleconnection with monsoon regions. Both one-tier and two-tier MME fail to predict Indian monsoon circulation, while they have a significantly good skill for the broad scale monsoon circulation defined by Webster and Yang index. One-tier system has a much better skill to predict the monsoon circulation over the western North pacific where air-sea interaction plays an important role than two-tier system.

Global circulation patterns of seasonal influenza viruses vary with antigenic drift

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bedford, Trevor; Riley, Steven; Barr, Ian G.; Broor, Shobha; Chadha, Mandeep; Cox, Nancy J.; Daniels, Rodney S.; Gunasekaran, C. Palani; Hurt, Aeron C.; Kelso, Anne; Klimov, Alexander; Lewis, Nicola S.; Li, Xiyan; McCauley, John W.; Odagiri, Takato; Potdar, Varsha; Rambaut, Andrew; Shu, Yuelong; Skepner, Eugene; Smith, Derek J.; Suchard, Marc A.; Tashiro, Masato; Wang, Dayan; Xu, Xiyan; Lemey, Philippe; Russell, Colin A.

2015-07-01

Understanding the spatiotemporal patterns of emergence and circulation of new human seasonal influenza virus variants is a key scientific and public health challenge. The global circulation patterns of influenza A/H3N2 viruses are well characterized, but the patterns of A/H1N1 and B viruses have remained largely unexplored. Here we show that the global circulation patterns of A/H1N1 (up to 2009), B/Victoria, and B/Yamagata viruses differ substantially from those of A/H3N2 viruses, on the basis of analyses of 9,604 haemagglutinin sequences of human seasonal influenza viruses from 2000 to 2012. Whereas genetic variants of A/H3N2 viruses did not persist locally between epidemics and were reseeded from East and Southeast Asia, genetic variants of A/H1N1 and B viruses persisted across several seasons and exhibited complex global dynamics with East and Southeast Asia playing a limited role in disseminating new variants. The less frequent global movement of influenza A/H1N1 and B viruses coincided with slower rates of antigenic evolution, lower ages of infection, and smaller, less frequent epidemics compared to A/H3N2 viruses. Detailed epidemic models support differences in age of infection, combined with the less frequent travel of children, as probable drivers of the differences in the patterns of global circulation, suggesting a complex interaction between virus evolution, epidemiology, and human behaviour.

Liver failure induces a systemic inflammatory response. Prevention by recombinant N-terminal bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein.

PubMed Central

Boermeester, M. A.; Houdijk, A. P.; Meyer, S.; Cuesta, M. A.; Appelmelk, B. J.; Wesdorp, R. I.; Hack, C. E.; Van Leeuwen, P. A.

1995-01-01

The observed increased susceptibility of patients with fulminant hepatic failure for local and systemic infections has been hypothesized to be due to a failure for the hepatic clearance function and subsequent leaking of endogenous endotoxins into the systemic circulation. However, experimental evidence for such a systemic inflammation during liver failure due to endogenous endotoxemia is lacking. Therefore, we designed a study to clarify whether circulating endotoxins due to liver failure could lead to the development of systemic inflammations. In a rat model for liver failure induced by a two-thirds partial hepatectomy, we evaluated the course of circulating tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-6, changes in blood chemistry and hemodynamics, and histopathological changes in the lungs. Partially hepatectomized animals, but not sham-operated animals, demonstrated cardiac failure, increased levels of creatinin and urea, metabolic acidosis, high plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-6, and an influx of PMNs in the lungs-together indicating the development of a systemic inflammatory response. Continuous infusion of recombinant N-terminal bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (rBPI23), a well described endotoxin-neutralizing protein, prevented these inflammatory reactions. Ex vivo experiments with rat plasma samples confirmed the presence of circulating endotoxins in partially hepatectomized rats as opposed to those treated with rBPI23. Thus, our results indicate that the early phase of liver failure induces a systemic inflammatory response triggered by circulating endotoxins, which can be prevented by perioperative infusion of rBPI23. Images Figure 2 PMID:7485405

The impact of climatological model biases in the North Atlantic jet on predicted future circulation change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simpson, I.

2015-12-01

A long standing bias among global climate models (GCMs) is their incorrect representation of the wintertime circulation of the North Atlantic region. Specifically models tend to exhibit a North Atlantic jet (and associated storm track) that is too zonal, extending across central Europe, when it should tilt northward toward Scandinavia. GCM's consistently predict substantial changes in the large scale circulation in this region, consisting of a localized anti-cyclonic circulation, centered over the Mediterranean and accompanied by increased aridity there and increased storminess over Northern Europe.Here, we present preliminary results from experiments that are designed to address the question of what the impact of the climatological circulation biases might be on this predicted future response. Climate change experiments will be compared in two versions of the Community Earth System Model: the first is a free running version of the model, as typically used in climate prediction; the second is a bias corrected version of the model in which a seasonally varying cycle of bias correction tendencies are applied to the wind and temperature fields. These bias correction tendencies are designed to account for deficiencies in the fast parameterized processes, with an aim to push the model toward a more realistic climatology.While these experiments come with the caveat that they assume the bias correction tendencies will remain constant with time, they allow for an initial assessment, through controlled experiments, of the impact that biases in the climatological circulation can have on future predictions in this region. They will also motivate future work that can make use of the bias correction tendencies to understand the underlying physical processes responsible for the incorrect tilt of the jet.

Decadal Air-Sea Interaction in the North Atlantic Based on Observations and Modeling Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hakkinen, Sirpa

1998-01-01

The decadal, 12-14 year, cycle observed in the North Atlantic SST and tide gauge data was examined using the NCEP/NCAR reanalyses, COADS data and an ocean model simulation. Besides this decadal mode, a shorter, subdecadal period of about 8 years exists in tide gauge data north of 40N, in the subpolar SST and in the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index and in subpolar winter heat flux values. The decadal cycle is a well separated mode in a singular spectrum analysis (SSA) for a time series of SST EOF mode 1 with a center over the Gulf Stream extension. Tide gauge and SST data are consistent in that both show a significant subdecadal periodicity exclusively in the subpolar gyre, but in subtropics the 12-14 year period is the prominent, but nonstationary, decadal signal. The main finding of this study is that this 12-14 year cycle can be constructed based on the leading mode of the surface heat flux. This connection to the surface heat flux implicates the participation of the thermohaline circulation in the decadal cycle. During the cycle starting from the positive index phase of NAO, SST and oceanic heat content anomalies are created in subtropics due to local heat flux and intensification of the thermohaline circulation. The anomalies advect to the subpolar gyre where they are amplified by local heat flux and are part of the negative feedback of thermohaline circulation on itself. Consequently the oceanic thermohaline circulation slows down and the opposite cycle starts. The oscillatory nature would not be possible without the active atmospheric participation in the cycle, because it provides the unstable interaction through heat flux, without it, the oceanic mode would be damped. This analysis suggests that the two principal modes of heat flux variability, corresponding to patterns similar to North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Western Atlantic (WA), are part of the same decadal cycle and an indirect measure of the north-south movement of the storm tracks.

Quasi-3-yr Cycle of Rainy Season Precipitation in Tibet Related to Different Types of ENSO during 1981-2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chunxue; Ma, Zhenfeng

2018-04-01

The rainy season precipitation in Tibet (RSPT) is a direct cause for local floods/droughts. It also indirectly affects the thermal conditions of the Tibetan Plateau, which can result in anomalous patterns of atmospheric circulation over East Asia. The interannual variability of the RSPT is often linked with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), but the relevant mechanisms are far from being understood, particularly for different types of ENSO events. We investigated the interannual variation of the RSPT in association with different types of ENSO. A quasi-3-yr period of the RSPT (less-more-more precipitation) was significant at the 95% confidence level. A joint multi-taper method with singular value decomposition analysis of the coupled field between the RSPT and the sea surface temperature (SST) revealed that the developing eastern Pacific type El Niño was accompanied by a decrease in the RSPT. The shift from the central Pacific type El Niño to the eastern Pacific La Niña was accompanied by an increase in the RSPT. Weakening of the central Pacific La Niña was accompanied by an increase in the RSPT. Analysis of the mechanism of this coupling, using the same analysis method but other climatic factors, indicated that the gradually strengthening eastern Pacific El Niño can inhibit the Walker circulation, weakening the South Asian summer monsoon, and resulting in transport of less water vapor from the Bay of Bengal to Tibet. The change from the central Pacific El Niño to the eastern Pacific La Niña led to continued strengthening of the Walker circulation with westward movement of the ascending area. This enhanced the South Asian summer monsoon over the Arabian Sea and transported more water vapor to Tibet. The decreasing central Pacific La Niña accompanied by persistent cooling of SSTs in the equatorial Pacific led to a strong eastern North Pacific summer monsoon, causing an anomaly in the easterly transport of water vapor from the Sea of Japan to Tibet and increased RSPT.

Renewable and Sustainable Study of Groundwater Flow System based on Numerical Simulation in Qaidam Basin, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Y.

2015-12-01

In order to study surface water and groundwater exchange and renewal capacity of groundwater system of Qaidam Basin, inland northwest China, TOUGH2 (Transport of Unsaturated Groundwater and Heat 2) simulation software was used to establish a two-dimensional variable saturated numerical model of a typical cross-section from the Nuomuhong river to the Amunike mountain. According to previous results, evaporation is a function of soil saturation given as an upper boundary to characterize water transport near surface through iterative calculation. Parameters were calibrated with 52 groundwater observation data by trial-and-error method. Particle tracking and isotopic dating results were combined to simulate groundwater age and calibrate models. The results showed that the typical profile of Qaidam basin can be divided into three lumped groundwater flow systems: (1) The circulation depth (CD) of local groundwater flow system is about 200m, where discharge in this lumped system accounts for 74.4% of the total amount of discharge (TAD), of which spring overflow constitutes large fraction. Groundwater age is generally less than 500 years and renewal rate is 1.13% a-1; (2) The CD of middle flow system can reach 800m, where it takes up 18.5% of TAD, evaporation and river overflows is the main outlet of discharge. Groundwater age is generally less than 10ka and renewal rate is 0.094% a-1; (3) The CD of regional flow system is from 1000 to 1500m. It accounts for 7.1% of TAD, of which evaporation is the largest component. Groundwater age is from 10ka to 50ka and renewal rate of which is 0.0074% a-1. Sulingguole river is the discharge area of regional groundwater system, the age of which is greater than 30ka. The method used here can obtain the renewal capacity of groundwater system and better reflect regional circulation characteristics, which have certain significance for the urgent study of regional groundwater circulation and flow systems in areas with limited available data.

Intracerebroventricular Injection of Rats. A Sensitive Assay Method for Endogenous Pyrogen Circulating in Rats (41015)

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-01-01

Rats:1A Sensitive Assay Method for Endogenous Pyrogen Circulating in Rats (41015)1-- / WALTER J.CRITZ ~fI~ U.S. Army Medical Resetirch Inshfute- riak...8217ohn iases. F’oPy Detrick, Frederick. Maryland 21701 OI! Abstract, Intracerebroventricular tics) injection of endogenous pyrogen (EPI into rats causes...the lower the con- in an alteration of the "set-point" for body centration at which the pyrogen can be temperature (2). Endogenous pyrogen is a

Method of independently operating a group of stages within a diffusion cascade

DOEpatents

Benedict, Manson; Fruit, Allen J.; Levey, Horace B.

1976-06-08

1. A method of operating a group of the diffusion stages of a productive diffusion cascade with countercurrent flow, said group comprising a top and a bottom stage, which comprises isolating said group from said cascade, circulating the diffused gas produced in said top stage to the feed of said bottom stage while at the same time circulating the undiffused gas from said bottom stage to the feed of said top stage whereby major changes in

High resolution present climate and surface mass balance (SMB) of Svalbard modelled by MAR and implementation of a new online SMB downscaling method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lang, C.; Fettweis, X.; Kittel, C.; Erpicum, M.

2017-12-01

We present the results of high resolution simulations of the climate and SMB of Svalbard with the regional climate model MAR forced by ERA-40 then ERA-Interim, as well as an online downscaling method allowing us to model the SMB and its components at a resolution twice as high (2.5 vs 5 km here) using only about 25% more CPU time. Spitsbergen, the largest island in Svalbard, has a very hilly topography and a high spatial resolution is needed to correctly represent the local topography and the complex pattern of ice distribution and precipitation. However, high resolution runs with an RCM fully coupled to an energy balance module like MAR require a huge amount of computation time. The hydrostatic equilibrium hypothesis used in MAR also becomes less valid as the spatial resolution increases. We therefore developed in MAR a method to run the snow module at a resolution twice as high as the atmospheric module. Near-surface temperature and humidity are corrected on a grid with a resolution twice as high, as a function of their local gradients and the elevation difference between the corresponding pixels in the 2 grids. We compared the results of our runs at 5 km and with SMB downscaled at 2.5 km over 1960 — 2016 and compared those to previous 10 km runs. On Austfonna, where the slopes are gentle, the agreement between observations and the 5 km SMB is better than with the 10 km SMB. It is again improved at 2.5 km but the gain is relatively small, showing the interest of our method rather than running a time consuming classic 2.5 km resolution simulation. On Spitsbergen, we show that a spatial resolution of 2.5 km is still not enough to represent the complex pattern of topography, precipitation and SMB. Due to a change in the summer atmospheric circulation, from a westerly flow over Svalbard to a northwesterly flow bringing colder air, the SMB of Svalbard was stable between 2006 and 2012, while several melt records were broken in Greenland, due to conditions more anticyclonic than usual. In 2013, the reverse situation happened and a southwesterly atmospheric circulation brought warmer air over Svalbard. The SMB broke the last 55 years' record. In 2016, the temperature was higher than average and a new record melt was broken despite a northwesterly flow. The northerly flow still mitigated the warming over Svalbard, which was much lower than most regions of the Arctic.

Initial Circulation and Peak Vorticity Behavior of Vortices Shed from Airfoil Vortex Generators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wendt, Bruce J.; Biesiadny, Tom (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

An extensive parametric study of vortices shed from airfoil vortex generators has been conducted to determine the dependence of initial vortex circulation and peak vorticity on elements of the airfoil geometry and impinging flow conditions. These elements include the airfoil angle of attack, chord length, span, aspect ratio, local boundary layer thickness, and free stream Mach number. In addition, the influence of airfoil-to-airfoil spacing on the circulation and peak vorticity has been examined for pairs of co-rotating and counter-rotating vortices. The vortex generators were symmetric airfoils having a NACA-0012 cross-sectional profile. These airfoils were mounted either in isolation, or in pairs, on the surface of a straight pipe. The turbulent boundary layer thickness to pipe radius ratio was about 17 percent. The circulation and peak vorticity data were derived from cross-plane velocity measurements acquired with a seven-hole probe at one chord-length downstream of the airfoil trailing edge location. The circulation is observed to be proportional to the free-stream Mach number, the angle-of-attack, and the span-to-boundary layer thickness ratio. With these parameters held constant, the circulation is observed to fall off in monotonic fashion with increasing airfoil aspect ratio. The peak vorticity is also observed to be proportional to the free-stream Mach number, the airfoil angle-of-attack, and the span-to-boundary layer thickness ratio. Unlike circulation, however, the peak vorticity is observed to increase with increasing aspect ratio, reaching a peak value at an aspect ratio of about 2.0 before falling off again at higher values of aspect ratio. Co-rotating vortices shed from closely spaced pairs of airfoils have values of circulation and peak vorticity under those values found for vortices shed from isolated airfoils of the same geometry. Conversely, counter-rotating vortices show enhanced values of circulation and peak vorticity when compared to values obtained in isolation. The circulation may be accurately modeled with an expression based on Prandtl's relationship between finite airfoil circulation and airfoil geometry. A correlation for the peak vorticity has been derived from a conservation relationship equating the moment at the airfoil tip to the rate of angular momentum production of the shed vortex, modeled as a Lamb (ideal viscous) vortex. This technique provides excellent qualitative agreement to the observed behavior of peak vorticity for low aspect ratio airfoils typically used as vortex generators.

Evolution and heterogeneity of multiple serotypes of Dengue virus in Pakistan, 2006–2011

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Even though dengue has been recognized as one of the major public health threats in Pakistan, the understanding of its molecular epidemiology is still limited. The genotypic diversity of Dengue virus (DENV) serotypes involved in dengue outbreaks since 2005 in Pakistan is not well studied. Here, we investigated the origin, diversity, genetic relationships and geographic distribution of DENV to understand virus evolution during the recent expansion of dengue in Pakistan. Methods The study included 200 sera obtained from dengue-suspected patients from 2006 to 2011. DENV infection was confirmed in 94 (47%) sera by a polymerase chain reaction assay. These included 36 (38.3%) DENV-2, 57 DENV-3 (60.6%) and 1 DENV-4 (1.1%) cases. Sequences of 13 whole genomes (6 DENV-2, 6 DENV-3 and 1 DENV-4) and 49 envelope genes (26 DENV-2, 22 DENV-3 and 1 DENV-4) were analysed to determine the origin, phylogeny, diversity and selection pressure during virus evolution. Results DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4 in Pakistan from 2006 to 2011 shared 98.5-99.6% nucleotide and 99.3-99.9% amino acid similarity with those circulated in the Indian subcontinent during the last decade. Nevertheless, Pakistan DENV-2 and DENV-3 strains formed distinct clades characterized by amino acid signatures of NS2A-I116T + NS5-K861R and NS3-K590R + NS5-S895L respectively. Each clade consisted of a heterogenous virus population that circulated in Southern (2006–2009) and Northern Pakistan (2011). Conclusions DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4 that circulated during 2006–2011 are likely to have first introduced via the southern route of Pakistan. Both DENV-2 and DENV-3 have undergone in-situ evolution to generate heterogenous populations, possibly driven by sustained local DENV transmission during 2006–2011 periods. While both DENV-2 and DENV-3 continued to circulate in Southern Pakistan until 2009, DENV-2 has spread in a Northern direction to establish in Punjab Province, which experienced a massive dengue outbreak in 2011. PMID:24007412

Slip stream apparatus and method for treating water in a circulating water system

DOEpatents

Cleveland, Joe R.

1997-01-01

An apparatus (10) for treating water in a circulating water system (12) t has a cooling water basin (14) includes a slip stream conduit (16) in flow communication with the circulating water system (12), a source (36) of acid solution in flow communication with the slip stream conduit (16), and a decarbonator (58) in flow communication with the slip stream conduit (16) and the cooling water basin (14). In use, a slip stream of circulating water is drawn from the circulating water system (12) into the slip stream conduit (16) of the apparatus (10). The slip stream pH is lowered by contact with an acid solution provided from the source (36) thereof. The slip stream is then passed through a decarbonator (58) to form a treated slip stream, and the treated slip stream is returned to the cooling water basin (14).

Novel method to detect microRNAs using chip-based QuantStudio 3D digital PCR.

PubMed

Conte, Davide; Verri, Carla; Borzi, Cristina; Suatoni, Paola; Pastorino, Ugo; Sozzi, Gabriella; Fortunato, Orazio

2015-10-23

Research efforts for the management of cancer, in particular for lung cancer, are directed to identify new strategies for its early detection. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a new promising class of circulating biomarkers for cancer detection, but lack of consensus on data normalization methods has affected the diagnostic potential of circulating miRNAs. There is a growing interest in techniques that allow an absolute quantification of miRNAs which could be useful for early diagnosis. Recently, digital PCR, mainly based on droplets generation, emerged as an affordable technology for precise and absolute quantification of nucleic acids. In this work, we described a new interesting approach for profiling circulating miRNAs in plasma samples using a chip-based platform, the QuantStudio 3D digital PCR. The proposed method was validated using synthethic oligonucleotide at serial dilutions in plasma samples of lung cancer patients and in lung tissues and cell lines. Given its reproducibility and reliability, our approach could be potentially applied for the identification and quantification of miRNAs in other biological samples such as circulating exosomes or protein complexes. As chip-digital PCR becomes more established, it would be a robust tool for quantitative assessment of miRNA copy number for diagnosis of lung cancer and other diseases.

Analysis of biomedical time signals for characterization of cutaneous diabetic micro-angiopathy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kraitl, Jens; Ewald, Hartmut

2007-02-01

Photo-plethysmography (PPG) is frequently used in research on microcirculation of blood. It is a non-invasive procedure and takes minimal time to be carried out. Usually PPG time series are analyzed by conventional linear methods, mainly Fourier analysis. These methods may not be optimal for the investigation of nonlinear effects of the hearth circulation system like vasomotion, autoregulation, thermoregulation, breathing, heartbeat and vessels. The wavelet analysis of the PPG time series is a specific, sensitive nonlinear method for the in vivo identification of hearth circulation patterns and human health status. This nonlinear analysis of PPG signals provides additional information which cannot be detected using conventional approaches. The wavelet analysis has been used to study healthy subjects and to characterize the health status of patients with a functional cutaneous microangiopathy which was associated with diabetic neuropathy. The non-invasive in vivo method is based on the radiation of monochromatic light through an area of skin on the finger. A Photometrical Measurement Device (PMD) has been developed. The PMD is suitable for non-invasive continuous online monitoring of one or more biologic constituent values and blood circulation patterns.

Toward implementation of a regional quality assurance program in cytopathology: the Hong Kong experience.

PubMed

Ng, Wai-Kuen; Chiu, Conrad S C; Cheng, Yue; Chan, Eva T Y; Chiu, Fanny L L; Collins, Robert J

2006-01-01

To develop a local quality assurance program in cytopathology based on circulation of patient specimens on glass slides, with limited resources. A working group was set up for design and running of the program. Participation is on a laboratory basis. The scope and frequency of testing are defined. Well-documented cases (including gynecologic, nongynecologic and fine needle aspiration cytology) with commonly encountered diagnoses are collected. Consensus concerning the diagnosis, interpretive menu and scoring system is sought before the actual slide circulations using express mail. After returning their answers to the program organizer, the participating laboratories receive immediate feedback on their scores, with reference answers, explanatory notes, "whole-mount" images of glass slides and cumulative responses of peer laboratories for on-site checking. At the end of each year, an electronic file containing representative photomicrographs of all cases examined is provided to individual laboratories for their permanent records and training purposes. The program was launched in mid-2003. There were 24 and 27 participating laboratories from Hong Kong (and Macau) in 2003 and 2004, respectively. To date, >150 well-documented cytology cases are available in the slide pool and ready for circulation. As the revenue is mainly to cover the expenses of express mail, the program can be carried out at a relatively low cost. In order to have any cytology quality assurance program accepted by local laboratories, it has to be fair and practical. Strict confidentiality needs to be observed throughout the process. This program emphasizes both performance assessment and educational value. Adequate representation from experienced local cytology workers, detailed documentation support from authorities and assistance from dedicated staff are essential to the success of any external proficiency testing scheme. Regular review and evaluation are also necessary for continuous improvement. The Hong Kong experience can serve as an example of running a glass slide-based cytology quality assurance program in a small region with limited resources.

Flow Regime Study in a High Density Circulating Fluidized Bed Riser with an Abrupt Exit

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mei, J.S.; Shadle, L.J.; Yue, P.C.

2007-01-01

Flow regime study was conducted in a 0.3 m diameter, 15.5 m height circulating fluidized bed (CFB) riser with an abrupt exit at the National Energy Technology Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy. Local particle velocities were measured at various radial positions and riser heights using an optical fiber probe. On-line measurement of solid circulating rate was continuously recorded by the Spiral. Glass beads of mean diameter 61 μm and particle density of 2,500 kg/m3 were used as bed material. The CFB riser was operated at various superficial gas velocities ranging from 3 to 7.6 m/s and solid massmore » flux from 20 to 550 kg/m2-s. At a constant riser gas velocity, transition from fast fluidization to dense suspension upflow (DSU) regime started at the bottom of the riser with increasing solid flux. Except at comparatively low riser gas velocity and solid flux, the apparent solid holdup at the top exit region was higher than the middle section of the riser. The solid fraction at this top region could be much higher than 7% under high riser gas velocity and solid mass flux. The local particle velocity showed downward flow near the wall at the top of the riser due to its abrupt exit. This abrupt geometry reflected the solids and, therefore, caused solid particles traveling downward along the wall. However, at location below, but near, the top of the riser the local particle velocities were observed flowing upward at the wall. Therefore, DSU was identified in the upper region of the riser with an abrupt exit while the fully developed region, lower in the riser, was still exhibiting core-annular flow structure. Our data were compared with the flow regime boundaries proposed by Kim et al. [1] for distinguishing the dilute pneumatic transport, fast fluidization, and DSU.« less

Geometrical constraint on the localization of deep water formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, D.; Marshall, J.

2008-12-01

That deep water formation occurs in the North Atlantic and not North Pacific is one of the most notable features of the present climate. In an effort to build a system able to mimic such basic aspects of climate using a minimal description, we study here the influence of ocean geometry on the localization of deep water formation. Using the MIT GCM, two idealized configurations of an ocean-atmosphere-sea ice climate system are studied: Drake and Double-Drake. In Drake, one narrow barrier extends from the North Pole to 35°S while, in Double-Drake, two such barriers set 90° apart join at the North Pole to delimit a Small and a Large basin. Despite the different continental configurations, the two climates are strikingly similar in the zonal average (almost identical heat and fresh water transports, and meridional overturning circulation). However, regional circulations in the Small and Large basins exhibit distinctive Atlantic-like and Pacific-like characteristics: the Small basin is warmer and saltier than the Large one, concentrates dense water formation and deep overturning circulation and achieve the largest fraction of the northward ocean heat transport. We show that the warmer temperature and higher evaporation over the Small basin is not its distinguishing factor. Rather, it is the width of the basin in relation to the zonal fetch of the precipitation pattern. This generates a deficit/excess of precipitation over the Small/Large basin: a fraction of the moisture evaporated from the Small basin is transported zonally and rains out over the Large basin. This creates a salt contrast between the 2 basins, leading to the localization of deep convection in the salty Small basin. Finally, given on the broad similarities between the Double-Drake and real World, we suggest that many gross features that define the present climate are a consequence of 2 asymmetries: a meridional asymmetry (a zonally unblocked southern/blocked northern ocean) and a zonal one (a small and a large basin in the northern hemisphere).

Nonreciprocal Localization of Photons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramezani, Hamidreza; Jha, Pankaj K.; Wang, Yuan; Zhang, Xiang

2018-01-01

We demonstrate that it is possible to localize photons nonreciprocally in a moving photonic lattice made by spatiotemporally modulating the atomic response, where the dispersion acquires a spectral Doppler shift with respect to the probe direction. A static defect placed in such a moving lattice produces a spatial localization of light in the band gap with a shifting frequency that depends on the direction of incident field with respect to the moving lattice. This phenomenon has an impact not only in photonics but also in broader areas such as condensed matter and acoustics, opening the doors for designing new devices such as compact isolators, circulators, nonreciprocal traps, sensors, unidirectional tunable filters, and possibly even a unidirectional laser.