Time dependent correlations in marine stratocumulus cloud base height records

The scaling ranges of time correlations in the cloud base height records of marine boundary layer stratocumulus are studied applying the Detrended Fluctuation Analysis statistical method. We have found that time dependent variations in the evolution of the $\alpha$ exponent reflect the diurnal dynamics of cloud base height fluctuations in the marine boundary layer. In general, a more stable structure of the boundary layer corresponds to a lower value of the $\alpha$ - indicator, i.e. larger anti-persistence, thus a set of fluctuations tending to induce a greater stability of the stratocumulus. In contrast, during periods of higher instability in the marine boundary, less anti-persistent (more persistent like) behavior of the system drags it out of equilibrium, corresponding to larger $\alpha$ values. From an analysis of the frequency spectrum, the stratocumulus base height evolution is found to be a non-stationary process with stationary increments. The occurrence of these statistics in cloud base height fluctuations suggests the usefulness of similar studies for the radiation transfer dynamics modeling.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures; to appear in Int. J. Mod. Phys. C, Vol. 13, No. 2 (2002

Unique transcriptomic landscapes identified in idiopathic spontaneous and infection related preterm births compared to normal term births.

Preterm birth (PTB) is leading contributor to infant death in the United States and globally, yet the underlying mechanistic causes are not well understood. Histopathological studies of preterm birth suggest advanced villous maturity may have a role in idiopathic spontaneous preterm birth (isPTB). To better understand pathological and molecular basis of isPTB, we compared placental villous transcriptomes from carefully phenotyped cohorts of PTB due to infection or isPTB between 28-36 weeks gestation and healthy term placentas. Transcriptomic analyses revealed a unique expression signature for isPTB distinct from the age-matched controls that were delivered prematurely due to infection. This signature included the upregulation of three IGF binding proteins (IGFBP1, IGFBP2, and IGFBP6), supporting a role for aberrant IGF signaling in isPTB. However, within the isPTB expression signature, we detected secondary signature of inflammatory markers including TNC, C3, CFH, and C1R, which have been associated with placental maturity. In contrast, the expression signature of the gestational age-matched infected samples included upregulation of proliferative genes along with cell cycling and mitosis pathways. Together, these data suggest an isPTB molecular signature of placental hypermaturity, likely contributing to the premature activation of inflammatory pathways associated with birth and providing a molecular basis for idiopathic spontaneous birth

Integrating data to facilitate clinical research : a case study

The integration of routine clinical administrative activities into ongoing rigorous clinical research poses challenges for both clinicians and researchers. This case study describes the development of a responsive database system used to facilitate comprehensive longitudinal research into the outcomes of patients waiting for hip and knee replacement surgery in a large public teaching hospital. The initial research procedure was paper-based, with manual patient matching and data entry. This process was time-consuming and associated with substantial risk of error and omissions, necessitating the design of a better system. An integrated database system was designed to receive daily electronic updates of the orthopaedic waiting-list and scheduled clinic and surgery dates. Using readily available software (Microsoft Access), new patients were identified through specifying inclusion and exclusion criteria which allowed rapid and complete recruitment at time of entry to the waiting-list. The integrated system specified the appropriate timing of multiple follow-up assessments, provided prompt information on recruitment for reporting purposes and integrated multiple linked research projects within one database. Seamless exporting of data to statistical programs for analysis was also enabled. This simple integrated approach facilitated efficient execution of a longitudinal study from recruitment to statistical analysis while maximising confidentiality and minimising resources required. This case study describes the development and design of a simple system which could be easily adapted for database management in hospital or clinic-based settings according to local requirements.<br /

Investigating well-being, work limitations and preferences for self-management education and peer support among younger people with hip and knee osteoarthritis: protocol for a cross-sectional study

Introduction:&nbsp;Osteoarthritis (OA) has traditionally&nbsp;been considered a condition of older age. However,&nbsp;younger people are also affected by hip and knee OA,&nbsp;often as a result of sporting and work-related injuries.&nbsp;As OA studies have generally focused on older&nbsp;individuals, little is known about the experience of&nbsp;younger adults with hip or knee OA who can face a&nbsp;distinct set of pressures including work responsibilities&nbsp;and parenting roles. This study aims to investigate&nbsp;well-being and work participation among younger&nbsp;people with hip or knee OA, as well as preferences for&nbsp;OA education and support.Methods and analysis: 200 people aged 20&ndash;55 years with a diagnosis of hip and/or knee OA will be&nbsp;recruited for this cross-sectional study. Participants will&nbsp;be recruited from three major public hospitals in the&nbsp;state of Victoria, Australia following screening of&nbsp;orthopaedic outpatient clinic lists and referrals, and&nbsp;through community-based advertisements. A study&nbsp;questionnaire will be mailed to all participants and&nbsp;written informed consent obtained. Validated measures&nbsp;of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL), health status,&nbsp;psychological distress and work limitations will be used. Information on health services use will be collected,&nbsp;in addition to information on the perceived utility and&nbsp;accessibility of a range of existing and proposed&nbsp;education and peer support models. HRQoL data will be&nbsp;compared with Australian population norms using&nbsp;independent t tests, and associations between HRQoL,&nbsp;health status, psychological distress, work limitations&nbsp;and demographic factors will be evaluated using&nbsp;univariate and multivariate analyses. Data on the&nbsp;perceived utility and accessibility of education and peer&nbsp;support models will be analysed descriptively.&nbsp;Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval for the&nbsp;study has been obtained. The study findings will be&nbsp;submitted to peer-reviewed journals and arthritis&nbsp;consumer organisations for broader dissemination, and&nbsp;presented at national and international scientific meetings.</div

Aerosol Data Sources and Their Roles within PARAGON

We briefly but systematically review major sources of aerosol data, emphasizing suites of measurements that seem most likely to contribute to assessments of global aerosol climate forcing. The strengths and limitations of existing satellite, surface, and aircraft remote sensing systems are described, along with those of direct sampling networks and ship-based stations. It is evident that an enormous number of aerosol-related observations have been made, on a wide range of spatial and temporal sampling scales, and that many of the key gaps in this collection of data could be filled by technologies that either exist or are expected to be available in the near future. Emphasis must be given to combining remote sensing and in situ active and passive observations and integrating them with aerosol chemical transport models, in order to create a more complete environmental picture, having sufficient detail to address current climate forcing questions. The Progressive Aerosol Retrieval and Assimilation Global Observing Network (PARAGON) initiative would provide an organizational framework to meet this goal

The Effect of Asymmetric Beams in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe Experiment

We generate simulations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature field as observed by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite, taking into account the detailed shape of the asymmetric beams and scanning strategy of the experiment, and use these to re-estimate the WMAP beam transfer functions. This method avoids the need of artificially symmetrizing the beams, as done in the baseline WMAP approach, and instead measures the total convolution effect by direct simulation. We find only small differences with respect to the nominal transfer functions, typically less than 1% everywhere, and less than 0.5% at ℓ < 400. The net effect on the CMB power spectrum is less than 0.6%. The effect on all considered cosmological parameters is negligible. For instance, we find that the spectral index of scalar perturbations after taking into account the beam asymmetries is n_s = 0.964 ± 0.014, corresponding to a negative shift of –0.1σ compared to the previously released WMAP results. Our CMB sky simulations are made publicly available and can be used for general studies of asymmetric beam effects in the WMAP data