Oral cavity reconstruction with the masseter flap.

The purpose of this report is to highlight how an unusual, outdated, unpopular and overlooked reconstructive method such as the masseter flap can be a reliable, straightforward and effective solution for oral reconstruction in selected cases. We report the transposition of the masseter crossover flap in two previously pre-treated patients presenting a second primary oral squamous cell carcinoma; excellent functional results with satisfactory cosmetic appearance were obtained in both cases. In the literature, only 60 cases of oral cavity and oropharyngeal reconstructions using the masseter flap have been reported. The possible clinical utility of this flap, even in modern head and neck reconstructive surgery, is presented and discussed. We believe that the masseter flap should enter in the armamentarium of every head and neck surgeon and be kept in mind as a possible solution since it provides an elegant and extremely simple procedure in suboptimal cases for microvascular reconstruction

Towards understanding the variability in biospheric CO2 fluxes:Using FTIR spectrometry and a chemical transport model to investigate the sources and sinks of carbonyl sulfide and its link to CO2

Understanding carbon dioxide (CO2) biospheric processes is of great importance because the terrestrial exchange drives the seasonal and interannual variability of CO2 in the atmosphere. Atmospheric inversions based on CO2 concentration measurements alone can only determine net biosphere fluxes, but not differentiate between photosynthesis (uptake) and respiration (production). Carbonyl sulfide (OCS) could provide an important additional constraint: it is also taken up by plants during photosynthesis but not emitted during respiration, and therefore is a potential means to differentiate between these processes. Solar absorption Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR) spectrometry allows for the retrievals of the atmospheric concentrations of both CO2 and OCS from measured solar absorption spectra. Here, we investigate co-located and quasi-simultaneous FTIR measurements of OCS and CO2 performed at five selected sites located in the Northern Hemisphere. These measurements are compared to simulations of OCS and CO2 using a chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem). The coupled biospheric fluxes of OCS and CO2 from the simple biosphere model (SiB) are used in the study. The CO2 simulation with SiB fluxes agrees with the measurements well, while the OCS simulation reproduced a weaker drawdown than FTIR measurements at selected sites, and a smaller latitudinal gradient in the Northern Hemisphere during growing season when comparing with HIPPO (HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations) data spanning both hemispheres. An offset in the timing of the seasonal cycle minimum between SiB simulation and measurements is also seen. Using OCS as a photosynthesis proxy can help to understand how the biospheric processes are reproduced in models and to further understand the carbon cycle in the real world

VALIDATION OF ENVISAT-1 LEVEL-2 PRODUCTS RELATED TO LOWER ATMOSPHERE O3 AND NOy CHEMISTRY BY A FTIR QUASI-GLOBAL NETWORK

A coordinated action involving eleven stations of the ground-based Network for Detection of Stratospheric Change (NDSC) equipped with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) instruments was conducted to contribute to the validation of the three atmospheric chemistry instruments onboard ENVISAT, that are MIPAS, SCIAMACHY and GOMOS. The target products for validation are total columns of O3, CH4, CO and some important NOy species (NO2, HNO3, NO) and the source gas N2O. Together the eleven stations cover the latitudes between 79 °N and 78°S, including polar, mid -latitude and subtropical and tropical locations. The goal is to contribute to the assessment of the data quality of the aforementioned ENVISAT instruments, from a quasi-global perspective. The period of intensive ground-based data collection for the benefit of the ENVISAT Validation Commissioning Phase that is dealt with in the present paper is July 15 to December 1, 2002. The FTIR network involved collected a data set corresponding to an equivalent of approximately 400 days of measurements; about three quarter of the data have already been submitted to the ENVISAT Calval database and are included in the present work. Unfortunately, the distribution of ENVISAT data has been slow and limited. Only a limited number of coincidences has been found for making data inter-comparisons. Therefore, the conclusions drawn in this paper are very preliminary and cover only a limited set of data products from SCIAMACHY only. Our findings up to now concerning the above mentioned target products are the following: (1) SCIAMACHY near infrared operational products (CO, CH4, N2O) have no scientific meaning yet, (2), the operational SCIAMACHY total vertical O3 column product derived in the ultraviolet window has undergone some improvements with changing versions of the processor(s) but it still underestimates the column by about 5 – 10 %, (3), the operational SCIAMACHY total vertical O3 column product derived in the visible window is unrealistically large, and (3), the operational NO2 total column product from SCIAMACHY seems to largely overestimate the real column, but very few coincidences and large dispersions of the data do inhibit any further conclusion at present. In a next phase, the same ground-based correlative data set will be exploited to further validate the ENVISAT data as soon as more and reprocessed data will be distributed

Scaling fields in the two-dimensional abelian sandpile model

We consider the isotropic two-dimensional abelian sandpile model from a perspective based on two-dimensional (conformal) field theory. We compute lattice correlation functions for various cluster variables (at and off criticality), from which we infer the field-theoretic description in the scaling limit. We find a perfect agreement with the predictions of a c=-2 conformal field theory and its massive perturbation, thereby providing direct evidence for conformal invariance and more generally for a description in terms of a local field theory. The question of the height 2 variable is also addressed, with however no definite conclusion yet.Comment: 22 pages, 1 figure (eps), uses revte

Validation and data characteristics of methane and nitrous oxide profiles observed by MIPAS and processed with Version 4.61 algorithm

The ENVISAT validation programme for the atmospheric instruments MIPAS, SCIAMACHY and GOMOS is based on a number of balloon-borne, aircraft, satellite and ground-based correlative measurements. In particular the activities of validation scientists were coordinated by ESA within the ENVISAT Stratospheric Aircraft and Balloon Campaign or ESABC. As part of a series of similar papers on other species [this issue] and in parallel to the contribution of the individual validation teams, the present paper provides a synthesis of comparisons performed between MIPAS CH4 and N2O profiles produced by the current ESA operational software (Instrument Processing Facility version 4.61 or IPF v4.61, full resolution MIPAS data covering the period 9 July 2002 to 26 March 2004) and correlative measurements obtained from balloon and aircraft experiments as well as from satellite sensors or from ground-based instruments. In the middle stratosphere, no significant bias is observed between MIPAS and correlative measurements, and MIPAS is providing a very consistent and global picture of the distribution of CH4 and N2O in this region. In average, the MIPAS CH4 values show a small positive bias in the lower stratosphere of about 5%. A similar situation is observed for N2O with a positive bias of 4%. In the lower stratosphere/upper troposphere (UT/LS) the individual used MIPAS data version 4.61 still exhibits some unphysical oscillations in individual CH4 and N2O profiles caused by the processing algorithm (with almost no regularization). Taking these problems into account, the MIPAS CH4 and N2O profiles are behaving as expected from the internal error estimation of IPF v4.61 and the estimated errors of the correlative measurements

Ageism and sexuality

Sexuality remains important throughout a person’s life, but sexual behavior does not receive the same levels of acceptance at all ages. Older people are challenged by ageist attitudes and perceptions that hinder their sexual expression. They are stereotyped as non-sexual beings who should not, cannot, and do not want to have sexual relationships. Expressing sexuality or engaging in sexual activity in later life is considered by many in society as immoral or perverted. False expectations for older people also stem from ideals of beauty, centralization of the biomedical perspective on sexuality of older adults, and the association of sex with reproduction. Unfortunately, older people internalize many ageist attitudes towards sexuality in later life and become less interested in sex and less sexually active. The following chapter explores attitudes towards sexuality in later life among the media, young people, older people themselves, and care providers. In order to enable older people to express their sexuality and sexual identity freely and fully, awareness of ageist perceptions must be raised and defeated

Validation of Aura Microwave Limb Sounder HCl measurements

The Earth Observing System (EOS) Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) aboard the Aura satellite has provided daily global HCl profiles since August 2004. We provide a characterization of the resolution, random and systematic uncertainties, and known issues for the version 2.2 MLS HCl data. The MLS sampling allows for comparisons with many (similar to 1500 to more than 3000) closely matched profiles from the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) and Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS). These data sets provide HCl latitudinal distributions that are, overall, very similar to those from (coincident) MLS profiles, although there are some discrepancies in the upper stratosphere between the MLS and HALOE gradients. As found in previous work, MLS and ACE HCl profiles agree very well (within similar to 5%, on average), but the MLS HCl abundances are generally larger (by 10-20%) than HALOE HCl. The bias versus HALOE is unlikely to arise mostly from MLS, as a similar systematic bias (of order 15%) is not observed between average MLS and balloon-borne measurements of HCl, obtained over Fort Sumner, New Mexico, in 2004 and 2005. At the largest pressure (147 hPa) for MLS HCl, a high bias (similar to 0.2 ppbv) is apparent in analyses of low to midlatitude data versus in situ aircraft chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS) HCl measurements from the Aura Validation Experiment (AVE) campaigns in 2004, 2005, and 2006; this bias is also observed in comparisons of MLS and aircraft HCl/O-3 correlations. Good agreement between MLS and CIMS HCl is obtained at 100 to 68 hPa. The recommended pressure range for MLS HCl is from 100 to 0.15 hPa.</p

Ground-based FTIR measurements of O3- and climate-related gases in the free troposphere and lower stratosphere

In the frame of the EC project UFTIR (Time series of Upper Free Troposphere observations from a European ground-based FTIR network), a common strategy for an optimal determination of the chemical composition in the free troposphere and lower stratosphere with ground-based Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometers is being developed. The project focuses on 6 target species that are O3, CO, CH4, N2O, C2H6 and CHClF2 (HCFC-22). The strategy consists in selecting the most appropriate parameters to retrieve vertical concentration profiles from solar FTIR spectra. Among the important parameters are the spectral microwindows: they have been optimised to maximise the information content and to minimize the influence of poorly known spectroscopic data and interfering species

Validation of MIPAS HNO3 operational data

Nitric acid (HNO3) is one of the key products that are operationally retrieved by the European Space Agency (ESA) from the emission spectra measured by the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) onboard ENVISAT. The product version 4.61/4.62 for the observation period between July 2002 and March 2004 is validated by comparisons with a number of independent observations from ground-based stations, aircraft/balloon campaigns, and satellites. Individual HNO3 profiles of the ESA MIPAS level-2 product show good agreement with those of MIPAS-B and MIPAS-STR (the balloon and aircraft version of MIPAS, respectively), and the balloon-borne infrared spectrometers MkIV and SPIRALE, mostly matching the reference data within the combined instrument error bars. In most cases differences between the correlative measurement pairs are less than 1 ppbv (5-10%) throughout the entire altitude range up to about 38 km (similar to 6 hPa), and below 0.5 ppbv (15-20% or more) above 30 km (similar to 17 hPa). However, differences up to 4 ppbv compared to MkIV have been found at high latitudes in December 2002 in the presence of polar stratospheric clouds. The degree of consistency is further largely affected by the temporal and spatial coincidence, and differences of 2 ppbv may be observed between 22 and 26 km (similar to 50 and 30 hPa) at high latitudes near the vortex boundary, due to large horizontal inhomogeneity of HNO3. Similar features are also observed in the mean differences of the MIPAS ESA HNO3 VMRs with respect to the ground-based FTIR measurements at five stations, aircraft-based SAFIRE-A and ASUR, and the balloon campaign IBEX. The mean relative differences between the MIPAS and FTIR HNO3 partial columns are within +/- 2%, comparable to the MIPAS systematic error of similar to 2%. For the vertical profiles, the biases between the MIPAS and FTIR data are generally below 10% in the altitudes of 10 to 30 km. The MIPAS and SAFIRE HNO3 data generally match within their total error bars for the mid and high latitude flights, despite the larger atmospheric inhomogeneities that characterize the measurement scenario at higher latitudes. The MIPAS and ASUR comparison reveals generally good agreements better than 10-13% at 20-34 km. The MIPAS and IBEX measurements agree reasonably well (mean relative differences within +/- 15%) between 17 and 32 km. Statistical comparisons of the MIPAS profiles correlated with those of Odin/SMR, ILAS-II, and ACE-FTS generally show good consistency. The mean differences averaged over individual latitude bands or all bands are within the combined instrument errors, and generally within 1, 0.5, and 0.3 ppbv between 10 and 40 km (similar to 260 and 4.5 hPa) for Odin/SMR, ILAS-II, and ACE-FTS, respectively. The standard deviations of the differences are between 1 to 2 ppbv. The standard deviations for the satellite comparisons and for almost all other comparisons are generally larger than the estimated measurement uncertainty. This is associated with the temporal and spatial coincidence error and the horizontal smoothing error which are not taken into account in our error budget. Both errors become large when the spatial variability of the target molecule is high.Peer reviewe