Tracking aerosols and SO₂ clouds from the Raikoke eruption: 3D view from satellite observations

The 21 June 2019 eruption of the Raikoke volcano (Kuril Islands, Russia; 48∘ N, 153∘ E) produced significant amounts of volcanic aerosols (sulfate and ash) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas that penetrated into the lower stratosphere. The dispersed SO2 and sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere were still detectable by multiple satellite sensors for many months after the eruption. For this study of SO2 and aerosol clouds we use data obtained from two of the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite sensors on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite: total column SO2 from the Nadir Mapper and aerosol extinction profiles from the Limb Profiler as well as other satellite data sets. We evaluated the limb viewing geometry effect (the “arch effect”) in the retrieval of the LP standard aerosol extinction product at 674 nm. It was shown that the amount of SO2 decreases with a characteristic period of 8–18 d and the peak of stratospheric aerosol optical depth recorded at a wavelength of 674 nm lags the initial peak of SO2 mass by 1.5 months. Using satellite observations and a trajectory model, we examined the dynamics of an unusual atmospheric feature that was observed, a stratospheric coherent circular cloud of SO2 and aerosol from 18 July to 22 September 2019.

Choosing an approach to statistical processing of the ship’s pitching record

The developed instrumentation and software provides discrete values for the angles of a vessel’s list on an operational voyage in sea conditions at specified time intervals.The half-periods of pitching are considered; the half-period and the corresponding pitching amplitude can be obtained in three different ways: as the amplitude from one board to the other one with the reference of the initial peak-to-peak amplitude or with the reference of the final peak-to-peak amplitude; as the time interval of the ship listing on one side between zero roll angles. It was found that each method corresponds to its own, different from the others, amplitude-period statistics. This makes it difficult to compare different registrations and identify the essential reactions of the vessel to the seaway, unless a method is specified for determining the half-periods and linking the roll amplitudes to them. The proposal is justified to unify the processing by defining the half-period as the time of the ship listing on one board with the corresponding amplitude angle of the roll, that is, as the difference of the moments of time between two next values of the zero angle of the roll.

Emotion Regulation Resources Explain Middle-Aged and Older Adults' COVID-19-Related Distress

As the pandemic caused widespread disruption across the world, studies suggested younger adults were faring more poorly than other adults. We hypothesized that younger adults might possess fewer emotion regulation resources and skills, accounting for their greater distress. In a national sample of 1528 adults, we examined how baseline resources (in mid-April, during initial peak infections) predicted distress (depression, anxiety, PTSD symptoms) five weeks later, when states began initial reopenings. Younger adults reported greater distress and less social support, mindfulness, and emotion regulation skills than did middle aged and older adults.. Controlling for stress exposure, younger adults’ distress was predicted by impulsivity and lack of perceived strategies while middle-aged and older adults’ distress was predicted by acceptance of negative emotions; perceived social support was related to lower distress for both groups but mindfulness was unrelated. Results suggest that emotion regulation skills are a promising prevention and intervention focus.

A Cylindrical Crash Absorber with Discontinuous Protrusions and Its Manufacture Using a Successive Partial Rubber-Bulging Method

In an effort to improve impact energy-absorption characteristics, this study introduces a cylindrical crash absorber (CAP) with discontinuous protrusions and a continuous local-expansion plastic-forming method for its manufacture. The mechanical properties of the cylindrical energy-absorption structure were modified by installing multiple particle protrusions on the cylinder sidewall to reduce the initial pickup load and improve the impact energy-absorption performance. To facilitate manufacture of the proposed CAP, a cylindrical rubber piece was placed into a cylindrical tube and pressure was applied to the rubber from both ends of the tube. The CAP was formed by the bulging force of the rubber. The formability was verified by developing a successive local bulge-forming experimental device and comparing the manufactured CAP with the results of numerical simulations. Testing of quasi-static collapse conducted on a CAP manufactured using this device verified the effectiveness of the proposed CAP design and its plastic-forming method. It was determined that this design reduced the initial peak load, and the crash absorber could maintain stability over a long, continuous distance during crushing deformation.

Experimental and Optimization Study of Compression Behavior of Sandwich Panels with New Symmetric Lattice Cores

The paper presents a novel core design for sandwich panels and conducts an experiment to determine whether the mechanical strength of symmetric aluminum lattice core sandwich panels can be improved. Both Design of Experiments (DOE) and Response Surface Methodology (Box-Behnken) were used to establish a quantitative relationship between the strength-to-weight ratio and the input parameters. The thickness of the sheet, the height of sandwich panels, and the width of the seat were all considered design variables to achieve the optimal state. The maximum Initial Peak Crushing Forces (IPCF) were then determined using quasi-static axial flatwise compression tests. This study found that the model's predicted values were consistent with the experimental results. As a result, the parameters were optimized using the Design-Expert software to maximize the initial peak force while minimizing the weight. The results were validated using the Genetic Algorithm, NSGA2, and LINGO. The results indicated that the height of the sandwich panel and the thickness of the sheet had the most significant impact on the maximum force and panel weight. To this end, it is concluded that introducing a novel core design for the sandwich panel, utilizing a suitable Snap-Fitting method for attaching lattice parts rather than using a paste, and finally optimizing the core were the primary reasons for achieving this level of strength.

Social norms (not threat) mediate willingness to sacrifice in individuals fused with the nation

Identity fusion with the community has been previously found to mediate altruism in post-disaster settings. However, whether this altruistic response is specifically triggered by ingroup threat, or whether it can also be triggered by global threats remains unclear. We evaluated willingness to sacrifice in the context of the covid-19 pandemic across three surveys waves. Against expectations, participants fused with the nation (vs. non-fused) did not differentially respond to a national vs. global threat condition. Conversely, social norms decisively influenced willingness to sacrifice in this sample, with fused individuals with stronger norms about social distancing reporting the highest altruistic response during the first weeks of the pandemic. Longitudinally, after an initial peak in the altruistic response, deteriorating social norms mediated decreases in willingness to sacrifice in individuals fused with the nation (versus non-fused). Implications of these results for the development of interventions aimed to address global challenges are discussed.

Thrombin Generation As a Predictive Biomarker for Venous Thromboembolism in Patients with Pancreatic and Lung Cancer Undergoing Systemic Therapy

Introduction: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is common in patients with active malignancy. While thromboprophylaxis can mitigate this risk, current guidelines do not support routine use as the benefit is modest and maybe negated by an increase in bleeding complications. However, there is significant variation in VTE risk within the cancer population, thus prophylaxis can be considered in high-risk patients. The Khorana score (KS) is validated to predict chemotherapy-associated VTE; however, it has several limitations including variable performance based on tumor type as well as a static risk categorization, based on pre-chemotherapy laboratory data, rather than a continuous assessment. Thrombin generation (TG) is an emerging biomarker that assesses global coagulation activation and predicted increased VTE risk in cancer patients in the Vienna Cancer and Thrombosis Study (PMID: 21464402). This study enrolled a heterogeneous cancer population, however, peak TG was not reported by tumor type nor were the TG levels monitored over time in response to systemic therapy. The primary aim of this study was to assess the relationship between TG (both peak TG and endogenous thrombin potential, ETP) and KS. Secondary outcomes were to evaluate the impact of systemic therapy on peak TG and ETP levels over time and to assess the relationship between TG and clinical outcomes. Methods: This was a prospective study that enrolled adults with newly diagnosed, locally advanced or metastatic adenocarcinoma of the lung or pancreas. All patients received their care at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. Those with a history of active VTE or use of full dose anticoagulant within 30 days prior to enrollment were excluded. After informed consent, KS was calculated and blood was collected in sodium citrate tubes at 3 different time points (at initiation of therapy, and at the beginning of the 2 nd and 3 rd cycles of systemic therapy). Platelet-poor plasma was prepared by centrifugation and stored at - 80°C until analysis by calibrated automated thrombogram (CAT; Thrombinoscope BV, Maastricht, Netherlands) using 1 pM tissue factor and 4 uM phospholipids to trigger coagulation reactions. Measurements were performed in triplicate for each specimen, and raw data were converted to peak TG and ETP. Information about VTE events, response to treatment and survival was obtained by chart review. Mean and standard deviation were calculated for continuous variables and unpaired T test was used for statistical analysis. Results: We report the results from 32 participants (17 lung, 15 pancreas). The majority of patients had metastatic disease (94%) and all received systemic therapy. The median age was 67 and 56% of participants were male. The KS breakdown for the cohort was: KS1, 25%; KS2, 53%; KS3, 19%; KS4, 3%. Mean peak TG was 279, 352, 487 and 325 nmole and mean ETP was 1320, 1653, 2252, 1726 nmole/min for KS 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Initial peak TG and ETP levels were significantly higher in the KS ≥2 group compared to those with KS=1 (peak TG: 384 ±135 vs 279 ±82, p 0.047; Initial ETP: 1806 ±632 vs 1320 ±286, p 0.045). There were 8 VTE events (25%) with all but one occurring in the pancreatic cancercohort; all events occurred in KS 2 and 3 groups (75% and 25% respectively). No statistically significant difference was observed for initial peak TG or ETP in those with VTE vs those without (Peak TG: 342 ±171 vs 363 ±119, p 0.701; ETP: 1736 ±720 vs 1667 ±571, p 0.783). Both peak TG and ETP decreased in response to systemic therapy (initial peak TG vs final: 376 ±115 vs 225 ±125, p 0.0001; initial ETP vs final: 1799 ±498 vs 1254 ±423, p 0.0003). No significant difference in survival was noted based on initial ETP level of <1500 nmole/min vs ≥1500 nmole/min (574 ±620 vs 287 ±227, p 0.069). Conclusions: There appears to be an association between KS and peak TG and ETP. In addition, both peak TG and ETP declined in response to systemic therapy, suggesting that the degree of coagulation activation is related to tumor burden. Our findings in this small study support further investigation of TG for VTE risk assessment in cancer patients. Future strategies incorporating TG into risk stratification models may allow oncologists to better identify the population that may benefit most from pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis. Funding: Northern New England Clinical Oncology Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 corroborates heightened community infection during the initial peak of COVID-19 in Bexar County, Texas

The purpose of this study was to conduct a preliminary assessment of the levels of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater at the Salitrillo Wastewater Treatment Plant in Texas during the initial peak of COVID-19 outbreak. Raw wastewater influent (24 h composite, time-based 1 L samples, n = 13) was collected weekly during June-August 2020. We measured SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater by reverse transcription droplet digital PCR (RT-ddPCR) using the same N1 and N2 primer sets employed in COVID-19 clinical testing. Virus RNA copies for positive samples (77%) ranged from 1.4×102 to 4.1×104 copies per liter of wastewater, and exhibited both increasing and decreasing trends, which corresponded well with the COVID-19 weekly infection rate (N1: ρ = 0.558, P = 0.048; and N2: ρ = 0.487, P = 0.092). A sharp increase in virus RNA concentrations was observed during July sampling dates, consistent with highest number of COVID-19 cases reported. This could be attributed to an increase in the spread of COVID-19 infection due to the July 4 holiday week gatherings (outdoor gatherings were limited to 100 people during that time). Our data show that wastewater surveillance is an effective tool to determine trends in infectious disease prevalence, and provide complimentary information to clinical testing.

An analysis of manual and autoanalysis for submicrosecond parameters in the typical first lightning return stroke

The mechanism on how lightning detection system (LDS) operated never been exposed by manufacturer since it was confidential. This scenario motivated the authors to explore the issue above by using MATLAB to develop autoanalysis software based on the feature extraction. This extraction is intended for recognizing the parameters in the first return stroke, and compare the measurement between the autoanalysis software and the manual analysis. This paper is a modification based on a previous work regarding autoanalysis of zero-crossing time and initial peak of return stroke using features extraction programming technique. Further, the parameter on rising time of initial peak is added in this autoanalysis programming technique. Finally, the manual analysis using WaveStudio (LeCroy product) of those two lightning parameters is compared with autoanalysis software. This study found that the autoanalysis produce similar result with the manual analysis, hence proved the reliability of this software.