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Background The Rorschach test is one of the most popular tests used in clinical settings for psychopathology and personality assessment; however, there is still little evidence regarding the functional correlates of test responses. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) allows for the investigation of biological correlates associated with different psychological functions. Among other applications, fMRI has been used to identify different networks that reflect brain activity in the resting state (rs-fMRI), that is, when an individual is not engaged in any specific task. Among these resting-state networks (RSN), the best-known and most studied are the Default Mode Network (DMN), along with other networks such as salience, frontoparietal, sensorimotor, temporo-parietal, visual, and cerebellar networks. Methods We used this type of analysis to obtain new evidence regarding Rorschach. This study aimed to analyze the functional brain architecture underlying Rorschach’s personality variables, administered according to Exner’s Comprehensive System (CS). In particular, the aims are: 1) to ascertain the existence of correlations between CS variables and activity of the RSN, and 2) to use these profiles of activity to develop a new data-driven clustering of the CS variables. Archival data from twenty-four non-clinical subjects were analyzed. Independent Component Analysis (ICA) and partial least squares regression (PLS) were used to analyze the fMRI data. Results The results showed specific associations with the given Rorschach variables (several of which could be grouped into higher-order latent factors) and activity of the main RSN. Moreover, the cluster analysis outlined important groupings of Rorschach variables, particularly regarding their clinical implications. Conclusions Our study could be comprised in the existing literature providing strong evidence about the neurobiological validity of the Rorschach test.

Background and aimsThis study aimed to explore the complex phenomenon of emotional dysregulation, particularly in adolescence, which is associated with many mental health disorders and problems. Increasing the knowledge of clinicians and researchers in this area can be helpful in guiding future treatment plans. The aim of the study was to investigate, from an exploratory perspective, which structural aspects of adolescent functioning (assessed using the Rorschach test and administered and scored according to the Comprehensive System, CS, by Exner) were associated with different dimensions of emotional dysregulation (evaluated using the Difficulties in Emotion Dysregulation Scale, DERS).MethodSecondary data were used for the study, which included 100 adolescents, with 50 in the clinical group (patients with complex trauma histories residing in therapeutic and socio-rehabilitative communities) and 50 in the nonclinical group (recruited from a scout group and middle and high schools). The two groups were compared on terms of the mean scores obtained in the DERS scales (one-tailed t-test) and the proportions of cases that obtained pathological values for selected Rorschach CS indicators (z-test). Partial correlations were calculated between the DERS scales and the Rorschach CS variables to explore which structural dimensions of functioning were associated with different characteristics of emotional dysregulation.ResultsThe results indicated that the two groups differed in their outcomes on all DERS scales, except for Awareness and Goals, and on four Rorschach CS variables (EgoIndex, a:p, Wsum6, and MOR). Some significant positive and negative correlations between the Rorschach CS variables and the DERS scales also emerged.ConclusionThese results suggest that the dimensions of functioning associated with emotional dysregulation are related to self-representation, relational immaturity, and thought processes character and characterize membership in a therapeutic community. The correlations described in the article warrants further consideration. Finally, the study’s limitations and future research prospects are presented.

With a few exceptions, most studies on tropospheric ozone (O3) variability during and following the COrona VIrus Disease (COVID-19) economic downturn focused on high-emission regions or urban environments. In this work, we investigated the impact of the societal restriction measures during the COVID-19 pandemic on surface O3 at several high-elevation sites across North America and western Europe. Monthly O3 anomalies were calculated for 2020 and 2021, with respect to the baseline period 2000–2019, to explore the impact of the economic downturn initiated in 2020 and its recovery in 2021. In total, 41 high-elevation sites were analyzed: 5 rural or mountaintop stations in western Europe, 19 rural sites in the western US, 4 sites in the western US downwind of highly polluted source regions, and 4 rural sites in the eastern US, plus 9 mountaintop or high-elevation sites outside Europe and the United States to provide a “global” reference. In 2020, the European high-elevation sites showed persistent negative surface O3 anomalies during spring (March–May, i.e., MAM) and summer (June–August, i.e., JJA), except for April. The pattern was similar in 2021, except for June. The rural sites in the western US showed similar behavior, with negative anomalies in MAM and JJA 2020 (except for August) and MAM 2021. The JJA 2021 seasonal mean was influenced by strong positive anomalies in July due to large and widespread wildfires across the western US. The polluted sites in the western US showed negative O3 anomalies during MAM 2020 and a slight recovery in 2021, resulting in a positive mean anomaly for MAM 2021 and a pronounced month-to-month variability in JJA 2021 anomalies. The eastern US sites were also characterized by below-mean O3 for both MAM and JJA 2020, while in 2021 the negative values exhibited an opposite structure compared to the western US sites, which were influenced by wildfires. Concerning the rest of the world, a global picture could not be drawn, as the sites, spanning a range of different environments, did not show consistent anomalies, with a few sites not experiencing any notable variation. Moreover, we also compared our surface anomalies to the variability of mid-tropospheric O3 detected by the IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) satellite instrument. Negative anomalies were observed by IASI, consistent with published satellite and modeling studies, suggesting that the anomalies can be largely attributed to the reduction of O3 precursor emissions in 2020.

The identification of spikes (i.e., short and high variability in the measured signals due to very local emissions occurring in the proximity of a measurement site) is of interest when using continuous measurements of atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs) in different applications like the determination of long-term trends and/or spatial gradients, inversion experiments devoted to the top-down quantification of GHG surface–atmosphere fluxes, the characterization of local emissions, or the quality control of GHG measurements. In this work, we analyzed the results provided by two automatic spike identification methods (i.e., the standard deviation of the background (SD) and the robust extraction of baseline signal (REBS)) for a 2-year dataset of 1 min in situ observations of CO2, CH4 and CO at 10 different atmospheric sites spanning different environmental conditions (remote, continental, urban). The sensitivity of the spike detection frequency and its impact on the averaged mole fractions on method parameters was investigated. Results for both methods were compared and evaluated against manual identification by the site principal investigators (PIs). The study showed that, for CO2 and CH4, REBS identified a larger number of spikes than SD and it was less “site-sensitive” than SD. This led to a larger impact of REBS on the time-averaged values of the observed mole fractions for CO2 and CH4. Further, it could be shown that it is challenging to identify one common algorithm/configuration for all the considered sites: method-dependent and setting-dependent differences in the spike detection were observed as a function of the sites, case studies and considered atmospheric species. Neither SD nor REBS appeared to provide a perfect identification of the spike events. The REBS tendency to over-detect the spike occurrence shows limitations when adopting REBS as an operational method to perform automatic spike detection. REBS should be used only for specific sites, mostly affected by frequent very nearby local emissions. SD appeared to be more selective in identifying spike events, and the temporal variabilities in CO2, CH4 and CO were more consistent with those of the original datasets. Further activities are needed for better consolidating the fitness for purpose of the two proposed methods and to compare them with other spike detection techniques.

Due to its high short-term global warming potential (GWP) compared to carbon dioxide, methane (CH4) is a considerable agent of climate change. This research is aimed at analyzing data on methane gathered at the GAW (Global Atmosphere Watch) station of Lamezia Terme (Calabria, Southern Italy) spanning seven years of continuous measurements (2016–2022) and integrating the results with key meteorological data. Compared to previous studies on detected methane mole fractions at the same station, daily-to-yearly patterns have become more prominent thanks to the analysis of a much larger dataset. Overall, the yearly increase of methane at the Lamezia Terme station is in general agreement with global measurements by NOAA, though local peaks are present, and an increase linked to COVID-19 is identified. Seasonal changes and trends have proved to be fully cyclic, with the daily cycles being largely driven by local wind circulation patterns and synoptic features. Outbreak events have been statistically evaluated depending on their weekday of occurrence to test possible correlations with anthropogenic activities. A cross analysis between methane peaks and specific wind directions has also proved that local sources may be deemed responsible for the highest mole fractions.

Summary: Background: Pre-exposure vaccination with MVA-BN has been widely used against mpox to contain the 2022 outbreak. Many countries have defined prioritized strategies, administering a single dose to those historically vaccinated for smallpox, to achieve quickly adequate coverage in front of low supplies. Using epidemiological models, real-life effectiveness was estimated at approximately 36%–86%, but no clinical trials were performed. Few data on MVA-BN immunogenicity are currently available, and there are no established correlates of protection. Immunological response in PLWH in the context of the 2022 outbreak was also poorly described. Methods: Blood samples were collected from participants eligible for pre-exposure MVA-BN vaccination before (T1) receiving a full course of vaccine (single-dose for vaccine-experienced or smallpox-primed and two-dose for smallpox vaccine-naïve or smallpox non-primed) and one month after the last dose (T2 and T3, respectively). MPXV-specific IgGs were measured by in-house immunofluorescence assay, using 1:20 as screening dilution, MPXV-specific nAbs by 50% plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT50, starting dilution 1:10), and IFN-γ-producing specific T cells to MVA-BN vaccine, by ELISpot assay. Paired or unpaired t-test and Wilcoxon or Mann–Whitney test were used to analyse IgG and nAbs, and T-cell response, as appropriate. The probability of IgG and nAb response in vaccine-experienced vs. vaccine-naïve was estimated in participants not reactive at T1. The McNemar test was used to evaluate vaccination's effect on humoral response both overall and by smallpox vaccination history. In participants who were not reactive at T1, the proportion of becoming responders one month after full-cycle completion by exposure groups was compared by logistic regression and then analysed by HIV status strata (interaction test). The response was also examined in continuous, and the Average Treatment Effect (ATE) of the difference from baseline to schedule completion according to previous smallpox vaccination was estimated after weighting for HIV using a linear regression model. Self-reports of adverse effects following immunization (AEFIs) were prospectively collected after the first MVA-BN dose (T1). Systemic (S-AEFIs: fatigue, myalgia, headache, GI effects, chills) and local (L-AEFIs: redness, swelling, pain) AEFIs were graded as absent (grade 0), mild (1), moderate (2), or severe (3). The maximum level of severity for S-AEFIs and L-AEFIs ever experienced over the 30 days post-dose by vaccination exposure groups were analysed using a univariable multinomial logistic regression model and after adjusting for HIV status; for each of the symptoms, we also compared the mean duration by exposure group using an unpaired t-test. Findings: Among the 164 participants included, 90 (54.8%) were smallpox vaccine-experienced. Median age was 49 years (IQR 41–55). Among the 76 (46%) PLWH, 76% had a CD4 count >500 cells/μL. There was evidence that both the IgG and nAbs titers increased after administration of the MVA-BN vaccine. However, there was no evidence for a difference in the potential mean change in humoral response from baseline to the completion of a full cycle when comparing primed vs. non-primed participants. Similarly, there was no evidence for a difference in the seroconversion rate after full cycle vaccination in the subset of participants not reactive for nAbs at T1 (p = 1.00 by Fisher's exact test). In this same analysis and for the nAbs outcome, there was some evidence of negative effect modification by HIV (interaction p-value = 0.17) as primed people living with HIV (PLWH) showed a lower probability of seroconversion vs. non-primed, and the opposite was seen in PLWoH. When evaluating the response in continuous, we observed an increase in T-cell response after MVA-BN vaccination in both primed and non-primed. There was evidence for a larger increase when using the 2-dose vs. one-dose strategy with a mean difference of −2.01 log2 (p ≤ 0.0001), after controlling for HIV. No evidence for a difference in the risk of developing any AEFIs of any grade were observed by exposure group, except for the lower risk of grade 2 (moderate) fatigue, induration and local pain which was lower in primed vs. non-primed [OR 0.26 (0.08–0.92), p = 0.037; OR 0.30 (0.10–0.88), p = 0.029 and OR 0.19 (0.05–0.73), p = 0.015, respectively]. No evidence for a difference in symptom duration was also detected between the groups. Interpretation: The evaluation of the humoral and cellular response one month after the completion of the vaccination cycle suggested that MVA-BN is immunogenic and that the administration of a two-dose schedule is preferable regardless of the previous smallpox vaccination history, especially in PLWH, to maximize nAbs response. MVA-BN was safe as well tolerated, with grade 2 reactogenicity higher after the first administration in vaccine-naïve than in vaccine-experienced individuals, but with no evidence for a difference in the duration of these adverse effects. Further studies are needed to evaluate the long-term duration of immunity and to establish specific correlates of protection. Funding: The study was supported by the National Institute for Infectious Disease Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS “Advanced grant 5 × 1000, 2021” and by the Italian Ministry of Health “Ricerca Corrente Linea 2”.

In Southern Mediterranean regions, the issue of summer fires related to agriculture practices is a periodic recurrence. It implies a significant increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and other combustion-related gaseous and particles compounds emitted into the atmosphere with potential impacts on air quality and global climate. In this work, we performed an analysis of summer fire events that occurred on August 2021. Measurements were carried out at the permanent World Meteorological Organization (WMO)/Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) station of Lamezia Terme (Code: LMT) in Calabria, Southern Italy. The observatory is equipped with greenhouse gases and black carbon analyzers, an atmospheric particulate impactor system, and a meteo-station for atmospheric parameters to characterize atmospheric mechanisms and transport for land and sea breezes occurrences. High mole fractions of carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) coming from quadrants of inland areas were correlated with fire counts detected via the MODIS satellite (GFED-Global Fire Emissions Database) at 1 km of spatial resolution. In comparison with the typical summer values, higher CO and CO2 were observed in August 2021. Furthermore, the growth in CO concentration values in the tropospheric column was also highlighted by the analyses of the L2 products of the Copernicus SP5 satellite. Wind fields were reconstructed via a Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) output, the latter suggesting a possible contribution from open fire events observed at the inland region near the observatory. So far, there have been no documented estimates of the effect of prescribed burning on carbon emissions in this region. This study suggested that data collected at the LMT station can be useful in recognizing and consequently quantifying emission sources related to open fires.

L’autore sostiene che intervenire precocemente sugli stati mentali a rischio, che si manifestano in età giovanile con disturbi che pregiudicano il funzionamento globale della persona, sia di fondamentale importanza al fine di evitare che il quadro clinico si aggravi ulteriormente. Intervenire sulla fase prodromica significa intercettare quei quadri clinici che rientrano nella definizione di disturbi emotivi comuni (DEC), molto diffusi nei Centri di Salute Mentale in questo momento post-pandemico. La psicoterapia di gruppo come modalità di intervento privilegiata, focalizza l’attenzione sulla dimensione dell’identità sociale ed ha come obiettivo ripristinare la percezione di appartenenza ad un contesto con il valore personale che ne consegue.

Il presente lavoro intende portare l’attenzione sul tema della perdita traumatica, intesa come la perdita di un proprio caro in seguito ad evento traumatico per morte violenta. L’obiettivo è quello di approfondire attraverso le evidenze scientifiche sull’argomento, le complicanze psicopatologiche spesso sottaciute delle vittime, al fine di individuare gli elementi distintivi su cui il terapeuta dovrebbe porre attenzione nella relazione con il paziente. L’interesse per questo caso clinico verte principalmente sulla premessa che un evento traumatico di questo tipo determina nella vittima superstite, un disturbo da lutto complicato per la compresenza di alcuni elementi distintivi: acuzie, minacciosità ed imprevedibilità, che perdurano anche a distanza di anni dall’evento, fino a produrre esiti spesso permanenti. Il caso clinico qui presentato approfondisce queste tematiche sull’elaborazione del lutto complicato in seguito a morte violenta e rappresenta un’opportunità di riflessione su problematiche psicopatologiche poco rappresentate nei Servizi Territoriali di Salute Mentale. Queste problematiche, se non opportunamente trattate e fatte rientrare determinano nel tempo, un preoccupante fattore di rischio per ulteriori crimini con ripercussioni a catena, alimentate dall’odio e dalla vendetta. Il caso clinico che qui vogliamo trattare, descrive in una prima parte il percorso di psicoterapia precedente all’evento traumatico che ha consentito alla paziente di acquisire una maggiore capacità di insight e di elaborazione cognitiva, per approfondire poi nella parte più specifica relativa all’elaborazione del trauma, la strategia terapeutica utilizzata. Il focus della terapia sulla rielaborazione del lutto ha centrato l’attenzione sull’elaborazione e sull’integrazione di elementi disregolativi, caratterizzati da vissuti emozionali come la rabbia e la vendetta, mista al cordoglio e alla disperazione, cercando di “legittimare” il caos indotto dall’evento. L’obiettivo dell’intervento è stato quello di favorire la ripresa del proprio corso di vita integrando il trauma in un trama narrativa del sé più complessa ed articolata, così da consentire di ricollocare nel tempo il pericolo connesso all’evento e rendere ‘coerente’ ciò che di più innaturale possa accadere nella vita di una persona, come quello di perdere un genitore per omicidio.

Unlike stratospheric ozone (O3), which is beneficial for Earth due to its capacity to screen the surface from solar ultraviolet radiation, tropospheric ozone poses a number of health and environmental issues. It has multiple effects that drive anthropogenic climate change, ranging from pure radiative forcing to a reduction of carbon sequestration potential in plants. In the central Mediterranean, which itself represents a hotspot for climate studies, multi-year data on surface ozone were analyzed at the Lamezia Terme (LMT) WMO/GAW coastal observation site, located in Calabria, Southern Italy. The site is characterized by a local wind circulation pattern that results in a clear differentiation between Western-seaside winds, which are normally depleted in pollutants and GHGs, and Northeastern-continental winds, which are enriched in these compounds. This study is the first detailed attempt at evaluating ozone concentrations at LMT and their correlations with meteorological parameters, providing new insights into the source of locally observed tropospheric ozone mole fractions. This research shows that surface ozone daily and seasonal patterns at LMT are "reversed" compared to the patterns observed by comparable studies applied to other parameters and compounds, thus confirming the general complexity of anthropogenic emissions into the atmosphere and their numerous effects on atmospheric chemistry. These observations could contribute to the monitoring and verification of new regulations and policies on environmental protection, cultural heritage preservation, and the mitigation of human health hazards in Calabria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionImmunocompromised patients have been shown to have an impaired immune response to COVID-19 vaccines.MethodsHere we compared the B-cell, T-cell and neutralizing antibody response to WT and Omicron BA.2 SARS-CoV-2 virus after the fourth dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in patients with hematological malignancies (HM, n=71), solid tumors (ST, n=39) and immune-rheumatological (IR, n=25) diseases. The humoral and T-cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination were analyzed by quantifying the anti-RBD antibodies, their neutralization activity and the IFN-γ released after spike specific stimulation.ResultsWe show that the T-cell response is similarly boosted by the fourth dose across the different subgroups, while the antibody response is improved only in patients not receiving B-cell targeted therapies, independent on the pathology. However, 9% of patients with anti-RBD antibodies did not have neutralizing antibodies to either virus variants, while an additional 5.7% did not have neutralizing antibodies to Omicron BA.2, making these patients particularly vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The increment of neutralizing antibodies was very similar towards Omicron BA.2 and WT virus after the third or fourth dose of vaccine, suggesting that there is no preferential skewing towards either virus variant with the booster dose. The only limited step is the amount of antibodies that are elicited after vaccination, thus increasing the probability of developing neutralizing antibodies to both variants of virus.DiscussionThese data support the recommendation of additional booster doses in frail patients to enhance the development of a B-cell response directed against Omicron and/or to enhance the T-cell response in patients treated with anti-CD20.

This work presents results from an original open-source low-cost sensor (LCS) system developed to measure tropospheric O3 in a remote high altitude alpine site. Our study was conducted at the Col Margherita Observatory (2543 m above sea level), in the Italian Eastern Alps. The sensor system mounts three commercial low-cost O3/NO2 sensors that have been calibrated before field deployment against a laboratory standard (Thermo Scientific; 49i-PS), calibrated against the standard reference photometer no. 15 calibration scale of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Intra- and intercomparison between the sensors and a reference instrument (Thermo Scientific; 49c) have been conducted for 7 months from May to December 2018. The sensors required an individual calibration, both in laboratory and in the field. The sensor's dependence on the environmental meteorological variables has been considered and discussed. We showed that it is possible to reduce the bias of one LCS by using the average coefficient values of another LCS working in tandem, suggesting a way forward for the development of remote field calibration techniques. We showed that it is possible reconstruct the environmental ozone concentration during the loss of reference instrument data in situations caused by power outages. The evaluation of the analytical performances of this sensing system provides a limit of detection (LOD) ppb (parts per billion), limit of quantification (LOQ) ppb, linear dynamic range (LDR) up to 250 ppb, intra-Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) up to 0.96, inter-PCC >0.8, bias >3.5 ppb and ±8.5 at 95 % confidence. This first implementation of a LCS system in an alpine remote location demonstrated how to obtain valuable data from a low-cost instrument in a remote environment, opening new perspectives for the adoption of low-cost sensor networks in atmospheric sciences.

Atmospheric temperature is a key variable to detect and attribute climate change. Due to the relative sparseness of ground-based observations and heterogeneity of satellite data, global atmospheric reanalysis products are considered valuable datasets for studying and monitoring the climate, since these usually ensure spatially complete and continuous temporal coverage. Consequently, evaluating differences among the existing reanalyses is key to identifying inconsistencies. To this aim, the current study intercompares the climatological mean, variability, and linear trends for upper air temperature provided from four recent atmospheric reanalysis products (ERA5, ERA-Interim, MERRA-2, and JRA-55) The Reanalysis Multi-Model Ensemble-mean (RMME) is used as a comparator. Radiosonde observations are included for comparison on the regional scale (tropics). The results reveal that all evaluated reanalyses provide a consistent reproduction of the upper-air temperature profile. Temperature differences from RMME within ±0.25 K are found in both the troposphere and lower stratosphere, except for a few specific regions. Larger differences (>± 1.5 K) and discrepancies among the datasets are found in the upper stratosphere. Agreement between reanalyses increased after 1998. Differences in the temperature time series and seasonal cycle at the regional scales are smaller in the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes than in the tropics and Southern Hemisphere. A robust cooling trend in the lower stratosphere during the period of largest ozone depletion (1980-1997) and a warming trend in the troposphere for the period 1998-2018 are clearly found, at the global level, in all the datasets. Temperature trends and variability in the tropics are consistent in all reanalysis datasets with the homogenized radiosonde records from the lower to middle troposphere and in the lower stratosphere. However, large differences are found in the upper troposphere, tropical tropopause layer (TTL), and middle stratosphere. The well-known temperature variability in the lower stratosphere associated with Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) is captured in both reanalyses and observational datasets. Among the reanalyses, ERA5 shows the smallest temperature difference with respect to homogenized upper-air radiosoundings records.

In 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak led many countries across the globe to introduce lockdowns (LDs) that effectively caused most anthropic activities to either stop completely or be significantly reduced. In Europe, Italy played a pioneeristic role via the early introduction of a strict nationwide LD on March 9th. This study was aimed at evaluating, using both chemical and meteorological data, the environmental response to that occurrence as observed by the Lamezia Terme (LMT) GAW/WMO station in Calabria, Southern Italy. The first 2020 lockdown was therefore used as a "proving ground" to assess CO, CO2, CH4, BC, and NOx concentrations in a rather unique context by exploiting the location of LMT in the context of the Mediterranean Basin. In fact, its location on the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria and local wind circulation both lead to daily cycles where western-seaside winds depleted in anthropogenic pollutants can be easily differentiated from northeastern-continental winds, enriched in anthropogenic outputs. In addition to this, the first Italian LD occurred during the seasonal transition from winter to spring and, consequently, summer, thus providing new insights on emission outputs correlated with seasons. The findings clearly indicated BC and, in particular, CO as strongly correlated with average daily temperatures, as well as possibly domestic heating. CO2's reduction during the lockdown and consequent increase in the post-lockdown period, combined with wind data, allowed us to constrain the local source of emissions located northeast from LMT. NOx reductions during specific circumstances were consistent with hypotheses from previous research, which linked them to rush hour traffic and other forms of transportation emissions. CH4's stable patterns were consistent with livestock, landfills, and other sources assumed to be nearly constant during LD periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key to a sustainable future is the reduction in humankind's impact on natural systems via the development of new technologies and the improvement in source apportionment. Although days, years and seasons are arbitrarily set, their mechanisms are based on natural cycles driven by Earth's orbital periods. This is not the case for weeks, which are a pure anthropic category and are known from the literature to influence emission cycles and atmospheric chemistry. For the first time since it started data gathering operations, CO (carbon monoxide), CO2 (carbon dioxide), CH4 (methane) and eBC (equivalent black carbon) values detected by the Lamezia Terme WMO/GAW station in Calabria, Southern Italy, have been evaluated via a two-pronged approach accounting for weekly variations in absolute concentrations, as well as the number of hourly averages exceeding select thresholds. The analyses were performed on seven continuous years of measurements from 2016 to 2022. The results demonstrate that the analyzed GHGs (greenhouse gasses) and aerosols respond differently to weekly cycles throughout the seasons, and these findings provide completely new insights into source apportionment characterization. Moreover, the results have been combined into a new parameter: the hereby defined WDWO (Weighed Distribution of Weekly Outbreaks) normalizes weekly trends in CO, CO2, CH4 and eBC on an absolute scale, with the scope of providing regulators and researchers alike with a new tool meant to better evaluate anthropogenic pollution and mitigate its effects on the environment and human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: This study aimed to explore the complex phenomenon of emotional dysregulation, particularly in adolescence, which is associated with many mental health disorders and problems. Increasing the knowledge of clinicians and researchers in this area can be helpful in guiding future treatment plans. The aim of the study was to investigate, from an exploratory perspective, which structural aspects of adolescent functioning (assessed using the Rorschach test and administered and scored according to the Comprehensive System, CS, by Exner) were associated with different dimensions of emotional dysregulation (evaluated using the Difficulties in Emotion Dysregulation Scale, DERS). Method: Secondary data were used for the study, which included 100 adolescents, with 50 in the clinical group (patients with complex trauma histories residing in therapeutic and socio-rehabilitative communities) and 50 in the nonclinical group (recruited from a scout group and middle and high schools). The two groups were compared on terms of the mean scores obtained in the DERS scales (one-tailed t-test) and the proportions of cases that obtained pathological values for selected Rorschach CS indicators (z-test). Partial correlations were calculated between the DERS scales and the Rorschach CS variables to explore which structural dimensions of functioning were associated with different characteristics of emotional dysregulation. Results: The results indicated that the two groups differed in their outcomes on all DERS scales, except for Awareness and Goals, and on four Rorschach CS variables (EgoIndex, a:p, Wsum6, and MOR). Some significant positive and negative correlations between the Rorschach CS variables and the DERS scales also emerged. Conclusion: These results suggest that the dimensions of functioning associated with emotional dysregulation are related to self-representation, relational immaturity, and thought processes character and characterize membership in a therapeutic community. The correlations described in the article warrants further consideration. Finally, the study's limitations and future research prospects are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its high short-term global warming potential (GWP) compared to carbon dioxide, methane (CH4) is a considerable agent of climate change. This research is aimed at analyzing data on methane gathered at the GAW (Global Atmosphere Watch) station of Lamezia Terme (Calabria, Southern Italy) spanning seven years of continuous measurements (2016–2022) and integrating the results with key meteorological data. Compared to previous studies on detected methane mole fractions at the same station, daily-to-yearly patterns have become more prominent thanks to the analysis of a much larger dataset. Overall, the yearly increase of methane at the Lamezia Terme station is in general agreement with global measurements by NOAA, though local peaks are present, and an increase linked to COVID-19 is identified. Seasonal changes and trends have proved to be fully cyclic, with the daily cycles being largely driven by local wind circulation patterns and synoptic features. Outbreak events have been statistically evaluated depending on their weekday of occurrence to test possible correlations with anthropogenic activities. A cross analysis between methane peaks and specific wind directions has also proved that local sources may be deemed responsible for the highest mole fractions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) is a pan-European research infrastructure which provides harmonized and high-precision scientific data on the carbon cycle and the greenhouse gas budget. All stations have to undergo a rigorous assessment before being labeled, i.e., receiving approval to join the network. In this paper, we present the labeling process for the ICOS atmosphere network through the 23 stations that were labeled between November 2017 and November 2019. We describe the labeling steps, as well as the quality controls, used to verify that the ICOS data (CO2, CH4, CO and meteorological measurements) attain the expected quality level defined within ICOS. To ensure the quality of the greenhouse gas data, three to four calibration gases and two target gases are measured: one target two to three times a day, the other gases twice a month. The data are verified on a weekly basis, and tests on the station sampling lines are performed twice a year. From these high-quality data, we conclude that regular calibrations of the CO2, CH4 and CO analyzers used here (twice a month) are important in particular for carbon monoxide (CO) due to the analyzer's variability and that reducing the number of calibration injections (from four to three) in a calibration sequence is possible, saving gas and extending the calibration gas lifespan. We also show that currently, the on-site water vapor correction test does not deliver quantitative results possibly due to environmental factors. Thus the use of a drying system is strongly recommended. Finally, the mandatory regular intake line tests are shown to be useful in detecting artifacts and leaks, as shown here via three different examples at the stations.

Data from a variety of research programmes are increasingly used by policy makers, researchers, and private sectors to make data-driven decisions related to climate change and variability. Climate services are emerging as the link to narrow the gap between climate science and downstream users. The Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) offers an umbrella for the development of climate services and has identified the quality assessment, along with its use in user guidance, as a key aspect of the service provision. This offers an extra stimulus for discussing what type of quality information to focus on and how to present it to downstream users. Quality has become an important keyword for those working on data in both the private and public sectors and significant resources are now devoted to quality management of processes and products. Quality management guarantees reliability and usability of the product served, it is a key element to build trust between consumers and suppliers. Untrustworthy data could lead to a negative economic impact at best and a safety hazard at worst. In a progressive commitment to establish this relation of trust, as well as providing sufficient guidance for users, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) has made significant investments in the development of an Evaluation and Quality Control (EQC) function. This function offers a homogeneous user-driven service for the quality of the C3S Climate Data Store (CDS). Here we focus on the EQC component targeting the assessment of the CDS datasets, which include satellite and in-situ observations, reanalysis, climate projections, and seasonal forecasts. The EQC function is characterised by a two-tier review system designed to guarantee the quality of the dataset information. While the need of assessing the quality of climate data is well recognised, the methodologies, the metrics, the evaluation framework, and how to present all this information to the users have never been developed before in an operational service, encompassing all the main climate dataset categories. Building the underlying technical solutions poses unprecedented challenges and makes the C3S EQC approach unique. This paper describes the development and the implementation of the operational EQC function providing an overarching quality management service for the whole CDS data.

In Southern Mediterranean regions, the issue of summer fires related to agriculture practices is a periodic recurrence. It implies a significant increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and other combustion-related gaseous and particles compounds emitted into the atmosphere with potential impacts on air quality and global climate. In this work, we performed an analysis of summer fire events that occurred on August 2021. Measurements were carried out at the permanent World Meteorological Organization (WMO)/Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) station of Lamezia Terme (Code: LMT) in Calabria, Southern Italy. The observatory is equipped with greenhouse gases and black carbon analyzers, an atmospheric particulate impactor system, and a meteo-station for atmospheric parameters to characterize atmospheric mechanisms and transport for land and sea breezes occurrences. High mole fractions of carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) coming from quadrants of inland areas were correlated with fire counts detected via the MODIS satellite (GFED-Global Fire Emissions Database) at 1 km of spatial resolution. In comparison with the typical summer values, higher CO and CO2 were observed in August 2021. Furthermore, the growth in CO concentration values in the tropospheric column was also highlighted by the analyses of the L2 products of the Copernicus SP5 satellite. Wind fields were reconstructed via a Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) output, the latter suggesting a possible contribution from open fire events observed at the inland region near the observatory. So far, there have been no documented estimates of the effect of prescribed burning on carbon emissions in this region. This study suggested that data collected at the LMT station can be useful in recognizing and consequently quantifying emission sources related to open fires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]