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One of the purposes of river management is the disaster protection of the nearby population. The effect of riparian vegetation on hydraulic resistance and conveyance capacity makes it a vital parameter for this purpose. With remote sensing techniques, vegetation information can be estimated. This paper's objective is to combine UAV and satellite imagery to obtain vegetation parameters with moderate resolution for hydraulic modeling, and to assess the seasonal effect of the vegetation on the Manning coefficient. Typhoon Hagibis was simulated with a 2D hydraulic model with a dynamic vegetative roughness estimation routine. Results demonstrate that this method achieved less error than the traditional static roughness value method of hydraulic modeling. The seasonal effect of the vegetation on the roughness was shown by a relationship between the percentage of vegetation cover and the average Manning in the stretch.

Light-absorbing black carbon (BC) aerosols strongly affect Earth's radiation budget and climate. This paper presents satellite retrieval of BC over India based on observations from the Cloud and Aerosol Imager-2 (CAI-2) on board the Greenhouse gases Observing Satellite-2 (GOSAT-2). To evaluate and validate the satellite retrievals, near-surface BC mass concentrations measured across the Aerosol Radiative Forcing over India NETwork (ARFINET) of aerosol observatories are used. Then the findings are extended to elucidate global BC features. The analysis reveals that this satellite retrieval clearly demonstrates the regional and seasonal features of BC over the Indian region, similarly to those recorded by surface observations. Validation and closure studies between the two datasets show RMSE < 1 and absolute difference below 2 µg m−3 for > 60 % of simultaneous observations, exhibiting good associations for December, January, and February (R of approximately 0.73) and March, April, and May (R approx. 0.76). Over the hotspot regions of India, satellite retrievals show a soot volume fraction of approx. 5 %, columnar single-scattering albedo of approx. 0.8, and BC column optical depth of approx. 0.1 during times of the highest BC loading, which are comparable to other in situ and satellite measurements. In terms of global spatiotemporal variation, satellite retrievals show higher BC occurring mostly in areas where biomass burning is intense. Overall, this study highlights the effectiveness of satellite retrieval of BC, which can be used effectively for the regular monitoring of BC loading attributable to vehicular, industrial, or biomass burning activities.

Proportional hazards models and, in some situations, accelerated failure time models, are not suitable for analyzing data when the failure ratio between two individuals is not constant. We present a Weibull accelerated failure time model with covariables on the location and scale parameters. By considering the effects of covariables not only on the location parameter, but also on the scale, a regression should be able to adequately describe the difference between treatments. In addition, the deviance residuals adapted for data with the interval censored and the exact time of failure proved to be satisfactory to verify the fit of the model. This information favors the Weibull regression as an alternative to the proportional hazards models without masking the effect of the explanatory variables.

The fate of high-energy degrees of freedom, such as spin-orbit interactions, in the coherent state of Kondo lattice materials remains unclear. Here, the authors use resonant inelastic x-ray scattering in CePd3 to show how Kondo-quasiparticle excitations are renormalized and develop a pronounced momentum dependence, while maintaining a largely unchanged spin-orbit gap.

Objectives Although COVID-19 vaccines offer protection against infection and severe disease, there is limited information on the effect of vaccination on prolonged symptoms following COVID-19. Our objective was to determine differences in prevalence of prolonged symptoms 6 weeks after onset of COVID-19 among healthcare personnel (HCP) by vaccination status, and to assess differences in timing of return to work.Design Cohort analysis of HCP with COVID-19 enrolled in a multicentre vaccine effectiveness study. HCP with COVID-19 between December 2020 and August 2021 were followed up 6 weeks after illness onset.Setting Health systems in 12 US states.Participants HCP participating in a vaccine effectiveness study were eligible for inclusion if they had laboratory-confirmed symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 with mRNA vaccination (symptom onset ≥14 days after two doses) or no prior vaccination. Among 681 eligible participants, 419 (61%) completed a follow-up survey to assess symptoms reported 6 weeks after illness onset.Exposures Two doses of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine compared with no COVID-19 vaccine.Main outcome measures Prevalence of symptoms 6 weeks after onset of COVID-19 illness and days to return to work.Results Among 419 HCP with COVID-19, 298 (71%) reported one or more COVID-like symptoms 6 weeks after illness onset, with a lower prevalence among vaccinated participants compared with unvaccinated participants (60.6% vs 79.1%; adjusted risk ratio 0.70, 95% CI 0.58 to 0.84). Following their illness, vaccinated HCP returned to work a median 2.0 days (95% CI 1.0 to 3.0) sooner than unvaccinated HCP (adjusted HR 1.37, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.79).Conclusions Receipt of two doses of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine among HCP with COVID-19 illness was associated with decreased prevalence of COVID-like symptoms at 6 weeks and earlier return to work.

Topological superconductors are potentially important for future quantum computation, but they are very rare in nature. Here, the authors observe topological surface states acquiring a nodeless superconducting gap with similar magnitude as that of the bulk states in 2M-WS2, suggesting an intrinsic topological superconductor.

This paper is an overview of the progress in sky radiometer technology and the development of the network called SKYNET. It is found that the technology has produced useful on-site calibration methods, retrieval algorithms, and data analyses from sky radiometer observations of aerosol, cloud, water vapor, and ozone. A formula was proposed for estimating the accuracy of the sky radiometer calibration constant F0 using the improved Langley (IL) method, which was found to be a good approximation to observed monthly mean uncertainty in F0, around 0.5 % to 2.4 % at the Tokyo and Rome sites and smaller values of around 0.3 % to 0.5 % at the mountain sites at Mt. Saraswati and Davos. A new cross IL (XIL) method was also developed to correct an underestimation by the IL method in cases with large aerosol retrieval errors. The root-mean-square difference (RMSD) in aerosol optical thickness (AOT) comparisons with other networks took values of less than 0.02 for λ≥500 nm and a larger value of about 0.03 for shorter wavelengths in city areas and smaller values of less than 0.01 in mountain comparisons. Accuracies of single-scattering albedo (SSA) and size distribution retrievals are affected by the propagation of errors in measurement, calibrations for direct solar and diffuse sky radiation, ground albedo, cloud screening, and the version of the analysis software called the Skyrad pack. SSA values from SKYNET were up to 0.07 larger than those from AERONET, and the major error sources were identified as an underestimation of solid viewing angle (SVA) and cloud contamination. Correction of these known error factors reduced the SSA difference to less than 0.03. Retrievals of other atmospheric constituents by the sky radiometer were also reviewed. Retrieval accuracies were found to be about 0.2 cm for precipitable water vapor amount and 13 DU (Dobson Unit) for column ozone amount. Retrieved cloud optical properties still showed large deviations from validation data, suggesting a need to study the causes of the differences. It is important that these recent studies on improvements presented in the present paper are introduced into the existing operational systems and future systems of the International SKYNET Data Center.

This study analyzed the aerosol optical properties derived by SKYRAD.pack versions 5.0 and 4.2 (referred to as V5.0 and V4.2) using the radiometer measurements over Qionghai and Yucheng in China, two new sites of the sky radiometer network (SKYNET). As V5.0 uses an a priori size distribution function (SDF) of a bimodal log-normal function, the volume size distribution retrieved by V5.0 presented bimodal patterns with a 0.1–0.2 µm fine particle mode and a 3.0–6.0 µm coarse particle mode both over Qionghai and Yucheng. The differences in the volume size distributions between the two versions were very large for the coarse mode with a radius of over 5 µm. The single scattering albedos (SSAs) by V5.0 correlated with SSAs by V4.2 with R=0.88, 0.87, 0.90, 0.88, and 0.92 at wavelengths of 400, 500, 670, 870, and 1020 nm over Qionghai, respectively. The correlation coefficients were around 0.95, 0.95, 0.96, 0.94, and 0.91 at the five channels in Yucheng. An error of ±5 % for the solid view angle (SVA) introduced about ±2 % differences in retrieved SSA values both by V4.2 and V5.0. An error of ±50 % for ground surface albedo (Ag) caused about 1 % averaged differences in retrieved SSA values by the two versions. With the atmospheric pressure (PRS) increased by 1 %, 2 %, 3 %, and 4 %, the averaged changes in SSAs did not exceed 0.8 % both by V4.2 and V5.0. The SSA differences at 500 nm between the two versions decreased, while aerosol optical depths (AODs) increased over both sites. The seasonal variability of the aerosol properties over Qionghai and Yucheng was investigated based on SKYRAD.pack V5.0. The seasonal averaged AOD over Qionghai had higher values in spring, winter, and autumn and lower values in summer. The AOD averages were commonly higher in summer and spring than in winter and autumn in Yucheng. The lowest seasonal averaged SSAs were both observed in winter at the two sites. The fraction of the fine aerosol particles was much smaller in summer than in other seasons over Qionghai; the volume fraction of the coarse-mode particle in Yucheng had much larger values compared to the fine-mode particle in all seasons. The validation results provide valuable references for continued improvement of the retrieval algorithms of SKYNET and other aerosol observational networks.

Type I X-ray bursts are rapid-brightening transient phenomena on the surfaces of accreting neutron stars (NSs). Some X-ray bursts, called clocked bursters, exhibit regular behavior with similar light-curve profiles in their burst sequences. The periodic nature of clocked bursters has the advantage of constraining X-ray binary parameters and physics inside the NS. In the present study, we compute numerical models, based on different equations of state and NS masses, which are compared with the observations of a recently identified clocked burster, 1RXS J180408.9−342058. We find that the relation between the accretion rate and the recurrence time is highly sensitive to the NS mass and radius. We determine, in particular, that 1RXS J180408.9−342058 appears to possess a mass less than 1.7 M _⊙ and favors a stiffer nuclear equation of state (with an NS radius ≳12.7 km). Consequently, the observations of this new clocked burster may provide additional constraints for probing the structure of NSs.

Burnout is a growing problem among healthcare workers. Whereas there are numerous predictors of burnout, this article explores the compounding effects of job and family demands among nurses and Patient Care Associates (PCA). This study used the 2018 survey data of the Boston Hospital Health Workers Study (BHWHS) to assess the relationship of job and family demands, workplace flexibility, and burnout (N = 874). In addition, it aimed to evaluate the moderating effect of workplace flexibility and job and family demands on burnout. Results of the study demonstrate that active and high strained healthcare workers are associated with higher odds of experiencing burnout as well as workers who reported perceived low workplace flexibility. In addition, workplace flexibility is associated with reduced odds of experiencing burnout. Workplace flexibility moderated the relationship of childless married healthcare workers and burnout. The study shows that workplace flexibility plays a critical role in potentially reducing odds of burnout in the healthcare worker population. Assessing the perception and accessibility to workplace flexibility among workers is imperative to improve worker well-being and the quality of care provided to patients especially the current effects to worker's health during a pandemic.

Abstract Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is known to cause secondary osteoporosis and fragility fractures. This study aimed to identify biomarkers predictive of bone mineral density (BMD) change at three anatomical sites in patients with RA. Methods We conducted a prospective longitudinal study in patients with RA. In 2012, we recruited 379 patients from an RA cohort, 329 of whom underwent evaluation of blood and urine biomarkers together with measurement of BMD in the lumbar spine, proximal femur, and distal forearm. The BMD in these three regions was reassessed in 2014. We performed multivariate linear regression analysis to identify those factors associated with BMD change. Results The averages of age, body mass index, and disease activity score in 28 joints (DAS28) at baseline were 63.2 (minimum to maximum, 32–85), 21.3 (12.3–30.0), and 3.2 (0.1–5.9), respectively. Univariate analysis showed that the annual BMD change was significantly associated with the use of steroid, bisphosphonate (BP) or vitamin D (VitD), and serum homocysteine in the lumber spine; DAS28, the use of BP or VitD, CRP, and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (ACPA) in the proximal femur; and the dosage of MTX, the use of BP or VitD, and serum tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b (TRACP-5b) in the distal forearm, respectively. Conclusions Predictive biomarkers for BMD change in RA patients differ at each anatomical site. Practitioners should treat each anatomical site with different markers and prescribe osteoporosis drugs to prevent fractures for RA patients.

In this study, we investigate the feasibility of a multi-pixel scheme in the inversion of aerosol optical properties for multispectral satellite instruments over the ocean. Different from the traditional satellite aerosol retrievals conducted pixel by pixel, we derive the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) of multiple pixels simultaneously by adding a smoothness constraint on the spatial variation of aerosols and oceanic substances, which helps the satellite retrieval, with higher consistency from pixel to pixel. Simulations are performed for two representative oceanic circumstances, open and coastal waters, as well as the land–ocean interface region. We retrieve the AOT for fine, sea spray, and dust aerosols simultaneously using synthetic spectral measurements, which are from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite and Thermal and Near Infrared Sensor for Carbon Observation – Cloud and Aerosol Imager (GOSAT∕TANSO-CAI), with four wavelengths ranging from the ultraviolet to shortwave infrared bands. The forward radiation calculation is performed by a coupled atmosphere–ocean radiative transfer model combined with a three-component bio-optical oceanic module, where the chlorophyll a concentration, sediment, and colored dissolved organic matter are considered. Results show that accuracies of the derived AOT and spectral remote-sensing reflectance are both improved by applying smoothness constraints on the spatial variation of aerosol and oceanic substances in homogeneous or inhomogeneous surface conditions. The multi-pixel scheme can be effective in compensating for the retrieval biases induced by measurement errors and improving the retrieval sensitivity, particularly for the fine aerosols over the coastal water. We then apply the algorithm to derive AOTs using real satellite measurements. Results indicate that the multi-pixel method helps to polish the irregular retrieved results of the satellite imagery and is potentially promising for the aerosol retrieval over highly turbid waters by benefiting from the coincident retrieval of neighboring pixels. A comparison of retrieved AOTs from satellite measurements with those from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) also indicates that retrievals conducted by the multi-pixel scheme are more consistent with the AERONET observations.

Statement of Problem. Fabrication technique, precementation, and cementation operative procedures can induce significant modification of the stressing patterns throughout the thickness of some classes of dental ceramic materials. Objectives. To estimate, by means of the deflection test, residual stress in restorative dental ceramic following fabrication technique, precementation, and resin cement coating procedures and to relate it to the elastic property of the ceramic material tested. Materials and Methods. From IPS e.max® Press, lithium disilicate heat-pressed glass-ceramic (elastic modulus of 95 ± 5 GPa) disc-shaped specimens (n = 10) were made according to the manufacturer’s instructions. One surface of the specimens was polished to provide accurate baseline profilometric measurements (reference surface). Deflection measurements were performed after polishing and annealing alumina air-particle abrasion of the unpolished surface followed by resin cement coating of the alumina air-particle abraded surface. The specimens were reprofiled at 24, 48, and 168 hrs after coating. The Friedman test followed by Dunn’s multiple comparison test was employed to identify significant differences (p

Superconductivity emerges in proximity to a nematic phase in most iron-based superconductors. It is therefore important to understand the impact of nematicity on the electronic structure. Orbital assignment and tracking across the nematic phase transition prove to be challenging due to the multiband nature of iron-based superconductors and twinning effects. Here, we report a detailed study of the electronic structure of fully detwinned FeSe across the nematic phase transition using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. We clearly observe a nematicity-driven band reconstruction involving d_{xz}, d_{yz}, and d_{xy} orbitals. The nematic energy scale between d_{xz} and d_{yz} bands reaches a maximum of 50 meV at the Brillouin zone corner. We are also able to track the d_{xz} electron pocket across the nematic transition and explain its absence in the nematic state. Our comprehensive data of the electronic structure provide an accurate basis for theoretical models of the superconducting pairing in FeSe.

Postmenopausal period has been associated to different symptoms such as hot flashes, vulvovaginal atrophy, hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) and others. Clinical studies have described postmenopausal women presenting HSDD can benefit from the association of testosterone to conventional hormonal therapy. Testosterone has been linked to development of cardiovascular diseases including hypertension and it also increases cytochrome P-450-induced 20-HETE synthesis which in turn results in vascular dysfunction. However, the effect of testosterone plus estrogen in the cardiovascular system is still very poorly studied. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the role of cytochrome P-450 pathway in a postmenopausal hypertensive female treated with testosterone plus estrogen. For that, hypertensive ovariectomized rats (OVX-SHR) were used as a model of postmenopausal hypertension and four groups were created: SHAM-operated (SHAM), ovariectomized SHR (OVX), OVX treated for 15 days with conjugated equine estrogens [(CEE) 9.6 μg/Kg/day/po] or CEE associated to testosterone [(CEE+T) 2.85 mg/kg/weekly/im]. Phenylephrine-induced contraction and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were markedly increased in aortic rings from OVX-SHR compared to SHAM rats which were restored by CEE treatment. On the other hand, CEE+T abolished vascular effects by CEE and augmented both systolic and diastolic blood pressure of SHR. Treatment of aortic rings with the CYP/20-HETE synthesis inhibitor HET0016 (1 μM) reduced phenylephrine hyperreactivity and the augmented ROS generation in the CEE+T group. These results are paralleled by the increased CYP4F3 protein expression and activity in aortas of CEE+T. In conclusion, we showed that association of testosterone to estrogen therapy produces detrimental effects in cardiovascular system of ovariectomized hypertensive females via CYP4F3/20-HETE pathway. Therefore, our findings support the standpoint that the CYP/20-HETE pathway is an important therapeutic target for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in menopausal women in the presence of high levels of testosterone.

The narrow-ridged finless porpoise Neophocaena asiaeorientalis is a coastal cetacean that is threatened by various human activities. Bycatch mortality is a particular danger to the porpoise population in Ariake Sound and Tachibana Bay, Japan. To evaluate the impact of bycatch mortality on the viability of this population, we simulated changes in population size over the next 100 yr, using a Leslie matrix model. The simulation trials were repeated for 3 scenarios of possible bycatch mortality rates. If bycatch mortality remains at the reported level, the estimated annual rate of decrease is 0.671 to 3.87%, and the estimated population size reduction over 3 generations is 29.6 to 86.3%. A population size reduction of ≥30% was predicted in almost half the simulation trials, even in the most optimistic scenario. The reported bycatch mortalities would pose a serious threat to the viability of this porpoise population; therefore, the population should be classified at least as ‘Vulnerable’ according to Criterion A4, as defined in the IUCN Red List. Our predictions were sensitive to annual bycatch mortality rate estimates. Hence, the collection of current abundance and bycatch data should be promoted in order to minimize uncertainty in risk assessments.

In order to reduce uncertainty in the estimation of Direct Aerosol Radiative Forcing (DARF), it is important to improve the estimation of the single scattering albedo (SSA). In this study, we propose a new data processing method to improve SSA retrievals for the SKYNET sky radiometer network, which is one of the growing number of networks of sun-sky photometers, such as NASA AERONET and others. There are several reports that SSA values from SKYNET have a bias compared to those from AERONET, which is regarded to be the most accurate due to its rigorous calibration routines and data quality and cloud screening algorithms. We investigated possible causes of errors in SSA that might explain the known biases through sensitivity experiments using a numerical model, and also using real data at the SKYNET sites at Pune (18.616° N/73.800° E) in India and Beijing (39.586° N/116.229° E) in China. Sensitivity experiments showed that an uncertainty of the order of ±0.03 in the SSA value can be caused by a possible error in the ground surface albedo or solid view angle assumed for each observation site. Another candidate for possible error in the SSA was found in cirrus contamination generated by imperfect cloud screening in the SKYNET data processing. Therefore, we developed a new data quality control method to get rid of low quality or cloud contamination data, and we applied this method to the real observation data at the Pune site in SKYNET. After applying this method to the observation data, we were able to screen out a large amount of cirrus-contaminated data and to reduce the deviation in the SSA value from that of AERONET. We then estimated DARF using data screened by our new method. The result showed that the method significantly reduced the difference of 5 W m−2 that existed between the SKYNET and AERONET values of DARF before screening. The present study also suggests the necessity of preparing suitable a priori information on the distribution of coarse particles ranging in radius between 10 μm and 30 μm for the analysis of heavily dust-laden atmospheric cases.

Pulmonary metastasectomy is indicated for selected patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. A 43-year-old woman presented with solitary pulmonary metastasis from descending colon cancer and pulmonary metastasectomy was performed because of absence of any other active metastasis as well as normal serum carcinoembryonic antigen value. However, she died due to early development of nodal and bone metastases within 6 months after thoracotomy. The presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the peripheral blood (6 CTCs/7.5 ml) was the only factor to predict such a poor prognosis, suggesting that the CTC test is useful in selecting patients for pulmonary metastasectomy.

One of the central questions in the cuprate research is the nature of the normal state that develops into high-temperature superconductivity (HTSC). In the normal state of hole-doped cuprates, the existence of a charge density wave (CDW) is expected to shed light on the mechanism of HTSC. With evidence emerging for CDW order in the electron-doped cuprates, the CDW is thought to be a universal phenomenon in high-T_{c} cuprates. However, the CDW phenomena in electron-doped cuprates are quite different than those in hole-doped cuprates. Here, we study the nature of the putative CDW in an electron-doped cuprate through direct comparisons between as-grown and postannealed Nd_{1.86}Ce_{0.14}CuO_{4} (NCCO) single crystals using Cu L_{3}-edge resonant soft x-ray scattering (RSXS) and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). The RSXS result reveals that the nonsuperconducting NCCO shows the same reflections at the wave vector (∼1/4, 0, l) as the reported superconducting NCCO. This superconductivity-insensitive signal is quite different from the CDW reflection in hole-doped cuprates. Moreover, the ARPES result suggests that the fermiology cannot account for such wave vectors. These results call into question the universality of the CDW phenomenon in the cuprates.

Citrus tachibana, C. nippokoreana, and C. depressa are indigenous mandarin species in Japan. We deduced their phylogenetic relationships from nucleotide sequences of the chloroplast matK gene. The results indicate that C. tachibana, C. nippokoreana, and C. depressa accessions can be classified into two types: type A, all sixteen C. tachibana and six C. Depressa; type B, eleven C. depressa and one C. nippokoreana. Both type A and type B accessions of C. depressa were found on the Okinawa Islands, whereas only type B accessions of C. depressa were found on the Sakishima and Amami Islands. This cpDNA divergence seemed to indicate a polyphyletic origin of C. depressa. The matK genes of type A were found only in C. tachibana and some C. depressa. From these results, both species probably possess a characteristic chloroplast genome among various Citrus species.