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This study analyzes the behavior of airborne pollen in relation to meteorological parameters. It may be helpful to understand the consequences of this interaction on the health of the population of Madrid in the form of respiratory allergic pathologies. To this end, a multivariate analysis was carried out using Spearman's linear correlation coefficient between the concentrations in the Madrid atmosphere of six types of tree pollen (Cupressaceae, Olea, Platanus, Pinus, Ulmus and Populus) and each of the six meteorological variables: relative humidity, precipitation, temperature, wind, radiation and insolation. The meteorological parameters most correlated with pollen types, with monthly values, are temperature and insolation, followed by radiation and relative humidity. In addition, there are more significant correlations of meteorological variables with Cupressaceae, Olea, Pinus and Platanus pollen types. Radiation is the meteorological parameter with the highest ρ values, especially with Olea, with ρ > 0.8. Wind is the only variable with significant correlations, all of them positive, with pollen types. The number of statistically significant results obtained from daily values is lower compared to monthly values, and only with Populus, Cupressaceae and Olea. The inter-relationship of meteorological variables with pollen grains can lead to an increase in the number of cases of pollinosis, when there are significant positive correlations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the behavior of airborne pollen in relation to meteorological parameters. It may be helpful to understand the consequences of this interaction on the health of the population of Madrid in the form of respiratory allergic pathologies. To this end, a multivariate analysis was carried out using Spearman’s linear correlation coefficient between the concentrations in the Madrid atmosphere of six types of tree pollen (Cupressaceae, Olea, Platanus, Pinus, Ulmus and Populus) and each of the six meteorological variables: relative humidity, precipitation, temperature, wind, radiation and insolation. The meteorological parameters most correlated with pollen types, with monthly values, are temperature and insolation, followed by radiation and relative humidity. In addition, there are more significant correlations of meteorological variables with Cupressaceae, Olea, Pinus and Platanus pollen types. Radiation is the meteorological parameter with the highest ρ values, especially with Olea, with ρ > 0.8. Wind is the only variable with significant correlations, all of them positive, with pollen types. The number of statistically significant results obtained from daily values is lower compared to monthly values, and only with Populus, Cupressaceae and Olea. The inter-relationship of meteorological variables with pollen grains can lead to an increase in the number of cases of pollinosis, when there are significant positive correlations.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched its second civilian C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mission onboard Earth Observation Satellite-04 (EOS-04). The SAR data monitors and measures various atmospheric features and parameters. In this paper, we report on the investigation of EOS-04 data for several atmospheric phenomena. One of the crucial parameters for studying atmospheric manifestations in SAR data is ocean surface winds and an algorithm for its retrieval has been developed using EOS-04 data. The wind speed products thus generated are evaluated using observations from the Advanced Scatterometer and subsequently used to study atmospheric phenomena like boundary layer structures. The EOS-04 SAR data is also demonstrated for studying structures associated with tropical cyclones, coupling of rain and wind imprints and distinct signatures of an atmospheric front. The study outcomes are used to interpret atmospheric phenomena and understand backscattering signals from EOS-04 SAR. This indicates the possibility and potential of a gamut of atmospheric phenomena that can be probed using EOS-04 SAR data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme weather events, such as windstorms, hurricanes, and heat waves, exert a significant impact on global natural catastrophes and pose substantial challenges for weather forecasting systems. To enhance the accuracy and preparedness for extreme weather events, this study explores the potential of using expert crowdsourcing in storm forecasting research through the application of stigmergic collaboration. We present the development and implementation of an expert Crowdsourcing for Semantic Annotation of Atmospheric Phenomena (eCSAAP) system, designed to leverage the collective knowledge and experience of meteorological experts. Through a participatory co-creation process, we iteratively developed a web-based annotation tool capable of capturing multi-faceted insights from weather data and generating visualizations for expert crowdsourcing campaigns. In this context, this article investigates the intrinsic coordination among experts engaged in crowdsourcing tasks focused on the semantic annotation of extreme weather events. The study brings insights about the behavior of expert crowds by considering the cognitive biases and highlighting the impact of existing annotations on the quality of data gathered from the crowd and the collective knowledge generated. The insights regarding the crowdsourcing dynamics, particularly stigmergy, offer a promising starting point for utilizing stigmergic collaboration as an effective coordination mechanism for weather experts in crowdsourcing platforms but also in other domains requiring expertise-driven collective intelligence.

Ever since its discovery in 1999, the Nebra Sky Disc has been one of the best-known and most debated European Bronze Age archaeological artefacts. In 2021-2022 it was particularly in the public spotlight due to two jointly organised international exhibitions, one at the State Museum of Prehistory Halle (Saale), Germany and then one at the British Museum in London. In view of the renewed public interest in the disc that these exhibitions have awakened, this article reviews research relating to the artefact and its interpretation, with particular consideration of supposed links with Bronze Age sky lore promoted by the exhibitions and their accompanying literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current implementations of 5G networks consider higher frequency range of operation than previous telecommunication networks, and it is possible to offer higher data rates for different applications. On the other hand, atmospheric phenomena could have a more negative impact on the transmission quality. Thus, the study of the transmitted signal quality at high frequencies is relevant to guaranty the user ́s quality of experience. In this research, the recommendations ITU-R P.838-3 and ITU-R P.676-11 are implemented in a network scenario, which are methodologies to estimate the signal degradations originated by rainfall and atmospheric gases, respectively. Thus, speech signals are encoded by the AMR-WB codec, transmitted and the perceptual speech quality is evaluated using the algorithm described in ITU-T Rec. P.863, mostly known as POLQA. The novelty of this work is to propose a non-intrusive speech quality classifier that considers atmospheric phenomena. This classifier is based on Deep Belief Networks (DBN) that uses Support Vector Machine (SVM) with radial basis function kernel (RBF-SVM)as classifier, to identify five predefined speech quality classes. Experimental Results show that the proposed speech quality classifier reached an accuracy between 92% and 95% for each quality class overcoming the results obtained by the sole non-intrusive standard described in ITU-T Recommendation P.563. Furthermore, subjective tests are carried out to validate the proposed classifier performance, and it reached an accuracy of 94.8%.

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O presente traballo comparativo recolle unidades fraseolóxicas, ou dictons, (Rodegem 1984 e Sevilla Muñoz 1988; 1992) relacionadas co campo semántico da predición do tempo en dúas culturas que non tiveron contacto entre si e que están situadas nos antípodas do planeta: a cultura galega e a cultura maorí. A metodoloxía empregada parte dunha análise comparativa diacrónica, mais non diastrática, de paremias xeocosmolóxicas que poden estar en uso ou non na actualidade e que comprenden ditos sobre fenómenos atmosféricos, a observación dos astros e predición do tempo a través da observación dos animais, especialmente os paxaros. Os ditos recollidos en maorí non proveñen de informantes, senón dos poucos libros e fontes dixitais existentes e representan só un fragmento da cultura oral tradicional e do pensamento e legado tradicional das distintas iwis (tribos). Os ditos recollidos en galego proceden de varias bases de datos, córpora e recursos dixitalizados. // This comparative study collects phraseological units -dictons- (Rodegem 1984 e Sevilla Muñoz 1988; 1992) related to the semantic field of weather forecast from two cultures, which have not been in contact, and which are located in the antipodes of the planet: Galician and Maori. The methodology used utilizes a diachronic analysis (although not diastratic), of geocosmological proverbs, that can be or not in use nowadays, which include dictons about atmospheric phenomena, observation of the stars and star lore, and weather forecast through observation of animals, especially birds. The dictons collected in Maori do not come from informants but from the few books and digital sources available at the moment and this represents only a fragment of their traditional oral culture, thought and legacy of the different iwis. The collected dictons in Galician have been collected from a variety of digital corpus and resources.

Current implementations of 5G networks consider higher frequency range of operation than previous telecommunication networks, and it is possible to offer higher data rates for different applications. On the other hand, atmospheric phenomena could have a more negative impact on the transmission quality. Thus, the study of the transmitted signal quality at high frequencies is relevant to guaranty the user's quality of experience. In this research, the recommendations ITU-R P.838- 3 and ITU-R P.676-11 are implemented in a network scenario, which are methodologies to estimate the signal degradations originated by rainfall and atmospheric gases, respectively. Thus, speech signals are encoded by the Adaptive Multi-RateWideband (AMR-WB) codec, transmitted and the perceptual speech quality is evaluated using the algorithm described in ITU-T Rec. P.863, mostly known as POLQA. In this work, a novel non-intrusive speech quality classifier that considers atmospheric phenomena is proposed. This classifier is based on Deep Belief Networks (DBN) that uses Support Vector Machine (SVM) with radial basis function kernel (RBF-SVM) as classifier, to identify five predefined speech quality classes. Experimental results show that the proposed speech quality classifier reached an accuracy between 92% and 95% for each quality class overcoming the results obtained by the sole non-intrusive standard described in ITU-T Recommendation P.563. Furthermore, subjective tests are carried out to validate the proposed classifier performance, and it reached an accuracy of 94.8%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate segregation of chromosomes to daughter cells is a critical aspect of cell division. It requires the kinetochores on duplicated chromosomes to biorient, attaching to microtubules from opposite poles of the cell. Bioriented attachments come under tension, while incorrect attachments lack tension and must be released to allow proper attachments to form. A well-studied error correction pathway is mediated by the Aurora B kinase, which destabilizes low tension-bearing attachments. We recently discovered that in vitro, kinetochores display an additional intrinsic tension-sensing pathway that utilizes Stu2. The contribution of kinetochore-associated Stu2 to error correction in cells, however, was unknown. Here, we identify a Stu2 mutant that abolishes its kinetochore function and show that it causes biorientation defects in vivo. We also show that this Stu2-mediated pathway functions together with the Aurora B-mediated pathway. Altogether, our work indicates that cells employ multiple pathways to ensure biorientation and the accuracy of chromosome segregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parasites and pathogens are often aggregated in a minority of susceptible hosts within a population, with a majority of individuals harboring low infection intensities. However, determining the relative importance of host traits to explain this heterogeneity is a challenge. One ecologically important pathogen is Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), which causes the disease chytridiomycosis and has been associated with many amphibian population declines worldwide. For many hosts, post-metamorphic stages are generally more susceptible than the larval stage. Yet, examination of the effects of Bd infection at different ages within a life stage, has received little attention. This study investigated the hypothesis that recently-post-metamorphic frogs were more sensitive to chytridiomycosis than older frogs, and that sensitivity to Bd infection decreased as frogs aged. We examined this relationship with Pacific treefrogs (Pseudacris regilla) and red legged frogs (Rana aurora). Age had a strong effect on susceptibility to infection, infection intensity, and survival–but not in the directions we had predicted. In both host species, an increase in age was associated with frogs becoming more susceptible to Bd infection, harboring larger infection intensities, and greater risk of mortality. This suggests that the timing of Bd exposure may influence amphibian population dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vascular smooth muscle cells from the pulmonary arteries (HPASMC) of subjects with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) exhibit hyperplastic growth. The PAH HPASMC display an increased sensitivity to fetal bovine serum (FBS) and undergo growth at a very low, 0.2%, FBS concentration. On the other hand, normal HPASMC (obtained from non-PAH donors) do not proliferate at low FBS (0.2%). A previous genomic study suggested that the nuclear factor, FOXM1 and the polo like kinase 1 (PLK1) are involved in promoting this hyperplastic growth of the PAH HPASMC. Here we find that limiting the action of FOXM1 or PLK1 not only restricts the hyperplastic proliferation of the PAH HPASMC but also modulates the FBS stimulated growth of normal HPASMC. The PAH HPASMC exhibit significantly elevated PLK1 and FOXM1 expression and decreased p27 (quiescence protein) levels compared to normal HPASMC. Regulation of the expression of FOXM1 and PLK1 is accompanied by the regulation of downstream expression of cell cycle components, Aurora B, cyclin B1 and cyclin D1. Expression of these cell cycle components is reversed by the knockdown of FOXM1 or PLK1 expression/activity. Furthermore, the knockdown of PLK1 expression lowers the protein level of FOXM1. On the other hand, inhibiting the action of FOXO1, a growth inhibitor, further increases the expression of FOXM1 in PAH HPASMC. Although PLK1 and FOXM1 clearly participate in PAH HPASMC hyperplasia, at this time it is not clear whether their increased activity is the primary driver of the hyperplastic behavior of the PAH HPASMC or merely a component of the pathway(s) leading to this response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adverse consequences of herbicide drift towards sensitive crops have been extensively reported in the literature. However, little to no information is available on the consequences of herbicide drift onto weed species inhabiting boundaries of agricultural fields. Exposure to herbicide drift could be detrimental to long-term weed management as several weed species have evolved herbicide-resistance after recurrent selection with sublethal herbicide rates This study investigated the deposition of glyphosate, 2,4-D, and dicamba spray particle drift from applications with two different nozzles in a low speed wind tunnel, and their impact on growth and development of Amaranthus spp. Herbicide drift resulted in biomass reduction or complete plant mortality. Inflection points (distance to 50% biomass reduction) for Amaranthus tuberculatus were 7.7, 4.0, and 4.1 m downwind distance for glyphosate, 2,4-D, and dicamba applications with the flat-fan nozzle, respectively, whereas these values corresponded to 2.8, 2.5, and 1.9 m for applications with the air-inclusion nozzle. Inflection points for Amaranthus palmeri biomass reduction were 16.3, 10.9, and 11.5 m for glyphosate, 2,4-D, and dicamba applications with the flat-fan nozzle, respectively, whereas these values corresponded to 7.6, 5.4, and 5.4 m for applications with the air-inclusion nozzle. Plants were more sensitive to glyphosate at higher exposure rates than other herbicides, whereas plants were more sensitive to 2,4-D and dicamba at lower exposure rates compared to glyphosate. Applications with the flat-fan nozzle resulted in 32.3 and 11.5% drift of the applied rate at 1.0 and 3.0 m downwind, respectively, whereas the air-inclusion nozzle decreased the dose exposure in the same distances (11.4 and 2.7%, respectively). Herbicide drift towards field boundaries was influenced by nozzle design and exposed weeds to herbicide rates previously reported to select for herbicide-resistant biotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sister centromere fusion is a process unique to meiosis that promotes co-orientation of the sister kinetochores, ensuring they attach to microtubules from the same pole during metaphase I. We have found that the kinetochore protein SPC105R/KNL1 and Protein Phosphatase 1 (PP1-87B) regulate sister centromere fusion in Drosophila oocytes. The analysis of these two proteins, however, has shown that two independent mechanisms maintain sister centromere fusion. Maintenance of sister centromere fusion by SPC105R depends on Separase, suggesting cohesin proteins must be maintained at the core centromeres. In contrast, maintenance of sister centromere fusion by PP1-87B does not depend on either Separase or Wapl. Instead, PP1-87B maintains sister centromeres fusion by regulating microtubule dynamics. We demonstrate that this regulation is through antagonizing Polo kinase and BubR1, two proteins known to promote stability of kinetochore-microtubule (KT-MT) attachments, suggesting that PP1-87B maintains sister centromere fusion by inhibiting stable KT-MT attachments. Surprisingly, C(3)G, the transverse element of the synaptonemal complex (SC), is also required for centromere separation in Pp1-87B RNAi oocytes. This is evidence for a functional role of centromeric SC in the meiotic divisions, that might involve regulating microtubule dynamics. Together, we propose two mechanisms maintain co-orientation in Drosophila oocytes: one involves SPC105R to protect cohesins at sister centromeres and another involves PP1-87B to regulate spindle forces at end-on attachments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The tumor-like growth of the metacestode larvae of the tapeworm E. multilocularis causes human alveolar echinococcosis, a severe disease mainly affecting the liver. The germinative cells, a population of adult stem cells, are crucial for the larval growth and development of the parasite within the hosts. Maintenance of the germinative cell pools relies on their abilities of extensive proliferation and self-renewal, which requires accurate control of the cell division cycle. Targeting regulators of the cell division progression may impair germinative cell populations, leading to impeded parasite growth. Methodology/Principal findings: In this study, we describe the characterization of EmAURKA and EmAURKB, which display significant similarity to the members of Aurora kinases that are essential mitotic kinases and play key roles in cell division. Our data suggest that EmAURKA and EmAURKB are actively expressed in the germinative cells of E. multilocularis. Treatment with low concentrations of MLN8237, a dual inhibitor of Aurora A and B, resulted in chromosomal defects in the germinative cells during mitosis, while higher concentrations of MLN8237 caused a failure in cytokinesis of the germinative cells, leading to multinucleated cells. Inhibition of the activities of Aurora kinases eventually resulted in depletion of the germinative cell populations in E. multilocularis, which in turn caused larval growth inhibition of the parasite. Conclusions/Significance: Our data demonstrate the vital roles of Aurora kinases in the regulation of mitotic progression and maintenance of the germinative cells in E. multilocularis, and suggest Aurora kinases as promising druggable targets for the development of novel chemotherapeutics against human alveolar echinococcosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid industrialization and increasing demand of business tools for high-speed communications supports the request for optical communications in free space. Copper cables and related technologies such as cable modems and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) are common in existing networks, but do not meet the bandwidth requirement in the future, which opens the door to optical wireless communication technologies. Research in links for optical wireless communication (Infra Red Line of Sight, IR LOS) working in the atmosphere is due to the wide support of its development on the world market. Optical wireless communications research is currently focused on increasing the transmission quality of data links. A promising new trend in data connection through IR LOS includes the transfer of accurate time synchronization pulses (time transmission). The article presents problems of modeling and design of a transmitter and receiver with a fully photonic concept. The analysis of the power levels at the link and drawn a model for determining the connection losses at the receiver caused by optical coupling between a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and the receiving optical fiber is shown.

In distributed speech recognition applications, the front-end device that stands for any handheld electronic device like smartphones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) captures the speech signal, extracts the speech features, and then sends the speech-feature vector sequence to the back-end server for decoding. Since the front-end mobile device has limited computation capacity, battery power and bandwidth, there exists a feasible strategy of reducing the frame rate of the speech-feature vector sequence to alleviate the drawback. Previously, we proposed a method for adjusting the transition probabilities of the hidden Markov model to enable it to address the degradation of recognition accuracy caused by the frame-rate mismatch between the input and the original model. The previous model adaptation method is referred to as the adapting-then-connecting approach that adapts each model individually and then connects the adapted models to form a word network for speech recognition. We have found that this model adaption approach introduces transitions that skip too many states and increase the number of insertion errors. In this study, we propose an improved model adaptation approach denoted as the connecting-then-adapting approach that first connects the individual models to form a word network and then adapts the connected network for speech recognition. This new approach calculates the transition matrix of a connected model, adapts the transition matrix of the connected model according to the frame rate, and then creates a transition arc for each transition probability. The new approach can better align the speech feature sequence with the states in the word network and therefore reduce the number of insertion errors. We conducted experiments to investigate the effectiveness of our new approach and analyzed the results with respect to insertion, deletion, and substitution errors. The experimental results indicate that the proposed new method obtains a better recognition rate than the old method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An error in calculating the tropospheric delay of satellite navigation signals is estimated for different atmospheric phenomena. As atmospheric phenomena, different precipitation types (hydrometeors) and electrical phenomena (thunderstorms and summer lightning) are considered. The tropospheric delay is calculated for the Saastamoinen and Hopfield models with the vertical profiles of the atmospheric meteorological parameters obtained by aerological sounding. The error of the given methods is determined by a comparison of the calculated and true values of the zenith tropospheric delays. The influence of the atmospheric phenomena on the error value is analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of aerosol particle number concentration (PNC) level over open sea in the southern and south-eastern Baltic Sea regions were performed during five cruises (2005–2006, 2008–2010) by RV Oceania and at the coastal Preila station (Lithuania). A comparative analysis was performed of aerosol PNC variation at open sea versus measurements taken at the coastal site under various conditions (breaking waves, fog events, NPF), considering transport of forest fire products and advection of different air mass types to the investigation sites. It was found that the average PNC over the open sea (3000–4000 cm − 3 ) was generally higher than at the coastal site (2000–3000 cm − 3 ). Breaking waves caused by the latitudinal or longitudinal long-lasting (3–4 days) constant-direction wind under stormy conditions had the strongest effect on the aerosol PNC over the Baltic Sea. The aerosol PNC in the marine boundary layer (MBL) of the south-eastern Baltic Sea during fog did not depend on the air mass type over open sea, in contrast to the coastal site, that is, the average PNC level (3000–4000 cm − 3 ) in the MBL, which could be constantly affected by specific environmental factors as a source of condensation nuclei for the fog formation. Short-term increases of aerosol PNC in the MBL (5000–10,000 cm − 3 ) were higher than in the same periods of the time scale at the coastal site (3000–6000 cm − 3 ) during NPF events, and therefore the open sea environment may facilitate a more favourable condition for the NPF, that is, exhaust and biogenic emissions from ships and the marine environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hilbert transform is a well-known tool of time series analysis that has been widely used to investigate oscillatory signals that resemble a noisy periodic oscillation, because it allows instantaneous phase and frequency to be estimated, which in turn uncovers interesting properties of the underlying process that generates the signal. Here we use this tool to analyze atmospheric data: we consider daily-averaged Surface Air Temperature (SAT) time series recorded over a regular grid of locations covering the Earth's surface. From each SAT time series, we calculate the instantaneous frequency time series by considering the Hilbert analytic signal. The properties of the obtained frequency data set are investigated by plotting the map of the average frequency and the map of the standard deviation of the frequency fluctuations. The average frequency map reveals well-defined large-scale structures: in the extra-tropics, the average frequency in general corresponds to the expected one-year period of solar forcing, while in the tropics, a different behaviour is found, with particular regions having a faster average frequency. In the standard deviation map, large-scale structures are also found, which tend to be located over regions of strong annual precipitation. Our results demonstrate that Hilbert analysis of SAT time-series uncovers meaningful information, and is therefore a promising tool for the study of other climatological variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid industrialization and increasing demand of business tools for high-speed communications supports the request for optical communications in free space. Copper cables and related technologies such as cable modems and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) are common in existing networks, but do not meet the bandwidth requirement in the future, which opens the door to optical wireless communication technologies. Research in links for optical wireless communication (Infra Red Line of Sight, IR LOS) working in the atmosphere is due to the wide support of its development on the world market. Optical wireless communications research is currently focused on increasing the transmission quality of data links. A promising new trend in data connection through IR LOS includes the transfer of accurate time synchronization pulses (time transmission). The article presents problems of modeling and design of a transmitter and receiver with a fully photonic concept. The analysis of the power levels at the link and drawn a model for determining the connection losses at the receiver caused by optical coupling between a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and the receiving optical fiber is shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate warming is a real phenomenon of our times, recognized worldwide and already evidenced by the analysis of observational data for long periods of time. The simulations performed with complex global climate models have shown that the main causes are both natural (variations in solar radiation and volcanic activity) and anthropogenic (combustion of fossil fuels, changing land use etc.). In Romania, the climate variability will have direct effects on certain sectors such as agriculture, forestry, water administration, infrastructure; it will lead to periods of vegetation change, and displacement of the lines between the forests and meadows, and it will determine the increase of the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events (storms, floods, droughts). The changes in the climate regime of Romania fit in the global context, taking into account the regional conditions: increased temperatures and more pronounced droughts in the summer; the agriculture will be most affected and there will be a considerable decrease of forest productivity and increased extreme weather events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to present aspects of some problems and solutions adopted in the drawing of the complex article vânt "wind" in the Dictionary of the Atmospheric Phenomena (Rom. logo DFA). The issues discussed are: defining the term, setting determinations and phrases, recovering the first attestations and etymologies. The definitions of the popular and scientific meanings of the term are made after analyzing several definitions of general and meteorological reference dictionaries. Observations regarding the syntagmatic behavior are extracted mainly from the thesaurus dictionary of the Romanian language and from the basic meteorological bibliography. The structures with vânt [wind] accompanied by determinations predominate at the popular level, while at the scientific level phrases that are well defined are dominant. The diachronic perspective of the project is evident in attempts to set etymology and the first attestations. În this paper are discussed the main issues that give complexity to the article vânt [wind] in DFA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the response mechanisms of litter respiration to soil moisture in water-limited semi-arid regions is of vital importance to better understanding the interplay between ecological processes and the local carbon cycle. In situ soil respiration was monitored during 2010–2012 under various conditions (normal litter, no litter, and double litter treatments) in a 30-year-old artificial black locust plantation (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) on the Loess Plateau. Litter respiration with normal and double litter treatments exhibited similar seasonal variation, with the maximum value obtained in summer (0.57 and 1.51 μmol m−2s−1 under normal and double litter conditions, respectively) and the minimum in spring (0.27 and 0.69 μmol m−2s−1 under normal and double litter conditions, respectively). On average, annual cumulative litter respiration was 115 and 300 g C m−2 y−1 under normal and double litter conditions, respectively. Using a soil temperature of 17°C as the critical point, the relationship between litter respiration and soil moisture was found to follow quadratic functions well, whereas the determination coefficient was much greater at high soil temperature than at low soil temperature (33–35% vs. 22–24%). Litter respiration was significantly higher in 2010 and 2012 than in 2011 under both normal litter (132–165 g C m−2 y−1 vs. 48 g C m−2 y−1) and double litter (389–418 g C m−2 y−1 vs. 93 g C m−2 y−1) conditions. Such significant interannual variations were largely ascribed to the differences in summer rainfall. Our study demonstrates that, apart from soil temperature, moisture also has significant influence on litter respiration in semi-arid regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A recurrent problem in applications that build on environmental sensor networks is that of sensor data organization and interpretation. Organization focuses on, for instance, resolving the syntactic and semantic heterogeneity of sensor data. The distinguishing factor between organization and interpretation is the abstraction from sensor data with information acquired from sensor data. Such information may be situational knowledge for environmental phenomena. We discuss a generic software framework for the organization and interpretation of sensor data and demonstrate its application to data of a large scale sensor network for the monitoring of atmospheric phenomena. The results show that software support for the organization and interpretation of sensor data is valuable to scientists in scientific computing workflows. Explicitly represented situational knowledge is also useful to client software systems as it can be queried, integrated, reasoned, visualized, or annotated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article explores the function of the image in the project process. It is structured around the potentialities of matter (in its "roug- hest" state) and atmospheric phenomena like temperature, humidity, fog and vapour. The use of the image stands out beyond its role as a noun (as a representation of the finite product), and through the analysis of various works shows that the image is interesting as a verb, that is, as a continuous manifestation of the project process in progress. The article discusses works like “Therme Vals” (Zumthor), “Digestible Gulf Stream” (Rahm) and “Blur Building” (Diller and Scofidio), as well as works of the author himself.

Abstract: We present a survey of atmospheric flow field phenomena models. The studied models are selected for their potential use toward extended aircraft endurance. This work describes several flow field phenomena, i.e., air flow currents and flow velocity variations. In particular, we discuss wind shear, thermal updrafts, and gusts. We study several wind shear models, such as the Surface, Layer, and Ridge Wind Shear models, comparing their characteristics. We also describe and compare thermal updraft models, such as the Chimney and the Bubble Thermal models. To close, we review different gust models. Throughout this work, we studied several existing models, but we also introduce new ones and improved versions of existing ones. The Bubble Thermal, Layer Wind Shear, and the Ridge Wind Shear models are examples of the new models presented. Furthermore, we present the Chimney Thermal model improvements, which take into account the phenomenon interaction with the prevailing winds. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper evidence of anthropogenic influence over the warming of the 20th century is presented and the debate regarding the time-series properties of global temperatures is addressed in depth. The 20th century global temperature simulations produced for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report and a set of the radiative forcing series used to drive them are analyzed using modern econometric techniques. Results show that both temperatures and radiative forcing series share similar time-series properties and a common nonlinear secular movement. This long-term co-movement is characterized by the existence of time-ordered breaks in the slope of their trend functions. The evidence presented in this paper suggests that while natural forcing factors may help explain the warming of the first part of the century, anthropogenic forcing has been its main driver since the 1970’s. In terms of Article 2 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, significant anthropogenic interference with the climate system has already occurred and the current climate models are capable of accurately simulating the response of the climate system, even if it consists in a rapid or abrupt change, to changes in external forcing factors. This paper presents a new methodological approach for conducting time-series based attribution studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper is the third one from the series of papers with the same titles published in this journal. The papers consider the infrared characteristic radiation (IRCR) during the first order phase transitions of water: crystallization, water vapor condensation, and water vapor deposition. Experimental results are analyzed in terms of their correspondence to the theoretical model. This model is based on the assertion that the particle''s (atom, molecule, or cluster) transition from the higher energetic level in a metastable phase (vapor or liquid) to a lower level in a stable phase (liquid or crystal) produces an emission of one or more photons. The energy of these photons depends on the latent energy of the phase transition and the character of bonds formed by the particle in the new phase. For all investigated substances, this energy falls in the infrared range. Recorded in the atmosphere, numerous sources of the infrared radiation seem to be a result of crystallization, condensation and deposition of water during fog and cloud formation. The effect under investigation must play a very important role in atmospheric phenomena: it is one of the sources of Earth''s cooling; formation of hailstorm clouds is accompanied by intensive IRCR that could be detected for process characterization and meteorological warnings. IRCR seems to be used for atmospheric energy accumulation and together with the wind, falling water, solar and geothermal energies makes available the fifth source of ecologically pure energy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper considers the infrared characteristic radiation (IRCR) during the first order phase transitions (crystallization, condensation and sublimation) of water. Experimental results are analyzed in terms of their correspondence to the theoretical model. This model is based on the assumption that the particle''s (atom, molecule, or cluster) transition from the higher energetic level in a metastable phase (vapor or liquid) to a lower level in a stable phase (liquid or crystal) produces an emission of one or more photons. The energy of these photons depends on the latent energy of the phase transition and the character of bonds formed by the particle in the new phase. For all investigated substances, this energy falls in the infrared range. Recorded in the atmosphere, many sources of the infrared radiation seem to be a result of crystallization, condensation and sublimation of water during fog and cloud formation. The effect under investigation must play a very important role in atmospheric phenomena: it is one of the sources of Earth''s cooling; formation of hailstorm clouds is accompanied by intensive characteristic infrared radiation that could be detected for process characterization and meteorological warnings. IRCR seems to be used for atmospheric energy accumulation and together with the wind, falling water, solar and geothermal energies makes available the fifth source of ecologically pure energy. This phenomenon may either be used to search the water in the atmospheres of other planets. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We present results obtained at El Leoncito (CASLEO, San Juan, Argentina) with the CARPET charged particles detector installed in April 2006. The observed modulation of the cosmic ray flux is discussed as a function of its time variability and it is related to longer solar activity variations and to shorter variations during solar and geomagnetic transient activity. Short period (few minutes, few hours) cosmic ray modulation events are observed during rain time (precipitation) and significant variations of the atmospheric electric field. Complementary observations of the atmospheric electric field indicate that its time variations play an important role in the detected cosmic ray event. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper considers the emission of infrared characteristic radiation during the first order phase transitions of water (condensation and crystallization). Experimental results are analyzed in terms of their correspondence to the theoretical models. These models are based on the assumption that the particle''s (atom, molecule, or cluster) transition from the higher energetic level (vapor or liquid) to a lower one (liquid or crystal) produces an emission of one or more photons. The energy of these photons depends on the latent energy of the phase transition and the character of bonds formed by the particle in the new phase. Based on experimental data, the author proposes a model explaining the appearance of a window of transparency for the characteristic radiation in the substances when first order phase transitions take place. The effect under investigation must play a very important role in atmospheric phenomena: it is one of the sources of Earth''s cooling; formation of hailstorm clouds in the atmosphere is accompanied by intensive characteristic infrared radiation that could be detected for process characterization and meteorological warnings. The effect can be used for atmospheric heat accumulation. Together with the energy of wind, falling water, and solar energy, fog and cloud formation could give us a forth source of ecologically pure energy. Searching for the presence of water in the atmospheres of other planets might also be possible using this technique. Furthermore, this radiation might explain the red color and infrared emission of Jupiter. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents a physically based simulation of atmospheric phenomena. It takes into account the physics of non-homogeneous media in which the index of refraction varies continuously, creating curved light paths. As opposed to previous research on this area, we solve the physically based differential equation that describes the trajectory of light. We develop an accurate expression of the index of refraction in the atmosphere as a function of wavelength, based on real measured data. We also describe our atmosphere profile manager, which lets us mimic the initial conditions of real-world scenes for our simulations. The method is validated both visually (by comparing the images with the real pictures) and numerically (with the extensive literature from other areas of research such as optics or meteorology). The phenomena simulated include the inferior and superior mirages, the Fata Morgana, the Novaya–Zemlya, the Viking''s end of the world, the distortions caused by heat waves and the green flash. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]