bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of Scabies at dermatology Department PMCH Hospital Nawabshah
Authors: Mr. Abdul Haque Khoso  , Mr. Khalid Nadeem  , Bashiran Chachar  , Mrs. Shabnum Bashir  , Mr. Bashir Ahmed Pirzado  , Jahanzeb khan Khoso
Published: July 2020

Introduction: Scabies is a neglected tropical public health problem around the world. It is caused by the Sarcoptes Scabiei mite that infested under the skin. The prevalence has been noted as per year is 300 million patients over the world wide. Objectives:To determine the frequency of Scabies at PMCH Nawabshah. Methods: A cross sectional study has been carried out on 422 patients at Peoples Medical Hospital Nawabshah at outpatients Department of Dermatology. The technique of sampling was convenience. A structured questionnaire has been used for data collection and analysis. All data has been collected by researcher on diagnosed cases of scabies by skin specialists. Results: The study is showing prevalence 22.4% among skin problem persons. The mean age of participant 60.2.Sabies can occur at any stage of life The comparison of male and female individuals as 6610 (48%) and 6595 (52%). The marital status of the participants as; married, un-married, widower, divorced and widow was 260 (66.3%) ,118(27.9%),2(0.47%),1(0.23%) and 21(4.97%) respectively and high rate found in lower economic condition Conclusion: The prevalence of scabies at peoples Medical Hospital Nawabshah is 22.4% The prevalence of scabies high in developing countries and this found prominent in back ward areas. The high ratio of scabies is associate with limited resources of basic life. Scabies seems to be neglected tropical problem of health.
A Review on Pharmaceutical Process Validation
Authors: Tenzin Wangpo  , D.S Rathore  , Yogendra Singh
Published: July 2020

The process validation is one of the most essential key factor when it comes to the efficient manufacturing of pharmaceutical dosage forms. The process validation assures the highest degree of uniform results and also helps to meet the predefined specifications for the dosage form. Also process validation assures the quality of the product and helps to meet desired results. It basically involves the collection and analyzing the data from product design stage which ensures that the process is capable for the production of quality product. Through this review article we want to have had the knowledge of the process validation and also want to put the basic outline over this process validation process.
Iraqi medical students are still planning to leave after graduation
Authors: Al-Samarrai Mustafa Ali Mustafa , Ali Jadoo Saad Ahmed
Published: July 2020

Background: Medical students constitute the backbone of the future human resource for health, and therefore, as much as attention should be given to secure a high level of education, it should also be given to understand their wishes to leave or to stay at home country. This study aimed to find out the prominent factors associated with Iraqi medical students' planning to leave their country after graduation.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among clinical medical students (fourth, fifth, and sixth classes) of two medical colleges (the University of Anbar and University of Fallujah) in Anbar Governorate from 1st to 14th March 2018. A total of 183 students (Response Rate: 72,6%.) completed a self-administered questionnaire consisting of 15 close-ended questions related to the socio-demographic factors, economic characteristics, and some other factors inspired from Iraq's situation. Moreover, one open-ended question was designed to explore the main reasons for migration from the student's point of view.
Results: Although 109 students (60%) felt that serving their citizens and country is a priority, however, the vast majority of 133 (73%) of the surveyed students had a plan to leave Iraq. About two thirds (69 %) of students intended to migrate as soon as they manage to: obtain their graduation certificate (49%); have enough money (34%), and the remaining 18% when they get parents’ permission.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that living environments and work-related variables are significantly associated with medical students' intention of migration; however, social reasons and inspiring academic achievement were the main factors triggering students to leave Iraq.
Simultaneous versus two stage surgical treatment of developmental dislocation of the hip with excessive femoral anteversion in children under the age of three years
Authors: Mansoor Ahmed Kanaan , Kraidi Baqer , Al-Naser Luay M.
Published: July 2020

Background: Delayed diagnosis and improper treated cases of developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) in the presence of excessive anteversion of femoral head may lead to undesirable consequences, including more extensive interventions with severe complications and functional disability. This study aimed to compare the clinical, radiological, and complication outcomes of simultaneously versus two-stage surgical procedures (open reduction and proximal femoral derotation osteotomy) in the treatment of DDH with excessive femoral anteversion among a sample of Iraqi children aged less than three years old. 

Methods: A total of 26 DDH cases were treated in two groups (GI, GII) at Al-Wasity Teaching Hospital (Baghdad, Iraq) from January 2014 to March 2015. GI (15 hips) in 13 patients subjected to simultaneous open reduction (with/without salter osteotomy) and proximal femoral derotation osteotomy. GII (18 hips) in 13 patients operated in two stages procedure; open reduction (with/without salter osteotomy) followed by proximal femoral derotation osteotomy six weeks later. 

Results: At the time of operation, the average age was 21.79±3.51months (range: 18-30). The mean follow-up period was 10.36 ±1.45 months (range, 8 -12). Statistically, the postoperative clinical, radiological, and complication findings were not significantly different between the two groups. However, in post-operative clinical assessment (McKay's criteria), the satisfying results (excellent and good) were 93% in GI and 88% in GII, respectively. Moreover, in radiological assessment (Severins classification), the satisfying results (excellent and good) were 94% in GI and 83% in GII, respectively. Two cases of re-dislocation and avascular necrosis (AVN) were reported in GII.

Conclusion: When the clinical and radiological findings of one and two-stage open reduction and proximal femoral derotation osteotomy procedures are similar, the one-stage is more likely to overcome the two-stage in terms of minimizing the cost, length of stay and the risk of AVN of the femoral head.
Female doctors are more emotionally exhausted than their male counterparts in Iraq
Authors: Dastan Ilker , Al-samarraie Mustafa Ali Mustafa , Ali Jadoo Saad Ahmed
Published: July 2020

Background: The increasing number of women graduating from medical schools doubles the level of responsibility and increases competition with males. Therefore, the assessment of the emotional exhaustion impact on women has become necessary to avoid over-stress at work. This study aims to assess and discuss the gender differences in nine-item emotional exhaustion (EE) subscale of the validated Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) among a sample of Iraqi physicians. 

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study conducted over the first half of 2014. Data was collected from 576 doctors using a self-administered questionnaire with a multistage sampling technique. An independent sample t-test used to compare the means.

Results: More than half of respondents (310, 53.8%) were females with a mean age (±SD) of 40.43 years (±8.59). Female doctors are less affected than males in term of emotional draining from work (p=0.008) and strained by people (p=0.009) respectively. Male doctors are less affected than females in being used up at the end of the week (p<0.001), stressed by working with people (p<0.001), burned out from work (p<0.001) and frustrated by job (p<0.001). However, both male and female doctors are equal in feeling fatigue in the morning (p=0.286), feeling of working too hard (0.284) and of being unable to stand (0.358).

Conclusion: This study supports the results of previous studies that female doctors show more empathy when dealing with patients, however, they appeared more prone to burnout and stress.
Entre arquitectura y geometría. Un ejemplo de escalera oval en la toba napolitana
Authors: Cirillo Vincenzo , Zerlenga Ornella
Published: July 2020

Questa ricerca è dedicata allo studio della configurazione geometrica della scala come spazio rappresentativo dell’architettura. Questo contributo analizza una sorprendente scala, situata a Napoli (Italia) a Capodimonte, costruita in tufo (con sistema a sbalzo) e con sviluppo spaziale su una pianta a forma di cono rovescio. I metodi di indagine adottati sono stati il rilievo architettonico (diretto e con scanner laser) e l’analisi geometrica delle forme. I dati raccolti hanno permesso di riconoscere in questa scala la presenza di un grande pensiero progettuale capace di costruire una scala ovata a sbalzo nel tufo, adattando il suo sviluppo a un’elica conica invertita. Il modello della scala ovata è stato analizzato anche nei trattati di architettura italiana dal XVI al XVIII secolo.
Dominant Currencies and External Adjustment
Authors: Adler Gustavo , Casas Camila , Cubeddu Luis , Gopinath Gita , Li Nan , Meleshchuk Sergii , Osorio Buitron Carolina , Puy Damien , Timmer Yannick
Published: July 2020

The extensive use of the US dollar when firms set prices for international trade (dubbed dominant currency pricing) and in their funding (dominant currency financing) has come to the forefront of policy debate, raising questions about how exchange rates work and the benefits of exchange rate flexibility. This Staff Discussion Note documents these features of international trade and finance and explores their implications for how exchange rates can help external rebalancing and buffer macroeconomic shocks.
Global Value Chains and Productivity
Authors: Banh Hang , Wingender Philippe , Gueye Cheikh
Published: July 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented collapse in global economic activity and trade. The crisis has also highlighted the role played by global value chains (GVC), with countries facing shortages of components vital to everything from health systems to everyday household goods. Despite the vulnerabilities associated with increased interconnectedness, GVCs have also contributed to increasing productivity and long-term growth. We explore empirically the impact of GVC participation on productivity in Estonia using firm-level data from 2000 to 2016. We find that higher GVC participation at the industry level significantly boosts productivity at both the industry and the firm level. Frontier firms, large firms, and exporting firms also benefit more from GVC participation than non-frontier firms, small firms, and non-exporting firms. We also find that GVC participation of downstream industries has a negative correlation with productivity. Frontier firms and large firms benefit more from GVC participation of upstream industries, while non-frontier firms and small firms benefit more from GVC participation of downstream industries. Our results suggest that policies designed to promote participation in GVCs are important to raise aggregate productivity and potential growth in Estonia.
The Impact of Monetary Policy Communication in an Emerging Economy
Authors: Ahokpossi Calixte , Isnawangsih Agnes , Naoaj Md. Shah , Yan Ting
Published: July 2020

Since the adoption of the inflation targeting framework by Bank Indonesia (BI), monetary policy communication has played an increasingly important role in BI’s policy toolkit. This paper assesses BI’s monetary policy communication from three perspectives: i) its transparency and clarity, ii) its ability to align market expectation and BI’s policy decisions (predictability), and iii) its impact on financial markets. In particular, we assess the impact of BI’s monetary policy practices by focusing on its monetary policy press releases and monetary policy reports. The results show that Bank Indonesia has made significant progress in the transparency of its communication as well as in the institutional framework to support this. Nonetheless, the results also suggest ways in which the impact of communication can be further improved, including by strengthening the clarity of policy messages, its consistency with the policy framework and the depth of the money market.
Shocks Matter
Authors: Lama Ruy , Medina Juan
Published: July 2020

We study the optimal management of capital flows in a small open economy model with financial frictions and multiple policy instruments. The paper reports two main findings. First, both foreign exchange intervention
(FXI) and macroprudential polices are tools complementary to the monetary policy rate that can largely reduce inflation and output volatility in a scenario of capital outflows. Second, the optimal policy mix depends on the underlying shock driving capital flows. FXI takes the leading role in response to foreign interest rate shocks, while macroprudential policy becomes the prominent tool for domestic risk shocks. These results highlight the importance of calibrating the use of multiple instruments according to the underlying shocks that induce shifts in capital flows.
Wealth Inequality and Private Savings
Authors: Dao Mai
Published: July 2020

This paper explores the interaction between corporate ownership concentration and private
savings, and by extension, the current account balance in Germany. As high corporate savings
largely reflected capital income accruing to wealthy households and increasingly retained in
closely-held firms, the buildup of external imbalances in Germany has been accompanied by
widening top income inequality, rising private savings and compressed consumption rates.
Rising corporate profits in an environment of high business wealth concentration account for
90 percent of the rise in the private savings rate and a third of the increase in the German
current account surplus over 1999–2016.
Gender Inequality and Economic Growth
Authors: Bertay Ata Can , Dordevic Ljubica , Sever Can
Published: July 2020

We study whether higher gender equality facilitates economic growth by enabling better allocation of a valuable resource: female labor. By allocating female labor to its more productive use, we hypothesize that reducing gender inequality should disproportionately benefit industries with typically higher female share in their employment relative to other industries. Specifically, we exploit within-country variation across industries to test whether those that typically employ more women grow relatively faster in countries with ex-ante lower gender inequality. The test allows us to identify the causal effect of gender inequality on industry growth in value-added and labor productivity. Our findings show that gender inequality affects real economic outcomes.
Social Programs and Formal Employment
Authors: Fruttero Anna , Ribeiro Leichsenring Alexandre , Henrique Paiva Luis
Published: July 2020

Employment is key to combating poverty. Thus, detractors of social assistance programs argue that they create disincentives to work. While there is substantial evidence showing limited effects of these programs on overall labor supply, the jury is still out with respect to their impact on formal employment. This paper exploits an unannounced change in the eligibility rule of the Bolsa Familia program in Brazil, one of the oldest and largest conditional cash transfers in the world, to identify the causal impact of the program on formal employment, combining three large administrative datasets. This paper finds that the program has a positive effect on entry in formal labor market, especially for younger cohorts.
Comfort in Floating
Authors: Albagli Elías , Calani Mauricio , Hadzi-Vaskov Metodij , Marcel Mario , Ricci Luca
Published: July 2020

Chile offers an example of a country that has overcome the fear of floating by reducing balance sheet mismatches, enhancing financial market development, as well as improving monetary, fiscal, and political institutions, and strengthening policy credibility. Under the floating regime, Chile’s economic adjustment to external shocks appears significantly improved, and its exchange rate pass-through has substantially declined. Our results reinforce the case that moving to a clear and credible floating regime can be associated with a reduction in the fear of floating via economic transformation (like smaller balance sheet mismatches, a larger hedging market, and a lower exchange rate pass-through).
The Non-U.S. Bank Demand for U.S. Dollar Assets
Authors: Adrian Tobias , Xie Peichu
Published: July 2020

The USD asset share of non-U.S. banks captures the demand for dollars by these investors. An instrumental variable strategy identifies a causal link from the USD asset share to the USD exchange rate. Cross-sectional asset pricing tests show that the USD asset share is a highly significant pricing factor for carry trade strategies. The USD asset share forecasts the dollar with economically large magnitude, high statistical significance, and large explanatory power, both in sample and out of sample, pointing towards time varying risk premia. It takes 2-5 years for exchange rate risk premia to normalize in response to demand shocks.
The Macroeconomic Costs of Conflict
Authors: Novta Natalija , Pugacheva Evgenia
Published: July 2020

Macroeconomic costs of conflict are generally very large, with GDP per capita about 28 percent lower ten years after conflict onset. This is overwhelmingly driven by private consumption, which falls by 25 percent ten years after conflict onset. Conflict is also associated with dramatic declines in official trade, with exports (imports) estimated to be 58 (34) percent lower ten years after conflict onset. The onset of conflict often also induces significant refugee outflows to neighboring non-advanced countries in the short run, and relatively small but very persistent refugee outflows to advanced countries over the long run. Finally, we stress that conflict should be defined in terms of the number of people killed relative to the total population. The traditional definition of conflict—based on the absolute number of deaths—skews the sample toward low-intensity conflicts in large countries, thereby understating the negative effects of conflict from a macroeconomic perspective.
Does Going Tough on Banks Make the Going Get Tough? Bank Liquidity Regulations, Capital Requirements, and Sectoral Activity
Authors: Igan Deniz , Mirzaei Ali
Published: July 2020

Whether and to what extent tougher bank regulation weighs on economic growth is an open empirical question. Using data from 28 manufacturing industries in 50 countries, we explore the extent to which cross-country differences in bank liquidity and capital levels were related to differences in sectoral activity around the period of the global financial crisis. We find that industries which are more dependent on external finance, in countries where banks had higher liquidity and capital ratios, performed relatively better during the crisis, with regard to investment rates and the creation of new enterprises. This relationship, however, exists only for bank-based systems and emerging market economies. In the pre-crisis period, we find only a marginal link to bank capital. These findings survive a battery of robustness checks and provide some solid support for the tighter prudential measures introduced under Basel III.
A TIP Against the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Cherif Reda , Hasanov Fuad
Published: July 2020

A universal testing and isolation policy is the most viable way to vanquish a pandemic. Its implementation requires: (i) an epidemiological rather than clinical approach to testing, sacrificing accuracy for scalability, convenience and speed; and (ii) state intervention to ramp up production, similar to True Industrial Policy (TIP), on a global level to achieve a scale and speed the market alone would fail to provide. We sketch a strategy to tackle market failures and implement smart testing, especially in densely populated areas. The estimated cost of testing is dwarfed by its return, mitigating the economic fallout of the pandemic.
Going Viral
Authors: Cevik Serhan
Published: July 2020

This paper develops a gravity model framework to estimate the impact of infectious diseases on bilateral tourism flows among 38,184 pairs of countries over the period 1995–2017. The results confirm that international tourism is adversely affected by disease risk, and the magnitude of this negative effect is statistically and economically significant. In the case of SARS, for example, a 10 percent rise in confirmed cases leads to a reduction of as much as 9 percent in tourist arrivals. Furthermore, while infectious diseases appear to have a smaller and statistically insignificant negative effect on tourism flows to advanced economies, the magnitude and statistical significance of the impact of infectious diseases are much greater in developing countries, where such diseases tend to be more prevalent and health infrastructure lags behind.
Global Banks’ Dollar Funding
Authors: Barajas Adolfo , Deghi Andrea , Raddatz Claudio , Seneviratne Dulani , Xie Peichu , Xu Yizhi
Published: July 2020

Leading up to the global financial crisis, US dollar activity by global banks headquartered outside the United States played a crucial role in transmitting shocks originating in funding markets. Although post-crisis regulation has improved banking systems’ resilience, US dollar funding remains a global vulnerability, as evidenced by strains that reemerged in March 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. We show that shocks to US dollar funding costs lead to financial stress in the home economies of these global non-US banks, and to spillovers to borrowers, especially emerging economies. US dollar funding vulnerability amplifies these negative effects, while some policy-related factors act as mitigators, such as swap line arrangements between central banks and international reserve holdings. Thus, these vulnerabilities should be monitored and, to the extent possible, controlled.
Non-Financial Corporate Debt in Advanced Economies, 2010–17
Authors: Antoun de Almeida Luiza , Tressel Thierry
Published: July 2020

This paper studies the evolution of non-financial corporate debt among publicly listed companies in major advanced economies between 2010 and 2017. Since 2010, firms have started to rely more on corporate bond markets and have used part of their debt to increase their holdings of cash. In our sample of some 5,000 firms, we find substantial differences across countries, industries, firms, and years in leverage and debt maturity, and we also identify time factors that are common drivers of capital structures. Within countries, loosening an index of financial conditions seems to be associated with lengthening debt maturity after controlling for firms’ characteristics. Across firms and countries, leveraging and lengthening debt maturity have been greater where economic growth was stronger. Tighter financial conditions are positively associated with an increase in short-term debt financing. Quantile regressions suggest that there is substantial heterogeneity among firms on how they react to macro-financial conditions: large increases in long-term debt financing and large declines in short-term debt financing tend to be driven more by better macroeconomic performance, while large increases in short-term debt financing are more strongly impacted by tighter financial conditions. Since the paper uses data up to 2017, it does not reflect developments that occurred during the coronavirus pandemic. Nonetheless, sensitivity analysis shows that a significant amount of corporate debt, representing more than 5 percent of GDP, could be at risk in some countries, with an adverse spillover to the financial system if financial conditions tighten or economic growth slows down. This suggests that vulnerabilities should be closely monitored and policy action taken if warranted.
Airborne in situ measurements of aerosol size distributions and black carbon across the Indo-Gangetic Plain during SWAAMI–RAWEX
Authors: Gogoi Mukunda Madhab , Jayachandran Venugopalan Nair , Vaishya Aditya , Babu Surendran Nair Suresh , Satheesh Sreedharan Krishnakumari , Moorthy Krishnaswamy Krishna
Published: July 2020

Abstract. During the combined South-West Asian Aerosol–Monsoon Interactions and Regional
Aerosol Warming Experiment (SWAAMI–RAWEX), collocated airborne
measurements of aerosol number–size distributions in the size (diameter)
regime 0.5 to 20 µm and black carbon (BC) mass concentrations were
made across the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP), for the first time, from three
distinct locations, just prior to the onset of the Indian summer monsoon. These
measurements provided an east–west transect of region-specific properties of
aerosols as the environment transformed from mostly arid conditions of the
western IGP (represented by Jodhpur, JDR) having dominance of natural
aerosols to the central IGP (represented by Varanasi, VNS) having very high
anthropogenic emissions, to the eastern IGP (represented by the coastal
station Bhubaneswar, BBR) characterized by a mixture of the IGP outflow and
marine aerosols. Despite these, the aerosol size distribution revealed an
increase in coarse mode concentration and coarse mode mass fraction
(fractional contribution to the total aerosol mass) with the increase in
altitude across the entire IGP, especially above the well-mixed region.
Consequently, both the mode radii and geometric mean radii of the size
distributions showed an increase with altitude. However, near the surface
and within the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), the features were specific
to the different subregions, with the highest coarse mode mass fraction
(FMC∼72 %) in the western IGP and highest
accumulation fraction in the central IGP with the eastern IGP
in between. The elevated coarse mode fraction is attributed to mineral dust
load arising from local production as well as due to advection from the
west. This was further corroborated by data from the Cloud-Aerosol
Transport System (CATS) on board the International Space Station (ISS),
which also revealed that the vertical extent of dust aerosols reached as
high as 5 km during this period. Mass concentrations of BC were moderate
(∼1 µg m−3) with very little altitude variation
up to 3.5 km, except over VNS where very high concentrations were seen near
the surface and within the ABL. The BC-induced atmospheric heating rate was
highest near the surface at VNS (∼0.81 K d−1), while
showing an increasing pattern with altitude at BBR (∼0.35 K d−1 at the ceiling altitude).
Impact of convection on the upper-tropospheric composition (water vapor and ozone) over a subtropical site (Réunion island; 21.1° S, 55.5° E) in the Indian Ocean
Authors: Héron Damien , Evan Stéphanie , Brioude Jérôme , Rosenlof Karen , Posny Françoise , Metzger Jean-Marc , Cammas Jean-Pierre
Published: July 2020

Abstract. Observations of ozonesonde measurements of the NDACC/SHADOZ (Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change and the Southern Hemisphere ADditional OZonesondes)
program and humidity profiles from the daily Météo-France
radiosondes at Réunion island (21.1∘ S, 55.5∘ E)
from November 2013 to April 2016 were analyzed to identify the origin of wet
upper-tropospheric air masses with low ozone mixing ratio observed above the
island, located in the southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO). A seasonal
variability in hydration events in the upper troposphere was found and
linked to the convective activity within the SWIO basin. In the upper
troposphere, ozone mixing ratios were lower (mean of 57 ppbv) in humid air
masses (RH > 50 %) compared to the background mean ozone mixing
ratio (73.8 ppbv). A convective signature was identified in the ozone
profile dataset by studying the probability of occurrence of different ozone
thresholds. It was found that ozone mixing ratios lower than 45 to 50 ppbv
had a local maximum of occurrence between 10 and 13 km in altitude,
indicative of the mean level of convective outflow. Combining FLEXPART
Lagrangian back trajectories with METEOSAT-7 infrared brightness temperature
products, we established the origin of convective influence on the upper
troposphere above Réunion island. It has been found that the upper
troposphere above Réunion island is impacted by convective outflows in
austral summer. Most of the time, deep convection is not observed in the
direct vicinity of the island, but it is observed more than 1000 km away
from the island, in the tropics, either from tropical storms or the Intertropical Convection Zone (ITCZ). In November and December, the air masses
above Réunion island originate, on average, from central Africa and the
Mozambique Channel. During January and February the source region is the
northeast of Mozambique and Madagascar. Those results improve our
understanding of the impact of the ITCZ and tropical cyclones on the
hydration of the upper troposphere in the subtropics in the SWIO.
Analysis of 24 years of mesopause region OH rotational temperature observations at Davis, Antarctica – Part 2: Evidence of a quasi-quadrennial oscillation (QQO) in the polar mesosphere
Authors: French W. John R. , Klekociuk Andrew R. , Mulligan Frank J.
Published: July 2020

Abstract. Observational evidence of a quasi-quadrennial oscillation (QQO) in the polar
mesosphere is presented based on the analysis of 24 years of hydroxyl (OH)
nightglow rotational temperatures derived from scanning spectrometer
observations above Davis research station, Antarctica (68∘ S,
78∘ E). After removal of the long-term trend and solar cycle response,
the residual winter mean temperature variability contains an oscillation
over an approximately 3.5–4.5-year cycle with a peak-to-peak amplitude of
3–4 K. Here we investigate this QQO feature in the context of the global temperature, pressure, wind, and surface
fields using satellite, meteorological reanalysis, sea surface temperature, and sea ice concentration data sets
in order to understand possible drivers of the signal. Specifically, correlation and composite analyses are made
with data sets from the Microwave Limb Sounder on the Aura satellite (Aura/MLS v4.2) and the Sounding of the Atmosphere
using Broadband Emission Radiometry instrument on the Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics
Dynamics satellite (TIMED/SABER v2.0), ERA5 reanalysis, the Extended Reconstructed Sea Surface
Temperature (ERSST v5), and Optimum-Interpolation (OI v2) sea ice concentration. We find a significant anti-correlation between the
QQO temperature and the meridional wind at 86 km altitude measured by a
medium-frequency spaced antenna radar at Davis (R2∼0.516; poleward flow associated with warmer temperatures at ∼0.83±0.21 K (ms−1)−1). The QQO signal is also marginally correlated
with vertical transport as determined from an evaluation of carbon monoxide
(CO) concentrations in the mesosphere (sensitivity 0.73±0.45 K ppmv−1 CO, R2∼0.18). Together this relationship suggests that the QQO is
plausibly linked to adiabatic heating and cooling driven by the meridional
flow. The presence of quasi-stationary or persistent patterns in the ERA5
data geopotential anomaly and the meridional wind anomaly data during warm
and cold phases of the QQO is consistent with tidal or planetary waves
influencing its formation, which may act on the filtering of gravity waves
to drive an adiabatic response in the mesosphere. The QQO signal plausibly
arises from an ocean–atmosphere response, and appears to have a signature in
Antarctic sea ice extent.
Gender equality in marine sciences in Kiel, Germany: how project-funded measures can urge institutions to act
Authors: Kamm Ruth , Schelten Christiane K. , Braker Gesche
Published: July 2020

Abstract. In Kiel, in the north of Germany, marine research is rooted in a
lively research community hosted mainly at Kiel University and the GEOMAR
Helmholtz Centre. While the ratio of women and men is more or less balanced
on all qualification levels with mainly nonpermanent junior positions,
women are generally underrepresented in leading research positions. The
problem of gender imbalance and inequality has been well-known for a long
time. Especially in the last decade, however, manifold efforts were
initiated to improve gender equality on a political and institutional level as
well as within the research community itself. In our article we focus on
the gender equality activities of the two large externally funded marine
sciences research alliances: the Cluster of Excellence “The Future Ocean”
and the Collaborative Research Centre 754 “Climate–Biogeochemistry
Interactions in the Tropical Ocean”. For about a decade they offered both
financial provisions and a structural framework to tackle the problem of
women's underrepresentation in science and came up with innovative measures. In the following case study, we not only introduce the situation of women
in marine sciences in Kiel and the structural arrangement to improve gender
equality in general, but we also discuss three specific measures developed
within the two collaborative research projects in detail: (i) the mentoring
program via:mento_ocean for female postdocs, (ii) hiring
policies integrating a gender quota for recruiting postdoctoral researchers
and (iii) a code of conduct. Based on these best-practice examples we can
show that progress towards gender equality has been made despite some obstacles
faced when implementing the measures. This was especially the case for
attracting female researchers to work in Kiel marine sciences and bringing the
relevance of the topic to the surface of debates within the community.
Looking at gender equality activities from a managerial point of view, we
conclude from the situation in Kiel, where external funding for both research
alliances ended in 2019, that even time-bound activities can initiate
change. Initiatives developed by the marine sciences community were taken up
by other research groups and inspired new activities at the level of the
institutions involved.
Towards standardized processing of eddy covariance flux measurements of carbonyl sulfide
Authors: Kohonen Kukka-Maaria , Kolari Pasi , Kooijmans Linda M. J. , Chen Huilin , Seibt Ulli , Sun Wu , Mammarella Ivan
Published: July 2020

Abstract. Carbonyl sulfide (COS) flux measurements with the eddy covariance (EC) technique are becoming popular for estimating gross primary productivity. To compare COS flux measurements across sites, we need standardized protocols for data processing. In this study, we analyze how various data processing steps affect the calculated COS flux and how they differ from carbon dioxide (CO2) flux processing steps, and we provide a method for gap-filling COS fluxes. Different methods for determining the time lag between COS mixing ratio and the vertical wind velocity (w) resulted in a maximum of 15.9 % difference in the median COS flux over the whole measurement period. Due to limited COS measurement precision, small COS fluxes (below approximately 3 pmol m−2 s−1) could not be detected when the time lag was determined from maximizing the covariance between COS and w. The difference between two high-frequency spectral corrections was 2.7 % in COS flux calculations, whereas omitting the high-frequency spectral correction resulted in a 14.2 % lower median flux, and different detrending methods caused a spread of 6.2 %. Relative total uncertainty was more than 5 times higher for low COS fluxes (lower than ±3 pmol m−2 s−1) than for low CO2 fluxes (lower than ±1.5 µmol m−2 s−1), indicating a low signal-to-noise ratio of COS fluxes. Due to similarities in ecosystem COS and CO2 exchange, we recommend applying storage change flux correction and friction velocity filtering as usual in EC flux processing, but due to the low signal-to-noise ratio of COS fluxes, we recommend using CO2 data for time lag and high-frequency corrections of COS fluxes due to the higher signal-to-noise ratio of CO2 measurements.
Comparison of Single Doppler and Multiple Doppler Wind Retrievals in Hurricane Matthew (2016)
Authors: Cha Ting-Yu , Bell Michael M.
Published: July 2020

Abstract. Hurricane Matthew (2016) was observed by the NEXRAD KAMX polarimetric radar and NOAA P-3 airborne radar near the coast of the southeastern United States for several hours, providing a novel opportunity to evaluate and compare single and multiple Doppler wind retrieval techniques for tropical cyclone flows. The generalized velocity track display (GVTD) technique can retrieve a subset of the wind field from a single ground-based Doppler radar under the assumption of nearly axisymmetric rotational wind, but is shown to have errors from aliasing of unresolved wind components. An improved technique that mitigates errors due to storm motion is derived in this study, although some spatial aliasing remains due to limited information content from the single Doppler measurements. A spline-based variational wind retrieval technique called SAMURAI can retrieve the full three-dimensional wind field from airborne radar fore-aft pseudo-dual Doppler scanning, but is shown to have errors due to temporal aliasing from the non-simultaneous Doppler measurements. A comparison between the two techniques shows that the axisymmetric tangential winds are generally comparable between the two techniques after the improvements to GVTD retrievals. Fourier decomposition of asymmetric kinematic and convective structure shows more discrepancies due to spatial and temporal aliasing in the retrievals. The advantages and disadvantages of each technique for studying tropical cyclone structure are discussed, and suggest that complementary information can be retrieved from both single and multiple Doppler retrievals. Future improvements to the asymmetric flow assumptions in single Doppler analysis and steady-state assumptions in pseudo-dual Doppler analysis are required to reconcile differences in retrieved tropical cyclone structure.
Linking rain into ice microphysics across the melting layer in
stratiform rain: a closure study
Authors: Mróz Kamil , Battaglia Alessandro , Kneifel Stefan , von Terzi Leonie , Karrer Markus , Ori Davide
Published: July 2020

Abstract. This study investigates the link between rain and ice microphysics across the melting layer in stratiform rain systems using measurements from vertically pointing multi-frequency Doppler radars. A novel methodology to examine the variability of the precipitation rate and the mass-weighted melted diameter (Dm)across the melting region is proposed and applied to a 6 h-long case study, observed during the TRIPEx-pol field campaign at the Julich Observatory for Cloud Evolution Core Facility and covering a gamut of ice microphysical processes. The methodology is based on an optimal estimation (OE) retrieval of particle size distributions (PSD) and dynamics (turbulence and vertical motions) from observed multi-frequency radar Doppler spectra applied both above and below the melting layer. The retrieval is first applied in the rain region; based on a one-to-one conversion of raindrops into snowflakes, the retrieved Drop Size Distributions (DSD) are propagated upward to provide a first guess for the snow PSDs. These ice PSDs are then used to constrain the OE snow retrieval where Doppler spectra are simulated based on different snow models, which consistently compute fall-speeds and electromagnetic properties. The results corresponding to the best matching models are then used to compute snow fluxes and Dm, which can be directly compared to the corresponding rain quantities. For the case study, the total accumulation of rain (2.65 mm) and the melted equivalent accumulation of snow (2.60 mm) show only a 2 % difference. The analysis suggests that the mass flux through the melting zone is well preserved except the periods of intense aggregation and intense riming where the precipitation rates were respectively larger and lower in ice than in the rain below. Moreover, it is shown that, the mean mass weighted diameter of ice is strongly related to the characteristic size of the underlying rain. With a simple scaling, Dmice = 1.21Dmrain, the characteristic size of snow can be predicted with a root-mean-square-error of 0.12 mm. This formula leads to slight underestimation of the ice size during aggregation, potentially due to the breakup of melting snowflakes, and to overestimation during riming where the additional particle growth within the melting layer cannot be unambiguously attributed to one process. The proposed methodology can be applied to long-term observations to advance our knowledge of the processes occurring across the melting region; this can then be used to improve assumptions underpinning space-borne radar precipitation retrievals.
Evaluation of possible corrosion enhancement due to telluric currents: case study of the Bolivia–Brazil pipeline
Authors: de Moraes Joyrles Fernandes , Paulino Igo , Alves Lívia R. , Denardini Clezio Marcos
Published: July 2020

Abstract. The electric field induced in the Bolivia–Brazil gas pipeline (GASBOL) was calculated by using the distributed source line transmission (DSLT) theory during several space weather events. We used geomagnetic data collected by a fluxgate magnetometer located at São José dos Campos (23.2∘ S, 45.9∘ W). The total corrosion rate was calculated by using the Gummow (2002) methodology and was based on the assumption of a 1 cm hole in the coating of the pipeline. The calculations were performed at the ends of pipeline where the largest “out-of-phase”
pipe-to-soil potential (PSP) variations were obtained. The variations in PSP during the 17 March 2015 geomagnetic storm have led to the greatest
corrosion rate of the analyzed events. All the space weather events evaluated with high terminating impedance may have contributed to increases in the corrosion process. The applied technique can be used to evaluate the corrosion rate due to the high telluric activity associated with the geomagnetic storms at specific locations.
Evaluating the utility of qualitative data in precipitation reconstruction in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
Authors: Harvey-Fishenden Alice , Macdonald Neil
Published: July 2020

Abstract. To date few studies have reconstructed weather from personal diaries. In this paper, we consider different methods of indexing daily weather information, specifically precipitation, from eighteenth and nineteenth century personal diaries. We examine whether there is a significant correlation between indexed weather information and local instrumental records for the period, thereby assessing the potential of discursive materials in reconstructing precipitation series. We demonstrate the potential for the use of diaries that record weather incidentally rather than as the primary purpose, and the value and utility of diaries which cover short periods when used alongside nearby contemporary diaries. We show that using multiple overlapping personal diaries can help to produce a more objective record of the weather, overcoming some of the challenges of working with qualitative data. This paper demonstrates indices derived from such qualitative sources can create valuable records of precipitation. There is the potential to repeat the methodology described here using earlier material, or material from further away from extant instrumental records, thereby addressing spatial and temporal gaps in current knowledge globally.
A stepwise GIS approach for the delineation of river valley bottom within drainage basins using a cost distance accumulation analysis
Authors: Sechu Gasper L. , Nilsson Bertel , Iversen Bo V. , Greve Mette B. , Børgesen Christen D. , Greve Mogens H.
Published: July 2020

Abstract. River valley bottoms have hydrological, geomorphological, and ecological importance and are buffers for protecting the river from upland nutrient loading coming from agriculture and other sources. They are relatively flat, low-lying areas of the terrain that are adjacent to the river and bound by increasing slopes at the transition to the uplands. These areas have under natural conditions, a groundwater table close to the soil surface. The objective of this paper is to present a stepwise GIS approach for the delineation of river valley bottom within drainage basins and use it to perform a national delineation. We developed a tool that applies a concept called cost distance accumulation with spatial data inputs consisting a river network and slope derived from a digital elevation model. We then used wetlands adjacent to rivers as a guide finding the river valley bottom boundary from the cost distance accumulation. We present results from our tool for the whole country of Denmark carrying out a validation within three selected areas. The results reveal that the tool visually performs well and delineates both confined and unconfined river valleys within the same drainage basin. We use the most common forms of wetlands (meadow and marsh) in Denmark's river valleys known as Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems (GDE) to validate our river valley bottom delineated areas. Our delineation picks about half to two-thirds of these GDE. However, we expected this since farmers have reclaimed Denmark's low-lying areas during the last 200 years before the first map of GDE was created. Our tool can be used as a management tool, since it can delineate an area that has been the focus of management actions to protect waterways from upland nutrient pollution.
Topologically Optimized Magnetic Lens for MR Applications
Authors: Wadhwa Sagar , Jouda Mazin , Deng Yongbo , Nassar Omar , Mager Dario , Korvink Jan G.
Published: July 2020

Abstract. Improvements to the signal-to-noise ratio of magnetic resonance detection leads to a strong reduction in measurement time, yet as a sole optimization goal for resonator design it would be an oversimplification of the problem at hand. Multiple constraints, for example for field homogeneity, and sample shape, suggests the use of numerical optimization to obtain resonator designs that delivers the intended improvement. Here we consider the 2D Lenz lens as a sufficiently broad-band flux transforming interposer between the sample and an RF circuit, as a flexible and an easily manufacturable device family with which to mediate different design requirements. We report on a method to apply topology optimization to determine the optimal layout of a Lenz lens, and demonstrate realisations for both low (45 MHz), and high frequency (500 MHz) NMR.