This work deals with the analysis of the electronic subsystem of a multiwavelength elastic scanning lidar. Several calibration tests are applied to the Cubatão scanning lidar placed at the industrial area of Cubatão in the State of São Paulo (Brazil), in order to improve the knowledge of its performing itself and to design protocols for correcting lidar signal for undesirable instrumental effects. In particular, the trigger delay is assessed by means of zero-bin and bin-shift tests for analog (AN) and photo-counting (PC) signals, respectively. Dark current test is also performed to detect potential range-dependency that could affect lidar products. All tests were performed at different spatial resolutions. These instrumental corrections were applied to a case study of data acquired for characterizing the optical and microphysical properties of particles in an industrial flare. To that aim, a graphical method based on the space defined by the extinction-related Angström exponent versus its spectral curvature is used to derive the contribution of fine aerosol to extinction and the size of the fine aerosols in the industrial flare, therefore revealing features of the processes occurring inside the flame. Our study demonstrates the potential of this new technique for the study and measurement of industrial emissions.
BackgroundMeteorin (METRN) is a recently described neutrophic factor with angiogenic properties. This is a nested case-control study in a longitudinal cohort study that describes the serum profile of METRN during different periods of gestation in healthy and preeclamptic pregnant women. Moreover, we explore the possible application of METRN as a biomarker.Methods and FindingsSerum METRN was measured by ELISA in a longitudinal prospective cohort study in 37 healthy pregnant women, 16 mild preeclamptic women, and 20 healthy non-pregnant women during the menstrual cycle with the aim of assessing serum METRN levels and its correlations with other metabolic parameters. Immunostaining for METRN protein was performed in placenta. A multivariate logistic regression model was proposed and a classifier model was formulated for predicting preeclampsia in early and middle pregnancy. The performance in classification was evaluated using measures such as sensitivity, specificity, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. In healthy pregnant women, serum METRN levels were significantly elevated in early pregnancy compared to middle and late pregnancy. METRN levels are significantly lower only in early pregnancy in preeclamptic women when compared to healthy pregnant women. Decision trees that did not include METRN levels in the first trimester had a reduced sensitivity of 56% in the detection of preeclamptic women, compared to a sensitivity of 69% when METRN was included.ConclusionsThe joint measurements of circulating METRN levels in the first trimester and systolic blood pressure and weight in the second trimester significantly increase the probabilities of predicting preeclampsia.
The Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) includes the portion of the atmosphere which is directly influenced by the presence of the Earth´s surface, and usually has much higher aerosol concentration than free troposphere above. Lidar system measures the intensity of backscattered light mainly from aerosol particles as a function of distance. Thus, the significant change in the backscatter across the top of the BL provides a means of determining ABL heights. Whereas an urban area situated in a complex mountain valley of Colombian tropical Andean region, we present the first results of estimating the height of the daytime ABL for Medellín city (Lat: 6°15' 38.37'', Long:-75° 34' 40.46'', Alt: 1483 m a.s.l.), using the wavelet covariant transform method in processing the elastic backscatter signal collected by a lidar built in Medellín city.
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