Background Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) associated hepatocellular carcinomas (NASH-HCC) are increasing. NASH-HCC often develop s in the fibrotic liver. Several analyses report conflicting results regarding the outcome of non-cirrhotic NASH-HCC. Furthermore, type 2 diabetes (T2D) is considered a risk factor for poor survival. The aim of this study was to investigate oncological outcome s of non-cirrhotic NASH-HCC and the impact of T2D. Methods Patients with non-cirrhotic NASH-HCC with T2D as determined by an expert pathologist conducting histological slide review were matched for risks factors for poor outcome (age, gender, body mass index) with patients with NASH-HCC without T2D. These patients were th e n matched 1:1 with HCC s of other underlying liver diseases with and without T2D. Oncological outcomes were assessed using Kaplan-Meier curves. Results Out of 365 HCCs resected between 2001 and 2017, 34 patients with non-cirrhotic NASH-HCC were selected (17 with T2D, 17 without T2D) and matched with 26 patients with hepatitis-HCC and 28 patients with alcohol-related HCC. Oncological risk factors such as tumor size, resection margin, and vessel invasion were comparable. There was no difference in overall survival (5-year survival 71.3% for NASH-HCC, 60.4% for hepatitis-HCC, 79.9% for alcohol-HCC). NASH-HCC was associated with longer disease-specific survival than hepatitis-HCC (5-year 87.5% vs. 63.7%, p = 0.048), while recurrence-free survival was identical. T2D had no impact on oncological outcomes in either liver disease. Conclusion Non-cirrhotic NASH-HCC ha s outcomes comparable with other underling etiologies. Despite a lack of cirrhosis, patients with non-cirrhotic NASH-HCC have the same risks of HCC recurrence as patients with cirrhotic liver disease of other etiologies.

<p>The latest generation of active and passive ground-based remote sensing instruments, often called “profilers”, has shown its potential for continuous and high-resolution measurements of thermodynamic and kinematic vertical profiles as well as particle-related profiles. It is precisely these observations of the atmospheric boundary layer that are increasingly needed to improve the forecast quality of high-resolution numerical weather prediction (NWP) and nowcasting.</p><p>For this purpose, the DWD has initiated the project “Pilotstation” to evaluate options for a qualitative network expansion with suitable surface remote sensing profilers. Currently, we assess the following profilers in a dedicated testbed at Lindenberg Observatory: Doppler lidar, microwave radiometer, water vapor broadband-DIAL, and cloud radar. Furthermore, we plan to evaluate a compact Raman lidar in the future. At DWD, the assessment of candidate systems takes place holistically focusing on all aspects of instrument reliability, operational sustainability, data quality, and on the potential benefit for the NWP using assimilation experiments. This implies efforts to standardize data processing steps and data formats, the development of software tools to support network operations and the proper integration of the observations in the data assimilation system. After the initial testing and evaluation at the Lindenberg Observatory, a suite of instruments will be installed at the weather station in Aachen-Orsbach to enable an end-to-end testing in an operational framework.</p><p>We give an overview of the ongoing project and present results regarding the various aspects: operations and sustainability, data quality and assimilation tests for the different testbed instruments and observations. This contribution complements the efforts of network development for future operational use within the frame of the EUMETNET's E-PROFILE observations program and the COST action PROBE.</p>

<p>Numerical weather prediction is expected to profit considerably of an improved knowledge of the still underdetermined state of the at<span>mo</span><span>s</span><span>pheric boundary layer. </span><span>As of late, the s</span><span>patially and temporally sparse </span><span>existing </span><span>measurements </span><span>of e.g. radiosondes can be complemented </span><span>with</span> <span>wind, temperature, and humidity profiles </span><span>of ground-based </span><span>remote-sensing </span><span>instruments. </span><span>The DWD evaluates </span><span>several of those instruments </span><span>for operational deployment </span><span>i</span><span>n the framework of the project “Pilotstation”. </span><span>Her</span><span>e, </span><span>we</span><span> will present the results of assimilating observations of the most mature </span><span>of those </span><span>systems, </span><span>i.e. </span><span>microwave radiometer </span><span>(MWR) </span><span>and Doppler lidar, </span><span>into</span><span> the </span><span>I</span><span>CON/KENDA assimilation system </span><span>of the DWD</span><span>.</span></p><p><span>The</span> <span>MWR</span> <span>measures</span><span> brightness temperatures and thus, the profiles provided by the ICON model have to be transformed to observation space using the forward operator RTTOV-gb. </span><span>We ran s</span><span>everal assimilation experiments, especially with regard to </span><span>the vertical localisation of the MWR channels</span><span>.</span> <span>We will demonstrate how </span><span>t</span><span>his </span><span>localisati</span><span>o</span><span>n</span><span>, </span><span>t</span><span>ogether with the proper handling of interchannel cross-correlations, </span> <span>was </span><span>key for obtaining </span><span>a positive impact on the </span><span>upper-air </span><span>forecast statistics.</span></p><p><span>The Doppler lidar provides horizontal wind measurements, which exhibit a similar quality as the existing radar-wind profiler (RWP) observations and which can be assimilated directly. We will present the results of different assimilation experiments and discuss the impact in comparison with the RWP.</span></p>

<p>Convective-scale forecasts require more detailed and continuous observational data of thermodynamic profiles and wind profiles in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) than currently provided. In order to meet these data requirements in the future, DWD evaluates various surface remote sensing systems targeted on ABL-profiling for routine network operation.</p> <p>One of the candidate systems in operation at the Observatory Lindenberg is a new pre-production broadband DIAL from Vaisala. DIAL instruments are well-established in research activities, but this instrument is developed for operationally providing water vapor profile observations in the ABL during all weather conditions. We present evaluation results of the DIAL’s operational performance regarding the quality of the water vapor profiles and report on its ability to monitor sub-grid scale processes, such as convection and associated weather phenomena. This includes comparisons with radiosounding observations (4 per day) over at least one year of continuous observations and additional comparisons with Raman lidar for a three-month period during summer 2021. Furthermore, we provide observation-minus-background statistics between the DIAL and the ICON limited area model (ICON-LAM) to evaluate the model performance, e.g. under convection, and to identify observational error sources.</p> <p>This contribution provides knowledge regarding the operational viability of the new pre-production broadband DIAL, its value for monitoring water vapour profiles 24/7 and ABL processes for future model applications.</p>