Dynamically Downscaled Projections of Phenological Changes across the Contiguous United States.

Phenological indicators (PI) are used to study changes to animal and plant behavior in response to seasonal cycles, and they can be useful to quantify the potential impacts of climate change on ecosystems. Here, multiple global climate models and emission scenarios are used to drive dynamically downscaled simulations using the WRF model over the CONUS. The wintertime dormancy of plants (chilling units or "CU"), timing of spring onset (Extended Spring Indices or "SI"), and frequency of proceeding false springs are calculated from regional climate simulations covering historical (1995-2005) and future periods (2025-2100).

Pathology in Practice.

In collaboration with the American College of Veterinary Pathologists.

Regional temperature-ozone relationships across the U.S. under multiple climate and emissions scenarios.

The potential effects of 21st century climate change on ozone (O) concentrations in the United States are investigated using global climate simulations to drive higher-resolution regional meteorological and chemical transport models. Community Earth System Model (CESM) and Coupled Model version 3 (CM3) simulations of the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 scenario are dynamically downscaled using the Weather Research and Forecasting model, and the resulting meteorological fields are used to drive the Community Multiscale Air Quality model.

Robotic Versus Laparoscopic Approach to Hiatal Hernia Repair: Results After 7 Years of Robotic Experience.

Introduction: Robotic hiatal hernia repair offers potential advantages over traditional laparoscopy, most notably enhanced visualization, improved ergonomics, and articulating instruments. The clinical outcomes, however, have not been adequately evaluated. We report outcomes of laparoscopic and robotic hiatal hernia repairs.

Effects of Mosaic Land Use on Dynamically Downscaled WRF Simulations of the Contiguous U.S.

The representation of land use (LU) in meteorological modeling strongly influences the simulation of fluxes of heat, moisture, and momentum; affecting the accuracy of 2-m temperature and precipitation. Here, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is used with the Noah land surface model to compare a mosaic approach, which accounts for subgrid scale variability of LU types, to the default option which only considers the dominant category in each grid cell. Three-year historical dynamically downscaled WRF simulations are generated using a 12-km domain over the contiguous U.

Effect of Block Length and Side Chain Length Ratios on Determining a Multicompartment Micelle Structure.

Previous work has identified the importance of the lipophilic-fluorophilic block length ratio in predicting the morphology of linear lipophilic-hydrophilic-fluorophilic (hereafter referred to as BAC) micelle systems. Here, a generalized form of this structural parameter is developed that makes no assumption of BAC triblock co-polymer linearity, while still providing accurate predictions of the micelle morphology. The morphologies of BAC micelles formed by triblock co-polymers with or have similar features, with the only notable difference being an inversion of the lipophilic and fluorophilic regions.

Dissipative particle dynamics simulation of multicompartment micelle nanoreactor with channel for reactants.

The structural variation of multicompartment micelles is investigated using a dissipative particle dynamics simulation method for nano-reactor application. It turns out that well-defined multicompartment micelles with channel structures can be generated through the self-assembly of triblock copolymers consisting of a hydrophilic (A), a lipophilic (B), and a fluorophobic (C) block arranged in a B-A-C sequence: The corona and core are formed by the hydrophilic A block and the fluorophilic C block, respectively while the channel between the aqueous phase and core is formed by the lipophilic B block and the core. By performing a set of simulations, it is confirmed that channel size can be controlled as a function of the block length ratios between blocks A and B.

Examining WRF's Sensitivity to Contemporary Land-Use Datasets across the Contiguous United States Using Dynamical Downscaling.

Land-use (LU) representation plays a critical role in simulating air-surface interactions that affect meteorological conditions and regional climate. In the Noah LSM within the WRF Model, LU categories are used to set the radiative properties of the surface and to influence exchanges of heat, moisture, and momentum between the air and land surface. Previous literature examined the sensitivity of WRF simulations to LU using short-term meteorological modeling approaches.

A Maieutic Exploration of Nudging Strategies for Regional Climate Applications Using the WRF Model.

The use of nudging in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model to constrain regional climate downscaling simulations is gaining in popularity because it can reduce error and improve consistency with the driving data. While some attention has been paid to whether nudging is beneficial for downscaling, very little research has been performed to determine best practices. In fact, many published papers use the default nudging configuration (which was designed for numerical weather prediction), follow practices used by colleagues, or adapt methods developed for other regional climate models.

The potential effects of climate change on air quality across the conterminous U.S. at 2030 under three Representative Concentration Pathways.

The potential impacts of climate change on regional ozone (O) and fine particulate (PM) air quality in the United States are investigated by linking global climate simulations with regional scale meteorological and chemical transport models. Regional climate at 2000 and at 2030 under three Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) is simulated by using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to downscale 11-year time slices from the Community Earth System Model (CESM). The downscaled meteorology is then used with the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model to simulate air quality during each of these 11-year periods.

Place-based stressors associated with industry and air pollution.

Exposure to air pollution and its sources is increasingly viewed as a psychosocial stress, however its nature is not understood. This article explores the role of the concept of place on risk perception and community stress within data collected from eight focus groups in Philadelphia, USA. Discussions focused on air pollution, a nearby oil refinery, health, and a proposal for air monitoring.

An inventory of VHA emergency departments' resources and processes for caring for women.

Background: More women are using Veterans' Health Administration (VHA) Emergency Departments (EDs), yet VHA ED capacities to meet the needs of women are unknown.

Objective: We assessed VHA ED resources and processes for conditions specific to, or more common in, women Veterans.

Design/subjects: Cross-sectional questionnaire of the census of VHA ED directors

Main Measures: Resources and processes in place for gynecologic, obstetric, sexual assault and mental health care, as well as patient privacy features, stratified by ED characteristics.

Breast cancer surgery trends and outcomes: results from a National Department of Veterans Affairs study.

Background: This study examined trends and outcomes for breast cancer surgery performed at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals.

Study Design: We examined breast cancer operations performed in VA hospitals from October 1991 to September 1997. Data from the VA National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, surgical pathology reports, discharge data, and outpatient data were used.