The fifth-generation PSU–NCAR Mesoscale Model (MM5)-based regional climate model (CMM5) capability in simulating the U.S. precipitation annual cycle is evaluated with a 1982–2002 continuous baseline ...integration driven by the NCEP–DOE second Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP II) reanalysis. The causes for major model biases (differences from observations) are studied through supplementary seasonal sensitivity experiments with various driving lateral boundary conditions (LBCs) and physics representations. It is demonstrated that the CMM5 has a pronounced rainfall downscaling skill, producing more realistic regional details and overall smaller biases than the driving global reanalysis. The precipitation simulation is most skillful in the Northwest, where orographic forcing dominates throughout the year; in the Midwest, where mesoscale convective complexes prevail in summer; and in the central Great Plains, where nocturnal low-level jet and rainfall peaks occur in summer. The actual model skill, however, is masked by existing large LBC uncertainties over data-poor areas, especially over oceans. For example, winter dry biases in the Gulf States likely result from LBC errors in the south and east buffer zones. On the other hand, several important regional biases are identified with model physics deficiencies. In particular, summer dry biases in the North American monsoon region and along the east coast of the United States can be largely rectified by replacing the Grell with the Kain–Fritsch cumulus scheme. The latter scheme, however, yields excessive rainfall in the Atlantic Ocean but large deficits over the Midwest. The fall dry biases over the lower Mississippi River basin, common to all existing global and regional models, remain unexplained and the search for their responsible physical mechanisms will be challenging. In addition, the representation of cloud–radiation interaction is essential in determining the precipitation distribution and regional water recycling, for which the new scheme implemented in the CMM5 yields significant improvement.
This study uses the most recent simulations from all available fully coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation models (CGCMs) to investigate whether the North American monsoon (NAM) precipitation ...seasonal–interannual variations are simulated and, if so, whether the key underlying physical mechanisms are correctly represented. This is facilitated by first identifying key centers where observed large-scale circulation fields and sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are significantly correlated with the NAM precipitation averages over the core region (central–northwest Mexico) and then examining if the modeled and observed patterns agree.
Two new findings result from the analysis of observed NAM interannual variations. First, precipitation exhibits significantly high positive (negative) correlations with 200-hPa meridional wind centered to the northwest (southeast) of the core region in June and September (July and August). As such, wet conditions are associated with strong anomalous southerly upper-level flow on the northwest flank during the monsoon onset and retreat, but with anomalous northerly flow on the southeast flank, during the peak of the monsoon. They are often identified with a cyclonic circulation anomaly pattern over the central Great Plains for the July–August peak monsoon and, reversely, an anticyclonic anomaly pattern centered over the northern (southern) Great Plains for the June (September) transition. Second, wet NAM conditions in June and July are also connected with a SST pattern of positive anomalies in the eastern Pacific and negative anomalies in the Gulf of Mexico, acting to reduce the climatological mean gradient between the two oceans. This pattern suggests a possible surface gradient forcing that favors a westward extension of the North Atlantic subtropical ridge. These two observed features connected to the NAM serve as the metric for quantitative evaluation of the model performance in simulating the important NAM precipitation mechanisms.
Out of 17 CGCMs, only the Meteorological Research Institute (MRI) model with a medium resolution consistently captures the observed NAM precipitation annual cycle (having a realistic amplitude and no phase shift) as well as interannual covariations with the planetary circulation patterns (having the correct sign and comparably high magnitude of correlation) throughout the summer. For the metric of correlations with 200-hPa meridional wind, there is general agreement among all CGCMs with observations for June and September. This may indicate that large-scale forcings dominate interannual variability for the monsoon onset and retreat, while variability of the peak of the monsoon in July and August may be largely influenced by local processes that are more challenging for CGCMs to resolve. For the metric of correlations with SSTs, good agreement is found only in June. These results suggest that the NAM precipitation interannual variability may likely be determined by large-scale circulation anomalies, while its predictability based on remote signals such as SSTs may not be sufficiently robust to be well captured by current CGCMs, with the exception of the June monsoon onset which is potentially more predictable.
The goal of this study was to interrogate the role of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) in the late phase of ischemic preconditioning (PC) in vivo. A total of 321 mice were used. Wild-type mice ...preconditioned 24 h earlier with six cycles of 4-min coronary occlusion/4-min reperfusion exhibited a significant$(P<0.05)$increase in myocardial iNOS protein content, iNOS activity (assessed as calcium-independent L-citrulline formation), and nitrite + nitrate tissue levels. In contrast, endothelial NOS protein content and calcium-dependent NOS activity remained unchanged. No immunoreactive neuronal NOS was detected. When wild-type mice were preconditioned 24 h earlier with six 4-min occlusion/4-min reperfusion cycles, the size of the infarcts produced by a 30-min coronary occlusion followed by 24 h of reperfusion was reduced markedly (by 67%;$P<0.05)$compared with sham-preconditioned controls, indicating a late PC effect. In contrast, when mice homozygous for a null iNOS allele were preconditioned 24 h earlier with the same protocol, infarct size was not reduced. Disruption of the iNOS gene had no effect on early PC or on infarct size in the absence of PC. These results demonstrate that (i) the late phase of ischemic PC is associated with selective up-regulation of iNOS, and (ii) targeted disruption of the iNOS gene completely abrogates the infarct-sparing effect of late PC (but not of early PC), providing unequivocal molecular genetic evidence for an obligatory role of iNOS in the cardioprotection afforded by the late phase of ischemic PC. Thus, this study identifies a specific protein that mediates late PC in vivo.
A combination of searches for a new resonance decaying into a Higgs boson pair is presented, using up to 139 fb^{-1} of pp collision data at sqrts=13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the ...LHC. The combination includes searches performed in three decay channels: bbover ¯bbover ¯, bbover ¯τ^{+}τ^{-}, and bbover ¯γγ. No excess above the expected Standard Model background is observed and upper limits are set at the 95% confidence level on the production cross section of Higgs boson pairs originating from the decay of a narrow scalar resonance with mass in the range 251 GeV-5 TeV. The observed (expected) limits are in the range 0.96-600 fb (1.2-390 fb). The limits are interpreted in the type-I two-Higgs-doublet model and the minimal supersymmetric standard model, and constrain parameter space not previously excluded by other searches.A combination of searches for a new resonance decaying into a Higgs boson pair is presented, using up to 139 fb^{-1} of pp collision data at sqrts=13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The combination includes searches performed in three decay channels: bbover ¯bbover ¯, bbover ¯τ^{+}τ^{-}, and bbover ¯γγ. No excess above the expected Standard Model background is observed and upper limits are set at the 95% confidence level on the production cross section of Higgs boson pairs originating from the decay of a narrow scalar resonance with mass in the range 251 GeV-5 TeV. The observed (expected) limits are in the range 0.96-600 fb (1.2-390 fb). The limits are interpreted in the type-I two-Higgs-doublet model and the minimal supersymmetric standard model, and constrain parameter space not previously excluded by other searches.
Higgsinos with masses near the electroweak scale can solve the hierarchy problem and provide a dark matter candidate, while detecting them at the LHC remains challenging if their mass splitting is ...O(1 GeV). This Letter presents a novel search for nearly mass-degenerate Higgsinos in events with an energetic jet, missing transverse momentum, and a low-momentum track with a significant transverse impact parameter using 140 fb^{-1} of proton-proton collision data at sqrts=13 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment. For the first time since LEP, a range of mass splittings between the lightest charged and neutral Higgsinos from 0.3 to 0.9 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level, with a maximum reach of approximately 170 GeV in the Higgsino mass.Higgsinos with masses near the electroweak scale can solve the hierarchy problem and provide a dark matter candidate, while detecting them at the LHC remains challenging if their mass splitting is O(1 GeV). This Letter presents a novel search for nearly mass-degenerate Higgsinos in events with an energetic jet, missing transverse momentum, and a low-momentum track with a significant transverse impact parameter using 140 fb^{-1} of proton-proton collision data at sqrts=13 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment. For the first time since LEP, a range of mass splittings between the lightest charged and neutral Higgsinos from 0.3 to 0.9 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level, with a maximum reach of approximately 170 GeV in the Higgsino mass.
A measurement of the mass of the Higgs boson combining the H→ZZ^{*}→4ℓ and H→γγ decay channels is presented. The result is based on 140 fb^{-1} of proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS ...detector during LHC run 2 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV combined with the run 1 ATLAS mass measurement, performed at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, yielding a Higgs boson mass of 125.11±0.09(stat)±0.06(syst)=125.11±0.11 GeV. This corresponds to a 0.09% precision achieved on this fundamental parameter of the Standard Model of particle physics.
A combination of fifteen top quark mass measurements performed by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the LHC is presented. The datasets used correspond to an integrated luminosity of up to 5 and 20 ...fb^{-1} of proton-proton collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, respectively. The combination includes measurements in top quark pair events that exploit both the semileptonic and hadronic decays of the top quark, and a measurement using events enriched in single top quark production via the electroweak t channel. The combination accounts for the correlations between measurements and achieves an improvement in the total uncertainty of 31% relative to the most precise input measurement. The result is m_{t}=172.52±0.14(stat)±0.30(syst) GeV, with a total uncertainty of 0.33 GeV.A combination of fifteen top quark mass measurements performed by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the LHC is presented. The datasets used correspond to an integrated luminosity of up to 5 and 20 fb^{-1} of proton-proton collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, respectively. The combination includes measurements in top quark pair events that exploit both the semileptonic and hadronic decays of the top quark, and a measurement using events enriched in single top quark production via the electroweak t channel. The combination accounts for the correlations between measurements and achieves an improvement in the total uncertainty of 31% relative to the most precise input measurement. The result is m_{t}=172.52±0.14(stat)±0.30(syst) GeV, with a total uncertainty of 0.33 GeV.
A test of CP invariance in Higgs boson production via vector-boson fusion has been performed in the H→γγ channel using 139 fb^{-1} of proton-proton collision data at sqrts=13 TeV collected by the ...ATLAS detector at the LHC. The optimal observable method is used to probe the CP structure of interactions between the Higgs boson and electroweak gauge bosons, as described by an effective field theory. No sign of CP violation is observed in the data. Constraints are set on the parameters describing the strength of the CP-odd component in the coupling between the Higgs boson and the electroweak gauge bosons in two effective field theory bases: dover ˜ in the HISZ basis and c_{HWover ˜} in the Warsaw basis. The results presented are the most stringent constraints on CP violation in the coupling between Higgs and weak bosons. The 95% C.L. constraint on dover ˜ is derived for the first time and the 95% C.L. constraint on c_{HWover ˜} has been improved by a factor of 5 compared to the previous measurement.
Statistical combinations of searches for charginos and neutralinos using various decay channels are performed using 139 fb^{-1} of pp collision data at sqrts=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the ...Large Hadron Collider. Searches targeting pure-wino chargino pair production, pure-wino chargino-neutralino production, or Higgsino production decaying via standard model W, Z, or h bosons are combined to extend the mass reach to the produced supersymmetric particles by 30-100 GeV. The depth of the sensitivity of the original searches is also improved by the combinations, lowering the 95% C.L. cross-section upper limits by 15%-40%.Statistical combinations of searches for charginos and neutralinos using various decay channels are performed using 139 fb^{-1} of pp collision data at sqrts=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Searches targeting pure-wino chargino pair production, pure-wino chargino-neutralino production, or Higgsino production decaying via standard model W, Z, or h bosons are combined to extend the mass reach to the produced supersymmetric particles by 30-100 GeV. The depth of the sensitivity of the original searches is also improved by the combinations, lowering the 95% C.L. cross-section upper limits by 15%-40%.
Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease that results in the loss of epidermal melanocytes. The treatments for patients with vitiligo remain lacking. Erzhiwan (EZW), a traditional Chinese Medicine composed ...of
and
, was used to ameliorate depigmentation since ancient China. This study aims to investigate the effect of EZW on vitiligo-related depigmentation.
A vitiligo-related depigmentation mouse model was induced by monobenzone and restraint stress. The experimental depigmentation mice were treated with EZW. Histological observation of skin was conducted. Cutaneous oxidative damage and inflammation were determined. A network pharmacology analysis was carried out.
EZW reduced depigmentation score (
<0.01), cutaneous inflammatory infiltration (
<0.01), and CD8α-positive expression (
<0.01), and increased cutaneous melanin content in experimental depigmentation mice. EZW reduced stress reaction in experimental depigmentation mice (
<0.01). EZW inhibited 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG)-related DNA oxidative damage in the skin (
<0.05,
<0.01). In addition, EZW reduced cutaneous macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF)-CD74-NF-κB signaling (
<0.01). The network pharmacology analysis demonstrated that EZW regulated necroptosis, apoptosis, and FoxO signaling pathways in vitiligo. An in vitro experiment showed that the main ingredient of EZW, specnuezhenide, protected against monobenzone and MIF-induced cell death in HaCaT cells (
<0.01).
EZW ameliorates restraint stress- and monobenzone-induced depigmentation via the inhibition of MIF and 8-OHdG signaling. The findings provide a data basis of an utilization of EZW in vitiligo.