The Cyprus Institute

About: The Cyprus Institute is a other organization based out in Nicosia, Cyprus. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Aerosol & Environmental science. The organization has 418 authors who have published 1252 publications receiving 32586 citations.

Toward industrial scale synthesis of ultrapure singlet nanoparticles with controllable sizes in a continuous gas-phase process

Abstract: Continuous gas-phase synthesis of nanoparticles is associated with rapid agglomeration, which can be a limiting factor for numerous applications. In this report, we challenge this paradigm by providing experimental evidence to support that gas-phase methods can be used to produce ultrapure non-agglomerated “singlet” nanoparticles having tunable sizes at room temperature. By controlling the temperature in the particle growth zone to guarantee complete coalescence of colliding entities, the size of singlets in principle can be regulated from that of single atoms to any desired value. We assess our results in the context of a simple analytical model to explore the dependence of singlet size on the operating conditions. Agreement of the model with experimental measurements shows that these methods can be effectively used for producing singlets that can be processed further by many alternative approaches. Combined with the capabilities of up-scaling and unlimited mixing that spark ablation enables, this study provides an easy-to-use concept for producing the key building blocks for low-cost industrial-scale nanofabrication of advanced materials.

Evidence of major secondary organic aerosol contribution to lensing effect black carbon absorption enhancement

Abstract: Atmospheric black carbon (BC) has a strong positive, but still controversial, effect on global warming. In particular, BC absorption enhancement (Eabs) due to internal mixing with other chemical species—so-called lensing effect—is poorly assessed. This bottleneck partly relies on the lack of long-term in situ measurements of both the optical and chemical properties of BC-containing particles. Here, we present experimental and computational results showing a significant Eabs increase with the aerosol photochemical aging. This was associated with the production of highly oxidized secondary organic aerosols (SOA), especially at summertime. The 3-year-long continuous aerosol chemical and optical measurements used for the present study was obtained in the Paris region, France, which might be representative of near-future air quality within developing countries. These findings suggest that SOA could represent one of the most critical chemical species to be considered within climate models. Tiny remnants of combustion, known as black carbon, absorb solar radiation and warm the atmosphere—an effect that can be doubled by “lensing” from secondary organic aerosols. A multi-institution team led by Olivier Favez at the Institut National de l’Environnement Industriel et des Risques conducted a three-year observational and modeling study near Paris. The researchers tested a range of atmospheric constituents and found that secondary organic aerosols—adhered to black carbon particles—are the most important determinant of the enhanced warming. The aerosols are produced by photochemical reactions with a wide variety of natural and human-produced volatile organic compounds, and act to focus solar radiation to the core of the black carbon particle, especially during the particle aging process during summer. The findings—although specific to Paris—provide insights into the specific compounds leading to enhanced warming, and reveal the most effective targets for remediating their effect.

Recommendations for presymptomatic genetic testing and management of individuals at risk for hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis.

Abstract: Purpose of review These recommendations highlight recent experience in genetic counselling for the severe autosomal-dominant, late-onset transthyretin familial amyloid polyneuropathy (TTR-FAP) dise ...

Mid-21st century climate and weather extremes in Cyprus as projected by six regional climate models

Abstract: We present climate change projections and apply indices of weather extremes for the Mediterranean island Cyprus using data from regional climate model (RCM) simulations driven by the IPCC A1B scenario within the ENSEMBLES project. Daily time-series of temperature and precipitation were used from six RCMs for a reference period 1976–2000 and for 2026–2050 (‘future‘) for representative locations, applying a performance selection among neighboring model grid-boxes. The annual average temperatures of the model ensemble have a ±1.5°C bias from the observations (negative for maximum and positive for minimum temperature), and the models underestimate annual precipitation totals by 4–17%. The climatological annual cycles for the observations fall within the 1σ range of the 6-model average, highlighting the strength of using multi-model output. We obtain reasonable agreement between models and observations for the temperature-related indices of extremes for the recent past, while the comparison is less good for the precipitation-related extremes. For the future, the RCM ensemble shows significant warming of 1°C in winter to 2°C in the summer for both maximum and minimum temperatures. Rainfall is projected to decrease by 2–8%, although this is not statistically significant. Our results indicate the shift of the mean climate to a warmer state, with a relatively strong increase in the warm extremes. The precipitation frequency is projected to decrease at the inland Nicosia and at the coastal Limassol, while the mountainous Saittas could experience more frequent 5–15 mm/day rainfall. In future, very hot days are expected to increase by more than 2 weeks/year and tropical nights by 1 month/year. The annual number of consecutive dry days shows a statistically significant increase (of 9 days) in Limassol. These projected changes of the Cyprus climate may adversely affect ecosystems and the economy of the island and emphasize the need for adaptation strategies.

Homogenization of daily maximum temperature series in the Mediterranean

Abstract: Received 9 December 2008; revised 29 May 2009; accepted 10 June 2009; published 15 August 2009. [1] Homogenization of atmospheric variables to detect and attribute past and present climate trends and to predict scenarios of future meteorological extreme events is a crucial issue for the reliability of analysis results. Here we present a quality control and new homogenization method (PENHOM) based on a penalized log likelihood procedure and a nonlinear model applied to 174 daily summer maximum temperature series in the Greater Mediterranean Region covering the last 50–100 years. The break detection method does not rely on homogeneous reference stations and was chosen owing to the lack of metadata available. The correction procedure allows the higher-order moments of the candidate distribution to be corrected, which is important if the homogenized series are to be used to quantify temperature extremes. Both procedures require a set of highly correlated neighboring stations to correct climate series reliably. After carrying out the homogeneity procedure, 84% of all time series were found to contain at least one artificial breakpoint. Time series of the eastern Mediterranean (one breakpoint in 24 years on average) show significantly more breakpoints than do series of the Western Basin (one breakpoint in 36 years on average). The mean adjustment (standard error) of all daily summer maximum temperatures is +0.03C (±0.38C) for the western Mediterranean, +0.16C (±0.52C) for the central Mediterranean, and +0.19C (±0.30C) for the eastern Mediterranean, indicating a reduced increase in mean summer daytime temperature compared to that detected by analyzing raw data. The adjustments for higher-order moments were not uniform. Most significant mean changes due to homogenization were detected for both: the hottest (+0.15C ± 0.66C) and coldest decile (� 0.83C ± 1.28C) compared to the raw data in the central Mediterranean. This study demonstrates that homogenization of daily temperature data is necessary before any analysis of temperaturerelated extreme events such as heat waves, cold spells, and their impacts on human health, agriculture, and ecosystems can be studied.