text:
Missouri River Regional Library
Today's Hours: 1:00pm - 5:00pm
Missouri River Regional Library Osage County Library
Thu: 9:00am-9:00pm
Osage County Library
1014D Main Street
Linn, MO 65051
Adult Library Calendar
Kids & Teens Library Calendar
Book Box
Online Learning & Resources
River Readers Blog
Gifts/Memorials
Friends of Osage (FOCL)
The Library encourages competitive bidding in order to obtain the greatest response to requests for purchase or requests for proposals. The Library shall do everything in its power to encourage the submission of proposals from local vendors, including the notification of all listings within a particular category in the various area yellow pages. However, the Library has a responsibility to its residents to insure that the maximum value is obtained for each public dollar spent. It is expected that local vendors who wish to do business with the Library will offer the lowest possible quote for the item being purchased. The Library welcomes bids from minority- and women-owned businesses and actively solicits bids from such companies where possible.
Approved July 16, 2002
The Library will informally bid from multiple suppliers for all purchases over $500. This may be obtained by comparison pricing through direct contact, advertisements, catalogs, or web pages.
Purchases with an anticipated bid amount of $4,500 or greater shall be listed for at least seven days on the Library's web page. Where practical to elicit greater responses for bids, additional listings may be made on cooperating web pages and notices may be sent to potential bidders.
Purchases with an anticipated bid amount of $25,000 or greater shall be advertised in at least one paper with broad general distribution within Cole and Osage Counties.
In order to obtain the best price, the Library shall be allowed to enter into cooperative purchasing agreements with federal, state or local units of government, or not for profit corporations. Cooperative agreements may be entered into, or already negotiated contracts may be assumed. Existing bids may be renegotiated or extended if it is to the Library's benefit.
Bids may be received by mail, e-mail, or fax. Sealed bids may be received by mail or delivery only. No negotiation will be allowed as to bid amount after submission, unless such options are clearly spelled out in the bid document. Occasionally, bid documents may contain deducts for options that the vendor feels would provide a superior product for less cost. The Library reserves the right to negotiate such changes with the submitting vendor, or other vendors if that would result in savings. The Library reserves the right to use cooperative purchasing agreements or listed advertisements for purchases if that results in a lower cost, even if these sources do not respond to the Library's bid notices.
Although price shall normally be a major consideration in all purchases, the Library reserves the right to take such factors as durability, timeliness, availability and operating cost into consideration when awarding a bid. Low bidders may be rejected where serious reservations about the quality or suitability of items or services exist. The Library reserves the right to waive minor irregularities in submitted bids, or to waive normal bidding procedures in an emergency when it is in its best interest to do so.
Where practical, utilities and telecommunications services shall be competitively bid. However regular payments for such utilities shall not require special management approval.
Library books and materials as well as single-source equipment necessary for library operations are not subject to these procedures or to bid requirements. Purchases for these items are made under appropriation approval through the library's annual budget.
Professional services include, but are not limited to audit and banking services, equipment and custodial maintenance contracts as well as special one-time consultant service needs. Depending on the nature of the service, professional services may be solicited through the bid process or by requests for proposals. Contracts for ongoing services shall be rebid every three to six years.
Requests for Proposal (RFP)
The Library reserves the right to secure products and services through a request for proposal when that is in the best interests of the Library. Requests for proposal shall normally be limited to complex projects, especially those with multiple or unknown ways of accomplishing a certain objective. Requests for proposal may involve intellectual property or the quest for new ideas that do not lend themselves to traditional bidding. In general, the Library shall advertise requests for proposals in the same manner as bids, however the Library shall reserve more latitude in considering low price as the primary indicator of acceptance.
The branch or departmental manager must ordinarily approve purchases. Purchases of $500 or less may be made at the department level with no other approval.
Purchases over $500 require the approval of the Assistant Director for Buildings and Finance. The exception is for previously bid items, commodity items and supplies for which uniformity is crucial, or computer equipment which exists on a local or wide area network.
Construction purchases, change orders and large unbudgeted expenses require a motion by the Library Board of Trustees.


text:
<?php

namespace IzBundle\Form;

use AppBundle\Filter\FilterInterface;
use AppBundle\Form\BaseType;
use Doctrine\ORM\EntityRepository;
use IzBundle\Entity\IzKlant;
use Symfony\Component\Form\AbstractType;
use Symfony\Component\Form\FormBuilderInterface;
use Symfony\Component\OptionsResolver\OptionsResolver;

class IzKlantSelectType extends AbstractType
{
    /**
     * {@inheritdoc}
     */
    public function buildForm(FormBuilderInterface $builder, array $options)
    {
        $builder
            ->add('klant', null, [
                'required' => false,
                'query_builder' => function (EntityRepository $repository) use ($options) {
                    $builder = $repository->createQueryBuilder('klant')
                        ->leftJoin(IzKlant::class, 'izKlant', 'WITH', 'izKlant.klant = klant')
                        ->andWhere('izKlant.id IS NULL')
                        ->orderBy('klant.achternaam, klant.tussenvoegsel, klant.voornaam')
                    ;

                    if ($options['filter'] instanceof FilterInterface) {
                        $options['filter']->applyTo($builder);
                    }

                    return $builder;
                },
            ])
        ;
    }

    /**
     * {@inheritdoc}
     */
    public function configureOptions(OptionsResolver $resolver)
    {
        $resolver->setDefaults([
            'data_class' => IzKlant::class,
            'filter' => null,
        ]);
    }

    /**
     * {@inheritdoc}
     */
    public function getParent()
    {
        return BaseType::class;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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text:
However, it also carries the disadvantage that the entire CPU must wait on its slowest elements, even though some portions of it are much faster.
Page "Central processing unit" ¶ 36
However and also
However, there is also much to be gained by making use of the abilities of the local people who are available and interested in recreation.
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) However, IBM sold the companion CRT monitor ( for use with the 8514 / A ) which carries the same designation, 8514.
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However, when the Bishop looks over the papers, he discovers that the purchase price carries a $ 25, 000 mortgage, significantly more than the operating funds the Sisters have available.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


In today's economy many people are struggling to pay bills and often get behind in making payments. Dealers often hear: "My credit score was great until …" There are numerous reasons why so many consumers have a poor credit score, but the most important is not paying the finance company as agreed or not paying at all and having a repossession or bankruptcy.
There are many reasons for not paying on time. Job loss, health issues, and divorce are among the top reasons, but keep in mind while people run finance companies, it's math that dictates decisions. If you've paid others late or failed to pay back a loan, it's likely you may do so again. At least, it's more likely than if you've never or rarely made a late payment.
Some large financial institutions that are subsidiaries of automotive manufacturers or banks, simply won't offer credit to people with scores below 700. As your score approaches the 600 range, only "subprime" finance companies will take on the additional risk. While most auto manufacturers have subprime finance companies, they do operate differently.
Documentation requirements may include such things as a phone bill or electric bill for several reasons. The first is to help determine your monthly cost of living. Current bills will also show if you've been paying those bills on time.
The higher fees and interest rates help off-set the subprime lenders' greater losses as a result of taking on greater risks. The GPS or starter-interrupt device helps the finance company locate or disable the vehicle in the event of late payment or default and must repossess the vehicle.
Despite the higher fees and interest rates, the subprime finance contract does have multiple benefits to the consumer. First, and foremost, it gives the consumer the ability to purchase a vehicle, get to work, take their kids to school and take care of personal business without relying on public transportation. It also gives consumers the ability to improve their credit score. If they succeed at making timely payments at the agreed upon terms, they may improve their score to the point where they will qualify for a prime finance contract.
The Federal Government and Credit Bureaus and consumer-friendly websites offer a wealth of information about improving your credit score.
Auto dealers work with multiple finance sources so whether you have great credit or have had some past credit the Business Manager at the dealership will work to get you the lowest possible interest rate on your vehicle loan. If you have concerns in this area, just call or visit our dealership for more information. Call us at (800) 555-1212.


text:
20-year-old woman needs new lung after Covid-19
A Bay City woman needs a new lung as she battles the aftermath of COVID-19.
What began as a positive test over a month ago has led to an airlift to Detroit for medical care, a weeks-long hospital stay, and crippling pneumonia.
Kaylee Moore's positive COVID-19 diagnosis came on Oct. 17. She started to have trouble breathing a couple of days after that.
"She just kinda went downhill from there. And then eight days later, they said she's too bad we need to put her in a medically induced coma and put her on a ventilator. And at that time, she had a twenty percent chance to live," said Collete Kuhl, Kaylee's mother.
When Moore's lungs really began failing, her mother Colette got her transferred to Ascension St. John's in Detroit. The hospital has an ECMO Machine, which oxygenates your blood for you.
"Her lungs, they're shot. They're pitted. Inside, they're just pitted. The COVID-19 pneumonia just destroyed her lungs," Kuhl said.
Moore has so little lung function left, she needs a new one.
"She's funny and witty and just it, you know it, it's just surprising. Like, how is this even happening like that's what COVID-19 can do. I mean it's unbelievable," Kuhl said.
Moore has worked at a group home since she was 18. Her mother said she was unvaccinated and 20 years old.
"I spend about seven hours a day with her at the hospital and then that night I kinda break down and just let all of that hurtfulness come out," Kuhl said.
Some light at the end of the tunnel happened on Monday when Moore went off the ventilator. They are now waiting for a new lung.
"The problem there is, is that COVID-19 is so bad right now that all of the ECMO's are full. So, we'll have to find an open ECMO machine and then of course we have to wait for a perfect match for her lungs," Kuhl said.
Man gets 9 years for fraudulent scheme
Community mourns dad killed in broad daylight
Meet the Twin Cities Men's Knitting Club
De Soto man's home burglarized, shot up and burned down
9-year-old receives life-saving liver transplant
'I'm a surgeon in America, not mortuary man' – Archipalago tells what he does for a living abroad


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13th June 2018 by Vivien Martin
Old Ways through the Glens: Stoneymollen Coffin Road
We may not always realise it, but it's surprising how often we're following in the footsteps of General Wade or Thomas Telford when we travel around Scotland; particularly the further north we go. And though their roads were fairly basic, they were undoubtedly better that what went before, when the majority of people had no alternative but to walk and roads were virtually non-existent.
War, and then commerce, led to gradual infrastructure improvements in the 18th and early 19th centuries: initially under the military and General Wade, later Telford and the Highland Roads Commission. The stories of these two men and their achievements make for fascinating reading. Especially Thomas Telford, a Border Scot, who was the finest civil engineer of his day. This is at the heart of my article in June's edition of iScot magazine.
However, humans have always been on the move and, from necessity, have found ways to get about. And so the article also looks at drove roads, drowned roads, and one type of old road that served a very particuler function: coffin roads. Though I have to say right away that they weren't 'roads' in the sense we understand them, rather narrow tracks or paths.
The Stoneymollan Road is a former coffin road that runs from Balloch, at the foot of Loch Lomond, to the burial ground at St Mahew's Chapel in the clachan of Kirkton, not far from Cardross. In Medieval times only certain churches had burial rights and these churches were often few and far between. Many rural settlements were remote from a church and so people were often faced with a long trek to the nearest cemetery. And the coffin had to be shouldered and carried the whole way!
Over time, numerous eerie superstitions became attached to these old tracks: the coffin must not touch the ground or the deceased's spirit would return to haunt the living; the corpse's feet must face away from their house or they could return to haunt their former home; the coffin bearers must not step off the path onto neighbouring farmland or the crops would be blighted; spirits liked to travel in straight lines, so the paths often meandered; spirits could not cross running water, so the paths crossed burns; you could lose a following spirit at a crossroad, so the route would have a crossroad!
The crumbling shell of Woodhall House
Today the old Stoneymollan Coffin Road is part of both the Three Lochs Way and the John Muir Way and links Loch Lomondside with the Firth of Clyde (and vice-versa). And the people you're most likely to meet today will be walkers, joggers and even cyclists!
Setting off from Balloch we noticed the crumbling remains of Woodhall House, with an array of rusty iron gates, nearly invisible under shrubs and trees: almost like the hedge of thorns that grew up around Sleeping Beauty. This area used to be full of such grand houses even though the settlement at Balloch itself was small. But Balloch had its pier, and boats regularly plied the waters of Loch Lomond. Later came the railway, which for many years ran right up to the pier, until that spur was closed in 1986.
The hidden gates to Sleeping Beauty's palace?
The track goes upwards and the higher the track, especially atop Stoneymollan Muir, the better the views back over Loch Lomond. When you reach the highest point a spectacular panorama opens up westwards, over towards Cowal and, if you're lucky with the weather, sometimes even as far as Arran. There is a tremendous sense of space and openness on this track: a real sense of freedom.
Then it's downhill all the way to St Mahew's Chapel in Kirkton. This lovely old building was restored in the 1950s, but it's history goes back to at least 1467, and it's possible that there may have been a Christian missionary building on this site from the early sixth century onwards. For almost two centuries the building served as a school prior to its restoration, but the site was one that had long been held sacred, and is so again today.
When you come to Cardross at the end of the walk, you can take the bus or train back into Glasgow. While if you walk the route from Cardross to Balloch (ie west to east and sometimes easier in the prevailing westerly wind), you can likewise take the bus or train from Balloch back into town: but don't forget to check the timetables. Alternatively get a friend to pick you up from whichever end you arrive at!
But watch out for any spirits that might just still be lingering along this old coffin road!
Posted in History, iScot, Scotland, Travel, Writing	| Tagged Balloch, Cardross, Coffin roads, Drowned Roads, General Wade, John Muir Way, Loch Lomond, St Mahew's Chapel, Stoneymollen Road, Thomas Telford, Three Lochs Way	| Leave a comment
2nd January 2017 by Vivien Martin
A bright start to the New Year by Loch Lomond's Shores
The Maid of the Loch at Balloch with Ben Lomond behind
January 1st 2017 – New Year's Day – the sun shone and skies were blue. So what better way to start the year than by heading north to Loch Lomond. We parked at Lomond Shores then set off to walk along a short stretch of the West Loch Lomond Cycle Path. This section of the cycle route is also part of the John Muir Way and takes you onto the Old Luss Road.
Nowadays it's hard to imagine that the road alongside Loch Lomond wasn't classified until the 1920s or that much of it followed the line of the 18th century Old Military Road. These military roads – built by General Wade and Major Caulfeild (sic) – linked the Central Lowlands with fortified army barracks in the Highlands; barracks which had been established to quell the Highland population after the first Jacobite Rebellion in 1715. One of the best known of these today is the old road between Glen Kinglas and Glen Croe, the Rest and Be Thankful.
"REST & BE THANKFUL: MILITARY ROAD REPd BY 93rd REGt 1768 TRANSFERRED TO COMMRs FOR H, R & C IN THE YEAR 1814"
In the early 19th century the Loch Lomond route was surveyed and improved by the renowned Scottish civil engineer Thomas Telford. Telford, a poor shepherd's son, was born in Dumfriesshire in 1757, yet became the most outstanding canal- and road-builder of his time. His system of road-building involved several layers of stone, topped by cobbles, coupled with adequate drainage, all of which made for hard-wearing, long-lasting roads: labour-intensive, but not high-tech.
The decade after the First World War saw car ownership increase rapidly and the 1920 Road Act highlighted the poor state of Britain's roads. Road classification was introduced and high unemployment levels after that terrible war meant there was a ready pool of labour available for a widespread programme of new road building. But, in many parts of Scotland, I doubt Thomas Telford would have seen a huge difference between his roads and those a century later in the 1930s! And it wasn't until the 1980s that the modern, widened road we know today was built between Balloch Roundabout and Tarbet.
Fortunately for walkers and cyclists a number of stretches of the older road still exist and these follow the shore of the loch more closely that the new road does. So we undoubtedly get the best views! And we certainly saw plenty of cyclists making the most of the good weather.
The stone water trough on the Old Luss Road
Here and there are indications of older times: an old stone horse trough, a gate to nowhere, an old lodge house and crumbling gates to former estate buildings. And on one side of the road stone walls and beech hedges have been left to their own devices and morphed into strange hybrid shapes along the roadside!
On our return to Lomond Shores we tucked into a hot and tasty lunch in the cafe high up in the Drumkinnon Tower, while enjoying the stunning views over the the loch, to the paddle steamer the Maid of the Loch and towards Ben Lomond. The aquarium below was full of visitors, mostly families with children who were full of excitement at the array of aquatic creatures they had just seen: from the family of otters – Lily, Pickle and Cub – to tiny seahorses, sharks and the cartoon-like cow-nosed rays.
The mighty Drumkinnon Tower at Lomond Shores, which houses the aquarium and a cafe with stunning views over the loch
For us this was a gentle day out, but for the more adventurous – and fitter – there's always the Tree Zone, an aerial adventure course. And if you want a really great way to discover the park area, then go for one of Scotland's Wild's active tours. There really are so many different ways to discover and enjoy this wonderful part of Scotland.
And that's a good thought for a brand New Year!
Maid of the Loch
Sea Life Aquarium, Loch Lomond
Lomond Shores
Lomond and Trossachs National Park
Scotland's Wild for active tours of the National Park area
Tree Zone Loch Lomond
Posted in History, Scotland, Travel	| Tagged Balloch, John Muir Way, Loch Lomond, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, Maid of the Loch, Old Luss Road, Scotland's Wild, Sea Life Aquarium, Thomas Telford, West Loch Lomond Cycle Path	| Leave a comment


The project is now on sourceforge: http://adfconverter.sourceforge.net.
I restarted to work on it after the end of my master (end of october).
add checking of configuration properties (it's always better to check every parameter).


Arthur Schalk of Milford, Pa., died on Friday, April 5. He was 86.
Lorraine Fredell of Town of Newburgh, N.Y., passed away on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019, in Montgomery, N.Y. She was 89.
Noah Eugene Fells of Dingmans Ferry, Pa., passed away on Saturday, April 6, 2019. He was 69.
Noah was born to parents John S.
Brenda Joyce Morgan of Bushkill, Pa., passed away at home on Friday, March 22, 2019. He was 60.


Having been rescued, Remade, and returned to Freedom, Theron faces a life without Nine. Though he's chosen to be a healer, he can't find the peace he so desperately needs. Everything in Freedom reminds him of Nine. But then he meets Catcher and begins to uncover the dark truths behind Freedom's batcher program--and the Virus. Catcher teaches Theron what it means to be a leader and of the value of family and fatherhood. When he falls in love with a captured rebel, Theron must choose: stay in Freedom with its easy pleasures, or join the Rise and pursue a life that is truly free.


Home / News / Blind Month at Barretts!
It's nothing to do with your eyesight, but it is Blind Month at Barretts this April!
This month, we're offering up to 20% off our wonderful range of made-to-measure blinds, from roller to vertical to Venetian!
Our array of fabulous fabrics offers plenty of colours to brighten your home as spring blooms, meaning that you can turn your windows into stunning features in each and every room of your home.
If it's a children's room you're looking to decorate, or if you're simply a die-hard Disney fanatic, why not combine function with personality by using Louvolite's Disney fabrics for your blinds. Inspired by everyone from Winnie the Pooh to Dumbo, winding down the blinds for bedtime will become a fun experience in itself.
If you're looking for something a bit more sophisticated, but still plenty of charm, Louvolite can also offer you plenty of subtle prints that can elevate the look of the windows in any room. Visit us in-store to browse our range of printed fabrics.
Summer is approaching, meaning that so too are long days by the seaside. But if you really can't wait, bring the seaside into your home by turning one of our coastal fabrics into a few sets of brilliant blinds. The 'Port Isaac' collection by Sanderson Home takes the essence of the sea and transfers it into fabrics that will turn dark windows into an open view of the coast!
We have fabrics to cater to every taste, so if we haven't shown you something that you'd love to have hung in your home then visit us in-store and we will help you find the perfect fabric! Our Interior Design Advice service will equip you with plenty of ideas of how to transform your home, and our Free No Obligation Measure & Estimating Service lets us take care of the hard work and gives you a competitive price to consider at your leisure!
Barretts of Woodbridge's Blind Month sale will run throughout April and offers up to 20% off made-to-measure blinds! Find us on the Woodbridge Thoroughfare!


Bechtle wins NetApp award for strongest sales growth.
About Bechtle Press Press Releases Bechtle wins NetApp award for strongest sales growth.
Award for strongest sales growth of storage solutions.
Bechtle among NetApp's three biggest partners in Germany.
Neckarsulm, 10 March 2011 – Bechtle wins award in the category "strongest growth" at this year's NetApp partner conference in Berlin. The award presentation took place at the Berlin Congress Center at Alexanderplatz. Gerhard Marz, managing director of Bechtle AG's public sector business segment, accepted the award. The market leader for storage and data management solutions in Germany has bestowed awards on a total of six partners. Bechtle is among the top three NetApp partners in Germany.
"We are very happy to receive this award. This award is not only a good indication of Bechtle's competence in storage technology, but it also shows our unmistaken quality as a market leading IT partner among mid to large-size businesses. But above all, the NetApp award motivates us even more to expand our expertise – especially in the field of unified storage," says Gerhard Marz.
Bechtle is a Star Partner and an Authorized Professional Service Partner (APSP). The partner status is only awarded to IT service providers with extensive know how that are able to offer high-quality solutions. NetApp also considers the technical qualifications and dedication of the employees as criteria for the partnership status. The Bechtle service engineers who were selected for the certification undergo the same rigorous tests as do the personnel from NetApp.
"Bechtle is one of the few partners possessing the highest level of technical know how for NetApp technologies. We rely on Bechtle as an important sales partner and profit greatly from the access to the SME market that the Bechtle system houses are able to provide. Bechtle's outstanding growth in 2010 is a clear indication of our successful cooperation," explains Dieter Schmitt, Director Channel Sales Germany, NetApp.


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Characterising the seasonal and geographical variability in tropospheric ozone, stratospheric influence and recent changes
October 18, 2019 October 18, 2019 Ryan WilliamsLeave a comment
Email: r.s.williams@pgr.reading.ac.uk
Williams, R. S., Hegglin, M. I., Kerridge, B. J., Jöckel, P., Latter, B. G., and Plummer, D. A.: Characterising the seasonal and geographical variability in tropospheric ozone, stratospheric influence and recent changes, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 3589–3620, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-3589-2019, 2019.
Approximately 90 % of atmospheric ozone (O3) today resides in the stratosphere, which we know as the ozone layer (extending from ~15-35 km), where it plays a critical role in filtering out most of the harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun. The gradual formation of the ozone layer from around 600 million years ago was key in Earth's evolutionary history, as it enabled life to flourish on land. Lesser known is the importance of the remaining ~ 10 % of atmospheric ozone, which is found in the troposphere and has implications for air quality, radiative forcing and the oxidation capacity of the troposphere. Whilst ozone is a pollutant at ground level, contributing to an estimated 6 million premature deaths globally per year, it also acts to cleanse the troposphere by breaking down a large number of pollutants, along with some greenhouse gases. Ozone is however a greenhouse gas in itself – where it has a maximum radiative forcing in the upper troposphere. It is an example of a non-well mixed gas, owing to its spatially and temporally highly varying sources and sinks, as well as its relatively short global mean tropospheric lifetime of about 3 weeks.
Figure 1 – Seasonal composites of monthly averaged 1000-450 hPa (0-5.5 km) subcolumn O3 (DU) for 2005-2010 (left to right) from (a) OMI, (b) EMAC minus OMI and (c) CMAM minus OMI. Circles denote (a) equivalent ozone-sonde derived subcolumn O3 (DU), (b) EMAC minus ozone-sonde differences and (c) CMAM minus ozone-sonde differences. All data were regridded to 2.5° resolution (~ 275 km). 1 Dobson Unit (DU) equates to a thickness of 0.01 mm if it were compressed at sea level.
A major source of tropospheric ozone is the photochemical reactions of emission precursors such as carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which have both natural and anthropogenic sources, in addition to the natural influx of ozone-rich air from the stratosphere. The magnitude of these two competing influences has been poorly quantified until the recent advent of satellite observations and the development of comprehensive chemistry-climate models (CCMs), which simulate interactive chemistry and are stratospherically well-resolved.
Our study aimed to update and extend the knowledge of a previous key study (Lamarque et al., 1999), that investigated the role of stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) on tropospheric ozone, using two contemporary state-of-the-art CCMs (EMAC and CMAM) with stratospheric-tagged ozone tracers as a diagnostic. We first sought to validate the realism of the model ozone estimates with respect to satellite observations from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), together with spatially and temporally limited vertical profile information provided from ozonesondes, which we resolved globally on a seasonal basis for the troposphere (1000-450 hPa) (Figure 1).
Whilst we found broad overall agreement with both sets of observations, an overall systematic bias in EMAC of + 2-8 DU (Dobson Units) and regionally and seasonally varying biases in CMAM (± 4 DU) can be seen in the respective difference panels (Figure 1b and 1c). A height-resolved comparison of the models with respect to regionally aggregated ozonesonde observations helped us to understand the origin of these model biases. We showed that apparent closer agreement in CMAM arises due to compensation of a low bias in photochemically produced ozone in the troposphere, resulting from the omission of a group of emission precursors in this model, by excessive smearing of ozone from the lower stratosphere due to an inherent high bias. This smearing is induced when accounting for the satellite observation geometry of OMI, necessary to ensure a direct comparison with vertically well-resolved models, which has limited vertical resolution due to its nadir field of view. The opposite was found to be the case in EMAC, with a high (low) bias in the troposphere (lower stratosphere) relative to ozonesondes. Given the similarity in the emission inventories used in both models, the high bias in this model indicates that excess in situ photochemical production from emission precursors is simulated within the interactive chemistry scheme. These findings emphasise the importance of understanding the origin of such biases, which can help prevent erroneous interpretations of subsequent model-based evaluations.
Noting these model biases, we next exploited the fine scale vertical resolution offered by the CCMs to investigate the regional and seasonal variability of the stratospheric influence. Analysis of the model stratospheric ozone (O3S) tracers revealed large differences in the burden of ozone in the extratropical upper troposphere-lower stratosphere (UTLS) region, with some 50-100 % more ozone in CMAM compared to EMAC. We postulated that CMAM must simulate a stronger lower branch of the Brewer-Dobson Circulation, the meridional stratospheric overturning circulation, since the stratospheric influence is isolated using these simulations. This has implications for the simulated magnitude and distribution of the downward flux of ozone from the stratosphere in each model. Shown in Figure 2 is the zonal-mean monthly evolution of ozone volume mixing ratio (ppbv) from ozonesondes and EMAC over the period 1980-2013 for the upper (350 hPa), middle (500 hPa) and lower (850 hPa) troposphere, together with the EMAC O3S and derived fraction of ozone of stratospheric origin (O3F) (%) evolution.
We found that the ozonesonde evolution closely resembles that of both EMAC and CMAM (not shown) throughout the troposphere. A clear correspondence in the seasonality of ozone is also evident for the EMAC O3S tracer, and in turn the O3F evolution, particularly towards the upper troposphere. Nonetheless, both models imply that over 50 % of near-surface ozone is derived from the stratosphere during wintertime in the extratropics, which is substantially greater than that estimated by Lamarque et al. (1999) (~ 10-20 %), and still considerably higher than more recent studies (~ 30-50 %) (e.g. Banarjee et al., 2016). This indicates that the stratospheric influence may indeed be larger than previously thought and is thus an important consideration when attempting to understand past, present and future trends in tropospheric ozone.
Figure 2 – Zonal-mean monthly mean evolution of ozone (O3) volume mixing ratio (ppbv) derived from (a) ozonesondes and (b) EMAC. The evolution of the (c) EMAC stratospheric ozone (O3S) tracer and (d) stratospheric fraction (O3F) (%) are additionally included over the period 1980-2010 for 350 hPa (top row), 500 hPa (middle row) and 850 hPa (bottom row).
Finally, we analysed height-resolved seasonal changes in both the model O3 and O3S between 1980-89 and 2001-10. The calculated hemispheric springtime (MAM/SON) changes in ozone are shown in Figure 3, and equivalently for O3S in Figure 4, for the upper and middle troposphere (350 and 500 hPa), as well as for the surface model level. A general increase in tropospheric ozone was found worldwide in all seasons, which is maximised overall during spring in both the Northern Hemisphere (~ 4-6 ppbv) and the Southern Hemisphere subtropics (~ 2-6 ppbv), corresponding to a relative increase of about 5-10 %. Respectively, a significant stratospheric contribution to this change of ~ 3-5 ppbv and ~ 1-4 ppbv is estimated using the model O3S tracers (~ 50-80 % of the total change), although with substantial inter-model disagreement over the magnitude and sometimes the sign of the attributable change for any given region or season from the stratosphere.
Figure 3 – Seasonal change in EMAC ozone volume mixing ratio (O3) (ppbv) between 1980-89 and 2001-10 for MAM (top) and SON (bottom) at (a) 350 hPa, (b) 500 hPa and (c) the surface model level. Stippling denotes regions of statistical significance according to a paired two-sided t-test (p < 0.05).
Although surface ozone changes are dominated by regional changes in precursor emissions between the two periods – the largest, statistically significant increases (> 6 ppbv) being over south-east Asia – the changing influence from the stratosphere were estimated to be up to 1–2 ppbv between the two periods in the Northern Hemisphere, albeit with high regional, seasonal and inter-model variability. In relative terms, the stratosphere can be seen to typically explain 25-30 % of the surface change over regions such as the Himalayas, although locally it may represent the dominant driver (> 50 %) where changes in emission precursors are negligible or even declining due to the enforcement of more stringent air quality regulations over regions such as western Europe and eastern North America in recent years.
Figure 4 – Seasonal change in EMAC stratospheric ozone volume mixing ratio (O3S) (ppbv) between 1980-89 and 2001-10 for MAM (top) and SON (bottom) at (a) 350 hPa, (b) 500 hPa and (c) the surface model level. Stippling denotes regions of statistical significance according to a paired two-sided t-test (p < 0.05). Note the scale difference between (a-b) and (c).
To summarise, our paper highlights some of the shortcomings of the EMAC and CMAM CCMs with respect to observations and we emphasise the importance of understanding model bias origins when performing subsequent model-based evaluations. Additionally, our evaluations highlight the necessity of a well-resolved stratosphere in models for quantifying the stratospheric influence on tropospheric ozone. We find evidence that the stratospheric influence may be larger than previously thought, compared with previous model-based studies, which is a highly significant finding for understanding tropospheric ozone trends.
Lamarque, J. F., Hess, P. G. and Tie, X. X.: Three‐dimensional model study of the influence of stratosphere‐troposphere exchange and its distribution on tropospheric chemistry., J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 104(D21), 26363-26372, https://doi:10.1029/1999JD900762, 1999.
Banerjee, A., Maycock, A. C., Archibald, A. T., Abraham, N. L., Telford, P., Braesicke, P., and Pyle, J. A.: Drivers of changes in stratospheric and tropospheric ozone between year 2000 and 2100., Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 2727-2746, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2727-2016, 2016.
Air Pollution, Atmospheric Chemistry, Climate models, Published Work
On relocating to the Met Office for five weeks of my PhD
March 29, 2019 Kaja MilczewskaLeave a comment
Some PhD projects are co-organised by an industrial CASE partner which provides supervisory support and additional funding. As part of my CASE partnership with the UK Met Office, in January I had the opportunity to spend 5 weeks at the Exeter HQ, which proved to be a fruitful experience. As three out of my four supervisors are based there, it was certainly a convenient set-up to seek their expertise on certain aspects of my PhD project!
One part of my project aims to understand how certain neighbourhood-based verification methods can affect the level of surface air quality forecast accuracy. Routine verification of a forecast model against observations is necessary to provide the most accurate forecast possible. Ensuring that this happens is crucial, as a good forecast may help keep the public aware of potential adverse health risks resulting from elevated pollutant concentrations.
The project deals with two sides of one coin: evaluating forecasts of regional surface pollutant concentrations; and evaluating those of meteorological fields such as wind speed, precipitation, relative humidity or temperature. All of the above have unique characteristics: they vary in resolution, spatial scale, homogeneity, randomness… The behaviour of the weather and pollutant variables is also tricky to compare against one another because the locations of their numerous measurement sites nearly never coincide, whereas the forecast encompasses the entirety of the domain space. This is kind of the crux of this part of my PhD: how can we use these irregularly located measurements to our advantage in verifying the skill of the forecast in the most useful way? And – zooming out still – can we determine the extent to which the surface air pollution forecast is dependent on some of those aforementioned weather variables? And can this knowledge (once acquired!) be used to further improve the pollution forecast?
Side view of the UK Met Office on a cold day in February.
While at the Met Office, I began my research specifically into methods which analyse the forecast skill when a model "neighbourhood" of a particular size around a particular point-observation is evaluated. These methods are being developed as part of a toolkit for evaluation of high resolution forecasts, which can be (and usually are) more accurate than a lower resolution equivalent, but traditional metrics (e.g. root mean square error (RMSE) or mean error (ME)) often fail to demonstrate the improvement (Mittermaier, 2014). They can also fall victim to various verification errors such as the double-penalty problem. This is when an 'event' might have been missed at a particular time in the forecast at one gridpoint because it was actually forecast in the neighbouring grid-point one time-step out, so the RMSE counts this error both in the spatial and temporal axes. Not fair, if you ask me. So as NWP continues to increase in resolution, there is a need for robust verification methods which relax the spatial (or temporal) restriction on precise forecast-to-observation matching somewhat (Ebert, 2008).
One way to proceed forward is via a 'neighbourhood' approach which treats a deterministic forecast almost as an ensemble by considering all the grid-points around an observation as an individual forecast and formulating a probabilistic score. Neighbourhoods are made of varying number of model grid-points, i.e. a 3×3 or a 5×5 or even bigger. A skill score such as the ranked probability score (RPS) or Brier Score is calculated using the cumulative probability distribution across the neighbourhood of the exceedance of a sensible pollutant concentration threshold. So, for example, we can ask what proportion of a 5×5 neighbourhood around an observation has correctly forecasted an observed exceedance (i.e. 'hit')? What if an exceedance forecast has been made, but the observed quantity didn't reach that magnitude (i.e. 'false alarm')? And how do these scores change when larger (or smaller) neighbourhoods are considered? And, if these spatial verification methods prove informative, how could they be implemented in operational air quality forecast verification? All these questions will hopefully have some answers in the near future and form a part of my PhD thesis!
Although these kind of methods have been used for meteorological variables, they haven't yet been widely researched in the context of regional air quality forecasts. The verification framework for this is called HiRA – High Resolution Assessment, which is part of the wider verification network Model Evaluation Tools (which, considering it is being developed as a means of uniformly assessing high-resolution meteorological forecasts, has the most unhelpful acronym: MET). It is quite an exciting opportunity to be involved in the testing and evaluation of this new set of verification tools for a surface pollution forecast at a regional scale, and I am very grateful to be involved in this. Also, having the opportunity to work at the Met Office and "pretend" to be a real research scientist for a while is awesome!
Email: k.m.milczewska@pgr.reading.ac.uk
Air Pollution, Met Office, PhD Life, PhD Student Experiences
Experiences of the NERC Atmospheric Pollution and Human Health Project.
July 21, 2017 July 21, 2017 Kaja Milczewska1 Comment
One of the most exciting opportunities of my PhD experience to date has been a research trip to Beijing in June, as part of the NERC Atmospheric Pollution and Human Health (APHH) project. This is a worldwide research collaboration with a focus on the way air pollution in developing megacities affects human health, and the meeting in Beijing served as the 3rd project update.
Industrialisation of these cities in the last couple of decades has caused air pollution to rise rapidly and regularly exceed levels deemed safe by the World Health Organisation (WHO). China sees over 1,000,000 deaths annually due to particulate matter (PM), with 76 deaths per 100,000 capita. In comparison, the UK has just over 16,000 total deaths and 26 per capita. But not only do these two countries have very different climates and emissions; they are also at very different stages of industrial development. So in order to better understand the many various sources of pollution in developing megacities – be they from local transport, coal burning or advected from further afield – there is an increased need for developing robust air quality (AQ) monitoring measures.
The APHH programme exists as a means to try and overcome these challenges. My part in the meeting was to expand the cohort of NCAS / NERC students researching AQ in both the UK and China, attending a series of presentations in a conference-style environment and visiting two sites with AQ monitoring instruments. One is situated in the Beijing city centre while the other in the rural village of Pinggu, just NW of Beijing. Over 100 local villagers take part in a health study by carrying a personal monitor with them over a period of two weeks. Their general health is monitored at the Pinggu site, alongside analysis of the data collected about their personal exposure to pollutants each day, i.e. heatmaps of different pollutant species are created according to GPS tracking. Having all the instruments being explained to us by local researchers was incredibly useful, because since I work with models, I haven't had a great deal of first hand exposure to pollutant data collection. It was beneficial to get an appreciation of the kind of work this involves!
In between all our academic activities we also had the chance to take some cultural breaks – Beijing has a lot to offer! For example, our afternoon visit to the Pinggu rural site followed the morning climb up the Chinese Great Wall. Although the landscape was somewhat obscured by the pollution haze, this proved to be a positive thing as we didn't have to suffer in the direct beam of the sun!
I would like to greatly thank NERC, NCAS and University of Leeds for the funding and organisation of this trip. It has been an incredible experience, and I am looking forward to observing the progess of these projects, hopefully using what I have learnt in some of my own work.
For more information, please visit the APHH student blog in which all the participants documented their experiences: https://www.ncas.ac.uk/en/introduction-to-atmospheric-science-home/18-news/2742-ncas-phd-students-visit-four-year-air-quality-fieldwork-project-in-beijing
Air Pollution, Fieldwork, Impacts, Observations, PhD Student Experiences, Uncategorized, Urban Meteorology
Air Pollution – The Cleaner Side of Climate Change?
November 11, 2016 November 11, 2016 Chris WebberLeave a comment
Email: c.p.webber@pgr.reading.ac.uk
Air pollution is a major global problem, with the World Health Organisation recently linking 1 in 8 global deaths to this invisible problem. I say invisible, what air pollution may seem is an almost invisible problem. My PhD looks at some of the largest air pollutants, particulate matter PM10, which is still only 1/5th the width of a human hair in diameter!
My project looks at whether winter (December – February) UK PM10 concentration ([PM10]) exceedance events will change in frequency or composition in a future climate. To answer this question, a state of the art climate model is required. This model simulates the atmosphere only and is an iteration of the Met-Office HADGEM3 model. The climate simulation models a future 2050 under the RCP8.5 emissions scenario, the highest greenhouse-gas emission scenario considered in IPCC-AR5 (Riahi et al., 2011).
In an attempt to model PM10 in the climate model (a complex feat, currently tasked to the coupled UKCA model), we have idealised the problem, making the results much easier to understand. We have emitted chemically inert tracers in the model, which represent the key sources of PM10 throughout mainland Europe and the UK. The source regions identified were: West Poland, Po Valley, BENELUX and the UK. While the modelled tracers were shown to replicate observed PM10 well, albeit with inevitable sources of lost variability, they were primarily used to identify synoptic flow regimes influencing the UK. The motivation of this work is to determine whether the flow regimes that influence the UK during UK PM10 episodes, change in a future climate.
As we are unable to accurately replicate observed UK [PM10] within the model, we need to generate a proxy for UK [PM10] episodes. We chose to identify the synoptic meteorological conditions (synoptic scale ~ 1000 km) that result in UK air pollution episodes. We find that the phenomenon of atmospheric blocking in the winter months, in the Northeast Atlantic/ European region, provide the perfect conditions for PM10 accumulation in the UK. In the Northern Hemisphere winter, Rossby Wave Breaking (RWB) is the predominant precursor to atmospheric blocking (Woollings et al., 2008). RWB is the meridional overturning of air masses in the upper troposphere, so that warm/cold air is advected towards the pole/equator. The diagnostic chosen to detect RWB on is potential temperature (θ) on the potential vorticity = 2 Potential vorticity units surface, otherwise termed the dynamical tropopause. The advantages of using this diagnostic for detecting RWB have been outlined in this study's first publication; Webber et al., (2016). Figure 1 illustrates this mechanism and the metric used to diagnose RWB, BI, introduced by Pelly and Hoskins (2003).
Fig. 1 – A schematic of Rossby Wave Breaking, breaking in a clockwise (anticyclonic) direction. The black contour represents a θ contour on the 2PVU surface, otherwise termed the dynamical tropopause. The colour shading represents θ anomalies, with red/ blue being warm/cold θ anomalies. The metric used to identify RWB is shown as the BI metric and is the mean θ in the 15 degrees latitude to the north subtracted by that to the south of the centre of overturning (black dot).
In Fig. 1 warm air is transported to the north of cold air to the south. This mechanism generates an anticyclone to the north of the centre of overturning (black circle in Fig 1) and a cyclone to the south. If the anticyclone to north becomes quasi-stationary, a blocking anticyclone is formed, which has been shown to generate conditions favourable for the accumulation of PM10.
To determine whether there exists a change in RWB frequency, due to climate change (a climate increment), the difference in RWB frequency between two simulations must be taken. The first of these is a free-running present day simulation, which provides us with the models representation of a present day atmosphere. The second is a future time-slice simulation, representative of the year 2050. Figure 2 shows the difference between the two simulations, with positive values representing an increase in RWB frequency in a future climate. The black contoured region corresponds to the region where the occurrence of RWB significantly increases UK [PM10].
Fig 2. Climate increment in RWB frequency, with red/blue shading representing an increase/ decrease in RWB frequency in a future climate. The thick black contour represents the region where the occurrence of RWB significantly raises mean UK [PM10].
RWB frequency anomalies within the black contoured region are of most importance within this study. Predominantly the RWB frequency anomaly, within the black contour, can be described as a negative frequency anomaly. However, there also exist heterogeneous RWB frequency anomalies within the contoured region. What is shown is that there is a tendency for RWB to occur further north and eastward in a future climate. These shifts in the regions of RWB occurrence influence a shift in the resulting flow regimes that influence the UK.
Climate shifts in flow regimes were analysed, however only for the most prominent subset of RWB events. RWB can be subset into cyclonic and anti-cyclonic RWB (CRWB and ACRWB respectively) and both have quite different impacts on UK [PM10] (Webber et al., 2016). ACRWB events are the most prominent RWB subset within the Northeast Atlantic/ European region (Weijenborg et al., 2012). Figure 1 represents ACRWB, with overturning occurring in a clockwise direction about the centre of overturning and these events were analysed for climate shifts in resultant flow regimes.
The analysis of climate flow regime shifts, provides the most interesting result of this study. We find that there exists a significant (p<0.05) increase in near European BENELUX tracer transport into the UK and a significant reduction of UK tracer accumulation, following ACRWB events. What we therefore see is that while in the future we see a reduction in the number of RWB and ACRWB events in a region most influential to UK [PM10], there also exists a robust shift in the resulting flow regime. Following ACRWB, there exists an increased tendency for the transport of European PM10 and decreased locally sourced [PM10] in the UK. Increased European transport may result in increased long-range transport of smaller and potentially more toxic (Gehring et al., 2013) PM2.5 particles from Europe.
Gehring, U., Gruzieva, O., Agius, R. M., Beelen, R., Custovic, A., Cyrys, J., Eeftens, M., Flexeder, C., Fuertes, E., Heinrich, J., Hoffmann, B., deJongste, J. C., Kerkhof, M., Klümper, C., Korek, M., Mölter, A., Schultz, E. S., Simpson, A.,Sugiri, D., Svartengren, M., von Berg, A., Wijga, A. H., Pershagen, G. and Brunekreef B.: Air Pollution Exposure and Lung Function in Children: The ESCAPE Project. Children's Health Prespect, 121,
1357-1364, doi:10.1289/ehp.1306770 , 2013.
Pelly, J. L and Hoskins, B. J.: A New Perspective on Blocking. J. Atmos. Sci, 50, 743-755, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/1520- 0469(2003)060<0743:ANPOB>2.0.CO;2, 2003.
Riahi, K., Rao S., Krey, V., Cho, C., Chirkov, V., Fischer, G., Kindermann, G., Nakicenovic, N. and Rafaj, P.: RCP 8.5—A scenario of comparatively high greenhouse gas emissions. Climatic Change, 109, no. 1-2, 33-57, doi: 10.1007/s10584-011-0149-y, 2011.
Webber, C. P., Dacre, H. F., Collins, W. J., and Masato, G.: The Dynamical Impact of Rossby Wave Breaking upon UK PM10 Concentration. Atmos. Chem. and Phys. Discuss, doi; 10.5194/acp-2016-571, 2016.
Weijenborg, C., de Vries, H. and Haarsma, R. J.: On the direction of Rossby wave breaking in blocking. Climate Dynamics, 39, 2823- 2831, doi: 10.1007/s00382-012-1332-1, 2012.
Woollings, T. J., Hoskins, B. J., Blackburn, M. and Berrisford, P.: A new Rossby wave-breaking interpretation of the North Atlantic Oscillation. J. Atmos. Sci, 65, 609-626, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2007JAS2347.1, 2008.
Air Pollution, Climate Change, Dynamics, Impacts, Modelling, NERC, Published Work, Seminar Summaries


Despite facing a period of poor sales and increased competition, British retailers remain reluctant to fully commit to programmes of digital transformation. Nearly one in five organisations reported they struggled to obtain managerial buy-in to transformation efforts, while only 1% of firms have managed to advance their digital maturity to the level they desire.
A potent blend of spiralling debts, climbing business rates, and crippling costs related to a weakened pound triggered by Brexit have seen multiple casualties in the British leisure and retail scene throughout the year, with no end in sight. With UK retailers facing one of their most difficult periods since the global economic crisis, finding savings and areas for efficiency improvements has become essential for the survival of many stores.
One area many traditional market incumbents are banking on hard to deliver such improvements is digital transformation. This ranges from additional business intelligence and effective stock management, to the retooling of websites to drive digital sales, or even the reorganising of supply chains to deliver quicker and cheaper services.
When it comes to defining the priorities of digital transformation programmes in the retail sector, a survey of retail decision-makers by Hitachi Consulting has found that enhancing the online experience of customers was very popular, at 34% of respondents. With ecommerce eating its way into the profit margin of bricks-and-mortar stores, that is understandable, but it was not the option with top billing. 52% of respondents said that using digital to enhance back-end infrastructure took precedent. While this is perhaps not the most obvious option from a consumer's eye view, it boasts the potential of overhauling supply chains to yield improved performance, and profitability.
The most notable changes in retail remain customer facing ones, however. According to the report, one technology example which is booming is 'click and collect'. Over three quarters (77%) of major London retail destinations have embraced click and collect, closely followed by in-store Wi-Fi (74%), showing that large brands are seeking to make shopping easier and more flexible for customers. Furthermore, almost two thirds of these stores also offer e-receipts, indicating that brands are also becoming savvier about linking their in-store and online presence.
Hitachi's study included respondents from fashion, lifestyle, recreation, food and drink and health brands. 9 out of 10 senior decision makers believe retailers that fail to digitally transform will go out of business by 2024. Of that, 24% said that such businesses would struggle to last longer than 3 years, while 65% said that in the next six years these firms would go bust.
Despite this apparent impetus for change, however, most retailers' digital maturity remains low. Only 1% considered themselves as being where they need to be, digitally, while the majority had not passed the midpoint on their digital transformation journey. 41% of respondents said they were 26-50% of the way through, while another 13% said they were a quarter of the way through.
According to the survey, the largest barriers to improving digital maturity are a lack of internal strategy and a lack of knowledge and understanding of digital transformation, both at 29% of responses. At the same time, management buy-in was cited by a surprising 19% as an inhibiting factor, suggesting that despite the clear and present need to invest in digital, almost one in five firms are led by people reluctant to believe the hype. Further to that, concerns over these barriers led a quarter of respondents to state they were "scared" to digitally transform, citing a lack of understanding around how best to begin transformational projects, coupled with a heightened fear of risk. If retailers are to survive this troubled period, then getting over these fears may well prove to be essential over the coming months.