System And Process For Integrative Computational Soil Mapping

An integrative computational soil mapping system and process that reduces the required number of soil property measurements without jeopardizing the statistical precision of the resulting digital soil maps. The integrative computational soil mapping system and process saves monetary resources and time by reducing the number of soil property measurements required to produce digital soil maps and by offering soil sample locations which capture the maximum amount of representativeness of the soil characteristics in a determined area. In addition, the inventive system and process are integrative computational soil mapping that utilize algorithms based on state-of-the-art computational statistics and machine learning methods for the production of digital soil property maps and also provides soil sampling locations to collect new soil property measurements. These soil property measurements can be used to update and potentially improve previous versions of digital soil property maps, produced by the computational process

System And Process For Integrative Computational Soil Mapping

An integrative computational soil mapping system and process that reduces the required number of soil property measurements without jeopardizing the statistical precision of the resulting digital soil maps. The integrative computational soil mapping system and process saves monetary resources and time by reducing the number of soil property measurements required to produce digital soil maps and by offering soil sample locations which capture the maximum amount of representativeness of the soil characteristics in a determined area. In addition, the inventive system and process are integrative computational soil mapping that utilize algorithms based on state-of-the-art computational statistics and machine learning methods for the production of digital soil property maps and also provides soil sampling locations to collect new soil property measurements. These soil property measurements can be used to update and potentially improve previous versions of digital soil property maps, produced by the computational process

Microparticles in Hemostasis and Thrombosis

Blood contains microparticles (MPs) derived from a variety of cell types, including platelets, monocytes and endothelial cells. In addition, tumors release MPs into the circulation. MPs are formed from membrane blebs that are released from the cell surface by proteolytic cleavage of the cytoskeleton. All MPs are procoagulant because they provide a membrane surface for the assembly of components of the coagulation protease cascade. Importantly, the procoagulant activity is increased by the presence of anionic phospholipids, particularly phosphatidylserine (PS), and the procoagulant protein tissue factor (TF), which is the major cellular activator of the clotting cascade. High levels of platelet-derived PS+ MPs are present in healthy individuals, whereas the number of TF+,PS+ MPs is undetectable or very low. However, levels of PS+, TF+ MPs are readily detected in a variety of diseases and monocytes appear to be the primary cellular source. In cancer, PS+, TF+ are derived from tumors and may serve as a useful biomarker to identify patients at risk for venous thrombosis. This review will summarize our current knowledge on the role of procoagulant MPs in hemostasis and thrombosis

Tissue factor and thrombosis: The clot starts here

Thrombosis, or complications from thrombosis, currently occupies the top three positions in the cardiovascular causes of morbidity and mortality in the developed world. There are a limited number of safe and effective drugs to prevent and treat thrombosis. Animal models of thrombosis are necessary to better understand the complex components and interactions involved in the formation of a clot. Tissue factor (TF) is required for the initiation of blood coagulation and likely plays a key role in both arterial and venous thrombosis. Understanding the role of TF in thrombosis may permit the development of new antithrombotic drugs. This review will focus on the role of TF in in vivo models of thrombosis

Regional Variation in Aortic AT1b Receptor mRNA Abundance Is Associated with Contractility but Unrelated to Atherosclerosis and Aortic Aneurysms

BACKGROUND: Angiotensin II (AngII), the main bioactive peptide of the renin angiotensin system, exerts most of its biological actions through stimulation of AngII type 1 (AT1) receptors. This receptor is expressed as 2 structurally similar subtypes in rodents, termed AT1a and AT1b. Although AT1a receptors have been studied comprehensively, roles of AT1b receptors in the aorta have not been defined. METHODOLOGY/RESULTS: We initially compared the regional distribution of AT1b receptor mRNA with AT1a receptor mRNA in the aorta. mRNA abundance of both subtypes increased from the proximal to the distal aorta, with the greatest abundance in the infra-renal region. Corresponding to the high mRNA abundance for both receptors, only aortic rings from the infra-renal aorta contracted in response to AngII stimulation. Despite the presence of both receptor transcripts, deletion of AT1b receptors, but not AT1a receptors, diminished AngII-induced contractility. To determine whether absence of AT1b receptors influenced aortic pathologies, we bred AT1b receptor deficient mice into an LDL receptor deficient background. Mice were fed a diet enriched in saturated fat and infused with AngII (1,000 ng/kg/min). Parameters that could influence development of aortic pathologies, including systolic blood pressure and plasma cholesterol concentrations, were not impacted by AT1b receptor deficiency. Absence of AT1b receptors also had no effect on size of aortic atherosclerotic lesions and aortic aneurysms in both the ascending and abdominal regions. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Regional abundance of AT1b receptor mRNA coincided with AngII-induced regional contractility, but it was not associated with AngII-induced aortic pathologies

Hepatocyte tissue factor contributes to the hypercoagulable state in a mouse model of chronic liver injury

Patients with chronic liver disease and cirrhosis have a dysregulated coagulation system and are prone to thrombosis. The basis for this hypercoagulable state is not completely understood. Tissue factor (TF) is the primary initiator of coagulation in vivo. Patients with cirrhosis have increased TF activity in white blood cells and circulating microparticles. The aim of our study was to determine the contribution of TF to the hypercoagulable state in a mouse model of chronic liver injury

Endothelial Shc Regulates Arteriogenesis Through Dual Control of Arterial Specification and Inflammation via the Notch and Nuclear Factor- -Light-Chain-Enhancer of Activated B-Cell Pathways

Arteriogenesis, the shear stress-driven remodeling of collateral arteries, is critical in restoring blood flow to ischemic tissue following a vascular occlusion. Our previous work has shown that the adaptor protein Shc mediates endothelial responses to shear stress in vitro

Emergent Imaging and Geospatial Technologies for Soil Investigations

Soil survey investigations and inventories form the scientific basis for a wide spectrum of agronomic and environmental management programs. Soil data and information help formulate resource conservation policies of federal, state, and local governments that seek to sustain our agricultural production system while enhancing environmental quality on both public and private lands. The dual challenges of increasing agricultural production and ensuring environmental integrity require electronically available soil inventory data with both spatial and attribute quality. Meeting this societal need in part depends on development and evaluation of new methods for updating and maintaining soil inventories for sophisticated applications, and implementing an effective framework to conceptualize and communicate tacit knowledge from soil scientists to numerous stakeholders

The mating competence of geographically diverse Leishmania major strains in their natural and unnatural sand fly vectors

Invertebrate stages of Leishmania are capable of genetic exchange during their extracellular growth and development in the sand fly vector. Here we explore two variables: the ability of diverse L. major strains from across its natural range to undergo mating in pairwise tests; and the timing of the appearance of hybrids and their developmental stage associations within both natural (Phlebotomus duboscqi) and unnatural (Lutzomyia longipalpis) sand fly vectors. Following co-infection of flies with parental lines bearing independent drug markers, doubly-drug resistant hybrid progeny were selected, from which 96 clonal lines were analyzed for DNA content and genotyped for parent alleles at 4-6 unlinked nuclear loci as well as the maxicircle DNA. As seen previously, the majority of hybrids showed '2n' DNA contents, but with a significant number of '3n' and one '4n' offspring. In the natural vector, 97% of the nuclear loci showed both parental alleles; however, 3% (4/150) showed only one parental allele. In the unnatural vector, the frequency of uniparental inheritance rose to 10% (27/275). We attribute this to loss of heterozygosity after mating, most likely arising from aneuploidy which is both common and temporally variable in Leishmania. As seen previously, only uniparental inheritance of maxicircle kDNA was observed. Hybrids were recovered at similar efficiencies in all pairwise crosses tested, suggesting that L. major lacks detectable 'mating types' that limit free genetic exchange. In the natural vector, comparisons of the timing of hybrid formation with the presence of developmental stages suggest nectomonads as the most likely sexually competent stage, with hybrids emerging well before the first appearance of metacyclic promastigotes. These studies provide an important perspective on the prevalence of genetic exchange in natural populations of L. major and a guide for experimental studies to understand the biology of mating