30 research outputs found

    Global maps of soil temperature.

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    Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km <sup>2</sup> resolution for 0-5 and 5-15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e. offset) between in situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km <sup>2</sup> pixels (summarized from 8519 unique temperature sensors) across all the world's major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (-0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications

    The effect of virtual reality on evoked potentials following painful electrical stimuli and subjective pain

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    Contains fulltext : 219187.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Background: Virtual reality (VR) has been shown to reduce pain, however outcome parameters of previous studies have primarily been of a subjective nature and susceptible to bias. This study investigated the effect of VR on cortical processing of evoked potentials (EPs) and subjectively reported pain. Additionally, we explored whether subjects’ demographic and personal characteristics modulated the effect of VR analgesia. Methods: Three VR conditions were compared in a randomized cross-over study of 30 healthy volunteers: Passive VR (i.e. no interaction possible with the virtual world), active VR (interactive virtual environment) and no VR (black screen). Subjects received noxious electrical stimuli at random intervals during all conditions. EPs, recorded at Cz, were extracted time locked to stimuli. Pain scores were reported after each condition. Results: Active VR significantly decreased pain scores and amplitudes of N1 and P3. Passive VR had no analgesic effect. Age was significantly correlated to pain scores, with older subjects demonstrating larger effects of VR. Gender, game experience, and susceptibility for immersion, did not influence VR analgesia. Conclusion: Active VR decreases pre-perceptual and perceptual brain activity following painful electrical stimuli, corresponding with reduced pain experience. VR has potential to serve as a non-pharmacologic treatment for pain, particularly in elderly patients.8 p

    Syndecan-1 deficiency aggravates anti-glomerular basement membrane nephritis.

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    Item does not contain fulltextDuring the heterologous phase of experimental anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) nephritis, leukocyte influx peaks within hours, whereas albuminuria occurs within 1 day. In the subsequent autologous phase, endogenous anti-GBM IgG develops and albuminuria persists. Heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycans like syndecan-1 play multiple roles during inflammation and we evaluate its role in experimental anti-GBM disease using syndecan-1 knockout (sdc-1-/-) mice. During the heterologous phase, glomerular leukocyte/macrophage influx was significantly higher in the sdc-1-/- mice and this was associated with higher glomerular endothelial expression of specific HS domains. In the autologous phase, glomerular influx of CD4+/CD8+ T cells was higher in the sdc-1-/- mice and these mice had persistently higher albuminuria and serum creatinine levels than wild-type mice. This resulted in a more sever glomerular injury and increased expression of extracellular matrix proteins. The sdc-1-/- mice developed higher plasma levels and glomerular deposits of total mouse Ig and IgG1 anti-rabbit IgG, whereas the levels of mouse IgG2a anti-rabbit IgG were lower. Furthermore, decreased Th1 and higher Th2 renal cytokine/chemokine expression were found in the sdc-1-/- mice. Our studies show that syndecan-1 deficiency exacerbates anti-GBM nephritis shifting the Th1/Th2 balance towards a Th2 response
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