L-band SAR co-polarized phase difference modeling for corn fields

This research aims at modeling the microwave backscatter of corn fields by coupling an incoherent, interaction-based scattering model with a semi-empirical bulk vegetation dielectric model. The scattering model is fitted to co-polarized phase difference measurements over several corn fields imaged with fully polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images with incidence angles ranging from 20° to 60°. The dataset comprised two field campaigns, one over Canada with the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR, 1.258 GHz) and the other one over Argentina with Advanced Land Observing Satellite 2 (ALOS-2) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR-2) (ALOS-2/PALSAR-2, 1.236 GHz), totaling 60 data measurements over 28 grown corn fields at peak biomass with stalk gravimetric moisture larger than 0.8 g/g. Co-polarized phase differences were computed using a maximum likelihood estimation technique from each field’s measured speckled sample histograms. After minimizing the difference between the model and data measurements for varying incidence angles by a nonlinear least-squares fitting, well agreement was found with a root mean squared error of 24.3° for co-polarized phase difference measurements in the range of -170.3° to -19.13°. Model parameterization by stalk gravimetric moisture instead of its complex dielectric constant is also addressed. Further validation was undertaken for the UAVSAR dataset on earlier corn stages, where overall sensitivity to stalk height, stalk gravimetric moisture, and stalk area density agreed with ground data, with the sensitivity to stalk diameter being the weakest. This study provides a new perspective on the use of co-polarized phase differences in retrieving corn stalk features through inverse modeling techniques from space.This research was partially funded by the Argentinean National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET, project PICT 2015 N◦3689), by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (project CICYT RTI2018-099008-B-C21/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 “Sensing with pioneering opportunistic techniques”) and by the grant to “CommSensLab-UPC” Excellence Research Unit Maria de Maeztu (MINECO grant).Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Measuring Civic Competence in Europe: a Composite Indicator Based on IEA Civic Education Study 1999 for 14 Years Old in School

Measuring Civic Competence in Europe is part of a process to establish and monitor the learning outcomes needed to facilitate the development of active citizens in Europe. This report is an exploration of how civic competence can be measured and the results of these measurements across Europe and internationally. It describes what civic competence is in terms of the attitudes, values, knowledge and skills required and how it can be calculated using existing data from international tests. The data and scales used are from the IEA 1999 international Civic Education study of 14-year-olds in school. It clearly highlights the limitations of the data coverage for civic competence and explains which aspects of civic competence are not available and the implication for measuring civic competence. Following this the Civic Competence Composite Indicator is built using a framework comprised of 4 dimensions; Citizenship values, Social justice (both values and attitudes), Participatory attitudes and Cognitions about democratic institutions. Statistically the composite indicator was proved to be robust. The results of the CCCI ranking do not show clear geographical patterns and where patterns do occur these do not follow typical European scoreboard results. There is some tendency for Southern-European countries to be in the upper part of the ranking with Cyprus and Greece doing particularly well in the overall CCCI. For the four dimensions the results across Europe show that in countries with long standing stable democracies, where there are high levels of adult participation, young people's attitudes towards participation and Citizenship values are low. The opposite is true for less stable and more recent democracies that can be found in south and east Europe: in these countries young people have greater Participatory attitudes and values. North and West Europe fared better in the results for cognition about democratic institutions and the values of Social justice. In this case it was Eastern European countries that had low scores. The lack of a history of democratic citizenship education and the experience of Communism are likely to be contributory factors.JRC.G.9-Econometrics and statistical support to antifrau

Profesor doctor Roberto Douglas Pedroso: Una gloria de las Ciencias Básicas Médicas

Roberto Douglas Pedroso nació el 3 de marzo de 1926, en San Juan de Las Yeras, antigua provincia de Las Villas; cursó sus primeros estudios en el colegio Sagrado Corazón en Sagua La Grande; más tarde, ingresó en el Instituto de Segunda Enseñanza de Sagua La Grande, donde se graduó de Bachiller en Ciencias en 1944 y, en 1951, de Doctor en Medicina, estudios que realizó en la Universidad de La Habana.Mundialmente, se ha hecho un hábito aprovechar las fechas de nacimiento y/o fallecimiento para recordar y homenajear a aquellos hombres que por la obra de sus vidas trazan continuamente un camino virtuoso para los demás. Sin embargo, no nos ocurre hoy así, pues al pensar en la obra que hoy realiza nuestro país en la Batalla de Ideas, la municipalización de la Educación Superior y en Ciencias Médicas y cuando lasCiencias Básicas comenzaron en septiembre del 2004 el nuevo curso de primer año en los policlínicos comunitarios --que traería un importante avance en la metodología de laenseñanza y la calidad del aprendizaje, a la par que se establecería el carácter académicode las unidades de Atención Primaria, bastión determinante de la estrategia del país parala garantía de la salud de la población-- es que creemos necesario hacer la semblanza del profesor Dr. Roberto Douglas Pedroso (fallecido), Profesor Titular de Fisiología, cuya consagración al trabajo y confianza plena en la Revolución le permitieron continuar el desarrollo de la educación en Ciencias Médicas desde el Primero de Enero de 1959, cuando dijera presente al llamado de la reforma universitaria para contribuir a la enseñanza de las Ciencias Básicas Médicas  y, en particular, de las Ciencias Fisiológicas.  En ese camino de lucha contra el subdesarrollo, el profesor Roberto Douglas Pedroso cumplió cabalmente los cuatro perfiles que hoy se establecen en el plan de estudios de un residente de Ciencias Básicas Médicas: docente, investigativo, asistencial y administrativo.  El asistencial venía cubriéndolo desde su graduación, como médico, en el desarrollo de laboratorios de pruebas funcionales respiratorias, instalando las técnicas más avanzadas entonces y, a la vez, continuó estudiando, física, química, matemáticas, estadística e inglés, aún sin recibir salario.  Comenzó a impartir docencia en 1960 en la Universidad de La Habana como Profesor Agregado de Física Biológica. En 1962, sería convocado para Profesor de Fisiología; fue uno de los fundadores del ICBP Victoria de Girón, donde ocupó diferentes responsabilidades: Jefe Departamento de Bioquímica, Sub-Director Docente y Director del propio Instituto. Impartió docencia hasta sus últimos días. Desde el estudio de la didáctica particular de la Fisiología, avanzó en el estudio de la Pedagogía, y llegó a ser Jefe del Departamento Metodológico de la Vicerrectoría Docente del ISCM-H en 1981, asesor de la Vicerrectoría de Desarrollo de Planes de Estudios del Instituto, en 1983, y miembro de la Comisión Central Metodológica del Ministerio de Salud Pública (MINSAP).   </p

Ozone Therapy on Rats Submitted to Subtotal Nephrectomy: Role of Antioxidant System

Chronic renal failure (CRF) represents a world health problem. Ozone increases the endogenous antioxidant defense system, preserving the cell redox state. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of ozone/oxygen mixture in the renal function, morphology, and biochemical parameters, in an experimental model of CRF (subtotal nephrectomy). Ozone/oxygen mixture was applied daily, by rectal insufflation (0.5 mg/kg) for 15 sessions after the nephrectomy. Renal function was evaluated, as well as different biochemical parameters, at the beginning and at the end of the study (10 weeks). Renal plasmatic flow (RPF), glomerular filtration rate (GFR), the urine excretion index, and the sodium and potassium excretions (as a measurement of tubular function) in the ozone group were similar to those in Sham group. Nevertheless, nephrectomized rats without ozone (positive control group) showed the lowest RPF, GFR, and urine excretion figures, as well as tubular function. Animals treated with ozone showed systolic arterial pressure (SAP) figures lower than those in the positive control group, but higher values compared to Sham group. Serum creatinine values and protein excretion in 24 hours in the ozone group were decreased compared with nephrectomized rats, but were still higher than normal values. Histological study demonstrated that animals treated with ozone showed less number of lesions in comparison with nephrectomized rats. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were significantly increased in nephrectomized and ozone-treated nephrectomized rats in comparison with Sham group. In the positive control group, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) showed the lowest figures in comparison with the other groups. However, ozone/oxygen mixture induced a significant stimulation in the enzymatic activity of CAT, SOD, and glutathione peroxidase, as well as reduced glutathione in relation with Sham and positive control groups. In this animal model of CRF, ozone rectal administrations produced a delay in the advance of the disease, protecting the kidneys against vascular, hemorheological, and oxidative mechanisms. This behavior suggests ozone therapy has a protective effect on renal tissue by downregulation of the oxidative stress shown in CRF

Nonequilibrium Probabilistic Dynamics of the Logistic Map at the Edge of Chaos

We consider nonequilibrium probabilistic dynamics in logistic-like maps $x_{t+1}=1-a|x_t|^z$, $(z>1)$ at their chaos threshold: We first introduce many initial conditions within one among $W>>1$ intervals partitioning the phase space and focus on the unique value $q_{sen}<1$ for which the entropic form $S_q \equiv \frac{1-\sum_{i=1}^{W} p_i^q}{q-1}$ {\it linearly} increases with time. We then verify that $S_{q_{sen}}(t) - S_{q_{sen}}(\infty)$ vanishes like $t^{-1/[q_{rel}(W)-1]}$ [$q_{rel}(W)>1$]. We finally exhibit a new finite-size scaling, $q_{rel}(\infty) - q_{rel}(W) \propto W^{-|q_{sen}|}$. This establishes quantitatively, for the first time, a long pursued relation between sensitivity to the initial conditions and relaxation, concepts which play central roles in nonextensive statistical mechanics.Comment: Final version with new Title and small modifications. REVTeX, 8 pages and 4 eps figure

Superpulsed low-level laser therapy protects skeletal muscle of mdx mice against damage, inflammation and morphological changes delaying dystrophy progression.

Aim: To evaluate the effects of preventive treatment with low-level laser therapy (LLLT) on progression of dystrophy in mdx mice. Methods: Ten animals were randomly divided into 2 experimental groups treated with superpulsed LLLT (904 nm, 15 mW, 700 Hz, 1 J) or placebo-LLLT at one point overlying the tibialis anterior muscle (bilaterally) 5 times per week for 14 weeks (from 6th to 20th week of age). Morphological changes, creatine kinase (CK) activity and mRNA gene expression were assessed in animals at 20th week of age. Results: Animals treated with LLLT showed very few morphological changes in skeletal muscle, with less atrophy and fibrosis than animals treated with placebo-LLLT. CK was significantly lower (p = 0.0203) in animals treated with LLLT (864.70 U.l−1, SEM 226.10) than placebo (1708.00 U.l−1, SEM 184.60). mRNA gene expression of inflammatory markers was significantly decreased by treatment with LLLT (p<0.05): TNF-α (placebo-control = 0.51 µg/µl [SEM 0.12], - LLLT = 0.048 µg/µl [SEM 0.01]), IL-1β (placebo-control = 2.292 µg/µl [SEM 0.74], - LLLT = 0.12 µg/µl [SEM 0.03]), IL-6 (placebo-control = 3.946 µg/µl [SEM 0.98], - LLLT = 0.854 µg/µl [SEM 0.33]), IL-10 (placebo-control = 1.116 µg/µl [SEM 0.22], - LLLT = 0.352 µg/µl [SEM 0.15]), and COX-2 (placebo-control = 4.984 µg/µl [SEM 1.18], LLLT = 1.470 µg/µl [SEM 0.73]). Conclusion: Irradiation of superpulsed LLLT on successive days five times per week for 14 weeks decreased morphological changes, skeletal muscle damage and inflammation in mdx mice. This indicates that LLLT has potential to decrease progression of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Subtidal macrozoobenthos communities from northern Chile during and post El Niño 1997–1998

Despite a large amount of climatic and oceanographic information dealing with the recurring climate phenomenon El Niño (EN) and its well known impact on diversity of marine benthic communities, most published data are rather descriptive and consequently our understanding of the underlying mechanisms and processes that drive community structure during EN are still very scarce. In this study, we address two questions on the effects of EN on macrozoobenthic communities: (1) how does EN affect species diversity of the communities in northern Chile? and (2) is EN a phenomenon that restarts community assembling processes by affecting species interactions in northern Chile? To answer these questions, we compared species diversity and co-occurrence patterns of soft-bottoms macrozoobenthos communities from the continental shelf off northern Chile during (March 1998) and after (September 1998) the strong EN event 1997–1998. The methods used varied from species diversity and species co-occurrence analyses to multivariate ordination methods. Our results indicate that EN positively affects diversity of macrozoobenthos communities in the study area, increasing the species richness and diversity and decreasing the species dominance. EN represents a strong disturbance that affects species interactions that rule the species assembling processes in shallow-water, sea-bottom environments

Measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum above 4×10184{\times}10^{18} eV using inclined events detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory

A measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum for energies exceeding $4{\times}10^{18}$ eV is presented, which is based on the analysis of showers with zenith angles greater than $60^{\circ}$ detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013. The measured spectrum confirms a flux suppression at the highest energies. Above $5.3{\times}10^{18}$ eV, the "ankle", the flux can be described by a power law $E^{-\gamma}$ with index $\gamma=2.70 \pm 0.02 \,\text{(stat)} \pm 0.1\,\text{(sys)}$ followed by a smooth suppression region. For the energy ($E_\text{s}$) at which the spectral flux has fallen to one-half of its extrapolated value in the absence of suppression, we find $E_\text{s}=(5.12\pm0.25\,\text{(stat)}^{+1.0}_{-1.2}\,\text{(sys)}){\times}10^{19}$ eV.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Inhibitory signaling blocks activating receptor clustering and induces cytoskeletal retraction in natural killer cells

Signaling from immunotyrosine-based inhibitory motifs (ITIMs) neutralizes activating signals by inducing a retraction of NK cells from the surface of stimulatory cells