The tropical forest and fire emissions experiment: Trace gases emitted by smoldering logs and dung from deforestation and pasture fires in Brazil

Earlier work showed that Amazonian biomass burning produces both lofted and initially unlofted emissions in large amounts. A mobile, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) measured the unlofted emissions of 17 trace gases from residual smoldering combustion (RSC) of logs as part of the Tropical Forest and Fire Emissions Experiment (TROFFEE) during the 2004 Amazonian dry season. The RSC emissions were highly variable and the few earlier RSC measurements lay near the high end of combustion efficiency observed in this study. Fuel consumption by RSC was ∼5% of total for a planned deforestation fire. Much regional RSC probably occurs in the residual woody debris burned during pasture maintenance fires. RSC could increase estimated total fire emissions for the Amazon region by 20–50% for several important VOC. FTIR emissions measurements of burning dung (in a pasture) showed high emission ratios for acetic acid and ammonia to CO (6.6 ± 3.4% and 8.9 ± 2.1%). Large emissions of nitrogen containing trace gases from burning dung and crop waste could mean that biomass burning in India produces more particle mass than previously assumed. Measurements of late-stage kiln emissions suggested that VOC/CO may increase as carbonization is extended. A cook stove emitted many VOC and NH3 far outside the range observed for open wood cooking fires. Enclosed/vented cooking stoves may change the chemistry of the smoke that is emitted

Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis of SecondHarmonic Generation Images: A Semiautomatic Collagen Fibers Quantification Protocol

A vast number of human pathologic conditions are directly or indirectly related to tissular collagen structure remodeling. The nonlinear optical microscopy second-harmonic generation has become a powerful tool for imaging biological tissues with anisotropic hyperpolarized structures, such as collagen. During the past years, several quantification methods to analyze and evaluate these images have been developed. However, automated or semiautomated solutions are necessary to ensure objectivity and reproducibility of such analysis. This work describes automation and improvement methods for calculating the anisotropy (using fast Fourier transform analysis and the gray-level co-occurrence matrix). These were applied to analyze biopsy samples of human ovarian epithelial cancer at different stages of malignancy (mucinous, serous, mixed, and endometrial subtypes). The semiautomation procedure enabled us to design a diagnostic protocol that recognizes between healthy and pathologic tissues, as well as between different tumor types.Fil: Zeitoune, Angel Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Entre Ríos. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Entre Ríos; ArgentinaFil: Luna, Johana S. J.. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Ingeniería; ArgentinaFil: Sanchez Salas, Kynthia. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Ingeniería; ArgentinaFil: Erbes, Luciana Ariadna. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Entre Ríos. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Entre Ríos; ArgentinaFil: Cesar, Carlos L.. Universidade Federal do Ceará; Brasil. National Institute of Science and Technology on Photonics Applied to Cell Biology; BrasilFil: Andrade, Liliana A. L. A.. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Carvahlo, Hernades F.. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Brasil. National Institute of Science and Technology on Photonics Applied to Cell Biology; BrasilFil: Bottcher Luiz, Fátima. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Brasil. National Institute of Science and Technology on Photonics Applied to Cell Biology; BrasilFil: Casco, Victor Hugo. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Ingeniería; ArgentinaFil: Adur, Javier Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Entre Ríos. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Entre Ríos; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Ingeniería; Argentin