Urban surface temperature time series estimation at the local scale by spatial-spectral unmixing of satellite observations

The study of urban climate requires frequent and accurate monitoring of land surface temperature (LST), at the local scale. Since currently, no space-borne sensor provides frequent thermal infrared imagery at high spatial resolution, the scientific community has focused on synergistic methods for retrieving LST that can be suitable for urban studies. Synergistic methods that combine the spatial structure of visible and near-infrared observations with the more frequent, but low-resolution surface temperature patterns derived by thermal infrared imagery provide excellent means for obtaining frequent LST estimates at the local scale in cities. In this study, a new approach based on spatial-spectral unmixing techniques was developed for improving the spatial resolution of thermal infrared observations and the subsequent LST estimation. The method was applied to an urban area in Crete, Greece, for the time period of one year. The results were evaluated against independent high-resolution LST datasets and found to be very promising, with RMSE less than 2 K in all cases. The developed approach has therefore a high potential to be operationally used in the near future, exploiting the Copernicus Sentinel (2 and 3) observations, to provide high spatio-temporal resolution LST estimates in cities

nematophagous activity on moss as cultural substratum of arthrobotrys tortor jarowaja isolated in antarctica

Se determino la actividad predadora de Arthrobotrys tortor Jarowaja, aislado de suelos Antarticos. Se estudiaron los organos y modalidades de captura de nematodos vivos, empleando a los musgos como substrato de cultivo. La habilidad de A. tortor para formar organos de captura en estos vegetales, revelo nuevos aspectos en las relaciones entre el hongo, el nematodo y los musgos

A record of Arthrobotrys tortor Jarowaja and Engyodontium album (Limber) de Hoog from Antarctica

Se reporta por primera vez el aislamiento de Arthrobotrys tortor y Engyodontium album desde Mid Victoria Land (Antártica). Se discuten ambos taxa con algunos comentarios ecológicos

Limitations in the Use of the Equivalent Diameter

This paper deals with the inaccuracy assessment of the friction pressure loss estimation based on Darcy formula combined with an equivalent hydraulic diameter and a friction factor valid for circular pipes when applied to a square rod bundle. The assessment has been done by comparing the analytical and semi-empirical predictions with two different CFD codes results: CFX and NEPTUNE_CFD. Two different analytical approaches have been considered: the whole-bundle and sub-channel approaches, both for laminar and turbulent flow conditions. Looking at results, it is reasonable to assume that an error in the range of 11% - 23% is likely when using equivalent diameter in the laminar regime. In the case of turbulent regime, the equivalent diameter works better and the error is in the range between a few percent and ~12%

antagonistic activity in vitro of some meso thermo and keratinophilic fungi of wheat rice maize field soils

En suelos de cultivo de centeno, arroz y maíz, se realizaron estudios "in vitro" para observar antagonismo fúngico de 123 cepas aisladas ,que comprenden 50 especies representativas de hongos mesotermo y queratinofílicos frecuentemente presentes en estos terrenos. Este fue visualizado por el método de cultivos duales en agar contra cepas de B. subtilli

COSMO-SkyMed potential to detect and monitor Mediterranean maquis fires and regrowth: a pilot study in Capo Figari, Sardinia, Italy

Mediterranean maquis is a complex and widespread ecosystem in the region, intrinsically prone to fire. Many species have developed specific adaptation traits to cope with fire, ensuring resistance and resilience. Due to the recent changes in socio-economy and land uses, fires are more and more frequent in the urban-rural fringe and in the coastlines, both now densely populated. The detection of fires and the monitoring of vegetation regrowth is thus of primary interest for local management and for understanding the ecosystem dynamics and processes, also in the light of the recurrent droughts induced by climate change. Among the main objectives of the COSMO-SkyMed radar constellation mission there is the monitoring of environmental hazards; the very high revisiting time of this mission is optimal for post-hazard response activities. However, very few studies exploited such data for fire and vegetation monitoring. In this research, Cosmo-SkyMed is used in a Mediterranean protected area covered by maquis to detect the burnt area extension and to conduct a mid-term assessment of vegetation regrowth. The positive results obtained in this research highlight the importance of the very high-resolution continuous acquisitions and the multi-polarization information provided by COSMO-SkyMed for monitoring fire impacts on vegetation

Unmet needs in ANCA-associated vasculitis: Physicians’ and patients’ perspectives

In recent years, clinical research has increased significantly and therapies for antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis have improved. However, there are still unanswered questions and unmet needs about AAV patients. The purpose of this review is to examine the frontiers of research related to emerging biomarkers eventually predicting relapse, and new therapeutic approaches, not to mention new quality of life assessment tools. Identifying predictors of relapse may help optimize therapeutic strategies, minimize disease recurrence, and reduce treatment-related side effects. In addition, it is important to recognize that patients may suffer long-term consequences of the disease and its treatment, which, although life-saving, is often associated with significant side effects. Our goal, therefore, is to highlight what has been achieved, the pitfalls, and what still needs to be done, comparing the views of physicians and patients

antagonistic activity in vitro of some saprophytic fungi occurring on the phylloplane of rice wheat and maize

Fue investigada la actividad antagónica in vitro de un total de 51 cepas pertenecientes a 16 géneros fúngicos detectados con mayor frecuencia en el filoplano del centeno, arroz y maíz.El antagonismo fue observado con el método de los cultivos duales en medios con agar, entre estos hongos y los fitopatógenos: Drechslera oryzae, Pyricularia oryzae y Helminthosporium maydis. Los más antagónicos son: Penicillium chrysogenum, P. thomii y Stachybotrys atra; ellos antagonizaron en particular con Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium moniliforme y Alternaria alternata. El antagonismo más exitoso contra los tres patógenos mencionados fue con P. chrysogenum y P. charlesii, quienes fueron notoriamente activos. Las cepas de Chaetomium globosum, Gibberella zeae, Fusarium moniliforme, Trichothecium roseum y B. cinerea presentan una actividad antagónica contra H. maydis; Cladosporium cladosporioides contra P. oryzae y D. oryzae; Aspergillus clavatus frente a D. oryzae. Los resultados son discutidos en relación al control biológico de estos patógenos de cereale

Probing Liquid-Ordered and Disordered Phases in Lipid Model Membranes: A Combined Theoretical and Spectroscopic Study of a Fluorescent Molecular Rotor

An integrated theoretical/experimental strategy has been applied to the study of environmental effects on the spectroscopic parameters of 4-(diphenylamino)phtalonitrile (DPAP), a fluorescent molecular rotor. The computational part starts from the development of an effective force field for the first excited electronic state of DPAP and proceeds through molecular dynamics simulations in solvents of different polarities toward the evaluation of Stokes shifts by quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) approaches. The trends of the computed results closely parallel the available experimental results thus giving confidence to the interpretation of new experimental studies of the photophysics of DPAP in lipid bilayers. In this context, results show unambiguously that both flexible dihedral angles and global rotations are significantly retarded in a cholesterol/DPPC lipid matrix with respect to the DOPC matrix, thus confirming the sensitivity of DPAP to probe different environments and, therefore, its applicability as a probe for detecting different structures and levels of plasma membrane organization

Near-real time deforestation detection in the Brazilian Amazon with Sentinel-1 and neural networks.

Optical-based near-real time deforestation alert systems in the Brazilian Amazon are ineffective in the rainy season. This study identify clear-cut deforested areas through Neural Network (NN) algorithm based on C-band, VV- and VH-polarized, Sentinel-1 images. Statistical parameters of backscatter coefficients (mean, standard deviation, and the difference between maximum and minimum values ? MMD) were computed from 30 Sentinel-1 images, from 2019, used as input parameters of the NN classifier. The samples were manually selected, including forested and deforested areas. After deforestation, mean backscatter signals decreased on the average of 2 dB for VV and 2.3 dB for VH from May to September?October. A Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) network was used for detecting near-real time forest disturbances larger than 2 ha. Case studies were performed for both polarizations considered the following input sets to the MLP: mean; mean and standard deviation; mean and MMD; and mean, standard deviation, and MMD. For the 2019 dataset, the latter showed the best performance of the NN algorithm with accuracy and F1 score of 99%. Automatic extraction using 2018 Sentinel-1 images reached accuracy and F1 score of 89% with the MapBiomas reference data and accuracy of 81% and F1 score of 79% with the PRODES reference data