Aerosols Monitored by Satellite Remote Sensing

Aerosols, small particles suspended in the atmosphere, affect the air quality and climate change. Their distributions can be monitored by satellite remote sensing. Many images of aerosol properties are available from websites as the by-products of the atmospheric correction of the satellite data. Their qualities depend on the accuracy of the atmospheric correction algorithms. The approaches of the atmospheric correction for land and ocean are different due to the large difference of the ground reflectance between land and ocean. A unified atmospheric correction (UAC) approach is developed to improve the accuracy of aerosol products over land, similar to those over ocean. This approach is developed to estimate the aerosol scattering reflectance from satellite data based on a lookup table (LUT) of in situ measured ground reflectance. The results show that the aerosol scattering reflectance can be completely separated from the satellite measured radiance over turbid waters and lands. The accuracy is validated with the mean relative errors of 22.1%. The vertical structures of the aerosols provide a new insight into the role of aerosols in regulating Earth\u27s weather, climate, and air quality

NH2+ implantations induced superior hemocompatibility of carbon nanotubes

NH(2)(+) implantation was performed on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) prepared by chemical vapor deposition. The hemocompatibility of MWCNTs and NH(2)(+)-implanted MWCNTs was evaluated based on in vitro hemolysis, platelet adhesion, and kinetic-clotting tests. Compared with MWCNTs, NH(2)(+)-implanted MWCNTs displayed more perfect platelets and red blood cells in morphology, lower platelet adhesion rate, lower hemolytic rate, and longer kinetic blood-clotting time. NH(2)(+)-implanted MWCNTs with higher fluency of 1 × 10(16) ions/cm(2) led to the best thromboresistance, hence desired hemocompatibility. Fourier transfer infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses showed that NH(2)(+) implantation caused the cleavage of some pendants and the formation of some new N-containing functional groups. These results were responsible for the enhanced hemocompatibility of NH(2)(+)-implanted MWCNTs

Application of the pressure cooker technique for transarterial embolization of brain arteriovenous malformations: Factors affecting obliteration and outcomes

ObjectiveThe typical pressure cooker technique (PCT) and several modifications with similar mechanisms have been introduced to enhance the embolization of brain arteriovenous malformations (bAVMs). This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of transarterial embolization of bAVMs with the PCT.MethodFrom January 2019 to December 2021, 125 consecutive patients with bAVM managed by transarterial embolization in the prospective database on cerebral vascular diseases of a single center were retrospectively reviewed. Patient data and lesion characteristics were collected. According to the treatment strategy, the patients were assigned to the PCT group (46 patients) and conventional embolization technique (CET) group (79 patients).ResultsBaseline patient features were comparable between the two groups. After the first procedure, complete obliteration immediately was observed in 61 and 42% of patients in the PCT and CET groups, respectively. The rate was markedly elevated in the PCT group (p = 0.04). In subgroup analysis, the rate of immediate complete obliteration was starkly increased in PCT group patients with Spetzler-Martin grade I/II bAVM (86 and 53% in the PCT and CET groups, respectively; p = 0.0036). The overall complication rates were similar in the two groups (13 and 10% in the PCT and CET groups, respectively; p = 0.77). In multivariable analysis, nidus size >3 cm (OR = 8.826, 95% CI: 1.250–62.312; p = 0.03) and deep location (OR = 8.576, 95% CI: 1.480–49.690; p = 0.02) were significant factors affecting complete obliteration in the PCT group.ConclusionThe PCT may yield a higher rate of immediate complete obliteration with transarterial embolization of bAVMs, without increasing the rate of procedure-related complications

Waratah Seed-1: Australia\u27s First Commercial Ride Share Satellite

In this paper, we report on a 6U CubeSat named Waratah Seed-1, designed by the ARC Training Centre for CubeSats, UAVs, and their Applications (CUAVA) and partners under the Waratah Seed project. Waratah Seed is a pilot Space Qualification Mission initiated under the NSW Government\u27s Space Industry Development Strategy with partial funding from Investment NSW. The goal of the mission is to allow NSW and Australian space industry groups to test their technology in space by flying on a 6U ride-share CubeSat. This project is the first of its kind in Australia, allowing space-tech start-ups and other groups to access a satellite spaceflight to test payloads at an inexpensive rate and in a more accessible way. The mission will help overcome one of the key barriers to gaining space flight heritage and should help accelerate the development of the Australian space ecosystem. The design of the WS-1 Satellite bus is based on its predecessor, the 3U CUAVA-1 CubeSat, and its sister 6U spacecraft CUAVA-2. The main payloads are a GPS reflectometry payload from UNSW and partners and a thermal management payload from UTS in collaboration with Mawson Rovers and Spiral Blue. Furthermore, there will be one edge computing payload from Spiral Blue, two solar cell test payloads, one each by Euroka Power and Extraterrestrial Power, a material test payload by Dandelions, a tactile, force, and torque sensor test payload by Sperospace and Contactile, an electropermanent magnetotorquer from DenebSpace and a space debris and plasma environment instrument from CUAVA and the University of Sydney. The satellite is scheduled for launch in July 2024 via SpaceX\u27s Transporter 11

Quantitative investigation of the direct interaction between Hemagglutinin and fusion proteins of Peste des petits ruminant virus using surface Plasmon resonance

Abstract Background The specific and dynamic interaction between the hemagglutinin (H) and fusion (F) proteins of morbilliviruses is a prerequisite for the conformational rearrangements and membrane fusion during infection process. The two heptad repeat regions (HRA and HRB) of F protein are both important for the triggering of F protein. Methods In this study, the direct interactions of Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) H with F, HRA and HRB were quantitatively evaluated using biosensor surface plasmon resonance (SPR). Results The binding affinities of immobilized pCMV-HA-H (HA-H) interacted with proteins pCMV-HA-F (HA-F) and pCMV-HA-HRB (HA-HRB) (KD = 1.91 × 10− 8 M and 2.60 × 10− 7 M, respectively) reacted an order of magnitude more strongly than that of pCMV-HA-HRA (HA-HRA) and pCMV-HA-Tp IGFR-LD (HA) (KD = 1.08 × 10− 4 M and 1.43 × 10− 4 M, respectively). Conclusions The differences of the binding affinities suggested that HRB is involved in functionally important intermolecular interaction in the fusion process

The Influence of FY-4A High-Frequency LST Data on Data Assimilation in a Climate Model

Based on the Beijing Climate Center’s land surface model BCC_AVIM2.0, an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) algorithm is developed to assimilate the land surface temperature (LST) product of the first satellite of Fengyun-4 series meteorological satellites of China to study the influence of LST data with different time frequencies on the surface temperature data assimilations. The MODIS daytime and nighttime LST products derived from Terra and Aqua satellites are used as independent validation data to test the assimilation results. The results show that diurnal variation information in the FY-4A LST data has significant effect on the assimilation results. When the time frequencies of the assimilated FY-4A LST data are sufficient, the assimilation scheme can effectively reduce the errors and the assimilation results reflect more reasonable spatial and temporal distributions. The assimilation experiments with a 3 h time frequency show less bias as well as RMSEs and higher temporal correlations than that of the model simulations at both daytime and nighttime periods. As the temporal frequency of assimilated LST observations decreases, the assimilation effects gradually deteriorate. When diurnal variation information is not considered at all in the assimilation, the assimilation with 24 h time frequency showed the largest errors and smallest time correlations in all experiments. The results demonstrate the potential of assimilating high-frequency FY-4A LST data to improve the performance of the BCC_AVIM2.0 land surface model. Furthermore, this study indicates that the diurnal variation information is a necessary factor needed to be considered when assimilating the FY-4A LST