Soil moisture modelling of a SMOS pixel: interest of using the PERSIANN database over the Valencia Anchor Station

In the framework of Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) Calibration/Validation (Cal/Val) activities, this study addresses the use of the PERSIANN-CCS<sup>1</sup>database in hydrological applications to accurately simulate a whole SMOS pixel by representing the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the soil moisture fields over a wide area (50×50 km<sup>2</sup>). The study focuses on the Valencia Anchor Station (VAS) experimental site, in Spain, which is one of the main SMOS Cal/Val sites in Europe. <br><br> A faithful representation of the soil moisture distribution at SMOS pixel scale (50×50 km<sup>2</sup>) requires an accurate estimation of the amount and temporal/spatial distribution of precipitation. To quantify the gain of using the comprehensive PERSIANN database instead of sparsely distributed rain gauge measurements, comparisons between in situ observations and satellite rainfall data are done both at point and areal scale. An overestimation of the satellite rainfall amounts is observed in most of the cases (about 66%) but the precipitation occurrences are in general retrieved (about 67%). <br><br> To simulate the high variability in space and time of surface soil moisture, a Soil Vegetation Atmosphere Transfer (SVAT) model – ISBA (Interactions between Soil Biosphere Atmosphere) is used. The interest of using satellite rainfall estimates as well as the influence that the precipitation events can induce on the modelling of the water content in the soil is depicted by a comparison between different soil moisture data. Point-like and spatialized simulated data using rain gauge observations or PERSIANN – CCS database as well as ground measurements are used. It is shown that a good adequacy is reached in most part of the year, the precipitation differences having less impact upon the simulated soil moisture. The behaviour of simulated surface soil moisture at SMOS scale is verified by the use of remote sensing data from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer on Earth observing System (AMSR-E). We show that the PERSIANN database provides useful information at temporal and spatial scales in the context of soil moisture retrieval. <br><br> <br><br> <sup>1</sup>Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks-Cloud Classification System – <a href="http://chrs.web.uci.edu/persiann"target="_blank">http://chrs.web.uci.edu/persiann</a&gt

An improved perspective in the spatial representation of soil moisture: potential added value of SMOS disaggregated 1 km resolution “all weather” product

This study uses the synergy of multi-resolution soil moisture (SM) satellite estimates from the Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission, a dense network of ground-based SM measurements, and a soil–vegetation–atmosphere transfer (SVAT) model, SURFEX (externalized surface), module ISBA (interactions between soil, biosphere and atmosphere), to examine the benefits of the SMOS level 4 (SMOS-L4) version 3.0, or “all weather” high-resolution soil moisture disaggregated product (SMOS-L43.0; ∼1&thinsp;km). The added value compared to SMOS level 3 (SMOS-L3; ∼25&thinsp;km) and SMOS level 2 (SMOS-L2; ∼15&thinsp;km) is investigated. In situ SM observations over the Valencia anchor station (VAS; SMOS calibration and validation – Cal/Val – site in Europe) are used for comparison. The SURFEX (ISBA) model is used to simulate point-scale surface SM (SSM) and, in combination with high-quality atmospheric information data, namely from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and the Système d'analyse fournissant des renseignements atmosphériques à la neige (SAFRAN) meteorological analysis system, to obtain a representative SSM mapping over the VAS. The sensitivity to realistic initialization with SMOS-L43.0 is assessed to simulate the spatial and temporal distribution of SSM. Results demonstrate the following: (a) All SMOS products correctly capture the temporal patterns, but the spatial patterns are not accurately reproduced by the coarser resolutions, probably in relation to the contrast with point-scale in situ measurements. (b) The potential of the SMOS-L43.0 product is pointed out to adequately characterize SM spatio-temporal variability, reflecting patterns consistent with intensive point-scale SSM samples on a daily timescale. The restricted temporal availability of this product dictated by the revisit period of the SMOS satellite compromises the averaged SSM representation for longer periods than a day. (c) A seasonal analysis points out improved consistency during December–January–February and September–October–November, in contrast to significantly worse correlations in March–April–May (in relation to the growing vegetation) and June–July–August (in relation to low SSM values &lt;&thinsp;0.1&thinsp;m3&thinsp;m−3 and low spatial variability). (d) The combined use of the SURFEX (ISBA) SVAT model with the SAFRAN system, initialized with SMOS-L43.0 1&thinsp;km disaggregated data, is proven to be a suitable tool for producing regional SM maps with high accuracy, which could be used as initial conditions for model simulations, flood forecasting, crop monitoring and crop development strategies, among others.</p

Comparison of SMOS and SMAP Soil Moisture Retrieval Approaches Using Tower-based Radiometer Data over a Vineyard Field

The objective of this study was to compare several approaches to soil moisture (SM) retrieval using L-band microwave radiometry. The comparison was based on a brightness temperature (TB) data set acquired since 2010 by the L-band radiometer ELBARA-II over a vineyard field at the Valencia Anchor Station (VAS) site. ELBARA-II, provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) within the scientific program of the SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) mission, measures multiangular TB data at horizontal and vertical polarization for a range of incidence angles (30-60). Based on a three year data set (2010-2012), several SM retrieval approaches developed for spaceborne missions including AMSR-E (Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS), SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) and SMOS were compared. The approaches include: the Single Channel Algorithm (SCA) for horizontal (SCA-H) and vertical (SCA-V) polarizations, the Dual Channel Algorithm (DCA), the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM) and two simplified approaches based on statistical regressions (referred to as 'Mattar' and 'Saleh'). Time series of vegetation indices required for three of the algorithms (SCA-H, SCA-V and Mattar) were obtained from MODIS observations. The SM retrievals were evaluated against reference SM values estimated from a multiangular 2-Parameter inversion approach. The results obtained with the current base line algorithms developed for SMAP (SCA-H and -V) are in very good agreement with the reference SM data set derived from the multi-angular observations (R2 around 0.90, RMSE varying between 0.035 and 0.056 m3m3 for several retrieval configurations). This result showed that, provided the relationship between vegetation optical depth and a remotely-sensed vegetation index can be calibrated, the SCA algorithms can provide results very close to those obtained from multi-angular observations in this study area. The approaches based on statistical regressions provided similar results and the best accuracy was obtained with the Saleh methods based on either bi-angular or bipolarization observations (R2 around 0.93, RMSE around 0.035 m3m3). The LPRM and DCA algorithms were found to be slightly less successful in retrieving the 'reference' SM time series (R2 around 0.75, RMSE around 0.055 m3m3). However, the two above approaches have the great advantage of not requiring any model calibrations previous to the SM retrievals

Assessment of Version 4 of the SMAP Passive Soil Moisture Standard Product

NASAs Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission launched on January 31, 2015 into a sun-synchronous 6 am6 pm orbit with an objective to produce global mapping of high-resolution soil moisture and freeze-thaw state every 2-3 days. The SMAP radiometer began acquiring routine science data on March 31, 2015 and continues to operate nominally. SMAPs radiometer-derived standard soil moisture product (L2SMP) provides soil moisture estimates posted on a 36-km fixed Earth grid using brightness temperature observations and ancillary data. A beta quality version of L2SMP was released to the public in October, 2015, Version 3 validated L2SMP soil moisture data were released in May, 2016, and Version 4 L2SMP data were released in December, 2016. Version 4 data are processed using the same soil moisture retrieval algorithms as previous versions, but now include retrieved soil moisture from both the 6 am descending orbits and the 6 pm ascending orbits. Validation of 19 months of the standard L2SMP product was done for both AM and PM retrievals using in situ measurements from global core calval sites. Accuracy of the soil moisture retrievals averaged over the core sites showed that SMAP accuracy requirements are being met

The gut microbiome in dogs with congestive heart failure: a pilot study

Compromised gut health and dysbiosis in people with heart failure has received a great deal of attention over the last decade. Whether dogs with heart failure have a similar dysbiosis pattern to what is described in people is currently unknown. We hypothesised that dogs with congestive heart failure have quantifiable dysbiosis compared to healthy dogs that are similar in sex and age. A total of 50 dogs (15 healthy dogs and 35 dogs with congestive heart failure) were prospectively recruited, and their faecal gut microbiome was assessed using 16S rRNA sequencing (Illumina MiSeq platform). There was no significant change in the microbial diversity and richness in dogs with congestive heart failure. However, there was an increase in abundance of Proteobacteria in the congestive heart failure group (p = 0.014), particularly due to an increase in the family Enterobacteriaceae (p = 0.002) and Escherichia coli (p = 0.033). We conclude that dogs with congestive heart failure have dysbiosis, and we show additional trends in our data suggesting that dogs may have a similar pattern to that described in people. The results of this study provide useful preliminary information and raise the possibility that dogs represent a clinically relevant animal model of dysbiosis in people with heart failure

Choice of the initial antiretroviral treatment for HIV-positive individuals in the era of integrase inhibitors

BACKGROUND: We aimed to describe the most frequently prescribed initial antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens in recent years in HIV-positive persons in the Cohort of the Spanish HIV/AIDS Research Network (CoRIS) and to investigate factors associated with the choice of each regimen. METHODS: We analyzed initial ART regimens prescribed in adults participating in CoRIS from 2014 to 2017. Only regimens prescribed in >5% of patients were considered. We used multivariable multinomial regression to estimate Relative Risk Ratios (RRRs) for the association between sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and the choice of the initial regimen. RESULTS: Among 2874 participants, abacavir(ABC)/lamivudine(3TC)/dolutegavir(DTG) was the most frequently prescribed regimen (32.1%), followed by tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF)/emtricitabine (FTC)/elvitegravir(EVG)/cobicistat(COBI) (14.9%), TDF/FTC/rilpivirine (RPV) (14.0%), tenofovir alafenamide (TAF)/FTC/EVG/COBI (13.7%), TDF/FTC+DTG (10.0%), TDF/FTC+darunavir/ritonavir or darunavir/cobicistat (bDRV) (9.8%) and TDF/FTC+raltegravir (RAL) (5.6%). Compared with ABC/3TC/DTG, starting TDF/FTC/RPV was less likely in patients with CD4100.000 copies/mL. TDF/FTC+DTG was more frequent in those with CD4100.000 copies/mL. TDF/FTC+RAL and TDF/FTC+bDRV were also more frequent among patients with CD4<200 cells//muL and with transmission categories other than men who have sex with men. Compared with ABC/3TC/DTG, the prescription of other initial ART regimens decreased from 2014-2015 to 2016-2017 with the exception of TDF/FTC+DTG. Differences in the choice of the initial ART regimen were observed by hospitals' location. CONCLUSIONS: The choice of initial ART regimens is consistent with Spanish guidelines' recommendations, but is also clearly influenced by physician's perception based on patient's clinical and sociodemographic variables and by the prescribing hospital location

Alexithymia may explain the relationship between autistic traits and eating disorder psychopathology

Background: Autistic people are disproportionately vulnerable to anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders (ED), and within the general population, autistic traits correlate with ED psychopathology. A putative mechanism which may underpin this heightened risk is alexithymia, a difficulty identifying and describing emotional states which is observed in both autism and ED. In two experiments with independent non-clinical samples, we explored whether alexithymia might mediate the heightened risk of eating psychopathology in individuals high in autistic traits. Methods: Our first experiment used the PROCESS macro for SPSS to examine relationships between alexithymia (measured by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20)), autistic traits (autism quotient (AQ)), and eating psychopathology (Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26)) in 121 participants. Our second experiment (n = 300) replicated and furthered this analysis by examining moderating effects of sex and controlling for anxiety and depression as covariates. We also included an additional performance-based measure of alexithymia, the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS). Results: Study 1 suggested that TAS-20 scores mediated the relationship between heightened autistic traits and eating psychopathology. Replication and further scrutiny of this finding, in study 2, revealed that this mediation effect was partial and specific to the female participants in this sample. The mediation effect appeared to be carried by the difficulty identifying feelings subscale of the TAS-20, even when depression and anxiety were controlled for. LEAS scores, however, were not significantly related to autistic traits or eating psychopathology. Limitations: Cross-sectional data prevents any conclusions around the direction and causality of relationships between alexithymia, autistic traits, and eating psychopathology (alongside depression and anxiety), necessitating longitudinal research. Our non-clinical sample was predominantly Caucasian undergraduate students, so it remains to be seen if these results would extrapolate to clinical and/or autistic samples. Divergence between the TAS-20 and LEAS raises crucial questions regarding the construct validity of these measures. Conclusions: Our findings with respect to autistic traits suggest that alexithymia could partially explain the prevalence of ED in autistic people and may as such be an important consideration in the pathogenesis and treatment of ED in autistic and non-autistic people alike. Further research with clinical samples is critical to explore these ideas. Differences between men and women, furthermore, emphasize the importance of looking for sexspecific as well as generic risk factors in autistic and non-autistic men and women

A Compact Dication Source for Ba2+^{2+} Tagging and Heavy Metal Ion Sensor Development

We present a tunable metal ion beam that delivers controllable ion currents in the picoamp range for testing of dry-phase ion sensors. Ion beams are formed by sequential atomic evaporation and single or multiple electron impact ionization, followed by acceleration into a sensing region. Controllability of the ionic charge state is achieved through tuning of electrode potentials that influence the retention time in the ionization region. Barium, lead, and cobalt samples have been used to test the system, with ion currents identified and quantified using a quadrupole mass analyzer. Realization of a clean $\mathrm{Ba^{2+}}$ ion beam within a bench-top system represents an important technical advance toward the development and characterization of barium tagging systems for neutrinoless double beta decay searches in xenon gas. This system also provides a testbed for investigation of novel ion sensing methodologies for environmental assay applications, with dication beams of Pb$^{2+}$ and Cd$^{2+}$ also demonstrated for this purpose

The Long Life of Birds: The Rat-Pigeon Comparison Revisited

The most studied comparison of aging and maximum lifespan potential (MLSP) among endotherms involves the 7-fold longevity difference between rats (MLSP 5y) and pigeons (MLSP 35y). A widely accepted theory explaining MLSP differences between species is the oxidative stress theory, which purports that reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced during mitochondrial respiration damage bio-molecules and eventually lead to the breakdown of regulatory systems and consequent death. Previous rat-pigeon studies compared only aspects of the oxidative stress theory and most concluded that the lower mitochondrial superoxide production of pigeons compared to rats was responsible for their much greater longevity. This conclusion is based mainly on data from one tissue (the heart) using one mitochondrial substrate (succinate). Studies on heart mitochondria using pyruvate as a mitochondrial substrate gave contradictory results. We believe the conclusion that birds produce less mitochondrial superoxide than mammals is unwarranted