A Range Correction for Icesat and Its Potential Impact on Ice-sheet Mass Balance Studies

We report on a previously undocumented range error in NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) that degrades elevation precision and introduces a small but significant elevation trend over the ICESat mission period. This range error (the Gaussian-Centroid or 'G-C'offset) varies on a shot-to-shot basis and exhibits increasing scatter when laser transmit energies fall below 20 mJ. Although the G-C offset is uncorrelated over periods less than1 day, it evolves over the life of each of ICESat's three lasers in a series of ramps and jumps that give rise to spurious elevation trends of 0.92 to 1.90 cm yr(exp 1), depending on the time period considered. Using ICESat data over the Ross and Filchner-Ronne ice shelves we show that (1) the G-C offset introduces significant biases in ice-shelf mass balance estimates, and (2) the mass balance bias can vary between regions because of different temporal samplings of ICESat.We can reproduce the effect of the G-C offset over these two ice shelves by fitting trends to sample-weighted mean G-C offsets for each campaign, suggesting that it may not be necessary to fully repeat earlier ICESat studies to determine the impact of the G-C offset on ice-sheet mass balance estimates

Gene induction during differentiation of human monocytes into dendritic cells: an integrated study at the RNA and protein levels

Changes in gene expression occurring during differentiation of human monocytes into dendritic cells were studied at the RNA and protein levels. These studies showed the induction of several gene classes corresponding to various biological functions. These functions encompass antigen processing and presentation, cytoskeleton, cell signalling and signal transduction, but also an increase in mitochondrial function and in the protein synthesis machinery, including some, but not all, chaperones. These changes put in perspective the events occurring during this differentiation process. On a more technical point, it appears that the studies carried out at the RNA and protein levels are highly complementary.Comment: website publisher: http://www.springerlink.com/content/ha0d2c351qhjhjdm

Structural and environmental controls on Antarctic ice shelf rift propagation inferred from satellite monitoring

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102662/1/jgrf20163.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102662/2/SupplementaryFigures_052513.pd

Fluid and Diffusion Limits for Bike Sharing Systems

Bike sharing systems have rapidly developed around the world, and they are served as a promising strategy to improve urban traffic congestion and to decrease polluting gas emissions. So far performance analysis of bike sharing systems always exists many difficulties and challenges under some more general factors. In this paper, a more general large-scale bike sharing system is discussed by means of heavy traffic approximation of multiclass closed queueing networks with non-exponential factors. Based on this, the fluid scaled equations and the diffusion scaled equations are established by means of the numbers of bikes both at the stations and on the roads, respectively. Furthermore, the scaling processes for the numbers of bikes both at the stations and on the roads are proved to converge in distribution to a semimartingale reflecting Brownian motion (SRBM) in a $N^{2}$-dimensional box, and also the fluid and diffusion limit theorems are obtained. Furthermore, performance analysis of the bike sharing system is provided. Thus the results and methodology of this paper provide new highlight in the study of more general large-scale bike sharing systems.Comment: 34 pages, 1 figure

The structural and dynamic responses of Stange Ice Shelf to recent environmental change

Stange Ice Shelf is the most south-westerly ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula, a region where positive trends in atmospheric and oceanic temperatures have been recently documented. In this paper, we use a range of remotely sensed datasets to evaluate the structural and dynamic responses of Stange Ice Shelf to these environmental changes. Ice shelf extent and surface structures were examined at regular intervals from optical and radar satellite imagery between 1973 and 2011. Surface speeds were estimated in 1989, 2004 and 2010 by tracking surface features in successive satellite images. Surface elevation change was estimated using radar altimetry data acquired between 1992 and 2008 by the European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS) -1, -2 and Envisat. The mean number of surface melt days was estimated using the intensity of backscatter from Envisat’s Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar instrument between 2006 and 2012. These results show significant shear fracturing in the southern portion of the ice shelf linked to enhanced flow speed as a consequence of measured thinning. However, we conclude that, despite the observed changes, Stange Ice Shelf is currently stable

An investigation into the effects of solvent content on the image quality and stability of ink jet digital prints under varied storage conditions

Increasing numbers of galleries, museums and archives are including ink jet printed materials into their collections, and therefore displays. There is evidence that the instability of these prints is such that images can suffer deterioration in print quality or in extreme cases, a loss of information over an extended period of time. This is shorter than the period typically required for perceptible deterioration to occur in many other paper-based artworks. The image stability of prints is affected by a number of factors some of which have already been studied. However the role played by the ink solvent in the loss of image quality has yet to be explored. This paper will outline research being undertaken to investigate the effects of solvent content which may increase/promote the loss in image quality of the hard copy prints when stored or displayed under a range of temperature and humidity conditions

Large closed queueing networks in semi-Markov environment and its application

The paper studies closed queueing networks containing a server station and $k$ client stations. The server station is an infinite server queueing system, and client stations are single-server queueing systems with autonomous service, i.e. every client station serves customers (units) only at random instants generated by a strictly stationary and ergodic sequence of random variables. The total number of units in the network is $N$. The expected times between departures in client stations are $(N\mu_j)^{-1}$. After a service completion in the server station, a unit is transmitted to the $j$th client station with probability $p_{j}$ $(j=1,2,...,k)$, and being processed in the $j$th client station, the unit returns to the server station. The network is assumed to be in a semi-Markov environment. A semi-Markov environment is defined by a finite or countable infinite Markov chain and by sequences of independent and identically distributed random variables. Then the routing probabilities $p_{j}$ $(j=1,2,...,k)$ and transmission rates (which are expressed via parameters of the network) depend on a Markov state of the environment. The paper studies the queue-length processes in client stations of this network and is aimed to the analysis of performance measures associated with this network. The questions risen in this paper have immediate relation to quality control of complex telecommunication networks, and the obtained results are expected to lead to the solutions to many practical problems of this area of research.Comment: 35 pages, 1 figure, 12pt, accepted: Acta Appl. Mat

The novel CXCR4 antagonist POL5551 mobilizes hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells with greater efficiency than Plerixafor

Mobilized blood has supplanted bone marrow (BM) as the primary source of hematopoietic stem cells for autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Pharmacologically enforced egress of hematopoietic stem cells from BM, or mobilization, has been achieved by directly or indirectly targeting the CXCL12/CXCR4 axis. Shortcomings of the standard mobilizing agent, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), administered alone or in combination with the only approved CXCR4 antagonist, Plerixafor, continue to fuel the quest for new mobilizing agents. Using Protein Epitope Mimetics technology, a novel peptidic CXCR4 antagonist, POL5551, was developed. In vitro data presented herein indicate high affinity to and specificity for CXCR4. POL5551 exhibited rapid mobilization kinetics and unprecedented efficiency in C57BL/6 mice, exceeding that of Plerixafor and at higher doses also of G-CSF. POL5551-mobilized stem cells demonstrated adequate transplantation properties. In contrast to G-CSF, POL5551 did not induce major morphological changes in the BM of mice. Moreover, we provide evidence of direct POL5551 binding to hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) in vivo, strengthening the hypothesis that CXCR4 antagonists mediate mobilization by direct targeting of HSPCs. In summary, POL5551 is a potent mobilizing agent for HSPCs in mice with promising therapeutic potential if these data can be orroborated in humans

On the error term in Weyl's law for the Heisenberg manifolds (II)

In this paper we study the mean square of the error term in the Weyl's law of an irrational $(2l+1)$-dimensional Heisenberg manifold . An asymptotic formula is established